The Arising of TB Cases

KUALA LUMPUR: The case of tuberculosis (TB) or in Malay is known as 'Batuk Kering' in our country are worrying when some 24,000 cases were reported during the past year. 

TB is a disease caused by a bacterium called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The bacteria usually attack the lungs, but TB bacteria can attack any part of the body such as the kidney, spine, and brain. If not treated properly, TB disease can be fatal.

 Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam said the figure showed an increase of six percent compared to 22.560 cases reported in the previous year. In addition , he also said "among the causes of TB disease is bacterial resistance to chemotherapy and medication, besides to the entry of illegal immigrants (PATI) which mostly do not undergo health screening,"

The ministry will also take appropriate measures to control the outbreak. Among the action to be taken is to screen the general public, including foreign workers each year in order to detect them early disease.

TTPA Expected To Be Signed Next February

 TPPA or The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement is an agreement involving the United States and 11 countries including Malaysia, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.

 This agreement allows the country to to trade in a member state in the open market. In other words, it is a free trade agreement between the United States and 11 trading partners and we will see more nations working towards trade liberalization that will ultimately benefit the participating nations.

 Najib with (from left), Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe; US President Barack Obama; Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto and the Prime Minister of New Zealand, John Key posing in conference TPPA leaders in Asia -Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit (APEC) in Manila, Philippines.

The results of discussions and negotiations have concluded, the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) expected to be signed in early February in New Zealand. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, said the matter was informed by the Prime Minister of New Zealand, John Phillip Key in bilateral meetings among them.

Najib and John Key during a bilateral meeting in conjunction with the APEC Summit in Manila

This TTPA agreement has advantages to our country, which are:

• Facilitate national markets access into overseas markets
• Being able to improve the economy and people's income
• The import duty on almost all products will be eliminated under the TPPA
• Improving employment opportunities in countries participating in the agreement TTPA, 

but at the same time TTPA also has disadvantages,

• Large Companies Monopoly: Large companies will be free to do business in our country causing small entrepreneurs have to compete with the big foreign companies.
• Local Labor Abuses: Our local farmers had to compete with foreign agricultural products. More troubling is the TPPA would have an adverse impact on the country's rice industry when rice from the US, which receive high subsidies marketed in the country.
• Pornographic film Can not Be Prevented: No more the Film Censorship as a trade barrier because it is tax-free.

Official Status of the use of Vape

Vape already become a new culture among young children even though at first The excuse given was to refrain from smoking. Recently, we can see everywhere, young people carry the electronic cigarette and majority of them are particularly Malay-Bumiputera actively engaged in the sale and distribution of the vapes.

Thus, reasoned the worry with an unhealthy culture, the Government through the Ministry of Health issued an announcement was studying to ban vape, while the National Fatwa Committee had decided that the act is prohibited.

In August, the health minister advises users shisha and vape to stop using it temporarily until a decision on the risk published. Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam said the ministry was studying from a legal point of adopting various existing Acts to enable action to be implemented.

On Friday 30 October 2015, The Cabinet decided not to ban the electronic cigarette or vape due to an excused of its advantage of scientific research in Britain found that electronic cigarettes such as vape only accounted for 5% risk of tobacco compared to regular cigarettes.

Flash Floods Devastated the City Centre of Johor Bahru

Flash floods hit the main street in the city center on 16th November 2015, resulting in dozens of vehicles were stranded. South Johor Baharu District Police Chief ACP Sulaiman Salleh said unusually heavy rains from 12 noon until 1.30pm, causing the water to rise up to 1.5 meters.

There are no deaths were reported. The road flooded is Jalan Wong Ah Fook, which is the focus of the public and is home to the shopping center which is Johor Bahru City Square and Komtar JBCC. besides, several nearby streets towards the two complexes were also flooded.

the situation in Jalan Woong Ah Fook

Sulaiman said that due to incident, that road users are advised to use alternate routes and traffic policemen will also control the flow of traffic in the area.

A spokesman for the Civil Defense Department (JPAM) Johor contacted said they received a call regarding the incident at 12.40pm. The spokesman said, members of JPAM then moved to 10 locations around the city to monitor the Jalan Kolam Ayer, Jalan Wong Ah Fook and some nearby streets. They also helped a woman in age 20s out of her car after  panic of being trapped in a flood in Jalan Wong Ah Fook.

Besides, firefighters also monitor several underground car park in Komtar JBCC, Public Bank and Merlin Tower to ensure that no victims were trapped.

Korean Wave Or Hallyu: How it Contributes to Economy?

Recently, the Korean entertainment industry are becoming popular among teenagers around the world including our country, Malaysia. This situation due to cultural exports performed by these countries and the phenomenon known as the Korean Wave.

Hallyu encompasses mainly three forms of Korean popular culture: music, television miniseries, and film. Before the economic crisis of 1997/98, development of creative industries only concentrated in Seoul with the participation of conglomerate companies. After the crisis, small and medium-sized companies have taken over the role of creative industries in that country.The development of creative industries in Korea are in line with their economy.

some of Korean Dramas

Kpop fans in Poland

This large-scale export of Korean culture was initially limited to East and South East Asian countries. But now Hallyu is spreading to other regions of the world, garnering large interest in the Americas and Europe. K-dramas were the original cause of such success, but recently k-pop or korean pop- genre music has come to the forefront. Given that it is a fairly recent phenomenon, the level of popularity it is currently experiencing is quite astounding. 

Result of these waves have become major contributors to the national economy and bringing more than $ 1 billion every year to South Korea through the development and export of culture. Therefore, these developments should be emulated by our country by exporting culture of various ethnic groups in our country, and indirectly can help to improve our national economy.

France Declares State of Emergency

Friday, November 13, 2015, more than six attacks were reported around France especially Paris. Attacks involving gunfire and bomb explosions by parties who are not identified. In the attack, 128 people were confirmed dead and death rates is expected to increase, while more than 200 people were reported injured. Source: TV1 news.

Relate to the incident, the France government has declared a state of emergency in the country for 3 days. According to the spokesman, the attack was not only aimed at paris residents. Cases of suicide have been reported near the Stade de France and rifle attack at a restaurant in the city center. Paris residents were asked to stay indoors and about 1,500 soldiers deployed across the city.

In addition, the explosion was heard outside the stadium Stade de France during the international friendly match between France and Germany is underway. 3 were reportedly killed and several others were seriously injured in the explosion incident at the gateway J, in the stadium.The fans who watched the match even wait until the scene is safe before leaving the stadium.

Malaysian Islamic Banks VS Conventional Banks: Which One Better?

Nowadays, a problem arises among customers or savers to choose a bank that has the best financial performance to ensure their profitability and satisfaction. They has hard time to choose either Islamic banks or Conventional banks.

 The modes of operations between Islamic banks and conventional banks are different. The conventional banking operates on pre-fixed interest whilst Islamic banks based on profit sharing. The modes of operations are different. Islamic banking refers to a system of banking or banking activity that is consistent with Islamic law (Shari’ah) principles. It is interesting to look at the current performance of Islamic banks and compared it to the conventional. Are they still far away from the long established conventional bank?

In terms of profitability and liquidity, we can say that Islamic banks are less profitable but have better liquidity than Conventional Banks. The greater profitability of Conventional banks are caused by the higher net financing and quality of the assets. In the other hand, the higher liquidity of Islamic banks due to the lack of Islamic financial instruments especially for long-term investment in the market to manage their surplus liquid funds.

            For the measure of risk and solvency perspective, we can conclude that Islamic banks faced lower credit risk since their has low Financing to Deposit Ratio (FDR) than Conventional banks, but Conventional banks shows better shield as their Equity over Liabilities E/L is higher than Islamic banks.

Lastly, in terms of efficiency, Islamic banks are better than Conventional banks due to the higher of Net Financing Income Margin (NFIM) and Net Financing Revenue over Asset (NFRA). The higher profit margin become advantages to the liability counter parties as the gained high profit return. In contrast, the borrower need to overcome high profit markup from Islamic banks as compensate with risk and default in settlement since Islamic banks are responsible to all issues on the financing contract. 

BUDGET 2016

Budget 2016 is a presentation of the annual report for the allocation and expenditure for the coming year. Budget 2016 was presented in Parliament of Malaysia on Friday, 23rd October 2015 at 4 pm by the Prime Minister is also the Finance Minister, YAB Dato' Sri Mohd Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak and the theme 'Prospering the Malaysian', rooted in five priorities:

• Strengthening durability the national economy
• Improving productivity, innovation and green technology
• To prepare the human capital
• Empowering Bumiputera agenda
• Easing the cost of living

 The following are the highlights of the budget:

• RM267.2 billion has been allocated under Budget 2016, compared with the revised RM260.7 billion in 2015.

• There will be nine high-impact domestic projects worth RM6.7 billion in total.

• The first priority of Budget 2016 is to spur domestic investment to contribute 26.7% to the GDP in 2016.

• The Budget aims to increase private investment to RM218.6 billion and public investment to RM112.2 million.

• The GST sum is to be credited into value of prepaid reloads from Jan 1 next year.

• Personal income tax pushed to 26% from 25% for those earning between RM600,000 to RM1 million. Income tax is also pushed up to 28% from 25% for those earning RM1 million and above.

• RM900 million is proposed for the Jalan Tun Razak Traffic Despersal Project to reduce congestion in the city.

• RM200 million will be allocated to improve roads in Felda settlements.

• RM1.2 billion is allocated to improve Internet speeds, from 5mbps to 20mbps.

• RM1.4 billion will be spent to improve 700km of road all around the country.

• RM67 million is allocated for bus operation routes outside the city.

• Tourism is expected to contribute RM103 billion to the economy. E-Visa for seven countries (China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, United States and Canada) to be launched in mid-2016.

• RM5.3 billion is allocated to modernise farming.

• RM28 billion is allocated for new MRT projects.

• From Jan 2016, RM100 will be given in schooling aid to students from households with a monthly income of RM3,000 and below.

• RM250 1Malaysia book vouchers will be available for 1.2 million students.

• RM930 million is allocated to the Youth and Sports Ministry, with RM145 million set aside for training athletes.

•  BR1M to continue for 4.7 million households.

• The Pan-Borneo Sarawak Highway, which is set to be completed in 2021, will be toll-free.

• RM100 million is to be provided by Communications & Multimedia Ministry for eRezeki, eUsahawan programs which is expected to benefit some 100,000 people.

• The Budget aims for 30% women involvement at decision-making levels in both public and private sectors.

• RM360 million is proposed to improve National Service, with RM160 million allocated for non-governmental organisations.

• All domestic economy class flights will be exempted from GST for rural folk.

• RM1.6 billion is allocated for the construction of 175,000 units of PR1MA homes. 10,000 units are expected to be completed next year.

• TEKUN to provide RM600 milionl + RM500 million for Bumiputras and RM100 million for Indian entrepreneurs.

• RM90 million in micro-credit loans allocated for Chinese SME traders and businessmen, including RM50 million for KOJADI (MCA’s investment & education arm).

• RM300 million is proposed to improve the welfare and development of the Orang Asli community. RM45 million is also set aside to assist with extra food, pocket money and school transport fees for the Orang Asli community.

• The minimum starting salary in the civil service is set at RM1,200 a month from July 2016. The move is expected to benefit some 60,000 civil servants.

• From July 2016, the minimum pension rate is set at RM950 a month for pensioners with at least 25 years of service.

• A payment of RM500 for all civil servants and RM250 is allocated for Government retirees to help with cost of living.

• The Government will allocate a BR1M payout of RM400 to unmarried persons above 21 with incomes below RM2,000. A BR1M payout of RM1,050 is also set aside for those with incomes below RM1,000 and RM1,000 (for those with incomes below RM3,000), RM800 (for those with incomes below RM4,000).

• In terms of income tax, relief for each child below 18 years of age is increased to RM2,000 from RM1,000 from year of assessment 2016.

• Tax relief for individual taxpayers whose spouse has no income is increased to RM4,000 from RM3,000.

• Children supporting their parents, even if not living together with their parents, to get tax relief of RM1500 (for the mother) and RM1,500 (for the father), if the parents are above 60 years of age.

• Parents of disabled children get RM6,000 tax relief and up to RM14,000 if their child furthers his or her studies.

• Tax exemption of RM8,000 instead of RM6,000 is also set aside for every child above 18 years of age in an education institution, both local and overseas.

JDT Create a History

Johor Darul Takzim team (JDT) create  a history when they won the AFC Cup and break the monopoly of the West Asian Clubs after beating defending champions Tajikistan, FC Istiklol, 1-0 in the final at the Central Republican Stadium Dushanbe in Tajikistan on 31st October. 

The only goal scored by midfielder from Argentina Leandro Velázquez in in the 23rd minute to make sure history is made for Malaysian football, next appear as the first team from South East Asia to win the trophy. JDT made it to the finals after automatically qualified for the club following the suspension of the Kuwait FA to compete in the AFC Cup.

As champion, JDT AFC Cup took home the trophy presented by Sultan of Johor Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar along with cash prize of US $ 350,000 (RM1.502 million), while Istiklol FC won the US $ 250,000 (RM1.072 million) as runner-up. More sweet, JDT captain Safiq Rahim was named most valuable player, while captain Istiklol FC, Vasiev Dilshod selected as the best player in the final match.

JDT Team

Danger of Leptospirosis

In recent years, cases of death due to Leptospirosis is increasing all over the country. In Malay language, Leptospirosis is known as “kencing tikus”. Most cases were reported due to when the victim is exposed by wading or swimming to contaminated or non-chlorinated water as rivers, waterfalls and beaches. 

 In fact, touching a tree or contaminated wetlands can also transfer bacteria to humans as well as direct contact with urine, blood or tissues of infected animals. These bacteria can enter the body through cuts or soft tissue in the mouth, nose or eyes. 

The early symptoms are started with a fever, chills, myalgia’s, sore throat and headache. This symptom happen in 75% to 100% of patients. However, these bacteria are not transferred from one person to another. 

Therefore,  precautions must be implemented by either party to reduce cases such as care of natural environment and avoid playing or swimming in contaminated water because there have high chance we to be infected with Leptospirosis decease.