Outpouring of blood donations in China’s Zhuhai as residents rally to help car ramming victims

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Online, there have also been website appeals for more people to join the reason.

” Now, Zhuhai city’s body businesses are in need of blood. We ask that all neighbors and friends constantly respond. Please help by spreading the word. reads a blog from Xiaohongshu, a Taiwanese social media platform.

The article included a body banks address and the physical requirements for potential sponsors.

Citizens from even further away have made an effort to help out. After learning about the event, a Macao native claimed to have driven to a blood banks in Zhuhai on Tuesday morning. But on appearance, he was told that heart supplies were “enough”. &nbsp,

” A staff at the ( blood ) bank told me that there were currently more than 100 people in the queue and that their blood supplies were sufficient”, he shared on Xiaohongshu.

According to local media reports, the National Health Commission has dispatched 11 professionals to help with the work, while more than 300 healthcare professionals from five Zhuhai hospitals are treating the sufferers.

SHOCK AND HORROR&nbsp,

A 62-year-old gentleman with the surname Fan has been identified as the suspect. Local authorities said on Tuesday that he rammed people exercising on the inner roads and through the sports center’s wall.

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NSF takes father to court to pay S,000 per month in advance for his university course fees

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A national service member in Singapore attempted to sue his father for paying S$ 1, 000 ( US$ 747 ) per month while he was stationed in Singapore to cover his upcoming university tuition costs.

The father appeared “visibly and truly sad” about his son turning to the police for this, and that the younger man had never called him in a while, the Family Court noted.

He was 22 when the NSF started the investigation because he was concerned that his father’s funds might run out before his studies at the Singapore Institute of Technology ( SIT ) would begin.

Based on photos of his father’s second woman, who carried a branded watch and case, and counting stacks of cash, the NSF claimed that his parents had the funds to make the payments because his parents are divorced and that the NSF had verified this.

THE Event

According to a view dated October 30, 2024, the young man planned to apply for a lessons at SIT in February or March 2025 while serving his Na at the time of the reading.

If successful, he may begin the course in August 2026 and only be able to find out the results of the application in June or July of next year.

While the boy was pursuing his NS, the boy initiated the investigation, compelled his father to begin making him S$ 1, 000 per month.

The payment, which are estimated to cost more than S$ 30, 000, were intended to be used to pay for the SIT program.

His father testified at the hearing that the court case had not revealed his plans to enroll in the course, so his father claimed he was shocked and” confused.”

The parents, however, made it clear that despite being financially pressed at the time, he was still fully committed to paying the training fees.

He was only able to begin receiving payment in 2026, the course’s launch date. He claimed that his CPF Ordinary Account, which would be more than enough, may allow him to use the funds from his Central Provident Fund to pay the training costs.

The father believed that his ex-wife and the son’s family may also contribute, even though he was willing to pay the fees.

The case was brought under Section 69 ( 2 ) of the Women’s Charter, which states that: The court may order a parent to pay monthly or lump sums for the child’s maintenance upon timely receipt of the evidence that the parent has neglected or refused to provide reasonable maintenance to that child.

If the court determines that providing for maintenance is needed, district judge Kow Keng Siong noted that such an purchase cannot be made for a kid who has reached the age of 21.

According to Judge Kow, the boy had provide two evidence for success in his application. Second, the obligations he seeks may count as “reasonable maintenance”, and the parents may have “neglected or refused” to provide the repair sought.

The court does merely grant the payments if the NSF “would be receiving instruction at an academic creation” because he is now 21 years old.

According to Judge Kow, the Women’s Charter “does not particularly require a parent to support his or her child’s secondary schooling.”

Second, the obligation for maintenance under Section 69 ( 2 ) does not require a parent to pay for all the expenses of a child’s tertiary education.

Finally, a prosecutor retains the choice on whether to buy a family to pay for their child’s secondary education expenses, and if so, how much and when payments really started.

JUDGE’S Studies

The son, according to Judge Kow, lacked the necessary evidence to support the son’s claim that the payments were needed and reasonable.

He noted that having the father give preservation in advance could lead to” a lot of problems” because the son’s acceptance into the program was a “certitude.”

The judge also emphasized that paying for the father’s tuition is” a shared parental obligation” and that both the parents and the mother are jointly responsible for paying the brother’s tuition.

The judge had to weigh the parents ‘ respective incomes, earning potential, and assets in order to determine what their respective contributions should be. The mother was a freelance renovator.

The judge ruled that the father’s assertion that his parents had the funds to pay his father’s debt based on photos that his father’s second family posted online was based on speculation.

The parents claimed that his second wife had purchased the watch and bag many years prior, with his second wife purchasing both the watch and bag in 2019.

The parents claimed that his second wife and he kept their money separate.

The judge noted that the son’s uncontested data demonstrated that the father was actually in “dire economic straits.”

He had different payment plans to pay off these debts and had a credit card account with five banks. The father claimed to have been owed these amounts while running his development company.

About a year before the hearing, the parents had traded in his 2021 Mercedes E Class, valued at around S$ 400, 000, for a 15-year-old Mercedes S Class valued at about S$ 50, 000.

He had also not been fast in paying a full of S$ 2, 500 in maintenance for his son and daughter, and had paid the debt in quantities of S$ 3, 000 and S$ 5, 000 when he could.

So, the judge accepted that the father’s existing financial strain would increase if he was ordered to make the course fees in advance.

Judge Kow disregarded the software and made some final studies, starting with the father’s rejection of his son’s legal action.

” At all content occasions, he spoke gently to the child. The father had actually addressed the child as “lovely” at the beginning of the reading, but he immediately corrected himself and used the son’s English name, according to the judge. ” From my assessment of the parents, it is obvious to me that he loved the boy dearly”.

He stated that the parents was “visibly and truly depressed that the child had asked the judge to pay for the SIT course.”

The son’s parents claimed that the father had never called him in a while, and that the father had just received a notification of the son’s intention to enroll in an SIT program.

The father yelled out when he said,” Not because the law says so, but as a parent,” when he said,” The father was ready to help the son.”

The prosecutor said the boy may realize his father’s love and terms.

The law has its limitations because it is a sharp instrument. According to Judge Kow, experience has shown that honest and direct communication improves results for problems.

It’s never too late to press the delete key, according to the saying “neverever the reasons for the obvious lack of communication between the child and the parents”

He claimed that the father’s desire to pursue a secondary education might provide him with a great chance to reconnect with his father.

The father, in my opinion, sincerely desires to give the son a higher education than he does, including by giving him ( the father ) a higher education. Judge Kow urged the events to begin establishing direct communication channels.

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Global ESG Monitor: Banks and insurance companies show progress in climate reporting

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  • Banks and insurance companies received a score of just under 50 %, which is substantially above the national average.
  • Financial institutions are aware of climate issues, but they do not provide in-depth monitoring.

Global ESG Monitor: Banks and insurance companies show progress in climate reporting

According to the most recent assessment from the Global ESG Monitor ( GEM) 2024, banks and insurance companies are reporting on climate issues but still need improvement. The study analysed the non-financial reporting of 194 companies, including 10 large insurers and 10 banks, with a focus on European Sustainability Reporting Standards ( ESRS ).

The financial industry, comprising banks and insurance companies, achieved only under 50 % of possible positions in reporting value, somewhat surpassing the total sample average of 45 %. This functionality both points to progress and highlights possible improvements.

Michael Diegelmann, co-founder of GEM and co-CEO of cometis, an IR and ESG firm, said,” Banks and insurance companies you tap into additional future-proof investment and profit opportunities in the long term through the stress they generate. They may also continue to raise the caliber of their reporting. There is still a lot of possible these, according to the best methods of the sector’s pioneers.

Financial institutions exhibit proper consciousness of pressing climate issues, according to the evaluation. They excelled in a number of ways, including demonstrating their devotion to the Paris Climate Agreement, making range emissions public, and presenting transition plans. However, there were significant gaps in the climate change reportage regarding endurance and the economic effects.

In resilience reporting, both sectors scored just under 60 % of points, outperforming the overall sample average of 38 %. But, endurance analyses were simply made available by about half of the nine major organizations, according to the European Central Bank. Companies only received 15 % of the possible points for reporting on the financial effects of climate change, which is mainly small.

Ariane Hofstetter, co-founder of GEM and committee member of cometis, emphasized the importance of open reporting:” Climate change is now causing huge costs today. Transparent monitoring is so important, because it is about more than just documented duty, but about the green transition of the market”.

The study also assessed ESRS compliance, where banks and insurers scored below 50 %. In light of their position as significant partners and stakeholders for a number of companies, this suggests that more open communication is required.

The International ESG Monitor, an impartial consider tank, has analysed over 1, 300 information from more than 500 firms globally since its foundation in 2020. Rules and criteria from numerous international requirements and frameworks are incorporated into its approach.

Click below to get the statement.

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IN FOCUS: How banks and telcos try to deliver top-notch customer service

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Although telephone amounts have decreased over the years, the majority of banks and telcos have stated that they still receive a lot of customer inquiries.

DBS said its 500-strong customer support agent workforce, which is based in Singapore and comprises mainly Singaporeans, manages over 250, 000 answers from consumers each month. More than 3 million answers are generated annually, according to this figure.

Singtel, which offers numerous programs for customers to reach them, including Whatsapp communications and its client line, reported that it handles more than three million customer queries annually. OCBC reported that it has received 1.4 million calls this time.

In addition, the volume of inquiries may rise during significant events, such as service problems, putting more stress on customer service staff.

” In a ( mobile network ) outage, you must understand that the volume and the traffic ( of calls or chats ) that comes to us is not five times or ten times, it’s probably 100 times more than normal”, said M1’s director of customer experience and retail Stamford Low.

We rely heavily on our machines to grow, so we can upgrade them with the status of the interruption. So if you called us because you were experiencing company difficulties, the voicebot would be able to inform you, he said.” Our specialists are aware of this and are working on it,” he said.

” So we can do that so that the customer does n’t have to wait for a while before speaking with an agent and then hearing the same thing anyway.”

OCBC said it schedule more officers to work during the busiest times of the month, when they are typically asked for more inquiries about bank accounts and credit card statements, while DBS said it has real-time tracking screens and early warning signals to help its groups quickly ramp up resourcing to maintain spikes in call volumes.

Companies CNA spoke to said they do not avoid calls because some clients complain that they ca n’t reach a customer service representative in these circumstances.

According to OCBC’s Mr. Indra,” We make our very best effort to clear as many calls as possible,” adding that staff members from other divisions may also be stationed to handle customer calls.

There could be delays as a result of a rise in calls, according to Singtel’s deputy chief executive officer Anna Yip, who is a customer service representative who some users complain they ca n’t reach during significant incidents.

” When incidents happen … it’s not just the ( customer service ) agents ‘ role, it’s actually a whole team that crosses many departments like networks, customer agents, marketing is also involved”, she said.

” It’s basically like a war room situation… because we do n’t want to give customers wrong information. We want them to … know that they’re being taken care of, but we also need to give them correct information whenever we can, because if we really do n’t know what’s going on, we ca n’t lie”.

” So that’s why the coordination is very, very tight, and it’s not just about the front-end messaging, but all the way to the back, those people who are fixing things and turning things around, giving us the update. It must remain a single team, please.

” We do n’t stop any calls or … say ‘ we do n’t take any calls because we have nothing new to tell people’.

” It could be that, in the very, very rare situation where we do have a call surge, then of course, there is a bit of delay for people to come through, but we never stop communication, and we certainly never stop people from contacting us at all.”

RISING CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS

Assoc Prof Cheah believes that as consumers become more digitally savvy, this could have contributed to higher expectations for customer service.

Studies conducted a few years ago indicated that consumers were still alright if they had to wait a while for their issue to be resolved, she said.

However, many people today are intolerant to even a quick refresh of the screen that takes longer than a minute or a call that is not resolved within ten minutes.

” It’s the digital age that we’re living in, where a lot of information is being provided very quickly, so … to a certain extent, we are being conditioned to expect a fast response”.

OCBC said it has implemented a number of internal procedures to shorten the average handling time for its customer service officers in order to keep up with rising expectations.

This includes allowing its customer service representatives to approve requests for loan waivers as soon as they are satisfied, as well as handling disputes involving credit card transactions.

Previously, they were not able to do this and had to raise such requests to another team to process.

The bank’s efforts appear to be working, with the bank now exceeding its 60-second call-return goal of 80 %.

In comparison, it picked up 40 to 50 per cent of calls within the target last year.

We obviously had a fair bit of catch up last year when I started this new position, but we’ve been using data to improve our ability to be more proactive, according to Dennis Lee, OCBC’s head of service channels and transformation.

” ( We ) want to be proactive, to ( be able to ) tell customers that the moment they face an issue, we ( already ) know and before they call us, we are able to educate them on how to self-help so that they can resolve an issue … without having to call us or wait on the phone”.

The bank is currently testing out push notifications to explain why payments made after a customer’s card is rejected, as well as free web call services for customers who have credit card issues while traveling abroad.

After realizing that inquiries about account balances and credit card issues accounted for the most calls, it developed this plan.

” What I’m trying to do is whenever they tap at a failed transaction straightaway, we will detect why their transactions were rejected … so we’re trying to proactively inform customers … and this is where they can go and self-help immediately”, said OCBC’s Mr Lee.

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IN FOCUS: What happens when you contact a bank or telco customer care centre?

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In: South-East Asia

Although telephone volumes have decreased over the years, the majority of banks and telcos have stated that they still receive a lot of customer inquiries.

DBS said its 500-strong customer support agent workforce, which is based in Singapore and comprises mainly Singaporeans, manages over 250, 000 answers from consumers each month. More than 3 million concerns are generated annually, according to this figure.

Singtel, which offers numerous programs for customers to reach them, including Whatsapp communications and its client line, reported that it handles more than three million customer queries annually. OCBC reported that it has received 1.4 million calls this time.

In addition, the volume of inquiries may rise during significant events, such as service problems, putting more stress on customer service staff.

” In a ( mobile network ) outage, you must understand that the volume and the traffic ( of calls or chats ) that comes to us is not five times or ten times, it’s probably 100 times more than normal”, said M1’s director of customer experience and retail Stamford Low.

We rely heavily on our machines to grow, so we can upgrade them with the status of the failure. So if you called us because you were experiencing company difficulties, the voicebot would be able to inform you, he said.” Our specialists are aware of this and are working on it,” he said.

” So we can do that so that the customer does n’t have to wait for a while before speaking with an agent and then hearing the same thing anyway.”

OCBC said it schedule more officers to work during the busiest times of the month, when they are typically asked for more inquiries about bank accounts and credit card statements, while DBS said it has real-time tracking screens and early warning signals to help its groups quickly ramp up resourcing to maintain spikes in call volumes.

Companies CNA spoke to said they do not avoid calls because some clients complain that they ca n’t reach a customer service representative in these circumstances.

According to OCBC’s Mr. Indra,” We make our very best effort to clear as many calls as possible,” adding that staff members from other divisions may also be stationed to handle customer calls.

There could be delays as a result of a rise in calls, according to Singtel’s deputy chief executive officer Anna Yip, who is a customer service representative who some users complain they ca n’t reach during significant incidents.

” When incidents happen … it’s not just the ( customer service ) agents ‘ role, it’s actually a whole team that crosses many departments like networks, customer agents, marketing is also involved”, she said.

” It’s basically like a war room situation… because we do n’t want to give customers wrong information. We want them to … know that they’re being taken care of, but we also need to give them correct information whenever we can, because if we really do n’t know what’s going on, we ca n’t lie”.

” So that’s why the coordination is very, very tight, and it’s not just about the front-end messaging, but all the way to the back, those people who are fixing things and turning things around, giving us the update. It must remain a single team, please.

” We do n’t stop any calls or … say ‘ we do n’t take any calls because we have nothing new to tell people’.

” It could be that, in the very, very rare situation where we do have a call surge, then of course, there is a bit of delay for people to come through, but we never stop communication, and we certainly never stop people from contacting us at all.”

RISING CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS

Assoc Prof Cheah believes that as consumers become more digitally savvy, this could have contributed to higher expectations for customer service.

Studies conducted a few years ago indicated that consumers were still alright if they had to wait a while for their issue to be resolved, she said.

However, many people today are intolerant to even a quick refresh of the screen that takes longer than a minute or a call that is not resolved within ten minutes.

” It’s the digital age that we’re living in, where a lot of information is being provided very quickly, so … to a certain extent, we are being conditioned to expect a fast response”.

OCBC said it has implemented a number of internal procedures to shorten the average handling time for its customer service officers in order to keep up with rising expectations.

This includes allowing its customer service representatives to approve requests for loan waivers as soon as they are satisfied, as well as handling disputes involving credit card transactions.

Previously, they were not able to do this and had to raise such requests to another team to process.

The bank’s efforts appear to be working, with the bank now exceeding its 60-second call-return goal of 80 %.

In comparison, it picked up 40 to 50 per cent of calls within the target last year.

We obviously had a fair bit of catch up last year when I started this new position, but we’ve been using data to improve our ability to be more proactive, according to Dennis Lee, OCBC’s head of service channels and transformation.

” ( We ) want to be proactive, to ( be able to ) tell customers that the moment they face an issue, we ( already ) know and before they call us, we are able to educate them on how to self-help so that they can resolve an issue … without having to call us or wait on the phone”.

The bank is currently testing out push notifications to explain why payments made after a customer’s card is rejected, as well as free web call services for customers who have credit card issues while traveling abroad.

After realizing that inquiries about account balances and credit card issues accounted for the most calls, it developed this plan.

” What I’m trying to do is whenever they tap at a failed transaction straightaway, we will detect why their transactions were rejected … so we’re trying to proactively inform customers … and this is where they can go and self-help immediately”, said OCBC’s Mr Lee.

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Climate crisis: what Trump can (and can’t) do – Asia Times

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In: Asia

Donald Trump did take over as the world’s largest greenhouse gas emission in a while.

During a campaign cycle when America was plagued by climate disasters, neither Trump nor Kamala Harris made the weather issue a dominant part of their efforts. 232 people died in the southeast of the United States as a result of Hurricane Helene, which struck in late September and was overburdened by an unusually warm Atlantic Ocean.

The swing state of North Carolina, which veered sharply in the direction of Trump, was the state where almost half of those deaths occurred. Voters in the state’s also devastated western absenteed from polling places yesterday and voted in houses.

Experts claim that the Earth structure is in a knife’s length between the carbon-rich Amazon rainforest and the slowing down of ocean heat from North Atlantic currents. If either falls, it would point the environment into deeper chaos.

Drill, girl, drill?

Democrats lost in America’s past production hinterland, the western states that presently comprise the” Rust Belt” and the party’s stalwart” Blue Wall”.

The Nixon administration’s creation of the Environmental Protection Agency ( EPA ) resulted from a river that was engulfed in industrial waste that caught fire here in 1969.

The EPA regulates climate pollutants with laws that limit pollution from power plants and automobiles, two of the region’s biggest CO₂ options.

Aerial view of an open-cast coal mine with power plant chimneys in the distance
Over the past ten years, EPA rules has been successful in reducing fuel consumption. Photo: Matthew G Eddy / Shutterstock via The Talk

According to economic policy experts Barbara Haya and Stephen Lezak ( University of Oxford ) and Stephen Lezak ( University of California, Berkeley ),” the policy proposals that Donald Trump and the think tanks advising his plan would turn the tide against America’s fundamental climate laws.”

According to a rightwing manifesto attached to the Trump campaign ( though not formally endorsed by Trump himself ), that could include” a whole-of-government unwinding” in which the EPA’s” structure and mission ]are ] greatly circumscribed”.

” Trump has promised to flame experts in state, place loyalists in their area and choose a ‘ drill, child, drill ‘ mentality”, say Lezak and Haya.

If he chooses to adopt the Project 2025 statement, as it’s known, Trump may also reduce funding for disaster preparedness and thus risk lives unnecessarily during mounting disasters.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ( NOAA ), a government agency that has monitored the ocean, studied the weather, and managed the protection of endangered species since 1970, would also be “dismantled” and “privatized.”

According to David Hastings Dunn, a professor of international politics at the University of Birmingham and a Project 2025 expert, Trump’s potential plans for NOAA reflect his wider agenda on the ground.

According to him,” NOAA is one of the main drivers of the climate change alarm industry,” and the ideological response is to banish the scientific body that produces proof that climate change has an impact.

IRAte

Trump may choose to veto the Inflation Reduction Act ( IRA ) from 2022 or to renounce Paris in Paris.

Trump’s first term removed the United States from the Paris Agreement, which mandated that all countries maintain a 2°C global warming limit. A second US exit, or a complete withdrawal from the UN climate negotiations ( another round starts in Azerbaijan ): warns climate scientist Mark Maslin (UCL).

It’s a big deal to pull out one of the world’s superpowers from international negotiations to stop global greenhouse gas emissions, he writes in an email. It also makes it easier for other nations to slow down decarbonization and blame the US for their own inachievability.

At a UN climate conference in New York in September 2019, Mike Pence and Donald Trump. &nbsp, Photo: AC News / Alamy Stock via The Conversation

The IRA extended subsidies for renewable energy until 2032, which was hailed as the Biden White House’s greatest climate achievement.

Investors in wind and solar farms typically receive federal tax breaks as a result of these subsidies. The biggest beneficiary? Banks, according to a study conducted by Durham University geographer Sarah Knuth.

Renewable tax credits were never intended to be Wall Street’s shady subsidy. They now offer significant tax shelters to banks, she claims, even though they do n’t need to file any complicated partnership forms to be incorporated into the law.

Democrats may regret supporting such a subpar model of fostering green energy, according to Knuth, and this is not the only way to finance the green transition.

She says that even the largest banks can only hold so much tax money, and that the rapidly expanding renewable energy sector requires more capital than tax equity investors can provide.

” The most significant corporate tax cuts, such as the one that was proposed under President Trump, can unfortunately shrink the entire market.”

Maslin notes Trump’s vocal support for coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel, but he says he is buoyed by the strength of America’s green industries and” simple economics”.

Trump may stifle the transition away from fossil fuels and allow other nations to thwart action, he claims, but the political and economic case is still unresolved for fossil fuels.

” It is when, not if, fossil fuel ceases to be used as an energy source”.

Jack Marley is Environment Energy Editor, The Conversation

The Conversation has republished this article under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Budget 2025: Falling short on economic dignity

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  • Capex products: What the government will choose to spend money on and what the state will get.
  • Unless SMEs become more successful, pay will stay low for most staff

Often, we hear of the mismatch in salary expectations of fresh job seekers and starting salaries. The sad truth is that 60.8% of fresh graduates earned RM2,000 or less in 2010, and by 2021 – a good 11 years later – starting salaries were still RM2,000 or less for 59.6% of fresh graduates.

Budget 2025: Falling short on economic dignityThe 2025 resources is full of opinions and observations. What else can I contribute to what has already been said, then?

Maybe a reminder of what a resources, beyond the great bright numbers, really ought to reflect.

The latest administration, which had already established its principles in the Malaysia Madani perspective, emphasize six fundamental principles: sustainability, prosperity, development, respect, trust, and compassion, is currently in transition. However, Malaysia Madani was an “effort to travel and reestablish Malaysia’s dignity and splendor,” according to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim right away. “.

Anwar’s next year in business, with this being his second expenditure as prime minister and finance minister, was just one month away from releasing the 2025 Budget. The budget’s central point should then be financial dignity, &nbsp.

The typical prevent most commentaries pick on is the minimal fiscal room, with never-ending treatments of what the government ought to do to lessen the imbalance.

Despite our best efforts, we should remember that opex, which is the government’s obligation to pay for its businesses, including salaries and pensions, may be decreased in the near future. No matter how much, these obligations may be paid for. Therefore, the only series items that are of genuine effect moving forward would be the budget items – what the state is choosing to spend on, and what the nation will experience in return.

Choice issues, and the decisions made by this administration should be measured against the key factor, which is respect.

restoring what really counts

Lasting income:

The average wage of the bottom 50% of wage earners only went up by RM56 annually between 2010-2019. Economically speaking, this is society clearly signaling a depreciation for human capital.

Only the best 30 % of homeowners spend on ambitious goods and services, according to a recent statement from Khazanah Research Institute. If 70 % of us are merely trying to survive day by day, we may have a successful business.

Typically, we hear of the imbalance in earnings expectations of new job seekers and starting salaries. The sad truth is that 59.6 % of new graduates ‘ starting salaries were still RM2, 000 or less in 2010 and that 60.8 % of them earned less than that in 2021, which is still reasonably optimistic. Employers ( Okay, boomers ): are quick to point out that Gen Z are merely being impossible.

However, when inflation and living expenses are taken into account, we are basically telling our younger generation that they are for about half what they were in the previous century. Another depressing statistic is that between 2010 and 2019, the average salary for the lower 50 % of wage earners only increased by RM56 yearly. Financially speaking, this is community plainly signaling a loss for human funds.

The government attempts to control this by establishing a minimum wage, which is proposed in Budget 2025 to be increased to RM1, 700 per month starting on February 1st, 2025. Although RM1 700 is still far below what is considered to be a respectable wage, employers are now retaliating, as is expected.

]RM1 = US$ 0.227]

Most commentators fail to take into account the fact that pushing for higher wages is eventually hurt labor by encouraging companies to automate tasks that were previously performed by low-skilled workers ( For more information, see Alesina et al. Chu et al. ( 2018 ) ( 2020 ), Eckardt and Steffen ( 2021 ).

The state will need to reinvest yet more money in replacing the employees who have been replaced, which is a complex cycle. Although this should not serve as a cause for people to remain in low-skilled jobs, it does reduce the options for government legislation.

On the flip side, one should also consider if companies are only penny-pinching. According to data from the Department of Statistics Malaysia’s 2023 database, a fairer view may suggest that 96.9 % of our business organizations are unable to get much-needed capital.

Consider the fact that, according to Bank Negara Malaysia’s Monthly Highlights &amp, Statistics release, there were RM5.98 billion in mortgage programs for the manufacturing industry overall in September 2024. That is a RM2 billion gap in needed cash in just one month. It follows a similar style across various industries and through time.

This is in line with the rise in alternative fundraising ( i .e., peer-to-peer lending, equity crowdfunding, and venture capital ), which was valued at RM3.8 billion in 2023. The Securities Commission views this as a good, and rightfully so, but let’s also make sure we understand that these are RM3.8 billion worth of required funds that our businesses were never willing to fund.

The danger that lenders were unwilling to bear for P2P borrowing has now been transferred to the individual investors, who typically fall into the upper middle class and are above that level. Since P2P’s inception in Malaysia in 2017, regular people have provided SMEs with RM5.96 billion in total, with 98 % of the loans being working capital, compared to 2 % for business expansion. This may be no comfort if you are struggling with your pay test, but odds are your company is struggling also.

In summary, most of our workers wo n’t make much money unless our SMEs gain access to more capital and become more productive. Other than the request to restore small and medium banks, the budget specifically addresses these issues. The online banks may possibly fill these gaps, as several of them have announced the oncoming release of their company bank solutions specifically for SMEs.

Unsustainable family debts

The finance ministry is n’t all that worried, though, as our household debts totaled RM1.57 trillion as of June 2024, which is about 83.8 % of GDP. Countries like Australia, South Korea and Canada have household bills that exceed 100 % of GDP. However, no all debts are created equal.

Debts can be used as leverage to increase money for high-wage workers. With more Malaysians taking on next work, debt is good being used to finance fundamental needs. The funds grants additional cash assistance through the BUDI MADANI software despite numerous attempts to address this problem. One of a long series of overlapping social welfare programs, including those led by multiple functions, is this one. The best-case situation is these programmes provide some inhaling room but only a big programme like a Universal Basic Income can help restore the economic disparity within our society.

Given that our debt to GDP is now close to the self-imposed cap, the cost of funding for a program may be lower. I can just quote John Maynard Keynes ‘ wise statement,” Anything we can do, we may afford.”

Tax as an opportunity opposed duty as a sentence

Economics has a well-known proverb that says you get less from what you income. The idea is based on the idea that some activities can be dissuaded by income. By imposing levies on certain activities or goods, the government properly increases their charge, making them less appealing to individuals and businesses.

  1. Respect at work

Consider the proposal to provide a tax incentive for employers who adopt flexible working arrangements. Employees are clear that they strongly prefer flexible work arrangements. However, the findings are inconsistent. This is the a-wine-a-day research conundrum, in my opinion. For every research that says a glass of wine is good for you, you will be able to find another research that says otherwise. There are so many more benefits to providing a flexible work arrangement by default than just offering an office maintenance fee, the cost of commuter work, and the time and cost savings saved by parents with care-giving responsibilities. Instead of paying taxes on the ( few ) that choose to offer these incentives, the government should tax those who do n’t.

  1. Increasing productivity by maximising our human capital

Additionally, imposing a tax penalty will help with hiring women to work again. We should tax bad behavior rather than encourage good behavior. Not hiring a person because she has not worked for a certain period and has a gap in her resume is discrimination. Another issue is the specific tax incentive that applies to software costs when “implementing flexible work arrangements” is implemented. The government should n’t encourage remote employee monitoring with intrusive software.

  1. Carbon tax

The carbon tax’s introduction is both opportune and welcomed. With the introduction of the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism ( CBAM ), particularly for our steel industry, carbon taxes will be a burden on us in some way or another.

If we are going to have to pay, we might as well collect it ourselves. It is proposed that the proceeds from this carbon tax will support the development of decarbonization research. Without any information on the tax rate, it is impossible to predict the amount of revenue this will generate. Singapore imposes a carbon tax of SG$ 25/tCO2e currently, but started off at just SG$ 5/tCO2e. If we introduce a rate of RM5/tCO2e ( which is incredibly low ), the energy sector will receive about RM1.4 billion in tax revenue based on emissions from 2022.

The Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers ( FMM) has already expressed concern about the potential rise in electricity tariffs, but more details on the carbon tax should be forthcoming. &nbsp,

I do n’t understand how energy producers can absorb this without passing some of it on to consumers, given that 81 % of our electricity still comes from fossil fuel sources. Given that our energy mix is so low in carbon, there may be a carbon tax that can be levied at the production, distribution, or consumption stages.

Other areas worth mentioning

The Budget 2025 participants in the EV infrastructure industry probably feel a little underwhelmed. Other than the announcement of a sub-RM100k EV, there was no mention at all on further incentives for building out our EV charging infrastructure.

  1. Charge Point Operators experience no love.

The Budget 2025 participants in the EV infrastructure industry probably feel a little underwhelmed. Other than the announcement of a sub-RM100k EV, there was no mention at all on further incentives for building out our EV charging infrastructure.

I’ve previously covered the industry gripes, but my colleagues have a different perspective. A transition to electric vehicles is almost unavoidable, it is safe to say. That being so, we should be able to anticipate that all these vehicles need to be charged while idle ( i. e. overnight, while parked ), and not during transit.

I doubt any of these players will realize a return on their investments due to the rush to construct EV chargers along highways and in public spaces. Most people do n’t seem to understand this, but imagine a time when all EVs will be used in cars. Everyone is going to expect that they can charge their vehicles overnight, the same way we charge our phones and laptops to have it ready to go again the next day.

The main issue will be having enough energy capacity to charge millions of cars overnight, despite the fact that we can outfit every parking bay in every condominium and apartment building in the nation. Energy production and grid capacity are both at issue, not charging-pillar issues.

Ecological fiscal transfer gets a boost

    Half of the Ecological Fiscal Transfer Fund allocation - RM125 million- will be contingent on the performance of state government expenditures related to environmental preservation.

    The Ecological Fiscal Transfer Fund is proposed to increase from RM200 million to RM250 million, which is a 25 % increase, in Budget 2025. This boost is intended to aid state initiatives to protect wildlife and forests. Half of the allocation ( RM125 million ) will be contingent on the performance of state government expenditures related to environmental preservation. Additionally, the Orang Asli community received RM80 million to train and hire 2,500 forest rangers. a positive move.

    Overall, I feel the government is attempting to be bold but is doing it in liberal doses. Will this budget encourage everyone’s economic dignity and help them hit the reset button? Not entirely. In fact, I think many people will have further concerns on how the subsidy rationalisation will affect them, partly self-inflicted by announcements of the plan, without the actual plan itself in place.

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    Setting lower value for banks to halt suspicious transactions may trigger ‘too many false alerts’: Alvin Tan

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    Singapore: According to Minister of State for Trade and Industry Alvin Tan, blocking or holding deals as part of their fraud surveillance duties” could lead to very numerous false updates” and cause pain for most bank clients,” according to Minister of State for Trade and Industry in parliament on Tuesday ( Nov 12 ).

    The shared accountability framework for phishing scams, which may begin on December 16, was raised by Mr. Tan. &nbsp,

    The foundation, first mooted in early 2022, seeks to recommend how loss arising from phishing schemes will be shared among financial institutions, telecom companies and consumers. It spells out specific duties for the companies, making them liable to pay if they have fallen short of their responsibilities.

    Banks are required to carry out real-time fraud surveillance to “detect if a customer’s account is being rapidly drained of a significant sum” as part of the finalized framework.

    If an account had an account balance of S$ 50, 000 or more immediately prior to the unauthorised transaction and more than half of that account balance had been transferred out within the previous 24 hours, it would be regarded as having been quickly drained of significant sum.

    The financial institution must either stop the suspicious transaction until the customer can provide additional verification, or notify the customer while the transaction is being held for at least 24 hours.

    Mr. Tan responded to inquiries about how the S$ 50, 000 threshold was set, arguing that the authorities “must strike a balance between protecting customers and the inconvenience posed to customers conducting legitimate transactions.”

    He claimed that setting a lower value would cause the majority of customers to be uncomfortably unprepared.

    However, banks are expected by the Monetary Authority of Singapore ( MAS ) to consider other factors in their fraud surveillance. These include a customer’s profile and potential vulnerability to scams, as well as spending patterns.

    As a member of the MAS board, Mr. Tan said,” These go beyond what is stated in the ( shared responsibility framework].”

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    Singapore and China sign 25 agreements at annual top-level bilateral meeting to boost cooperation

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    STRENGTHENING FINANCIAL Participation

    With a number of green finance and money markets initiatives, bilateral economic cooperation will grow.

    One tie-up between the central banks of China and Singapore aims to spur natural funding flows. By the end of this year, the Monetary Authority of Singapore announced in a press release on Monday that the practice would be finished.

    This will make cross-border alternative loans, natural bond issuance, and account investments easier to compare the natural taxonomies of Singapore and China.

    In an effort to expand the exposure to China’s bond market for foreign shareholders, MAS and the People’s Bank of China are even conducting a pilot project with the banks of both nations. It will utilize the existing “over-the-counter” bond business model in China.

    Other projects include expanding the range of products on the Shenzhen and Shanghai bourses ‘ Exchange Traded Funds ( ETF ) Product Links, as well as facilitating financial institutions’ access to the Singapore and China markets.

    FACILITATING Business AND Opportunities

    In trade, Singapore and China reiterated their commitment to the China-Singapore Free Trade Agreement ( CSFTA ) Further Upgrade Protocol, which is set to enter into force on Dec 31, 2024, said Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry ( MTI ) in a separate press release.

    China’s primary extensive diplomatic free trade agreement with an Asian nation is the CSFTA. It became effective in 2009, and the most recent prepared improvements were unveiled at JCBC last year.

    According to MTI, Singapore investors and service providers can anticipate “more democratic and open rules” that will allow them to conduct business with China.

    The government added that Singaporean businesses will also gain greater access to China’s economy through a “negative listing” strategy, which means that all industries are automatically opened to investors except those that are exclusively listed.

    ” Importantly, China commits to not limiting foreign ownership restrictions for Singapore buyers in 22 areas such as design, shopping &amp, wholesale, and architectural &amp, urban planning service”, MTI said.

    The Belt and Road Initiative is being promoted in a second deal. It aims to strengthen Singapore and China’s cooperation in places such as policy cooperation, network connectivity, bilateral deal and people-to-people markets.

    “( This ) will provide clearer policy guidance for the next phase of high-quality Belt and Road development, further promoting the joint growth of China, Singapore, and regional countries”, said Mr Ding.

    Since 2013, Singapore has been China’s largest foreign investment in terms of purchase travels, and China has been Singapore’s largest goods trading partner. Bilateral deal in 2023 amounted to US$ 108.39 billion, according to China’s international government.

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    Trump tariffs threaten to torpedo the yuan – Asia Times

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    Since Donald Trump’s November 5 vote gain, the Chinese yuan has traded below the main company’s fixing level. As the past and future US leader prepares to start large new trade wars, the evidence suggests that the markets are anticipating a weaker yuan.

    A sensible assumption? Not sure if Gongsheng, the government of the People’s Bank of China, has anything to say about it. Pan and, for the time being, President Xi Jinping, want a steady trade rate versus the dollar.

    The prominent one is assurance. A significant decrease in the renminbi could indicate to global investors that Asia’s largest economy is facing a serious issue in addition to a terrible property crisis, a growing deflation, and a significant capital flight.

    The string, though, is how Trump’s coming trade war may include Team Xi scrambling to make money depreciation excellent again.

    ” Donald Trump’s win … is ushering in a new cycle of stress on the Foreign money”, says Wei He, an scientist at Gavekal Research.

    What will happen if Trump implements his threats of fresh taxes after taking office in January, the main topic is. In this situation, it is very doubtful that the yen will be at its present level”, He said.

    After Trump began imposing tariffs in 2018, the PBOC allowed a 13 % loss of the yuan in get” to largely restore trade competitiveness”, He says. So, it is “very likely” that it will allow depreciation once more, especially given the recent policy shift toward supporting local demand.

    Again, this is n’t the most likely scenario as yuan internationalization&nbsp, has been a top Xi priority. Xi’s strategy to expand the dollar’s world use in finance and trade may be hampered by a weaker exchange rate.

    In&nbsp, 2016, China&nbsp, won a place for the renminbi in the International Monetary Fund’s” special&nbsp, drawing&nbsp, right” box joining the dollar, yen, euro and pound. In the decades since, the stock’s usage has soared. Excessive exchange-rate interference then may dent confidence in the yuan, slowing its hinge toward reserve-currency standing.

    At the same time, a falling yuan may increase the odds greatly indebted Chinese firms, including giant home designers, default on their international currency-denominated off-shore debts. That may improve the chance of new problems involving the China Evergrande Group and a Chinese asset dump.

    The US Federal Reserve cutting costs as well as the monetary easing needed to support the dollar’s declines may harm Beijing’s deleveraging attempts, in part because of it. Xi’s inner group has made significant strides in eradicating economic abuse over the past few years.

    That clarifies why Xi and Premier Li Qiang have been afraid to actively lower prices in the face of mounting negative forces.

    Not surprisingly, the” PBOC now appears to be slowly renewing its defence of the money through large state-owned business banks”, says Gavekal’s He.

    But if Xi switched program, it would destroy two unexpected dynamics.

    One, it may produce Trump’s head explode, artistically speaking. He might retaliate by levying even higher taxes on mainland goods than the 20 % that all products entering the United States must pay are already telegraphed and the 60 % that all other countries have already telegraphed.

    ” If Trump does began a major industry war, China does, however, hit again, targeting American companies with interests in China, selling US bonds, devaluing the yuan and targeting US imports of agricultural items”, says Evie Aspinalla, a director&nbsp, at the British Foreign Policy Group think tank. ” It would have a significant impact on global trade. China, if it can, would rather avoid this, but if Trump follows through on his trade rhetoric, a tit-for-tat trade war seems all but inevitable”.

    Trump, Aspinalla adds, has been “incredibly forthright throughout the campaign on his views on China, not least in his threats to impose 60 % tariffs on China. China, meanwhile, &nbsp, has pledged to continue to work with the US based on the&nbsp, principles of mutual respect, peaceful co-existence and win-win cooperation, claiming there are’ no winners’ in a trade war. 60 % tariffs would cripple the Chinese economy, which would put a strain on China’s ability to compete.

    That threatened 60 % maneuver alone, UBS&nbsp, Group estimates, will cut China’s annual growth by more than half – chopping 2.5 percentage points off the gross domestic product ( GDP ) of the globe’s top trading nation. Due to sluggish retail spending, property investment, and new home sales, China increased only 4.6 % in the third quarter, up from 4.6 % last year.

    A weaker yuan would have a negative impact on a region that is still too dependent on exports for comfort. As UBS&nbsp, economist Wang Tao warns, there’s a “risk of other countries raising tariffs on imports from China as well”, triggering a new wave of retaliatory trade curbs. A weaker yuan may also sway Asian governments to join the bottom-skinned nations.

    In the past, Beijing’s beggar-thy-neighbor proclivities put officials from Tokyo to Jakarta on the spot. The top destination for Asian goods is by far China. A weaker yuan might spur regional governments to carry out the biggest devaluations since the Asian crisis of 1997-1998.

    Stephen&nbsp, Innes, strategist at SPI Asset Management, notes that” the stakes are sky-high” if Trump goes full steam ahead with tariffs. ” For China”, he says,” the regional economic heavyweight, the options are stark: either devalue the yuan to protect exports or unleash a massive fiscal stimulus to spark domestic demand. A 60 % tariff could trigger a jaw-dropping 30%-45 % yuan devaluation, pushing dollar-yen&nbsp, skyward, possibly even past the 175 mark”.

    For Asia, Innes adds,” a roaring dollar could spell disaster. The lifeblood of Asia’s emerging markets is local currency debt, which has lost all gains due to previous dollar surges. Some economies may experience a chokehold as a result of their significant external debts in US dollars. The Trump effect is a high-stakes gamble that could transform the financial landscape for years to come, despite Trump’s victory setting Wall Street on fire.

    Context matters, of course, and most Asian economies are n’t approaching the Trumpian storm to come from a position of strength. Due to sluggish retail sales, weak business investment, and soft industrial production, Japan’s GDP continues to decline quarter after quarter. Hence the Bank of Japan’s reluctance to hike short-term rates above 0.25 %.

    Political chaos is also raging in Japan. The Liberal Democratic Party lost absolute power late last month, marking the third straight year since 1955. With the assistance of coalition partners, the LDP and Shigeru Ishiba were able to snag control and the title of premier. On Monday, the parliament voted to let Ishiba stay on as Japan’s leader. He will now lead a minority Japanese government.

    In Seoul, South Korean President&nbsp, Yoon&nbsp, Suk Yeol is struggling with a 19 % approval rating. Korea struggles to cope with record household debt, which slows down growth. Notably, Korea’s economy is dominated by a handful of giant, export-driven family-owned conglomerates whose profits are uniquely vulnerable to a new trade war.

    Central bank officials in Taiwan are struggling with a housing bubble. Indonesia’s economy struggles to stop growing. Artificial intelligence is putting a strain on the Philippines ‘ vital call center sector, which is rapidly expanding. Singapore is having a cost-of-living crisis. Political conflict is preventing economic reforms in Thailand.

    All of this implies that many Asian economies will import tariffs from countries already in place. China, too, as a massive property crisis drags on and increases the odds of deflation.

    Jeremy Zook, an analyst at Fitch Ratings, says,” the potential exacerbation of current supply and demand trends, coupled with demographic and debt overhang challenges, poses a risk of sustained price falls”.

    Chinese “domestic demand is weak, and a longer-than-expected real estate downturn is a significant risk to our growth forecasts”, Zook notes. ” Capital spending is increasing faster in export-oriented sectors. External demand is robust, but a slowing global economy in 2025 will likely constrain export growth”.

    There is a case for the Communist Party of Xi’s devaluing the yuan. One of his 11 years in power was one of the most consistently consistent reform initiatives to create a stable and reliable currency regime.

    ” This was a commonly discussed topic throughout the year, and while it’s impossible to say for sure, we do not think this is a likely outcome”, says Lynn Song, economist at ING Bank. China’s emphasis on currency stabilization is not directly related to short-term trade flows, but it is likely to lessen pressure on capital outflows in the near future and make RMB trade settlement and internationalization easier.

    In consequence, Song states that” we anticipate the PBOC to continue to resist significant movements for the RMB in either direction.” This position does not appear to be significantly changing.

    The” PBOC might attempt to reset the yuan at a new equilibrium after incorporating the tariffs risk,” says Mizuho Bank’s chief Asian FX strategist, Ken Cheung. By front-loading onshore yuan depreciation, it could smooth out volatility during the US tariffs announcement, if any”.

    Economist Robin Xing&nbsp, at Morgan Stanley notes that” we believe PBOC’s strategy could be to tolerate some onshore yuan depreciation against the dollar, but keep it outperforming other emerging-market currencies with intervention”.

    All bets are off, of course, if Trump tries to out-devalue Asia. Trump’s supporters have suggested a unilateral dollar-price strategy to benefit US exporters. Trumpworld has been debating an Argentina-like pivot at the behest of advisors like Robert Lighthizer, Trump’s former and likely future international trade representative.

    Or if Trump’s next Treasury Department attempts to upend the post-World War II” Bretton Woods” system in ways Trump 1.0 did n’t. Trump’s tax proposals could also lead to an even higher national debt, which would lead to credit downgrades that would cause the dollar to drastically fall.

    For now, though, the” Trump trade” is sending the dollar higher and pulling waves of capital toward US assets. That is putting downward pressure on the yuan, which is raising concerns that Beijing might choose to pursue a downward trend.

    Follow William Pesek on X at @WilliamPesek

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