Good morning. Here's what you need to know today.
Key Highlights
PM defends adviser
Khairy free agent
Police censorship
PM defends adviser
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is not budging on his daughter Nurul Izzah's appointment as his senior economics and finance adviser.
The row over Nurul Izzah's appointment had struck a nerve in a country with a history of nepotism.
However, Anwar said her pro bono job is to ensure that contracts and tenders were managed in an "orderly" manner.
The prime minister gave his assurance that this was not to abuse power or enrich his family.
He also accepted criticism from civil society and also said that it was inappropriate of former prime ministers who awarded contracts to their children and relatives to point fingers.
HIGHLIGHTS
 | |
 | |
 |
Khairy free agent
Khairy Jamaluddin is keeping his options open after being sacked from Umno.
He said he had received a slew of offers following his expulsion, ranging from political parties to corporate roles.
The former Rembau MP is also considering the possibility of contesting in the forthcoming state elections.
But for now, at least, one door he's not looking to open is Umno's, saying it was pointless to appeal his sacking from the party.
A legal challenge or petition to the Registrar of Societies may be an option for those purged from Umno, but it would be an uphill battle due to another legacy of Dr Mahathir Mohamad's time in office.
HIGHLIGHTS
 | |
 | |
 |
Police censorship
When police raided a music store in Penang and detained people over a gig that did not have a licence, the initial outrage was over the stifling of creative freedoms.
However, attention there has now been backlashed to the police's decision to also detain three members of the audience who took photos of the raid.
Police allegedly told them that filming a raid was not allowed, and forced them to delete the photos after a trip to the police station.
However, legal experts say there is no law forbidding the public from filming the police during a raid.
HIGHLIGHTS
 | |
 | |
 |
Views that matter
 | By P Gunasegaram |
 | By Raman Letchumanan |
 | By S Thayaparan |
Other news that matter
The Education Ministry wants bridges and jetties in Semporna, Sabah, to be made safer after 25 school kids and two teachers fell victim to another bridge collapse.
Deputy Finance Minister Ahmad Maslan said the government does not seem to have any plans to introduce any new taxation system or revive the GST anytime soon.
The Youth and Sports Ministry has asked the National Sports Council to investigate a national hockey player who made allegedly racist remarks about the recent AR Rahman concert.
The Plantation Industries and Commodities Ministry is looking at the medicinal potential of cannabis and ketum plants.
Bersatu has published party account statements from 2020 and 2021 in an effort to counter accusations that it pocketed RM4 billion of emergency stimulus funds during the pandemic.
It wants PKR and DAP to do the same.
Chinese education groups have lodged a police report over two news articles which allege a claim that Chinese school (SJKC) pupils are not keen to learn Bahasa Malaysia.
Kota Raja PKR is waiting for instructions from the party leadership on rumours that Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz is set to contest one of the state seats in the constituency in the Selangor state assembly election.
HIGHLIGHTS
 | |
 | |
 |
