General

While the past year has been undoubtedly tough for business owners, some entrepreneurs have taken on the challenge of starting a new venture or expanding their business during this time. We speak with the founders of Buttery.my about how they transitioned from being an online cake business into a brick-and-mortar cafe, back in January this year.

Image Source: Jeswin Thomas, Unsplash

Children today live in a materially-driven world. How do we raise them to embrace volunteerism or charity, and nurture the spirit of giving back to society? We speak to consultant developmental paediatrician Dr Rajini Sarvananthan, and Sharifah Sarah, whose daughter Maryam uses art to save children’s hearts.

Image source: Shutterstock

Cars, cars, and more cars. We love our cars—we’re Malaysians after all. While our public transport sector is being developed to address issues related to the negative effects of cars, like pollution and traffic congestion, most of us still drive a car. Let’s face it, Malaysia’s a hot place and this is in part no thanks to the climate crisis, and how cities like KL, from a design standpoint, don’t do enough to make it conducive for pedestrians to get around in this hot weather. So I thought I’d look at ways we can better cool down our cities through smart design and planning, with Serina Hijjas from Hijjas Architects and Planners, and GRA Architects’ Boon Che Wee.

Our National COVID-19 Immunisation Programme is set to move into Phase 2 in a few days, but registration rates for the vaccines still looks a long way from reaching the 80% needed for herd immunity. On top of that, the Prime Minister recently said that the government is considering the possibility of a deadline for registering for the vaccine. So how will all of these affect our immunisation programme?

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Digital COVID-19 vaccination certificates in Malaysia and Singapore are secured by blockchain technology and come with a traceability feature that tells the exact batch of the vaccine vial used for inoculation.

Tired of waiting to get your vaccine appointment? For just $500, you could get a COVID-19 vaccine dose tomorrow (overnight shipping fees not included). Too rich for your blood? How about a vaccination card for just $150?

As COVID-19 vaccinations continue to roll out worldwide, so does the implementation of digital vaccine passports. The widespread use of these certificates will, hopefully, allow for borders to reopen in the near future. But can these passports be implemented on an international basis? What kinds of resources are needed to make this work? And furthermore, how will this impact society at large moving forward?

Contactless payment has gained immense popularity as people — both businesses and customers, are turning to technology for help to minimise physical touch and disruptions in their daily life. Khairuan Abdul Rahman, Director of Retail Payment Services, Payment Networks Malaysia (PayNet), shares thoughts on the recent rise of QR payments in Malaysia, the challenges he has faced and ways of adaptation in a post-pandemic world.

At any time, there are around 12,900 trillion litres of water contained in the air all over the world. Condensing water from humidity in the air produces zero waste, and whilst getting a stable clean water supply without interruption is getting harder and harder nowadays, Rivil introduces technology that might just help us to solve some of our water woes.

If you’ve taken on a side gig to supplement your income or made money from shares, you might want to catch Roshan Kanesan's chat with tax consultant Thanneermalai about what income is taxable & what isn’t.

They also wrap up the conversation with some tax filling and document preservation tips.