Author: malaysiang

KOTA BHARU, March 8 (Bernama) — Failure to seek early treatment due to having more faith in traditional treatment has resulted in only 70 to 80 per cent of mental patients recovering after being treated in hospital.

Raja Perempuan Zainab II Hospital (HRPZ II) Department of Psychiatry head Dr Fariza Yahya said most mental patients only sought treatment at the hospital after more than two years of experiencing the problem.

“Many of the patients we saw said that their families took them to seek treatment with bomoh (shaman) first. But, when they see the patient’s condition worsening, they will then come to the hospital.

“The delay in getting early treatment has resulted in many patients not recovering 100 per cent due to their (patients’) deteriorating mental capacity,” she told reporters after the launch of the Community Mental Health Centre (MENTARI) project at the Ketereh Health Clinic, here, today.

Also present were Kelantan Social Security Organisation (Socso) director Nora Yaacob and Socso Return to Work division head Rosmawati Mat.

Dr Fariza said that early treatment is crucial to ensuring patients recover and can go about their normal routine, including being able to work, but they must take their medicine as prescribed by doctors.

According to her, for the MENTARI programme, patients undergoing rehabilitation will be given skills in their fields of interest, such as doing business, making ice cream and burgers as well as working with employers.

At the same time, over 2,000 new cases annually involving mental patients, including in terms of behaviour, are recorded seeking treatment at the HRPZ II Department of Psychiatry.

“Within a month, we received 200 to 300 new cases, including teenagers and the youngest is 13 years old. Many children from divorced parents are also found to have mental problems,” she said.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, March 8 (Bernama) — The government is using a multi-pronged strategy, encompassing the entire food supply chain from raw materials to food outside of the home, to stabilise food prices and bring them to an affordable level.

Minister of Economy Rafizi Ramli said initiatives such as Menu Rahmah and the People’s Income Initiative (IPR) that could provide ready meals at RM2 not only present affordable choices for consumers but also encourage competition within the food market space.

“The quality of the initiatives can already be seen. For example, the consumer price index (CPI) inflation for the food-outside-the-home component has fallen for the first time since August 2021, from 9.6 per cent in December 2022 to 9.3 per cent in January 2023.

“The government will ensure there is a continuation of efforts to reduce the people’s burden,” he said in a statement today.

Rafizi said the short-term focus towards fair price accountability would continue with the development of an ecosystem based on nationwide price data with the injection of price and supply elasticity.

He said the government would continue with the Price Standardisation Programme (PPH) to standardise the prices of seven basic goods, comprising white rice, sugar, one kg bag of cooking oil, flour, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), RON95 petrol, and diesel.

“This is to ensure the supply of these basic goods will reach people living outside urban areas and in the rural regions of the peninsula, Sabah, and Sarawak.

“The PPH programme’s implementation will enable everyone to purchase essential goods at standardised prices,” he said.

Rafizi also said that the Ministry of Economy would analyse the price increase during the recent Chinese New Year when the month-on-month growth in 2023 (0.2 per cent) was lower compared with 2021 (0.3 per cent) and 2022 (0.24 per cent).

“This matter is encouraging because it proves that Malaysia was successful in lowering the rate of price increase amid global supply chain constraints and seasonal demand spikes,” he added.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, March 8 (Bernama) — The Unity Government has approved the principle to amend three Acts related to sexual offences against children to ensure justice for child victims and witnesses.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said said the laws involved Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 (Act 792), Evidence of Child Witness Act 2007 (Act 676), and the Evidence Act 1950 (Act 56), were approved on Feb 24.

She added that the amendments are to be carried out in two phases, with the first phase comprising three proposed amendments to be implemented in this session, while the second phase will be implemented in the next Parliament session.

“The proposed amendments include the introduction of additional child-friendly measures to protect child victims, the creation of new offences and the granting of compensation to child victims,” she said during her winding-up speech on the Budget 2023 today.

Azalina explained that the proposed reform is intended to prevent child victims or witnesses from having to go through a lengthy, repetitive judicial process and a child-unfriendly justice system, thereby suffering long-term trauma.

In addition, Azalina said the Legal Affairs Division of the Prime Minister’s Department is also conducting a study to enact the Public Defenders Bill to offer services for assistance in cases holistically.

She said it is aimed at giving everyone the opportunity to access justice, especially those who are unable to do so.

The National Legal Aid Foundation (YBGK) had provided criminal legal aid services to 657,057 individuals from 2020 to 2022.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, March 8 (Bernama) — Malaysian Defence Ministry’s application to procure Kuwait’s used F/A-18C/D fighter jets has yet to receive any positive answer from the country.

Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan said the current and former leaders had three times sent applications for the procurement to Kuwait, but the ministry has yet to receive any reply.

“The proposal to procure the used F/A-18C/D fighter jets from Kuwait is still at the evaluation stage. However, since the Kuwait government’s administration and cabinet has changed five times, there is no specific authority to make a decision.

“There has been no commitment from Kuwait to say whether they agree or not, to the request from Malaysia, to purchase the multi-role combat aircraft (MRCA),” he said when winding up policy level debate of the Supply Bill 2023 at Dewan Rakyat, today.

According to Mohamad Hasan, though used, the refurbished fighter jets are in good condition with relatively low flight hours.

It would definitely increase the level of preparedness and capability of the RMAF in safeguarding the country’s airspace.

Meanwhile, speaking of an increased allocation of RM1.4 billion to MINDEF in the Budget 2023, Mohamad Hasan said the allocation was not related to the issue of Littoral Combat Ships (LCS).

“The additional allocation in the Budget is not involved in the procurement of the LCS alone. Mindef is currently studying the LCS project to determine if it can be continued. After the findings a memorandum would be prepared to be submitted to the cabinet,” he said.

He added that MINDEF would discuss with the Ministry of Economy and Finance Ministry before being presented to the cabinet.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, March 8 (Bernama) — Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has called for a clear change to be made to increase the participation of women in top-level decision-making in the private sector, including at government-linked companies (GLCs) and government investment-linked companies (GLICs).

The prime minister said this was important because according to a report from the Securities Commission Malaysia, women made up only 29 per cent of board members of companies in the private sector as at Dec 31, 2022.

In the government sector, women participation at the top level had increased but there was still room for improvement, he said.

“In the public sector, the number of women civil servants at the decision-making level on top grade C and above has increased to 38.8 per cent.

“In the political sector, although the 15th general election results show that the percentage of women Members of Parliament dropped from 14.9 per cent in 2021 to 13.5 per cent in 2022, there was an increase in women candidates,” he said when officiating at the International Women’s Day 2023 celebration here today.

In this connection, Anwar said private companies should pay attention to this required change by giving opportunities for new appointments or promotions at the decision-making level to qualified women.

“I want change and definitely this change involves women with qualifications … there must be clear progress so that we can emphasise the role of women,” he said, and proposed that the number of women senators be increased.

On the i-Sayang initiative introduced by the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), the prime minister said there was a need to urge heads of government department, GLC and GLIC to ensure their workers make their share of contributions to the EPF accounts of their wives.

“i-Sayang is an initiative to enable husbands to voluntarily transfer two per cent EPF contributions to their wives’ accounts, but even to increase a bit of contributions to wives is a problem.

“There seems to be some reluctance, so I think we need to strongly urge the heads of government department, GLC and GLIC to ensure their workers do the contribution, to ensure the security of their wife and mother of their kids,” he said.

Also present at the ceremony were Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri, Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek and Anwar’s wife and Bandar Tun Razak MP Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

PETALING JAYA, March 8 (Bernama) — The concept of Menu Rahmah initiative for schooling assistance will be studied to help lighten the burden of parents with low income.

Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub said the ministry would be holding engagement sessions with stakeholders to get the initiative moving from next year.

“In 100 days we will focus on Menu Rahmah first. However, as a formality I will try to arrange so that the implementation of schooling package is more organised like Menu Rahmah now,” he said after launching McDonald’s Menu Rahmah here today.

Salahuddin said for the time being, schooling aid is still channelled via Back to School programme which is carried out in each parliamentary constituency.

The Menu Rahmah initiative which offers meals at RM5 and beiow was launched in January as an effort of the government to tackle the rising cost of living.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KOTA BHARU, March 8 (Bernama) — A total of 603 mosques in Kelantan, under the state Islamic Religious and Malay Customs Council (MAIK), have never been used as a stage for politics, said Mufti of Kelantan, Datuk Mohamad Shukri Mohamad.

He said that MAIK had never allowed any party to turn the mosque into a political arena since the religious institution was established in 1915.

“Politics cannot be separated from Islam, but the political party must be separated from the mosque, and individuals who want to speak or teach (in mosques) must have credentials.

“Only certified speakers can teach in the mosque, and this matter is controlled by MAIK, as an institution that is looking after these matters, so that they (mosques) are not disturbed by the situation to the point of causing anxiety,” he said.

He said this to reporters during a press conference, after the launch of the Muhammadi Mosque’s 150th Anniversary Book (1867-2017), at the MAIK Library, here today.

He said this in response to the decree of the Sultan of Selangor, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, as the head of state and head of the Islamic religion in Selangor, that mosques in the state must be free of both political influences and elements, so as to prevent divisions caused by religious differences.

Mohamad Shukri said that in Kelantan, there had been attempts to make the mosque a venue for politics, but the effort failed due to the state government constantly monitoring the issue to avoid mosques being used for party interests.

“Thus far there have been no cases, and the mosques in the state have not been abused with political elements.

“Therefore, the management of the mosque needs to ensure that only speakers with religious teaching credentials from MAIK are allowed to deliver lectures in mosques, as stipulated in Section 91 of the MAIK Enactment,” he said.

Earlier, he said the book, commemorating 150 years of the Muhammadi Mosque, was launched to commemorate the mosque’s role as an educational institution in producing famous figures, in addition to playing a role in building a civilisation in Kelantan and the country.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency