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PKR’s next 25 years

1 d ago

Steering Through Storms: How RCEP Powers Malaysia’s Economy Amid Middle Eastern Crises

2 d ago

The need for Clarity on Emissions for PLCs

5 d ago

Earth Day Reflection: Humankind at the Crossroads

1 w ago

South Korea’s foreign policy after the ruling party’s crushing defeat

2 w ago

Rebuilding a “Broken” Rome will take more than a day!

2 w ago

Schools And Toilet Cleanliness

Arriving early at SMK Permata last Friday morning, I was ushered by teacher Bhavani into a hall full of Form 4 and Form 5 students, with boys neatly seated on one side, and girls on the other. After being introduced to them, thus began my event as a guest motivational and inspirational speaker to these young minds. I surveyed with questions like “What will you do after your SPM exams?”, “Do you know what to do?”, and “Who influenced you, and what are your existing skill sets?” After they had answered these questions, I started my session on “Why must a student focus in life”, a topic I thought was most critical for the 5th Formers. I selected six students to appear on stage and was most impressed with their answers. Many of the students planned to pursue careers in business, with emphasis on their good language and people skills being their motivating factors. I then asked, “How many of you make your beds in the morning?” A few acknowledged while the majority stayed silent. I then moved on to my favourite topic with the question “Who among you washes the toilet at home? Do you leave the toilet clean for the next person?” There was pin-drop silence among my audience. Why have the sad and shameful conditions of our school toilets remained the same? From my school days till today, government school toilets have been an issue of horror, shame and disgust. The current levels of health hazards placed by their conditions are just unimaginable. The issue of toilets is what I want to emphasise among my readers. 1. Ignorance: The way the school toilet issue has been handled all these years is similar to ignoring an elephant in the room. This is an issue that has been discussed repeatedly in forums either via online media or letters to the editor, among all parents in the Parent Teacher Association (PTA / PIBG), but never in our Parliament. The Minister of Education (MOE) must address this matter as it is of grave concern towards our children’s well-being and health, as well as holding up the status of an educational institution. Such ignorance is inexcusable, and we see this not only within the school toilets, but also several eateries and public lavatories in almost every part of the country. If we do not educate our children from young on how to care for the cleanliness of the toilet at home, it is for certain they will not have this understanding be it in school or anywhere else. 2. Early Education: Japanese children are often taught about cleanliness and hygiene in preschool and early elementary school. The MOE should look upon the Japanese concept and make it compulsory to ensure every child is trained to keep the toilet and surroundings clean, starting from preschool and continuing till the child leaves school. Every school principal must be held responsible for the cleanliness of the toilets, ensure that the cleaners are doing their job […]

2 w ago

The World Demands A Reformed United Nations Now !

Of all the institutions and agencies of the League of Nations to have survived the ghastly end of World War I in 1919, only the International Labor Organization (ILO) could prove itself worthy of being retained. On issues verging on international peace and security, not excluding international humanitarian laws, even genocide —- of which one is in motion in Gaza —- although the world has witnessed others in Myanmar, Darfur, Rwanda and countless others before, the United Nations Security Council is rendered hapless. Why ? As and when a binding resolution has to be passed by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), the veto power of the five permanent members in the UNSC have been wielded time and again to protect their crony states, even when they are actively pursuing a policy of wiping out either partially or in whole, another population —- ethnic cleansing. The hot button issue of today is Gaza. The problem is it has been triggering countless terror stricken campaigns, as things stand, verging on the likes of Israel, bombing 1.7 million more Gazans, all of whom are concentrated in Rafah. Since the verdict of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on January 26, 2024, which the judges voted by 14 to 2, that Israel is involved in a plausible genocide and the United States being complicitous, the situation has gone from bad to worse. It was none other than former UN Ambassador of US during the Obama Administration, who has had to admit, what the world has long known, indeed, opposed, that Gaza is facing a triple assault of a no holds barred arms assault from the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), deliberate choking off of at least 500 food trucks that are needed to keep the victims well fed and now mass starvation. Malaysia has spoken of the strategic and moral necessity of reforming the UNSC. Instead of allowing each of the five permanent members, therein, China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the US from wielding their veto to protect their allies that have gone rogue in murdering tens of thousands without even wanting to countenance a second “ceasefire,” such a formula be permanently altered in these forms. First and foremost, for a veto to work more effectively, to prevent an issue from degenerating into the worst specter of a killing spree by one state against the other, at least three vetoes are needed by the five permanent members to block the UNSC resolution. Secondly, the UN General Assembly, a simple majority from the 197 member states is also needed to approve of what the UNSC had approved of. Without these immediate reforms, the world will be careening to more and more disasters as a genocide fought like a blood feud of Tel Aviv against the Palestinians to have all of them dispossessed of their identity and their rights to have their own separate state, would continue unabated to leave cross generational scars. By accusing the United Nations Relief World Agency (UNRWA) in Gaza […]

2 w ago

Chinese Companies Should Seek Symbiosis with ASEAN Local Societies

Seiya Sukegawa, Professor at the Faculty of Political Science and Economics, Kokushikan University (Visiting Professor, Thai-Nichi Institute of Technology)

3 w ago

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Has Celebrating Disability Days Brought Any Benefit to the Disability Community?

Each year we celebrate a number of disability days, often with the involvement of the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development (KPWKM), Ministry of Health (MOH) and, at times, the Ministry of Education (MOE). Recently, we observed World Autism Awareness Day (2 April). In March, we celebrated World Down Syndrome Day (21 March). There are also International Day of Persons with Disabilities (3 December), World Cerebral Palsy Day (6 October), Invisible Disabilities Week (17–23 October) and many others. These events will usually have statements made by the relevant ministers, invariably illustrated by photo-ops of the ministers with persons with disabilities and some infographics or images on the respective social media pages of KPWKM, MOH and MOE.

3 w ago

Will DAP and MUDA work together again one day?

For the first time in public, Hannah Yeoh talked about her feelings for her former ally, Syed Saddiq, who was also the former president of the youth party MUDA.

3 w ago

What if Malaysians boycott UMNO-State Open House and PRN Sabah?

After the KK Mart owner met the YDP Agong and the King had decreed an end to anymore escalation of the issue, a defiant Akmal Saleh buat tak tahu saja. When asked if he would call off the boycott, he answered with a question whether the Agong had ordered the boycott discontinued. Then, we have the statement of the ‘old cowboy’ of UMNO, Bung Mokhtar, who said that the top leaders had advised Akmal to desist tapi dia tak faham-faham juga. And anyway, according to Bung Mokhtar, KK Mart is NOT a Sabahan issue. Hmmm…I seem to track a pattern here about intelligence, shrewdness or pure stupidity. Now, for an academic like me to use the word ‘stupidity, I must have run out of words in my academic vocabulary and have had to resort to my lower level and base vocabulary. Apologies all around. But, there is this curious thing in the Malay language. I can only think of four words to describe intelligence; cerdik, pandai pintar and bijak. But there are eight words to describe the opposite of intelligence: bodoh, bangang, bebal, bongok, bengap, biul, dungu, tengin. Bodoh would mean stupid as in not understanding a simple thing. Bangang would mean repeatedly making the same stupid mistake. Bebal would connote a difficulty in paying attention to improve oneself. Bongok is simply a frustrating word used by a person on another in exasperation or impatience of that person making a mistake. Bengap is just dumb. Biul I seldom use and it may connote an inability to learn. Dungu might be the same as dumb. Tengin is the highest level of stupidity in any person alive who can function in society. Now, does any of these words apply to Akmal Saleh? I do not think so. These words, however, do apply to most of his supporters including both ‘highly educated’ ones or the SPM level ones. For Akmal, even the word bodoh-sombong which describes a person who is clearly stupid and too proud to admit it and thus continue on his stupidity. For Akmal Saleh, he defies any Malay word I know, unless the Dewan Bahasa people know things that I don’t. Whichever the case maybe for Akmal Saleh who do not seem to comprehend the many advise given by cultured personalities as Anwar Ibrahim, the YDP Agong Sultan Ibrahim and the Yang Berhormat from the Unity Government parties, semua sudah cakap. All of us ordinary Malaysian with SPM or MCE Bahasa Melayu pun boleh faham, but not Akmal. So, my question here would be, what would make him faham? How about, first, instead of cakap banyak, UMNO suspend him for defiance of the so called ‘orders of the top’ as stipulated by the old cowboy of UMNO, Bung. Can UMNO do that? Of course it can. But I do not think that would also diminish Akmal’s defiance. Then, how about taking away his Melaka Exco position? Can UMNO do that? Yes, but will that stop him? No, I don’t think […]

3 w ago

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The Consequences in Failing to Rein In Akmal (Soon Enough)

For many decades, conservative politicians focused on racial dominance, religious hatred, animosity and intolerance towards non-Muslims. Constantly dwelling on the 3Rs (race, religion and royalty) had serious consequences. The extremism has led to a rise in domestic terrorism and simultaneously, we are experiencing an infiltration of foreign agents. Why? In the past nine months, we have witnessed bomb threats, the rise of violent vigilante groups, and firebombs. Properties have been damaged and although lives were at risk, fortunately no-one was seriously injured or killed. The police launched investigations. Although speedy progress was made in capturing the Israeli, who entered Malaysia, allegedly to assassinate a rival, what progress has been made regarding the domestic terrorists? Malaysia appears to be a breeding ground where foreigners come to commit crimes and then make a quick exit when their mission is complete. In 2017, Kim Jong-Nam, the older half-brother of the North Korean dictator, was assassinated. In 2018, the Gaza-born electrical engineer, Fadi Mohammed al-Batsch, a member of Hamas, was killed in Kuala Lumpur. Is Malaysia an easy target because both security and law enforcement are lax? Like it or not, we have two tiers of justice in Malaysia, one for the elite, and another for ordinary citizens, but the country also suffers double standards for police investigations. In some crimes, the culprit is caught within no time at all, whilst in others, the criminals remain at large despite CCTV cameras, witness accounts and forensic evidence. On 21 July 2023, lawyer, activist and champion of the Orang Asli community, Siti Kassim, was the intended target of an improvised explosive device (IED) or a bomb. The police launched an immediate investigation. What was the outcome of these probes? At the time, the prime minister, Anwar Ibrahim, failed to make a public announcement to denounce the bomb threat. He acted irresponsibly. A true leader would have said something, however brief, to allay the fears of the public and reassure them. Anwar knows that Siti is not just a little known individual, but is a respectable and well known critic of injustice, corruption, religious intolerance and the government. Anwar’s silence was puzzling. Members of the rakyat feared ‘copycat’ bomb threats especially from people who didn’t agree with what they may consider liberal views, just like Siti’s. Six months after Siti’s life was threatened, on 10 January, the house belonging to the Beruas MP Ngeh Koo Ham, in Ayer Tawar, was torched by a petrol bomb. The resulting fire damaged three cars and his house-porch. Luckily, Ngeh and his wife were unhurt. Ngeh had courted controversy when he suggested the inclusion of non-Muslim experts in the special committee to review the jurisdiction of the Syariah court. A forensic team and K9 sniffer dogs were deployed to the scene, but what has happened to these police investigations? Has any progress been made? Have investigations stalled? To commit an arson attack against another person, just because of his differing views is unacceptable. Just like the bomb threat against Siti, lives […]

4 w ago

Push Back on Sustainability Reporting Globally

Well Done SGX ending monopoly on accredited training! Other countries and regions are recognising the need for the pushback in the ESG space, and are stepping away from heavy-handed measures on sustainability disclosures. And here I refer to the “E” of the “ESG”. In the EU, lawmakers announced on 10 February a directive to delay the adoption of standards for companies to provide sector-specific sustainability disclosures and for sustainability reporting from companies outside of the EU under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). The postponement reduces the reporting burdens for companies and gives them more time to prepare for the increased reporting requirements. Closer to home, the Singapore Exchange Regulation (SGX) has recently introduced a new training provider, effectively ending the monopoly on accredited training programmes for directors. SGX has also taken the right step to widen the pool of training providers. Allowing any monopoly to exist is bad for any industry. Why are these moves by the EU and the SGX so important for other markets to consider? Firstly, we are seeing a great deal of resistance in the ESG space, which is no surprise given the complexities surrounding the requirements for disclosure, especially for the environmental pillar. One example is Exxon Mobil’s lawsuit against two activist investors, who had filed a shareholder proposal calling on Exxon to set targets to reduce carbon emissions. Shareholder resolutions calling on companies to take steps on ESG issues have drawn increasing attention. In Exxon’s case, the shareholder proposal had called for Exxon to set Scope 3 targets for reducing emissions. The EU’s decision to delay sustainability reporting standards is recognition that companies need some time and space, not to mention the fact that global standards for disclosure have not even been set. The answer to the increasing resistance in the ESG space is to create awareness of some of the new changes that will come about. For now, it is sufficient to tweak the existing mandatory training programme to half a day of conversation. Public listed companies should be devoting their resources to sustainable business strategies and not on future potential areas of enforced rules. There needs to be more clarity regarding enforceable sustainability disclosures; otherwise, what mandatory program are we training directors on? ( Datuk Shireen Ann Zaharah Muhiudeen is an experienced emerging markets fund manager and public board director with regulatory knowledge. She was the first female chair of the Malaysian Stock Exchange and the former CEO of AIG Investment Corporation (Malaysia), an ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) and DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) trailblazer, encouraging organizations to become ESG sustainable, either as investors or as board members.)

4 w ago

Easter Reflection: Help to Lessen Sufferings and not to Intensify

For millions who are Christians, they are invariably thinking of their faith and sufferings at this time of the year.

4 w ago

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This Hari Raya, I ask forgiveness from all Malaysians for Islam and our nation

In today’s article, my wife and I, two Muslims born in Malaysia, would like to ask for forgiveness from all our Malaysian brethren, whether we know them or not, whether our paths have crossed or not.

4 w ago