Radzi visits KL school over claims of period spot checks

Education Minister Radzi Jidin recently visited a school in Setapak, Kuala Lumpur, to obtain further information regarding the practice of period spot checks involving female students.He said the education ministry took a serious view of claims that such checks were being conducted by teachers on students, as had previously gone viral on social media.“My presence tonight is to listen and obtain direct feedback from students at the school in question,” he said in a Facebook post.“We are also listening to the explanation of the principal and other teachers,” he said, adding that the details would be finalised soon.Radzi also assured of the ministry’s commitment to ensuring that the practice does not continue.“The education ministry is always committed to ensuring a safe and comfortable environment in schools and boarding schools,” he added.Radzi had previously urged those with information on the matter to come forward and name the schools involved.The controversial practice of period spot checks at schools has been a longstanding complaint from students and parents who say it is an invasion of privacy.Checks are performed by female teachers to prevent students from skipping their prayers.According to Islam, women who are having their periods are not allowed to attend congregational prayers.However, such checks are seen as a violation of privacy, capable of causing trauma and embarassment to students.


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Minister wants everyone to watch movie on PM Anwar

Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil is urging the public to watch the biopic "Anwar: The Untold Story", which will be screened in cinemas nationwide from May 18.
The film depicts Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's life and political struggles.
After attending the movie's premiere yesterday, Fahmi said on Facebook that he was touched by the portrayal of Anwar's life journey.
"Reliving the twists and turns of Anwar's journey in the movie made us all teary-eyed, especially so for his family members who watched it.
"I would recommend to my friends to go catch the movie’s first screening in the cinemas on May 18," he said.
"Anwar: The Untold Story", by Indonesian director Viva Westi, stars local actor Farid Kamil Zahari as Anwar and well-known Indonesian actress Acha Septriasa as Anwar's wife, Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.
The film, set between 1993 and 1998, revolves around Anwar's life when he was deputy prime minister and finance minister, and depicts his struggles against corruption.
"Anwar: The Untold Story" was shot in Malaysia and Indonesia at a cost of RM10 million.


Court throws out Umno’s bid to stay proceedings of SRC suit

The High Court today dismissed Umno’s application to stay the proceedings of a suit by SRC International against the political party to claim RM16 million said to be wrongfully transferred by the company to the party.Lawyer Shahrul Fazli Kamarulzaman, representing Umno, said judicial commissioner Mohd Arief Emran Arifin dismissed the application on grounds that there were no special circumstances warranting a stay of the suit.“Arief also indicated that the trial of this case may be heard in two more years, possibly in 2024, to make way for the disposal of other existing cases.“The court has set May 9 for further case management by e-review,” the lawyer told reporters after the online proceedings today.Also present was lawyer Nur Syafinaz Vani Abdullah, representing SRC International, Gandingan Mentari Sdn Bhd and Jendela Pinggiran Sdn Bhd, which are the plaintiffs named in the suit.Umno filed the application on Nov 24, 2021 on grounds that the party had filed an appeal in the Court of Appeal against the High Court’s decision, made on Nov 10 the same year, dismissing its application to quash the suit and allowing an application by the plaintiffs (SRC International, Gandingan Mentari Sdn Bhd and Jendela Pinggiran Sdn Bhd) to amend the writ of summons and statement of claim.In a supporting affidavit filed with the application, Umno executive secretary Mohd Sumali Reduan claimed that it would not be prejudicial to the plaintiffs if the court allowed the application to stay the proceedings of the suit.Meanwhile, Shahrul said his client’s appeal at the Court of Appeal would be heard on June 14.In its writ of summons, the plaintiffs claimed that Umno knew, or ought to have known, that the money belonged to SRC International and that the political party had no basis to receive the funds.On May 10, 2021, the finance ministry confirmed that 1MDB and its subsidiary SRC International had filed 22 civil suits seeking assets of over RM96.6 billion, including RM300 million from various local parties.It said the suits were filed on May 7, six by 1MDB and 16 by SRC International.


Imran Khan says to attend court hearing in bid to end Pakistan clashes

Pakistan's Imran Khan said on Wednesday he would heed a court summons, as his supporters continued to clash with security forces that had come to arrest the former prime minister for not showing up in a case against him related to selling state gifts.
The violence, which erupted on Tuesday and involved security forces firing tear gas and water cannons at stone-pelting crowds that had cordoned off Khan's home in Lahore, adds to the instability in nuclear-armed Pakistan, which is struggling with an economic crisis and awaiting an International Monetary Fund bailout.
A lower court in the capital Islamabad had last week issued an arrest warrant against Khan for defying orders to present himself in court to defend charges that he unlawfully sold state gifts given to him by foreign dignitaries while he was prime minister from 2018 to 2022.
In a tweet, Khan said he had signed a "surety bond" that would guarantee his appearance in the court by a March 18 deadline, and senior aide Fawad Chaudhry said Khan's party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, had asked the court to stop the police from arresting him.
"We have asked the police to wait until the court decision on the matter," added Chaudhry, a former information minister.
It was not immediately clear when the court would decide.
The legal proceedings against Khan began after he was ousted from office in a parliamentary vote early last year. Since then, he has been demanding a snap election and holding nationwide protest rallies, and was shot and wounded in one of these rallies. Current Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has rejected Khan's demands, saying the election would be held as scheduled later this year.
Khan, 70, a former international cricketer turned politician, still enjoys a large support base in Pakistan. In a video message broadcast by his party, he blamed the government for trying to arrest him, and called on his supporters to continue to fight.
"If anything happens to me, or I go to prison, or they kill me, you have to prove that this nation will continue to struggle even without Imran Khan," he said.
In a statement late on Tuesday, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said the government had nothing to do with the arrest warrant against Khan, and that the matter was up to the courts.
"Instead of cooperating with law enforcement officials, Imran Khan is breaking the law, defying court orders and using his party workers... as human shields to evade arrest and stoke unrest," she added.


Cheers, fireworks as Brisbane awarded 2032 Olympics

Brisbane was awarded the 2032 Olympics on Wednesday, triggering celebratory fireworks as it became the third Australian city to host the Summer Games after Melbourne and Sydney.International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach confirmed the widely expected result after a vote at the IOC session in Tokyo.“The International Olympic Committee has the honour to announce that the Games of the 35th Olympiad are awarded to Brisbane, Australia,” Bach said.The announcement was greeted by cheers from the Brisbane delegates in Tokyo, while fireworks lit up the skies above the Australian city thousands of km away.Brisbane’s victory looked a certainty after it was unanimously proposed as the single candidate for 2032 by the IOC’s 15-strong executive board in June.“It’s a historic day not just for Brisbane and Queensland, but for the entire country,” said Prime Minister Scott Morrison.“Only global cities can secure the Olympic Games, so this is fitting recognition for Brisbane’s standing across our region and the world.”Australia has already hosted the Olympics twice, in Melbourne in 1956 and Sydney in 2000, widely considered one of the most successful Games in recent history.Hundreds of people packed Brisbane’s Southbank riverside precinct for an announcement viewing party, watching the city’s final pitch to the IOC projected on a big screen.Rhys Cush, 24, one of those in the masked-up crowd, said he hoped to work at the 2032 Olympics and also attend as a spectator.“I’m an extremely big fan. I even watched the softball this morning,” he told AFP. “I’m super excited about having the Olympics coming here.”Lauren Granger, 42, said she hoped the 2032 Olympics would recreate the buzz of Sydney’s successful 2000 Games.“We flew down to Sydney and we were at the Olympics and it was just such a great experience for our family,” she said.“That was 20 years ago so we’d love to be able to relive that in 2032 with our kids.”‘Too many losers’Home to about 2.3 million people and bookended by shimmering coastal sands, Brisbane is seen as more laid-back and less cosmopolitan than Australia’s sprawling southern cities.Venues will be spread across Brisbane and nearby towns in Queensland state, including the Gold Coast which hosted the 2018 Commonwealth Games.There are hopes the Olympics will boost Brisbane’s profile, making it more attractive to tourists who tend to use it as a jumping-off point for attractions like the Great Barrier Reef.A report in The Australian newspaper said the Games will cost A$5 billion, with the opening and closing ceremonies taking place at a redeveloped Gabba cricket ground.The decision means the IOC has now secured hosts for the next three Summer Olympics, with Paris holding the event in 2024 and Los Angeles organising the 2028 Games.The awarding of the 2032 Olympics was the first to take place with a new election method adopted in June 2019 in an attempt to counter application fees and a lack of serious bids.For the 2024 Games, Bach complained the process had “produced too many losers”, after Rome, Hamburg and Budapest all pulled out of the running.Bidding cities have become increasingly hard to come by in recent years as costs balloon and the economic benefits of holding the Games remain unclear.The vote took place two days before the troubled Tokyo Olympics, which will start behind closed doors on Friday after a year’s delay because of the pandemic.


Setback for Singapore’s reopening plan as daily cases jump to record high

Singapore today said it was scaling back on the easing of restrictions for social gatherings to arrest a recent spike in Covid-19 cases, including a record high of 182 cases reported in the past 24 hours.This includes a four-week ban on dining in at eateries from July 22, as well as a drop in the limit of participants of social gatherings from five to two.Of the 182 locally transmitted cases reported in the city-state today, 135 were linked to the Jurong Fishery Port cluster.Health authorities also said infections were detected at 28 markets and food centres.“This is very concerning, as it can affect many people in our community all over the island,” the health ministry said.Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said the latest move to revert to Phase Two or the “heightened alert” stage would allow the nation time to reach its target of vaccinating two-thirds of the population by Aug 9, its national day.He said once the target is achieved, the city could remain open even if new daily cases hover between 100 and 200.“Therefore, now is really not the time to risk it all. So we need to bite this bullet, dial back on social activities, and use this time to push through the vaccination efforts,” The Straits Times quoted Ong as saying.


Sept 5 case management for appeal against acquittal of trio in Cradle Fund CEO case

The prosecution's appeal against the acquittal of Samirah Muzaffar and two teenagers from the charge of murdering Cradle Fund CEO Nazrin Hassan has been set for case management on Monday.
Rahmat Mohamed Hazlan, one of their lawyers, confirmed that the case management on Sept 5 would be conducted online before a Court of Appeal deputy registrar.
On June 21, this year, the Shah Alam High Court acquitted and discharged Samirah, 47, who is Nazrin's widow, and the two teenagers aged 19 and 16, after finding that the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case against them.
High Court judge Ab Karim Ab Rahman held that there was no direct evidence to show that they had committed the offence.
He said the fact that they had been the last people to be with Nazrin could not be said to have led to his murder.
Samirah and the two teenagers, as well as an Indonesian woman, Eka Wahyu Lestari, who is still at large, were charged with murdering Nazrin, 45, at his house in Mutiara Damansara between 11.30pm on June 13, 2018 and 4am the following day.
On June 23, the Attorney-General's Chambers filed a notice of appeal against the High Court's decision to acquit Samirah and the teenagers of the murder charge.
Meanwhile, on June 30, Samirah and the teenagers also filed an appeal to challenge some of the High Court's findings of facts including the finding that the fire which broke out in Nazrin's room was "done deliberately".
The High Court judge, in his oral judgment, had said that the court accepted the testimonies of the Kuala Lumpur Fire and Rescue Department director Edwin Galan Teruki and investigating officer Halim Zulkefeli, in which they concluded that the fire was deliberately lit.


Post-Covid era to see more seniors in need of care?

For eight months, Madam Lee has been living in a white-painted, two-storey terrace house in Petaling Jaya, Selangor – a clean and spacious residence although technically not her own home.She was sent there by her children who wanted her to receive professional care. At 90, she suffers from dementia along with some other health concerns that require trained nursing.At the home, she begins each day with a shower after which she takes her medication and undergoes physical therapy. Next comes breakfast and creative activities such as colouring.Madam Lee is one of 10 senior citizens staying at the Heritage Senior Care Centre along with several other daycare patients.Due to Covid-19 restrictions, she has not seen her family for nearly a year now.Senior citizens play a game with a plastic ball to keep active despite their disabilities.While the outbreak of the virus in Malaysia initially led to a drop in the number of seniors placed in residential care, those in the field believe this could change once the country begins to recover from the effects of the pandemic.According to data from the World Bank, Malaysia’s society is expected to age at a much faster rate than some European countries.M Mohan, director of Click2Health which runs Madam Lee’s care centre, said this would mean more senior citizens in need of professional care.“Most of these senior citizens come with non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and hypertension.“We also have dementia and post-surgery and post-stroke patients. That number is going to go up,” he told MalaysiaNow.Community with others is a key aspect of residential homes that care for the elderly.For now, families may be getting by thanks in part to the work from home policy adopted by many companies in the wake of the pandemic.But some elderly folk require more than just their medication on time. For them, proper care is time-consuming and takes a collective effort by their children – something not many in the working middle-class can afford.Private nursing care is an option but can be more expensive than residential care.“Here, one nurse can take care of several patients,” Mohan said. “It’s cheaper.”The home also has round-the-clock care for its residents, whereas private nursing has fixed hours.With residential care, there is also the opportunity to interact with others in group activities instead of being alone at home.Nurses and caretakers are always on standby to help the senior citizens with their needs.Delren Terrence Douglas, president of the Residential Aged Care Operators in Malaysia, said he had already observed an uptick in the demand for residential care as the country struggles to regain its footing in the pandemic.He said he had had five to six requests over the last two months for a place at his residential home in Sungai Petani, Kedah.“People have accepted the reality of living with the virus,” he said. “They don’t mind sending their old folks even when we say that we are not prepared.“This is because when the economy reopens, they need to go back to work.”Even for those who will continue working from home, he said, it is not easy to juggle work and caring for an older person.Like Mohan, Delren believes that the number of residential homes will only increase in the near future as more people require assistance with taking proper care of their elderly family members.He estimates that there are some 1,700 residential homes for senior citizens across the country, including unlicensed premises.


Europe toughens rules on entry for non-EU visitors

The European Union tightened its rules for visitors from outside the bloc on Monday, specifying that they would only be allowed in freely from countries with very few coronavirus cases and almost none of the more transmissible variants.EU ambassadors agreed the new measure for travel from non-EU countries, including Britain, at a meeting in Brussels, an EU diplomat told Reuters.Under the recommendation on non-essential travel, EU countries are encouraged to grant access without restrictions such as mandatory quarantines, only under strict criteria.Any visitor must come from a country with no more than 25 Covid-19 cases per 100,000 people over 14 days, an infection rate lower than in all EU countries.Travel curbs should also rapidly be reintroduced for countries where a high incidence of more infectious coronavirus variants is detected, the rules say.The agreement by EU countries covers non-essential travel and serves as a guideline for EU countries, all of which have the ultimate say on their own border policies.Some EU countries, such as Germany, have imposed tougher restrictions, while Belgium has banned non-essential travel into or out of the country until March.Last Thursday, the bloc cut Japan from its list of countries from which travellers can visit the bloc without Covid-related restrictions.The list now consists of only seven countries: Australia, China, New Zealand, Rwanda, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand. China’s inclusion is dependent on China allowing in EU visitors.


Goldman Sachs officials reach US$79.5 million shareholder settlement over 1MDB scandal

Goldman Sachs Group Inc officers and directors reached a US$79.5 million settlement to resolve shareholder claims that their poor oversight contributed to the bank being enmeshed in the looting scandal at the 1MDB sovereign wealth fund.A preliminary settlement of the so-called shareholder derivative lawsuit was filed on Friday in Manhattan federal court, and requires approval by US district judge Vernon Broderick.The defendants’ insurers would pay the US$79.5 million to Goldman, which would apply it toward compliance and governance measures, including giving more power to its chief compliance officer and creating an anonymous hotline for employee tips.US prosecutors have said Goldman helped 1MDB arrange US$6.5 billion of bond sales, but that US$4.5 billion was diverted via bribes and kickbacks to government officials, bankers and others.Shareholders led by the Atlanta-based Fulton County Employees’ Retirement System sought to hold Goldman chief executive David Solomon, his predecessor Lloyd Blankfein and others responsible for “conscious disregard of their oversight obligations” as the bank missed “red flags” of the fraud.None of the defendants admitted wrongdoing or liability in agreeing to settle. Goldman spokeswoman Maeve DuVally declined to comment.The bank previously agreed to pay billions of dollars to authorities in the US and other countries over 1MDB, and in 2020 entered a three-year deferred prosecution agreement with the US Department of Justice.On April 8, former Goldman banker Roger Ng was convicted in Brooklyn, New York of bribery and money laundering charges over his role in the scandal.Led by the firm Saxena White, the shareholders’ lawyers called the US$79.5 million payout “an outstanding recovery for the company,” and the second-largest shareholder derivative settlement in the federal court circuit that includes New York.The lawyers plan to seek fees of up to 25% of the settlement amount, or about US$19.9 million, which Goldman would pay.The case is Fulton County Employees’ Retirement System v Blankfein et al, US District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 19-01562.


Good intentions during Ramadan see Klang Valley streets swamped with food waste

Soup kitchens around the Klang Valley are bracing for a flood of food wastage throughout the fasting month as individual and political groups and even celebrities begin the common practice during Ramadan of distributing food to the cities’ poor and homeless.While handing out warm packed meals to these communities is seen as an act of generosity and charity, much of the food often ends up in the bin instead of the stomachs of the urban poor.Volunteer group Pertiwi which runs one of the many soup kitchens in Kuala Lumpur is familiar with the sight of convoys making the rounds at hospots such as Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman.“Sometimes the homeless receive 20 packs of biryani rice and 50 toothbrushes in one night,” its vice-president Munirah Abd Hamid told MalaysiaNow.Unfortunately, most of this usually ends up being thrown away.The Kechara Soup Kitchen, another non-profit organisation, told of similar experiences even before the onset of Covid-19 and the toll this took on the urban poor.“Before the pandemic, a person could end up with 16 to 17 packets of hot food a night,” its operations director Justin Cheah said.This year, Kechara is anticipating even more wastage as Covid-19 restrictions on Ramadan bazaars are lifted. The group believes this will lead to more food being given to the poor and homeless, and even more dumped into the bin.Last year, when Ramadan bazaars were allowed to open for a brief period, waste management company Alam Flora recorded 33,000 tonnes of food waste throughout the fasting month.Often, soup kitchens are blamed for the amount of food that winds up in the garbage or is left dumped on the streets.This also feeds into the belief that such organisations hinder the poor and homeless from attempting to rebuild their lives.“The biggest misconception about soup kitchens is that we give them food until they do not need to work,” Cheah, who has been with Kechara for 14 years, said.“This is not true.”This year, the group is ramping up its efforts to prevent food wastage throughout the month of Ramadan.“We decided to give dry food which has a long shelf life and basic necessities instead of warm food,” Cheah said.Pertiwi meanwhile is operating on a rotational basis with other NGOs in order to avoid overlaps.“We understand that everyone wants to do good, but we feel there is an urgent need for the public to work with local NGOs who are familiar with the marginalised communities so that we don’t end up with a lot of food,” Cheah said.“It’s not that we don’t allow them to distribute food, but we want the public to think twice and communicate with NGOs if they want to give to the poor this Ramadan.”Munirah, a veteran volunteer, agreed.“People think that we do not have enough food but this is Malaysia – we have too much food, and food being thrown away.“This is our biggest problem during Ramadan.”


Children lost for 40 days in Colombian Amazon found alive

Four indigenous children who had been missing for more than a month in the Colombian Amazon rainforest were found alive and flown to the capital Bogota early Saturday.
The children, who survived a small plane crash in the jungle, were transported by army medical plane to a military airport at around 12.30am Saturday (0530 GMT).
They were immediately taken off the plane on stretchers with ambulances waiting to bring them to hospital.
"Today we have had a magical day," President Gustavo Petro told the media earlier on Friday, after announcing their rescue.
"They are weak. Let's let the doctors make their assessment," he added.
The president had posted a photo on Twitter showing several adults, some dressed in military fatigues, tending to the children as they sat on tarps in the jungle. One rescuer held a bottle to the mouth of the smallest child, whom he held in his arms.
"A joy for the whole country! The 4 children who were lost 40 days ago in the Colombian jungle were found alive," he wrote on Twitter.
Video shared by the defence ministry late Friday showed the children being pulled up into a helicopter as it hovered over the tall trees in almost complete darkness.
Originally from the Huitoto indigenous group, the children – aged 13, nine, four and one – had been wandering alone in the jungle since May 1, when the Cessna 206 in which they were travelling crashed.
The pilot had reported engine problems only minutes after taking off from a jungle area known as Araracuara on the 350km journey to the town of San Jose del Guaviare.
The bodies of the pilot, the children's mother and a local indigenous leader were all found at the crash site, where the plane sat almost vertical in the trees.
Officials said that the group had been fleeing threats from members of an armed group.
A massive search involving 160 soldiers and 70 indigenous people with intimate knowledge of the jungle was launched after the crash, garnering global attention.
The area is home to jaguars, snakes and other predators, as well as armed drug smuggling groups, but ongoing clues – footprints, a diaper, half-eaten fruit – led authorities to believe they were on the right track.
Worried that the children would continue wandering and become ever more difficult to locate, the air force dumped 10,000 flyers into the forest with instructions in Spanish and the children's own indigenous language, telling them to stay put.
The leaflets also included survival tips, and the military dropped food parcels and bottled water.
Rescuers had also been broadcasting a message recorded by the children's grandmother, urging them not to move.
According to the military, rescuers found the children about 5km west of the crash site.
'Absolute survival'
Huitoto children learn hunting, fishing and gathering, and the kids' grandfather, Fidencio Valencia, had told AFP the children are well acquainted with the jungle.
News of the rescue came as Petro returned home from Cuba, where he signed a six-month truce with Colombia's last active guerrilla group, the ELN.
"Getting closer and attaining peace in the agreement that is moving forward with the ELN... And now I return and the first news is that indeed the indigenous communities that were in the search and the military forces found the children 40 days later," he told reporters in Bogota.
"They were alone, they made it on their own. An example of absolute survival that will go down in history," he said.
Seventeen days after the children went missing, Petro announced that they had been found alive, but he retracted the statement a day later, saying he had been given false information.
On Friday, he praised "the effective coordination between the military and the Indigenous people" during the search, saying it was an "example of an alliance for the country to follow."
Valencia told AFP that the children had been found by a native of Araracuara who had been participating in the search.
Defence Minister Ivan Velasquez paid tribute to the various army units' "unshakeable and tireless" work, as well as to the indigenous people who took part in the search.
Army rescuers "immediately took charge of and stabilised" the four siblings, who were transferred to San Jose del Guaviare, according to the minister, and then later to Bogota.


Brazil allows trials of Chinese vaccine to resume

Brazil’s national health regulator allowed clinical trials of a Chinese-developed Covid-19 vaccine to resume Wednesday, two days after suspending them in what critics called a decision tainted by politics.The regulatory agency, Anvisa, said it had now received more details on the nature of the “adverse incident” that led it to halt final-stage trials of the CoronaVac vaccine, and had “sufficient information to allow vaccination to resume”.Public health officials had said the incident that led to the suspension – a volunteer recipient’s death, which police are investigating as a suicide – had no connection with the vaccine.However, far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, who has criticised CoronaVac as the vaccine “from that other country”, had claimed the regulatory decision as a victory.CoronaVac has been caught up in a messy political battle in Brazil, where its most visible backer has been Sao Paulo Governor Joao Doria, a leading Bolsonaro opponent.The president has thrown his support behind another vaccine, developed by Oxford University in Britain and the British-Swedish pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca.Bolsonaro, who has railed against CoronaVac as “Joao Doria’s Chinese vaccine” and blocked the federal government from purchasing it, had claimed the regulatory decision as vindication.“Chalk up another win for Jair Bolsonaro,” he wrote Tuesday on Facebook, referring to himself in the third person.Bolsonaro faces criticism from experts for his handling of the pandemic, which has included playing down the virus, opposing lockdown measures and relentlessly promoting the drug hydroxychloroquine despite studies showing it is ineffective against Covid-19.‘Technical’ decisionEven as it reversed course, Anvisa defended its decision, which it said was purely “technical”.It said the public health centre coordinating the study in Brazil, the Butantan Institute in Sao Paulo, had not sent it the cause of death, independent safety review or a required incident report until Tuesday.The decision “took into consideration the data known to the agency at the time”, it said.Developed by Chinese pharmaceutical firm Sinovac Biotech, CoronaVac is one of the most promising candidates to end the pandemic.It is currently in Phase 3 trials, the final stage of testing before regulatory approval.It is being tested on around 10,000 volunteers in Brazil, the country with the second-highest death toll in the pandemic after the US, with more than 162,000 people killed.Brazil is also helping test the Oxford vaccine and another promising candidate developed by US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech.Pfizer said Monday its vaccine had shown 90 percent effectiveness, unleashing a surge of optimism worldwide that an end to the pandemic could be within reach.Sao Paulo state has a deal with Sinovac to buy 46 million doses of CoronaVac – six million produced in China and the rest produced in Sao Paulo, which broke ground last week on a factory to make the vaccine domestically.Bolsonaro blocked a plan by his health minister for the federal government to buy another 46 million doses.


Few Chinese keen to travel abroad soon, even if Covid curbs ease, report says

More than half of Chinese say they will put off travel abroad, for periods from several months to more than a year, even if borders re-opened tomorrow, a study showed on Tuesday, a sign that consumer recovery from Covid-19 measures will take time.
Mainland China retains some of the world's most stringent measures on PCR testing and quarantine for international travellers, despite some domestic easing of curbs after last month's unprecedented Covid protests.
Fear of infection with the disease was the top concern of those saying they would postpone travel in a survey of 4,000 consumers in China by consultancy Oliver Wyman, with worries about changes to domestic re-entry guidelines in second place.
"People have become cautious," said Imke Wouters, a retail and consumer goods partner at the firm. "So even when they can travel, we don't think they will come back right away."
As many as 51% of those surveyed plan to delay international travel. And when they do, short-haul destinations will be the first to benefit, the consultancy said in its study, "China Consumption Recovery".
The Asian financial hub of Hong Kong topped wishlists for travel, with 34% of respondents saying it would be their first stop after the re-opening.
The survey, in late October, followed the 20th Congress of the ruling Communist Party in Beijing, which brought President Xi Jinping a precedent-breaking third term as leader, at an event many had hoped would herald an opening-up after Covid.
China was formerly the world's largest outbound tourism market, but its overseas visitors, who spent US$127.5 billion (about RM558 billion) on such trips in 2019, have virtually disappeared after it all but shut international borders in early 2020 and curbed non-essential travel by citizens.
China's uncompromising "zero-Covid" effort hit the economy hard, and it is expected to reshape policies soon, though analysts have warned that any re-opening will be bumpy and complex.
As many as 83% of the executives in China who responded to the survey said "a long road to consumer confidence recovery" was set to affect their mainland business over the next year.
While the report found consumer sentiment subdued by lockdowns and economic uncertainty, Wouters said Chinese consumers still showed a willingness to boost spending next year if conditions improve.
Nearly half, or 44%, of respondents cited an increase in personal savings as a reason they were likely to spend more next year.
China's household deposits increased to 13 trillion yuan (US$1.8 trillion) for the period from January to September this year, up from 8.5 trillion for the corresponding 2021 period.
Most spending in the next 12 months will focus on personal well-being, in areas linked to health, fitness or wellness.
The outlier, according to Wouters, was Gen Z, or the group born in the period spanning the mid- to late 1990s and the early 2010s, which would focus spending on "living in the moment".
"We don't expect to see the same boom in luxury spending that we saw in 2021," she said. "But whatever growth we do see will be driven by Gen Z."


Logistics, trust issues behind high dropout rate among Orang Asli children

It is almost noon and the searing heat of the sun can be felt even inside the traditional Orang Asli hut with bamboo walls and thatched roof in the wilderness of Pos Simpor, about 98km from Gua Musang.
Here, said to be one of the most remote Orang Asli settlements in the peninsula, about 30 Orang Asli, mostly men from the Temiar clan, have gathered to talk, mainly about the education of their children.
They speak animatedly until a middle-aged man begins talking.
Ayel Ajib, 55, seems calm but soon chokes up. Tears well up in his eyes as he recalls the tragedy that made him stop sending his children to school.
He is the father of Ika Ayel, a nine-year-old child who was among seven Orang Asli children aged between seven and 12 who ran away from their hostel at SK Tohoi, Gua Musang, on Aug 23, 2015, fearing they would be reprimanded by their teachers for sneaking out for a swim without permission.
Missing for nearly 50 days in the thick jungles of Pos Tohoi, only two of the children survived the ordeal. The remains of Ika and three others, all from Pos Simpor, were found by a search and rescue team.
To date, the remains of the seventh child have yet to be found.
"It happened eight years ago but the trauma remains until today," Ayel said.
"I received my child’s body (skeletal remains) in a box… it didn’t look like what a body should look like."
After that, the grieving father-of-five decided to pull his three other children out of school. All three – Reney who was then in Standard Five, Jurey (Standard Four) and Magroy (Standard One) – were also pupils of SK Tohoi.
Ayel never sent his youngest child Iswan to school. The boy would have been in Form One today had he gone to school when he turned seven.
Like Ayel, many parents in Pos Simpor refused to send their children to school after the tragedy as they believed the school authorities had not been taking care of their children.
The deficit of trust in the school institution and not-so-cordial relations between the parents and teachers are not restricted to SK Tohoi. They also exist in schools located in Orang Asli settlements in other parts of the peninsula. Not against education The relatively high dropout rate at SK Tohoi – which at 50km away is the nearest school for the Orang Asli children in Pos Simpor – is nothing new.
Even before the tragedy, attendance stood at around 75% to 80%.
The education ministry and other agencies are trying to persuade parents to send their children to school but have met with little success due to longstanding issues that have yet to be resolved.
Ayel said he was not against education but hoped the government would build a school closer to their settlement so that their young children need not stay at a hostel.
"Yes, I’m still traumatised by my child’s death (eight years ago). My other children want to go to school as they have many friends there. But please, build a school close to our kampung to make it easier for us to send our children to school.
"Now, even children as young as six years old have to stay at a hostel if they are sent to school."
The Orang Asli children at SK Tohoi are forced to stay at the hostel as daily trips to and fro would take about five hours by motorcycle and up to 10 hours in rainy weather.
Pos Simpor, which has a population of over 900, is made up of 12 villages: Kampung Penad, Kg Sedal, Kg Sumbang, Kg Ceranok, Kg Dandut, Kg Jader Lama, Kg Pahoj, Kg Kledang, Kg Pos Simpor, Kg Halak, Kg Rekom and Kg Tihok. Can't read or write
Pos Simpor acting headman Mohd Syafiq Dendi Abdullah, 30, told Bernama that many parents feared their children would meet the same fate if they were sent to school.
He said the two children who were found alive after the 2015 incident, Norieen and Miksudiar, are now 17 and 18 and cannot find jobs as they do not have any educational qualification.
"They dropped out of school (after the incident). They have no qualifications and are scared to meet outsiders. They are still traumatised as they saw their friends dying in front of their own eyes.
"According to them, some of the children were eaten by monitor lizards but they (survivors) couldn’t do anything to save them because they themselves were weak from hunger," said Syafiq Dendi.
He added that the teachers had succeeded in persuading some of the other parents to allow their children to resume attending SK Tohoi.
Currently, the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia or SPM is the highest qualification attained by the children of Pos Simpor villagers who manage to complete their secondary education.
Most of them now work as rubber tappers, while those who left their settlements are lorry drivers or factory workers.
While many parents in the area are aware that only education can help their children escape the grip of poverty, the Covid-19 pandemic and movement restrictions in 2020 and 2021 only reduced their access to this.
Not just Pos Simpor
Department of Orang Asli Development (Jakoa) director-general Sapiah Mohd Nor said her department had identified several factors for the fairly high dropout rate among Orang Asli children.
"In general, among the factors that influence the percentage of pupils leaving the watch of Jakoa or the education ministry are the school ecosystem itself and the lack of presence of an icon for the pupils, who also lack the support and encouragement of their parents.
"Other factors include the failure of the Orang Asli to adapt to other races and the attitude of the parents.
"From the geographical perspective, most Orang Asli villages are scattered in remote areas, thus lowering their degree of accessibility to education," she said.
In October this year, former rural development minister Mahdzir Khalid reportedly said that over 10% of Orang Asli children had dropped out of school due to various factors including logistics and their parents’ negative attitude towards education.
In November 2021, the education ministry was quoted as saying that 42.29% of Orang Asli students had not completed their schooling up to Form Five in 2021 compared to 58.62% in 2020.
The dropout issue was also acknowledged in the October 2020 report of the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS), titled "Education Policies in Overcoming Barriers Faced by Orang Asli Children: Education for All".  According to the report, "education gaps continue to persist between Orang Asli children and non-indigenous children till the present day despite continuous efforts and investments over the years".
It said that based on data on the primary to secondary school dropout rates among Orang Asli and national students from the education ministry from 2016 to 2018, while dropout rate among Orang Asli students after Standard Six was on the decline, it was still high in comparison to the national rate which was consistently below 4%.
The Orang Asli students dropout rate was above 17% and increased significantly to 26% in 2017.
At the state level, the incidence of dropping out of school among Orang Asli students was more prevalent in Kelantan and Terengganu and less prevalent in Perak, Kedah and Johor.
In 2018, the dropout rates after Standard Six were the highest in Kelantan and Terengganu at 41%, followed by Selangor and the federal territories (27%), Negeri Sembilan and Melaka (22%), and Pahang (19%).    The three states with the lowest dropout rates were Johor (1%), and Perak and Kedah (3% each).
The IDEAS report said the disparities in the dropout rates "could be due to state-level governance of schools, in which guidance and support provided at state- and district-level varies among the states".
"It could also be due to the different level of involvement of the civil society and NGOs in supporting the educational programmes at community level." No complete data The report, however, said the dropout rates after Standard Six did not reflect the actual overall situation as data on children who never attended school or dropped out while in primary school were not included in the statistics.  Universiti Malaya Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences senior lecturer Rusaslina Idrus said the data clearly indicated that the high dropout rates among Orang Asli students were a cause for concern.
She also expressed concern over the lack of complete data on the Orang Asli education issue.
"Currently, we only have data on those who drop out of school (after Standard Six)… they went to school but didn’t complete their education or dropped out.
"But our country doesn’t have data on, for instance, (Orang Asli) children aged six or seven who have never been to school," she said.
Rusaslina, who has conducted various studies on Orang Asli matters, said it was important to have such data, including on the factors hindering them from attending school.
The issue of children not being able to attend school due to a lack of basic facilities is serious as it contravenes the provisions under Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 28 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
It also goes against the Education Act 1996 which was amended to make it compulsory for all Malaysian children aged between six and 12 to go to school.
In this regard, said Rusaslina, it is important for Jakoa to collect data and information on Orang Asli children who have never attended school. This is to enable the education ministry to draw up the necessary intervention plans so that no children from indigenous groups are marginalised in terms of education.    "The (2015) incident involving the pupils of SK Tohoi affected their trust in our schools. Based on our research, other (Orang Asli) villages were also impacted, with many parents feeling that schools are not safe places.
"Even though many have recovered from that trauma, other issues contributing to children dropping out of school still persist. These issues must be looked into considering that education is a basic right of all Malaysian citizens."


Jesse James, Zakir Naik and other problems in Thomas’ story

As the storm over former attorney-general Tommy Thomas’ autobiography looks set to linger for some days, some factual and logical shortcomings of his book have surfaced to the careful reader.Here are some errors and misses, some bordering on faux pas, committed by either Thomas or the dozen individuals he said had read the entire draft and recommended changes and corrections to the book “My Story: Justice in the Wilderness”.Jesse JamesThomas’ book states that Jesse James, one of 19th century America’s most notorious outlaws and criminals, was arrested, when proposing that a bounty be offered for fugitive billionaire Low Taek Jho, or Jho Low.“I recommended that Malaysia offer a bounty for his capture, and return to face justice. After all that was how Jesse James was captured in the 19th century,” Thomas wrote.But the story of Jesse James has been immortalised in the long title of a 1983 book – “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” – so much so that it would be hard for anyone to commit a factual error.After more than a decade of running from the law and committing countless robberies and murders, James was shot in the back of his head by gang member Robert Ford, in exchange for the promise of a large reward from the governor of Missouri.Pakatan HarapanThomas in his book revealed meetings where he made known his interest in filling the post of attorney-general as far back as the 2013 election.“The fruits of our discussion meant that the leading candidate for the post of attorney-general in the event of a Pakatan Harapan victory in GE13, Karpal Singh, would be ruled out, because he was a member of Parliament and no doubt a Cabinet member,” he wrote.In the 2013 election, Pakatan Harapan did not exist, and the opposition coalition was also not in the same form as it evolved into in 2018. It was called Pakatan Rakyat, a loose coalition made up of PKR, DAP and PAS. That coalition collapsed not long after following inevitable differences between PAS and DAP.Third countries for Zakir NaikIn recalling his discussions with top officials on the case of Indian fugitive preacher Dr Zakir Naik, Thomas has probably unwittingly revealed his lack of knowledge on geopolitics, or the failure to update on highly publicised current events.Thomas wrote about his efforts to get authorities to deport Naik to a third country after Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the preacher could only be deported if there was a third country willing to accept him. To this, Thomas suggested several Muslim countries including Bangladesh and Iran.Proposing that Naik be deported to Bangladesh is like saying Osama bin Laden could seek refuge in New York. After a terrorist attack at a cafe in Dhaka in 2016, investigators in Bangladesh said two of the assailants were inspired by Naik’s speeches. Following this, authorities also banned Naik’s Peace TV.Thomas’ suggestion of Iran is even more problematic. It is a known fact that Naik follows the Salafist strand of Islam, in direct conflict with the Shiite Islam widely practised in Iran. There is no way Iran, with zero history of accepting dissidents, would have accepted Naik or risked its very close economic ties with India.Dead peopleYet another problem with Thomas’ autobiography is the claims he made about prominent individuals who are no longer around to confirm his narrative of the private meetings and conversations he had with them.They include lawyer Karpal Singh and former lord president Salleh Abas. Thomas, on a mission to gather support for his candidacy as the attorney-general prior to the 2013 polls, claimed that Karpal had assured him of his full support for his appointment.“It was agreed that the matter would remain confidential,” Thomas wrote.Likewise, Thomas said Salleh was “very excited at the prospect of my candidacy”.“He was full of encouragement, saying joyfully that he was sure that I would restore the lustre of chambers, which had much deteriorated after his tenure in the 1970s.”Since these meetings took place in private, there is no way of verifying the conversations.Another dead individual mentioned by Thomas is Benazir Bhutto, the former prime minister of Pakistan who was assassinated in 2007. He recalled that she and another “Oxbridge” scholar had joined him for dinner but without speaking to him or his friend. Thomas described her as “haughty” and “arrogant”, saying he immediately took an “intense dislike” of her.The views expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of MalaysiaNow.


Home ministry to improve management of lock-ups, detainees

The home ministry is preparing a comprehensive amendment to the 1953 Lockup Rules to ensure that the management of lock-ups, detainees as well as the basic rights of detainees are improved in line with current requirements.
The ministry said in a reply published on the Parliament's official website that this was among the measures to be taken by the police to curb the issue of deaths in custody.
"This is in addition to providing SOPs for the management of detainees in the lock-ups as well as periodic inspections by the authorities to ensure compliance," it said.
The ministry was responding to a question from Zahari Kechik (PN-Jeli) who asked about the statistics of deaths in custody for 2021 and 2022 as well as the government's efforts to curb such incidents.
The home ministry said the police were also studying a proposal to place a "hospital or custody" notice on every police car as a reminder to send ill or injured detainees to the hospital for treatment, similar to the notices used by the UK police. The ministry said that 24 deaths in custody were recorded from Jan 1 to Dec 31, 2022, 11 of which occurred in police lock-ups. The other 13 occurred while detainees were either receiving treatment at a hospital or clinic or on the way to the facility.
The number of such cases in 2021 totalled 46, of which 14 occurred in lock-ups.
On the statistics of investigations, charges and convictions under the Sedition Act 1948, the home ministry said a total of 367 case files were opened from 2018 to 2022. Sixty-six cases were opened in 2018, 46 in 2019, 117 in 2020, 84 in 2021 and 54 in 2022.
Five of the cases have been tried in court, with three ending in convictions and two ongoing.
The ministry was responding to a question from Syerleena Abdul Rashid (PH-Bukit Bendera) over the matter.


Israel booster jabs cutting severe Covid even as cases surge, experts say

Israel’s programme of booster jabs has proved effective in reducing severe cases of Covid even as new infections hover near record highs, experts said, citing recent data.Since taking office in June, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has insisted he will aim to avoid any new lockdown, a pledge his government has kept even as the country of roughly 9.3 million people regularly records more than 10,000 new Covid cases a day.Schools opened on Sept 1 and synagogues are set to welcome worshippers, with some restrictions, for Yom Kippur – the Jewish calendar’s most important day – when services begin on Wednesday evening.To stay open, Israel has opted for a complex policy mix that has caused frustration for families forced to organise repeated Covid tests for their children to attend school or take part in other activities.The backbone of Bennett’s strategy has been the rollout of a third shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to everyone aged 12 and over, ignoring criticism that the booster jab is unnecessary and unfair.But the 49-year-old premier this week insisted his approach was working.“Very many people were sceptical,” he told his cabinet. “But our strategy is proving itself.”Top public health experts, citing recent data, agreed, telling AFP even though daily cases remain high, the booster shot has stemmed the rise in severe Covid cases, warding off a crisis that was brewing last month.On Wednesday, a study in the New England Journal of Medicine also bore out the finding.Researchers examined data relating to 1.1 million Israelis 60 and older, who had received two doses of vaccine at least five months earlier, then either received a booster or did not.After 12 days, those who had a third shot were 11 times less likely to have a confirmed infection and 20 times less likely to develop severe Covid than those who did not.The third shotIsrael’s vaccination rollout that began last December was among the fastest in the world and brought infections to a trickle by June, when all pandemic restrictions were lifted.But when cases began surging again through the summer, health experts confronted a key question, said Gabi Barbash, a former health ministry director general now with the Weizmann Institute of Science.Had the surge been caused by the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine’s waning effectiveness five months after the second jab, or, was the Delta variant’s ability to break through vaccine protection to blame?But weeks after the third jab rollout began, the severe case count – which shot up from more than 70 in late July to 600 by mid-August – has stabilised, currently standing below 700. Infections also remain very low among the triple jabbed.Those factors, Barbash told AFP, make it clear that “waning immunity is what caused the fourth wave.”“And when such waning immunity meets such transmissible variants (like Delta), it is a disaster.”He acknowledged criticism, notably from the World Health Organization, that offering third jabs was unjust with some poor countries struggling to offer even a single shot.But Barbash argued that Israel’s small population would not stress global vaccine supplies and underlined that had Israel not administered shots it could have seen 1,000 deaths per month.More than 7,400 Israelis have died from Covid-19.Cyrille Cohen, a life sciences professor at Bar Ilan University and a member of the health ministry’s vaccine committee, cited data from the over 60 demographic to highlight the booster shot’s impact.“If you are not vaccinated, you are around 35 times more likely to develop a severe case if you are over the age of 60, and around eight times more if you have two doses and no booster shot,” he said.Test, jab, testIsraelis have voiced frustration at the challenges of booking Covid tests, especially during the high holiday season when families typically gather.Backlogs have also been caused by the high number of children who have been exposed to the virus and need negative tests in order to re-enter school.At a drive-through testing centre in Jerusalem, mother of three Julia Ortenberg told AFP that days after school started, a classmate of her daughter tested positive for Covid, forcing her class into quarantine.Ten days into the school year, 44,000 pupils were confirmed sick with Covid and 119,000 more in isolation, according to health ministry figures.Ortenberg said she was reluctant to vaccinate her 13-year-old son, but without the jab he would have had to follow classes on Zoom or get a negative Covid test every two days to attend in-person, which “wasn’t an option”.Her run-up to Yom Kippur involved a fraught attempt to book a test for her daughter to free her from isolation, taking her son for his second jab, and then taking her daughter for a second test.Cohen acknowledged the frustrations but said Israel was still “trying to find the right balance to live with Covid-19”.


Govt mulling scheme for EPF members to use savings as collateral for bank loans

The government is proposing a scheme which would allow Employees Provident Fund (EPF) contributors to apply for bank loans using their retirement funds as collateral.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim however said this facility would only be for those in desperate need of money.
"In principle, I do not agree with allowing special withdrawals from the people’s retirement fund.
"However, I will ensure that EPF gives space to hard-pressed contributors with savings to borrow from banks, by using their EPF money as collateral for the loans," he said when winding up the debate on the Supply Bill 2023 in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.
Anwar said this was the best way to help contributors in the present circumstances, as many countries which had given relaxations like withdrawals from retirement funds had cancelled such facilities.
Anwar also criticised opposition members who portrayed the government as oppressive in their debates.
He said grants and financial aid extended to states, including those administered by the opposition, had increased this year compared to previous years.
"Kelantan has been allocated RM351.5 million, Terengganu RM411.1 million, Perlis RM154 million. Then you compare with Sabah and Sarawak.
"It’s not fair to compare with Sabah, Sarawak because they came together to be with Malaysia later. Their rural areas are lagging far behind, much worse than poor areas.
"This is not a question of political interests. I am consistent in this matter. If we spend RM10 million, we have to add RM100 million in Sabah and Sarawak," said Anwar, who is also finance minister.
The government also provided development allocations totalling RM6.2 billion for Kedah, Kelantan, Terengganu and Perlis this year.
The Supply Bill 2023, the first budget tabled by Anwar’s administration, was then approved at the policy stage after a six-day debate from Feb 27 which saw winding-up sessions by every ministry.
On Feb 24, Anwar unveiled the country’s biggest ever budget of RM388.1 billion, with RM289.1 billion for operating expenditure and RM99 billion for development expenditure, including RM2 billion in contingency reserves.
According to the Dewan Rakyat calendar, the bill will be debated at the committee stage for 10 days beginning March 13.


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Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi disqualified from India's parliament

Top Indian opposition figure Rahul Gandhi has been disqualified from parliament as a result of his conviction for defamation, a notice from the national legislature said Friday.
"Rahul Gandhi... stands disqualified from the member of Lok Sabha from the date of his conviction," the notice said.
The decision by the Lok Sabha, the lower house of India's legislature, comes a day after Gandhi was found guilty of defamation for a 2019 campaign trail remark implying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was a criminal.
Modi's government has been widely accused of using the law to target and silence critics, and the case in the premier's home state of Gujarat is one of several lodged against his chief opponent in recent years.
Gandhi, the leading face of the opposition Congress party, was sentenced to two years imprisonment but immediately granted bail after his lawyers announced their intention to appeal.
Congress spokesman Akhilesh Pratap Singh confirmed to AFP that his party had received the notice.


Canadian study says oral medicine effective in treating Covid-19

A major clinical trial shows that an inflammatory drug called colchicine is effective in treating Covid-19 and reduces the risk of complications from the disease, doctors in Canada said.The results of the study are a “major scientific discovery” and make colchicine – a medicine used to treat gout – “the world’s first oral drug that could be used to treat non-hospitalised patients with Covid-19”, the Montreal Heart Institute said in a statement late Friday.The study results show that colchicine reduced by 21% the risk of death or hospitalisations in patients with Covid-19 compared to placebo, the institute said.The study was carried out in Canada, the US, Europe and South America among a population of 4,488 patients.In 4,159 of these patients, in whom the diagnosis of Covid-19 was proven by a naso-pharyngeal PCR test, use of colchicine reduced hospitalisations by 25%, the need for mechanical ventilation by 50%, and deaths by 44%, the study concluded.Colchicine is effective in preventing dangerous inflammatory syndromes called “cytokine storms” and reducing complications associated with Covid-19, said Dr Jean-Claude Tardif, director of the MHI Research Center and principal investigator in this study.“We are pleased to offer the first oral medication in the world whose use could have a significant impact on public health and potentially prevent Covid-19 complications for millions of patients,” Tardif said.The study was conducted among Covid-19 patients not hospitalised at the time of enrollment in the trial, and with at least one risk factor for Covid-19 complications.“This is the world’s largest study testing an orally administered drug in non-hospitalized patients with Covid-19,” the heart institute said.


Russia posts record daily virus deaths

Russia on Thursday reported its highest daily coronavirus death toll since the start of the pandemic, as a third wave persists despite an intensifying vaccination drive.A government tally reported 808 fatalities over the past 24 hours – the first time Russia has crossed the 800-mark for daily virus deaths – and 21,932 new infections.Russia, the fourth worst-hit country in the world in terms of cases, according to an AFP tally, has been swept with an unrelenting third wave since mid-June that has been driven by the Delta variant.Authorities have faced a vaccine-sceptic population, with a poll by the independent Levada Centre this week showing that 55% of Russians do not plan on getting a jab.Moscow, the epicentre of Russia’s outbreak, and a host of regions have introduced mandatory vaccination measures to speed up the country’s inoculation drive, and President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly called on Russians to get vaccinated.But as of Thursday, just 28.8 million of Russia’s some 146 million people had been fully vaccinated, according to the Gogov website, which tallies Covid data from the regions.With 168,049 deaths from the virus, Russia has the highest official Covid-19 toll in Europe – even as authorities have been accused of downplaying the severity of the country’s outbreak.Under a broader definition for deaths linked to the coronavirus, statistics agency Rosstat said that Russia has seen more than 300,000 fatalities as of the end of June.


Malaysia to remain vigilant despite improvement in global terrorism ranking

Malaysia does not want to be complacent and will continue to step up monitoring of terrorist activities even though it is improving in the global terrorism index (GTI), said Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
In a press conference after chairing the high-level committee on terrorism control (JPTKK) meeting in Putrajaya today, he said Malaysia was ranked 75th in the GTI in 2022 compared to 68th in 2021, and that achievement gave a good indication of the country.
"However, prevention and enforcement measures at all levels will be enhanced. This shows that we should not be complacent... enforcement will be carried out by the police, armed forces and the national security council (MKN)," he said.
GTI is an automatic ranking of countries in the world based on terrorist activities. A higher ranking indicates that the country is improving.
Zahid said that important preventive measures must be taken to avoid the occurrence of violence due to differences in political beliefs, religious fanaticism and racism. "Psychological and domestic problems are also among the things that cause violence.
"The findings of the study also found that religious violence is not perpetrated by people who understand religion but by individuals who have no religious background but want a shortcut to heaven," he said.
In this regard, Zahid said the Department of Islamic Development (Jakim) has been asked to draw up a terrorism prevention education curriculum at preschool, primary and secondary school levels as well as higher education.
He said the police, MKN and the Communications and Multimedia Commission have been instructed to carry out continuous monitoring of terrorist activities on all social media platforms.
He also informed that several committees were formed to identify strategies to deal with terrorism in this country, including the national terrorism control committee.


South Korean capital launches self-driving bus experiment

South Korea's capital launched its first self-driving bus route on Friday, part of an experiment which engineers said aims to make people feel more comfortable with driverless vehicles on the roads.
The new vehicle does not look like a regular bus and has rounded edges along with large windows that make it appear more like a toy than a technological breakthrough.
This design is intentional, said Jeong Seong-gyun, head of autonomous driving at 42dot, the start-up responsible for the self-driving technology that is now owned by auto giant Hyundai.
"This is the future," he told AFP, adding that the bus required "a considerable new type of design".
The bus looks a bit "like Lego" and is made of composite parts to help keep costs down and make it easy to replicate, he said.
It uses cameras and lasers to navigate the way instead of expensive sensors, Seong-gyun added.
The company's goal was to make the technology low-cost, safe and easily transferable to many types of vehicle in the future, for example delivery trucks.
For now – with a safety driver monitoring closely – the bus will drive itself around a small 3.4km (2.1-mile) circuit in downtown Seoul that takes around 20 minutes.
The public can board at two designated stops after booking a free seat through an app.
"I feel like I've just hopped into a time machine to visit the future," said Kim Yi hae-ran, 68, after her 20-minute ride during the launch of the bus Friday.
"I thought it might make me dizzy from a sudden acceleration but I didn't feel any of it."
The ride felt "very smooth and safe", which she said made her feel proud of the technological progress the South Korean company has made.


Biden sells renewed US leadership in first Asia trip, but North Korea looms

Joe Biden leaves Thursday for his first trip as president to Asia convinced that the confrontation with Russia has reinvigorated US leadership, while wary that a rogue North Korean nuclear test could tear up the optimistic script.The Democrat is going to South Korea, then Japan on Sunday to hold summits with the leaders of both countries, as well as joining a regional summit of the Quad group – Australia, India, Japan, and the US – while in Tokyo.During the first leg, he will visit US and South Korean troops, but will not make the traditional presidential trek to the fortified frontier known as the DMZ between South Korea and the unpredictable, isolated dictatorship of North Korea, the White House said.The trip is being touted as proof that the US is further building on recent moves to cement its years-long pivot to Asia, where rising Chinese commercial and military power is increasingly pushing back against decades of US leadership.National Security adviser Jake Sullivan rejected the idea that the war in Ukraine is distracting Biden from that mission.Underlining the competing demands from two sides of the world, Biden will be meeting Thursday morning at the White House with the leaders of Finland and Sweden to celebrate their applications for joining Nato right before he boards Air Force One for Seoul.But Sullivan said there was no “tension” in the twin focus. “We regard this as mutually reinforcing,” Sullivan told reporters.“There’s something quite evocative about going from meeting with the president of Finland and the prime minister of Sweden to reinforce the momentum behind the NATO alliance and the free world’s response to Ukraine, then getting on a plane and flying out to the Indo-Pacific.”North Korean wild cardBriefing reporters on the aims of the trip, Sullivan said Biden is headed to Asia with “the wind at our back” after successful US leadership in creating the tough Western response to President Vladimir Putin’s now almost three-month long invasion of neighbouring Ukraine.The high military, diplomatic and economic cost facing Russia is seen in Washington as a cautionary tale for China to digest as it eyes ambitions to gain control over democratic-ruled Taiwan, even if that means going to war.But for all the White House’s evident self-confidence, officials admit that North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme is a wild card on the trip.Sullivan said it was possible that North Korea, which has defied UN sanctions in conducting an array of nuclear-capable missile tests this year, could use Biden’s visit to stage “provocations.”This could mean “further missile tests, long range missile tests or a nuclear test, or frankly both, in the days leading into, on or after the president’s trip to the region,” he said.The Biden administration is prepared to “make both short and longer term adjustments to our military posture as necessary to ensure that we are providing both defensive deterrence to our allies in the region and that we’re responding.”Sullivan said a potential response was being “closely” coordinated with South Korea and Japan and that he had also spoken about the issue with his Chinese counterpart earlier Wednesday.West meets EastSullivan said the administration wants not so much to confront China on the trip as to use Biden’s diplomacy to show that the West and its Asian partners will not be divided and weakened.He pointed to cooperation from South Korea and Japan, among others, in the sanctions regime against Russia led by European powers and the US. He also referred to Britain’s role in the recently created security partnership Aukus.“European countries are increasingly invested in the Indo-Pacific,” he said.“So for us, there is a certain level of integration and symbiosis in the strategy we are pursuing in Europe and the strategy we’re pursuing in the Indo-Pacific. And President Biden’s unique capacity to actually stitch those two together, I think, is going to be a hallmark of his foreign policy,” Sullivan said.This “powerful message” will be “heard in Beijing,” Sullivan said, “but it’s not a negative message and it’s not targeted at any one country.”


Myanmar junta slams UN on Rohingya resolution

Myanmar’s junta rejected on Wednesday a UN Human Rights Council resolution calling for reconciliation with the persecuted Rohingya minority, slamming “one-sided allegations” over its treatment of the stateless community.The country has been in turmoil since the government of Aung San Suu Kyi was ousted in a February coup, sparking huge pro-democracy protests and a bloody military crackdown.On Monday the Council adopted a resolution calling for “constructive and peaceful dialogue and reconciliation, in accordance with the will and interests of the people of Myanmar, including Rohingya Muslims”.The resolution was “based on false information and one-sided allegations”, the junta’s foreign ministry said in a statement.“The term ‘Rohingya’ which is invented with (a) wider political agenda is also unrecognised and rejected by the government,” it said.The community had “never been recognised as the ethnic nationality of Myanmar,” it added.In Myanmar, Rohingya have long been seen as interlopers from Bangladesh and have been denied citizenship, rights and access to services.More than 700,000 Rohingya currently languish in camps in Bangladesh after a deadly 2017 military assault on their communities in western Rakhine state that now sees the country facing genocide charges.Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing – who was head of the armed forces during the crackdown – has dismissed the word Rohingya as “an imaginary term”.The UN resolution also voiced “unequivocal support for the people of Myanmar and their democratic aspirations” and called for the immediate cessation of fighting and hostilities.China, one of the 47 Council members, said it could not join the consensus but nonetheless did not insist on bringing the text to a vote.More than 900 people have been killed by the military since the coup, according to a local monitoring group.


Vietnam SEA Games rescheduled for May 2022

The SEA Games in Vietnam, postponed this year due to the pandemic, will be held in May 2022, the country’s Olympic Committee said Friday.The regional Olympics were scheduled to take place in Hanoi and 11 other locations in Vietnam from Nov 21 to Dec 2.But a devastating wave of coronavirus which hit many of the provinces due to be hosting Games events forced the postponement.The event will now run from May 12 to 23 next year, according to a report on the Vietnam Olympics Committee website, citing a decision made by Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam.There had been concern over finding a suitable time in the sporting calendar for the rescheduled Games, but the new dates do not coincide with major global or regional sporting events, the report said.Vietnam previously hosted the multi-sports competition in 2003. It has allocated a budget of around US$69 million for the Games.The SEA Games are expected to attract nearly 20,000 participants, including about 7,000 athletes from 11 countries, according to state media.As well as Olympic disciplines sports are likely to include billiards and snooker, bodybuilding, chess, bowling and kurash, an ancient form of Uzbek wrestling.


School sessions to continue, says education ministry

Education Minister Radzi Jidin says his ministry will not stop school sessions despite calls for this by some following reports of Covid-19 infections in the institutions under their management.He said based on data collected by his ministry, the number of cases and clusters involving schools under its jurisdiction show that the rate of virus transmission is lower than that of other clusters.He said according to data from the health ministry, 60.8% of Covid-19 cases happen sporadically and are not linked to any cluster.“There are 99 education clusters involving 6,549 cases. This represents 9.17% of the total of 1,080 clusters and 5.97% of cluster cases.“Of the 99 education clusters, only 52 involve institutions under the education ministry with 2,274 cases. The remaining 47 clusters involve other institutions totalling 4,275 cases.“The education cluster is small, but we speak of it as though it is a main contributor. We need to analyse the available data piece by piece,” he said at a press conference today.Previous reports said several quarters including parents had been urging the government to close schools and to streamline the home-based teaching and learning process.Radzi said schools would only close if the National Security Council and health ministry order for them to shut down.He added that closing schools was an easy decision but not necessarily the most accurate.He said data showed that students were at greater risk of being infected outside the school compound.“Pupils will still be exposed if they don’t attend school,” he said. “It’s just that at school they are in a controlled environment. Teachers are always ensuring that they follow the SOPs.”Radzi said complying with SOPs would facilitate teaching and learning sessions and reduce the rate of infectivity.“When infections happen in schools, we take down the details of every case and try to understand where it occurred so that the SOPs can be tightened,” he said.“In the context of students in school, if two pupils from different classes are infected, we track back whether they went home together, if they live in the same area, or if they take the same school bus.”He added that the biggest challenge in handling Covid-19 infections involves students who live in hostels.He said his ministry is forming a task force to focus on boarding schools and hostels.He also said that parents who are uneasy about sending their children to school should say so, in order to ensure that students’ absence from school is correctly recorded.“They need to inform us if they think their child has a health history that will make it unsafe for them to attend school. They have to write in,” he added.“If all of them do not want to come, we won’t know who is being left behind. We need to have the right notes on why these students don’t come to school.”He added that schools had never punished students who do not attend because their parents are worried about their health.


Cabinet to discuss border reopening, says Hishammuddin

Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein today said that any move to reopen the country’s borders would need to be discussed by the Cabinet first as it involves various ministries.He added however that the Covid-19 Quartet Ministerial Meeting welcomed the recommendation by National Recovery Council (MPN) chairman Muhyiddin Yassin for the government to fully open the country’s borders as early as March 1.“Among the ministries involved are the defence, finance and health ministries.“This issue was also discussed by us and we welcome it (the announcement), but this matter needs to be brought to the cabinet or the Covid-19 Pandemic Management Special Committee chaired by Prime Minister Ismail Sabri to get a final answer,” he said at a press conference today.Muhyiddin, in his capacity as MPN chairman, had proposed the full reopening of the country’s borders without mandatory quarantine from as early as March 1, in order to support the country’s economic recovery process and other tourism-related industries.Hishammuddin also refuted allegations by some quarters that there was no understanding over the issue between the Covid-19 Quartet Ministerial Meeting and MPN.“If you want to say that there is no communication between MPN and the Covid-19 Quartet Ministerial Meeting, that is not true because its members are the same individuals, but both entities do not have the mandate to make a decision (on this issue),” he said.


Nearly 23 million adults fully vaccinated against Covid-19

A total of 22,972,947 individuals or 97.6% of adults in the country had been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 as of yesterday.According to the CovidNow website, 23,249,217 individuals or 98.8% have received at least one dose of vaccine while 16,082,337 or 68.4% have received a booster dose.As for adolescents aged 12 to 17, a total of 2,910,144 or 93.5% have completed their vaccination while 3,006,641 or 96.6% have received at least one dose of vaccine.For children aged five to 11, a total of 1,126,026 or 31.7% have been fully vaccinated under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme for Children (PICKids) while 1,679,475 or 47.3% have received at least one dose of vaccine.Yesterday, a total of 8,435 vaccine doses were administered, with 1,852 as booster doses, 3,316 as second shots and 3,267 as first jabs.This brings the cumulative number of vaccine shots administered under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) to 70,813,162.


Agong appoints Muhyiddin as caretaker PM, rules out election

The Yang di-Pertuan Agong has decreed that Muhyiddin Yassin will remain as caretaker prime minister until a new leader is appointed, Istana Negara said today, hours after Muhyiddin submitted his resignation from the country’s top post.In a statement, the palace said this was in line with Articles 40(2)(a) and 43(2)(a) of the Federal Constitution which states that the king must choose an MP who, in his judgment, commands the majority support in the Dewan Rakyat as the new prime minister.The king also thanked Muhyiddin and his Cabinet for their service and administration of the country since March 1 last year, especially in the battle against the Covid-19 pandemic.“As the head of state, His Majesty understands and respects the country’s system and legislative process as well as any decision made by Muhyiddin based on the supremacy of the constitution and the rule of law,” the palace said.Muhyiddin submitted his resignation following a brief audience with Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahamd Shah earlier today.This came days after opposition parties dismissed his offer of a cross-party consensus in exchange for their support in an upcoming confidence vote.He had also said that a general election would be held no later than July next year, subject to the pandemic situation.


Buy smart, the millennial’s guide to the housing market

Despite the economic challenges hampering the property market and the youth unemployment rate which, at 10.5% last year, dwarfed the adult rate by more than six-fold, millennials appear to be a strong driving force for real estate in the country.A report by real estate agent network IQI Global in fact notes an increase in purchases of new housing projects by this group, from 48% in 2018 to 62% in 2019.But millennials, defined as those born between 1981 and 1996, also seem to have a specific preference when it comes to choosing what property to buy.Given their internet-savvy nature and the familiarity with which they approach technological matters, it is perhaps no surprise that so-called smart homes are their real estate of choice.Globally, millennials have recorded purchases of US$170 billion or over RM705 billion, making them a powerful consumer group. They are also the biggest buyers of subsale property.Malaysia is no exception to this trend, with Tharmaindran Gannasin, CEO of proptech solution company BNetworks Sdn Bhd, saying demand from millennial home buyers has been “very encouraging”.“They are more tech-savvy and have indirectly driven demand,” he told MalaysiaNow.Given that they hold the largest buying power in technology as well, Tharmaindran sees it as no surprise that they would want to make smart homes part of their lifestyle.“We are witnessing real estate developers, consultants and architects seeking technological approaches and innovative lifestyle experiences, be it for residential homes or smart buildings,” he said.Globally, millennials have recorded purchases of US$170 billion or over RM705 billion, making them a powerful consumer group.In fact, millennials are generally willing to pay more for homes or rental properties with connected home technologies, he said.These include keyless entry, voice-activated living, one-touch ambience control and self-learning systems that learn their daily routines.On how this trend had taken hold, Tharmaindran said millennials are simply more exposed and accustomed to rapidly changing technology in information communication, social media and social networks.“This influences the way they purchase products,” he added.This may well be true, as millennials in Malaysia form 74% of some 28.7 million internet users, making them the biggest social media influencers in content sharing and product and service promotion.And big names in property development such as Gamuda Land Bhd, OSK Property Holdings Bhd, IJM Land Bhd and Mah Sing Group Bhd have already risen to the challenge.“Projects like Gamuda Cove by Gamuda, Ryan&Miho by OSK, Swans @ Rimbayu by IJM, and Lakeview by MahSing are all leveraging our bWave IoT platform,” Tharmaindran said.bWave, launched in 2017, is a gateway that connects to Internet of Things (IoT) devices from various wireless standards, protocols or technologies.This allows it to design and build a range of IoT solutions, including for automation, climate control, safety and security, entertainment, energy management and surveillance.‘Like no other generation’Malaysia Proptech Association deputy president Daniele Gambero told MalaysiaNow that millennials had been buying property “like no other generation before”.“It’s either the dream of becoming a millionaire or healthy investment in a safe asset, but I’ve been personally experiencing the trend above here in Malaysia for a few years,” he added.Gambero, who is also CEO of property consultancy company REI Group of Companies, said this was supported by the changing nature of the property industry in incorporating technology even at the browsing stage.“Nowadays, buyers can easily evaluate, visit, enquire and choose a property from the primary market almost entirely online,” he said, adding that this fit the lifestyle of millennials.In fact, he envisions a future in which the use of technology helps reduce even construction costs, eventually making homeownership a reality for more people in the country.But for now, Tharmaindran says glitches remain, for example the use of redundant applications and unsecured clouds and situations in which devices from different brands “do not talk to each other”.This, in the long run, sees such smart applications simply ignored.“The best way to attract millennials is not just on the technological front of devices, but also in giving a seamless experience with trusted support and cybersecurity,” he says.


No manipulation by SELangkah in AstraZeneca registration system, say Khairy, Selangor MB

Authorities say there was no system manipulation by SELangkah in the issue of AstraZeneca vaccine registration under the ImuniSel outreach campaign, as claimed by some parties.National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme coordinating minister Khairy Jamaluddin and Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari, in a joint statement last night, said ImuniSel was an initiative by the Selangor government to register vaccines offline for those who have difficulty accessing digital registration.According to the statement, individuals who register for the vaccine through ImuniSel give their consent to be registered for the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme. However, AstraZeneca vaccine slot bookings are made voluntarily or on an opt-in basis, upon the individual’s consent and understanding of the vaccine.“Therefore, registration for the AstraZeneca vaccine requires a different consent compared with other vaccines which are offered under the mainstream national immunisation programme,” it said.However, as registration for the AstraZeneca vaccine was made by ImuniSel without informing the recipients first, some who had previously received vaccination appointments under the national immunisation programme had had these replaced by a new appointment for the AstraZeneca vaccine.“To overcome this issue, ImuniSel has agreed to hand over the name list of individuals who were registered the other day for them to be contacted by the CITF (Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force) to get their approval for the AstraZeneca vaccine.“For individuals who were affected as a result of replacement appointments and who do not agree with the new appointment, they will be given back their original appointment dates,” the statement said.Amirudin and Khairy said the CITF had also informed of several individuals who got their AstraZeneca vaccination appointments through registrations done by other parties, including their family members and employers.“To solve this problem, an additional feature in the MySejahtera application will be developed in the near future to enable affected individuals, especially those who receive new appointments replacing their previous ones, to give feedback and get immediate solutions,” it said.It said that earlier, Amirudin and Khairy had held a discussion at the Malaysia International Trade & Exhibition Centre vaccination centre (PPV) to find ways to resolve the issue and make plans to increase the daily vaccination rate in Selangor.According to the statement, the Selangor government had said that it would implement the AstraZeneca registration for individuals who register under the campaign, while the CITF acknowledged and appreciated the efforts made by the Selangor government and other parties to enable as many individuals in Malaysia, including in Selangor, to register under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme.On the plan to increase daily vaccinations in Selangor, the statement said both parties had agreed to open mega-scale PPVs at several locations in the state which would be opened in stages from the second week of June.“Discussions have been conducted in a harmonious environment, and we have agreed to step up strategic cooperation between the Selangor government and CITF to enable the immunisation programme to proceed smoothly and orderly, thereby achieving the target of herd immunity,” the statement said.The joint statement also said that the special adviser to the prime minister on public health Dr Jemilah Mahmood and SELangkah representatives were present for the discussions.


Palace: Agong had no choice but to consent to dissolution

Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah today said he had been left with no choice but to consent to a request by Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob to dissolve Parliament.
"His Majesty expresses disappointment with the current political development and had no choice but to agree to the prime minister's request to return the mandate to the people to elect a stable government," said a statement released by Istana Negara, shortly after Ismail made a much awaited announcement on the dissolution of Parliament.
The statement said Sultan Abdullah hoped the the Election Commission would conduct the election "in the near future" by taking into account the northeast monsoon which the Malaysian Meterological Department (MetMalaysia) predicts will start in mid-November 2022.
"His Majesty stresses that a strong country is important to ensure political stability and continued economic prosperity for the well-being of the country and the people as a whole," it said.
The dissolution came despite strong protest from many quarters, including about a dozen of Ismail's own Cabinet members who wrote to the Agong to voice disagreement with the holding of polls this year due to concerns about floods as well as disruptions to post-pandemic economy recovery.
This was followed by a visit by Sultan Abdullah to the National Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre, where he was briefed on the country's disaster and flood preparations.
MetMalaysia had earlier advised against holding an election during the northeast monsoon season, amid calls for polls to be held this year by Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
The department's deputy director-general Hisham Mohd Anip said that floods generally occur throughout the country during the monsoon period.
"Even during the transition period, many places have already flooded," he said on Oct 6, citing the recent floods in Perak and Johor.
"So in terms of suitability, it will not help to hold an election."


Sewing machine brings new hope for wheelchair-bound woman

Sitting in her wheelchair with a brand new sewing machine on a table in front of her, K Ilavarasi radiates happiness.The 29-year-old had recently spoken of her desire for a way to earn a living and to be as independent as others her age. Confined to a wheelchair since childhood, this had been both a dream and a challenge.But the dream appeared to have trumped the challenge when a delivery man knocked on the door and handed over the sewing machine.Caught unawares, Ilavarasi did not know how to react at first. But when the delivery man told her that the machine had been sent by a well wisher, disbelief gave way to joy.“I cannot describe how happy I am to receive this sewing machine,” she told MalaysiaNow in the living room of her aunt’s house in Rawang.MalaysiaNow recently reported the challenges faced by Ilavarasi who was abandoned as a child by her mother because of her condition.K Ilavarasi hopes that her sewing machine, donated by an anonymous well wisher, will help her to live an independent life.She grew up isolated from the community around her as she could not mingle with her friends, and did not receive much help from the authorities.Alone in the house, she did her best to alleviate her aunt’s burden by taking care of herself and helping out with the daily chores.But she always yearned to do more with her life, to earn a living and to help others along the way.The sewing machine, given by an anonymous well wisher, may be the key to realising this dream.“I cannot wait to start learning how to use this sewing machine,” said Ilavarasi who until now had been sewing by hand. “There are so many sewing techniques that I want to try.”Ilavarasi has a natural talent for sewing, her aunt told MalaysiaNow.“We never sent her to sewing class but she could sew well even before she got the machine.“If this is where her heart and passion lie, I fully support her,” she added.K Ilavarasi reads the manual for her new sewing machine.With the sewing machine, Ilavarasi is now brimming with plans for the days ahead.“I dream of making a variety of styles of blouses in different colours,” she said.“Maybe next year I can sew my own sari to celebrate Deepavali, too.”But the very first thing on her list is a sari blouse for her aunt, who has done so much for her throughout the years.While she may never know the identity of the person who sent her the machine, Ilavarasi is truly grateful.“I won’t forget the kindness shown by this good Samaritan,” she said, adding that the gift has given her new hope to continue moving forward.“I hope to learn more and to keep trying to achieve more success in life.”


Sri Lankans turn to social media for help as economic crisis bites

No petrol means no work for Sri Lankan delivery rider Michael Sathis, and getting supplies has become a challenge as fuel stations run dry amid a devastating economic crisis.Sathis sometimes had to queue all night to fill his tank until he found a Facebook group sharing regular updates on fuel supplies and even queue lengths at gas stations, one of a number of digital initiatives springing up to help struggling citizens.“Finding fuel in this crisis is like looking for a lost needle… it’s almost impossible,” said Sathis, 29, who lives just outside the commercial capital Colombo.“But this group is like a magnet – I can find fuel without wasting much time.”Sri Lanka is in the throes of its worst economic crisis since independence in 1948, battered by a combination of factors including the impact of Covid-19 on its tourism-dependent economy, rising oil prices, and populist tax cuts.A chronic lack of foreign currency has led to rampant inflation, and shortages of imports including fuel, medicine and other essentials.In response, Sri Lankans are increasingly turning to social media platforms including Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and Twitter to find basic goods and help raise money for the needy.“What we are seeing is innovative ways of using these platforms to meet their direct and specific needs like fuel and other essentials,” said Craig Ryder, a digital anthropologist at SOAS, University of London.But the digital divide is a “very real issue” creating uneven access to online spaces, added Ryder, who is researching the relationship between social media and society in Sri Lanka.“Discrepancies persist… between cities and rural areas, northern and southern Sri Lanka, men and women, rich and poor, young and old,” he said.Social media blackoutWorldwide, social media platforms have played an increasingly important role in helping people connect to resources and essential services at times of crisis, including during the Covid-19 pandemic when people took to Facebook and Twitter to find hospital beds, oxygen and vaccines.In Sri Lanka, many also find it easier to make requests online because they feel less inhibited in virtual spaces, said Prasad Jayaweera, a professor of computer science at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura.“Sri Lankans are generally not comfortable asking for help. But being on social media allows people to behave differently, as there is no in-person interaction, but only through a profile,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.There are more than 11 million internet users in Sri Lanka, or about half the population, according to a digital report by marketing firm Kepios, including about 7.1 million Facebook users at the start of the year, and nearly 300,000 on Twitter.As protests against the government’s handling of the crisis turned violent in early April, authorities imposed a nationwide social media blackout for about 15 hours “to maintain calm” – a move that drew criticism from within government.Charity lifelinesFundraisers are turning to online platforms to raise money for the needy, and distribute it to organisations working with families that may have no or limited access to the internet.“Social media helped us identify those who were doing the work on the ground, or were at least connected to those who did,” said Thushanthi Ponweera, a children’s author who set up a fundraising drive on Twitter and Instagram.“Seeing updates from these individuals and charities on social media was useful for judging credibility, and deciding who we could help,” she said, adding the campaign had raised more than US$4,000 (1.4 million Sri Lankan rupees) for charities.Another charity, Community Meal Share, provides about 1,000 meals each week for poor families in the western and central provinces and gets the bulk of its funding online, said co-founder Nadeeka Jayasinghe, a former nurse.“Social media helped us to expand immensely – more than 80% of our funds come through well-wishers on social media,” said Jayasinghe, while they got a temporary dining space for free in April through a “lovely lady we met on the internet”.“Twitter has helped us to connect with international donors, too,” said Jayasinghe, whose charity received money from a fundraiser in London.Mixed successesTwitter has also helped hospitals get much-needed supplies and cash.At a maternity hospital in Colombo, a medical officer who wished to remain anonymous said his posts on Twitter and other social media sites netted about 3 million Sri Lankan rupees worth of donations, including drugs and supplies.“This will help maintain daily care of the patients, and also assist the hospital to manage emergencies,” he said.Donations on Twitter helped a hospital in the country’s north provide emergency care even as it cancelled routine surgeries, said a medical officer using the nickname Puvi, as government doctors are not allowed to speak to the media.“I posted widely on Twitter, Instagram, and WhatsApp – most donations came through Twitter,” she said.But with hundreds of people regularly queuing in Colombo for scant fuel supplies, social media has not been able to help fill the gaps for everyone.Shakeel Hafeez, a delivery rider for a food app, is a member of the same Facebook group that Sathis uses for updates on fuel availability.On a recent weekday, Hafeez arrived at 5am at a fuel station about six km from his home in Dehiwala, a suburb of Colombo. But it soon ran out of fuel.He went to four more outlets, following updates from the group, but they all ran out of petrol as he waited in queues.“I waited for more than five hours at one place, but I couldn’t find petrol,” said Hafeez, 37.“I just wasted my time and got back home. I couldn’t make any deliveries that day.”