ASEAN must utilise own mechanisms to mitigate AUKUS and protect its interest
Gilang Kembara, a Researcher at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Indonesia’s capital of Jakarta told Bernama, hence, its implications is not limited to this region or South China Sea only. “We (ASEAN) certainly do not invite conflict, and we don’t see the necessity or benefit from such conflict,” said Gilang. With the latest participation of the UK as ASEAN’s new dialogue partner, such mechanisms can be used to help ease tensions. The UK became ASEAN’s 11th dialogue partner on Aug 4 this year, ending the association’s 25-year moratorium on new dialogue partners. When asked about the possibility of ASEAN playing the role of mediator in solving the AUKUS alliance issue, Gilang said this would be best determined through the ASEAN chairmanship.
Source:The Edge Markets
October 03, 2021 01:52 UTC
The judiciary and the people
Hence, the judiciary bears the responsibility of protecting the citizens from the oppression or abuse of power by little Napoleons. The fact that the chief of the judiciary has taken steps to ensure that the Constitu-tional guarantees of the citizens are safeguarded is significant. Such initiatives increase the public’s confidence in the judiciary with the reminder that the courts are indeed the last bastion of justice for the ordinary citizen. In ways like these, among others, the judiciary helps to develop the law and protect Constitutional guarantees. In this sense, therefore, it is also the judiciary that helps to maintain the dignity of the ordinary citizen when he or she is oppressed or wronged.
Source:The Star
October 03, 2021 00:33 UTC
Looking beyond current struggles
COVID-19 has pushed the finances of many into critical straits with employment losses, salary cuts and uncertain job security. With my current pay I could just about cover my commitments, but if there is another lockdown I won’t be able to do that,” she laments. “I’ve had a full time job for more than 10 years, but I was shocked to see my EPF balance. Since she will not have a salary for the foreseeable future, Wati took the initiative to have an open discussion with her husband about finances. After things settle down and she is able to work again, Wati plans to pay extra attention to her retirement savings.
Source:The Star
October 03, 2021 00:32 UTC
Recoup, restructure and secure your finances
Nevertheless, there is still opportunity to recoup, restructure and get back on track to secure sufficient savings for the future, says financial planner Dr Desmond Chong. It is then important to know what your shortfall is,” says Chong, who is also a certified financial trainer. However, this is not a long-term solution and Chong advises people in this predicament to give themselves six months to recalibrate their finances. Ideally when planning retirement savings, one should always ensure that one has surplus savings. Depending on EPF alone as a retirement savings pot is not enough, says Chong, adding that investment planning requires two or more resources for a secure future.
Source:The Star
October 03, 2021 00:29 UTC
Enlarge the pie for all
Generally, when we talk about logistics, it involves freight transportation, freight forwarding, warehousing, small package delivery services and value-added logistics. So, when the numbers are viewed on the surface, we assume that e-hailing and e-commerce must be in the same pie. A strong and competitive logistics sector will benefit the country and its people if we take a broader view of the gains. The decline in supply, consumption, investment and trade will have a severe impact on the logistics sector, coupled with huge financial losses. So, contrary to ill-informed comments, the logistics sector isn’t making a killing.
Source:The Star
October 03, 2021 00:22 UTC
It’s about passion
It’s a passion. With passion, everything will be an adventurous and exciting experience. For instance, my mother was a Bahasa Melayu subject teacher before she taught early childhood education. If I don’t get my chosen subject posting, I would still take what I am offered as education is a lifelong journey. We were exposed to the foundations of education, education philosophy, and subjects pertaining to the Malaysian education system throughout our study.
Source:The Star
October 03, 2021 00:22 UTC
Media literacy campaign strikes gold
THE Media Education 4 All (ME4A) programme by Arus Academy has won the Asian Digital Media Award for Best Project on News Literacy. Launched earlier this year, the programme is aimed at equipping educators with the ability to teach media literacy skills to students from across the country. To achieve this, the academy worked with 15 specially-selected Malaysian educators and 12 media professionals to develop Media Education Academy (MEA), a free online course which has recorded an enrolment of over 1,700 educators since its launch on Sept 3. Arus Academy co-founder David Chak said the urgency of imparting media literacy education is increasing by the day with the dawn of the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as the looming elections. The ME4A programme bagged gold, edging out a project by Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) which came in second.
Source:The Star
October 03, 2021 00:11 UTC
Humans can theoretically live forever, but it's a coin toss after 110
Humans can probably live to at least 130, and possibly well beyond, though the chances of reaching such super old age remain vanishingly small, according to new research. “But this study strengthens those conclusions and makes them more precise because more data are now available,” Prof Davison said. Still, just because humans can theoretically reach 130 or beyond, doesn’t mean we’re likely to see it anytime soon. For now, the oldest person on record is Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment, who died in 1997 at the confirmed age of 122. Other pretenders to the throne of oldest person ever have a long way to go.
Source:The Star
October 03, 2021 00:00 UTC
Couple of major caddie announcements
THERE were a couple of rather significant announcements in the world of caddies – pertaining to Justin Thomas and Bubba Watson. NBC Sports and Golf Channel on-course reporter Jim ‘Bones’ Mackay told Golf Channel this week that he was returning to caddie full time for Thomas, one of the stars of the triumphant US Ryder Cup team last week. He caddied for the world number six when Thomas’ regular caddie, Jimmy Johnson, was sidelined by injury at the 2018 Sony Open. He was Thomas’ caddie since his rookie season in 2015. This partnership, which lasted 15 years saw them win 12 PGA Tour titles together, including two Major championship titles – both Masters Green Jackets.
Source:The Star
October 02, 2021 23:44 UTC
86.8% of adults fully vaccinated
KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 20,317,843 individuals or 86.8% of the adult population in the country have completed their Covid-19 vaccination. Based on the Health Ministry’s data on the CovidNow portal, 3.2% more is required to achieve the 90% adult vaccination rate. A total of 237,245 doses of the vaccine were dispensed on Friday with 103,021 as first dose and 134,224 as second dose, bringing the total number of vaccine doses dispensed under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme to 43,933,988. A total of 121 deaths due to Covid-19 were reported on Friday, with 28 of them brought-in-dead, bringing the total death due to the virus in the country to 26,456. On the total death reported on Friday, only 83 cases were the actual deaths reported for the day while the rest were backlog cases.
Source:The Star
October 02, 2021 23:29 UTC
Pang Ron-Yee See reconfirm potential as future world beaters
PETALING JAYA: Have the mixed doubles combination of Hoo Pang Ron-Cheah Yee See finally come of age? 27’s exploits in the Sudirman Cup are of any indication, it looks like they are well on their way to becoming world beaters soon. First-timers Pang Ron-Yee See stayed cool under pressure to stun world No. Prior to this week’s amazing run in Vantaa, Finland, Pang Ron-Yee See had showed glimpses of their potential early this year when they beat world No. In that period, we won the Russian Open and reached three semi-finals (Korean Open, Macau Open and Vietnam Open), and were placed at a career-best No.
Source:The Star
October 02, 2021 23:26 UTC
‘Have faith in our doctors’
PETALING JAYA: Please have faith that our doctors are doing their best to save everyone during this pandemic, regardless of age or social background, says MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head Datuk Seri Michael Chong. He made the appeal following the deaths of his childhood friend Pu Liong, 75, and Pu’s wife a week earlier. “My friend Pu and his wife had been hospitalised since Sept 11 after testing positive for Covid-19,” he said. Unfortunately, Pu’s 80-year-old wife died at Hospital Sungai Buloh on Sept 26 while Pu passed away yesterday morning. Chong said he was aware that many, including close family members, had the idea that doctors chose to put more focus on treating younger and stronger patients, compared to weaker and older ones.
Source:The Star
October 02, 2021 23:26 UTC
Stop China if you can as defending champs cruise into 14th straight final
PETALING JAYA: China seem to be unstoppable as they are just one step away from winning their 12th Sudirman Cup title. The mighty Chinese side had earlier taken a 2-0 lead thanks to their Olympics mixed doubles gold medallists Wang Yilyu-Huang Dongping and former All-England champion Shi Yuqi in the men’s singles. Yilyu-Dongping easily disposed of scratch pair Seo Seung-jae-Shin Sheung-chan 21-14, 21-15 while Yuqi snapped a two-match winless run by overcoming Heo Kwang-hee 17-21, 21-9, 21-11. China will face the winners of the tie between Malaysia and second seeds Japan in today’s final (6pm, Malaysian time). SEMI-FINAL RESULTChina bt South Korea 3-0 (Wang Yilyu-Huang Dongping bt Seo Seung-jae-Shin Sheung-chan 21-14, 21-15; Shi Yuqi bt Heo Kwang-hee 17-21, 21-9, 21-11; Chen Yufei bt An Se-young 21-14, 15-21, 21-15)
Source:The Star
October 02, 2021 23:21 UTC
It’s your call, parents
It is understandable that some parents, and even the students themselves, are anxious about the Education Ministry’s move to reopen schools especially with the highly contagious Delta variant of Covid-19 loose in the population. The Education Ministry must be transparent in making this information available so that parents can decide whether to send their children to school. It is entirely up to parents if they want their children to continue with PdPR. It is not wrong for parents to refuse to send their children to school if they feel that it is unsafe. What is not right is to deny parents the option of making that choice.
Source:The Star
October 02, 2021 23:15 UTC
Another special court needed
KUALA LUMPUR: An additional Special Criminal Court on Sexual Crimes Against Children (JSKK) is necessary to deal with the high number of cases in the states, says Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said. The chairman of the Special Select Committee on Women and Children Affairs and Social Development said she requested a courtesy call to the Chief Justice to discuss this for a solution. The decision was made at the third meeting of the special select committee recently. The meeting, she said, also agreed to involve members of the special select committee as observers in JMKRT. “For the next meeting, the special select committee has proposed to also invite non-governmental organisations and other stakeholders,” she added.
Source:The Star
October 02, 2021 23:15 UTC