Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR — According to Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz, the important and vital sectors are still contributing significantly to the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) even during the current movement control order (MCO 2.0) era. He said main sectors such as commodities, mining and agriculture, as they are capital intensive and require less physical worker contact, …

KUALA LUMPUR – On Tuesday (Feb 2), the National Security Council will hold a special meeting to discuss a potential extension of the Movement Control Order (MCO). “The meeting will be chaired by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and we will hear the report from the Health Ministry before any decision is made,” Senior Security Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob told reporters …

KUALA LUMPUR— Malaysia’s trade, backed by a recovery in global demand, especially for agricultural and manufactured goods, is expected to recover in 2021 as Covid-19 threats recede following a massive global vaccination program. Public Investment Bank Bhd (PIVB) said in its Economic Update today that, in the midst of a pandemic that increased demand for devices such as computers and …

Due to political ineptitude and the inability to handle the Covid-19 crisis under the Perikatan Nasional (PN) administration, is Malaysia in danger of going down the same road and being seen as the new ‘sick man’ of Asia in the 2020s? At the beginning of 2021, the PN government’s failure to handle the third wave of Covid-19 cases culminated in …

Late last night, the “Anonymous Malaysia” group of hackers declared that they had defaced five government websites, including that of the state of Perak. The so-called hacker-slash-activist group posted screenshots of the government pages it attacked, replaced by a skull on fire graphic with the word ‘cyberpunk,’ around a week after warning the Malaysian government of its supposedly poor cybersecurity. …

JOHOR BARU – Tourism and trade groups in Malaysia hope that talks with Singapore can begin with the Malaysian government to allow those who have been vaccinated in the island republic to enter the country without the need for quarantine. Jimmy Leong, President of the Malaysia Tourist Guides Council, said it is important for the government to kick-start this discussion …

SINGAPORE — On Friday, Finance Minister Zafrul Aziz said that the ongoing lockdown of Malaysia to contain Covid-19 would hit the economy much less than the previous one when more economic activity was limited. The new round of steps cost Malaysia a lost economic production or GDP of an estimated 700 million ringgit ($172.7 million) a day, the minister said. …

KUALA LUMPUR: In the Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) for 2020, Malaysia dropped six spots to 57th position among 180 countries. Dr Muhammad Mohan, president of Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M), said Malaysia’s score also worsened to 51 out of 100 points in the CPI survey. “We may have dropped by two points which are statistically insignificant, but the …

KUALA LUMPUR- Malaysian retail investors are looking to buy stocks of medical glove manufacturers, encouraged by the recent rally at U.S. company GameStop Corp., to push up their share prices and squeeze out short sellers. As amateur United States investors poured in and pressured hedge funds to lose billions on their short positions, GameStop shares have soared 1,700 percent in …

KUALA LUMPUR: On Tuesday (Jan 26), the automotive workshop operated by Mr. Wong Tung Khong in Sungai Besi was quiet, with only a few employees servicing the cars of customers. “This time last year, I wouldn’t even have time to answer your questions because people wanted their cars serviced before going back to their hometowns for Chinese New Year,” Mr …