Month: March 2020

Two months since the novel coronavirus arrived in Singapore, the city state woke on Saturday to news of its first casualties after two patients died.In a Facebook post, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong sought to reassure the population but also warned of further deaths.“As we get more Covid-19 cases, more patients will need ICU care, and we must brace ourselves for more losses,” he wrote.Lee reminded Singaporeans that of the confirmed 385 cases, 131 have been discharged and “most are gradually…

Southeast Asia is ramping up its fight against the coronavirus as infections spread across the region, with nations locking down cities and sending in the military.As of Friday afternoon Malaysia, the hardest-hit country in the region, had reported 1,030 infections, Singapore 345, Indonesia 309, Vietnam 85, Thailand 50 and Cambodia 47.However, with 25 deaths Indonesia had the most fatalities. Myanmar has no reported cases, but has preemptively closed its border and stopped its migrant workforce…

Confusion over Thailand’s new coronavirus curbs left travellers scrambling on Friday as Thai citizens queued at embassies abroad to get special travel papers and foreigners faced the challenge of producing a negative test for the disease.Testing kits are limited in most countries, especially to people who appear healthy – meaning the Thai rules amount to a de facto ban on all foreigners.The regulations, which take effect on Sunday, were announced on Thursday, but a clarifying document from the…

India hanged four men on Friday who were convicted for the rape and murder of a young woman on a bus in New Delhi in 2012, in a case that shocked the world and shamed the country over its appalling record for crimes against women.The men were executed at dawn in Tihar jail, on the outskirts of the capital, four television news channels reported.Hundreds of police officers were deployed outside the jail premises to control the jubilant crowd that waited with placards to celebrate the execution…

Former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad is observing self-quarantine after coming into close contact with an MP who tested positive for Covid-19.“He is under self-quarantine,” a spokesman said on Thursday.It is believed the 95-year-old statesman took a picture with Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii Lee Wuen, who is now under quarantine at Sarawak General Hospital.Yii said he had tested positive for Covid-19 in a Facebook post on March 17, after coming into close contact with Sarikei MP…

Cambodia’s relaxed approach to the global spread of the novel coronavirus has taken a dramatic turn, with its number of cases almost tripling from the weekend. Phnom Penh on Wednesday announced there were 37 confirmed cases in the country, up from 12 on Sunday. Most of them are foreign nationals or locals who had recently travelled overseas, with at least 24 having at the end of last month attended a gathering at a Kuala Lumpur mosque, which has been linked to more than 400 cases in Malaysia.
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Thousands of Muslim pilgrims from across Asia gathered in Indonesia on Wednesday, despite fears that their meeting could fuel the spread of a coronavirus, just two weeks after a similar event in Malaysia caused more than 500 infections.Organisers and regional officials said the event in the world’s fourth most populous nation had begun, although the regional police chief said he was making a last-ditch effort to persuade organisers to call it off.“We are more afraid of God,” one of the…

This month, one of Thailand’s most popular public institutions – kick boxing stadiums – will be closed for the first time in decades.Rajadamnern Muaythai Stadium and New Lumpinee Boxing Stadium are two of the major stadiums that have announced a temporary closure after authorities said at least 27 people were infected with the novel coronavirus at a Bangkok stadium over the past week, without naming the venue.Thai actor Matthew Deane became the first celebrity in Thailand to contract the…

Worshippers slept in packed tents outside the golden-domed mosque, waking before dawn to kneel on rows of prayer mats laid out in its cavernous central hall. All the while, the coronavirus was passing unnoticed among the guests.The Muslim gathering held at the end of last month at a sprawling mosque complex on the outskirts of Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur has emerged as a source of hundreds of new coronavirus infections spanning Southeast Asia.A 34-year-old Malaysian man who attended the…

As fate would have it, in the past month I have travelled to Italy as the coronavirus was accelerating from nuisance to epidemic; Hong Kong, where the virus has been held in check; Malaysia, where numbers were less stable than appearances suggested; and the UAE, still in the early stages of the virus.Reflecting on these experiences, my impression is that the public in these countries is at various stages of a journey from annoyance to denial to shock and acceptance. After my snapshot visits I…