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

Key Highlights

• Nazir Razak and a national reset
  
  

• Omicron variant
  
  

• Vernacular schools controversy
  
  

Nazir Razak and a national reset

Nazir Abdul Razak, the brother of former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak, along with a group of prominent figures, are seeking a non-partisan effort to institute reforms as the country's political leadership has failed to do so.

In a letter to the Conference of Rulers, they proposed a "Better Malaysia Assembly" comprising representatives from various segments of society to deliberate on issues of nationhood and institutional reforms.

They said politicians tend to prioritise their own re-election and proposed reforms have often given way to racial and religious overtones.

DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang backed the effort for a "national reset".

Lim also contrasted Nazir's efforts to his brother Najib's bid to make a political comeback, which he warned would set the country back on a path of kleptocracy.

HIGHLIGHTS

	‘Indecent exposure': Activist lodges police report Sungai Siput MIC denies the allegation.
	PM chastised for having RM50k/month advisors 'Doesn't the PM already have ministers?'
	MOU not 'scripture' that forbids early GE - Zahid This was amid a push for an early GE15.

Omicron variant

The emergence of a new Covid-19 variant, with substantial mutation to its spike protein that the SARS-CoV-2 virus uses to get into human cells, has raised the concern of a new wave of infections.

There is also worry that existing vaccines may be less effective against the Omicron variant. Pfizer and BioNTtech said they are prepared to rework their Covid-19 vaccine if necessary.

A Malaysian researcher said the Omicron variant, first discovered in South Africa, came at the worst time amid elections in Malaysia.

The seven-day average of Covid-19 cases in South Africa increased seven-fold from 598 on Nov 21 to 4,196 on Nov 27.

Academy of Science Malaysia senior fellow Dr Lam Sai Kit said while the virus has not been detected in the country yet, strong precautions were needed.

In response to the new variant, Malaysia imposed a travel ban on South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, and Zimbabwe, a measure that many other countries have also taken.

However, more countries and territories, including Hong Kong, UK, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Czech Republic, Italy and Israel, are reporting the presence of the new variant.

Israel took the toughest action, completely shutting down its international borders.

HIGHLIGHTS

	K'tan seeks explanation over oil royalty U-turn Zafrul's statement differs from the previous govt - MB.
	Najib wants probe over 'attempts to conceal evidence' This is over the 1MDB and SRC cases.
	Kit Siang rues widespread misunderstanding of MOU He denies Harapan supports a racialist position.

Vernacular schools controversy

In compliance with the Pahang government's rule that requires the signboard of all government-related bodies to carry their name in the Jawi script, state-funded Chinese primary schools began receiving new signboards.

However, when they arrived, the signboards carried their name in Jawi but the Chinese characters were missing.

Deputy Education Ministry Mah Hang Soon intervened, instructing the state Education Department to construct new signboards that will also carry Chinese and Tamil characters for Chinese and Tamil schools respectively.

National Unity Minister Halimah Mohamed was asked if it was a case of cultural insensitivity but she sidestepped the issue, directing all queries to the Education Ministry.

She also stressed that Bahasa Malaysia is the national language.

HIGHLIGHTS

	MP fumes 'Keluarga Malaysia' T-shirts made in Bangladesh Rasah MP Cha Kee Chin wants 'made in Malaysia' guidelines.
	National unity plan a return to Rukun Negara spirit, says PM It will involve five strategies.
	GPS asks why PAS bothers contesting in S'wak All PAS candidates lost in the last state election.

A daily glance at Covid-19

• 4,239 new cases yesterday (Nov 28), the lowest since May 16.
  
  
• 29 new deaths put the total fatalities at 30,309.
  
  

New cases by state:

Selangor (1,097)
Sabah (408)
Johor (404)
Kelantan (358)
Pahang (324)
Penang (262)
Kedah (253)
Perak (220)
Kuala Lumpur (191)
Terengganu (172)
Malacca (159)
Sarawak (158)
Negeri Sembilan (152)
Putrajaya (49)
Perlis (19)
Labuan (13)

What else is happening?

• Prices of vegetables have spiked following a surge in demand from the economic reopening, labour shortages, rise in fertiliser prices and bad weather. Farmers say high prices are expected until Chinese New Year.
  
  
• Former minister Mohamaddin Ketapi, who quit Warisan to support the government, has joined Bersatu. Meanwhile, another former minister, Maszlee Malik, who was sacked from Bersatu, joined PKR.
  
  
• PKR wants Pakatan Harapan to discuss using the PKR logo for future elections after the coalition's lacklustre performance in the Malacca state election under the Harapan logo. Meanwhile, DAP suggested that all Harapan parties use their own respective logos in elections.
  
  
• AirAsia attributed the high flight ticket prices to Sarawak to a cap on the number of daily flights imposed by the state government to control the spread of Covid-19. Transport Minister Wee Ka Siong urged the Sarawak government to restore the number of flights to pre-pandemic levels.
  
  
  

HIGHLIGHTS

	For new Amnesty boss Anjhula, activism begins at home The psychologist shares experience in fighting injustice.
	PM to make an official visit to S'pore It coincides with the VTL launch.
	S'wak PKR: Separate manifestos not due to Harapan split It says PKR and DAP focus on different demographics.

What are people saying?

	How to win over Malays By Zikri Kamarulzaman
	Should Anwar be blamed? By Kim Quek
	Malay chiefs and Chinese tin miners By Ranjit Singh Malhi