Day: October 20, 2021

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Big-hearted eight-year old boy wants to help orphans through second book sale

ISKANDAR PUTERI, Oct 20 — After a successful sale of his first book that made Krishh Haran Nair the youngest contributor to the Sultan Ibrahim Johor Foundation recently, he is now determined to help more people, especially children orphaned due to COVID-19, through the sale of his second book.

The eight-year-old is currently working on the sequel of the first book “The Mysterious War to the Deep”, a 12-page book, sales of which recently raised more than RM7,000 and was donated to the foundation.

“I want to write more books, make a sequel for this book titled ‘Pillar and The Golden Sword’. It has mystery and adventure elements. For my next book, I want to help orphanages in need and children who need money, so they can buy food, toys, books.

“The book is about a man name Pillar, he goes into war, gets lost in the forest and his friends also get lost. He has a magical potion for winning the war and becomes a king,” he told Bernama when met recently at his home, here.

The Sunway International School Sunway Iskandar student also said that he wanted to help in easing the burden of families who would be taking care of these orphans.

The only child of N. Ramakrishnan and R. Jayanthimarlin said he was grateful and thankful for the support for his first short work book especially in getting a bit of limelight from the Sultan of Johor Sultan Ibrahim Almarhum Sultan Iskandar, who was impressed with him.

“I felt very proud, very happy and thankful to the people who bought the book and make the money so that I can give to the Johor Sultan to buy food boxes, so they (the foundation) can give them out (to people in need),” he said.

Meanwhile, Jayanthimarlin said after Sultan Ibrahim made a post on his official Facebook page on Oct 9, many people contacted her and her husband expressing support and encouragement and wanted to get the e-book authored by Krishh Haran.

“Initially after Krishh Haran came up with the idea that he wanted to sell books to raise donations, we sent a voice message stating that he had written a storybook and wanted to collect donations as well as wanted to help people in need, to family, friends and teachers. The Whatsapp message lasting almost two minutes spread far and wide.

“Krishh Haran’s online teachers also helped spread the word that he was collecting donations, so his friends in Australia, Canada, Spain and Bangkok as well as two Tamil schools in Negeri Sembilan also bought the book in ‘hardcopy’ form,” she said. .

Members of the public who want to support Krishh Haran’s initiative by purchasing his storybook can send an email to jayanthimarlin@gmail.com for more information.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

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JB, Muar hotels register up to 80 pct increase in occupancy rate

JOHOR BAHRU, Oct 20 — Hotel occupancy rates in Johor Bahru and Muar have increased to up to 80 per cent since interstate travel was allowed on Oct 11, said executive council member Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi.

The Johor Tourism, Youth and Sports Committee chairman said, at Desaru Coast near Kota Tinggi, the average occupancy rate was about 65 per cent.

After months of inactivity following the pandemic, boat operators at the Mersing jetty are busy again with the arrival of visitors.

“People are taking the opportunity to take a break and spend their holidays in Johor after Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced the lifting of interstate travel restriction nationwide beginning Oct 11.

“I was informed that the tour packages for island hopping in the Mersing district are currently almost fully booked until mid November,” he said in a post on his official Facebook page today.

He said the number of local tourists at Legoland theme park too has increased significantly compared to the pre-pandemic days.

“Thank you Malaysians, for making Johor your choice of holiday destination. Insya Allah, the state will always be a safe destination for you and your family,” he added.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

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COVID: Over 22 million of Malaysia’s adult population fully vaccinated

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 20 — A total of 22,013,263 individuals or 94 per cent of the adult population in the country have completed their COVID-19 vaccination as of yesterday(Oct 19).

According to the Health Ministry’s data on the COVIDNOW portal, 22,764,203 individuals or 97.2 per cent of the adult population had received at least one dose of the vaccine.

As of yesterday, 1,039,689 individuals or 33 per cent of adolescents aged 12 to 17 years had completed their vaccination while 2,491,822 individuals or 79.1 per cent of them were administered at least one dose of the vaccine.

In total, 134,684 doses of the COVID-109 vaccine, were administered yesterday bringing the number of doses administered so far under the National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) to 48,181,111.

Meanwhile, a total of 1,365 booster doses were administered to the target group yesterday, bringing the cumulative total of booster shots given so far to 32,121.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

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Flood: 680 healthcare personnel will be mobilised in Terengganu

KUALA TERENGGANU, Oct 20 — A total of 680 Terengganu Health Department staff will be mobilised to help flood victims at the temporary evacuation centres (PPS) statewide this year.

Its director, Datuk Dr Kasemani Embong, said of the total, 322 personnel would conduct prevention activities and disease control before, during and after the floods at the PPS or in flood-affected areas.

She said each team consists of three staff, namely assistant environmental health officers, public health assistants and drivers.

“Apart from that, another 358 staff will provide health screening, treatment and referral services in the event of emergency at PPS.

“They are medical officers, assistant medical officers, trained nurses, community nurses and drivers who are always on standby,” she said in a statement today.

She also added that the state health department would ensure that the flood preparedness in all districts is done meticulously as the country is still battling the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Although the COVID-19 cases in Terengganu have shown a downward trend, we cannot be complacent. Compliance with the standard operating procedure (SOP) must be given priority to curb the spread of the virus in the PPS.

“Services provided must be fast, efficient, orderly and effectively by giving priority to quality services through the risk assessment concept, and will try to ensure that all flood evacuees are healthy and free from flood-related infectious disease,” she stressed.

She added the department would also focus on other aspects, among others, the preparation of PPS in terms of compliance with SOP in the placement of flood victims according to risk assessment including screening before admission to the centres.

“We have prepared, in terms of medical and health teams, health facilities, medicines, equipment and ambulances, as well as other logistics.

“Similarly, the food management, namely the preparation of food for flood victims housed in the PPS must be clean and safe to eat and to ensure there is no spread of the COVID-19 or any disease at the centres,” she added.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

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MINTIE delivers proven worldwide COVID surge capacity solution

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 20 — With the worldwide healthcare industry commemorating International Infection Prevention Week, Oct 17-23, MINTIE LLC, a third-generation healthcare product innovator and an Alliance Environmental Group company, continues its efforts at infection prevention in the fight against COVID-19 and the Delta Variant.

According to a statement, the company introduced its first line of Environmental Containment Units (ECUs) in 2003 to control the spread of harmful airborne particles during construction or maintenance activities.

Since then, MINTIE has continued to push the innovation process forward and now, its ECU4 mobile environmental containment units are currently being used to support surge requirements for airborne isolation in the continued fight against the transmission of COVID-19.

Since January this year, over 1,500 ECU4s have been deployed in 400+ Japanese healthcare facilities to provide temporary airborne isolation support as part of Japan’s effort to control the spread of COVID-19.

The MINTIE ECU4 also played a critical role during the Tokyo Summer Olympics – supporting 20 Olympic designated healthcare facilities with additional airborne isolation capabilities.

The adoption of MINTIE’s ECU4s in hundreds of hospitals has drawn the attention of a number of Asian media outlets, including Japan’s News 8 and TVK news station as well as in South Korea on MBN TV News, Money Today, MBC News, KBS News and JIBS News.

In the US, MINTIE has been named a finalist in the Los Angeles Business Journal’s inaugural 2021 International Business Forum & Awards in the Global Trade Leader of the Year and Private Company — Medium Sized Business categories.

The ECU4 is patented and has been clinically evaluated and rigorously tested for efficacy of particle containment, ventilation, and stability in healthcare environments where ICRA containment requirement sits in levels 1 to 4.

If a hospital is a step away from reaching ICU capacity for COVID-19 patients, ECU4s can be set up with negative air machines to provide temporary, total isolation rooms.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

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Tabling of Senior Citizens Bill secheduled next year

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 20 –The Senior Citizens Bill is scheduled to be tabled in Parliament next year, said Deputy Minister of Women, Family and Community Development Datuk Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff.

She said the bill was now in the formulation stage upon completion of a study on it last Oct 1.

“The government is very sensitive to the needs of senior citizens and a study was conducted on the formulation of a bill for senior citizens,” she said during the question and answer session in the Dewan Negara here today.

She said this in response to a supplementary question from Senator Fadhlina Sidek who wanted to know whether the government intended to formulate a special law to protect senior citizens.

Meanwhile, at a press conference later, Siti Zailah said with the country moving towards becoming an ageing nation in 2030, the ministry hoped to set up a Senior Citizens Activity Center (PAWE) in every parliamentary constituency nationwide.

“As of August 2021, a total of 49,675 senior citizens have registered with the 143 existing PAWEs nationwide and this year, the government hoped to set up 10 new PAWEs.

“The government also intends to have a PAWE in every parliamentary constituency and so far only 131 parliamentary constituencies have a PAWE,” she added.

On the Malaysian Family Month celebration to be held this Nov 6 with the hashtag #KeluargaMalaysia and the ‘Kita Kan Keluarga Malaysia” slogan, she said it would be launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

“This celebration is held to encourage the community to prioritise family so that good values and love can be nurtured among the young generation,” she said.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency