JAKARTA: At least 12 people were killed and 39 injured in eastern Indonesia on Sunday (Dec 24) after an explosion at a China-funded nickel processing plant, an industrial park official said. The accident took place at around 5.30am (9.30pm on Saturday GMT) at a plant owned by Indonesia Tsingshan Stainless SteelContinue Reading
TAIPEI: Taiwan’s defence ministry said on Sunday (Dec 24) that, over the previous 24 hours, it had detected eight Chinese fighter jets crossing over the median line of the Taiwan Strait, as well as one Chinese balloon. Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, has repeatedly complained of ChineseContinue Reading
WASHINGTON: A Japanese-owned chemical tanker struck on Saturday (Dec 23) off the coast of India was targeted by a drone “fired from Iran”, the Pentagon said, a sign of expanding risks to commercial shipping beyond the Red Sea. The attack came amid a flurry of drone and missile strikes byContinue Reading
Jeolla, the southernmost province in South Korea, had only recently opened its doors to international tourists. According to our tour guide, Singaporeans were the first to set foot there after the pandemic. This comes as no surprise, considering Jeju Island had long been done and dusted by those seeking a laid back alternative to Seoul.
It makes sense to explore Jeolla on a guided tour, not least because of the sweeping distances you would otherwise have to cover on a road trip. So extensive was our route that we watched both the autumn foliage and banchan (Korean side dishes) evolve as we headed northwards. The latter is particularly elaborate in Jeolla as the palace cooks used to live here. Fertile soil, flat land, and rivers have done wonders for its produce, and even the ubiquitous kimchi is distinct here.
In case the percentage of alcohol is higher than 50mg per 100ml of blood, business operators are required to either provide the customer with a rest area, where they can wait until it is safe to drive back, or contact their friend, relative or a paid driver to take them back.
“This is pushing the burdens to business operators, and they won’t do it,” said Dr Tairjing Siriphanich, secretary-general of the Don’t Drive Drunk Foundation.
“Various measures existing in Thailand haven’t been able to control drunk drivers…They aren’t practical.”
While stimulating the economy is good for the country, Dr Tairjing cautioned it must come with safety, noting the number of road traffic injuries in Thailand is already high and that the longer operating hours of night-time entertainment venues could increase the risk of road accidents in the future.
Between Jan 1 and Dec 22 this year, road accidents resulted in 13,656 deaths and 782,316 injuries in the country, according to the Thailand Road Accidents Data Centre for Road Safety Culture (ThaiRSC).
Last year, it reported 14,965 deaths and 927,016 injuries due to road accidents, an increase from 13,657 deaths and 883,306 injuries in 2021.
One day after the new rule was introduced by the Interior Ministry, a foreign tourist was arrested for drink-driving, driving without a licence and causing deaths and injuries by reckless driving.
The car he allegedly drove hit workers on the road in Chiang Mai, killing one and severely hurting two others, local media reported.
The tourist reportedly had gone to a pub with friends before the accident occurred.
“There must be a working committee to assess the social impact of the policy,” Dr Tairjing said.
“Of course, the revenue will increase but in exchange for lives, and I don’t think that’s right.”
SHANGHAI: China’s draft online video gaming rules were designed to promote the healthy development of the industry, regulators said on Saturday (Dec 23), adding that the government would further improve the proposed rules after “earnestly studying” public views. The statement from the press and publications watchdog came a day afterContinue Reading
NEW DELHI: India’s Maiden Pharmaceuticals, whose cough syrups have been linked to the deaths of children in Gambia, on Saturday (Dec 23) denied it had tampered with test samples or bribed officials to do so, as alleged in a complaint under investigation by local health officials. An investigator with theContinue Reading
He Jijiang, executive deputy director of Tsinghua University’s Research Centre for Energy Transition and Social Development, described this programme as “one of China’s signature energy transformations”.
“(Photovoltaics) are built in the poorest villages, and income generated from the power stations is reserved for the villagers to address poverty issues,” he said.
SEPAP has benefited more than 400 million people, according to China’s National Energy Administration. And by 2020, the programme increased national solar power capacity by 26 gigawatts, exceeding the initial target of 10 gigawatts.
This April, China’s solar capacity reached 430 gigawatts, which is triple that of second-placed United States, with 142 gigawatts.
China has invested heavily in other renewables too. In 2012, the country saw US$67.7 billion (S$90.2 billion) of clean energy investment. A decade later, this shot up to US$546 billion.
Today, China is the world’s biggest producer of renewable energy, and not only solar energy.
It has more than 4,300 wind farms in operation or development. Last year, these generated 46 per cent more wind power than all of Europe, the second-largest wind generation market.
Despite these achievements, there are inherent contradictions. China is the world’s biggest climate polluter and permitted more coal power stations last year than any time since 2015.
Why is this the case? The programme Insight finds out the true story of China’s green energy revolution and whether the world has something to worry about.
WATCH: China’s contradiction: World’s biggest clean energy producer and biggest polluter? (45:21)
Mr Ch’ng Toh Gee, managing director of Alter Domus – a licensed agency which handles MM2H applications – told CNA that since the announcement was made he has received “thousands of enquiries” and “hundreds of potential applications”.
However, he said that the applications cannot yet be completed because MOTAC has not announced the entire set of conditions for the new version of MM2H and that the agency does not know when this information will be released.
“In the new MM2H requirements, there is no mention of minimum income, no mention of (liquid) assets, no mention of how to submit a document and where to submit and how long to get approval,” said Mr Ch’ng.
“How all this will happen – nobody knows yet. We have to wait and see,” he added.
The MM2H programme, introduced in 2002, is a long-term visa scheme for foreigners to purchase property and reside in Malaysia. It was temporarily halted in August 2020 pending review by the Malaysia government, who was led by then-prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin.
In September 2021, the then-minister of home affairs Hamzah Zainudin announced that the programme would be reactivated with what was later deemed by critics as stricter conditions.
Mr Hamzah announced that participants would be required to have a monthly offshore income of at least RM40,000 (US$9,600), up from RM10,000 previously.
They also needed to have a fixed deposit of RM1 million, compared with the previous conditions of between RM150,000 and RM300,000.
Additionally, MM2H applicants would have had to prove ownership of liquid assets worth at least RM1.5 million.
Many observers said that the conditions set then disqualified many middle-income foreigners, and would only qualify ultra-high-net worth individuals, with the government reporting a 90 per cent dip in the number of applicants.
Among the critics was Johor ruler Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar who said the ministry’s reluctance to review the criteria was “mind-boggling and outrageous”.
Mr Ch’ng told CNA: “The MM2H conditions (set in 2021) were implemented without any thought into it at all. It was an arbitrary move,”
“The ultra rich would not even come to Malaysia, they would rather go to the UK etc, so the applications dropped to almost zero,” he added.
The latest version of MM2H unveiled by Minister of Tourism, Art and Culture Tiong King Sing last week has reignited interest in the scheme.
However, foreigners and agencies have expressed disappointment that the announcement seemed incomplete, especially given the anticipation it has drummed up.
United Kingdom (UK) citizen Rebecca Spencer told CNA that she and her husband had been monitoring the news developments in Malaysia on updates on the MM2H situation as the couple is considering retiring in Kuala Lumpur if the conditions were relaxed.
The 48-year-old said that since the Malaysia general elections ended a year ago and Mr Anwar Ibrahim was appointed prime minister to lead a unity government, there have been optimistic developments on that front.
In tabling the national 2024 budget in October, Mr Anwar, who is also finance minister, said the government had agreed to relax requirements for the MM2H programme to boost the influx of foreign tourists and investors to Malaysia.
Moreover on Dec 4, Mr Tiong pledged that the revised MM2H programme would be announced in mid-December after a “thorough review”.
Ms Spencer told CNA she felt that there were “clear gaps” from MOTAC’s announcement on Dec 15 and that the income and gross assets criteria were glaringly missing.
“Those were the two conditions that proved to be the biggest barriers under the old criteria so it’s a bit perplexing why they did not state them clearly this time,” she said.
Ms Spencer added that since she and her spouse were retired, and mostly relied on dividends from investments as their income source, the RM40,000 per month requirement under the old criteria would disqualify their application.
“It’s very unlikely that retirees would qualify, even taking into account factors like pension. We were hoping for a much lower number or removing that condition completely. But as it stands, our applications are stalled,” she added.
Mr Andy Davison – founder and chief executive of The Expat Group (TEG) – a media organisation based in Kuala Lumpur that is also licensed to process MM2H applications, told CNA that on the surface, the new MM2H requirements “seem to be an improvement” as it widened the scope of foreigners who qualified.
However, he added that there was ongoing uncertainty on the income criteria, and when his team did checks with MOTAC, they have not received any concrete replies or confirmation.
“There are missing pieces and if they’re going to have a minimum income requirement, I assume, and hope it’d be much lower,” said Mr Davison.
“But nothing was stated regarding income. So I don’t know where they dropped it or whether there was just an omission from the announcement … we’re still trying to find out,” he added.
CNA has asked MOTAC if there are any changes to the MM2H conditions on offshore income and fixed assets, and if so, when will they be announced.
“We are strengthening our defences to avoid war. I want to declare to my compatriots that Lai Ching-te and Hsiao Bi-khim advocate defending the status quo of peace in the Taiwan Strait; we will not let war break out in the Taiwan Strait.” Standing next to her on the stage,Continue Reading