Day: June 14, 2021

Nor Aziman Idris, 48, may have retired from the army six years ago, but he continues to serve the country by becoming a blood donor.

The father of six, who was with the 15th Battalion of the Royal Malay Regiment (RMD) based in Senawang, said soldiers are required to donate blood regularly and he started when he was 20 years old.

“I still donate blood. I feel uneasy if I don’t. It’s like an addiction,” said Nor Aziman, who donates every three months.

Hence, as the record holder for the most blood donations in Negeri Sembilan this year (100 and counting), Hospital Tuanku Ja’afar (HTJ) presented him with a platinum award today.

“I can’t afford to donate in kind or money, but I hope my tiny contribution will help save a life,” the Johorean told Bernama.

Nor Aziman, who has O-type blood, is also an apheresis (plasma and platelet) donor, and plans to continue till he dies.

“Aside from helping others, donating blood has health benefits and is an investment in the afterlife. I hope this will motivate others to become donors, too,” he said.

Arumugam Kuppusamy, 55, who belonged to the 2nd Regiment of the Royal Armoured Corps at Kem Sunggala, Port Dickson, said it is not true that you will gain weight or contract a disease from donating blood.

“I wasn’t able to have children after being married for a long time so I decided to be a blood donor because they say it makes you healthier and you’re helping someone else at the same time,” said the father of three whose children are following in his footsteps as blood donors.

Arumugam, a driver with the Seremban district health office, said he became a donor when he was 23 years old.

According to transfusion medicine specialist, Dr Firdaus Che Ros, HTJ is able to collect 1,000 – 1,200 bags of blood per month through its donation drives, with over 20 donors turning up daily.

“The youngest donor is 17, while the oldest is 60. Please donate blood. There’s nothing to fear because we follow a strict standard operating procedure,” said Dr Firdaus.

Every June 14 is World Blood Donor Day and the theme this year is “Give Blood and Keep the World Beating”.

State Health Director, Datin Dr Harlina Abdul Rashid, said Negeri Sembilan’s blood stock is stable at the moment but is encouraging more people to become donors.

“Last year, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we collected just 16,000 bags of blood compared to 18,000 bags in 2019 – a 12 per cent drop. But we’ve had all kinds of promotions – including via social media – to encourage blood donation,” said Dr Harlina.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

— At sunrise, Sim Jiunn Tie, 26, and several longhouse residents in Linjai, Batang Lassa have already gathered at the jetty to board a boat.

Dressed simply just like the other villagers and bringing along some food and drinks, they left at 7 am, travelling downstream along Batang Lassa before entering Batang Lebaan for the Bawang Assan Community Hall, 34 kilometres from Sibu town.

They undertook the journey by boat for about one hour to receive the COVID-19 vaccine at the Bawang Assan vaccine administering centre, which is actually the community hall.

“We use a boat as there is no road to enable us to come here,” he told Bernama after receiving the first dose of the Sinovac vaccine at the PPV today.

He said there were already many people from other longhouses waiting for their turn when they arrived because they had left as early as 5 am, also by boat.

Some of the longhouses involved are connected by oil palm plantation roads which are only passable by using four-wheel-drive vehicles, owned only by a few of the rural folk.

Administering of the COVID-19 vaccine by the Ministry of Health (MOH) via the mobile COVID-19 Vaccination Outreach Team in the rural areas of Sibu is regarded as the best way to help the people achieve immunisation.

“It is very good for us who don’t have a road or vehicle, indeed it is difficult for us to go down to Sibu town which can take two hours by boat,” said Sim.

By noon at the PPV, he was one of over 230 vaccine recipients from 11 longhouses in the Bawang Assan area.

According to the PPV Bawang Assan coordinator, assistant medical officer David Japang, a total 1,345 residents near the PPV had received their jabs since last Saturday.

The vaccine recipients comprised residents of 37 longhouses in Bawang Assan who were registered manually by the longhouse chiefs and the lists were then submitted to the Sibu Resident Office.

“Those listed were asked to be present according to the fixed schedules. We jab them first and register them later,” he said, adding that the target of the PPV was to vaccinate 500 people daily.

He said there were also those not listed but turned up in the evening as ‘walk-in’ recipients of the injection but their number was low.

David said the PPV would be at Bawang Assan until tomorrow before moving to Durin, about 40 km from here, to vaccinate residents in the area.

He urged residents in Bawang Assan who have yet to be vaccinated to present themselves at the PPV tomorrow.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

Several localities in Johor, Sabah and Sarawak will be placed under the Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO) from June 16 to June 29, said Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

He said in Johor, the EMCO will be implemented at workers’ hostels in Jalan Riviera, Tanjung Agas in Tangkak after 128 individuals tested positive for COVID-19 with a high infectivity rate as a result of screening tests conducted on 237 residents.

“In Sarawak, two localities in Bukit Dinding, Mukah are involved, namely Rumah Panjang Alat anak Mukan and Mukah Palm Oil Mill.

“The EMCO will be imposed after 31 positive cases were detected at Rumah Panjang Alat anak Mukan as a result of 70 screening tests conducted, while in Mukah Palm Oil Mill, 10 out of 14 individuals tested positive for COVID-19,” he said in a statement on the development of Movement Control Order (MCO), today.

He said after a risk assessment conducted with various agencies in the MCO technical committee, and upon advice from the Health Ministry, the EMCO will be implemented at the localities to stop the spread of the outbreak.

Apart from that, Ismail Sabri said the EMCO will also be imposed on four localities in Sabah, namely Kampung Sundang Laut in Sandakan; Country Heights Apartment and Vista Minintod Apartment in Penampang and Kampung Skim Cocos in Kunak.

“Kampung Sundang Laut in Sandakan will be placed under the EMCO after MOH detected 10 positive cases from 18 screening tests that it had conducted. Community screening tests should be conducted for the early detection of cases so they can be isolated as soon as possible.

“Meanwhile, at Country Heights Apartment, 18 positive cases were detected, while at Vista Minintod Apartment, 14 individuals tested positive for the virus which is a significant increase in cases within two weeks,” he said, adding in Kampung Skim Cocos in Kunak, MOH had detected 10 positive cases from 24 screening tests that it conducted in the locality.

At the same time, the EMCO at 11 longhouses and SK Stalon, Tanjung Manis, Mukah in Sarawak, which is scheduled to end tomorrow, has been extended until June 29.

According to Ismail Sabri, within that period the ministry had conducted 177 screening tests, of which 90 individuals tested positive for the virus.

He said the EMCO enforced at Felda Trolak Utara, Sungkai in Perak slated to end tomorrow will be extended until June 22 after 59 positive cases were detected as a result of 2,493 screening tests.

Meanwhile, the EMCO imposed on 28 sub-districts in Kota Setar, Kedah and Kampung Pagi, Ulu Tembeling, Jerantut in Pahang will end at 11.59 pm tomorrow as scheduled, while the EMCO at Wun anak Ering Longhouse, Tanjung Manis, Mukah and Kampung Bunut, Mukah slated to end on June 16 will be lifted tomorrow.

“The EMCO implemented in Bandar Bentong in Pahang, scheduled to end on June 19, will be lifted at 11.59 tonight after MOH detected a decline in the number of cases and the cluster is under control, while all positive cases had received treatment,” he added.

On the MCO’s standard operating procedure (SOP) compliance operation yesterday, Ismail Sabri said that a total of 958 individuals were arrested for violating SOP, with 910 of them being compounded, 47 remanded, while one individual granted bail.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

— The Kedah Health Department (JKN) confirms that it directed the employer of a chicken processing factory in Bedong, Sungai Petani to send its COVID-19 positive workers to the Kuala Muda District Health Office, yesterday.

Kedah Health director, Dr Mohd Fikri Ujang said the workers were taken to the district health office as all equipment, space and health personnel were already available there to evaluate the workers.

“Yesterday, 225 positive cases were recorded in Kuala Muda district. Of the total, 150 positive cases were from the cluster which involved the chicken factory. So, all positive cases must be screened and evaluated to determine the next treatment.

“We will determine whether they needed to be treated at the hospital or be taken to the Low Risk Quarantine and Treatment Centre (PKRC) or be quarantined at hostels provided by the employers for their workers who are positive,” he told Bernama here, today.

He said this when asked to comment on a video which went viral on social media yesterday highlighting a group of foreign workers, believed to be COVID-19 positive and wearing pink bands, being taken in an open lorry in Sungai Petani.

The 19-second video resulted in social media users questioning the action of the district health office which did not evaluate all the foreign workers at the chicken factory.

Meanwhile, State Agriculture and Food Industry, Agriculture and Commodity Entrepreneurship, Transport and Indian Community Affairs Committee chairman Azman Nasrudin said the factory had obtained permission to operate from the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) and the Veterinary Services Department (JPV).

“The factory is allowed to operate because it is essential to the food production chain. However, the owner of the factory committed offences by not segregating the workers with symptoms and did not refer to the Ministry of Health for follow up actions,” he said in a statement today.

Nevertheless, he gave his assurance the output of chicken products would not be affected if the factory was closed as there were still many chicken processing companies operating in the state which complied the standard operating procedure (SOP).

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

The Regent of Pahang Tengku Hassanal Ibrahim Alam Shah Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah has ordered for the Chini Forest Reserve in Pekan, with an area of 4,600 hectares, to be expanded to 6,000 or up to 7,000 hectares.

Comptroller of the Royal Household of the Sultan of Pahang, Datuk Ahmad Khirrizal Ab Rahman said the royal command was aimed at protecting and conserving the flora and fauna in the Tasik Chini area.

Tengku Hassanal, according to Ahmad Khirrizal, made a surprise visit to Tasik Chini yesterday following the reports and photos that went viral on social media of late, which claimed mining activities occurring in the area.

“The Regent has also gone through the Pahang Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail’s report on the mining activities and rehabilitation and conservation measures undertaken by the state government.

“Tengku Hassanal agreed with the state government’s measure of not issuing any new permit (for mining) since 2019, besides proposing mining activities at Tasik Chini be stopped,” he said in a statement, here, today.

For the record, the Pahang Land and Mines Office had announced that no (mining) approval was given after the gazetting of Tasik Chini State Park as Chini Forest Reserve in March 2019.

Prior to that, 14 mining licences were issued and of the total, only two are still operational, with one of them valid until the end of this month and the other until the year-end.

Ahmad Khirrizal said Tengku Hassanal has also ordered that the former mining areas be rehabilitated by planting suitable forest trees, besides intensifying the preservation and conservation activities undertaken by the state and federal governments.

Tengku Hassanal has also ordered enforcement activities be boosted and carried out in an integrated manner and regularly involving state and federal enforcement agencies.

The Regent also expressed hope that Tasik Chini, which is given the biosphere reserve status by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco), would be given priority in financial allocation and sustainable development by the Environment and Water Ministry and Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry.

“Tengku Hassanal said Tasik Chini is nature’s diamond in Pahang and the global recognition as the first Unesco biosphere reserve in Malaysia must be safeguarded.

“The Regent is concerned and will always monitor the state government’s efforts in ensuring that Pahang’s environment is always taken care of.

“Tengku Hassnal also urged all parties to practise good environmental, social and governance principles, so that nature’s treasures will be preserved for future generations,” he said.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

The Terengganu government today announced a monthly assistance of RM200 a month to 75 trishaw riders and boat operators in the state who are still operating.

State Tourism, Culture and Digital Technology Committee chairman Ariffin Deraman said the assistance involved a total allocation of RM180,000 a year or RM15,000 a month which would be given to 57 trishaw riders and 18 boat operators from July.

“Initially they received monthly aid but about two or three years ago such assistance was stopped assuming that they were included in the category of poor, and received assistance from the Social Welfare Department (JKM) or Majlis Agama Islam dan Adat Melayu Terengganu.

“However, after scrutinising it, especially with JKM, it seems that many of them are not registered (with JKM) so we decided to resume the monthly assistance,” he told reporters after presenting donations in the form of basic necessities to trishaw riders and boat operators on the grounds of Pasar Payang, here, today.

Apart from easing the burden of the recipients in facing the current COVID-19 pandemic situation, Ariffin said the monthly assistance was also to ensure that the group continued to remain the state’s tourism ambassadors as trishaws and boats were traditional transportation synonymous with Terengganu.

Meanwhile, boat operator Armizi Ahmad, 40, said the aid could be used to repair and maintain his boat which he had been operating for the past 16 years.

“Although there are no tourists and our income is badly affected, the boat also needs to be maintained and repaired. So this assistance is very helpful to cover expenses,” he said.

Armizi said following the implementation of the Movement Control Order (MCO) and the inter-state ban, he only earned up to about RM20 a day compared to RM60 to RM70 a day previously while his customers were only residents around Kuala Terengganu and Kuala Nerus.

Meanwhile, trishaw rider Pohot Salleh, 66, expressed his gratitude that their request for the state government to resume monthly assistance was fulfilled especially during the MCO period where their income was severely affected.

“However, we are still faithfully waiting here (Pasar Payang) because pedalling a trishaw has been our source of livelihood for decades. After all, trishaws are synonymous with Terengganu. So we do not want this tradition to die no matter what the situation,” he added.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

— Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) Hospital’s vaccination centre (PPV) here began operations today, and will carry out 200 vaccinations per day, says UMS Vice-Chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Taufiq Yap.

Taufiq said although its vaccination rate is not high compared to others, the PPV, which opens from Monday to Friday, is part of the hospital’s effort to help fight COVID-19.

He said UMS Hospital PPV is also ready to increase the number of doses, depending on need.

“The channelling of expertise to the effort, I believe, will improve UMS staff skills,” he told reporters after conducting checks at the PPV here today.

He said the PPV is now in its trial phase and priority will be given to UMS residents especially students so that herd immunity can be achieved on the campus as soon as possible.

He said UMS hopes the government will provide more vaccine supplies to enable the PPV to administer more doses, not only to its community, but also to surrounding residents, particularly in the Sepanggar area.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency