My Say: A national reset recipe: Federation building, global learning and social justice
It is not so much a question of “yes” or “no” to state interventionism in national economy building but how well a state manages national economy building, societal building and citizen empowerment within powerful global dynamics, all at the same time. A national education system in the old format is out of sync with the accelerated learning processes that are now available in global education. Looking back, Malaysian nation-building was a process of blind centralisation, stimulated by the notion that building Malaysia meant making its population as uniform as possible in their experience of governmental power. A reset for Malaysia, to be serious and substantive, must thus see at least three things coming to pass. First is a shift in national narrative from nation-building (meaning centralisation) to federation-building (meaning strong state governments more easily answerable to the voting public).
Source:The Edge Markets
July 27, 2022 09:37 UTC
Johor’s economy to keep growing
(pic)He said in 2021, Johor’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew 2.4% to RM131.1bil compared with RM128bil in 2020. “Johor’s main export goods are refined petroleum products (21.9%), integrated electronic circuits (13.6%) and other electrical and electronic products (7.2%),” he said. Meanwhile, he said based on the 2020 Malaysian Census, Johor recorded a population of 4.01 million people with a population growth rate of 2.2% from 2010 to 2020. The total composition of the young generation or youth aged 15 to 40 years is almost half of the total population of Johor which is 45.1%. “The majority of the young people are in Johor Baru district which is 41% followed by Batu Pahat district with 12.7%,” he said.
Source:The Star
July 27, 2022 06:24 UTC
Meraque partners Malaysia Debt Ventures to facilitate global growth
KUALA LUMPUR (July 26): Local drone tech company Meraque Services Sdn Bhd has partnered Malaysia Debt Ventures Bhd (MDV) to facilitate its growth operations and expansion in Malaysia and the ASEAN region. In a statement, it said the collaboration will focus on the agriculture, plantation, infrastructure and telecommunication sectors via MDV’s specialised financing facility. "As such, MDV is consistently working to increase its financing support for high potential technology start-ups such as Meraque to ensure their growth and to enable them to reach their maximum potential," he said. Meanwhile, Meraque Chief Executive Officer Md Razalee Ismail said the potential financing from MDV will be instrumental in Meraque’s effort to increase its drone production to at least 100 drones a year, scaling its operations globally and tripling its revenue in the next three years. “Meraque developed the first Malaysian hybrid spraying drone in 2020 for the purpose of spraying pesticides and fertilisers in local plantation fields," he said.
Source:The Edge Markets
July 27, 2022 03:36 UTC
Bursa ends lower on profit-taking
KUALA LUMPUR (July 26): Bursa Malaysia ended lower on Tuesday (July 26) on persistent profit-taking and lack of market catalysts, a dealer said. At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) fell 5.53 points or 0.38% to 1,463.69 from Monday’s close of 1,469.22. Total turnover widened to 2.41 billion units worth RM1.22 billion from 2.01 billion units worth RM1.12 billion on Monday. Main Market volume improved to 1.63 billion shares worth RM1.02 billion against 1.46 billion shares worth RM1.00 billion on Monday. ACE Market volume increased to 409.45 million shares worth RM135.7 million from 279.55 million shares worth RM75.54 million previously.
Source:The Edge Markets
July 26, 2022 21:45 UTC
Food delivery rider receives online praise for rescuing lost senior
PETALING JAYA: A 24-year-old food delivery rider decided to put his work aside to help a senior citizen go home. Muhammad Khuzaimie Lemat met an elderly woman who was lost on his way to work. In a TikTok video that went viral on the Internet, he said the woman stopped him and asked for his help to send her back home. "I wanted to go to work this morning, but this aunty stopped me and asked for my help to send her back home. Speaking further about her experience, Mohammad Khuzaimie said the senior citizen seemed happy to be able to ride a motorcycle.
Source:The Star
July 26, 2022 21:40 UTC
Shafee & Co discharged from representing Najib in SRC appeal, replaced by Zaid Ibrahim's law firm
KUALA LUMPUR (July 26): Law firm Shafee & Co has been discharged from representing former premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak in his final appeal in the SRC International Sdn Bhd graft case. In a letter to the court sighted by The Edge, the firm said that it will be replaced by law firm Zaid Ibrahim Suflan TH Liew and Partners. On a related note, the High Court on July 21 rejected the former premier's application to have Queen's Counsel Jonathan Laidlaw represent him in his appeal. The Court of Appeal on Dec 8, 2021 upheld the High Court's decision. Read also:Hisyam Teh appointed as Najib’s lead counsel in final SRC appealNajib says new legal team will bring fresh perspectives
Source:The Edge Markets
July 26, 2022 20:34 UTC
Angelina Jolie wins legal case against Brad Pitt over winery where they married
Actress Angelina Jolie has won a legal battle against ex-husband Brad Pitt over the French winery where they got married in 2014. In October 2021, Jolie, 47, sold her stake in the winery to a subsidiary of liquor giant Stoli Group, known for its vodka. This triggered lawsuits in the United States, France and Luxembourg between Pitt, Jolie and their various business partners. In the latest battle, her legal team subpoenaed documents from Pitt, his business manager and his company, Mondo Bongo, which they fought to deny. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie split up in 2016 and their divorce was finalised in 2019.
Source:The Star
July 25, 2022 23:47 UTC
Maybank says services back to normal after MAE, M2U MY apps' slowness
KUALA LUMPUR (July 25): Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank), which reported intermittent slowness on its MAE and M2U MY apps earlier on Monday (July 25), said all of the group's services are now back to normal and that customers may perform their banking transactions across all Maybank platforms. "Kindly be informed that all our services are back to normal and you may perform your banking transactions across our platforms. We thank you for your continued patience and support," Maybank said in an updated Facebook post on Monday. Earlier on Monday, Maybank told customers to perform their banking transactions on the Maybank2u website due to the intermittent slowness on the group's MAE and M2U MY apps. Maybank's latest-reported number of issued shares stood at 11.97 billion, according to Maybank's Bursa Malaysia filing on April 15, 2022.
Source:The Edge Markets
July 25, 2022 08:55 UTC
Google fires software engineer who says he talked to sentient AI
(July 24): Google has fired a software engineer who worked on the company's artificial intelligence (AI) development team over his public contention that he had conversations with a bot that had become "sentient". Google confirmed the firing in a statement, saying the claims from the engineer, Blake Lemoine, were "wholly unfounded" and that he had shared confidential company information with third parties. Lemoine made his claim in an interview with the Washington Post in June, saying that LaMDA, the AI bot he interacted with, was a person. Not long after, Google placed him on paid leave. Google said it has looked into the matter extensively, including 11 reviews of LaMDA.
Source:The Edge Markets
July 24, 2022 11:08 UTC
Russian missiles hit Ukraine port, putting landmark grain deal at risk
It is seen as crucial to curbing soaring global food prices by allowing grain exports to be shipped from Black Sea ports including Odesa. "In the context of what is currently happening with Ukrainian grain, the strike was carried out exactly where the grain is," said Yuriy Ignat, spokesperson for the Ukrainian air force. The cruise missiles were fired from warships in the Black Sea near Crimea, he added. A global food crisis has pushed some 47 million people into "acute hunger," according to the World Food Programme. Moscow has denied responsibility for the food crisis, blaming Western sanctions for slowing its own food and fertiliser exports and Ukraine for mining the approaches to its Black Sea ports.
Source:The Edge Markets
July 24, 2022 09:01 UTC
Covid-19: Those eligible can now book for second booster slot on MySejahtera
PETALING JAYA: Eligible Malaysians can now book appointments for their second Covid-19 booster shot via the MySejahtera application. MySejahtera announced this on July 23 via a tweet, adding that booking links for the second Covid-19 booster shot can be accessed via the app’s vaccination page. It also said that only Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines are given for second booster doses at the moment. ALSO READ: Second booster availableEligible second booster shot recipients will have to update their MySejahtera app to the latest 2.0.3 version, and also their personal information such as date of birth on the app. As of Saturday (July 23), 16,174,395 Malaysians have received their first booster shot while 277,280 have received the second booster shot.
Source:The Star
July 24, 2022 06:31 UTC
Malaysia to be manufacturing hub for Ericsson's 5G equipment in APAC
KUALA LUMPUR (July 23): Malaysia has been selected as a manufacturing hub for 5G telecom equipment in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region, producing Ericsson's latest and most advanced 5G radios beginning from the third quarter of this year. Its president and chief executive officer (CEO) for Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh David Hägerbro said Malaysia will be the first in Southeast Asia to manufacture Ericsson's 5G equipment for domestic and regional markets. "Supporting the decision to make Malaysia a regional manufacturing hub are the availability of a skilled workforce and the strong infrastructure that Malaysia offers. "The collaboration is expected to reach up to 1,200 students in the first year and will enable UTM students to participate and contribute to the country’s digital economy and Industry 4.0 transformation. "In fact, Malaysia's first innovation centre to research and test 5G technology was set up by Ericsson at UTM in 2016," he said.
Source:The Edge Markets
July 23, 2022 23:11 UTC
Aiding the digital transformation journey
AS lifestyles and businesses become increasingly digital, there is one segment that needs support for its digital transformation journey. They are none other than micro small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). In an effort to support this segment, financial technology (fintech) firm Boost has lined up solutions that will aid MSMEs in achieving their digital goals and transformation journey.
Source:The Star
July 23, 2022 22:22 UTC
Cross-border taxi service still popular
DEMAND for cross-border taxi services between Malaysia and Singapore remains encouraging despite an increase in fares on the Singapore side. Another Singaporean taxi driver, Irmanshah Azir, 38, said the last fare hike for the Singapore-Johor Baru taxi service was some 10 years ago. “So far, the number of people taking cross-border taxis is still encouraging, especially among regulars,” he said. He said the association managed cross-border taxi services on the Malaysian side. The taxi fare from Ban San Street Taxi Terminal in Rochor, Singapore to Larkin Sentral Terminal was raised on July 11 from S$12 (RM38.40) to S$15 (RM48) per person.
Source:The Star
July 23, 2022 18:29 UTC
My Say: Sarawak’s green hydrogen plans will take some doing
This was followed by grand plans from various international industry heavyweights to produce green hydrogen on a commercial scale in Sarawak, powered by its massive hydropower resources. This project aims to produce 630,000 tonnes of green ammonia, 460,000 tonnes of green methanol and 7,000 tonnes of green hydrogen per year. Similarly, the H2X-Thales-SEDC hydrogen export facility in Samalaju is expected to produce 970,000 tonnes of green ammonia and 170,000 tonnes of green hydrogen per year, while the Sumimoto-ENEOS-SEDC hydrogen plant in Bintulu is projecting up to 10,000 tonnes of green hydrogen per year. However, calculations show that the projects above require 560,000 tonnes of green hydrogen, which would require well over 4,000 MW. Using green energy to electrolyse water produces green hydrogen with zero carbon emissions.
Source:The Edge Markets
July 23, 2022 15:29 UTC