With the FMCO underway and businesses restricted by rules and regulations almost as stringent as the first MCO, small-scale entrepreneurs are going to need all the aid they can get from the government to survive this phase of the pandemic. As such, the government has announced that nearly one million micro small and medium enterprises will start to benefit from the Prihatin Special Grant (GKP 3.0) this week.

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The Ministry of Finance has announced payments for all government services will be cashless by 2022, but some parties don’t see what’s the rush.

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When it comes to the definition of essential services, the assumption is that any medically-related field should be able to operate even under the strictest lockdown rules. However, the president of the Malaysian Pharmacists Society, Amrahi Buang, claims that many pharmacists are facing difficulties operating in the FMCO without an approval letter.

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Malaysia needs to vaccinate between 300,000 and 500,000 people a day to achieve herd immunity by year end.

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News of shopping malls vaccinating their tenants and employees for a fee have created profiteering concerns. Who should bear the cost of vaccinating mall workers, and what can the government do to help this situation?

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One of COVID-19’s most well-known symptoms that often lasts even after recovery is a loss of the sense of smell. A French oncologist, Fabrice Denis, and Lille-based start-up Kelindi, have teamed up to create a “smelling training” app so former COVID-19 patients and other smell disorder patients could potentially be able to stop and smell the roses again.

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When will Malaysia reach herd immunity? According to the government and based on the current rollout rate, December is a likely target. Of course, the speed of the rollout could increase over time, but at the moment, it looks like we could enter 2022 as an “immune nation”.

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June 5th is World Environment Day, the United Nations day for encouraging global awareness of and action to protect the environment. This year's theme is “Ecosystem Restoration” and the day will see the launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. What small things can we do to help raise awareness?

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According to a survey conducted by Ipsos, Malaysians are far more worried about COVID-19 than the rest of the world. Locally, 74% of respondents named it their top worry, in comparison to the global country average of only 42%.

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With the eBelia programme officially launched, ShopeePay has recorded 500,000 claimants for the RM150 credit in only one day.

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