Malaysiakini compares the key news and views in major newspapers. What is today’s agenda for the newspapers?

Front Page

Chinese newspapers

Quoting sources from national power producer TNB, Sin Chew Daily reported that the possibility of a hike in the price of RON95 petrol is higher than an electricity tariff hike because TNB's financial status is still strong.

However, it is expected that under the proposed electricity tariff hike submitted to the government, TNB will continue to provide free electricity to household consumers with less than 200kWh monthly usage.

“Coal, natural gas and petroleum prices are increasing. The cabinet is still considering TNB’s request to increase electricity tariff and a final decision has yet to be made,” said a sourced.

“The floods in Australia had halted the supply of coal, forcing TNB to import coal from Indonesia to produce power. This is compounded by the insufficient supply of natural gas from Petronas, forcing TNB to purchase natural gas from other companies at market price,” the source added.

Both China Press and Sin Chew Daily continued to highlight the plight of SPM scorers who failed to secure JPA scholarships, including a female student from Sitiawan who had been given by JPA a ‘phantom course’ which does not exist.

English newspapers

Star front-paged the announcement by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak that investments totalling US$6 billion are ready to flow into Malaysia from several US multinational corporations.

New Straits Times

highlighted that Malaysian businesses and individuals have embraced Internet banking, with transactions reaching RM1.1 trillion last year, up from almost RM700 billion in 2009.

Malay newspapers

Utusan Malaysia also headlined Najib’s announcement on US investment to Malaysia.

Berita Harian highlighted the new evaluation system for civil servants which will be done by a reputable panel comprising of department heads and staff from various levels.

Editorial

Discussing the lifting of the moratorium on Indonesian domestic workers, New Straits Times called on Malaysians to reduce their dependency on foreign domestic workers and create a modern care system for our children and the aged, then put in place a legal framework that will remove all remnants of unfairness on foreign workers.

Sin Chew Daily and Nanyang Siang Pau both urged the government to take action against the JPA officials who are responsible for the mismatch of JPA scholarships to stop the problem from recurring.