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02
December

ASEAN and Japan Logo - 

 

ASEAN and Japan established the ASEAN-Japan Cooperation on Sports at the first ASEAN Plus Japan Ministerial Meeting on Sports (1st AMMS+Japan) in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, in 2017. Sharing the same concerns on gender equality in sports, the ASEAN-Japan Cooperation agreed on developing the ASEAN-Japan Actions on Sports. The project’s main purpose is to promote women’s and girls’ participation in sports, including female athletes, coaches, and female leaders in sports organisations.

The first activity, “ASEAN-Japan Workshop on Promoting Gender Equality in Sports,” took place on 10 -13 August 2021. It was hosted by the Japanese Centre for Research on Women in Sport of Juntendo University, through collaboration with Japan Sports Agency, ASEAN Secretariat and UN Women. The four-day online workshop featured 60 sports professionals and youth from 10 ASEAN Member States, Japan and ASEAN Secretariat.

Through this event, ASEAN and Japan hope to strengthen their cooperation by promoting gender equality in and through sports, as well as to empower women and girls in ASEAN Member States through life skills and leadership training in sports.

Building on the legacy of the Tokyo 2020 Games, ASEAN appointed ten prominent athletes and sports officials as ASEAN Women in Sports Ambassadors. The ambassadors will use their influence to promote gender equality and women empowerment through sports, across the region and spread encouraging messages to the ASEAN Community. This initiative is part of the Japan-funded ASEAN #WeScore Campaign.

The appointed ASEAN Women in Sports Ambassadors are HRH Princess ‘Azemah Ni'matul Bolkiah (polo athlete from Brunei Darussalam), Sokha Pov (traditional martial arts athlete from Cambodia), Leani Ratri Oktila (Indonesian para-badminton athlete), Soulamphone Kerdla (head coach of Lao PDR’s national swimming team), Farah Ann Abdul Hadi (Malaysian gymnast), Soe Soe Myar (Myanmar taekwondo athlete and referee), Hidilyn Diaz (Filipino weightlifter), Amita Berthier (Singaporean fencer), Panikpak Wongpattanakit (Thailand’s taekwondo athlete) and Tuyet Van Chau (Vietnamese taekwondo athlete).

They will share their views on women empowerment in an upcoming talk show to be held at the ASEAN Secretariat on December 3, which coincides with the International Day of Persons with Disabilities and the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence annual campaign. The talk show will touch on issues such as gender equality and women’s leadership, safeguarding of women and girls in sports, promoting the rights of persons with disabilities through sports, as well as the impacts of COVID-19 on sports and how to address it.

Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Ekkaphab Phanthavong, along with Director Tomohiko Arai (International Affairs Division Japan Sports Agency SOMS Leader), Assistant Professor Aya Noguchi (Juntendo University's Faculty of Sports and Health Sciences), and Jamshed M. Kazi (UN Women Country Representative, Indonesia and Liaison to ASEAN) will take part in the event.

ASEAN #WeScore campaign forms part of the ASEAN-Japan Actions on Sports, a project under the ASEAN Plus Japan Senior Officials Meeting on Sports (SOMS+Japan) funded by the Government of Japan through the Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund. Prior to the talk show, the ASEAN Secretariat will hold a Tribute to Tokyo 2020 ASEAN Olympic and Paralympic Medallists.

ASEAN #WeScore Campaign contributes to the implementation of ASEAN Work Plan on Sports 2021-2025 and is in line with ASEAN Vision 2025 and the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number 5: Achieving Gender Equality and Empowering All Women and Girls//VOI-NK 

28
November

Human Rights Watch said in a July report that at least 1,100 North Koreans are detained in China, Pyongyang's main ally and economic benefactor. (Photo: AFP/File/Greg Baker) - 

 

Chinese police have captured a North Korean prisoner who staged a daring escape from jail in October and had been on the run for more than forty days, authorities said Sunday (Nov 28).

Officials in northeast China were offering a US$23,000 bounty for the recapture of the escapee, in a manhunt that has sparked massive interest on social media.

The 39-year-old prisoner, identified by the Chinese name Zhu Xianjian, was jailed in China after fleeing reclusive North Korea.

He escaped the facility in Jilin city by scaling a shed and vaulting the outer wall on Oct 18, and managed to stay at large before being captured Sunday.

A one-line statement from Jilin police said he had been reprimanded at about 10am local time Sunday morning, without giving more details.

Videos shared by state-run Beijing News showed an emaciated-looking man being carried by several officers, with a photograph of him then lying on the ground with his hands behind his back.

Zhu was convicted of illegal entry into China, larceny and robbery, and was due for release and deportation back to the North in 2023, prompting online speculation that he broke out to avoid being sent back.

He illegally crossed a river separating North Korea from China in 2013. He then raided several houses in a nearby village, stealing money, mobile phones and clothes, court records show.

He also stabbed an elderly woman who discovered him and tried to flee in a taxi before being arrested by police.

Human Rights Watch said in a July report that at least 1,100 North Koreans are detained in China, Pyongyang's main ally and economic benefactor.

Many face deportation back to their home country upon release, where they may suffer torture and other rights violations, according to the NGO//CNA

 

28
November

Travellers at Sydney's International Airport on Nov 1, 2021. (File photo: AFP/Saeed Khan) - 

 

Health officials in Australia said Sunday (Nov 28) they had detected the COVID-19 Omicron strain for the first time after testing two passengers from southern Africa who flew into Sydney.

The eastern state of New South Wales' health authority said it had conducted urgent genomic testing and confirmed the new strain was present two passengers who landed in Sydney on Saturday.

Both passengers came from southern Africa and arrived in Australia on a Qatar Airways flight via Doha, NSW Health said in a statement.

They tested positive for COVID-19 shortly after arriving, leading to an urgent analysis for possible infection by the heavily mutated Omicron strain.

"The two positive cases, who were asymptomatic, are in isolation in the special health accommodation. Both people are fully vaccinated," NSW Health said.

Another 12 passengers from southern Africa in the same flight did not test positive for COVID-19 but have been placed in quarantine, it said.

About 260 passengers and crew on the plane have also been told to isolate, the health authority said.

Australia had earlier on Saturday imposed new restrictions on people who have been to nine southern African countries, as the highly infectious Omicron variant raises concerns about another wave of the pandemic.

Britain, Germany and Italy detected Omicron cases on Saturday as more nations imposed restrictions on travel from southern Africa.

New Zealand also announced fresh measures from Sunday evening, Radio New Zealand reported.

COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said late on Saturday that only New Zealand citizens will be allowed to travel into the country from the nine southern African nations, according to the news service.

Citizens would be required to stay in managed isolation for a full 14 days, as well as undergo testing, he was quoted as saying.

Australia early this month eased its international border restrictions for the first time during the pandemic, allowing fully vaccinated residents to return to the country without quarantine after higher vaccination levels.

Australia had largely stamped out infections for most of this year until an outbreak of the highly infectious Delta variant in late June spread rapidly across its east. About 205,000 cases and 1,985 deaths have been recorded so far, lower than many other countries in the developed world//CNA

 

28
November

People take their antigen rapid test under supervision, at a Quick Test Centre during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Singapore September 28, 2021. REUTERS/Edgar Su - 

 

Singapore is tracking the emerging Omicron COVID-19 variant 'very closely', and could be forced to take a few steps back again before taking more steps forward, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Sunday (Nov 28).

Speaking at the People's Action Party (PAP) convention, Mr Lee said that Singapore has made "a lot of progress" in the fight against COVID-19, but must be prepared for more bumps along the way.

"Right now, a new variant of concern is emerging. We've learnt a new word – the Omicron variant. We are tracking this very closely. We are not sure yet, but we may well be forced to take a few steps back, before we can take more steps forward," said Mr Lee.

"But despite all this, I am confident that we will find our way to living with the virus, and safely resume all the things we love to do. We are making all this effort because we want to get there safely, suffering as few casualties along the way as possible."

The Omicron variant has been designated "of concern" by the World Health Organisation, with countries imposing travel curbs on travellers from a number of African countries.

On Friday, Singapore also said it will restrict entry to travellers with recent travel history to seven African countries following the emergence of the variant in that region.

All long-term pass holders and short-term visitors with travel history within the previous 14 days to Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe are not allowed to enter Singapore or transit here.

Mr Lee also noted that COVID-19 has been a "searching test" of public trust, and this applies to countries all around the world.

"Some societies are high-trust, others are low-trust – and it makes all the difference in a crisis. Singapore is and must always be high-trust."

"That is the way to weather not just COVID-19, but any storm that comes our way."

Mr Lee gave the example of countries that have had great difficulty vaccinating their whole population, despite vaccines being available. He pointed out that "political divisions and deep distrust" have made it harder for the US and many European countries to bring COVID-19 under control.

"Many of them are anti-vaxxers - not just because they are misguided or ignorant, but because of deep distrust – of authority in general, and of their own government in particular," he added.

He noted that Singapore is fortunate not to have such divisions in its society.

"We did not become a cohesive, trusting society overnight. Social cohesion is the work of decades. And trust has to be built up long before the crisis. When a crisis strikes, if the trust is not already there, then it is already too late," said Mr Lee.

"I am grateful that the PAP government enjoys the public’s trust, built up over years of working closely with Singaporeans. We've been delivering faithfully on promises. Consistently producing results for the people – housing, healthcare, education, well-paying jobs, better lives. We have shown year in, year out, in good times and bad, in crisis after crisis, that the PAP government will always be there - with you, for you, for Singapore."

During the COVID-19 crisis, the Government needed to draw on this "reservoir of trust", as it faced many difficult and urgent decisions impacting lives and livelihoods, said Mr Lee.

"Whatever we decide, however hard we try to get it right and to cushion the impact, more often than not some group or other will be affected or disappointed," he added.

"Yet still the Government must exercise its judgment to the best of its ability, and carry Singaporeans along."

Mr Lee noted that in a crisis, leaders cannot afford to waver.

And as leaders strive to do the right thing, they must continue nurturing the people’s trust, he added. This means dealing competently with the problems, explaining clearly what they are doing and why, as well as where they are headed as well as being open and transparent.

It is also important to lead by example, he pointed out.

"In Singapore we take this for granted, but it is very important and worth reminding ourselves. The same rules apply to everybody – safe distancing, mask wearing, testing and isolation requirements," Mr Lee said.

"You may be Minister or MP, community leader or safe distancing ambassador – you abide by the same rules, whoever you may be."

Trust is important not just between Singaporeans and the leaders, but between each other too, said Mr Lee. And while rules and penalties are necessary, they are not enough, he explained.

"We must also trust our collective spirit as one people. Looking out for one another, supporting those in greater need, staying united in a crisis," Mr Lee added.

"Singapore cannot claim to have better doctors or scientists, or better healthcare than the US or Europe. But the decisive difference in our response is this: We trust one another, and therefore we work with one another and not against one another."//CNA