Chelsea sale gets green light from UK govt

The British government announced Wednesday it had approved Todd Boehly’s £4.25 billion (US$5.3 billion) purchase of Chelsea football club from the sanctioned Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich.Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Nadine Dorries said she had issued a licence permitting the deal, hours after it won approval from the Premier League on Tuesday evening.“We are satisfied the proceeds of the sale will not benefit Roman Abramovich or other sanctioned individuals,” Dorries tweeted.“Given the sanctions we placed on those linked to (Vladimir) Putin and the bloody invasion of Ukraine, the long-term future of the club can only be secured under a new owner,” she said.A consortium led by Boehly, a co-owner of baseball’s Los Angeles Dodgers, had agreed a record deal to buy the club from Abramovich earlier this month.The Russian put Chelsea on the market in early March, just before he was sanctioned by Britain following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.Completion of the takeover has been a lengthy process due to government concerns over the potential for Abramovich to profit from the sale.Earlier this month, the deal seemed close to collapse over concerns proceeds would not reach good causes as promised by the outgoing owner.The Russian, who bought Chelsea in 2003, denied he had asked for his £1.5 billion loan to the club be repaid when the sale was concluded.The total value of the deal smashes the previous record for the sale of a sports team – US$2.4 billion for the New York Mets baseball franchise in 2020.Special licenseChelsea have been forced to operate under a special license since Abramovich was sanctioned.The billionaire, also the target of European Union sanctions, was described by the British government as part of President Putin’s inner circle.The asset freeze imposed on Chelsea meant they could not conduct any transfer business with either existing players or external targets.The Blues will be now be able to return to business as usual – and there will be no time to lose in reconfiguring the playing squad.Thomas Tuchel’s side, who won the Champions League last season, finished third in the Premier League – 19 points behind champions Manchester City – and were beaten by Liverpool in the finals of the FA Cup and League Cup.The German manager is set to lose key defenders Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen on free transfers to Real Madrid and Barcelona.Tuchel, in an interview on Chelsea’s website conducted before the sale was confirmed, said the club had been operating at a “huge disadvantage” and would need to be nimble in the transfer market.Reports on Wednesday said the former Paris Saint-Germain boss would be handed a £200 million transfer kitty.Chelsea have been transformed since Abramovich bought them in 2003 for just £140 million at a time when Manchester United and Arsenal were the dominant forces in the Premier League.They evolved from a club on the brink of a financial crisis into one of the richest in the Premier League thanks to the deep pockets of the Russian, who routinely bankrolled blockbuster transfers.He was rewarded with a staggering 19 major trophies in his 19-year reign – including five Premier League titles and two Champions League triumphs.Abramovich’s arrival at Stamford Bridge also set a trend for a wave of foreign investment in the Premier League.Chelsea’s 42,000-capacity Stamford Bridge home is in need of major redevelopment to match the stadium size and income streams enjoyed by their rivals.But Boehly has a track record of delivering both stadium improvement and sporting success with the Dodgers.Thanks to heavy investment in players, the Dodgers have made the MLB (Major League Baseball) playoffs every season for the past nine years and won their first World Series for 32 years in 2020.


Clowns balk at association with figures embroiled in corruption and crime

While clowns are used to being the butt of jokes, bracketed by profession with foolery, laughter and comic relief, they are drawing the line at other associations unique to Malaysia which arose around the same time as the 1MDB scandal.Mohd Fadly Abu Hasan, who established his own business called Awang the Clown 12 years ago, said it was an insult to the trade to link it to individuals who have been convicted of corruption, or any crime for that matter.He said it was painful to see individuals superimposing clowns on the portraits of individuals, including politicians, facing criminal charges in court.Speaking to MalaysiaNow, he said the act turned clowns into a negative symbol and caused them to be scorned by society.“If people want to relate clowns with something funny or nonsensical, I can accept it,” he said, “but don’t equate us with individuals who are embroiled in corruption or crime.”In Malaysia, clowns are often associated with politicians and leaders whose pictures are posted as a sign of criticism on social media.They are also identified with leaders or individuals holding important positions who air views considered ridiculous.Mohd Fadly Abu Hasan, who runs the Awang the Clown business, says being a clown is a noble career as it brings joy to others.The practice of relating clowns with such people took off in earnest after graphic artist Fahmi Reza drew former prime minister Najib Razak as a clown and uploaded his work on social media.The picture spread far and wide following the 1MDB revelations by The Wall Street Journal.Najib himself was convicted in 2020 of criminal breach of trust, money laundering and abuse of power related to RM42 million in SRC International funds found in his accounts. He was fined RM210 million and sentenced to 12 years in jail, although he is currently appealing his conviction, fine and sentence at the Federal Court.The association of clowns with other individuals also took off, even for leaders from Pakatan Harapan after the coalition took over Putrajaya in the 14th general election in 2018.Fadly said only those who were not acquainted with the clowning profession would draw such links.He also described it as a noble career, saying it was ethical and aimed at brightening people’s lives.“Don’t compare us with individuals who are embroiled in issues of corruption or crime because we make a clean living,” he said.“Our success depends on our creativity, which needs a certain skillset.”Nevertheless, Fadly, who is a member of the Association of Clowns Malaysia, said not many in the line had ever openly expressed their feelings about the matter.He said associating clowns with “problematic figures” only rubbed salt into the wounds of entertainers who were already looked down on by many.“People think of us as stupid and nonsensical, and even unethical,” he said.“Until today, I am still working to change society’s views and the negative portrayal of clowns in the public eye.”


Peace and goodwill in Kelantan as churches celebrate Christmas

Christmas cheer is in plentiful supply in Muslim-majority Kelantan with churches welcoming people from every race and religion to learn more about the Christian faith.While Kelantan has been under PAS rule for the past 30 years, Francis Andrew, the priest at a Catholic church in Kota Bharu, said ties between Christians and Muslims in the state dubbed “the verandah of Mecca” are in fact very good.“This might come as a surprise to some people,” he told MalaysiaNow.“There are also those who think that Christians in states like this, under PAS rule, do not live in peace. But none of that is true. We all live in harmony here.”Describing Kelantan as an ideal state, he said his own ties with Muslim leaders were very good.He said he is often invited to attend events organised by Islamic leaders while his own church is open to all, including Muslims, who wish to learn more about Christianity.Our Lady of Fatima in Kota Bharu is one of the oldest churches in Kelantan.Built in 1950, Andrew’s church, Our Lady of Fatima in Kota Bharu, is one of the oldest in Kelantan.There are 11 other churches in the area but Our Lady of Fatima is the only Catholic church.“We have never been disturbed by anyone,” Andrew said.“We have held processions in the streets before and received very good cooperation from the state police.”Lim Khet Keang, who pastors the Presbyterian church in Kota Bharu, said Christmas celebrations in the city are still merry in their own way as the church frequently organises activities for the local community.Of course, things are not the same as they were before the onset of Covid-19. Now, the church must keep in mind the SOPs and enforce a limit on the number of people attending its gatherings.“We used to have parties for the children, presentations, singing and dancing,” Lim said.“This would be followed by a big meal which everyone would enjoy together. We used to invite nearly 400 people.”Carolling was also a staple activity, with church members going from house to house among the Christian community in Kota Bharu.“It was a lot of fun,” Lim recalled.On Christmas morning, meanwhile, they would attend church for worship service.“But because of Covid-19, we have had to cancel all of our programmes, last year as well as this year,” he said.“We are only holding a Christmas service in church on Dec 25.”The church expects to welcome about 80 congregants at its on-site service, with the rest attending through Zoom.Lim, who has pastored the church in Kota Bharu for nearly 30 years now, said the Christians there had never been disturbed since the community was formed in 1938.“No one has ever troubled us even though we are the minority here,” he said.“Our church is located just 500m from a mosque, and this has never been an issue.”


Daily cases drop to 14,600 as 56 more deaths logged

Another 14,692 Covid-19 cases were recorded yesterday, taking total confirmed infections in the country to 4,234,087.There were 20,383 recoveries, taking total recoveries to 3,997,786.There are now 201,232 active cases, of which 196,491 or 97.6% are undergoing home quarantine.Meanwhile, 555 (0.3%) are at quarantine centres while 3,925 (2.0%) have been hospitalised.A total of 261 are in ICU with 153 in need of respiratory assistance. ICU utilisation throughout the country stands at 56.8%, with Covid ICU utilisation at 29.7%.Another 56 deaths were reported, including 11 who were brought in dead. Total deaths now stand at 35,069.


Close contact workers may come to work under Putrajaya’s new safe workplace plan

Those who have come into close contact with Covid-19 and who require quarantine may now come to work under a new plan by Putrajaya to ensure minimal disruption to industries throughout the pandemic.International Trade and Industry Minister Mohamed Azmin Ali today said this is part of his ministry’s [email protected] initiative which was announced by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin yesterday.Under the [email protected] initiative, close contact workers will be allowed to work under a new protocol called the Safe Work Bubble.He said the move would empower industries to self-manage health issues linked to the pandemic, adding that it is impossible for authorities to keep track of all of them.He listed several aspects needed for the [email protected] initiative to be effective.They include companies forming their own emergency response teams, constant sanitation of premises, and ensuring conducive accomodation for workers.“This initiative will prevent disruption of company operations and reduce the impact on productivity when a Covid-19 case is detected on business premises,” he said, adding that the programme was devised following consultation with industry groups and business chambers, as well as the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers.Companies may sign up for the [email protected] programme from next month through the ministry’s Covid-19 Intelligent Management System.The government has offered incentives such as additional tax breaks for the manufacturing and service sectors on expenditure for workers’ hostels of up to RM50,000.The tax incentives will also cover the purchase of equipment needed to monitor SOPs at the workplace such as CCTVs and tracking devices.Employers may seek more details on the initiative by emailing Miti at [email protected]


US, Saudi Arabia call for extended ceasefire in Sudan

Saudi Arabia and the US called on Sunday for the extension of a ceasefire deal that has brought some let-up in a six-week war between military factions but little humanitarian relief for civilians.
There were clashes overnight in the capital Khartoum and Omdurman, an adjoining city across the Nile, residents said, while human rights monitors reported deadly fighting in El Fashir, one of the principal cities in the western region of Darfur.
The conflict between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that erupted on April 15 has left the capital reeling from heavy battles, lawlessness and a collapse in services, driving more than 1.3 million people from their homes and threatening to destabilise the region.
A week-long ceasefire brokered in Saudi and US-led talks in Jeddah is due to run until Monday evening. Both countries are remotely monitoring the truce, which has been repeatedly violated, and called on the army and the RSF "to continue discussions to reach agreement on extending the ceasefire".
"While imperfect, an extension nonetheless will facilitate the delivery of urgently needed humanitarian assistance to the Sudanese people," Saudi Arabia and the US said in a joint statement.
The RSF has said it is ready to discuss the possibility of renewal and that it would continue to monitor the truce "to test the seriousness and commitment of the other party to proceed with the renewal of the agreement or not".
There was no statement on the possible renewal of the ceasefire from the army.
More than 300,000 people have crossed Sudan's borders since the fighting erupted, with the largest numbers heading north to Egypt from Khartoum or west to Chad from Darfur.
In Khartoum, factories, offices, homes and banks have been looted or destroyed. Power, water and telecommunications are often cut, there are acute shortages of medicines and medical equipment, and food supplies have been running low.
"We left because of the impact of the war. I have children and I fear for them because of the lack of medical treatment," said one resident of the capital, 29-year-old Samia Suleiman, speaking to Reuters from the road to Egypt.
"I also want my children to have a chance of schooling. I don't think things in Khartoum will be restored soon."
Some respite from fighting
The truce deal has brought some respite from heavy fighting but sporadic clashes and air strikes have carried on.
The United Nations and aid groups say that despite the truce they have struggled to get bureaucratic approvals and security guarantees to transport aid and staff to Khartoum and other places of need. Warehouses have been looted.
Violence has flared in several parts of Darfur, already scarred by conflict and displacement, with hundreds of deaths recorded in El Geneina near the border with Chad.
In recent days there has also been fighting in El Fashir, capital of North Darfur State.
One El Fashir hospital had recorded three deaths and 26 injuries on Saturday, including children, according to the Darfur Bar Association, an activist group. Many more people were missing, it said.
Across the country, the Health Ministry has said at least 730 people have died in the fighting, though the true figure is likely much higher. It has separately recorded up to 510 deaths in El Geneina.


Putrajaya adds over 4,000 permanent spots for govt doctors, pharmacists

Over 4,100 additional permanent positions were created for medical workers this year, with at least 1,500 more to come every year from 2023 to 2025, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said today.Speaking at a press conference, he said the 4,186 additional positions created this year comprised spots for 3,586 medical officers, 300 dental officers and 300 pharmacists.The annual positions meanwhile include permanent spots for 800 medical specialists and 70 dental specialists.“The appointments will be made on a trade-off basis, to fill the vacancies left by the officers who have ended their compulsory service,” Khairy said.He added that the appointments to permanent positions would be evaluted by the Public Service Department.He said at least 8,886 permanent appointments for contract medical personnel would be made from 2022 to 2025.Khairy’s announcement today is seen as fulfilling a pledge by Putrajaya last year to find a solution to problems highlighted by contract doctors.A month before his resignation as prime minister, Muhyiddin Yassin had announced a two-year extension of contract for medical officers, dentists and pharmacists, calling it a short-term measure while a more comprehensive, long-term solution was being drafted.He said the Cabinet had also agreed to extend by up to four years the services of contract doctors who have been accepted for specialisation in their fields.The contract system was introduced for medical, dental and pharmacy graduates in the tabling of the 2017 Budget at the Dewan Rakyat by former prime minister Najib Razak, who cited constraints on permanent positions.In July last year, a group of doctors staged the Hartal Doktor Kontrak, with a short protest outside Sungai Buloh Hospital, the country’s main treatment centre for Covid-19 victims.Speaking today, Khairy said the health ministry would also set up a technical committee for medical graduates to optimise skill competency.“The government has approved our plan to set up a technical committee for medical bachelors and dental bachelors to optimise capacity programme offerings and control the quality of medical graduates,” he said.


Russia destroys bridge over Ukrainian river, cutting escape route

Russian forces have blown up a bridge linking the embattled Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk to another city across the river, cutting off a possible evacuation route for civilians, local officials said on Sunday.Sievierodonetsk has become the epicenter of the battle for control over Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region. Parts of the city have been pulverised in some of the bloodiest fighting since the Kremlin unleashed its invasion on Feb 24.“The key tactical goal of the occupiers has not changed: they are pressing in Sievierodonetsk, severe fighting is ongoing there – literally for every meter,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly video address, adding that Russia’s military was trying to deploy reserve forces to the Donbas.Zelensky said the image of a 12-year-old injured in a Russian strike was now the enduring worldwide face of Russia. “These very facts will underscore the way in which Russia is seen by the world,” he said.“Not Peter the Great, not Lev Tolstoy, but children injured and killed in Russian attacks,” he said, in an apparent reference to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s remarks last week comparing Moscow’s military campaign to Russian emperor Peter the Great’s 18th century conquest of lands held by Sweden.Ukrainian and Russian forces were still fighting street-by-street in Sievierodonetsk on Sunday, the governor of Luhansk province, Serhiy Gaidai, said.Russian forces have taken most of the city but Ukrainian troops remain in control of an industrial area and the Azot chemical plant where hundreds of civilians are sheltering. “About 500 civilians remain on the territory of the Azot plant in Sievierodonetsk, 40 of them are children. Sometimes the military manages to evacuate someone,” Gaidai said.But the Russians had destroyed a bridge over the Siverskyi Donets River linking Sievierodonetsk with its twin city of Lysychansk, Gaidai said.That left just one of three bridges still standing.“If after new shelling the bridge collapses, the city will truly be cut off. There will be no way of leaving Sievierodonetsk in a vehicle,” Gaidai said, noting the lack of a cease-fire agreement and no agreed evacuation corridors.In Lysychansk, Russian shelling killed a six-year-old, Gaidai said.Reuters could not independently confirm that account.Strategic implicationsAfter being forced to scale back its initial goals following its Feb 24 invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has turned its attention to expanding control in the Donbas, where pro-Russian separatists have held territory since 2014.The fall of Sievierodonetsk, in the last pocket of Ukrainian land held in the strategic Luhansk region, would move Russia a big step closer to one of the stated goals of what Putin calls a “special military operation.”Elsewhere, Russian cruise missiles destroyed a large depot containing US and European weapons in western Ukraine’s Ternopil region, Russia’s Interfax agency reported.Ternopil’s governor said rockets fired from the Black Sea at the city of Chortkiv had partly destroyed a military facility and injured 22 people. A local official said there were no weapons stored there.Reuters could not independently confirm the differing accounts.Moscow has criticised the US and other nations for sending Ukraine weapons, threatening to strike new targets if the West supplied long-range missiles.Ukrainian leaders recently have renewed pleas for more heavy weapons. On Sunday, the Ukrainian general staff said on Facebook that General Valeriy Zaluzhny, the head of Ukraine’s armed forces, had spoken to General Mark Milley, the top US military officer, and reiterated his request for more heavy artillery systems.Russian forces were firing mortars and artillery south and southwest of Sievierodonetsk, according to Ukraine’s general staff. But it said Ukrainian forces had repulsed Russian attempts to advance towards some communities.Reuters could not independently verify the battlefield reports.Putin says Russia’s actions aim to disarm and “denazify” Ukraine. Kyiv and its allies call it an unprovoked war of aggression to capture territory.Also on Sunday, the leader of the Russian-backed separatist Donetsk region in the Donbas said there was no reason to pardon two British nationals sentenced to death last week after being captured while fighting for Ukraine.A court in Donetsk on Thursday found Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner – and Moroccan Brahim Saadoun – guilty of “mercenary activities” seeking to overthrow the republic.Britain says Aslin and Pinner were regular soldiers exempt under the Geneva Conventions from prosecution for participation in hostilities. Aslin’s family said he and Pinner “are not, and never were, mercenaries.”Separately, the family of a former British soldier, Jordan Gatley, said on social media he was killed fighting for Ukraine in Sievierodonetsk.


Bar allowed as ‘friend of the court’ in tax appeal by Najib and son

The Federal Court has granted the application by the Malaysian Bar to be an “amicus curiae” or friend of the court in the appeal proceedings filed by Najib Razak and his son Mohd Nazifuddin regarding the payment of income tax amounting to RM1.69 billion and RM37.6 million respectively to the Inland Revenue Board (LHDN).Lawyer Wee Yeong Kang representing Najib and Nazifuddin, when contacted, said the Malaysian Bar’s application was granted on Oct 21.Based on the letter dated Oct 13 sent to the Federal Court, the Malaysian Bar applied for the court to allow eight of its lawyers to be admitted as “amicus curiae” to hear the appeal.The Bar in the letter, among others, stated that the case involved an important constitutional issue on whether Section 106 (3) of the Income Tax Act 1967 contradicts or contravenes Article 121 of the Federal Constitution, and asked the court to accept its lawyers as “amicus curiae” to present arguments and views to assist the court in reaching an appropriate decision.Wee said during the online case management today, deputy registrar Rasidah Roslee set Feb 16, 2022, for the hearing of the appeal proceedings.Najib and Nazifuddin filed a notice of motion to the Federal Court seeking leave to appeal against the decision of the Court of Appeal dismissing their appeal to set aside the High Court’s decision on the payment of the tax.On Sept 9, the Court of Appeal upheld the High Court’s decision allowing LHDN’s application for a direct judgment to claim tax arrears of RM1.69 billion from Najib and RM37.6 million from Nazifuddin.A direct judgment is when the court decides a particular case through an argument without hearing the testimony of witnesses at the trial.


48.4% of adults given booster shot

A total of 203,943 adults received a Covid-19 vaccine booster dose yesterday, bringing the cumulative number of booster shots administered in the country to 11,327,531 or 48.4%.According to the CovidNow portal, a total of 22,920,175 or 97.9% of adults are fully vaccinated, while 23,197,884 or 99.1% have received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine.In terms of teenagers, a total of 2,784,682 or 88.5% have completed their vaccination while 2,865,987 or 91.1% have received at least one dose of vaccine.A total of 208,042 vaccine doses were administered yesterday including 1,677 as first shots and 2,422 as second jabs, bringing the cumulative number of vaccine shots dispensed under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme to 62,892,195.Meanwhile, according to the health ministry’s Github portal, 12 Covid-19 deaths were recorded yesterday with Sabah and Selangor recording three cases each, Johor two cases and one case each in Melaka, Pahang, Perak and Penang.


Rosmah’s trial postponed after lawyer tests positive for Covid-19

Rosmah Mansor’s hearing for her money laundering and tax evasion charges scheduled today at the High Court has been postponed to March 2 after one of her lawyers tested positive for Covid-19.Lawyer Geethan Ram Vincent, when contacted, said the defence team had sent an email to deputy registrar Catherine Nicholas to inform the court of the matter.He said after the defence team left the court yesterday, one of the lawyers received a pathology report confirming that he had tested positive for Covid-19.“Hence, we applied for today’s proceedings to be postponed as everyone who was in court yesterday was categorised as close contacts of the lawyer,” he said.Deputy public prosecutor Poh Yih Tinn confirmed the matter and said the new date for the hearing was March 2.Today had been fixed for the defence’s objection against senior deputy public prosecutor Gopal Sri Ram’s attempt to argue for himself in Rosmah’s application to disqualify him as the lead prosecutor in the trial.


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3 more Maqis officers remanded over meat cartel issue

Three assistant enforcement officers of the Malaysian Department of Quarantine and Inspection Services (Maqis) in Johor have been remanded for five days for alleged corrupt activities in connection with the meat cartel issue.The remand order, from today until Jan 23, was issued by Johor Bahru Court registrar Nur Fathiah Mohd Fedzir following an application by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).The three officers, aged between 40 and 55, were arrested at the state MACC headquarters at 7pm yesterday when they were called to give their statements.It is understood that they are attached to the Maqis office at Tanjung Pelepas Port, Gelang Patah in Iskandar Puteri; the Customs, Immigration and Quarantine Complex at Sultan Iskandar Building, Johor Bahru; and the Muar office.This is the second arrest involving Maqis officers in Johor in connection with the meat cartel case.On Jan 7, two officers aged 27 and 31 were arrested.Last December, Maqis unearthed the activities of the cartel which brought in meat without a halal certificate before placing fake halal logos on the meat, for sale in the local market.


Ex-Perlis MB's false claim, money laundering cases set for joint hearing in KL Sessions Court

The case of former Perlis menteri besar Azlan Man's false claims in the Kangar Sessions Court, will be heard in the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court, together with another five charges of money laundering.
Judge Azura Alwi made the decision after allowing deputy public prosecutor, Zander Lim Wai Keong, to transfer all five false claims charges to the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court, under Section 165 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
"The prosecution has submitted documents related to the case to the defence. We are also asking the court to set a trial date, as the defence will make representations to the Attorney-General's Chambers (for a review of the charges)," he said.
Lawyer Burhanudeen Abdul Wahid, representing Azlan, confirmed receiving documents from the prosecution and said that the defence team needs time to look into them and seek further instructions on representation.
Earlier, Azlan, 64, maintained his not guilty plea to all five false claim charges, brought under Section 18 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009, which were read again before Azura, who then fixed Sept 8 for mention.
On April 10, Azlan claimed trial at Kangar Sessions Court on five counts of submitting false overseas travel claims, amounting to more than RM1.18 million, between 2013 and 2017.
According to the charge sheet, Azlan, in his capacity as the then Perlis menteri besar, allegedly used several documents containing false particulars to make claims for an overseas holiday in London when there was no such trip.
The documents included invoices and quotations for return air tickets and hotel accommodation, issued by Sri Kedawang Travel & Tours (W) Sdn Bhd and Aidil Travel & Tours Sdn Bhd, and Perlis state government order form AM 75E, which were allegedly used for making claims for air tickets, hotel accommodation and transport.
All the offences were allegedly committed at the Perlis State Secretary's Office, Kompleks Dewan Undangan Negeri, Persiaran Wawasan, between December 2013 and December 2017.
On April 12, Azlan pleaded not guilty in the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court to five charges of receiving proceeds from unlawful activities, amounting to RM1.06 million.
The former Bintong assemblyman was charged with committing the offence at the Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman Maybank branch in Kuala Lumpur, CIMB Bank branch in Putrajaya and Sheraton Imperial Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, between Feb 19, 2014, and December 2017.
All the charges are framed under Section 4(1)(b) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 which is punishable under Section 4(1) of the same law.


Green group pans Selangor’s go-ahead to degazette forest reserve

Green group Sahabat Alam Malaysia has hit out at the Selangor government’s decision to continue with its proposal to degazette the Kuala Langat North Forest Reserve (KLNFR) to make way for commercial development, warning that the move goes against the country’s international commitments and will have a heavy impact on the environment.In a statement, the group’s president Meenakshi Raman said the KLNFR was one of the last remaining peat forests in the south of the state.“The Selangor state’s unbending stance has to be condemned, and flies against the principles of good environmental and social governance,” she said.She said the decision to degazette the reserve contradicts various international commitments Malaysia had made on climate change, biodiversity protection and the rights of indigenous peoples.“As a peatland forest alone, KLNFR is a valuable carbon and biodiversity-rich ecosystem. Its conversion will lead to a high level of carbon emissions and biodiversity loss, including critically endangered plant and animal species,” she said, adding that several indigenous communities which depend on the forest for their survival would likely be affected as well.Meenakshi said the decision also goes against Malaysia’s plans for its own development as the KLNFR qualifies as a Rank 1 Environmentally Sensitive Area under the National Physical Plan 3, which prohibits its conversion or development.She also cited the Selangor Structure Plan 2035 which aims to ensure that at least 32% of the state remains under forest cover.“The Kuala Langat Local Plan 2030 itself has categorised the KLNFR as a no-development zone,” she added.She also referred to the move by the Selangor state assembly last November to unanimously pass a motion urging the state government to preserve all remaining gazetted forests in the state.Likewise, she said, the public had also expressed objections to the proposal, with more than 45,000 objections received by the forestry department, according to her.She cited an online petition which she said had gained some 130,000 signatures and a social media campaign called #hutanpergimana which last October tracked almost 1,500 people who had written in protest to state assemblymen.Selangor executive councillor Hee Loy Sian had said in the assembly today that some 536.7 hectares of the KLNFR would be developed – 54% of the 931.17 hectares initially proposed.Hee, who is in charge of the state’s tourism, environment, green technology and Orang Asli affairs, said the Selangor government had taken into consideration the objections raised in its decision under Section 12 of the National Forestry Act 1984.But Meenakshi said the objections had not asked for a reduction in size of degazetted area.“They demanded that the degazetting exercise to be cancelled altogether.”


No confidence vote, no cooperation, says DAP

DAP’s Lim Kit Siang today insisted that a confidence vote in Ismail Sabri Yaakob be held when Dewan Rakyat convenes next week, saying failure to do so would mean that a much anticipated cooperation across the political divide could not take place.Lim also said a confidence vote was the “correct constitutional position” despite a revelation yesterday that the Agong had told Ismail such a vote was no longer required.The Iskandar Puteri MP said the appointment of a prime minister by the king and a motion of confidence in Parliament are “separate and distinct issues”, citing former judge Hamid Sultan Abu Backer who said that the Yang di-Pertuan Agong could exercise his constitutional powers to appoint the prime minister under Article 40(2)(a) while Article 43(3) which says that the prime minister must tender his resignation if he does not have majority support is a matter for Parliament to determine.Lim further claimed that the only reason the government did not want to allow a confidence vote was a fear of losing support.“Ismail feared he would not be able to secure the support of 114 MPs in the vote of confidence in Parliament although they had expressed support for Ismail as prime minister in their statutory declarations and confirmed their support for Ismail as the new prime minister in their subsequent interviews with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on Aug 20,” he added.Yesterday, law minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar revealed that it was the Agong who had said a confidence vote in Parliament was no longer needed.He said the matter was discussed during Ismail’s audience with Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah.The revelation came two days after Pakatan Harapan (PH) accused Attorney-General Idrus Harun of committing “treason” for saying a confidence vote was no longer needed following the confirmation of Ismail as the victor through a rigorous process based on sworn statements by 220 MPs.PH had referred to a palace statement on Aug 18 which recommended a confidence vote to reaffirm the support for the person appointed by the Agong to form the government.However, the palace did not repeat the request when it declared Ismail the victor on Aug 20, following a meeting of the Malay rulers hosted by the king.Lim today indicated that the absence of a confidence vote would mean that cooperation between the opposition and the government had “suffered a grievous blow and is now up in the air”.“There is no doubt that the possibility of an unprecedented political breakthrough in reaching a confidence-supply-reform accord between the government and opposition so that all Malaysians can single-mindedly focus on winning the losing war against the Covid-19 pandemic has suffered a grievous blow, and it is to be seen whether such an agreement can be salvaged before Parliament reconvenes next Monday,” he said, referring to the opening of the Dewan Rakyat on Sept 13.


Economist plays down concerns over closing Kedah's gambling centres

An economist has played down the odds of a significant drop in income for the Kedah government following the decision to close down gambling premises throughout the state.
Speaking to MalaysiaNow, Ahmed Razman Abdul Latiff said the move would have only a minimal impact on Kedah's economy, given that the population of non-Muslims residing in the state is estimated to be fewer than 300,000.
Of these, perhaps no more than 50,000 frequent gaming premises, he added.
"Proceeds from assessment tax and business permits can be replaced by other businesses," Razman, the director of Putra Business School's MBA programme, said.
"So there will be no impact on the state government's revenue, and investors do not see the gambling industry as important in Kedah, where the majority of the population is Muslim."
Kedah Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor had said that gambling premises throughout the state would be closed effective January 2023, after a decision not to renew their operating licences.
Kedah joins Kelantan and Terengganu which have taken similar steps, while Perlis has yet to decide whether to do the same.
While the move was hailed by the Muslim community, others, including DAP, urged the state government to reconsider the decision.
Kedah DAP secretary Teh Swee Leong said closing down gambling premises might give rise to other social problems due to an increase in illegal gaming.
Sanusi however maintained his position, saying he would close down gambling and lottery operations in the state even if these brought in hundreds of millions in revenue.


UK faces record hit to living standards as tax hikes loom

Britain faces a record hit to living standards this year as surging inflation erodes incomes, the country's budget forecasters warned, after finance minister Jeremy Hunt announced more pain, with tax rises now and spending cuts further ahead.
In a bid to restore Britain's fiscal reputation after the chaos caused by former prime minister Liz Truss's plans for sweeping tax cuts, Hunt outlined a budget programme on Thursday to save £55 billion (RM297.8 billion) a year to fix the public finances.
Almost half the belt-tightening is due to come from tax increases, prompting some protests from within Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's ruling Conservative Party, which faces a national election within two years.
Already struggling to adjust to life outside the European Union, Britain's economy was suffering from high inflation and a slowing global economy even before Truss sent financial markets into convulsions. It is the only Group of Seven economy yet to recover its pre-Covid size and income growth was near-stagnant for a decade ahead of the pandemic.
The Office for Budget Responsibility said household disposable incomes would fall by 4.3% in the current financial year and by 2.8% in 2023/24, the sharpest declines in records dating back to the 1950s.
That two-year slump would wipe out all the growth in living standards over the eight years to 2022, the OBR said.
Millions of Britons are already grappling with a cost of living crisis. Inflation was 11.1% in October, a 41-year high.
But Hunt said painful fiscal medicine was needed for Britain to maintain the recent return of calm to financial markets, even if most of the belt-tightening is delayed until past 2024, when the next national election is expected.
The OBR said the tax burden was on course to reach 37.1% of GDP in five years' time, its highest sustained level since World War Two, up from 33.1% in the 2019-20 tax year.
"Credibility cannot be taken for granted and yesterday's inflation figures show we must continue a relentless fight to bring it down, including an important commitment to rebuild the public finances," Hunt told parliament.
Hunt said the economy was already in recession and set to shrink next year as it struggles with inflation forecast to average 9.1% this year and 7.4% in 2023 before falling sharply.
Sterling was down 1.1% against the dollar and 0.5% against the euro at 4.40pm (1640 GMT), as investors assessed the scale of retrenchment, which looked more severe than anything planned by other big rich economies.
"The UK remains somewhat of a difficult place to judge right now," Marcus Brookes, chief investment officer at Quilter Investors, said. "We are not necessarily at the end of the train of bad news and with a prolonged recession priced in we may need to wait for a more sustained downward path of inflation."
'Further step'
Ratings agency Moody's, which last month warned it could downgrade Britain's credit rating after Truss's short but tumultuous spell as prime minister, said Hunt's plan was a "further step" towards fixing the public finances.
"However, the polarised domestic political environment and heightened policy unpredictability may undermine efforts to deliver on fiscal consolidation," Moody's senior credit officer Evan Wohlmann said.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, a leading minister under Truss, said he was "particularly concerned" about the tax rises. Other Conservative Party lawmakers supported the plan.
More people will have to pay basic and higher-rate income tax, and Hunt lowered to £125,000 (US$147,000) the threshold at which people pay the top 45% rate. He also cut tax-free allowances for income from dividends.
A threshold at which employers start to pay social security contributions will be frozen until 2028, costing companies more.
A temporary levy on oil and gas companies' profits will rise to 35% from 25% until 2028, and a similar 45% tax will be imposed on nuclear and wind power electricity producers, raising a combined £15 billion next year.
Public spending would grow more slowly than the economy but rise in overall terms, Hunt said.
A scaled-back version of an existing cap on energy costs would cost nearly £13 billion next year, less than half of what was planned by Truss's finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng.
But pensions and welfare benefits would go up in line with inflation, a major expense for the public finances.
Paul Johnson of the Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank said the real pain of the tax hikes and spending restraint was only due to come after the likely 2024 election, raising questions about whether it will actually happen.
Recession now
The fiscal tightening came as the OBR said Britain was already in a recession and it expected the economy to contract by 1.4% next year. In March, it expected growth of 1.8% in 2023.
The OBR forecasts GDP growth of 1.3% in 2024 and 2.6% in 2025.
The opposition Labour Party said the Conservatives had failed to learn the lessons of past attempts to fix the public finances without a clear plan for economic growth.
"This government has forced our economy into a doom-loop where low growth leads to higher taxes, lower investment and squeezed wages with the running down of public services," Labour's finance spokesman Rachel Reeves said.
Hunt set the government two new fiscal rules including a target of bringing down debt as a share of the economy within five years, a target the OBR said was on track to be met.


Malaysia to start phased travel corridor with Indonesia

Malaysia and Indonesia have agreed to implement a travel corridor between the two countries through the travel corridor arrangement or vaccinated travel lane arrangement, as both countries are recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic.Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the relevant ministers will refine the initiative so that the border between the two countries involving the Kuala Lumpur-Jakarta-Kuala Lumpur and Kuala Lumpur-Bali-Kuala Lumpur routes can be opened.“A joint statement will be made to announce the opening of the border between Malaysia and Indonesia,” he said at a joint press conference with President Joko Widodo at Istana Bogor in conjunction with his inaugural three-day official visit which began on Tuesday.On Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia, he assured that their welfare and protection will continue to be preserved.Ismail said the Workers’ Minimum Standards of Housing and Amenities Act 1990 (Act 446) amended last year guarantees comfortable accommodation for employees, not only for Malaysians but also for foreigners.He also gave his assurance that the MoU on Recruitment and Protection of Indonesian Domestic Workers in Malaysia between the human resources ministry and the Ministry of Manpower of Indonesia will be finalised as soon as possible.He said Indonesian workers can take advantage of the Malaysian government’s extension of the recalibration programme until the end of this year by either returning home voluntarily or working legally.Cooperation between Malaysia and Indonesia in the field of culture will also be enhanced through the joint listing on Unesco of several other collectively inherited cultural heritage items, the prime minister said.In relation to the delimitation of the maritime border between the two countries, Ismail gave his assurance that Malaysia remains committed to reaching a solution to finalise the issue.“There are four related issues; two issues have been resolved and can be signed,” he said.Meanwhile, Ismail and Jokowi agreed that the Myanmar issue needs to be addressed well as the impact of the problem in the country has had an effect on Malaysia in terms of the arrival of Rohingya refugees who now number more than 200,000.


Mass rallies and strikes in France over Macron's pension reform

More than a million people marched in France and strikes disrupted transport and schools on Tuesday during mass protests against President Emmanuel Macron's plans to push back the retirement age to 64.
Police used tear gas in Paris and minor clashes also took place in the western city of Nantes, but the more than 260 union-organised rallies across the country were mostly peaceful.
Labour leaders had pledged to bring France "to a standstill" on the biggest day of action in a series of stoppages this year – a goal that proved beyond their reach judged by the busy roads of major cities.
Only one in five regional and high-speed trains ran, however, and the Paris metro system operated with a skeletal schedule. Rubbish began piling up in the capital after garbage collectors walked off the job.
"The government has to take (resistance) into account when there are so many people in the street, when they're having so much trouble explaining and passing their reform," CFDT union chief Laurent Berger said as she stood at the head of the Paris rally.
Unions plan more action
The interior ministry said 1.28 million people marched across the country, making it one of the biggest protests in decades and slightly bigger than a previous round of demonstrations on Jan 31.
The CGT union put the figure at 3.5 million.
It appears unlikely that Tuesday's protests will influence Macron, 45, who has championed pension reform since coming to power in 2017 in order to tackle deficits forecast for the coming decades.
Analysts see the centrist as determined to press ahead, with parliament set to vote on the draft legislation as early as next week.
On Tuesday evening the unions called for an urgent meeting with Macron.
But they also announced to more days of action, including protests on Saturday.
U-turn?
Speeches on Tuesday by political opponents and union leaders sought to convince voters that only massive popular resistance and protests could force the government into a U-turn, a regular feature of French democracy.
"On the one hand there's (Macron's) will, on the other the will of the people," hard-left presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon told a demonstration in the Mediterranean port city of Marseille.
"Who should have the last word? Of course it should be the people," he added, calling for fresh elections or a referendum on the changes.
Although around two in three people are against the reform, around the same number believe it will be enacted, according to a poll by the Elabe survey group published on Monday.
Most people support the strikers, polls also show.
Ali Toure, a 28-year-old construction worker, was waiting for a delayed train north of Paris on Tuesday morning, but said it was "no big deal" if he arrived late to work for a month.
"They're right to be striking. Manual labour is hard," he said.
A blockade of oil refineries, underway since Tuesday morning, has the potential to cause severe disruption if it continues in the weeks ahead.
Around a third of teachers were absent on Tuesday, a quarter of civil servants, and half of workers at the state-owned EDF energy utility, according to ministry and company figures.
'Work longer'
The government argues that raising the retirement age from 62 to 64, abolishing privileges enjoyed by employees in some sectors, and stiffening the requirements for a full pension are required to balance the pension system.
France lags most of its European neighbours, which have hiked the retirement age to 65 or above.
Its spending on pensions is the third highest among industrialised countries, at the equivalent of 14.5% of GDP, according to data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
"If we want to keep this system going, we need to work longer," Macron said last month.
But unions contest that conclusion and say small increases in contributions could keep it solvent.
They also argue that the proposed measures are unfair and would disproportionately affect low-skilled workers who start their careers early, as well as women.
The bill is now being debated in the upper house senate, with a vote by both houses of parliament expected by the middle of the month or by March 26 at the latest.
Union leaders are set to meet Tuesday evening to decide on their next moves.


‘King of Absentees’ accused of not turning up for work at hospital for 15 years

Dubbed the “king of absentees” by the Italian press, a public-sector worker at the Arnaldo Pugliese Ciaccio Hospital has been accused of permanently skipping work on full pay for 15 years.The unidentified man, 67, is alleged to have stopped turning up to work at the Ciaccio hospital in the southern city of Catanzaro in 2005.He is now being investigated for fraud, extortion and abuse of office, Italian news agency Ansa reports.He was reportedly paid €538,000 (RM2,666,000) in total over the years he is now thought to have been comfortably at home.Six managers at the hospital are also being investigated in connection with his work record.The arrests are the result of a lengthy police investigation into absenteeism and suspected fraud in the Italian public sector, where it is not entirely unknown.The employee was a civil servant and was assigned to a job in the hospital in 2005. It was at this point he stopped going into work, the police said.The police have also accused him of threatening his manager to stop her from filing a disciplinary report against him. That manager later retired, police added, and his ongoing absence was never noticed by her successor or human resources.The inquiry, known as “Operation Part Time”, is part of yet another Carabinieri investigation into alleged fraud and absenteeism in the public sector, something the Italian police have been accused of themselves.While the hospital staffer may own the one-man no-show record, a small town outside of Naples may have taken the team record.In 2016, the mayor of Boscotrecase had to shut down most municipal services when almost half of his staff members were suspended for chronic absenteeism, including one who for years hid his identity by putting a cardboard box over his head while clocking in for his “work” mates.


PKR veep Xavier quits party

PKR vice-president Xavier Jayakumar today became the latest MP to quit the party, saying he would now support Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.In a statement today, the long-time PKR member said he had “grown extremely frustrated” following the events of the past year including persistent talk of holding a general election.“Our current priority should be to support the government in containing the Covid-19 pandemic, to create jobs and to secure funds to rebuild the economy.“It will take at least 18 months just to complete the vaccination programme and more than two years for the economy to fully recover,” the Kuala Langat MP said.MalaysiaNow has separately learnt that Xavier had written to Dewan Rakyat Speaker Azhar Harun informing him that he had become an independent MP friendly to the Perikatan Nasional government, effective yesterday.This leaves PKR with 35 MPs, following the resignation of its Tebrau and Julau MPs last month, as well as the exodus of several others after the political crisis of 2020 that saw the change of government.“I will continue to serve my constituency and support the government as an independent member of Parliament, and I am confident that I will fulfil my election promises to the people of Kuala Langat,” Xavier said today.Xavier, seen as a staunch loyalist of Anwar Ibrahim and among the pioneer PKR leaders at the party’s formation in the late 90s, said the current efforts to fight the Covid-19 pandemic need bipartisan support.“The people want stability and to restart our ailing economic sectors. Towards this, we need to work together, not against one another,” he said.


MACC questions Tiong, 2 Chinese nationals in probe on KLIA immigration incident

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) says it has questioned the minister involved in the recent case of a traveller from China who did not meet the immigration conditions for entry into the country.
In a statement, it said the minister was one of three witnesses who had been questioned so far, alongside two Chinese nationals.
A number of immigration officers who were involved will also be called for questioning today.
A source said MACC had also identified an individual believed to have been the middleman in "resolving" the case, with efforts ongoing to track the agent said to have asked for a bribe of RM18,000.
"MACC takes a serious view of the corruption said to have taken place in the recent issue involving a Chinese national at KLIA," the agency said.
Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Tiong King Sing became embroiled in controversy after intervening in the case of a Chinese woman who was detained at the airport for failing to fulfil visa requirements.
He accused immigration officers at KLIA of corruption and abuse of power, saying he was informed that immigration officers allegedly asked for money if detained foreign tourists wanted to be released.
"Some were asked up to RM3,000 to be released from custody, including a return ticket to their home country.
"An additional RM3,000 was required if they wanted to return to their home country through a 'special lane' and an expedited process, while RM12,000 was needed for visa processing costs," he said.
When contacted, MACC chief commissioner Azam Baki said the case was being investigated under Section 16 (a) of the MACC Act 2009.


Senior MACC man charged with nearly RM30 million CBT

A senior Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) official was charged in the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court today with criminal breach of trust amounting to US$6.94 million.Shahrum Nizam Baharuddin, 41, claimed trial after the charge was read out to him before judge Suzana Hussin.Shahrum was charged under Section 409 of the Penal Code as a public office holder, namely a Grade 44 MACC official entrusted with the control of nearly RM30 million.He allegedly committed the offence at the MACC headquarters in Putrajaya between Dec 17, 2018 and April 9, 2019.If convicted, he faces jail of between two and 20 years, whipping and the possibility of a fine.Deputy public prosecutor Wan Shaharuddin Wan Ladin earlier objected to the giving of bail to Shahrum, saying the offence was serious as it involved a large amount of money while the case had received wide media coverage.Wan Shaharuddin, who handled the case with Faridz Gohim Abdullah and Mahadi Abdul Jumaat requested that bail be set at RM10 million with three sureties.He also said that Shahrum would be slapped with 101 money laundering charges in the near future.Lawyer K Ponnusamy who represented Shahrum meanwhile asked for a lower bail, saying his client was still employed as a civil servant and posed no flight risk. He added that Shahrum had fully cooperated with the authorities throughout the investigation.He also said that his client was married with two children, and had health problems including a slipped disc and nose cancer.The court ruled that no bail would be allowed and set Feb 18 for the next case mention.MACC previously confirmed the arrest of three of its officers to assist in investigations into allegations of abuse of power and malpractice in the case of former Malaysian External Intelligence Organisation director-general Hasanah Abdul Hamid.On April 12, 2021, the High Court in Kuala Lumpur acquitted Hasanah of criminal breach of trust amounting to US$12.1 million (RM50.4 million).


Airports see 53% surge in international traffic after border reopening

International traffic at Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd’s (Malaysia Airports) local network of airports has increased by 53% following the move to reopen borders on April 1.The group, which manages and operates 39 airports in the country, said it had recorded an average of 23,000 international passenger movements daily, with traffic peaking at above 30,000 during the long Aidilfitri break.“On the whole, the airports recorded a total of 642,128 international passenger movements, of which Kota Kinabalu International Airport, Penang International Airport, and Langkawi International Airport showed the most significant increase, by more than 200% respectively compared to the preceding month,” Malaysia Airports said in a statement today.It added that a total of 2.78 million passengers were recorded for Malaysia in April, with domestic passenger movements totalling 2.13 million or 77%.For both Malaysian and Turkish (Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen International Airport) operations, the group recorded a total of 4.90 million passenger movements, a drop of 7.9% compared to March.“The decrease in passenger movements was due to April being the month of Ramadan that witnessed less demand for travel both locally and globally,” it said.“Of the total passenger traffic movements of 4.89 million, local airports in Malaysia contributed 57% while Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen International Airport in Turkey registered a total of 2.13 million passengers, comprising 1.05 million international passengers and 1.08 million domestic passengers.”According to Malaysia Airports, five airlines resumed 17 international routes last month, that is Vietjet Air, Scoot, AirAsia, Thai AirAsia, and AirAsia X.“We are also pleased that our Tioman STOLport resumed operations this month to serve SKS Airways’ Subang Airport–TOD flight route. SKS Airways is currently the only carrier with a scheduled service flying this route four times weekly.“We will continue to work closely with our partner airlines to speed up the pace of recovery for both domestic and international sectors,” said managing director Iskandar Mizal Mahmood.Vietjet operates the Ho Chi Minh City–Kuala Lumpur (KUL) route with a four-time weekly service and is the fourth carrier to operate this route. Scoot meanwhile has resumed its daily flight service for the Kota Kinabalu–Singapore route.The AirAsia group of carriers, including AirAsia Bhd, Thai AirAsia and AirAsia X, resumed the following routes: from Kota Kinabalu to Singapore, KUL to Hanoi, Langkawi to Singapore, Ipoh to Singapore, Hatyai to KUL, Don Mueng to Penang, KUL to Incheon, KUL to New Delhi, KUL to Ho Chi Minh City, KUL to Bengaluru, KUL to Kolkata, KUL to Kochi, KUL to Chennai, KUL to Tiruchirappall, and KUL to Siem Reap.


Indonesia says located black box recorders from crashed plane

Authorities have pinpointed the location of two black boxes from a crashed Indonesian jet, they said Sunday, referring to cockpit voice and flight data recorders that could help explain why the aircraft went down with 62 people aboard.The announcement came as divers pulled body parts, wreckage and clothing from waters off Indonesia’s capital Jakarta.“We have located the position of the black boxes, both of them,” said Soerjanto Tjahjanto, head of Indonesia’s transport safety agency.“Divers will start looking for them now and hopefully it won’t be long before we get them.”The Sriwijaya Air Boeing 737-500 went into a steep dive about four minutes after it left Soekarno-Hatta international airport in Jakarta on Saturday afternoon.Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo expressed his “deep condolences”, and called on citizens to “pray together so that victims can be found”.But the frantic search involving helicopters and a flotilla of warships appeared to offer no hope of finding any survivors.The search and rescue agency said it had so far collected five body bags with human remains as well as debris from the crash site in the Java Sea.A piece of child’s clothing, a broken tyre and wheel, life jackets and wreckage from the plane’s body were found, according to authorities and AFP reporters on the scene.Among the passengers was Beben Sofian, 59, and her husband Dan Razanah, 58.“They took a selfie and sent it to their kids before taking off,” the couple’s nephew Hendra told AFP.All 62 people on board, passengers and crew, were Indonesian, authorities said. The count included 10 children.Data from FlightRadar24 indicated that the airliner reached an altitude of nearly 11,000 feet (3,350m) before dropping suddenly to 250 feet. It then lost contact with air traffic control.The transport minister said Saturday that the jet appeared to deviate from its intended course just before it disappeared from radar.Poor weather, pilot error or a technical problem with the plane were potential factors, said Jakarta-based aviation analyst Gerry Soejatman.“But it’s way too early to conclude anything,” he added.“After the black box is found we can start putting the puzzle together.”Sriwijaya Air, which operates flights to destinations in Indonesia and Southeast Asia, has said only that it was investigating the loss of contact.It did not immediately comment when contacted by AFP again on Sunday.Reputation for poor safetyIn October 2018, 189 people were killed when a Lion Air Boeing 737 MAX jet crashed near Jakarta.That crash – and another in Ethiopia – saw Boeing hit with US$2.5 billion in fines over claims it defrauded regulators overseeing the 737 MAX model, which was grounded worldwide following the two deadly crashes.The 26-year-old 737 that went down Saturday was not a MAX variant.“Our thoughts are with the crew, passengers, and their families,” Boeing said in a statement, adding that it was in contact with the airline.Indonesia’s aviation sector has long had a reputation for poor safety, and its airlines were once banned from entering US and European airspace.In 2014, an AirAsia plane headed from Surabaya to Singapore crashed with the loss of 162 lives.Domestic investigators’ final report on that crash said major factors included a chronically faulty component in a rudder control system, poor maintenance, and the pilots’ inadequate response.A year later, in 2015, more than 140 people, including scores on the ground, were killed when a military plane crashed shortly after take-off in Medan on Sumatra island.


MIC questions Umno break-up with Bersatu, vows support for PM in GE15

MIC today criticised Umno’s move to cut ties with Bersatu in the impending general election, questioning as well requests for Barisan Nasional (BN) component parties to let go of their electoral seats to ensure victory at the polls.Speaking at MIC’s 74th general assembly in Klang today, its president S Vigneswaran also questioned Umno’s decision to leave the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government, confirmed at the Malay party’s assembly last week.Earlier this week, MIC vice-president Sivarraajh Chandran had hit out at a request by a Puteri Umno leader that the party allow Umno to contest the Sungai Siput parliamentary constituency, a seat traditionally allocatef to MIC.He also asked Umno to name its candidate for prime minister before seeking to negotiate seats for the next general election with its partners in the coalition.In his speech today, Vigneswaran questioned if MIC should support Umno’s move to leave Bersatu.“If this involves the issue of seats, the matter can be easily resolved because Umno has informed MIC and MCA that we have to sacrifice some seats to the new coalition for victory in GE15,” he said.He added that MIC has only nine parliamentary seats and is considering the best move for a coalition victory and the possibility that 35% of MIC seats might have to be sacrificed.“If this is Umno’s advice and conclusion on the fate of MIC, then what is wrong if Umno is also willing to sacrifice at least 10% of their seats?”He also said that that MIC would support the leadership of Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin in the next general election.“MIC at present will support the leadership of Muhyiddin and will cooperate with Bersatu to a new development in the decision of the BN Supreme Council.“Let us wait and see on political movements for the near term.”He said it was important for the BN leadership to reach an agreement with PN to find the best way to avoid clashes between government parties, especially in the allocation of seats.“Certainly there will have to be some sacrifice among the parties in these two coalitions to avoid clashes with each other in the election in order to achieve the larger goal of forming a stable government and rebounding the country’s economy, crippled by the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said.


Lions at Singapore wildlife park infected with Covid-19

Four lions at a Singapore wildlife park have tested positive for the coronavirus after coming into contact with infected zookeepers, and have symptoms including coughing and sneezing, officials said Wednesday.The endangered Asiatic lions started displaying signs of illness at the weekend, prompting officials to order coronavirus tests.The infected big cats along with five others at the Night Safari park have been placed in isolation in their den, the government’s animal and veterinary service said.“All the lions remain bright, alert and active,” said Sonja Luz, from Mandai Wildlife Group, which operates the park.“We expect that the lions will make a full recovery with minor supportive treatment.”Three zookeepers from the Night Safari are confirmed to have been infected. The park is an open-air zoo home to hundreds of animals, which welcomes visitors at night.An African lion at Singapore Zoo – which is adjacent to the Night Safari – has also fallen sick, and officials have ordered virus tests.Luz added the risk of animals passing the virus to humans is low.Both Singapore Zoo and the Night Safari remain open, although the lion exhibits have been temporarily closed.Animals have become infected with the virus on previous occasions. Lions, tigers and gorillas have tested positive at US zoos, while domestic cats and dogs have also been hit.Singapore is currently facing its worst Covid-19 outbreak since the start of the pandemic, reporting 2,000-3,000 cases a day and a handful of deaths.


Genuine Malay anger growing amid Anwar govt's lack of direction, says Khairy

Sacked Umno leader Khairy Jamaluddin has given his strongest take yet on Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's seven-month-old administration, saying a lack of economic direction has increased a general feeling of discontent within the Malay community over issues beyond the so-called "3R" issues of race, religion, and royalty.
"Over the last seven months, there has been a clear lack of economic direction: the Malaysian ringgit continues to weaken and the cost-of-living crisis continues to erode the people’s purchasing power," Khairy wrote on Fulcrum, a journal published by Singapore think tank Iseas-Yusof Ishak Institute.
"This palpable Malay anger is amplified by the perceived hypocrisy of the present administration, which talks about eradicating corruption and upholding good governance but accommodates a tainted Umno leadership. What we may see at the state polls is less a 'green wave' than a tsunami of discontent," he said, referring to the phrase used to describe PAS' gains at the last general election.
Khairy said the shift in Malay support had more to do with discontent within the community over issues such as the economy and the government's handling of corruption.
He said unlike the rise of PAS in the 1980s and 1990s, its current popularity through the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition had "more dimensions than merely increased religiosity among the Malays".
"What is happening in Malaysia today is less the rise of an extremist 'green wave' than the expression of genuine discontent in the Malay community that goes beyond the 3R issues," he added.
A total of six states will go to the polls in the coming months: Selangor, Penang, Negeri Sembilan, Kedah, Kelantan, and Terengganu.
The first three are under Pakatan Harapan (PH) rule while the latter three are under PN, which came from behind to make surprise gains at the 15th general election last year, including in constituencies traditionally considered PH and Barisan Nasional strongholds.
Commenting on PN's election performance, Khairy said it had won seats beyond PAS' traditional Malay heartland and extended its gains by winning in some urban centres which have lower concentrations of Malay voters.
"The victorious candidates campaigned under a new PN banner and eschewed the green full moon symbol traditionally associated with PAS and political Islam," he added.
Khairy, who has not stated a party of choice since being ejected from Umno, also warned that describing the state elections to come as "an existential choice for Malaysians" could backfire and drive more Malay voters to support PN.
"Malays in Malaysia have become more outwardly observant of their religious duties but this does not mean there is a tide of Islamic extremism sweeping through Malaysia," he said.


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From graduation to global domination: the expert advising aspiring entrepreneurs

In the past seven months, the pandemic has added an extra layer of uncertainty to the volatile job market with job losses across multiple sectors including retail, aviation and hospitality as companies downsize or close down.This year, over three-quarters of a million workers have joined the ranks of the unemployed.Additionally, with over five million graduates in 2019 joining the search for employment in Malaysia’s labour market of 21 million employed people, competition for salaried work is stiff.Against this backdrop, it is perhaps unsurprising that some graduates may choose to explore entrepreneurship as a source of income, for the sake of survival or personal ambition, or even as a means of adding that much-desired work experience recruiters look for.Even before the pandemic, the higher education ministry predicted in 2017 that by 2020, 15% of graduates would be setting up their own enterprises.The entrepreneur development ministry, which provides start-up training for graduates under its Protege programme, reported in 2019 that over 200,000 graduates had participated in the programme, which was initially formulated to tackle youth post-graduation unemployment.However, alongside opportunity and growth, entrepreneurship has its share of pitfalls.While grants from ministries or agencies such as Cradle are lifelines for graduates without family financial support, there are other ingredients that determine if post-graduate entrepreneurship will go boom or bust.Beta Foundation, headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, is a private organisation aiming to create business ecosystems for technopreneurship advancement. Lilyana Latiff, its CEO, is candid about what young entrepreneurs need to do and to possess. “Having a good network is crucial,” she tells MalaysiaNow, “as is curiosity and confidence.“Even though many mavericks do well in the start-up struggle, the willingness to work with a mentor can make a difference.”Having previously served as CEO of the Malaysian New Entrepreneur Foundation (MyNEF), a role which saw her vetting hundreds of business proposals from aspiring entrepreneurs, Lilyana dispenses advice not often found in business school.“Some may have a more natural aptitude for entrepreneurship than others but having a close support system in the form of a father or uncle who is experienced in running their own business, helps a lot.”She cites the example of Anthony Tan, founder of Grab. Tan comes from a dynasty of self-made businessmen. “If you come from generations of entrepreneurs, you will probably, as a graduate, be more comfortable exploring entrepreneurship.“Having a good network is crucial, as is curiosity and confidence.”“But,” she adds, “there are kids who perhaps come from rural areas and do not have these family mentors, and who don’t have that natural, maybe unfair, advantage or acumen, and yet, despite the odds, find success.”One such rare success story is that of Arif Tukiman and Runcloud, an automated server management cloud hosting and web deployment company, now with clients in Canada and Europe, having begun as an idea of Arif and his fellow software engineering graduate friends from UTM Johor.Lilyana invited Arif to attend the Nordic Startup Awards in Sweden three years ago, where having done the groundwork for Runcloud plus a grant from Cradle in hand, Arif met other young entrepreneurs like him, fresh out of college, struggling to see if the market would embrace their ideas.He came away from that experience not just with more contacts, but also with the knowledge that a laser-like focus was essential to replace self-doubt and insecurity.The experience refined for him the feasibility of software as a service that could serve global customers as opposed to a product bound by geographical limits and customs regulations.Along the way, Arif and his cohorts were invited to TechCrunch, an American online publisher focusing on tech industry start-ups, and after a lengthy interview process, won recognition as a standout start-up.Today, Runcloud manages over 200,000 servers for its clients.Such successes may be rare but they are not unknown, says Lilyana, given the breadth of support programmes and resources available to aspiring entrepreneurs, whether they want to sell clothes on social media or design a service that harnesses technology.Dropee, a marketplace where retail customers discover, purchase, and manage inventories for their stores, all on a single marketplace platform, is an example. It’s the second Malaysian start-up after DahMakan to have come out of the American Y-Combinator seed money start-up accelerator programme which funds start-ups that have the potential to scale up.“A common factor of most successful young entrepreneurs out of graduation is that they are mavericks – you can tell them apart in a room,” says Lilyana.“They will ask you the difficult questions and make you feel uncomfortable with their curiosity and their demands for answers.“They probably already know the answers to those difficult questions,” Lilyana tells MalaysiaNow, “but they’re asking you because they’re seeking validation. As an investor and a coach, I don’t get upset if they don’t follow what I say, because ultimately I want them to own their decisions and their businesses.”While a robust knowledge of the market they are about to enter is necessary, young and determined entrepreneurs will always benefit from the guiding wisdom of an experienced mentor.


Hong Kong leader defends ‘ambush lockdown’ tactics

Hong Kong’s leader defended her administration’s use of “ambush lockdowns” on Tuesday after a spate of overnight operations to conduct surprise mandatory coronavirus tests uncovered no new cases.The new tactic involves authorities giving no warning of an impending lockdown, sealing off buildings where cases are detected and then ensuring everyone inside is tested, usually overnight.But the operations have had limited success.Overnight on Monday police cordoned off designated areas in four densely populated districts. Authorities conducted some 1,700 tests but found zero new infections.On Tuesday, city leader Carrie Lam said the ambush lockdowns were “not a waste of manpower and money but instead well worth” the resources.“We can’t take the number of confirmed cases as the sole or decisive standard,” Lam told reporters.“Efficacy does not only concern recovery rate, but also prevention of the disease.”Hong Kong’s government are taking a much more proactive approach to testing similar to tactics used on the authoritarian mainland as it struggles to contain a winter wave of infections.On Tuesday morning, the government warned authorities would forcibly break into their apartments if law enforcement suspected people were hiding in their homes or refusing to submit a mandatory test.Lam’s de facto deputy Matthew Cheung said officials would use “wider and more frequent” lockdowns as the city heads into the Lunar New Year holidays next week.Hong Kong was one of the first places to be struck by the coronavirus after it spilled out of central China.It has recorded nearly 10,500 infections with some 170 deaths by imposing effective but economically ruinous social distancing measures for much of the last year.


MACC investigation papers on combat ship scandal now with AGC

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has completed a number of investigation papers against individuals connected to claims of irregularities in the handling of the littoral combat ship (LCS) construction project.
In a statement, the anti-graft agency said the investigation papers had been submitted to the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) with a recommendation that several of the individuals be charged.
"MACC will receive further instructions following the AGC's review of the investigation papers," it added.
Last Thursday, the Public Accounts Committee disclosed that it had held nine proceedings regarding the LCS issue from Nov 18, 2020, with the last one on March 8 this year, during which several witnesses were called.
The results of the proceedings found that the LCS project contract was awarded to Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd through direct negotiation, with the government paying RM6.083 billion although not even one LCS ship was delivered.
According to the original schedule, five ships should have been ready and handed over by August 2022.
Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob yesterday urged MACC to expedite its investigation into the scandal, adding that the attorney-general should prosecute and bring the culprits to justice if there was enough evidence.
Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein meanwhile said that his ministry would cooperate fully with the investigations, adding that there was nothing to hide.


Ringgit opens at 24-year low against US dollar

The ringgit opened at its lowest level versus the US dollar since the Asian financial crisis in 1998, as more investors shifted to safe havens due to the uncertain global economic outlook.
At 9.01am, the local currency fell to 4.5010/5035 against the greenback from Tuesday's close of 4.4970/4500.
ActivTrades trader Dyogenes Rodrigues Diniz said the market had been more volatile than usual recently due to escalating tension between Russia and the West, culminating in Russia deciding to cut off gas supplies to Europe indefinitely.
“In the meantime, the US ISM non-manufacturing purchasing managers index data for the month of August recorded a much higher than expected reading, which increased buying pressure for the greenback that has already been on an uptrend in the past few months.
“With data pointing to high inflation and low unemployment in the US, many expect the US Federal Reserve to maintain the current upward trajectory when it comes to interest rates, with a further rise expected at the next meeting,” he said in a note today.
Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded higher against a basket of major currencies.
The local unit appreciated against the Singapore dollar to 3.1965/1987 from Tuesday’s close of 3.2021/2044, and rose against the Japanese yen to 3.1451/1473 from 3.1741/1762 yesterday.
The ringgit also strengthened against the British pound to 5.1671/1700 from 5.2156/2191 and increased against the euro to 4.4515/4540 from 4.4759/4788 yesterday.


RM1.6 billion needed for cooking oil subsidies in 2023

A total of RM1.6 billion is needed for the implementation of the cooking oil stabilisation scheme (COSS) this year, according to Deputy Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister Fuziah Salleh.
She said the amount of the updated allocation is based on the policy to provide a total of 60,000 tonnes or about 60 million packets of 1kg-cooking oil.
"In general, the amount of the allocation or funds for the subsidised cooking oil is based on the movement of the crude palm oil (CPO) price. Therefore, if there is an increase in CPO, the funds needed to implement the programme will also increase.
"The allocation that has been updated to implement COSS in 2022 is as much as RM2.42 billion in additional subsidies, while for 2023 the amount (allocation) required is estimated at RM1.6 billion and subject to the movement of the CPO price," she said.
Fuziah said this in response to a question from Lim Lip Eng (PH-Kepong), who asked about the amount of funds and tonnes of subsidised cooking oil approved in 2022 and 2023 as well as the names of the companies given the approval, during the question-and-answer session at the Dewan Rakyat today. Fuziah said previously the amount of allocation or funds announced through the budget for the implementation of COSS was as much as RM400 million for 2022 and RM500 million for 2023.
Touching on the provision of subsidised cooking oil, she said her ministry has appointed 366 packaging companies nationwide to supply subsidised cooking oil to the market.
To a supplementary question from Rosol Wahid (PN-Hulu Terengganu) regarding the delay in payment of claims demanded by the packers which affected the supply of cooking oil in the market, Fuziah said the ministry had taken proactive steps by introducing the ECOSS system to overcome the issue.
"This digital system needs to register all refineries, repackers, wholesalers, and retailers so that we can regulate the entire supply chain to ensure the previous situation involving false claims will no longer happen.
"So this process takes a little time and that is one of the reasons for the delay, but the problem has been resolved and Insha Allah there will be no more payment delays in the future," she added.


US secretary of state vows to solve ‘Havana syndrome’ mystery

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday pledged to “get to the bottom” of so-called “Havana syndrome,” which some allege could be caused by Russian microwave attacks.Seeking to assure concerned US diplomats that the government was taking the puzzling affliction seriously, Blinken named two senior figures to lead the State Department’s response.Officially called anomalous health incidents (AHI), cases of Havana syndrome first surfaced in 2016 in the Cuban capital, with US and Canadian diplomats complaining of severe headaches, nausea and possible brain damage after hearing high-pitched sounds.Since then the number of US officials in the diplomatic and intelligence corps reporting similar experiences in countries including China, Austria, Colombia and Russia, has risen to the low hundreds, according to reports.“All of us in the US government, and especially we at the State Department, are intently focused on getting to the bottom of what and who is causing these incidents, caring for those who’ve been affected, and protecting our people,” Blinken said.He said that the State Department had arranged for treatment of those affected at Johns Hopkins University, and was collecting baseline data from US diplomats before they deploy to use in analyzing reported cases.Blinken appointed veterans envoys Jonathan Moore to coordinate the overall response and Margaret Uyehara to ensure that anyone reporting symptoms got full medical care.He also said the department is deploying new technology at embassies and missions to help evaluate and protect staff from threats that could be linked to cases.“We’re drawing on the full capacity of our intelligence community. We’re enlisting the best scientific minds inside and outside of government” to understand the problem, he said.But some scientists express doubts about the Russian attacks theory and say there is not one affliction or cause of the reported cases.And some have even dismissed the spread of cases as a mass psychogenic phenomenon in which people begin to feel sick after they learn of a health threat.


Penang concerned over low child vaccination rate for Covid

The Penang government is concerned about the slow progress of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme for Children (PICKids) in the state where only 49.5% of children aged five to 11 years had received a first dose and 37.7% a second dose as of May 8.Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow urged parents to bring their children for the Covid-19 vaccine injection immediately.He said the statistics were shared by the State Health Department through the State Special Security Committee on Covid-19 Management at a meeting today.“JKNPP also informed that children infected with Covid-19 are at risk of developing multi system inflammatory syndrome which is very dangerous and can lead to death,” he said in a statement.He said parents should make the right decision by bringing their children to get vaccinated before May 15, the deadline for free jabs set by the health ministry.


Overnight policy rate expected to hit 3% by 2023

Analysts believe Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) will further normalise its policy rate going forward and gradually raise the overnight policy rate (OPR) to 3.00% by next year.
The majority believe the rate hikes will continue for the remainder of the year amid rising inflation and that BNM will continue its policy tightening in its upcoming monetary policy committee (MPC) meetings.
In a note, Kenanga Investment Bank said further rate hikes are expected, largely due to the upward pressure on inflation amid rising food prices and a sustained recovery in domestic demand as reflected in the latest high-frequency indicators such as unemployment rate, retail sales and imports.
This is also in tandem with the global central bank monetary policy tightening cycle, predominantly to combat rising inflation, it said.
"Nevertheless, it is unlikely that BNM will embark on an aggressive tightening cycle such as a 50 basis point (bps) hike unless the inflation rate overshoots its target range driven by stronger-than-expected domestic demand.
"Likewise, we retain our forecast that BNM will gradually raise the OPR by 25 bps each in the September and November MPC meetings, with the final hike in the first quarter of 2023. Therefore, the policy rate is expected to settle at 2.75% by the end of this year and 3.00% for 2023," it said.
CGS-CIMB Securities said BNM is expected to monitor economic developments going forward, especially if the growth in domestic demand is strong and unfettered amid the large subsidies.
"In that eventuality, a third rate hike this year could be on the cards. Next year, we price in a further 50 bps in rate hikes, putting the end-2023 OPR at 3.00%," it said.
AmBank Research meanwhile expects BNM to adopt a more aggressive stance in a move to cool inflation and help support the weakening ringgit, not just against the US dollar but also on cross rates.
"We gather that a 50 bps hike one-off seems highly unlikely. We are of the view that the OPR will end at 2.50%-2.75% in 2022, suggesting one to two more rate hikes, with another two hikes in 2023 to 3.00%-3.25%," the research house added.


Agong can declare emergency if twin crises of politics, Covid-19 continue

Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah could declare an emergency without dissolving Parliament if there exists a political crisis with no end in sight during a time of fresh spikes in Covid-19 infections, a senior lawyer warns.Haniff Khatri Abdulla said such power is vested in the Yang di-Pertuan Agong based on Articles 40 and 150 of the Federal Constitution, which could be used to stabilise the administration of the government in its battle against the third wave of the pandemic.“The Agong may view this as a political crisis. If we’re thinking of calling for a general election during the Covid-19 pandemic, just look at what happened in Sabah where there has been a spread of infections,” Haniff told MalaysiaNow.His comments come in the wake of intense speculation about the future of Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s Perikatan Nasional government amid attempts to topple him through defections and a forced snap election.“Such a situation may stir the Agong into rejecting any proposal to call for a general election at this time,” Haniff added.Haniff Khatri Abdulla.He said even during the political crisis in February, when Covid-19 was still at the early stage of infections in Malaysia, the Conference of Rulers had indicated that they were not keen on a general election, despite the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan government after 22 months in power.“If there is the threat of political instability as well as of Covid-19, on that basis the Agong can invoke Article 150 to declare a political emergency,” said Haniff, who has acted in several high-profile cases including for former leader Dr Mahathir Mohamad.There have been calls of late from some Umno leaders for a Cabinet reshuffle, on the back of a failed plan by PKR leader Anwar Ibrahim to topple Muhyiddin’s government through the defection of MPs to his side.Last week, MalaysiaNow revealed that Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and his predecessor Najib Razak had unilaterally written to the palace expressing support for Anwar, claiming they and “a number of Umno MPs” would back the PKR chief to topple Muhyiddin.The revelation of their joint letter came after Anwar said he had handed over “authentic documents” to the king on Oct 13 proving he had a “formidable majority” on his side.But the claim was immediately dismissed by Istana Negara which said the politician failed to show the list of MPs on his side during his half-hour audience with Sultan Abdullah.Haniff said the Agong could find himself unable to decide which bloc commands a majority as a result of such uncertainties.Health emergencyHe also said the king could declare a health emergency if the Covid-19 pandemic spirals out of control.“The government through the prime minister could advise the Agong to declare a health emergency,” he said.If the Agong was not happy with the well-being of the people, Haniff said, he could invoke his powers to declare an emergency at either the state or national level.But he said in a health crisis such as the one presented by Covid-19, the prime minister should also take into account the views of health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah before advising the king to declare the emergency.Emergency but business as usualBut regardless of the nature of the emergency, whether political or health-related, Haniff said it would not require the army to take over the administration, as was the case in the aftermath of the racial riots of 1969 when the National Operations Council, known by its Malay acronym of Mageran, was formed.Life could continue as usual, even if a state of emergency is declared, says lawyer Haniff Khatri Abdullah.“I don’t like the term Mageran as it brings with it a certain stigma from the 1960s involving the army, emergency and the likes. But it was actually an emergency consultative council,” he said.The Mageran, which was aimed at rebuilding race relations following the deadly riots, was dissolved in 1971 with the restoration of Parliament.Haniff said in a situation where there is both political conflict and an uncontrollable spread of Covid-19 infections, the Agong could declare both emergencies simultaneously.Under such circumstances, he said, businesses could continue operating and people could still go about their daily routines including going for vacations or visiting friends.“The people will understand the narrative, that it is an emergency to restore politics and public health.”


Malaysia remain in 7th spot despite best daily medal haul at SEA Games

Malaysia remained at seventh place overall at the end of the fourth day of the 2023 SEA Games, with 15 gold, 15 silver and 32 bronze medals.
Today's gold medal harvest was the best daily total so far, at five, with two coming from athletics, and one each from diving, swimming and snooker.
The first gold of the day came from Muhammad Syafiq Puteh in the 3m men's springboard event, and this was followed by national runners Shereen Samson Vallabouy and Umar Usman, in the women's and men's 400m events.
Umar's gold came with a bonus; he set a new national record of 46.34 seconds (s), breaking the previous record of 46.41s by Mohd Zaiful Zainal Abidin at the Asian Junior Athletics Championship in Brunei in July 2001.
The swim team finally notched their first gold through Khiew Hoe Yean's win after four days of competition at the Morodok Techo National Aquatic Centre while national snooker player Moh Keen Hoo delivered the fifth and last gold of the day in the 6-Red men's individual event.
As for the overall standings, Thailand, which began in third place, shot up to the top of the table with 40 gold, 30 silver and 45 bronze medals. Vietnam remain second with 39 gold, 39 silver and 46 bronze, while Cambodia dropped to third with 39-39-39.


PN against flood-season polls but ready anyway, says Muhyiddin

While Perikatan Nasional (PN) is against any move by Umno to call for a flood-season election, it is ready to face any eventuality, the coalition's chairman Muhyiddin Yassin says.
Speaking at an event in Shah Alam last night, Muhyiddin said the PN manifesto committee had begun drafting its offers to the people, covering all important areas by taking into account the post-pandemic situation, economic challenges, and assistance for the low-income group.
"This is important, and we will announce our manifesto during the election period," he added.
When asked about PN's candidate selection and its distribution of seats for the 15th general election (GE15), the Pagoh MP said talks were ongoing.
He said the leaders of PN's component parties were always open to discussion, to select the best candidate for the job.
"There are no secrets among us in PN," he said. "If I do something, I will come back and report in detail what has happened to the other party leaders."
Speculation is rife that Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob will seek an audience with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to dissolve Parliament and pave the way for an early election.
Gerakan president Dominic Lau, meanwhile, speaking at the same event, said the party would not object to any of the candidates selected by PN, but would give its full support.
"We don't care which party the candidates are from. As long as they are from PN, we will support them," he added.
Muhyiddin said he expected PN would obtain a wider margin of votes in the event of multi-cornered fights.
He said PN would benefit from the votes of the youth, those who were automatically registered to vote, and the increase in Malay voters.
"If all of these factors are taken into account, along with the efforts of PN's election machinery and the situation of Umno and Barisan Nasional which are on the decline, our chances of getting more support are very good," he said, adding that all of PN's component parties had agreed to use the coalition's logo at the polls.
PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man meanwhile said PN's greatest concern at the moment was the fence-sitters who might not turn out to vote in the event of floods.
He said this situation would give Umno the edge, as it has more hardcore supporters.
"These supporters will turn out to vote regardless of the situation," he said.
"So we need to focus on mobilising, to facilitate these fence-sitters on voting day."


Philippines eases Covid curbs in Manila as cases fall

The Philippines on Friday lifted restrictions on national obsessions like karaoke and basketball in the capital Manila and reopened universities in the megacity of 13 million people as virus cases eased there.All restrictions on the movement of young people aged below 18 years were lifted in the capital, officials announced, and primary schools could reopen soon, pending the approval of President Rodrigo Duterte.“This is good news and one that has been highly anticipated,” Duterte’s spokesman Harry Roque told a news conference.Curfews as well as curbs on indoor recreation and contact sports are components of severe lockdowns aimed at slowing the spread of Covid-19 which has infected about 2.8 million people and killed 44,000 across the Southeast Asian nation.Officials cited rising vaccination coverage for a slowdown in the spread of the virus, which had strained health services between April and October with the onslaught of the highly contagious Delta variant.Cases have fallen from a high of 2,000 average daily cases in Manila last month “to an average of just 493 cases per day,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire told the news conference.The new guidelines are in place until Nov 21, but officials said they could be extended if the number of new cases and hospital admission rates continue to fall.Minors had only been allowed outside their homes starting this month, but only to “obtain essential goods and services.”Contact sports like basketball, the national sport, karaoke bars, and amusement park operations were allowed for the first time since the Philippines began imposing lockdowns early last year.Roque said metropolitan Manila universities would reopen at 50% capacity, while “face-to-face” instruction in grade schools could resume for the first time since March 2020 if Duterte gave his approval.