Living a relatively low-profile life away from the sports scene, Li Peng’s legal career reached great heights that saw her establish her own legal firm. Been there, done that: Ang Li Peng (right) and Lim Pek Siah posing with their 2002 Commonwealth Games gold medals in the women’s doubles. But despite her success, Li Peng never lost sight of her passion for sports, particularly the Olympic movement. Li Peng will be making her Olympic debut in Paris, albeit in a different role compared to her time as a shuttler. “Safeguarding athletes was something I didn’t know much about before, but now I can return to the sporting world in this capacity,” she said.

MOST Malaysians are quite aware about the importance of preserving the environment and the need for sustainability. We’re familiar with climate change but oblivious to how it affects our daily lives. That indifference is about to dramatically change, though. Unpredictable heavy rain and almost neverending heatwaves are now battering us daily, along with an increasing frequency of droughts and floods.

GEORGE TOWN: The government, through the Skill Development Fund Corporation (PTPK), is allocating RM10mil this year for seafarers to improve their knowledge and skills, says Anthony Loke Siew Fook (pic). The Transport Minister said this reflected the government's commitment to improve the skills of seafarers and recognise their sacrifices to the country’s economy. "Interested seafarers can apply through the Malaysian Maritime Professional Association (IKMAL) to benefit from the initiative," he told reporters after opening the Seafarer's Day and Lighthouse Carnival at Straits Quay here on Saturday (June 29). Also present were the Malaysian Marine Department director-general Capt Mohamad Halim Ahmed and Transport Ministry secretary-general Dr Nor Fuad Abdul Hamid. "In our country, not many people are involved in the seafaring profession, with only around 11,000 who are active.

NILAI: The Health Ministry will soon release details of revised standard operating procedures (SOPs) related to COVID-19 as the country transitions to living with the pandemic. Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said the revised SOPs would cover the home surveillance order (HSO), the use of face masks, and the declaration of local areas of infection. "As soon as we have the implementation date, the Director General of Health will release the details to the public. "Consistently for the last decade, one in two Malaysian adults has been overweight, while one in six adults has diabetes. "It is to deal with excessive sugar intake through the War on Sugar initiative that will be launched soon," he said.

KANGAR: The Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry (KPDN) will strictly enforce the order to prohibit repeated sales of diesel and RON95 petrol in an effort to curb smuggling of the fuel to deal with fuel subsidy leakages. KPDN enforcement director-general Datuk Azman Adam said a letter has been sent to all petrol station operators in Perlis regarding the prohibition of the repeated sale of fuel on the same day which will take effect immediately as practised in Kelantan, Bernama reported. “This directive applies to all 39 petrol stations and retail licence holders of diesel and all petrol grades for Perlis,” he told reporters after handing over the Supply Controller’s directive to 39 petrol station owners here yesterday. Azman said that if it is found that the operators of the gas stations are in default and colluding with the party who misappropriated the fuel, they will be subjected to licence suspension or cancellation. He said KPDN officers will also be at petrol stations which are hotspots besides monitoring closed-circuit cameras (CCTV) for reinspection to detect if there is any activity of misappropriation of the subsidised fuel.

ALOR SETAR: The Department of Environment (DOE) Kedah branch has suspended the operations of a factory in Sungai Petani on suspicion of conducting illegal e-waste recovery activities. "The factory's actions have the potential to cause environmental pollution, including the illegal disposal of scheduled waste, air pollution, and water pollution. Action has been taken against the factory under Section 38(1)(a) of the Environmental Quality Act 1974,” she said in a statement on Thursday (June 27). "The case will be investigated under Sections 18(1), 34A(1), and 34B(1) of the Environmental Quality Act 1974. Additionally, the Immigration Department has arrested a woman and nine men, from China and Bangladesh, for various offences under the Immigration Act 1959/1963.

PETALING JAYA: The main contributing factor to rat breeding is abundant food waste, a public health expert has pointed out. However, he said Tokyo, New York, London and Singapore practised very good food waste management and rats were hardly seen on the surface. ALSO READ : Beware of water activities as deadly disease lurks“The rats have to scavenge for food in underground sewage systems over there. These include dogs, cattle, sheep, pigs and horses, but the most important one associated with human infection is the brown rat (rattus norvegicus), he said. ALSO READ : The unseen threat of rat infestation“The risk of contamination increases with increase of reservoir hosts.

PETALING JAYA: Things are looking good for steel company Hiap Teck Venture Bhd (HTVB) as various factors are in play to boost its earnings ahead. Hong Leong Investment Bank Research (HLIB Research), which is maintaining its “buy” call on HTVB with a higher target price of RM0.52, said the company’s brighter earnings prospects are supported by various factors. “We understand that ESSB’s new blast furnace has achieved capacity utilisation of more than 95% (from around 80% in early April). The expanded capacity will boost ESSB’s contribution to HTVB. Through its subsidiaries, HTVB imports, exports and deals in steel products, metal hardware and building materials.

The 2024 World Competitiveness Report (WCR) by the International Institute of Management Development, a Swiss business school, placed Malaysia as the 34th most competitive nation. (Photo: nst.com.my)Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – To improve Malaysia’s competitiveness, the country must double down on efforts to improve productivity, the essence of competitiveness, said scholar John Antony Xavier. The 2024 World Competitiveness Report (WCR) by the International Institute of Management Development, a Swiss business school, placed Malaysia as the 34th most competitive nation, down seven places from the last year's edition. Meanwhile, Singapore has ranked as the world’s most competitive economy, surpassing Switzerland in second place, and Denmark in the third spot. Innovation buttresses productivity improvement and competitiveness, he added./.

There was also the resumption of AirAsia flights from KLIA to Biju Patnaik International Airport (BBI) in Bhubaneswar and China Eastern Airlines to Wuhan Tianhe International Airport (WUH). According to MAHB, the level of passenger traffic in May was an improvement of 2% over 11 million passengers recorded in the previous month, which set a net record volume for the group. In local airports, there were 7.7 million passenger movements, which was a 1% increase over the previous month's 7.6 million passengers. A total of four million international passengers landed in May, which was a 2% increase from 3.9 million passengers in April. There was also a 3% increase in passenger movements at Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen International Airport, bringing the passenger tally to 3.5 million, it added.

KUALA LUMPUR: Kinergy Advancement Bhd 's (KAB) wholly-owned subsidiary KAB Energy Holdings Sdn Bhd has joined hands with state-owned Permodalan Kedah Bhd (PKB) to combine their efforts in implementing renewable energy (RE) projects. In a statement, KAB, a sustainable energy and engineering soliutions specialist, said the collaboration will target synergising the strengths of KAB and PKB in developing various energy generation projects across Malaysia, with a primary focus on the state of Kedah. According to the terms of the memorandum of understanding (MOU), KAB will take on the technical responsibilities of the RE projects while PKB will lead efforts in identifying potential land and assist in obtaining licensing and approvals. "Beyond this MOU lies a vision for accelerated growth aimed at transforming Kedah into a beacon of progress and innovation. "KAB values PKB’s dedication to advancing the state through innovative technologies that prioritise environmental impact reduction alongside achieving energy conservation, stability and resilience in line with Kedah’s sustainable development objectives," said KAB executive deputy chairman cum group managing director Datuk Lai Keng Onn.

KUALA LUMPUR: Seeking a formal membership to join BRICS is certainly the right thing for Malaysia to do as the global landscape changes. But Malaysia’s entry into BRICS would even be more significant as it will hold the Asean chairmanship next year. Certainly, Malaysia will continue to welcome US investments to Malaysia, and would not do anything to harm that friendship. Malaysia, like other countries, cannot ignore the fact that China has the largest gross domestic product (GDP) of the BRICS country. Selection criteria for the New Partner Country Category include good representation and close relations with BRICS members, strong standing in regional and international politics, as well as economy and not imposing any unilateral sanctions on the BRICS members.

PETALING JAYA: More than 3,000 personnel under the Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry will be acting as “price monitors” across the country to prevent profiteering by unscrupulous traders following the recent diesel subsidy rationalisation. The ministry said some 900 of these officers will monitor any trend in price changes or unreasonable price hikes after the government kicked off the targeted diesel subsidy on June 10. A ministry spokesman said the 900 are in addition to over 2,200 personnel from its enforcement division who will go on daily rounds nationwide to carry out price surveillance in response to public complaints. “If consumers find that prices are higher and were raised after the implementation of the targeted diesel subsidy, they can report it to the ministry by providing detailed information. “Such information should include the location of the business premises and the ‘before and after’ prices of the goods.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has climbed nine spots in the 2024 Global Peace Index (GPI), now ranking 10th as one of the world's most peaceful countries this year. According to the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) 2024 GPI, global peacefulness declined by 0.56 per cent this year, marking the fifth consecutive year of deterioration. Malaysia ranked as the third-most peaceful country in the Asia-Pacific region, with New Zealand leading the list followed by Singapore, according to the 2024 Global Peace Index (GPI). Iceland retained its position as the most peaceful country globally, followed by Ireland in second place, Austria in third, New Zealand in fourth, and Singapore in fifth. Conversely, Yemen was identified as the least peaceful country worldwide, alongside Sudan (ranked 162nd), South Sudan (161st), Afghanistan (160th), and Ukraine (159th).

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Highway Authority (LLM) expects the number of vehicles using the North-South Expressway, the Kuala Lumpur-Karak Expressway and the East Coast Expressway (LPT) 1 and LPT2 to increase to 2.52 million in conjunction with the Aidiladha celebration on Monday (June 17). It said in a statement on Saturday (June 15) that all highway concessionaires have been ordered to stop construction and maintenance work involving lane closures from last Wednesday until June 19 to minimise the impact of increased traffic. LLM then added that the highways and all facilities are operating well, especially at the rest and recreation (R&R) area, lay-bys and the toll collection system with additional temporary lanes provided. "The concessionaires are also instructed to provide additional parking facilities and portable toilets at several R&Rs, increase the number of personnel, ensure sufficient water and fuel supply at fuel stations, and activate smart lanes at several locations," it said. Those planning to use the highways can refer to the MyPLUS-TTA application by PLUS Berhad for travel on the North-South Expressway and the Travel Time Proposal (TTA) by Anih Berhad for the KL-Karak Expressway and the East Coast Expressway Phase 1 to plan their journey.