General

2,617. That’s the number of active COVID-19 cases involving schools as of late, according to Health Minister Dato’ Sri Dr. Adham Baba. Overall, they span 49 clusters. As the number of community cases continues to stay above 2,000 across Malaysia, we look at what needs to be done to protect our precious schoolchildren and teachers, together with Professor Dr Sanjay Rampal, Epidemiologist at Universiti Malaya.

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On Tuesday (26th April), the Ministry of Health announced that the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine will be used in Malaysia, only for those aged 60 and above right now. But this move has sparked pretty widespread concerns over the blood clot risks that the vaccine will pose to our elderly. We take a look at what these risks are and whether it is safe to take the jab.

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Disney will be shutting down the majority of its TV channels in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong later this year. The decision was reportedly revealed to its staff during a town hall session Tuesday morning.

Virtual reality is normally thought of as a tool only for creative work, like video games or 4D painting. However, in the age of telehealth, medical experts are looking at it as a potentially fantastic tool for physical and occupational therapy.

The Interactive Digital Brochures website has been launched in an attempt to rebrand Tourism Malaysia’s digital brochures. But as we hopefully look towards a pandemic-free world, what are the major factors missing or underutilised in our approach towards promoting Malaysia as a peak tourist country?

Women can be each other’s best friends but also their worst enemies.  Many corporate women can attest to that where their corporate roadblock may be someone from the same gender.  Former legal advisor, Terry Leong who had worked in the corporate world for over 10 years hosts an online women's group known as SHEer which functions as a space for women to share and have conversations about what matters to them.

Many young adults have dreams of having their own place, and those dreams have for a lot of people been scuppered by the pandemic as well as rising discrepancies between pay amount and rental rates. But maybe there’s an alternative solution - perhaps co-living could be the answer. Chun Ynh Chok, director of Utopia Co-living, shares the benefits of co-living, how they’ve fared throughout the pandemic, and Utopia’s approach to a post-pandemic rental market.

Social Security Organization (SOCSO), also known as PERKESO, has seen its role expand as the government rolled out various initiatives to help workers and companies impacted by Covid 19. How has this government agency adapted and should we consider widening the social safety net especially since the nature of work has changed. Its CEO, Dato' Sri Dr. Mohammed Azman tells us whilst also divulging how SOCSO manages its finances and investments.

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Katrina Ell, Senior APAC Economist at Moody's Analytics, discusses higher-than-expected March CPI numbers, even as Malaysia grapples with a slow vaccine rollout and an uncertain economic outlook.

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President Biden has proposed a series of tax hikes to pay for childcare and education programs. Markets were initially sold down on this news but have since recovered. Ed Clissold, Chief US Strategist at Ned Davis Research tells us if this has a significant long-term impact on markets and will this see a shift towards more passive investing.

Image credit: EPA-EFE/ Stefani Reynolds / POOL