BCorp shares more details of strategic plan
KUALA LUMPUR: More interesting details of Berjaya Corp Bhd’s (BCorp) three-year strategic plan have been unveiled after the ambitious plan fell short of investor expectations last month. Abdul Jalil said the group has not set a timeline for the privatisation of BLand but he hoped to do it “soon than later” and relist it later. Besides that, Abdul Jalil pointed out that the group plans to sell BToto because it is a highly regulated business. Overall, Abdul Jalil said the group’s transformation plan also included performance monitoring of its subsidiaries. BCorp’s shares hit a high of 34.5 sen on June 16 after the transformation plan was announced.
Source:The Star
July 15, 2021 22:52 UTC
DPM warns owners of factories and businesses not to challenge Govt directives
KUALA LUMPUR (July 15): Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob today issued a stern warning to owners of factories and businesses that continue to violate standard operating procedures (SOPs) of the National Recovery Plan (PPN). In a Facebook posting, he said 180 factories and business premises were ordered to close yesterday (July 14) for failing to comply with the directives and SOPs. “Don’t challenge the government's directives, this is my warning to factories and business premises that are still defiant by violating SOPs. If the rakyat can be patient, why are there still parties being stubborn and who keep being the main contributors? “I am very appreciative of netizens, residents and the people who constantly provide the authorities information on this greedy lot,” he said.
Source:The Edge Markets
July 15, 2021 17:15 UTC
Building Trusted, Secure and Ethical Digital Environment for Malaysian SMEs
Digital Economy Blueprint (MyDIGITAL) specifically sets out to map the importance of cybersecurity, listing it under one of the six main thrusts of the blueprint; to build trusted, secure and ethical digital environment. SMEs contribute a large percentage to our overall GDP, 38.9 percent in 2019 while the digital economy contributed 19.1 percent in the same period. Cybersecurity adoption for SMEs and as a whole, is no longer an option but a necessity. With the vast growing digital economy, cyberattacks will multiply with higher business impact. To learn more of the MATRIX Cybersecurity for SMEs, go to: http://mdec.my/matrix or view the introductory video here: https://youtu.be/OdiJCYWoU88
Source:The Edge Markets
July 15, 2021 15:56 UTC
Nazri's posts on wife's IG gaining traction on social media
"So tell me why do I need my own social media and 'faking' everything about me," he said. However, Nazri's rants did not bode well with social media users, with many criticising that his trip came at a time when the country is battling its worst Covid-19 battle. Earlier this month, Haflin also took to social media to defend their decision to enrol their child in a school in France. Previously, he said he would return to Malaysia immediately after the dates of the upcoming Parliament session are announced. The upcoming Parliament session will run for a special five-day session beginning July 26, for 15 days beginning Sept 6 and 32 days beginning Oct 25.
Source:The Star
July 15, 2021 12:00 UTC
'X-Files' actress Gillian Anderson is done wearing bras: 'It's uncomfortable'
British-US actress Gillian Anderson admitted that she doesn’t wear a bra anymore. “I don’t wear a bra anymore. I’m sorry,” said the actress who has starred in series like The X-Files, The Crown and The Fall. 17 months isolation/working from home, then retirement... Gillian is absolutely correct, bras are a torture device! On the question how Anderson is preparing for this latest role, she answered: “Reading as much as I can.
Source:The Star
July 15, 2021 12:00 UTC
Nexgram's quarantine management system for inbound travellers officially online
KUALA LUMPUR (July 15): Nexgram Holdings Bhd has received Putrajaya's nod for its digital system TracAPM to be commissioned as the official digital system for the quarantine management of inbound travellers. In a statement today, Nexgram said the services include travellers' quarantine management at all international borders, quarantine station management, and quarantine transport management. "TracAPM official travel pass SafeTravelPass provides Covid-19 quarantine entry registration and quarantine station payment for all travellers coming into Malaysia," Nexgram said. Its functions include tracking travellers' movements at quarantine stations in real time, assisting in overall workflow, and monitoring travellers' check-in and check-out at quarantine centres. It also ties with the digital travel pass system dubbed SafeTravelPass, which Nexgram said is coherent with international digital travel passes registered with OnepassWorld.
Source:The Edge Markets
July 15, 2021 11:26 UTC
Selangor’s ego during Covid-19 pandemic detrimental to recovery
For example, Selangor has been adamant on developing its own tracking and pandemic management system - SELangkah - even though MySejahtera is commonly used in other states. For vaccinations as well, Selangor created SelVax for its people instead of via MySejahtera. In other words, Selangor is doing everything differently, and then blaming the federal government when things fail. Previously, Selangor Public Health Committee chairman Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud had also apologised to National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme coordinating minister Khairy Jamaluddin in a dispute over vaccine supplies. Hence, I urge the Selangor government to cooperate more with the federal government in terms of fighting the Covid-19 pandemic.
Source:The Star
July 15, 2021 10:44 UTC
Sarawak to allow dine-ins from Friday (July 16)
KUCHING: Sarawak has decided to allow dine-ins starting Friday (July 16) after revising the standard operating procedures for eateries under Phase Two of the National Recovery Plan. The committee previously announced on Tuesday (July 13) that dine-ins were put on hold, subject to a review of the SOP after the Delta Covid-19 variant was detected in the state. Sarawak entered Phase Two of the NRP on Wednesday (July 14). Meanwhile, Sarawak reported 363 new Covid-19 cases and four fatalities on Thursday to take the cumulative tally to 70,228, with a death toll of 443. The others were a 78-year-old man who died at Sibu Hospital and a 71-year-old woman who died at the Sarawak General Hospital here.
Source:The Star
July 15, 2021 10:18 UTC
Sri Ram says AG's May 21 letter should dispel doubts over his senior DPP appointment in Rosmah case
Sri Ram said the letter issued by Idrus is in addition to the July 8, 2020 letter issued by Idrus to him. Those two letters, Sri Ram said, should be read in context to that effect. “My appointment was made under Section 376 (3) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC), which does not require an appointment letter or fiat is produced. “If that is the case as Sri Ram claims, then Idrus himself should have affirmed the affidavit but he did not,” the senior lawyer said. “Why did he (Sri Ram) produce a letter at the 1MDB trial and not here?
Source:The Edge Markets
July 15, 2021 09:39 UTC
Abdul Jalil: Berjaya Corp plans hospitality REIT
KUALA LUMPUR: Berjaya Corporation Bhd (BCorp) is eyeing to establish a hospitality real estate investment trust (REIT) in the long run, which focuses only on five-star hotels owned by the group instead of those it operates, said group chief executive officer (CEO) Abdul Jalil Abdul Rasheed.Abdul Jalil, who was appointed as group CEO in March this year, said the operating model of the group’s hospitality division is now gradually shifting to owner model rather than an operator model. "Today, we own a hotel, we also run it under Berjaya’s brand, but over time, that could no longer exist, where we will just become purely owner, like what we have done with Four Seasons Hotel in Kyoto, Japan, where we own the property, but we get an international, expert operator to run it. "The idea is that, for our hospitality segment over the long term, we would love to have a hospitality REIT, which owns just five-star hotels, not operated by us, just owned by us,” he said this during the MIDF Conversations webinar here, today.He said the group’s hospitality division is slowly exiting markets like China and Vietnam and shifting its focus on five-star business in places like Japan. "We have put those properties for sale as for geopolitical prospective, we felt that we are no longer competitive,” he said, adding that the pandemic has made the company realised that it needs to be very focused, especially in the hospitality division.On the group’s three-year strategic plan (2021-2024) to reduce its debt to RM2.5 billion from RM5 billion at present, Abdul Jalil said the group would continue selling its non-core assets and would not acquire any assets for now. "I do tell Tan Sri Vincent Tan that we do not want to do any more deals (for now), and we are just going to focus on selling, and be very, very good at a few things that we are doing rather than be good at everything,” he said.
Source:The Star
July 15, 2021 09:27 UTC
Cycling-Tour's Bahrain Victorious targeted by doping investigation
PAU, France (Reuters) -French prosecutors have opened a preliminary investigation into doping allegations against Tour de France cycling team Bahrain Victorious after police searched the outfit's accommodation and bus on Wednesday following the 17th stage of the race. Bahrain Victorious said in an earlier statement: "On the eve of Stage 18 of (the) Tour de France, Team Bahrain Victorious were subject to an investigation by French Police. "The team were monitored by a number of officers following their arrival after stage 17 to the team hotel in Pau. "The investigation involved a search of riders’ rooms as part of the process. Bahrain Victorious have won two stages on this year's Tour de France through Mohoric and Belgian Dylan Teuns, while Dutchman Wout Poels leads the mountains classification.
Source:The Star
July 15, 2021 09:22 UTC
Consortium Zenith best among eight bidders for RM6.3bil project, court hears
KUALA LUMPUR: A former Penang exco member said that Consortium Zenith Beijing Urban Construction Group Sdn Bhd (CZBUCG) received the highest assessment scores of all shortlisted developers for a RM6.3bil project in Penang in the open tender process. "This decision was later brought to the state exco meeting for approval," he told the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court on Thursday (July 15). Hock Seng said then Penang state secretary Datuk Seri Farizan Darus presented the decision at a state exco meeting on Jan 30, 2013 to consider CZBUCG's appointment for the project. The other seven making bids were China State Construction Engineering Corp Ltd & VST Cemerlang Sdn Bhd, Setia Precast Bhd, ECK Construction Sdn Bhd, Gamuda Bhd, Zambina Wawasan Sdn Bhd, IJM-CRGL Joint Ventures and WCT-Daewoo Joint Ventures. Guan Eng, 60, is facing four corruption charges involving the construction of an undersea tunnel and paired roads project in Penang.
Source:The Star
July 15, 2021 09:11 UTC
Muhammad Yusoff files civil suit against Anwar over alleged sexual misconduct incident
PETALING JAYA: Muhammad Yusoff Rawther has filed a civil suit in the KL High Court against Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim over an alleged sexual misconduct incident in 2018. Muhammad Yusoff is also seeking compensation of RM180 per session of therapy, exemplary damages, court costs, 5% per annum interest on any possible judgement sum and other miscellaneous costs or damages. In Jan 14, 2020, the Attorney General's Chambers announced it had decided not to prosecute anyone in the case involving Muhammad Yusoff and Anwar due to insufficient evidence and contradiction of material facts. "We also found there is insufficient evidence to prosecute on these reports lodged based on the evidence available in the investigation papers. In November 2019, Muhammad Yusoff also filed a statutory declaration alleging that Anwar had outraged his modesty on Oct 2, 2018 at the latter's home.
Source:The Star
July 15, 2021 07:07 UTC
#FreeBritney: online army rallies behind ‘silenced’ Spears
But the pair grew increasingly intrigued – and concerned – by the legal conservatorship that Spears had been under since 2008. “The podcast organically started to transform into more of an investigative podcast,” Barker said, ahead of the latest court hearing over Spears’s conservatorship in Los Angeles on July 14. Increasingly they worried that she had been “silenced” under the conservatorship, unable to speak out about how unhappy she really was. While local fans have staged protests outside the courthouse, the online campaign spans globally, from Britain to the Philippines. VindicationFor fans, the fact that Spears’s conservatorship has now captured public attention is vindication of their efforts to raise the alarm – in some cases, for years.
Source:The Star
July 15, 2021 06:56 UTC
Cover Story: Unlocking asset value in a pandemic
Persistent lockdowns and weak market sentiment have prompted a delay in the flotation of IGB Commercial REIT units, the announcement of which was made last Friday evening. At the same time, the selling shareholders and the manager have proposed to slash the institutional offering to at least 130 million units from 282 million units, thus lowering the minimum public unitholding spread from 25% to 20%. To demonstrate confidence in the REIT, he says IGB will still own a stake of over 56% in IGB Commercial REIT post-listing. As at June, IGB Commercial REIT’s average occupancy rate stood at 73.4% against 76.3% in 2020. To facilitate future capital-raising activities, IGB Commercial REIT has established a RM5 billion medium-term note programme.
Source:The Edge Markets
July 15, 2021 06:00 UTC