Now what, educationists ask as UPSR exits the scene after 30 years

Experts have called for clear communication by the government on its plans for school-based assessments to replace the Standard Six Primary School Achievement Test or UPSR, amid a survey by an education group revealing concerns among parents over the direction of their children’s academic development now that the exam has been scrapped.Charis Ding, from Persatuan Literasi Anak Malaysia or MYReaders, said the education ministry has a bigger role to play now in ensuring the transmission of information to mitigate any potential risks highlighted by parents and teachers.“These concerns include the risk that students will no longer have clear learning goals, that the quality of teaching and learning will be compromised without UPSR results as a key performance indicator, or that school-based assessments will not be effectively carried out and that parents will not have a gauge of their children’s progress,” she told MalaysiaNow.The survey carried out by MYReaders from May 11 to 27 involved 772 participants comprising parents and teachers from all states in the country. The responses included 594 from parents who had one or more children currently enrolled in public primary schools.A total of 403 disagreed with the move to scrap UPSR while 253 agreed and 116 were neutral or had mixed feelings.For over 30 years, UPSR was the main method of assessing primary school students in four key areas: reading, writing, counting and reasoning.Of the 403 who disagreed, 49% said UPSR was an important indicator of their children’s academic achievements. Many voiced concern that they would now lack a benchmark for their children’s learning developments after six years in primary school.Some said there would be “no transparent gauge to measure children’s achievements in learning” while others expressed fear that school-based assessments would be biased.Another 23% said without UPSR, children would lose their motivation to study.For over 30 years, UPSR was the main method of assessing primary school students in four key areas: reading, writing, counting and reasoning.Critics however said the assessment had led to an obsession for achieving high grades, with huge amounts of effort and resources poured into ensuring that students bring home good results each year.Early childhood practitioner Putri Afzan Maria Zulkifli who welcomed the move to scrap the exam described it as a “much-needed revolution in the Malaysian education system”.She said it would allow the implementation of a holistic approach to preparing children for the challenges they would face in the workplace.She suggested various approaches to assessing student development without the exam including increasing observation and decreasing the subjects involved, and implementing thematic or project-based assessments that integrate multiple subjects in one lesson.“Accountability between schools, teachers and parents needs to go beyond once-a-year parent-teacher conferences or report card days.”“Observe the students’ strengths according to multiple intelligence,” she added. “Focus on an individualised education plan.”However, she acknowledged the risks of allowing schools the autonomy to assess students without UPSR, saying accountability and trust will be key.“I believe that parents can rest assured about school-based assessments if their relationship with the school and teachers is well established. The trust will be there.”Ding agreed, saying frequent communication will be needed between parents and teachers.“Parents need opportunities to be kept in the loop on their child’s progress and what they can do as parents to support their child’s learning throughout the school year.“This accountability between schools, teachers and parents needs to go beyond once-a-year parent-teacher conferences or report card days,” she said.She added that measures should be taken to support teachers, schools and parents and to ensure that students receive the support they need.She urged the education ministry to equip and empower teachers to carry out meaningful school-based assessments for the evaluation of students based on learning standards and milestones throughout the academic year.But she dismissed the notion that scrapping UPSR would affect children’s literacy skills, saying a lack of early and regular screening for low literary as well as mechanisms for immediate early intervention are more to blame for this problem.Putri meanwhile encouraged parents to adopt a more holistic approach to evaluating their children’s development.“How would you know that a child is fully developed physically, mentally, emotionally and socially by assessing only through academic-based assessment?“We need to look into the purpose of this exam. What is it really for? Are you sure it is for parents to see what their children have learned so far?”


No go for much anticipated Cabinet announcement

The much anticipated announcement of the new Cabinet line-up expected after Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s audience with the king will not take place today.Malaysians had waited in suspense since this morning for the announcement, less than a week after Ismail was sworn into the top office.Ismail had spent about 90 minutes at Istana Abdulaziz in Kuantan this morning to present the names of those who would comprise his Cabinet to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.It was the second audience for Ismail since he took his oath of office at Istana Negara on Aug 21.Speculation has been swirling over whether Ismail will retain the bulk of ministers from the previous administration.The spotlight is however on the posts of deputy prime minister and finance minister.Ismail’s choice for the two portfolios would indicate whether he is bowing to pressure from Umno leaders aligned with Najib Razak, the former prime minister who campaigned to oust Muhyiddin Yassin in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.


Ex-AG Thomas wins bid to quash Najib's suit

Former attorney-general Tommy Thomas has succeeded in his bid to quash the suit filed by Najib Razak over alleged misfeasance in public office for prosecuting him on charges involving 1MDB.
High Court judge Ahmad Bache, in allowing Thomas’s application, said the claim brought by Najib was obviously unsustainable and that there was no reasonable cause of action.
"This claim is scandalous, vexatious and an abuse of the court process. Therefore, the court allowed Thomas’ application to strike out the claim," he said, ordering Najib to pay costs of RM12,000.
Ahmad in his judgement also said that Najib’s cases were still ongoing with Thomas no longer the attorney-general.
The cases are those relating to 1MDB, International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC), abuse of power under the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 and money laundering under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001.
Ahmad said the court considered the opinion that the cause of action of misfeasance in public office and the so-called malicious process were not sustainable and a non-starter as Thomas had not even conducted the prosecution of the four cases.
"The plaintiff (Najib) could file a suit if he acquits from all cases but now the cases are still pending.
"Even if Thomas had an agenda against Najib, he would not be conducting the prosecution of the plaintiff. Hence how could he be said to have had committed misfeasance? Even the pleading in the suit as alluded to earlier does not reveal any reasonable cause of action," he said.
Ahmad said that should he allow this claim to proceed, it would open another floodgate for Najib’s remaining four cases to be tried in a civil court on a civil balance of proof even though the criminal trial for these four cases is still ongoing.
"This proceeding will be seen as a collateral attack against the four cases. In fact, these claims should not have been filed at all, before the completion of the trials of the four cases.
"It has also created confusion, and a transgression of jurisdictions between civil and criminal jurisdiction," he said, adding that Najib’s application was also premature.
Ahmad said there was no necessity for the claim to go for a full trial and no reason for Thomas to come to court to explain.
He also said that Thomas has immunity from being sued by virtue of the discretion granted to him by Article 145 (3) of the Federal Constitution.
"This is because Thomas as the public prosecutor was conferred a wide discretion and hence enjoys immunity from any proceeding against him," the judge said.
Ahmad pointed out that legal precedents still affirmed the fact that an attorney-general’s constitutional power under Article 145 of the Federal Constitution to commence or retract criminal charges, is not one that can be challenged in court.
He said Thomas was appointed as the attorney-general cum public prosecutor on June 4, 2018, by the government of Pakatan Harapan under Dr Mahathir Mohamed, not the political AG.
Lawyers Firoz Hussein Ahmad Jamaluddin and Yudistra Darma Dorai represented Najib while Alan Adrian Gomez appeared for Thomas.
Thomas, through a notice of application to quash the suit, which was filed on Nov 18, 2021, stated among others that if Najib's suit was continued and tried, it would disrupt the trial in the High Court of the criminal case against him.
In the suit filed on Oct 22, 2021, Najib claimed that the charges against him were part of a move planned in advance by Thomas and in line with the Pakatan Harapan government’s plan at the time.
Najib, 69, claimed that he had been wrongly accused in court in the case of 1MDB, IPIC, abuse of power under the MACC Act 2009 and money laundering under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act.
He sought a declaration that Thomas had committed misfeasance in public office, as well as RM1.9 million in damages, including negotiation fees for the audit team to review the documentation for the preparation of facts to deal with the prosecution against him.


Netflix will not add state-run channels to Russian service, defying regulation

Netflix Inc NFLX.O said on Monday that in the current circumstances it has no plans to add state-run channels to its Russian service, despite a regulation that would require the streaming service to distribute state-backed channels.“Given the current situation, we have no plans to add these channels to our service,” said a Netflix spokesman in a statement, referring to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.Politico first reported that Netflix, which launched its service in Russia in October 2020, would fall under the new Russian regulations requiring compliance on March 1.The regulations, overseen by Russia’s communications regulator, Roskomnadzor, require audiovisual services with more than 100,000 subscribers in that country to distribute 20 free-to-air news, sports and entertainment channels.The Netflix spokesman declined to comment on timing or whether the company has held conversations with Russian regulators. It is unclear how the service will be impacted by its decision.Russia is one the 190 countries were Netflix is available.


Jailed female politician given extra year for calling Erdogan a misogynist

A prominent female ex-parliamentarian in Turkey has been sentenced to 11 months in prison for calling Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan an enemy of women, according to Al Arabiya English.Sebahat Tuncel, 45, was sentenced on Saturday for saying Erdogan was a “complete misogynist” – a remark she made four years ago.The 11 months has been added to the sentence she is already serving.Last year, Tuncel was jailed 15 years for spreading terrorist propaganda and belonging to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).Tuncel, of Kurdish origin, has been described in Turkish media as a women’s rights activist. She served in Turkey’s parliament for the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party.Her attorney argued that her statement that “the president was an enemy of women and Kurds”, made during a 2016 speech, was “within the limits of freedom of expression”, according to Turkish news outlet Duvar English. The court disagreed.Tuncel is just one of thousands of Turks who have received prison time for insulting the Turkish president.Turkey’s penal code criminalises insulting the president, with an offender typically facing a prison term of up to four years. The sentence can be increased if the insult is expressed in public, as in Tuncel’s case.Over 3,800 people in Turkey received prison sentences in 2019 for insulting Erdogan, Turkish media reported last week.Erdogan has said publicly that women are not equal to men and that women who reject motherhood are “deficient” and “incomplete”.


Every adult in America eligible for jab earlier than promised

US President Joe Biden on Tuesday moved up the Covid-19 vaccine eligibility target for all American adults to April 19 but warned that with new virus variants spreading “we’re still in a life-and-death race” with Covid.Biden directed US states to widen the vaccine eligibility to people 18 or older by April 19, two weeks earlier than the May 1 deadline he announced previously.This means Americans no longer need to check with state and local websites to see whether they qualify. “No more confusing rules,” said Biden.“What we do now is going to determine how many people we’ll save or lose before we get to July 4,” Biden said, referring to American Independence Day.Vaccine supplies and efficiency in getting shots into arms have increased dramatically in the race to get more people inoculated as more contagious virus variants circulate.When vaccine doses were in shorter supply, states initially limited distribution to high-risk groups, such as the elderly and frontline healthcare workers, and then gradually opened up vaccines to other age and at risk groups.Upon taking office in January, Biden set a goal of delivering 100 million shots into people’s arms within his first 100 days in office, which is the end of April. That goal has since been doubled to 200 million.More than 167 million vaccine doses have been administered in the country. Four in 10 Americans have had at least one vaccine dose, a rate far ahead of most countries.White House spokesman Jen Psaki said on Tuesday, when confirming “everyone is eligible around the country”, more than 28 million Covid-19 vaccine doses will be available this week in the US.Cumulatively over the past three weeks the administration has sent out 90 million doses of the vaccine, she said.On the controversial subject of vaccine ID, Psaki said the Biden administration does not support the idea of a federal mandate requiring Americans to carry vaccination credentials, which has been proposed to make air travel safer.“The government is not now, nor will we be supporting a system that requires Americans to carry a credential,” she said. “There will be no federal vaccinations database, and no federal mandate requiring everyone to maintain a single vaccination credential.”


South Korea extending Covid-19 curbs over CNY holidays

South Korea is extending its social distancing curbs, which include a restaurant curfew and a ban on gatherings of more than four people, by two weeks until the end of the Chinese New Year holidays as new infection clusters emerge in the country.Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun’s Sunday announcement dashed earlier expectations that the government would ease the rules from the current highest levels that have been in place since early December.Health authorities decided to maintain the restrictions after a large outbreak emerged from missionary training schools across the country last week, reversing a recent downtrend in daily infections ahead of the Chinese New Year break, which begins on Feb 11.“The third Covid-19 wave, which had temporarily slowed, is again threatening our daily lives following the group infections from the missionary institutes,” Chung said. “This decision was not easy.”Vice Health Minister Kang Do-tae said the coronavirus was spreading not only among the missionary schools, to which 379 cases have been linked so far, but also at churches, hospitals and sports facilities.“There is a danger that it might lead to a broader re-spread of the virus, and potentially another major wave where thousands of patients emerge within a short time,” Kang told a briefing.But the government will “positively consider” easing the curbs, including the dining curfew, if the situation improves this week.Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines will arrive in South Korea by mid-February via the global distribution scheme Covax.


‘Disgraceful’ sex acts in parliament rock Australia’s government

Leaked videos of staff from Australia’s conservative government performing sex acts in parliament, including one man masturbating over a female MP’s desk, left Scott Morrison’s administration facing yet another major scandal Tuesday.The prime minister – already under pressure for his handling of sexual assault allegations including that a female government adviser was raped by a colleague – called the behaviour “disgraceful” and “absolutely shameful”.The videos and photos, which had allegedly been shared in a group chat of coalition government staff before being leaked by a whistleblower, were first revealed by The Australian newspaper and Channel 10 late Monday.The graphic images have prompted fresh outrage from female lawmakers and the Australian public, coming on the heels of the rape allegations that sparked mass nationwide protests.The whistleblower, identified only as Tom, told the news outlets that government staffers and MPs often used a Parliament House prayer room to have sex, and alleged that sex workers had been brought into the building “for the pleasure of coalition MPs”.He also said a group of staffers routinely swapped explicit photos of themselves and he received so many he had “become immune to it”.He said there was a “culture of men thinking that they can do whatever they want” and while he did not think the staffers had broken any laws, “morally, they are bankrupt”.One aide was immediately fired and the government has promised further action.Minister for Women Marise Payne said the revelations were “beyond disappointing” and highlighted the need for a government-ordered inquiry into parliament’s workplace culture.Cabinet minister Karen Andrews said she had had an “absolute gutful” of sexism in politics and her “conscience will no longer allow me to remain quiet”.She told reporters in Canberra that the ruling Liberal Party should consider gender quotas for its political representatives.The fresh sexism revelations on Tuesday prompted indigenous Senator Lidia Thorpe to disclose alleged sexual harassment by four male politicians since she took office just six months ago.Thorpe, a representative for the Greens party, told the Canberra Times the “brazen” harassment had included “suggestive” remarks and unwanted touching.“These are men that write our laws – men that should know better,” she tweeted. “What they’ve done is violating behaviour. It’s physical. It’s sexualising, objectifying behaviour – it makes me feel physically sick.”Australia’s parliament has been repeatedly criticised for a “toxic” workplace culture that has allegedly spawned persistent bullying, harassment and sexual assault of women – particularly in the ruling coalition.Former government staffer Brittany Higgins alleged publicly last month that she had been raped by a colleague in a minister’s parliamentary office in 2019.And earlier this month, Attorney-General Christian Porter vigorously denied swirling accusations he had raped a 16-year-old girl in 1988 when they were both students.The controversies have placed growing pressure on the prime minister, who critics say has fumbled the government’s response.Morrison grew emotional at a press conference in Canberra on Tuesday when talking about the importance of his wife, mother and daughters, also saying women had endured a “very traumatic” month.“These events have triggered, right across this building and indeed right across the country, women who have put up with this rubbish and this crap for their entire lives, as their mothers did, as their grandmothers did,” he said.Tens of thousands of women this month joined “#March4Justice” rallies to protest sexual violence and gender inequality, calling for systemic change in politics and wider Australian society.The opposition Labor party, which already has gender quotas in place, has not been immune from similar allegations. A Facebook group of female workers recently detailed alleged sexual harassment by male colleagues and politicians.


Most youths don’t care about politics, politicians, survey finds

A new survey of Malaysian youths has revealed an indifference to politics, in one possible signal on whether the move to lower the legal voting age to 18 will have an impact in the general election.The survey by public opinion pollster Merdeka Center showed that more than two-thirds of youths have no interest in participating in politics.The remaining 30% who are interested comprise mostly males, Malays and those in the higher income bracket.The survey involved phone interviews with 2,520 youths aged 18 to 30 over a period of one month between Feb 19 and March 20 this year, a few days before the Election Commission announced that the plan to allow 18-year-olds to vote could only be implemented in September 2022, drawing criticism by politicians from both sides of the divide.Respondents came from racial backgrounds reflecting the national demography, 71% of whom had completed tertiary education. About 40% were employed in the private sector and some 28% were still studying.The indifference of youths to politics was further emphasised by the fact that most (78%) said politics and government were “complicated” and that they “can’t really understand what’s going on”.Some 66% dismissed politicians, saying they “don’t care what people like me think”.Merdeka Center said its findings point to the direct impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on younger Malaysians.It said while they “remain optimistic about their future prospects and achieving their goals”, the youths have low opinion of politics and politicians.“It also speaks of the difficulty that political actors will have in approaching and persuading this group as they are generally dismissive of politicians and politics,” Merdeka Center added.A majority of youths (45.4%) said the economy would be the biggest challenge facing the country, followed by concerns over health due to Covid-19 (3.6%). Only 2% thought politics was a problem.However, they were fairly split in their views about the direction of the country, with 46% positive about the current direction and 42% saying the country is headed in the wrong direction, the latter citing political instability and economic conditions.Despite the gloomy sentiments, the vast majority of those polled, more than 80%, said they were confident of achieving their goals as well as their future prospects.Sports and entertainment remained their top interests (56%). Notably, interest in e-Games (8%) was higher than education (6%).


23 cases involving variants of concern detected, says Noor Hisham

The health ministry has detected 23 cases of Covid-19 variants of concern (VOC) as a result of continuous genomic surveillance from June 3 to 8, namely 19 Beta variant cases (B.1.351) and four Delta variant cases (B.1.617.2).In a Facebook post, health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the Beta variant cases comprised eight cases in Selangor, three in Putrajaya, two each in Kuala Lumpur, Melaka and Kedah, and one each in Perak and Perlis.He said two cases of the Delta variant were detected each in Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur.Noor Hisham said the cumulative number of Covid-19 cases categorised as VOCs and variants of interest (VOIs) stood at 161 as of yesterday.Of the total, 145 cases were VOC while 16 cases were listed as VOI.The total VOC cases reported comprised 123 cases of the Beta variant, 13 cases of the Delta variant, and nine cases of the Alpha variant (B.1.1.7), while the VOI cases registered were 12 cases of the Theta variant (P. 3), three cases of the Eta variant (B.1.525) and one case of the Kappa variant (B.1.617.1).“The ministry will continue to strengthen infectious disease control activities including continuing genomic surveillance for SARS-CoV-2, increasing Covid-19 screening tests, conducting contact detection and case isolation, as well as other public health measures to curb the spread of these variants in the community,” he said.Noor Hisham also advised the public to register for Covid-19 vaccination to help the country achieve herd immunity.


Dewan Rakyat approves law to scrap mandatory death penalty

The Dewan Rakyat today passed sweeping legal reforms to remove the mandatory death penalty, trim the number of offences punishable by death, and abolish natural-life prison sentences.
Malaysia has had a moratorium on executions since 2018, when it first promised to abolish capital punishment entirely.
The government, however, faced political pressure from some parties and rowed back on the pledge a year later, saying it would retain the death penalty but allow courts to replace it with other punishments at their discretion.
Under the amendments passed today, alternatives to the death penalty include whipping and imprisonment of between 30 to 40 years. The new jail term will replace all previous provisions that call for imprisonment for the duration of the offender's natural life.
Life imprisonment sentences, defined by law as a fixed term of 30 years, will be retained.
Capital punishment will also be removed as an option for some serious crimes that do not cause death, such as discharging and trafficking of a firearm and kidnapping, according to the new measures.
Deputy law minister Ramkarpal Singh said capital punishment was an irreversible punishment that had not been an effective deterrent for crime.
"The death penalty has not brought the results it was intended to bring," he said while wrapping up the parliamentary debates on the bill.
The amendments passed will apply to 34 offences currently punishable by death, including murder and drug trafficking. Eleven of them carry it as a mandatory punishment.
The move comes even as some Southeast Asian neighbours have stepped up their use of capital punishment.
Last year, Singapore executed 11 people for drug offences, government data showed, while Myanmar carried out its first death sentences in decades against four pro-democracy activists.


Daily cases drop again to under 15,000

Another 14,954 Covid-19 cases were recorded today, taking total confirmed infections in the country to 2,097,830.Sarawak recorded 2,707 cases, Selangor 2,028, Johor 1,948, Kelantan 1,420, Sabah 1,356, Penang 1,259 and Perak 1,222.Kedah recorded 809 cases, Pahang 705, Terengganu 671, Kuala Lumpur 383, Melaka 207 and Negeri Sembilan 144.Perlis recorded 76 cases and Putrajaya 19. No new cases were recorded in Labuan.Another 23,469 patients recovered, bringing total recoveries to 1,863,922.Meanwhile 1,194 are in the ICU, including 882 confirmed Covid-19 patients.A total of 665 are in need of respiratory assistance including 401 confirmed Covid-19 cases.Of the 14,954 cases reported today, 243 (1.6%) are in Category Three and above. The other 14,711 (98.4%) are in Category One and Two.


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No official talks on GE15 between PN and GTA

Perikatan Nasional (PN) has not held any official discussions with Gerakan Tanah Air (GTA) on working together to face the 15th general election (GE15), PN secretary-general Hamzah Zainudin says.
"Officially, none so far. There may be discussions between representatives, and making enquiries is common in politics now.
"(However) the party leadership has yet to decide whether discussions can be held officially," he said when met on the sidelines of an event in Putrajaya last night.
On Saturday, GTA pro tem deputy chairman Muhkriz Mahathir said the coalition had held discussions with certain political alliances on the possibility of working together in GE15.
GTA comprises Pejuang, Parti Bumiputera Perkasa Malaysia (Putra), Barisan Jemaah Islamiah Se-Malaysia (Berjasa) and Parti Ikatan India Muslim Nasional (Iman).


186,000 foreign workers needed in agricultural sector, says deputy minister

About 186,000 foreign workers are needed to meet the demand for labour in the agricultural sector nationwide, says Deputy Agriculture and Food Security Minister Chan Foong Hin.
He said so far, a total of 3,000 foreign workers have been registered through the Labour Recalibration Programme 2.0 to fill the vacancies in the sector.
"The agriculture and food security ministry is working with several related parties, especially the human resources ministry and the immigration department, to deal with the current labour shortage issue in the sector," he said in Putrajaya today.
He said the Labour Recalibration Programme had given the industry an alternative way to hire foreign workers to help increase agricultural production. He added however that hiring foreign workers should only serve as a short-term solution to the labour shortage issue.
"Our main objective is to create enough employment opportunities and good income to attract locals, especially youths, to venture into the agricultural sector," he said.


‘It was unbelievable’: Star Trek’s Shatner becomes real life astronaut

“Star Trek” actor William Shatner finally became a real space traveler on Blue Origin’s second crewed mission Wednesday, calling it the most profound experience of his life.“It was unbelievable,” said the 90-year-old Canadian, known to the sci-fi show’s legion of “Trekkies” as the daring Captain James T Kirk, a role he first played more than half a century ago.He was joined on the 11-minute journey beyond Earth’s atmosphere and back again by three others: Blue Origin executive Audrey Powers, Planet Labs co-founder Chris Boshuizen, and Glen de Vries of Medidata Solutions.A New Shepard rocket took off from the company’s West Texas base around 9.49am after experiencing two brief delays, eventually soaring to 106km above sea level.Founder Jeff Bezos was on hand to greet the crew members as they climbed out of the capsule, which parachute-landed in desert, and were showered with applause and champagne.Like the almost 600 astronauts who have gone before him, Shatner marvelled at the experience of weightlessness and the stunning view of our world from space.“What you have given me is the most profound experience I can imagine. I’m so filled with emotion about what just happened,” he said, moved to tears.“What you’re looking down on is Mother Earth, and it needs protecting,” he later told reporters.The mission was a replay of the company’s maiden human flight in July, which included Bezos and was seen as a breakthrough moment for the nascent space tourism sector.This time around, all attention was focused on Shatner, who became the oldest-ever astronaut, despite an appearance suggesting a man decades younger.The intergalactic voyages of the USS Enterprise, commanded by Shatner’s character Kirk, helped turn American attention to the stars as the US space program was starting out.“Captain Kirk… represents ‘the final frontier’ perhaps more than anyone else for a couple different generations of people, in the US and worldwide,” screenwriter and Trek historian Marc Cushman told AFP.Shatner, also known for his role as lawyer Denny Crane in “Boston Legal,” among many others, has spoken in the past about an at-times difficult relationship with Star Trek and its fan culture.But in recent years, the actor has leaned into the fame brought about by his most famous role.“I’m overwhelmed by the response,” said Shatner, when asked by AFP about the outpouring of support he has received from fans and the wider space community since the mission was announced.Space tourism heating upFor Blue Origin, meanwhile, a second mission in less than three months represents another step forward as it tries to establish itself as space tourism’s leading player.Boshuizen and Vries brought the company’s total number of paying customers to three, after Dutch teen Oliver Daemen who was on board the first flight.Competition in the sector is heating up.Virgin Galactic, which offers a similar experience of a few minutes’ weightlessness and a view of the Earth’s curvature from the cosmos, launched its founder Richard Branson in July, a few days before Bezos.And in September, SpaceX sent four private citizens on a three-day trip whizzing around the planet – an altogether more ambitious, but also likely far more expensive endeavour.For many space enthusiasts, Shatner’s voyage was a fitting coda for a pop culture phenomenon that inspired generations of astronauts, scientists and engineers.The show has had a long-running association with Nasa, whose scientists were sent early scripts to vet their accuracy, according to Cushman.“Those scientists, as well as nearly everyone at those space agencies, were avid Star Trek watchers, and they well understood that the popularity of the series helped spark growing interest and funding for the space programme,” he said.Another mega-fan: Bezos himself.The Amazon founder shared an Instagram post of Star Trek artwork he made when he was nine years old.Bezos has said Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant was inspired by the conversational computer on the Enterprise, and he even made a cameo as an alien in the 2016 film “Star Trek Beyond,” sporting an egg-shaped head.


UK officials helping Ukraine war are 'legitimate target', says Russia's Medvedev

Russian Security Council deputy chairman Dmitry Medvedev said on Wednesday that Britain was Moscow's "eternal enemy" and that any British officials who facilitated the war in Ukraine could be considered legitimate military targets.
Medvedev, responding to British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly's remark that Ukraine had a right to project force beyond its own borders, said Britain's "goofy officials" should remember that Britain could be "qualified as being at war".
"The UK acts as Ukraine's ally providing it with military aid in the form of equipment and specialists, i.e., de facto is leading an undeclared war against Russia," Medvedev said on Twitter.
"That being the case, any of its public officials (either military, or civil, who facilitate the war) can be considered as a legitimate military target."


13.4% drop in weekly Covid-19 cases

New Covid-19 cases in the country dropped by 13.4% to 23,045 in the 45th epidemiological week (ME 45/2022) from Nov 6 to 12, compared to 26,577 cases the week before.
Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a statement today that there was an 82.8% increase in fatalities from 29 cases to 53.
He said recoveries in ME 45 also increased by 38.5% to 28,704 cases from 20,718 the previous week.
"The average number of daily active cases in ME 45/2022 rose by 1.7% (33,449 cases compared to 34,033) from ME 44/2022," he added.
Between Jan 25, 2020 and Nov 12, 2022, cumulatively, a total of 4,946,583 new Covid-19 cases and 4,879,195 recoveries were recorded. The cumulative number of fatalities recorded for the same period was 36,546 and the cumulative number of clusters was 7,134 with 49 clusters still active.
Noor Hisham said there was also an overall increase of 14.4% in the admission of Covid-19 patients to hospitals and low-risk Covid-19 creatment Centres per 100,000 population.
He said hospital admissions for patients in Category One (asymptomatic) and Two (mild symptoms) rose by 15.2%.
Meanwhile, admissions for patients in Category Three (pneumonia), Four (in need oxygen supplementation) and Five (requiring respiratory aid) rose by 16.2%.


Exam-year students to be prioritised for vaccination

The Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF) has agreed to the education ministry’s proposal that students sitting for major examinations this year be given priority for vaccination.Education Minister Radzi Jidin said this was due to the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency’s (NPRA) approval of the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children aged 12 and above.“As for the teachers, over 90,000 individuals have received at least one dose of vaccine so far. The ministry is always committed to striving for the best,” he said on Facebook today.He also shared a short video clip in which National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme coordinating minister Khairy Jamaluddin explained the matter.Khairy had been speaking at a virtual discussion titled “The Path to Herd Immunity: Up Close with YB Khairy Jamaluddin”, organised by The Oxford & Cambridge Society Malaysia yesterday.The science, technology and innovation minister said according to the data from the education ministry, there are 357,000 Form Five students and 47,000 Form Five teachers nationwide.“Kids who are sitting for public exams really need to get back to school to prepare for the exams.“We are working out something with the education ministry to focus on exam years first, to inoculate both the teachers and support staff at schools as well as exam-year students,” he said in the discussion.


Spain becomes first EU nation with one million virus cases

Spain has become the first European Union nation to record a million coronavirus infections, official data showed on Wednesday, as the government mulled fresh restrictions on public life to curb the spread of the disease.The country recorded 16,973 confirmed cases of Covid-19 over the past 24 hours, the health ministry announced, taking the total to 1,005,295 since its first case was diagnosed on Jan 31 on the remote island of La Gomera in the Canary Islands.Of this number, 34,366 people have died, with 156 more deaths were recorded in the previous 24 hours.Spain, which is home to around 47 million people, is only the sixth country in the world to cross this grim milestone after the US, India, Brazil, Russia and Argentina, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.The new wave of contagion has been less deadly than in late March and April, when fatalities routinely exceeded 800 per day, as the median age of new infections has dropped.But with healthcare workers warning the spike could once again overwhelm hospitals, Health Minister Salvador Illa said on Tuesday the government was considering several new measures, including nighttime curfews such as those recently put in place in France and Belgium.“We are facing very tough weeks ahead, winter is coming, the second wave is no longer a threat, it is a reality across Europe,” he told a news conference, adding the government was “open to everything” to contain the virus.‘Political weapon’The health ministry is set to meet on Thursday with representatives from Spain’s powerful regional governments, who are in charge of healthcare, to update the country’s plan to respond to the pandemic.Spain was one of the worst-affected countries when the coronavirus struck Europe early this year before one of the world’s most stringent lockdowns helped reduce the outbreak’s spread.But infections have surged since the lockdown measures were fully removed at the end of June, with the rise blamed on the rapid return of nightlife and a lack of an efficient system to track and trace infections.Messy disagreements between the central and regional governments, and between political parties, over what measures to take have also hampered the response, experts say.“The pandemic has been used as a political weapon to fight and argue with your adversaries instead of trying to find a middle ground and the best solution for everyone,” Salvador Macip, an expert in health sciences at Catalonia’s Open University who has written a book called “The Great Modern Plagues”, told AFP.‘Tired and angry’As infections have picked up, Spanish regional authorities started imposing fresh restrictions.Madrid and several satellite cities have since early October been under a partial lockdown, while the wealthy northeastern region of Catalonia has imposed a 15-day shutdown of all bars and restaurants.The northern wine-growing region of La Rioja announced Wednesday it would close its regional borders while the northeastern region of Aragon said it would impose a partial lockdown on its three biggest cities – Huesca, Teruel and Zaragoza.Angela Hernandez Puente, a doctor and the deputy secretary of Madrid’s Amtys medical association, said the situation was very worrying, but not comparable with the overwhelming pressure the health system came under in March when intensive care units were full and staff lacked personal protective equipment.But she said the gains of Spain’s tough lockdown were wasted due to a lack of preparation for a second wave of infections, citing as an example the failure to hire more doctors for public primary care centres, the first line of defence against the virus as they handle testing and tracing potential cases as well as treating the sick.“Health care staff are tired and angry, many doctors feel that more should have been done in June, July and August to not let the public health system become overburdened as it is now,” she told AFP.


Decision on whether to relax MySejahtera check-in requirement to be made ‘in a week or two’

Any decision to relax the requirement to check in at premises using the MySejahtera application will be announced within one to two weeks, says Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.He said the decision would take into account the current developments in the country which had passed the peak of the Omicron wave and was now in the midst of transitioning to the endemic phase.“For this transition phase, whether we are satisfied with the trend of infections where we no longer need micro-detection, or if we are brave enough to relax the MySejahtera check-in (requirement), we will make (a decision on it).“The health ministry is monitoring in terms of infection patterns and we will decide within a week or two whether we will continue or not in terms of scanning the MySejahtera code for check-ins,” he said at a press conference in Parliament today.Khairy was responding to a question on the decline in the average number of check-ins using MySejahtera, and whether it was still relevant in the transition to endemic phase.He said although the country was heading towards to endemic phase, the Covid-19 SOPs still required every individual to check in using the app except in open areas.He said the use of the feature was still relevant in terms of informing those found to be casual contacts of a positive Covid-19 case.“At the peak of the Omicron wave, we found that of the casual contacts who were notified by MySejahtera, 45% were positive, and they took steps to isolate themselves.“So to say that this contact tracking system is no longer relevant, I do not quite agree,” he said.


EU eyes 'war economy' in push to rush ammo to Ukraine

EU defence ministers will discuss Wednesday plans to raid their stockpiles to rush €1 billion's (RM4.76 billion) worth of ammunition to Ukraine and place joint orders for more to ensure supplies keep flowing.
Ukraine's Western backers warn that Kyiv is facing a critical shortage of 155-millimetre howitzer shells as it fires thousands each day in its fight against a grinding Russian offensive.
Ministers meeting with their Ukrainian counterpart Oleksiy Reznikov in Stockholm will debate a three-pronged push to meet Kyiv's immediate needs and bolster Europe's defence industry for the longer term.
The first part of the plan, as laid out by the EU's foreign policy service, envisions using a billion euros (US$1.06 billion) from the bloc's joint European Peace Facility to get member states to send shells in their stocks to Kyiv within weeks.
Ukraine's European allies have already depleted their shelves, committing some €12 billion of military support, with €3.6 billion coming from the joint fund.
Officials say they are confident there are enough 155-mm shells still in storage that Europe's own defences will not be made too vulnerable. The defence ministers are expected to provide details during their meeting.
The second part of the plan is to pool together EU and Ukraine demands to place massive joint orders that would incentivise ammunition producers to ramp up their capacity.
The move represents an important shift for the 27-nation bloc as Russia's war has sped up the push to work more in unison on defence.
Officials say the money to cover Ukraine's needs could come from another one billion euros already in the joint kitty.
Estonia, the ex-Soviet republic that initially proposed spending four billion euros on a million shells for Ukraine, wants more new funds committed.
"According to Ukrainian needs, they would need at least 350,000 155-mm rounds per month," Madis Roll, a senior official at Estonia's defence ministry, told AFP.
"Therefore, Estonia has proposed the initiative to jointly procure at least one million 155-mm ammunition rounds to Ukraine, which is the absolute minimum military requirement for Ukraine."
'High-intensity conflict'
EU countries are weighing whether the bloc's central defence agency or member states with more experience should negotiate contracts.
There is a strong desire to avoid seeing the process slowed down by bureaucracy.
There is also a thorny debate about buying ammunition from outside the bloc as some argue the priority should be speed, not helping European industry.
More broadly though, there is a clear sense that after years of lower investment after the Cold War, more needs to be done to get EU defence firms to step up their output fast.
"European industry is not adapted for the needs of a high-intensity conflict," European internal market commissioner Thierry Breton told journalists Tuesday.
"Our defence industry must quickly switch to 'war economy' mode."
Breton was to tell ministers that, beyond just placing a major joint order, the EU needs to unlock stalled funds to bolster industrial capacity and to ensure firms got easier access to loans.
Officials say they hope to agree on a firm plan to send the ammunition to Ukraine at a meeting of EU foreign ministers on March 20.


England roar into last 16 as Rashford scores twice in 3-0 Wales rout

England marched into the last 16 of the World Cup as Group B winners after Marcus Rashford's double and a Phil Foden strike justified their first starts of the tournament in a 3-0 hammering of an outclassed Wales on Tuesday.
Wales, who needed a four-goal victory in a fixture they had not won since 1984 to reach the knockout phase, defended deeply and frustrated Gareth Southgate's side in a subdued first half at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium.
But they caved in after the break as a rampantEngland, who will face Group A runners-up Senegal on Sunday, boosted their goals tally in the tournament to nine and fuelled hopes of a deep run in Qatar, having reached the semi-finals in 2018.
Wales could also have reached the last 16 with a victory if the match between Iran and the US ended level, but any hope of that scenario unfolding evaporated rapidly once Rashford smashed home a curling free kick five minutes after the break following a foul on Foden by Ethan Ampadu.
A minute later Foden, who England fans and pundits have been urging Southgate to start, made it 2-0 as Wales carelessly lost possession and Harry Kane crossed low for the Manchester City player to convert from close range.
Wales, whose talisman Gareth Bale was substituted at halftime due to a slight hamstring strainhaving touched the ball only seven times, looked crestfallen as their first World Cup for 64 years fizzled out.
England continued to dish out the punishment though and Rashford made it 3-0 with a surging run in from the right before shooting through a crowd and past Ward's legs in the 68th.
Manchester United's Rashford place in the squad was uncertain a few months ago due to form and injuries but he is now the tournament's joint-top scorer with three goals alongside Kylian Mbappe (France), Enner Valencia (Ecuador) and Cody Gakpo (Netherlands).
England's 0-0 draw with the US, who finished runners-up in the group with five points to England's seven after beating Iran 1-0 on Tuesday, had brought them back down to earth after an opening 6-2 rout of the Iranians.
But they will go into their last-16 clash full of confidence, especially as they are showing they can score goals even when the hard-working Kane, who was given a rest when he was substituted just before the hour, is not finding the net.
"It's a great feeling," Rashford said. "We were a little bit disappointed after the USA result and it was important to have a good performance the next game. It was just about killing the game off early and taking the chances..."
For Wales, their return to the World Cup was all too brief as they finished bottom with a point and only one goal.
The first-ever all-British clash at a World Cup lacked the drama many had envisaged when Wales sealed their place in Qatar by beating Ukraine in a playoff.
Their fans belted out a rousing rendition of the unofficial anthem Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau before kickoff but had little to shout about after that as England ultimately made their class tell.
For Bale, whose career has scaled dazzling heights, it was an anti-climactic end to his first, and probably last World Cup.
"To be at a World Cup, if you'd asked us that two years ago we'd have all pinched ourselves," Bale said.
"It's disappointing to go out but we will all walk out of that changing room with our heads held high proud of each other."


China on Palestinian-Israeli conflict: No to 'piecemeal crisis management'

Remarks by China's United Nations (UN) ambassador, Geng Shuang, on the situation in occupied Palestine on May 24 were impeccable, in terms of their consistency with international law.
Compared to the US, which perceives the UN, and particularly the Security Council, as a battleground to defend Israeli interests, the Chinese political discourse reflects a legal stance based on a deep understanding of the realities on the ground.
Articulating the Chinese thinking during a UNSC "Briefing on the Situation in the Middle East, including the Palestine Question", Geng did not mince his words. He spoke forcefully about the "irreplaceable" need for a "comprehensive and just solution", that is based on ending Israel's "provocations" in Jerusalem and the respect for the right of "Muslim worshipers" as well as the "custodianship of Jordan" in the city's holy sites.
Widening the context of the reasons behind the latest violence in Palestine, and the May 9 Israeli war on Gaza, Geng went on to state a position that both Tel Aviv and Washington find utterly objectionable. He unapologetically condemned the "illegal expansion of (Israeli Jewish) settlements" in occupied Palestine and Israel's "unilateral action", urging Tel Aviv to "immediately halt" all its illegal activities.
Geng proceeded to discuss issues that have been relatively ignored, including "the plight of the Palestinian refugees".
In doing so, Geng has enunciated his country's political vision regarding a just solution in Palestine, one that is predicated on ending the Israeli occupation, halting Tel Aviv's expansionist policies, and respecting the rights of the Palestinian people.
But is this position new?
While it is true that China's policies on Palestine and Israel have historically been consistent with international law, China, in recent years, attempted to tailor a more "balanced" position, one that does not impede growing Israeli-Chinese trade, particularly in the area of advanced microchips technology.
However, the China-Israel affinity was motivated by more than mere trade.
Since its official launch, China's Belt and Road Initiative has served as the cornerstone of Beijing's global outlook. The massive project involves nearly 150 countries and aims at connecting Asia with Europe and Africa via land and maritime networks.
Due to its location on the Mediterranean Sea, Israel's strategic importance to China which, for years, has been keen on gaining access to Israeli seaports, has doubled.
Expectedly, such ambitions have been of great concern to Washington, whose naval vessels often dock at the Haifa Port.
Washington has repeatedly cautioned Tel Aviv against its growing proximity to Beijing. US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, went as far as warning Israel in March 2019 that, until Tel Aviv re-evaluates its cooperation with China, the US could reduce "intelligence sharing and co-location of security facilities".
Fully appreciating the current, but also the potential global power of China, Israel laboured to find a balance that would allow it to maintain its "special relationship" with the US, while financially and strategically benefiting from its closeness to China.
Israel's balancing act encouraged China to translate its growing economic prowess in the Middle East into a political and diplomatic investment as well. For example, in 2017, China put into motion a peace plan – initially formulated in 2013 – called the Four-Point Proposal. The plan offered Chinese mediation as a substitution for US bias and, ultimately, failed "peace process".
The Palestinian leadership welcomed China's involvement, while Israel refused to engage, causing an embarrassment to a government that insists on respect and recognition of its rising importance in every arena.
If balancing acts in geopolitics were possible back then, the Russia-Ukraine war brought it all to a sudden end. The new geopolitical reality can be expressed in the words of a former Italian diplomat, Stefano Stefanini. Italy's former ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato) wrote in an article in La Stampa that the "international balancing act is over" and "there are no safety nets".
Ironically, Stefanini made this reference to Italy's need to choose between the West and China. The same logic can also be applied to Israel and China.
Soon after China succeeded in striking a landmark deal between Saudi Arabia and Iran on April 6, it again floated the idea of brokering peace between Palestine and Israel. China's new foreign minister, Qin Gang, reportedly consulted with both sides on "steps to resume peace talks". Again, the Palestinians accepted while Israel ignored the subject.
This partly explains China's frustration with Israel, and also with the US. As China's former ambassador to Washington (2021-23), Qin must be familiar with the inherent US bias towards Israel. This knowledge was expressed by Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, Hua Chunying, during the latest Israeli war on Gaza.
"The US should realise that the lives of Palestinian Muslims are equally precious", Hua said on May 14.
A simple discourse analysis of the Chinese language regarding the situation in Palestine clarifies that Beijing sees a direct link between the US and the continued conflict, or the failure to find a just solution.
This assertion can also be gleaned from Ambassador Geng's most recent UNSC remarks, where he criticised "piecemeal crisis management", a direct reference to US diplomacy in the region, offering a Chinese alternative that is based on a "comprehensive and just solution".
Equally important is that the Chinese position seems to be intrinsically linked to that of Arab countries. The more Palestine takes center stage in Arab political discourse, the greater emphasis the issue receives in China's foreign policy agenda.
In the recent Arab Summit held in Jeddah, Arab governments agreed to prioritise Palestine as the central Arab cause. Allies, such as China, with great and growing economic interests in the region, immediately took notice.
All of this must not suggest that China will be severing its ties with Israel, but it certainly indicates that China remains committed to its principled stance on Palestine, as it has over the decades.
Soon, the relationship between China and Israel will face the litmus test of US pressures and ultimatums. Considering Washington's unparalleled importance to Israel, on the one hand, and the Arab-Muslim world's significance to China on the other, the future is easy to foresee.
Judging by China's political discourse on Palestine – situated within international and humanitarian laws – it seems that China has already made its choice.
Ramzy Baroud is a journalist, author and the Editor of The Palestine Chronicle.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of MalaysiaNow.


Najib's appeal hearing for bank documents in 1MDB case postponed as lawyer unwell

Former prime minister Najib Razak's appeal hearing today for bank documents involving US investment bank Goldman Sachs and former Bank Negara (BNM) governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz's family was postponed as his senior counsel was unwell. A three-member Court of Appeal panel comprising justices P Ravinthran, Abu Bakar Jais and Hashim Hamzah granted the adjournment requested by Effa Azuin Aidrul Hisham, who is one of the lawyers on Najib’s defence team. Ravinthran, who led the panel, also directed that case management be held tomorrow to fix an early appeal hearing date. The court also allowed Effa Azuin's application to exempt Najib from attending today's court proceedings which was conducted online on Zoom. Effa Azuin had informed the court that senior counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah was down with a fever.  She said Shafee had felt unwell this morning and had gone to a clinic where he obtained a medical certificate.   Deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib, who appeared for the prosecution together with Mohamad Mustafa P Kunyalam, did not object to the postponenment but left it to the court to decide on the request to dispense with Najib's attendance today. Najib is seeking to obtain bank documents for use in his trial on the misappropriation of RM2.3 billion in funds from 1MDB. He is appealing against the decision of the High Court on July 12 last year dismissing two of his discovery applications to compel the prosecution in his 1MDB trial to disclose banking documents linked to Zeti's family regarding claims that her family received money from fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low. Najib filed a court order on March 24 last year to compel the prosecution to provide several banking statements from companies, including Aktis Capital Singapore Pte Ltd, Country Group Securities Public Company Ltd, ACME Time Ltd (BVI), Butamba Investments Ltd, and Central Holdings Ltd, believed to be related to Jho Low and Zeti’s family in his 1MDB case. The Pekan MP also filed a second application on April 7 last year, seeking to obtain the confidential settlement agreement between the government and the Goldman Sachs Group in 2020, and the transcripts or forensic report of the phones of former Goldman Sachs Asia partner, Tim Leissner. Najib is on trial for four charges of using his position to obtain bribes totalling RM2.3 billion from 1MDB funds and 21 charges of money laundering involving the same amount. The trial is ongoing in the High Court before justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah. In today's proceedings, Sofea Shereen Mohamed Salim appeared as the watching brief counsel for Zeti and her husband.


Elections Act should be amended for Undi 18 to be carried out, says Dewan Negara president

The Elections Act 1958 (Act 19) should be amended first so that the move to lower the voting age to 18 can be implemented, says Dewan Negara president Rais Yatim.“When there is a proposal for people aged 18 to become an automatic voter, then the act should also be amended, but it is not amended (and) the rules under the Election Offences Act are also not amended.“Even though the constitution has been amended under Article 48, for example, it still cannot be carried out because the avenue is not provided. So even though the constitution has been amended, there is no infrastructure through election laws,” he said after an event in Banting yesterday.Rais also said the general election committee had left out something basic, namely the basis of rules and laws incidental to the constitutional amendments made.“The law is the main question, and that must be implemented first. If not, the will of the people cannot be implemented.“The law is not implemented at the infrastructure level, that is what I take seriously, therefore those who are 18 years old cannot be forced to automatically become voters,” he said.Rais said for him, the effectiveness, benefits and risks of Undi 18 were about politics, but that the law should be implemented first.


Flashbacks for flood victims as rising waters dampen election mood

At the relief centre in SK Sungai Binjai, Klang, Ira and Yati sit outside what has been their home for the past few days – bright orange tents that announce to one and all their status as flood victims.
They were evacuated from their homes, alongside a number of other families, after the flash flood that hit the area after hours of heavy, continuous rain.
While some have been able to return home, others are still waiting for the floodwater to recede.
For Ira and Yati, the deluge in Klang has brought back unpleasant memories of the massive floods that swept across the Klang Valley in December last year.
Speaking to MalaysiaNow, Ira said she had panicked the minute the rain started to fill the ditch near her house.

Mira and Yati recall the massive floods that hit last year and their fear that the same will happen again now.

"I bundled up a few things, put away some others, and came straight to the evacuation centre," she said.
"My husband was the only one who stayed back to lock the house. The rest of us came directly here."
About 10 relief centres have been opened in Selangor since Nov 10, when several areas in Klang and Kuala Selangor were inundated.
Ira said she had tried to remain calm and to refrain from thinking about the worst-case scenario.
But it was hard as she cannot afford to bear any more losses due to floods.
"We've already spent RM30,000 replacing furniture and repairing the damage causedby the floods last time around," she said.
"We haven't finished paying the cost of fixing our two cars which were submerged in water. I don't know who to talk to about this anymore."
Yati meanwhile said she had thought only of her family's safety, from the moment she was told that the water had begun to enter their house.
"As soon as I got back from work, I got together whatever clothes we had and my husband drove us straight here.
"We didn't waste any time because we remembered the floods that happened last year. Even four-wheel drives couldn't enter the area, and some families had to climb up on their roofs to be evacuated."
More than 400 flood victims are understood to have been placed at the SK Sungai Binjai centre, from 146 families.
No help from politicians
Ira said she was disappointed with the attitude of some who had continued campaigning for the general election without stopping to think of those affected by the flood.
Even as she was putting things away in her house, she said, people had been busy putting up flags and calling out the names of their parties without heeding the fears of the residents.
"They sat at the side of the road waving flags and said, 'Vote for us.'
"They didn't want to help us – we who were busy trying to get out. It was all just politics."
Yati meanwhile said she wanted nothing to do with election candidates who came to the evacuation centre only to campaign and not to help.
"Some of them came with red flags and made a few rounds, then asked us for our support," she said.
"What are we to do? We're afraid for ourselves and our homes. They're afraid of other things."


Govt to axe price ceiling control for chicken and eggs, subsidies for bottled cooking oil

The price ceiling control for chicken and chicken eggs and the subsidies for palm cooking oil in bottles of two, three and five kilogrammes will not be continued from July 1, Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Alexander Nanta Linggi said today.In a press conference after chairing an engagement session with stakeholders in the poultry industry in Putrajaya, Nanta said the move was to ensure that the supply of food in the market was more stable and that prices would be stabilised in the long run.“Chicken prices will be floated and will depend on market forces. The needy group will be assisted later with targeted financial aid,” he said, adding that details on the financial aid would be announced by the finance ministry.Currently, the government sets the maximum retail price of chicken and eggs in the peninsula at RM8.90 per kg for standard chicken and RM9.90 per kg for super whole chicken (slaughtered and cleaned without legs, head, liver and gizzards).Earlier, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said that effective July 1, Putrajaya would stop giving subsidies to poultry farmers. Following this, the farmers had reportedly voiced hope that the government would float the price of chicken.Nanta said that the subsidy for cooking oil in 1kg polybag packages offered to consumers at RM2.50 per packet would continue.On the abolition of the palm cooking oil subsidy in bottled packaging, he said the subsidies for the goods had reached RM20 million a month.“This was a temporary programme and should have been implemented for three months but it went on until today.“The government feels it is time to abolish it and focus more on helping the needy,” he said.The government had previously set a maximum retail price for palm cooking oil in bottle packaging effective Aug 1 last year, with the assurance that consumers would be able to buy cooking oil at below RM30 for a 5kg bottle.According to the domestic trade and consumer affairs ministry, the maximum retail price for palm cooking oil in 5kg bottles was RM29.70 per bottle. The price of 1kg bottles was RM6.70; 2kg, RM12.70; and 3kg, RM18.70.At the engagement session today, Nanta said the poultry industry players had assured that the price of chicken would not drastically increase.“The industry has given its commitment to assist the government in ensuring that consumers will be able to get supplies of necessities, especially chicken, at reasonable and stable prices,” he said.He added that his ministry would act in accordance with the rules against those who take advantage of the situation to excessively raise the price of goods.“The ministry will not hesitate to act against industry players if they violate the existing anti-profiteering regulations,” he said.When asked about the flour subsidy, he said it would continue for now.


World Cup worker death toll 'between 400 and 500'

A Qatari official said "between 400 and 500" migrant workers died during construction projects connected to the ongoing 2022 World Cup.
The estimate is markedly higher than previously reported numbers of fatalities connected to the more than US$200 billion spent on stadiums, subway lines and other infrastructure needs.
The numbers came from Hassan Al-Thawadi, the secretary general of Qatar's Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, during an interview with British journalist Piers Morgan.
"The estimate is around 400, between 400 and 500," Al-Thawadi told Morgan. "I don't have the exact number. That's something that's been discussed."
A Qatari Supreme Committee spokesman released a statement on Tuesday that "there were 3 work-related deaths and 37 non-work related deaths connected to the 8 stadiums, 17 non-competition venues and other related sites under the SC's scope.
"Separate quotes regarding figures refer to national statistics covering the period of 2014-2020 for all work-related fatalities (414) nationwide in Qatar, covering all sectors and nationalities."
The World Cup, the first one ever staged in the Middle East, opened on Nov 20 and runs through Dec 18.
"One death is a death too many – plain and simple," Al-Thawadi told Morgan.


‘Extra cautious’ banks point borrowers at govt aid as pandemic rages on

Banks are being more cautious about giving out new loans, with many even advising customers not to approach them for financial aid, a check by MalaysiaNow has revealed.Several players in the sector said banks have been encouraging prospective applicants to request for government aid instead, as they brace for a new wave of Covid-19 infections that forced the prime minister himself to warn the public to adhere to health SOPs.A record high of 691 new infections was recorded yesterday alone.As the six-month loan moratorium came to an end this month, banks are more concerned than ever, even as they extend the suspension of repayments for those who lost their jobs due to the pandemic.The loan moratorium period which ended on Sept 30 saw about 500,000 applications for repayment assistance made, 98% of which were approved according to Bank Negara Malaysia.The central bank said that loan repayments could be frozen for another three months for those who remained unemployed after losing their jobs this year, while those who had received pay cuts due to Covid-19 would be offered reduced loan instalments contingent on the type of financing.The Association of Banks in Malaysia (ABM), which brings together 26 commercial banks, said it would be better for loan applicants to make use of government assistance such as the National Economic Recovery Plan, or Penjana, Putrajaya’s multi-billion-ringgit rescue package to help businesses and households cushion the impact of the three-month lockdown this year.“There are various programmes that could help or benefit industries and borrowers affected by Covid-19,” ABM executive director Kalpana Sambasivamurthy told MalaysiaNow.“Borrowers from these industries are encouraged to explore the programmes available under Penjana.”The Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations (Fomca) meanwhile said it had received complaints from those who lost their jobs due to Covid-19 but have not been able to get further loan relief from banks.Fomca deputy president Mohd Yusof Abdul Rahman advised against an automatic extension, saying borrowers must furnish convincing proof of why they deserve a delay in repayments.“Banks should only help those who have really been affected by Covid-19,” Yusof told MalaysiaNow.He said banks should take a proactive approach to helping people on a case-by-case basis.“Then there will be no issue of borrowers complaining that they received no help from the banks,” he added.Yusof also said the extra caution by banks in handling loan applications is not surprising, given the uncertainty over borrowers’ ability to service their loans.Kalpana meanwhile said decisions on applications for individual loans would be determined according to the criteria set by each bank.“This includes the borrowers’ eligibility and their credit score,” he said, adding that applicants must submit all necessary documents when requesting for loans.


US planning sanctions on Russia, China, officials say

The US plans to impose new sanctions against Russia and China on Friday that include punishing Moscow for its use of Iranian drones in its war against Ukraine, two US officials said on Thursday.
The sanctions will also target about 170 Chinese entities for what Washington considers illegal fishing in the Pacific, the officials said, amid concerns that China is over-fishing and using its fishing fleet to expand Beijing's maritime influence.
The sanctions were first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Many of the sanctions are to be levied under the Global Magnitsky Act, the 2016 law that authorises the US government to sanction foreign government officials worldwide who are deemed to be human rights offenders, freeze their assets, and ban them from entering the US.
The US has condemned Iran's export of military drones to Russia for their use against Ukraine. John Kirby, spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, told reporters on Wednesday the US has seen the continued provision of Iranian drones to Russia.
The sanctions are expected to target a number of Russian defence industry entities involved in the transfer of Iranian drones to Russia, the officials said.


Govt allocations, contributions not bribes, says J-KOM chief

Every allocation or contribution announced by the government at the state level is for the benefit of the people and not a bribe, said Department of Community Communications (J-KOM) director-general Mohammad Agus Yusoff.
He said what was announced by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim was based on the budget the government had approved.
"Announcing allocations in places where the prime minister goes to, be it in opposition-ruled states or states led by the government, if they are meant to elevate the people's living standards, improve state development and meet the people's need, is it considered a bribe?
"A bribe is when you give something and expect a return through votes. When you give money for people to vote for a certain party, that is a bribe," he told reporters after officiating the Terengganu-level Madani icons roadshow at Universiti Malaysia Terengganu at Kuala Nerus yesterday.
He said in Kelantan, for example, the prime minister recently announced various initiatives to solve the problems faced by the people, primarily related to flood mitigation and clean water supply. Agus said he hoped that the people, especially the youngsters, would not go overboard when it comes to politics.
"We at J-KOM will intensify our activities, and I also will go out to explain the government's policies and the concept of Malaysia Madani," he said.
Several development allocations and contributions announced by Anwar during the Madani open house tour series had been criticised by netizens, who saw the Tambun MP's act as straying from his principles before assuming the highest position of the country’s leadership.


Boss fined RM10,000 for letting too many workers on bus

Police have issued a RM10,000 compound to an employer for letting his workers board his company bus in excess of 50% of the capacity permitted under the SOPs of the movement control order.Dang Wangi district police chief ACP Mohamad Zainal Abdullah said the compound was issued when police stopped the bus and found that it was ferrying 34 Bangladeshi construction site workers at Jalan Tun HS Lee at about 7.30am today.He said public transportation vehicles are only allowed to carry 50% of their passenger capacity in accordance with the SOPs.“The bus had a capacity of 44 passengers but the employer allowed 34 of them to board the bus. That’s 77% (which exceeds) the total capacity allowed.“As such, we compounded the employer RM10,000 while the bus driver, a local 40-year-old, was issued a RM2,000 compound,” Zainal told reporters at the Tun HS Lee police station today.Meanwhile, he said the compliance rate in the Dang Wangi district was satisfactory at 99%, with only 102 compounds issued for various SOP violations since June 1.


Ousted in Sabah, Shafie and Anwar head for open war

The silent animosity between Anwar Ibrahim and Shafie Apdal, whose parties went to the Sabah election as allies, now threatens to become an all-out war following tonight’s results which saw the victory of Perikatan Nasional (PN)-backed Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS).This likelihood will not only allow more cracks in Pakatan Harapan (PH), but also push it further away from Putrajaya despite Anwar announcing just this week that the coalition was on the threshold of returning to federal power under his leadership.PH was the main platform under which PKR and Warisan worked together in the last general election, despite the differences between their leaders.Anwar Ibrahim travelled to Sabah to convince Shafie Apdal to allow PKR to contest more seats.Insiders close to Shafie, who called for the state election to thwart a possible coup from Sabah Umno, however said the former chief minister would now have no qualms about blaming Anwar for his fall from power, a little over two years after Warisan swept to power in the 2018 polls.Chief among the complaints is linked to Anwar’s press conference in Kuala Lumpur this week, where the PKR president declared he had secured a “formidable majority” to form the federal government.“That announcement took the thunder away from the Sabah campaign, with key PKR leaders who were campaigning in Sabah returning in droves to Kuala Lumpur in anticipation of forming the government,” a senior PKR leader told MalaysiaNow.On Wednesday, Anwar, accompanied by his wife and PKR leaders, convened a press conference at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur, declaring that Muhyiddin’s government had “collapsed” after claiming to have secured the loyalty of MPs including from Umno.MalaysiaNow can now confirm that following the announcement, several top PH leaders including from DAP who were campaigning in Sabah were asked to return to Kuala Lumpur to help form the government under Anwar.“But among those who decided to stay back in Sabah was Lim Guan Eng, although many others returned,” the same PKR source said.The absence of these leaders from the Sabah campaign affected Warisan Plus, the alliance which brings together Warisan, PKR, DAP, Amanah and the United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation (Upko).Rift between ‘future PMs’The rivalry between Anwar and Shafie is well-known in political circles.Shafie, a seasoned Sabah leader whose Cabinet positions during Najib Razak’s time gained him a foothold in federal politics, was Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s choice of prime ministerial candidate when it was assumed that PH had the numbers to return to power.“So what we are seeing now is two persons, both thought to be the future ninth prime minister of Malaysia, in an open war,” quipped an Umno leader in Kuala Lumpur when contacted by MalaysiaNow.Bung Moktar Radin, now a favourite for the Sabah chief minister’s post, flanked by Umno heavyweights Najib Razak and Ismail Sabri Yaakob announces GRS’ victory tonight.Senior politicians close to leaders in Umno and PKR described to MalaysiaNow the animosity between Shafie and Anwar as “irreconcilable”.“In many private conversations, Shafie would make it clear that Anwar is not qualified to become the prime minister and that he would not allow it to happen,” said one former prominent PKR member.“And with this election result effectively taking away Shafie’s hard-fought prize which he won in 2018, he will now find it useless to keep secret his dislike for the PKR leader.”But the bad blood between them is already an open secret, and was manifested again when Anwar himself travelled to Sabah to get Shafie to agree to PKR contesting 14 seats. Shafie flatly rejected the request, and PKR was only allowed to contest seven seats as part of Warisan Plus.For now, the Sabah election has further strengthened Muhyiddin’s position, even going by Lim Kit Siang’s argument.The DAP strongman earlier said the Sabah polls were to decide not only the state’s next chief minister, but also the future prime minister.Kit Siang said Muhyiddin had been shaken by Anwar’s press conference claiming the PN government’s impending fall.“Muhyiddin has turned the Sabah state general election into a national one, especially after Anwar Ibrahim’s media conference that the illegitimate Muhyiddin government has fallen as he (Anwar) had the numbers to become prime minister,” Kit Siang said this morning.For now, Anwar’s announcement that he has enough Dewan Rakyat seats to capture power will have to take a back seat.


Govt seeks US$3 million in UN climate adaptation funds amid deadly floods

Malaysia is seeking US$3 million from the UN Green Climate Fund (GCF) to develop a national plan to adapt to climate change, the environment ministry said last week, amid deadly floods that have displaced nearly 70,000 people this month.The funds requested are paltry relative to the amount the country has pledged to spend on flood mitigation efforts, though experts say the plan’s implementation would likely cost much more.Since Dec 18, torrential rain has caused severe flooding that killed at least 48 people in eight states, prompting calls for the government to improve its preparedness to extreme weather events.In response to questions sent to the environment and water ministry on Dec 20 on Malaysia’s approach to climate adaptation, secretary-general Zaini Ujang replied that the ministry will request the GCF funds to help develop a National Adaptation Plan by the end of next year.The plan will focus on areas such as water, agricultural, and food security, public health, forestry, and infrastructure, Zaini said in a written response.“The ministry also has long-term plans to request for climate funds that can assist in implementing programs addressing the impact of climate change,” he said.Zaini did not give specific details on the adaptation plan, or how much the government would need to implement it.The GCF funds are the first time the government has sought any money for climate adaptation, which are policies that a country puts in place to deal with climate change effects.The funds pale in comparison to the RM9.8 billion (US$2.33 billion) for flood mitigation projects such as building water barriers, catchment areas, and deepening rivers that Zaini said Malaysia has set aside already.“Adaptation will take much more funds compared to mitigation because we need to overhaul our urban planning, all these costly infrastructure projects,” said Ili Nadiah Dzulfakar, a co-founder of climate activist group Klima Action Malaysia.A draft adaptation plan should examine the interaction of flooding or droughts on food security and crop yields and the need for energy efficient healthcare services with strong communication systems, she said.In 2018, then-environment minister Yeo Bee Yin proposed a so-called Climate Change Act along with an adaptation strategy but a formal plan was never submitted to Parliament and progress faltered amid political turmoil in 2020.Malaysia typically has flooding on its eastern coasts that are exposed to the northeast monsoon between October and March.But authorities were caught off-guard by unusually heavy rainfall and flooding this month in highly-populated urban areas in its western and central regions, which some experts say were worsened by poor drainage and overdevelopment.


YouTube says 1 million ‘dangerous’ videos on Covid-19 removed

YouTube said Wednesday it has removed more than one million videos with “dangerous coronavirus misinformation” since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.The statement by the Google-owned video platform comes as social media platforms are under fire from political leaders for failing to stem the spread of false and harmful misinformation and disinformation about the virus and other topics.YouTube said in a blog post it relies on “expert consensus from health organisations”, including the US Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization, but noted that, in some cases, “misinformation is less clear-cut” as new facts emerge.“Our policies centre on the removal of any videos that can directly lead to egregious real world harm,” chief product officer Neal Mohan wrote.“Since February of 2020, we’ve removed over one million videos related to dangerous coronavirus information, like false cures or claims of a hoax,” he said.“In the midst of a global pandemic, everyone should be armed with absolutely the best information available to keep themselves and their families safe.”YouTube said it was working to accelerate the process for removing videos with misinformation while simultaneously delivering those from authoritative sources.Mohan said the platform currently removes close to 10 million videos per quarter and that the majority of them have been watched less than 10 times.“Speedy removals will always be important but we know they’re not nearly enough… The most important thing we can do is increase the good and decrease the bad,” he said.“When people now search for news or information, they get results optimised for quality, not for how sensational the content might be.”YouTube also said it removed “thousands” of videos for violating election misinformation policies since the US vote in November, with three-fourths removed before hitting 100 views.


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PAS takes on Umno in BN stronghold of Serkam

At Pantai Siring in Serkam, Melaka, the situation is quiet and calm.A handful of locals and visitors splash about in the water with their families while others sit at stalls along the beach, enjoying a drink and taking in the ocean view.Further out to sea, though, the fishermen of Serkam are struggling with several problems.At the Serkam jetty, they are asking that the estuary which is too shallow be made deeper. The rough roofs put up as shelter at the docks have also been damaged by wild monkeys.Meanwhile, complaints have been made over the intrusion of large vessels into their fishing zone.These are among the issues awaiting the candidate who succeeds in attracting the most votes in Serkam come election day on Nov 20.Serkam has traditionally been seen as an Umno-Barisan Nasional (BN) stronghold.It was held by Zaidi Attan, who will defend his seat in a four-way fight with Muhammad Khomeini Kamal (Pakatan Harapan), Ahmad Bilal Rahudin (Perikatan Nasional) and Norazlanshah Hazali (independent)Zaidi, a BN candidate, has held the seat since 2013 but the winds of change may be coming this week.A fisherman who identified himself as Rahim Abdullah said representatives need to meet with the people and hear their troubles for themselves.“But Zaidi, he doesn’t. He only comes to eat and he doesn’t ask about our problems,” he said when met by MalaysiaNow.He said many have complained about the services of the BN assemblyman, saying he rarely goes down to the field and only instructs officers as his representatives.Zaidi obtained 6,401 votes in the 2018 general election, defeating PKR’s Nor Khairi and Ahmad Bilal from PAS.Bilal, a local who is also Melaka PN Youth chief, is contesting the seat for the second time.He acknowledges that he is less popular than Zaidi but said this was not the only trick up his sleeve.If he is voted in, he said, he will concentrate on solving the problem of flash floods and the shallow estuary.“After GE14, I still went to the ground to see the people, especially during the pandemic,” he told MalaysiaNow.“We gave out a lot of assistance and donations. In terms of welfare, I have been working with the people for a long time.”Bilal, who is contesting under PN, expects the Malay vote to swing towards the coalition.PAS deputy president Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah is more cautious. He said the party acknowledges that it will be difficult to win all eight seats which it is contesting, and that PAS might end up winning fewer than six seats.Bilal however said he would do his best.“We are still working,” he said. “We have a chance in Serkam.”Rahim and his fellow fishermen meanwhile have been waiting many years for change.At the very least, if there is a change in leadership, they hope their troubles will be addressed.


MCA, DAP top dogs to debate live?

DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng has agreed to a Nov 2 debate with Transport Minister Wee Ka Siong about the country’s cabotage policy, nearly three weeks after the MCA president issued the challenge during Parliament proceedings on Sept 30.In a brief statement to MalaysiaNow, the Bagan MP said he had accepted the challenge.Kulai MP Tio Nie Ching meanwhile said Lim wanted the debate to be aired live on television as well as on digital platforms.“TV3 told me that they are ready to host the debate between LGE and WKS at 9pm on Nov 2, but it will only be aired on digital platforms and not on TV,” she said in a Facebook post.She said Astro Awani meanwhile had agreed to broadcast the debate on both its television channel as well as its digital platforms.A war of words had earlier taken place between Lim and Wee over the organisation of the debate.On Sept 30, they had argued during the oral question-and-answer session about the government’s cabotage policy. Lim said the policy had caused the country to suffer losses in relation to an underwater cable installation project.Wee meanwhile said the government’s cabotage policy was not the only factor in Malaysia’s non-involvement in the Apricot project.He said other factors including the offer and conditions set by technology companies were also taken into account.The leaders of DAP and MCA had met in a debate before, in February 2012 in Kuala Lumpur.The two leaders had met in a debate before, in February 2012 in Kuala Lumpur.MCA was represented by its president Chua Soi Lek while Lim represented DAP.The debate, which was held in Mandarin, had revolved around the political future of the Chinese community in Malaysia.They debated a second time in July of that year.This time, Wee said the debate should be held in the national language.MalaysiaNow is attempting to contact Wee to confirm his agreement to the debate on Astro Awani’s channels.


From search and rescue to salvage effort for Indonesian submarine

The hunt for a missing Indonesian submarine with 53 crew turned into a salvage effort Sunday after recovered debris suggested it broke apart as it sank off the coast of Bali.Warships, planes and hundreds of military personnel had led a frantic search for the KRI Nanggala 402 since it disappeared this week during training exercises, hoping for a miracle rescue before its known oxygen reserves ran out.But the navy acknowledged Saturday that pieces of the submarine, including items from inside the vessel, had been retrieved.They declared that it had sunk, effectively ending any chance of finding survivors.Among the items recovered was a piece of the torpedo system and a bottle of grease used to lubricate periscopes.They also found a prayer mat commonly used in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation.The relatives of First Lieutenant Muhammad Imam Adi, a 29-year-old father of a young son, clung to hope.“My wish now is that my son and all the crew can be found,” Adi’s father Edy Sujianto said from his home on Java island.“My son had wanted to become a soldier since he was a child. That was his dream.”President Joko Widodo described the missing sailors as Indonesia’s “best patriots”.“All Indonesians convey their deep sadness over this incident, especially to the families of the submarine crew,” he said.‘Folding accordion’Authorities have not given an official explanation for the accident, but said that the submarine may have suffered a blackout and left its crew unable to resurface.Navy chief Yudo Margono discounted an explosion, however, saying Saturday that the evidence suggested the submarine came apart as it was crushed by water pressure at depths of more than 800m, well below what the German-built Nanggala was built to withstand.“Submarine hulls are pressurised… but when they’re breached then water would come flooding inside,” said Wisnu Wardhana, a maritime expert at Indonesia’s Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology.“Can you imagine if water with that kind of pressure hits people?”Retired French vice-admiral Jean-Louis Vichot earlier told AFP that a submarine’s steel shell could break “like a folding accordion” when it hits depths way beyond its limits.On Sunday, the search team focused on pinpointing the sub’s exact location.Authorities have warned that any salvage operation would be risky and difficult in the deep waters.Singapore’s MV Swift Rescue – a submarine rescue vessel – has arrived to aid in the recovery effort, the navy said Sunday.Neighbouring Malaysia, as well as the US, India and Australia, were among the nations helping in the search.Search vessels, reconnaissance aircraft and submarine rescue ships have been deployed to scour a zone of about 34 sq km.Lost contactThe submarine – one of five in Indonesia’s fleet – disappeared early Wednesday while it was scheduled to do live torpedo training exercises off Bali.The crew asked for permission to dive. It lost contact shortly after.Later, search teams spotted an oil spill where the vessel was thought to have submerged, pointing to possible fuel-tank damage, and a catastrophic accident.So far, authorities have not commented on questions about whether the decades-old vessel was overloaded, but they have said that the submarine – delivered to Indonesia in 1981 – was seaworthy.The model has been used by more than a dozen navies around the world.But investigators would look at the Indonesian submarine’s age as a potential factor, analysts have said.The disaster was among a string of fatal submarine accidents over the past few decades.Among the worst was the 2000 sinking of the Kursk, the pride of Russia’s Northern Fleet.That submarine was on manoeuvres in the Barents Sea when it sank with the loss of all 118 aboard. An inquiry found a torpedo had exploded, detonating all the others.Most of its crew died instantly but some survived for several days before suffocating.


Teachers can be called back during school break, Dewan told

Teachers can be instructed to attend work during school term holidays, but not exceeding half of the school term holidays in a school year, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.
Deputy Education Minister Lim Hui Ying said this was based on the ministry's Letter Number 11 of 2017 which also states that the order to attend duty covers the task of supervising examinations, taking courses and preparation for meetings at the beginning of the school year.
"Although this is not a routine task that needs to be done every day, it is also part of a teacher's job," she said to a supplementary question from Vivian Wong Shir Yee (PH-Sandakan) on whether teachers could be called back to duty during school holidays.
Lim also said that so far, no special allowance would be given to teachers who carry out tasks outside the classroom, including those who attend school management meetings on weekends.
However, she said that if teachers are ordered to work outside the school, they are eligible for travel claims.
"This is at the moment, but we will take note of the issues raised and we will look into them," she said to another question from Nurul Amin Hamid (PN-Padang Terap) on whether the government would introduce special incentives or allowances for DG41 grade teachers who carry out assignments away from class.


Anwar in 4-way fight for Tambun

PKR president Anwar Ibrahim will face a four-cornered fight for the Tambun parliamentary seat in the 15th feneral election.
Anwar, who is Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) prime minister candidate, will face Tambun Umno division chief Aminuddin Md Hanafiah, who is contesting as Barisan Nasional's (BN) candidate; Abdul Rahim Tahir of Pejuang; and incumbent Ahmad Faizal Azumu of Perikatan Nasional (PN).
Anwar arrived at the nomination centre in Dewan Sri Kledang, Ipoh Industrial Training Institute in Meru, at 8.58am while Aminuddin and Faizal arrived at 8.50am and 9am respectively.
At 10.35am, Tambun returning officer Mohamad Fariz Mohamad Hanip announced the candidates for the Tambun parliamentary seat.
The nomination process was incident-free, with the police providing tight security.
In GE14, Faizal, who contested on a PH ticket, won 38,661 votes, beating two other candidates from BN and PAS to win with a majority of 5,320 votes.
Speaking to reporters, Anwar said he was ready to offer the reform agenda for the well-being of the people of Tambun.
"We're here to offer an alternative for economic programmes and policies, and I think that gives us an added advantage," he said.
Faizal meanwhile said his campaign would focus on drawing the support of young voters in the constituency.
Rahim said he, too, would try to win the favour of these young voters and spread awareness about the importance of carrying out their responsibilities as voters.
Meanwhile, the two state seats under the constituency, namely Manjoi and Ulu Kinta, will see a three-cornered fight involving PH, PN and BN, and a four-cornered fight among PH, PN, BN and an independent candidate.


Neo-feudalism, money politics covering up real sentiments of Umno grassroots, says Chandra

Speeches in support of the narrative by Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi at the party’s recent general assembly that it has been ill-treated by others in the ruling coalition came as no surprise, says prominent political scientist Chandra Muzaffar.Chandra said this was because Umno had been afflicted with a neo-feudal psychology since the time of the first prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman, which was displayed again at the recent general assembly.“When the president makes a proposal to the grassroots, they will go along,” Chandra told MalaysiaNow.“Furthermore, the narrative brought by the top leaders is something that appeals to very deep Umno Malays’ sentiments.”But he said such a situation is not unique to Umno, adding that Singapore’s PAP is another party in which members ultimately toe their leaders’ line.Chandra was commenting on the speeches at the recent Umno general assembly, which saw delegates and grassroots leaders by and large agreeing with Zahid’s proposal to cut ties with Bersatu and to make Umno dominant again.Zahid as well as party deputy president Mohamad Hasan told delegates that Umno must be returned as the dominant partner, as was the case when it ruled for over six decades.Chandra said the official outcome of the general assembly, where the motion to cut ties with Bersatu was passed, was expected.He said Umno has a history of vote-buying, where cash is exchanged for support for division heads.“To put it gently, it is about Umno going back to money politics,” he added.But he said Zahid’s claim that the Umno grassroots were overwhelmingly in favour of their party cutting ties with a ruling party such as Bersatu was hard to believe.“I don’t think a lot of them want to break with a government party. They know what the perks and benefits are, having been in power for so long.”He said delegates who toed the line could have done so “for some other reason”.He said those who follow Zahid’s line that Umno could make a comeback after its huge loss in the 2018 general election could have miscalculated.“They may think they have the support of divisions but let’s not forget, Umno lost a number of Malay majority constituencies in the last election.“And that was before all the revelations about corruption being played out in the courts,” Chandra added.“How could one ever think that Umno will perform the dominant role again?”Veteran Umno leader Shahrir Samad previously told MalaysiaNow that steps were taken to ensure that no speaker behind the Umno general assembly rostrum levelled criticism against party leaders.He said a move to allow all state chiefs to speak at the assembly was abandoned at the eleventh hour, on the back of fears that many are unhappy with Zahid.Ketereh Umno chief Annuar Musa meanwhile said the list of speakers and the contents of their speeches had been vetted by the Supreme Council.Zahid and former prime minister Najib Razak together face more than 80 charges of corruption, money laundering and criminal breach of trust.The duo have been at the forefront of criticism against Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin, and have been pushing for Umno to find other allies including PKR.Last October, the two leaders sent a letter to the palace expressing support for PKR chief Anwar Ibrahim’s bid to topple Muhyiddin.