Housewife fined for

Housewife fined for pimping for RI maid

SINGAPORE: A Singaporean mother-of-three has been fined US$8,823 after pleading guilty to pimping for her Indonesian maid, court officials said on Tuesday.

It is the first time that an employer in Singapore has been convicted of acting as a maid's pimp.

The Min Yek, 35, admitted in court on Monday to asking Awunningsih, who arrived from Indonesia in April, to work as a prostitute and telling her she could provide clients.

The court was told the 24-year-old maid had sex with five men between April 21 and early May in The's house and was paid S$80 (US$47) in total while her boss pocketed S$300.

Vice police raided The's home after a maid agency lodged a protest.

The court heard that Awunningsih was a willing participant as she wanted to pay off a S$2,000 debt to her maid agency. --AFP

;AP;APS; ANPAu..r.. ASEAN-Thailand-Bird Flu Experts, epidemiologists from region meet in Bangkok to prepare for JP/11/ASEAN

Experts meet to discuss possible flu pandemic

THAILAND: Epidemiologists and laboratory experts from 11 Asian countries are meeting in Bangkok this week to fine-tune preparations for a flu pandemic, likely to be caused by bird flu.

The World Health Organization is working closely with these countries at the four-day meeting, which opened on Monday, to strengthen their health systems and ensure there is coordination between the animal health and human health sectors, WHO officials said.

"In this part of the world in many countries, the public health infrastructure is not as good as ... Thailand or some other countries," said Jay Narain, director of WHO's communicable diseases department for Southeast Asia.

The countries have each drafted pandemic preparedness plans, which address early detection and response. Narain urged cooperation between the agriculture and public health officials.

"We are pushing for a multisectoral response. If we do an effective poultry outbreak containment, we should be able to prevent infection in human beings," Narain said.

The H5N1 strain of bird flu has ravaged poultry farms across Asia and has been transmitted to humans, killing at least 67 people since late 2003. Almost all of the victims came into close contact with infected birds. --AP

;DPA;APS; ANPAu..r.. ASEAN-Thailand-Diplomacy Former Malaysian PM hopes for end to "megaphone diplomacy" JP/11/ASEAN

Mahathir warns against 'megaphone diplomacy'

THAILAND: Former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad expressed hopes on Tuesday that Thailand and Malaysia would drop their "megaphone diplomacy" in dealing with the troubled southern region that defines their border.

Mahathir suggested in talks with former Thai prime minister Anand Panyarachun that while the insurgency in Thailand's southern border region was Thailand's internal affair, frequent leadership-level talks could help clear up misunderstandings between the two neighbors, said the state-run Thai News Agency.

He also said he hoped Malaysia and Thailand would not use "megaphone diplomacy" to solve problems, Anand said after meeting Malaysia's senior statesman.

Mahathir, no stranger to "megaphone diplomacy" himself during his more than 20 years as Malaysian prime minister, has irked Thailand with his comments about the situation in the kingdom's deep south, comprising the majority Muslim provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala that border Malaysia.

Mahathir's suggestion that the insurgency could be ended by granting the area autonomy sparked a fierce backlash from Bangkok, and accusations that the former prime minister was siding with separatist militants. --DPA