JAKARTA (Jan 27): Indonesia's Parliament is set to approve President Prabowo Subianto's nephew Thomas Djiwandono as the new central bank deputy governor on Tuesday after he beat out two career central bankers, which raised concerns about Bank Indonesia’s independence. The Parliament is expected to approve Thomas as a new member of the central bank’s board in a vote that is scheduled for 10am (0300 GMT). Thomas’ nomination has sparked investor concerns about the independence of Bank Indonesia (BI), driving the rupiah to a record low of 16,985 per dollar last week. He also emphasised the importance of synergy between the central bank, fiscal policymakers and other authorities to support the country's economic growth. "The law (which regulates) Bank Indonesia's independence is very strong," he said.

Dr Kong noted that standard toilet seats often require a 90-degree knee bend, which can be painful or difficult for seniors. Ng specifically focused on Selangor’s city, municipal and district councils to make their public toilets elderly-friendly by applying universal design principles. Visual contrast for safetyBoth Dr Kong and Nik Mohd Ruiz highlighted the “invisible” challenge of cognitive impairment. Nik Mohd Ruiz says Universal Design (UD) is a fundamental requirement in designing age-friendly public washrooms. “Upgrading public toilets at highway R&R stops could be a collaboration with big brands, for example, washing detergents, so corporations can get involved too,” said Penny.

For EcoCeres Renewable Fuel Sdn Bhd CEO Matti Lievonen, the launch of a SAF plant in Malaysia is strategic to capitalise on this growing market. He noted that, currently, in Asia, countries such as Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, and China areaiming to increase their SAF mandates. Today, Singapore and South Korea’s SAF mandates are only at 1% and are the main regional markets for EcoCeres. “Johor is excellent because we get feedstock from Malaysia and other Southeast Asian countries. Lievonen noted that the feedstock to produce SAF for the Tanjung Langsat plant — such as used cooking oils, animal fats or palm oil — is sourced from Malaysia, Southeast Asia and China, including 350,000 restaurants in China.

GEORGE TOWN: Penang’s iconic silver chariot, which will be on its annual Thaipusam eve journey to the Waterfall temple, is hoping to depart earlier this year. In previous years, the chariot had arrived in Nagarathar Nattukottai Chettiar Temple in Jalan Kebun Bunga well past 2am the next day. The tradition started with a wooden chariot in 1859 for 35 years before the ­seven-metre-tall silver chariot was commissioned in 1894. This year, he said, devotees will also be able to track the chariot’s journey from the Kovil Veedu through an app called “Silver Chariot Penang”. The golden chariot, introduced in 2017, carries the Vel, the sacred spear of Lord Murugan.

PETALING JAYA: More than 2.2 million people have signed up for the Cooking Oil Price Stabilisation Scheme System (eCOSS) app which allows Malaysians to buy the 1kg subsidised packet cooking oil. The eCOSS system records all sales of the subsidised cooking oil from manufacturers and packers, to wholesalers and retail level transactions. “This high adoption rate, supported by over 5,000 participating retailers and supermarkets, ensures that subsidised oil is readily available and monitored effectively across the market. “Yesterday alone, almost 359,000 packets of subsidised cooking oil were bought using the mobile application. There have been leakages and hoarding of cooking oil, especially subsidised cooking oil in packets, due to the absence of a system to track sales.

New appointments have been made to the Parliamentary Special Select Committees (PSSC) to fill seats vacated by MPs appointed as ministers and deputy ministers in last month’s Cabinet reshuffle. Dr Zaliha (PH-Sekijang) will replace Sim Tze Tzin (PH-Bayan Baru), who was appointed Deputy Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry. In the Finance and Economy PSSC, Datuk Seri Hasni Mohammad (BN-Simpang Renggam) will replace Datuk Mohd Shahar Abdullah (BN-Paya Besar), following the latter’s appointment as Deputy Economy Minister. In the Security PSSC, Jimmy Puah (PH-Tebrau) takes over from Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh (Ledang MP), who is now Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability. Additionally, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Federal Territories) Datuk Lo Su Fui (GRS-Tawau) has been replaced by Datuk Matbali Musah in the House Committee and by Datuk Jonathan Yassin (GRS-Ranau) in the Finance and Economy PSSC.

Known affectionately as Kang Kang by his teachers and classmates, the boy is often filmed wearing the green uniform and headgear. I simply wanted to celebrate my son’s growth and multiculturalism,” Chan said, likening her decision to non-Chinese parents sending their children to Chinese vernacular schools. She emphasised that her son was not taught religious lessons due to his age and the teachers were respectful of different religious backgrounds. “Kang Kang can now count from one to 10 in Malay, sing Malay songs and understand simple words,” Chan said. I hope Malaysians of all races can respect personal choices and work towards a more harmonious and caring society,” she said.

KULAI: The implementation of a minimum age limit of 16 for social media use, aimed at protecting children and adolescents from exploitation and exposure to inappropriate online content, is expected to be enforced as early as July. She said the measure is being carried out in line with the Online Safety Act (OnSA), with discussions already underway with social media platform providers to determine the most suitable approach. We are now in the regulatory sandbox stage to identify the best, most effective and safest way to conduct age verification. The government is reportedly targeting all social media platforms to implement digital user identity verification (eKYC) by the end of the second quarter of 2026 to enforce the minimum age requirement for account registration. Teo, who is the Kulai Member of Parliament, said 586,153 students received assistance, involving a total allocation of RM87.9mil in Johor.

(Jan 27) : Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the UK wouldn’t have to choose between the US and China, as he heralded “significant opportunities” for British businesses ahead of his trip to Beijing this week. In an interview with Bloomberg on Monday, Starmer dismissed questions about whether he was seeking stronger ties with China at the expense of the UK’s relationship with its closest allies. Starmer insisted the UK could meet President Xi Jinping without angering Trump or harming relations with the US, rejecting the idea he’d have to make trade-offs in his approach to the two countries. The UK had $93 billion in trade with with China in 2024, compared to $141 billion with the US. Starmer says he will raise such concerns when he meets with Chinese leaders including President Xi Jinping this week, but he’s clearly prioritizing the economic relationship.

KOTA BARU: Police have confirmed the discovery of a metal object believed to be a bomb at an oil palm plantation owned by Hidayah Yakin Sdn Bhd in Gua Ikan, Kuala Krai on Monday (Jan 26) afternoon. Kuala Krai OCPD Supt Mazlan Mamat said that the Dabong police station received information from the public regarding the discovery at 12.28pm and following the report, a police team was dispatched to the location so as to secure the area. He added that the Bomb Disposal Unit from the Kelantan police contingent headquarters was also on-site to conduct an initial investigation, and the scene was completely cordoned off from the public. "Investigations revealed that the object was an aerial 'air-drop' bomb measuring approximately 58cm in length. "Disposal was successfully carried out at 5.56pm today at the same location without any damage to public property or loss of life," he said in a statement Monday.

“According to the Federal Government Financial Statements, commitments for tax refunds have increased sharply from RM14.6bil to RM33.3bil (in 2024). "Based on this trend, outstanding tax refunds for 2025 are very likely to be significantly higher,” said Rafizi (PH-Pandan) when debating the motion of thanks on the Royal Address in the Dewan Rakyat on Monday (Jan 26). "The question, therefore, is why taxes that were over-collected have not been returned to the public and to companies? He said the government has talked about having strong fiscal discipline, controlling expenditure, reducing corruption and successfully reducing our fiscal deficit year by year. "If these refunds were properly accounted for, the actual fiscal deficit for 2024 would be estimated at between 5.8% and 6%, compared with the 4.1% figure presented.

KUALA LUMPUR: His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia, was warmly welcomed by Russian President Vladimir Putin at Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, in a meeting that reflects Russia's highest appreciation towards the friendly ties between both countries. Established in 1755, the Hermitage Museum is among the largest and oldest art and cultural museums in the world, housing more than three million works of art and valuable artefacts. "His Majesty also graciously spent time, accompanied by President Putin, viewing part of the museum's historic collections and world-class artworks on display. In August last year, Sultan Ibrahim graciously travelled to Moscow for a state visit, making history as the first Malaysian head of state to undertake a state visit to the Russian Federation since diplomatic relations were established in 1967. His Majesty also graciously visited Kazan, Tatarstan, last year as part of efforts to strengthen friendship and cooperation between the two countries.

The Maia 200 chip, which is being produced by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), is making its way to Microsoft data centres in Iowa, with deployments headed to the Phoenix area next. The chips will also be used to power the Copilot assistant for businesses and AI models, including OpenAI’s latest, that Microsoft rents to cloud customers. Microsoft’s chip push started years after Amazon.com Inc and Alphabet Inc’s Google began designing their own chips. The high costs and short supply of the latest industry-leading chips from Nvidia has fuelled a scramble to find alternative sources of computing power. Microsoft says its chip delivers better performance on some AI tasks than comparable semiconductors from Google and Amazon Web Services.

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 27): The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has frozen 16 bank accounts involving RM10.2 million and seized RM87,000 in cash, vehicles and jewellery worth RM220,000 on Jan 20 under Op Nature, a joint operation by the Selangor MACC and Negeri Sembilan MACC. According to an MACC source, a company director being investigated by the MACC has also been remanded from Monday till Jan 30. “Meanwhile, the Negeri Sembilan MACC has also remanded four individuals, including a senior [Environment Department] officer on Tuesday (Jan 20) till today (Jan 26),” the source said, adding that the remands were part of an investigation into e-waste factories and the illegal disposal of scheduled waste. Meanwhile, MACC chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki confirmed that investigations were ongoing under Section 16 of the MACC Act 2009 and did not deny the possibility of further arrests.

NEW DELHI (Jan 27): Three Malaysian fugitives, who are alleged members of a crime syndicate, are awaiting their handover to the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) after being arrested on Sunday at Mumbai airport. The trio were taken into custody after an altercation with security personnel at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) following their deportation from Britain. The fugitives were among the suspects targeted by PDRM in an anti-crime crackdown last year known as "Op Jack Sparrow". They turned violent and confronted Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel at the airport's Terminal 2, according to local media reports on Monday. The NDTV reported that a special team of Malaysian elite police was expected to arrive in Mumbai within the next 48 hours to take them into custody.