Category: General

SHAH ALAM, July 28 (Bernama) — Former Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim is currently still being treated in a hospital in Kuala Lumpur, and the news about his death is not true.

Through a post on his Facebook page just now, a statement has been issued to refute viral news claiming that the former Selangor Menteri Besar had died.

“Therefore, the viral news earlier tonight claiming that Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim has died is not true.

“Please stop spreading any false news to protect the sensitivity of his family who is dealing with a difficult situation. Let’s all pray to Allah SWT to make matters easier for Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim,” read the statement.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

NILAI, July 28 (Bernama) — The state government targets RM2 million in sales at the four-day Negri Sembilan Fest (NS Fest 2022) held from today at Dataran Nilai compared with RM1.1 million from the 2019 edition of the fest.

Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Aminuddin Harun is optimistic that the target can be achieved through the 250 stalls offering exhibits and various products including handicraft, food and textile including from 80 medium and small enterprises.

According to him, this second NS Fest after a lapse of two years following the COVID-19 pandemic, is a combination of three annual major programmes, namely, the state Farmers, Livestock Breeders and Fishermen’s Day celebration, Entrepreneurs Month and Negeri Sembilan Food Fest.

“With the combination of three events instead of being held separately, it’s good added value for the participating entrepreneurs in expanding the market for their products.  

“We see that the response on the first day is very encouraging and what is important is not just the sales but introducing the state’s products to the public, especially from outside Negeri Sembilan. Nilai is chosen as it is near Putrajaya, Kuala Lumpur and Selangor,” he told reporters after officially opening the NS Fest 2022, here, today.

Aminuddin said the NS Fest could also create a branding programme for products that were synonymous with Negeri Sembilan and becoming an annual tourism attraction.

He said among the attractions at this year’s event is the food festival promoting 45 local traders, thus providing an opportunity for the public to taste the uniqueness of the local food which has been trending.

“This is also directly promoting Negeri Sembilan as a food tourism destination and further boosting the state’s tourism industry,” he said and added that over 300,000 visitors were  expected at the fest.

The fest is also featuring the sardo cattle show, new variety of the jackfruit originating from Jempol and registered as J41 and side activities such as a Forum Perdana, petting zoo, food demonstrations and an Adat Perpatih muzikal.

Earlier, Aminuddin launched the Kibar Jalur Gemilang 2022 programme in conjunction with the National Day celebration where he urged the people to fly the national flag in the state from today until Sept 16.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, July 28 (Bernama) — Priority should be given public health issues over the ‘fundamental right’ to smoke, especially for young people, said Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.

Following that, he said the public is advised to help and support the actions of the Ministry of Health (MoH) in protecting the younger generation in this country from smoking tobacco and vaping.

“Tobacco Products and Smoking Control Act and tobacco generational endgame (GEG) aims to create a generation that is free from any smoking including cigarettes and vaping for those born in 2007 and the years after,” he said on Facebook today.

Yesterday, the Tobacco Products and Smoking Control Bill 2022 which, among other things, provides for the prohibition of individuals born in 2007 and onwards from smoking, buying or possessing tobacco products or smoking devices, was presented for the first reading at Dewan Rakyat.

According to the bill, individuals who smoke tobacco products or tobacco substitute products, use smoking devices or possess tobacco products, smoking materials, tobacco substitute products or smoking devices can be fined not more than RM5,000, if convicted.

Dr Noor Hisham also cited historical facts about previous law enforcement such as the wearing of helmets and seat belts which concerned the people’s safety and lives.

“Thank God in 1975, 1979 and 2009, the MPs at that time had used their power as representatives of the people well and had contributed to saving many lives.

“There were no parties and lobbyists questioning ‘human rights’ to continue not wearing helmets or seat belts then,” he said.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, July 28 (Bernama) — The Registrar of Societies (RoS) will study the constitutions of all political parties following the approval of the Constitution (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2022 on the provisions of banning members of Parliament from changing parties in Dewan Rakyat today.

“RoS will study the constitutions of existing political parties,” said Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin in a brief media conference in Parliament here today.

Earlier, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Parliament) Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar when winding up the debate on the bill said there is a need to amend the constitutions of their parties to ensure they are in line with the bill.

This is because the Federal Constitution amendment provides that a member of Dewan Rakyat with conflicting principles with the party, can cause his membership to be dropped based on the party’s constitution, as the individual can be considered as switching party and need to vacate his seat.

If the party’s constitution provides that the action of a member of Dewan Rakyat who does not follow the party’s principles or violate the whip’s instructions will cause him/her to no longer be a member of the said political party.

Meanwhile, Hamzah who is also Bersatu secretary-general explained the actions of MPs from the party in not taking part in the debate of the bill as many MPs are ministers and deputy ministers.

“I dare to say outside Dewan Rakyat (not during debate session) as many among us are frontbench (members of government administration). This is a problem for us …we are only left with two members (non-government administration).

“Many netizens questioned us (Bersatu MPs)  but I asked for example Beaufort MP (Datuk Seri Azizah Mohd Dun) to be patient (not to debate) as some parties may use various analogies to label us,” he said.

He said the presence and support given by Bersatu MPs through the bloc vote is evidence that they respect each law enshrined in the Federal Constitution.

In the media conference, Hamzah was joined by 10 Bersatu MPs among them were International Trade and Industry Senior Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali, Minister in the Prime Minister Department (Economy) Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohammed, Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah and Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister Department (Law and Parliament) Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin.

Based on the list of 54 MPs who debated on the bill, there no Bersatu representative took part.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KOTA BHARU, July 28 (Bernama) — The Kelantan Road Transport Department (RTD) recorded a collection of bids amounting to RM2.04 million through the online vehicle number plate bidding system (JPJeBid) for DEL vehicle registration numbers.

Kelantan RTD director, Mohd Misuari Abdullah said the bid which was opened for five days on July 21 exceeded the initial target of RM2.0 million.

“The number of users registered with JPJeBid is 857,569 with a total of 2,292 bidders.

“The highest bid price was RM95,088 for DEL 7 while DEL 11 which attracted the most number of bidders – 14 went for RM58,000,” he said in a statement today.

Commenting further, Mohd Misuari said the registration number which was successfully bid must be registered for a vehicle within twelve months from the date the offer letter is issued at the state JPJ office or branch.

He said, the remaining registration numbers that were not bid will be open to the public to be purchased at a minimum price starting from RM300 to RM20,000 for the current category numbers.

“People who are interested in getting the rest of the registration number can apply at the state RTD office or branch.

“They are also advised to have a mySIKAP password to get a list of current numbers that have not yet been registered for online purchase.

Kelantan RTD has thus far recorded a bid collection amounting to RM 37,855,689 through the implementation of the JPJeBID system starting with DDP to DEL series.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, July 27  (Bernama) — The government will reintroduce the National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) loan repayment exemption to graduates who earn first-class bachelor’s degree beginning from 2019.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the privilege would be given to deserving graduates regardless of economic status, race and religion.

As such, he hoped that PTPTN could discuss with the Ministry of Finance regarding the matter in terms of the allocations involved.

“This is as an encouragement to the children of Keluarga Malaysia (Malaysian Family) to work hard and obtain the best grades in their studies,” he said.

He made the announcement in his speech at PTPTN’s 25th Silver Jubilee Celebration at the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE)  Exhibition and Convention Centre (MECC) today.

Meanwhile, Ismail Sabri advised all borrowers who have yet to settle their PTPTN loans to do so immediately so that the study loans can continue to be given to new students.

“Repayment of study loans is important to ensure continuity and availability of the fund for new students who are also heirs of the nation,” he said.

The prime minister said as of last month, over two million or 82.04 per cent of PTPTN borrowers had settled their loans totalling RM17.8 billion.

“To those who were committed to repaying their loans, I thank you,” he said.

Ismail Sabri said after 25 years of establishment, PTPTN has become the country’s main tertiary education fund corporation committed to fulfilling its mandate and had helped 3.67 million people to pursue their studies with the disbursement of loans totalling RM66.87 billion so far.

Ismail Sabri said he believed that many PTPTN borrowers had also graduated, secured good jobs and were able to improve their standard of living and became part of the country’s valuable human capital.

The government, through the PTPTN, had also allocated over RM3 billion per year to provide study loans to approximately 180,000 new students pursuing tertiary education.

The prime minister said the government had also introduced the Simpan SSPN initiative to ensure that the people could reduce their dependence on loans.

“Simpan SSPN has shown an encouraging performance with the total deposit of RM12.5 billion from 5.4 million accounts as of end of June,” he said.

Apart from that, he said PTPTN should increase cooperation with state governments in a bid to increase its loan repayment collection, such as the cooperation forged with Sarawak which recorded loan repayment of more than RM30 million.

In his speech, the prime minister also expressed gratitude for the commitment and efforts taken by PTPTN since 1997 in ensuring that no one would be left behind in getting higher education.

Among the efforts were the launch of the my-PTPTN app; the launch of the Education Savings Club to increase financial literacy among children; and the cooperation with state governments to give incentives to newborns in the form of a Simpan SSPN account, he said.

Also present at the event were Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Dr Noraini Ahmad ad Deputy Education Minister II Datuk Mohamad Alamin.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA BERANG, July 27 (Bernama) — The Terengganu Islamic Religious and Malay Customs Council (MAIDAM) will distribute a one-off special aid totalling RM23 million to assist about 25,000 poor and hardcore poor in the state from next month.

Its chief executive officer, Assoc Prof Dr Ahmad Azrin Adnan said this was the highest amount of financial aid ever distributed by MAIDAM so far, which is between RM800 and RM1,000 for each household head, depending on the number of family members.

“Previously, the most we distributed was RM700 only, but we have increased the amount due to the economic effects of late.

“Based on MAIDAM data, there are 21,197 poor and hardcore poor families in Terengganu thus far, but due to the rising inflation and economic downturn, we expect an additional 3,000 families to be categorised under the groups,” he said.

He told reporters this when presenting assistance to five families who were victims of the storm in Kampung Bukit Kolam, Ajil, near here, today.

He added that MAIDAM had also distributed RM300,000 in assistance to storm and fire victims statewide in the past seven months.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency