Speech on 'Christian agenda' taken out of context to tarnish my image, says Muhyiddin

Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman Muhyiddin Yassin today said his comments on Christians in a recent speech had been taken out of context, adding that they were in reference to a video clip making the rounds on social media.
"For the record, I was commenting on a video clip that was circulating during this election period where a foreign religious group specifically appeared to be praying for the government to fall in the hands of the opposition.
"PN stands for stability, fairness to all and being corruption-free," Muhyiddin said in response to a Malaysiakini report which quoted a speech he recently gave in Muar, Johor.
In his speech, he said he had watched how a group of worshippers in a church were praying for the opposition in Malaysia to come to power.
But Muhyiddin said the remarks were taken out of context and circulated by PN’s rivals "specifically to tarnish my image and to create a false narrative."
"My entire speech was approximately 55 minutes long. This clip that is circulating on TikTok and social media is a limited one minute and 35 seconds out of the whole speech," he said.
He said he had also spoken about the need for political stability and for DAP to show restraint and respect the "rights of all races in Malaysia including the special rights of the Malays and the Malay rulers."
"I said: 'Everybody must prosper. Malay, Chinese, Indian must share together. So that our nation's prosperity can be shared by all races'," he added.


Sorry.


Anwar confident new BNM governor will continue sustainable monetary policy

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is confident that newly-appointed Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) governor Shaik Abdul Rasheed Abdul Ghaffour is capable of continuing a sustainable and stable monetary policy.
The prime minister has also placed his full faith in Shaik Abdul Rasheed to face the current challenges and create a new thrust for the country.
Shaik Abdul Rasheed will assume the position of the governor from Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus, who completes her five-year term on June 30.
"Today, I met the new Bank Negara governor Shaik Abdul Rasheed Abdul Ghaffour.
"I expressed my highest level of confidence in him to continue a sustainable and stable monetary policy and that it will be improved so that the country's financial position will become better, stronger and more stable," he posted on Facebook today.
Anwar also thanked Nor Shamsiah for her service in guiding BNM, especially when the country was going through difficult and bitter moments during the (Covid-19) pandemic.


Israeli police, Palestinians clash at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque

More than 160 people were wounded after Israeli riot police clashed with Palestinians at Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound late Friday, capping a week of violence in the holy city and the occupied West Bank.Stones, bottles and fireworks were hurled at officers who fired rubber bullets and stun grenades at the crowds at Islam’s third-holiest site, also revered by Jews as the location of two biblical-era temples.At least 163 Palestinians and six Israeli officers were reported wounded at Al-Aqsa and elsewhere in east Jerusalem, as the Palestinian Red Crescent said it had opened a field hospital because emergency rooms were full.Police said officers had restored order because of the “rioting of thousands of worshippers” after evening prayers.Tensions in Jerusalem have soared in recent weeks as Palestinians have protested against Israel’s restrictions on access to parts of the Old City during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, and after authorities ordered several Palestinian families to leave their homes to make way for Israeli settlers.The US called for “de-escalation” and said the threatened evictions could worsen the situation in east Jerusalem, as the United Nations warned the forced evictions could amount to “war crimes”.Friday’s unrest came on Al-Quds (the Arabic name for Jerusalem) Day, an annual day of pro-Palestinian rallies held by Iran, the arch-enemy of Israel, which also saw many thousands march in majority-Muslim countries across the region and as far as Pakistan.Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said that he held the Israeli government “responsible” for the unrest and voiced “full support for our heroes in Aqsa”.International observers urged calm, with UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Vennesland tweeted his concern, and urged all parties to “respect the status quo of holy sites in Jerusalem’s Old City in the interest of peace & stability.”The clashes erupted as Muslims packed the Al-Aqsa compound to pray on the last Friday of Ramadan.In 2000, the compound was where the second Palestinian intifada broke out after a visit there by former opposition and right-wing Israeli leader Ariel Sharon, seen as a painful provocation by Palestinians.Week of violenceEarlier on Friday, Israeli security forces killed two Palestinians and wounded a third after the trio opened fire on the Salem base in the occupied West Bank, police said, with the incident following days of bloody clashes and killings.On Sunday, a 19-year-old Israeli was fatally wounded in a drive-by shooting at the West Bank Tapuah junction bus stop.Israeli security forces said they had arrested Montasser Shalabi, 44, near Ramallah, on suspicion of carrying out the attack. Palestinian sources said Shalabi is a dual US national.On Wednesday, Israeli troops killed a 16-year-old Palestinian when they opened fire on protesters throwing petrol bombs, also in the West Bank.And clashes have broken out between police and demonstrators in the east Jerusalem Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood – fuelled by a years-long land dispute between Palestinian refugees and Jewish settlers.AFP correspondents said around 100 protesters again rallied Friday night in the neighbourhood, with officers using stun grenades and water cannon to disperse them.The incidents in Sheikh Jarrah and around Damascus Gate – a key entry point to the Old City – left many wounded, the Red Crescent said, adding to the toll of around 22 wounded in confrontations earlier in the week.Israeli police also said they made 26 arrests between Wednesday and Thursday.Meanwhile in Jordan – home to a large Palestinian population – hundreds rallied Friday, chanting “we will die for Sheikh Jarrah”.The nation administered the West Bank, including mostly Arab east Jerusalem, until the 1967 Six-Day War and remains the custodian of Muslim holy sites in the city.Earlier this year, a district court ruled four Palestinian homes in Sheikh Jarrah legally belonged to Jewish families.The Jewish plaintiffs claimed their families lost the land during the war that accompanied Israel’s creation in 1948, a conflict that also saw hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced.The Sheikh Jarrah families have provided evidence that their homes were acquired from Jordanian authorities, who controlled east Jerusalem from 1948 to 1967.Israel’s Supreme Court is to hold a new hearing in the case on Monday.


New infections below 2,000 as death toll up by 6

Another 1,977 Covid-19 cases were recorded yesterday, taking total confirmed infections in the country to 4,815,679.
There were 2,018 recoveries, taking total recoveries to 4,752,216.
There are now 27,158 active cases, of which 25,915 or 95.4% are undergoing home quarantine.
Meanwhile, five (0.0%) are at quarantine centres while 1,178 (4.3%) have been hospitalised.
A total of 60 are in ICU with 41 in need of respiratory assistance. ICU utilisation throughout the country stands at 62.5%, with Covid ICU utilisation at 16.3%.
Another six deaths were reported, including two who were brought in dead. Total deaths now stand at 36,305.


Songwriters in Sabah, Sarawak demand compensation for royalty payments

Songwriters and composers in Sarawak and Sabah have voiced frustration and disappointment over what they call the unfair distribution of their royalty payments.Speaking at a webinar on measures to protect their intellectual property rights, they also hit out at the Collective Management Organisation (CMO), the licensed collector and distributor of royalty payments, urging the federal government to decentralise authority for this to Music Rights Sabah (MRS) and Music Right (Sarawak) Bhd (MRSB).Wilfred Medius Tengau of Wisdom Foundation said for the past three decades, the CMO had deprived artistes and musicians in Sabah and Sarawak of their rights.He also said it had failed to function effectively as a collective body, an issue he insisted could only be addressed by local songwriters and musicians.He likewise questioned the transparency of its operations, saying artistes from East Malaysia had received as little as RM13 per year for their creative property.“Based on data from 2017 provided by SCORE, the music licensing tariffs for Malaysia in public premises is more than sufficient to pay royalties to Sabahan as well as Sarawakian musical artists.“We demand that the royalty payments be appropriately compensated for their creative creations as this is a legitimate concern. It is utterly unreasonable that our songs from Sabah and Sarawak only get royalty payments of RM13 annually,” he said.Asmin Mudin, who composed “Sayang Kinabalu”, the theme song for Sabah’s tourism promotions, said this was a long outstanding issue.He agreed that some of the problems were due to improper documentation and contracts by the artistes themselves but said they nonetheless have the right to claim their royalty payments.Given the combined total of 9,000 ethnic songs from the two states, he said it was important for the authorities to uphold a structured and accountable royalty collection mechanism.“In 2017, Fabian William, the Sabahan who wrote a native song called ‘Id Pagandadan’, only received royalty worth RM14.57 although it was openly used and played in public,” he said.Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Alexander Nanta Linggi, who had been briefed on the issue, said the situation was tantamount to an abuse of power.He said he would raise the matter of decentralising the CMO at the Cabinet meeting, adding that the government was taking a holistic approach to improving transparency in the collection of royalty by prioritising accountability and good governance as the core of its policies.“We are committed to monitoring the body so that equitable remuneration will be managed by a sustainable revenue stream,” he said.He said he had instructed the Malaysian Intellectual Property Organisation (MyIPO) to gather information in a working paper to be presented by the end of the year.“Through our professional approach, we hope MyIPO as a body that protects intellectual property will benefit the country and individuals.”He said he would also like engage further with music groups in Sabah and Sarawak.MyIPO chairman Mohamad Alamin said the handing over of the licence collection to its branch office in both states had been approved by the minister.“My latest instruction to the copyright department is that we have to agree to issue a declaration or licence to CMO Sabah and Sarawak.“I have already briefed this to the minister and instructed the copyright department to process and discuss the matter with CMO in Sabah and Sarawak on measures for the implementation of the task,” he said.


It’s about crowd control, health experts say as numbers spiral towards fourth wave

Health experts warn that the country could soon see a fourth wave of Covid-19 infections as daily case numbers which for weeks have hovered above four digits crossed the 2,000 mark yesterday for the first time since the beginning of March.Those who spoke to MalaysiaNow said the number of cases would be difficult to contain if the government failed to keep a lid on movements during festive periods.Dr Subramaniam Muniandy, president of the Malaysian Medical Association, said the so-called fourth wave could arrive sooner rather than later if action is not taken.He attributed the recent rise in number of cases to a lack of systematic preventive measures.“We are not doing anything in a systematic manner,” he said. “Cases went down just a little bit, and we are already relaxing SOPs, giving permission for everyone to operate as usual.”The first movement control order (MCO), implemented on March 18 last year, saw a clampdown on most movements with social activities banned and only essential services allowed to remain open. It was lifted on May 4 and replaced with the conditional MCO, which continued until June 10 when the recovery MCO kicked in.The MCO was reinstated in six states in January amid a spike in infections which saw daily numbers breaching 3,000 for the first time on Jan 7.“We are not doing anything in a systematic manner.”A state of emergency was also declared at about the same time which the Yang di-Pertuan Agong said would continue until Aug 1 unless case numbers can be brought under control.The second MCO, dubbed MCO 2.0, was lifted in early March and replaced with the CMCO currently in force across Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Johor, Kelantan, Penang and Sarawak.Yesterday, daily infection numbers hit 2,148, breaching the 2,000 mark for the first time since March 5.Subramaniam said authorities were trying to strike a balance between lives and livelihoods but warned that this would not be easy.He said the move to allow large gatherings would aggravate the health crisis, adding that festivals should not be seen as grounds for relaxing SOPs.“I believe a fourth wave is already around the corner, and I think it’ll be worse if they open up Ramadan bazaars and night markets,” he told MalaysiaNow.“We need to follow SOPs and restrict movements.”He acknowledged the change brought about by Covid-19 in the way festivals are marked but said authorities should prioritise lives and public health when making decisions.Dr Kuljit Singh, president of the Association of Private Hospitals of Malaysia, recommended that the government take extra care when giving businesses the green light to reopen during the pandemic.“We need to be a little bit more stringent for a longer period of time so that the number of cases can be brought down to a significant level,” he said.However, he added that too many restrictions would sound the death knell for the already weakened economy.“We cannot cut corners in this because we know it will be difficult to control crowds.”Health Minister Dr Adham Baba said on Monday that the country’s infectivity rate of Rt was at 1.06, in contrast to previous projections that daily cases could drop to 500 in May at an Rt of less than 1.0.Kuljit agreed that extra care should be taken when making decisions on business operations and travel, whether interstate or inter-district.He also warned against mass gatherings, saying an outbreak would be difficult to control under such circumstances.“We cannot cut corners in this because we know it will be difficult to control crowds.”Adding that mass gatherings are the usual culprits for virus spread, he said festivals and other celebrations could be held but with restrictions.Noting that the majority of people have yet to be vaccinated against Covid-19, he said it was still too early to reopen businesses “in a big way”.“At the moment, the authorities really need to control anything with numbers. That’s what they can do for now.”


Muar voters turn out despite Covid-19 fears

Voters in the town of Muar have been turning out to vote since early this morning despite concerns over the latest wave of Covid-19 infections.Some arrived as early as 7.30am in order to cast their ballots in the Johor state election today.Among them was Tan Wee Ann, who is registered to vote in the Maharani constituency.She said voting was not a difficult task and would not take a long time.“It’s just putting a piece of paper into the box,” she said when met at the polling centre in SMK Sri Muar.Tan, who is 50 years old, works as a cook.When asked about Covid-19 concerns, she said she was not afraid as she had already received two doses of vaccine as well as a booster shot.Another voter, J Prema, said she had travelled from Johor Bahru the day before in order to cast her vote.“I came with my husband,” the 60-year-old said, adding that her children are registered to vote in Johor Bahru.“We came early because we want to return to Johor Bahru as quickly as possible, as we are helping a candidate there.”Like Tan, Prema said she was confident that the booster dose she had received would help protect her from the adverse effects of Covid-19.The Maharani state constituency, which falls under the Muar federal seat, is witnessing a six-way fight among Perikatan Nasional candidate Abd Aziz Talib, Pakatan Harapan’s Nor Hayati Bachok, Nor Farra Shamsudin of Barisan Nasional, Riad Ahmad of Pejuang, Parti Bangsa Malaysia candidate Ahmad Hasni Asmui Md Salleh and independent Lim Kin Joo.Incumbent Nor Hayati had won the seat with a 5,674-vote majority, defeating BN’s Ashari Md Sarip and Mohammad Taslim of PAS.PN chairman Muhyiddin Yassin is expected to cast his vote at the school later today.


Indifference, KDM rebellion and weak allies cost Shafie his Sabah prize

A combination of factors including the failure of Warisan’s allies to deliver for their alliance, a lower voter turnout, an increase in the number of seats contested, and the rejection of Upko by the predominant Kadazan Dusun Murut electorate has been seen as instrumental in the downfall of Shafie Apdal, the former Sabah chief minister who was in power for 26 months.Other issues also played a role in the victory of Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS), the bloc comprising federal allies Perikatan Nasional (PN) and Barisan Nasional (BN) as well as Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), over Warisan Plus, the alliance made up of Warisan, Upko, PKR, DAP and Amanah.These issues have been laid out in preliminary observations by Ilham Center, an independent research firm that had been studying the Sabah election campaign as it unfolded in the past month.Low voter turnoutThe lower voter turnout of below 70% dealt a blow to Warisan Plus’ bid to maintain power in the state.Warisan had, after all, swept to power in the last general election mainly on the support of younger voters below 40 years of age.But a big chunk of this demographic did not return to vote in their constituencies, with many distributed either throughout Sabah’s vast landscape in places such as Kota Kinabalu and Labuan, or in the peninsula.The study pointed to two factors which could have caused the dearth of younger voters this time around.The first was a lack of enthusiasm among such voters, in contrast to the situation two years ago when Warisan’s “Ubah” tagline captured the imagination of Sabahans amid allegations of massive corruption against the government at the time.That campaign rode chiefly on the general mood to change the BN government.This time, though, the cry of “Ubah” did not strike a chord with voters. Multi-cornered fights also meant that voters tended to go for more prominent candidates.Younger voters were not as interested in the debate over individual candidates, causing them to lose interest in choosing their assemblymen and, ultimately, in going to vote.There was also fatigue over the prolonged power struggle, which turned many away from returning to their constituencies for polling day.The second factor was the impact of the Covid-10 pandemic. The spikes in daily cases reported in Sabah alone spooked many voters, making them reluctant to return to vote.Rumours of an imminent lockdown as well as a quarantine to be enforced after the election added to that fear. Many did not want to risk being unable to return to work, which could lead to them losing their jobs.In yellow zones like Lahad Datu and Tawau which saw sharp spikes of infections over the past weeks, the lack of returning voters cost Warisan Plus victory in several seats which were lost by only a thin margin to GRS.KDM protest against UpkoIn so-called KDM seats, the predominant Kadazan Dusun Murut community appeared to have rejected Upko.This loss of support was attributed to voters’ unhappiness over the Sabah party’s decision to jump ship from BN to Warisan after the 2018 election. In that episode, the defection of five Upko assemblymen who contested under the BN banner to Shafie’s camp handed the Warisan leader the majority needed to form the government.Upko’s support among voters at the time was due to the party’s use of the BN logo. This time, it chose to contest under Warisan, costing it in terms of votes from its traditional support base.Although Upko’s switch to Warisan ruffled the feathers of its supporters, there was no attempt to explain the move or assuage their anger.Even tactical efforts, such as bringing in former chief justice Richard Malanjun to Upko’s campaign, were too late. In the end, Upko only managed to win one of the 12 seats, effectively handing it a “technical knockout”.With the exception of Ewon Benedick in Kedamaian, all of Upko’s candidates lost, even its president Wilfred Madius Tangau who lost to Joniston Bangkuai of PBS.This was seen as a powerful rejection of Upko despite the strength of its candidates, as voters appeared to be more interested in its alliance.This meant a huge loss of support for Upko, with ethnic KDM voters replacing its assemblymen with those from PBS and STAR.It was in fact the KDM areas that caused Warisan and its allies to lose power in Sabah.Future of Warisan and coNevertheless, Warisan managed to increase its share of seats in the state assembly by 7%. In the last election, it won 21 state seats; yesterday, it added eight more.Upko was the biggest loser in the Warisan Plus coalition, winning just one seat.PKR maintained status quo, winning two seats as it did in the last polls.Amanah again failed to win its first seat in Sabah despite contesting under the Warisan banner, losing to BN in Tanjung Keramat.This shows that without Warisan, its allies would have suffered a bigger defeat.‘Sempornisation’ and immigrantsThe influx of undocumented migrants was a sensitive issue played up by PBS and STAR. This proved effective in mobilising sentiments against Shafie and Upko, which ultimately cost Warisan in the polls.The migrants issue was also played up in the Kimanis parliamentary by-election, where Shafie’s management of the situation was criticised as weak. It struck a chord among Bumiputera voters, especially the ethnic KDM and Rungus communities, leading them to reject Warisan Plus.The same went for the so-called “Sempornisation”, a reference to Shafie’s Semporna seat where it was claimed that Shafie prioritised those from his own constituency for important positions in government agencies. This suggestion further drained support for Warisan Plus.13 new seatsThe addition of 13 state seats this time also played a part in the election results.Nine of these new seats, or 69%, were won by GRS, the remainder by Warisan.Warisan, which contested in seven of the 14 new seats, won in Darau, Limbahau, Segama and Kukusan. Segama is the seat of Mohammaddin Ketapi, who won despite his controversial remarks on the 2013 Lahad Datu incident which affected Warisan at the tail end of the campaign.Among the new seats, BN won in Bengkoka, Pantai Dalit, Tanjung Keramat, Sungai Manila and Lamag, the latter through Sabah Umno chairman Bung Moktar Radin.Meanwhile, PN won in Bandau, Pintasan and Tulid, and PBS in Telupid.Warisan benefited from the split in votes caused by local parties, as seen in Kukusan. Its candidate Rina Jainal scraped through with a razor-thin majority of 10 votes, defeating BN’s Chaya Sulaiman.Warisan benefited largely because Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah managed to grab 796 votes, votes which could have tilted the results in BN’s favour.ConclusionWe have consistently said that it would be challenging to predict the outcome of the election this time, thanks to the crowded contest.It became more challenging due to voting patterns turning into one favouring personalities who were close to voters. It was, in fact, like analysing 73 by-elections happening simultaneously throughout Sabah.This complication led to our consideration of 31 seats as “50/50” based on our poll of voters. Of these, 12 seats were unpredictable.Even then, our own data shows that 82% of what we anticipated was correct, with 11 seats of ethnic KDM and Rungus electorates falling short of our predictions. We feel these 11 seats were difficult to predict due to the complex variables and voting patterns.In conclusion, the combination of five factors led to Sabahans’ rejection of Shafie, giving GRS the majority to form the government.Then again, Sabah’s fluid politics means anything can happen in the coming days, and there is no guarantee that those who won on paper will easily form the government.Hisommudin Bakar is executive director of Ilham Center, an independent research firm that has been studying Malaysian elections and politics since 2006. This article was written exclusively for MalaysiaNow.


EU races to shield industry as Russia gas stoppage shakes markets

European gas prices surged, stocks slid and the euro sank on Monday after Russia halted gas flows via a major pipeline, sending another shock wave through economies in the region still struggling to recover from the pandemic.
European Union governments are pushing through multi-billion euro packages to prevent utilities buckling under a liquidity squeeze and to protect households from soaring energy bills.
Prices could rise further after Russia's state-controlled Gazprom said it would stop pumping gas via Nord Stream 1.
Europe has accused Russia of weaponising energy supplies in retaliation for Western sanctions imposed on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine. Russia blames those sanctions for causing the gas supply problems, which were down to a pipeline fault.
Many European power distributors have already collapsed and some major generators could be at risk, hit by caps that limit the prices rises they can pass to consumers or caught out by hedging bets, with gas prices now 400% more than a year ago.
Finland aims to offer 10 billion euros (US$10 billion) and Sweden 250 billion Swedish crowns (US$23 billion) in liquidity guarantees to their power companies.
"The government's programme is a last-resort financing option for companies that would otherwise be threatened with insolvency," Finland's Prime Minister Sanna Marin said.
Utilities often sell power in advance to secure a certain price but must maintain a "minimum margin" deposit in case of default before they supply the power. This has raced higher with surging power prices, leaving companies struggling to find cash.
The benchmark gas price rose as much as 35% at one point on Monday after Gazprom said on Friday a leak in the Nord Stream 1 pipeline's equipment meant it would stay shut beyond last week's three-day maintenance halt.
European financial markets reeled on the news, with the euro sinking to a 20-year low and shares tumbling.
Nord Stream 1, which runs under the Baltic Sea to Germany, historically supplied about a third of the gas Russia exported to Europe, although it was already running at just 20% of capacity before last week's maintenance outage.
Western sanctions
"Problems with gas supply arose because of the sanctions imposed on our country by Western states, including Germany and Britain," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.
"There are no other reasons that lead to problems with supplies," Peskov added.
Adding to the standoff, he also said Russia would retaliate if G7 states imposed a price cap on Russian oil.
Although Russia also sends gas to Europe via pipeline across Ukraine, those supplies have also been reduced during the crisis, leaving the EU racing to find alternative supplies to refill gas storage facilities for winter.
Germany, more reliant than most EU states on Russian gas, has offered a multibillion-euro bailout to power utility Uniper. Berlin said also it would spend at least 65 billion euros to shield customers and businesses from soaring inflation, stoked by surging energy prices.
Berlin said on Monday it plans to keep two of its three remaining nuclear power stations on standby, beyond a year-end deadline to ditch the fuel altogether, to ensure it has enough electricity through the winter.
German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said in a statement on Monday that the move did not mean Berlin was reneging on its long-standing promise to exit nuclear energy by the end of 2022.
Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron said after a call with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz that in the event of energy shortages arising from the Ukraine conflict, Berlin and Paris will support one another.
"Germany needs our gas and we need power from the rest of Europe, notably Germany," Macron told a news briefing.
And Ukraine's Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal urged the EU to supply Kyiv with more weapons, while offering to help out with gas deliveries to reduce the bloc's dependence on Russia, which supplied around 155 bcm of gas to Europe last year.
Recession fears
Some energy-intensive industries in Europe, such as fertiliser makers and aluminium producers, have already scaled back production. Other industries, already grappling with chip shortages and logistics logjams, face rocketing fuel bills.
Several EU states have triggered emergency plans that could lead to energy rationing and fuelling recession fears, with inflation soaring and interest rates on the rise.
"We cannot rule out that Germany might look at rationing gas," Uniper Chief Executive Klaus-Dieter Maubach told Reuters on the sidelines of the Gastech conference in Milan.
Germany, which is installing liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals so it can ship in fuel and expand its range of global suppliers, is at phase two of a three-stage emergency gas plan. Phase three would see some industry rationing.
German households will be prioritised in the event of the plan being activated but will not be able to heat swimming pools or saunas, the energy regulator said on Monday.
The global market for LNG was already tight as the world economy sucked up supplies in the recovery from the pandemic. The Ukraine crisis has added further demand.
Norway, a major European producer, has been pumping more gas into European markets but cannot fill the gap left by Russia.
EU countries' energy ministers are due to meet on Sept 9 to discuss options to rein in soaring energy prices including gas price caps and emergency credit lines for energy market participants, a document seen by Reuters showed.
Klaus Mueller, president of Germany's Federal Network Agency energy regulator, said in August that even if its gas stores were 100% full, they would be empty in 2-1/2 months if Russian gas flows were halted completely.
Germany's storage facilities are now about 85% full, while facilities across Europe hit an 80% target last week.


In twist, Singaporean scheduled for execution named witness in probe against prominent lawyer

An investigation launched by Singapore authorities against a prominent human rights lawyer has created some hope for the life of death row inmate Nazeri Lajim, just two days before his execution scheduled for this Friday.
On Oct 5 last year, M Ravi wrote on behalf of Nazeri and 16 Malay inmates whom he represented in an ethnic bias suit against the government, in a letter urging the attorney-general to cite Home Minister K Shanmugam for contempt over comments in parliament criticising the suit.
This was followed by a notice from the police, informing him that he was being investigated for various offences.
In May this year, Ravi learnt that the investigation against him was based on a complaint that he had not received instructions from the 17 inmates including Nazeri when he wrote the letter to the AG.
Ravi today wrote to the Court of Appeal, naming Nazeri as a witness whose testimony was crucial in the investigation against him.
"It should be noted that subject matter of my Oct 5 letter was a statement made by the Law and Home Minister K Shanmugam who is directly responsible for Changi Prison which schedules executions.
"In these circumstances, I am constrained to ask in the interests of justice that the court exercise its inherent powers to safeguard the administration of justice by ordering a stay of the scheduled execution of Nazeri Lajim pending the completion of the police investigation," Ravi said in his email.
The Court of Appeal today directed the government to respond to Ravi's request by 10am tommorrow.
Nazeri, 64, is slated to be executed on July 22 despite appeals for clemency by his family which had included a desperate bid for a presidential pardon.
Nazeri was one of 17 death row inmates who had filed a historic suit against the government, accusing it of discrimination and bias in their prosecution due to their Malay ethnicity.
The suit was dismissed late last year with the court calling it an abuse of process.
Nazeri was sentenced to death in 2017, five years after his arrest during an anti-narcotics operation which saw him nabbed shortly after taking delivery of two bundles containing heroin.
Ravi had attempted to re-open Nazeri's case in 2020, saying the drugs found in Nazeri's possession were for personal consumption.
"It does not make sense to kill someone who is ill and suffers from a serious drug addiction problem," Ravi had said upon hearing of Nazeri's execution date.


Daily caseload crosses 18,500 as another 44 deaths reported

Another 18,560 Covid-19 cases were recorded yesterday, taking total confirmed infections in the country to 4,201,919.Of the total number of cases recorded, 125 were in Category Three and above.There were 18,253 recoveries, taking total recoveries to 3,960,082.A total of 750 cases were admitted to hospital, with 322 (42.9%) in Category Three and above and 428 (57.1%) in Category One and Two.Of the 125 cases in Category Three and above reported yesterday:* 34 (27.20%) were not vaccinated or had not completed their vaccination;* 50 (40.00%) had received two doses of vaccine;* 41 (32.80%) had received a booster jab;* 67 (53.60%) were aged 60 and above; and* 66 (52.80%) had comorbidities.There are now 206,854 active cases, of which 201,420 or 97.4% are undergoing home quarantine. Meanwhile, 646 (0.3%) are at quarantine centres while 4,521 (2.2%) have been hospitalised. A total of 267 are in ICU with 164 in need of respiratory assistance. ICU utilisation throughout the country stands at 56.9%, with Covid ICU utilisation at 30.3%.Another 44 deaths were reported, including eight who were brought in dead. Total deaths now stand at 34,983.The country’s infectivity rate as of March 31 was 0.87.


Flight data shows China Eastern jet deliberately crashed, report says

US investigators believe someone on board deliberately crashed a China Eastern flight in March, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday, in what was China’s deadliest air disaster in decades.China Eastern flight MU5375 was travelling from Kunming to Guangzhou on March 21 when it inexplicably plunged from an altitude of 29,000 feet into a mountainside, killing all 132 people on board.So-called black box flight data recorders recovered from the site were sent to the US for analysis.That data shows that someone – possibly a pilot or someone who had forced their way into the cockpit – input orders to send the Boeing 737-800 into a nosedive, according to Wall Street Journal, which cited people familiar with the probe.“The plane did what it was told to do by someone in the cockpit,” WSJ quoted “a person who is familiar with American officials’ preliminary assessment” as saying.US officials believe their conclusion is backed up by the fact that Chinese investigators have so far not indicated any problems with the aircraft or flight controls that could have caused the crash and would need to be addressed in future flights, the newspaper said.Both the US National Transportation Safety Board and Boeing declined to comment on the investigation to AFP Tuesday.According to a report from Boeing, investigators found no evidence of “anything abnormal,” China’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAAC) said in April.In a statement, the CAAC said staff had met safety requirements before takeoff, the plane was not carrying dangerous goods and did not appear to have run into inclement weather, though the agency said a full investigation could take years.In the immediate aftermath of the crash, China’s ruling Communist Party moved quickly to control information, revving up its censorship machine as media outlets and local residents raced to the crash site.It has maintained its tight grip over the narrative, with the preliminary probe leaving key questions unanswered.After the fatal descent near the southern city of Wuzhou, authorities swiftly cordoned off a huge area and China’s internet regulator announced it had scrubbed vast amounts of “illegal information” on the crash from China’s tightly controlled web.A social media hashtag bearing the plane’s flight number appeared to be censored.The crash was China’s deadliest in around 30 years and dented the country’s otherwise enviable flight safety record.


800 were on board, says Pakistan police report on Greece boat disaster

A boat that capsized off the coast of Greece last week was carrying around 800 people, according to an initial investigation by police in Pakistan, which declared a national day of mourning on Monday.
Pakistani authorities said they had arrested 14 suspects in connection with the alleged trafficking of migrants and police said they were searching for other suspects.
A statement from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's office said the Pakistani government had ordered a high-level inquiry into the human trafficking network thought to be involved.
National flags were at half-mast on all official buildings on Monday in Pakistan, which was home to some of those who drowned last week.
The police report said one of those arrested had admitted to sending three men onto the boat, which had a capacity for 300-350 people, and had charged them each up to US$10,452.96 (about RM48,366).
The assessment 800 people were on board came from initial investigations, police officer Riaz Mughal said.
"We learnt from two survivors, the arrested suspects and the bereaved families that the boat was carrying around 750 to 800 people," Mughal told Reuters.
Witness accounts had placed the number on board at between 400 and 750 people and Greek authorities have said 104 survivors and 78 bodies have been brought ashore.
One of the suspects arrested in Pakistan said his own son had been on the boat, and was missing, the report said.
It also said the main suspect behind a smuggling network spanning Libya, Pakistan and Greece, was based in Libya.
Mughal said at least 21 of those who died last week came from the Kotli district in the Pakistani-administered part of the Himalayan Kashmir region, from which people have left for Europe for many years.
Senior Regional Police Officer Tahir Mahmood, based in Muzaffarabad, Kashmir's capital, said the police were hunting further suspects in addition to those arrested. He did not specify how many.


List of Covid-free nations just got shorter

The list of places untouched by Covid-19 just got shorter as a small Pacific island nation has recorded its first case.Vanuatu, a country of just under 300,000 people located in the south Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and Australia reported its first case on Tuesday.The country’s health ministry reported that the positive test was recorded in a Vanuatu citizen who returned to the nation from a “higher-risk location” in the US on Nov 4.The person had been identified during pre-travel registration as travelling from a higher-risk location, but he had not tested positive and was asymptomatic so he was allowed to fly.However the airline seated him separately at the back of the plane, away from other passengers and “personal protection measures were applied and maintained during the flight”, the ministry stated.He was isolated throughout the arrival process, during transport to quarantine and during registration at the facility, according to the ministry.The man didn’t share a room with anyone else while at the quarantine facility, and he “adhered to all appropriate measures throughout the travel and quarantine”.The one positive test is not considered an outbreak. The man will remain in isolation until health clearance is given, the ministry said.Vanuatu considers the single case of Covid-19 a “border case” and will not shut down schools or workplaces or impose restrictions on gatherings, but it will maintain handwashing stations throughout the country and encourage residents to follow hygiene measures.There are few remaining places in the world that have not reported a single positive Covid-19 case, according to the World Health Organization.They are all remote locations, including the Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Samoa and Tonga.


Over 21 million Covid jabs given, 21.3% fully vaccinated

A total of 21,200,473 doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been administered under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme from its launch on Feb 24 until yesterday.The Covid-19 Vaccine Supply Access Guarantee Special Committee said of the total, 14,247,659 doses were administered as first doses, while 6,952,814 doses were given as second doses.“According to percentage, 43.6% of the country’s population have received a first dose, while 21.3% have completed their Covid-19 vaccination,” it said.On the daily vaccination rate, a total of 480,122 doses were administered yesterday, 298,236 as first doses and 181,886 doses to second-dose recipients.


Johor can quit Malaysia if rights are breached, sultan warns Putrajaya

Johor’s Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar today warned that the state could choose to secede from Malaysia if the federal government fails to fulfil its rights as spelt out under the Federation of Malaya Agreement.In his speech at the opening of the first session of the 15th Johor state assembly sitting, Sultan Ibrahim accused the federal government of treating the state “like a stepchild”, saying there were “unfulfilled promises” that could provoke Johoreans into calling for a secession.“If this trend continues, Johoreans may agitate towards secession from Malaysia. Perhaps Johor can be more developed if we stand on our own,” he said.Among others, Sultan Ibrahim hit out at the decision of the Pakatan Harapan government in 2018 not to challenge the conclusion of the International Court of Justice in awarding Pulau Batu Puteh to Singapore.“The federal government did not consult Johor on this decision, even though this involved Johor sovereignty.”He also cited what he described as an unfair allocation of funds despite Johor contributing almost RM13 billion annually to the federal coffers.He said federal government facilities and services in the state were also poorly kept, naming among others Hospital Sultanah Aminah, the Sultan Iskandar Customs, the Immigration and Quarantine Complex, and the Urban Transformation Centre in Johor Bahru.He added that promised upgrading works at the North-South Expressway and the Senai-Desaru Highway had not taken place.“I feel that Johor is being treated like a stepchild, even though we are among the top contributors to the national economy,” he said.


US responsible for ensuring nuclear weapons never used again, says state secretary

The US has the responsibility to ensure that nuclear weapons are never used again, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday as the Japanese city of Nagasaki marked the 76th anniversary of the US atomic bombing that brought about the end of World War II.The US dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, making them the world’s first and second locations to come under nuclear attack.“On the solemn anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, we remember the horrific power of nuclear weapons – the enormity of the death and destruction they can deliver – and reaffirm the responsibility of the US and all nations to ensure such weapons are never used again,” he tweeted.His declaration comes as nuclear superpowers remain under scrutiny with a UN treaty to ban atomic weapons coming into effect in January with the support of many non-nuclear states, Kyodo News reports.US President Joe Biden said during last year’s election campaign that he would “work to bring us closer to a world without nuclear weapons, so that the horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are never repeated”.But Biden also said during the campaign that creating “a world free from the threat of nuclear weapons” is an “ultimate” goal.Biden served as vice president under Barack Obama, who won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize but failed to achieve his vision of a world without nuclear weapons.The Biden administration has agreed with Russia to extend their nuclear arms reduction treaty and has launched a bilateral Strategic Stability Dialogue toward future arms control initiatives.In July, on the eve of the 76th anniversary of the world’s first nuclear test conducted in the US western state of New Mexico, Biden said Hiroshima and Nagasaki “opened our eyes to the truth that a nuclear war must never be fought”.ABC News reports that Nagasaki on Monday marked the anniversary with its mayor urging Japan, the US and Russia to do more to eliminate nuclear weapons.In his speech at the Nagasaki Peace Park, Mayor Tomihisa Taue expressed concern that nuclear states have backtracked from disarmament efforts and are upgrading and miniaturising nuclear weapons.Tokyo renounces its own possession, production or hosting of nuclear weapons, but as a US ally Japan hosts 50,000 American troops and is protected by the US nuclear umbrella.“Please look into building a nuclear-weapons-free zone in Northeast Asia that would create a ‘non-nuclear umbrella’ instead of a ‘nuclear umbrella’ and be a step in the direction of a world free of nuclear weapons,” Taue said as he urged Japan’s government to do more to take action for nuclear disarmament.He also called on Japan’s government and lawmakers to quickly sign the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons that took effect in January.At 11.02am, the moment the US B-29 bomber dropped a plutonium bomb, Nagasaki survivors and other participants in the ceremony stood in a minute of silence to honour more than 70,000 lives lost in the single blast.The Aug 9, 1945, bombing came three days after the United States carried out the world’s first atomic attack, killing 140,000 in Hiroshima.Japan surrendered on Aug 15, ending World War II.


Ex-Bank Negara governor Zeti to testify at Najib's 1MDB trial

Former Bank Negara Malaysia governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz will be called as a prosecution witness in Najib Razak’s 1MDB trial.
The issue of Zeti being called to testify came up after the former prime minister's lead counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah posed a question to the 39th prosecution witness, former AmBank non-executive director Cheah Tek Kuang, 75, about the presence of the fugitive businessman, Low Taek Jho or Jho Low, at Zeti’s house.
Senior deputy public prosecutor Gopal Sri Ram told trial judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah that the question could be addressed to Zeti later on as the prosecution would call her to testify in the case.
"We are calling Zeti and this question can be addressed to her. She has the answer," said Sri Ram.
Cheah was being cross-examined by Shafee at Najib’s corruption and money laundering trial over RM2.3 billion belonging to 1MDB.
Shafee: Have you ever visited the governor’s (Zeti) house? Cheah: Once, for a Hari Raya celebration.
Shafee: Did you see Jho Low at any point at the house?
Cheah: No. I am very sure of that.
Shafee: I got reliable information that Jho Low was a frequent visitor to Zeti's house.
Cheah: I am not aware of that.
Najib, 69, faces four charges of using his position to obtain bribes amounting to RM2.3 billion belonging to 1MDB and 21 charges of money laundering involving the same amount.
The trial continues tomorrow.


Football legends, Pope mourn ‘football’s poet’ Maradona

Pope Francis remembers football legend and fellow Argentine Diego Maradona with affection and is keeping him in his prayers, the Vatican said on Wednesday.Maradona, who died aged 60 on Wednesday at his home in Argentina of a heart attack, met the pope several times at the Vatican after Francis was elected in 2013 as Latin America’s first pope, Reuters reports.The official Vatican News website ran the story of Maradona’s death on its front page with a headline calling him “football’s poet”. It called Maradona “an extraordinary player but a fragile man”, a reference to his struggle with drugs.Maradona travelled to Rome several times to take part in several benefit games called “Matches for Peace”, whose proceeds went to a papal charity for education in developing countries and for victims of the 2106 earthquake in central Italy.On one occasion, Maradona gave the pope a signed jersey with a dedication that read in Spanish: “To Pope Francis, with all my affection and wishes for much peace in the world”.Many of the world’s biggest football players and clubs paid tribute to the flawed genius.Among them were Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, as well as Pele, who was voted as one of FIFA’s two greatest footballers ever alongside Maradona in 2000.Maradona won the World Cup with Argentina in 1986, but the Brazilian FA also released a statement in tribute, which read: “Football is in mourning. Diego Armando Maradona excited the world with his grit, irreverence and ability with the ball and on the pitch.”Messi summed up the feelings of football fans around the world: “Diego is eternal.”


Degree holder slogs through tough times for RM1,000 a month

When Jenny graduated from university and received her diploma alongside the rest of her cohort, she didn’t think that she would end up earning less than the minimum wage.But as the country passes its fourth week of what has come to be known as MCO 2.0, the government’s bid to curb further spikes in Covid-19 infections, she is grateful to be making even that much.Now 27, the English graduate works as a tuition teacher in her hometown of Teluk Intan in Perak. While RM1,000 a month might seem a paltry amount compared to the average salary of RM2,500 for fresh graduates in other parts of the country, Jenny is realistic.“My hometown is a small place and there aren’t many working opportunities here,” she told MalaysiaNow.“So my bachelor’s degree doesn’t help me much in landing a good-paying job.”Jenny had been a tutor even before the pandemic hit the country early last year.“I had quite a number of students so the salary wasn’t too bad – below average, but still okay.”It was after the outbreak that things took a nosedive.“My hometown is a small place and there aren’t many working opportunities here.”“A lot of students quit as their parents felt that their children couldn’t learn much from online classes,” she said.In December last year, she earned a grand total of RM800.As the sole breadwinner for a family of five, she works hard to stretch every sen she makes. Her parents, both stroke patients, are no longer able to support the family due to their reduced mobility.She has two younger brothers who are still at school. One is 17 and the other is 10.When her salary comes in each month, most of it goes towards household expenses.“After giving RM800 to my family, I’m left with RM200 for phone bills and food,” she said. And she is frank about their situation. “The money isn’t enough to support the whole family.”But she recalls how once, it was her mother who had worked to support the family. When Jenny was still studying, her mother ran a noodle stall which she kept going until business began to drop. She worked alone as Jenny’s father had already suffered a stroke at that point.As fewer and fewer customers came, they had to cut down on labour in order to keep the business afloat.“We had a worker but as our business worsened, we were forced to let her go and do things on her own.”“The money isn’t enough to support the whole family.”Some time later, Jenny’s mother suffered a stroke herself which left the right side of her body paralysed.Jenny remembers the day she received a call from her brother, telling her that their mother had been admitted to hospital.“I couldn’t go back to see her because it was exam week,” she said.By 2018, Jenny had completed her internship at a PR agency in Penang. She planned to start a career there to support her family but everything changed again with a second phone call from home.“This time, my mum called to tell me that my dad had had another stroke, and that he could no longer walk.”This put paid to her plan to work in Penang. Instead, she returned home to take care of her parents.“Although we may seem to struggle more than other people, I will be forever grateful as long as we are healthy and safe.”As they are considered disabled, they receive financial aid from the welfare department each month. This helps put food on the family’s table and, together with Jenny’s income, sees them through to the next month.It’s a hard life but Jenny is not complaining.“Despite being in a not-so-cheerful situation, I’m still so grateful,” she said.“At least my job wasn’t affected during the pandemic, and I can still support my family every month to put food on the table.”Another bright spot is that her mother is slowly recovering from her stroke. Now, she can stand and walk slowly using a cane.“Although we may seem to struggle more than other people, I will be forever grateful as long as we are healthy and safe.”


Sorry.


British PM weds in ‘secret ceremony’, reports say

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson married his fiancee Carrie Symonds in a “secret ceremony” on Saturday, UK media reports said.Known for his colourful love life, 56-year-old Johnson wed Symonds, 33, in Catholic Westminster Cathedral in front of close friends and family, the Mail on Sunday and The Sun newspapers reported.He is only the second British prime minister to marry while in office, and the first in nearly two centuries with Robert Jenkinson the last in 1822.The nuptials are a surprise development, after reports earlier this week said the couple had sent out “save the date” cards for a wedding on July 30 next year.However, they have been waiting months to tie the knot after their original plans to marry last year were delayed by the pandemic.The pair got engaged in December, 2019, and have a one-year-old baby son, Wilfred.Around 30 guests attended Saturday’s service – the maximum currently allowed under coronavirus rules – in central London, after being invited at the last minute, according to the Mail on Sunday.A small number of church officials were involved and Downing Street aides were not informed, sources told the paper.However, The Sun tabloid said the couple had been planning the “cloak and danger operation” for a secret ceremony for up to six months.Third marriageSymonds arrived at the lunchtime nuptials in a limousine and wore “a stunning long and flowing white dress” but chose not to wear a veil, it added.There were no descriptions of Johnson’s attire, with the mop-haired British leader infamous for his often dishevelled appearance.The same priest who baptised the couple’s son officiated the wedding, and Wilfred was also in attendance, according to The Sun.Johnson, who has faced several bruising days of scrutiny after his former top aide Dominic Cummings lambasted his government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic in front of a parliamentary committee Wednesday, has been married twice before.He had four children with his previous wife, lawyer Marina Wheeler, before they split in 2018. The couple only finalised their divorce last November.Johnson also reportedly has a daughter born as the result of an affair.When elected in 2019, he became the first prime minister to live at Downing Street as part of an unmarried couple.Symonds, a former head of communications for the Conservative Party, gave birth to their son just weeks after Johnson left intensive care as he recovered from a severe case of coronavirus.The couple have been in the spotlight in recent weeks amid a scandal over the costly redecoration of their Downing Street flat, which is being probed by watchdogs over allegations that contributions by a Tory party donor were not declared fully.Johnson’s new ethics advisor concluded Friday that he had acted “unwisely” over the flat funding arrangements, but was not guilty of any impropriety.


Alarm in France after 2,500 mass for illegal rave

Some 2,500 partygoers attended an illegal New Year rave in northwestern France, violently clashing with police who failed to stop it and sparking concern the underground event could spread the coronavirus, authorities said Friday.The revellers had set up the illegal rave in Lieuron south of Rennes in Brittany after skirmishes with police, said a statement from the local prefecture. Many were still on the site Friday as a sanitary cordon was thrown up around it.Local gendarmes tried “prevent this event but faced fierce hostility from many partygoers” who set one of their cars of fire and threw bottles and stones, it said.Those present had come from across France and even abroad, it said.Such mass gatherings are strictly prohibited across France to prevent the spread of Covid-19 and a nationwide 8pm curfew – which was not lifted for New Year – applies across the country.Reports said that the rave party took place in a empty warehouse belonging to a storage company.Prosecutors have opened an investigation into the illegal organisation of a musical gathering and premeditated violence against persons in authority.Vehicles registered from all over France were still parked at the site Friday and many revellers were present as techno music thudded away, an AFP journalist said.‘Little social distancing’Participants interviewed by AFP said that the revellers had included partygoers from foreign countries, including Spain and Britain.One participant, who gave his name as Jo from the Alsace region of eastern France and refused to be identified further, said they had all met at a meeting point on Thursday evening in the parking lot of a shopping centre.Then the convoy headed for Lieuron where the police tried to prevent them from passing, he said.He acknowledged that “very few had respected social distancing” at the event, which was supposed only to end later on Saturday.French authorities have been particularly concerned about mass wildcat rave parties throughout the pandemic but New Year’s night was a particular concern.In the southern city of Marseille, security forces halted an illegal party grouping some 300 people, police said. Over 150 people were warned and the three suspected organisers have been arrested.Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said that 132,000 police had been deployed across France for the New Year celebrations to ensure security and that the curfew was respected.


Indonesian airline offers free jabs to tourists as Covid rampages

The Indonesian airline Garuda started administering free coronavirus vaccinations to domestic holidaymakers and travellers at Jakarta airport on Wednesday.The innovation is part of efforts to reduce the impact of the virus in one of Asia’s worst-affected countries.About 20 passengers took advantage of the free shots on the opening day of the programme at Soekarno-Hatta International airport, which has the capacity to vaccinate 200 domestic travellers per day.“This vaccine gives me confidence but still, we have to obey health protocol because we’re not 100% immune. But at least it gives a sense of calm,” Cecep Taufiqurohman, 32, told Reuters after receiving his vaccine.Flag carrier Garuda is offering the Sinovac vaccine to help expedite a national immunisation programme that had a slow start with only 13 million of the country’s more than 270 million people fully vaccinated since January.Indonesia has reported record new infections in two of the past three days, and authorities are considering emergency restrictions to arrest the spread.“We can reach herd immunity in society and we can leave the pandemic behind,” said the airline’s director of service Ade Susardi, explaining the aim of the project.President Joko Widodo on Wednesday pledged to increase vaccinations to one million doses per day in July and two million in August, up from what he said was about 200,000 to 300,000 a day at present.The news comes as Indonesia’s government announced it will wait until Covid-19 cases fall significantly before opening Bali to foreign tourists.The pandemic has devastated the economy of Bali, for decades a magnet for holidaymakers thanks to its spectacular beaches, vibrant nightlife and distinctive Hindu culture.“We were targeting the end of July, beginning of August, but we just have to be mindful of where we are in this recent spike,” Indonesia’s Tourism and Cultural Economy Minister Sandiaga Uno, told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday. “We will be waiting for the situation to be more conducive.”Coronavirus infections have surged across Indonesia in recent weeks, including in Bali, according to official data.The true extent of Bali’s infections is masked by its low testing rates, which stand at 15% of the minimum recommended by the World Health Organization, according to data released by the global health body.Indonesia’s government has prioritised Bali for vaccinations, and is seeing good early results as most people infected with coronavirus showed only mild symptoms, Uno said.About 71% of Balinese had received a first vaccine dose, and the target of full vaccination for 70% of its population could be achieved by the end of July, Uno said.When it reopens, as well as traditional tourists, Bali hopes to attract”digital nomads” – international entrepreneurs operating internet-based companies.They will be granted five-year visas under the proposed scheme.“If they earn income within Indonesia they will be taxed but if it’s solely from overseas there will be zero tax,” Uno said.


Masks and social distancing ‘could last several years’

People may need to wear medical-grade face coverings and socially distance for several years until the world return to normality, a leading epidemiologist has predicted.Mary Ramsay, the head of immunisation at Public Health England, said basic measures could stay in place until other countries successfully roll out jabs.The UK set another record for the number of coronavirus vaccine doses given in a single day on Saturday, with 844,285 jabs, reports the BBC.Ramsay said restrictions such as face coverings in crowded places and social distancing had become accepted by many.“People have got used to those lower-level restrictions now and can live with them, and the economy can still go on,” she said.“I think certainly for a few years, at least until other parts of the world are as well vaccinated as we are, and the numbers have come down everywhere, that is when we may be able to go very gradually back to a more normal situation.”Warning it was “very important that we do not relax too quickly”, Ramsay said any circulating virus would inevitably pick on those who are vulnerable. “We have to look very carefully before any of these restrictions are lifted.”Chris Whitty, the UK government’s chief medical adviser, told MPs earlier this month that it was hoped “simple interventions like washing hands, face masks where appropriate, test-and-trace, and above all vaccines”, would keep the virus controlled.A group of government scientific advisers have said that “maintaining basic policies which reduce transmission” will be necessary for some time to come. These could include continuing test-and-trace, self-isolation, and public messaging.The British government’s roadmap for easing lockdown in England states all limits on social contact will be removed no earlier than June 21.Paul Nurse, chief executive of the Francis Crick Institute, has told the BBC there should be a rapid investigation into what happened during the first months of the pandemic.“There was a slowness in political response, suggesting a failure of scientific and medical advice reaching political power,” he said.“We should have a rapid investigation of the first part of the pandemic so we can learn the lessons and be bettered prepared for the future.”


MACC to question witnesses over Perak airport land sale

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in Perak will call several individuals to assist in its investigation into the alleged sale of land for the construction of an international airport in Seri Iskandar.Perak MACC director Mohd Fauzi Mohamad, when contacted by Bernama, said the individuals would be called beginning this week to have their statements recorded.“MACC has obtained documents on the issue and will start calling the witnesses involved to record their statements,” he said.Fauzi previously said that the investigation was conducted upon the receipt of an official complaint on the matter from Manjoi assemblyman Asmuni Awi on April 5.Mentri Besar Saarani Mohamad reportedly said that the piece of land had been sold to a private company during the Pakatan Harapan state government administration, but that under the Barisan National state government, it was reserved for the State Development Corporation for the construction of an international airport.Aulong assembyman Nga Kor Ming during a state legislative assembly sitting claimed that the land had been sold without the approval of the state government.


Death of deputy CM a huge loss for Sarawak, says Abang Johari

Sarawak Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg today described the passing of his deputy James Jemut Masing as a huge loss for the state.Speaking in Lawas, he said Masing was a leader who had always had the people’s interest at heart.“I feel very sad, and I personally extend my condolences to the family,” he said. “He was a friend in our government who had contributed much in managing the state, especially in sharing his ideas since he became a Cabinet member under Taib Mahmud and the late Adenan Satem, and then with me.”Abang Johari said he last met Masing at a meeting, adding that his deputy had been unable to attend a second one due to his health condition.“We postponed the meeting until we heard the news this morning,” he said.“I feel his loss as a friend and as a Cabinet member who contributed a lot to the urban and rural communities, especially the Dayaks.”Masing, the president of Parti Rakyat Sarawak, is survived by his wife and five children.He joined the state Cabinet and served as tourism minister in 1996. He subsequently held three other portfolios and defended his Baleh state seat for eight consecutive terms before being appointed as second deputy chief minister on Jan 23, 2017.


Pejuang to help Malays overcome their problems, says Dr M

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad says Pejuang membership is only open to the Malays to allow them to solve the various problems still hindering the community, including poverty.“Our view is that the Malays have many problems compared to the other races, while a solution for all races is not effective for the Malays,” Mahathir, who is Pejuang’s pro tem chairman, said in a press conference at Putrajaya today.He said the New Economic Policy was introduced to help the Malays but appeared to have benefited others more.“We want to ensure that solutions for the Malay community are made by Malays who understand the problems of the Malays who are culturally different from others.”However, he added that Pejuang was not “at war” with non-Malays as it needed their support to win the general election.“We will support any good party. We are not against the non-Malays, but just focusing on overcoming the problems faced by the Malay community,” he said.On the registration of the new party, Mahathir said it was still being processed by the Registrar of Societies.If the process was still pending at the next general election, he added, the party had another strategy to contest at the polls.On the Sabah election, he said Pejuang would be supporting Warisan, led by Shafie Apdal.He said a number of Pejuang leaders would be assisting Warisan in its election campaign.


Pensioner pleads guilty to organising wedding feast during MCO

A retiree who held his daughter’s wedding during the movement control order (MCO) period was charged in the Magistrate’s Court in Temerloh today.Abu Bakar Osman, 59, pleaded guilty to organising a wedding feast which he knew would likely spread the infection of any disease dangerous to life, at a house in a housing estate in Mentakab between 1pm and 2pm on Feb 13.He was charged under Section 269 of the Penal Code which carries a six-month jail term, fine or both, upon conviction.Magistrate Ti Pei Si allowed Abu Bakar bail of RM1,000 with one surety pending the sentencing on March 23.It is understood that Abu Bakar had invited neighbours and family members to the feast, after which one of the guests tested positive for Covid-19.Six other guests also tested positive for the virus after a screening.


Economic growth expected to remain positive in Q2 and Q3, says Azmin

Malaysia’s economic growth is expected to continue increasing in the second and third quarters of this year, driven by the government’s continued efforts to attract foreign investments as well as the success of the Covid-19 vaccination programme.International Trade and Industry Minister Mohamed Azmin Ali said the 5% economic growth recorded in the first quarter of the year was an indication that the country’s economic performance would continue to improve.“This is due to the policies and programmes initiated by (former prime minister) Muhyiddin Yassin to expedite the country’s vaccination programme, and now, more than 98.5% of Malaysia’s adult population has been vaccinated, allowing the country to reopen its borders.“Consequently, external demand has been increasing, so local companies including SMEs need to increase their productivity to meet external demand,” he told reporters in Alor Setar yesterday.He said his ministry, together with the Malaysian Investment Development Authority and the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation, would continue working to attract investments that will create quality employment opportunities for Malaysians.Azmin said the government would also continue to ensure that investors remain confident in the country’s business environment and ecosystem.He said the country’s economy was on the right track to recover from the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, adding however that the government needs some time to ensure that all recovery programmes are running smoothly.Given the current situation, Azmin said he had refused calls for the 15th general election to be held in the near future.“We must prioritise the country’s economic interest and the people’s interests to ensure sustainable growth for the future,” he said.


BN chief Zahid repeats call for Dewan Rakyat sitting during emergency

Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has again called for Dewan Rakyat to convene during the virus emergency, while hitting out at a PAS member of the Cabinet for saying that such a sitting would not be recommended to the Agong.Zahid, the Umno president who heads the former federal ruling coalition, also urged BN MPs to press for a parliamentary session.“The principle of rule of law must be upheld to allow Parliament to play its proper role of ensuring checks and balance,” Zahid said in his capacity as the BN chairman in a statement.The statement comes at the end of a BN Supreme Council meeting tonight.However, it did not mention BN’s stand on Umno’s decision not to cooperate with Perikatan Nasional in the 15th general election.Yesterday, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Takiyuddin Hassan defended the move to suspend Parliament sessions during the emergency, saying the government’s focus at the moment is on battling the Covid-19 pandemic.Zahid today criticised Takiyuddin’s statement that the government would not recommend that the Dewan Rakyat convene, saying it was tantamount to challenging the Agong.On Feb 24, Istana Negara issued a statement clarifying that the Agong could call for Parliament to convene on the advice of the prime minister.“Therefore, the response of some that the proclamation of emergency stops Parliament from convening is not correct,” the Comptroller of the Royal Household had said.


American poet Louise Gluck wins 2020 literature Nobel Prize

The American poet Louise Gluck has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, for her “candid and uncompromising” work.The Nobel Committee praised the writer “for her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal”.Her first published work of poetry was Firstborn in 1968. She received the Pulitzer Prize for The Wild Iris in 1992.Glück is currently writer-in-residence at Yale University and is the first female poet to win the prize since Wislawa Szymborska of Poland, in 1996.The last American to win was Bob Dylan in 2016.The 2020 Nobel Prize has a cash award of 10 million Swedish krona (RM4.5 million).The December awards ceremony in Stockholm will take place virtually this year because of the pandemic.


What’s in a name?: ‘Adolf Hitler’ wins vote in Namibia

While many Namibians have names originating from the ex-colonial power Germany, a newly-elected municipal councillor has overnight romped to prominence not because of his victory but because he is called Adolf Hitler.Adolf Hitler Uunona, 54, a politician of the ruling Swapo party was last week elected local government councillor for Ompundja constituency in northern Namibia, with 85% of the ballots cast.Sounding a tad annoyed, Uunona told AFP on Thursday he was perplexed that people were intrigued by his being named after one of the world’s most notorious dictators.He refused to discuss the reasons he was named Adolf Hitler.“I am not going to entertain the conversation, there is no reason we should be sitting here, having an entire conversation about my name,” he retorted.“You really want us to have an entire conversation about my name? How will that make Namibia a better country, how will it contribute to the development of our country?” Uunona asked when contacted by an AFP journalist.Germany colonised Namibia – then South West Africa – from 1884 to 1915.After World War I, the League of Nations mandated South Africa to administer the territory as a protectorate which ruled for 75 years.German occupiers in Namibia killed tens of thousands of indigenous Herero and Nama people in massacres from 1904 to 1908, which historians have called the first genocide of the 20th century.


Denmark helped US spy on European officials, says report

Denmark’s secret service helped the US spy on European politicians including German Chancellor Angela Merkel from 2012 to 2014, Danish media are reporting.The Danish Defence Intelligence Service (FE) collaborated with the US National Security Agency (NSA) to gather information, according to a report by Danish broadcaster Danmarks Radio.Intelligence was collected on officials from Germany, France, Sweden, and Norway, according to the report shared with several European news agencies.In it, the NSA is said to have accessed text messages and the phone conversations of a number of prominent individuals by tapping into Danish internet cables in cooperation with the FE.The alleged set-up, said in the report to have been codenamed “Operation Dunhammer”, allowed the NSA to obtain data using the telephone numbers of politicians as search parameters, according to Danmarks Radio.The report follows an investigation by Danmarks Radio involving interviews with nine sources, all of whom were said to have had access to classified information held by the FE.Along with Merkel, then-German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and opposition leader at the time Peer Steinbruck were also reportedly targeted.Neither Denmark’s defence ministry nor representatives for the FE have yet commented on the latest reports.Similar allegations emerged in 2013 when secrets leaked by US whistleblower Edward Snowden alleged the NSA tapped the German chancellor’s phone.When those allegations were made, the White House made no outright denial, but said Merkel’s phone was not being bugged at the time and would not be in future.Snowden – a former contractor for the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) – leaked to the media details of extensive internet and phone surveillance by US intelligence.The US then charged him with theft of government property, unauthorised communication of national defence information and wilful communication of classified communications intelligence. Snowden later sought refuge in Russia.Prior to the evidence he exposed, top US intelligence officials had publicly insisted that the NSA had never knowingly collected data from private phone records.


Let the good times roll? Bangkok becomes Southeast Asia's weed Wild West

From sleek boutiques to rickety stalls, hundreds of cannabis dispensaries have sprouted across Bangkok following decriminalisation, but in a nation once infamous for tough drug laws, Thai vendors are asking: can the high times last?
In a Southeast Asian first, the kingdom removed parts of the marijuana plant from its narcotics list in June, effectively legalising the substance – albeit with a confusing lack of detail.
It could be a lucrative change for a tourism-heavy economy badly dented by the pandemic, with the University of Thai Chamber of Commerce predicting the market may be worth US$1.2 billion (about RM5.3 billion) by 2025.
But in the absence of clear regulations, Thailand is fast becoming a free-wheeling weed Wild West, sparking jitters among some suppliers that the rush may send everything up in smoke.
"The barrier to enter the market is so low," said Kajkanit "Gem" Sakdisubha, who started growing cannabis after his father was diagnosed with cancer.
His shop, named The Dispensary – which looks more like a luxury goods store – places an emphasis on locally sourced weed, administered by expert "bud-tenders".
"I know there's a lot of groups and other people that jump into the business because they see money in it, and there's not much passion in it," he said.
Online map firm Weed.in.th has registered 1,750 stores – with another 450 awaiting approval.
But sellers like Gem are anxious about what the government may do next.
"We need to see that plan in five and 10 years, not month-by-month," he said.
"I know some people that close down shops because they have no certainty."
Political games
A hasty roll-out saw celebrations and condemnations, with many voicing concern over the legal grey areas.
Furious debate also erupted after a photo of a pre-teen Thai boy smoking pot in early December went viral.
While the government tightened some rules around retailers earlier this month – outlawing sales online and to people under 20 and pregnant women – debate on further restrictions is still raging in the Thai parliament.
In Bangkok's posh Thonglor district, Zaza Medical truck vendors nervously wait for clarity on their legal status.
"Hopefully we can keep selling," said part-owner and rapper Guygeegee.
While there are some medicinal benefits of cannabis use, public education is needed to ensure people are aware of the drug's potential harm, said Thongchai Lertwilairattanapong of the Department of Thai Traditional Medicine.
"We aim to regulate cannabis like liquor or cigarettes," he said.
"People need to know the drawbacks of overconsuming liquor and cigarettes as well as cannabis, which is the new player in Thailand."
Health experts warn extensive over-use can lead to drug-induced psychosis, while long-term use has been linked to asthma, cancers, memory loss and learning problems.
Bangkok-based Gloria Lai, regional director at International Drug Policy Consortium, said decriminalisation had come without proper preparation.
"The government has a responsibility... given their push for this to be available, to educate the public," she said.
"It is a vacuum at the moment."
Confusion, chaos and cops
"It's a little bit confused," said tourist Sasha Leehorpertien, gesturing at the scene around him in a basement cannabis cafe on Khaosan Road.
Never known for its restraint, Bangkok's backpacking and binge-drinking hotspot has fully embraced the change, with retailers popping up along the length of the grubby street.
"It shouldn't be like this," the 23-year-old said, adding that while he fully supported legalisation, he was unaware of exactly what Thailand's laws had to say about the joint he was smoking.
"I am afraid of jail here," he added, surreptitiously leaving as a rowdy group of young, imbibing Croatians lit yet another blunt.
And it may be that the boom times are already over for some.
Police and officials raided Khaosan Road twice in December, detaining vendors allowing indoor smoking and arresting stall-owners who they said were operating without a licence.
But despite the uncertainty, Teetat Wonykhan, whose brother owns Ganja Kingdom on Khaosan Road, remains optimistic – the siblings even plan to open a second store.
High customers were infinitely preferable to drunk ones, Teetat said.
"They are really chill," he said.
"Most just come in and are like, 'hey bro'."


Nothing futile about an anti-party hopping law

Yaw Shin Leong was the treasurer, Central Executive Council of the Workers’ Party (WP), a political party in Singapore.In the May 2011 general election (GE), he contested for the parliamentary seat of Hougang – a single member constituency (SMC). He won handsomely, defeating Desmond Choo Pey Ching of the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) with 64.81% of the votes.Sometime in January 2012, rumours emerged of Yaw’s alleged extramarital affairs with a married woman. Following that, Yaw disappeared from public eye. He was a no-show at his meet-the people-session (MPS) and was reportedly absent from his town council office.On Feb 7, 2012, Yaw resigned as treasurer of WP. No reason was given for his resignation. Two days later, another woman was allegedly linked with Yaw.On Feb 15, 2012 WP announced that it had expelled Yaw with immediate effect. At a press conference to announce the expulsion, party chief Low Thia Khiang said Yaw was expelled over his alleged marital affairs. The decision was made because the party held that Yaw had fallen short of its expectations in being transparent and accountable to the party and to his constituents. Low also announced that WP was prepared for a by-election.A by-election for expelling a sitting MP from his party?Yes, you read it right. Article 46(2)(b) of the republic’s constitution says that the “seat of a member of Parliament shall become vacant if he ceases to be a member of, or is expelled or resigns from, the political party for which he stood in the election.”The provision was first inserted into the State of Singapore Constitution in 1963 after the state’s legislative assembly general election 1963. The GE was PAP’s toughest election battle in its history and the campaign coincided with Singapore joining Malaysia on Sept 16, 1963.Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew had called for the GE to seek a new mandate after the ruling PAP’s majority in the legislative assembly whittled to zero following a spate of defections of its assembly members. The GE saw PAP regain its two-thirds majority in the assembly. Lee swiftly introduced an anti-party hopping provision in the state’s constitution.The Constitution of the State of Singapore 1963 was retained as the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore following independence in 1965.So yes, Singapore has had an anti-party hopping law for more than 58 years now. In 2012 and during the lifetime of its founding father who introduced the anti-party hopping law – Lee Kuan Yew died at the age of 91 on March 23, 2015 – Singapore saw the law enforced against an MP expelled from “the political party for which he stood in the election”.Following Yaw’s expulsion from his party, the Parliament speaker duly declared the Hougang seat vacant, effective from the date of expulsion as required by the constitution.After a protracted legal challenge, a by-election for the Hougang SMC was finally held on May 26, 2012. WP retained the seat, its candidate Png Eng Huat winning with 62.08% of the votes. Slightly less than Yaw’s winning percentage in 2011, but a handsome win nevertheless. The seat has been WP’s stronghold since 1991.So there you have it. If a parliamentary seat could fall vacant because its MP “had fallen short of expectations in being transparent and accountable to the party and to his constituents”, shouldn’t the same befall an MP who turned out to be a political frog?How can such law be futile as argued by Mohd Ridwan Talib?The time is now for a two-thirds bipartisan support from the Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara on the constitutional amendments necessary for the law.As the Malay saying goes: “Hendak seribu daya, tak hendak seribu dalih.”The views expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of MalaysiaNow.


Lifting IP rights for Covid vaccines – good or bad?

An economist has questioned the proposal to waive intellectual property (IP) rights for Covid-19 vaccines, mooted by India and several other countries at the World Trade Organization (WTO), saying there may be more to the move than the arguments by proponents that this would allow poorer nations access to much needed doses in the fight against the highly contagious virus.Calls for a temporary removal of IP protections on Covid-19 vaccines, known as a TRIPS waiver in reference to the agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property, have been led by India, joined by countries including South Africa and 57 other WTO members.Those who support the move say it would make vaccines and medicines more accessible but Carmelo Ferlito, CEO of the Center for Market Education, said there appeared to be geopolitical interests involved.Speaking to MalaysiaNow, he said there are two main blocs wrangling over the issue with the US, China and India in support of a waiver and Britain and the EU against it.“The main beneficiaries of the waiver would be China and India,” he said.Adding that the push by India and South Africa seemed “disingenuous”, he theorised that it could be aimed not at curbing the pandemic but at allowing domestic companies to profit off the IP of others.“President Biden seems to be using the IP waiver more as a geopolitical tool than a humanitarian approach,” he said, referring to the US’ move early this month to support a global waiver on patent protections for Covid-19 vaccines.He also dismissed the argument that IP rights are a barrier to global vaccination efforts.“It’s not the IP rights that are limiting access to vaccines around the world. Rather, it is mainly the lack of production sites, distribution plans, logistics and rule of law, not to mention bureaucracy and corruption,” he said.He added that the export ban by the US and British governments was also compounding the problem.US trade representative Katherine Tai said on May 6 that while IP rights for businesses are important, Washington “supports the waiver of those protections for Covid-19 vaccines” in order to end the pandemic.“This is a global health crisis, and the extraordinary circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic call for extraordinary measures,” she said in a statement.China has also backed the proposal for the waiver, with a spokesman for its commerce ministry saying: “China will work with all parties to actively participate in consultations and jointly promote a balanced and effective solution.”The UK and EU have been more reserved but say that they are ready to discuss the matter.In Malaysia, opposition MP Charles Santiago on Saturday urged Putrajaya to support the move, saying the monopoly of Covid-19 vaccine production by big pharmaceutical companies and rich countries had resulted in “pitting global citizens and countries against each other”.“This waiver would allow governments, including Malaysia, to authorise the production of patented vaccines without the consent of pharmaceutical companies holding the patent,” he said in a Facebook post.“We can also bypass the monopoly of companies holding IP rights and produce generic vaccines and other technologies that can fight Covid-19.“On the ground, this would mean our vaccination schedules can run smoothly.”Dr M Subramaniam, president of the Malaysian Medical Association, said the World Health Organization had also voiced its support for a waiver of IP protections.“Vaccine distribution should be equitable for both rich and poor countries,” he told MalaysiaNow. “No country should be hoarding vaccines just because it has money.”He said some countries had moved on to vaccinating children and teenagers while others were still struggling to immunise their most vulnerable groups.“This is not acceptable.”But Carmelo said a waiver could unleash a flood of counterfeit and substandard vaccines, possibly contributing to an increase in vaccine hesitancy.He said Malaysia’s vaccination programme was not rolling out as quickly as it could, and that continuing to support IP protections was the best way to keep things moving.“Eventually, Malaysia should work towards getting manufacturing licences if the country is ready to do so,” he added.Geostrategist Azmi Hassan said vaccine distribution would be more efficient if all parties agreed to it, adding that Malaysia would not be at a loss as it does not produce its own vaccines.“One of the reasons why vaccine production is stunted is because of the limited capacity of the manufacturers,” he said.He also disagreed that there was a relation between the issue of IP protections and counterfeit products.“Counterfeit vaccines already exist because those who make them do not care about IP protections,” he said.


Empty gestures or substantive change? On the Nobel Prize in literature and its discontents

The fact that Tanzanian novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah has won the 2021 Nobel Prize in literature is welcome news, especially as the Swedish Academy is historically known for lacking in diversity, as if intellectual creativity is largely confined to Western intellectual circles.It is premature to suggest that the Academy has finally decided to break away from its ethnocentric past and genuinely embrace the incredible literature constantly originating from the Global South. One can be excused for appearing too cynical – after all, since its inception in 1901, over 80% of those who have received the award hail from Europe and North America. In the last decade, Chinese novelist, Mo Yan, was the only non-Western author to receive the award in 2012.This raises several grim possibilities:First, the Academy does not believe that the Global South is making real intellectual, literary contributions to world culture and literature, and that only Western authors are capable of producing literature that is relatable and truly speaks to the human condition.Second, the Academy and its judges have not done their due diligence in uncovering the literary brilliance that can be found in every nation throughout the Global South.Third, the award is, essentially, political and is denied to authors and writers who attempt to correct fallacious colonial narratives, push for radical decolonisation – in politics, culture, literature and language – and do not adhere to the watered-down version of post-colonialism as championed by Western academic institutions of today.Gurnah, I am sure, is most deserving of the award. However, what truly matters is not that an author of African origin has finally won the award after the Academy’s neglect of Africa for nearly fifteen years. The last African novelist was a white British-Zimbabwean author, Doris Lessing (born to British parents in Iran, in 2007. What matters is that we – Western academia and audience, especially – truly engage with the writings of these great intellectuals.If such awards merely serve as a simple nod and symbolic acknowledgment of how Western colonialism in Africa – and throughout the Global South – has resulted in irreversible harm to shattered, impoverished and colonised societies, then the gesture is an empty one. To be meaningful, post-colonial writers who adhere to what should have remained a radical form of anti-colonialism should become the heart and soul of the literary movement, not only in the Global South but throughout the world.It does matter that Kenya’s celebrated author, novelist, poet and playwright Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o is yet to win the Nobel prize in literature. The man who has challenged the world’s view on language and literature in his book “Decolonizing the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature”, is the very manifestation, not only of Africa’s literary genius but of the true organic intellectual. Thiong’o was once imprisoned in post-colonial Kenya for writing a play in Gĩkũyũ, his mother tongue, and not in English.“Black intellectual tradition has given so much to the rest of the world, but this is often invisible,” he wrote in his seminal book. The reason behind the invisibility of the “Black intellectual tradition” – among others – is that they write in languages other than dominant European languages.However, it is not just the language, but what the language itself relays. When authors write in their mother tongue, their target audience is their own people. They appeal to their grievances and priorities; they speak of their aspirations, and their words are rooted in the collective history of their own nations. Unfortunately, though unsurprisingly, this is of no relevance to a Stockholm-based Academy, which was established decades before the formal end of Western colonialism in Africa.In his consequential book “The Wretched of the Earth”, Black intellectual Frantz Fanon was one of the early revolutionary voices to address the issue of intellectual decolonisation.“Imperialism leaves behind germs of rot which we must clinically detect and remove from our land but from our minds as well,” he wrote. This is not done for the sake of an award, an academic recognition or a literary honour. Instead, it is a prerequisite to truly liberating Africa – and the rest of the Global South – from its ongoing dependency on the validation of the West.For true decolonisation to take place, radical language on its own is hardly enough. What is required is a systematic rewriting of history, from the point of view of the colonised, and the reclaiming of every part of the literary narrative, starting with the very research methodology. According to Maori author, Linda Tuhiwai Smith, modern research is modelled around Western priorities.“From the vantage point of the colonized, a position from which I write, and choose to privilege, the term ‘research’ is inextricably linked to European imperialism and colonialism. The word itself, ‘research’, is probably one of the dirtiest words in the indigenous world’s vocabulary,” Tuhiwai Smith wrote in her important book, “Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples”.History “is the story of the powerful and how they became powerful, and then how they use their power to keep them in positions in which they can continue to dominate others,” she wrote.Sometimes, conditional validations and limited concessions through awards and other similar nods of approval can themselves be an attempt at “dominating others”.Ultimately, it is not the awards that matter but what has been researched and written, and its impact on making the world a more equitable place.Ramzy Baroud is a journalist and editor of The Palestine Chronicle.The views expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of MalaysiaNow.


Ali Biju to defend Krian seat as independent in Sarawak polls

Ali Biju, the incumbent assemblyman for Krian, will be contesting the Sarawak state election as an independent candidate in an effort to defend the seat for a third term.The Saratok MP won the Krian state seat on a PKR ticket in 2011 and 2016.Ali, who is also the deputy energy and natural resources minister, submitted his nomination papers at the Sri Krian community hall in Saratok today.The Bersatu man will face three other candidates in the contest for the seat: Musa Dinggat of Parti Sarawak Bersatu, Danny Kuan of Parti Bumi Kenyalang and Friday Belik of Gabungan Parti Sarawak.


Najib's petition for pardon never discussed by Cabinet, says Loke

Former prime minister Najib Razak’s petition for a royal pardon has never been discussed by the Cabinet as is not the government’s stance, according to Transport Minister Anthony Loke.
"The (royal pardon) petition is Umno's stance as a political party," he said in reply to a question at a press conference in Putrajaya today.
Loke, who is also DAP secretary-general, said anyone convicted of an offence could seek a royal pardon as is a normal process in the country.
"The process is fair to all. Anyone can seek a royal pardon, but whether it is granted or not, that is for the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to decide.
"For us, we believe in the process and the wisdom of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to make the best decision," he said.
On Aug 23, 2022, the Federal Court upheld Najib’s conviction, 12-year jail sentence and RM210 million fine for the misappropriation of RM42 million of the SRC International funds.
On March 31, the court dismissed his application for a review of its decision. Najib is currently serving his sentence at Kajang Prison.