PETALING JAYA (Jan 16): The Magistrate’s Court here was on Friday told that the teenage boy charged with the murder of a 16-year-old female schoolmate in a secondary school toilet in Bandar Utama is fit to stand trial. Lawyer Kitson Foong, representing the 15-year-old boy, said the report prepared by a psychiatrist from Hospital Bahagia Ulu Kinta, Perak, found that his client was capable of understanding the court proceedings. “The boy is fit to be brought to court for trial and can defend himself,” he said. He told the media this after the proceeding, which was held in camera, before Magistrate Amira Sariaty Zainal. The boy was charged on Oct 22 last year with murdering his schoolmate at a secondary school in Bandar Utama between 9.20am and 9.35am on Oct 14, 2025.

(Jan 16): Records in South Korea and Taiwan pushed emerging Asian market equities to an all-time high on Friday, as TSMC's robust earnings and annual forecast boosted optimism around AI, with a trade deal between the US and Taiwan also helping. The MSCI gauge of EM Asia equities climbed around 0.7% each to notch an all-time high. The index tracking EM Asia tech stocks jumped more than 2% to a record peak. Stocks in Taiwan finished at a record closing level of 31,408.70 points, and above the 31,000-mark for the first time ever. In Southeast Asia, Singapore stocks traded a few points shy of their record high of 4,846.680 points, up for a sixth straight session.

Traders at First Garden morning market hope Ipoh City Council (MBI) will legalise their business, as enforcement actions are disrupting their livelihoods. There are about 40 unlicensed traders operating on Lorong Taman 10 and Lorong Taman 11 in First Garden, near the commercial centre. Cheah: Approval never given to trade at Lorong Taman 10 and Lorong Taman 11. “This is a commercial zone and it should be attractive to shoppers and tourists.”There are plans to move First Garden morning market traders to a nearby food court. She said that following a review, the city council was unable to issue licences to the hawkers because they were trading on parking bays.

Johor Baru City Council (MBJB) will stop issuing licences for new snooker centres, following a directive from the state government aimed at safeguarding community well-being. In a separate matter, Mohd Haffiz reminded business owners, particularly F&B operators, to ensure toilets in their premises were kept clean. This, he elaborated, was now a requirement for business licence renewal. He said the “Bersih, Menawan dan Wangi”, or “Clean, Attractive and Fragrant” initiative had been incorporated into MBJB’s business licensing guidelines. “Only premises that achieve a minimum four-star rating and above will be considered eligible for annual business licence renewal,” he said.

KUALA LUMPUR: Former Kinabatangan MP, the late Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin, has been acquitted by the Sessions Court here of three graft charges involving RM2.8mil linked to a Felcra investment. "According to Section 254 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the prosecution has decided not to continue the case against the first accused (Bung Moktar). ALSO READ: Zizie Izette seeks to have RM2.8mil graft charges droppedHowever, the trial against Bung Moktar's widow, Zizie Izette A. Samad, for abetting her husband in relation to the same offences, will proceed in March. Bung Moktar was also charged with receiving RM337,500 in cash from Unit Amanah consultant, Norhaili Ahmad Mokhtar, under the name of Zizie Izette for the same reason and place on June 19, 2015. Bung passed away due to kidney failure and lung infection at 1.46am on Dec 5, last year.

TOKYO (Jan 16): A railway power outage in Tokyo disrupted the morning commute for roughly 673,000 passengers on Friday, as two main lines servicing some of the world's busiest stations were halted. Trains on East Japan Railway's (JR East) Yamanote and Keihin-Tohoku lines were halted for up to nine hours on Friday, the railway operator said. JR East said a failure to restore power after overnight maintenance work at Tokyo's Tamachi Station left both lines without electricity early Friday. Passengers were seen disembarking from a Keihin-Tohoku train stranded between stations and walking along the tracks to evacuate, assisted by firefighters and railway staff. The Yamanote Line passes through stations including Shinjuku, which handles about 3.5 million passengers daily.

Documentation requirements delay aid for Kinabatangan residentsKINABATANGAN: Aside from complaints on roads, water and electricity, bureaucratic red tape in accessing government assistance remains a major concern among many Kinabatangan voters. They said these difficulties are compounded by unresolved land status issues, which weaken eligibility for assistance and leave long-settled communities repeatedly applying without clear outcomes. The land remains under the jurisdiction of the Kinabatangan district council, leaving residents without formal land tenure. Residents want their elected representative to cut through red tape and ensure assistance reaches genuine recipients. We just want fairness, recognition and a system that does not leave long-settled communities behind,” said Masni.

Visitors, shoppers and business owners celebrate Ponggal in grand fashionKLANG: Little India in Jalan Tengku Kelana here is a commercial centre that always buzzes with shoppers. Yesterday, though, it turned into a colourful little village with grand harvest festival celebrations. To new beginnings: Devotees carrying out prayers during the Ponggal festival held at Sri Maha Mariamman Temple in Taman Universiti, Johor Baru. — THOMAS YONG/ The StarVikash Sdn Bhd proprietor T. Barthiban, 56, said this year’s Ponggal celebrations in the commercial area was grander than last year. The sweet rice is cooked with milk, ghee, jaggery, raisins, cashew nuts and cardamom.

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 16): MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong has reaffirmed that the party remains with Barisan Nasional (BN) as one of the founding members of the coalition. “As far as MCA is concerned, we are a founding party of BN. So the founding party is still there,” he told reporters after the president’s policy speech at the Umno General Assembly 2025 here Friday. Commenting on Zahid’s speech, Wee said efforts to strengthen the party should be viewed as a process of rebuilding public confidence and support. He said that for MCA, the party would work hard to win back public support ahead of GE16.

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 16): Police are conducting a comprehensive investigation, including examining the possibility of negligence, following the air conditioning gas explosion at the Help University campus in Bukit Damansara last Monday. Kuala Lumpur police chief Datuk Fadil Marsus stated that although there is no preliminary evidence of negligence so far, this aspect remains a primary focus of the ongoing investigation. “Typically, in cases involving disasters or incidents of this nature, the investigation involves all relevant parties and examines every aspect, including the possibility of negligence. Fadil added that if elements of negligence are identified, the police will not hesitate to take appropriate action against the responsible parties in accordance with legal provisions. The deceased victim has been identified as Soo Yu Juan, 24, a third-year Mechanical Engineering student from Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (Utar).

Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil said X must comprehensively demonstrate that Grok can no longer produce video or image content that could be misused before the restriction is removed. On Jan 11, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) ordered a temporary block on access to Grok for users in Malaysia, effective the same day. Elaborating, Fahmi stated that the ministry also took note that X had disabled several prompts that enabled the creation of inappropriate images via Grok. He said the government is pursuing a cooperative approach through established legal and regu­latory channels, in line with the implementation of the Online Safety Act 2025, which will be advised by the Online Safety Committee. Fahmi said concerns over Grok are not limited to Malaysia, ­noting similar positions taken by other countries, including Indo­nesia and several European nations.

The board is also anticipating Malaysia’s palm oil production to soften this year, projecting output of 19.5 million to 19.8 million tonnes, down from a record 20.3 million tonnes last year, as estates enter a biological tree-rest phase following last year’s yield rebound. On the other hand, MBSB Research is forecasting marginal production growth of 1%, reflecting natural yield limitations after two years of recovery. It said palm oil exports fell 9.7% year-on-year (y-o-y) last year to 15.3 million tonnes, largely due to a narrower discount against competing vegetable oils and weaker imports from major buyers. This contributed to ending stocks surging to 3.05 million tonnes, the highest level since February 2019. Given the outlook, MBSB Research has kept a “neutral” stance on the plantation sector, citing limited upside from current price levels and a disconnect between plantation share prices and CPO fundamentals.

“There is some possibility of that, so we are factoring in some US dollar strength further down the line,” he said. Based on recent US labour market figures, there is a possibility of a pause before the two expected rate cuts are delivered. “The ringgit remains among Asia’s better-positioned currencies in 1H26. “In terms of the outlook for consumer spending, income growth remains the key driver. The slower growth in China will to some extent affect Asean’s growth, although the region’s growth remains fairly resilient at well over 4%,” he said.

PETALING JAYA: The requirement to register for MyDigital ID for Malaysians travelling abroad and the potential usage of this platform for age verification for social media restriction could create a new revenue stream for Zetrix AI Bhd. “We believe this could open up a new revenue stream for Zetrix by accelerating the MyDigital ID user base towards the government’s initial 15 million target in 2025,” BIMB Research says. “At this juncture, we have yet to factor in any earnings upside from MyDigital ID, due to its early-stage rollout and limited visibility,” the research house added. While signing up for MyDigital ID is not mandatory from a regulatory standpoint, authorities are encouraging adoption by embedding the platform into high-traffic services. Officials are also exploring the use of MyDigital ID for age verification by restricting social media access for users below 16, involving platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook.

A crafter by trade, Tan transforms recycled paper into paper bead accessories such as earrings, necklaces and bracelets. “By creating paper beads from upcycled paper, we can lessen our carbon footprint,” says Tan, who has been making paper beads since 2020. Creating paper beads encourages people to upcycle unused paper that would otherwise be discarded. A 2025 study, entitled Towards Sustainable Paper Waste Management: Insights from Source-Level Composition Studies, examines the challenges of paper waste management in Malaysia and finds that, while paper is highly recyclable, it still makes up a significant portion (15.3%) of domestic waste. To make paper beads, she rolls each strip of paper from the wide end to the tip, securing it with a dab of glue.