Malaysia Lockdown Again

 

Most parts of Malaysia officially enter into Movement Control Order (MCO) 2.0 today. There are people who are celebrating either because they get an excuse not to work or study. While those group of people who are engaging in online businesses are particularly happy about this since they expect more people to surf the internet while staying at home, consequently becoming their potential customers. At the same time, there are people who feel that the government’s decision is long overdue considering the second wave of Covid-19 outbreak is already more than 3 months old since the Sabah state election at the end of September 2020. They are worry that if no action is taken anytime soon, the current situation may get out of control. Most people are fearful for their lives.

It is particularly worrying when people can see that most of the country’s leaders have no sense of urgency or priority when it comes to tackling this pandemic. They are still politicking for power even up until now. Every politicians tried to beat each other by speaking their minds either on main stream or social media. There is no clear sign of unity. In fact, it looks like we are not in this together. It is as if Malaysia is now one country two worlds. In one world People are fighting for their lives while there is another parallel world where another group of people are plotting and manipulating the system to either stay in power or form a new government.

The situation looks even more worrying when being looked at in the context of the world outside Malaysia. Just heard the news today where World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that herd immunity won’t be achieved in 2021 despite numerous vaccines being rolled out this year. This is because it takes time to administer the vaccines out onto the masses, and we are talking about billions of doses across the globe. Herd immunity is not achievable because not every countries will be able to achieve mass vaccination at the same pace.

So what does this mean for the world? It means we will not see international travel in 2021. The world will be divided, countries will be isolated, people will be separated. There won’t be a global village, instead there will be isolated villages dotting all over the world. 2020 was not the worst, it was just an initial shock to the system. The real test is in the year 2021 and beyond. It is the ultimate test to see how we can persevere in this prolong social separation physically and mentally.

And what does this means for Malaysia? With the ignorance and selfish behaviour shown by most politicians, sadly a lot of lives will be sacrificed. Livelihood will be destroyed as tourists and foreign investments are not forthcoming. The country’s economy will be brought to its knees. What is more worrying is that nobody can confidently say that this will be the worst case scenario. We have never experience this before, no one knows how this is going to end. The endgame can’t be easily predicted.

So whether you welcome or criticize MCO 2.0, let us each do our part to weather this storm and pray that we still can see our loved ones in the end. See you on the other side!

马来西亚大部分地区今天正式进入了行动管制令 MCO 2.0。有些人可能会很开心因为他们不想工作或上课。那些从事网络业务的人对此更加兴奋，因为他们期待更多人待在家里上网，从而最后可能成为他们的客户。同时，有些人认为政府早就该做出这个决定了，因为自从2020年9月底的沙巴州大选以来，第二波Covid-19疫情已经爆发了长达三个多月。他们担心如果再不尽快采取任何行动的话，恐怕当前的情况会失控。到时肯定很多人会不幸的白白丢掉了性命。

到目前为止大多数政治人物还是对着疫情毫不注重，这令人民十分担忧。直到现在，他们仍然忙于在争取权力。每个政客都试图通过主流媒体或社交媒体上发表自私的言论。整个政局有如一盘散沙。

同时，国外的情况似乎更加令人担心。刚刚听到今天的新闻报导，世界卫生组织（WHO）警告说，尽管今年已经推出了许多疫苗，但2021年估计仍无法实现群体免疫的效果。这是因为将疫苗推向大众化还需要花费很多时间。由于每个国家都不能同时间大规模的将疫苗接种， 群体免疫是无法实现的。

这意味着什么？2021年还是不会有国际航线开始启动。这世界将会进一步的被分裂，国家将被孤立，人将面临孤单。2020年并不是最糟糕的一年，它只是一个很重大的警告。真正的考验会在2021年及以后。我们将会面临肢体与精神上的盛大考验。

那这对马来西亚又有什么特别的关系和影响呢？政客们的自私行为将带来许多人民的牺牲。由于失去国外游客和外国投资，马来西亚的经济将受到重大的冲击与考验。

因此，不管您是欢迎还是批评MCO 2.0，让我们每个人都尽自己的一份力量来度过这场风暴，并祈祷我们最终仍能看到我们的亲人。

Hong Kong 2021 Celebration Goes Virtual

Covid-19 has changed all aspects of our lives. Everyone has to think outside the box to do things differently in order to stay relevant. Traditions have to be modified to stay traditional. Such is the annual Hong Kong New Years Eve Count Down Celebration. It went virtual this year with people all around the world tuning in via their phone or computers to count down together.

Penang Desires To Be International and Intelligent City

When interviewed by Bloomberg when he was in Singapore recently, Penang's Chief Minister wishes to attract more foreign investors in particular from Singapore due to the available local talent.

He further elaborate that Penang is here to complement and not compete with Singapore.

Penang To Learn From Japan and Hong Kong On Public Transport

Chow-Kon-Yeow-GEORGE TOWN: Penang will tap into Japanese expertise to manage its future mass transit infrastructure, state executive councillor Chow Kon Yeow said.

Chow said private Japanese rail companies were highly profitable as they ran a sustainable operations regime, which Penang hoped to emulate closely.

“A major reason for the success of Tokyo’s private rail lines is because they diversified their businesses beyond transportation into real estate holdings and retail outlets.

“Rather than relying strictly on farebox revenue and ads, the transit system in Penang should also develop other revenue sources, just as the Japanese private railways have done successfully.

“For this reason, we will look to Japan for its sustainable operations regime for mass transit infrastructure,” he said in a briefing on Penang’s Transport Master Plan (PTMP) to some 50 reps of Japanese companies operating in the state.

Also present were Embassy of Japan in Malaysia Deputy Chief of Mission and Minister Yoshinori Kodama and Japan Consul-General to Penang, Kiyoshi Itoi. They were accompanied by Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.

Penang plans to build its own Light Rail Transport (LRT) and other modes of public transport via PTMP.

The RM27 billion project will be financed by creating three artificial islands south of Penang Island.

The PMTP includes a 5-in-1 transport solution encompassing an undersea tunnel; a cable car service across the channel; ferries and water-taxis; light rail transit and monorail; including buses, taxis and highways.

Earlier, 48 representatives from 31 Japanese companies based in Penang participated in the seminar on PTMP. It was hosted by PTMP’s project delivery partner, SRS Consortium.

GEORGE TOWN, June 13 — Penang hopes to secure a conditional approval for its first railway scheme connecting Bayan Lepas to Komtar by next month, state executive councillor Chow Kon Yeow said.

The local government committee chairman said SRS Consortium, the project delivery partner (PDP) for the Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP), met with Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) last week.

“The meeting went well and seemed favourable,” he told reporters after a PTMP briefing with Japanese delegates at Komtar this morning.

Chow added that a July approval for the proposed Bayan Lepas Light Rail Transit (LRT) would allow the state to proceed with a three-month public inspection beginning August, to allow public feedback.

The Bayan Lepas LRT project, along with the pan island highway link and the reclamation of two islands off southern Penang, are part of the first phase of the PTMP implementation.

Chow also said that once SPAD grants the approval, a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) will be set up to administer the implementation of these projects.


The SPV will be a government entity that that will also be tasked with facilitating city planning, development, promotion and management of the Penang South Reclamation (PSR) project, he said.

Chow added that the state hopes to commence construction on the Bayan Lepas line - the first phase of the LRT project - by next year. Operations for the first phase should begin by 2023 while the full line should be operational by 2030, he said.

Earlier, during a question and answer session, SRS Consortium business development senior manager Andrew Chan said it will take up to three years before they could have land to sell under the PSR to fund the PTMP.

He said they can proceed with construction of the LRT and highway project first but would still need to time it with the sale of lands from the reclamation.

“We will depend on bridging financing first to fund the reclamation and construction of the LRT and after the third year, we will have lands to sell to fund the project,” he said.

When asked about sustainability of the future transport assets, Chow said the transport system will not rely strictly on farebox revenue and advertisements.

“We are looking at property development to generate another revenue source to sustain the transport assets, like in Japan and Hong Kong. I think Hong Kong’s MTR is known more as a property developer than as the LRT operator,” he said.

Source: The Malay Mail

The World Will Miss Muhammad Ali

The death of Muhammad Ali, the three times heavyweight champion of the world, set off a torrent of tributes from sporting stars, civil rights campaigners and ordinary fans on Saturday reflecting how the silver-tongued boxer transcended barriers of race and expectation.

He died with four of his daughters gathered at his hospital bedside in Scottsdale, Arizona, where he was being treated for breathing difficulties.

The man who called himself “The Greatest” and spent a career living up to his own description died at the age of 74 on Friday night.

His death was confirmed by Bob Gunnell, his long-time spokesman, who said the cause was "septic shock" due to natural causes.

“It was a very peaceful passing and they are with him as we speak,” he said. “You know, we lost a great person in this world tonight.

Ali is survived by his fourth wife Lonnie, whom he married in 1986, and nine children.

A public funeral will take place in Ali's home town of Louisville, Kentucky, on Friday.

Fans gathered outside the Osborn Medical Centre, where he died, taping roses to the wall and lighting candles at a makeshift memorial.

His daughter Hana Ali encapsulated what many saw as his unique combination of strength and tenderness, describing her father as a "humble mountain”.

Even Parkinson's could not stop him expressing his views in his usual eloquent and outspoken manner.

In one of his final public statements at the end of last year, he took aim at not just violent jihadists who brought carnage to Paris but at politicians such as Donald Trump who sought to make political capital from terrorist attacks.

"We as Muslims have to stand up to those who use Islam to advance their own personal agenda. They have alienated many from learning about Islam,” he said. “True Muslims know or should know that it goes against our religion to try and force Islam on anyone."

Inevitably, Donald Trump, Republican candidate for president, sent a tweet in tribute, describing Ali as a “wonderful guy”.

His rival for the White House, Hillary Clinton, issued a statement with her husband saying: “From the day he claimed the Olympic gold medal in 1960, boxing fans across the world knew they were seeing a blend of beauty and grace, speed and strength that may never be matched again."

Friends and rivals in the ring spoke of a boxer with an unorthodox style and a magnetic personality. George Foreman, who lost the world title to Ali in Zaire in a classic 1974 bout known as the Rumble in the Jungle, said: "No doubt he was one of the best people to have lived in this day and age. To put him as a boxer is an injustice."

He added that Ali always loved London. “If he had been born and raised and fought, he never would have changed his name,” he told the BBC's Today programme. “They made him even as Cassius Clay feel like he was the toast of the town.”

He lived his latter years near Phoenix, Arizona. 

Source: MSN

Warning From Malaysian Government

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysians who discredit or ridicule the Government in whatever way can be barred from travelling overseas for three years.

Those who disparage the Government while abroad will also be barred from travelling abroad again for three years upon their return.

A source said that the Immigration Department had enforced this ruling several months ago in a move to safeguard the country’s image.

“Anyone who runs down the Government or ‘memburukkan kerajaan’ in any manner will be barred from going abroad.

“Only the Immigration Department director-general will be authorised to look into their appeals,” he said, adding that the department would act once there was a request from enforcement agencies such as the police.

Immigration director general Datuk Sakib Kusmi, in an email reply to The Star, confirmed the existence of such a provision, adding that the ownership of a Malaysian international passport was a privilege and not a right.

“The Malaysian international passport is a travel document issued by the Government under the aegis of the Yang DiPertuan Agong.

“So, the Government has the discretion to either issue, defer or revoke the travel document,” he said.

Sakib could not provide statistics on the number of Malaysians who have been barred from leaving the country for discrediting or ridiculing the Government.

However, it is known that those who are bankrupt, have legal cases against them or have yet to pay government loans, are regularly stopped from leaving the country. 

Asked if Malaysians who are barred from travelling abroad could challenge this in court, Sakib said they had the right to do so.

He said the Government had initially made a list of offences that could cause a Malaysian to be temporarily barred from leaving the country back in 1995.

Individuals convicted for committing a crime at home or abroad, deliberately damaging passports and visiting Israel without approval are among the offences listed. 

They can be barred from travelling abroad for between two and 10 years.

Under the latest ruling, the source said, Malaysians who are caught and deported for overstaying, committing a crime or working without a valid permit abroad will also be barred from going overseas again for two years.

“The names of these offenders will be added to a special blacklist,” he said.

Separately, the source said Malaysians who are negligent and lose their passports three times in five years will not be issued another one for a minimum of two years.

“Negligence means losing your passport if your car is stolen or while you are moving house,” he said.

Those whose passports are destroyed due to carelessness – by leaving the document in clothes put into washing machines, for example – will also be penalised.

“If your passport is destroyed twice, you will be issued with a written warning.

“If it happens three times in five years, then you too will be barred from applying for one to two years,” he said.

Source: The Star

Gossip Malaysia: WSJ Releases Alleged !MDB Money Trial Documents

Nine documents detailing how almost US$700mil (S$943mil) in 1MDB funds allegedly ended up in Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak's (pic) personal bank accounts have been released by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

The international business daily published the "Government Documents From Probe of Najib Razak" on their website on Tuesday, saying the documents came from a "Malaysian government investigation".

The documents showed alleged bank transfers from various companies to Najib's personal accounts on March 2013, December 2014 and February 2015.

The WSJ also published a letter regarding power of attorney over Najib's bank accounts dated Jan 20, 2014.

However, some details such as the last five digits of the AmIslamic Bank Bhd account, said to belong to Najib, were redacted.

Earlier Tuesday, the special task force set up to investigate the allegations released a statement saying that six bank accounts connected to allegations of channelling of funds had been frozen.

The WSJ on Friday published an article quoting an "unnamed investigator", claiming that almost US$700mil (RM2.6bil) of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) funds flowed into the Prime Minister's personal accounts before the 13th general election.

1MDB refuted the claim, while Najib denied taking any funds for personal gain and accused former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad for being responsible over the latest "lie".

On Sunday, Najib said he was considering suing WSJ, describing the accusation thrown against him as a "criminal defamation".

The WSJ has since stood by its report. The international business daily said it possessed "solid" documents to back its claim.

Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail confirmed that he had seen the documents relating to the case.

Source: AsiaOne

Singapore As Regional Hub

Singapore - Given Singapore's small hinterland, which limits the growth of solar energy here, and neighbouring countries' more serious stance on renewable energy, industry players are leveraging the Republic as a starting base for regional expansion as well as a hub for financing solar assets in regional markets.

Countries across South-east Asia, such as Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia, have been ramping up on renewable energy assets, including solar energy, through feed-in-tariffs (FITs), which are subsidies for renewable energy that is pumped back into the power grid.

The Philippines, too, with one of the highest energy prices in the world, is an attractive place to invest in the solar sector.

With Singapore taking a stand against FITs to enhance the local cost-competitiveness of energy, local players are thus incentivised to expand their operations abroad.

Said Mathias Steck, regional manager for the Asia Pacific energy team at DNV GL, a technical adviser to the energy sector: "We are seeing many new business models emerging across markets in Asia, with Singapore acting as a hub for investments of this kind." Singapore-headquartered solar equipment manufacturer REC Solar is already active in Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Jen Tan, REC Asia-Pacific vice-president of sales and marketing, told BT that Singapore, with its stable economy and strong regulatory environment, represents an ideal experimental ground for the company to test solar business models, such as power purchase agreements (PPA), which it does not offer anywhere else in the region.

Through PPAs, REC is able to generate a sustainable income while customers are able to adopt solar energy with no upfront installation costs.

Meanwhile, Sun Electric, which in 2014 was the first solar company in Singapore to obtain an energy retail licence from the Energy Market Authority, is launching its operating platform in other cities.

Its founder and managing director, Matthew Peloso, told BT that Singapore presents an ideal place for the company to launch its "city-based operating platform" because the country is unable to accommodate a utility-scale solar system.

The resulting platform will be the future model for cities in similar situations that require a managed distributed solar system.

Sun Electric's platform creates a transparent distribution system that accounts for the flows of intermittent energy on a city's power grid and manage energy customer requirements.

"The high standards and high power quality achieved in Singapore means we must test our technology on a demanding network," Mr Peloso said. "We see South-east Asia as a viable launching point to other cities, and that this model will also be useful in southern US states to counter the embedded generation models effect on energy utilities."

Separately, Singapore's largest solar leasing company, Sunseap Leasing, whose parent company also has operations in Malaysia and Thailand, is working with a local bank on a S$50-70 million green bond issuance later this year, and is contemplating taking the company public over the next 12 to 18 months.

"An investment grade creates confidence with government or multinational corporation-backed projects," CEO Frank Phuan explained to BT.

DNV GL's Mr Steck told BT that the popularity of the China Singyes Solar Technologies Holdings bond issued here by Standard Chartered in November last year bodes well for similar projects in the future. "The key determinant of successfully raising capital through this route is the credit rating and solar credentials of the issuer."

Mr Steck added that another alternative for Singapore to participate in solar energy financing is through a yieldco which comprises solar assets across the region.

The emerging market yieldco which global renewable energy company SunEdison launched in the US earlier this year, TerraForm Power, could provide a model for Singapore, given that the city-state is home to SunEdison's regional headquarters, he said.

A yieldco is a publicly traded company comprising operating assets that focuses on income.

Ashish Sethia, Asia-Pacific lead for the gas & power markets at Bloomberg New Energy Finance, told BT that a diversified regional portfolio of solar assets would spread the risks and speed up the listing process.

He said: "If you are going to constrain yourself to Singapore, it will take a much longer time to get the asset to a certain size to list on the stock exchange or issue bonds. You have to convince so many people and assess so many rooftops.

"The chances of an aggregator listing in the Singapore market, with a diversified asset base across South-east Asia are much higher than a pure play Singapore player."

Mr Sethia added that Singapore, while having a less mature solar market than those of China and India, has the advantage of being a mature financial market, characterised by lower cost of debt as well as sovereign risks.

He said that it would take local banks about two to three more years to get more comfortable with financing solar assets here. Banks in Singapore, once foreign to the idea of solar energy financing, are slowly warming up to the sector.

In 2010, Sunseap had sought to secure its first term sheet through the local branch of a foreign bank, instead of a local bank. Even then, the bank had to fly in its US counterpart to provide advice, Mr Phuan told BT.

Now, Mr Phuan sees "an increasing number of local banks taking up solar financing projects, at more competitive financing costs, as the financiers get more familiar with solar assets as well as managing risks in the solar industry".

"I believe Singapore can be the financing and technology hub for solar in Asia . . . but we may lose our position if we do not move fast as global solar players are eyeing the rapidly growing South-east Asian markets as well."

Source: asiaone