FOMCA minta Prihatin diteruskan
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2 November 2020
SHAH ALAM - Gabungan Persatuan-Persatuan Pengguna Malaysia (FOMCA) meminta kerajaan meneruskan Pakej Rangsangan Ekonomi Prihatin Rakyat (Prihatin) dalam pelan Belanjawan 2021 yang akan dibentangkan pada 6 November ini.
Timbalan Presidennya, Mohd Yusof Abdul Rahman berkata, kesinambungan bantuan Prihatin amat penting bagi membantu rakyat yang berdepan pelbagai masalah akibat penularan koronavirus (Covid-19).
“Wabak ini dijangka sehingga tahun depan. Jadi, bantuan kepada golongan terjejas perlu diteruskan seperti melanjutkan tempoh moratorium dan pemberian e-dompet,” katanya ketika dihubungi Sinar Harian semalam.
Dalam pada itu, Mohd Yusof turut meminta kerajaan memberi perhatian kepada peniaga bagi memastikan kelangsungan ekonomi negara.
Menurutnya, kerajaan ketika ini berdepan pelbagai tuntutan mendesak dalam mengagihkan perbelanjaannya seperti usaha memenuhi keperluan sektor kesihatan yang sedang menangani penularan Covid-19.
Selangor to amend laws for harsher punishment of river polluters
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October 30, 2020 6:34 PM
SHAH ALAM: The Selangor government said it will amend state laws to enhance the penalty for those who pollute the sources of water, including rivers.
Menteri Besar (MB) Amirudin Shari, in tabling the 2021 state budget, said these amendments would involve the Lembaga Urus Air Selangor (LUAS) Enactment 1999.
LUAS is the state agency tasked with managing water resources and state rivers.
“The frequent water pollution at both Sungai Selangor and Sungai Langat caused the water treatment plants to be shut down, thus cutting off water supply to residents.
“We will take several other measures, besides amending the LUAS enactment, such as using the ‘bioremediation’ for river conservation as well as the raw water treatment system method.”
He said the “bioremediation” method was a pilot project in Selangor.
Read more: Selangor to amend laws for harsher punishment of river polluters
Dire situation for low-income families, worse for female-led households, says Unicef
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October 30, 2020 11:36 AM
PETALING JAYA: Unicef has found that while low-income families are beginning to show some signs of financial recovery, the situation still remains bleak, with households headed by women and the disabled seeing slower improvement.
Unicef said this in its latest report called “Families on the Edge”, which is based on a survey of 3,000 residents of low-cost housing flats in the Klang Valley.
While it found that overall median household income in poorer communities had slowly approached near-2019 levels, families with a female or disabled head of household (HoH) still had 9% and 24% less income respectively compared with last year.
This is largely down to the large number of respondents who reported a drop in income between May and September, with two thirds of female HoHs reporting they were still making less, and half the disabled HoHs saying the same.
More than 40% of the households surveyed reported total monthly income under RM2,000, an improvement over the 54% of households recorded in May, which indicates that household performance is improving.
Read more: Dire situation for low-income families, worse for female-led households, says Unicef
It's more income, not financial literacy that the poor need
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30 Oktober 2020
There are a lot of terrible things on Twitter, myself included, but one particularly irksome thing is personal finance Twitter.
As someone who's actually been poor, it's obvious to me that the advice given by these personal finance gurus are from people who've never actually experienced true poverty.
The recently announced financial literacy month, aimed to "empower the people with financial knowledge and skills" to quote a Bernama piece seemed rather tone-deaf during a time when people have lost their jobs and livelihoods through no fault of their own.
It's a problem — this belief among many of the rich and upper middle class that the poor are just poor because they make terrible decisions with their money.
Recently a Tory MP was pilloried on Twitter for defending his decision to vote against providing free meals for school children.
He said that if a parent had no money to feed their children, then why not sell the family pearls or mobile phones?
Read more: It's more income, not financial literacy that the poor need
Poor mental health, disrupted education main post-MCO challenges, says Unicef
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October 30, 2020 12:13 PM
PETALING JAYA: A report from Unicef has found that the Covid-19 pandemic has created new challenges for those living in low-income housing, including the worsening of mental health and increased difficulty in maintaining their children’s education.
The UN agency’s latest “Families on the Edge” paper involved surveying residents of 500 low-cost housing flats in the Klang Valley, which accounted for nearly 3,000 individuals.
Mental health and stability issues widely affected heads of households (HoHs) in the survey, with women more likely to report they were suffering from mental and emotional strain.
Up to 22% of HoHs reported feeling depressed or experiencing extremely unstable emotions, a figure that stood at 29% for female HoHs.
Meanwhile, 42% of male HoHs and 51% of female HoHs reported feeling worried about their future, with fears surrounding their ability to provide food for their families and their diminishing retirement savings their chief concerns.
Nearly a third of female HoHs also reported observing negative behavioural changes among the people they lived with, including increased relationship tension, symptoms of depression and increased substance abuse.
Read more: Poor mental health, disrupted education main post-MCO challenges, says Unicef
Shoppers laud RM1 plastic bag fee
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Tuesday, 27 Oct 2020
GEORGE TOWN: Even though plastic bags will cost RM1 each from Jan 1, many Penangites welcome the move and feel it will be great for the environment.
From Mondays to Wednesdays next year, retailers will no longer give plastic bags while from Thursdays to Sundays, you will have to pay RM1 to get one compared with 20 sen now.
And all the shoppers interviewed seem to love the idea.
Chef Norshelyaida Hasan, 25, said plastic bags were not only bad for the environment but inconvenient too.
“I always have a few reusable bags with me at all times. Even if I forget to bring them while buying something, I just buy another reusable bag.
“Plastic bags cannot be used many times and if the contents are heavy, they tend to tear.
“With the charge going up from 20 sen to RM1, I hope it encourages more people to use reusable bags, ” she said when met at Sunshine Square in Bayan Baru yesterday.
When the tide goes out: Challenges of the water industry
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26 October 2020
WATER is the essence of life.
Though Malaysia is blessed with abundant water resources, the country is experiencing an alarming increase in demand for water supply in recent years. Many seem to take this natural resource for granted, while often having the misconception that supplying clean water would be cheap and easy.
Malaysia’s water operators are facing many challenges in ensuring consumers have continuous access to clean water and in ensuring a sustainable water future. Understanding these challenges is key to recognising the shared responsibilities of safeguarding this precious natural resource.
Quality of raw water
According to research by the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) on Malaysian freshwater, about 97% of the country’s raw water supply comes from rivers.
Most water treatment plants in the country process raw water from the rivers, but many of these water bodies are polluted because of human activities.
Whenever raw water sources are polluted, treatment plants may need to be shut down when the pollution exceeds the safe parameter threshold allowed in a treatment process or in other words, exceeds the treatment process capability.
Read more: When the tide goes out: Challenges of the water industry
Masih boleh mohon tangguh bayaran pinjaman - BNM
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23 Oktober 2020
Kuala Lumpur: Peminjam terutamanya yang terjejas susulan sekatan pergerakan yang dikuatkuasakan akibat lonjakan kes Covid-19 di Malaysia masih boleh mendapatkan bantuan pembayaran balik pinjaman daripada bank masing-masing.
"Peminjam tidak perlu bimbang. Bantuan pembayaran balik masih dilaksanakan dan akan dilanjutkan sehingga 2021. Kami faham keadaan dan ketidakpastian boleh berubah pada masa depan dan orang ramai boleh mendapatkan bantuan pada bila-bila masa," kata Timbalan Gabenor Bank Negara Malaysia Jessica Chew kepada Bernama di Kuala Lumpur, hari ini.
Walaupun moratorium penangguhan pinjaman secara automatik, bantuan pembayaran balik dan moratorium bersasar yang selanjutnya tidak pernah berlaku sebelum ini, bank telah menggerakkan kesemua sumber mereka untuk menguruskan situasi ini.
"Bank-bank dalam kedudukan yang baik untuk memberi maklum balas mengenai keperluan peminjam. Semua bank mempunyai sumber khusus dan merekayasa semula proses untuk mengkaji kembali permohonan peminjam," kata Chew.
Peminjam boleh menghubungi bank secara dalam talian atau panggilan telefon walaupun berada di kawasan yang dikuatkuasakan Perintah Kawalan Pergerakan Diperketatkan (PKPD) dan Perintah Kawalan Pergerakan Bersyarat (PKPB).
PKPB: KPDNHEP jamin bekalan keperluan asas mencukupi, harga stabil
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Oktober 22, 2020 05:00 MYT
KUALA LUMPUR: Kementerian Perdagangan Dalam Negeri dan Hal Ehwal Pengguna (KPDNHEP) berpuas hati dengan jumlah barangan keperluan asas terutama stok makanan yang ada dalam pasaran negara.
Timbalan Menterinya Datuk Rosol Wahid berkata selain memastikan bekalan mencukupi, kementerian juga akan mengambil langkah agresif bagi menjamin kestabilan harga ketika negara mendepani gelombang ketiga pandemik COVID-19.
"KPDNHEP memantau rantaian pembekalan barangan di peringkat pengilang, peladang, pemborong dan peruncit bagi memastikan bekalan barangan itu mencukupi selain mengelak isu manipulasi harga oleh peniaga," katanya dalam kenyataan selepas mengadakan lawatan dan pemeriksaan di sebuah pasar raya di sini malam ini.
Rosol turut menasihati pengguna tidak membuat pembelian panik, khususnya melibatkan barangan keperluan asas ketika menjalani Perintah Kawalan Pergerakan Bersyarat (PKPB).
Mengenai tindakan penguatkuasaan yang dijalankan KPDNHEP, beliau berkata sebanyak 81 kes membabitkan pelbagai kesalahan berkaitan harga dan bekalan barangan direkodkan sejak pelaksanaan PKPB di Sabah, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur serta Putrajaya.
Read more: PKPB: KPDNHEP jamin bekalan keperluan asas mencukupi, harga stabil
Survey: Seven in 10 Malaysians polled think protecting environment more important than creating jobs
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Wednesday, 21 Oct 2020 09:01 AM MYT
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 21 — Around seven in 10 Malaysians in an international poll place more priority on environmental protection, even if it comes at the expense of economic growth and the creation of more job opportunities.
In the recent International Science Survey 2019-2020 by United States-based pollster Pew Research Centre, Malaysians were asked which statement came closer to their view, even if neither was exactly right.
The two options given were “Protecting the environment should be given priority, even if it causes slower economic growth and some loss of jobs”, and “Creating jobs should be given the top priority, even if the environment suffers to some extent”.
Based on the survey results as released in a report last month, the overwhelming majority or 73 per cent of the 1,650 respondents in Malaysia chose environmental protection, while 27 per cent chose job creation, with the remaining one per cent either declining to answer or giving other answers.
This matches with the median percentage of 71 per cent respondents for the 20 countries surveyed — including Malaysia — that chose environmental protection as the top priority, and the median of 25 per cent which would prioritise job creation.
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