ByDr Lee Wah Peng, Dr Jeffrey Yap Boon Hui, Dr Lew Yoke Lian and Dr Toh Tien Choon The power of pause: How mindfulness is changing the way we think, work and live ByDr Lee Wah Peng, Dr Jeffrey Yap Boon Hui, Dr Lew Yoke Lian and Dr Toh Tien Choon In today's fast-paced, highly competitive and technology-driven world, stress, anxiety and emotional challenges have become increasingly common. Many of us move from one task to another, checking messages, meeting deadlines and dealing with unexpected ..

Democratic control of U.S. Congress could put Trump under siege United States president Donald Trump has warned that he could become Mr Veto if the Democrats capture Congress. But the greater danger to his presidency may not be the legislation he refuses to sign. It may be the investigations, subpoenas and congressional confrontations that follow. Democratic control of even one chamber of Congress would fundamentally alter the political relationship between the White House and Capitol Hill. The ..

Sarawak Election: Calm on the surface, undercurrents below The 13th Sarawak state election is set to take place soon after the Melaka state election where voters are to cast their ballots to elect 82 state assemblymen before the end of 2026.The outcome will shape the direction of Sarawaks development for the next five years. From being governed by the Sarawak Barisan Nasional (BN) prior to 2018 to the current dominance of Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS); Sarawak has carved out a unique development ..

Budget 2027: Are we investing enough in young children? For parents with preschool-aged children, two questions matter: can we afford good childcare and preschool education, and are the people caring for our children being paid fairly? Education continues to receive the largest allocation in Malaysias federal budget, with RM68.99 billion allocated to the Ministry of Education. According to Teach For Malaysia, early childhood allocations identified within the ministry total RM1.77 billiona 45% ..

Artificial intelligence (AI) can now draft a love letter, an apology, a birthday wish or a message of comfort in a few seconds. For many people, that is a real help, especially when they struggle with language or feel unsure how to express themselves. But when we let AI speak for us in our most personal conversations, an important question arises: are these still our own words and do we truly mean them? The concern goes beyond whether a message sounds genuine. Human communication is not simply ..

As royal dispute gets messier, Constitution must still reign supreme I am not sure when was the last time we witnessed a Malay Ruler publicly giving his Menteri Besar a dressing-down. If anyone remembers a similar incident, I would be interested to hear about it. Negeri Sembilan MB Datuk Ismail Lasim must have found himself in an extremely uncomfortable position when the Yang di- Pertuan Besar, Tuanku Muhriz Tuanku Munawir, publicly reprimanded him after Friday prayers at a mosque in Kuala ..

MCA squeezed out: Umno sacrifices ally to court bigger players Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Barisan Nasional (BN) announced their candidate lists for the Melaka state election on the same day. While PH showed unity and harmony, MCA walked out in protest due to a sharp reduction in the number of seats allocated to them. Melaka DAP initially insisted on a "4+4" formula, but at the last minute changed course to contest only seven seats. Melaka DAP chairman Khoo Poay Tiong pointed out that this was the ..

Trump loved more by Democratic candidates Republicans inconvenient bedfellow Two weeks before the Nov 3 midterms, Democratic candidates are treating Donald Trump as their most reliable campaign asset, while many Republicans treat him as a problem to be managed. For the GOP candidates, ironically, Trump has become an inconvenient bedfellow. Trumps approval has fallen to 32 per cent in a CNN/SSRS poll, 33 per cent in a Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos survey, and 36 per cent among likely voters in ..

When a student turns violent: What are we failing to see? The recent incident in Kuching, where a 16-year-old student allegedly injured a teacher with an axe at school, is deeply disturbing, not only because of the violence itself but because of the uncomfortable questions it raises about adolescent well- being and our collective responsibility towards young people. Adolescence is a critical period of identity formation, emotional change and growing social pressure, and when young people ..

Perikatan Nasionals deregistration and Melaka state election: A test of law, coalitions and democratic accountability The cancellation of Perikatan Nasional (PN)s registration on October 20 raises a question larger than the survival of one coalition: how can regulatory enforcement protect organisational rules without unnecessarily narrowing democratic choice? With Melaka voting on Nov 14, legal process and electoral preparation now intersect under exceptional time pressure. The Registrar of ..

Proactive and pre-emptive steps needed to deal with the seasonal haze The El Nio-triggered haze is becoming a serious health issue, leading to temporary school closures to protect pupils and students from health risks. Beyond these disruptions, the economies of affected countries have been badly hit, with repercussions felt across sectors ranging from agriculture to tourism. Indonesia needs to adopt more environmentally friendly agrarian practices, mirroring the Malaysian oil palm industry, to ..

Malaysias education system is failing the test of national unity When a child refuses to share a table with another child because one eats pork, we are no longer talking about a minor classroom incident. We are talking about a failure of national education. Schools are supposed to produce citizens. Instead, too many are producing children who see difference as contamination, faith as a barrier, and fellow Malaysians as people to be avoided. This is not unity. It is segregation being taught ..

In a West Wing that has turned qualified into a flexible suggestion, Katie Zacharias five-day run as White House press secretary still managed to set a personal best for brevity. Appointed as the Fox-and-Newsmax face who would finally put the podium back in order after Karoline Leavitts exit, she arrived bearing the official presidential seal of approval: attorney. She left after one briefing, one South Lawn exchange about the bar exam, and a presidential suggestion that she might prefer a life ..

Malaysias occupational safety and health (OSH) statistics often make depressing reading. Fatalities, occupational accidents, injuries and occupational diseases tell us what has already happened. They are important, but they are essentially lagging indicators. Perhaps it is time for Malaysia to give greater prominence to leading indicators measures that show whether employers are taking effective action to prevent accidents and occupational ill health before they occur. This is particularly ..

Budget 2027: From household relief to sustainable growth Budget 2027 seeks to ease the financial pressures facing Malaysian households while laying the groundwork for longer-term economic growth. With global uncertainty, rising business costs and household expenses still weighing on economic decisions, the challenge is to provide timely support without losing sight of productivity and competitiveness. The budget provides for RM459.8 billion in federal expenditure, comprising RM376.8 billion in ..

Budget 2027: Eight tests of Malaysias fiscal credibility beyond the RM80 billion promise Budget 2027 presents Malaysia with a demanding bargain: protect households from economic shocks while demonstrating that relief does not compromise fiscal repair. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim tabled the fifth MADANI budget on October 9, presenting social protection as a national covenant. My assessment is that its credibility depends less on the generosity of announcements than on whether eight ..

Tax relief for elderly care, but some children still shirk their duties One of the tax relief measures in the 2027 Budget announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim last Friday caught my attention and gave me food for thought. Taxpayers who hire caregivers or pay for care services for their parents or grandparents would be eligible for tax relief, even when the care is not required for medical reasons. The government has also proposed reducing the service tax rate for elderly care ..

Schools are shut. Is your child actually safer at home? Haze is a term used by governments because it sounds relatively mild. We are experiencing a toxic, smoke-laden crisis and the word smog is more accurate. It is important to recognise that the transboundary haze affecting Malaysia from Indonesian peat and forest fires is a mixed contaminant with physical and chemical components. We have the PM2.5 (fine particulate matter) and gaseous pollutants like carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur dioxide ..

Its more than a literary surprise. The 2026 Nobel Prize in Literature arrived as a quiet but resounding wake-up call: it honoured Anne Carson, Canadas polymath and lifelong classicist, a scholar steeped in Homeric verse and Sapphic fragmentations whose uncompromising body of work amounts to a vital cultural redemption for the humanity squandered amid todays unrestrained AI indulgence. We live in an age intoxicated by technological facility, an era in which ubiquitous, unchecked artificial ..

Every national budget is a tightrope walk above a storm. I know this not from textbooks, but from long nights at the Ministry of Finance when I was the Minister, staring at numbers that never quite add up to everything the nation needs. Every ringgit is debated and fought over. The relief a struggling family desperately needs now must be weighed, painfully, against the discipline that protects their childrens future. Budget MADANI 2027 walks that tightrope with remarkable steadiness. The total ..

Anwar unveils major spending measures with goodies in Budget 2027 Against the backdrop of the governments poor performance in the Johor and Negeri Sembilan state elections, the upcoming Melaka state election and a general election expected next year, the fifth Madani Budget tabled by Prime Minister and Finance Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on Friday carries strong electoral overtones. It appears aimed at winning back support amid declining approval ratings. Anwar announced a host of goodies ..

Lessons from Anwars China visit on Malaysias talent and tech development Accompanying Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on his recent official visit to China, I had the opportunity to experience a high-speed rail ride from Shanghai to Hangzhou. Covering a distance of over 160 kilometers, the journey took just 45 minutes. About 10 minutes after the train departed, Anwar walked into the media carriage. Initially, everyone assumed he was merely dropping by for a casual chat with reporters. ..

THE growing number of senior citizens in Malaysia should prompt us to think beyond celebrations, discounts and occasional programmes for the elderly. Malaysia is ageing and this demographic change will eventually affect almost every part of society. Department of Statistics Malaysia figures show that the proportion of Malaysians aged 65 and above increased from 8.0% in 2025 to 8.4% in 2026. The proportion aged 60 and above had already reached 12% in 2025, representing about 4.1 million people. ..