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Key Highlights

  • Hot and cold over high-speed rail

  • 'Bangladeshis speak better BM'

  • Donation for Nazri



Hot and cold over high-speed rail

With successive changes in governments, Malaysia does not appear to be able to make up its mind on whether it wants a high-speed rail (HSR) to Singapore.

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong revealed that his Malaysian counterpart Ismail Sabri Yaakob sought a revival of the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore HSR project during an official visit to the city-state.

This was after Ismail Sabri's predecessor Muhyiddin Yassin terminated the project, which saw the country forking out RM320 million in compensations to Singapore.

A memorandum of understanding for the project was first inked under Najib Abdul Razak's premiership in late 2016.

When Dr Mahathir Mohamad took office in 2018, he sought a temporary postponement in order to find ways to reduce the price tag of the multi-billion ringgit project, but his government collapsed in February 2020 before an agreement could be reached.


HIGHLIGHTS

M'sia, S'pore reopen Causeway for vaccinated travellers
An air travel lane for the vaccinated has also been opened.
One Covid-19 case found on first day of M'sia-S'pore VTL
The case was detected at the Johor Causeway entry point.
Najib: M'sia doing worse due to Muhyiddin's emergency
'We are in a technical recession.'

 



'Bangladeshis speak better BM'

DAP's Bukit Mertajam MP Steven Sim's putting of Deputy National Unity Minister Wan Ahmad Fayshal Wan Ahmad Kamal in an awkward position in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday prompted Bersatu Youth to lash out at vernacular schools.

Sim had asked if Wan Ahmad Fayhsal, who now handles the national unity portfolio, still stood by his previous call to abolish vernacular schools.

Wan Ahmad Fayhsal struggled to explain, stating that he had made the call in his capacity as the Bersatu Youth chief and not as a deputy minister.

He also said that he didn't really mean to abolish vernacular schools, claiming that his intention was for them to strengthen their command of the national language.

That evening, Bersatu Youth information chief Mohd Ashraf Mustaqim Badrul Munir (above) issued a statement doubling down on the call to abolish vernacular schools.

Ashraf highlighted what he claimed was the poor command of the national language among vernacular school students, stating that Bangladeshi migrants could speak better Malay than the students who are Malaysian citizens.


HIGHLIGHTS

Funding for pandas but zero for Malayan tigers?
'Putrajaya must not neglect its own wildlife.'
Don't scapegoat Anwar - Otai Reformis
Group says Harapan should conduct a post-mortem.
Indecent exposure: MIC lodges counter-report
MIC claims a woman activist provoked them.

 



Donation for Nazri

Umno's Padang Rengas MP Nazri Abdul Aziz confirmed he received a "donation" from the firm involved in the proposed Penang undersea tunnel project, which is now the subject of a graft case against former Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng.

Testifying as a prosecution witness in the graft case, Nazri stressed that the donation was for dilapidated religious schools in Perak.

He said this when asked if he had received a sum of RM500,000.

According to the court proceedings, Nazri was the person who introduced Lim to an executive of the firm which later became involved in the undersea tunnel project.



HIGHLIGHTS

No witnesses said they bribed Zahid - lawyer
Defence argues all payments above board.
No 'big blunder' in tunnel project agreement - ex-lawyer
'State's interest protected via the agreement.'
Deepak, firm ordered to pay RM40,000 in costs
This follows their eleventh-hour change of lawyers.

 


A daily glance at Covid-19

  • 4,087 new cases yesterday (Nov 29), the lowest in 197 days.

  • 61 new deaths put the total fatalities at 30,370.

New cases by state:

Selangor (952)
Kelantan (446)
Johor (413)
Sabah (342)
Kedah (333)
Penang (279)
Pahang (255)
Terengganu (214)
Perak (205)
Kuala Lumpur (181)
Malacca (175)
Negeri Sembilan (107)
Sarawak (98)
Putrajaya (40)
Perlis (28)
Labuan (19)



What else is happening?

  • A fully-vaccinated Parliament staff has died of Covid-19. Health authorities said he had not been in contact with any MP in the two weeks before he started to develop symptoms.

  • Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, the longest-serving MP who has been in the Dewan Rakyat since 1974, announced his plans to retire and that he won't participate in the next general election.

  • The Health Ministry revealed that some 514 contract doctors have resigned from government service between January and Nov 26. They have long complained about poor career prospects and difficulty in getting future permanent placements.

  • The government said it has yet to decide whether a person will only be considered fully vaccinated against Covid-19 after he or she receives a booster shot. It said the policy will be adjusted based on global developments.


HIGHLIGHTS

'Pesta TUT' to reconsider censorship - FFN
'Is there space for honest stories?'
Azalina: Drug law reforms vital
'63 percent of the inmates are minor offenders.'
Penan communities launch petition against Baram logging
They want the logging on their ancestral land to stop.

 


What are people saying?

Debates on language have divided our society
By Sharifah Munirah Alatas
The junior doctors' dilemma
By Dr Lim
Silly electioneering among the opposition
By Francis Paul Siah