Author: malaysiang

PUTRAJAYA, Jan 7 — The Immigration Department only charges a fee of RM1,136 for the recruitment of each foreign domestic helper (PRA) for the first time, said Immigration director-general Datuk Seri Khairul Dzaimee Daud.

He said in a statement today that the cost included levies, visas by country as well as fees for processing and passes.

According to him, employers are free to choose foreign maids from the Philippines, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Nepal and Laos because the government does not limit the source countries for PRA recruitment.

“Every PRA intake must comply with the eligibility requirements outlined such as age, gender and pass a health examination by the Foreign Workers Medical Examination Monitoring Agency (Fomema) upon arrival in the country,” he said.

Khairul Dzaimee said this to clarify allegations that the government charged a high fee of up to five figures for the PRA recruitment process, as reported by a local English-language newspaper on Wednesday (Jan 5).

He said that as of Dec 31, 88,173 PRAs were holding Temporary Working Visit Passes (PLKS).

Employers who wish to obtain information on the PRA application procedure, as well as related information, can browse the Immigration Department’s official portal www.imi.gov.my or the department’s official social media.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 7 — The Ops Bantu Hingga Selesai (Ops BAHIS) initiative organised by the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia (KKMM) to help Malaysians affected by the recent floods also has the support of six telecommunication companies in the country.

The six telecommunications companies are Celcom Axiata Berhad (Celcom), Digi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd (Digi), Maxis Berhad (Maxis), U Mobile Sdn Bhd (U Mobile), Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM) and TIME dotCom Berhad (TIME).

“Through the project, telecommunication companies mobilised volunteers from their respective organisations to help with cleaning work and other support in homes severely affected by the floods.

“The areas involved are Taman Sri Muda (Shah Alam), Bukit Changgung (Sepang) and Taman Sri Nanding (Hulu Langat) for five days starting from Dec 29,” according to a joint statement from the six telecommunication companies here today.

Meanwhile, the companies also expressed their commitment to continue with support for Malaysians in several flood-hit states.

Collectively, the industry has allocated more than RM25 million to support flood relief efforts, including restoring 99 per cent of services and mobile networks in all flood-affected areas.

“The industry is also working hard to rehabilitate the affected locations, including working with local authorities to place equipment to ensure connectivity,” the statement said.

At the same time, telecommunication companies also extended financial assistance to affected staff while distributor partners were assisted with cleaning works of their premises.

“The industry will continue to monitor the situation and work with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and other relevant authorities to support Malaysians in facing this difficult period together,” he said.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

ISKANDAR PUTERI, Jan 7 — The governments of Malaysia and Singapore will reevaluate the current risks before deciding whether to proceed with the 50 per cent quota of the vaccinated travel lane (VTL) land and air scheme.

Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong said in the original discussion, the two countries had previously agreed to continue the daily VTL with the total ticket sales reduced to 50 per cent of the allocated quota from Jan 21.

On Dec 23, the two countries decided to temporarily suspend the sale of bus and flight tickets under the VTL to curb the spread of the new COVID-19 variant Omicron.

“In the next few weeks, a risk assessment will be made to enable both parties to consider whether to proceed or not with the 50 per cent of the quota,” he told reporters at a ceremony to celebrate the 11 million TEUs (twenty feet equivalent units) achieved by Port of Tanjung Pelepas for 2021, here today.

So far a total of 37,783 travellers have been recorded using the VTL via air from Singapore to Malaysia, he added.

The Ayer Hitam MP said this to reporters when asked about the latest status on the VTL following the suspension of ticket sales.

Previously, the daily quota for the land VTL scheme was set at 1,440 passengers for each way.

Wee was earlier reported to have said the decision whether the VTL via air between Malaysia and Singapore will continue to be postponed or resume, will be determined within 48 hours before the postponement of the expiry date on Jan 21.

He was also quoted as saying, if the VTL by air resumes on that date, total flight ticket sales would likely be reduced by up to 50%.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

PUTRAJAYA, Jan 7 — My Local Stats 2020 data, which contains key socio-economic statistics of state and administrative districts, has been uploaded on an interactive visualisation platform, said the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).

In a statement today, DOSM said the platform, which is available on its website or mobile application, contained data from 2018 to 2020 based on the publication of My Local Stats 2020 which was published on Oct 26, 2021.

Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the My Local Stats interactive visualisation facilitated data searching using a user-friendly platform and provided a new dimension to access statistics visually.

“The data visualisation is seen to be able to attract more users in appreciating the insights of statistics as well as making it easier for users to obtain various data on the same platform,” he said.

Overall, he said the interactive visualisation comprises 16 areas and contains 374 economic and social indicators.

Among the indicators available in both web and mobile apps are population by sex and ethnicity; the size of land area; the number of existing stock of residential units and the number of completed residential units.

There are also the number of incoming supply of residential units and planned supply of residential units; principal statistics of the labour force; the number of government hospitals and clinics; principal causes of deaths medically certified and the number of registered heads of poor households.

Mohd Uzir said the My Local Stats 2020 features an additional 42 new indicators and among them are the trend of median house price and house type; the number of schools, pupils and teachers in private primary and secondary schools; and mortality rates by state and administrative district.

“The availability of more detailed statistics at the local level benefits the state and district governments in improving policies, governance and people’s socio-economic needs,” he said.

Mohd Uzir said statistics published in the My Local Stats such as population, employment, health facilities, welfare services and public safety can be used as an important reference for information on aid distribution to household members affected by floods in the respective administrative district.

The My Local Stats interactive visual can be accessed via the link https://tinyurl.com/dashboardmylocalstats.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

BINTULU, Jan 7 — Bintulu Member of Parliament Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing called on the community to prioritise personal safety and health during the Chinese New Year festive season in early February.

This is after Bintulu recorded new positive COVID-19 cases involving 15 people from 16 families after returning from abroad recently.

Previously, Bintulu was classified as a green zone as there were no positive COVID-19 cases in the past few months.

“I would like to remind the public to continue to adhere to the standard operating procedures (SOP) for COVID-19 prevention set by the government,” he said in a statement here today.

He said although Sarawak had entered Phase Four of the National Recovery Plan (PPN) and was given flexibility, the community could not be complacent as the situation in Bintulu was still worrying.

“In the blink of an eye, the case can increase to double digits. This clearly shows that we have not yet won and must remain vigilant and not take the flexibility given by the government lightly,” said Tiong, who is also the Progressive Democratic Party president.

Recently, there have been several new COVID-19 variants reported such as Omicron, Delta and Delmicron, and most recently, Florona which has been detected in Israel and this has sparked public concern.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUANTAN, Jan 7 — The 50 Malaysians identified to be in Kazakhstan where massive street protests triggered by rising fuel prices are taking place are reported to be safe, Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah said.

He said Wisma Putra was monitoring developments in the country and Malaysians have been asked to contact the Malaysian embassy for further information.

“A more detailed official statement on Kazakhstan will be issued tomorrow,” he said when asked about the status of Malaysians in the country at a press conference at the Indera Mahkota parliamentary service centre here today.

The unrest in Kazakhstan unfolded on Jan 2 when thousands of its citizens began protesting a rise in fuel prices.

According to media reports, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev declared a two-week state of emergency on Wednesday after the protests spread nationwide.

Meanwhile, Saifuddin announced the appointment of businessman Datuk Randy Yap Kim Heng as his Special Advisor on East Asia and Yayasan Felda General Manager Datuk Mohd Banuri Aris as the ministry’s International Welfare Affairs consultant.

He said Yap, who is also Gerakan vice-president and Mohd Banuri had begun duties last November.

“I believe to implement something good, we must have cooperation involving the government, the private sector and civil society, that is why I appointed a number of individuals not from the government sector as advisors because we need input from other sectors.

“These people have the experience and expertise at the international level… these two individuals also do not get any salary, allowance or any other perks,” he said.

Separately, Saifuddin, who is also Indera Mahkota MP, said some 3,400 flood victims in Indera Mahkota had been given appropriate assistance including prepared meals, snacks and electrical appliances besides allocation to repair roofs and ceilings.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

IPOH, Jan 7 — Repair works on the Jalan Ampang-Jelapang road here that was partially closed since October last year due to a massive sinkhole is expected to be completed in three months.

State Public Infrastructure, Energy, Water and Public Transport chairman Datuk Mohd Zolkafly Harun said the new contractor appointed will first identify issues plaguing the federal road.

“Among the reasons for the delay is that the state government had to look for a suitable contractor with the expertise on slope and ‘crossing carbon leaking’ work in the area.

He said the repair work was extremely technical and must be carefully done.

Only one lane of the road can now be used as a result of the sinkhole incident, which is believed to have been caused by soil erosion due to water seepage along broken side drains.

The delay in the repair work has caused dissatisfaction among road users as they have had to endure daily traffic congestion.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency