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ASEAN Plans to Boost Travel Amid a Pandemic. Here’s how.

Changi Airport, Southeast Asia’s busiest airport with hundreds of thousands of passengers on a typical day, sat near empty for months. The sprawling Angkor Wat complex, normally bustling with tourists in the peak months of January to April, fell silent. These scenes, which look straight out of a dystopian movie, paint a dynamic region on ASEAN Plans to Boost Travel Amid a Pandemic. Here’s how.

Nadira Ramli and Syed Abdul Rahman

Nadira Ramli and Syed Abdul Rahman

Flying the skies to nurturing the earth sums up Captain Nadira and Captain Abdul Rahman’s journey over the past few months. Many employees in the aviation industry are still facing turbulent times caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. While boarding gates remain shut, this inspiring husband-wife team share their passion for flying and how they navigate Nadira Ramli and Syed Abdul Rahman

Nguyen Qui Duc

Nguyen Qui Duc

Tadioto is owned by Nguyen Qui Duc, a well-published Vietnamese-American writer who decided to return to Viet Nam after years of living in the US. Duc opened Tadioto in 2007, and after several iterations, it has become the favourite haunt of artists, writers, and literati in Viet Nam. They come to mingle, toss ideas, and Nguyen Qui Duc

Ain Bandial

Ain Bandial

With a focused passion to uphold the integrity and quality of journalism, Ain Bandial and three colleagues made the brave move of starting Brunei Darussalam’s first digital only media company in September 2017. Eyebrows may have been raised as such a venture had yet to be undertaken. Three years on, the Scoop now has a Ain Bandial

Samak Kosem

Samak Kosem

Samak Kosem has been researching on Muslim culture in Southern Thailand for many years. The PhD candidate at the Faculty of Social Sciences in Chiang Mai University communicates his findings through photography, mixed media, and videos, among others, to reach a wider audience. His recent research focuses on homosexuality in Muslim society to understand the Samak Kosem

Melvin Chew

Melvin Chew

The hawker scene is an integral part of Singapore’s culture. Locals and tourists throng hawker centres to enjoy local cuisine at affordable prices. But diners had to stop eating out when Singapore imposed circuit beaker measures in April to contain the spread of the coronavirus. The partial lockdown left hawker centres empty for months. Melvin Melvin Chew

Peter Thipommajan

Peter Thipommajan

Peter Thipommajan, a 23-year-old economics graduate from National University of Laos, began teaching English informally to children in 2019. From Monday to Friday, he would rent the Saelao Restaurant in Ban Nathong, Vang Vieng, Vientiane Province and hold a free two-hour English class for interested children, aged 10 to 16. Peter thinks that it is Peter Thipommajan

Kara Magsanoc-Alikpala

Kara Magsanoc-Alikpala

For more than 20 years, the ICANSERVE Foundation has been on a mission to save lives by advocating for early breast cancer detection, and by linking breast cancer patients and survivors to vital information and resources that can set them on the path to healing and wellness. ICANSERVE Foundation was founded by four cancer survivors Kara Magsanoc-Alikpala

Paul Nyan Myint Soe

Paul Nyan Myint Soe

For human resources consultant Paul Nyan Myint Soe, the COVID-19 pandemic means chaos and disaster. The 43-year-old business director was diagnosed with COVID-19 in October, and from his quarantine room, he learned how the virus caused him and his family a great loss.