New Indonesia capital will benefit Borneo states: Malaysia PM Anwar during first overseas official visit - CNA

BOGOR: The development of Indonesia’s new planned capital Nusantara in eastern Kalimantan will benefit Malaysia’s Borneo states, Sabah and Sarawak, said Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Monday (Jan 9).

Speaking at a press conference on the second day of his official visit to Indonesia, Mr Anwar said that Malaysia plans to take a more positive and aggressive effort in the development of Nusantara.

Mr Anwar met Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo at the presidential palace in Bogor, West Java during his first official overseas visit since assuming office in November. 

The two leaders witnessed the handing over of 11 letters of intent (LOI) from Malaysia to Indonesia on its participation in the development of Nusantara. The LOIs were signed by 10 Malaysian companies.

According to Mr Anwar, Malaysia is keen on the development of Nusantara because it has interests in it, given the new capital’s regional economic importance and proximity to the two Borneo states.

“We take a positive approach to find a way so that the growth of the archipelago nation's capital will also benefit the region which includes Sarawak and Sabah," said Mr Anwar. 

Mr Widodo welcomed the interest shown by Malaysian investors in developing Indonesia’s new capital.  

“Eleven letters of intent have been signed by the Malaysian private sector and handed over to the New Capital Authority involving areas such as electronics, health, waste management, construction and property,” said the president who is popularly known as Jokowi.

The first phase of the development of Nusantara involves the construction of the presidential palace, a few government ministries and basic infrastructures such as roads and housing.

The phase is scheduled for completion by 2024 while the final phase of Nusantara’s development is targeted to be completed by the country’s centennial in 2045.

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2023-01-09 08:22:00Z
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Singaporeans not putting off travel plans to Thailand despite new Covid-19 rules - The Straits Times

Both EU Holidays and Chan Brothers Travel said the new rules are not cause for concern as the majority of Singaporeans have received both vaccination doses, as well as booster shots.

Mr Jeremiah Wong, who is a senior marketing communications manager at Chan Brothers Travel, said all customers are required to be fully vaccinated when making a booking.

“Thus, we are not observing any knee-jerk reaction as Singapore has a high fully vaccinated population and we expect demand for our Thailand tours to remain unaffected,” he said.

Retail worker Jasmine Lim, 24, said the rules will not deter her from going to Thailand.

She said: “My friends and I were thinking of taking a short trip to Phuket before Chinese New Year.

“I don’t think the rules change anything. It just means we have to now show our vaccination cards.”

Another holidaymaker, fully vaccinated 28-year-old nurse Sophie D’cruz, said she was relieved entry rules into Thailand got tightened.

She said: “I understand everyone wants to return to normalcy and not have such regulations in place, especially when it has been three years.

“But I tested positive for Covid-19 three times in the past 1½ years, even after taking precautions, like always wearing a mask outside, and carrying hand sanitiser around. So, this feels safer for travel.”

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2023-01-08 21:00:00Z
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Thailand brings back Covid-19 entry rules for all international travellers - The Straits Times

BANGKOK – Thailand will reintroduce Covid-19 entry requirements for foreigners flying into the country from Monday, the nation’s transport minister said, as the South-east Asian nation prepares for an expected wave of tourists from China.

The Thai Public Health Ministry has been looking into ways to safely welcome Chinese tourists.

To prevent one nationality from being targeted, the ministry resolved that all foreign arrivals will have to prove they have been vaccinated.

Adults must show proof of at least two vaccinations, or recovery from the virus since July, according to comments from Saksayam Chidchob published on the minister’s political party’s Website.

Unvaccinated visitors will need a medical report justifying their lack of inoculations, a Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand statement posted on site said. The rules apply until Jan 31.

Additionally, visitors from countries that require Covid-19 tests for arrivals from Thailand must have health insurance during their stay, the statement said.

The civil aviation authority also released a list of 16 Covid-19 vaccines that are accepted for entering Thailand as of Jan 6.

They include one dose of Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen vaccine, two doses of AstraZeneca, two doses of Moderna, two doses of Pfizer or three doses of Anhui Zhifei Logcom.

Among nations that recently reimposed Covid-19 entry rules, India this month began mandatory Covid-19 tests for travellers from China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Thailand.

Bangkok’s vaccination requirements were scrapped in October 2022.

The reintroduction of entry requirements aimed at stemming the spread of Covid-19 comes as China rapidly dismantles its zero-tolerance policies, reopening the country to the world and scrapping quarantine for arrivals from Jan 8.

Thailand expects 300,000 Chinese visitors in the first quarter of this year, after it reached a target of 10 million foreign arrivals last year in a better-than-expected recovery of its vital tourism sector.

The first commercial flight from China to Thailand, Xiamen Airlines flight MF833, will arrive in Bangkok from Xiamen on Monday carrying 286 passengers, government spokeswoman Traisuree Taisaranakul said on Sunday.

Airlines are required to screen visitors’ eligibility to enter Thailand under the reimposed rules.

People suspected of displaying symptoms of Covid-19 will be advised to get tested on arrival.

Passengers transiting to other destinations are exempt, the statement said. BLOOMBERG, THE NATION/ASIA NEWS NETWORK, REUTERS

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2023-01-08 01:55:22Z
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PH asssemblymen for Sabah disagree with dissolving state assembly, express support for chief minister - CNA

KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah chapter of Pakatan Harapan (PH) on Saturday (Jan 7) stated that it does not agree that the State Legislative Assembly should be dissolved, amid current political uncertainty in the state.

In a joint statement, all seven PH state assemblymen stressed that not dealing with the crisis immediately will lead to a hung assembly.

"In this regard, we would like to inform you that the seven assemblymen from Sabah PH are supporting current Chief Minister Hajiji Noor, who is the assemblyman for Sulaman," the statement read.

"This is in line with our principle to ensure that political stability continues to be established in Sabah and not to engage in measures such as the ‘Sheraton Move’."

The joint statement was issued by Sabah PH chairman Christina Liew, Sabah Democratic Action Party chairman Frankie Poon, Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister and United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation vice-president Ewon Benedick, Phoong Jin Zhe, Jannie Lasimbang, Tan Lee Fatt and Peto Galim.

Expressing regret over the current situation, they said the main focus of the state should be to ensure that the goals of helping the people, developing the economy and settling the unresolved demands of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 were realised, in line with the wishes of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

"We reiterate our stance that we do not support any effort to overthrow the government through backdoor means," read the statement.

They also suggested that the state government adopt the same model as the federal government in forming a unity government in Sabah, in the event of a hung state assembly.

On Friday, Sabah's Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman Bung Moktar Radin announced that the party was withdrawing support for Hajiji as they had lost confidence in his position as Chief Minister, and that there was a breach of an agreement between BN and Perikatan Nasional (PN). 

Bung Moktar is also the Sabah United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) chief .

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2023-01-07 16:33:00Z
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XBB.1.5 Thailand Travel Border Rules: Latest Update on Foreigners - Bloomberg

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1. XBB.1.5 Thailand Travel Border Rules: Latest Update on Foreigners  Bloomberg
2. Bali and Thailand await Chinese tourists' return  The Star
3. Covid strains from West more serious than from China, says virologist  Bangkok Post
4. The race for tourism dollars  The Star Online
5. Sick of the grind, China’s well-off seek slower pace in Thailand  Al Jazeera English
6. View Full coverage on Google News

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2023-01-07 10:03:04Z
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After bitter Republican dispute, Kevin McCarthy named US House Speaker - CNA

Meanwhile, Democratic US President Joe Biden vowed to work with rival politicians after McCarthy's appointment.

"I am prepared to work with Republicans when I can," he said. "This is a time to govern responsibly and to ensure that we're putting the interests of American families first."

The Republicans, who hold a razor-thin majority, had been mired in internecine warfare as McCarthy failed to win a majority in multiple ballots, with around 20 conservative hardliners blocking his path since Tuesday.

But the 57-year-old Californian was able to pick up more than a dozen votes among the defectors in two afternoon voting rounds on Friday after offering major concessions.

Emboldened, McCarthy predicted he would win in the 14th round – but suffered a humiliation given wall-to-wall coverage on US news channels before finally bagging his victory in the 15th.

"Just reminds me of what my father always told me," McCarthy had told reporters. "It's not how you start, it's how you finish. And now we have to finish for the American public."

MAJOR CONCESSIONS

There were more rounds of voting in the fractious 2023 contest than in any Speaker election since the Civil War.

McCarthy had projected confidence all week, even as he was bleeding votes rather than adding to the base of around 200 Republicans who have backed him all along.

His party's takeover of Congress is expected to herald the end of cross-party cooperation, with the legislative process gridlocked and Republicans promising an aggressive agenda of investigations into most aspects of President Joe Biden's administration and his family.

Democrats and some of McCarthy's own supporters, in private, are concerned that he has been offering his far-right critics radical policy commitments that will make the House ungovernable.

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2023-01-07 06:22:00Z
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Kevin McCarthy elected Republican US House Speaker, but at a cost - The Straits Times

WASHINGTON - Republican Kevin McCarthy was elected Speaker of the US House of Representatives early on Saturday, after making extensive concessions to a group of right-wing hardliners that raised questions about the party’s ability to govern.

The 57-year-old Californian suffered one final humiliation when Representative Matt Gaetz withheld his vote on the 14th ballot as midnight approached, prompting a scuffle in which fellow Republican Mike Rogers had to be physically pulled away.

Mr McCarthy’s victory in the 15th ballot brought an end to the deepest congressional dysfunction in over 160 years. But it sharply illustrated the difficulties that he will face in leading a narrow and deeply polarised majority.

He won at last on a margin of 216-212. He was able to be elected with the votes of fewer than half the House members only because six in his own party withheld their votes – not backing Mr McCarthy as leader, but also not voting for another contender.

As he took the gavel for the first time, Mr McCarthy represented the end of President Joe Biden’s Democrats’ hold on both chambers of Congress. 

“Our system is built on checks and balances. It’s time for us to be a check and provide some balance to the president’s policies,” Mr McCarthy said in his inaugural speech, which laid out a wide range of priorities from cutting spending to immigration, to fighting culture war battles. 

Mr McCarthy secured the gavel only after agreeing to a demand by hardliners that any lawmaker be able call for his removal at any time.

That will sharply cut the power he will hold when trying to pass legislation on critical issues including funding the government, addressing the nation’s looming debt ceiling and other crises that may arise.

Republicans’ weaker-than-expected performance in November’s midterm elections left them with a narrow 222-212 majority, which has given outsized power to the right-wing hardliners who have opposed Mr McCarthy’s leadership.

Those concessions, including sharp spending cuts and other curbs on Mr McCarthy’s leadership, could point to further turbulence in the months ahead, especially when Congress will need to sign off on a further increase of the United States’ US$31.4 trillion (S$41.96 trillion) borrowing authority.

Over the past decade, Republicans have repeatedly shut down much of the government and pushed the world’s largest borrower to the brink of default in efforts to extract steep spending cuts, usually without success.

Several of the hardliners have questioned Mr McCarthy’s willingness to engage in such brinksmanship when negotiating with President Joe Biden, whose Democrats control the Senate.

They have raged in the past when Senate Republicans led by Mr Mitch McConnell agreed to compromise deals.

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2023-01-07 04:28:27Z
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