Politics

KUCHING: Public response to the state’s first electric passenger bus has been positive, with many calling the service a convenient way to get around the city.

Rhap Hilario, a Filipino visitor to Kuching, commented that service allowed him to check out the city’s tourist attractions in one ride.

It’s high time that Kuching has this type of bus service. In Manila, they already have this type of service which moves around the capital. I’m glad that Kuching finally has one as it is convenient for those who want to go around the city using public transport, he said.

Other passengers met on the bus ride expressed hope that the service would be expanded to cover more places in the city.

Matra Bujang, who is from Bintawa, said it would be good news for him if his area is one day made part of the route as he depends on public transportation to get around. Another passenger, Basil Chung, suggested an app be created to track the bus’ location for the convenience of would-be passengers.

It is important to have some sort of a tracking system so that those who want to ride the bus can know where and when to wait for it. I feel the bus operator should consider and promote such a system, if there is any, said Chung, who rode the new bus for the first time yesterday.

Meanwhile, Henz Pacific Sdn Bhd, which operates the electric bus, said there was in fact an app for the bus service for Android and iOS users. Its managing director Henry Lai said users can scan the QR code found in the bus for any information related to its service.

The app contains information such as bus location, bus stops, places of interest, where this bus will pass by and others. With the app, passengers need not wait long for the bus or have trouble finding the location of interesting places, he said.

The bus is on a three-month free trial run, covering 26 stations including the Open Air Market, Kuching Waterfront, iCom Square and Sarawak Museum. The electric bus, which can carry up to 53 passengers, comes with free WiFi.

Source: Sarawak Government

CYBERJAYA, Cyberjaya and Putrajaya will become the first smart cities in Malaysia receiving 5G technology facilities when the service network’s pioneer test begins in April, said Malaysia’s Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo.

During the period, he said, companies providing telecommunications services and industry players would carry out their respective 5G technology tests assisted by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Services (MCMC).

Malaysia will certainly become the focus of the world to see how we create two areas activated via 5G technology.

This initiative or test is most important for us to determine the subsequent measures in aspects of 5G technology usage in future,he told reporters after officiating the Cyberjaya Infra Conference and Exhibition, here Monday.

The 5G or fifth generation mobile network is a new technology that will replace the 4G technology, which was first introduced in 2009, which is 100 times faster than the 4G.

Gobind said although no specific period was fixed for the implementation of the test, it was however hoped that within six months, a new indicator could be achieved through the test.

With regard to the fear that the 5G infrastructure could open up space for information leakages and spying, Gobind said the security aspect was the government’s priority in making all decisions including the aspect of new technology infrastructure development.

He said the government could not ignore the fact that the world was moving towards 5G technology which was recommended as offering more options in the services provided.

We want to provide infrastructure that is accessible, of high quality, with reasonable cost but at the same time we also want to provide infrastructure that is secure.

Security concerns are at the top most of our consideration and this is the reason why MCMC is in the process of doing the study on 5G infrastructure, he said referring to the study that was being carried out by MCMC on the issue of the 5G infrastructure development by Huawei, the giant telecommunication company from China.

The detailed study by MCMC through collaboration with the National Agency for Cyber Security (NACSA) would take into consideration various aspects including looking at foreign countries’ assessment to ensure that the 5G network would become a safe system before it could be implemented.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

CYBERJAYA, Cyberjaya and Putrajaya will become the first smart cities in Malaysia receiving 5G technology facilities when the service network’s pioneer test begins in April, said Malaysia’s Communications and Multimedia Minister Gobind Singh Deo.

During the period, he said, companies providing telecommunications services and industry players would carry out their respective 5G technology tests assisted by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Services (MCMC).

Malaysia will certainly become the focus of the world to see how we create two areas activated via 5G technology.

This initiative or test is most important for us to determine the subsequent measures in aspects of 5G technology usage in future,he told reporters after officiating the Cyberjaya Infra Conference and Exhibition, here Monday.

The 5G or fifth generation mobile network is a new technology that will replace the 4G technology, which was first introduced in 2009, which is 100 times faster than the 4G.

Gobind said although no specific period was fixed for the implementation of the test, it was however hoped that within six months, a new indicator could be achieved through the test.

With regard to the fear that the 5G infrastructure could open up space for information leakages and spying, Gobind said the security aspect was the government’s priority in making all decisions including the aspect of new technology infrastructure development.

He said the government could not ignore the fact that the world was moving towards 5G technology which was recommended as offering more options in the services provided.

We want to provide infrastructure that is accessible, of high quality, with reasonable cost but at the same time we also want to provide infrastructure that is secure.

Security concerns are at the top most of our consideration and this is the reason why MCMC is in the process of doing the study on 5G infrastructure, he said referring to the study that was being carried out by MCMC on the issue of the 5G infrastructure development by Huawei, the giant telecommunication company from China.

The detailed study by MCMC through collaboration with the National Agency for Cyber Security (NACSA) would take into consideration various aspects including looking at foreign countries’ assessment to ensure that the 5G network would become a safe system before it could be implemented.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

SINGAPORE, Four Malaysians were arrested for attempting to smuggle a Myanmar woman out of Singapore, according to the Singapore Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) today.

The ICA said in a statement that at 7.45 pm on Feb 28, its officers stopped a departing Malaysia-registered car for inspection at the Woodlands Checkpoint.

The car was driven by a 42-year-old Malaysian woman and carried another Malaysian woman.

Source: BERNAMA

KUALA LUMPUR, The Pakatan Harapan (PH) government is pleased to see positive progress in the establishment of the Malaysia Media Council (MMC), said the Prime Minister’s Special Advisor on Media and Communications Datuk A. Kadir Jasin.

The veteran newsman said the MMC might be able to be established by this year.

“I have been talking to several group of people to encourage them to do this (Media Council) as quickly as possible. The new government is coming to one year very soon and there are still many promises yet to be delivered, particularly in the area of reforms, many more laws that we promised we will repeal or amend, are yet to be repealed or amended.

“I have seen at least two pretty good drafts about what MMC should be and those drafts may be discussed here in the next two days. I hope some clearer ideas will come out of this conference so that it can be presented to the government,” he said in his keynote address at the National Consultation for a MMC 2019, he said, here today.

The Deputy Secretary General of Communications and Multimedia Ministry Shakib Ahmad Shakir attended the event to represent Deputy Minister of Communications and Multimedia Eddin Syazlee Shith.

Commenting further, Kadir said the establishment of MMC is imperative, but the government will not be involved in the process.

“It is imperative because the government wants it, but the government is not going to take the first step… that is not the policy of the new government, we do not want to interfere with the media.

“We want the media to be free but we also want the media to be responsible. So, the Media Council is imperative upon journalists and media practitioners, it is important because it is part of the reform process of the new government,” said Kadir.

The two-day conference was jointly organised by the Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) and the Malaysian Centre for Constitutionalism and Human Rights (MCCHR).

It aims to bring together a wide range of stakeholders to work out a roadmap for self-regulation for the Malaysian media.

Meanwhile, Shakib when reading Eddin’s speech said the Malaysia Media Council could learn from self regulatory bodies from neighbouring countries such as Indonesia and the Philippines.

He said in Indonesia, for example, self-regulation has been very successful in helping the press meet challenges from attempted government interference to issues of extremism and they have set standards of peacekeeping and ethnic conflict.

“In the Philippines, the Cebu Citizen Press Council has, likewise helped to set the standard in the difficult environment, they have worked with police to help uphold justice such as in presumption of innocence. They have also engaged with religious bodies to help cultivate understanding among adherence of different faith and help to improve the condition for court reporters including dealing with issues of harassment,” he said.

According to the CIJ press release, the idea of a media council was first mooted for Malaysia as far back in the 1970s and several times since then, most recently in 2011.

The idea, however, has received little support from journalists in particular, who have consistently asserted that a MMC can only be realised once the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 (PPPA) is repealed, as an initial sign that the government is committed to the concept of self-regulation and media freedom.

With the Pakatan Harapan’s stated commitment to both the repeal of the PPPA and the setting up of self-regulatory body, there is a need to bring together people with an interest in the Media Council, including journalists, editors, publishers and civil society, the statement stated.

MMC is a self-regulatory body that could set high standards for the media community to help build and maintain trust in the industry and act as an arbitration body between the public and the media in the interests of all Malaysians.

Source: BERNAMA

SERIAN: The cost of organising the International Serian Bike Week will be included in the budget of the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youths and Sports next year.

Its minister Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said he would allocate some fund for the event, hoping to turn it into an annual activity in Serian.

He believed that the International Serian Bike Week deserves some funding from his ministry because it has something to do with tourism, youths and sports.

He said although the organiser did not come to see him to request for funding, he would give them RM30,000 from his ministerial grant to cover the cost of organising the inaugural event this year.

It is my fervent hope that this event will become an annual activity in Serian because I believe it can attract not only locals but also foreigners to Serian.

I suggest that the organisers come early next year to meet me with their working paper so that I can include this activity in our budget.

I will take into consideration your request for funding to organise this event, he said at the launch of the 1st International Serian Bike Week at Lake Danu here yesterday.

Abdul Karim said the bike week was not new in Sarawak, having been held in other parts such as Kuching, Kota Samarahan, Sibu and Miri, to name a few.

He added that some of them had been made into an annual event.

Samarahan, for example, had conducted it for four years, if I am not mistaken. This sport has a lot of followers among the people, especially the youths in Sarawak, he said.

Serian MP and patron of the event Dato Sri Richard Riot and Bukit Semuja assemblyman and event advisor John Ilus were among those present at the launching ceremony.

Source: Sarawak Government

BATU PAHAT, The Education Ministry has provided a special path to four groups, namely, persons with disabilities, athletes, the Orang Asli community and those from the low-income households, for admission to public universities, said its Minister Dr Maszlee Malik.

He said with the special path, the four groups did not have to compete with those from the mainstream to pursue their tertiary education.

They only need to meet requirements set by the selected universities and would only be filtered among their own groups, he added.

For persons with disabilities and those from the low-income households, we will choose the best among them, while for the Orang Asli community we want more of them to further their studies at public universities and for the athletes we want to produce more (athletes) to obtain education at the higher learning institutions.

We provide this special path to emulate some advanced countries that emphasise participation of those from the groups particularly athletes as many enrol in universities due to their involvement in the field of sports science, he told reporters after officiating the ‘Jom Masuk IPT 2019’ programme for the southern zone at the Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM), here today.

Meanwhile, when asked about the status of the proposed establishment of the Muhammadiyah University in Pagoh, Johor, Maszlee declined to elaborate.

He said apart from Muhammadiyah University, there were several other foreign universities including from the United Kingdom and Japan were also interested in opening their branches in the country.

Recently, Sultan of Johor Sultan Ibrahim Almarhum Sultan Iskandar, rejected the proposed establishment of the Muhammadiyah University branch at the Higher Education Hub in Pagoh to avoid confusion, dispute and disunity among Muslims in the state.

Source: BERNAMA