Day: April 25, 2022

MERSING, April 25 (Bernama) — The Mersing District Council (MDM) has introduced the ‘Mersing Tourism Operating System’ (MeTOS) in an effort to improve the management of tourism activities in the district systematically, effective May 1.

MDM president, Mohd Norman Noh, said that the use of the system was made the main requirement for applications for Water Transport Service Licences, and compulsory for island hopping activities.

He said that there are three main modules, namely registration, online booking and payment, which must be completed by the operator and confirmed by MDM, before conducting activities.

“Only licensed operators can use this system, and any application must be submitted five days before any activity is carried out.

“This system also helps in managing the number and (types of) tourism activities at selected locations, apart from recording the number of tourist arrivals as well as facilitating the monitoring of island hopping activities in the islands of Mersing,” he said via a statement today.

Mohd Norman also said that MeTOS was developed by MDM, in collaboration with Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) in Segamat, through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

He said that the agreement was signed by the former MDM president, Norazmi Amir Hamzah, and Johor branch UiTM, Rector Prof Dr Ismail Ahmad.

“I hope that all operators, agents and tourist boats can give their cooperation to ensure that this system can be implemented effectively,” he said, adding that scuba-diving activities were still banned.

On April 7, the Sultan of Johor, Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar, decreed that all diving activities be temporarily suspended.

The decree was issued following the disappearance of four foreign scuba divers in the waters of Pulau Tokong Sanggol, about nine nautical miles from Tanjung Leman here, on April 6.

Three divers, Norwegian Kristine Grodem, 35, Englishman Adrian Peter Chesters, 46, and French woman Alexia Alexandra Molina, 18, were found safe while Dutch citizen Nathen Renze Chesters, 14, was reported to have died.

Mersing has five main islands, namely, Pulau Sibu, Pulau Besar, Pulau Tinggi, Pulau Aur and Pulau Pemanggil.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, April 25 (Bernama) — The Malaysian Bar said that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) investigation against Court of Appeal Judge Datuk Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali is unconstitutional.

Its president, Karen Cheah Yee Lynn, also said that the probe violates the doctrine of separation of powers and also undermines the independence of the judiciary.

In a statement, she said “there are mechanisms in place to deal with this issue and … any attempt by irresponsible parties can be seen as to stab public confidence in the Judiciary.”

“Article 125 of the Federal Constitution provides a specific pathway which allows for complaints of judicial misconduct to be addressed in a manner that ensures continued public confidence in the Judiciary.

“Without that necessary confidence instilled in the Judiciary as an institution, the administration of justice system cannot command the respect and acceptance that are essential to its effective operation in our administration of justice,” she said.

Justice Mohd Nazlan had lodged a police report on April 21 over a news article published by the Malaysia Today portal alleging that he is being investigated for unexplained money transferred into his bank account.

The Office of the Chief Registrar of the Federal Court had said in a statement that Mohd Nazlan denied the “false, baseless and malicious allegations” aimed at undermining his credibility as a Court of Appeal judge.

It had also said that the office takes such allegations and comments seriously, and reminded the public that charges against the Judiciary which are intended to interfere with cases that are in trial are a violation of the principle of sub judice.

Cheah said it is not apparent to the public who lodged the report, or when such a report was lodged.

“What is obvious to the Malaysian Bar is that there should be no double standards by authorities in approaching the same issue – and on this basis we demand equivalent investigations to be carried out by the police authorities on the police report lodged by Datuk Nazlan on the allegations raised by the statements issued by Raja Petra Kamarudin on his blog, Malaysia Today, dated 20 April 2022,” she said.

Cheah said the Malaysian Bar is fully aware that the judiciary is not in any position to take steps to protect itself by involving itself in a trial by media or any form of public controversy.

“… there is therefore a need by the Malaysian Bar to protect the dignity and integrity of the courts and the Judiciary as a whole, considering the nature of the office has always been that it is defenceless to criticism or wild allegations made by irresponsible parties,” she said.

“We call for a circumspect approach by our authorities, and not to fall to the temptation to the irresponsible noise made by keyboard warriors – cull the easy approach, for the greater good of our nation,” Cheah said.

On April 23, The Star newspaper carried an exclusive report stating that MACC chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki had confirmed that the commission had commenced a probe against Justice Mohd Nazlan over allegations of unexplained money in his account following official reports lodged with it regarding the matter.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, April 25 (Bernama) — More than 250,000 international tourists were recorded to have entered and left Malaysia through the main entry points as of April 4, following the reopening of the country’s borders on April 1.

Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC) deputy secretary-general (Culture), Datuk Saraya Arbi, said based on the statistics, the ministry also expected international tourist arrivals to Malaysia to continue to increase from time to time.

She said this after distributing 150 food packs to Bernama and BernamaTV staff in conjunction with the ministry’s Iftar programme.

Saraya also said that the ministry would highlight several new programmes to attract more international tourists to the country.

“There are differences that we want to provide to (international) tourists to come to Malaysia, and if possible we do not want to provide similar programmes. They need to be different compared with what we have had before.

“Recently, the ministry held IFTAR@KL, held in Jalan Raja, and also the Citrawarna Keluarga Malaysia 2022 programme which was held in Kuching, Sarawak, and most likely there will be more new programmes that will be highlighted,” she said.

Previously, Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister, Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri, was reported to have said that Malaysia was expected to attract two million international tourists this year, with RM8.6 billion in tourism revenue, following the reopening of the country’s borders on April 1.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, April 25 (Bernama) — All rest and service areas (R&R) and lay-bys along the North-South Expressway will be opened 24 hours daily to meet the needs of travellers during the Aidilfitri celebration

PLUS Malaysia Berhad (PLUS) chief operating officer, Datuk Datuk Zakaria Ahmad Zabidi said in anticipation of the huge volume of traffic, there will be additional mobile toilet facilities and water tankers at R&Rs and lay-bys.

“To manage traffic at rest areas, PLUS is also getting the assistance of RELA personnel,” he said in a statement here today.

He said in the event of over-crowding that disrupts the traffic along the highway, some rest areas would be temporarily closed to manage the congestion and would be re-opened once the crowd has dispersed.

Apart from that, there are 109 petrol stations along PLUS expressway to facilitate families to grab a quick snack and for toilet breaks while refueling their vehicles.

PLUS expects more than two million vehicles on its network of highways from April 29 to May 9.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KLANG, April 25 (Bernama) — Leave for 2,200 officers and personnel from the Road Transport Department’s (RTD) enforcement division nationwide will be frozen during the implementation of Op Hari Raya Aidilfitri (Op HRA) 2022.

RTD senior director of enforcement Datuk Lokman Jamaan said of the total, 300 personnel and officers were working in Selangor.

He added that the special operation from April 29 to May 8 would focus on enforcement and advocacy to reduce the rate of road accidents during the Aidilfitri celebration.

He also said all enforcement staff would be tasked to carry out comprehensive monitoring in all areas identified as hotspots for accidents and congestion, and conduct bus inspections at depots, highways and main roads.

“Apart from that, Op HRA also focuses on special operations for motorcycles, random disguises as bus passengers and compliance with the use of temporary licences,” he told reporters after conducting a bus inspection at the Sani Express Bus Depot in Klang Sentral here today.

Lokman said RTD has inspected 50 per cent of the 77 bus depots nationwide and so far, all buses were found to be in good condition to operate.

“We carry out inspections on brakes, engine, ventilation and wiring to see whether they are working properly or not. So far, no enforcement action has been taken,” he said.

He also said that RTD expects over 14 million vehicles would hit the road during the festive season, with two million of them to be on the highway at any one time.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KAJANG, April 25 (Bernama) — The Ministry of Education (MOE) will be issuing guidelines to teachers on ’live’ streaming on social media when conducting teaching and learning in the classrooms.

Senior Education Minister, Datuk Dr Radzi Jidin said some of the recordings gave an emotional impact on the students and pupils in the schools.

“So, we are detailing what is the most appropriate approach, and we have also informed teachers to avoid such acts as it has a major impact (on students),” he told reporters after the Generational End Game Anti-Smoking 18 (GEGAR-18) programme at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Bandar Seri Putra, here today.

Also present was Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.

On a separate issue, Radzi said the ministry is in the process of identifying the root cause of why teachers are opting for early retirement.

However, he added there had been no significant change in the number of retired teachers over the past six years.

“Our data shows that there is not much difference between the trend in 2017 and this year. We are only further identifying the cause of teachers retiring early. We will provide a more in-depth explanation soon,” he added.

Previously, UMNO deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan said the report by the National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) estimated over 10,000 teachers have been submitting their papers annually for early retirement over the last few years.

This figure far exceeds the Education Ministry’s statistics and the matter deemed is worrying.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency