Compiled by CHAN MAY THENG, JAROD LIM and R. ARAVINTHAN

       AN assistant restaurant manager in Marina Bay Sands, Singapore, has been charged in court with stealing loyalty card points earned by customers through their meals, China Press reported.

       The 48-year-old woman was alleged to have misappropriated more than 10,000 points under the Sands Rewards Lifestyle membership card earned by customers at the Blossom Restaurant from Dec 12, 2018, to Feb 13, 2019.

       She stored the points in a card registered to her friend.

       After obtaining her friend’s card number and password, she spent the points worth S$1,173 (RM3,519) in credits at Marina Bay Sands.

       On Feb 13, 2019, a Marina Bay Sands marketing manager sensed something was amiss and voiced the matter to the restaurant manager.

       An internal probe found the wrongdoings was committed by the assistant manager and the matter was reported to the police.

       The prosecutor urged the court to sentence the accused to between two and three months in jail as she had returned the money to the restaurant.

       The court proceedings was postponed to April 8 as the defence lawyer was unable to attend due to flu.

       > As the death toll due to Covid-19 continues to rise in Hong Kong, the demand for environmentally-friendly paperboard coffins has increased, Sin Chew Daily reported.

       This is because paperboard coffins, made of low-cost recycled wood, are easy to produce and come with customised designs.

       To date, the country has recorded 6,000 deaths due to Covid-19 and since most of them were cremated, there is no need for durable coffins.

       LifeArtAsia, a paperboard coffin maker and retail business, can sell some 50 units a day.

       A company representative said some of their customers could accept paperboard coffins but there were also those who said using such coffins were being disrespectful to the dead.

       He said the coffins were custom-made to fit one’s belief and preferences and that it could support up to 200kg.

       “Most importantly, it can reduce greenhouse gas by 87%,” he added.

       > A notice to cull pets owned by Covid-19 positive owners at Anci district in Langfang, Hebei, China, had met with strong criticisms from the public, Sin Chew Daily also reported.

       The notice issued by the district Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated that such a move is necessary to protect recovered Covid-19 patients who returned home from quarantine facilities.

       However, the notice was heavily criticised by residents, causing the district CDC to overturn the ruling.

       A representative from the CDC confirmed the ruling had been withdrawn and that pets at residential units would be managed by the management offices in the respective areas.

       The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.