Quotes For You

KUALA LUMPUR 4 APRIL 2020 - Association of Private Hospitals of Malaysia [APHM] would like to appeal and seek due consideration from the insurance industry to reimburse patients for COVID-19 testing particularly for those admitted for treatment and procedures.  APHM President, Datuk Dr Kuljit Singh said, currently, insurance companies have refused to reimburse patients if the admission is not related to COVID-19. He said, hospitals and doctors are worried that if this test is not covered by the insurance, there will be a potential risk to the patient and health care workers.  "Patients with no COVID-19 admissions may have further complications if COVID-19 is not screened and exposure to health care workers in the hospital would further worsen the situation of manpower. "We hope, like every other industry, insurance companies will relax some of their norms in terms of COVID-19 testing," he said in a statement today. Kuljit added, hospitals and doctors have ...

SHAH ALAM 3 APRIL    2020 – The COVID-19 pandemic forces families to embrace change in their daily routine as schools, non-essential businesses and social events are effectively put on hold. In recognising the situation, Canon Marketing (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd.  partnered with Taylor’s Education Group to deploy an emotional well-being module to help the B40 children cope with this change. While some families are more equipped to cope with the Movement Control Order (MCO) imposed by the government since 18 th March, many B40 families are struggling to make ends meet with the potential loss of their income.  As a result, children may be affected by the sudden change in their routine. This is the second jointly organised programme between Canon and Taylor’s, following their first successful partnership in August 2019 that benefitted 35 children from the B40 community. Realising that the MCO may impact the livelihood of many B40 families,  Can...

Malaysia’s GDP growth is projected to be between -2.0% and +0.5% in 2020, affected by weak global demand, supply chain disruptions and COVID-19 containment measures both abroad and domestic. While the Movement Control Order and measures to promote social distancing will dampen economic activity temporarily, they are necessary to contain the spread of the virus. The Government’s stimulus package will help to cushion the economic fallout. Both Pakej Rangsangan Ekonomi 2020 and Pakej Rangsangan Ekonomi Prihatin Rakyat as well as the Bank’s financial measures will provide sizable support to households and businesses. These measures are expected to add 2.8 percentage points to 2020 GDP growth. Also supporting growth is the ongoing large-scale infrastructure projects, which are expected to provide an additional 1 percentage point lift to growth in 2020. There remain significant uncertainties surrounding the growth outlook, with both upside and downside risks to the outlook. ...

KUALA LUMPUR 1 APRIL 2020 - We refer to the media article ‘FT minister says won’t cancel Ramadan bazaars, but will better manage human traffic’ in the Malay Mail on 31st March 2020. The Academy of Medicine Malaysia, comprising 11 Colleges of various medical specialities, strongly disagree with any plan to hold Ramadan bazaars this year given the ongoing threat of COVID-19. The Minister was reported to have stated that the bazaars will be modified to prevent congestion at the stalls.  However, it is our opinion that adequate social distancing will be near-impossible to achieve given the popularity and congestion of Ramadan bazaars.  Close contact will inevitably occur in parking areas, en-route and between customers and vendors. The premature easing of social distancing may potentially lead to the third wave of infections.  The daily rate of new cases is currently still in triple digits (>120 per day), indicating ongoing community spread with unknown cha...

CYBERJAYA 31 MARCH 2020 – The Communications and Multimedia Consumer Forum of Malaysia (CFM) as a forum that prioritizes consumer interest lauds the government’s collaboration with service providers (Telco) to offer free internet special packages to all postpaid and prepaid users beginning April 1, 2020 until the end of the Movement Control Order (MCO). Following this effort, CFM hopes that service providers can ensure that the quality of the free internet package service provided to consumers is at the highest level in order to help consumers stay in touch and get the latest information. The RM600 million special package was announced by the Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Mohd Yassin through the People-Centric Economic Stimulus Package 2020. CFM advises all users to stay updated on the details of the special offer from their service provider's official website and social media channels. Prior to the announcement, there were several special packages that the service ...

Photo by  Thijs van der Weide  from  Pexels KUALA LUMPUR 28 March 2020 - Kuala Lumpur & Selangor Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KLSICCI) believed that all small and medium enterprises (SMEs) should be eligible for the salary subsidy program implemented by the government to help businesses to ease their burden during the Movement Control Order period. KLSICCI President, Datuk R Ramanthan said, all employers should qualify for this subsidy as long as the employees are legitimately in their payroll.  His full statement is as follows: We are thankful for our beloved Prime Minister YAB Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin for the rejuvenating and mammoth RM 250 billion stimulus package.  We understand the challenges faced by the government politically, economically and the acute health crisis now. Nevertheless, we Malaysians are confident that we will overcome this crisis under our PM’s leadership. The SMEs & SMIs are greatly impacted as a re...

Photo by  Juhasz Imre  from  Pexels KUALA LUMPUR 30 March 2020 - The Malaysian government should explore the implementation of corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative as a way to tackle the economic impact of Covid-19 pandemic. MIC Youth Political Bureau Chairman, Arvind Krishnan said, the government may formulate a win-win policy such as granting tax relief to companies participating in that initiative. His full statement is as follows: First and foremost, I would like to acknowledge all the great efforts done by the government in the recent economic stimulus package known as Pakej Prihatin Rakyat valued at RM250bil, amidst the economic crisis caused by Covid-19. Unfortunately, while RM250 billion is not a small amount, it is certainly not enough to overcome the economic crisis for days and months to come. What the country needs, is not just for the government to play its part, but for corporations to also step up their game on Corporate Social Resp...

SPEECH BY YAB TAN SRI DATO’ HAJI MUHYIDDIN BIN HAJI MOHD YASSIN PRIME MINISTER OF MALAYSIA PRIHATIN RAKYAT ECONOMIC STIMULUS PACKAGE (PRIHATIN) Bismillahhirrahmannirrahim, Assalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh and Salam Sejahtera, My beloved fellow Malaysians, How are you all today? As promised, I will announce the PRIHATIN Rakyat Economic Stimulus Package worth RM250 billion which will benefit everyone. Of this, almost RM128 billion will be channelled to preserve rakyat’s welfare, RM100 billion to support businesses, including SMEs and RM2 billion to strengthen the economy. Meanwhile, RM20 billion has been announced in the earlier stimulus package. The PRIHATIN package will provide immediate assistance to ease the burden faced by all of you. Whether you are a fisherman in Kukup, Johor or small farmer in Jeli, Kelantan. A chalet operator in Cherating or a trishaw operator in Malacca, a night market trader in Kuala Lumpur or market trader in Pasar Tamu, Kun...

SEPANG 27 March 2020 - Since the Movement Control Order (MCO) period took effect on 18 March 2020, there have been a few cases of stranded passengers at KL International Airport (IATA Code: KUL). Some are due to the restrictions of the MCO, but some are also due to the travel bans of other destination countries. These cases mostly fall into the following categories: 1) Transit passengers whose connecting flights to the destination countries have been cancelled; or 2) Foreign passengers who had left Malaysia during the MCO but were denied entry at the destination countries and sent back to KUL. In these cases, Malaysia Airports will compile their details and forward them to the Wisma Putra and the respective embassies for their further action. While at the airport, the airport community including the respective airlines collectively do whatever is within our means to care for passengers. Airlines will provide meals and these stranded passengers have the option to c...

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 27 March 2020 – RHB Banking Group (“RHB”) announced that it will not be compounding interest during the six-months repayment deferment for banking facilities (“Moratorium”) that was announced by Bank Negara Malaysia on 25 March 2020. This will, however, be applicable to Retail and SME customers only and will take effect from 1 April 2020. For Islamic financing, RHB will continue to observe the principle of no compounding of profit. The Moratorium will apply automatically to all RHB Bank and RHB Islamic Retail and SME customers, with the exception of loans/financing facilities that are in arrears exceeding 90 days as on 1 April 2020. Key highlights of the Moratorium are as follows: The Moratorium will take effect from 1 April 2020, for a period of 6 months; Customers who do not wish to avail of the Moratorium may simply continue to pay their regular instalments; As an additional benefit, interest for all Retail and SME banking facilities will no...

Photo: Pexels The Malaysia Retailers Association (MRA), in line with the extended Movement Control Order (MCO) from 31 March 2020 to 14 April 2020 as announced by our honourable Prime Minister of Malaysia, YAB Tan Sri Dato’ Hj. Muhyiddin Bin Hj. Mohd. Yassin, would like to assure YAB Tan Sri that we, the retailers shall abide, obey and follow the Government directives and order, not only as a corporate citizen but as a responsible individual citizen as well. We recognise that we continue to have responsibilities towards our customers and suppliers, and will therefore, do our best in these extraordinary circumstances. We will continue to monitor any developments closely in line with the evolving situation. Nonetheless, the well-being of our employees, as well as their families, our business associates, and communities around us are of utmost priority as we navigate through these challenging and uncertain times. However, we would also like to highlight and reiterate here t...