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Malaysia today reported a new all-time high for the most Covid-19 daily infections in 24 hours, with the Health Ministry recording 19,819 cases.
Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said this brings the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 1,183,110 since the start of the pandemic.
Dr Noor Hisham said Selangor remains the state with the highest number of infection at 8,377 cases followed by Kuala Lumpur which recorded 2,467 cases.
This was followed by Kedah (1,371), Johor (1,162), Kelantan (1,003), Sabah (949), Penang (867), Negri Sembilan (800), Perak (662), Pahang (558), Sarawak (552), Melaka (508), Terengganu (481), Putrajaya (46), Perlis (11) and Labuan (5).
Both Kelantan and Penang’s numbers were new record highs.
Dr Noor Hisham said there were 12,704 recoveries recorded, bringing the total number of those discharged to 962,733.
Meanwhile, 35 new Covid-19 clusters have been detected by health authorities in the past 24 hours.
Dr Noor Hisham said 20 of these were community clusters, 14 were workplace clusters and one was linked to religious activity.
The clusters were detected in Kelantan, Sarawak, Perak, Sabah, Selangor, Terengganu, Johor, Melaka and Kuala Lumpur.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah today announced a new record high for both the daily Covid-19 fatality rate and patients being treated in intensive care units (ICU) nationwide at 257 and 1,069 respectively.
The previous record for the Covid-19 daily death rate stood at 219 on August 2, while the record for highest cases receiving treatment in ICU was 1,066, which was yesterday.
Dr Noor Hisham said today’s deaths have taken the cumulative total to 9,855 since the pandemic arrived in Malaysia.
Officials in various countries call for investigating the U.S. Fort Detrick lab in the global #COVID19 origin tracing, opposing the politicization of the tracing. #GLOBALinkpic.twitter.com/QAfm5PK3Nh
Beijing's sincerity big contrast to US hypocrisy: observers
Officials in various countries call for investigating the U.S. Fort Detrick lab in the global #COVID19 origin tracing, opposing the politicization of the tracing. #GLOBALinkpic.twitter.com/QAfm5PK3Nh
Is this the anti-pandemic record of success that Washington has been boasting about?
Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi Photo: fmprc.gov.cn
Ahead of Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi's series of Foreign Minister's Meetings on East Asia Cooperation via videoconference, China stressed the "practice of true multilateralism and to reject exclusive cliques or zero-sum games" in the Foreign Ministry's Monday statement, which was seen by observers as a clear message to the US amid its recent unprecedented busy efforts to court Southeast Asia against China and create divisions in the region.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry published the spokesperson remarks on its official website on Monday, as Wang is scheduled to attend the ASEAN-China Ministerial Meeting, the ASEAN Plus Three Foreign Ministers' Meeting, the East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers' Meeting and the ASEAN Regional Forum to be held via videoconference from Tuesday to Friday.
The spokesperson's remarks highlighted regional hotspot issues such as the battle against COVID-19, vaccines in particular, and boosting economic recovery among others, hinting furthering cooperation with the bloc over these topics could be on top of the agenda of the meetings, observers said.
"As a responsible major country, China will continue to play its role and do its best to meet regional countries' demand for vaccines. We support joint efforts to build a regional vaccine manufacturing and distributing center to promote vaccine accessibility and affordability in the region," the spokesperson said.
"We should work for the early implementation of the RCEP Agreement, keep regional industrial and supply chains stable and unobstructed and boost an early economic recovery in all countries," the remarks continued.
Regardless of the US sending Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to virtually meet ASEAN officials for five consecutive days this week, there is a huge contrast between China's sincerity in deepening cooperation with ASEAN to contribute to the region's peace and prosperity and US hypocrisy as the US' ASEAN foreign policy is centered on and determined by to what extent the region could play to contain China, Li Haidong, a professor at the Institute of International Relations of China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Monday.
Reuters on Saturday pointed out in recent years top US officials have not always attended ASEAN meetings and have sometimes sent more junior officials to the region's summits.
To reverse the Biden administration's image of paying little attention to the region of more than 600 million people, apart from Blinken's busy schedule this week, US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman visited Indonesia, Cambodia and Thailand in May and June, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was in Vietnam and the Philippines this week, and Vice President Kamala Harris is set to visit Singapore and Vietnam.
The US State department official said that donations of COVID-19 vaccines to the region had been a "game changer in terms of how our image is perceived." By mid-next week the US will have donated 23 million doses to countries in the region, Reuters reported, while noting none of the doses will go to Myanmar.
However, in a big contrast, according to Chinese Ambassador to ASEAN Deng Xijun on July 20, China has supplied more than 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to the bloc, taking up more than 70 percent of global vaccine aid to the region.
US foreign policy in the Indo-Pacific region is very clear, and it is never about safeguarding the interests of ASEAN, and everything including vaccines could be used as political tools to court the region to help contain China, Li said.
Judging from trade statistics between the US and ASEAN, trade in goods has been sluggish since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak. Even though trade rebounded significantly by gaining more than 20 percent year-on-year in the first five months of this year as a result of the vaccination rollout, this momentum has still been overshadowed by that of trade between China and ASEAN.
Trade between China and ASEAN rose over 85 times in the past three decades, with ASEAN becoming China's largest trading partner in 2020.
However the US is trying to woo ASEAN, the bloc will not blindly follow the US, nor will it betray China's interests in the region. A strong and increasingly stronger China is irresistibly the favorable choice for pragmatic and independent ASEAN, Xu Liping, director of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Monday.
Chinese analysts also said that a search for a diplomatic solution to address political turmoil in Myanmar and bring stability back to the country will be another main topic in the multilateral meetings this week. However, there is hardly common ground where Beijing and Washington could work together in the sphere.
Six months after the political upheaval in Myanmar, ASEAN foreign ministers are expected to meet on Monday to appoint a special envoy tasked with promoting dialogue between the military leaders and opponents.
It will become a sticking point between Beijing and Washington, although they both prefer stability in Myanmar and agree on ASEAN to spearhead diplomatic efforts to restore stability in Myanmar, Xin Qiang, a deputy director of the Center for US Studies at Shanghai-based Fudan University, told the Global Times.
The question is will the US turn the issue into a proposition to create conflict with China and create chaos in ASEAN and to interfere in Myanmar affairs in the name of human rights and ideology awaits further observation, Xin noted.
If the US targets harming China's interests in Myanmar, there will be no room for cooperation for China over the matter, Li warned.
On Oct 24 2020 during the Bund Summit in Shanghai, Jack Ma delivered his
keynote address where he criticised China’s regulators’ saying
“outdated supervision” of financial regulation was stifling innovation
and its global banking rules were like an “old people’s club.”
.
PEOPLE who have invested heavily on China stocks in the past two years must be wondering when did it all start to go wrong? After all, China did celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party recently on July 1.
Usually on such momentous occasions, one would expect China’s government to prop up financial markets and show the world its economic strength. Ironically, most Chinese stock market indexes are down year to date giving up the strides made for the better half of the year as seen in table 1.
So, did it all start with Jack Ma? On Oct 24 2020 during the Bund Summit in Shanghai, Jack Ma delivered his keynote address where he criticised China’s regulators’ saying “outdated supervision” of financial regulation was stifling innovation and its global banking rules were like an “old people’s club.”
He called for change and said that Chinese banks had a “pawnshop mentality which affects many entrepreneurs.” Many suspected that this led to regulators scuttling Ant Group’s Us$37bil (Rm156mil) mega initial public offering (IPO) and the eventual three-month-long disappearance of Jack Ma.
Before Jack Ma, there was Dalian Wanda Group’s Wang Jianlin, once Asia’s richest man with a net worth of Us$46bil (Rm194bil).
He owned the largest cinema chain AMC (one of the popular Reddit meme stock in 2020/21) and had ambitions to overtake Disney but was hit hard when regulators embarked on capital controls to rein in capital outflow from China.
Businessmen who were taking on debts buying assets all over the world outside of China became a target.
When regulators flexed their muscles, Wang tried to avoid the same fate as HNA Group (one of China’s largest assets buyers which filed for bankruptcy) by immediately disposing foreign assets to comply. Wang then, was among one of the well-connected tycoons to Beijing’s political elites and at one point he was even bidding for the Bandar Malaysia project.
If we were to look back at history, Jack Ma or Wang Jianlin were definitely not the early precedents where China’s government had intervened in businesses.
During the Qing Dynasty, legendary “red-topped hat” businessman Hu Xueyan, the only merchant to be given a second ranked grade official position and control the economy with businesses ranging from banks, pawnshops, silk trade to daily essentials; met with a tragic end despite his fairytale-like rags to riches journey and contribution to the struggling nation then.
This raises the question, what causes the conflict between the China’s government and the business sector?
History have shown us that China is a country where public interests takes precedent over corporate profits.
There are no person or entities that are too big to fail.
This is a complete opposite to United States’s capitalist system. In addition, based on historical literature, the traditional social class structure of China dating back to the imperial periods, consist of four main categories; namely scholars, farmers, artisans and merchants.
Interestingly, merchants have always had the lowest standing in the social class structure.
In the case of Ant Group’s failed IPO, setting aside individual politics and ego, there were justifications for regulators to step in specifically on Ant Financial past lending practices at exorbitant rates.
It was able to bypass regulators’ scrutiny where a financial entity such as banks would otherwise be subjected to. This is rather similar to Malaysia where banks are subjected to regulatory supervision by Bank Negara, whereas money lending entities are subjected to supervision by Ministry of Housing & Local Government (KPKT), allowing it to charge interests as much as 18% per annum.
With regards to Didi Global Inc’s troubled Us$4.4bil (Rm18.6bil) IPO on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the back story was Didi went ahead with its IPO, ignoring Cyberspace Administration of China’s (CAC) order to conduct a thorough examination of its network security. CAC was worried Didi’s massive data will fall into foreign hands due to greater public disclosure associated with a US listing. Clearly, in the interest of its shareholders, many of whom were foreign venture capital and private equity funds, Didi prioritised the listing over national interest.
In the latest regulatory clampdown on the private tutoring education sector, the Chinese government directed that companies in this space to operate as a social enterprise instead of a for profit model.
These new rules barred for-profit tutoring in core school subjects to ease financial pressures on families. The policy change further restricts foreign investment in the sector through merger and acquisition (M&A), franchises and others.
Historically, education is of paramount importance in Chinese’s culture. By doing this, China’s government is seeking to ensure affordable education to a majority of the people in expense of the profiteers.
From table 2, you can see how the best names in each sector have been impacted by China’s new regulatory framework changes in recent times.
Of course there are argument in terms of merits and weaknesses for each governance model. The US model spurs creativity and innovation but it also leads to wide inequality and disparity for the majority of the people. The Chinese model, whilst authoritarian and lacks transparency, does protect the welfare of the masses especially those who may fall through the cracks of society.
Neither one is perfect. It all comes down to different priorities. China have done very well eradicating poverty and lifting the people from hardcore poor to a burgeoning middle class society in the past twenty years.
No matter the propaganda painted in western media to shed China in a negative light, there is no denying that they have accomplished what many countries can only dream of – taking care of the majority of the people.
I am by no means a pro-china hawk as I have undergone western education my whole life. However, with my years of experience working with one of the largest Fortune 500 Corporation in China and being in the inner circle of decision-makers, I have learnt much about their fears, concerns and how they navigate the business, political and social spheres while building a fortune.
Every stock market has its nuances
There is a Chinese character “jing wei” when read together means respect and fear. This word aptly describes how China companies operate at all times.
If you are a Chinese company, wherever you may be, you will bend the knee if China’s government wants you to. It is not easy to be successful in China due to the intense competition. It is even harder to be successful and not attract government attention.
Many retailers often lament, “It is hard to make money from Bursa, better to invest in China and Hong Kong stocks.”
I think it is imperative to first understand that every stock market has its own nuances. Unless one has thorough understanding of the local investment climate, latest news flow and even culture, investing in overseas market is not as simple as just buying big brand names or familiar companies.
It is true that good companies in foreign stock markets is part of a bigger ocean with more opportunities and growth runway due to a larger addressable market.
Similarly there are bigger operators, syndicates or scandals lurking around the corner.
Who would have thought that a company like Luckin Coffee, listed on Nasdaq with a market cap of Us$12bil (Rm50.7bil), once the largest coffee chain in China and touted to be the biggest threat to Starbucks, would turn out to be a fraud?
Having said that, as a fundamentalist, I believe this regulation wave causing the sell down provides a great investment opportunity for these companies due to my belief in the long term prospect of China’s economy.
We must remember that very few people in the world are like Robert Kuok. Some have argued the reason for his success is his early entry into China. I beg to differ. I believe strongly his success in China is because he always placed the interests of China before his own corporate and personal interests.
So entrepreneurs who aspire to do well in China, may consider taking a leaf from Robert Kuok’s playbook and the easiest place to start, is to remove the “I” in the equation of things.
In this step-by-step tutorial, learn the top 20 best tips and tricks in Zoom Video Conferencing. For example, create your own custom virtual background, have your video appear over PowerPoint slides, use video filters and effects, spotlight your mouse cursor, and many more.
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Remember to sanitise your handphone, which is the most frequently used and touched object. Pic by AIZUDDIN SAAD
A MAN was infected with Covid-19 at his workplace. He ended up infecting eight members of his family, resulting in the death of one.
Covid-19 can spread easily among family members because most of us do not wear masks at home. This is one of the reasons behind the soaring number of cases recorded daily nationwide.
When asked, most Covid-19 patients say they followed their workplace’s standard operating procedure (SOP) diligently and claim to have no idea how they still contracted the virus.
The current issues such as soaring number of cases, healthcare system at breaking point and vaccine rollout are all related to when the virus has already entered our body. In fact, we are busy mopping the wet floor instead of finding the running tap and turning it off.
Let’s change our position; let’s focus on how to stop the virus from entering our body.
Imagine that you are the virus and you are waiting to infect a human body. You can do this via three doors (eyes, nose and mouth) and you are waiting for them to be opened.
You wouldn’t be able to infect someone who is wearing a mask. But he is rubbing his eyes with unsanitised hands. There’s your open door.
You landed on his phone, which he never sanitises. The next time he uses it and touches his eyes or nose, you will have a chance to enter his body.
There are so many opportunities at the workplace for the virus to enter the body. Workers may be wearing masks, but these are often removed while having meals. And there you are with three doors widely open and so many people to infect.
During my volunteer work, I have noticed that all Covid-19 patients failed in the “Guard, Protect and Attack” (GPA) strategy. They don’t understand why they were infected even though they strictly followed SOP. They may have done well on “protect” (wearing mask) and “attack” (washing/sanitising hands), but they let down their “guard”.
I’ve asked many people if they sanitise their mobile phones. Surprisingly, most said they never thought of doing this even though they wash their hands frequently.
When I tell them that after washing their hands, they would be touching their phones again and may use the “dirty” hand to rub their eyes or nose, they finally see the path of infection.
I am not saying that everyone should treat every surface they touch as contaminated. But if we touch contaminated surfaces and then rub our eyes or nose, we could expose ourselves to infection.
So please put a “security guard” by the three doors. When hands come near any door, the security guard will “stop and question” what they’ve touched. When you are alerted by your security guard, you will remember to wash your hands before rubbing your nose or eyes.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) and scientific community have been evaluating whether the coronavirus could also spread through aerosols in the absence of aerosol-generating procedures (coughing, sneezing and etc), particularly in indoor settings with poor ventilation.
But when I analysed the profile of infected families, I noticed in many cases that members who were sharing the same room could still remain negative. For example, the wife did not get infected even though her husband tested positive for Covid-19.
So, follow SOP by the book and activate the GPA strategy. Stay safe.
ASSOC PROF DR WEN LIN CHAI , Lecturer Universiti Malaya
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How does coronavirus attack your body? | COVID-19 Special .
Most infected people, around 80 percent, will have mild symptoms which disappear after a few days. But coronaviruses can multiply fast... spreading from the throat to the lungs. And that's how they can infect lung cells until pneumonia sets in. The body is supplied by oxygen via the lungs - entering the bloodstream via the alveoli to the blood vessels. And then it is distributed to the rest of the body.
Complications can occur when the coronaviruses settle in the space between the pulmonary alveoli and the blood vessels. That can cause inflammation. The distance to the blood vessels then becomes greater and oxygen intake more difficult. When organs are deprived of oxygene, breathing is labored. And then respiratory muscles are quickly exhausted, especially in the elderly. That's when the lungs need help - with a ventilator. But that can't prevent the situation from worsening in some cases.
Inflammation in the lungs increasingly hinders gas exchange. Water escapes from the cells. Even with the support, not enough oxygen enters the body. Then an external machine must take over the function of the lungs. The so-called "Emco" enriches the blood outside the body with oxygen and then returns it into the body - but not without complications. But the situation can escalate even further.The immune system then becomes the main problem - triggering a massive inflammation as a reaction. Progression to severe cases now less common than during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic. This could be due to mask usage...it may contribute to a smaller amount of the infection in the air - making the disease less deadly. Defensive compounds flood the entire body. Immune cells attack the inner walls of blood vessels. They become weak. Fluid leaks into the tissue and is deficient in the cirulatory system. The organs are no longer sufficiently supplied with blood.
But most COVID cases are mild. The recuperating phase can cause some concentration problems, exhaustion, and muscular weakness. But this is not more severe than other infections. It could be that the virus moves through the nervous system of people it infects. That's what new research suggests.
This is the COVID-19 Vaccine Malaysia Update series where we will recap the latest developments of the national immunisation program in Malaysia. This week, we will talk about how many people among the new COVID-19 cases have been vaccinated and what should you do if you are believed to have received a ghost jab? And finally, everyone is allowed to record themselves when getting vaccinated.
KUALA LUMPUR: No country can graduate to become high-income status without first improving governance, eliminating corruption and promoting integrity in every sector, according to Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Economy) Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed.
As the public is closely watching the government’s performance in areas of governance and integrity, the Auditor General’s Department must carry out its responsibility to audit all expenditures by ministries and agencies.
Amid the aspiration to be a developed nation in both the public and private sector, Mustapa admitted that issues of concerns have emerged in the country such as fraud, corruption, poor governance, weak financial management, abuse of power, and many unethical practices.
“Lack of integrity in institutions, public and private sector will be detrimental to our nation’s economic growth.
“In the current situation when we are facing tough economic and health challenges, these subjects (good governance and integrity) have become more important.
“We must be prudent in our spending. There must be zero tolerance for abuse of power and weak governance,” he said in his speech when officiating the virtual seventh annual ECoFI Symposium (AES) 2021 yesterday.
Mustapa said every sen spent on the government’s stimulus packages has to be monitored closely to ensure that the objectives of assisting the people and businesses were achieved in times of crisis, while strengthening the governance and integrity for swift economic recovery.
Meanwhile, Malaysia Association of Certified Fraud Examiners president Datuk Seri Akhbar Satar said there are numerous actions that needed to be taken in the Covid-19 response and recovery.
These include building fair framework for data openness and access; address immediate risks in the emergency public procurement, mechanisms for effective implementation, compliance and review, safeguarding fairness in the enforcement of public integrity standards and foster a culture of integrity in leadership.
“Transparency is even more crucial during a crisis. (The) lack in checks and balances can lead to abuse of public procurement as some rules and regulations have been loosened.
“It can even lead to the practice of price fixing and collusive bidding – which are normal methods used in emergency procurement,” he said. — Bernama
TIME TO guard, protect and attack - New Straits Times Remember to sanitise your handphone, which is the most frequently used and touched obj...LIPUTAN BERITA MAJLIS 7TH ANNUAL ECOFI VIRTUAL SYMPOSIUM (AES 2021) OLEH TV3 Mustapa: Lack of integrity in institutions detrimental t...
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