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Thursday, January 27, 2022

Quarantine-free travel lane between Singapore and Malaysia reopens, 'Expand VTL-Air scheme', Frustrated over quarantine policy updates

  Quarantine-free travel lane between Singapore and Malaysia.. 


'Expand VTL-Air scheme' from Singapore to Penang , Sabah, Sarawak


Dr Wee: VTL quota increase depends on Malaysia-Singapore... 


Vaccinated Travel Lane Extended to Six More Countries - Civil ...

 

SingaporeA Causeway Link bus leaving the Larkin Sentral Bus Terminal and Public Transportation and heading into Singapore under the Vaccinated Travel Lane here in Johor Baru on Friday (Jan 21, 2021). - THOMAS YONG/The Star

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan. 21 (Xinhua): The bus and flight tickets under the land and air Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) between Malaysia and Singapore have resumed with immediate effect, Malaysian Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said on Friday.

However, the volume of tickets has been halved with only 50 per cent of the capacity of vehicles plying the routes allowed, as part of measures to slow the spread of Covid-19, he said in a statement.

"The timeline regarding this ticket sales quota increase will depend on the risk assessment to be performed from time to time by the Health Ministry based on the current Covid-19 situation in both countries," he said.

The VTL kicked off on Nov. 29 last year and involved travel via the bridge connecting Malaysia to Singapore as well as an air corridor, but was suspended since Dec. 23 over the emergence of the Omicron variant.

Those traveling via the VTL will face eased restrictions including quarantine requirements being waived for fully vaccinated individuals. - Xinhua

Covid-19 won't keep families apart | The Star

Frustrated over quarantine policy updates

"I feel very helpless as the policy has been changed a few times and I am not sure what I should do anymore" - Zainah Ismai;.

PETALING JAYA: Malaysians who travel abroad regularly have urged the government to be consistent and clear when updating its quarantine policy.
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Some said they were unaware of the latest changes and were caught by surprise at the airport.
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Dr Katherine Poh, a deputy vice-chancellor of a private university, said the period of quarantine must be spelt out in terms of nights and not days.
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“Seven days and seven nights are two different things. When I touched down at KL International Airport from Bangkok recently, I was told that I had to quarantine at a hotel for seven days.
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“However, on the seventh day, I was forced to stay for one more night. I thought seven days meant six nights and seven days,” she said.
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“I was told that as I checked into the hotel during the wee hours, I had to quarantine for an extra day.”
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To make matters worse, Poh, 68, said she was not provided with the help needed at the airport.
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“I was told that I had to observe my quarantine at a hotel and that I needed to get pre-approval if I wanted to do home quarantine.
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“I went to the counters representing hotels to seek help but none of them was open as I arrived in the wee hours.
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“I don’t mind quarantining at a hotel but I was so helpless as no one was there to assist,” she said.
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She said she was also treated like a Covid-19 patient at the hotel.
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“Why can’t the government have a different set of standard operating procedure for people arriving and not to treat us like Covid-19 patients?” she asked.
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Tutor Zainah Ismail vented her frustration as her application for home quarantine was rejected.
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“My home quarantine was rejected because I was coming back from Saudi Arabia. I live alone there. I have been teaching online and working from home for the past few weeks,” she said.
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Zainah said she did not want to pay extra to be quarantined at a hotel as she has a house where she can be alone.
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“I am really disappointed as I have been fully vaccinated but I still have to fork out extra money to quarantine in a hotel.
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“I feel very helpless as the policy has been changed a few times and I am not sure what I should do anymore,” she said.
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Australian Malaysian Singaporean Association president Thomson Ch’ng said the latest challenges posed by the Omicron variant and the constant changing of travel rules, including quarantine regulations, made it challenging for Malaysians abroad to plan a return trip home.
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“Malaysians abroad, including the thousands in Australia, have been separated from their loved ones since the start of the pandemic. “The high vaccination rate in both countries initially offered a glimpse of hope for international travel to return to normality.
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“Many Malaysian Chinese who are residing in Australia, were hoping to go home to reunite and reconnect with their loved ones during Chinese New Year, especially those with elderly parents and relatives after being separated for two years,” he added.
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On Thursday, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said travellers who received booster shots were only required to undergo a five-day quarantine period upon arrival in Malaysia and they would not be required to wear pink surveillance wristbands.
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However, he said travellers from higher-risk countries, who were allowed to home quarantine, would still be required to wear a digital surveillance bracelet.

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  Govt urged to take firm steps after Malaysia ranks 62 out of 100 in corruption perceptions index   

  Situation showed them 'public power is not for personal use', expert says   China's efforts to fight corruption have paid off`

Wednesday, January 26, 2022

China's corruption battle paying off as officials voluntarily surrender

 


Situation showed them 'public power is not for personal use', expert says 

 China's efforts to fight corruption have paid off, with its anti-graft systems improving and the central government dealing with corruption as strictly as possible.
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Last year, 25 officials under the management of the Organization Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, including 19 provincial-level cadres, were put under investigation, according to the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission, the country's top anti-graft bodies.
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Another 30 officials under the management of the Organization Department were given disciplinary and administrative punishments for violations of Party discipline and national laws.
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The officials came from different fields, including the judiciary, education and finance.
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Yang Weidong, a law professor at China University of Political Science and Law, said that the number of officials investigated showed that anti-corruption work remains strict and efforts have been intensified.
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"Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC Central Committee has emphasized full and strict governance over the Party," Yang said. "It has not lowered standards as time has gone on."
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According to information about corrupt officials investigated by the two disciplinary watchdogs, more cadres have voluntarily surrendered in recent years.
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Last year, four under the management of the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee and 62 officials under the management of organization departments of provincial-level CPC committees voluntarily turned themselves in.
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That showed the fight against corruption has achieved good results and formed an effective deterrent to corrupt officials, Yang said.
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"Officials' awareness of the 'bottom line' required by the central government has greatly improved in practice, and the anti-graft situation has clearly shown them that public power is not for personal use," he said. "Once they cross the bottom line, they shall be held accountable.
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"Once the awareness is rooted in the officials' minds, a virtuous circle will gradually be formed in which public power serves the country and the people. It will also play a positive role in preventing duty-related crimes and corruption."
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In the first nine months of last year, discipline inspection and supervision organs across the country penalized 1.47 million people, with about 52,000 of them expelled from the Party, removed from public office and transferred for criminal investigation for serious violations, the authorities said.
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In March, the CPC Central Committee issued a document on strengthening the supervision of top leaders and leading groups of all government organizations.
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The document said the importance and urgency of strengthening supervision over top leaders and leading groups should be fully recognized. Many effective practices and experiences have been formed in the supervision of leadership, but the oversight of top leaders is still a weak point, and the task of improving the intra-Party supervision system and fulfilling oversight responsibilities remains urgent.
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It said dereliction of duty by top leaders and leading group members must be investigated seriously, and ordered leading officials at all levels to properly accept supervision by Party organizations and the public and get used to working and living in an environment under supervision and constraints.
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Universities become focus
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A crackdown on graft in university management was another significant part of anti-corruption work last year, with a number of university officials punished.
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Yu Zhigang, former vice-president of China University of Political Science and Law, was accused of taking bribes of 6.9 million yuan ($1.1 million) and using public power for private purposes in July.
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Liu Chuansheng, a former Party chief of Beijing Normal University who retired in 2016, turned herself in to a central inspection group in July. She is under investigation for suspected serious violations of Party discipline and State laws.
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"The campus is where people are educated, and corruption in universities could seriously hinder the formation of professionals and affect the development of universities, and even science and technology in the country," said Ji Naili, a professor of anti-corruption studies at the Zhou Enlai School of Government at Nankai University in Tianjin.
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Corruption among university leaders mainly occurs in areas like enrollment and promotions, which is known to only a few stakeholders, making it difficult to investigate, he said.
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"Strict anti-corruption campaigns now also target university management, which was usually a low-key position, reflecting that the central government's efforts to strengthen the fight against corruption has revised the traditional understanding of anti-graft work," Ji said.
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"It also shows that the system of institutional anti-corruption is becoming tighter, leaving less and less space for corrupt officials."
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- China Daily/ANN/The Star

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 Govt urged to take firm steps after Malaysia ranks 62 out of 100 in corruption perceptions index
 

 

2021 Corruptions Perceptions Index - Explore the…

 

"We urge the government to monitor the implementation of the National Anti-Corruption Plan and empower the chief secretary to the government to be responsible for its implementation.” - Dr Muhammad Mohan

 Malaysia fails in graft index

For the second consecutive year, Malaysia has dropped in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index 2021. The country ranked 62 out of 180 countries.
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` Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) president Dr Muhammad Mohan said the country fell five places from last year, and dropped three points from 51 points in 2020 to 48 points in 2021.
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` “Our scores dropped a further three points. It is a worrying trend that we are seeing with our ranking also falling to 62,” he said during a press conference held on Zoom to announce the index yesterday.
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` Muhammad noted that Malaysia has been seeing a downward trend for the past two years since the change of governments in 2020 and 2021.
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` In 2020, Malaysia was ranked 57 out of 180 countries, scoring 51 out of 100 points.
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` The index uses a scale of 0 to 100 points, where 0 is highly corrupt and 100 is very clean.
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` This year, Denmark, Finland and New Zealand are top in the index with 88 points each, with Singapore being the only Asian country in the Top 10, placing fifth with a score of 85 points.
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` Venezuela (14), Syria (13), Somalia (13) and South Sudan (11) are at the bottom of the index.
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` Among the Asean countries, Singapore is first, followed by Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia.
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` Muhammad pointed out that Malaysia has deteriorated as institutional reforms have stalled due to the lack of political will to table the Political Financing Bill; the watering down of the proposed Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) Bill; and the lack of progress on reforms to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
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` Muhammad added that several other factors include the appointment of politicians without experience to head government-linked companies (GLCs); the limited progress or public update on high profile cases such as the Wang Kelian, Sabah Water and the Littoral Combat Ship cases; the lack of progress on the amendments to the Whistleblower Protection Act 2010; the continued adverse findings and governance failures observed in the Auditor-General’s annual report; and the slow progress of the various initiatives under the National Anti-Corruption Plan (NACP).
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` Muhammad said TI-M has recommended that the government narrow the scope of the Official Secrets Act, and share information transparently including the uploading of data on all public contracts while providing regular updates on the status of high profile cases.
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` “We also urge the government to monitor the implementation of the NACP and empower the chief secretary to the government to be responsible for the successful implementation and achievement of the NACP.
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` “The government must also adopt the International Standards on Integrity Pact in Government Procurement for transparency and good governance as well as improve the independence of the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC),” he said.
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` He also urged for the government to address other issues, among them, to reform MACC to make it truly independent by having the body report to the Parliament; to amend the Whistleblower Protection Act 2010; to rectify the Election Offences Act 1954 to include sanctions against corruption; to include misconduct in public office as a provision in the MACC Act to hold public officials accountable for their decisions; and to enact an Asset Declaration Law to compel all politicians and high ranking public officials to declare their assets and make it accessible to the public.

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