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TrulyTainan REELS on KTM Komuter Becomes a Hot Topic of MATTA!

TrulyTainan Subway Ads for Nearly 400-Year-Old Capital Get Tongues Wagging.

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA – Media OutReach – 13 September 2022 – During the travel expo in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, passengers at the KTM Bank Negara Station saw the appearance of unique promotional images advertising Tainan City, Taiwan’s old capital with close to 400 years of history. To evoke long-awaited thoughts of traveling abroad, the city promotes itself as an international city with the slogan “Want to Travel to Truly Taiwan, Truly Tainan”, accompanying viral travel videos of 10 Tainan highlights with historical significance on social media: Chikan Tower, Hsu Feng Hao, Chimei Museum, Madou Daitian Temple, Anping Tree House, Beimen Crystal Church, Sicao Green Tunnel, Dingtouer Sandbar, Jing Zhai Jiao Tile Paved Salt Fields, and Ten Drum Culture Village were selected by a professional photography team to be “Tainan’s 10 Must-See Attractions” to feature in platform ads; four consecutive weeks of exposure has created enthusiasm in the community and thus become a hot topic of conversation after this year’s expo.

Historic Tainan City promotional images wrapping the platform columns at the KTM station

The First REELS Audio Created for an Ancient Capital Invites You To Experience TrulyTainan.

Acclaimed musician Emily Pu was invited by the Tainan Tourism Bureau to compose TrulyTainan theme music for her hometown. With deep feeling for her hometown, she especially took as inspiration Fucheng’s rich cultural heritage and from more than 100 Tainan temple fair videos sampled sounds of classic traditional instruments, then used western electronic music to rearrange it with varied rhythms and diverse sounds that display a spirit of innovation without forgetting one’s roots. Several kinds of traditional and popular musical elements are brought together, as if shuttling the traveler between the remains of old houses and modern arts. Please type in “tainantravels” to access the official account, where users can freely store and with video editing create and share their own go REELS videos.

Tainan is known for its “Delicious delicacies that heal the soul.”

The city has received recognition from the world-famous gourmet travel review magazine the Michelin Green Guide and features in this year’s Bib Gourmand list of recommendations as a must-visit city for international visitors to Taiwan. CNN calls Tainan “Taiwan’s capital of food.” A columnist for the US Wall Street Journal recommended Tainan as a world-class food museum. Visit the city to find out why international foodies say “You haven’t tried the authentic Taiwanese taste until you feast in Tainan.”

Before the pandemic, the number of Malaysian tourists traveling to Taiwan grew by an average of 6% for three consecutive years. When the pandemic struck the hotel industry, only Tainan kept up its occupation rate at the top among cities in Taiwan, adding 97 new hotels and hostels with revenues up NT$1.21 billion over the first half of the year. According to Taiwan citizens’ tourism survey results, during 2020-2021, Tainan City was for two consecutive years one of Taiwan’s favorite cities to visit. It is a top city for post-pandemic travel in Taiwan, boasting mountainous, coastal, as well as cultural landscapes, all within a day’s reach.

Before reactivating your travel plans, please visit Travel Tainan at www.twtainan.net to start planning an amazing itinerary. Make sure to also record a TrulyTainan REELS short video and create your own exclusive food map.

Images and video download link:https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/15vDgYnZM0UJ-BKbhZyTWtPuNuiRBibf-?usp=sharing

Hashtag: #TrulyTainan

Laos Vice President Signs a Book of Condolences in Honor of Queen Elizabeth

Vice President, Ms. Pany Yathotou, signed on a book of condolences at the British Embassy.

The Vice President of Laos, Pany Yathotu, on behalf of the government, led a delegation of ministers to sign a book of condolences at the British Embassy on Monday for the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Let’s GOverseas to explore the world like never before with Traveloka!

Unmatched Flight and Hotel deals to your dream holiday destinations.
EasyReschedule and CleanAccommodation features for a worry-free experience.

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 13 September 2022 – After years of travel restrictions, limited adventures and postponed travel plans, combined with the reopening of borders, international travel has seen an exponential increase. Traveloka, Southeast Asia’s travel and lifestyle platform is inviting you to rediscover the world again, and GOverseas with them.

From 13 September 2022, visit GOverseas and discover unmatched international flight and hotel deals to your favourite destinations such as Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Japan, South Korea, USA, Maldives, and more! With further savings of up to S$150 with our hotel and flight coupons available on the GOverseas page, there is no better time than now to make travel plans with loved ones and friends to live a little more, without breaking the bank.

Users can also enjoy slashed deals for Flights, Hotels and Xperiences during the weekly GOverseas Travel Flash Sale from Monday to Wednesday on Traveloka. Here are some spoilers on destinations that users can look out for:

  • 4D3N Bali tropical getaways from S$287
  • 7D6N escapes to Sydney from S$1497
  • … and more!

Flights and hotels booked via GOverseas, can also enjoy EasyReschedule, Traveloka’s proprietary flight and hotel rescheduling service, which allows you to change your flight and hotel bookings with a few easy steps online. Not sure how to do it? Not to worry. Our online visual guide will take you through the process, step by step. Change to travel plans is inevitable and EasyReschedule will help you enjoy a worry free holiday!

A worry free holiday also means staying in a hotel that provides convenience, as well as a high hygiene standard. Traveloka helps you identify international accommodations worldwide, with over 70,000 partners, some of which have attained the exclusive CleanAccommodation badge, which means that they follow hygiene protocols recommended by their governments, and the World Health Organization.

With all these benefits by simply booking your flight and hotel via GOverseas, there is no better time to be nipped by the travel bug and rediscover the meaning and unforgettable moments of travel!

“International travel has increased as a result of pent-up demand during the pandemic and in response to remote working and digital nomadism. As a travel and lifestyle platform, we understand the concerns of travellers and are focused on providing the best value and reliability with our products and services. Traveloka will continue to work with our partners and other industry players to ensure we meet the evolving needs of consumers in a post pandemic world, for reliable flight and hotel booking services,” said Pascal Gekko, VP of International Accommodation, Traveloka.

To fuel consumers’ wanderlust, the lifestyle superapp offers various deals and features which include exclusive partner deals with bank partners such as Citi Bank’s promotion of up to S$100 off international bookings.

For Traveloka’s full list of promotions, head over here to find out more.

Hashtag: #Traveloka

About Traveloka

Traveloka, Southeast Asia’s lifestyle superapp, provides users access to discover and purchase a wide range of travel, local services, and financial services products. Traveloka’s comprehensive product portfolio includes transport booking services such as flight tickets, bus, trains, car rental, airport transfer, as well as access to the largest accommodation inventory in Southeast Asia, including hotels, apartments, guest houses, homestays, resorts, and villas, making Traveloka a booking platform with the widest selection of accommodation and packages.

Traveloka is also a key player in the local services category (currently specific to certain markets), offering reservations for a wide range of local attractions, activities, wellness and beauty clinics, culinary directories as well as food delivery. Traveloka also offers financing, payment, and insurance products to help Southeast Asian consumers fulfill their lifestyle aspirations. Traveloka provides 24/7 customer service in local languages as well as more than 30 different local payment methods. Traveloka lifestyle superapp has been downloaded more than 100 million times, making it the most popular travel and lifestyle booking application in the Southeast Asian region.

For more information, please visit:

Mekong River Commission Improves Monitoring and Flood Forecasting

Mekong River

As climate and weather patterns become more volatile, flood and drought events in the Mekong have become more frequent and intense with growing potential to cause devastating damage to the region’s food security and economies.

Toys”R”Us brings its newest store concept to west Singapore with the grand opening of a new location in JEM

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 13 September 2022 – This September School Holiday, Toys”R”Us is thrilled to announce the grand opening of its new JEM outlet, located in the west of Singapore. As the leading retailer of toys, games, leisure equipment and educational products, Toys”R”Us has expanded its local footprint into a new part of Singapore, making it more convenient than ever for parents to access the best range of toys and children’s products with more than 11 outlets now across the island.

The new JEM store is strategically located a stone’s throw away from Jurong East MRT station, and the Jurong East bus interchange. This newest location is the first in Singapore to unveil a unique, new store concept which highlights the various stages of child development, helping parents and gift-givers more easily choose the perfect toy when shopping for their children or loved ones. The store not only provides the same exciting store experience for kids, but it is also designed to ease store navigation, simplify product selection, and enhance the overall shopping experience for adults.

A grand opening celebration will be held on Friday, September 9th at the JEM store where visitors of all ages can explore their love of learning and play, complete with a line-up of special guests, childhood character meet-and-greets and gift cards for the first 50 customers through the doors.

“At Toys”R”Us, we’re focused on bringing joy to children and making lasting memories for families across Singapore,” said Adelene Teo, General Manager of Toys”R”Us Singapore. “Toys provide entertainment, but they also play a crucial role in childhood development, helping children hone their cognitive, motor, psychosocial, emotional and linguistic skills, while fueling their imagination. This exciting new concept store in JEM, Singapore’s third-largest suburban shopping space, enables parents to clearly understand which toys are most suitable for their kids, and gives even more children the chance to enjoy magical moments inside our store and walk away with the perfect toy.”

Building on insights from parents, Toys”R”Us has redesigned the layout and signage of this newest store in Singapore to center around essential childhood development stages, such as Role Play and Dress Up, STEM and Learning, Infants and Pre-school and Creativity development, making it easier for parents to find the right product for the age and development stage of their child, and which appeals to their unique interests. Central to the store concept is this new, more intuitive navigation system and signage in which products are categorized based on type rather than the brand. For example, there is a remote-controlled vehicle section where all brands of vehicles in this category are located, helping save time and simplifying the shopping process. The store will also incorporate play areas throughout where children can touch and play with toys on display, adding to their instore experience.

We are committed to on-going engagement with customers, listening to feedback and continually evolving to provide the best range of toys that fuel a child’s imagination and the best possible shopping experience for both the parents and gift-givers.

The Grand Opening Celebration

To mark its presence in the west of Singapore, Toys”R”Us is bringing a variety of engaging experiences and special perks to visitors attending the store opening in JEM.

Toys”R”Us Business

The global Toys”R”Us brand established a local presence in September 1984, when it opened a licensed operation in Singapore. Until today, it has an extensive presence in East Asian territories and Southeast Asia under the umbrella of Toys”R”Us Asia. With a total of 11 stores located around Singapore, Toys”R”Us will continue to bring immersive story- and toy-led environment in Singapore and bring new immersive shopping experiences to our customers.

Hashtag: #Toys“R”Us

About Toys“R”Us Asia

For nearly 40 years, Toys”R”Us has been the trusted partner to families as the leading destination for the best toys, games, sports equipment and learning supplies for kids and toddlers, along with everything new parents need to care for and support their babies. Headquartered in Hong Kong, the company operates over 470 stores with more than 10,000 team members across Asia, including Brunei, mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand – and licenses more than 85 stores in the Philippines and Macau. Toys”R”Us and Babies”R”Us offer a carefully selected range of quality local and international brands, innovative and exclusive products, engaging loyalty programs and an interactive in-store experience that fuel a child’s imagination and inspire learning at every stage of a child’s development. Toys”R”Us operates 11 stores across Singapore.

Thai Users Express Concern Over the New iPhone Meme from Laos

A viral meme from Laos where users are pretending to have sold their kidneys for the new iPhone.

Health workers in Thailand have raised an alarm over jokes going around social media where users are pretending to have sold their kidneys to get their hands on the new iPhone.

OPPO joins the Open 3D Foundation to spur the development of 3D graphics on mobile devices

SHENZHEN, CHINA – Media OutReach – 13 September 2022 – OPPO today announced that it has officially joined Open 3D Foundation (O3DF), part of the nonprofit Linux Foundation, as a Premier member. Founded in 2021, the O3DF was created to promote cooperation and pooling of resources among developers by supporting open-source projects in 3D graphics, rendering, and game development. The O3DF’s flagship project is the Open 3D Engine (O3DE) — a cross-platform, open-source engine capable of powering AAA games and cinema-quality 3D worlds. The O3DF counts 25+ other leading technology companies, including Adobe, Amazon Web Services, Intel, and Microsoft, among its supporting members.

By joining the Foundation, OPPO will not only contribute to the development and adaptation of 3D graphics technology for mobile devices but will also boost the performance of 3D graphics on them by working with other industry leaders. As part of its commitment to the O3DF, OPPO will actively participate in the O3DF Governing Board and its Technical Advisory Committee. OPPO will also join the effort of creating a working group specialized in the adaptation and development of the O3DE on mobile devices.

“Today, 3D graphics technology has become an essential element of modern society, with application domains ranging from visual effects, gaming, and medical imaging to the next-generation content like Metaverse,” said Hansen Hong, Director of OPPO Software Technology Planning. “We are excited to join the Open 3D Foundation as a Premier member at the early stage of its development. Through our collaboration within the Foundation, we are eager to contribute to the Open 3D Engine with mobile platforms as our focus. Together with the Mobile Device Working Group, we will bring smoother and more user-friendly mobile development experiences to O3DE developers while generating more efficient yet immersive and realistic rendering applications for mobile users. ” “We’re excited to welcome OPPO to the community, and we look forward to its contributions in helping advance 3D graphics standards through the O3DE project,” said Royal O’Brien, general manager of Digital Media and Games at the Linux Foundation and executive director of O3DF. “New members like OPPO personify the value of O3DE’s modular architecture, which makes it easier for developers to build 3D solutions that combine the technologies best suited to a diverse set of use cases. Mobile gaming is a great example of how that modular approach fosters extensibility and adaptability from our core technology.”

The O3DE is a modular, open-source, cross-platform 3D engine with a photorealistic 3D renderer and other features built to power anything from AAA games to cinema-quality 3D worlds and high-fidelity simulations. The engine is licensed by Apache 2.0 and MIT and is available worldwide. The O3DE features a completely modular construction, allowing developers to choose the functions they want according to their needs. Due to its open-source nature and modularity, the engine is highly scalable, meaning developers can add new tools, functions, and development processes to their projects. Meanwhile, its cross-platform compatibility enables interoperability and portability of real-time 3D assets and tools across development environments, unleashing the creativity of artists and developers around the globe.

The arrival of OPPO to the O3DF community will help accelerate the development of O3DE features and capabilities specifically for mobile devices, allowing advanced computer graphics features such as ray tracing to be used in more mobile applications. At the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in March this year, OPPO introduced the ColorOS Ray Tracing 3D Wallpaper, successfully bringing interactive ray tracing applications to smartphones for the first time. Users can watch in real-time by tilting the smartphone as virtual light interacts with virtual environments to create shadows, reflections, and other lifelike light effects.

Through the O3DF and other initiatives, OPPO will continue to work with developers and partners to seek more Inspiration Ahead, expanding access to technology to enable more people to enjoy a smarter life.

Hashtag: #OPPO

USAID and UNFPA Join Hands to Support 5th Population and Housing Census 2025

The United State Agency for International Development (USAID) has committed USD 500,000 to support the preparation of the 5th Population and Housing Census (PHC) 2025. The funds will be provided through the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

A PHC is undertaken every ten years to generate a wealth of data, including specifying numbers of people, their geographic distribution, age and sex composition, as well as their living conditions, and other key socioeconomic characteristics. The PHC data are critical for good governance, policy formulation, development planning, crisis prevention, mitigation and response, social welfare programs, and business market analyses.

Laos, through the Lao Statistics Bureau (LSB), has conducted four PHCs, with the most recent in 2015. Lessons learned from previous PHCs have led to the early planning of the 2025 PHC and the use of digital innovation for timely, cost-effective, and high-quality census processes and results. Such innovative technologies will include, for example, electronic data collection and the use of GIS-based census mapping to yield more quickly available and higher quality data. 

Mme. Phonesaly Souksavath, Head of Lao Statistics Bureau said: “LSB is a key government sector of Laos that has a leading role in the preparation and implementation of the 5th population and housing census, 2025. I would like to congratulate and acknowledge the support from development partners and donors at national and international levels to the Lao government through bilateral and multi- bilateral frameworks. This is an exemplary cooperation that will significantly contribute to census data collection, analysis and dissemination, ensuring high quality and timely disaggregated population data that meet international standards.”

Michel Ronning, USAID Country Representative to Laos aid, “USAID is proud to support LSB to prepare for the fifth Population and Housing Census. This important partnership with LSB and UNFPA will assist the Laos to make informed decisions on policies and programs that will benefit the people of Laos.” 

The 2025 PHC will track population dynamics and provide an evidence base for developing and tracking the 9th and 10th five-year National Socio-Economic Development Plans (NSEDP), the Sustainable Development Goals, and International Conference on Population and Development Programme of Action.

Mariam Khan, UNFPA Representative to Laos said, “The PHC is critical for achieving the collective vision to leave no one behind and help Laos monitor and achieve targets set in national and international development platforms. UNFPA is delighted to welcome USAID as a partner in support of the 2025 PHC.” 

Often, a national census is the only source of information for identifying social, demographic, and economic exclusion – Up to 107 of the 231 unique indicators of the Sustainable Development Goals require population data for monitoring and censuses are a key source.