The pandemic has reduced economic activity, lowered incomes and increased unemployment for the vast majority of Malaysians and consequently, how much the government can realistically collect in tax revenues. Due to the mass uncertainties created by the pandemic, GDP and revenue projection becomes harder and more speculative the longer the COVID-19 virus and restrictive measures exist.
INSAP researcher Michelle Low analyses the latest C19 lockdowns, detailing growing Malaysian frustration, anguish, and worsening state of mental health over weaknesses in managing the pandemic and she has suggested learning from successful lockdowns in Italy, Taiwan, South Korea and New Zealand to the government. The writer articulates creating a heat-map to HIDE to help Malaysians better navigate hot-spots.
Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) akan dimansuhkan mulai tahun ini. Fokus pendidikan akan memfokuskan kepada perkembangan kognitif melalui sistem pentaksiran yang baharu yang mana keberkesanannya diragui sebilangan ibubapa. sebagai alternatif sistem pendidikan yang lebih baik, sekolah vernakular telah menjadi ‘trend’ bagi kaum bumiputera kebelakangan ini. Pemansuhan UPSR dan keraguan pelaksanaan sistem yang baharu dijangka menjadi faktor kebanjiran murid-murid kaum bumiputera ke sekolah vernakular akan datang.
The alarming 6,806 Covid-19 cases yesterday and 6,075 cases on Wednesday have raised public alarm and many Malaysians now want the government to impose tighter restrictions or a full scale of lockdown. An INSAP Twitter poll drew 3,489 votes within less than 15 hours since it was launched. The public poll showed 90% support for the government to impose full MCO.
The PEMERKASA initiative announced on Wednesday 17th March 2021 shows a reasonable level of assistance
and aid to vulnerable groups such as the recently unemployed and the self-employed who have lost significant
levels of income. Altogether the package is worth RM20bil and is focused on 20 strategic initiatives to boost
economic growth, support business continuity and continue targeted assistance to people and sectors most
affected by the pandemic. Of this RM20bil, RM11bil will be earmarked as direct fiscal injection. This is rather
unorthodox from previous spending packages as the vast majority of funding in previous rounds were devoted to
non-direct fiscal measures such as through the banking system and Employee Provident Fund (EPF) withdrawals.
On the 17th March 2021, the Minister of Finance, Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul announced that an additional customs duty tariff is set to be imposed on several items of trade, in accordance with the Customs Duty Act 1967 (CDA). An export tariff of 15% is to be imposed on the following items involving ferrous waste and scrap ie. remelting scrap ingots of iron or steel which previously enjoyed a 10% tariff rate according to the Customs Duties Order List 2017.
Malaysians were perplexed yesterday by news of yet another bailout of Malaysia Airlines (MAS) when its parent, Malaysia Aviation Group Bhd (MAG) revealed that sovereign trust unit Khazanah Nasional has committed to inject RM3.6 billion in new capital into the perennially loss-making airline. This latest bailout, coming after Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz’s statement last November that RM28 billion had been injected into MAS by Khazanah then, raises the total bailout of MAS to RM31.6 billion.
The Malaysian Government should look at holistic management of the Covid-19 pandemic so that policies rolled out can benefit all strata of Malaysian society. An INSAP online survey, conducted over a week in January 2021, showed that the government needs to enhance its communications for Covid-19 efforts so that every segment of society is engaged and aided, even the T20 income group, as survey findings indicated that 6% of T20 respondents had slipped unnoticeably into the B40 category.
The statistics released by the DOSM revealed dire levels of unemployment and requires decisive action by the government to alleviate the pressure in the near and medium term as well as working towards increasing economic productivity for the long-term as many young people find themselves ide and out of work.
Malaysia and Kazakhstan are constantly exploring opportunities for deeper collaborations that aim for mutual benefits in the long run, be it in the realms of trade or even knowledge sharing. Rechannelling or diverting palm oil-related trade or business to Kazakhstan and Eurasia as a whole will allow Malaysia offset from the EU’s phasing out of palm oil and it will also further strengthen bilateral relations and act as a “gateway” collaboration for future forms of cooperation.
