From translation tools to air purifiers, face masks go high-tech

From monitoring vital signs to filtering filthy air and even translating speech into other languages, the coronavirus-fuelled boom in mask-wearing has spawned an unusual range of high-tech face coverings.As masks become the norm worldwide, tech companies and researchers are rolling out weird and wonderful models to both guard against infection and cash in on a growing trend.One of the wackiest comes from Japan, where start-up Donut Robotics has created a face covering that helps users adhere to social distancing and also acts as a translator.The “C-Face” mask works by transmitting a wearer’s speech to a smartphone via an app, and allows people to have a conversation while keeping up to 10m apart.“Despite the coronavirus, we sometimes need to meet directly with each other,” Donut Robotics chief executive Taisuke Ono told AFP.The lightweight silicone device could have immediate benefits for people such as doctors who want to communicate with patients from a distance, the company says.It can translate speech from Japanese into English, Korean and other languages – a function that will become more useful once travel restrictions are eventually eased.But it does not offer protection from Covid-19 on its own, and is designed to be worn over a regular face covering when it goes on sale in February for about 4,000 yen (US$40).Donut Robotics raised nearly 100 million yen (US$950,000) via crowdfunding to develop it, a success Ono believes was driven by a desire for innovations to make life easier during the pandemic.“We may be able to fight the virus with technology, with human wisdom,” he said.Another face mask developed in Singapore is aimed at protecting medics treating Covid-19 patients.It has sensors that monitor body temperature, heart rate, blood pressure and blood oxygen levels, and relay data to a smartphone via a Bluetooth transmitter.“Many of these frontline workers will be exposed to patients when they are taking their vital signs,” Loh Xian Jun, one of the scientists behind the invention, told AFP.“This poses a health risk to the nurses, and we wanted to think about a way to reduce such risk.”Its inventors say the device could also monitor vital signs of migrant workers in crowded dormitories, which incubated massive virus outbreaks in the city-state this year.They hope to trial it in the near future and market it commercially.For those seeking to combat the effects of pollution in smog-choked cities, South Korea’s LG Electronics has developed an air purifier mask.The futuristic white device, which fits snugly around the wearer’s mouth, nose and chin, is equipped with two filters on either side and fans to aid airflow.The filters are similar to those in the company’s home air purifiers, and can block 99.95% of harmful particles.Thousands have already been made available to medical staff and it will also be rolled out in shops in the future, the company says.


No chance of DAP-Umno cooperation for GE15, says Loke

DAP leader Loke Siew Fook today dismissed any possibility of working together with Umno for the impending general election, saying the two parties have a long history of conflict between one another.Speaking on a talk show today hosted by the National Council of Professors, the DAP organising secretary said cooperation between Umno, DAP and PKR to form the government appeared easy on paper but had yet to be tested.“We need more details,” he said. “Can our respective supporters accept this? That is the question.“This is why there is no possibility yet of DAP working together with Umno in GE15,” he added.He was commenting on the “big tent” approach announced by Pakatan Harapan (PH) several days ago through which the coalition said it was seeking to restore parliamentary democracy by ending the suspension of Parliament.The phrase refers to the policy of permitting or encouraging a broad spectrum of views among a party’s members.The PH presidential council had said it would send a memorandum to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, signed by all MPs who support the reopening of Parliament.It also stressed the need to engage and cooperate with any party based on the principles and agenda of reform, although “without including kleptocrats”.Loke said it was difficult for Umno and DAP to work together as the parties had spent decades at odds with each other.When asked how Chinese voters would react to any cooperation between them, he said the response from DAP supporters had been mixed.“Some (in DAP) said we need to explore the possibility (of working with Umno), but some said we had fought hard to bring down Umno in the last general election and therefore they totally reject it,” he said.Umno recently moved to cut ties with Bersatu in a decision which its president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said received unanimous support at the party’s general assembly.An audio recording of a phone conversation between Zahid and Anwar Ibrahim later surfaced in which the PKR president is heard congratulating and giving instructions to Zahid, who thanked Anwar for his moral support.Zahid has denied it is him in the recording, while Anwar said there was nothing wrong even if the conversation had taken place.


BN leaders arrive at Umno HQ for Supreme Council meeting

Several Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders have begun arriving at the Umno headquarters at the World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur to attend a meeting of the BN Supreme Council.
As of 11.15am those seen arriving included Umno vice-president Mohamed Khaled Nordin, MCA president Wee Ka Siong, MCA deputy president Mah Hang Soon and MIC deputy president M Saravanan.
Sabah BN and Umno liaison committee chairman Bung Moktar Radin, MCA secretary-general Chong Sin Woon and Melaka BN chairman and Umno Supreme Council Ab Rauf Yusoh as well as Johari Abdul Ghani and Jalaluddin Alias were also present.
Today's meeting is seen as important to determine BN's stance on whether to side with Pakatan Harapan (PH) or Perikatan Nasional (PN) to secure a simple majority to form the government.
BN had failed miserably in the 15th general election, winning only 30 seats while PH won 82 and PN 73.
With a hung parliament as no political party or coalition managed to obtain a simple majority to form the federal government, PH and PN need to find an alliance to form a new government.
Jalaluddin, speaking to reporters before the meeting, said BN had yet to decide on joining PH.
"I still hold to the decision made by Umno and BN leaders earlier, that there must be no cooperation with PH. If we want to form a coalition government, then we have to call for an extraordinary general meeting," said the Jelebu MP.


No PhD required to understand emergency declaration

I do not have a PhD. I am just a regular Joe armed with nothing more than a diploma, eking out a living during these hard pandemic times. Recently, I was told that unless I have a PhD, I will not be able to understand why we need to have elections. And the words came from no less than an MP and a former deputy minister, Ahmad Maslan.I did not have the privilege of pursuing an education higher than what I had already achieved. Maybe my lack of education has blinded me and millions of other Malaysians from understanding the complexity of why we need to have an election when the pandemic is at its peak with almost the entire country on lockdown.As far as I am concerned, the Sabah election last year sparked the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic in Malaysia and the spread has not stopped. In fact, it has gotten worse. It doesn’t take a PhD holder to understand that when it comes to SOP adherence, Malaysians have a tendency to take things lightly.In fact, I’d venture to say that those whose heads are in the clouds, including some PhD holders and MPs, are not in touch with ground realities, preferring textbook solutions and ideas.How Ahmad Maslan can theorise that an election is necessary when the pandemic is at its worst, is beyond me. But without holding a PhD, I can understand why the King declared an emergency yesterday.And why shouldn’t His Majesty? Just days after the Pulai MP, who obtained a CGPA of 3.85 in university (much better than mine) said the lower educated Malaysians cannot understand why we need to have snap polls, the backroom political maneuvering shifted into high gear.Several Umno MPs withdrew their support for PM Muhyiddin Yassin. By robbing the PM of numerical support, these legislators hope to trigger a general election, in the process repeating the Covid-19 SOP lapses during the Sabah polls, but on a national scale.His Majesty did right when he acceded to the Cabinet’s request to impose a national emergency, effectively suspending Parliament and preempting the need to hold snap polls. Lives are saved and our healthcare upheld in one swoop.I don’t have a PhD but I understand the logic of the emergency declaration. There is a time for politics and there is a time to prioritise our lives and well-being. Now is the time for the latter. Perhaps this is something that people like Ahmad Maslan, who also does not have a PhD, cannot grasp.The views expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of MalaysiaNow.


Peru leads global mortality rate after adjusting Covid-19 toll

Peru on Monday more than doubled its official coronavirus death toll, becoming the country with the highest Covid-19 mortality per capita anywhere in the world.The government said it had raised the count from 69,342 to 180,764 on the advice of a panel of health experts, which found there had been an undercount.With the adjustment, Peru now has the highest coronavirus mortality per capita of any country, with 5,484 deaths per million inhabitants, according to an AFP count.The country of about 33 million people previously ranked 13th in the world with 2,103 deaths per million, according to AFP’s data.Hungary is in a distant second place with 3,077 deaths per million.Peru has registered more than 1.9 million infections to date, and has in recent months suffered acute shortages of oxygen to treat coronavirus patients.Prime Minister Violeta Bermudez said the toll was adjusted on the advice of a panel which suggested modifying Peru’s record-keeping criteria.Change in methodologyThe panel said in a report the existing methodology generated “an under-representation in the number of deaths due to Covid-19.”The criteria were broadened beyond people who tested positive for the virus to include “probable” cases with “an epidemiological link to a confirmed case”.They will also now include people thought to be infected with the virus who present “a clinical picture compatible with the disease”.The panel, convened in April, was composed of experts from public and private health entities in Peru and from the World Health Organization.“Thanks to the work of this team… we will have more exhaustive figures and figures that will be very useful to monitor the pandemic and take the appropriate measures to confront it,” Bermudez said.Peru started its vaccination campaign on Feb 9, but it has been slow and has so far reached five percent of the adult population with at least one shot.The Andean nation has battled a second pandemic wave since December, with a record of almost 13,000 infections on April 1.There are nearly 12,000 Covid-19 patients in hospital, but the health system has been able to breathe a little since the peak of 15,547 occupied beds recorded on April 20.The adjustment of the death toll came six days before Sunday’s presidential runoff race between right-wing candidate Keiko Fujimori and leftist Pedro Castillo, both of whom have promised to speed up Peru’s immunisation campaign.


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More than 2,500 US virus deaths in 24 hours

The US, the country hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic and in the throes of a surge in cases, on Tuesday registered more than 2,500 deaths in a 24-hour period, the highest total since late April, Johns Hopkins University said.More than 180,000 new infections were recorded, according to real-time data provided by the Baltimore-based university at 8.30pm (0130 GMT Wednesday).The last time the daily death toll was higher than Tuesday’s total of 2,562 was in late April, at the height of the pandemic’s first wave.The number of hospitalisations in the US hit 99,000 on Tuesday, a new record, according to the Covid Tracking Project. The situation is particularly dire in several Midwestern states, including Indiana and South Dakota.Experts fear a new surge in the number of infections now that several days have passed since the Thanksgiving holiday, which saw millions of Americans travel to see loved ones despite recommendations to skip festive gatherings.For now, the number of new daily infections is still high, but more or less consistent with the figures seen in recent weeks.The US regularly saw 2,000 deaths a day in the spring, but has hit the number several times in the past two weeks.In total, the US now has registered more than 13.7 million coronavirus cases and more than 270,000 deaths.


Phones, consoles could get pricier as chip crisis bites

Prices of popular gadgets such as PlayStations and iPhones could rise because of microchip shortages caused by a “perfect storm” of coronavirus-driven demand, supply chain disruptions and trade war stockpiling, experts warn.In the months after the pandemic hit, people stuck at home went on a spending spree to buy items including extra monitors, new computers and tablets – each of which runs on all-important chips.Compounding the crisis are US-China tensions – Huawei stockpiled semiconductors last year before American sanctions aimed at cutting the tech giant off from global chipmakers kicked in, adding further pressure to supplies.The squeeze in the market was highlighted when automakers, enjoying a pick-up in car-buying, tried to source specialised semiconductors, only to find manufacturers had prioritised consumer electronics and could not fill orders.The auto sector is the highest-profile victim so far, with giants including Ford and Volkswagen forced to cut production, but shortages appear to be spreading to a wide range of electronic items.“A perfect storm of coronavirus chaos, trade-war stockpiling, and a paradigm shift in work-from-home devices is causing the chip squeeze,” Neil Mawston, executive director at consultancy Strategy Analytics, told AFP.“Anything with a chip is affected – cars, smartphones, games consoles, tablets and laptops. Electronic gadgets and cars will be in shorter supply or more expensive throughout 2021.”Complex supply chainsSales of certain iPhone models have reportedly been limited because particular components were not available, while some have pointed to chip shortages for problems in getting hold of Sony’s new PlayStation 5 and Microsoft’s latest Xbox.A growing number of major chipmakers have voiced concern at the brewing crisis, including US firm Qualcomm, the world’s biggest mobile chipmaker, and rival AMD, both of which supply to major consumer electronics companies.The microchip supply chain is complex and the US giants design the semiconductors but do not for the most part make them. The production is mostly outsourced to Asian companies such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and South Korea’s Samsung. However, Samsung supplies are now threatened after it was forced to halt production at its Texas factory owing to power outages caused by a severe winter storm.Manufacturers have faced challenges in meeting strong consumer electronics demand and then having to pivot their operations to car chips – shifting production processes can take months.Taiwan, home to some of the world’s biggest and most advanced foundries, and its manufacturers have come under growing pressure from carmakers and governments because of the shortages.The island vowed last month to ramp up production of car chips while TSMC said the auto industry was a “top priority” – but warned its factories were already at full capacity.The rollout of 5G technology has added to pressure because of the need for myriad chips to build a new generation of phones, wireless infrastructure and other equipment, said GlobalFoundries, a US-headquartered chipmaker with factories in Singapore.‘Heart of global economy’Washington has been increasing pressure on Huawei, which it accuses of stealing American trade secrets, last year unveiling sanctions that ban the smartphone maker from using semiconductor designs developed with US technology.When the tech giant began stockpiling semiconductors before the sanctions, other companies followed their lead, adding to the global shortage.“Hoarding has been causing more hoarding,” said Mawston of Strategy Analytics.“As Huawei has stockpiled phone chips, other rival brands have sought (to a lesser degree) to hoard their own stocks to help guard future supply.”Chip shortages could delay production of nearly one million vehicles in the first quarter of this year, according to market research firm IHS Markit, although analysts say it is too early to assess the impact on other industries.Shortages are expected to ease later this year as vaccines are rolled out – allowing factories to work at full capacity without workers social distancing – and new plants begin operating.But there could be supply problems in future as chip demand grows, and analysts say the latest crisis is a wake-up call for governments to strengthen domestic industries and reduce reliance on a few players.“Semiconductors are at the heart of the global economy,” GlobalFoundries said in a statement.The company said it is urging “governments to invest in semiconductor manufacturing, and to do their part in helping address the clear mismatch in semiconductor supply and demand”.


US veep Kamala Harris to visit Philippine island at edge of South China Sea dispute

US Vice-President Kamala Harris will visit the Philippine islands of Palawan in the South China Sea, a senior administration official said on Tuesday, in a move that may be interpreted by Beijing as a sharp rebuke.
The visit, scheduled for next Tuesday, will make Harris the highest-ranking American official to visit the island chain adjacent to the Spratly Islands. China has dredged the sea floor to build harbors and airstrips on the Spratlys, parts of which are also claimed by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.
Beijing claims some territories in the waters off Palawan and much of the South China Sea as part of China, citing domestic historical maps. A 2016 international arbitration ruling, however, said the Chinese claims had no legal basis, in a victory for Manila that has yet to be enforced.
Coming days after a three-hour, face-to-face meeting between President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping intended to ease tensions, the trip may frustrate Beijing.
The South China Sea, which contains massive oil and gas deposits, is the stage for US$5 trillion (about RM22.7 trillion) in ship-borne trade each year but also a flashpoint for Chinese and US tensions around naval operations.
In Palawan, Harris is expected to meet with "residents, civil society leaders and representatives of the Philippines Coast Guard," the senior administration official said.
The trip will show the administration's "commitment to stand with our Philippine ally in upholding the rules-based international maritime order in the South China Sea, supporting maritime livelihoods and countering illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing," the US official said.
The Philippines is a defense ally of the US, but under former President Rodrigo Duterte it avoided criticising Beijing, eyeing Chinese investment.
Manila announced earlier on Tuesday that Washington would spend US$66.5 million to start building training and warehouse facilities at three of its military bases there under a 2014 joint security deal.
Harris' trip marks her second to Asia in three months and follows Biden's week-long trip to the region. Both trips were aimed at shoring up both defenses and alliances to discourage aggressive steps by China, including in self-ruled Taiwan. The Harris trip also includes a stop in Thailand for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders meeting.
During her last trip to the region, Harris accused China of actions to "coerce and intimidate" neighbors.


Is Malaysia on track for a circular economy for plastic?

Plastic, dubbed a miracle invention due to its durability and versatility, has made our lives substantially easier. However, 60 years after its invention, managing plastic waste has become one of the planet’s biggest problems.The statistics are alarming, with mass production and consumption of plastic on the rise since 19501. According to a report published by WWF-Malaysia, post-consumer plastic waste generation in Malaysia is estimated to be more than one million tonnes (1,070,064 tonnes, to be precise). Plastics can in fact be reused and recycled into usable products. However, 81% of the material value of plastics is lost due to the failure to recover the material.This results in US$1.1 billion of potential material value lost to Malaysia’s economy, as reported in a study by the World Bank. Just like any other packaging materials, plastic requires proper segregation, collection, material recovery, treatment and final disposals. Currently, the largest segment of demand growth for plastic production is predominantly single-use plastic. Encouragingly, there have been global movements to advocate for a transition from a linear plastic system to a circular one.A circular economy for plastic builds on three key principles: the elimination of waste and pollution, the circulation of materials at the highest value for as long as possible, and the regeneration of resources. A circular economy envisions resources to be responsibly managed, recovered and reused to their fullest potential. It provides us the opportunity to prosper through greater resiliency, while significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions, waste, and pollution.In 2021, the environment and water ministry launched the Malaysia Plastics Sustainability Roadmap, 2021-2030 which governs plastic production, consumption, recycling and waste management in a holistic manner. This roadmap demonstrates the initiative of the ministry to shift the plastic economy to a circular one, and offer new ways to mitigate emerging risks to allow the plastics industry to innovate.The roadmap sets six time-bound national targets. A list of problematic and unnecessary single-use plastics will be identified, followed by phasing them out by 2030 through redesign, innovation, and reuse models. The ministry aims to achieve a plastic recycling rate of an average 25% for post-consumer plastic packaging by 2025, 100% recyclability of plastic packaging and 15% of average recycled content by 2030 for plastic products and packaging. In addition, the roadmap targets 76% of plastic waste to be collected for recycling purposes by 2030.In order to achieve the national targets, several strategies were crafted from public consultations. At the downstream level, there is a need to improve collection and sorting facilities. Currently, there is a limitation of recycling capacity as not all plastic materials can be recycled, nor economical to be recycled due to contamination, and difficulties to disassemble with combinations of different materials and additives.The roadmap sets out a way forward to build capacity and adopt new technologies for reprocessing to achieve higher recovery rates, and manufacturing of recycled products to establish a closed loop supply chain. It also calls for financial institutions to integrate the circularity business models in their investment and financing policies, product development and client engagements.The plastics problem is so large that simply expanding waste collection, landfill, incineration and recycling is insufficient. The most significant step would be to combine these measures with a reduction of plastic in the system, rethink packaging and product designs and business models, such as scaling up of reuse and refillable models.Finally, they have to be supported by standards, policies and regulations, to enable the circular economy to thrive.The extended producer responsibility (EPR) system is a critical policy approach to accelerate the transition to sustainable waste management and a circular model for plastic. The environment and water ministry is developing a governance framework and laying out an implementation plan and various EPR capacity building programmes to uplift industry readiness for the adoption of a voluntary EPR system from 2023, before imposing a nationwide mandatory EPR system by 2026.Under the EPR system, the responsibility of the producer goes beyond waste treatment and recycling. It addresses at least four key issues that include waste avoidance, prevention and minimisation of material use; waste collection and sorting; material recovery, recycling and reuse; and proper treatment and disposal of wastes with minimal environmental and social impact.For Malaysia to embark on the transition and to achieve the time-bound goals in the roadmap, we need businesses and consumers to start acknowledging the problem and take accountability to mitigate the risk of being hit by the plastic and packaging pollution crisis. It is crucial to keep track of the national progress and to identify effective measures to close the gaps.In line with this, a multi-stakeholder, national level think tank and working groups have been established by the ministry, represented by government agencies, industry and industry associations, SMEs, academic institutions and civil societies. More participation from the private sector is needed to champion this initiative to collectively work together and find solutions to end plastic pollution.The views expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of MalaysiaNow.


Acknowledgment or flattery? The changing culture of remembering past leaders

In school, Malaysian children learn that past prime ministers are given titles in recognition of their achievements, the most famous being the Father of Independence, which Malaysians use with almost unanimous agreement to refer to Tunku Abdul Rahman, the first prime minister.His successor Abdul Razak Hussein is known as the Father of Development and Hussein Onn, the third prime minister, the Father of Unity.Dr Mahathir Mohamad meanwhile is frequently called the Father of Modern Malaysia.Similar titles have been attempted for Abdullah Badawi and Najib Razak, but the jury is still out on their legacies.So has the tradition of bestowing titles on the country’s top leaders stopped at Mahathir?What will history say, for example, about Muhyiddin Yassin and Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who took over at a time of great political and social upheaval?One academic argues that the tradition of giving “fatherly” titles to former prime ministers has its origins in feudal values, with elements of patronage carried from generation to generation.“After independence, we had no ‘superheroes’ in general, so politicians and community leaders were held in high regard and given titles,” Mohd Awang Idris, a psychologist at Universiti Malaya, told MalaysiaNow.“Psychologically, these leaders became symbols to the people throughout the country’s journey.”In modern times, Awang said titles are used for political mileage.“The father concept was once relevant because society needed a symbolic father to unite them in facing the challenges of the time, such as the communist uprising.“But this type of heroic symbolism is no longer relevant as many ‘heroes’ can be chosen by the people,” he said.Awang thinks giving titles to prime ministers is no longer relevant as the country’s political landscape changes, with leaders increasingly being held responsible.Politicians, he said, can no longer be glorified or idolised as they are only civil servants for the duration of their terms.In other words, paternalistic behaviour is no longer an issue.“Society no longer follows so much, so the concept of father is no longer as effective.”Zaid Ahmad of Universiti Putra Malaysia said addressing a leader by a title is a form of flattery, “which is not right”.“There must be some basis to serve as a yardstick for titles,” said Zaid, who specialises in government and civilisational studies.“If every prime minister needs to be dubbed ‘the father of so-and-so’, we will be forced to find titles to give,” he added.Zaid said there would then come a time when the titles no longer reflect reality.“If the person is truly deserving of a title, we will not need to search for one. The people will associate one with him themselves.”And that being the case, even someone who rules for a short period could be deserving of a name.Zaid gave the example of Razak, who was prime minister for six years from 1970 to 1976.“His legacy still lives today,” he said.


Survey shows many ‘frequently’ or ‘sometimes’ fall for fake news

A new survey has revealed that 14% of respondents “frequently” believe fake news shared with them on the internet, with just over a third turning to fact-checking sites in order to determine the truth.The survey, conducted by the UCSI Poll Research Centre, involved 1,116 Malaysians comprising 52.3% female respondents and 47.7% male.When asked how often they initially believed fake news, 48% said sometimes, 31% said rarely and 6% said never.The majority of them said they received the fake news on social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram (79.7%), followed by communication applications like WhatsApp (67%).Just over 43% received the fake news on video sharing platforms like YouTube while 23.1% received it on mainstream media sources such as television and newspapers, and 8.1% from other sources.Respondents were allowed to choose more than one option.When asked about action taken due to fake news, 37.8% said they did not share any news at all, while 37.5% said they put less trust in information shared on WhatsApp and other similar apps.Some 36% said they trust the media less, 34.6% said they use news fact-checking websites such as Sebenarnya.my, and 21.8% said they use the internet less often.The survey also asked them if they were aware of an ordinance criminalising the spread of fake news related to Covid-19 and the emergency proclamation.Just over 67% said yes while 32.6% said no. When asked if they felt this was necessary to battle the spread of fake news, an overwhelming 80.2% said yes while only 19.8% said no.In a statement, the research centre said the poll showed that most of the respondents were exposed to fake news on social media and through communication apps.“This is worrisome as 62% of the respondents may frequently (14%) or sometimes (48%) initially believe the fake news they see,” it said, adding that awareness about battling fake news remained low.“We are receiving mass volumes of information daily in this digital era, and some information may consist of partial or fully untruths.”Voicing support however for freedom over “isolation from information due to laws and policies”, it said: “The wisdom of users and fact checking of information received is a better way to protect ourselves from fake news.”


Sarawak traders lodge police reports over fake RM20 notes

Fourteen traders at Pasar Tamu Sibu Jaya, who were victims of a fake money scam yesterday, have lodged reports with the police.
Sibu district police chief Zulkipli Suhaili, who confirmed the matter, said the reports were received by the Sibu IPD’s Commercial Crime Investigation Department.
"The victims claimed they were approached by a woman in her 40s, who was with her five-year-old daughter.
"The woman bought various daily necessities at the market and then paid the traders with RM20 notes with serial number CD: 2748412," he said in a statement today.
He said the traders, who believed they were duped by the same woman, only realised they were paid with counterfeit currency a few hours later.
One of the victims then uploaded a live video on social media on the incident to alert others.
An investigation paper has been opened under Section 489B of the Penal Code.


Formulation of targeted subsidy mechanism for petrol not easy, PM says

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim today said that the government intends to implement the targeted subsidy mechanism as soon as possible, but the formulation of such a mechanism, including those for diesel and RON95 petrol, is not easy and quite complex.
As such, Anwar said the government is mulling over several working papers and proposals regarding the mechanism to ensure more effective and timely implementation.
"We are working on it. There is a team working on it now and there are some proposals, but we are not very convinced in terms of the effectiveness.
"Unlike electricity subsidy, we know the houses, the factories, so it is okay, but diesel is different," he said after a meet-and-greet programme at the Madani Hawkers Centre on Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman in Kuala Lumpur today.
Anwar stated that the implementation of targeted subsidies aims to ensure that only deserving individuals can benefit from them.
Prior to this, the prime minister reportedly said that it was unreasonable for the government to continue giving subsidies, such as in the cost of performing haj and electricity for the T20 group.
He said this was because at least 40% of the subsidies provided by the government to the poor were also enjoyed by the aforementioned group.
Last month, Deputy Finance Minister Ahmad Maslan said that the establishment of mechanisms for targeted subsidies is already 75% complete, and the results of discussions on these mechanisms involving various committees will be presented to the Cabinet before any further decisions are finalised.


Covid-19 blows whistle on Indian cricket, leaving stranded Aussies searching for sanctuary

Australian cricketers at the Indian Premier League (IPL) will have to spend time in Sri Lanka or the Maldives before returning home after the tournament was suspended.Australia has closed its borders to travellers from India until May 15 after a surge in Covid-19 cases there.The Indian cricket board has committed to flying all 38 Australians home on a charter flight when they are able.The Board of Control for Cricket in India unanimously decided to postpone the tournament after a meeting on Tuesday.Chennai Super Kings batting coach Mike Hussey has tested positive since and will remain in a 10-day quarantine in India when the group departs within the next two or three days.Former Test batsman Hussey is the only Australian to have tested positive for the virus so far.“His symptoms are relatively mild,” said Australian Cricketers’ Association boss Todd Greenberg. “He has good support systems around him and he is in pretty good spirits.”Two Kolkata Knight Riders players and one from Sunrisers Hyderabad also tested positive on Tuesday.The Australians involved at the IPL – which includes players, coaches and commentators – will have to quarantine for 14 days whenever they manage to get back home.The Australian government has said it will fine or jail any individual returning home from India while the travel ban is in place.Nick Hockley, Cricket Australia’s interim chief executive, reiterated that they were not seeking “any kind of special exemptions” from the government, with Australia restricting the number of international arrivals allowed in each week.“Any kind of quarantine arrangements would be over and above the arrivals cap,” Hockley said. “Our main priority is we would work with the Australian government and the relevant state governments to make sure that we’re not taking spaces of anyone else that’s available.”Australian trio Adam Zampa, Kane Richardson and Andrew Tye flew home in late April to avoid the ban.Pace bowler Pat Cummins said the travel ban had added “a bit of anxiety” for the players.“We knew we’d signed up for 14 days quarantine, but when the hard border shut no-one has ever experienced that before,” Cummins told Fox Sports.“It has added a bit of anxiety for the Aussies over here but we signed up to play the tournament until the start of June so hopefully it all reopens on May 15.”There were more than 355,000 officially recorded cases of Covid-19 in India on Tuesday.


Protest-hit Iran says reviewing mandatory headscarf law

Iran said Saturday it is reviewing a decades-old law that requires women to cover their heads, as it struggles to quell more than two months of protests linked to the dress code.
Protests have swept Iran since the Sept 16 death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian of Kurdish origin arrested by the morality police for allegedly flouting the shariah-based law.
Demonstrators have burned their head coverings and shouted anti-government slogans. Since Amini's death, a growing number of women have not been observing hijab, particularly in Tehran's fashionable north.
"Both parliament and the judiciary are working (on the issue)" of whether the law needs any changes, Iran's attorney-general Mohammad Jafar Montazeri said.
Quoted by the Isna news agency, he did not specify what could be modified in the law by the two bodies, which are largely in the hands of conservatives.
The review team met on Wednesday with parliament's cultural commission "and will see the results in a week or two", the attorney-general said.
President Ebrahim Raisi on Saturday said Iran's republican and Islamic foundations were constitutionally entrenched.
"But there are methods of implementing the constitution that can be flexible," he said in televised comments.
The hijab headscarf became obligatory for all women in Iran in April 1983, four years after the Islamic Revolution that overthrew the US-backed monarchy.
It remains a highly sensitive issue in a country where conservatives insist it should be compulsory, while reformists want to leave it up to individual choice.
Hundreds killed
After the hijab law became mandatory, with changing clothing norms it became commonplace to see women in tight jeans and loose, colourful headscarves.
But in July this year Raisi, an ultra-conservative, called for mobilisation of "all state institutions to enforce the headscarf law".
Many women continued to bend the rules, however.
In September, Iran's main reformist party called for the mandatory hijab law to be rescinded.
The Union of Islamic Iran People Party, formed by relatives of former reformist president Mohammad Khatami, on Saturday demanded the authorities "prepare the legal elements paving the way for the cancellation of the mandatory hijab law".
The opposition group is also calling for the Islamic republic to "officially announce the end of the activities of the morality police" and "allow peaceful demonstrations", it said in a statement.
Iran accuses its sworn enemy the US and its allies, including Britain, Israel, and Kurdish groups based outside the country, of fomenting the street protests which the government calls "riots".
A general in Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps this week, for the first time, said more than 300 people have lost their lives in the unrest since Amini's death.
Iran's top security body, the Supreme National Security Council, on Saturday said the number of people killed during the protests "exceeds 200".
Cited by state news agency Irna, it said the figure included security officers, civilians and "separatists" as well as "rioters".
Oslo-based non-governmental organisation Iran Human Rights on Tuesday said at least 448 people had been "killed by security forces in the ongoing nationwide protests".
UN rights chief Volker Turk said last week that 14,000 people, including children, had been arrested in the protest crackdown.
The campaign of arrests has snared sportspeople, celebrities and journalists.
Among the latest figures to be arrested was film star Mitra Hajjar, who was detained at her home on Saturday, according to the reformist newspaper Shargh.
The Supreme National Security Council said that in addition to the human toll, the violence had caused damage valued at trillions of rials (millions of dollars).


Mind the SOPs, Selangor tourism group warns after weekend crowds

A tourism and travel association in Selangor today urged the public to be mindful of health SOPs in the wake of footage showing holiday destinations in the state packed with visitors as social restrictions are gradually eased.The Association of Selangor Travel and Tourism Agencies said tour operators should take a serious view of SOP compliance given the crowds that had gathered over the past weekend.“We don’t want to spark a new cluster through our own complacency,” the group’s president Fathir Badri said.“We were locked down for a long time due to the movement control order and we don’t want this to happen again,” he said, adding that the tour operators would also suffer losses if this were to occur.He also reminded visitors to exercise caution and to avoid crowded spots.“Look for places that aren’t crowded,” he said. “In Selangor, there are many eco-tourism spots like those in Hulu Langat and Hulu Selangor.”Fathir likewise urged local authorities and the Selangor tourism board to play their part by putting up signs and billboards reminding tourists of the need to follow SOPs in each location.“We haven’t won yet,” he said. “We should guard this opportunity by taking care of ourselves and our families.“Avoid crowded areas and observe physical distancing.”


Cops seek public assistance to find missing girl in PJ

The police are seeking the public’s help to locate a 16-year-old girl who went missing after leaving her home in Petaling Jaya on Thursday.
Petaling Jaya police chief ACP Mohamad Fakhrudin Abdul Hamid said the teenager was known as Ng Siew Ting with her last known address at No. 9, Jalan PJU 10/13B Saujana Damansara, Damansara Damai, Petaling Jaya.
“We received a report from the victim's guardian. She is around 165cm tall, has fair skin and shoulder-length dark hair.
“The girl was last seen wearing a T-shirt, black shorts and slippers. She was also seen carrying a purple or blue bag," he said in a statement today.
Information can be channelled to the investigating officer, Amir Hakimi Zakaria, at 012-3783178 or the district police headquarters at 03-79662222.


No talks yet with Umno top five on GE15 date, says Ismail

Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob says he has yet to discuss a date for the 15th general election with the Umno top five, namely party president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, deputy president Mohamad Hasan and the three vice-presidents: Mohamed Khaled Nordin, Mahdzir Khalid and Ismail himself.
He said the matter would only be discussed with MCA, MIC and other Barisan Nasional (BN) components after such talks were held.
"Then it has to be tabled to the Cabinet because under the constitution, I must get the Cabinet’s approval before I go to Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, to get his consent for Parliament to be dissolved.
"That's the procedure that needs to be observed," he said in a speech at the Bera Umno complex in Padang Luas yesterday.
Nevertheless, Ismail told BN leaders in the Bera constituency to be ready with their election machinery and to meet with the voters to maintain the coalition’s victory in Bera and the Guai and Kemayan state seats, as well as to recapture the Triang state seat.
While the date for GE15 was still unknown, it was getting closer, he said, referring to a statement by Mohamad, who expects the election to be held before the end of the year.
Ismail said that in Bera, the BN machinery should work hard not only to maintain its hold on the parliamentary and the Guai and Kemayan state seats, but also to win the Triang state seat from DAP.
"Now, the Triang seat is given to MCA, and MCA has to prove that they can win the seat. It is a challenge for MCA and for all of us to recapture the seat which everybody says will remain with DAP," he added.


LRT collision caused by train driver’s negligence, says Wee

The crash involving two Kelana Jaya line LRT trains near the KLCC station last night was caused by the negligence of the hostler or train driver who drove an empty train in the wrong direction, says Transport Minister Wee Ka Siong.Wee said this was based on preliminary investigations conducted by the Land Public Transport Agency.“Preliminary findings indicate that the crash was caused by the negligence of the hostler who drove TR40, which was an empty train, in the wrong direction.“It should have been moving south heading towards Dang Wangi station but moved north instead and caused the crash with TR81 that was carrying 213 passengers,” he said.Wee said before the crash, at 8.21pm, TR40 was being operated by the automatic train operation (ATO) and had moved southbound from Gombak to the Subang depot, but there, it suffered a time out and stopped when it neared the Kampung Baru station platform.“Time out occurred when the ATO failed after the vehicle on-board controller stopped. An order was issued for the hostler to drive it manually from Kampung Baru station to Dang Wangi station and it needed to move in the same direction to give way to a train from the south or in ATO mode to continue service.“At the same time, TR81, which was operating in ATO mode, was in a static position at the KLCC station southbound platform. At 8.24pm TR81 departed from KLCC station to Kampung Baru station after receiving information that TR40 had left Kampung Baru station heading for Dang Wangi station,” he said.However, at 8.33pm, the hostler contacted the operation control centre (OCC) saying that TR40 had crashed into a train identified as TR81, he said.“Around 8.36pm, the OCC informed the emergency action agency and appointed a duty officer at the incident area before the police and ambulance crew arrived at the incident scene to begin rescuing the victims,” he added.In a related development, Wee said the special investigation panel chaired by the transport ministry secretary-general would conduct the investigation with the report forwarded to the transport ministry in 14 days before being brought to the Cabinet.Wee said losses had not yet been calculated but that clean-up work and repairs to the tracks were underway.“If we follow the SOPs, clean-up work and repairs will take only three days and the total of losses will be estimated later,” he said.Wee added that only one track can be used for now. If necessary, he said, Prasarana will increase service frequency, especially during peak hours.


Najib and son fail in appeal over RM1.7 billion in taxes

The Court of Appeal today ruled that former prime minister Najib Razak and his son, Mohd Nazifuddin, must pay some RM1.7 billion in income tax arrears, dismissing their appeals against two previous court rulings allowing the Inland Revenue Board (LHDN) to enter summary judgments to recover the amounts in question.Judge Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil who led a three-man bench said there was no merit to their appeals and no misdirection by either High Court judge in the previous rulings.He also ordered costs of RM10,000 each.Najib and Nazifuddin had been appealing against the decisions of two separate High Courts which allowed LHDN’s applications to enter a summary judgment to recover tax arrears of RM1.69 billion from Najib and RM37.6 million from Nazifuddin, respectively.On July 22 last year, High Court judge Ahmad Bache allowed LHDN’s application for a summary judgment to be entered against Najib in its suit to recover the RM1.69 billion in taxes from the latter for the period between 2011 and 2017.Najib lost his bid in the High Court on June 14 this year to obtain a stay of execution on the summary judgment.The board had on Feb 4 this year issued a bankruptcy notice against Najib following the Pekan MP’s failure to pay the amount, as the summary judgment was not stayed.As for Nazifuddin, High Court judge Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim on July 6 last year ordered him to pay RM37.6 million in unpaid taxes to LHDN after allowing its application to enter a summary judgment against him in its tax arrears suit seeking to recover the unpaid amount from him between 2011 and 2017.He was served with a bankruptcy notice on April 30 over the failure to pay the amount.A summary judgment is when the court decides a particular case summarily, without calling witnesses to testify in a trial.


First athletes positive for Covid-19 in Tokyo Olympic Village

Two athletes have become the first to test positive for the coronavirus in the Tokyo Olympic Village, officials said on Sunday, just days before the pandemic-delayed Games open.The cases will heighten concerns over the Olympics, which are facing opposition in Japan over fears they will bring new cases to a country already battling a surge in infections.A daily tally of new cases revealed two athletes tested positive in the Village and one elsewhere. They come a day after an unidentified person, who was not a competitor, became the first case in the Village.The Olympic Village, a complex of apartments and dining areas, will house 6,700 athletes and officials at its peak when the 2020 Games, delayed last year over the pandemic, finally get underway.The Tokyo Olympics, which will be held largely behind closed doors to prevent infections, are unpopular in Japan where opinion polls have consistently demonstrated a lack of support.On Saturday, International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach appealed for Japanese fans to get behind the Games, saying he was “very well aware of the scepticism” surrounding the event.


Sarawak deputy CM dies

Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister James Jemut Masing died of complications from Covid-19 today. He was 72.According to media reports, the Baleh state assemblyman passed away at the Normah Sarawak Medical Centre in Kuching at about 7am.He had previously been admitted to the ICU ward at Sarawak General Hospital after testing positive for Covid-19 on Sept 28.He was president of Parti Rakyat Sarawak and had been the Baleh representative since 1983.


Active Covid cases in Malaysia on the decline

Malaysia recorded a downward trend for average active Covid-19 cases for the 43rd epidemiological week (EW).Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said for the 42nd EW from Oct 24 to 30, average active cases showed a 15% drop from 83,605 cases (42nd EW) to 70,829 cases (43rd EW).“Active cases have been dropping since eight weeks ago. Also, new Covid-19 cases show a drop of 2.2% from 41,508 cases (42nd EW) to 40,613 cases (43rd EW).“The fatality rate however, increased by 5.2% compared to the previous epidemiological week (42nd EW),” he said in a statement.Noor Hisham said cases requiring intensive care treatment dropped by 12% from 571 cases throughout the 42nd EW to 505 cases for the 43rd EW.Meanwhile, cases requiring respiratory support dropped by 14.4% from 250 cases to 214 cases. This decline has been ongoing for the past 11 weeks.Kelantan, Putrajaya and Melaka reported the highest rate of cases for every 10,000 residents.Meanwhile, 46 clusters were reported in the 43rd EW, 25 of which involved workplaces, followed by education institutions (nine), communities (seven) and high-risk groups (five).“Education institution clusters rose following the reopening of institutions of higher education during the 41st EW,” Noor Hisham said.On hospital capacity, he said the health ministry had allocated 26,522 beds at Covid-19 low-risk quarantine and treatment centres (PKRC), 14,963 normal ward beds, 1,345 ICU beds and 2,804 respirators to treat Covid-19 patients, suspected cases and cases under investigation.The occupancy of beds in PKRCs, normal wards and ICU showed a downward trend of between 2% and 6% in the 43rd EW compared to the 42nd EW.


Oil tops US$113, equities sink on Ukraine war fears

Crude surged past US$113 a barrel Wednesday and equities sank with investors growing increasingly fearful about the Ukraine war’s impact on global energy supplies and the economic recovery.Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of his neighbour has sent world markets into a spiral over the past week, further fraying nerves on trading floors caused by runaway inflation and tighter central bank monetary policies.The crisis has seen numerous countries hammer Moscow with a series of wide-ranging sanctions that have isolated Russia and threaten to crash its economy.The measures have injected a huge amount of uncertainty into markets with supplies of crucial commodities including metals and grains soaring. The price of global staple wheat is sitting at a 14-year high – having risen 30% in the past month.But the main source of unease on trading floors is crude, which has rocketed since Russia began preparing to invade. On Wednesday Brent topped US$110 for the first time since 2014 and WTI followed suit hours later to hit a 2013 high.In afternoon Asian trade, Brent rose as high as US$113.02 and WTI peaked at US$111.50.Incoming sanctions have fuelled worries that exports will be cut off from Russia, the world’s third-biggest producer of the commodity.The conflict in eastern Europe comes with prices already elevated owing to tight supplies and a strong recovery in global demand as economies reopen from pandemic-induced lockdowns.Traders will be keeping a close eye on a meeting of OPEC and other major producers, including Russia, later in the day where they will discuss whether to ramp up output to temper the price rises, which are helping fan inflation.In his State of the Union address, President Joe Biden said the US would join a 30-country deal to release 60 million barrels to help temper the surge in prices, though analysts have warned such moves would likely only have a limited impact.The oil price surge has compounded fears about inflation as it sits at a 40-year high in the United States and hurts Americans in the pocket even as the economy rebounds from the pandemic shock.However, the Ukraine crisis has given the Fed another headache as it is forced to rethink its plans to hike interest rates to get consumer prices under control.It had been widely expected to lift this month and then up to seven times more before the end of the year, but commentators say it will likely tone down its hawkishness for fear of damaging the recovery.“The supply chain issues and inflationary pressures will be top of mind for many investors globally,” Andy McCormick at T Rowe Price said.“These things will almost certainly complicate the already difficult task that central banks were facing trying to battle inflation.”And Uma Pattarkine, of CenterSquare Investment Management, told Bloomberg Television: “The market was looking at anywhere up to seven rate hikes this year – I think it will be closer to maybe the three or four we were anticipating at the very beginning of this conversation.”Fed boss Jerome Powell’s two days of congressional testimony will be closely watched this week for an idea about the bank’s thinking.Wall Street and European markets tumbled Tuesday and the losses largely flowed through to Asia, which had enjoyed two days of relative calm though the selling was not as severe.Tokyo, Hong Kong, Mumbai and Manila lost more than 1%, while there were also losses in Shanghai, Singapore, Taipei, Jakarta, Bangkok and Wellington. However, Sydney and Seoul eked out marginal gains.Paris and Frankfurt opened lower but London edged up.


UBS set to carve up Credit Suisse after takeover day

UBS is set to finalise the takeover of Credit Suisse on Monday, but the hardest part is yet to come: turning the arranged marriage of Switzerland's biggest banks into a success.
Reassuring the financial markets, customers, employees, the government and the public remains a challenge once the mega-merger is completed.
"From Monday onwards, UBS can start being proactive," Andreas Venditti, an analyst at Swiss investment manager Vontobel, told AFP.
Switzerland's largest bank must already have an idea of what bits of Credit Suisse it wants to keep, close or sell, but "so far they were limited in what they could do," he said.
On June 5, the two Zurich-based banks announced that the merger should be completed on June 12.
A merger this complex could turn out to be a nightmare, particularly given how little time UBS has had.
UBS expects an exceptional accounting gain of nearly US$35 billion (RM161.49 billion) due to the difference between the purchase price and the recognised net assets of Credit Suisse.
UBS chief executive Sergio Ermotti has warned the coming months will be "bumpy" for the bank.
Takeover preparations have already brought "a first wave" of emotions and difficult decisions, but "other waves" are still to come, he told the Swiss Economic Forum conference in Interlaken on Friday.
He said jobs would be the trickiest part of the merger, adding that cuts were inevitable given the overlap in some activities.
Shotgun wedding
Like UBS, Credit Suisse was among 30 international banks deemed too big to fail due to their importance in the global banking architecture.
But the collapse of three US regional lenders in March left Credit Suisse looking vulnerable, and its share price plunged more than 30% during trading on March 15.
The Swiss government, the central bank and financial regulators then stepped in and strongarmed UBS into a US$3.25 billion takeover announced on Sunday, March 19, before the markets reopened the following day.
The government feared Credit Suisse would have quickly defaulted and triggered a global banking crisis.
The deal includes guarantees for UBS in case there are any nasty surprises in the Credit Suisse cupboards.
UBS and the Swiss government signed the guarantee contract on Friday, which can reach up to nine billion Swiss francs (US$9.85 billion), if the losses exceed five billion francs.
The takeover terms and the size of the resulting megabank are causing serious concern in Switzerland.
The parliament in Bern has set up an extremely rare commission of inquiry, with lawmakers set to investigate how the emergency rescue was stitched together in double-quick time.
Questions remain
Many questions surrounding the merger remain unanswered. Investors want to know more about the integration process and the bits of Credit Suisse that will be kept and absorbed.
Venditti said the picture should be clearer once second-quarter financial results come out. UBS has pushed back the publication date by more than a month to August 31.
He said he hopes UBS will say more about the fate of the profitable domestic retail branch of Credit Suisse, the arm that was untouched by the scandals that dogged the bank.
Ipek Ozkardeskaya, an analyst at Swissquote Bank, said "talent retention" would be one of the biggest challenges, as staff departures multiply in the face of downsizing fears.
She also highlighted the need for "creating a new bank culture" in the merged institution, referring to the string of scandals that tarnished the Credit Suisse brand.
From the political standpoint, the financial regulators Finma "should make sure to protect competition, which could necessitate an eventual spin-off of certain business units", Ozkardeskaya told AFP.
The Socialist Party fears the merger will create a "monster" that would be too big to rescue in a crisis – in which case the whole country would be held "hostage".
The government and the central bank released some 259 billion Swiss francs of liquidity to facilitate the takeover.
"We owe it to the youth of this country to ensure that such a crisis cannot happen again," Damien Cottier, the parliamentary leader of the centre-right Liberals party, said in the National Council lower chamber on Wednesday.


Foreign worker recalibration programme extended another year

The government has agreed to reintroduce the labour recalibration programme and create a more relaxed plan for the employment of foreign workers as part of measures to fulfil the demand for foreign workers in the country.
The two programmes were among the matters agreed on in the special foreign worker management meeting chaired by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in Putrajaya today.
Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the labour recalibration programme which ended on Dec 31 last year would be continued for a year effective immediately.
"The programme has been extended as it can offer jobs to foreign workers already in the country.
"We impose compounds on foreign workers who participate in the recalibration programme. Last year, we received over RM700 million in revenue through this programme," he said at a media conference after the meeting with Human Resources Minister V Sivakumar.
The recalibration programme was created to legalise undocumented migrants currently in the country to allow their employment by qualified employers, subject to the conditions set by the government through the immigration department and the Labour Department of Peninsular Malaysia.
On the new foreign worker hiring programme, Saifuddin said employers would be allowed to hire foreign workers from 15 source countries without needing to go through pre-requisite hiring and quota qualifications.
He said he would head a series of visits together with the human resources ministry and supervising agencies to the 15 source countries to discuss safety and welfare issues for the workers.
Adding that this would be a temporary measure to meet Malaysia's economic development needs, he said detailed information on the plan would be announced soon.


Rainy Thaipusam expected nationwide

It is set to be a wet Thaipusam celebration on Sunday with rain forecast for the whole country, including thunderstorms in several areas.
The Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia), in a statement, said wet weather is expected in one or two areas in Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang, east Johor and Sabah in Kudat and Sandakan.
In the evening, rain is forecast in several areas in Perak, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, Negeri Sembilan, Melaka, Johor and Sarawak, while heavy rain or thunderstorms are expected in one or two locations in Perlis, Kedah, Penang, Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang and Sabah.
MetMalaysia said rain is also expected at night in Perak, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Negeri Sembilan, Johor, Pahang, Sarawak (Sri Aman, Betong, Sarikei, Sibu, Mukah, Kapit, Miri and Limbang) and Sabah (west coast and the interior) as well as Labuan.
In a separate statement, MetMalaysia said that an analysis of weather models had found that wind concentration is expected to occur in the eastern regions of the peninsula and Sarawak, potentially setting up continuous rainy conditions until Feb 8.  "Thunderstorms and heavy rain with strong winds are expected to occur in the eastern parts of the peninsula in the morning.
"The same weather is expected to occur in the interior and west of the peninsula and west of Sabah in the afternoon and night for the same period," the statement read.
MetMalaysia has also issued a continuous rain alert for Sarawak until tomorrow.


Children have stronger antibody response to Covid, study finds

Children who are 10 and younger produce more antibodies in response to coronavirus infection than adolescents and adults, a study showed Monday.The authors of the paper, which appeared in Jama Network Open, said the finding helped illuminate why children are less susceptible to severe Covid-19 than adults – though this is still an area of very active research and many factors are believed to be at play.A team led by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine examined almost 32,000 antibody tests from New York City between April and August 2020, finding that a similar number of the 1,200 children and 30,000 adults showed signs of past infection – 17% and 19%.The scientists then examined a subset of patients who tested positive – 85 children and 3,648 adults – to determine the levels of immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies.This is a key type of “neutralising” antibody that binds to the spike protein of the virus, preventing it from invading cells.The 32 children aged one to 10 years showed median IgG levels almost five times higher than 127 young adults aged 19 to 24 years.Finally, they focused on a subset of 126 positive patients aged one to 24 years, none of whom had experienced severe Covid-19, to further characterise the antibody response.In this final group, children aged one to 10 years had on average more than twice the levels of IgG antibodies of adolescents aged 11 to 18 years, who in turn had more than twice the average level of young adults aged 19 to 24 years.The authors wrote: “Our findings suggest that the differences in clinical manifestations of Covid-19 in pediatric patients compared with adult patients could be partly due to age-related immune response.”The fact that children are less prone to severe Covid-19 is in some ways counterintuitive, given how much they are affected by other respiratory illnesses, and many theories abound.A paper in Nature Communications last month by researchers in Australia suggested children have a more active “innate” immunity – the immune system’s first line of defence which gets triggered before it raises antibodies, and involves cells such as neutrophils that patrol the body looking for infections.Another theory is linked to the fact that children have fewer cell receptors in their respiratory tracts called “ACE2” which the coronavirus uses to gain entry to our cells.One paradoxical result from the new research was that antibody levels were lowest for young adults but rose again with age – despite the fact that we know older people are more vulnerable.The authors admitted they could not completely explain this and suggested the reason for higher hospitalisation and death rates among the elderly could relate to higher rates of comorbidities.Obesity, which is a major risk factor for severe Covid-19, is associated with a phenomenon called “cytokine storm” where the immune system goes into overdrive, damaging organs.The fact that obese people have a higher baseline level of the signalling proteins called cytokines could also be associated with heightened antibody production, the authors wrote.


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Leave us out of your squabble with PAS, GPS tells DAP

GPS today said it should not be dragged into the quarrel between DAP and PAS, after DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng accused the Sarawak ruling coalition of betraying Sarawakians by backing Perikatan Nasional alongside the Islamist party.“Both DAP and PAS used to be bed partners in Pakatan Rakyat and they should know each other well,” Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, the vice-president of GPS’ lynchpin party PBB, told MalaysiaNow.“Leave GPS and Bornean parties out of their squabble.”Karim was responding to Lim’s comment that GPS, alongside non-Malay parties such as MCA and MIC, should be answerable for any move to redraw electoral borders along racial and religious lines.This came on the back of a statement by a PAS leader that the current electoral boundaries are skewed and unfair to predominantly Malay states, citing the number of parliamentary seats represented by Kelantan, Terengganu, Kedah and Pahang.PAS’ Khairuddin Aman Razali had also proposed that the boundaries be redrawn so that the states are better representated in the federal legislative.Lim reportedly said that proposal amounted to apartheid and a denial of non-Muslim rights.Karim, who is Sarawak’s state minister for tourism, dismissed the talk, saying the Election Commission has its own way of carving out electoral boundaries.“No isolated opinion from PAS leaders will change that, and Guan Eng need not lower himself so low to debate on an issue he knows is isolated and not the stand of all Malaysians,” he added.


EPF says RM155.18 billion outsourced to external fund managers in 2020

The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) announced today that a total of RM155.18 billion had been outsourced to external fund managers as of Dec 31, 2020, in which the allocation, invested across both equity and fixed income instruments, represented 15.55% of its total investment assets.Chairman Ahmad Badri Mohd Zahir said the external fund managers had continued to ensure good performance and deliver results that were within the EPF’s risk-return objectives amid the global market uncertainties caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.“As our fund size grows, we will continue to outsource a portion of our funds to optimise returns and enhance the performance of our assets,” he said in a statement.He said EPF was confident that the fund managers would continue to deliver superior performance and maintain high governance standards in managing EPF portfolios while ensuring the sustainability of assets over the long term.For the 2021 External Fund Managers Award, EPF said a total of 19 awards comprising nine categories for fixed income and 10 categories for equity were accorded to the top external fund managers in recognition of their performance.EPF delivered a dividend rate of 5.20% with a payout of RM42.88 billion for conventional savings, and 4.90% with a payout of RM4.76 billion for shariah savings for the financial year ended 2020.“Cumulatively, the total payout for 2020 amounted to RM47.64 billion,” it said.


Analysts pan politicians from both sides in ringgit debate, say still no plan on food security

Several analysts have taken politicians from both sides of the divide to task for failing to respond appropriately to cushion the impact of the local currency's performance, citing the absence of any plan to reduce the country's dependency on food imports worth billions of dollars.
Herizal Hazri, who formerly headed the government think-tank Institute of Strategic and International Studies, said there is a lack of any concrete policies by every incoming government to tackle food security issues.
He said while politicians either took credit or were panned depending on how the ringgit performed, the real focus should be the modernisation of Malaysia's agriculture sector to increase production.
Herizal said despite Malaysia's fertile and vast agricultural lands, it still imports half its food.
"This is a significant problem. I have conducted numerous studies and presented to previous governments the dangers of depending on the international food supply.
"Many studies have shown that no successful agricultural economy can achieve high income without modernising its agriculture," he told at a discussion programme aired over news channel Astro Awani last night.
The view was shared by former Bangi MP Ong Kian Ming, who said his fellow politicians in Pakatan Harapan were equally guilty of politicising the ringgit's value.
"When I was in the opposition, I recall several opposition MPs criticising the government at that time for the weak ringgit, without providing any explanations or suggesting long-term policies to remedy the situation.
"Now that I'm in the government, I see those who were previously in the government using the same tactics when they are in the opposition."
Ong also took to task ruling politicians who previously said the government should intervene in matters of the overnight policy rate.
"But when they become the government, they sing a different tune."
The Malaysian ringgit has been taking a beating over the past few months, leading to higher prices of goods, especially food.
Since taking office, the minister in charge of food security, Mohamad Sabu, has also come under criticism for measures to control food prices, such as allowing the import of chicken eggs from India to ease a local shortage last year.
Last year, Malaysia's food imports increased to RM75 billion and are expected to reach RM100 billion in 2025.
Herizal added that matters pertaining to currency are usually tied to specific government's shortcomings and not structural problems.
"We have never addressed the issues that could affect the economy if our currency declines."
Meanwhile, another analyst Noor Azlan Ghazali, who heads the Malaysian Inclusive Development and Advancement Institute at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, said the dependence on food imports is not a new issue.
"If we look at development plan documents, they all mention the same thing," he said. "However, we don't give adequate attention to these problems."
Azlan added that the economic situation cannot be solely attributed to the existing leadership, as these problems have existed for a long time.


Richard, the bearer of good news on an otherwise gloomy social media front

Amid the economic gloom and political fatigue spreading through much of the country, one man has made it his goal to broadcast as much good news and positivity as he can, in the hope of making a difference in the lives of ordinary Malaysians.
Between the rising cost of living and the lingering concerns about Covid-19 despite Malaysia's shift towards endemicity, Richard Ker has his work cut out for him.
But the cheerful Sabahan refuses to say die. His method is simple: he looks for ordinary people who are making an impact, whether they are sportsmen or individuals involved in charity for the needy.
"Then I see the opportunity to leverage positivity instead of talking about the negative," he said in an interview with MalaysiaNow.

Richard Ker.

This was the inspiration behind his first efforts in 2016, when he highlighted the success of Malaysians in a series dubbed "The Malaysian Heroes".
"That was the first time my Facebook post went viral," he recalled.
And it is an effort that he intends to continue pursuing, now more than ever.
"I want to find the sweet spot," he said.
Ker, who has made a name for himself as a social media influencer, started out using Facebook and LinkedIn, acknowledging in frank terms that he had "no idea" how to include Twitter in his portfolio of platforms.
His big Twitter breakthrough came in April this year, when he posted about Florence Tan, a Malaysian working with the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa).
"I just input keywords like 'Malaysian' and 'Nasa'," he said. "That was how I was able to find Tan."
He collected the information and put it in a thread, and to his surprise, it went viral.
"The story was even picked up by the Johor palace," he said.
Ker used the same method to highlight local success stories like the Siti Khadijah boutique, 99 Speedmart and even Ramly Burger.
"All the information is already there."
Ker, who pursued multimedia studies at a local institution, went on to study electronic engineering in the UK on a Mara scholarship.
"Growing up, I wanted to be a doctor or an engineer," he said.
"I expected to be an engineer after graduating from the University of Surrey. But I was always fascinated with information technology or IT."
He went on to work for 10 years in China before returning to Malaysia and settling down in Cyberjaya.  He worked with several government agencies like the Malaysian Global Innovation and Creativity Centre and Cyberview before joining global drone service provider Aerodyne Group.
He is currently working on his own digital marketing company which aims to focus on storytelling and branding for local entrepreneurs.
For Ker, this is where his passion lies.
Speaking to MalaysiaNow, he described storytelling as the missing piece for many things in the country including the local technology scene.
For example, he is working with a social enterprise that works to uplift the B40 groups in Sabah, advising them on video and storytelling aspects to attract buyers from outside of Malaysia who might be interested in local products.
"All of my social media posts have this element of storytelling," he said.
"I want to make it impactful and not so technical, and easy to digest. Focusing on the right storytelling could even attract investors."
Despite his best efforts, he still comes up against naysayers who play down Malaysia's achievements and reject any attempt to focus on the good in the country.
But he refuses to throw in the towel. People will always have their own perspectives, he said.
"No doubt the political and economic front have been the major headache for everyone, but eventually, all countries have their own set of problems.
"It's okay for people to know and to be aware of these negativities.
"From my side, I focus on the opportunities and not the obstacles. Obstacles will always be there. It does not take you anywhere if you keep focusing on the obstacles."


Burst pipe disrupts water supply in Kuala Langat, Sepang

Nine areas in Kuala Langat and Sepang, Selangor, are experiencing an unscheduled disruption in water supply due to a burst pipe near Bandar Sri Ehsan and the KLIA Mosque.The affected areas are Taman Langat Utama, Taman D’Menara, Taman Murnimas, RTB Bukit Changgang, Bandar Sri Ehsan, Taman Langat Murni, Bandar Mahkota, Bandar Brooklands and Estet Sopec.In a statement today, Air Selangor said repair work is ongoing, with water supply expected to return in stages from 8pm onwards.Meanwhile, water tankers have been mobilised to provide water to those affected by the disruption.For more information and assistance on water supply, customers can contact Air Selangor at 15300, or through its Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or website at www.airselangor.com.


Cabinet urges MACC to step up probe into combat ship scandal

The Cabinet is urging the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to expedite its investigation into the littoral combat ship (LCS) scandal, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said today.
He said the Cabinet, which discussed the matter in detail at its meeting today, also called on the attorney-general to prosecute and bring the culprits to justice if there was enough evidence.
"On behalf of the government, I give my assurance that the investigation into this matter will be carried out transparently and that the government will not protect anyone involved," he said in a statement.
Ismail said he had also called Attorney-General Idrus Harun and MACC chief commissioner Azam Baki after the meeting and asked them to take immediate action in line with the Cabinet’s decision.
Adding that the government took a serious view of the LCS issue, Ismail said the Cabinet had also decided that the report prepared by the Committee on Governance, Procurement and Finance Investigation, chaired by former auditor-general Ambrin Buang, would be allowed to be made public.
The Cabinet also proposed that the LCS Project Forensics Audit Report in 2019 be declassified, although Ismail said the process would need the advice and input of the attorney-general and auditor-general first.
"The decision made by the Cabinet today will not affect the mobilisation process under the LCS Project Recovery Plan finalised by the Cabinet on April 20, 2022," he added.
Ismail said the government was also committed to continuing the LCS project in the interest of national defence and in line with the Royal Malaysian Navy requirements.
Last Thursday, the Public Accounts Committee disclosed that it had held nine proceedings regarding the LCS issue from Nov 18, 2020, with the last one on March 8 this year, during which several witnesses were called.
The results of the proceedings found that the LCS project contract was awarded to Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd through direct negotiation, with the government paying RM6.083 billion although not even one LCS ship was delivered.
According to the original schedule, five ships should have been ready and handed over by August 2022.


Emergency motion on floods tabled at Dewan Rakyat

An emergency motion on the frequent floods problem in the country was tabled and debated in the Dewan Rakyat today.
The motion was brought by Wong Shu Qi (PH-Kluang) in accordance with Standing Order 18(1).
Wong suggested that the Dewan Rakyat urge the government to take more proactive measures to protect the lives and property of the people threatened by climate change.
"Floods hit all 10 districts in Johor which caused damage to several towns in the state, and the situation is much more serious than the floods in 2006 and 2007," she said when tabling the motion.
Wong said the government needed to improve the SOPs on the release of dam water to overcome extreme weather.
She also urged the government to ensure that the supply of basic goods for flood relief centres is always sufficient for the entire year, saying the country could be hit by floods at any time due to climate change. Wong said the government should also reconsider allowing the preparation of food at relief centres as was done before the Covid-19 pandemic.
"This is because the Johor flood victims have reached 40,000 people. This matter needs to be expedited because the people are waiting for help and more proactive action from the unity government," she said.
Earlier, deputy speaker Ramli Mohd Noor announced that that speaker Johari Abdul had received notification of the motion last Friday and found that the motion met the three conditions of being specific, urgent and of public interest.


Pub, nightclub activities top RMCO violations list

Some 580 people who were found participating in pub and nightclub activities yesterday were detained for defying the recovery movement control order (RMCO).Senior Minister for Security Ismail Sabri Yaakob said 118 people were also detained for failing to practise proper physical distancing.Other offences included failing to wear face masks (52), operating beyond the permitted hours (52), offences related to illegal immigrants (39), failing to provide customer registration tools (22), suspected prostitution activities (seven), defying quarantine orders (two) and obstructing the duties of a public servant (one).Of the total 873 caught, 797 were compounded and 71 remanded while five more were offered bail, he said in a statement today.Thirty illegal immigrants and four smugglers were also arrested under Op Benting.From July 24 until yesterday, 24,781 people returned home from 32 countries and were placed at 67 hotels, four public training institutes and private education institutions nationwide.“Of these, 9,842 individuals are still undergoing compulsory quarantine, 66 were sent to hospital for treatment, and 14,873 more have been discharged and allowed home,” Ismail added.A total of 9,865 public sanitisation operations have been conducted since March 30 covering 12,969 premises in 134 zones.


Dozens feared dead in Taiwan railway crash

Dozens of people are feared dead after a packed train derailed inside a tunnel in Taiwan on Friday at the start of a long holiday weekend, with rescuers still scrambling to reach others trapped inside.Police said the accident was believed to have been caused by a construction vehicle sliding down an embankment and striking the train before it entered the tunnel.“There was a construction vehicle that didn’t park properly and slid onto the rail track,” Hualien county police chief Tsai Ding-hsien told reporters.“This is our initial understanding and we are clarifying the cause of the incident,” he added.Local media pictures from the scene showed the back of a yellow flatbed truck on its side next to the train.President Tsai Ing-wen’s office said she had ordered hospitals to prepare for a mass casualty event.“The top priority now is to rescue the stranded people,” it said in a statement.The accident occurred on Taiwan’s eastern railway line around 9.30am near the coastal city of Hualien.Pictures published by local news website UDN showed the front of the train inside the tunnel had been pulverised into a twisted mesh of metal.Railway police said 36 passengers were classified as “out of hospital cardiac arrest” – a term for someone showing no signs of life.A further 72 people were still believed to be trapped inside train carriages while 61 passengers had been sent to hospital.The Central Emergency Operation Center gave a slightly lower suspected death toll of 26 people showing “no signs of life”.Another live broadcast by UDN outside the tunnel showed at least two undamaged train carriages with rescuers helping passengers escape.Escape by roof“It felt like there was a sudden violent jolt and I found myself falling to the floor,” an unidentified female survivor told the network.“We broke the window to climb to the roof of the train to get out.”The eight-car train was travelling from Taipei to the southeastern city of Taitung and was carrying some 350 passengers.The accident occurred at the start of the busy annual Tomb Sweeping Festival, a long holiday weekend when Taiwan’s roads and railways are usually packed.During the festival, people return to ancestral villages to tidy up the graves of their relatives and make offerings.Taiwan’s eastern railway line is usually a popular tourist draw down its dramatic and less populated eastern coastline.With the help of multiple tunnels and bridges, it winds its way through towering mountains and dramatic gorges before entering the picturesque Huadong Valley.Friday’s crash looks set to be one of Taiwan’s worst railway accidents in recent decades.The last major train derailment in Taiwan was in 2018 and left 18 people dead at the southern end of the same line.The driver of the eight-carriage train was later charged with negligent homicide. More than 200 of the 366 people on board were also injured.That crash was the island’s worst since 1991, when 30 passengers were killed and 112 injured after two trains collided in Miaoli.Thirty were also killed in 1981 after a truck collided with a passenger train at a level crossing and sent coaches over a bridge in Hsinchu.And in 2003, 17 died and 156 were injured after a train on the Alishan mountain railway plunged into a chasm at the side of the track.


Malaysia, Indonesia ink agreement on domestic helpers

Malaysia and Indonesia today signed a memorandum of understanding on the recruitment and protection of Indonesian domestic helpers (MoU on PDI) in Malaysia.The signing of the MoU was witnessed by Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob and Indonesian President Joko Widodo at Istana Merdeka in Jakarta.Human Resources Minister M Saravanan signed on behalf of Malaysia while Indonesia was represented by Manpower Minister Ida Fauziyah.Ismail, in a joint press conference with Widodo after the signing ceremony, said the MoU would ensure that all recruitment processes and protection mechanisms for Indonesian domestic helpers (PDI) are implemented in a comprehensive manner by the relevant parties, in accordance with the policies and laws of both countries.“The single entry channel for PDI into Malaysia was agreed on by using only the single channel system spelt out in the MoU for screening employers to ensure that only those qualified can hire PDI,” he said.The prime minister added that Malaysia had ratified Protocol 29 of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) as a sign of its commitment at the international level to combat the issue of forced labour, including giving protection to migrant workers from Indonesia.In protecting the welfare of domestic workers, various initiatives have been taken including contributions through the Social Security Organisation (Socso) and guarantees on salary payments via e-Wages to ensure that salaries are paid not later than the seventh day of every month.A weekly rest day and an e-complaint application for workers to make complaints online have also been introduced, in addition to other welfare benefits stated in the service contract.The MoU also paves the way for the re-entry of Indonesian workers in other sectors allowed by Malaysia.Ismail said the MoU would bring major and lasting benefits to the people of Malaysia and Indonesia.He also described it as a significant milestone reflecting the continued commitment of the Malaysian and Indonesian governments in managing the affairs of their peoples.“As a neighbour, Malaysia always appreciates and welcomes the contributions of Indonesian migrant workers to the economic development and life of Malaysians,” he said.


Malaysia bags second powerlifting medal at Tokyo Paralympics

National powerlifting athlete Jong Yee Khie bagged a second medal for Malaysia, winning silver in the men’s 107kg category at the Tokyo Paralympics today.Despite failing in his first attempt to lift 230kg, he bounced back to clinch the silver medal in his second attempt, lifting 237kg.However, the 32-year-old from Batu Kawa, Kuching, was unable to improve further, failing in his third and final attempt to lift 245kg.Jong’s success helped make up for his disappointment after finishing seventh in the 97kg category when making his Paralympics debut in Rio 2016.This is the second medal won by the national powerlifting camp at the Paralympic Games. Bonnie Bunyau Gustin, who competed in the men’s 72kg category, made history by becoming the first athlete to win gold for the national contingent in the prestigious games last Saturday.Bonnie not only won gold, but also broke the Paralympics record after lifting 228kg.The previous record of 227kg was set by Rasool Mohsin of Iraq at Rio 2016.In today’s action at the Tokyo International Forum, the gold medal was won by Mongolian athlete Sodnompiljee Enkhbayar who lifted 245kg – a new Paralympics record in the category.Sodnompiljee started convincingly by lifting 241kg to break the Paralympics record of 238kg set by Pavlos Mamalos of Greece at Rio 2016.He stole the limelight once again when he broke his own record after lifting 245kg on his second attempt.The bronze medal went to Saman Razi from Iran who lifted 231kg.


Special Dewan Negara meeting to focus on emergency, says president

The special meeting of the Dewan Negara slated for Aug 3 to 5 will focus on the explanation and the tabling of the proclamation of emergency, and not on any unexpected motion.Dewan Negara president Rais Yatim said any other issues, questions or the right for explanation submitted by senators would be considered based on their relevancy.“Matters that have been slated for the meeting are the emergency proclamation, emergency ordinances made under the emergency proclamation in accordance with Article 150 (3) of the Federal Constitution, and the tabling of the emergency proclamation (on the Gerik parliamentary by-election in Perak and Bugaya state by-election in Sabah).“Other matters are the explanations from ministers under the Senate’s Standing Order 13(1)(i) relating to the National Recovery Plan, vaccination programme, implementation of emergency, and economic stimulus packages,” he said in a statement today.Rais said he was notified by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, as leader of the house, that the special meeting is vital as it is of public interest.Rais said the notification from Muhyiddin was in accordance with Standing Order 10 (3) of the Senate.In order to ensure that the special meeting will run smoothly and safely, all anti-Covid-19 SOPs set by the health ministry and the National Security Council will be enforced at all times.Senate secretary Muhd Sujairi Abdullah will notify all senators of the special meeting soon.


Another ruling MP appointed to GLC

PKR's Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh has been named as the non-executive chairman of the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), the latest in a series of political appointments to government-linked companies (GLCs) and agencies.
MDEC is a GLC under the communications and digital ministry headed by PKR's Fahmi Fadzil.
A statement from MDEC said his appointment took effect on April 1.
It also said Syed Ibrahim had "extensive experience in the field of telecommunications", having worked at Telekom Malaysia for 25 years.
"He is experienced in customer relationship management, project management, marketing and trade sales, segmentation and analysis as well as the management of information technology and systems. His last position was assistant general manager," it said.
The government led by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has been criticised of late over politically linked appointments to government agencies and GLCs.
These include the appointments of two Umno politicians as the heads of powerful government bodies in charge of Bumiputera economic development: Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki at Majlis Amanah Rakyat or Mara, and Ahmad Jazlan Yaakub at Felcra.
Meanwhile, PKR’s Balik Pulau MP Bakhtiar Wan Chik was named to head finance ministry-owned investment arm MyCreative Ventures Sdn Bhd, and Amanah's Husam Musa appointed as chairman of Syarikat Perumahan Negara Bhd.
Just last month, it was reported that PKR's Abdullah Sani Abdul Hamid was appointed to head Tekun Nasional, an agency tasked with providing financing facilities to Bumiputera businesses under the entrepreneur development and cooperatives ministry.
It was also reported that Amanah MP Sany Hamzan had been named as Abdullah's deputy, while former Upko president Bernard Dompok was appointed as chairman of SME Corp, also under the same ministry.
DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke defended the series of appointments, saying they did not involve GLCs listed in Bursa Malaysia.
"Those appointed now are not at such companies, but at statutory bodies, authorities and so on. They are regulatory bodies and do not involve business and so on," Loke had said.
This drew a sharp response from a veteran diplomat who hit out in a recent commentary at the spate of political appointments involving those aligned with Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
"Anthony Loke might jump through hoops to justify Zahid’s appalling appointments but the people are not so easily fooled. All they see are conniving and unprincipled politicians who can’t be trusted to honour their promises and live up to their own ideals," said former Malaysian ambassador Dennis Ignatius.
Meanwhile, a civil society activist warned that appointing ruling MPs to head government agencies would compromise their parliamentary duties to monitor the executive.
"With such appointments, they may receive additional monies, benefits and powers, over and above their MPs' allowances," said rights activist Charles Hector.
"If similar practices of the then pre-GE14 Barisan Nasional regime are maintained, including political appointment of MPs and politicians, with no real reforms, then the people may be forced to look elsewhere for change," he added.


Struggling Sydney warned to brace for higher Covid numbers

Australia’s hope of returning to “Covid zero” suffered a fresh blow Friday, as Sydney reported another record number of new infections and authorities warned residents to brace for worse to come.For a second straight day, New South Wales premier Gladys Berejiklian said Australia’s most populous state hit a new peak with 291 cases detected.“At least 50 of those were infectious in the community,” Berejiklian said, foreshadowing more cases to come, despite a lockdown that is now in its sixth week.“I’m expecting higher case numbers in the next few days, and I just want everybody to be prepared for that,” she said.Roughly 60% of Australia’s 25 million residents are currently in lockdown, as the country tries to curb the spread of a virulent Delta variant outbreak.Melbourne became the latest major city to shutter late Thursday, after Victoria state premier Dan Andrews issued stay-at-home orders for the sixth time in this pandemic.“To be really frank, we don’t have enough people that have been vaccinated and, therefore, this is the only option available to us,” he said.Barely 20% of Australians have been fully vaccinated, due to an acute lack of supply and pockets of vaccine hesitancy.With cases rising and lockdowns seemingly able to slow, but not stop the spread, there are growing questions about whether Australia can return to the “Covid zero” status it enjoyed for much of the last 18 months.“Given where numbers are, given the experience of Delta overseas, we now have to live with Delta one way or another, and that is pretty obvious,” said Berejiklian.She said returning to zero cases would be “a challenge” but “that has to be our aspiration, we have to try to get down as low as we can.”Meanwhile, there are signs that Australians are tiring of on-again-off-again restrictions that have marked pandemic life, although compliance with lockdown rules is still widespread.“I’m not saying we’re doing super well but we’re keeping our heads above water,” Melbourne market trader Linda told AFP Friday.“I’m starting to feel like today it’s starting to hit me harder than any other lockdown. Hang on, I haven’t seen my family for such a long time.”


Ku Nan still not off the hook, says MACC

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) says it has not let former minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor off the hook following his discharge by the High Court today over a bribery case involving RM1 million.The anti-graft body said it would re-submit investigation papers to the attorney-general after following up on a new development in the case, as mentioned by prosecutor Julia Ibrahim in court today.Julia did not give details of the development, but said it was a complaint made against one of the witnesses in the case.“MACC will begin investigation of the new development and, once complete, will re-submit investigation papers to the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) for consideration,” MACC said in a statement, hours after the Kuala Lumpur High Court gave Tengku Mansor a discharge not amounting to an acquittal for a charge of accepting a RM1 million bribe from a businessman in 2013.Tengku Adnan was charged in November 2018 with receiving a RM1 million bribe from Tan Eng Boon through a Public Bank cheque belonging to Pekan Nenas Industries Sdn Bhd.MACC said the court’s decision today had not freed Tengku Adnan of the charge.It said the decision to allow him a discharge not amounting to an acquittal meant MACC could still bring charges against Tengku Adnan with the approval of the AGC.