Man terrified after meal at creepy roadside stall
A COLUMN in Mingguan Malaysia titled Seram, featured a person named Salihin who related a terrifying experience upon patronising a roadside stall. The stall was lit up and Salihin, who was the only customer, noticed that it was bare. Later, as Salihin had a smoke outside the restroom, his view veered towards the kitchen, which was behind the stall. The man told Salihin that he must avoid using the road that he had just come from, as there had been scary sightings reported by other travellers. They included sightings of pallbearers with a coffin and a haunted roadside stall!
Source:The Star
March 28, 2022 23:08 UTC
Sabah's east coast dusk to dawn curfew extended to April 10
KOTA KINABALU: The dusk to dawn sea curfew on Sabah's east coast will be extended for another two weeks till April 10, says Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Idris Abdullah. He said residents in the areas involved are not allowed to leave their homes during curfew hours and no one is allowed to enter curfew zones between 6pm to 6am. He said the curfew is still needed to stop criminal elements, including terrorists, who can threaten the safety of locals, tourists on islands and researchers. He said all district police chiefs have been given to the authority to issue permits to fishermen to conduct fishing activities in the areas under curfew. The curfew in the east coast of Sabah was put in place since July 2014 after a spate of kidnappings in the area.
Source:The Star
March 25, 2022 21:36 UTC
QuickCheck: Can cats and dogs see colour?
Verdict:FALSEWhile it is true that if cats and dogs were humans, they would be considered colour blind, this does not mean that they only see the world in black and white. Primates and humans are trichromats, meaning we have fully developed cones that can fully detect red, green and blue. Cats and dogs however, are dichromats, so their eyes are only sensitive to blue and green. How the world is like to them, well you would have to ask a person who has red-green colour blindness as they would be in the same boat as Fluffy. One would imagine the world would also look similar to cats and dogs.
Source:The Star
March 25, 2022 20:52 UTC
Millionaire to billionaire after bet of a lifetime
Otto Toto Sugiri (pic) was already a multimillionaire after selling his company to Indonesia’s largest telecom operator. To ensure data security, the government was planning a law requiring online information to be stored in Indonesia rather than abroad. So Sugiri, along with six partners, founded PT DCI Indonesia, the company that’s become Indonesia’s leader in the field with more than 200 clients. He’s one of the world’s richest people with a fortune estimated at US$2.5bil (RM10.6bil), according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. “I still love eating Gado Gado,” he said in an early March interview from DCI’s data centre in Cibitung, near Jakarta, referring to the traditional roadside dish.
Source:The Star
March 25, 2022 07:02 UTC
Empowering OKU handicraft through online platforms
Market study, in-depth researchIn empowering OKU handicraft, the Social Welfare Department (JKM) also focuses on similar efforts including conducting in-depth study on online platforms before any initiative is undertaken. OKU handicraft products also caught the attention of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob when he officially launched the OKU Day (Persons with Disabilities Day) on Dec 3, 2021. JKM, she said will continue to intensify efforts in promoting OKU handicraft works including collaborating with various parties to create an online platform for the purpose. "The Malaysian Handicraft Development Corporation Development (Kraftangan Malaysia) is welcomed to initiate early discussions on the OKU’s involvement in promoting their handicraft products. ProWell also promotes OKU products through other online platforms such as my@.
Source:The Star
March 20, 2022 02:08 UTC
Pining for a panacea
Topping the list of hindrances is the protracted political instability that has plagued the country since the 2018 general election. While politics isn’t the only reason since there’s also an absence of tech stocks, bickering politicians aren’t helping the cause. The sentiments of foreign investors do matter because foreigners contribute about 40% to Malaysia’s sovereign debt. The word among foreign investors is that certain ministers haven’t even met stakeholders to hear them out. But calling a GE isn’t a panacea either if the result from the poll continues to be fragmented and unconvincing.
Source:The Star
March 19, 2022 23:22 UTC
Borders reopening: Tourism industry players are ready, says Nancy
KUCHING: The Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry (Motac) is confident that tourism industry players are ready to receive foreign tourists when the country's borders reopen come April 1. Its minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri said before the decision to reopen the borders was made, her ministry had held meetings with tourism industry players. "(Yes, I'm sure) the Industry players are ready. Meanwhile, Nancy said to achieve the target of two million tourist arrivals, Motac had formulated various strategies to achieve the goal. "If we only focus on regular tourism, it may be difficult to reach a high number of tourists, so we need to create opportunities for MICE events to help industry players," she said.
Source:The Star
March 19, 2022 09:12 UTC
‘First priority is Covid-19’
KUALA LUMPUR: Stabilising the Covid-19 situation in the country should be prioritised before a general election is held, says Khairy Jamaluddin. “We want to see in the next few months if the reopening results in an increase in Covid-19 infections. “An increase in Covid-19 cases is okay, but we do not want a hike in hospital admissions,” he said. “We do not know if we will have to deal with new Covid-19 variants but this is something the ministry is monitoring. I believe he will also hear the views of the Health Ministry on public health concerns,” he said.
Source:The Star
March 19, 2022 08:09 UTC
Govt studying targeted fuel and cooking oil subsidy mechanism to assist vulnerable groups, says Tengku Zafrul
KUALA LUMPUR (March 10): The government will review the fuel and cooking oil subsidy mechanism, so that it will be more targeted towards aiding and subsidising the vulnerable groups and those who really need help, Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz said. Tengku Zafrul said the current subsidy scheme entails subsidised prices enjoyed by all, regardless of rich or poor. "If the world crude oil price remains above US$100 per barrel, total subsidies for the whole of 2022 are expected to reach RM28 billion compared with RM11 billion for 2021." Tengku Zafrul said consumers currently pay only RM2.05 per litre for RON95 petrol but the actual cost in March had reached RM3.70 per litre. Hence, the increase in subsidy costs needs to be offset by increased revenue and cost savings,” he explained.
Source:The Edge Markets
March 10, 2022 22:04 UTC
Ringgit slightly higher versus US dollar in early trade
KUALA LUMPUR (March 10): The ringgit rebounded to trade slightly higher against the US dollar in the early trading session on Thursday (March 10) on improving risk appetite for the local currency. At 9.08am, the local note was trading at 4.1830/1860 versus the greenback compared with 4.1845/1875 at Wednesday’s close. SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes said lower oil prices provided a ray of hope for risk assets. Meanwhile, the ringgit was traded mostly lower against a basket of major currencies. It fell against the Singapore dollar to 3.0766/0793 from Wednesday’s 3.0739/0766 and declined against the euro to 4.6226/6259 from 4.5912/5945 previously.
Source:The Edge Markets
March 10, 2022 08:06 UTC
Quarantine still required for not fully vaccinated travellers
KUALA LUMPUR: International travellers who are not fully vaccinated will still have to undergo quarantine after April 1, says Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin. “Those who have yet to be fully vaccinated or are not vaccinated at all must be quarantined for five days upon arrival. Khairy said fully vaccinated travellers arriving in the country less than a week before April 1 would still need to undergo mandatory quarantine. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced that Malaysians and international travellers who were fully vaccinated would not need to undergo quarantine upon arrival in the country from April 1 onwards. Fully vaccinated travellers only need to undergo an RT-PCR test two days prior to their departure and an RTK test within 24 hours of their arrival.
Source:The Star
March 10, 2022 06:38 UTC
Malaysia will reopen its borders to international travellers on April 1, says PM
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will reopen its borders to international travellers starting April 1, says Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob on Tuesday (March 8). As for travellers who have not been fully vaccinated, Ismail Sabri said the entry procedures will be explained by Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin on Wednesday (March 9). “As part of our “Transitioning to Endemicity” phase, the government has decided to reopen the country’s borders from April 1. The country’s borders have been shut since March 2020, while entry of foreign workers has been frozen due to the pandemic. Nearly 98% of Malaysia's adult population are fully vaccinated, while more than half have received booster shots.
Source:The Star
March 10, 2022 02:11 UTC
US CBP has seized US$2.5m worth of Malaysian palm oil shipments since February
KUALA LUMPUR (March 9): The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has seized four shipments of Malaysian palm oil in Baltimore since Feb 11 due to information indicating that the commodity was manufactured by forced labour. In a statement on its website on Tuesday (March 8), the US CBP said the palm oil shipments are valued at nearly US$2.5 million (RM10.5 million). The US CBP, however, did not identify the Malaysian company which produced the palmitic acid in its statement. Palmitic acid is palm oil refined into a powder that can be easily incorporated into food, beverages, and skin and health care products. The US CBP said all four shipments of palmitic acid were produced in Malaysia and destined to a processing facility in Delaware.
Source:The Edge Markets
March 09, 2022 23:28 UTC
Malaysia one of JPMorgan’s focus markets, says new country chief
Apart from these, we have a Labuan branch,” she tells The Edge in her first interview since taking the helm of JP Morgan Malaysia in January. “Additionally, Malaysia is a focus country for us globally,” she adds. “There is volatility as well, arising from geopolitical tensions,” Wong says, when asked about capital market opportunities in Malaysia amid that scenario. She points out that, globally, JPMorgan is the biggest underwriter of green and ESG-related bonds. JP Morgan Malaysia took the No 1 spot among foreign banks in terms of investment banking wallet share in the country last year, based on Dealogic rankings.
Source:The Edge Markets
March 09, 2022 02:28 UTC
5G rollout gathers speed on ‘encouraging’ response
He said DNB’s ultra-lean design of the 5G network makes it approximately 15% more energy efficient compared to earlier cellular standards, including 4G LTE. YTL Communications chief executive officer Wing K. Lee said the company had received “very encouraging” response on the 5G network as customers are experiencing excellent speeds and low latency. He added that the network was resilient, performing as expected, and was managed by the state-of-the-art DNB 5G Network Operations Centre (NOC). In a separate statement, Ericsson said DNB’s 5G network will be the world’s first commercial network to apply Ericsson’s dynamic radio resource partitioning (DRP), a 5G radio access network (RAN) slicing solution. “This innovation also allows each MNO to differentiate its offering to consumers on the shared 5G network,” he said.
Source:The Star
March 03, 2022 05:14 UTC