Good morning, here's a quick rundown of what happened over the weekend.


Key Highlights

  • Rocky start for Ismail's cabinet

  • Looming medicine shortage

  • Attacked guard dies



Rocky start for Ismail's cabinet

Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob's new government got off to a rocky start as he faced criticisms from within and outside his party for largely retaining the previous administration.

Excluding himself, there were only five new ministers while the remaining 26 were either retained or reshuffled.

However, Ismail Sabri did impose a condition that they would be replaced if they failed to perform within 100 days.

Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim questioned how they are expected to deliver within 100 days when many of the "recycled" ministers had failed in the last 17 months under the previous government.

Analysts said Ismail Sabri had to play a balancing act in order to placate his coalition partners. Some highlights are as follow:

  • Umno now has more ministers than Bersatu
  • No deputy prime minister, four senior ministers including Azmin Ali retained.
  • Khairy Jamaluddin to take over the Health Ministry.
  • Khairuddin Aman Razali dropped while Takiyuddin Hassan transferred out of PM's Dept.


Check out our detailed analysis of the new cabinet. The appointees will be sworn in today.



HIGHLIGHTS

PM's grave visit triggers anger over 'double standards'
NSC says it's allowed outside of festive seasons.
PM has limited choice in cabinet line-up: Bersatu man
'He could only pick from 114 MPs who supported him.'
New health minister responds to 'You can't record, KJ has resigned' video
Khairy responds with a simple greeting.




Looming medicine shortage

The new health minister will face the task of reallocating resources as the Covid-19 epicentre begins shifting out of the Klang Valley.

This includes an impending nationwide shortage of medicine, particularly those widely used in intubation procedures at intensive care units.

Doctors in several government hospitals told Malaysiakini that supplies have yet to run out but are alarmed by the surge in demand and fear a severe shortage.

Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham acknowledged the surge in demand but said efforts are being made to ensure that the supply does not break.

Since Aug 7, Covid-19 cases in the rest of the country have steadily overtaken the Klang Valley and as of yesterday, accounted for more than 70 percent of new infections.

The chart below shows the changing face of the Covid-19 pandemic in the country.


HIGHLIGHTS

MMA hopes KJ settles longtime healthcare issues
This includes junior contract doctors' job security.
Contract doctor pins hope on new health minister
These doctors hope the mess can be addressed.
MP sounds alarm over Johor’s Covid-19 situation
ICU usage capacity has reached 90pct, says Yeo.

 



Attacked guard dies

A video of a security guard being violently attacked, including being hit with a table at a condominium in Ipoh, went viral on social media.

The incident happened in December last year but had gone viral because the victim died last Friday.

A post-mortem found that he died from a lung infection but his family maintained that his health condition deteriorated as a result of the attack, which left him unconscious.

The attacker, who is a Kota Bharu Bersatu member, was previously charged with causing grievous hurt over the incident and is out on bail.

Ipoh Barat MP M Kulasegaran called for the case to be reinvestigated under murder and fresh charges filed.

The security guard was beaten for refusing to allow the attacker's son to use the swimming pool, which was closed to the public at the time. 



HIGHLIGHTS

Patriotic song penned by Annuar Musa to debut
It was created in response to PM’s aspiration.
Govt should follow world's lead on Taliban - BN
It says exceptions must not be made for the Taliban.
Cops confirming if fighters caught by Taliban are M'sians
No info of M'sians being part of IS in Afghanistan.

 


A daily glance at Covid-19

  • 20,579 new cases yesterday (Aug 29), the sixth consecutive day where fresh infections were above 20,000.

  • The number of Covid-19 patients in the intensive care unit briefly dipped under 1,000 from Aug 26-28 from a high of 1,097 on Aug 7. However, it climbed back above 1,000 yesterday.

  • The Covid-19 death toll climbed to 16,087. The first 29 days of this month contributed to 7,061 deaths. The weekly positivity rate also continued climbing to 14.61 percent last week compared to 14.19 percent in the preceding week.

  • For trends on daily cases, tests, hospital bed capacity, vaccination progress and more, follow our Covid-19 tracker.


What else is happening?

  • National powerlifting champion Bonnie Bunyau Gustin bagged a gold medal at the Tokyo Paralympic Games.

  • Ex-deputy minister Lajim Ukin passed away from Covid-19.

  • Umno's six-term MP Nazri Abdul Aziz announced he will be retiring from politics after the next general election.

  • Umno revealed the new government is planning to set up a royal commission of inquiry into alleged judicial interference during Tommy Thomas' time as the attorney-general. A lawyer said it should include retired judge Hamid Sultan Abu Backer's claim of judicial corruption.

  • DAP's Tony Pua said the opposition is ready to negotiate a confidence and supply deal with the new government, but PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail cautioned that it was still in the early stages.


HIGHLIGHTS

The faces of #Lawan
Here’s why some young Malaysians banded together.
Dec 7 hearing of Najib's bid to strike out bankruptcy notice
The former PM failed to pay RM1.69 billion in tax arrears.
Harapan Education Committee outlines reform proposals
The committee hopes the new PM will consider.



What are people saying?

Let's see how events turn out under Ismail Sabri
By Zan Azlee
Ismail Sabri's motorcade to flood-hit Kedah
By Mariam Mokhtar
Malaysian politics: Nothing much has changed
By Sharifah Munirah Alatas



CARTOON KINI