05/12/2025

FRIDAY | DEC 5, 2025

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Rain forecasts raise fears in Indonesia and Sri Lanka SIBOLGA: Forecasts of fresh rain yesterday raised fears of more damage in flood-hit Indonesia and Sri Lanka, after earlier deluges killed more than 1,500 people in four countries. In Indonesia, the meteorological agency warned that the three hardest-hit provinces on the island of Sumatra would see “moderate to heavy” rain between yesterday and today. The downpour started overnight, but has not reached the intensity that led to destructive flash-flooding and landslides last week. The death toll yesterday stood at 776, revised down slightly from a day earlier as information arrives from remote, inaccessible areas. More than 560 people remain missing, with patchy communications making it hard to confirm whereabouts. At a shelter in Pandan in North Sumatra, 54-year-old Sabandi said she is still traumatised by the floods that swept mud into her home last week. She waited out the floods on her roof for two days, stranded without food or water, before she was evacuated. “My house was filled with mud. The mud was so high that we could not enter the house.” While across Asia seasonal monsoons bring rainfall that farmers depend on, climate change is making the phenomenon more erratic, unpredictable and deadly. Two weather systems dumped massive rainfall on all of Sri Lanka, Sumatra, parts of southern Thailand and northern Malaysia last week. The scale of the disaster has made relief efforts challenging. In Indonesia’s Banda Aceh, an AFP reporter said the line for fuel at one gas station extended four kilometres. Elsewhere, survivors reported food shortages, price gouging and looting. In Sri Lanka, forecasters said the northeast monsoon was due to arrive from yesterday afternoon. Landslide alerts were renewed for some of the worst-hit areas of the central region and residents were advised not to return home as the already saturated slopes could collapse under more rainfall. The main highway from Colombo to Kandy, a distance of 115km, was reopened for 15 hours a day, as workers cleared mounds of soil and boulders. On an alternative route between the regions, an AFP reporter saw traffic moving at a crawl as vehicles navigated badly damaged tarmac. At least 479 people have been killed in Sri Lanka and hundreds remain missing, with the president appealing for international support. Authorities estimate they will need up to US$7 billion (RM28 billion) to rebuild homes, industries and roads, a tough ask for a country still emerging from its worst-ever economic crisis three years ago. – AFP

Thailand seizes assets in cyberscam crackdown

o All those responsible must be brought to justice under law: PM

BANGKOK: Thailand has seized more than US$300 million (RM1.23 billion) in assets tied to criminal networks running multi-billion dollar scam centres in Southeast Asia, said Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul on Wednesday. The announcement comes after authorities across Asia, Europe and the United States targeted Cambodia’s Prince Holding Group and its global business network with asset seizures and freezes worth billions of dollars. In October, US authorities indicted Prince’s Chinese-born founder Chen Zhi, accusing him of presiding over forced labour camps in Cambodia where trafficked workers conduct online scams. Anutin said alleged scammers targeted with asset seizures valued

Some scam workers go willingly to the cyberfraud hubs while others are trafficked and held in prison-like conditions. Britain has frozen business and London property assets worth more than US$130 million and linked to Chen’s network, while Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong each swooped in with seizures as high as US$350 million. The US Justice Department in October called Prince Group “one of Asia’s largest transnational criminal organisations” and seized around US$15 billion worth of bitcoin that US authorities allege are criminal proceeds from the company’s networks. Prince this month denied that it or Chen had committed any crimes. – AFP

Cambodian senator, businessman and ally of former Cambodian leader Hun Sen. About US$290 million in assets were seized from two Thais with suspected links to scam operations. Anutin did not say when the seizures occurred. Cyberscam operations have mushroomed across Southeast Asia, often operating from unassuming office blocks or warehouses where con artists target internet users living all over the globe.

at more than US$300 million were “among the big ones”, including Chen, a Cambodian senator and two Thai nationals. “All those responsible must be brought to justice under the law.” The Thai Anti-Money Laundering Office on Tuesday said it has seized around 100 items belonging to Chen worth 373 million baht (RM48 million), including land, cash, luxury goods and jewellery. Authorities said they have also confiscated assets worth nearly US$15 million from Kok An, a

Hong Kong removes mesh nets linked to deadly fire HONG KONG: Authorities here yesterday rushed to remove all mesh netting on buildings undergoing renovation across the city after the materials were blamed for fanning a blaze that engulfed seven high-rise apartment blocks at the Wang Fuk Court complex last Wednesday, killing at least 159 people. The government on Wednesday ordered the immediate removal of scaffolding nets on all public and private residential buildings by tomorrow to “protect public safety and put residents and businesses’ minds at ease”. Renovation work across the financial hub will effectively grind to a standstill for an undefined period of time as inspectors verify that the netting meets safety standards. Police have arrested 21 people in their probe into the fire. Among them are 15 construction companies employees suspected of manslaughter, including two directors and an engineering consultant from Prestige Construction, the main contractor at Wang Fuk Court. A further six from the fire service installation contractor have been arrested on suspicion of fraud.

had told Parliament on Aug 3, 2021 that she had accompanied a rape victim to make a police report and claimed that the police officer who interviewed the victim had made comments about the victim’s attire and the fact that she had been drinking alcohol. She later admitted in Parliament that the anecdote was untrue. – Bernama Authorities said substandard plastic mesh and insulation foam used during renovation work at the estate likely fuelled the 40-hour inferno, while fire alarms were also not operating properly. Wang Fuk Court residents were told by authorities last year that they faced “relatively low fire risks” after they complained about fire hazards posed by the renovations, the city’s Labour Department said. City leader John Lee has ordered a judge-led committee to investigate the fire and review oversight of building renovations. Development Secretary Bernadette Linn on Wednesday said more than 200 private buildings, along with more than 10 public housing and government buildings, will have to remove the netting, and contractors must bear the costs. Of the 159 bodies found since the blaze, authorities say 140 have been identified, namely 91 women and 49 men, aged between one and 97. The government said more than 2,900 residents have been put in temporary accommodation, with 1,152 staying in hostels, camps or hotel rooms. Another 1,765 residents have moved into transitional housing units. – Reuters

Linn said more than 200 private buildings, along with more than 10 public housing and government buildings, will have to remove the netting, and contractors must bear the costs. – REUTERSPIC

Singapore politician loses appeal in false testimony case KUALA LUMPUR: The Singapore High Court yesterday dismissed opposition leader Pritam Singh’s appeal against his conviction for lying to a parliamentary committee, local media reported. Privileges (COP). Justice Steven Chong said the lower court judge’s decision to convict Singh was sound and supported by evidence, CNA reported. Addressing the media, the Aljunied Group Representation “I certainly took too long to respond to Raeesah’s lie in Parliament. I take responsibility for that.”

(Privileges, Immunities and Powers) Act 1962 for wilfully providing a false answer during an examination before Parliament’s COP. His charges relate to his testimony before the COP, which had been convened in November 2021 to investigate a lying controversy involving then Working Party member Raeesah Khan. Raeesah, then Sengkang GRC MP,

The Elections Department of Singapore clarified in February, following Singh’s initial guilty verdict, that the ruling did not affect his status as an MP as it did not meet the disqualification threshold. Singh was charged on March 19, 2024, under the Parliament

On Feb 17, the Workers’ Party secretary-general was fined S$14,000 (RM44,380) for two counts of giving false testimony while under oath to the Parliament’s Committee of

Constituency (GRC) MP said while disappointed with the verdict, he respects and accepts the judgment without reservation.