It was simply the “vaccine passport” that was required for travelling to these parts of the world. Relating this to Covid-19 vaccine passports, fairness could be seen as having equal opportunity for gaining a vaccine and thus a passport. Where someone can’t – perhaps due to a medical reason – a “fair” vaccine passport system would need to take this into account. A poorly implemented vaccine passport system could still be very unfair and cause tremendous unforeseen and undesirable circumstances. Currently there are a number of concerns relating to the recognition of different types, and even different batches, of Covid-19 vaccines.

PETALING JAYA: Indonesians Flandi Limpele and Eng Hian are former partners who have turned out to be successful badminton coaches at the Tokyo Olympics. Flandi and Eng Hian played together from 1998-2005. Flandi believed their good partnership, respect for each other, and the ups and downs they went through as players had made them better coaches. We had good support.”While Eng Hian is hailed in Indonesia for his role, Flandi too has won praises for delivering just within a year. I’ve also won Japan Open titles with Eng Hian (2003) and Vita Marissa (mixed doubles, 2006).

I’ve kept this a secret for so long and I’ll finally be able to tell everyone this good news!” said the 34-year-old in an Instagram post. Her fans speculated that she might be releasing a new song together with Cheung, who was once known as one of Hong Kong’s Four Heavenly Kings. Lee, whose real name is Jeanie Lee, hails from Johor Baru but is currently based in Hong Kong. The Jianyang district police department presented Hu’s family with an award in recognition of his bravery. “I got to celebrate my birthday with Tatsuhisa at a hotel,” wrote the woman, who was said to have even stayed at the couple’s house while the singer was away on tour.

The Tokyo Games has been a godsend for many of us who are otherwise sick of reading about numbers. As we continue to be mired in a never-ending lockdown, the Olympic Games has become the perfect antidote to avoid spiralling into depression. The Tokyo Olympics will wrap up with men’s water polo final on Sunday. Infection numbers have been climbing for some time, and there has been a state of emergency in place in Tokyo until Aug 31. This Tokyo Olympics 2020 was truly a celebration of hope.

GEORGE TOWN: Despite the risk she faces as a frontliner at a vaccination centre (PPV), volunteer Ukthai Eh Chom is enjoying her work. She remembers helping Uncle Hor who came for his vaccination at the Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) PPV. Muhammad Zharfan Mohd Zailan, 22, said his communication and management skills had improved since volunteering at the PPV. “I have to improvise too as there are many last-minute changes,” said the second year construction management student in USM. Muhammad Zharfan said he had also picked up better time management skills.

PETALING JAYA: The Badminton World Federation (BWF) have received a complaint from South Korea on foul language used by China’s women’s doubles player Chen Qingchen (pic). In a report by The Korea Times, the national body have filed a complaint with the BWF over Qingchen’s profuse swearing during a women’s doubles match against South Korea’s Kim So-yeong-Kong Hee-yong in the semi-finals of the Olympic Games on July 27. Throughout the match, Qingchen was heard shouting “wocao” a Mandarin expletive. As there were no spectators, Qingchen’s word could be clearly heard and she repeated it many times. The Chinese pair, however, went on to lose to Indonesia’s Greysia Polii-Apriyani Rahayu in the gold-medal match.

“It tasted interesting, but not so much that I immediately fell in love and wanted more – it was just okay for me,” she said. However, there are many who fell in love immediately after the first taste. I love this fruit and do not know when I’ll be able to go to Sabah just to taste it again,” she said. Alyssa Qhaizara posted on Facebook that she loves tarap and she finds it juicier and more delicious than jackfruit or cempedak. Sabahan Ashley Leslie loves tarap and misses eating it, as he has been stuck in Kuala Lumpur for over a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

THREE generations in my family have had very pleasant experiences with our outstanding frontliners at the Covid-19 vaccination centres (PPV). The frontliners showed sincere concern for their comfort and welfare accompanied with gentle Malaysian humour. My wife and I, enjoying our warga emas privileges, were fast-tracked for our jabs at the WTC PPV. There was a different dynamic at WTC with a strong presence of young volunteers who were undergraduates from medical faculties. There was a semblance of the open house atmosphere at the WTC on both occasions that my wife and I were there!

It’s the extracurricular head who wants to know if the online posters for a language carnival are ready. At times, your colleagues, especially those in senior positions, assume they have the right to your time 24/7. WhatsApp and Telegram groups are mandatory to disseminate information, share important messages as well as monitoring purposes. To begin with, staying connected to work after hours can lead to very overwhelmed and stressed-out staff. Whether it is as extreme as switching off the WiFi or simply muting certain job-related groups, you will begin to value and furiously guard your right to separation from work after hours.

IPOH: The Sungai Siput Hospital has been turned into a full Covid-19 hospital. In a letter signed on Thursday (Aug 5) by Perak Health director Datuk Dr Ding Lay Ming sighted by The Star, the hospital was said to have become a Covid-19 hospital on July 29. She said the hospital was used due to the current situation and increase in Covid-19 cases in the state. It is learned that preparations to turn Sungai Siput Hospital into a full Covid-19 hospital started towards the end of July. Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital in Ipoh is the other hospital in Perak with appropriate and adequate isolation facilities to admit Covid-19 patients.

And not least address our unemployment challenges which may become structural or in-built (i.e., long-term and permanent, regardless of business cycle) – which definitively includes graduate and youth unemployment (and under-employment). Otherwise, graduate and youth unemployment and under-employment will increasingly become a part of our broader structural growth challenge in the years to come. Lower GDP growth means lower production and investment together with consumption and by extension, higher unemployment and under-employment. And our graduate and youth unemployment – which is traditionally three times the national average – will also correspondingly increase. It will also deepen youth unemployment and under-employment.

PETALING JAYA: To alleviate the burden of resource-strapped Covid-19 hospitals in the Klang Valley red zones, the MCA Crisis Relief Squad (CRSM) through its GoCare platform seeks to raise RM300,000 to buy urgently needed emergency supplies. “There are many news reports on the lack of medical equipment and tools at hospitals and CRSM also received requests from Covid-19 treatment hospitals to help purchase certain equipment and items in order to ensure the treatment process is not disrupted. GoCare project manager Xilas Ngang said they aimed to raise RM300,000 to help five Covid-19 treatment hospitals namely Hospital Kajang, Hospital Ampang, Hospital Selayang, Hospital Serdang and Hospital Sungai Buloh. “In this one or two weeks, we are trying to raise RM300,000 from the community and our sponsors to help the five hospitals in need,” he said. “In the midst of this Covid-19 wave, there are five hospitals specialising in Covid-19 treatment because the number of patients has increased drastically.

The unrepresented Briton also said that he has a "legal counsel", pointing to a man who turned up in court wearing a dark-coloured suit. It turned out that the man, identified as Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman, had been his bailor. Deputy Public Prosecutor Timotheus Koh told the court that Mr Abdul Rashid was not an advocate and solicitor at the Supreme Court of Singapore. District Judge Eddy Tham said that Abdul Rashid could not represent anybody in Singapore as he had not been called to the bar here. Addressing the court, Abdul Rashid said that he is an "ambassador-at-large and advocate of Kingdom Filipina Hacienda", and that he was there to defend his "sovereign compatriot".

PETALING JAYA: As Covid-19 numbers continue to surge, an activist has staged a hunger strike in Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Kuala Lumpur, calling for immediate intervention by the authorities in the way the pandemic is being managed. When contacted on Thursday (Aug 5), Tan said there were about 10 police officers who came to question him over the hunger strike. Asked how he felt about the hunger strike, Tan said he was still in high spirits despite "sleeping rough". In a separate Facebook post, activist Khalid Mohd Ismath noted that police visited Tan during his hunger strike. "Solidarity to Tan who is currently on a hunger strike," he said.

PAGOH: The relaxation of the standard operating procedures (SOP) for those who are fully vaccinated will be announced within the next two days, says Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin. He said it would be an announcement eagerly awaited by those who have been fully vaccinated. Muhyiddin added that besides travelling and dining-in, the easing of restrictions for those who have completed their doses would include allowing people to carry out sport activities. Muhyiddin however reminded that even with the relaxation, the public should always continue to be vigilant against Covid-19. “The country is still yet to achieve herd immunity as some are not fully vaccinated,” he said.