Shafee gets temporary release of passport for trip to Italy

The Kuala Lumpur High Court today granted lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah the temporary release of his passport for travel to Italy, to settle matters regarding his daughter’s school transfer.Judge Muhammad Jamil Hussin allowed the application for the passport to be released from July 8 to Aug 11 after deputy public prosecutor Afzainizam Abdul Aziz raised no objections.Counsel Wee Yeong Kang, representing Shafee, said his client needed to be in Italy to settle matters related to the transfer of his second daughter from the International School of Europe in Milan, Italy, to the International School of Kuala Lumpur.“He will also be meeting his eldest daughter who is studying at John Cabot University in Rome, Italy,” he said.According to the notice of motion filed on June 24, Shafee requested that his international passport be temporarily handed over to him at the latest by July 1 so that he could make preparations to leave for Italy from KLIA on July 8.Shafee, 70, who is former prime minister Najib Razak’s lead counsel in cases related to SRC International and 1MDB, was granted permission to travel abroad on several other occasions after he himself was charged in court.The lawyer surrendered his passport to the court in September 2018 after he was charged with two counts of receiving money from illegal activities amounting to RM9.5 million through two cheques issued by Najib, which were allegedly deposited into his CIMB Bank account.He also faces two charges of engaging in transactions resulting from illegal activities, namely submitting incorrect tax returns in violation of Paragraph 113(1)(a) of the Income Tax Act 1967 for the financial years ended Dec 31, 2013 and 2014.On May 12, the prosecution closed his case after calling eight witnesses during the trial which began on May 21, 2021. Oral submissions are set for Sept 15 before judge Jamil.


Who's to blame for graduate unemployment?

A couple of decades ago, a university degree meant a guaranteed path to a well-paid, stable career. Unfortunately, this is no longer the case – graduate unemployment is no longer even news.
Unemployment among recent graduates has risen from 86,534 graduates in 2010 to 170,105 in 2018. Over the years, the problem snowballs because fresh graduates enter a labour market crowded with the previous year’s unemployed graduates.
What is more tragic, employers will pick the fresh graduates instead of the graduates from the last year who have spent about a year being unemployed.
This is an important issue because, after years of investing time and money, once graduated, our youth are burdened with loan repayments and other costs related to starting a new life. In the special case of Malaysia, the time of finishing studies also goes together with getting married and starting a family within a few years.

The expansion of higher education not only enhances economies, it also broadens the mind and nurtures critical thinking. However, the national goal to increase the rate of participation in higher education for the expansion of society brings with it the problem of graduate unemployment.
The proliferation of the number of graduates being produced does not tally with the number that the job market can absorb, making it hard for graduates to find a job. With a large supply of graduates, employers can be picky and it is often the case where graduates are pushed down to take up non-graduate jobs, which makes it more difficult for non-graduates to find a job until, eventually, they are forced into unemployment.
The overall system results in a huge skill wastage and inefficient investment. The question remains, should we continue to expand the participation rate in universities? Technical and vocational education and training (TVET) is a good example of an alternative door to employment which provides practical training in technical and vocational fields.

Apart from their main role as generators of knowledge and providers of significant contributions to the civil society, universities also play an important role in equipping graduates with viable skills for high-level jobs.
We can’t rely on universities to produce custom-made graduates for every specific industry. Instead, universities have played their role in harnessing general soft skills such as teamwork in working together to complete assignment reports, analytical skills through exams and tests depending on the courses, communication skills when presenting ideas in group projects, and thinking skills through various evaluation activities.
Industrial training, on the other hand, provides working experience and many interns are offered jobs immediately after finishing their internships. It is evident from the feedback from a large majority of graduates that industrial training has benefited them.
We acknowledge many issues related to the ineffectiveness of internships, but overall, the advantages surpass the disadvantages of industrial training in terms of harnessing working skills. What is more important, however, is that employers should provide on-the-job training specific to the industry needs. More employers should consider adopting job training by providing a framework and getting their more senior experts to fine-tune the knowledge and abilities of new workers.

 Nonetheless, employers continually voice their disappointment that many graduates cannot demonstrate basic skills, particularly in communication and the ability to speak in English. University graduates are said to be lacking in the ability to communicate well, particularly in English, their ability to work effectively with others, their analytical skills, decision-making skills, problem solving skills, and ability to work professionally and ethically.
Their upbringing and school experiences have largely shaped their competence level. Women are worse because they are rarely chosen to lead assignment groups. In general, students who come from rural areas with low family income and parental education are also found to be lacking in communication skills.
Despite impressive policy regulation in education, it is still apparent that pupils are expected to memorise grammar instead of practising English, write down science processes instead of conducting physical experiments and telling stories about it, copy down from whiteboards instead of presenting their ideas and understanding, and absorb facts instead of practising critical thinking. Much has been done in terms of policy reform plans but the implementation remains in question.

 Universities have embedded soft skills development in their curriculum but we cannot expect this to work perfectly, considering that lecturers meet their students in large classes of 200-300 or even more, for a few hours a week, where the opportunity to develop soft skills is limited.
Despite the low face-to-face learning time, initiatives such as engaging students in problem-based learning and providing exposure to real-life data and problems have been practised quite widely.

 The country's reliance on low-skilled foreign workers has also contributed to increasing unemployment. Companies which can obtain low-skilled workers easily at a cheap cost then blame it on the graduates who are not willing to take up dirty jobs.
This is not true because we know a lot of Malaysians workers are willing to commute to our neighbouring country to work in 3D jobs because of more attractive pay. The real problem in finding workers in our 3D sector is because the wages offered are too low while the inequality between CEOs and workers is increasing.

 Graduate unemployment is still an important issue. We should not blame the graduates for their lack of communication skills if we nurture them in a certain environment, one where they are not trained to communicate well. The industry, on the other hand, should play a bigger role by providing on-the-job training and creating more opportunities for collaboration with universities.
Our graduates are not lazy, as shown by the numbers who are willing to participate in the gig economy. Many even take up jobs with below-minimum salary. What we need to do is to find the missing link between the production of graduates and the absorption into the labour market.
Diana Abdul Wahab is a senior lecturer at Universiti Malaya's faculty of economics and administration.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of MalaysiaNow.


London begins process to join TPP Asia-Pacific trade bloc

The 11-member Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade bloc has agreed to start talks with the UK, with a view to the European and Atlantic country joining the trade group.The British government, which asked to join the TPP in February, said membership was a huge opportunity in a post-Brexit world.A working group is now expected to be set up to discuss tariffs and rules governing trade and investment.The UK is not expected to join the TPP until 2022 at the earliest.International trade secretary Liz Truss said in a statement the decision to begin the accession process was excellent news.“It will help shift our economic centre of gravity away from Europe towards faster-growing parts of the world and deepen our access to massive consumer markets in the Asia Pacific region,” she said. “We would get all the benefits of joining a high-standards free-trade area, but without having to cede control of our borders, money or laws.”When Britain joined the European community it was principally a trade group but the increasing political unity ambitions of some members of the bloc ultimately led to many wanting to leave in order to retain the UK’s sovereignty.Since Brexit, the government has sought to replace many of the trade deals it had as a member of the EU, but has yet to sign one with a new country or trade area.The TPP’s current members are Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, Brunei, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Mexico, Chile and Peru.The pact aims to deepen economic ties between these nations, slashing tariffs and fostering trade to boost growth.China, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand have also expressed interest in joining the TPP, which currently covers a market of nearly 500 million people.The US was initially involved in the process to set up the bloc but pulled out on former president Donald Trump’s first day in office in 2017.Former president Barack Obama treated trade deals as a priority and this particular deal was set to bolster America’s position in the Asia-Pacific region, where China is growing in influence.But US opponents characterised the TPP as a secretive deal that favoured other countries at the expense of American jobs and national sovereignty.


Parrot lovers look beyond the cage in letting their pets fly free

Jackie never thought himself one to care much about birds – but a visit to the Kuala Lumpur Bird Park last year changed everything.
There, he saw birds of all shapes and sizes, some in cages and some flying freely throughout the compound.
It was then that his interest in parrots began.
Some time later, he came across a community called Free Fly, which brings together people of all ages and backgrounds, united by their love of their feathered friends.
Now, he is one of dozens of members who devote their time and money to rearing birds.

A member of the Free Fly community smiles with his three parrots at Bukit Antarabangsa in Ampang, Selangor.

But for them, rearing birds does not start or end with the animals being left in cages.
On a regular basis, as indicated through their name, they allow their pets to fly free.
The birds are trained to come back to their owners when they are called.
The majority of the community members rear parrots as these are one of very few species that can be taught to obey orders in this way.
Parrots are also known to be good pets, and can live happily alongside humans.
While the community is based in Shah Alam, it has members throughout the country.

A blue and yellow parrot takes off for a flight around Bukit Antarabangsa, Ampang.

Syimir Ahmad Safawi of training and consulting company Parrot Mall Malaysia said rearing birds was comparable to taking care of more common pets such as dogs and cats.
For the most part, it is also an affordable hobby although there are some birds that can cost as much as RM100,000.
"It's easy enough to take care of them as they eat the same things as humans do – fruits, nuts and things like that," Syimir said.
"Dried food in the form of pellets costs about RM100 to RM150 a bag, and can last up to two months."
According to Syimir, the majority of customers at Parrot Mall are owners who wish to learn how to train their birds and take care of problems related to their pets.
This includes health issues such as lice infections and how to keep their birds' nails short and trimmed.
"I have kept cats before, but parrots need more attention," he said.
"Cats like to be on their own and just lie around, but parrots want to play all the time."

Parrots soar through the sky at a free fly event in Bukit Antarabangsa, Ampang.

Depending on the size and species, licensed parrots can cost anywhere from RM150 to RM100,000.
Every week, the Free Fly community meets at Bukit Antarabangsa in Ampang, Selangor, to enjoy a day out and allow their pets to roam as they please.
Some members come from as far off as Melaka and even Johor, just to join in the activities.
Mohd Fauzi, from Melaka, said meeting with the other members allowed them to share their knowledge about the rearing of birds.
And for Syimir, Free Fly is not just about releasing the birds into the air.
"What we are doing is to try and go deeper into this hobby of rearing parrots, and letting others know about it," he said.
"Before this, people only kept birds in cages. Now, we rear birds with the potential to fly freely and then return safely to their owners."


GPS retains Sarawak with simple majority

Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) has officially won the minimum number of seats needed to secure a simple majority and form the next state government.As of 8.45pm, GPS had won 45 seats including the Gedong seat contested by its chairman and Sarawak Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg.GPS comprises Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), the Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP), Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) and the Progressive Democratic Party (PDP).The Election Commission said at a press conference in Kuching that the voting process had gone smoothly.“As of 8.45pm, GPS had won 45 seats of the 82, obtaining a simple majority of more than 50%,” EC chairman Abdul Ghani Salleh said.The Sarawak election had seen multiway fights in all but four seats.GPS fielded 82 candidates, Parti Bumi Kenyalang 73, Parti Sarawak Bersatu 70, PKR 28, DAP 26, Parti Aspirasi Rakyat Sarawak 15, Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak Baru 11, Amanah eight, Parti Sedar Rakyat Sarawak five and PAS one.A total of 30 independent candidates also contested the election.


Fifa approves 2026 World Cup format with record 104 matches

The 2026 World Cup will have 104 matches instead of the traditional 64 games due to the expanded format with 48 teams taking part, global soccer governing body Fifa said on Tuesday ahead of its Congress in Kigali, Rwanda.
The 2026 edition, which will be co-hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico, will be the first edition of the quadrennial tournament where 48 teams are taking part. The final will be held on July 19.
The new format will also stick to drawing four teams in a group after a proposal for 16 groups of three was shot down over fears of collusion in the final group game. However, the number of groups will increase from eight to 12.
The original plan for the 2026 edition had a total of 80 matches but the decision to increase the number of games to 104 was approved by Fifa's council at a meeting on Tuesday.
Traditionally the top two teams from each group advance to the last 16 but the 2026 edition will also have the eight best third-placed teams moving into the knockout round of 32.
"The Fifa Council unanimously approved the proposed amendment to the Fifa World Cup 2026 competition format" Fifa said.
"The revised format mitigates the risk of collusion and ensures that all the teams play a minimum of three matches, while providing balanced rest time between competing teams."
The 32-team World Cup in Qatar last year had a total of 64 matches completed in 29 days. The last time Mexico (1986) and the US (1994) hosted a World Cup, there were only 24 teams.
The tournament has had 32 teams since the 1998 edition, with eight groups of four and the finalists playing seven games each. But teams reaching the summit clash in 2026 will now play eight matches in total.
Club competitions
Fifa said a 32-team Club World Cup will be played every four years from June 2025, confirming the announcement made by its president Gianni Infantino in Qatar last year.
Confederation champions from 2021-2024 will be eligible to play in the new Club World Cup, which means Chelsea and Real Madrid have already qualified.
Should either club win the Champions League again, a club ranking calculation based on sporting criteria will be used to determine which other team will qualify.
The current version of the Fifa Club World Cup – an annual competition with seven teams – will be discontinued after 2023, with a new yearly club competition approved from 2024.
"This competition will feature the champions of the premier club competitions of all confederations and conclude with a final to be played at a neutral venue, between the winner of the UEFA Champions League and the winner of intercontinental play-offs between the other confederations," Fifa said.
Fifa said clubs will have to release players for the World Cup from May 25, 2026 unless they are in a major final – such as the Champions League showpiece – for which clubs will have until May 30 to allow players to join their national teams.
"With 56 days, the total combined number of rest, release and tournament days remain identical to the 2010, 2014 and 2018 Fifa World Cup editions," Fifa added.
A newly structured international calendar was also approved with nine-day windows in March and June for two games each, a 16-day window for four matches in September-October followed by another nine-day two-match window in November.
'Fatigue and burnout'
The Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) said they were worried about "physical fatigue and mental burnout" due to the congested schedule with its CEO Maheta Molango saying the football calendar needs a "complete reset".
"The expanded World Cup format being announced for 2026 means that, yet again, more games are being forced into an already overcrowded schedule," he said.
The PFA said they were encouraged to see Fifa had prioritised concerns such as the need for a "minimum of 72 hours between games, a mandatory day off each week and an annual rest period".
"However, it's very difficult to see how that aligns with the constant expansion of the domestic and international calendar," Molango added.
"We know that the current workload players face is having an ongoing impact on their wellbeing... We can't simply push them until they break."


Water supply restored in 3 out of 4 areas in Klang Valley

Water supply in 973 areas or 75.31% of the 1,292 locations affected by water disruptions around the Klang Valley had been restored as of 12.30pm today.Air Selangor said in a statement that the restoration of water in the remaining 319 areas remains ongoing.Water supply was fully restored in Hulu Selangor, followed by Kuala Selangor (99.25%), Petaling (92.43%), Gombak (76.64%), Kuala Lumpur (52.63%), Kuala Langat (50%) and Klang/Shah Alam (38.42%).Water supply has yet to be fully restored in 55 areas although they were listed in Group One, which was supposed to receive their water supply at midnight.“Efforts are being taken to stabilise distribution systems to restore the water supply in these areas.“We advise consumers not to store or use an excessive amount of water so as to ensure a smooth recovery process in other affected areas according to the Air Selangor restoration plan,” it said.The water disruption began on Thursday when the Sungai Selangor Phase 1, 2, 3 and Rantau Panjang water treatment plants were forced to stop operations due to pollution at the raw water source.Air Selangor also advised consumers to obtain information from its official announcements or interaction channels, and avoid spreading rumours about the water disruption.


South Korea snatch last-16 place, Swiss edge fiery World Cup clash

Last-gasp South Korea reached the World Cup knockout phase in dramatic fashion on Friday to set up a last-16 match against mighty Brazil as Switzerland edged a bad-tempered encounter with Serbia to progress.
With the clock ticking down at Education City Stadium, the Koreans knew they needed one more goal against Portugal to leapfrog the South Americans and Hwang Hee-chan delivered in stoppage time to secure a 2-1 victory.
The Korean players stood in a huddle watching the final minutes of the Ghana v Uruguay match on a mobile phone as they waited for their place in the last 16 to be confirmed.
Uruguay, leading 2-0, needed one more goal to go through but fell agonisingly short despite piling on the pressure, crashing out of the Qatar tournament on goals scored.
Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal topped Group H despite their defeat and will next face Switzerland, who beat Serbia 3-2 in a bad-tempered match.
Tottenham forward Son Heung-min, who produced a brilliant assist for the winner after a quiet tournament so far, said he was crying "tears of happiness".
"We waited really long for this moment and we as players believed altogether we could do this," he said.
"There were moments when I wasn't able to do my best and I am thankful for my teammates that they were able to cover me in the moments I wasn't able to fulfil my duties. I'm very proud of them."
Revenge mission
The game between Uruguay and Ghana was billed as a chance for the African side to avenge their defeat by the South Americans at the 2010 World Cup, where Luis Suarez was the villain of the piece.
A deliberate handball on the goalline by Suarez forward denied Ghana an extra-time winner in their quarter-final in South Africa.
Suarez, 35, who refused to apologise for his misdeeds before the game in Qatar, had a major role in his team's goals, both scored by Giorgian de Arrascaeta, but it was not enough.
The veteran, who was replaced by Edinson Cavani in the second half, was inconsolable after the defeat and furious Uruguay players surrounded the officials, incensed that they had not been awarded a penalty.
"I feel sadness and disillusionment. I was lucky enough to play in four World Cups," Suarez told Uruguayan TV station Teledoce.
"Before the match I was thinking about my four-year-old son who had never seen me win a World Cup match.
"Today he saw me win but with an image of sadness. For a father, for a player, that's tough."
Remo Freuler's brilliant goal early in the second half sent the Swiss through to the knockout rounds for the fourth time in five World Cups.
Tempers flared in the second half after Serbia appealed for a penalty, with the stadium announcer calling for an end to "all discriminatory chants and gestures" around 15 minutes later.
"I can't tell you the reason why and what happened exactly," said Serbia coach Dragan Stojkovic.
"Sometimes the tensions come and some maybe bad words can create some uncomfortable behaviour, but it's nothing special. It's normal, let's say, for this kind of game."
Vincent Aboubakar headed in a stoppage-time winner as Cameroon claimed a memorable 1-0 victory over favourites Brazil but still failed to go through to the last 16.
Coach Tite sent out a second-string side and the result was Brazil's first defeat in the group stage of a World Cup since 1998.
On Thursday, Japan beat 2010 World Cup winners Spain to seal their place in the knockout rounds at the expense of four-time World Cup winners Germany, with the Spaniards also qualifying.
It is the second straight World Cup in which Germany have failed to go beyond the group stage, a startling fall from grace for the country that last won the title in 2014.
Their exit has put the future of coach Hansi Flick under scrutiny.
German Football Federation president Bernd Neuendorf said there was no question of Flick being granted a "blank cheque" to continue as he announced a review of the debacle.


Israeli soldier deliberately shot Al Jazeera reporter, Palestinian official says

The Palestinian Authority said on Thursday its investigation into the killing of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akle showed that she was shot by an Israeli soldier in a “deliberate murder”.Israel angrily denied the accusation and said it was continuing its own investigations into the death of Abu Akle, who died on May 11 while she was covering an Israeli military raid in the city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank.The Israeli army had said previously that she might have been shot accidentally by one of its soldiers or by a Palestinian militant in an exchange of fire.Palestinian Attorney General Akram Al-Khatib told reporters that its enquiry showed there had been no militants close to Abu Akle when she died.“The only source of fire in that place came from the occupation forces with the intention to kill,” Al-Khatib said, referring to the Israel Defence Forces (IDF).He added that Abu Akle, who had been wearing a helmet and a press vest that clearly marked her as a journalist, had tried to flee with some fellow reporters as the first shots rang out. “It represents a war crime,” Al-Khatib said.Qatar’s Al Jazeera TV Network said it would refer the killing to the International Criminal Court (ICC). Read full storyIsraeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz rejected the findings.“Any claim that the IDF intentionally harms journalists or uninvolved civilians, is a blatant lie,” he wrote on Twitter.He reiterated his call for the Palestinians to cooperate with Israel in the investigation and hand over the bullet for ballistic tests to see if it matched an Israeli military gun.The Palestinians say they do not trust Israel and have refused to hold a joint probe.Al-Khatib said tests showed that the bullet that killed Abu Akleh was a 5.56mm round fired from a Ruger Mini-14 semiautomatic rifle, which is used by the Israeli military.That same 5.56 calibre can also be fired from M-16 rifles that are carried by many Palestinian militants. Al-Khatib did not say how he was sure it had come from an Israeli rifle.Israel has said the only way to be sure if it was fired by one of its soldiers was to analyse the bullet and see if the markings on it matched the barrel of an Israeli gun.“I continue to call on the PA to hand over the bullet and findings. We are prepared and willing to conduct an investigation in collaboration with international actors,” Gantz said on Thursday.


Holistic approach needed to tackle childhood stunting

The Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) welcomes the move made by the health minister, Khairy Jamaluddin, to set up a special committee to combat multiple nutrition problems in children, especially regarding the problem of stunted growth.
Childhood stunting due to chronic undernutrition is a worrisome piece of news in our country, which claims to enjoy rapid economic growth, development and improvements in socio-economic status and the healthcare system.
According to the 2016 National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS), Malaysia’s stunting rate was about 21%. This was three times higher than the overall 7% prevalence that year in upper middle-income countries, of which Malaysia is one. According to the study, the number of stunted children under five years old increased from 17.7% in 2015 to 21.8% in 2019.
The present situation could be worse as low-income families affected by the Covid-19 crisis do not have enough money to buy food, what more nutritious food, for their children.
According to a report from the Families on the Edge Project, jointly conducted by Unicef and UNFPA, there has been a deterioration of dietary quality among low-income families.
Stunting, a common growth failure in young children, is mainly caused by poor nutrition and infections rather than genetic factors.
This growth failure is closely associated with poverty which restricts access to adequate quantity and quality food, clean water and sanitation, and quality primary healthcare.
Both poverty and stunting are well-known risk factors for poor child development, including in cognitive functions.
Malaysia has ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), so food security and children's health are the state's responsibility.
The government has to develop a holistic approach to nutrition, looking beyond just the health sector.
School feeding programmes may help undernourished children recover from stunting – in India, for example, the national school feeding programme helped children recover from a decline in growth.
In Peru, national feeding programmes such as Qali Warma and Vaso de Leche ("Glass of Milk") has helped children who became stunted as a result of the food crisis to recover.
Conditional cash transfer programmes that provide financial incentives for poor households to invest in children’s health could also help the fight against child undernutrition.
An example of such a programme in Peru is Juntos ("Together"), which requires that children below the age of five in families that receive the support attend health facilities for comprehensive healthcare and nutrition.
Where Malaysia is concerned, the government should also put policies in place to increase families' access to nutritious but affordable food sources.
The "invisibility" of stunting in Malaysia coupled with Malaysians’ poor health literacy highlights the need for a nationwide mass communication campaign on stunting and nutrition.
Currently, numerous public campaigns exist such as the Malaysian Healthy Plate initiative and the Healthy Eating through Healthy Shopping programme.
Nutrition education for pregnant and lactating mothers is carried out at clinics and hospitals, while education on feeding practices for infants and young children are integrated into public health programmes at clinics. The latter includes the dissemination of written material, postnatal talks, seminars and even cooking demonstrations.
Despite the existence of these programmes, there is limited reach and low public participation. The current nutrition campaign does not explain stunting, its impact on children's health and development, or the critical 1,000-day window. Instead, there is a heavy focus on obesity and non-communicable diseases.
Even though there is a documentary on stunting in children which is being broadcast by a national television channel, it does not explain in length the detrimental effects of stunting on the future of Malaysians. Many do not understand the message of the programme.
In view of the present situation, CAP calls on the authorities to:
· Make nutritious food affordable;· Carry out research to make every child visible;· Advocate and support child-friendly policy change;· Provide quality services for every child;· Conduct campaigns to change mindsets and perceptions about stunting; and· Empower young people to be agents of change by equipping them with the needed knowledge  and skills. Mohideen Abdul Kader is president of the Consumers Association of Penang.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of MalaysiaNow.


Squid Game and Malaysian politics

When the Squid Game (Korean survival drama) hit Netflix in mid-September, it sparked an ambiguous response from the public and movie critics, and rightfully so as many could not see beyond the grotesque, exacerbated, bloody depiction of murders in “just another survival game”.However, others probably have realised that the creators of the movie have deliberately exaggerated the brutality. The aesthetically pleasing decor in bright and joyful colours during the games or the relaxing, soft, and melodious background music played – all of this intentionally makes the on-screen violence even more pronounced.With that, some souls not accustomed yet to a reflection-less consumption of graphical content from the screen, will undoubtedly find the cruelty of various societal vices depicted in the movie to be a much more traumatising scene even in contrast with the excessive physical brutality.As the game progresses, the Squid Game turns out to be a multidimensional (socio-economic-political) reflection of life of a sick society in its complete moral decadence, heightened individualism, and spiritual chaos. These scenes depicting humanity from its lowest to its highest are now out there for us to reflect on deeply and of course correct.The drama series is full of symbolism, multiple meanings, and hidden references. And to those watching closely enough, it is not just about South Korean society but has universal appeal.For example, it is not just about growing worldwide indebtedness. The drama very explicitly touches more fundamental societal problem – the general tendency and ardent desire to live beyond one’s means. This greed and thirst make some gamble even with the money they do not own, parts of their body or the dual value of life (own life and lives of others).The relentless pursuit of personal gain at the expense of others is, unfortunately, the code of conduct in our social-economic-political life.Some observant spectators might probably even exclaim that the Squid Game must have been written by a politician as it depicts everything that a typical politician is in moral agreement with – fraud, absence of shame, dishonesty, double standards, empty promises, breaking promises, outright trickery, cold-hearted treachery, corruption. Yes, ironically enough, the Squid Game has its own cartel. But why would we be surprised? These days cartels are everywhere, and corruption is the way of life in our country.Player 001 sums up succinctly the unspoken postulate of nowadays politics: “Life is like a game, there are many players. If you don’t play with them, they will play with you.”Thus, for most politicians, the moment at power is like a day in the Squid Game facility – a day that has no tomorrow.They use identity politics to break us apart and eventually break us. Like the Squid Game masters, they make us believe that we need to compete for personal gain at the expense of others. Sometimes they divide us into smaller teams, while at other times, they say, “we need to be one team” – without really meaning it. Like in the Squid Game, they claim the system to be fair and equal for all, but it turns out it is not on many occasions.The promises here have no binding power. The feeling of shame does not reside. The fear of punishment… “is eliminated”.Nowadays, even convicted political leaders go scot-free, and we should not be surprised to see them in the political arena again and even gain support.However, the night of the violence scene in the Squid Game very graphically illustrates what happens when a group of people learns that any sin goes unpunished in the system – the sin mushrooms in abundance, variety, and brutality.However, as we already know, the politicians are only the reflection of the society – the two looking at each other like in the mirror make the perfect pair. Thus, the Squid Game VIPs and the players might have more in common than initially may seem.In this regard, it is interesting to analyse how the theme of the people, the society, again grotesquely, is discerned in the Squid Game.It is all meaningful how red and blue envelops in the first episode of the Squid Game echoes the “red pill” and “blue pill” from The Matrix movie (1999), symbolising “willingness to learn a potentially unsettling or life-changing truth by taking the red pill or remaining in contented ignorance with the blue pill”.In the drama, numerous scenes illustrate how the players (society) remain ignorant and fixated on their personal gain continuously reiterated to them by the Squid Game masters.However, the “glass stepping stones” game is probably the apotheosis of such ignorance and the model of our society.Note that no one has forced them to complete this game. According to “the rules”, they could have jointly voted any time to stop the game. And in these circumstances, it makes all the perfect sense to do so (even while being driven by the personal gain) because it is easy to estimate immediately that the death rate in this game on average should be certainly much higher than 50% (the exact death rate was 81.25%).However, when personal gain (some more elusive) overshadows not only the common good but the self-preservation instinct itself… We have the state of the nation that we have – self-destruction.In contrast to this, the critical moment and probably the key message of the controversial Netflix drama is in the “squid game” scene itself. When one player, while just a step away from winning the entire cash prize, turns back towards his almost defeated opponent, stretches out his hand and invokes to go back home together.Do we need the red pill to finally wake up and realise that we also do not need to compete to live happily together?We need to stop allowing divisive politics to destroy the nation and us. It has always been the case – just like in the Squid Game, the signs (hints) were there on the wall all this while. Did not we have enough of Squid Game for just these last two years of the pandemic?Perhaps, right now, many are losing hope and see no avail in voting. However, exactly now is when we need to come together as one and start voting to stop the Squid Game.Let us together make sure that selfish, dishonest, corrupt, and simply ignorant politicians have no future in our country. Let us show zero tolerance to them. They may give petty handouts in their political campaigns, but then steal not only billions of ringgit but the national future from all of us. They will take all our marbles and make us walk with the pebbles on our chests instead.We can accept whatever handouts as they are ours (the taxpayers’) money anyway. But at the same time, we should still vote only for selfless, sincere, competent, professional, high integrity, God-fearing characters to be our national leaders who are full of compassion, empathy, and genuine love and concern for the welfare of the people as a whole. Therefore, we can prosper all together!Let us go home together, Malaysians! Please remember the Squid Game and reflect.Rais Hussin and Margarita Peredaryenko are part of the research team at independent think tank Emir Research.The views expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of MalaysiaNow.


Sorry.


Trial by media, guilty by perception

We live in a time of a proliferation of information. Information, whether verified or not, is easily shared on a multitude of social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp and Telegram, all with a click of a finger.Facts, pseudo facts and downright lies are all jumbled up and for the less astute, it is not easy to differentiate what is real and what is fake. In fact, those who consider themselves educated and politically astute are not necessarily immune to behind-the-scenes manipulations which can easily hijack the narrative by feeding into the unchecked prejudices of the reader.An award-winning documentary, “The Great Hack” on Netflix, comes to mind. The film, based on real-life events, explores how a data company, Cambridge Analytica, came to symbolise the dark side of social media in the wake of the 2016 US presidential election which saw Trump, trumping over Clinton, building on the narrative of “Clinton, the liar.”I have been examining the chronology of events that culminated in the present crisis besetting the MACC chief commissioner, whereby civil society and political parties across the divide coalesce, all calling for the resignation of Azam Baki with greater and greater vigour.Even without due legal process and proof, you can almost hear them chanting, “Guilty! Guilty! Guilty!”From what I see, it is a combination of seriously delayed responses, unconvincing explanations, and the ineptness of the chairman of the MACC advisory monitoring body, in a tragic comedy of errors, which led to the perception that the chief commissioner is guilty even before any real evidence is shown.A PR nightmare, but the fact remains:It is not a crime to delay explanation.It is not a crime for a civil servant to own shares.It is not a crime for his family members to be engaged in business and buying shares all over the place.The case in question happened in 2015, 2016, and Azam, as the facts stand, has returned all the shares to his brother, in the process making a loss.There is no evidence of insider trading that enabled Azam or his brother to make a handsome profit from the purchase in those two years.He had also declared his shares to his department chief then, as he explained.As to the question of the legality of his brother using his share trading account, the Securities Commission is investigating it now.At present, as the facts stand, what Azam has committed is the grave crime of being tried and found guilty by the (social) media and by public perception.Hence, the questions an astute observer should ask are:Why now, when the issue of Azam’s shares occurred some six years ago?Who is really behind the ubiquitous Twitterings, presenting itself as a whistleblower, that is clearly the job of well-paid cybertroopers to bring down certain individuals in the government?The tweets have even managed to get the attention of an “investigative journalist” who merely “retweeted” in a more structured, formal essay, and having gained publication in an online media outfit is now facing a RM10 million defamation suit.Could the timing be well set to explode just months before the 15th general election that we know will be intensely fought by major political parties, with outcomes likely to go any which way?This year is also the year when grand high-profile corruption cases that garnered worldwide attention will likely see court verdicts.We also know that the MACC under Azam has been investigating the corruption of politicians across the political divide, both from the opposition and the ruling party.This civil servant made no political friends.Enemies, plenty.2022 is a most critical year for the shifting balance of power and what better way to create distrust of one of the most important government institutions?Who gains from the removal of Azam?Who gains from the creation of a trust deficit in the present government?You can see the two forces coalescing into a single unified systematic attack to remove the chief commissioner and to cast doubts and suspicion of the anti-corruption institution.Civil society, self-styled journalists and activists have their roles to play. They have a right to question the lack of transparency and accountability of government officers and agencies, but they need to be careful that they are not playing into the hands of those who have their own agendas, unless they also have agendas of their own.The views expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of MalaysiaNow.


Najib seeks to set aside injunction on asset freeze

Former prime minister Najib Razak has filed an application to set aside the Mareva injunction obtained by 1MDB and one of its subsidiaries to stop him from disposing of or reducing the value of any of his assets in Malaysia, up to US$681 million.Najib, 69, filed the application through his solicitors Messrs Shafee & Co last Friday.During yesterday’s proceedings, High Court judicial commissioner Atan Mustaffa Yussof Ahmad fixed May 6 to hear the Pekan MP’s application and extended the injunction until the hearing.When contacted, a counsel from the legal firm of Rosli Dahlan Saravana Partnership, which represented 1MDB, confirmed the matter.On Feb 8, Atan allowed an ex-parte application for a Mareva injunction by 1MDB and Global Diversified Investment Company Limited, formerly known as 1MDB Global Investments Limited, which are the first and fifth plaintiff respectively, in the 1MDB suit against Najib and several others.The injunction also restricted Najib to making withdrawals of up to RM100,000 a month which he would need for his living and legal expenses.Should he need more than the amount allowed, he would require written permission from 1MDB and Global Diversified.A Mareva injunction is a court order which effectively freezes the assets of a defendant from being dissipated pending the outcome or completion of a legal action.The order also states that Najib must make written disclosures to 1MDB and Global Diversified in relation to his assets up to the value of US$681 million, whether locally or abroad, whether under his own name or not, and whether through sole proprietorship or ownership with other defendants.He is required to provide the value, location and all information concerning the assets, to be verified by an affidavit and served to the counsel of the first and fifth plaintiff.If the total value free of mortgage or securities in assets in the country exceeds US$681 million, Najib can remove or dispose of the assets as long as the total unencumbered value remains not less than US$681 million.The suit names 1MDB, 1MDB Energy Holdings Limited, 1MDB Energy Limited, 1MDB Energy (Langat) Limited and Global Diversified as the plaintiffs, while Najib, former 1MDB financial director Terrence Geh Choh Heng, former 1MDB lawyer Jasmine Loo Ai Swan, former 1MDB executive director Casey Tang Keng Chee, Vincent Beng and 1MDB chief operations officer Radhi Mohamad are named the defendants.Also named as defendants are former investment director Kelvin Tan Kay Jim and former SRC International CEO Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil.The US$8 billion suit is one of 22 civil suits filed to claim over US$23 billion on behalf of 1MDB and its former subsidiary SRC International against several individuals allegedly involved in the financial scandal.


Top secret documents seized at Trump's home as DoJ cites Espionage Act

FBI agents in this week's search of former US president Donald Trump's Florida home removed 11 sets of classified documents including some marked as top secret, the Justice Department said on Friday, while also disclosing it had probable cause to conduct the search based on possible Espionage Act violations.
The bombshell disclosures were made in a search warrant approved by a US magistrate judge and accompanying documents released four days after agents searched Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach. The Espionage Act, one of three laws cited in the warrant application, dates to 1917 and makes it a crime to release information that could harm national security.
Trump, in a statement on his social media platform, said the records were "all declassified" and placed in "secure storage."
"They didn't need to 'seize' anything. They could have had it anytime they wanted without playing politics and breaking into Mar-a-Lago," the Republican businessman-turned-politician said.
The search was carried out as part of a federal investigation into whether Trump illegally removed documents when he left office in January 2021 after losing the presidential election two months earlier to Democrat Joe Biden.
Although the FBI on Monday carted away material labelled as classified, the three laws cited as the basis for the warrant make it a crime to mishandle government records, regardless of whether they are classified. As such, Trump's claims that he declassified the documents would have no bearing on the potential legal violations at issue.
FBI agents took more than 30 items including more than 20 boxes, binders of photos, a handwritten note and the executive grant of clemency for Trump's ally and longtime adviser Roger Stone, a list of items removed showed. Also included in the list was information about the "President of France."
The warrant showed that FBI agents were asked to search a room called "the 45 Office" – Trump was the 45th US president – as well as all other rooms and structures or buildings on the estate used by Trump or his staff where boxes or documents could be stored.
The Justice Department said in the warrant application approved by US magistrate judge Bruce Reinhart that it had probable cause to believe violations of the Espionage Act had occurred at Trump's home.
That law was initially enacted to combat spying. Prosecutions under it were relatively uncommon until the Justice Department ramped up its use under both Trump and his predecessor Barack Obama to go after leakers of national security information, including leaks to the news media.
The law's section cited as the basis for the warrant prohibits unauthorized possession of national defense information. It did not spell out the details about why investigators have reason to believe such a violation occurred.
The Justice Department has used the Espionage Act in high-profile cases in recent years including former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, former military intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
The application also cited probable cause of possible violations of two other statutes that make it illegal to conceal or destroy official US documents.
Level of classification
There are three primary levels of classification for sensitive government materials: Top secret, secret and confidential.
"Top secret" is the highest level, reserved for the most closely held US national security information. Such documents usually are kept in special government facilities because disclosure could gravely damage national security.
FBI agents on Monday collected four sets of top secret documents, three sets of secret documents and three sets of confidential documents, it was disclosed on Friday. Agents were revealed to have collected a set of documents labeled "classified/TS/SCI documents," a reference to top secret and sensitive compartmented material.
Trump has not been charged with any wrongdoing. It remained unclear whether any charges would be brought.
Escalation
Monday's search marked a significant escalation in one of the many federal and state investigations he is facing from his time in office and in private business, including a separate one by the Justice Department into a failed bid by Trump's allies to overturn the 2020 presidential election by submitting phony slates of electors.
Trump on Wednesday declined to answer questions during an appearance before New York state's attorney general in a civil investigation into his family's business practices, citing his constitutional right against self-incrimination.
Attorney-General Merrick Garland on Thursday announced that the department asked Reinhart to unseal the warrant. This followed Trump's claim that the search was political retribution and a suggestion by him, without evidence, that the FBI may have planted evidence against him.
Legal experts said Trump's claim that he had declassified the materials would not be a useful defence should he ever face charges.
"The statute does not even strictly require even that the information be classified so long as it is relating to the national defense," Northwestern University law professor Heidi Kitrosser said, referring to the Espionage Act.
The investigation into Trump's removal of records started this year after the National Archives and Records Administration, an agency charged with safeguarding presidential records that belong to the public, made a referral to the Justice Department.
Republican House of Representatives Intelligence Committee members on Friday called on Garland and FBI director Chris Wray to release the affidavit underpinning the warrant, saying the public needs to know.
"Because many other options were available to them, we're very concerned of the method that was used in raiding Mar-a-Lago," representative Michael Turner, the committee's top Republican, told reporters.
If the affidavit remains sealed, "it will still leave many unanswered questions," Turner added.
The Justice Department's request to unseal the warrant did not include a request to unseal the accompanying affidavit, nor has Trump's legal team publicly made such a motion.
Since Monday's search, the department has faced fierce criticism and online threats, which Garland has condemned. Trump supporters and some Republicans in Washington have accused Democrats of weaponising the federal bureaucracy to target him even as he mulls another run for the presidency in 2024.


Retired kindergarten teacher gets Maulidur Rasul Award for raising Muslim adopted daughter

Retired kindergarten teacher Chee Hoi Lan today received the 2022 National Maulidur Rasul Award for her sacrifices in bringing up her Muslim adoptive daughter according to the Islamic faith.
Chee, 83, was given the Ibu Sejati-Keluarga Malaysia icon award.
She had single-handedly raised Rohana Abdullah, 20, since the girl was two months old, gaining the attention of the public and government as well as praise for bringing up and caring for the girl despite belonging to a different faith.
Rohana is the daughter of an Indonesian woman who worked at Chee’s kindergarten. She was left behind in Malaysia when her mother was forced to return to her country.
Yang Di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah presented the awards at this year’s National Maulidur Rasul celebration at the World Trade Centre in conjunction with Prophet Muhammad's birthday.
When met by reporters after the event, Chee said she was ecstatic to have received the award.
The Perdana Maulidur Rasul Award 1444H/2022 M went to corporate figure Syed Zainal Abidin Mohd Tahir, who is also a board member of the Federal Territories Islamic Religious Council and chairmen of its education committee.
Syed Zainal Abidin, 59, said the award gave him further motivation to carry out his daily tasks.
"I like preaching corporate sermons and with this award, my other corporate friends and I will use the existing platform to do good in the company and the surrounding community," he said.
Others who received the Maulidul Rasul Award included Universiti Malaya Centre for Civilisation Dialogue director Azizan Baharudin, executive producer for Islamic content on TV3 and TV9 Ahmad Noor Sulaiman, and Yayasan Zikay chairman Mohd Khay Ibrahim.
Humanitarian activist and motivational speaker Shazrina Azman, better known as Mizz Nina, and registered counsellor, Hushim Salleh, also received awards.


More than 2 billion Covid jabs given worldwide

More than two billion Covid-19 vaccines have been given across the world, according to an AFP tally Thursday drawn from official sources.The milestone comes six months after the first vaccination campaigns against Covid-19 began.At least 2,109,696,022 shots have been given in 215 countries and territories, according to the count from an AFP database taken at 0915 GMT.Israel, which has led the race from the start, is still out in front, with nearly six in 10 people there fully vaccinated.It is followed by Canada (59% of the population have had at least one jab), the UK (58.3%), Chile (56.6%) and the US (51%).Six out of 10 of the injections have been administered in the world’s three most populous countries – China (704.8 million doses), the US (296.9 million) and India (221 million).Nearly four out of 10 people in the European Union have had at least one shot, with Germany leading with 43.6%, followed by Italy (40%) and France and Spain on 39.4%.Only six countries in the world have not yet started vaccinating: North Korea, Haiti, Tanzania, Chad, Burundi and Eritrea.Major inequalityBut with vaccination programmes now accelerating globally, China leads the league of countries giving doses the fastest over the last week, injecting 1.37% of its population per day.Bahrain and Uruguay are also covering about 1% a day.Germany is not far off that as the leader of the EU bunch followed by Italy (0.81%) and Spain (0.71%).Despite being ravaged by the pandemic, the speed of vaccination in India and Brazil has been much slower, covering only 0.19 of the population in India’s case and 0.29 of Brazil’s.In fact there is still huge inequality in the spread of vaccines, with only 2.5 doses per 100 people in Africa against 87 per 100 in the US and Canada and 47 in Europe.The world’s poorest countries have given only 0.3% of the jabs while the richest got four out of 10 shots even though they have only 16% of the global population.Oxford-AstraZeneca is the most widely given vaccine, administered in 170 of the 215 countries where campaigns have begun.It is followed by Pfizer/BioNTech, which is being used in at least 97 countries; Moderna (at least 46); Sinopharm (45); Sputnik V (40); Johnson & Johnson (29).The Oxford-AstraZeneca shot is also the mainstay of the Covax vaccine sharing programme for poorer countries, while the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna jabs – which are more difficult to store – are the preserve of wealthier countries.Like Russia’s Sputnik V, the Chinese vaccines developed by Sinopharm and Sinovac have been used most by emerging or developing nations.


Jho Low, dad sentenced to jail for contempt of court

Fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho or Jho Low and his father, Larry Low Hock Peng, were today sentenced to imprisonment for breaching the asset freezing or Mareva injunction orders issued by the court in March and April this year, requiring them to disclose their whereabouts and assets.
High Court judge Hayatul Akmal Abdul Aziz issued the warrant of committal after allowing an application by 1MDB counsel, Siva Kumar Kanagasabai.
1MDB and its subsidiary Global Diversified Investment Company Ltd (formerly known as 1MDB Global Investments Ltd) filed the committal application in May, after failing to receive any response from the defendants in accordance with the Mareva injunction.
When met by reporters after the proceedings, Siva Kumar said the judge also ordered the duo to pay RM5,000 in costs.
"The judge also sentenced them to imprisonment until the contempt is purged," said the lawyer.
During today’s proceedings, both Jho Low and his father were unrepresented as their lawyers, from Messrs Valen, Oh & Partners, had discharged themselves in July.
On Aug 12, the court granted 1MDB and Global Diversified Investment Company leave to initiate contempt proceedings against the two.
The companies obtained the ex-parte Mareva injunction on March 15. This was extended on April 20, where the companies applied to freeze US$1.03 billion of Jho Low’s assets and another US$401.5 million of his father’s assets, said to be related to 1MDB.
Jho Low and his father were supposed to disclose to 1MDB and its subsidiary their whereabouts and their assets within 14 days of service of the March 15 and April 20 orders on their lawyers.
1MDB and its subsidiary followed up with the contempt proceedings after their failure to disclose as ordered.


Dr M: We want budget passed to avert ‘rooftop’ government, but…

Dr Mahathir Mohamad today repeated his proposal that government leaders take a pay cut, while saying he and three other MPs in his Pejuang bloc will reserve their support for the 2021 budget.The former prime minister, in his speech debating the budget bill at the Dewan Rakyat, also said he understood the concerns if the budget could not be approved.“All of us want this budget to be passed, otherwise the prime minister will usually resign. This will spark another political crisis. The backdoor government will be replaced with a rooftop government that is also not stable,” the Langkawi MP said.The Yang di-Pertuan Agong previously reminded MPs of the need to support the budget, amid worries that any collapse of the government could spark pandemic-season snap polls which health experts have warned against.“Backdoor government” is a term used by critics of Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who was sworn in after the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan administration. Muhyiddin and a group of leaders from Bersatu and PKR then sought new allies to form the Perikatan Nasional government.Mahathir, whose resignation in February brought down the 22-month-old Pakatan Harapan government, today said the country already had a government elected by the people.“But after being elected, that government was toppled by those who were rejected by the people,” he added.Mahathir who previously said he would be willing to take a 10% salary cut to help those financially impacted by the Covid-19 crisis, also said a salary cut for ministers would not cause them hardship.He also questioned the huge allocations for ministries in the budget tabled last week, saying many development projects should be shelved to allow more funds for the battle against Covid-19.These include about RM4 billion more for the Prime Minister’s Department, and the cost of renovating the Angkasapuri complex which houses state broadcaster Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM).“Is there a need to spend RM125 million to upgrade the Angkasapuri complex? We should postpone this project,” he said.Like Anwar, Najib sets 2 conditions for budget supportMahathir recently formed Pejuang, a new party led by three other former Bersatu MPs including his son, Mukhriz Mahathir.He said his party would reserve its support for the budget bill.Earlier this week, former prime minister Najib Razak and PKR president Anwar Ibrahim urged the government to allow people to withdraw more from their EPF accounts.They also called for a blanket extension of the bank moratorium, saying they would only support the budget if these two conditions are met.In the budget, the government said those from the lower income group could get either a three-month freeze on their repayment of bank loans, or a reduction of their instalments by half for six months.It also allowed a maximum of RM6,000 in withdrawals from EPF, at RM500 every month in the next one year.Mahathir did not make similar demands in his speech today.


Govt okays 2 more vaccines for emergency use, Pfizer for kids

The government has approved the conditional registration for emergency use for two single-dose Covid-19 vaccines – China’s CanSino and the US’ Johnson & Johnson – and given the green light for the Pfizer jab to be administered to children 12 years old and above.Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the decision was made at a meeting of the Drug Control Authority (DCA) today.In a statement, he said the Pfizer jab was previously granted conditional registration approval for administration to those 18 and above.“Although these additional indications have been approved, the health ministry is of the opinion that priority for vaccination should still be given to those in the high-risk group, in line with the policy set out under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK),” he said.He added that approval of conditional registration requires information on the quality, safety and effectiveness of the vaccine, to be monitored and evaluated based on the latest data.“It is to ensure that the benefit over risk comparison remains positive,” he said.Canada on May 6 became the first country to authorise the Pfizer jab for children 12 and above.This was followed by the US on May 11 and Singapore on May 18. On May 29, The European Medicines Agency approved the Pfizer vaccine for 12 to 15-year-olds.PICK coordinating minister Khairy Jamaluddin said in March that the government might have to drop the Johnson & Johnson jab from its portfolio of vaccines, citing concerns over slow delivery.“They can only give two million doses at the end of the year and for us, it is too late,” he said at a press conference on March 8.He added that Putrajaya was considering the CanSino jab instead, so that it could obtain a single-dose vaccine for use in PICK.The DCA on March 2 approved the conditional registration of three Covid-19 vaccines for use during a disaster, namely Covid-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca Solution for Injection; CoronaVac Suspension for Injection – Sinovac; and Comirnaty Concentrate for Dispersion for Injection.


Daily caseload rises to 31,490 with another 79 deaths logged

Another 31,490 Covid-19 cases were recorded yesterday, taking total confirmed infections in the country to 3,680,953.There were 29,035 recoveries, taking total recoveries to 3,340,889.There are now 306,680 active cases, of which 294,242 or 95.9% are undergoing home quarantine.Meanwhile, 3,397 (1.1%) are at quarantine centres while 8,668 (2.8%) have been hospitalised.A total of 373 are in ICU with 223 in need of respiratory assistance. ICU utilisation throughout the country stands at 59.2%, with Covid ICU utilisation at 42.3%.Another 79 deaths were reported, including 19 who were brought in dead. Total deaths now stand at 33,384.


India ‘could restrict sugar exports’ for first time in 6 years

India plans to restrict sugar exports for the first time in six years to prevent a surge in domestic prices, potentially capping this season’s exports at 10 million tonnes, a government source told Reuters on Tuesday.India is the world’s biggest sugar producer and the second biggest exporter behind Brazil.Reuters in March reported that India was planning to curb sugar exports to keep a lid on local prices and ensure steady supplies in the domestic market.Lower sugar output in Brazil and high oil prices which encourage mills there to produce more sugarcane-based ethanol have spurred global price gains. Initially, India planned to cap sugar exports at 8 million tonnes, but the government later decided to allow mills to sell some more sugar on the world market as production estimates were revised upwards.The Indian Sugar Mills Association, a producers’ body, revised its output forecast to 35.5 million tonnes, up from its previous estimate of 31 million tonnes.Indian mills have so far signed contracts to export 8.5 million tonnes of sugar in the current 2021/22 marketing year without government subsidies. Out of the contracted 8.5 million tonnes, mills have already dispatched around 7.1 million tonnes of the sweetener.Shares in leading sugar mills such as Balrampur Chini, Dalmia Bharat Sugar, Dhampur Sugar Mills, Dwarikesh Sugar Industries and Shree Renuka Sugars fell as much as 8% on Tuesday. Traders, however, said the decision to allow mills to export 10 million tonnes would help the country sell a reasonably big quantity of sugar on the world market.“The limit of 10 million tonnes is fairly big, and both mills and the government will be happy with this,” said a Mumbai-based dealer with a global trading firm. He didn’t wish to be named in line with his company’s policy.After exporting 10 million tonnes, India’s sugar stocks on Oct 1, when the next 2022-23 season begins, would total 6 million tonnes, sufficient to cater to the country’s festival season demand during the December quarter, the dealer said.


Act like a govt, Muhyiddin hits back at calls for probe into RM600 billion Covid expenditure

Perikatan Nasional chairman Muhyiddin Yassin today responded to police reports against him over the alleged expenditure of RM600 billion during his time as prime minister, saying he is ready to be investigated while hitting out at his accusers from Pakatan Harapan (PH).
In a statement, he said he was unsure where the figure of RM600 billion had come from, suggesting that it was a reference to the economic stimulus packages worth RM530 billion he had implemented at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Of this amount, he said, a large portion had been non-fiscal and did not involve government expenditure.
"This includes the i-Lestari, i-Sinar, and i-Citra EPF withdrawal schemes worth RM145 billion, the reduction in EPF payments worth RM10 billion, the moratorium on bank loan payments for individuals and companies worth RM180 billion, government guarantees for company loans worth RM80 billion, and other initiatives aimed at cushioning the burden on individuals and businesses," he said.
"It is impossible for me to have misappropriated this money as it was individual or bank spending that did not involve government expenditure.
"I, as prime minister at the time, did not have any authority over the use of this money."
Amanah's Hulu Langat MP Sany Hamzan had lodged a police report over the matter, in addition to pushing for a royal commission of inquiry.
Muhyiddin today said that Lembah Pantai MP Fahmi Fadzil, who was recently appointed as digital communications minister, had also made the same claim against him.
Citing a statement by the finance minister on June 29, 2021, he said the expenditure involving government money in the form of fiscal injections had been worth RM83 billion.
"Not a single sen of this money went into my personal account," he added.
"It doesn't make sense that the money meant for public aid, directly deposited into people's accounts, could be diverted into mine."
If such a thing had happened, he said, it would have been revealed in the audit findings by the National Audit Department (JAN) with a report presented in Parliament by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
"It would be impossible for JAN or PAC to overlook this," he added. "This is no small matter."
Muhyiddin also rubbished talk that he blocked investigations into the matter, saying he had resigned as prime minister more than a year ago.
"Over the past few days since taking over the government, PH has unabashedly been using the police to pressure leaders who are not in line with them," he said.
"This is a clear attempt at silencing dissent, and differs vastly from their promises of institutional reform to guarantee the independence of the country's institutions without political interference, including by the police."
Adding that he was ready to be investigated, he urged politicians from PH and Umno to refrain from pointing fingers at others simply to "cover up the weaknesses of the government which is only a few days old because it doesn't know how to resolve the problems of the people".
"You have become the government, act like a government," he said. "Enough of the political theatrics, the people want to see what the government's plans for them are."


UN plans to drastically expand plastic waste management in India

The UN Development Programme aims to almost triple its plastic waste management to 100 cities in India by 2024, A UNDP executive said, to combat the damaging effects of plastic pollution.Across India’s many towns and cities, which are often ranked among the world’s most polluted, the absence of an organised management of plastic waste leads to widespread littering and pollution.The UNDP programme, which began in 2018, has so far collected 83,000 metric tonne of plastic waste. India generates about 3.4 million tonnes of plastic waste annually, according to official estimates.“In India although about 60% of plastic is recycled, we are still seeing the damage that plastic pollution is causing,” Nadia Rasheed, Deputy Resident Representative, UNDP India, said in an interview at the Reuters Next conference broadcast on Friday.The UNDP is working with federal think tank, Niti Aayog and have jointly developed a ‘handbook’ model for local municipalities as well as the private sector.“In a country like India with nearly fifth of the world’s population, a key challenge is how do we make these models scalable,” Rasheed said in an interview recorded on Nov 22.The government needs stricter enforcement on controls around dumping of plastic waste and has a “long way to go” to raise awareness among households, Rasheed said, addding there was a need for investment into research for alternatives.The programme suffered a setback after the Covid-19 pandemic led to widespread increase in waste, including medical plastic waste, and hit livelihoods of collectors, who often work in hazardous conditions.“There was a real need to expand waste collection efforts and that was coming at the same time as lot of (Covid-19 related) restrictions were disrupting the normal waste collection,” Rasheed said.Plastic pollution is set to triple by 2040, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has predicted, adding 23-37 million metric tons of waste into the world’s oceans each year.India, also the world’s third-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases after China and the United States, has set 2070 as a target to reach net-zero carbon emissions, much later than those set by others and twenty years after the UN’s global recommendation.


Covid-19 pills are coming but no substitute for vaccines, disease experts say

Oral antiviral pills from Merck & Co and Pfizer Inc-BioNTech SE have been shown to significantly blunt the worst outcomes of Covid-19 if taken early enough, but doctors warn vaccine hesitant people not to confuse the benefit of the treatments with prevention afforded by vaccines.While 72% of American adults have gotten a first shot of the vaccine, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation poll, the pace of vaccination has slowed, as political partisanship in the US divides views on the value and safety of vaccines against the coronavirus.Vaccine mandates by employers, states and the administration of US President Joe Biden have helped increase vaccinations but also fuelled that controversy.Some disease experts fear the arrival of oral Covid-19 treatments may further impede vaccination campaigns. Preliminary results of a survey of 3,000 US citizens by the City University of New York (CUNY) School of Public Health suggest the drugs could “hamper the effort to get people vaccinated,” said Scott Ratzan, an expert in health communication at CUNY, who led the research.Ratzan said one out of every eight of those surveyed said they would rather get treated with a pill than be vaccinated. “That is a high number,” Ratzan said.The concern follows news on Friday from Pfizer, maker of a leading Covid-19 vaccine, that its experimental antiviral pill Paxlovid cut the risk of hospitalisation and death from the disease by 89% in high-risk adults.Pfizer’s results followed news from Merck and partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics on Oct 1 that their oral antiviral drug cut hospitalisation and death by half. That drug, known as molnupiravir, won conditional approval in the UK on Thursday. Both need clearance from US health regulators but could be on the market in December.“By relying exclusively on an antiviral drug, it’s a bit of a roll of the dice in terms of how you will do. Clearly, it’s going to be better than nothing, but it’s a high-stakes game to play,” said Dr Peter Hotez, a vaccine expert and professor of molecular virology and microbiology at Baylor College of Medicine.Six infectious disease experts interviewed by Reuters were equally enthusiastic about the prospect of effective new treatments for Covid-19 and agreed they were no substitute for vaccines.Even in the face of the highly transmissible Delta variant of the virus, the vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech remain effective, cutting the risk of hospitalisation by a combined 86.8%, according to a government study of US veterans.They said some unvaccinated people have already relied on monoclonal antibodies – drugs that need to be delivered through intravenous IV infusions or injections – as a backstop in case they become infected.“I think the Pfizer news is terrific news. It goes hand in hand with vaccination. It doesn’t replace it,” said Dr Leana Wen, an emergency physician and public health professor at George Washington University and Baltimore’s former health commissioner.Choosing not to get vaccinated “would be a tragic mistake,” said Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer Inc. “These are treatments. This is for the unfortunate who will get sick,” Bourla told Reuters in an interview on Friday. “This should not be a reason not to protect yourself and to put yourself, your household and society in danger.”Antiviral challengesOne main reason not to rely on the new pills, the experts said, is that antiviral medications, which stop the virus from replicating in the body, must be given in a narrow window early in the disease because Covid-19 has different phases.In the first phase, the virus rapidly replicates in the body. A lot of the worst effects of Covid-19, however, occur in the second phase, arising from a defective immune response that gets triggered by the replicating virus, said Dr Celine Gounder, an infectious disease expert and the CEO and founder of Just Human Productions, a non-profit multimedia organisation.“Once you develop shortness of breath or other symptoms that would lead you to be hospitalised, you are in that dysfunctional immune phase where the antivirals are really not going to provide much benefit,” she said.Hotez agreed. He said getting treated early enough could be challenging because the window when the virus transitions from the replication phase to the inflammatory phase is fluid.“For some people, that will happen earlier; for some, later,” Hotez said.Hotez said many people in the early phase of the illness feel surprisingly well and may be unaware that their oxygen levels are dropping, one of the first signs that the inflammatory phase of the disease has started.“Oftentimes, you’re not going to realise that you’re getting sick until it’s too late,” he said.


Nigeria church ‘terror’ attack toll climbs to 22

Authorities in southwest Nigeria’s Ondo state said Tuesday that 22 people were killed and 58 others were injured in a recent attack by gunmen at a church.The violence at St Francis Catholic Church in the city of Owo during Sunday mass was a rare assault in a region usually considered safer than others in the country, and drew widespread international condemnation.“Hospitals in Owo were filled with the injured, most of who were in critical conditions… Unfortunately the death toll is 22,” Governor Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu said in a broadcast, adding that 56 people were still in hospital and two had been discharged.“The most unfortunate part is the lives of innocent children cut down in their prime and some severely injured by the mindless attackers,” he added.The governor described the gunmen responsible for the “vile and satanic attack” as “blood thirsty terrorists”.Police had said earlier that the gunmen hid among the worshippers inside the church and also opened fire on the congregation through the windows from outside.“Investigations revealed that some of the gunmen disguised as congregants, while other armed men who had positioned themselves around the church premises from different directions, fired into the church,” the police said in a statement.Fragments of explosives and three unexploded improvised explosive devices were found at the scene.Father Andrew Abayomi who conducted the service told AFP that some worshippers managed to close the church door and hide in the vestry with others, including children, for about 20 minutes before emerging to scenes of carnage.Two days later, the anger is still palpable in Owo, the governor said, urging residents not to take the law into their own hands.“I can assure you that security operatives have been deployed to monitor and restore normalcy to Owo,” he added.The state has declared a seven-day mourning period and ordered the national flag to be flown at half-mast in Ondo.Pope Francis was “deeply saddened” by the “horrible attack”, his number two, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, wrote in a telegram to the bishop of Ondo.The pope assures “all those who are affected by this unspeakable act of violence of his spiritual closeness”, he said.The attack came a day before Nigeria’s ruling APC party started primaries for its candidate in the 2023 election to replace Muhammadu Buhari, who steps down next year after two terms in office.Security will be a major challenge for whoever wins the race to govern Africa’s most populous country and the continent’s largest economy.Nigerian security forces are battling jihadist groups in the northeast, criminal gangs in the northwest and centre and separatist stirrings in the southeast, among other challenges.There has been no claim of responsibility for Sunday’s attack.


Speaker tells parties to submit SDs on PM candidate

Dewan Rakyat Speaker Azhar Harun has asked the political parties that won a substantial number of seats in the 15th general election (GE15) to submit the names of parties and independent MPs who agree to be part of a coalition of at least 112 seats to form the federal government via statutory declarations.
He said he had informed the leaders and secretaries of the various parties through a letter yesterday in accordance with the wishes of Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah.
"They have been asked to name an MP from their coalition who will be the 10th prime minister through a statutory declaration by each MP in the coalition, which should be stated clearly," he said in a statement.
Azhar said the documents needed to be sent to Istana Negara by 2pm on Monday at the latest.
Comptroller of the Royal Household for Istana Negara Ahmad Fadil Shamsuddin had earlier said in a statement that the King was informed that no single party had successfully obtained a simple majority for Parliament.
He said the King instructed all party and coalition leaders with a substantial number of seats to inform Istana Negara regarding their coalitions and prime ministerial candidates to form a new government by 2pm on Monday.


DAP to field Chin Tong in Kit Siang's Iskandar Puteri seat

Fatin Zulaikha Zaidi of DAP will be contesting the Mersing parliamentary seat, while Johor DAP chairman Liew Chin Tong will stand in Iskandar Puteri in the upcoming 15th general election (GE15).
Both candidates were announced by DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke Siew Fook at an event in Skudai, Johor Bahru, last night.
He also confirmed that the party will contest seven parliamentary seats in Johor, fielding four men and three women candidates.
A Johor Bahru native, Fatin Zulaikha, 29, has served as special officer to Johor Raya assemblyman Liow Cai Tong since 2018, and is the third Malay female candidate for DAP in this election, after the announcement of Young Syefura Othman (Bentong) and Syerleena Abdul Rashid (Bukit Bendera).
Meanwhile, Liew, who is also Perling assemblyman, will defend the seat won by Lim Kit Siang in the previous general election, while the two other incumbents, former deputy education minister Teo Nie Ching, and Wong Shu Qi, will defend their Kulai and Kluang seats respectively.
DAP previously announced that Paloh assemblyman Sheikh Umar Bagharib Ali would stand in Ayer Hitam and former Skudai assemblyman Tan Hong Pin would contest Bakri, while incumbent Pang Hok Liong would defend Labis.


US tells J&J millions of vaccine doses from troubled plant can’t be used

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said Friday it had told Johnson & Johnson that millions of doses of Covid vaccine produced at a troubled plant can’t be used because of possible contamination issues.In a statement, the FDA said “several” batches of vaccine manufactured at the Emergent BioSolutions facility in the city of Baltimore are not suitable for use. Each batch is known to correspond to several million doses.Neither the agency nor Johnson & Johnson revealed the precise number doses, but the New York Times placed the number at 60 million, quoting people familiar with the matter.“These actions followed an extensive review of records, including the production history of the facility and the testing performed to evaluate the quality of the product,” said FDA scientist Peter Marks.The Emergent plant was ordered to pause production in April several weeks after it was determined that batches of substance used to produce the Johnson & Johnson vaccine were cross-contaminated with ingredients from the AstraZeneca vaccine, ruining a reported 15 million Johnson & Johnson doses.The FDA is still deciding whether to allow the factory to reopen. Sixty million AstraZeneca doses produced there and earmarked to be donated abroad are currently being inspected for quality before they can be shipped.All of the Johnson & Johnson vaccines distributed and used in the US so far were made in the Netherlands, not in Baltimore.On the other hand, the FDA said it was green-lighting two batches of Johnson & Johnson vaccine made at the plant – that is to say, 10 million doses of the one-shot regimen, a source familiar with the matter said.Additional Johnson & Johnson batches remain under review.“Johnson & Johnson has committed to producing safe, high-quality vaccines in order to bring health and hope to people everywhere,” said Johnson & Johnson executive vice-president Kathy Wengel.


WhatsApp has until July to comply with EU consumer law

Meta’s WhatsApp has until July to show that a privacy policy update introduced in January complies with EU consumer law, the European Commission said on Wednesday, in a case prompted by complaints from consumer bodies across Europe.The European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) and the European Network of consumer authorities said WhatsApp had not explained the changes in plain and intelligible language in breach of EU consumer law.National enforcers have the power to impose sanctions on companies found breaching consumer laws.The Consumer Protection Cooperation Network, which is made up of national consumer watchdogs and backed by the EU executive, sent a letter to WhatsApp in January asking for clarifications on its updated privacy policy.The regulators said a March reply from the company did not convince them, prompting them to send a second letter on Wednesday.“WhatsApp must ensure that users understand what they are agreeing to and how their personal data is used for commercial purposes, in particular to offer services to commercial partners,” the Commission’s justice chief Didier Reynders said in a statement.WhatsApp said it would respond to the letter in due course.“Our 2021 update did not change our commitment to user privacy or the way we operate our service, including how we process, use or share data with anyone, including Meta,” a spokesperson said.


Depp-Heard defamation trial: Shedding new light on domestic violence cases?

The ongoing defamation case brought by actor Johnny Depp against his ex-wife and fellow Hollywood star Amber Heard has opened up a deep division among those following the court proceedings, with one camp firmly in support of Depp and the other entrenched behind Heard.The war between fans has been evident on social media, with hashtags like #justiceforjohnnydepp, #johnnydeppisinnocent and #istandwithamberheard making the rounds.The support for Depp in particular, though, marks a milestone of sorts in an arena traditionally dominated by sympathy for women as victims of domestic violence.It also comes against the backdrop of the “MeToo” movement – a campaign against sexual harassment popularised by actor Alyssa Milano following her exposure of sexual abuse allegations against film producer Harvey Weinstein.But will this apparent turning of tables have any impact on the public perception of future cases involving claims of domestic abuse by women?Jernell Tan of the All Women’s Action Society expects no significant change to come.“Trivialisation, dismissal and victim-blaming in the experiences of women victims and survivors by the public have always been present, even before the emergence of Depp’s testimony alleging domestic abuse,” she said.“The same applies to the presumption that cases of gender-based violence – especially rape – are false allegations made by women and girls, which is based on the longstanding myth of the ‘lying woman’ and more often than not discredits victims and survivors.”Depp, widely known for his role in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” films, is suing Heard for US$50 million, saying she defamed him when she claimed she was a victim of domestic abuse.Heard meanwhile has counter-sued for US$100 million, arguing that Depp smeared her by calling her a liar.Tan said the perception of women as the victims in cases of domestic violence is shaped by current realities which make them more vulnerable.Speaking to MalaysiaNow, she referred to the system of patriarchy which she said results in the legitimisation of violence against women and girls as a way to control their attitudes.But it’s not just women who suffer the effects of this system, she added.“This same patriarchy is also detrimental to men and boys, whereby they are punished if they fail to adhere to a narrow spectrum of masculine behaviours involving toughness, dominance and invulnerability,” she said.“In fact, male victims of gender-based violence in general experience higher levels of stigma, ostracism and victimisation by third parties as a result of this, which impedes help-seeking behaviour and further compromises well-being.”Sociologist Sharifah Fatimah Al Attas meanwhile said that the idea of masculinity which runs counter to the notion that women can abuse men is ingrained in society.“The current case which shows that men can be domestic violence victims is a reminder,” Sharifah, of the International Islamic University Malaysia, told MalaysiaNow.“Even when men are at the receiving end, we have to take the stance that we believe the victim.”She said the case also shows how the public responds and how narratives are formed.“It relates to our expectations of how victims are supposed to behave,” she said.“But victims don’t always behave the same way. They don’t always look the same. People who are going through trauma from abuse might not always respond the way we expect.”Lawyer Mohd Ridhwan Husin, who has handled many shariah cases, said there was no difference in treatment between men and women in relation to domestic violence.However, men whom he estimates make up about 21% of domestic violence victims, more often than not prefer to forgo reporting the cases due to their egos, he said.“Physical, emotional, economic, sexual and social violence – all these are enshrined in the country’s law,” he said.“Protection from domestic violence is available to any party regardless of gender. Victims can obtain temporary or permanent protection orders to prevent continued abuse.”Ridhwan, the assistant secretary-general of the Malaysian Syariah Lawyers Association, added that domestic violence is not limited to abuse between husbands and wives, but can also involve children and the elderly.Tan meanwhile said that Depp’s testimony would be instrumental in highlighting and validating the experience of male victims who are rarely taken seriously.“It will be the first step to creating a safe space for all victims, regardless of gender,” she said.She also stressed the importance of public discussions, education and awareness to maintain a balance in being multidimensional and inclusive.Ridhwan said the Depp-Heard trial might not affect cases involving domestic violence against men in Malaysia, given the strength of the stigma attached to being afraid of one’s wife.“Traditionally, Malaysian men don’t like admitting to being beaten by their wives,” he said.“They are afraid that they will be seen as weak.”In any event, he said, most of the cases involving the abuse of men veered more towards economic, emotional and even sexual abuse, unlike the focus of physical abuse at the Depp-Heard trial.Sharifah meanwhile cautioned against using a single case as a benchmark for all instances of domestic violence.“Just because a woman might be lying about abuse in this case doesn’t mean that all women will lie in all cases,” she said.“The role of society in general, whether we are giving support as family members of the victims or if we are policymakers, is to ensure that if victims are looking for support or help, they will be believed, regardless of their background.”


Sarawak in bid to tackle unique challenges in vaccination rollout

Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister Douglas Uggah Embas says the state government is taking steps to address the particular challenges faced in vaccinating Sarawakians, adding that authorities may not be able to follow the programme currently underway in the peninsula.Speaking at a press conference in Kuching today, he said only 28% of senior citizens targeted for the second phase have registered for vaccination so far.“We cannot just depend on the MySejahtera app for our people to register because there will be a lot of complications for us in Sarawak,” he said.“This is why we feel that we need to do it our own way, to get our people vaccinated – especially in the interior.”He said the state would suggest to authorities in Kuala Lumpur that it might not be possible to vaccinate people in phases.“For example it will be difficult for us to look for the Penan in the interior because the majority of people there do not have handphones,” he said.Instead, he said, Sarawak intends to vaccinate all categories of people in rural areas at the same time so that health officers will be able to mobilise their teams to administer the jabs in remote areas.He said this approach would be more effective as it would not require the teams to return to the same place to vaccinate people again according to categories and phases.“As we move into the interior, this issue will become more and more serious because the communication lines are not very good there,” he said.“For those who do not have handphones, district officers will register them manually, and they will key in the registration using the district office phone number as their contact number.”He referred to an incident in Sibu on April 19 in which 72 recipients did not show up for their vaccination appointments.“We could not reach them because they could not be contacted,” he said.He said another problem lies in recipients’ use of the address on their ICs as this might differ from the address at which the live.“For example, the address in my IC is my longhouse address in Betong, but now I stay in Kuching. So if we use MySejahtera, the system will follow the address in my IC and I might be pushed to Betong.”Uggah, who is chairman of the state’s disaster management committee, nonetheless urged Sarawakians to register for the Covid-19 vaccination programme.“I urge everyone to register for vaccination and to take care of ourselves by strictly following the SOPs.”


Acryl's deputy to take over as top cop

Razarudin Husain will replace Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani as top cop, Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail confirmed today.
He said Razarudin, who is currently the deputy inspector-general of police, would take over effective June 23.
Saifuddin said the appointment had received the consent of Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah after receiving advice from Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on the recommendation of the Police Force Commission.
The appointment is on a contractual basis for two years until June 22, 2025.
"Throughout Razarudin's service in the police force, he has held various positions at the state and contingent levels," he said.
Razarudin, 61, began his career in 1984 as an investigating officer attached to the Kedah criminal investigation department.
His other portfolios also include deputy commander of the Special Task Force on Organised Crime, CID chief of the Penang police contingent, deputy police commissioner of Sabah and Perak deputy police chief before he was promoted to lead the police force in the state.
He was appointed as the director of the Bukit Aman narcotics criminal investigations department for a year before becoming the Deputy IGP in 2021.
Meanwhile, Saifuddin in a separate announcement said Bukit Aman CID director Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay has been appointed as the deputy inspector-general of police, also effective June 23.
He said that the Agong had consented to the appointment after receiving advice from Anwar on the recommendation of the Police Force Commission.
Ayob Khan, 57, started his service in 1993 at the Bukit Aman special branch from the rank of assistant superintendent of police to the rank of assistant commissioner of police.
Among his other posts were as the director of the Bukit Aman Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department and Johor police chief.


Sabah CM Hajiji claims support of 44 assemblymen

Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) chairman Hajiji Noor claims to have the support of 44 state assemblymen from GRS, Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Barisan Nasional (BN).
He said that with this support, the Sabah government remained intact and he was still the chief minister.
"This means that the existing (state) government which I lead is still intact and strong, and will continue to govern the state of Sabah," he told reporters in Kota Kinabalu yesterday.
He had earlier attended an hour-long meeting with 44 Sabah assemblymen at the Sabah chief minister's official residence in Sri Gaya.
Also present were Sabah PH chairman Christina Liew, United Progressive Kinabalu Organization (Upko) vice-president and entrepreneurship development and cooperatives minister Ewon Benedick, Sabah Community Development and People's Welfare Minister Shahelmey Yahya (BN), and Sabah PAS secretary Aliakbar Gulasan.
Of the 44 assemblymen, 29 are believed to be from GRS, seven from PH, five from BN, one from PAS, one from Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah and one from the independent bloc.
Hajiji said he had submitted the statutory declarations of the assemblymen who support him to Sabah Yang Dipertua Negeri Juhar Mahiruddin at Istana Seri Kinabalu on Jan 7.
On the allegation that his position as chief minister was not in accordance with the Sabah state constitution, Hajiji said: "With regard to the (state) constitution, whoever is not satisfied, they (they) can take it to court."
On the reshuffling of the state cabinet, he said it would be decided soon.
Meanwhile, Shahelmy said his decision to support the state government and Hajiji as chief minister was to ensure that Sabah's development could continue effectively for the sake of the people.
"The five of us (BN assemblymen) have retained our support. This is not the time for us to change governments or play politics, the people need us," he said.
Meanwhile, Sabah BN chairman Bung Moktar Radin, when asked about Hajiji's claim upon his arrival from Kuala Lumpur, said: "Of course they got (the support of) 44 assemblymen, they took my people (BN assemblyman)." He made no further comment.
The Sabah Umno chief also claimed that the Sabah government no longer stood after BN withdrew its support on Jan 6.
Asked about the status of his own position as deputy chief minister, he said: "I don't know."
"We are waiting for the prime minister (Anwar Ibrahim) who will come tomorrow (to Sabah) to meet us (BN), Warisan and GRS, then we will discuss it," he said.
On his meeting with BN chairman Ahmad Zahid Hamidi in Kuala Lumpur, he said they had discussed the roadmap for Sabah BN and the current political situation in the state.