Day: October 26, 2021

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 26 — A total of 3,419 notices were issued nationwide for smoking in eateries from January until Oct 24 this year, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said.

He said Terengganu had the highest number of violations with 652 notices issued followed by Pahang (601), Sarawak (365), Perak (356) and Kuala Lumpur (303).

Khairy said the notices were issued under Section 32B of the Enforcement Regulations of Tobacco Control 2004.

“The Health Ministry (MoH) has intensified anti-smoking enforcement activities in all eateries, especially now that the government has allowed dine-in again,” he said in a statement today.

All eateries, including air-conditioned and open-air diners had been gazetted as smoke-free areas effective Jan 1, 2019 under Regulation 11 (1) (d) of the Tobacco Control Regulation (PPKHT) Regulations 2004 (amended) 2018.

Khairy said the smoking ban was not intended to punish smokers but to avoid complications due to the habit to smokers as well as passive smokers, namely those who are around smokers.

He said the MoH is committed to helping smokers kick the habit, adding that registration for the ‘mQuit’ integrated quit smoking service can be done via www.jomquit.com.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 26 — A total of 98.3 per cent of the 5,726 new COVID-19 cases reported today were categories one and two patients, said Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

In a statement, he said categories one and two patients accounted for 5,629 cases while 97 cases or 1.7 per cent were in categories three, four and five.

COVID-19 is a five-category disease with category five being the most severe.

“This brings the cumulative cases of COVID-19 in Malaysia to 2,442,224. For the daily cases, 15 were imported and 5,711 local infections.

“A total of 5,607 recoveries were recorded today, raising the cumulative figure for recovered cases to 2,340,390. Apart from this, 598 cases are being treated in the intensive care unit (ICU), with 308 requiring ventilators,” he said in a statement.

Dr Noor Hisham also said seven new clusters were identified, with five at the workplace, and one each in the community and higher education institution.

He said the infectivity rate or Rt for the whole country was 0.89, with Kuala Lumpur and Negeri Sembilan registering the highest value of 0.99 and Labuan the only state with zero Rt.

Detailed information on the country’s COVID-19 situation will be uploaded on the COVIDNOW website at https://covidnow.moh.gov.my

The data is updated at midnight daily.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KOTA BHARU, Oct 26 — A set of 18-year-old quadruplets, who achieved excellent results in their Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examinations last June, are in need of digital gadgets like tablets to enable them to complete their school assignments throughout the home learning session.

Amir Muttaqim Md Khairuddin, Aniq Mutaqim Md Khairuddin, Abid Mutaqim Md Khairuddin and Adib Mutaqim Md Khairuddin require the gadgets as they need to focus on obtaining good results for their Sijil Tinggi Pelajaran Malaysia (STPM) examinations scheduled next year.

The siblings, all students of Sekolah Menengah Agama Melor, near here, had been forced to share two laptops till recently.

“One laptop has broken down while we had to pass the other one to our oldest brother, Syafiq Muttaqin, who is now studying at the Institut Kemahiran Mara (IKM) Besut in Terengganu.

“Actually the laptop we have been using is a second-hand unit that our father bought for us. That’s why it’s broken down so many times and was repaired repeatedly till it affected our learning at home,” Amir Muttaqim said when met at their home in Kampung Permatang Pusu here today.

Meanwhile, their mother, Rusmazuaiti Mokhtar, 44, hoped that the authorities would sympathise with their plight and help them as they have been facing financial difficulties of late.

The housewife also said that they were relying solely on her husband Md Khairuddin Musa, who works as a teacher at a school in Ulu Kelantan.

“My quadruplets excelled in their studies, having obtained 6As and 7As in their SPM exams.

“At the very least I hope they will maintain their excellent results in the STPM exam next year,” the mother of seven added.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 26 — The Petaling district recorded the highest population in 2020 with 2.16 million, according to the My Local Stats 2020 publication released by the Department of Statistics Malaysia today.

This is followed by Kuala Lumpur with 1.77 million and Johor Bahru with 1.56 million, a statement from the Office of Chief Statisticians said.

Other findings in terms of demographics found that Malaysia’s population aged 65 and above had increased to 7.0 per cent in 2020 with Perak recording the highest percentage of older age population at 11 per cent.

Three districts in Perak with the highest percentage of older age population were Kampar (12.9%), Kinta (12.3%) and Larut, Matang and Selama (11.1%).

“The findings show that the country is facing a challenge in tackling the increase in the percentage of older age population by 2030,” it said.

The statement said findings in the education field showed that there were 10,220 schools in 2020 that is 7,780 primary schools and 2,440 secondary schools and Johor Bahru district recorded the most teachers with 10,052 persons (primary schools) and Kuala Lumpur (8,202 persons) for secondary schools.

The largest number of pupils recorded were in Petaling district (153,313 persons) for primary schools and Johor Bahru (100,458 persons) for secondary schools.

My Local Stats 2020 is the fourth in its series since 2017. This year, My Local Stats publication is released for all 156 administrative districts.

This publication provides the statistics needed for sustainable development planning and it integrates economic and social statistics at the administrative district level for the 2018 to 2020 time series.

Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the availability of more detailed statistics at the local level would benefit the state government and local authorities in improving existing policies, governance and socio-economic needs of the people.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 26 — The Wildlife Conservation (Amendment) Bill 2021 is more responsive to current needs in combating crimes against wildlife, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan said.

The bill was tabled by Takiyudin for second reading in the Dewan Rakyat today and is the first time amendments have been made to the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010 (Act 716).

He said the bill is aimed at improving the existing law which he added failed to reduce the crime rate against wildlife.

“This approach not only aims to protect wildlife but also to protect its habitat.

“… I am confident this bill will be able to ensure wildlife conservation, through control, management and enforcement, can be implemented more efficiently and effectively to protect and conserve wildlife in the country,” he said.

Among the amendments include the scope of wildlife protection with technological developments and current issues given that currently, there is no provision that allows action against individuals who advertise the sale of wildlife online.

He said this loophole had been a motivating factor for poachers to exploit wildlife and sell directly through social media and e-commerce platforms to buyers.

Besides this, the amendments, among others, proposes to increase the maximum fine for serious offences such as cases involving illegal hunting from RM500,000 to RM1 million and for the maximum prison sentence to be increased from 10 years to 15 years.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency