PETALING JAYA: The Health Ministry reported 2,589 new Covid-19 cases on Monday (Dec 20). Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah tweeted that this brought the cumulative infections in the country to 2,721,544. The number of new cases according to states will be shared by the Health Ministry on its CovidNow portal. Article type: free User access status:Join our Telegram channel to get our Evening Alerts and breaking news highlights

KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 20): Current headwinds faced by glove makers are unlikely to dissipate in the near future, with Hong Leong Investment Bank (HLIB) Research expecting the operating environment to remain challenging in the first half of next year (1H22). However, the research firm’s analyst Sophie Chua Siu Li in a note on Monday (Dec 20) said glove makers' strong cash position should help them to navigate through these challenging times and withstanding any impending price war that might come their way. "In our view, glove prices are likely to reach pre-Covid-19 levels by the second quarter of next year,” she said. However, with glove prices slowly approaching pre-Covid-19 levels, she opined that restocking activities could gradually resume in 1H22. “That said, we expect utilisation rates of glove producers to still remain below pre-Covid-19 levels of 80% to 85% in 1H22 due to overall softening of demand,” she said.

In its “Predictions for 2022” released last Friday (Dec 17), energy research and consultancy Wood Mackenzie (WoodMac) said as this year had shown, many of the fundamental trends driving the energy and natural resources industries remain highly resilient even in the face of a global health crisis. “Turning to global oil supply, we forecast an increase of over four million barrels per day for 2022, similar to the projected increase in demand. This means the US, for example, will continue to see distributed solar combined with storage and/or electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure. “And more countries will use distributed solar and energy storage to bring electricity services to disadvantaged communities,” she said. It said for the European majors, the focus of attention and capital investment had largely been on wind and solar.

But the boom times in the steel sector are over. The paralysis that has struck China's mammoth construction industry is triggering a rare contraction in building activity across the country. UNCERTAIN OUTLOOKProperty-related sectors are the single biggest contributor to China's economy, accounting for 28% of GDP in 2021, down from a recent peak of 35% in 2016. A government industry consultancy forecast China's steel demand will slip 0.7% in 2022, following an expected 4.7% decline this year. "Property construction has been the engine of China's economy for over two decades now," said Frederic Neumann, Co-Head of Asian Economics Research at HSBC.

There may be no going back to the five-day week in the office, according to a survey of workers in 25 countries. Both employees and managers found working from home during the pandemic was positive for performance and well-being, a report by the OECD found. The proportion of staff teleworking at least one day a week is expected to be much higher than before the pandemic. “These results suggest that telework is here to stay, especially in countries with high levels of digital preparedness,” researchers said. They also said workers should be protected from too much working from home, which can harm wellbeing and productivity.

PUTRAJAYA (Dec 19): Malaysia and Bangladesh on Sunday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the recruitment of Bangladeshi workers, effective for five years until December 2026. The MOU was signed by Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M Saravanan and Bangladesh's Expatriates' Welfare & Overseas Employment Minister Imran Ahmad here on Sunday. He said the SOPs cover four phases, namely pre-release, upon arrival, after arrival (quarantine), and post-quarantine. In the arrival phase, the foreign workers will only be allowed to come in through one international entrance, namely the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, for air travel. "In the post-quarantine phase, the foreign workers will be taken to their respective work places and undergo health checks by Foreign Workers Medical Examination Monitoring Agency," he said.

KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 19): Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has said Malaysia does not have to wait for Singapore to be involved in the high-speed railway (HSR) project, and mooted the set-up of a private consortium which will be responsible for the entire implementation of the project. "During my time as prime minister, we terminated the agreement with Singapore for the construction of the HSR on the basis of national sovereignty," the Bersatu president said in his speech at the party's annual general meeting. "The HSR agreement previously signed by the Barisan Nasional government had one-sided terms that can be said to violate our national sovereignty. These included Singapore's control over the AssetsCo which would operate the HSR in Malaysia," he said. Without the involvement of Singapore, Malaysia retains full control in the execution of the strategic infrastructure project, allowing the nation to make decisions in its interest without the involvement of foreign parties, Muhyiddin said.

GEORGE TOWN: The Penang government has deployed a disaster relief team to Selangor with 71 people and 15 vehicles to assist flood relief efforts. Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said the Penang Island City Council (MBPP) and Seberang Prai City Council (MBSP) are joining the operation together with the Fire and Rescue Department and Penang Civil Defence Force. "MBPP has dispatched 21 staff members with four chainsaws, two lorries, three hydrostatic transmission lorries and four four-wheel drive vehicles. "MBSP sent 50 staff members with 15 chainsaws, a tailift, two lorries, three vans and a four-wheel drive vehicle. "State authorities who require assistance, whether they are Mala members or not, are urged to contact our secretary.

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob instructs the Social Welfare Department to ensure that every flood victim is being facilitated and receives the assistance channelled to them. In a Facebook post Sunday (Dec 19), Ismail Sabri shared a video of his visit to the temporary relief centre at SK Johan Setia in Klang. "It upsets me to see the many flood victims taking shelter at SK Johan Setia in Klang. "I have asked the Social Welfare Department to ensure that every victim is being facilitated and receives the assistance channelled to them,” he said. In an earlier post, the Prime Minister also shared a video of his visit to the flooded Kg Bukit Lanchong in Putra Heights, Selangor.

Overconfidence can be bad for markets and bad for investors. You just need to look at the recent crash in cryptocurrencies to see what can happen when investors believe they simply cannot lose. Yet the reality is that overconfident investors do not really make for good investors. The truth, as revealed by our new research, is that it could actually be down to the positive bias that investors apply to their memories of past performance. Rather than relying on some rose-­tinted memory of past performance, investors could actively review their trading records with their brokers.

It director, Nurul Ermi Ramli, said they are trying to gather more information, but unfortunately roads to the area are closed. "Perhilitan is trying to get to the video location which is flooded and closed. Nurul Ermi asked the public to beware of the possibility of crocodiles wandering out of the river due to the non-stop rain which has caused flooding in several districts. She warned the public not to take matters into their own hands and to inform Perhilitan if they see a crocodile wandering around. "Don’t panic or provoke the animal because it may react aggressively,” she said after the video appeared on Facebook today.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has now recorded 13 cases of the Covid-19 Omicron variant. This is after the Health Ministry (MOH) confirmed the variant in 11 new imported cases with travel history from five countries. Eight cases are symptomatic but only at Categories 1 and 2, while the other cases are reported as asymptomatic. The 11 cases were part of the 18 samples showing the suspected presence of the Omicron variant announced by Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin last Thursday. Meanwhile, Dr Noor Hisham said the Institute of Medical Research had detected 13 other imported cases showing the presence of the Omicron variant on Friday.

KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 18): Pharmaniaga Bhd said early data from studies shows that the Sinovac vaccine booster shots are 94% effective against the Omicron variant. The studies by Sinovac Biotech Co Ltd involved two strains of the new variant from Hong Kong, it said in a statement on Saturday (Dec 18). Meng was quoted as saying the GMTs of six months after the third dose is higher than the peak of the second dose. “In addition, the studies also showed higher persistence of antibody six months of the booster dose compared to the second dose, indicating a longer duration of protection from Covid-19 and new variants,” Meng said. Pharmaniaga said these scientific studies also are in line with the statement made by Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin on Friday asking all adult Sinovac recipients and those above 60 years old, regardless of their types of vaccines, to take the booster shots by end-February 2022.

KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 18): FGV Holdings Bhd said it has put in place additional safeguards and due diligence measures including a pre-sourcing assessment mechanism to align its recruitment procedures with best practices relating to responsible and ethical recruitment. This is in anticipation of the government’s decision to reopen Malaysia’s borders to new migrant recruits, the group said in a statement in conjunction with International Migrants Day. FGV said it has dedicated efforts and resources to implement various initiatives that aim to further promote and protect the rights of its workers. These include the rolling out of the FGV e-Wallet system that facilitates cashless transactions for payroll and remittance for migrant workers, as well as its additional allocation of RM43 million to further enhance facilities for its workers. Meanwhile, the group has also established 13 clinics in its plantations located in remote areas, approved by the Ministry of Health.

KUALA LUMPUR: Supermax Corp Bhd will be starting construction on the first phase of its new United States-based manufacturing facility in Texas in the first quarter of next year. Supermax gloves factory“When all the four phases are completed, the total installed production capacity would be a whopping 1.6 billion gloves per month, or 19.2 billion gloves per annum,” said Supermax in a statement. Supermax founder and executive chairman Datuk Seri Stanley Thai said the manufacturing capacity from the facility will aid the US in its ability to respond to the current pandemic. “The plant will be equipped with world-class capabilities such as automation, robotic engineering manufacturing with artificial intelligence and industry revolution 4.0,” he said. Tan, CEO of another US-based Supermax subsidiary, Supermax Healthcare Inc, said the facility will be able to cater to at least 10% to 15% of the total annual medical glove imports into the US over the next two to four years.