Perak Police chief Datuk Razarudin Husain said the case is being investigated by both the Criminal Investigation Department and the Integrity and Standard Compliance Department (JIPS). — Picture by Farhan Najib
IPOH, Feb 19 — Perak Police are investigating the war of words between two police officers on duty, which allegedly ended only when one pointed a pistol at the other, at the Pekan Baru Police station here yesterday.
Perak Police chief Datuk Razarudin Husain said the case is being investigated by both the Criminal Investigation Department and the Integrity and Standard Compliance Department (JIPS).
“We are investigating and gathering information from eyewitnesses to ascertain whether or not such (gun-pointing) incident took place.
“What we know is that both were on duty yesterday and are still working,” he told reporters when met after the Perak Police Contingent’s monthly assembly here today.
It is learnt that in the 5pm incident yesterday, a war of words broke out between a policewoman and a policeman at the station before she drew out her pistol and pointed it at him.
Razarudin said police will not compromise any misconduct of its personnel, including drug abuse, hence the regular examination and urine test conducted by JIPS and the Narcotic Crime Investigation Department.
“We have also carried out the weekly operation to combat gambling and vice activities in all our districts as we don’t want to be accused of being corrupt. We have to uphold and make apparent of our integrity at all time. That’s important,” he added. — Bernama
The survey by international recruiting agency Hays also revealed that one of the precipitating factors might be the feeling of disappointment engendered by the lack of a pay raise. — Reuters pic
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 19 — Malaysian employees are the least satisfied with their wages among those polled in Asia, new findings have revealed.
The survey by international recruiting agency Hays also found that one of the precipitating factors might be the feeling of disappointment engendered by the lack of a pay raise.
“Forty-six per cent of Malaysian employees were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with their current compensation packages, the highest number to say so in Asia,” the results published in Hays’ Asia Salary Guide 2020 read.
“Malaysia reported the highest number of employees in Asia at 24 per cent, who asked for a pay raise but did not receive one in the last year.”
The guide indicated that the dissatisfaction could also be due to high salary expectations among employees.
According to the data, 27 per cent of Malaysian respondents are expecting a wage increment of between 3 and 6 per cent, while a further 25 per cent said they are expecting an increase greater than 10 per cent.
The guide noted that they are the highest number to say so in Asia after China at 40 per cent.
This creates the potential for mismatched salary expectations, it continued, because Malaysian employers make up the highest percentage of the survey that said they have no plans to increase staff pay.
According to the data, 27 per cent of Malaysian respondents are expecting a wage increment of between 3 and 6 per cent, while a further 25 per cent said they are expecting an increase greater than 10 per cent. — Bernama pic
“The majority of employers in Malaysia at 39 per cent also expect to give out increments between 3 and 6 per cent, but only 4 per cent are looking at increases above 10 per cent.
“These numbers indicate possibilities of severe mismatched salary expectations in 2020, which is further cemented by 20 per cent of Malaysian employers saying they did not expect employee salaries to change at all, making them the highest percentage in Asia to say so,” said the guide.
Not surprisingly, Malaysia also has the highest number of respondents who are actively seeking a new job, at 52 per cent, with 67 per cent citing compensation as their top reason for doing so.
Yet, the survey found that there are several reasons why some Malaysian employees choose to stay with their current company even if a wage hike is not forthcoming.
Forty-one per cent of respondents cited work-life balance, while 38 per cent favoured salary or benefit packages, followed closely by work location at 37 per cent and management style and company culture at 36 per cent.
“Malaysians also regarded training and development opportunities as more important than all the other Asian markets, at 26 per cent of all total respondents surveyed.
“This shows that while Malaysian professionals may be attracted by higher pay, benefits that ease work-life balance and difficulties like travel to work or aid in upskilling would be key in retaining them over pay,” said the guide.
In light of these results, Hays Malaysia’s managing director Tom Osborne said it has become vital for organisations to offer more incentives to both attract and retain the best talent, as Malaysia’s brain drain continues to take some of its best talent outside of the country.
“These can be either monetary or non-monetary as with a mismatch in salary expectations imminent, organisations could turn the focus on more holistic benefit packages that can plug the gap by easing other areas of concern for employees.
Hays Malaysia’s managing director Tom Osborne said it has become vital for organisations to offer more incentives to both attract and retain the best talent, as Malaysia’s brain drain continues to take some of its best talent outside of the country. ― Reuters pic
“Another focus would be on upskilling, something that both candidates and organisations can look into better justifying higher increments,” he said.
The survey was conducted by Hays as part of its Asia Salary Guide 2020. It took into account almost 6,000 working professionals located in five Hays operating markets in Asia, which are China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia.
A view of Riomaggiore, one of the villages the Cinque Terre in Italy, which has been over two million pictures online. (Cinque Terre Italy Facebook pic)
CHESTERFIELD: Perched in the Italian Riviera not far from Genoa, the Cinque Terre is a group of five villages in a national park which is a Unesco world heritage site.
According to an international listing established by Farawayfurniture.com, it is the most ‘Instagrammed’ village destination in the world, with more than two million pictures.
Travellers who post pictures on Instagram are very fond of Italian villages. The country has no less than three destinations in the top 10 of a ranking of the most-Instagrammed travel destinations.
The rugged coastline of the Cinque Terre, now a destination for mass tourism, has an overall total of 2,049,711 hashtags.
Some 350 km to the east of this Mediterranean paradise, the second most Instagrammed Italian village in the list is Burano.
Amateur photographers go to town taking pictures of the streets of colourfully painted houses, a feature of the island destination in the Venetian Lagoon, to the point where there are 1,048,053 images on the social network.
The third Italian entry in the list of villages is Alberobello. Considered a must-see destination for visitors to Apulia, the village is famous for its trulli, typical southern-Italian stone dwellings with remarkable conical roofs.
For its part, France has only one destination in the top 10. Surprisingly, it is not a Mediterranean village that is favoured by the Instagrammers, but the small town of Colmar in Alsace.
Recently, the destination in eastern France has also been in the spotlight for winning a vote that recognised it as one of the best destinations in Europe in 2020.
Here are the world’s top 10 most Instagrammed villages:
A HOSPITAL director at the epicentre of China’s virus epidemic died today, state media said, the latest medical worker to fall victim to the coronavirus which has spread across the country.
Covid-19, which is believed to have originated in Wuhan late last year, has spread to more than 72,000 people and killed 1,900 in China.
Earlier this month, millions mourned the death of Li Wenliang, a doctor who tried to warn about the coronavirus. (AP pic)
BEIJING: The head of a leading hospital in China’s central city of Wuhan, the epicentre of a coronavirus outbreak, died of the disease on Tuesday, state television said, becoming the second prominent Chinese doctor to have succumbed to the pathogen.
Liu Zhiming, the director of Wuhan Wuchang Hospital, died at 10.30am, it said.
Earlier this month, millions in China mourned the death of Li Wenliang, a doctor who was previously reprimanded for issuing an early warning about the coronavirus.
Tens of thousands of medical workers have been fighting to contain the spread of the coronavirus, believed to have first surfaced in a seafood market in Wuhan, the capital of the central province of Hubei.
As in the case of Li’s death, there was confusion on the Chinese internet about Liu’s condition on Monday night.
On Monday night, the Communist Party propaganda department of the Hubei Health Commission wrote in a social media post that Liu had died.
But it said in a subsequent post that Liu was alive.
“According to Liu’s relative, the hospital is still trying its best to rescue him,” the commission said in the second post, adding that the previous misinformation was from a good friend of Liu who was not aware of the latest situation.
It has not posted any message since state television announced Liu’s death on Tuesday morning.
Beijing was accused of covering up the full extent of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2003. In the current coronavirus outbreak, Beijing has called for transparency.
A senior Chinese health official said on Friday that 1,716 health workers have been infected by the coronavirus and six of them have died.
TABUNG Haji has transferred the ownership and operations of four hotels to Urusharta Jamaah Sdn Bhd (UJ), without the retrenchment of any staff member, effective April 1.
The Tabung Haji board said in a statement today operations will continue as normal at TH Hotel Kota Kinabalu; TH Hotel Bayan Lepas; TH Hotel & Convention Centre Alor Star; and TH Hotel & Convention Centre Kuala Terengganu
On January 29 Melaka started water rationing which affected 550,673 consumers or 62.8 per cent of the population to ensure the state has enough water supply to last it through the hot and dry season. — AFP pic
MELAKA, Feb 18 — Tourism industry players in Melaka say they are not adversely affected by the phase two water rationing which began on Feb 10 as they have contingency plans to deal with the situation.
Melaka Tourism Association president Madelina Kuah Wey Lee said almost all tourism-related premises especially hotels have big-capacity water tanks which can meet the demands of tourists.
She said operators of hotels and tourist centres were well prepared for the water rationing as the state government had given them adequate notice in advance.
“So far it has not had a major impact on the various sectors of the state’s tourism industry and the rationing, which is implemented on alternate days, has not become a serious problem although we would not know its long-term effects.
“Generally, the industry players are prepared to deal with the situation and have taken steps to ensure they have enough water for use during the rationing period,” she told Bernama when contacted.
The Melaka Tourism Association has about 80 members comprising operators of hotels, restaurants, and tourist centres and agents.
On January 29 Melaka started water rationing which affected 550,673 consumers or 62.8 per cent of the population to ensure the state has enough water supply to last it through the hot and dry season, which is expected to persist until the end of next month.
Phase two of the rationing was implemented on February 10 to cover the hotel and manufacturing sectors.
Kuah said the association had not received any complaints from members regarding the water rationing because they knew it was inevitable.
She said members of the association especially those in the food sector had been reminded to always prioritise safety and cleanliness to prevent cases of food poisoning.
Melaka Homestay and Kampung Stay Association president Datuk Akhramuddin Abd Aziz said homestay operators had been given advance notice of the water rationing by their respective Village Community Management Councils which had attended briefings by the water authorities.
“The feedback I received so far shows that nine homestay operators under the association, including Homestay Paya Lebar, Melaka Pindah, Kamping Morten, Alai and Parit Penghulu, have no problems and are operating as usual.
“Operators with swimming pools also said they could continue to provide the facility with clean water,” he added.
Melaka Historic City Council (MBMB) Mayor Datuk Mansor Sudin said there would be no compromise on the cleanliness of toilets under its watch even during the period of water rationing.
He said toilets which were dirty and without water supply would be temporarily closed until the problem is resolved.
“MBMB has more than 50 public toilets in the area under its administration and more than 20 are in tourist districts. Generally, there will be water tankers to supply water to toilets affected by the rationing,” he said.
The tourist areas affected by the water rationing include the whole of Jalan Bendahara, Jalan Jonker Walk, Jalan Taming Sari, Stadhuys Building and Pulau Melaka, involving more than 37 hotels and 11 shopping centres around Melaka city. — Bernama
Economists are predicting a deficit of as much as S$8 billion (RM23.87 billion) when the Singapore government unveils later today what could be its biggest annual budget since 2009 in response to the recent Covid-19 outbreak. I — Reuters pic
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 18 — There could be a silver lining to Singapore’s Budget 2020 for other Asian countries affected by the Covid-19 outbreak, Ong Kian Ming says.
Economists are predicting a deficit of as much as S$8 billion (RM23.87 billion) when the Singapore government unveils later today what could be its biggest annual budget since 2009 in response to the recent Covid-19 outbreak.
In an interview with Bloomberg yesterday, the deputy international trade and industry minister said this might encourage financial markets to be more tolerant should other Asian countries deviate from their fiscal targets.
“In a context where a lot of countries in the region are announcing stimulus packages, and Singapore will probably have its first budget deficit since the crisis, so first time in over 10 years, I think the market would be more willing to accept any deviations in the expected budget deficit,” Ong was quoted as saying by Bloomberg.
He also noted that Singapore’s annual budget could pave the way for other countries, which are also fighting Covid-19 within their borders, to make similar announcements in the near-future.
“It could make markets less twitchy about possible changes in any deficit targets experienced by other countries in the region,” he added.
Malaysia is set to reveal its Covid-19 stimulus package on February 27. By doing so, it is joining other countries like China and Hong Kong that have already pledged extra fiscal measures to counter the economic repercussions of the epidemic.
.JPG "Perak Police chief Datuk Razarudin Husain said the case is being investigated by both the Criminal Investigation Department and the Integrity and Standard Compliance Department (JIPS). — Picture by Farhan Najib")
