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Sunday, July 17, 2022

New features on MySejahtera

 

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PETALING JAYA: MySejahtera has rolled out new features that allow users to check their health records, says Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.

“Health screenings record and our children’s vaccination record can also be seen on MySejahtera.

“Update your app starting from today to have these new features,” he said on his Twitter account yesterday.

In the two pictures alongside his tweet, the health record of a seven-year-old boy, including his latest health report at a clinic, was shown.

In the health report, the boy’s last updated height, weight, body mass index (BMI), cholesterol level, blood glucose level and blood pressure reading were shown, complete with a health screening summary below.

The app also listed the boy’s vaccines and his next vaccine appointment date and time.

A list of upcoming vaccines yet to be administered was also shown.

MySejahtera users can access the features after updating the app on their mobile phones.

Meanwhile, in IPOH, Khairy said users’ data in the MySejahtera app would continue to be secured amid its recent upgrade.

“The app has never been hacked and since we are adding more features, we have done several things to secure it and will continue to do so to ensure the safety of the data.

“The ministry is keeping the data, not others,” he told reporters after launching the Health National Malaysia Agenda road tour at Meru Raya.

“The information can only be shared if the users give their permission,” he added.

Khairy said no data of MySejahtera users were leaked after investigating complaints and reports of unsolicited one-time password (OTP) text messages and spam email from the Covid-19 app’s helpdesk.

Separately, Khairy said more beds would be prepared in hospitals for influenza patients if needed.

“Like during the Covid-19 pandemic, we have prepared beds, so if the influenza cases continue to spike, we can supply more beds.

“Apart from preparing the beds, we will also ensure that there is sufficient stock of medicine in the market so the public need not be admitted into hospitals to recover at home,” he added.

On Friday, Khairy said the ministry had agreed to release the federal stockpile to private hospitals and clinics facing medicine shortages such as for flu and fever, and medication for children.

He also advised the public not to overbuy medicines.

Khairy also said that the ministry focuses on getting at least 1.5 million Malaysians aged 40 and above to get a health screening.

“We believe that’s the figure of those who have not done any health screening before.

“They will go for screening from July to December,” he said, adding that more than 50% of the adult population in the country has never done any health screening.

“The screening is important to prevent and cure any health problems.

“We realised that many might not have the accessibility to go for a health screening, so we will conduct more outreach programmes,” he added. Join our Telegram channel to get our Evening Alerts and breaking news highlights 

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Masks no longer mandatory outdoors

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Thursday, July 14, 2022

Unification Church linked to Abe’s death, sounds alarm in China over cult group’s infiltration

What is the Unification Church and could it be linked to former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe’s assassination?

A bride poses for a photo before a giant image of the late founder of Unification Church Sun Myung Moon and his wife Hak Ja Han before a mass wedding ceremony in Gapyeong on September 7, 2017. Photo: AFP

 

 The curtains have come down on former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe after the sobering end of his funeral. But the cloud of suspicion surrounding his assassination still looms large in the minds of many around the world. Sentiments of shock continue to be expressed at the fact that Japan's worst political assassination since World War II is related to a cult.

On July 8, Abe was fatally shot while addressing a crowd at a campaign stop in Nara by a 41-year-old man identified as Tetsuya Yamagami, who confessed to the police that he "did not resent Abe's political beliefs," but that his resentment toward the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, known as the Unification Church, a religious movement founded in South Korea, turned into a desire to kill the former national leader.

Yamagami believed Abe had promoted a religious group to which his mother made a "huge donation," Kyodo news agency has said, citing investigative sources. His mother subsequently went bankrupt.

The police investigation into the assassination prompted the head of the Japanese branch of the Unification Church to confirm on July 11 that Yamagami's mother is a member.

Looking back on the history of the Unification Church, people have seen the specter of an extremist religious group looming over the political arena of Japan, South Korea, and even the US.

In the mid-1960s, Abe's maternal grandfather and former Japanese Prime Minister, Nobusuke Kishi, would never have imagined that his association with Sun Myung Moon, the founder of the Unification Church, would sow the seed that eventually led to the death of his grandson.

Expansion of a cult

Moon founded the Unification Church in South Korea in 1954. Within a year, about 30 church centers had sprung up. Moon began organizing the Unification Church on a large scale in the US in the early 1970s. He also sent his church emissaries to Japan in the early days when the Unification Church developed fast. He settled in the US in 1972.

One of the activities that the Unification Church likes to practice is Tetsuya Yamagami. Moon claimed that he can complete the unfulfilled task of Jesus: To restore humankind to a state of perfection by producing sinless children, and by blessing couples who would produce them. According to media reports, thousands of couples often attended such mass weddings. But those couples would only meet each other weeks prior and they went into marriage based on Moon's arrangement. Many had to remain separated for several years doing church work. 

Thousands of couples attend a mass wedding held by the Unification Church on August 27, 2018 in Gapyeong, South Korea. Photo: VCGThousands of couples attend a mass wedding held by the Unification Church on August 27, 2018 in Gapyeong, South Korea. Photo: VCG

At the same time, Moon was particularly interested in politics. Church leaders plotted a strategy to defend former US President Richard M. Nixon for his role in the Watergate crisis and held rallies in support of him. In the late 1970s, Moon was embroiled in many scandals and was under investigation by US federal authorities mainly over allegations that he has ties to South Korean intelligence and was involved in bribing members of Congress to support President Park Chung-hee, according to a New York Times report.

Moon liked to court world leaders and politicians to advance the Unification Church and sometimes he behaved quite oddly.

Moon, who spoke fluent Japanese, launched an anti-communist group in Japan in the late 1960s, the International Federation for Victory Over Communism, and built relations with Japanese politicians, according to the church's publications, Reuters reported.

Nobusuke Kishi, Abe's maternal grandfather and a former prime minister, was an honorary executive chair at a group banquet hosted by Moon, the International Federation for Victory Over Communism said on its website.

In 2004, Moon had himself crowned "humanity's savior" in front of members of Congress at a Capitol Hill luncheon, read the New York Times report.

Prominent people including the US president were paid to appear at Moon-linked conferences. "The first President George Bush did so after he left office. Others, like former President Gerald R. Ford, Bill Cosby, Mikhail S. Gorbachev, and Jack Kemp, attended banquets and gatherings, sometimes saying later that they had not known of a connection between Moon and the organizations that invited them," said the New York Times report.

The Unification Church has a long history of courting Republican officials as part of a propaganda campaign, according to media outlet The Independent. In September 2021, former US President Donald Trump appeared in a virtual address linked to the Unification Church. He praised the founders of the Unification Church. Abe also participated in the same event.

The Financial Times reported that for decades, close ties between the Unification Church in Japan and prominent figures in the governing Liberal Democratic Party have been an open secret in Japanese politics.

"The Unification Church has a strong capacity for brainwashing with propaganda and external expansion. Through the establishment of personal worship and an emphasis on donations for purposes of enrichment, meddling in private property distribution and marriage autonomy of the congregation, the group has garnered a loyal following," an Beijing-based expert on Japan studies surname Zhou told the Global Times.

On the other hand, Zhou pointed out that, through generous political cash and mutual exploitation, the Unification Church has gradually gained a strong foothold in East Asia and the world.

Along with the expansion of the Unification Church was the growth of Moon's business empire. He was involved in many industries in South Korea and also had various commercial interests in Japan. Right-wing nationalist donors in Japan were said to be an important financial source. In the US, he had business interests in a range of fields including jewelry and construction, and bought properties including the New Yorker Hotel in Midtown Manhattan.

"In addition to spreading extremist ideas, the Unification Church also has a strong sense of modern business management, operating the religious group as a company, investing and expanding extensively in industry, finance, culture, education, media, and other industries, providing the basis for a 'virtuous' cycle of development for the expansion of its extremist ideology and political infiltration," Zhou said.

The church has about 600,000 members in Japan, out of 10 million globally, Reuters reported.

Thousands of couples attend a mass wedding held by the Unification Church on August 27, 2018 in Gapyeong, South Korea. Photo: VCG

Thousands of couples attend a mass wedding held by the Unification Church on August 27, 2018 in Gapyeong, South Korea. Photo: VCG

Conservative tone

During the Cold War, the Unification Church movement was criticized by the mainstream media for its anti-Communist activism.

In 2010, Moon bought the US-based media publication the Washington Times into the New World Communications, an international media conglomerate similar to Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, which owns Fox News. The conglomerate was directly affiliated with Moon's Unification Church, the US News reported.

The newspaper often plays up claims that the Chinese mainland will "invade" the island of Taiwan, for example, citing US officials who accuse the Chinese military of posing an "acute threat" to the island

The New York Times reported that Moon acknowledged that in the two decades since the founding of The Washington Times in 1982, he pumped in more than $1 billion in subsidies to keep it going.

In 2002, during the 20th anniversary party for the Washington Times, Moon said, "The Washington Times will become the instrument in spreading the truth about God to the world," the Washington Post reported in 2009.

Unification is a political concept, and the Unification Church, which uses this concept as its name, has always been a heretical religious organization with distinct political positions and intentions, Zhou noted.

Unification Church followers hold a memorial service mourning the death of their leader Sun Myung Moon in the church's Seoul headquarters on September 3, 2012.? Photo: AFP

Unification Church followers hold a memorial service mourning the death of their leader Sun Myung Moon in the church's Seoul headquarters on September 3, 2012.? Photo: AFP 

Alarm bells

The cultist elements behind the Abe assassination have set off alarms in China, which has maintained a zero-tolerance attitude toward cults through various efforts.

The Unification Church has been classified as a cult since the 1990s in China. In May 1997, the Ministry of Public Security listed the Unification church as a cultic organization, according to chinafxj.com, a website promoting China's anti-cult policies under the State Council.

The chinafxj.com website states that the Unification Church has been infiltrating China since as early as the country's Reform and Opening-up in 1978 in the name of investment, sponsorship, and tourism, in a bid to take root in China and expand its influence.

In recent years, the cult's infiltration efforts have become more active in China. Its affiliated organization "International Education Foundation," for instance, carried out penetration activities in some cities in the name of cultural exchange and educational cooperation. The church also set up branches secretly in Beijing, Tianjin, Guangzhou, Shenyang, Xi'an, and other major cities to carry out illegal missionary activities. Sunmoon University also tried to absorb Chinese believers via cooperation with China's universities, said the website.

Currently in China, the Unification Church is among the list of 18 defined cultist organizations masquerading as Christian churches, according to chinafxj.com.

The cults share similar traits and modes of operation, such as deifying leaders or founders, promoting inhumane, antisocial, and immoral theories, and inciting the public to confront the larger society, Yan Kejia, director of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of Religious Studies, told the Global Times. "The cults could easily confuse the public by taking advantage of religious beliefs and feudal superstition."

China has been cracking down on cults, especially since the late 1990s, Yan noted. "The efforts have been greatly beneficial. The campaigns against cults are widely understood and supported by the public and have brought a breath of fresh air to the society."

"The Abe incident proved that governments should pay great attention to issues surrounding cultic activities. It also reminds China that the work to fight cults should be consistently enhanced," he said. 

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 In this file photo taken on April 21, 2015 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe waves as he headed for Indonesia at the Tokyo International Airport. Photo:AFP 

 
 

 

Scrutiny falls on Unification Church after Shinzo Abe's ...

 The offshoot church, which promotes gun ownership, gained attention in 2018 when news reports showed images of worshippers wearing crowns and carrying unloaded AR-15 rifles as couples renewed or exchanged wedding vows — just days after the school shooting in Parkland, Florida.

Image: World Peace and Unification Sanctuary 

Worshippers at the World Peace and Unification Sanctuary hold weapons at a service in New Foundland, Pa., on Feb. 28, 201

 

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Wednesday, July 13, 2022

Who is behind China's most direct security threat in Xinjiang?


Chaos was rampant in China's westernmost region. As explosions and other violence struck terror in the hearts of residents in the country's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region from 1990 to 2016. The victims and survivors should be remembered in China's current fight against terrorism. Take a look back at who is the black hand behind the attacks.

 For more: https://news.cgtn.com/news/2022-05-30...

The greatest irony of this whole situation is: the US's war in Afghanistan and wars/regime-changes in the Middle East, are what what had exacerbated this crap happening in Xinjiang to begin with. And to make matters worse: The US solution to its "terrorism problem" was to cause genocide scale damage to these countries.

Create the problem, do the most damage, and then tell China that when China addresses its own security concerns with good faith, that China is being "genocide"???

Also, consider the statistics. The % of Uyghur: Han ratio of Xinjiang population has increased (meaning, there's more Uyghur than Han now compared to in the past). and when the West says "the birth rates have fallen" : it is literally falling from 1 positive number to a slightly smaller POSITIVE number. That means the birth rates are still positive! Even some other areas of China have negative birth rates. ??? The NED/Zenz fanatics are full of absolute nonsens 

 

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‘Technological terrorism’ stick of US, UK will smash whole world

 

Tuesday, July 12, 2022

‘Technological terrorism’ stick of US, UK will smash whole world

 

 

 

Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Christopher Wray. Photo: AFP Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Christopher Wray. Photo: AFP

US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Christopher Wray and UK's MI5 Director General Ken McCallum made an "unprecedented" public appearance together on Wednesday to hype the so-called economic espionage from China in a sensational tone. They also gave "sharply worded warnings" to business leaders present. On the same day, a US counterintelligence agency issued another warning that China has increased its use of overt and covert means to influence US policy-making.

Rather than a warning, this is more akin to intimidation of US and Western politicians and people in business, especially corporate executives, who cooperate with China. This has become the focus of the US and British security departments. It is easy to understand as this is what their work is about now, and hyping the "China threat" is how they carry out their work. Only by constantly fabricating and exaggerating the "security threat from China" to the greatest extent possible can they prove and highlight the value of their existence, allowing them to reap greater benefits.

The current overall atmosphere in the US and UK toward China is abnormal. But their intelligence agencies, which are supposed to be active behind the scenes, have taken to it like a duck to water. They even appear in public and blatantly inform the public about their conspiracies and lies. Recently, US public opinion has begun to hype "precise strikes" against China in the field of science and technology, and it has been revealed that Washington is also stepping up its lobbying of other countries to cooperate with its high-tech export controls on China. Now, the US and British intelligence agencies are seizing the chance to carry out a public stunt whose focus is to smear China's "technology theft." Without doubt, this is a coordinated performance.

Just as the spokesperson of Chinese Embassy in UK said in the response, the intelligence services of the US and UK are notoriously expert at wiretapping, theft, infiltration and subversion.

In 2013, former NSA employee Edward Snowden exposed the large-scale monitoring scheme - Prism - by US and British intelligence agencies; not long ago, it was revealed that the US had remotely stolen 97 billion pieces of global internet data and 124 billion phone records within 30 days, and shared them with the "Five Eyes" countries, including the UK. It is clear which country is using large-scale state-sponsored hacking and which country is engaging in cyber theft through a global network of intelligence officers.

Why would thieves shout out "catch the thief"? This is not only to cover up their criminal behavior, but also to create a kind of "technological terrorism." Today, what Washington is most worried about is that its suppression and containment of China in the high-tech field has not only failed, but has instead allowed other countries to take the place in the Chinese market previously occupied by the US. As a result, it has to use its hegemonic system to do everything possible to create an atmosphere of terror in the world in an attempt to prevent normal economic and technological cooperation between China and other countries. It is not only China that needs to be vigilant against such sinister intentions.

The IMF once estimated that technological decoupling may lead to losses in the order of 5 percent of GDP for many economies, about 10 times the losses caused by the trade war the US launched against China. At present, the world is facing severe challenges in bringing about global economic recovery. All countries need to overcome these difficulties together, rather than stir up conflicts and confrontations by forming small cliques.

But at this time, US and British politicians are engaging in "technological terrorism" against China, the world's largest market with great potential, the largest goods trading country, a key link in the global industrial chain, the world's largest economic growth engine, and the most populous country. This is not only shameless, but almost crazy.

Finally, we want to talk about the UK and Australia in particular. Besides the US, the UK is the most active country in hyping up "Chinese commercial espionage." This is hilarious and strange because it is well known that British technology has long fallen behind that of the top tier. And Australia, which mainly sells iron ore, lobster and wine, is also clamoring about preventing China from stealing its technology. The fact that the US, Britain and Australia all belong to the "Five Eyes" alliance is telling. China, which has made rapid progress in independent technological innovation, needs to be more vigilant and be wary of commercial spies from some countries. 

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Monday, July 11, 2022

Uptick in loan defaults likely

 

Average NIMs of some local banks are expected to broaden slightly this year from the 2.28% registered in 2021. 

 

Higher loan defaults, among individual borrowers and corporates, are expected to emerge as interest rate hikes to reduce inflationary pressures grip the economy.

Although the higher rates are good news for banks in terms of profitability, they may also result in loan defaults in the near term.

UCSI University assistant professor in finance Liew Chee Yoong, who is also a fellow at the Centre for Market Education, said the gross impaired loans (GIL) ratio would be higher due to the latest interest rate hike. 

UCSI University assistant professor in finance Liew Chee Yoong

“The rise in interest rates will raise the interest expense of loan borrowers and increase their financial risk.

“Therefore, I will not be surprised if more individual and corporate borrowers will be in financial distress due to higher interest servicing this year.

“More loans will be impaired due to the higher likelihood of credit default by borrowers,” he added. StarPicks Sunway TES ICAEW- The ideal pathway towards a global career for SPM leavers

The GIL ratio is defined as gross impaired loans as a percentage of gross loans, advances and financing.

Bank Negara has raised its overnight policy rate (OPR) by 25 basis points (bps) to 2.25% on July 6 amid positive economic growth prospects. It was the second consecutive increase after the 25 bps hike in May, which was also the first time the OPR was raised since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The OPR, which is a benchmark rate that allows banks to determine their lending and deposit rates, had been reduced by a cumulative 125 bps during the pandemic to a historic low of 1.75%.

RAM Rating Services Bhd co-head of financial institution ratings Wong Yin Ching said higher interest rates could impinge on some highly leveraged borrowers, although most borrowers would likely be able to absorb the slightly higher loan instalments.

RAM co-head of Financial Institution Ratings Wong Yin Ching, https://apicms.thestar.com.my/uploads/images/2022/07/11/1654838.jpg

“We may see the banking sector’s GIL ratio rise to 2.5% by end-2022, which is still deemed manageable in our view.

“Provisioning expenses, however, are not anticipated to increase in tandem with impaired loans as banks had judiciously built up provisioning reserves since the start of the pandemic.

“With most of the loan relief measures being progressively wound down in the first half of the year, defaults have begun to trend up,” she added.

The banking industry’s GIL ratio rose from 1.5% as of end-December 2021 to 1.64% as of end-May.

CGS-CIMB Securities analyst Winson Ng also expected higher GIL ratios this year.

“We expect the gross impaired loan ratio to increase 1.8% to 2% at end-December due to the credit risks from the Covid-19 and negative impact from higher inflation and interest-rate hikes.

“Headwinds, including higher inflation, could also be negative for asset quality and loan growth,” he said.

AmResearch banking analyst Kelvin Ong saw a gradual uptick in GIL ratio as the broad repayment assistance (including the Pemulih moratorium) had expired at end-June.

Asset quality ratio for the sector is expected to be higher at around 2% compared with 1.4% as of end December 2021, amid the transition towards targeted repayment assistance, according to him.

Commenting on the downside risk for the sector this year, Ong said: “Any prolonged or worsening supply chain disruptions will impact the pace of economic recovery and consequently affect our estimates for earnings growth of banks.

“Higher inflation pressures will impact consumer spending as well as profit margins of business loan borrowers which will lead to a potential deterioration in asset quality.”

Although most analysts expected the higher net interest margins (NIMs) to boost banks’ earnings from the latest OPR hike, UCSI’s Liew disagreed.

“I don’t think the higher OPR will improve the NIMs of banks. My prediction is that it will be reduced due to lowering demand for bank loans, which reduces the banks’ interest income and average earning asset value (that is, the amount of bank loans that are given out to borrowers).

“The increase in interest rates by the central bank will reduce the demand for bank loans from companies and individuals as the cost of financing becomes more expensive,” he said.

On the other hand, Liew said lenders would need to continue paying interest to risk-averse depositors who put their monies in banks during an economic uncertainty and this would reduce the NIMs.

According to RAM’s Wong, rising interest rates are a boon to NIMs as a majority of the domestic banking industry’s loans are floating-rate facilities, which would reprice faster than deposits.

That said, Wong added that the uplift in NIMs would be moderated by the increasingly deposit competition, as well as slower current and savings account expansion as some depositors go for term deposits.

Overall, Wong said the average NIMs of some local banks are expected to broaden slightly this year from the 2.28% registered in 2021.

NIM is a measure of the difference between the interest income generated by banks and the amount of interest paid out to deposits.

CGS-CIMB’s Ng, who forecast loan growth of 4% to 5% for this year, is projecting a 4% net profit growth, mainly driven by the OPR hike and lower loan loss provisioning.

Ong is maintaining a loan growth projection of 5% to 6% this year, premised on an expected gross domestic product expansion of 5.6% this year.

With the additional taxes due to Cukai Makmur or prosperity tax, the earnings growth for banks are expected to be flat at 1.5% this year, according to Ong. 

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