Anti-coup protesters hold identical posters with images of deposed Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi as they gather outside the Hledan Centre in Yangon, Myanmar on Feb 20, 2021.
This Week's News Spotlight:
ASEAN can play discreet role in helping Myanmar return to stability | Brunei third in Southeast Asia global digital inclusiveness survey | Malaysia launches all-day educational television | Cambodia establishes China-style internet gateway to control and monitor online traffic | Jollibee and Yoshinoya team up in Philippines
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ASEAN can play discreet role in helping Myanmar return to stability - Straits Times
Myanmar was previously ruled by the military from 1962 to 2011.
The ASEAN states have discussed Myanmar’s political crisis intensively and can play a discreet role in helping the country restore stability, said Singapore’s foreign minister Vivian Balakrishnan in Parliament on Tuesday this week.
Responding to queries fielded in Parliament, the foreign minister added that ASEAN will not interfere in its members’ domestic politics.
On Feb 1, the Myanmar military conducted a coup and detained multiple members of the country’s ruling party, including leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Brunei third in Southeast Asia global digital inclusiveness survey - The Star
Overall, Southeast Asia ranked fifth out of seven global regions, below the global average.
Brunei is third in Southeast Asia based on digital inclusiveness, scoring especially high on affordability, accessibility, ability, and attitude, according to consultancy firm Roland Berger’s digital inclusion index last year.
Its affordability is significantly higher than its overall score due to low mobile-broadband prices. Digital inclusion refers to the empowerment of individuals and societies to use information and communication technologies, which allows them to contribute to and benefit from digitalised economies and societies.
It is two spots behind Singapore, which took the top spot globally as well, and Malaysia.
Malaysia launches all-day educational television - Straits Times
About 95 percent of Malaysian households have a television set, said education minister Mohd Radzi Md Jidinhe previously.
Students without access to online home-based teaching and learning will be able to access all-day educational television soon, said Malaysia’s Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.
Due to lack of access to devices like laptops and tablets and slow or zero internet service in rural areas, not all of Malaysia’s 5 million students can access online learning.
This is the first time such a channel is being created, with 1 hours of educational content aired daily from 7am to midnight every day. The programmes are targeted at preschool thru Secondary 6 students.
Cambodia establishes China-style internet gateway to control and monitor online traffic - CNA
The decree comes as the incumbent government faces international criticism about a crackdown that has resulted in a power monopoly for the ruling party, and criminal charges and jail terms for many rivals.
Cambodia has issued a decree to establish a China-style internet gateway, which would be used to control and monitor online traffic, leading to concerns that democratic freedoms might be threatened.
The gateway’s operator will use “measures to prevent and disconnect all network connections that affect national income, security, social order, morality, culture, traditions and customs”.
Service providers are given one year to connect to the gateway, but there is no time period on the launch yet.
Jollibee and Yoshinoya team up in Philippines - Nikkei Asia
Jollibee was founded by entrepreneur Tony Tan Caktiong from an ice cream shop in Manila in the 1970s.
Japan’s Yoshinoya and Philippines’ Jollibee Foods will be jointly opening 50 branches of the Japanese beef bowl restaurant in the Philippines, announced Jollibee on Tuesday this week.
Amid restrictions on restaurants’ dining capacity, Jollibee hopes that Yoshinoya’s potential for delivery services will help the restaurant industry, said Jollibee. Most restaurants in the Philippines are currently restricted to between 50% and 5% of dine-in capacity.
Yoshinoya currently has three outlets in the Philippines. The joint venture will have an initial capital of US$2.7 million and its own management team, and is also Jollibee’s first foray into Japanese food, joining its over 5,800 stores worldwide under more than a dozen brands.