Selangor local government needs a major overhaul befitting a developed state Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah in his 80th birthday address on December 11 was highly critical of local government in Selangor. HRH was stridently vocal about the municipal mess Selangor has descended into while priding itself as a First World developed state. Despite increases in rates last year and the recent 2026 Selangor and federal budgetary allocations, local government in Selangor is in a woeful state and unable ..

When the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) faced FIFA sanctions for allegedly fielding ineligible heritage players, the association responded with what it called an independent investigation. It suspended its Secretary- General Noor Azman Rahman, and formed an Independent Investigation Committee (IIC) to examine the matter. To many Malaysians, it also sounded like a knee- jerk reaction. More importantly, on paper, this may have appeared decisive and responsible, but in reality, it was FAM ..

"Another reason to celebrate at the end of the year." This single and brief sentence has proven more damaging than any judicial verdict. Not only has it turned DAP publicity secretary Yeo Bee Yin into UMNOs public enemy number one, but it has also sent UMNO Youth Chief Datuk Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh and Secretary-General Datuk Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki into a fury. Dr Akmal went as far as to demand an immediate exit from the Unity Government, shouting: "What are we waiting for? Lets withdraw our ..

SRC or 1MDB: Guilty or not, Malaysia needs to learn from South Korea Malaysias struggle with corruption has reached a decisive but dangerous moment. The question is no longer whether graft must be punishedit mustbut whether the methods used to enforce accountability are themselves destabilising the political order they are meant to protect. The cases surrounding Datuk Seri Najib Razak, SRC International and 1MDB have rightly shocked the nation. They exposed systemic failures, elite impunity and ..

Yeo Bee Yin and Tony Pua: The final straws crushing the coalition camel" After the verdict on former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was announced, Yeo Bee Yin posted on Facebook: "Another reason to celebrate at the end of the year." Between the lines, the fact that Najib remains in Kajang Prison was framed as a joyful occasion, adding meaning to the closing year. Tony Pua then added fuel to the fire, stating that one should not sympathize with corrupt officials nor stop others from ..

Malaysians are dying young for wrong reasonsrecent DOSM Report Malaysias latest Statistics on Causes of Death, Malaysia 2025 is more than a set of tables; it is a national autopsy. Ischemic heart disease still kills the most Malays and Indians, Chinese Malaysians are increasingly lost to pneumonia and cancer, young adults are dying on the roads, and by the time major illnesses strike after 50 or 60, the safety nets of SOCSO, EPF and insurance are already full of holes. The 2025 release confirms ..

Najib denied house arrest and BN's unresolved dilemma The High Court dismissed former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razaks application for a judicial review regarding house arrest on Monday. With this ruling, the hopes of Barisan Nasional (BN) and Umno to rely on his return to revitalize the party have been dashed. In her judgment, High Court Judge Alice Loke Yee Ching stated that during the 61st Pardons Board meeting on January 29, 2024chaired by the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan ..

South Koreas most troubling jobs problem is hiding in plain sight. By the headline figures, the labor market appears robust. Employment rates have reached record highs. The jobless rate sits near what economists would regard as full employment. Yet, beneath this reassuring surface, a quiet erosion is unfolding. For 19 consecutive months, youth employment has declined. The economy is creating jobs, just not for the generation expected to sustain it. This is not a cyclical dip or a passing ..

Predicted, ignored, realized: Malaysias 5G collapse in three acts Malaysias 5G debate has now crossed a threshold where consequences are no longer abstract or deferrable. The recent twin developments in Malaysias 5G sagathe stark revelation of plummeting network speeds and the Ministry of Finances (MoF) financial exitare not mere coincidences. They are structurally linked, direct, predictable, and costly outcomes of a policy experiment that EMIR Research has been persistently warning against ..

Forests, fuel and food: Is expanding oil palm to Indonesias Papua worth the cost? Earlier this month, PresidentPrabowo Subiantosuggested that Papua should be planted with oil palm to boost biofuel production and reduce Indonesias dependence on imported fuel. The rationale is clear: Indonesia spends hundreds of trillions of rupiah annually on fuel subsidies and imports, making the strengthening of domestic energy supply a top policy priority. At first glance, oil palm appears to offer an ..

If everything must be halal, one might as well become a recluse on an isolated island The recent "halal controversy" in Melaka has certainly been an eye- opening for me. It turns out that halal certification is not limited to food; the Melaka Islamic Religious Department (JAIM) claims it extends to kitchens and restaurants as well. One wonders if hotel lobbies or toilets are next on the list. I hope someone with profound religious knowledge can enlighten me: is there truly a "halal" and ..

Korea and Malaysia: Where pragmatic diplomacy converges At the 3rd KoreaMalaysia Defence Industry Cooperation Seminar held in Kuala Lumpur last September, Defence Minister of Malaysia Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin made a remark that resonated deeply. What matters to us is not merely about procuring weapons, but about building trust with a reliable partner. His words, spoken on the occasion of Malaysia signing its second-ever defence cooperation Memorandum of Understanding with Korea, ..

ByRichard Heydarian / Philippine Daily Inquirer / ANN ByRichard Heydarian / Philippine Daily Inquirer / ANN Perhaps nothing better captures our negative exceptionalism than the brazenly totalistic capture of our elected offices by a few families. Even at the height of political reform under the Benigno Aquino III administration, more than 80 percent of legislative seats were occupied by political dynasties. Across the nation, as few as 178 political dynasties dominated 73 out of a total of 81 ..

Since I entered the profession in the late 1980s, the issue of Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) recognition has taken up a significant portion of my reporting career. It was like an inescapable ghost, haunting Malaysias political and educational landscape. Every general election, by-election, or major political transition, this topic is pulled down from its dusty shelf to be reheated and served again. This "leftover dish" has been fried for decades; even if it hasnt gone rotten, it has ..

It also pointed out that public hospitals continue to shoulder most of the national caseload, handling between 64-94 percent of major healthcare services, which is perfectly understandable given that so many Malaysians cant afford the insane private healthcare costs. At the same time, public hospitals struggle with insufficient beds, long waiting times, overcrowding, and worsening working conditions whereby healthcare workers are overworked. All this poses a threat to Malaysias commitment to ..

UN at a crossroads: Time for a woman, or Muslim, secretary-general As the United Nations prepares to select its tenth secretary-general, global attention is focused not only on which candidate will succeed Antnio Guterres in January 2027, but on what the choice will signal about the institutions relevance, priorities, and ability to respond to mounting global crises. On November 25, 2025, the presidents of the UN General Assembly and the Security Council jointly invited all 193 member states to ..

ByRichard Heydarian / Philippine Daily Inquirer / ANN ByRichard Heydarian / Philippine Daily Inquirer / ANN Perhaps nothing better captures our negative exceptionalism than the brazenly totalistic capture of our elected offices by a few families. Even at the height of political reform under the Benigno Aquino III administration, more than 80 percent of legislative seats were occupied by political dynasties. Across the nation, as few as 178 political dynasties dominated 73 out of a total of 81 ..

Anwar unable to pacify the Chinese, DAP must not remain silent The Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) issue had been "quiet" for a long time, but after the Rocket suffered a crushing defeat in the Sabah state elections, it was suddenly awakened. It is clear that the Rocket (DAP) panicked because they were wiped out in Sabah, and they hastily assumed that by "solving" the UEC issue, they could regain the confidence of the Chinese community. In a state of panic, people easily trapped in a ..

MCA Youth information chief Neow Choo Seng has made a call which I would describe as reasonable and logical. OK, Ill throw in right as well. But not fully. Hence, I see his suggestion as quite reasonable, quite logical and quite right. On December 14, Neow was quoted by Malaysiakini calling upon the Chinese community to master Bahasa Malaysia as a necessity to safeguard their interests. Whats the logic here? Only with proficiently in Bahasa Malaysia can we participate effectively in national ..

Why is the Takaichi Administrations approval rating so high? Since taking office in October 2025, the Sanae Takaichi Cabinet has maintained a high approval rating, hovering around 70 percent. For instance, an _Asahi Shimbun_ newspaper opinion poll revealed an approval rating of 68 percent in October and 69 percent in November, immediately following the inauguration. Other polls have shown an approval rating of 75 percent. This level of approval is comparable to that of the Junichiro Koizumi and ..

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahims cabinet reshuffle can be described as a desperate attempt to patch holes using existing "government stock." There is a distinct lack of fresh "products" on the shelves. This new cabinet lacks a fresh atmosphere; it seeks stability over breakthrough. The list is largely mediocre. However, some people unexpectedly remained, while others were ousted; some successfully crossed over, while others failed to pull off an upset. **The most unexpected - Minister of Education, ..

Fuziah Salleh, humility is also about owning up to mistakes I have a message for Parti Keadilan Rakyat secretary-general Fuziah Salleh. Its a simple one - humility also means having the courage to own up to our mistakes. Owning up would not diminish a leader; instead, it would restore trust. This is a message Fuziah must take to heart. On Sabahs election night, her hasty announcement at the press conference - claiming that Gabungan Rakyat Sabah( GRS ) and Pakatan Harapan (PH) had the numbers to ..

Recognition of UEC faces resistance from both Malay and Chinese societies Malay newspapers reported last Friday that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had disagreed with the DAP's request and he refused to recognize the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC). The following day, Anwar clarified that his remarks had been taken out of context by the media. This suggests the prime minister is willing to seek a solution to break the UEC deadlock. DAP Secretary-General Loke Siew Fook also stated ..

Hun Sen cannot afford to lose the war against Thailand Hun Sen cannot afford to lose the war against Thailandnot militarily, but politically. This is the uncomfortable truth that explains why the ThailandCambodia border conflict keeps relapsing into violence despite repeated ceasefires, ASEAN facilitation, and international calls for restraint. For Hun Sen, the conflict is no longer about territory alone. It is about regime survival, elite cohesion, and the preservation of an inherited ..

Investment in artificial intelligence will continue its meteoric rise in 2025, powered by a narrative that AI is not just a tool but a new workforce. As Jensen Huang of NVIDIA recently put it, the software industry of the past was about creating tools like Excel, Word and web browsers, tools only so large because humans had to operate them. By contrast, AI is not a tool. AI is, in fact, workers that can actually use tools. Imagine AI systems as digital colleagues who write code in VS Code, plan ..

Malaysias greatest challenge: Waste management system still in Stone Age Malaysias waste system is stuck in the Stone Age while the rest of the country sprints into a digital future, and the Ministry of Housing and Local Government (Kementerian Perumahan dan Kerajaan Tempatan, KPKT) together with 155 local authorities have nowhere to hide from that fact. Streets from Klang to Port Klang are a living, stinking indictment of how contracts, councils and concessionaires have failed to deliver the ..

A fire, a test, a display of governance: Hong Kongs response under one country, two systems Since the blaze erupted at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po, the incident has weighed heavily on Hong Kongs collective consciousness. The central government has attached great importance to it, with relevant authorities and local governments acting promptly upon instructions, delivering care and supplies with precision. The Hong Kong Special Administration Region government responded swiftly and devoted its full ..

UEC An internationalisation path for Chinese education Chinese education in Malaysia is not only a treasure of the Chinese community but also an important national asset. It has long safeguarded the competitiveness of the Chinese community, which in turn is an essential part of the countrys overall competitiveness. Therefore, the success of Chinese education can also be seen as a success of Malaysias national education system. This system is privately run, primarily supported by the Chinese ..

Is DAP really unable to hold on? Can MCA ride the anti-government sentiment? While having dinner with an ambassador recently, he raised a rather interesting question: with the ringgit strengthening, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahims impressive performance at the ASEAN Summit and increasing foreign investment flowing into Malaysia, why are people still full of complaints? I smiled and replied: the reason people dont feel good is that such so-called positive perceptions do not produce ..

A new era has dawned for Sabah with the defeat of Peninsula parties The recently concluded Sabah state election has driven home the point that Sabahans want to be rulers of their own state. Decades of disappointment and exploitation have awakened and inspired voters to rely more on their own political power and resources. For some time now, the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) has been widely discussed and debated by both the government and the Opposition. This renewed focus has sparked an ..

Anwar, do you really not understand or are you pretending not to? Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said he was worried about the current trend of glorifying and praising bribe-givers, adding that such a trend benefits neither the state nor the nation. He then repeated once again how hard the government has been working to combat corruption the same old tune we need not state anymore. Anwar did not specify which bribe-giver was being glorified, but everyone knows he was referring to ..

When politicians start giving themselves deadlines, it usually means that the public has already given them one, and in Malaysia, that deadline arrived on November 29, 2025. This was the night DAP was wiped out in Sabah. The voters didnt ask for a six-month timeline. They were more brutal. They delivered their verdict instantly. So, when Loke says the government must show hope within six months, hes not telling voters something new. The rakyat has been waiting two years to see that hope ..

Time, TikTok and Tokenism: The combustion of an impatient Malaysian electorate Malaysians today are living on a political clock that ticks louder every year. Over the last quarter-century, the electorate has grown impatientsome would say combustible. This is not merely a product of political fatigue but a deeper transformation shaped by structural change, technological acceleration, and a generation raised on the immediacy of digital gratification. The roots of this impatience stretch back to ..

MICs indecision could backfire on its future electoral prospects MICs continued indecision projects a negative image to the Indian community and to Malaysians in general. Party members have deferred the decision on exiting Barisan Nasional (BN) to the Central Working Committee and senior leadership. The last-minute turnaround surprised many who expected the meeting to give the green light to break away from BN. The reasons cited for not doing so were flimsy and strongly suggest that the party ..

In this article, I wish to send a message to candidates who offer themselves for public office but did not manage to get the support of the electorate. The 17th Sabah Election has just concluded, so I suppose this is timely. My message is equally relevant to those who have held public office for far too long and struggle to let go, even when urged by their party seniors. There will always be individuals who simply refuse to step aside, clinging to positions as though their identity depends on ..

DAP Secretary-General Loke Siew Fook's message is too little and too late. The Democratic Action Partys collapse in Sabah was not a fluke. A cold, unmistakable judgment delivered by voters who once believed the party stood for something braver, cleaner, and sharper than the ordinary machinery of Malaysian politics. DAP cannot survive another year of this drift, and neither can Malaysia because when a party loses all eight of its contests, including six once won with overwhelming majorities, we ..

All I want for International Day of Persons with Disabilities in Malaysia There have been a number of songs on the theme All I want for Christmas . The one that has stuck in my memory is a child singing All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth. As I reflect on International Day of Persons with Disabilities, celebrated on 3rd December 2025, I ask myself: "What does the disability community, their care partners and civil society want from the government and society?" Remember that ..

Taiwans pro-Japan tilt and the shifting balance of power in Indo-China deepens Taiwans admiration for Japan has always existed beneath the surface, but in recent years it has surged to unprecedented highs. A nationwide survey conducted in late 2024 found that 76 per cent of Taiwanese now describe Japan as their favourite country. Another poll recorded that 70 per cent believe Taiwan should align most closely with Japan, ahead of the United States and far ahead of China. Even earlier surveys ..

Chinese votes come and go A wake-up call for DAP or a death knell? Pakatan Harapan was the biggest loser in the Sabah election, but the one that suffered humiliating defeat was the Democratic Action Party (DAP), which suffered a complete wipeoutlosing all eight seats it contested and almost vanishing from Sabah. This is DAPs most painful lesson: Chinese votes can come, and they can also go. When a tropical whirlwind hits, what seemed like deep-rooted safe seats can be uprooted entirely. Chinese ..

Overloaded lorries endanger the safety of road users, which is certainly true. If overloaded lorries are not strictly regulated, it will lead to accelerated road wear and increased maintenance costs again, an undeniable fact. Transport Minister Anthony Lokes insistence on strict enforcement, stating that human life is more important than making money, is also a fact. However, this wave of enforcement has caused disruptions in the logistics supply chain, skyrocketing transportation costs, and ..