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PETALING JAYA: A reworking of the standard operating procedures (SOP) is needed if the recent spike in the number of Covid-19 clusters involving workp.
Restore Thaipusam public holiday, MTUC urges Kedah govt 23 Jan 2021 / 15:40 H. Pix for illustration purposes.
PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) has urged the Kedah state government to restore the Thaipusam public holiday for the sake of workers.
MTUC secretary-general Kamarul Bahrin Mansor said in a statement today that the reinstatement of the Thaipusam holiday which was supposed to be an occasional holiday would further strengthen national unity and harmony in the country.
“Thaipusam is an important celebration for Hindu workers and reinstating it as a public holiday for these workers is a recognition for them.This would also mean that workers do not have to apply for their annual leave to perform their prayers. By restoring the holiday in the state it would not bring any loss to the country,“ he said.
KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysian business owners remain dejected at the bleak prospect of an extended period of coronavirus restrictions despite the latest aid package announced by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, which experts say is not enough.
Restaurateur Alia Iman said although the wage subsidy has helped in the past, she believes that her days in business are numbered as most amenities are only allowed to operate from 6am to 8pm. Time is money, especially when restaurants like mine can only accommodate takeouts, said the 42-year-old. I m no longer in the position to retain any of my workers anymore. I have used up my savings, which were supposed to be enough to cover all overhead costs for one year, she added.
Published on: Sunday, January 17, 2021
By: Jason Loh
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WITH the reimposition of the movement control order (MCO) which impacts the economy though less severe so compared to MCO 1.0, we may be witnessing the beginning of a housing loans crisis in the making. This near-apocalyptic scenario may not sound palatable for banking stocks and could well be just hypothetical. But we need to ensure such a hypothetical scenario can be averted and also simultaneously prepare to mitigate the fallout should pre-emption be not possible.
The backdrop to this is Malaysia being well-known as having one of highest household debt ratios in Asia and the highest in Asean. Looking at the data, our household debt to GDP ratio was reported at 82.2pc in June 2019. Bank Negara’s Financial Stability Review (Second Half, 2019) highlighted that household indebtedness level increased to 82.7 as at the end of 2019, driven by housing loans. According to Bank Negara Malaysia’s Financial Stability Re