PETALING JAYA: The free sanitary pad initiative will be expanded to strategic healthcare facilities and to the public, if the initial effort pans out successfully, says Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa (pic). Her statement came on the heels of criticisms of her initiative to make free sanitary pads available at the ministry, as part of efforts to address period poverty. "I take note of the confusion and I thank those who expressed their views on my statement on providing free sanitary pads at the Health Ministry’s headquarters," she said in a Facebook post on Tuesday (Dec 13) night. "I foresee that this initiative can be expanded to strategic healthcare facilities and involve members of the public, if the initiative is successful," she added. On Monday (Dec 12), Dr Zaliha announced that in an initial effort to address period poverty, the ministry would be providing free feminine hygiene products in its toilets before expanding the programme.

Major foreign investors in Malaysia in the 1990s, Taiwanese businesses have rekindled their interest in the country over the past few years. Instead, the future trend of Taiwanese investments will be based on a two-pronged approach that serves to capture both China and the global markets separately. In the case of Malaysia, the renewed interest of Taiwanese investors has been evidential in recent statistics provided by Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida). With the reopening of borders in the post-pandemic period, more Taiwanese investments are expected to flow into Malaysia in the coming months. First, Malaysia should encourage local higher education institutions (HEIs) to establish high-impact vocational programmes with the Taiwanese investors on the local scene.

PETALING JAYA: A weather expert has forecast that the nation will experience significant flooding within the next three days due to heavy monsoon rain triggered by the active La Nina and negative Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) phenomena. He also said the forecast from global models such as Nullschool.net predicted that heavy rain is expected until Tuesday (Dec 13) night. He said the La Nina and negative IOD phenomena acting in parallel have caused continuous rain in several states. "More heavy rain increases the potential for major floods to occur within these three days," he told Sinar Harian on Monday (Dec 12). However, he added that heavy rain in Sabah and Sarawak occurs in January and February, a month or so later than in the peninsula.

KUALA LUMPUR: Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah has left for Doha, Qatar on Tuesday (Dec 13) for a six-day special visit. Comptroller of the Istana Negara Royal Household Datuk Seri Ahmad Fadil Shamsuddin said the special visit is made at the personal invitation of the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, in conjunction with the Fifa World Cup Qatar 2022. "His Majesty is also scheduled to grant an audience to several Qatari leaders and attend a gathering with the Malaysian diaspora in Qatar during the special visit,” he said in a statement. Ahmad Fadil said Al-Sultan Abdullah is expected to return home on Dec 19. Sheikh Tamim’s personal invitation was conveyed by Qatar’s Deputy Prime Minister cum Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani to Al-Sultan Abdullah during an audience at Istana Negara on Aug 12.

“Just take a look at Masteel’s share price performance since mid-November. He adds that he is unaware of any reason for the recent increase in Masteel’s share price. Sources speculate that the Tai family might be willing to let go of their stake in Masteel for about RM100 million. Today, Masteel is one of the country’s leading steel manufacturers specialising in making high-tensile steel bars, mild steel bars and prime steel billets that are most commonly used for construction and infrastructure development works. The group also operates a factory in Bukit Raja, Klang, producing steel bars and steel billets, which are the feedstock for its rolling mills in Petaling Jaya and Bukit Raja plants.

INVESTOR interest in local oil and gas (O&G) service providers is picking up after years of a lull, although there is a softening in global crude oil prices. As earnings improve, analysts expect the upward momentum in the share prices of these players to rise in tandem. “We expect an improved outlook for these O&G service providers. O&G service providers are enjoying higher daily charter rates, albeit gradually, he says, and increasing utilisation of their assets. “This will further anchor the earnings recovery within the local O&G service providers space.

Federation of Vegetable Farmers Associations president Lim Ser Kwee said harvests had been dropping due to the wet northeast monsoon season. Kuala Lumpur Vegetable Wholesalers’ Association president Wong Keng Fatt said the prices of vegetables had started increasing recently by between 10% and 20% but would rise if there were floods. Wong said wholesale prices of vegetables had currently gone up, with sawi costing between RM5 and RM5.50 compared with about RM3 normally. “The wholesale price for spinach is now between RM6 and RM6.50 compared with its usual RM2 or RM3,” he added. “Farmers don’t easily get to sell at a higher price, it is the distributors who control the market price.

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia recorded 1,315 new Covid-19 infections on Saturday (Dec 10), says the Health Ministry. The Health Ministry said through data released on its KKMNow portal on Sunday (Dec 11 ) that this brings the new total to 4,992,168 cases since the pandemic began. Of the 1,315, there is one imported case and the remaining 1,314 are local. The ministry also said through its KKMNow portal that there were 2,601 recoveries on Saturday, bringing the total number of active cases in Malaysia to 19,177. Of the active cases, 93.1% or 17,860 individuals are undergoing home quarantine, while 6.5% of active cases or 1,244 individuals need to be hospitalised, with 73 warded in intensive care units (ICU) throughout the country.

Last year, a similar survey predicted that aggressive policy tightening by central banks would be the biggest threat to stocks in 2022. Modest gainThose who expect global shares to rise see an average 10% gain for 2023. Investors remain cautious for the start of the year and predict that stock market gains will be skewed to the second half of 2023. The fuelFor fund managers, better news on inflation and growth could be catalysts for a stronger performance. Contrarian viewThe constructive view of money managers is at odds with what Wall Street is predicting.

It’s not just their monthly salary but the many allowances and claims. The PM’s monthly salary is only about RM22,800, while his deputies get about RM18,170. First off, an MP’s monthly salary is RM16,000. Perhaps they think these Parliament meetings aren’t important or they have more urgent matters to attend to. Even in Britain, the MPs have more Parliament meetings to attend to justify their allowances.

KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 10): Initial investigations into the data leak involving five million AirAsia passengers and staff found there was a cyberattack on AirAsia's server system on Nov 12 resulting from unauthorised access. Fahmi said the ministry views seriously allegations that the data leak was caused by a hacker group known as "Daixin". "Apart from that, data users should outline a cybersecurity policy, and ensure that the policy is followed as a measure to avoid intrusion by irresponsible parties," he said. Last month, local media reported that personal data of passengers and employees of the low-cost airline was allegedly leaked, after being hacked by the cybercrime group known as Daixin. Read also:AirAsia hit by ransomware attack, five million passenger and employee data compromised

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia recorded 1,597 new Covid-19 cases, says the Health Ministry. According to the ministry's KKMNow portal, 1,592 of the new Covid-19 infections in the country were local transmissions, while there were five imported cases. A total of six deaths were recorded, with one classified as being brought in dead, bringing the total to 36,755.

KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 9): Bursa Malaysia Bhd on Friday (Dec 9) launched the Bursa Carbon Exchange (BCX), which is a voluntary carbon market (VCM) and the world’s first shariah-compliant carbon exchange. There will be no restrictions imposed on sales of carbon credits generated from Malaysian projects to foreign buyers, said Nik Nazmi. Verra is a widely recognised standard in the voluntary carbon market, and accounts for nearly 70% of voluntary carbon credit issuances globally. Muhamad Umar hopes that the BCX will incentivise buyers and sellers of carbon credits in Malaysia to invest and finance climate-friendly projects. The BCX will provide three modes of carbon trading: auction, spot trading for standardised contracts of carbon credits and spot trading services for off-market transactions.

(Dec 9): Oil headed for a weekly loss of almost 10% after a volatile period of trading as concerns over the economic outlook overshadowed an easing of China’s strict virus curbs and a disruption to US crude flows. The market is also facing a persistent lack of liquidity that has left prices prone to large swings. Prices initially surged after the news before reversing gains to close lower on Thursday, capping a fifth day of declines. Still, for now, Russia sees the price limit having a limited effect on its crude output. The global benchmark was 44 cents a barrel in contango, compared with 2 cents in backwardation a week ago.

KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 8): Cypark Resources Bhd said its indirect subsidiaries have been awarded feed-in approval certificates from the government to carry out biogas projects with a total capacity of 2.7 MW in Johor and Terengganu. The feed-in approval certificates were awarded by Sustainable Energy Development Authority (Seda) for a period of 21 years, Cypark said. Tenaga Nasional Bhd will purchase electricity from the project companies at pre-agreed feed-in tariff rates, it added. The first biogas project comprises a 1.2 MW installed capacity biogas plant in Layang-Layang, Johor, which was awarded to Cypark's 51% indirectly owned Reviva BACRE (Ulu Remis) Sdn Bhd. The second is a 1.5 MW plant in Kemaman, Terengganu awarded to BACRE Reviva Biogas (Kemaman) Sdn Bhd, which is 80%-owned by BACRE Reviva Biogas Holdings Sdn Bhd, which in turn is an indirect 51% subsidiary of Cypark.