The Sun Daily - 27 April 2023

TELLING IT AS IT IS ON THURSDAY APRIL 27, 2023 No. 8257 PP 2644/12/2012 (031195) www.thesundaily.my St John Ambulance on standby to help crash victims INSIDE Sports physiotherapy centre to boost medical tourism page 3 page 2 PETALING JAYA: The lack of a law requiring the presence of lifeguards and lifesavers at apartment blocks, condominiums or hotels with swimming pools, and beaches where swimming is allowed, is putting swimmers in danger of drowning. Life Saving Society Malaysia (LSSM) secretary-general Yam Kee Cheong, who said this, called on the authorities to immediately look into enacting laws that require their presence. “Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 (OSHA 1994), it is necessary for all owners of swimming pools or beach areas where swimming is allowed to provide a safe environment for visitors. “However, there is no law requiring such venues to hire lifeguards, and this puts swimmers or those wading in the water at risk of drowning. “The Cabinet should look into this and have the appropriate ministry review OSHA 1994 and work on enacting suitable laws to overcome this. “In the meantime, the management committees of such residential properties and the authorities in charge of public beaches must ensure safety precautions are taken to avoid drowning incidents,” he told theSun. Yam was commenting on a spate of seven drowning cases at public beaches reported since April 14. In the most recent incident, three sisters drowned on April 23 while swimming at the beach in Port Dickson when the sea there was rough and the water choppy. theSun contacted the Fire and Rescue Department corporate information officer in Putrajaya to obtain data on the number of drowning cases recorded this year, but no information was received at press time. Yam said each year, LSSM trains about 300 lifesavers, who are taught to provide first aid to drowning victims. “During the Covid-19 pandemic, fewer people applied to train with us. But as of April this year, we have already certified over 100 trainees. “LSSM also collaborates with many universities, such as Universiti Putra Malaysia, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu and Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, so most of our trainees are students. “To be qualified to work as a lifeguard, the trainee needs to have an LSSM bronze medal at the very least. They can only obtain this after attending the LSSM bronze medallion course,” he said. Yam added that not many people apply to be lifeguards because of a lack of awareness concerning its career prospects. However, those who do apply usually do not want to work at apartments or condominiums because they are often told to also clean the pool and do other work as well, which do not involve their job scope. Yam stressed that there is a difference between learning how to swim and “survival swimming”, which helps save a person from drowning. “A person can have years of swimming experience, but even then, one can drown. However, survival swimming teaches a person to take advantage of their surroundings to survive.” oCall for law to make lifesaving attendants mandatory at apartment or hotel pools and beaches to prevent drowning Turn to — page 3 Lifeguards important █ BYTHARANI NAIR [email protected] GENTLE ‘GIANTS’ ... An attendant feeding capybaras at Zoo Negara yesterday. Native to South America, they are among the most friendly and social animals in the rodent family. – BERNAMAPIC Report on page 4

2 theSUN ON THURSDAY | APRIL 27, 2023 NEWS WITHOUT BORDERS /thesundaily FOLLOW ON FACEBOOK SCAN ME First sports injury recovery centre in country opens KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s first sports physiotherapy and rehabilitation centre, known as SOUL, was opened by Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh yesterday. She said it is set to boost the country’s medical tourism industry while creating job opportunities within the sports and healthcare sectors. Yeoh was speaking after inaugurating the 660 sq m centre, which began operations at 163 Retail Park, a shopping mall in Mont Kiara. “SOUL will help to continue raising the bar in sports rehabilitation and physiotherapy. It is hoped that other healthcare providers in Malaysia will follow suit, resulting in an even greater level of expertise in the industry. “As well as the medical benefits that it will bring to Malaysia, the country can also expect to see a (From right) Yeoh, Chong Wei and Tee looking at some of the equipment during a tour at SOUL yesterday. – ADIB RAWI YAHYA/THESUN oNamed SOUL, facility is expected to boost Malaysia as leading medical tourism destination and create jobs in related fields █ BYSIVANISVARRY MORHAN [email protected] positive impact on its economy. Medical tourism has been on the rise in Malaysia in recent years, with the industry projected to grow to RM2 billion by 2025. “With its impressive facilities and highly skilled professionals, SOUL is likely to attract more international visitors to the country, further boosting Malaysia’s position as a leading medical tourism destination. “With the country’s growing medical tourism sector and the creation of new job opportunities in the sports and healthcare sectors, SOUL is sure to have a positive impact on the national economy and society as a whole.” Also present were SOUL chief executive officer Datuk Mike Tee and co-founders Datuk Lee Chong Wei and Datuk Seri Lee Tian Hock. Earlier, Tee said the rehabilitation centre is keen to expand medical tourism in the country by helping athletes from around the world to recover from injuries. “The desired outcomes of SOUL’s prevention strategies are twofold – minimising the likelihood of injury through appropriate coordination, strength training, exercise methods and frequent screening, as well as facilitating speedy recovery and restoration of athletes to optimal form. “The centre utilises advanced technology and systems to enhance individuals’ body posture and prevent muscular pain. We employ experienced therapists and trainers with backgrounds in physiotherapy and sport science, allowing for precise rehabilitation and training programmes.” “SOUL is also set to create job opportunities for Malaysians, particularly in the sports and healthcare sectors. “To train and develop more physiotherapy experts in Malaysia, the centre will offer career prospects to those who wish to work in this specialised field. “SOUL will help contribute to the country’s growing healthcare industry, which currently employs over 200,000 people,” he told theSun. Chong Wei said establishing a rehabilitation centre like this had been close to his heart for years and would be his priority after retiring from sports. “I understand the importance of prevention and proper procedures for treating injuries. The rehabilitation centre aims to promote injury prevention techniques and strategies, in addition to recommending suitable training programmes and equipment to mitigate injury risk.” He added that there is a pressing need for a specialised rehabilitation centre in the country and SOUL is a dedicated rehabilitation centre that could serve the needs of all athletes globally. Tian Hock, who is also Malaysian Basketball Association president, said sports injuries are widespread among athletes. “I have been thinking of ways to minimise the impact of injuries among basketball players, which has led to the inauguration of SOUL. We aim to perform regular physical assessments to identify potential risks and recommend corrective actions. “The association hopes for more branches to be opened in the northern and southern regions of Peninsular Malaysia, and we are glad that SOUL intends to train and develop more physiotherapy experts in Malaysia with a focus on meeting the needs of athletes and other individuals.” ‘More slope experts needed to deal with erosion’ KUALA LUMPUR: There is a proposal for Kuala Lumpur City Hall to empower its Civil Engineering and Drainage Department to ensure that the slope unit is equipped with expert personnel to deal with erosion and landslide issues more effectively. Segambut MP Hannah Yeoh has asked City Hall to ensure that reports and complaints on soil erosion incidents are investigated seriously. She said this is important based on the trend last year in the Segambut parliamentary constituency, which was affected by many landslide incidents. “I have asked the mayor of Kuala Lumpur (Datuk Kamarulzaman Mat Salleh) to strengthen the Civil Engineering and Drainage Department, which is in charge of landslides because there are many reported incidents and there may not be enough human resource to help handle them.” Yeoh was speaking after inspecting the site of a landslide in front of the Malaysia AntiCorruption Academy in Persiaran Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin here yesterday (see also Page 5). She said forensic investigations are under way and there is very good cooperation among related agencies. The youth and sports minister said hilly areas in the Segambut and Lembah Pantai parliamentary areas are believed to have had many landslide cases. “I understand there are more than 100 incidents of landslides reported around the Segambut parliamentary area. “I also understand that we need many more slope experts to help the slope unit in Kuala Lumpur.” It was reported yesterday that the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Academy had evacuated the entire academy area and moved 45 individuals to safer grounds following a landslide at its main entrance at about 1.30pm. Following this, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission said in a statement 22 officers, 16 cleaners and seven occupants of its quarters, including the officers’ family members, had been moved from the building to a safe area. – Bernama TM strategy to stay competitive KUALA LUMPUR: Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) will focus on greater efficiency and productivity in anticipation of a challenging 2023 due to a global economic slowdown and the likelihood of higher cost of doing business. Its chairman Tan Sri Mohammed Azlan Hashim said the group was cognisant of the need for continuous innovation to remain competitive in the face of these challenges. “Our ability to evolve and adapt has been instrumental in our success thus far, and we remain committed to exploring new opportunities and staying ahead of the curve.” Mohammed Azlan also said the company remained on track with its nation-building agenda, particularly in driving its vision of Digital Malaysia, empowering communities, businesses and the government. “We believe that our success as a company is deeply intertwined with the success of our nation, and remain committed to playing our part in building a stronger, inclusive and prosperous Malaysia.” Mohammed Azlan said regulatory developments would have a major impact on its business in the coming year. “We hope to see a balanced approach that avoids unnecessary consequences while continuing to deliver cheaper rates and better services to the rakyat.” In terms of competition, Mohammed Azlan noted that the group anticipated potential changes in the 5G scenario as well as new challenges related to the latest mandatory standard on access pricing. “However, we see strong growth potential in the fixed-mobile convergence arena and digitalisation, which would be crucial for micro, small and medium enterprises and businesses in 2023 and beyond. “We also recognise that there are other areas that will be worth venturing into and developing, such as cyber security, content delivery networks and data centres, which we will continue to invest in as part of our growth opportunities.” – Bernama PWD discovers water pipe leakage at landslide location KUALA LUMPUR: The Public Works Department (PWD) found leakages in the water-piping system at the location of the landslide that occurred at the main entrance of the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Academy at Persiaran Tunku Syed Sirajuddin, Bukit Tunku. Works Minister Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi said this was discovered yesterday by PWD’s slope engineering branch’s landslide forensic division during preliminary investigations into the incident. He said pipe leakages led to the soil being fully saturated, further increasing the lateral force on the contiguous micropile retaining wall. “Part of the retaining wall collapsed along with the slope,” he said in a post on his Facebook page yesterday. Nanta said rainfall at Sentul Station from April 21 to April 24 had recorded high readings ranging from 16mm to 47.5mm. He added that during the incident, the weather was good with no rain at all. – Bernama Penang project gets EIA approval GEORGE TOWN: The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report for the Penang South Islands (PSI) project has been approved by the Environment Department (DOE) under the Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change Ministry. Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said the state government was notified of the approval through a letter from DOE Putrajaya, dated April 11, to the Penang state secretary. “The approval of the EIA is based on 71 stipulated conditions, including the need to continue the implementation of the Social Impact Management Plan and the PSI Ecology Offset Master Plan,” he said yesterday. He added that in addition to the EIA approval, the state government, through the PSI project implementing partner, is applying for the Environmental Management Plan approval from the Penang DOE, Bernama reported. “Reclamation works will only start in the third quarter of this year,” he said.

3 NEWS WITHOUT BORDERS theSUN ON THURSDAY | APRIL 27, 2023 Yam said the most important requirement for becoming a lifeguard is ensuring they remain fit at all times. “Physical fitness and stamina are the main requirements for being a lifeguard, apart from having life-saving skills, awareness in health and safety procedures and agility to act fast,” he said. Yam reiterated that hiring lifeguards will prevent incidences of drowning. “The public generally lack awareness and knowledge of what actually causes drowning. “Most victims who drown off beaches are not locals but visitors. This is because locals know when it is safe to enter the water but visitors do not.” Yam said the number of lifeguards that should be employed to cover beach areas or residential swimming pools depends on their length and size. “While there is no specific number of lifeguards mandated to cover each kilometre of beach, we should, for instance, consider the distance a lifeguard can realistically cover. “If the swimming pool is large and the lifeguard can only monitor half of it, then we suggest the management committee hire two or more of them,” he added. Geh Thuan Tek, who is a board member of the International Life Saving Federation for the Asia Pacific region, suggested that the flag system be practised at beach areas. “The flag system is a beach warning (option) where flags are put up as a warning to swimmers. “For example, red and yellow flags indicate an area of the beach where a lifesaving service is operating. “Other flags may indicate if the water is too rough for swimming. “This is important because although the weather on that particular day when the three sisters drowned may have seemed good, it does not determine if the water is safe to swim in,” he said. ‘Physical fitness and stamina crucial requirements for lifeguards’ From front page St John Ambulance on standby to help crash victims oTeams comprising 500 volunteers, officers, staff and 135 ambulances deployed to 30 locations nationwide KUALA LUMPUR: St John Ambulance Malaysia (SJAM) has deployed a “preparedness team” to 30 locations nationwide to assist victims of road crashes during the holiday period. The decision was made in light of the large traffic volume expected in cities and towns on April 29 and 30. “Our on-ground team includes around 500 volunteers, officers, staff and 135 ambulances, which will be on standby. “We will collaborate with the Health Ministry, Fire and Rescue Department and police and transport victims to the nearest government hospital,” said its honorary secretarygeneral Hoo We Tak. According to Hoo, SJAM initiated its first ambulance service on standby in 1993 during a festive season at various R&R locations along the PLUS Highway, and now it has established a significant on-ground preparedness team in both West and East Malaysia. “SJAM was established in 1908 as a voluntary organisation, with 13,423 volunteers throughout the country. Around 4,000 volunteers are recruited annually and we also provide first aid training for companies and individuals. “We also operate many Penang targeting more direct flight operations RAYA SHOPPING ... Visitors throng the Payang Big Market in Kuala Terengganu, which is a popular tourist attraction. – BERNAMAPIC healthcare facilities, including 21 hemodialysis centres, a nursing home, mobile clinics and a wound management centre.” Hoo added: “Staff must attend our first aid training to work as a volunteer with SJAM while officersin-charge, such as paramedics, must undergo advanced training and may include medical professionals, such as doctors or nurses. “While we accept students as volunteers, adults above 16 years are given priority. “Additionally, cadets must be accompanied by adult members and officers to ensure they are not exposed to traumatic experiences at crash sites. “Local establishments frequently organise training sessions to educate members and officers on how to handle cases with agencies such as MERS 999, police, PLUS and others.” Hoo said as soon as SJAM receives a call, it will respond by despatching an ambulance within 15 minutes. He also emphasised the importance of the public giving way to ambulances, allowing them to quickly reach a crash scene and transporting injured individuals to a hospital. He said SJAM ambulances usually have basic equipment such as stretchers, medical kits and oxygen tanks. If they are used often for emergencies, they may have more advanced equipment like an automated external defibrillator to help those experiencing cardiac arrest. Hoo advised motorists to take frequent breaks to rest when driving long distances as most car crashes occur due to drowsiness. “It is important for motorists to be cautious on the roads and obey traffic signals and signs. “It is highly encouraged to keep an emergency kit in the car. This should include a first aid kit, flashlight, blankets and other essential items,” he said. Retiree wins RM17 million Toto jackpot PETALING JAYA: A 70-year-old retiree from Negeri Sembilan won the RM17 million Supreme Toto 6/58 Jackpot with just one lucky attempt on April 16. The winner told STM Lottery Sdn Bhd that he only bets on random numbers, except for nine and 31, which are his special numbers. “I always change the combination from time to time when I play the games, and I finally struck the jackpot with the set of winning numbers 9, 31, 35, 42, 43 and 48. “I do not have a winning formula because the numbers are randomly selected, except for 9 and 31. I enjoy playing with numbers. The Lotto game is like my version of Sudoku,” he said. The winner bought the set of winning numbers for two draws on April 16 and 19. He won it in the first draw and walked away with a whopping RM16,970,745.45 after only betting RM4. He added that he would share the winnings with his family and use it for investments. project in four years.” Yeoh also intends to enhance customer experience at the airport in order to establish Penang as one of the vacation capitals of Asia. “Confidence in the postpandemic tourism recovery is growing and Chinese travellers are yearning to travel. “We should improve our customer service and provide clean facilities at the airport.” – Bernama May 15 last day for e-filing tax returns KUALA LUMPUR: The deadline to submit tax return forms for the Year of Assessment 2022 (non-business taxpayers) manually is April 30 and May 15 via e-filing, according to the Inland Revenue Board (IRB). Taxpayers comprise resident individuals, resident individuals (knowledge workers or expert workers), non-resident individuals, non-resident individuals (knowledge workers), associations, deceased persons’ estate and Hindu joint families. “For a guide on submitting tax return forms, taxpayers can refer to the Return Form Filing Programme for the Year 2023, which can be accessed at https://www.hasil. gov.my/media/lq5fu3zd/20230324- program-memfailborang-nyata-bnbagi-tahun-2023.pdf and also downloaded,” IRB said in a statement yesterday. It also advised taxpayers to submit the tax return forms and pay their income tax within the stipulated period to avoid any penalty for late submission of forms and any increase for late payment. “Taxpayers are also advised to key in and update their personal and banking information accurately to assist in the tax refund process,” it said. Enquiries can be directed to HASiL Care Line at 03-8911 1000 or 603-8911 1100 (overseas), HASiL Live Chat or the Feedback Form on IRB’s official portal at https://maklumbalaspelanggan.has i l . g o v. m y / Ma k l u m B a l a s / m s - my/public. – Bernama █ BYSIVANISVARRY MORHAN [email protected] GEORGE TOWN: Penang is aiming to attract more direct flight operations with the world’s major cities to improve connectivity and promote economic growth. State Tourism and Creative Economy Committee chairman Yeoh Soon Hin said in a statement yesterday Penang will explore new initiatives by identifying new flight routes to connect it to other major destinations, especially with the increasing number of travellers returning to the skies. “I have been engaging with various airlines for the past few years, looking for new flight routes in different regions of the world. “The pandemic has made it difficult but the state government is optimistic of extending our air connectivity.” Yeoh said the Penang International Airport will be able to cater to over 12 million passengers annually and accommodate the increasing traffic in the next few years with its expansion and upgrading by the federal government. He added that the expansion will also give Penang a competitive edge in attracting more travellers. “The state government will be able to turn Penang into a better connected world aviation hub and ensure that the northern part of Malaysia has access to global markets after the completion of the

4 theSUN ON THURSDAY | APRIL 27, 2023 NEWS WITHOUT BORDERS @thesundaily FOLLOW ON TWITTER SCAN ME Speak to theSun’s Sales team now for special deals on digital, video and print advertising. Kick back and chill out with theSun’s weekly Entertainmenat & Lifestyle pullout Every Friday ON FRIDAY | JANUARY 27, 2023 We dedicate this edition of BUZZ to the colours and scents of the season ON FRIDAY | JANUARY 13, 2023 >>> BUZZ explores the wide and wonderful world of moss, covering topics ranging from its many different species, to how to create your own terrarium ON FRIDAY | MARCH 3, 2023 In honour of World Wildlife Day, this issue of BUZZ celebrates the many animals that share this earth with us Malaysia’s first Malay woman professor dies PETALING JAYA: The country’s first Malay woman professor Puan Sri Dr Fatimah Hamid Don died at the age of 89 yesterday morning. Her daughter Dr Fawziah Ishak said Fatimah died at 2.35am at KPJ Hospital Tawakal while recovering from stroke complications over the past year. “We were surprised because on the first day of Aidilfitri, my mother said she was able to walk six steps and was very positive about recovering. She was my role model.” Fawziah said funeral prayers will be held at the Tun Abdul Aziz Mosque in Section 14 and that her mother will be laid to rest at the at Taman Medan Muslim Cemetery after Zohor prayers. Fatimah leaves two daughters and two granddaughters. Her granddaughter Dr Dima Marlina Mohd Rafi said on Facebook the late Fatimah was not only a loving mother and grandmother but also a great figure in national education and women’s empowerment. Fatimah was the first Malay woman to obtain a Doctor of Philosophy degree in the field of education from the University of California, and was also awarded the Fatimah Medal in conjunction with Women’s Day in 1988. She had served in the education field since 1956 and held various high positions, including education officer, teacher and college lecturer. Fatimah retired as a professor in 1990 after serving at Universiti Malaya for 26 years. – Bernama Cat living with capybaras draws crowd at Zoo Negara KUALA LUMPUR: It is a hot and humid afternoon as visitors at Zoo Negara stroll by and pause to watch the capybaras – the world’s biggest rodent species – munching on shoots and leaves set on an elevated wooden dais almost two metres above the ground. The capybara enclosure is large and sits lower than the pathways, with trees encircling the back and a low stone wall in front. In the middle is a raised dais and underneath it is an enclave for them to take shelter from the sun or rain. Next to the structure is a wide and shallow pool for the capybaras to cool off. A woman stops and leans forward. “Oh, look. There’s a cat,” she exclaims to her family, who excitedly take out their phones to snap pictures. On the right of the capybaras, a well-fed orange cat sits on a ledge, wolfing down his tuna lunch from a blue food bowl. The cat and the giant rodents have been roommates of sorts for the past two or three years and the unusual pairing has become an attraction that contributed to the revival of the zoo, which was impacted badly when pandemic restrictions shut it down and cut off its revenue stream. Zoo staff are not exactly sure when the cat, named Oyen, moved in with the capybaras. All they recall is that sometime during the pandemic shutdown, Oyen showed up during feeding times, Bernama reported. The herbivorous capybaras did not seem to mind having a meat-eating feline interloper with them. “When we first discovered him, we saw he was very friendly with the capybaras. He would eat with them. At the time, we were also feeding the capybaras bread, which the cat ate,” said senior zookeeper Mohd Taufik Yazidbustami. So far, both the cat and the capybaras are healthy and happy and have not shown any signs of distress, according to Zoo Negara vice-president Rosly @ Rahmat Ahmat Lana. He added that the zoo monitors both species at all times to ensure they are healthy. The zoo staff decided to allow the friendship to continue as the cat and the capybaras seemed to get along well. Oyen now gets his own food, not just bread. Covid-19 brought Oyen and the capybaras together, tying their fortunes to one another. Zoo staff think the cat is one of the many pets abandoned near the zoo. Zoo Negara has always been a popular dumpsite for cats even before the pandemic, but more so after Covid-19 hit, which caused oSocial media videos of unlikely cohabitation gaining popularity since gates reopened in September 2021 widespread job losses and left many people unable to care for their pets. Zoo Negara, which requires about RM1 million a month for operating costs, was also hit hard. It faced a financial crisis in the first few months of the pandemic, which saw its visitor numbers drop to zero when the movement control order took effect. Rosly said the cat was lucky, finding not only a source of food but shelter and friendship with the capybaras. “The cat is very happy. Then suddenly, after the zoo reopened, the public noticed that he eats with the capybaras and that is something special and Oyen has become so popular.” The zoo has been quick to capitalise on this unexpected kinship, using social media to spread the word. Videos of Oyen and the capybaras have appeared on both Rosly’s and Zoo Negara’s official TikTok accounts as well as visitors’ Facebook, Instagram and YouTube channels, among others. Videos featuring the animals on Tik Tok and Twitter have also been steadily gaining popularity, especially after the zoo reopened in September 2021. Several videos show Oyen cuddling or sleeping with the rodents. Rosly said Oyen’s presence has made the capybara enclosure one of the more popular ones at the zoo. He said the zoo is also thinking of adding Oyen to the capybara signage in front of the enclosure.

5 NEWS WITHOUT BORDERS theSUN ON THURSDAY | APRIL 27, 2023 Landslide forces staff to work from home KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Institute of Integrity (IIM) staff have been ordered to work from home following a landslide that occurred near the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Academy (MACA) and IIM yesterday. IIM said in a statement the directive would be in effect until a date to be announced later. “IIM is cooperating with the authorities on monitoring work in the area involved. The public may also visit the IIM website and its page on social media for more information. In the incident at about 1.30pm, 76 people comprising mainly MACA and IIM administrative staff faced anxious moments when the landslide occurred at the entrance of the academy located along Persiaran Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin. Sentul police chief ACP Beh Eng Lai said there were several areas affected, with soil movement damaging the fence at IIM. He said operations were initiated with the help of several technical teams from the Mineral and Geoscience Department, Slope Engineering Branch of the Public Works Department and Kuala Lumpur City Hall. “There are still (affected areas) and soil erosion at the site, and simply covering them with canvas may not reduce the risk of danger. “We are thinking about installing iron pilings to prevent the nearby buildings from being further affected.” Beh also said police believe one of the factors that caused the landslide was stagnant water. “A meeting was held at 3pm at the Sentul police headquarters with the technical team for the process of installing iron pilings in the area,” he said, adding that 45 people were evacuated following the incident. – Bernama Motorist dies after car crushed by tree SUNGAI PETANI: A 52-year-old man died when a tree fell on his car as he was driving in front of the Sultan Abdul Halim Hospital here at about 8pm on Tuesday. A Kedah Fire and Rescue Department spokesman said the victim, S. Karthigesu, died at the scene after he was pinned to the driver’s seat. “A team from the Amanjaya Fire and Rescue station was despatched to the location after the department was alerted of the incident at 8.27pm. “On arrival, the victim was found trapped in his car and the team managed to extricate him. But he was confirmed dead by medical personnel,” the spokesman said. “Five other vehicles were also damaged by several uprooted trees but the number of people injured could not be ascertained, as they were taken to the hospital by passersby.” The spokesman also said more than 10 trees were uprooted following heavy rain and strong winds in the area, adding that it was difficult for firefighters to reach the location as a fallen electricity pole was blocking the road. “Several agencies, including police, the Health Ministry, Malaysian Civil Defence Force, Sungai Petani Municipal Council and a volunteer fire brigade helped to clear the road and remove the fallen trees,” he added. – Bernama Recall order issued on instant noodles linked to cancer risk PUTRAJAYA: Following the detection of ethylene oxide in “Ah Lai Penang White Curry” and “Indomie Special Chicken Flavour” instant noodles, the Health Ministry has ordered a voluntary recall of the Ah Lai product for batches expiring on Aug 25. The ministry has also issued a directive to hold and test the Indomie product from Indonesia at all entry points, and urged its manufacturer to initiate a voluntarily recall. Health Director-General Datuk Dr Muhammad Radzi Abu Hassan said in a statement yesterday the ministry was aware of the report by the Taipei Department of Health on the detection of ethylene oxide in both the products. Ethylene oxide is a chemical gas oHealth Ministry action based on report by Taipei authorities over carcinogenic agent found in products Malaysians safely evacuated from Sudan PUTRAJAYA: All 30 Malaysians stranded in Sudan’s capital Khartoum safely left Port Sudan for Jeddah in Saudi Arabia yesterday. Wisma Putra said the Malaysians boarded a Saudi naval vessel after a 30-hour road journey from Khartoum. “The journey across the Red Sea is expected to take at least 12 hours,” Wisma Putra said in a tweet, while extending its appreciation to the governments of Saudi Arabia and UAE for making the evacuation possible. It said Malaysia also assisted individuals from Cambodia, Palestine, the Philippines, Singapore, Sudan, Thailand and the US to safely leave Sudan under the close supervision and efforts of the Malaysian evacuation operation. More than 400 people have been reported killed and some 3,500 injured since the armed conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces broke out on April 15. – Bernama Be cautious of lightning, public advised after boy killed by bolt KOTA KINABALU: The people have been advised to stay away from open spaces such as football fields when there is thunder or lightning, said Sabah Disaster Management Committee chairman Datuk Seri Safar Untong. The state secretary said in a statement yesterday the advice is being issued following the death of a 13-year-old boy who was struck by lightning when playing football at Padang Pekan Papar on Tuesday. “Stay away from open areas when there is thunder or lightning to prevent untoward incidents,” he said. Muhammad Zulqilfle Redzwan was killed in the 4pm incident, while his friend Assiy Qusyairy, 13, was seriously injured. – Bernama that is carcinogenic and is often used as a pesticide. It is also an active ingredient in detergents, and is not allowed to be used on surfaces that come into contact with food. On Ah Lai noodles, Muhammad Radzi said product sampling in Malaysia found that it complied with legislative requirements, Bernama reported. “However, to maintain control over food safety, the ministry has directed a voluntary recall of both the products from the local market, should there be any.” On the Indomie noodles, he said it was confirmed through the Food Safety Information System of Malaysia that the Indonesian product had entered the country. In regard to the recall of Mi Sedaap products from Indonesia due to the presence of ethylene oxide in 2022, he said the ministry’s Food Safety and Quality Division had carried out safety monitoring on products sold in the local market, including those that were imported. He added that following monitoring from 2022 to date on 36 samples of instant noodles of various brands in the local market, 11 samples of Mi Sedaap products were found to contain ethylene oxide and enforcement action had been taken, including fines, court action and product recall. “The ministry is (constantly abreast on) matters that could threaten the health of consumers. The public is advised not to purchase or consume these products,” he said. For more information, consumers may contact the nearest District Health Office or visit moh.spab.gov.my or the Food Safety and Quality Division Facebook page. UNDER CONTROL ... Firefighters hosing down a building that was among two others damaged in a blaze yesterday at Kampung Jalan Kebun in Shah Alam, Selangor. – BERNAMAPIC

6 theSUN ON THURSDAY | APRIL 27, 2023 NEWS WITHOUT BORDERS Myanmar and neighbours hold secret talks BANGKOK: Government and think-tank representatives from Myanmar and its neighbours, including India and China, held talks in New Delhi on Tuesday as part of a secretive effort to de-escalate a bloody crisis in the army-run Southeast Asian nation, two sources said. Myanmar was plunged into conflict and economic chaos in 2021 after its powerful military overthrew the elected civilian government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, triggering an armed resistance that it has sought to violently crush. The talks this week were the second in a “Track 1.5” dialogue that started in Thailand last month and came as frustration grows within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) at the military’s failure to implement a peace plan it agreed to in April 2021. The sources, who asked not to be named and declined to identify the representatives because the process was confidential, said Myanmar, India, China, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos were present at Tuesday’s meeting, as was current Asean chair Indonesia. One of the sources said participants were interested in bringing into the process Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government (NUG), an organisation affiliated with the resistance and declared “terrorists” by the junta. “They are wanting to talk to NUG at some point of time officially, because the NUG and the Myanmar army haven’t spoken officially at all,” said the source, who was briefed on the meeting. “These are the hopes the participants have.” India and Thailand’s Foreign Ministries, the Chinese embassy in New Delhi and the NUG did not immediately respond to queries from Reuters while a spokesman for Myanmar’s junta could not be reached. A spokesman for Indonesia’s Foreign Ministry said he was not aware of the meeting. The meeting was hosted by an Indian think-tank and included discussion on all sides reducing violence, creating space for dialogue and the delivery of humanitarian aid, the second source said, adding the next meeting would be in Laos. “The neighbouring countries’ perspective needs to be taken into account,” said the source. “For them, the foremost priority is the de-escalation of the violence.” The junta has been shunned by Western countries but has stepped up engagement with Russia and recently hosted visitors from Thailand, including its military chief and the foreign minister. Retired diplomat Ban Ki-moon, who made multiple trips to Myanmar as United Nations chief, met the junta leader and its reformist former president on Monday and called for an immediate end to violence. Asean’s peace plan, known as the five-point consensus, is the only official diplomatic process in play for Myanmar and includes halting hostilities and starting dialogue between all parties. Asean has barred the junta from attending its meetings until they implement the plan, which has infuriated the generals. “This effort will not supplant Asean,” the second source said of the ongoing talks. “This will only complement.” – Reuters oRepresentatives discuss de-escalation of violence, delivery of humanitarian aid US, Philippine troops fire rockets at ship in largest-ever drills MANILA: American and Philippine troops fired a salvo of rockets at a warship representing an enemy vessel in the disputed South China Sea yesterday, in the final exercise of the allies’ largest-ever military drills. It was the first time the countries had conducted a joint live-fire exercise in the hotly contested waters, which China claims almost entirely. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, who has sought stronger defence ties with the United States, sat in an observation tower with US and Philippine officials watching the event north of Manila. “No Hollywood effects this morning, this is old-fashioned training,” said US Marine Corps public affairs officer Lt-Col Nick Mannweiler. The live-fire drill kicked off with the US Himars precision rocket system launching a series of rounds at a decommissioned Philippine Navy corvette anchored 22km off the coast. The objective was to sink the decades-old ship, which represented an enemy vessel approaching the Philippine shore. That was followed by artillery units lined up along a grassy field firing rockets at floating drums 10km offshore. F-16 Fighting Falcons, AH-64 Apache helicopters and Philippine Air Force FA-50 fighter jets also took part in the event. The drills aim to boost Manila’s military capability while serving as a US show of support for its ally as China’s assertiveness in the region grows stronger. Nearly 18,000 troops have taken part in the annual exercises dubbed Balikatan, or “shoulder to shoulder”, in Tagalog. The drills, which began on April 11, have involved helicopters landing on a Philippine island off the northern tip of the main island of Luzon, nearly 300km from Taiwan. The US military also showed off its Patriot missiles, considered one of the best air defence systems in the world. – AFP FANTASY FIGURES ... Participants dressed in cosplay outfits posing for a photo at the 10th Anime Japan in Tokyo, the Japanese animation industry’s biggest event. – AFPPIC Singapore hangs prisoner over 1kg of cannabis SINGAPORE: A prisoner was hanged here yesterday after he was convicted of conspiracy to smuggle cannabis. Tangaraju Suppiah was hanged in defiance of a plea by the United Nations Human Rights Office for Singapore to “urgently reconsider” and calls by British tycoon Richard Branson to halt it. “Singaporean Tangaraju Suppiah, 46, had his capital sentence carried out today at Changi Prison Complex,” said a Singapore Prison Service spokesman. Tangaraju was convicted in 2017 of “abetting by engaging in a conspiracy to traffic” 1,017.9gm of cannabis, twice the minimum volume required for a death sentence in Singapore, the spokesman said. He was sentenced to death in 2018 with the Court of Appeal later upholding the decision. Human Rights Watch deputy Asia director Phil Robertson said the evidence “was far from clear cut since he never actually touched the marijuana in question, was questioned by police without a lawyer and denied access to a Tamil interpreter when he asked for one”. Singapore authorities have maintained that Tangaraju was given due process and that his guilt had been proven beyond a reasonable doubt. The Home Affairs Ministry said “the evidence clearly showed that he was the person coordinating the delivery of drugs, for the purpose of trafficking”. – AFP Thai woman accused of killing nine with cyanide BANGKOK: Thai police have arrested the wife of a senior officer on suspicion of murdering nine people by poisoning them with cyanide, officials said yesterday. The woman, aged in her 30s, was arrested in Bangkok on Tuesday over the killings, which took place over several years. Investigators believe money was the motive in the killings, Royal Thai Police spokesman Archayon Kraithong told AFP. Deputy national police chief Surachate Hakparn told reporters that a 10th victim had survived after vomiting. “The suspect went to have dinner with (a woman), who threw up but survived. She is also the wife of a policeman.” Police said the woman denies all the allegations against her. “The autopsy has found out that there is cyanide in the bodies,” Surachate said. “So it means that the victims have taken the poison by mouth.” Police initially suspected the woman of murdering her friend in Ratchaburi province, west of Bangkok, about two weeks ago. Local media said the victim collapsed on the bank of the Mae Klong River after releasing fish as part of a Buddhist ritual. After questioning the suspect, investigators linked her to other cyanide poisoning cases in Kanchanaburi and Nakhon Pathom provinces. – AFP B R I E F SJAPAN FIRM FAILS IN HISTORIC MOON BID TOKYO: Japanese start-up ispace conceded yesterday its ambitious attempt to become the first private company to land on the Moon had failed but pledged to move ahead with new missions. The unmanned Hakuto-R Mission 1 lander had been scheduled to arrive on the Moon’s surface overnight but communications were lost during its descent and had still not been reestablished 25 minutes after the scheduled landing. “It has been determined that there is a high probability that the lander eventually made a hard landing on the Moon’s surface,” ispace said in a statement. ispace CEO Takeshi Hakamada said the firm is developing two further attempts to land on the lunar surface and the setback would not change that. – AFP TAIWAN PUBLISHER DETAINED IN CHINA BEIJING: A Taiwanese publisher reported missing while visiting Shanghai is under investigation for suspected national security crimes, Chinese authorities said yesterday. Li Yanhe, the editor-inchief of Gusa Publishing, is “under investigation by national security organs on suspicion of engaging in activities endangering national security,” Zhu Fenglian, spokesman for Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office, told a press conference. Dissident Chinese poet Bei Ling wrote in a Facebook post last week that Li was believed to have been “secretly detained” in Shanghai while on a visit to see family last month. Li’s Gusa Books has published books on history and politics critical of China’s ruling Communist Party. – AFP

7 NEWS WITHOUT BORDERS theSUN ON THURSDAY | APRIL 27, 2023 Biden, 80, announces re-election bid WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden announced on Tuesday he will seek re-election in 2024 and “finish the job”, plunging at the record age of 80 into a ferocious campaign that could set up a rematch against Donald Trump. Launching his pitch in a video on the fourth anniversary of the day he began his 2020 challenge against Trump, Biden said he was still fighting to save American democracy oMany Americans believe he is too old for the job from Republican “extremists”. “When I ran for president four years ago, I said we’re in a battle for the soul of America. And we still are,” Biden pronounced in the voiceover. “That’s been the work of my first term, to fight for our democracy. “Let’s finish this job.” After a series of big domestic legislative wins and momentous foreign policy struggles, including leadership of the Western coalition helping Ukraine resist Russian invasion, Biden has no real challenger from within the Democratic Party. Another big boost is a powerful post-pandemic US economic recovery, helped by historic federal spending to renew infrastructure and encourage investment in the high-tech electric vehicle and semiconductor sectors. “That’s what we’re doing, rebuilding America,” Biden told a crowd of cheering trade union workers at a Washington hotel conference room on Tuesday, in his first speech since launching his re-election campaign. Biden cast himself as champion of blue collar Americans and said Republicans cared more about Wall Street. “I think there should be a minimum tax for billionaires,” he said in the speech, interrupted by extended applause and a chant of “four more years!” “No billionaire should be paying a lower tax rate than a construction worker, a school teacher, a firefighter, a cop, a nurse. I mean it, it’s simply wrong.” Biden was fired up, but he will face constant and fierce scrutiny over his age. He would be 86 by the end of a second term. Even if a medical exam in February found him “fit” to execute the duties of the presidency, many including in his own voter base believe he is too old. “I like what Biden’s done. I think he’s done a really good job,” said retiree Roger Tilton, 72. “(But) he’s really too old for the job.” Over the next year and a half, Biden will have all the advantages of incumbency, backed by a united Democratic Party, while Republicans are only just starting their messy primary season. Trump, despite becoming the first former or serving president to be criminally indicted – and still facing probes into his attempt to overturn his loss to Biden in 2020 – is the overwhelming Republican frontrunner. His precarious legal position was underlined on Tuesday when jury selection began in yet another case – a New York civil trial over an allegation of rape. The most likely Republican challenger to 76-year-old Trump, Florida governor Ron DeSantis, presents a similarly right-wing figure, though starkly younger at 44. – AFP Taliban kill airport bombing mastermind WASHINGTON: Taliban government forces have killed the Islamic State mastermind of a devastating suicide bomb attack at the Kabul airport during the chaotic withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan in 2021, the White House said on Tuesday. The bomber detonated a device among packed crowds at the airport’s perimeter as they tried to flee Afghanistan on Aug 26, 2021. The blast killed some 170 Afghans and 13 US troops who were securing the airport for the traumatic exit. It was one of the deadliest bombings in Afghanistan and prompted a wave of criticism of President Joe Biden for his decision to pull American forces out of the country nearly 20 years after the US invasion. The leader of the Islamic State cell that planned the attack has since been killed by Taliban authorities, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said. “He was a key ISIS-K official directly involved in plotting operations like Abbey Gate, and now is no longer able to plot or conduct attacks,” Kirby said, referring to the spot outside the airport where the attack took place. ISIS-K refers to Islamic State Khorasan, the branch of the group operating in Afghanistan and Pakistan. “He was killed in a Taliban operation,” Kirby added, without giving any details of it. – AFP B R I E F SPOWERFUL IRANIAN CLERIC KILLED IN ATTACK TEHRAN: A powerful Iranian cleric, a member of the Assembly of Experts that selects the country’s supreme leader, has been killed in an armed attack, state media said yesterday. “Ayatollah Abbas Ali Soleimani was killed this morning in an armed attack ... the assailant was also arrested,” IRNA news agency reported. The attack took place in city of Babolsar in the northern province of Mazandaran. Abbas Ali, 75, was previously the representative of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He had also been the imam who led the weekly Friday prayers in the cities of Kashan, in central Isfahan province, and Zahedan in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan. – AFP RUSSIAN MILITARY AIRCRAFT INTERCEPTED OVER BALTIC SEA BERLIN: Germany and Britain intercepted three Russian military reconnaissance aircraft over the Baltic Sea, the German air force said yesterday. “Reconnaissance flights intercepted. German and British Eurofighters were alerted to identify three military aircraft. The two SU-27 Flankers and a IL-20 from Russia were flying again without transponder signals in international airspace over the Baltic Sea,” said the air force on Twitter. As a Nato member, Germany participates in monitoring the air space over the Baltic states. Security has been heightened for the Baltic states after Russia invaded Ukraine last year. Russian military jets have repeatedly strayed into the airspace over the Baltic Sea in recent months. – AFP South Africa backtracks on quitting international court PRETORIA: South Africa is not planning to quit the International Criminal Court (ICC), as earlier suggested by President Cyril Ramaphosa, his office said on Tuesday, citing a communication error from the ruling African National Congress (ANC). Hours earlier, Ramaphosa had said his ANC party had decided to withdraw South Africa from the ICC, which last month issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin. The ICC arrest warrant meant that Pretoria – due to host the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa bloc summit this year – would have to detain Putin on arrival. “The presidency wishes to clarify that South Africa remains a signatory (to the ICC),” Ramaphosa’s office said in a statement. It said the “clarification follows an error in a comment made during a media briefing held by the governing African National Congress”. The ANC had earlier told journalists that the issue of South Africa withdrawing from the ICC had been raised at a weekend meeting of its national executive council. Then, when questioned by a journalist during a joint media conference with the visiting President of Finland Sauli Niinisto, Ramaphosa said the ANC “has taken that decision that it is prudent that South Africa should pull out of the ICC”. The presidency said “regrettably” Ramaphosa had “erroneously affirmed a similar position” to the ruling party. In another statement on Tuesday night, ANC said an “unintended impression may have been created that a categorical decision for an immediate withdrawal had been taken”. “This is not so.” It said the executive committee, the party’s supreme decision-making body, had discussed the “unequal” and “often selective application of international law by the ICC”. The arrest warrant against Putin followed accusations that the Kremlin unlawfully deported Ukrainian children. On whether South Africa would arrest Putin, Ramaphosa said, “that matter is under consideration”. But his party’s secretary-general Fikile Mbalula earlier declared that “Putin can come anytime in this country”. – AFP Ceasefire shaky as Sudanese, foreigners flee KHARTOUM: A US-brokered ceasefire between Sudan’s warring generals entered its second day yesterday but remained fragile after witnesses reported fresh air strikes and paramilitaries claimed to have seized a major oil refinery and power plant. “The pause was not fully upheld, with attacks on headquarters, attempts to gain ground, air strikes, and explosions in different areas of the capital,” UN special representative Volker Perthes told the Security Council on Tuesday. Perthes said he maintained contact with both army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy-turned-rival Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the heavily armed paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). “There is yet no unequivocal sign that either is ready to seriously negotiate.” Security fears were compounded when the World Health Organisation warned on Tuesday of a “huge biological risk” after fighters occupied a Khartoum laboratory holding samples of cholera, measles, polio and other infectious diseases. The fighting has killed hundreds of people and left some neighbourhoods of greater Khartoum in ruins, prompting thousands of foreigners and Sudanese to flee. As combat eased in the city of five million, foreign governments have been organising road convoys, aircraft and ships to get thousands of their nationals out. A boat carrying nearly 1,700 civilians from more than 50 countries arrived in Saudi Arabia early yesterday, said the kingdom’s Foreign Ministry. It added that it has evacuated 2,148 people, including more than 2,000 foreigners. Other evacuation efforts continued, with a UK military transport plane landing in Cyprus. “The most difficult thing was the sounds of the bombing and the jet fighters while flying above our home. That horrified the children,” said Safa Abu Taher, who landed with her family at a military airport in Jordan on Tuesday night. Bewildered civilians were seen walking down one street in Khartoum North where almost all buildings were blasted out and smoke rose from scorched ruins, in unverified video posted on social media. Witnesses later reported air strikes and paramilitary forces firing anti-aircraft weapons. On Tuesday night, witnesses reported more air strikes in Khartoum North where they said fighter jets struck RSF vehicles. The RSF posted a video in which it claimed to be in control of an oil refinery and the associated Garri power plant more than 70km north of Khartoum. – AFP Saudi Navy personnel assisting civilians, who were evacuated from Sudan, at Jeddah Sea Port yesterday. – SAUDI PRESS AGENCY/REUTERSPIC

8 theSUN ON THURSDAY | APRIL 27, 2023 SPEAK UP Tackle microplastic pollution at the source AS Earth Day was observed on April 22 and themed “Invest In Our Planet”, we would like to call your attention to the pressing matter of microplastic pollution. Do you know that Malaysia is ranked third after the Philippines and India on the list of countries contributing most to marine plastic pollution? Dutch academic Lourens J. J. Meijer highlighted these rankings in a paper published in 2021, and the position of Malaysia should be enough to cause us to reflect on our contribution to the global plastic waste problem. When we think of plastic waste we tend to think of plastic bottles and bags, but once these everyday items break down, they cause a more insidious threat to the environment – microplastic. Microplastics are microscopic pieces of plastic that are invisible to the naked eye, with the very smallest pieces being within the nanosize range (less than 1 µm, which is 0.001 mm). In fact, some plastics are deliberately manufactured at this microscopic size range, for example, beads used in toothpaste and other personal care products, or used in industrial processes. Scientists are only beginning to understand microplastic’s impacts on human health. There is mounting evidence that it causes respiratory problems, especially for those with pre-existing conditions, and increasing reports are now associating inflammatory bowel disease with the presence of microplastics in the stool. Although there is no direct evidence to link microplastics and cancer, their presence can lead to tissue inflammation which may result in DNA damage, the initial stage of cancer development. How microplastics find their way into our bodies is cause for concern and action. For the past four years, our research team from the University of Nottingham Malaysia has been looking at microplastics in the Langat River in Selangor and the bodies of animals that live in the river. Our findings are very concerning. We have found microplastic particles in every one of the hundreds of river water samples we have collected, in concentrations ranging from two to more than 80 pieces per litre of water. We have also found very high concentrations on the riverbed, with up to 150,000 pieces of microplastic sitting on the riverbed surface per square meter. Most alarmingly, we have found microplastic in the body of almost every single animal we collected, including aquatic insects, mussels and fish. Fish are the most highly contaminated, and our latest work suggests that microplastic is present not only in the gills and guts of fish but in their flesh. This is worrying, as it means that people who consume fish caught from our rivers are likely to be routinely ingesting microplastic. The same applies to fish caught in oceans, where microplastic contamination is also high. The health risks posed by microplastics mean that urgent action is needed. However, it is extremely challenging to reduce exposure to microplastic as it is already in the air we breathe and the water we drink, and very likely in the food we eat. Using filters on tap water, avoiding eating hot food or drinking hot drinks from plastic containers and avoiding eating bottom feeders such as shellfish and prawns are all good places to start. Removing the microplastics already present in the environment will be difficult, but we can take action to reduce how much more we add. This can only be achieved with concerted efforts on multiple fronts. Individually, we should be mindful of how much plastic we use, especially how we dispose of it. Simple measures such as bringing your own stainless-steel containers to pack food bought from food stalls and using glass or metal bottles to refill instead of buying bottled water go a long way in reducing the amount of single-use plastics that may end up in the environment. While the public should be encouraged and empowered to adopt recycling habits, this needs to be supported by better waste management facilities and recycling options being made available by local councils. Taxes or other fiscal incentives could be introduced to help reduce plastic use and increase the use of recyclable plastics. Government funding for research to help find new ways of removing plastics and microplastics from our marine and freshwater ecosystems, and to help develop new biodegradable plastics is greatly needed. Malaysia has seven years to fulfil its Roadmap Towards Zero Single-use Plastics 2018-2030, the clock is ticking. The attitudes and behaviours of everyone, from authorities and industries to the public at large, need to change for the sake of both current and future generations. Let us all try to use less plastic between now and next year’s Earth Day. Prof Dr Chris Gibbins is a Vice-Provost for Research and Knowledge Exchange and Prof Ting Kang Nee is Head of the School of Pharmacy at the University of Nottingham Malaysia. Comments: [email protected] ChatGPT is a potential technology that will have a wide-ranging impact on education. – REUTERSPIC Opportunities or obstacles for higher education? THE artificial intelligence chatbot created by OpenAI’s ChatGPT has seen tremendous growth and wide adoption since its public release at the end of 2022. ChatGPT is programmed on vast volumes of text data and can produce human-like narratives, answer questions and perform other language-related tasks with great accuracy. But there is still debate over its place in higher learning and the advantages, challenges and ramifications for higher educational institutions. ChatGPT is a frighteningly proficient tool that appeared out of nowhere in their midst and it performs quite well across a wide range of tasks and academic disciplines. While some regard it as a tool to improve learning and alleviate the load on educators, others see it as an imminent threat to ethics that fosters plagiarism and cheating. Many academicians have already experienced panic as a consequence of ChatGPT, which university students utilise to complete their assignments. However, prohibiting ChatGPT from the learning environment is a bad idea. The world is being transformed by technology, and education must shift. We cannot, without a doubt, oppose technology. Rather, we have to embrace and implement it or rather, educational institutions should adopt and adapt ChatGPT to enrich and enhance the educational experience. Furthermore, it will be equally transformative for academics as it will permanently alter the future; thus, academics must begin engaging with it. Academicians must consider how artificial intelligence technology can be incorporated into learning in the classroom. ChatGPT is a potential technology that will have a wide-ranging impact on education. It is a useful tool because it has the ability to increase student capacity by encouraging creativity, curiosity and critical thinking. It will provide new options and opportunities for teachers and students to learn and teach more effectively. Theoretically, it can help university students with research and writing tasks and develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills. ChatGPT can also help students develop research abilities by grasping their knowledge COMMENT by Prof Dr Chris Gibbins and Ting Kang Nee COMMENT by Dr Izyan Munirah Mohd Zaideen and resources on a certain topic and hinting at unexplored parts and current research issues, allowing them to comprehend and analyse the content more effectively. This change must be taken seriously and viewed as an integral element of the evolution of our educational system’s goals. By incorporating ethics and accountability, threats to academic integrity can be mitigated and the transition is achievable by balancing the pros and cons. Dr Izyan Munirah Mohd Zaideen is a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Maritime Studies, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu. Comments: [email protected]

9 SPEAK UP theSUN ON THURSDAY | APRIL 27, 2023 But when I asked them to name the cover and when it kicks in, they would be unable to substantiate it. One needs to be clear and specific when raising and discussing to solve issues and not make general statements such as, “They are not only flouting the law but are a danger to public safety, given these vehicles are not registered with the authorities”. This is especially so when many private vans are used for ehailing which has taken a huge chunk of business away from disgruntled tour companies operating with licensed vans. But with amendments to the Land Public Transport Act 2010 and Commercial Vehicles Licensing Board Act 1987 passed in the Dewan Rakyat in 2017, private vehicles are allowed to be used to transport passengers through e-hailing service and are no longer an issue nationwide. However, if tour companies or tourist guides are receiving bookings from overseas tour operators or directly from passengers and using private vans to provide airport or overland transfers or sightseeing tours, these are offences and ought to be stopped. This could be done using video evidence captured by smartphones or closed-circuit television cameras installed strategically at the airport and various attractions, identifying both the drivers and vehicles involved. If offenders were let off, the enforcement agency could provide an answer or offer an explanation during meetings in the multi-agency panel as proposed by STF. The other issue raised is unregulated accommodation providers such as Airbnb and illegal homestays, as they have severely impacted licensed tours, hotels and homestay operators. Both Uber and Airbnb are humbugs. Uber may have started as a ride-sharing app in 2009 when different passengers rode in the same black cab to share costs but continued calling itself a ride-sharing app long after its discontinuation by switching to ride-hailing in 2012. Airbnb may have started in 2008 when two hosts welcomed three guests to their San Francisco home and has rapidly developed into a short-term rental scheme, where most operators let out vacant rooms, apartments or houses they are not staying in and therefore not considered homes. They are homestays if owners or tenants stay there and host short-term guests. If not, they are unlicensed hotels if guests merely use the facilities much like checking into a hotel and staying in a room, apartment or house. The authorities are unlikely to ban online companies that arrange short-term unlicensed accommodations, as they are perceived to be cheaper and, therefore, popular with many tourists. But providers of unlicensed accommodations need to be regulated for safety, security and tax. No doubt, licensed tour operators have lost some business to illegal van operators, but licensed hotels and homestay operators have suffered even greater losses to unlicensed accommodation providers after having invested huge sums of money in their properties. Much to their chagrin, licensed operators were often easy targets of enforcement agencies for minor breaches of rules and regulations, and felt like sitting ducks, while unlicensed operators were getting away scot-free as it requires more effort to hunt them down. Granted, anyone breaking any rule or regulation should be hauled up for misdeeds. Similarly, regulators that failed in their enforcement duties should also be held accountable if the industry is plagued with illegal operators having a field day. When rules and regulations are not enforced, legitimate operators are the ones that suffer, and individual enforcement agencies may smack off corruption. If materialised, the multi-agency panel proposed by STF should be much more effective in cracking down on unlicensed operators. YS Chan is a master trainer for Mesra Malaysia and Travel and Tours Enhancement Course as well as an Asean Tourism Master Trainer. He is also a transport and training consultant and writer. Comments: [email protected] Crack down on illegal tourism businesses I N a recent meeting with Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Christina Liew, the Sabah Tourism Federation (STF) called on the government to set up a panel to tackle the issues faced by the industry and act against illegal operators. STF was established in 2015 to unite 10 trade associations and associates from various sectors of the tourism industry to pursue mutual interests and cooperation. STF president Tonny Chew was reported to have said, “We want authorities to put a stop to the illegal use of ‘white vans’ by certain quarters to transport tourists from one place to another. They are not only flouting the law but are a danger to public safety, given that these vehicles are not registered with the authorities.” He added that illegal tour operations as well as unregulated accommodation providers such as Airbnb and illegal homestays are affecting licensed tours, hotels and homestay operators. He assured the minister that STF would be receptive to ideas or suggestions for industry players to take up for the good of the tourism industry. The issues raised are nothing new and have existed even before the establishment of STF. It is customary for trade associations to seek and have regular meetings with authorities but most of them were nothing more than airing of grievances. These became evident when the same issues were brought up repeatedly and employed the same approach but to no avail. Albert Einstein was credited with having defined insanity as “Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result”. This time, STF called for a panel to be set up for licensing and enforcement involving multigovernment agencies such as the Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry, Road Transport Licensing Board Sabah, Road Transport Department, Royal Malaysia Police, Tourism, Culture and Environment Ministry, Sabah and local authorities such as Kota Kinabalu City Hall. STF should go beyond calling for such a panel to be set up by doing some homework so that the panel can hit the ground running instead of being bogged down with lengthy clarifications and investigations before effective enforcement actions can be planned or taken. The same approach applies to other states as the problems faced by tourism industry players in Sabah are found throughout the country in varying degrees, be they illegal tourism businesses or poor enforcement. Granted, many challenges need to be addressed. But it would be a great start if the two main issues highlighted by STF could be overcome first. They are white vans and illegal homestays. In Sabah, passenger vans under private registration used for ferrying visitors are known as white vans, as many are white, unlike all vans or bas persiaran in the country that are painted green at the lower portion of the vehicle body for easy identification. But some unmarked vans could be licensed under limousine taxis or “hire and drive”. It is a given that those licensed for taxis are fully licensed and automatically insured with “legal liability to passenger” cover as required in all buses and taxis. Hire-and-drive vans are meant to be driven by customers but if the vehicle rental company wishes to offer transport services by providing the van with a driver, then the motor insurance needs additional passenger risk cover. Contrary to popular belief, both “legal liability to passenger” and “passenger risk” covers do not insure the passengers. Both cover the driver’s liability to passengers in the event the driver was at fault in an accident. But if a runaway lorry were to crash into a stationary van, both the van driver and insurance company are not liable as the van driver was not at fault. Injured passengers would have to sue the lorry driver to claim under third-party cover for injuries which is compulsory for all vehicles. In all cases, insurance companies are quick to repudiate cover if they could establish vehicles or drivers without valid licences such as private vehicles being used for commercial purposes or vehicles driven under the influence of drugs or alcohol. If so, victims that were successful in their multi-millionringgit suit against a poor lorry driver without money or asset to his name may win nothing more than just paper judgement. Many people, including taxi, van and bus operators, assume that passengers in their vehicles are covered by insurance. “No doubt, licensed tour operators have lost some business to illegal van operators, but licensed hotels and homestay operators have suffered even greater losses to unlicensed accommodatio n providers after having invested huge sums of money in their properties. Show support for Zoo Negara DURING the Raya holidays, I decided to go to Zoo Negara by public transport from Seremban. I took the KTM Komuter from Seremban to KL Sentral. From there, I took the Kelana Jaya LRT line to Wangsa Maju station. It took me about 30 minutes. At the Wangsa Maju LRT station, I took the Rapid KL bus No 253 and was pleasantly dropped at the Zoo Negara entrance. The bus trip was less than 20 minutes. As anticipated, the car park at Entrance A and Entrance B were full and cars were being redirected to other parking spots. I headed to the ticketing counter and there was a long queue. Those who had booked tickets online were directed to special counters and there was no queue. As a senior citizen, I was charged RM23. Adult tickets cost RM45 for Malaysians. At the ticketing counter, there was this yellow signboard which caught my attention. Firstly, the two sentences on the board are grammatically wrong, “This Is Drug-Free Area – Should Drugs Is Found”. The correct sentence should be “This Is A Drug-Free Area. If Caught In Possession Of Drugs, You Will Be Prosecuted”. Secondly, I do not understand why this notice has to be put up at the zoo. It is a rather odd signage to be placed at such a venue. I spent about three to four hours at the zoo and was excited and thrilled with the animals and the vast expanse of the area. Watching the huge storks and pink flamingos fly freely around the lake area and rest on trees along the walking path was captivating. The pandas were a hit with the crowd in their air-conditioned enclosure. The last time I came was about 10 years ago and we had to pay separate charges to see the pandas. It was an optional tour. This time the ticket was inclusive and everyone was allowed to see the pandas. Some of the animals looked malnourished. The lions, tigers and cheetahs, especially the white tiger, were pacing up and down in their enclosures looking rather undernourished. Zoo Negara was badly affected during the Covid-19 pandemic. There was no money to buy food for the animals due to the lack of ticket sales further exacerbated by the movement control order at the time. Fortunately, the government helped Zoo Negara with its funding for sustenance and maintenance. LETTERS [email protected] COMMENT by YS Chan Post-Covid, we need to support Zoo Negara. Banks and financial corporations should sponsor and adopt animals in the zoo as part of their social and welfare commitment. Primary and secondary schools should organise trips to Zoo Negara as an educational experience. They can learn much information from the bilingual signages at each enclosure of the animals. There are also discounts for group tours. There is an ongoing promotion for those celebrating birthdays to get free tickets during the month of their birthday. Zoo Negara is a convenient place for senior citizens and physically challenged people who rely on wheelchairs, as there are ramps and user-friendly washrooms. There are enough benches and seats all around the zoo area. There are many food stalls and cafeterias in the zoo. You can bring your own pre-packed food and drinks and have a picnic there as well. Zoo Negara is a wonderful place to spend a whole day with your family and loved ones. When was the last time you visited Zoo Negara? Let us support our national zoo by visiting it. Samuel Yesuiah Seremban Zoo Negara was badly affected during the Covid-19 pandemic.

10 theSUN ON THURSDAY | APRIL 27, 2023 CIMB unveils suite of sustainable living solutions PETALING JAYA: CIMB Bank Bhd and CIMB Islamic Bank Bhd have launched a suite of Sustainable Living Home Solutions (SLH solutions), becoming the first bank in Malaysia to introduce a platform that helps consumers to adopt low-carbon lifestyles. Available on a dedicated online platform, the solutions, which were launched in conjunction with Earth Day cover a range of offerings and deals tailored to consumers’ home and lifestyle needs. These include preferential rates for green home financing, solar panel financing, deals on energy-efficient appliances and mobility, and lifestyle offerings. Among the key highlights are preferential mortgage financing rates for green building certified homes and a 0% installment payment plan on solar panel installations with CIMB’s panel of solar companies such as Vasolar, amongst others, offering smart management solar panel solutions including for residential projects. Meanwhile, CIMB’s merchant partners are also offering CIMB’s 0% Easy Pay plans for energyefficient appliances to make their homes more sustainable and at the same time, help to reduce electricity bills. The partners include established home and consumer electronics retailers in Malaysia such as Tan Boon Ming (TBM), Harvey Norman and E.S.H. Electrical – ensuring that consumers have a wide selection of energy-efficient products in outfitting their homes. CIMB Group consumer and From left: Chong, Leong, CIMB head of consumer banking Malaysia Daniel Cheong, and Tan during the unveiling of the solutions. oFirst bank in Malaysia to introduce a platform to help consumers adopt low-carbon lifestyles digital banking CEO Effendy Shahul Hamid said, “We are the first bank in Malaysia to provide consumers with a complete range of solutions that empower them to make sustainable choices, and help them transition towards lower-carbon lifestyles.” Tan Boon Ming Sdn Bhd managing director Tan Long Kee commented, “We aim to provide our customers with products that align with CIMB to offer a range of energy-efficient home and consumer electronics products. We are dedicated to improve our offerings particularly in the area of energy-efficient products to meet the growing demand for sustainable solutions.” Tera VA Sdn Bhd (Vasolar) senior business development manager JP Leong said, “As a renewable source of power, installing solar panels on your home helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate climate change. Vasolar is a 100% home grown Malaysian brand that brings us closer to achieve our shared ESG responsibility to save our planet.” In complementing these solutions, CIMB has also become the first bank to foray into the EV mobility scooters space in Malaysia in collaboration with Blueshark, a smart electric motorcycle brand. The bank is offering a 0%, credit card easy payment plan for Blueshark’s newly launched fully electric scooter models, the Blueshark R1 and Blueshark R1 Lite. Powered by swappable rechargeable batteries designed for urban commutes, the scooters provide consumers with a mode of transportation that helps to reduce their carbon footprint. “The Blueshark R series is the culmination of our efforts to bring sustainable and innovative solutions to the urban mobility market, with swappable battery technology and innovations. We applaud this initiative by CIMB to integrate green living solutions to make the most advanced EV technology, features and aesthetics even more accessible to people from all walks of life, enabling smart electromobility for all towards a more liveable, greener future,” said Jeff Chong, Group CEO (Asean) of Blueshark Ecosystem Sdn Bhd. Malacca hopes ministry will immediately approve funds for Krubong PPR repairs MALACCA: The Malacca state government hopes the Ministry of Local Government Development will immediately approve a request for an allocation of more than half a million for repairs at the Krubong People’s Housing Project (PPR) here. Senior Exco for Housing, Local Government, Drainage, Climate Change and Disaster Management Datuk Rais Yasin said it is to enable immediate repairs for the 70 units that are badly affected by damage to floor tiles and anti-leak lining. “We applied for an allocation of RM600,000 last October through the Malacca Housing Board but still waiting for the approval. We need the approval (urgently as state funds are not adequate to do urgent repairs) since the problem of damages that occurred has had an impact on the daily routine of residents in the units,” he said after a visit to the PPR. – Bernama Bear Robotics to fund M2MTech in smart elevator venture KUALA LUMPUR: Bear Robotics, a Silicon Valley-based innovator of indoor service robots, announced a strategic investment to fund its Koreabased partner M2MTech, which specialises in Internet of Things (IoT) convergence for smart remote and predictive systems with elevators. This investment comes as Bear Robotics now extends their world-renowned Servi robot line with a fully integrated elevator delivery robot Servi Lift, which is capable of completing last-mile deliveries inside of multi-story buildings such as hotels, hospitals, corporate campuses, as well as other high-rise commercial and residential real estate properties. In a statement, Bear Robotics co-founder and CEO John Ha said, the firm believes this investment will truly maximise facility efficiencies and minimise user inconvenience. “The ELSA convergence platform developed by M2MTech provides strong security, interoperability and connectivity advantages that will set the stage for us to scale our last-mile mobility solutions,” Ha added. Meanwhile, its co-founder and chief operating officer, Juan Higueros said: “With the global IoT elevator market forecasted to grow to US$64 billion (RM284 billion) by 2030, it was imperative for us to invest into our close partnership with M2MTech, and to realise the synergies we believe will advance our last-mile aspirations. “We are confident that this collaborative approach will generate more efficient operations for many of our existing customers and open a broad array of new opportunities that will place Bear Robotics in a position to be the world’s leading multi-story robot delivery solutions provider.” In engineering Servi Lift, Bear Robotics sought interoperability as its absolute competitive advantage to be applied with major players in the smart elevator market such as OTIS, TKE, Mitsubishi, KONE, Hyundai and Schindler. With the expansion of urbanisation, the tech pioneer is bullish on the “smart city” shift to robot-friendly buildings, enhanced access security, and the penetration of smart elevators in smart buildings with strong linkages between systems. Servi Lift will undergo 100 trials in 2023 and broader rollouts lined up across the world in 2024. – Bernama Nominations for PropertyGuru Asia Awards open until June 30 KUALA LUMPUR: The 10th Annual PropertyGuru Asia Awards Malaysia is inviting the country’s finest property developers to vie for and clinch the sought-after hallmarks of excellence in the real estate sector. Organised by PropertyGuru and iProperty, the awards are now accepting submissions until June 30, through its official website asiapropertyawards.com/nominations. “Now in its 10th year, the search for Malaysia’s finest real estate begins anew at an auspicious time as Malaysia’s economy shows impressive growth,’’ PropertyGuru Group said in a statement yesterday. Based on its Property Market Report for the first quarter of 2023, the company said that the demand for houses is likely to be tempered in the first half of 2023 due to rising interest rates. “(Despite that), the second half of the year is shaping up to be more promising as the Chinese economy opens. “The relaxation of Covid-19 measures in China is set to boost the economy in the second half of the year through an increase in tourist arrivals and reduced supply chain disruptions,” it said. The awards is scheduled to take place at The Majestic Hotel Kuala Lumpur on Nov 24. The main winners would qualify to compete for regional accolades at the 18th PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards Grand Final in Bangkok, Thailand on Dec 8. PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards and Events general manager Jules Kay said the awards would serve as a quality benchmark for buyers looking to invest in Malaysia’s finest real estate. “Built on two strong brands and guided by Malaysia’s most trusted property advisers, our awards programme leverages our combined expertise and network to further raise the benchmark of property development and design in the country,’’ he said. PropertyGuru has also called for the public to submit nominations for the People’s Choice Awards which allow consumers and residents in Malaysia to vote for their preferred and most trusted developers. This is to honour 10 companies that deliver the best in trust, quality, and value for money, the statement said. A panel of judges, comprising 18 respected leaders and experts in real estate consultancy, architecture, interior design, finance, legal, and related fields, would discuss and deliberate over entries during the live judging session in late July 2023. The panel’s chairperson Datuk Ezumi Harzani Ismail said the awards would raise the bar for design and development in the country. PropertyGuru said that the accounting firm HLB, the official awards supervisor, would oversee the judging and ensure that the process is fair, transparent and credible. – Bernama B R I E F SCYPARK RESOURCES BAGS RM109M HOSPITAL PROJECT FROM SELGATE KUALA LUMPUR: Cypark Resources Bhd has secured a contract from Selgate Corporation Sdn Bhd to execute and complete the remaining works for a proposed construction of a 10-storey private hospital together with a six-storey parking lot in Rawang, Selangor worth RM108.84 million. “The project is targeted to be completed by Jan 29, 2024 with a construction period of nine months from the date of site possession/commencement,” it said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia recently. It said the project would be undertaken by the company’s construction and engineering division, which has the necessary experience and capabilities to deliver the project successfully, and is expected to contribute positively to the earnings and net assets of Cypark Resources. – Bernama PROPERTYGURU APPOINTS HELEN SNOWBALL AS CHIEF PEOPLE OFFICER PETALING JAYA: PropertyGuru Group Ltd announced yesterday the appointment of Helen Snowball as the chief people officer (CPO), where she will lead the people and culture function, managing the full scope of human resource functions and support the group’s next phase of growth in Southeast Asia with a focus on employee experience and talent management. She is part of PropertyGuru’s group leadership team and will report to CEO and managing director Hari V. Krishnan. In addition, she will provide strategic direction and expertise for all things related to team and talent, with a particular focus of taking forward the culture of trust that the group aspires to deliver to its team.

KLCI 1,414.25 STI 3,293.91 HANG SENG 19,757.27 139.39 SCI 3,264.10 NIKKEI 28,416.47 203.60 TSEC 15,374.63 3.90 KOSPI 2,484.83 S&P/ASX200 7,316.30 THURSDAY APRIL 27, 2023 Editorial Tel: 03-7784 6688 Fax: 03-7785 2624/5 Email: [email protected] Advertising Tel: 03-7784 8888 Fax: 03-7784 4424 Email: [email protected] 5 MOST ACTIVES April 26, 2023 STOCK VOL CLSG (sen) +/– (sen) STAR 109,797,400 61.5 +10.5 FITTERS 104,995,200 5.0 UNCH VINVEST 89,261,700 20.0 UNCH CFM 83,677,200 27.0 +0.5 MYEG 76,158,200 78.0 -1.0 EXCHANGERATES APRIL 26, 2023 Foreign currency Bank sell Bank buy Bank buy TT/OD TT OD 1 US DOLLAR 4.5295 4.3965 4.3715 1 AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR 3.0170 2.8960 2.8920 1 BRUNEI DOLLAR 3.3790 3.2800 3.2650 1 CANADIAN DOLLAR 3.3160 3.2260 3.2160 1 EURO 4.9700 4.8080 4.8160 1 NEW ZEALAND DOLLAR 2.7900 2.6860 2.6680 1 SINGAPORE DOLLAR 3.3790 3.2800 3.2650 1 STERLING POUND 5.6300 5.4550 5.4470 1 SWISS FRANC 5.0560 4.9380 4.9410 100 UAE DIRHAM 124.5900 118.0800 117.2000 100 BANGLADESH TAKA 4.2760 4.0100 3.8390 100 CHINESE RENMINBI 65.4000 62.9000 N/A 100 HONGKONG DOLLAR 58.2200 55.3000 54.7900 100 INDIAN RUPEE 5.6100 5.2600 5.0300 100 INDONESIAN RUPIAH 0.0315 0.0285 0.0234 100 JAPANESE YEN 3.3950 3.2890 3.2540 100 NEW TAIWAN DOLLAR 15.8000 N/A N/A 100 PAKISTAN RUPEE 1.6300 1.5200 1.3100 100 PHILIPPINE PESO 8.2600 7.7800 7.5200 100 QATAR RIYAL 125.1100 118.7700 118.0900 100 SAUDI RIYAL 121.8800 115.7000 114.8300 100 THAI BAHT 13.7500 12.1900 11.7500 Source: Malayan Banking Berhad/Bernama KL MARKET SUMMARY April 26, 2023 INDICES CHANGE FBMEMAS 10,392.00 -71.00 FBMKLCI 1,414.25 -10.94 CONSUMER PRODUCTS 576.37 -2.40 INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTS 171.48 -0.40 CONSTRUCTION 160.19 -1.10 FINANCIAL SERVICES 15,492.00 -131.00 ENERGY 843.50 -15.00 TELECOMMUNICATIONS 637.56 +15.50 HEALTH CARE 1,767.71 -6.30 TRANSPORTATION 914.47 -4.20 PROPERTY 699.25 +0.11 PLANTATION 6,884.46 -44.00 FBMSHA 10,750.70 -55.00 FBMACE 5,350.66 +31.00 TECHNOLOGY 61.23 -0.10 TURNOVER VALUE 2.617 BIL RM1.667 BIL 5 TOP GAINERS April 26, 2023 STOCK VOL CLSG (RM) +/– RM DIN045801028 300 104.00 +2.35 PETDAG 135,100 22.40 +0.26 BKAWAN 23,300 21.84 +0.24 HEIM 99,600 27.78 +0.24 F&N 323,500 27.10 +0.22 5 TOP LOSERS April 26, 2023 STOCK VOL CLSG (RM) +/– RM NESTLE 49,900 136.00 -0.50 CARLSBG 107,000 21.00 -0.40 HLBANK 1,233,600 20.06 -0.22 HSI-CLS 4,000 1.56 -0.22 KESM 9,000 7.50 -0.20 10.94 2.65 0.77 4.19 5.70 Meditech eyes RM88.6m graphene glove sales in 2023 KUALA LUMPUR: Meditech Gloves Sdn Bhd (MGSB) has set the initial sales target for its newly formulated glove using graphene at RM88.62 million this year and an annual demand growth forecast of 50%. Managing director Dr Effendi Tenang said the company planned to launch graphene surgical gloves and graphene examination gloves this year as there is strong interest in both products from the United Kingom and continental Europe. “In fact, it’s almost an impossible task to successfully blend graphene with latex. “Graphene is a carbon nanomaterial and latex a polymer base medium. It’s like trying to blend oil with water but we have successfully run the first fully blended graphene glove at our factory in Nilai, Negeri Sembilan early this year,” he told Bernama. Effendi said the breakthrough was made recently through joint research with Cranfield University in the UK and with support from the Malaysian Rubber Board. He said graphene gloves are thinner and the biodegradation period is reduced significantly, making it more sustainable for the environment. “Unlike most nitrile or synthetic gloves that may take up to a hundred years to compose. “We are proud to declare that our graphene medical gloves are the first of its kind in the world and is in the process of being patented,” he said. Effendi said that when graphene is successfully engineered with rubber, the properties of rubber improve significantly and add a totally new dimension of applications and possibilities for the rubber industry. “Although we are strong with medical grade gloves being a producer for 19 years now, with the inclusion of graphene, we are open to the possibility of diversifying into the production of industrial grade gloves,” he added. Effendi said billions of pieces of gloves are used and discarded globally every year and most ended up in landfills, incinerated or just openly disposed of with disregard for the environment. “During the Covid-19 pandemic period, used nitrile gloves, in particular, are found dumped even in the open seas which will eventually break down to microplastic and end up in the natural food cycle.” Effendi said MGSB has been supplying medical grade gloves internationally and domestically and donated a container of medical gloves each to Turkiye and Syria during the recent earthquake. MGSB is a wholly bumiputera-owned company and producer of high-quality natural rubber examination and natural rubber surgical gloves. Capital A’s ADE secures US$100m investment KUALA LUMPUR: Capital A Bhd’s engineering and maintenance subsidiary, Asia Digital Engineering (ADE), has secured US$100 million (RM445 million) investment from Hong-Kong-based investment firm OCP Asia Ltd to be utilised for the construction and operationalisation of a state-of-the-art 14-line aircraft maintenance hangar facility in Sepang, Selangor. The investment will also be allocated for ADE’s business expansion in other verticals and geographical markets. Capital A CEO Tan Sri Tony Fernandes said the initial plan was to build a 14-line hangar facility. However, with the investment in place, it gives the group “the ability to expand (the facility) to 20 lines” which he reckoned would grow within three years. “These 14 lines generate cash flow, which give us more cash build. So, the US$100 million allows us to build a bigger business, which generates cash flow (which could be) reinvested into more lines,” he said during a press conference yesterday after a signing ceremony between ADE and OCP Asia, which was witnessed by Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz. Fernandes expects the MRO facility to cater to AirAsia aircraft, as well as those of other airlines. On profit contribution for the group, he remarked that ADE will be a “significant contributor”. “I think within four or five years, if the group stays as it is, it would contribute 30% From left: Mahesh, Fernandes, Tengku Zafrul, ADE chairman Datuk Hisham Othman, OCP Asia founding partner Teall Edds and Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia CEO Captain Norazman Mahmud at the signing ceremony. oFunding from Hong Kong-based OCP Asia to build state-of-the-art 14-line aircraft maintenance facility █ BYGLORIA HARRY BEATTY [email protected] to 40% on the profits,” he said. ADE CEO Mahesh Kumar said there are two phases that are concurrently being constructed, with Phase 1 to be completed by early second-quarter 2024 and Phase 2 by early third-quarter 2024. The 21-acre facility will be the first MRO hangar facility to be wholly owned by the group. Currently, ADE has two facilities, located in Subang and Johor Bahru, on lease. Meanwhile, Tengku Zafrul said Malaysia has a thriving MRO sector, which offers numerous investment opportunities. “In 2022, Malaysia secured RM600 million worth of MRO expansion projects involving heavy maintenance and components MRO activities, by various reputable companies operating in the country. This indicates that investors from both within and outside Malaysia see our MRO sector as an investment opportunity with significant potential for growth. “According to an industry report , the size of Malaysia’s MRO sector is estimated to increase from US$1.5 billion in 2020 to US$2.5 billion by 2026, growing at a compound annual rate of 8.5% during the period,” he added. Tengku Zafrul said the investment will set a new benchmark for the MRO sector in the region because the facility will utilise 4IR technologies such as robotics and predictive maintenance backed by artificial intelligence, which is expected to create new opportunities for Malaysian companies to develop their digital capabilities and stay ahead of the curve. The minister said Capital A and ADE are examples of home-grown companies that are willing to invest, innovate and disrupt to stay ahead of the curve, particularly in a volatile business environment. “They also prove that our local conditions are conducive not only for continued investments and growth, but also for establishing a regional hub for various hi-tech industry verticals. This partnership will also create new and higher-paying job opportunities for the local workforce and opportunities for localisation of other services by SMEs in the local supply chain,” said Tengku Zafrul. Participation 46.0 29.0 25.0 100.0 Institutions Retail Foreign Bought RM m 781.0 497.3 385.5 1663.8 Sold RM m 749.3 466.7 447.8 1663.8 Net RM m 31.7 30.6 -62.3 0 % Preliminary stats (excluding trade amendments). For final data, please refer to www.bursamalaysia.com Source: Bursa Malaysia A Participating Organisation of Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad A Trading Participant of Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Berhad S E C U R I T I E S S D N. B H D. 197201001092 (12738-U) 26/04/2023

12 theSUN ON THURSDAY | APRIL 27, 2023 SUNBIZ Bursa’s IPO momentum expected to remain healthy KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia’s initial public offering (IPO) momentum is expected to continue for the remainder of the year given the number of submissions in the pipeline, particularly for listings on the ACE Market. Bursa Malaysia Bhd CEO Datuk Muhamad Umar Swift said several IPO applications have been approved and are pending listing. “Bursa Malaysia’s IPO pipeline across all three markets remains healthy,” he told Bernama. Ten listings were recorded as of March 31, 2023 versus five IPOs during the same period last year. A total amount of RM992.5 million was raised from January to March this year, bringing a market capitalisation of RM3.5 billion upon listing. Of the 10 companies listed in the first quarter of 2023 (Q1’23) two were on the Main Market, one on the LEAP Market and the remaining seven on the ACE Market. In Q1’22, two companies were listed on the Main Market, two on the ACE Market and one on the LEAP Market. “The Covid-19 pandemic had a significant impact on numerous companies and industries throughout the country and region. “However, as the economy has reopened and moved towards normalisation, many companies have recovered, and some have sought listing. We anticipate this trend to continue throughout 2023,’’ Muhamad Umar noted. He said Bursa Malaysia’s regulatory framework and ecosystem for the local capital market continue to offer a vibrant and supportive environment for issuers to fulfil companies’ capital-raising needs. “The exchange’s ACE Market one-stop centre has made accessing the public equity capital market more efficient particularly for small and medium enterprises and growing companies with significant potential. “Despite this, based on our engagements, we have found that one of the main challenges that companies face when seeking to go public is compliance with licensing or regulatory requirements prior to submitting their listing application,” Muhamad Umar noted. To address this, Bursa Malaysia has been working on raising awareness among growing companies to plan ahead for listing preparations and ensure that they are adequately equipped for going public. This will also assure that the corporate governance factor is instilled prior to the process. For 2023, a total of 39 IPOs are expected en route to listing on Bursa Malaysia. Bursa closure for Labour Day and Wesak Day PETALING JAYA: Bursa Malaysia Bhd and its subsidiaries will be closed on Monday, May 1, and Thursday, May 4, in conjunction with the Labour Day and Wesak Day holidays. Bursa Malaysia and its subsidiaries will resume operations on Tuesday, May 2, and Friday, May 5, respectively. TixCarte aims to be biggest ticketing platform in SE Asia KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s leading business-to-business (B2B) ticketing distribution platform TixCarte aims to be Southeast Asia’s largest ticketing engine by 2025, with five million attraction and activitiy tickets to be sold by that time. By expanding its merchant database to 4,500 and doubling its corporate partners to 100 this year, the company expects to book at least RM18 million in revenue in 2023, more than double that in the previous year. TixCarte is optimistic about tapping into the multi-billion-dollar ticketing industry given strong momentum in digital adoption by travellers and merchants alike, the reopening of China’s borders and greater preparedness in the target sectors in handling health requirements. Given these key driving factors, it is confident in gaining a 10 times increase in bookings for travel, hospitality and entertainment sectors by 2025. “We are reactivating our runway with partners from China with whom we have been in discussions with prior to the lockdowns. In the immediate future, TixCarte is focused on expanding across the region, especially into Thailand and Indonesia, to canvas more corporate partners and merchants,” said TixCarte founder and CEO Parthiven Shan (pic). TixCarte is a ticketing distribution platform that allows corporate partners, merchants and customers to sell and buy tickets for attractions via an easy-to-use, flexible and integrated system. It is supported by the Malaysian Research Accelerator for Technology and Innovation under its Global Market Fit programme to expand its market reach and penetration. With TixCarte, customers get oB2B player targets sales of 5 m attraction & activity tickets by 2025 instant ticket confirmation, QR code tickets sent to a mobile device, and a fully refundable feature with no cancellation fees. It also provides benefits such as “No Lock In” for bookings made through the TixCarteGo platform, so customers can buy their attraction and experience packages with peace of mind. For corporate partners, Parthiven said, “Managing resellers will be at their fingertips, with the sales tools allowing corporates to manage their own resellers account access, giving them the ability to start selling on multiple sales channels.” TixCarte’s current corporate partners include AirAsia, Malindo as well as global platforms such as KKday, WeChat Pay, Boost, Tiqets and others. Having recently signed on Sunway as a corporate partner, Parthiven is looking to secure the likes of more hospitality providers such as Berjaya, Shangri-La, Malaysia Airlines and others. “While digital solutions are rife, many merchants in the travel and hospitality sector still struggle with integration for flexible payment options, and have not latched on to the benefits eTicketing offers,” said Parthiven. TixCarte addresses this and several legacy pain points, including manual processes and offline ticketing, rigid cancellation policy, high cost of bulk buying, multiple B2B attraction ticketing systems or platforms that have no standard B2B ticketing in the attractions segment. “Our approach is to enable them to digitalise easily, and to set up to monetise quickly,” said Parthiven. Recently, Wet World Shah Alam, a water theme park, managed to increase its sales by 15,000 tickets in a year by working with TixCarte, which helped the theme park publish its offers to a list of wellknown corporate partners. “Meanwhile, in supporting smaller medium-scale experience operators which are often run by a family team and suffer from lack of creative assets and content such as images, videos, TixCarte will be assisting them to develop and promote their offerings to reach wider audience groups via social media,” Parthiven said. Malaysia jumps 15 spots in World Bank Logistics Performance Index KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has jumped 15 places in the World Bank Logistics Performance Index (LPI) 2023 to 26th, the second bestperforming country in Asean after Singapore. This is a significant improvement from rankings of 41st in 2018 and 32nd in 2016, according to Malaysia Productivity Corporation (MPC) director-general Datuk Abdul Latif Abu Seman. “The best ranking Malaysia has attained was 25th in the World Bank LPI 2014 report,” he said when commenting on the long-awaited 2023 LPI report, the last edition of which was published in 2018. The seventh edition of “Connecting to Compete”, the LPI report comes after three years of supply chain disruptions during the Covid-19 pandemic and covers the latest view on trade logistics performance of 139 countries. Abdul Latif said the LPI report is a benchmarking tool to help countries identify where improvements in international trade logistics can be made to increase competitiveness. Logistics Productivity Nexus champion Datuk Seri Michael Tio said, “If Malaysia continues to benchmark Singapore, we will be able to position ourselves in the top 10 of the LPI ranking soon. “LPI measures the ease of establishing reliable and timely supply chain connections and the structural factors that make it possible, such as the quality of logistics services, trade and transport-related infrastructure, and border controls,” he said. “This latest LPI 2023 edition introduces a new set of key performance indicators derived from a Big Data approach, measuring the speed of trade globally. “The indicators are based on technological advances in tracking actual high-frequency international movements of maritime shipping, containers, air freight, and postal parcels by trade lane and gateway,” he added. Tio said the logistics industry has much room for improvement to be the preferred destination in Asean, and Malaysia has comprehensive infrastructure for it to thrive. Hektar REIT cautious on outlook for sector KUALA LUMPUR: Hektar Asset Management Sdn Bhd, the manager of Hektar Real Estate Investment Trust (Hektar REIT), has adopted a cautious outlook on the sector’s growth this year due to inflationary pressure and an uncertain global outlook that might affect domestic economic activities. Hektar REIT CEO Johari Shukri Jamil (pic) said the company is taking business sustainability measures, which include monitoring and reviewing its rental strategy and adopting prudent financial management, to ensure economic resilience and stable occupancy. It has also introduced cost optimisation initiatives and enhanced its asset efficiencies to help cushion the impact of increasing interest rates and inflation. “We actively explore avenues for growth by ensuring a solid portfolio of retail brands in our malls that can optimise sustainable returns and defensible income through active tenancy remixing and rejuvenation of the centres,” he told Bernama. Johari Shukri emphasised that long-term strategies to increase dividend yields include enhancing and improving the mall’s visual appeal, conditions, and facilities. He said since the retail landscape has been recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic, Hektar Reit’s portfolio of malls experienced a 58% increase in visitor footfall and a 50% higher vehicle count annually, significantly improving tenant sales performance. Meanwhile, Johari Shukri said Hektar REIT is committed to fulfilling its obligation to ensure that all business activities are performed according to the high environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards. He said the company had invested RM10 million in various climate-change-related initiatives over the past five years. He further said the company has heavily invested in research and development, advancing the building and facilities, machinery and automation, such as installing chillers and replacing existing lighting with energy-saving light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs. It has also embarked on renewable energy initiatives, pursued energy consumption, repaired the cooling towers, retrofitted air-conditioning and mechanical ventilation, and installed cold water systems. In 2022, he noted that one of its malls, Segamat Central, realised a total savings of RM12,000 by replacing traditional bulbs with energy-saving LEDs. “In the next phase of our initiatives, we hope to install solar panels across our malls. It is important to address electricity usage as it takes a huge portion of our utility bill, constituting about 89% where we paid about RM19 billion alone last year on electricity,” he said. Johari Shukri noted that internally there were targets and the capital expenditure for ESG initiatives this year and what to achieve. However, he could not share at this moment as the energy-saving consultant appointed is still undergoing an auditing process. Hektar REIT currently owns two million square feet of retail space in four states, with assets valued at RM1.2 billion as of Dec 31, 2022. Its revenue reached RM117.5 million in the financial year 2022 (FY22) and is targeting to achieve up to 86% in its overall portfolio occupancy rates for FY23, against 82% in FY22. Hektar REIT’s portfolio of commercial properties includes Subang Parade (Selangor); Mahkota Parade (Malacca); Wetex Parade and Classic Hotel (Muar, Johor); Central S q u a r e (Sungai Petani, Kedah); Kulim Central (Kedah) and Segamat Central (Johor).

theSUN ON THURSDAY | APRIL 27, 2023 13 NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT the Tenth Annual General Meeting of 7-Eleven Malaysia Holdings Berhad ("the Company") will be conducted virtually for the purpose of considering and if thought fit, passing with or without modifications the resolutions setting out in this notice. Day and Date : Friday, 26 May 2023 Time : 10.00 a.m. Broadcast Venue : Manhattan V, Level 14, Berjaya Times Square Hotel Kuala Lumpur, No. 1, Jalan Imbi, 55100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Mode of Communication : 1) Typed text in the Meeting Platform Mode of Communication 2) E-mail questions to [email protected] prior to Meeting. AGENDA AS ORDINARY BUSINESS 1. To receive the Audited Financial Statements for the financial year ended 31 December 2022 together with the Reports of the Directors and the Auditors’ thereon. [Please refer to Explanatory Note (i)] 2. To approve the payment of Directors’ fees for an amount up to RM593,000/- payable to the Non-Executive Directors of the Company on a monthly basis for the period from 27 May 2023 until the next Annual General Meeting of the Company to be held in year 2024. Resolution 1 3. To approve the benefits payable to the Non-Executive Directors for an amount of up to RM50,000/- for the period from 27 May 2023 until the next Annual General Meeting of the Company to be held in year 2024. Resolution 2 4. To approve the additional benefits payable to the Non-Executive Directors for an amount of up to RM448,000/- for the financial year ended 31 December 2022. Resolution 3 5. To re-elect the following Directors who retire by rotation in accordance with Article 99 of the Company’s Constitution and being eligible, have offered themselves for re-election:- (1) Puan Sri Datuk Seri Rohani Parkash Binti Abdullah Resolution 4 (2) Chan Kien Sing Ms. Shalet Marian who also retires by rotation in accordance with Article 99 of the Company’s Constitution, has expressed her intention not to seek for re-election. Hence, she will retain office until the close of the Tenth Annual General Meeting. Resolution 5 6. To re-elect the following Directors who retire in accordance with Article 105 of the Company’s Constitution and being eligible, have offered themselves for re-election:- (1) Moyra Binti Ibrahim Resolution 6 (2) Farhash Wafa Salvador Resolution 7 7. To re-appoint Messrs. Ernst & Young PLT as the Company’s Auditors for the ensuing year and to authorise the Board of Directors to fix their remuneration. Resolution 8 AS SPECIAL BUSINESS To consider and, if thought fit, with or without any modification, to pass the following Ordinary Resolutions:- 8. ORDINARY RESOLUTION - AUTHORITY TO ISSUE SHARES PURSUANT TO THE COMPANIES ACT 2016 Resolution 9 “THAT, subject always to the Companies Act 2016, the Constitution of the Company, the Main Market Listing Requirements of Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad (“Bursa Securities”) and the approvals of the relevant governmental/ regulatory authorities, if applicable, the Directors be and are hereby empowered, pursuant to the Companies Act 2016, to issue shares in the capital of the Company at any time to such persons and upon such terms and conditions and for such purposes as the Directors may, in their absolute discretion deem fit, provided that the aggregate number of shares to be issued pursuant to this Resolution does not exceed ten per centum (10%) of the total number of issued shares of the Company for the time being; AND THAT the Directors be and are also empowered to obtain the approval for the listing of and quotation for the additional shares so issued on Bursa Securities; AND FURTHER THAT such authority shall commence immediately upon passing of this Resolution and continue to be in force until the conclusion of the next Annual General Meeting of the Company. THAT in connection with the above, pursuant to Section 85 of the Companies Act 2016 and Clause 55 of the Company’s Constitution, the shareholders do hereby waive the statutory pre-emptive rights of the offered shares in proportion of their holdings at such price and at such terms to be offered arising from any issuance of new shares pursuant to this mandate by the Company. AND THAT the new shares to be issued shall, upon allotment and issuance, rank equally in all respects with the existing shares of the Company, save and except that they shall not be entitled to any dividends, rights, allotments and/or any other forms of distribution that which may be declared, made or paid before the date of allotment of such new shares.” 9. ORDINARY RESOLUTION - PROPOSED RENEWAL OF AND NEW SHAREHOLDERS’ MANDATE FOR RECURRENT RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS OF A REVENUE OR TRADING NATURE Resolution 10 “THAT, subject to the provisions of the Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad’s Main Market Listing Requirements, approval be and is hereby given for the Company and its subsidiary companies, to enter into recurrent related party transactions of a revenue or trading nature with the related parties as specified in Section 2.3 of the Circular/Statement to Shareholders dated 27 April 2023 (“Proposed Mandate”) which are necessary for the day-to-day operations and/or in the ordinary course of business of the Company and its subsidiary companies on terms not more favourable to the related parties than those generally available to the public and are not detrimental to the minority shareholders of the Company and that such approval shall continue to be in force until”:- (a) the conclusion of the next Annual General Meeting (“AGM”) of the Company following the general meeting at which such ordinary resolution for the Proposed Mandate was passed, at which time it will lapse, unless by ordinary resolution passed at that general meeting, the authority is renewed; (b) the expiration of the period within which the next AGM of the Company after the date it is required to be held pursuant to Section 340(2) of the Companies Act 2016 (“the Act”) (but shall not extend to such extension as may be allowed pursuant to Section 340(4) of the Act); or (c) revoked or varied by ordinary resolution passed by the shareholders of the Company in a general meeting; whichever is the earlier; AND FURTHER THAT authority be and is hereby given to the Directors of the Company and its subsidiary companies to complete and do all such acts and things (including executing such documents as may be required) as they may consider expedient or necessary to give effect to such transactions as authorised by this Resolution.” 10.ORDINARY RESOLUTION - PROPOSED RENEWAL OF AUTHORITY FOR THE COMPANY TO PURCHASE ITS OWN SHARES Resolution 11 “THAT, subject always to the Companies Act 2016 (“the Act”), rules, regulations and orders made pursuant to the Act, provisions of the Company’s Constitution and the requirements of Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad (“Exchange”) and any other relevant authority, the Directors of the Company be and are hereby authorised to purchase such number of ordinary shares in the Company (“7-Eleven Holdings Shares”) through the Exchange and to take all such steps as are necessary (including the opening and maintaining of central depositories accounts under the Securities Industry (Central Depositories) Act, 1991) and enter into any agreement, arrangement and guarantee with any party or parties to implement, finalise and give full effect to the aforesaid purchase with full powers to assent to any condition, modification, revaluation, variation and/or amendment (if any) as may be imposed by the relevant authorities from time to time and to do all such acts and things in the best interests of the Company, subject further to the following:- 1. the maximum number of ordinary shares which may be purchased and held by the Company shall be equivalent to ten per centum (10%) of the existing total number of issued shares in the ordinary share capital of the Company; 2. the maximum funds to be allocated by the Company for the purpose of purchasing the ordinary shares shall not exceed the total retained profits of the Company; 3. the authority shall commence immediately upon passing of this ordinary resolution until:- (a) the conclusion of the next Annual General Meeting (“AGM”) of the Company following the AGM at which such resolution was passed, at which time it will lapse unless by ordinary resolution passed at that general meeting, the authority is renewed, either unconditionally or subject to conditions; or (b) the expiration of the period within which the next AGM after that date it is required by law to be held; or (c) revoked or varied by ordinary resolution passed by the shareholders of the Company in a general meeting; whichever occurs first. AND THAT upon completion of the purchase(s) of the 7-Eleven Holdings Shares or any part thereof by the Company, the Directors of the Company be and are hereby authorised to deal with any 7-Eleven Holdings Shares so purchased by the Company in the following manner:- (a) cancel all the 7-Eleven Holdings Shares so purchased; or (b) retain all the 7-Eleven Holdings Shares as treasury shares for future resale or for distribution as dividends to the shareholders of the Company; or (c) retain part thereof as treasury shares and subsequently cancelling the balance; or (d) in any other manner as prescribed by the Act, rules, regulations and orders made pursuant to the Act and the requirements of the Exchange and any other relevant authority for the time being in force.” 11. To transact any other business of which due notice shall have been given. BY ORDER OF THE BOARD TAI YIT CHAN (SSM PC No. 202008001023) (MAICSA 7009143) TIA HWEI PING (SSM PC No. 202008001687) (MAICSA 7057636) Company Secretaries Selangor Darul Ehsan 27 April 2023 NOTICE OF TENTH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING (Incorporated in Malaysia) NOTES: Proxy 1. The Company will conduct the Tenth AGM entirely via remote participation and electronic voting facilities. Kindly refer to the Administrative Guide for the Tenth AGM for more information. 2. The only venue involved is the broadcast venue for the compliance with Section 327(2) of the Companies Act 2016 that the Chairman of the Meeting shall be present at the main venue of the AGM. No shareholder or proxy from the public should be physically present nor admitted at the broadcast venue on the day of the Tenth AGM. 3. As the Tenth AGM will be conducted via a virtual meeting, a member who is not able to participate in the AGM may appoint the Chairman of the Meeting as his/her proxy and indicate the voting instruction in the Form of Proxy. 4. In respect of deposited securities, only members whose names appear in the Record of Depositors on 19 May 2023 shall be eligible to attend the Meeting. 5. A member entitled to attend and vote at the Meeting is entitled to appoint a proxy or proxies to attend and vote on his behalf. A proxy may but need not be a member of the Company and a member may appoint any person to be his proxy without limitation save that the proxy must be of full age. 6. A member shall be entitled to appoint not more than two (2) proxies to attend and vote at the same meeting. Where a member appoints more than one (1) proxy, he shall specify the proportion of his holdings to be represented by each proxy, failing which the appointment shall be invalid. 7. Where a member is an authorised nominee as defined under the Central Depositories Act, it may appoint one (1) proxy in respect of each securities account it holds with ordinary shares of the Company standing to the credit of the said securities account. 8. Where a member of the Company is an exempt authorised nominee which holds ordinary shares in the Company for multiple beneficial owners in one (1) securities account (“Omnibus Account”), there is no limit to the number of proxies which the exempt authorised nominee may appoint in respect of each Omnibus Account it holds. 9. The instrument appointing a proxy shall be in writing under the hand of the appointor or of his attorney duly authorised in writing or if the appointor is a corporation either under its common seal, or the hand of its officer or its duly authorised attorney. 10. The instrument appointing a proxy together with the power of attorney (if any) or a certified copy thereof must be deposited at the Share Registrar’s office, Berjaya Registration Services Sdn. Bhd. at 09-27 Level 9, Berjaya Times Square, No. 1 Jalan Imbi, 55100 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia, not less than fortyeight (48) hours before the time for holding the meeting PROVIDED THAT in the event the member(s) duly executes the form of proxy but does not name any proxy, such member(s) shall be deemed to have appointed the Chairman of the meeting as his/her proxy, PROVIDED ALWAYS THAT the rest of the proxy form, other than the particulars of the proxy have been duly completed by member(s). Alternatively, the proxy form can be electronically lodge via Boardroom Smart Investor Portal at https://investor.boardroomlimited.com. Please refer to the Administrative Guide for further information on submission via Boardroom Smart Investor Portal. Explanatory Notes on Ordinary and Special Business (i) Item 1 of the Agenda This Agenda item is meant for discussion only, as the provision of Section 340(1)(a) of the Companies Act 2016 does not require a formal approval of the shareholders for the Audited Financial Statements. Hence, this Agenda item is not put forward for voting. (ii) Item 2 of the Agenda – Payment of Directors’ fees for the period from 27 May 2023 until the next Annual General Meeting of the Company to be held in year 2024 Pursuant to Section 230(1) of the Act, the fees of the directors and any benefits payable to the Directors of a Listed Company and its subsidiaries shall be approved at a general meeting. In this respect, the Board agreed that the shareholders’ approval shall be sought at the Tenth Annual General Meeting. In determining the estimated Directors’ fees to the Non-Executive Directors of the Company, the Board has considered various factors including the current Board size and provisional sum as a contingency for future appointment of Directors on the Board. (iii) Item 3 of the Agenda – Benefits payable to the Non-Executive Directors There has been no increase in Directors’ benefits comprise meeting allowance payable to the Non-Executive Directors since the previous shareholders’ approval obtained at the Ninth Annual General Meeting of the Company held on 26 May 2022. (iv) Item 4 of the Agenda – Additional benefits payable to the Non-Executive Directors The Board via the recommendation of the Remuneration Committee of the Company proposed the additional amount of RM448,000 benefits payable to the Non-Executive Directors to reflect their invaluable contributions to the success of the Company for the year 2022. The proposed additional benefits payable to Non-Executive Directors for the financial year ended 31 December 2022 are as below:- Non-Executive Directors Proposed Additional Benefits Payable (RM) Dato’ Richard Alexander John Curtis 56,000 Chan Kien Sing 56,000 Shalet Marian 56,000 Muhammad Lukman Bin Musa @ Hussain 56,000 Puan Sri Datuk Seri Rohani Binti Abdullah 56,000 Tsai, Tzung-Han 56,000 Moyra Binti Ibrahim 56,000 Dato’ Sri Robin Tan Yeong Ching 56,000 Total 448,000 The proposed additional benefits also include the former Chairman, Dato’ Sri Robin Tan Yeong Ching in recognition of his outstanding contributions and unwavering dedication to the Company’s success. (v) Items 5 and 6 of the Agenda - Re-election of Directors The profiles of the Directors who are standing for re-election as per Agenda item no. 5 and 6 are set out in the Board of Directors’ profile of the Annual Report 2022. Based on the recommendation of the Nominating Committee, the Board is satisfied with the performance and contributions of the following Directors and support the re-election based on the following justifications:- (a) Ordinary Resolution 4 – Re-election of Puan Sri Datuk Seri Rohani Parkash Binti Abdullah as Independent Non-Executive Director Puan Sri Datuk Seri Rohani Parkash Binti Abdullah was appointed to our Board as Independent Non-Executive Director on 10 February 2017. She has demonstrated her independence through her engagement in the meetings by proactively giving valuable insights to the Management in developing the Group’s business strategies. She also exercised his due care and carried out his professional duties proficiently during her tenure as an Independent Non-Executive Director of the Company. (b) Ordinary Resolution 5 – Re-election of Chan Kien Sing as Non-Independent Non-Executive Director Mr. Chan Kien Sing was appointed to our Board first as Non-Independent Executive Director on 21 August 2013 and was then redesignated as Non-Independent Non-Executive Director on 22 April 2015. He has vast experience in strategic corporate planning and structuring, merger & acquisitions, initial public offerings, audit/ accountancy and managing business operations. He has also exercised his due care and carried out his professional duties proficiently during his tenure as Non-Independent Non-Executive Director of the Company. (c) Ordinary Resolution 6 – Re-election of Moyra Binti Ibrahim as Independent Non-Executive Director Puan Moyra Binti Ibrahim was appointed to our Board as Independent Non-Executive Director on 28 November 2022. She demonstrated his independence through her engagement in the meetings by providing external perspectives on the business and constructively feedback to the Company in developing the Group’s business strategies. She has also exercised her due care and carried out his professional duties proficiently during her tenure as the Independent Non-Executive Director of the Company. (d) Ordinary Resolution 7 – Re-election of Farhash Wafa Salvador as Chairman, Non-Independent Non-Executive Director Farhash Wafa Salvador was appointed to our Board as Chairman, Non-Independent Non-Executive Director on 3 January 2023. He exercised his due care and carried out his professional duties proficiently during his tenure as Chairman, Non-Independent Non-Executive Director of the Company. (vi) Item 8 of the Agenda – Authority to Issue Shares pursuant to the Companies Act 2016 The Company wishes to renew the mandate on the authority to issue shares pursuant to the Companies Act 2016 at the Tenth Annual General Meeting of the Company (hereinafter referred to as the “General Mandate”). The Company had been granted a general mandate by its shareholders at the Ninth Annual General Meeting of the Company held on 26 May 2022 (hereinafter referred to as the “Previous Mandate”). As at the date of this Notice, the Company has not issued any new ordinary shares pursuant to the Previous Mandate granted by the shareholders and hence, no proceeds were raised therefrom. The proposed resolution, if passed, will provide flexibility to the Directors of the Company to undertake any possible fund raising activities, including but not limited to placement of shares for the purpose of funding Company’s future investment projects, working capital, acquisitions and/or such other purposes to such persons at any time as the Directors may deem fit, without having to convene a general meeting, provided that the aggregate number of shares issued pursuant to the General Mandate does not exceed 10% of the total number of issued shares of the Company. This authority, unless revoked or varied by the Company in a general meeting, will expire at the conclusion of the next Annual General Meeting of the Company. (vii) Item 9 of the Agenda – Proposed Renewal of and New Shareholders’ Mandate for Recurrent Related Party Transactions of a Revenue or Trading Nature The proposed resolution, if passed, will allow the Group to enter into Recurrent Related Party Transactions of a revenue or trading nature pursuant to the provisions of Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad Main Market Listing Requirements. Please refer to the Circular/Statement to Shareholders dated 27 April 2023 for further information. (viii) Item 10 of the Agenda – Proposed Renewal of Authority for the Company to purchase its own shares The proposed resolution, if passed, will allow the Company to purchase its own shares up to 10% of the total issued share capital of the Company by utilising the funds allocated which shall not be exceed the total retained profits of the Company. The Board of Directors may resolve to cancel all the shares purchased, retain all the shares purchased as treasury shares, or retain part thereof as treasury shares and subsequently cancelling the balance. Please refer to the Circular/Statement to Shareholders dated 27 April 2023 for further information. Personal data privacy: By submitting an instrument appointing a proxy(ies) and/or representative(s) to attend, speak and vote at the Tenth Annual General Meeting and/or any adjournment thereof, a member of the Company (i) consents to the collection, use and disclosure of the member’s personal data by the Company (or its agents) for the purpose of the processing and administration by the Company (or its agents) of proxies and representatives appointed for the Tenth Annual General Meeting (including any adjournment thereof) and the preparation and compilation of the attendance lists, minutes and other documents relating to the Tenth Annual General Meeting (including any adjournment thereof), and in order for the Company (or its agents) to comply with any applicable laws, listing rules, regulations and/or guidelines (collectively, the “Purposes”), (ii) warrants that where the member discloses the personal data of the member’s proxy(ies) and/or representative(s) to the Company (or its agents), the member has obtained the prior consent of such proxy(ies) and/or representative(s) for the collection, use and disclosure by the Company (or its agents) of the personal data of such proxy(ies) and/or representative(s) for the Purposes, and (iii) agrees that the member will indemnify the Company in respect of any penalties, liabilities, claims, demands, losses and damages as a result of the member’s breach of warranty.

14 theSUN ON THURSDAY | APRIL 27, 2023 SUNBIZ READ OUR HERE /thesundaily SCAN ME S’pore central bank sees rents, inflation easing amid uncertain outlook SINGAPORE: Singapore’s growth outlook in 2023 appears uncertain amid global headwinds, the central bank said yesterday, but price pressures may ease as rents, a key component of inflation in the city-state, moderate in coming quarters. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said in a semi-annual report the economy is expected to grow between 0.5% and 2.5%, less than last year’s 3.6%, hit by contractions in trade-related sectors amid a global downturn in manufacturing. But a key driver of inflation, the pace of residential rent increases, may moderate in the second half of the year as housing supply picks up after the pandemic, it added. “In the quarters ahead, headline and core inflation in Singapore are expected to moderate further,” the MAS said, adding that headline inflation, which includes accommodation costs, would come in between 5.5% and 6.5% for 2023. The moderation in rents will take time to pass through to inflation data, it said. Already ranked among the most expensive cities in the world, Singapore has seen living costs climb to multi-year highs, sparking questions over its attractiveness as a global business hub. Public and private residential rents have risen sharply since 2021 by 38% and 43%, respectively, government data show, mainly because of coronavirus-related disruptions in construction. Earlier this month, the MAS kept its monetary policy unchanged after five successive rounds of tightening since October 2021, including two surprise moves in 2022. “The prevailing monetary policy stance is sufficiently tight and appropriate for securing medium-term price stability,” it said in the report. – Reuters B R I E F SPONY.AI GETS NOD FOR CHINA DRIVERLESS ROBOTAXI SERVICE BENGALURU: Robotaxi startup Pony.ai said yesterday that it had received a permit to operate fully driverless ride-hailing services in China’s Guangzhou city. The Toyota Motor Corp-backed startup, which has operations in China and the US, now has permits for fully driverless robotaxis in China’s capital Beijing and Guangzhou. The vehicles will not have humans in the driving seat nor safety operator. Pony.ai started driverless testing in Guangzhou in June 2021 and has accumulated nearly 200,000 fee-charging robotaxi orders globally as of this month, the company said in a statement. Californiabased Pony.ai’s next generation robotaxi model has obtained on-road testing licenses in Beijing and Guangzhou, it said. – Reuters PHILIPPINES SAYS ‘DANGEROUS’ TO CUT RATES FASTER THAN FED MANILA: The Philippines‘ central bank considers it “dangerous” to cut interest rates faster than a policy easing by the US Federal Reserve, its governor said yesterday. While Philippine inflation will decelerate to below 4% late this year and come in closer to 3% in 2024, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) aims to maintain its interest rate differential with the Fed, Governor Felipe Medalla told reporters. “If inflation in the US is sticky and cuts are slow, it is very dangerous for the Philippine central bank to cut faster than the US,“ Medalla said. – Reuters HONDA MOTOR, TSMC FORGE STRATEGIC COLLABORATION TOKYO: Japan’s Honda Motor Co said yesterday it had struck a strategic collaboration agreement with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) as part of efforts to secure a stable supply of semiconductors. Japanese automakers have struggled to completely shake off the hit from tight global chip and parts supply during the pandemic. The company expects to start seeing an impact from the tie-up with TSMC from the 2025 financial year, chief operating officer Shinji Aoyama said. – Reuters StanChart Q1 profit tops forecasts on rising rates HONG KONG: Standard Chartered PLC (StanChart) yesterday said first-quarter profit jumped 21%, beating expectations, as rising interest rates buoyed income from its cash management and retail banking businesses. CEO Bill Winters said he now expects income for the emerging markets-focused lender to grow around 10% this year, the top of a previously guided range. The earnings update showed how rising central bank rates have boosted revenue, as StanChart charged borrowers more interest while not passing all of the increase to depositors. StanChart, which earns most of its revenue in Asia, said January-March statutory pretax profit reached US$1.81 billion (RM8 billion). That compared with US$1.49 billion a year earlier and the US$1.43 billion average of 14 analyst estimates compiled by the bank. It was StanChart’s largest single-quarter profit since the start of 2014 despite its biggest income earner – financial markets trading – seeing weaker activity compared with last year when markets experienced record volatility. The bank’s shares opened flat in early trading in London, outperforming a sagging STOXX European banks index which fell 0.4%. “All-in, we see this as a solid set of results, and would expect a broadly neutral share price reaction,” analysts at Goldman Sachs said. Standard Chartered said income in its corporate cash management business tripled due to “strong pricing discipline and passthrough rate management”. Retail banking income rose 53%, propelled by deposit income which also tripled to US$771 million. The robust earnings echoed resilience at US banks which reported results earlier this month, as the sector weathered a global confidence crisis following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Credit Suisse Group AG. European rival UBS Group AG on Tuesday said it would gird itself for the “hard” task of swallowing fallen compatriot Credit Suisse, which registered 61 billion Swiss francs (RM304 billion) of asset outflows in the first quarter. StanChart has had “no contact” recently from First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC, chief financial officer Andy Halford told reporters, after the United Arab Emirates-based lender re-ignited StanChart takeover speculation in January by confirming it had considered making a bid. The lender could complete the disposal of its aviation finance business, which has a fleet worth some US$3.7 billion and has been earmarked for sale since January, as soon as the next financial quarter, Halford said. Not all of StanChart’s update was positive, with expenses rising 5% due to inflation as well as hiring for strategic initiatives, such as a push in China. Credit impairment, a source of worry for bank investors in recent years as the global economy cools and runaway inflation pressures businesses, remained low at just US$26 million versus US$198 million in the same period a year earlier. The bank said it saw signs of stabilisation in China’s troubled commercial real estate market, with no increase in credit impairment from the previous quarter. China’s policy direction has turned positive on real estate, “but the underlying economic activity and sales activity of the real estate projects is not yet back to where it was”, deputy chief financial officer Peter Burrill said at an industry conference last month. – Reuters MGM may hit jackpot as it bets on Asia’s next Macau HONG KONG: If Japan is the next Macau, US$16 billion (RM71 billion) MGM Resorts International may be the only winner left at the table. US-listed rivals Las Vegas Sands, Wynn Resorts and Caesars Entertainment all decided against pursuing a chance to operate the country’s first casino. By the time the last of them backed down in 2020, it seemed a sensible call as the pandemic took hold. But it left a big prize for MGM. After years of debate and delays, Japan has finally given approval for a resort in Osaka. MGM and its local partner Orix will each have a 40% stake and have committed to spend a total US$8.1 billion to get the project up and running by its expected opening in 2029. Although Japan’s population is aging and shrinking, Osaka’s crowded, well-connected sprawl makes the site accessible for millions of local punters. An established market for gaming in arcade-like pachinko parlours, worth US$150 billion in sales before Covid-19 struck, suggests there will be plentiful domestic demand for gambling too. It has been tough to get this far however. To bolster public and political support for casinos, Japan imposed tough responsiblegaming rules such as an entrance fee for gamblers. That could suppress visitors and revenue. And the plan itself, part of an effort to boost tourism, is a reminder that economic growth has been lacklustre. Nonetheless, the government expects around US$4 billion in annual revenues from the new property, and the figure could be higher because two other mooted casino projects have yet to progress beyond the Osaka’s crowded, well-connected sprawl makes the site accessible for millions of local punters. - UNSPLASH PIX oSet to win big as US rivals decline to invest in Japan’s first legal casino resort set to open in 2029 drawing board. MGM seems set to enjoy a first mover advantage. Assume US$5 billion of sales, MGM’s share is not far off the US$2.9 billion top line the US company’s subsidiary MGM China, delivered from the Chinese territory in 2019. Even if revenue didn’t breach US$4 billion in 2029, an ebitda margin of around 20% – 10 percentage points less than Macau enjoyed prepandemic – would see the Osaka project score a low-teen return on invested capital for the project, according to Morningstar calculations, easily besting MGM’s 8.7% weighted average cost of capital. Meanwhile, the pace of Macau’s recovery from a long, hard pandemic is uncertain. MGM is by no means giving up on what was once the world’s largest gambling hub: it will manage the Japan commitment alongside a pledge to invest US$2 billion more in the Chinese territory. It has the firepower to pursue both after selling American assets. But as diversifying from China becomes a popular mantra, this big bet looks smarter than it once did. – Reuters

2 7 A P R I L 2 0 2 3 T H U R S D A Y The impossible choice THE students and teachers of Sungjin High School are the first to witness the start of a violent alien invasion. In desperation, the government orders forced conscription for all third-year high schoolers. This means that the students who were just weeks away from their college entrance exams are forced to swap their pens for rifles, and train in order to defend their planet against the invaders. Kim Ki-hae plays Chi-yeol, who is our hapless protagonist who just wants to make it out alive. Putting the students through their paces will be the platoon leader Lee Chun Ho, played by Shin Hyun-soo. Meanwhile, the class teacher Park Eun Young (Lee Se-mi) is determined to do what she can to keep her students out of harm’s way. Adapted from a webtoon, Duty After School received rave reviews since it premiered in early April with Part 1 (episodes 1-6). Part 2 (episodes 7-10) which concludes the series, will have an encore screening this Saturday and Sunday. In this transcript provided by tvN Asia, Kim, Shin and Lim share their thoughts about their characters and their roles in the series. Answers have been edited for length. What did you find most interesting in the story and in your character? Shin Hyun-soo: “In this universe, Lee Choon-ho is the first to realise the danger of the spheres, and after the attack by the spheres, he is appointed to Sungjin High School Class 3-2 as its platoon leader. He tries his best not to lose any of the children from the class. When acting as Choon-ho, what I focused on was the warm and sad “gaze” I had when looking at the children.” Lim Se-mi: “As the homeroom teacher for Sungjin High School class 3-2, Park Eun-young is one of the adults who is on the side of the children. So, I went into filming with the idea to just portray one aspect clearly. ‘I’m here because of the children. It is enough with just my love for the children.’ That was what I felt was the most important.” Kim Ki-hae: “When I first received the character Kim Chi-yeol, my first impressions of him were that he’s a really timid and shy person who doesn’t stand out among his friends; an outsider so to speak. “His personality is very different from mine and I felt it’ll be difficult to portray him so I really focused my energy on analysing the character. I also worked on establishing the character together with the director. “In the earlier episodes of the drama, he is someone who doesn’t readily takes action and is really quiet but in the later episodes, as he experiences a lot of death and difficulties, he changes into someone who would take action first and takes Chi-yeol has to grow up fast and learn how to fight. – TVN ASIA oSci-fi action drama series Duty After School pits high-school students against invading aliens Lee Choon-ho eventually comes to care for the students. – TVN ASIA Park Eun-young never forgot her duty as a teacher. – TVN ASIA The young students getting to grips with their new weapons. – TVN ASIA charge. That’s how I acted so if the viewers can focus on that, I think they’ll be able to feel closer to Chiyeol, and enjoy the drama more. “This drama is not like The Avengers or DC Marvel type of hero movie. It is the story of really ordinary Korean high school students who enlist in exchange for their university entrance exams, and instead of it being of their own will, they have “no choice” but to fight with the extraterrestrial forces because that is the social convention of Korea. “That’s why, not just me, but all the students are forced into joining the war with their bare bodies, and without any special skills or techniques. “So, instead of a drama that focuses on the battle with the extraterrestrial forces, I think it’ll be great if the focus was on the conflict, growth and developing love, friendship and closeness between these young students who’re still underaged and immature.” Can you share your most memorable experience on set? Shin Hyun-soo: “In Episode 5, there’s a scene where I play happily with the children while sprinkling flour, and I remember really going all out with playing while filming that scene. I enjoyed feeling like a child again and just being immersed in the scene. And after this was a scene where Choon-ho, for the first time, gives the children an order that’s emotional, instead of rational. “I remember having to continuously hold my tears back as I spoke Choon-ho’s lines where he expressed his true feelings to the children for the first time. As the actor of Choon-ho, I think those were his most memorable lines.” Kim Ki-hae: “It was great because I was filming with actors around the same age. When we had shoots in other locations, we would sleep together, when we had shoots at the beach, we would go out at night to play etc. It felt very much like going on a school trip. “My most memorable scene was a scene where I lost everything and just break down while trying to suppress my emotions. I don’t mean to say my crying acting was the best. What happened before and after that scene was really terrible and difficult for the character, it was really unbelievable, and felt completely hopeless, as if everything has come to an end. I really liked that kind of dramatic feeling and I still remember it vividly now.” Do you think you can survive if a war with aliens breaks out in reallife? Shin Hyun-soo: “I’m not sure if I’ll survive but my personality is the kind to think first before taking action. I’m not sure if this will help me survive.” Lim Se-mi: “As long as they don’t attack me, I’ll probably be able to survive. Since young, I’ve often heard that I’m the kind who’ll be able to live well regardless of where I am. Haha!” Kim Ki-hae: “This might sound bad but I think you’d need to be a really selfish, underhand, and opportunistic person in order to survive such an apocalyptic situation. Kim Ki-hae isn’t such a person so I think it’d be hard for me to survive! (joking)” As this is a sci-fi drama set in a school, how do you feel about going back to school? Shin Hyun-soo: “While filming in the classroom, as I looked at the objects that I’ve used before, such as the tables, I think it has brought back those memories. And, if I could say something to my high school self, it would be, ‘Enjoy the time now, even more freely’.” Lim Se-mi: “I occasionally recalled my school days while filming for Duty After School. I also thought about which character was I like. And when my friends faced difficulties, or I faced difficulties, I’d like to give encouragement and courage to myself then. And tell her, ‘enjoy every moment to the fullest, experience love and immerse yourself in your life’.” Kim Ki-hae: “In Korea, meals are provided in schools. It’s been 6 years since I’ve had a school meal. Because we filmed in a school, it felt like school wasn’t something that happened 6 years ago, but 6 days ago. “Seeing that the love stories of Korean students is popular overseas and often portrayed in dramas, it definitely seems like there’s a nostalgia associated with love in school. And if I had experienced love at that time, it would’ve been very helpful when acting. “So, if I’m to say something to my younger self, it would be … fall in love! (joking)” Duty After School Part 2 will encore at 9.15pm on April 29 and 30 via tvN Asia (Astro CH395 & Astro Go | unifi tV CH211 & unifi playTV | tonton).

16 ENTERTAINMENT theSun LYFE ON THURSDAY | APRIL 27, 2023 @thesundaily FOLLOW ON INSTAGRAM SCAN ME Party at CinemaCon oWarner Bros revealed its plan for the next decade at the annual event CELEBRATING its 100th year, Warner Bros unveiled a packed lineup of new bigscreen films at CinemaCon on Tuesday, from a live-action Barbie comedy to Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg’s remake of The Color Purple. The historic Hollywood studio also used its presentation at the annual Las Vegas gathering to tease a “10-year plan” to relaunch its DC superhero films, which include beloved characters such as Batman and Superman. David Zaslav, who spearheaded last year’s corporate merger of Warner and Discovery, took to the stage personally to court an audience predominantly made up of theater owners. “We don’t want to do direct-tostreaming movies,” said Zaslav, whose predecessor was slammed for releasing Warner films directly onto its streaming platform HBO Max – recently rebranded as Max. Across a two-and-a-half-hour presentation, Zaslav and fellow Warner bosses brought out A-list stars including Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, Timothee Chalamet and Zendaya. Robbie and Gosling co-star in Barbie, out July 21, which finds the ubiquitous blonde doll living in a dreamlike, pink-hued world, before starting to question her too-perfect reality and traveling to real-life Los Angeles. “Everyone knows Barbie, and she’s never been on the big screen before,” said director Greta Gerwig, who drew inspiration from The Wizard of Oz as well as disco music culture. “They made life-size Barbie houses ... everything was extraordinary,” she said. Gosling said making the film was “like a fever dream”, explaining: “I was living my life, and then one day I was bleaching my hair, shaving my legs and wearing bespoke neon outfits and rollerblading down Venice Beach.” Oprah Winfrey took to the stage to introduce her and Steven Spielberg’s new version of The Color Purple, out Christmas Day. The movie is based on the Broadway musical adaptation of Alice Walker’s novel about Black women enduring trauma, sexual abuse and racism in the rural Deep South in the early 20th century. “The reason why it’s not your mama’s Color Purple – but your mama’s gonna really like it – is because the musical factor is so dynamic, and the magical realism is so perfected here,” said Winfrey. Winfrey starred in the previous 1985 film, earning an Oscar nod for best supporting actress, and is a producer on the new version. Chalamet introduced footage from two new films in which he stars. He appears in Wonka, set for December release, as a young, idealistic version of Roald Dahl’s famous chocolatier, whose efforts to launch a magical candy empire are blocked by a “chocolate cartel.” Chalamet described the “bizarre” process of shooting the origin story – which involved “a lot of swimming in pools of actual chocolate.” He also returns for Dune: Part Two, the second and final part of Denis Villeneuve’s Oscar-winning adaptation of Frank Herbert’s epic sci-fi novel, out in November. Austin Butler, Lea Seydoux, Christopher Walken and Florence Pugh join the cast for a sequel that Villeneuve described as an “actionpacked epic war movie.” The 10-year plan The presentation was rounded off with Warner’s “DC Universe” of superhero films. The DC movies, though popular, have in recent times suffered from various production issues and casting U-turns, and been largely overshadowed by the rival, recordgrossing Marvel films. James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy) and Peter Safran (Aquaman) were recently brought in as new heads of the division. This year, the studio will release The Flash, Blue Beetle and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. Though those films were made under Warner’s previous regime, Gunn said they will “lead perfectly into the DCU slate that we have coming up starting in 2024.” Superman: Legacy, directed by Gunn, is set for July 2025. Safran said the future DC movies would be “vast, interconnected and filled with promise and possibility”, and promised he and Gunn are “cracking into” the universe’s “first chapter.” Zaslav, a self-professed “lover of DC”, told the audience that Warner has a new “10-year plan” for the titles. – AFP Ed Sheeran’s legal fight begins ED Sheeran arrived at US federal court Tuesday for a trial over whether the British pop star plagiarised American music icon Marvin Gaye’s Let’s Get It On in his own 2014 hit Thinking Out Loud. Industry members are closely following the copyright lawsuit as it could set precedent for protections on songwriters’ creations and open the door to further legal challenges. It’s the second trial in a year for Sheeran, who successfully testified at a London court last April in a case centered around his song Shape Of You, saying that lawsuit was emblematic of copyright litigation going too far. He arrived Tuesday at the courthouse in Manhattan silently and with his head lowered, wading past the throng of cameras and journalists stationed outside. At issue in the New York case are alleged “striking similarities and overt common elements” between Gaye and Sheeran’s songs. During the trial, Sheeran told the court “Yes, Amy Wadge and I wrote the song Thinking Out Loud,” referring to the ballad’s co-author, said The New York Times. The plaintiffs are the heirs of Ed Townsend, a musician and producer who co-wrote Gaye’s 1973 soul classic. “I am here for justice, protecting my father’s intellectual properties,“ Townsend’s daughter Kathryn Townsend Griffin told journalists outside the courthouse. “As Marvin Gaye would say, ‘Let’s get it on,‘” quipped Ben Crump, lawyer for the plaintiffs. But jury trials over music copyright could go any which way, and in this case likely will ultimately come down to the arrangement of a single chord progression. A musicologist retained by the defense says in court documents that the four-chord sequence was used in a number of songs before Gaye’s hit came out in 1973. “There’s only so many notes and very few chords used in pop music,“ Sheeran said last April. “Coincidence is bound to happen if 60,000 are being released every day on Spotify.” – Reuters Calypso legend Harry Belafonte dead at 96 HARRY BELAFONTE, a singer, songwriter and groundbreaking actor who started his entertainment career belting “Day O” in his 1950s hit song Banana Boat before turning to political activism, has died at the age of 96. Belafonte died of congestive heart failure at his home in New York on Tuesday with his wife Pamela by his side, the firm of his longtime spokesperson Ken Sunshine said in a statement. As a Black leading man who explored racial themes in 1950s movies, Belafonte would later move on to working with his friend Martin Luther King Jr. during the U.S. civil rights movement in the early 1960s. He became the driving force behind the celebrity-studded, famine-fighting hit song We Are the World in the 1980s. “I’ve got to be a part of whatever the rebellion is that tries to change all this,“ he told the New York Times in 2001. “The anger is a necessary fuel. Rebellion is healthy.” Belafonte was born in New York City’s borough of Manhattan but spent his early childhood in his family’s native Jamaica. Handsome and suave, he came to be known as the “King of Calypso” early in his career. He was the first Black person allowed to perform in many plush nightspots and also had racial breakthroughs in movies at a time when segregation prevailed in much of the United States. In Island in the Sun in 1954 his character entertained notions of a relationship with a white woman played by Joan Fontaine, which reportedly triggered threats to burn down theaters in the American South. In 1959’s Odds Against Tomorrow Belafonte played a bank robber with a racist partner. In the 1960s he campaigned with King, and in the 1980s, he worked to end apartheid in South Africa and coordinated Nelson Mandela’s first visit to the United States. Belafonte traveled the world as a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund, in 1987 and later started an AIDS foundation. In 2014 he received an Academy Award for his humanitarian work. Belafonte provided the impetus for We Are the World, the 1985 allstar musical collaboration that raised money for famine relief in Ethiopia. After seeing a grim news report on the famine, he wanted to do something similar to the fundraising song Do They Know It’s Christmas? by the British supergroup Band Aid a year earlier. We Are the World featured superstars such as Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Ray Charles and Diana Ross and raised millions of dollars. “A lot of people say to me, ‘When as an artist did you decide to become an activist?’” Belafonte said in a National Public Radio interview in 2011. “I say to them, ‘I was long an activist before I became an artist.’” – Reuters Gosling (left) and Robbie dressed all in pink during the Barbie segment. – AFP Chalamet coming out to introduce Wonka. – AFP Belafonte will be remembered for his music and his activism. – AFP Sheeran was accused of music plagiarism by the late Gaye’s estate. – REUTERS

17 ENTERTAINMENT theSun LYFE ON THURSDAY | APRIL 27, 2023 /theSunMedia FOLLOW ON YOUTUBE SCAN ME Brotherhood in wartime AT a military checkpoint in Afghanistan, an American platoon led by Sgt. John Kinley (Jake Gyllenhaal) is ambushed by a lone Taliban insurgent, who sets off an improvised explosive device which kills a few of the soldiers, including a translator. After recruiting another translator, Ahmed (Dar Salim), Kinley’s platoon are ambushed once again, with the latter and Ahmed then fleeing across the Afghan wasteland, away from pursuing insurgents and towards a U.S. Army base. Director Guy Ritchie then switches the Gyllenhaal (centre) once again delivers the goods despite the limitations on his character’s writing. – ALL PIX BY WARNER BROS. oThe Covenant is Guy Ritchie at his most restrained █ BY MARK MATHEN VICTOR While most of the film is quiet, the climax is endlessly loud. perspective as the film enters this second act. At some point, something goes wrong, and Kinley is taken out of commission; the camera switches to Salim’s Ahmed. The duo’s survival then hinges on Ahmed, who has to drag Kinley to safety. Set during America’s “War on Afghanistan”, The Covenant’s main story begins. Less about the war itself, and more about the camaraderie between soldiers during wartime, The Covenant explores the effects that Ahmed’s actions has on Kinley, especially in the third act which is completely different compared to the first two and final acts. Kinley, safe in America, attempts to navigate inane immigration and bureaucratic red tape in order to secure visas for Ahmed and his family, who are hiding in Afghanistan from insurgents that are hunting down translators that worked for the American army. Ritchie tries to say something regarding America’s overall failure in Afghanistan, but misses the forest for the trees, as The Covenant instead settles on a lukewarm narration on the abandoning of Afghan translators that were contracted by the American army. The film then returns to Afghanistan for the final act, which includes a lot of gunfights, and a huge set-piece involving a Lockheed AC-130 gunship. Unlike the rest of his films, The Covenant has Ritchie at his most restrained. There are no gangsters. No quick-witted characters. Practically zero humour. The editing is not frantic quick-cuts. Ritchie departs his usual conventions to deliver a rather grounded film set during yet another pointless (American) war, yet The Covenant – despite great direction and bravura performances by its two leads – does not really deliver anything deeper beyond the film’s rather surface level, blunt message. The Covenant premieres in cinemas nationwide on April 27. 0 Director: Guy Ritchie 0 Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Dar Salim, Alexander Ludwig E-VALUE 7 ACTING 9 PLOT 6 Mario remains on top of box office MAMA MIA! The Super Mario Bros. Movie did an impressive US$58.2 million in ticket sales in North American movie theatres this weekend, estimates showed Sunday. (US$1 = RM4.45) The joint effort of Universal, Nintendo and Illumination studios, now in its third week out, ranks as the year’s top movie so far, taking in an accumulated US$434.3 million domestically and US$437 million internationally. Voice actors in the game-based animation include Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Jack Black and KeeganMichael Key. Second place for the Fridaythrough-Sunday period went to Warner Bros.’ blood-soaked horror movie Evil Dead Rise, at US$23.5 million – “an excellent opening” for a movie made for just US$17 million, said analyst David A. Gross. Another new release, MGM’s action war movie Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant, didn’t fare quite as well, taking in an estimated US$6.3 million for third spot. Gross said that “weak start” fell well short of targets. Jake Gyllenhaal stars in the film’s tale of a US army sergeant who, after returning to the States, goes back to Afghanistan to rescue a friend (played by Iraq-born Dar Salim) who once saved him from the Taliban. In fourth place, still strong in its fifth week out, was Lionsgate’s neonoir thriller John Wick: Chapter 4, at US$5.8 million. Keanu Reeves plays the titular hitman. And fifth was Amazon Studios’ Air, a sports drama about the business deal surrounding Nike and the Michael Jordan basketball shoe of the title name, at US$5.5 million. Rounding out the top 10 were: 0 Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Russia releases first feature film shot in space THE first feature film shot in space premiered in Russian cinemas on Thursday, as Moscow exulted in beating a rival Hollywood project amid a confrontation with the West. The Challenge is about a surgeon dispatched to the International Space Station (ISS) to save an injured cosmonaut. Russia sent an actress and a film director for a 12-day stint on the ISS in October 2021 to film scenes aboard the orbiting laboratory. The Russian crew beat a Hollywood project announced in 2020 by Mission Impossible star Tom Cruise together with NASA and Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Russian President Vladimir Putin has lauded the film, saying: “We are the first to have shot a feature film in orbit, aboard a spacecraft. Once again the first”. In The Challenge, a surgeon played by 38-yearold Yulia Peresild – one of Russia’s most glamorous actresses – is sent to the ISS to save a cosmonaut injured during a spacewalk. Director Klim Shipenko, 39, who was in charge of camera, lighting and sound, brought back 30 hours of footage, 50 minutes of which were used in the final cut. Peresild and Shipenko underwent training for four months before going to space on a Soyuz spacecraft accompanied by a cosmonaut. The sequences were shot in the Russian module of the ISS and featured cameo appearances by three Russian cosmonauts stationed there at the time. The camera followed Peresild moving through the cramped space, her blonde hair floating in zero gravity. Ahead of the film’s release, the capsule which brought Peresild and Shipenko back to Earth was put on display in central Moscow. Tatyana Kulikova, who works at a factory in the city of Ufa, said she looked foward to watching the movie. “We are Russia, and Russia is always ahead,” the 45-year-old told AFP. The film was a joint project of space agency Roscosmos and top Russian TV network Channel One, whose boss Konstantin Ernst, did not hide his joy in beating Hollywood. “We are all fans of Gravity,” Ernst told reporters on Monday, referring to the Hollywood blockbuster starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. “But our Challenge shot in actual weightlessness shows that was just CGI” in Hollywood films, he said, referring to computergenerated imagery. – ETX Studio In The Challenge a surgeon played by Yulia Peresild is sent to the ISS to save a cosmonaut injured during a spacewalk. – PINTEREST Thieves (US$5.4 million) 0 The Pope’s Exorcist (US$3.3 million) 0 Renfield (US$3.1 million) 0 Beau Is Afraid (US$2.7 million) 0 Suzume (US$1.6 million) – ETX Studio

18 FEATURE theSun LYFE ON THURSDAY | APRIL 27, 2023 The emergence of e-commerce platforms and marketplaces has also made it easier for shoppers to access a wide range of products and services at competitive prices. – ALL PIX VIA 123RF The future of shopping THE recent season of Hari Raya Aidilfitri is a time of celebration and joy for many Malaysians. It is a time to gather with family and friends, indulge in delicious traditional foods, and dress up in beautiful new clothes. However, the onset of the pandemic has changed the way we celebrate and shop for coming festivities. Over the past few years, there has been a significant shift towards online shopping during the festive season. This shift has gained momentum since the Covid-19 pandemic and the ensuing Movement Control Order (MCO) in the country. With social distancing and limited physical interactions being strongly advised at that time, many people have found online shopping to be a safer and more convenient way to shop for their festive needs. Also, the emergence of ecommerce platforms and marketplaces has also made it easier for shoppers to access a wide range of products and services at competitive prices, with attractive discounts and promotions during the festive season. This has led to a significant shift towards online shopping, with more people preferring the convenience of shopping from home over traditional brick-andmortar stores or even booth fairs and festivals. So, let’s delve into the reasons behind this shift, and explore the advantages and disadvantages of both online and in-store shopping oWith more businesses and services moving online, we explore the pros and cons of online vs in-store shopping █ BY HAZIQUE ZAIRILL Amputee veteran eyes Everest summit range, and was always drawn to adventure sports. “When I would ski, the sight of the mountains would remind me of Everest. I would always wonder if I could climb,” he said. Two below-the-knee amputees have reached the peak in the past – New Zealander Mark Inglis in 2006 and China’s Xia Boyu in 2018. Magar began preparing for his own expedition the same year as Xia’s ascent. But he was forced to put his training on hold to campaign against a since-revoked Nepal law that banned climbers with disabilities on safety grounds. He climbs wearing a specially designed suit and grips attached to shortened prosthetics, with silicon liners under his thighs to prevent frostbite. Magar finally feels ready for the monumental task ahead after successful summits of Nepal’s Mera Peak (6,476 metres) and the highest peak in the Alps, Mont Blanc (4,808 metres). “There have been many difficulties, but finally everything is coming together for my dream,“ he said. His expedition has echoes of the first-ever summit of Everest by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa, news of which reached the United Kingdom on the day of Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation. It is a happy coincidence for Magar that his summit coincides with next month’s crowning of King Charles III, almost 70 years later, giving him an opportunity to honour the country he served in battle. “That’s the crown I fought for. That’s the crown I lost my legs for,” he said. Magar wears shorts everywhere, even in the chilly Himalayan weather, to proudly flaunt his prosthetic legs – but it took him a long time to come to terms with his injury. “I thought my life was over, I thought I would have to spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair,” he said. The father of three felt suicidal and developed a drinking problem before the thought of his children’s futures forced him to re-evaluate his own. Gurkha veteran Hari Budha Magar poses during an interview with AFP in Kathmandu. – AFP Physical shopping can be a fun and festive experience, with the sights and sounds of the holiday season adding to the excitement. GURKHA veteran Hari Budha Magar grew up in the shadow of the Himalayas, but only after losing his legs did he resolve to make his childhood dream of scaling Everest a reality. Magar, 43, stepped on an improvised explosive device in 2010 while serving in Afghanistan with the Brigade of Gurkhas – a unit of Nepalis recruited into the British Army. After years of rehabilitation and training, next month he plans to summit the world’s highest mountain, an endeavour promoted on his website under the slogan “no legs, no limits”. If successful, the expedition will make him the first double abovethe-knee amputee to see the world from the 8,849-metre peak. “After losing both of my legs, my aim became to see what I could do physically. It opened my mind, and I attempted everything I could put my hands on,” Magar told AFP before setting off for the Everest base camp. Magar grew up in Nepal, in the foothills of the Himalayan mountain for the festive needs. Product Selection One of the biggest advantages of online shopping is the sheer number of products that are available. Online stores don’t have the same physical limitations as physical stores, so they can offer a much wider selection of products. If you’re searching for something specific, you’re much more likely to find it online than in a physical store and its worldwide. However, physical stores have their own advantages when it comes to product selection. When you shop in a physical store, you can see, feel and test/try the products in person, which can help you make a more informed decision. Pricing and Discounts Another key difference between physical and online stores is pricing. Online stores are often able to offer lower prices than physical stores because they don’t have the same overhead costs. And sometimes, online stores often run sales and offer discounts that aren’t available in physical stores. Nonetheless, physical stores also “My main aim is to raise awareness about disability. Because if I was aware, I wouldn’t waste two years of my life, I would have made good use of it,” he said. Magar said he wanted to show that people with disabilities can do anything, but there is “just a different way of doing things”. “As long as you can adapt your life according to the time and the situation, we can do anything we want. There is no limit, the sky is the limit,” he said. Magar’s guide, Krishna Thapa, is confident the expedition will succeed. “He is a great mountaineer ... he has six years of preparation and several records,” he told AFP. “None of the other climbers have that.” – ETX Studio Online shopping, on the other hand, allows you to shop anytime, anywhere, with easy price comparisons and a greater selection of products. Customer Service and Returns Returns and customer service are two other areas where physical and online stores differ. When you shop in a physical store, you can usually return items in person, which is more convenient than mailing them back to an online store. Furthermore, physical stores frequently employ knowledgeable sales associates who can assist you with any questions or concerns you may have. In terms of returns and customer service, online stores also have their advantages. Free returns are frequently available at online retailers, and support is frequently available by phone, email, or live chat. Online appears to be the winner, but it does have some drawbacks. One major drawback is the inability to physically touch and inspect the product before making a purchase. This can lead to a higher risk of receiving damaged or faulty products, or products that do not meet the expected quality standards. Another disadvantage is the lack of immediate gratification. While in-store shopping allows for instant product gratification, online shopping may take a few days or even weeks for the products to arrive, which may not be ideal for those who are in a hurry. Despite these disadvantages, online shopping is still a popular choice for many people during the holiday season due to its many benefits. The convenience of shopping from the comfort of one’s home without having to brave crowded malls and traffic jams is one of the most significant benefits. Conclusion In conclusion, both online and physical shopping have their pros and cons. It ultimately depends on your preferences, budget, and convenience. If you’re looking for a wide range of products, competitive prices, and convenience, then online shopping might be the best option for you. But, if you prefer to see, touch, and feel the product before buying it, and you value face-to-face customer service, then physical shopping might be a better option. Whichever mode of shopping you choose, remember to take necessary precautions and stay safe. have their own advantages when it comes to pricing. Many physical stores offer price matching guarantees, which means that they will match or beat the prices of their online competitors.

19 FASHION theSun LYFE ON THURSDAY | APRIL 27, 2023 BANANAS, mushrooms, apples, beets, oranges, lemons and pineapple ... The list looks like it might be the ingredients of a vegan meal, but it’s not. As the climate crisis intensifies, the fashion industry is looking for natural, more sustainable solutions for creating and dyeing the clothes we’ll be wearing tomorrow. And while some players are turning to electronic waste or marine waste collected on beaches and in the oceans, many see in the waste of the food industry a ‘cleaner’ way to create clothing without causing (too much more) harm to the planet. Here are three ingredients from your garbage – or the natural environment – that could be a new resource for the textile industry. Bananas Natural, sustainable, resistant, and regenerative; banana fibre has been attracting the interest of several fashion players for several years now for its many qualities. Spanish company Pyratex now includes it in its range of natural materials; it’s appreciated for loaning itself to sustainable, organic cultivation methods, without necessitating pesticides or excess water – other than rain. The company has collaborated with Danish brand Ganni on a collection made from banana fibre. Meanwhile, Bananatex specializes in banana fibre, developing a sustainable technical fabric of the same name made from Abacá banana trees grown naturally in the Philippines. The material, which has won numerous awards and certification, is already being used by a number of ready-to-wear brands, including H&M and Tommy Hilfiger, and could quickly become a fixture in our wardrobes. Expired milk Not everyone’s a fan of milk, but what about expired milk? If it’s not fit for human consumption, the fashion industry is very interested in it. The reason? Fibres made from casein, milk protein, could also soon be in our wardrobes. And as surprising as it may seem, this is nothing new. The process was first developed during the interwar periods by an Italian chemist and engineer to come up with a replacement for wool. The idea was to take expired milk and transform it into a natural, biodegradable textile. Today, one of the best-known examples throughout the world is the QMilk textile, created by German entrepreneur Anke Domaske, who was looking for natural fibres for her father-in-law who was suffering from cancer. Many brands have already taken the plunge, such as Germaine des Prés, which offers underwear and sleepwear made of milk fibre, guaranteed antibacterial and 100% biodegradable. Mushrooms Mushrooms seem to be everywhere you turn, no matter the sector; in fashion mushrooms are being touted as the latest must-have ingredient that could cure all the ills of the industry – or just about. As early as 2020, a team of researchers from the University of Vienna, Imperial College London, and RMIT University in Australia, were already extolling the virtues of mushroombased materials, explaining that they were carbon neutral and biodegradable. Today, several start-ups are working on such fabrics, with properties very similar to leather. Examples include MycoWorks and its Fine Mycelium, Bolt Threads Inc. and its Mylo in the United States, as well as Fungus Sapiens and its MÆLIUM in France. These innovative materials are a hit in the textile industry, having already found numerous real-world uses at Stella McCartney, Adidas, and Lululemon, but they are also of interest to the aeronautics and automotive industries. – ETX Studio Banana, milk and mushroom in your wardrobe? Banana fibers could become a staple in our closets. – GETTY aesthetic, coated entirely in a soft cream composition. A duo of tones encompasses the pink and grey accented pair before a trio of tones curtails the LA Rams-inspired counterpart while exploring opposing ends of the colour wheel with black/grey and bright red/blue models. Whether you’re a die-hard New Balance fan or simply enjoy a classic sneaker with a modern twist, the New Balance 550s should not be missed. Nike releases another ‘Panda’ Dunk Nike is applying its popular black-and-white “Panda” colour scheme to a wide range of its sneaker models, including the Dunk Mid set to drop soon. The colorway, which has already been seen on the Dunk Low and Dunk High silhouettes, takes over the mid-cut kicks constructed in canvas instead of the usual premium leather material. Keep your eyes peeled for Nike’s iconic Swoosh logo etched onto textured leather textures on the side panels, and white finish on the tongues and heels. This is one that you don’t want to miss. AS we welcome the spring season of 2023, the world of fashion, watches, and sneakers is gearing up for some of the hottest drops of the year. From highly anticipated collaborations to new releases from beloved brands, April this year promised to be an exciting time for fashion enthusiasts and sneakerheads alike. Whether you’re looking to upgrade your wardrobe, accessorise with a stylish new timepiece, or add some fresh kicks to your collection, there’s something for everyone. So get ready to up your style game this spring with the latest fashion, watch, and sneaker releases. Palace Skateboards Spring Collection Week 10 Following the ninth release of their Spring 2023 collection, which was accompanied by a collaboration with UGG, Palace is now preparing for the season’s Week 10 drop. The latest collection from the distinctly British label includes outerwear, sweatshirts, jerseys, pants, shorts, and headwear. Leading the selection is the set consisting of the Hesh Athletic Jersey, matching Short, and Strapback, all of which are available in a variety of colorways, along with the Iridescent Applique Crew, the Double Zip Jacket and Bottom. The Spring 2023 Week 10 collection is currently available both online and offline on the brand’s official website, and in Japan via the Palace Japan website. New batch of New Balance 550s Sneakerheads, get ready as the brand-new batch of the highly coveted New Balance 550 will be released on April 6. Each proposition is anchored by a crisp white base layer, with the exception of its “Turtledove” silhouette, which stands apart from the rest as the only clad tonal The function-focused, digi camo-marked Palace New Era Boonie completes the week’s concise release. – PALACE The new batch of New Balance 550 debuted on April 6. – NEW BALANCE The Swoosh does not appear to be tiring of its wellreceived “Panda” sneakers anytime soon. – NIKE In light of this year as the 50th anniversary celebration of hip-hop Stüssy is celebrating by honouring two of the best to be in the game. – STUSSY April fashion drops oDo you feel like you need to up your style this April? We’ve compiled a list of the hottest drops in apparel, sneakers, and watches this month █ BY HAZIQUE ZAIRILL G-SHOCK special collab on DA series Introducing the latest collaboration between GSHOCK and FUTUR, a French fashion brand, that combines fashion-forward design with GSHOCK’s renowned toughness. The collaboration features the iconic GA2100 model with an octagonal bezel, updated with translucent components and a sleek, monochromatic look. The watch also includes a gold indicator hand and the colours of the French flag as bold accents on the small dial at 9 o’clock. This special edition timepiece is a must-have for fashion and watch enthusiasts alike. Stussy x Gangstarr: Iconic 50th anniversary Famous streetwear brand Stüssy has hinted at a forthcoming collaboration with DJ Premier and Guru, Gang Starr, two of the greatest names in hip-hop. To date, they have released seven fulllength LPs combining New York jazz and hiphop. The Brooklyn-based group has been regarded as one of the genre’s best MC-andproducer duos. The collection will include various t-shirts and pieces featuring some of the duo’s most iconic lyrics, including those from Take It Personal and Daily Operation, both of which were released in 1992. Casio announced its latest Analog-Digital series collaboration with FUTUR, a French fashion brand. – CASIO

20 TECH theSun LYFE ON THURSDAY | APRIL 27, 2023 Ticked off Ticked off ELON Musk’s long-promised move to strip free blue ticks from Twitter users swung into action on Thursday, dividing the have-paids from the havenots. Like some kind of fable in which the chosen few ascend to a higher plane, accounts with a Twitter Verified check began rising above the rest – a rapture that left most of us behind. Casualty number one: The Pope, the faith of whose 18.8 million will be tested by the absence of a blue badge on the @Pontifex account. But across the religious board, the Dalai Lama remained at one with his. “Verified account,” beams a pop-up box when you hover over His Holiness’s tick. “This account is verified because they are subscribed to Twitter Blue and verified their phone number.” Musk, whose chaotic takeover of Twitter has seen his US$44 billion (RM195.63 billion) investment shrivel, earlier pledged to get rid of what he described as a “lords & peasants system”, in which journalists, celebrities and politicians were given a mark that supposedly meant their accounts could be trusted. He offered instead to sell the blue badge to anyone who would pay US$8 (RM35.57) a month, in a move he said last year would “democratise journalism & empower the voice of the people.” On Thursday high-profile accounts, as well as those of many reporters at AFP and other news organisations, appeared to have had the checkmarks removed. “I’m naked!” quipped one reporter when she discovered the once-coveted tick had gone. But it wasn’t just the chatterati and the hoi polloi who found themselves uncovered. Bona fide celebrities with huge followings were going about the Twitterverse unclothed. Horror for Stephen King Singer Selena Gomez and her 67 million followers: out of tune. Basketball wizard Steph Curry (17.3 million): out of bounds. But almost as if there was some grand plan, some scheme to bring order and balance to the universe, each action appeared to have an opposite reaction. Musical megastar Rihanna: still lifting up her 108.3 million followers. Los Angeles hoops legend LeBron James and his 52.7 million followers: swish. The Great Sorting appeared to have no respect for families, with one particularly famous US clan divided. Ivanka and Don Trump Jr. still revelled in their blue badge, but Eric Trump no longer had his, and neither did his dad, former president Donald Trump. No area of celebrity life seemed unaffected by the removal of the ticks. Even Harry Potter creator JK Rowling was reduced to slumming it with the rest of us, her 14 million followers left to divine for themselves whether it was really her or Lord Voldemort at the keyboard. Fellow wordsmith Stephen King, who had previously vowed he would never cough up, even telling Musk that Twitter should instead be paying him to post, appeared horrified to discover that he still had his blue check. “My Twitter account says I’ve subscribed to Twitter Blue. I haven’t,” he fumed. “My Twitter account says I’ve given a phone number. I haven’t.” – ETX Studio Singer Grimes says AI can use her voice for songs CANADIAN singer Grimes put the word out Monday that she is fine with her voice being used for AI-generated songs, as long as she gets half the royalties. The 35-year-old songwriter, producer and performer said in an Instagram post that she would treat an artificial intelligence hit using her voice as she would a collaboration with any artist. “Feel free to use my voice without penalty,“ Grimes said in a post on her verified Instagram account. “I’ll split 50% royalties on any successful AI-generated song that uses my voice.” Grimes added that she has no obligations to a recording label so can uphold the offer. The singer’s post contained a reference to news about AI being used to imitate Canadian singers Drake and The Weeknd. The viral song released last Friday, Heart On My Sleeve was briefly available on platforms including Spotify and Apple Music before Universal Music Group – which publishes both artists through a subsidiary – said it violated copyrights and asked for its removal. The use of AI in music is the subject of debate in the industry, with some denouncing copyright abuses and others praising its prowess. Steadily improving generative AI from OpenAI has fueled debate about whether the software respects intellectual property. Grimes is a former partner of Tesla chief Elon Musk, with whom she had two children, including one by a surrogate mother. Musk has called AI a threat to humanity while simultaneously investing in the technology. – ETX Studio Sber‘s conversati onal artificial intelligenc e app is intended to rival ChatGPT. – AFP Grimes said that she would treat an artificial intelligence hit using her voice as she would a collaboration with any artist. – AFP LEADING Russian technology company Sber on Monday announced the launch of its conversational artificial intelligence app intended to rival the US star ChatGPT. The state company said in a statement on its website that it was “launching its own version” of a chatbot, which will be called GigaChat – a first for Russia. The Russian-language app is now only available by invitation in test mode. Sber said GigaChat can “have a conversation, write messages, respond to factual questions” but also “write code” and “create images from descriptions”. Sber chief executive German Gref, who has spearheaded the company’s digital transformation in recent years, said the launch was “a breakthrough for the whole vast universe of Russian technologies”. Russia has been strengthening its domestic technology sector in recent years, particularly since being hit by a barrage of Western sanctions after the Kremlin launched its Ukraine offensive. It has also been strengthening laws to regulate the sector, against a backdrop of growing political repression. The Kremlin has called for different sites and social media platforms to be blocked as a way of censoring voices critical of its offensive in Ukraine. The launch of GigaChat comes in the wake of the runaway success of ChatGPT and is being seen by experts as the latest twist in Russia-US competition in technology. ChatGPT’s success sparked a gold rush among other tech firms and venture capitalists, with Google hurrying out its own chatbot and investors pouring cash into all manner of AI projects. – ETX Studio Russia’s Sber launches GPTChat rival oElon Musk’s long promised move to strip free blue ticks from Twitter users swung into action last Thursday, dividing the have-paids from the have-nots

21 * SPORTS theSUN ON THURSDAY | APRIL 27, 2023 IN THE MATTER OF THE COMPANIES ACT 2016 (Pursuant to Section 439) AND IN THE MATTER OF PALEMBANG PERMATA SDN. BHD. [Registration No. 201901014381 (1323709-U)] (IN MEMBERS’ VOLUNTARY WINDING UP) At a Meeting of Members of the above-named Company duly convened and held at 50-1, 52-1 & 54-1, Jalan BPM 2, Taman Bukit Piatu Mutiara, 75150 Melaka on 20 April 2023, the special resolution set out below was duly passed: “Resolved that the Company be wound up voluntarily and that Miss Lim Li Fang (MAICSA 7012923) (SSM Practicing Certificate No. 201908001228), Chartered Secretary of KLCA Corporate Services Sdn. Bhd., 50-1, 52-1 & 54-1, Jalan BPM 2, Taman Bukit Piatu Mutiara, 75150 Melaka be and is hereby appointed as liquidator for the purpose of such winding up.” Date: 20 April 2023 LIM LI FANG CHAIRMAN IN THE MATTER OF THE COMPANIES ACT 2016 AND IN THE MATTER OF PALEMBANG PERMATA SDN. BHD. [Registration No. 201901014381 (1323709-U)] (IN MEMBERS’ VOLUNTARY WINDING UP) Notice is hereby given that the creditors of the above-named Company, which is being wound up voluntarily are required on or before the 29 May 2023 to send in their names and addresses with particulars of their debts or claims and the names and addresses of their solicitors (if any) to the undersigned, and if so required are to come in and prove their debts or claims as shall be specified or in default will be excluded from the benefit of any distribution made before such proof. Date: 20 April 2023 LIM LI FANG LIQUIDATOR 50-1, 52-1 & 54-1, Jalan BPM 2, Taman Bukit Piatu Mutiara, 75150 Melaka. 322 Notices IN THE HIGH COURT OF MALAYA AT KUALA LUMPUR COMPANIES (WINDING-UP) PETITION NO: WA-28NCC-319-04/2023 In the matter of Section 466(1)(a) of the Companies Act 2016; And In the matter of Fifty Five Kitchen & Bar Sdn. Bhd. (Company Registration No. 1270134-X) BETWEEN BADAN PENGURUSAN BERSAMA PLAZA ARKADIA ...PETITIONER AND FIFTY FIVE KITCHEN & BAR SDN. BHD. (Company No.: 1270134-X) ... RESPONDENT ADVERTISEMENT OF PETITION NOTICE is hereby given that a petition for winding-up of the abovenamed company by the High Court was, on the 10 April 2023, presented by Badan Pengurusan Bersama Plaza Arkadia, having its address at Pejabat Pengurusan E-B2-1, Plaza Arkadia 3, Jalan Intisari Perdana, 52200 Desa Park City, Kuala Lumpur. And that the said petition is directed to be heard before the Court sitting at Kuala Lumpur at 9:00 o’clock in the forenoon, on the 8 November 2023; and any creditor or contributory of the said company desiring to support or oppose the making of an order on the said petition may appear at the time of hearing by himself or his counsel for that purpose; and a copy of the petition will be furnished to any creditor or contributory of the said company requiring the same by the undersigned on payment of the regulated charge for the same. The Petitioner’s address is at Pejabat Pengurusan E-B2-1, Plaza Arkadia 3, Jalan Intisari Perdana, 52200 Desa Park City, Kuala Lumpur. The Petitioner’s solicitors is WONG LU PEEN & TUNKU ALINA, 21-6, Block B, The Boulevard, Mid Valley City, Lingkaran Syed Putra, 59200 Kuala Lumpur. signed …….…................... WONG LU PEEN & TUNKU ALINA NOTE: Any person who intends to appear on the hearing of the said Petition must serve on or send by post to the abovenamed solicitors, notice in writing of his intention so to do. The notice must state the name and address of the person, or, if a firm, the name and address of the firm, and must be signed by the person or firm, or his or their solicitor (if any) and must be served, or, if posted, must be sent by post in sufficient time to reach the abovenamed not later than twelve o’clock noon of the 7 November 2023 (the day before the day appointed for the hearing of the Petition). This Advertisement of Petition is taken out by WONG LU PEEN & TUNKU ALINA, 21-6, Block B, The Boulevard, Mid Valley City, Lingkaran Syed Putra, 59200 Kuala Lumpur, solicitors for the petitioner abovenamed whose address is at Pejabat Pengurusan E-B2-1, Plaza Arkadia 3, Jalan Intisari Perdana, 52200 Desa Park City, Kuala Lumpur. Petitioner’s solicitors’ telephone no.: 03-22018378 File reference : L3 16055 Email : [email protected] IN THE MATTER OF THE COMPANIES ACT 2016 (Pursuant to Section 439) AND IN THE MATTER OF ANJURAN SETARA SDN. BHD. (Registration No. 201501001388 (1126720-U)) (IN MEMBERS’ VOLUNTARY WINDING UP) At a Meeting of Members of the above-named Company duly convened and held at 50-1, 52-1 & 54-1, Jalan BPM 2, Taman Bukit Piatu Mutiara, 75150 Melaka on 20 April 2023, the special resolution set out below was duly passed: “Resolved that the Company be wound up voluntarily and that Miss Lim Li Fang, Chartered Secretary of KLCA Corporate Services Sdn. Bhd., 50-1, 52-1 & 54-1, Jalan BPM 2, Taman Bukit Piatu Mutiara, 75150 Melaka be and is hereby appointed as liquidator for the purpose of such winding up.” Date: 20 April 2023 LIM LI FANG CHAIRMAN IN THE MATTER OF THE COMPANIES ACT 2016 AND IN THE MATTER OF ANJURAN SETARA SDN. BHD. (Registration No. 201501001388 (1126720-U)) (IN MEMBERS’ VOLUNTARY WINDING UP) Notice is hereby given that the creditors of the above-named Company, which is being wound up voluntarily are required on or before the 29 May 2023 to send in their names and addresses with particulars of their debts or claims and the names and addresses of their solicitors (if any) to the undersigned, and if so required are to come in and prove their debts or claims as shall be specified or in default will be excluded from the benefit of any distribution made before such proof. Date: 20 April 2023 LIM LI FANG LIQUIDATOR 50-1, 52-1 & 54-1, Jalan BPM 2, Taman Bukit Piatu Mutiara, 75150 Melaka. IN THE MATTER OF THE COMPANIES ACT 2016 (Pursuant to Section 439) AND IN THE MATTER OF MINDA JAYASAMA SDN. BHD. [Registration No. 201801013723 (1275739-K)] (IN MEMBERS’ VOLUNTARY WINDING UP) At a Meeting of Members of the above-named Company duly convened and held at 50-1, 52-1 & 54-1, Jalan BPM 2, Taman Bukit Piatu Mutiara, 75150 Melaka on 20 April 2023, the special resolution set out below was duly passed: “Resolved that the Company be wound up voluntarily and that Miss Lim Li Fang (MAICSA 7012923) (SSM Practicing Certificate No. 201908001228), Chartered Secretary of KLCA Corporate Services Sdn. Bhd., 50-1, 52-1 & 54-1, Jalan BPM 2, Taman Bukit Piatu Mutiara, 75150 Melaka be and is hereby appointed as liquidator for the purpose of such winding up.” Date: 20 April 2023 LIM LI FANG CHAIRMAN IN THE MATTER OF THE COMPANIES ACT 2016 AND IN THE MATTER OF MINDA JAYASAMA SDN. BHD. [Registration No. 201801013723 (1275739-K)] (IN MEMBERS’ VOLUNTARY WINDING UP) Notice is hereby given that the creditors of the above-named Company, which is being wound up voluntarily are required on or before the 29 May 2023 to send in their names and addresses with particulars of their debts or claims and the names and addresses of their solicitors (if any) to the undersigned, and if so required are to come in and prove their debts or claims as shall be specified or in default will be excluded from the benefit of any distribution made before such proof. Date: 20 April 2023 LIM LI FANG LIQUIDATOR 50-1, 52-1 & 54-1, Jalan BPM 2, Taman Bukit Piatu Mutiara, 75150 Melaka. 322 Notices 322 Notices IN THE MATTER OF THE COMPANIES ACT 2016 (Pursuant to Section 439) AND IN THE MATTER OF ZEN SERBAJUTA SDN. BHD. [Registration No. 201901016339 (1325667-K)] (IN MEMBERS’ VOLUNTARY WINDING UP) At a Meeting of Members of the above-named Company duly convened and held at 50-1, 52-1 & 54-1, Jalan BPM 2, Taman Bukit Piatu Mutiara, 75150 Melaka on 20 April 2023, the special resolution set out below was duly passed: “Resolved that the Company be wound up voluntarily and that Miss Lim Li Fang (MAICSA 7012923) (SSM Practicing Certificate No. 201908001228), Chartered Secretary of KLCA Corporate Services Sdn. Bhd., 50-1, 52-1 & 54-1, Jalan BPM 2, Taman Bukit Piatu Mutiara, 75150 Melaka be and is hereby appointed as liquidator for the purpose of such winding up.” Date: 20 April 2023 LIM LI FANG CHAIRMAN IN THE MATTER OF THE COMPANIES ACT 2016 AND IN THE MATTER OF ZEN SERBAJUTA SDN. BHD. [Registration No. 201901016339 (1325667-K)] (IN MEMBERS’ VOLUNTARY WINDING UP) Notice is hereby given that the creditors of the above-named Company, which is being wound up voluntarily are required on or before the 29 May 2023 to send in their names and addresses with particulars of their debts or claims and the names and addresses of their solicitors (if any) to the undersigned, and if so required are to come in and prove their debts or claims as shall be specified or in default will be excluded from the benefit of any distribution made before such proof. Date: 20 April 2023 LIM LI FANG LIQUIDATOR 50-1, 52-1 & 54-1, Jalan BPM 2, Taman Bukit Piatu Mutiara, 75150 Melaka. IN THE MATTER OF THE COMPANIES ACT 2016 (Pursuant to Section 439) AND IN THE MATTER OF AKSI SIMFONI SDN. BHD. [Registration No. 201901015646 (1324974-V)] (IN MEMBERS’ VOLUNTARY WINDING UP) At a Meeting of Members of the above-named Company duly convened and held at 50-1, 52-1 & 54-1, Jalan BPM 2, Taman Bukit Piatu Mutiara, 75150 Melaka on 20 April 2023, the special resolution set out below was duly passed: “Resolved that the Company be wound up voluntarily and that Miss Lim Li Fang (MAICSA 7012923) (SSM Practicing Certificate No. 201908001228), Chartered Secretary of KLCA Corporate Services Sdn. Bhd., 50-1, 52-1 & 54-1, Jalan BPM 2, Taman Bukit Piatu Mutiara, 75150 Melaka be and is hereby appointed as liquidator for the purpose of such winding up.” Date: 20 April 2023 LIM LI FANG CHAIRMAN IN THE MATTER OF THE COMPANIES ACT 2016 AND IN THE MATTER OF AKSI SIMFONI SDN. BHD. [Registration No. 201901015646 (1324974-V)] (IN MEMBERS’ VOLUNTARY WINDING UP) Notice is hereby given that the creditors of the above-named Company, which is being wound up voluntarily are required on or before the 29 May 2023 to send in their names and addresses with particulars of their debts or claims and the names and addresses of their solicitors (if any) to the undersigned, and if so required are to come in and prove their debts or claims as shall be specified or in default will be excluded from the benefit of any distribution made before such proof. Date: 20 April 2023 LIM LI FANG LIQUIDATOR 50-1, 52-1 & 54-1, Jalan BPM 2, Taman Bukit Piatu Mutiara, 75150 Melaka. 322 Notices 322 Notices CLASSIFIEDS *Terms And Conditions Apply Call 03-7784 6688 or email [email protected] RM138 6SHFLDO2΍HU for Limited time only! (excl 6% SST) 2 Units 3 Storey Shop House known as 178, 178A, 178B & 180, 180A, 180B Seang Teik Road, 10400 Penang. Price: RM2.5 million per unit Riverside Resort Sdn Bhd, 332D Chulia Street, 10200 Penang 04-2630337 PROPERTY FOR SALE GREAT RETAIL SPACE FOR RENT / SALE! For Viewing Appointment, please call Ms. Chloe : 03-2072 2562 Address: Kota Raya Complex Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock 50000 Kuala Lumpur Area: 5th Floor – 26,102 sf 4th Floor – 22,390 sf Other Floors – From 205 sf to 2,982 sf Size : 5cm x 1 column (3cm) Spec : Full Color Actual Price : RM198.00 5 Days duration *Value Added on website www.thesundaily.my Call : 017-320 8888 Home Repair Expert Plumbing, Tiling, Wiring and A/Cond From RM60 onward Advertise with us & connect to our urban readers. KLANG VALLEY PENANG | KEDAH PERAK | PERLIS PAHANG | KELANTAN TERENGGANU MS. Shoba TEL: 03-7784 8888 FAX: 03-7784 4424 MALACCA MR. Rajah TEL: 012-628 2844 FAX: 06-764 2051 JOHOR BAHRU MS. Anne Lim TEL: 013-770 6699 FAX: 07-355 5549 Fast and furious F1 shakes up sprint race format in time for Baku FORMULA ONE approved a shakeup to the sprint format yesterday in time for this weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix. In Baku, which stages the first of this season’s six sprints, the 100km dash becomes a standalone event on the Saturday of race weekends. A shortened qualifying version will be held in the morning of the approximately 30 minute race to define the starting order for the sprint first introduced in 2021. Qualifying for Sunday’s Grand Prix will now he held on Friday, the traditional three-session qualifying preceded by a first practice session. The shake-up was given the green light by the teams at the Australian Grand Prix at the start of the month, with the changes rubber stamped by the FIA’s F1 commission yesterday. Up to now, the three sprints held in 2021 and last year have shaped the grid for Sunday’s main event. Teams and Formula One believe the revised race weekend will now give Saturday’s action added excitement to fans with the doing away of the often less than enthralling second practice session. Saturday’s qualifying will be known as “the Sprint shoot-out” with the first qualifying session or Q1 running for 12 minutes, Q2 for 10 minutes and Q3 for eight minutes. F1 hopes that with its new standalone status drivers will have an added incentive “to go for it”, knowing any incidents will not have a bearing on where they start in the Grand Prix. The Sprint points system remains unchanged, with eight going to the winner down to one for eighth place, meaning a maximum points haul of 34 on offer to a driver winning the sprint, grand prix, and posting the fastest lap. Announcing the changes the FI Commission hoped the new format would deliver “more ‘jeopardy’ through a reduction in practice time and providing a greater incentive to drivers to race hard on Saturday”. After Baku there are sprints scheduled for Austria (Red Bull Ring), Belgium (SpaFrancorchamps), Qatar (Lusail Circuit), the United States (Circuit of The Americas) and Brazil (Interlagos). – AFP Dynamic duo Miller, Manohar help Gujarat thrash Mumbai A BATTING assault by David Miller and Abhinav Manohar powered defending champions Gujarat Titans to a 55-run demolition of Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League yesterday. The left-handed Miller (46 off 22 balls) and rising Indian talent Manohar (21-ball 42) put together 71 runs to steer Gujarat to a mammoth 207-6 in their home Ahmedabad. The Miller-Manohar show, which included seven sixes, and an unbeaten fiveball 20 by Rahul Tewatia helped Gujarat get 94 runs from the final six overs of mayhem. Man of the match Manohar said, “I think I have been gifted to time the ball well and I’ve been doing it from a young age and to do it at this level it feels special, it feels like a dream.” With their task cut out, Gujarat bowlers kept down five-time champions Mumbai to 152-9 as Afghanistan wrist spinners Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmad shared five wickets between them. Gujarat, who had a fairytale debut season last year when they won the IPL, moved second in the table behind toppers and four-time winners Chennai Super Kings at the midway stage of the T20 tournament. At the conclusion of the league stage, the top four teams will qualify for the playoffs. The final is on May 28 in Ahmedabad. – AFP FERNANDO ALONSO has added fuel to the fire that he could be dating singer Taylor Swift after teasing fans with a cryptic social media post. Stunned fans of both the Aston Martin driver and Swift have learned of links between the two after the pair reportedly started seeing each other following their recent break-ups, and Alonso has done little to swerve away from such speculation. Earlier this month, Alonso announced he and his partner Andrea Schlager had parted ways after they began dating last year, while Swift and her longterm boyfriend split just days later. While nothing was made of the coincidental timing, a post appeared on Instagram gossip page Deux Moi’s story under the heading Taylor Swift rumours claiming the pair have been casually dating for a week. Citing Spanish magazines as their source of information, it adds that the relationship is “nothing serious”: “According to them, the couple has been seeing each other for a week now. Nothing serious since they are both recently single,” the post read. At the time of writing, there has been no public comment from Alonso or Swift to confirm or deny the story as rumours of their romance began to swirl around both the music world and F1 sphere. That was until Alonso decided to stir the pot and keep fans on edge with his latest social media post, which will do little to dampen the talk about the superstar pair. In a short clip uploaded to his official TikTok account, Alonso can be seen sitting on a chair listening to a sped-up version of Swift’s popular hit Karma with the caption reading: “Race week era” before winking at the camera. The video contains clear references to Swift, who embarked on her sold-out Eras Tour in November. – Express Newspapers Alonso teases fans amid Swift rumours Taylor Swift. – AFPPIX

22 theSUN ON THURSDAY | APRIL 27, 2023 SPORTS Toto 4D Jackpot 2 (i-System) RM145,486 RM740,659 won on 23/04/2023 ! Star 6/50 Jackpot 1 (EZ-Bet) Toto 4D Jackpot 2 RM8,275 5628/2023 26/04/2023 (WED) 2114 5861 2224 2445 2964 2831 1413 8713 7000 6907 7673 1755 4655 9421 8930 2998 6531 3178 5764 0634 4633 8729 9400 10,278,615.53 2114 2114 2114 2224 2224 5861 2224 2224 5861 5861 2114 5861 181,656.31 2114 5861 2224 SNAKE 54172 22596 2596 596 81590 9 6 4 4 479044 79044 9044 044 47904 4790 479 4 7 5,537,773.87 3,093,612.17 154 16 30 38 58 100,000.00 8 13 27 32 44 51 7 36 37 40 41 48 12 9,799,100.17 355 081 + SNAKE 460 432 + HORSE 556 752 +ROOSTER Draw Date: 26/04/23 (Wed) Draw No: 5575/23 Venue: PERAK TURF CLUB 5081 0432 6752 5460 + 0337 9953 + 3262 0986 + 2040 0224 + 7769 2493 + 8593 1856 + 7311 3135 + 3944 9617 + 2122 5220 + 0913 2165 + 9388 RM2,606,544.60 5081 + 0432 0432 + 5081 5081 + 6752 6752 + 5081 0432 + 6752 6752 + 0432 RM110,280.90 RM2,098,335.70 RM1,256,527.70 RM2,166,754.20 435 460 520 337 249 953 433 262 510 986 622 040 650 224 917 769 832 493 508 593 601 856 127 311 323 135 003 944 689 617 662 122 885 220 280 913 612 165 979 388 081 432 752 RM618,489.10 081 + 432 + 752 432 + 752 + 081 081 + 752 + 432 752 + 081 + 432 432 + 081 + 752 752 + 432 + 081 1+3D J1 RM15,138,353 & 1+3D J2 RM197,387 won on 23/4/2023! Real shambles Ancelotti fumes as Castellanos hits four against Madrid GIRONA striker Taty Castellanos hit an incredible four goals as his side thrashed champions Real Madrid 4-2 in La Liga yesterday, helping leaders Barcelona edge closer to the trophy. Carlo Ancelotti’s Madrid are 11 points behind Barcelona having played one extra match, with this defeat virtually killing any hope they had remaining of defending the title. “Our level was very low. We apologise, the team did not play at all,” said the Madrid coach. “We were bad defensively and that was the key to the defeat,” he added. “We were anxious and we relied on individual play. “Of the last seven games, we kept six clean sheets, and in this game, (we conceded) four goals. I hope my players have understood. If not, I will repeat it to them every day.” Ancelotti’ accepted that supporters will not be happy losing to a team that was playing in Spain’s second tier last season. “They will be hurt and angry as we are,” he said of the supporters. “But we need to remember we are in a cup final and in a Champions League semifinal.” Girona’s Castellanos was left in tears after missing a big chance against Barcelona earlier in April in a goalless draw, but made amends in spectacular fashion at Montilivi against Madrid. The Argentine striker, on loan at Girona from New York City FC, exposed gaps in Madrid’s defence ahead of their Champions League clash with City on May 9. Castellanos shut down his social media accounts after his bad night in front of goal at the Nou Camp, but thanked those close to him for their support. “It was a dream night, we had a great game against one of the best teams in the world, it was a dream night,” Castellanos said. “I never imagined this, (I’m) enjoying it with our fans, with the people who have sent me support – my family, people in Argentina, they are always supporting me and that’s fundamental.” In April 2022 Castellanos hit four goals for New York City against Real Salt Lake and repeated the trick a little over a year later. “Obviously they are different days, it was a dream to score against Madrid and to score four – you can’t even imagine it,” he added. “I’m very happy for everything, for the fans, for the lads.” Fourth-place Real Sociedad earned a hardfought 0-0 draw at Real Betis to frustrate the Andalusians, fifth, ensuring a six-point gap remains between them. It was a game of few clear chances, but Sergio Canales could have fired Betis in front after 74 minutes, firing inches over after good work by Juan Miranda. Rui Silva saved well from Real Sociedad midfielder Mikel Merino’s drive deep into stoppage time at the other end. Betis had the better of the second half but could not find the winner their fans craved and next travel to champions-in-waiting Barcelona on Saturday. Osasuna beat Cadiz 1-0 thanks to Ruben Garcia’s long-range goal, although they had winger Ez Abde sent off late on, minutes after coming off the bench. – AFP BURNLEY clinched the Championship title at the home of local rivals Blackburn as Manuel Benson’s strike secured a 1-0 win at Ewood Park yesterday. Vincent Kompany’s men were far from their best in a keenly contested Lancashire derby but did enough to not only lift the title, but also dent Rovers’ chance of climbing into the playoff places. Benson curled home his 12th goal of the season with Burnley’s only shot on target to open up a 13-point lead over second-placed Sheffield United, who have four games remaining. “I don’t know if the lads realise it, I think J-Rod (Jay Rodriguez) does because he’s one of the people I was speaking to,” Burnley boss Kompany told BBC Radio Lancashire. “I think J-Rod understands what it means for the people of Burnley to come and win the league at Ewood Park, for us you couldn’t write it. “Even the scenario of the game, after everybody is speaking about how good we are on the ball, today to see how good we were defensively, winning challenges, second-balls, crosses, everything else, that’s a side of the team I’m proud about as well. “A day that will live forever for us and a tremendous achievement for the lads,” Kompany added. “There’s two awards you win this season which is promotion and the league, then there’s two more trophies to win which are your derbies, and we’ve won all four this season. “I know what it means and I don’t know if the players realise it yet but I know what those games have meant for me in my career.” Blackburn remain outside the playoff places on goal difference after their winless run stretched to eight matches. – AFP/Agencies Wrexham boss jokes about Bale offer ROB MCELHENNEY has teased Wrexham making Gareth Bale their marquee summer signing after booking their return to the Football League with National League glory. McElhenney wants to meet up with the five-time Champions League winner, who retired following the 2022 World Cup, over a round of golf. Bale, 33, is famously a keen golfer and huge fan of the sport – with McElhenney no doubt trying to get him in a good mood before making a proposal over a return to the pitch. McElhenney, who took over the club alongside fellow actor Ryan Reynolds in early 2021, received a video message from the former Real Madrid man following Wrexham’s promotion. Bale said in a short clip: “Hi Rob, just wanted to congratulate you on the promotion and everything you’re doing at Wrexham.” McElhenney then replied: “Hey @GarethBale11 let’s play golf, where I totally won’t spend 4 hours trying to convince you to un-retire for one last magical season.” One excited fan replied with a mockedup image of the Wales icon in a Wrexham kit: “So you’re telling me there’s a chance?!” A second joked: “If he pulls this off I’m renaming my child McElhenney!” A third continued: “You know you want to! Great Team, great owners! Be a part of history.” The signing of Bale would even top the arrival of former England international Ben Foster, who played a vital part in the closing weeks of the season. – Express Newspapers Burnley players throw manager Vincent Kompany in the air after winning the match to become champions. – REUTERSPIX Burnley seal Championship title

23 * SPORTS theSUN ON THURSDAY | APRIL 27, 2023 UNAI EMERY has emphasised the importance of the games ahead as Aston Villa and their fans dream of a return to Europe following the 1-0 home win over Fulham. The result, sealed by Tyrone Mings’ 21stminute header for the eighth victory of a 10- match unbeaten run, saw Villa move up to fifth place in the Premier League. They are a point above Tottenham, who host fourth-placed Manchester United tomorrow. Liverpool and Brighton, in action overnight at West Ham and Nottingham Forest, are four and five points behind Villa respectively with extra games in hand. Villa boss Emery, whose side play Spurs, Liverpool and Brighton among their remaining five fixtures, was asked after the Fulham contest if European football next season was now an expectation for him. And he said: “I have to try to be ambitious, to be realistic, and as well, play under pressure – because I like playing under pressure. Because when we play under pressure it is because we have something to do. “We are now a candidate, we are fifth, but Tottenham is playing (on Friday against Manchester United), Liverpool is one match less than us, Brighton three matches less than us. “We are going to play against Liverpool, against Tottenham, against Brighton… could be key matches to really keep being candidates to get a European position. “I think the dreams, they are here – OK, it is good I think for everybody, and we can share with our supporters. But I was speaking with the team – I like to play key matches. Like today. “We are close to getting (a top-10 finish), and the next step is to try to be a candidate in a European position.” Villa last played in Europe in 2010, when they lost in the Europa League qualifying rounds. This season Emery has overseen some turnaround for the midlands club, who were 17th, outside the relegation zone on goals scored, when they lost 3-0 at Fulham in October, their final game under the Spaniard’s predecessor Steven Gerrard. On this occasion they were rarely troubled by a Fulham outfit whose only officially registered shot on goal came in the opening minute when Andreas Pereira sent an acrobatic effort wide. /thesuntelegram FOLLOW ON TELEGRAM SCAN ME Villans dare to dream Emery looks ahead after AstonVilla climb continues with win over Fulham Emery said: “Good performance. The first half we really controlled the game. The second half I think the match changed a bit, we were a little bit more tired maybe. “We didn’t control the game with the ball like we did first half, but I think they demanded of us different work in the second half, and we did it.” The 83rd minute saw the ball in the Villa net, Harrison Reed’s delivery going in off Mings, but the flag was up for offside. Fulham boss Marco Silva, whose side stay ninth, said: “First half was not good enough from ourselves, we were too shy, not aggressive enough. We conceded a completely sloppy goal. The first half was not at our level, the standards. “Second half, even if we didn’t create enough chances to equalise, at least we were completely different, our pressure was completely different…(but) our front line didn’t create enough.” – The Independent Vardy as important as they come: Smith LEICESTER boss Dean Smith has backed Jamie Vardy to finish the season with a flurry of goals after his late equaliser clinched a 1-1 draw at relegation rivals Leeds. Vardy stepped off the bench as a 70thminute replacement for Tete to earn the Foxes a crucial point after Luis Sinisterra’s first-half header had put Leeds in front. It was Vardy’s first Premier League goal since October – just his second of the season – and kept Smith’s side one place and a point behind Leeds in the table, just above the drop zone. Smith, who has taken four points from his three games in charge since replacing Brendan Rodgers, said: “(Strikers) know they’re judged by goals. “It’s not been the most fruitful of seasons for him, but that penalty (he won against Wolves) on Saturday and the goal tonight – he’s as important as they come. “Who knows, he could end up with eight goals by the end of the season.” Vardy had another effort ruled out for offside as Leicester threatened to snatch all three points after dominating possession in the second period. Smith said: “I think it’s his 135th Premier League goal, which just shows you the quality of the striker we have. I’m really pleased he got that goal. “The chance he’s scored today, we’ve seen him take loads of them over time and if we can keep creating chances like that he will take them.” Leeds head coach Javi Gracia took heart from his players’ battling display after three successive defeats, but could not hide his disappointment after they let slip the lead. When asked if his side should have won the game, the Spaniard said: “To be honest, I don’t know. “We have one more point, but after competing in the game as we did it is hard to get only one point. “Even after conceding the goal we had the clearest chance. We have to keep going and prepare for the next game as best as possible.” – The Independent Wolves manager Lopetegui happy to prove doubters wrong BOSS Julen Lopetegui believes Wolves have proved the doubters wrong as they close in on Premier League safety. Joachim Andersen’s own goal and Ruben Neves’ late penalty gave Wolves a 2-0 win over Crystal Palace at Molineux. It left them 13th, level with the Eagles, and nine points clear of the relegation zone with five games left. Lopetegui was appointed with the club second bottom but after four wins from their last five home games they are close to a sixth straight top-flight season. He said: “They have been very important victories, we need points to achieve our aim. “Four months ago all the people thought it was impossible. Now, it’s at least possible so we have to fight very hard to achieve our aim. “It was a very bad situation but now we have hope and it’s possible. We have worked very hard, we have to continue because we haven’t achieved anything. “It has been a very hard match. We were playing against a very strong team. They have played their last matches at a top level. “We have to work a lot, to achieve our aim we have to get more points. It’s an important victory but we have to keep on working. “We have to get more points. We have to be ready for the next five games.” Palace boss Roy Hodgson, who suffered his first defeat since his return last month, said: “Credit to Wolves... they defended well. “It was hard for us, with that number of players, to create a lot of space to get the equaliser I believed we were going to get and we deserved. “I don’t think 2-0 is a fair reflection on how the game went. We do have a healthy margin to the bottom three but I’m not interested in trying to preach to the players that we need X amount of points to stay up. “I enjoyed the performance but of course you don’t enjoy defeats.” – The Independent █ PHIL MEDLICOTT █ MARK WALKER █ NICK MASHITER ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE: Wolves 2 (Andersen 3-og, Neves 90+4-pen) Crystal Palace 0, Aston Villa 1 (Mings 21) Fulham 0, Leeds 1 (Sinisterra 20) Leicester 1 (Vardy 80). P W D L F A Pts Arsenal 32 23 6 3 77 34 75 Man City 30 22 4 4 78 28 70 Newcastle 31 16 11 4 54 25 59 Man Utd 30 18 5 7 46 37 59 Aston Villa 33 16 6 11 46 41 54 Tottenham 32 16 5 11 58 51 53 Liverpool 31 14 8 9 59 38 50 Brighton 29 14 7 8 54 37 49 Fulham 32 13 6 13 44 43 45 Brentford 32 10 14 8 48 43 44 Chelsea 31 10 9 12 30 33 39 Crystal Palace 33 9 10 14 31 42 37 Wolves 33 10 7 16 29 44 37 West Ham 31 9 7 15 33 41 34 Bournemouth 32 9 6 17 31 63 33 Leeds 33 7 9 17 42 63 30 Leicester 33 8 5 20 44 57 29 Everton 32 6 10 16 24 46 28 Nottm Forest 32 6 9 17 26 59 27 Southampton 32 6 6 20 27 56 24 CHAMPIONSHIP: Blackburn 0 Burnley 1. TOP 6 P W D L F A Pts Burnley 44 27 14 3 82 34 95 Sheff Utd 42 25 7 10 65 36 82 Luton 44 21 15 8 56 38 78 Midd’sbrough 44 22 8 14 83 54 74 Coventry 44 17 15 12 55 45 66 Sunderland 44 17 14 13 63 53 65 LA LIGA: Girona 4 (Castellanos 12, 24, 46, 62) Real Madrid 2 (Vinicius 34, Vazquez 85), Cadiz 0 Osasuna 1 (Ruben Garcia 62), Real Betis 0 Real Sociedad 0. TOP 6 P W D L F A Pts Barcelona 30 24 4 2 54 9 76 Real Madrid 31 20 5 6 65 28 65 Atletico 30 18 6 6 47 22 60 Real Sociedad 31 16 7 8 39 29 55 Real Betis 31 14 7 10 39 33 49 Villarreal 30 14 5 11 39 30 47  CHAMPIONS RESULTS & STANDINGS Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy (left) shoots and scores his team first goal past Leeds United’s Illan Meslier during their English Premier League match at Elland Road. – AFPPIX

theSun is published and printed by Sun Media Corporation Sdn Bhd (221220-K) of Lot 6, Jalan 51/217, 46050 Petaling Jaya, Selangor. Tel: 03-7784 6688 Fax: 03-7783 7435 • Tel (Editorial): 03-7784 6688 Fax: 03-7785 2624/5 Email: [email protected] • Tel (Advertising): 03-7784 8888 Fax: 03-7784 4424 Email: [email protected] MAURICIO POCHETTINO has told Todd Boehly he does not want him entering the dressing room if he becomes the next Chelsea manager, according to reports. The Blues’ American owner has been a big presence around the players during his tenure so far. Pochettino is now the strong favourite to become the next permanent Chelsea boss. Julian Nagelsmann pulled out of the running last week to give more of an open path to the former Tottenham head coach. The Argentine looks set to become the third permanent boss in the Stamford Bridge dugout since Boehly bought the club a year ago. Boehly has splashed out in the transfer market, spending over £600 million (RM3.2b) in just two windows. He has been a hands-on owner and often visits the dressing room after matches. He stormed in after the recent defeat to Brighton to give the players a dressing down. But that looks set to stop if Pochettino arrives. European football expert Julien Laurens claims that the topic has been discussed during talks between Pochettino and Boehly. The 51-year-old has made it clear to his prospective new boss that he doesn’t want interference from the owner when it comes to a match day. “I’m told that they addressed that in the many interviews that Pochettino had with Boehly and the sporting directors,” Laurens told ESPN FC. “That was addressed and rightly so, I think. (Boehly) knows that Pochettino’s personality doesn’t allow any kind of interference from the ownership or anything like that. “This is not how he works. I think he was very, very clear on that.” In further development, journalist Alex Crook told talkSPORT that discussions with Pochettino have now moved to the point where personal terms are being discussed. He said: “I’ve not been given any definite timescale. I don’t think there’s an immediate rush because either way the expectation is that Frank Lampard will see out his role as interim manager until the end of the season, maybe even assist Pochettino with what he’s walking into. “Both parties are keen now to get this deal done, I’ve been told by people close to Chelsea that if will happen, Pochettino will be the new Chelsea manager. We’re at the stage now where personal teens are now being discussed.” Lampard meanwhile refused to get involved in any speculation linking Pochettino to Chelsea. “I’m not going to get involved in any future manager talk,” Lampard said to reporters during yesterday’s pre-match press conference ahead of this morning’s trip of Brentford. “It’s all speculation like you say, it’s simple as that.” Pochettino has been out of work since being sacked by Paris Saint-Germain last summer. He spent over five years at Tottenham between 2014 and 2019. He led the club to the Champions League final in his final year in charge but was sacked a few months later following a disappointing start to the following season. One of Pochettino’s first tasks at Chelsea if he were to take over is to solve their goalscoring issues. He is reportedly prepared to offer Romelu Lukaku the chance to revive his Chelsea career. Lukaku was discarded to spend the season on-loan at Inter Milan by previous Chelsea boss and now Bayern Munich manager Thomas Tuchel after a torrid one-season in London. But Lukaku will reportedly be given a second chance to show he can be the man to lead Chelsea’s attack by Pochettino, as reported by The Telegraph. The Blues have been trying to work out what to do with the Belgian since he was re-signed for £97 million (RM524m) in 2021. Inter Milan have decided they will not pursue a permanent deal for Lukaku once his loan expires at the end of the season, meaning Chelsea need to find a solution to the striker’s future. – Express Newspapers/Agencies or download app from the App Store or Google Play TM . Read iPaper at www.thesundaily.my FREE access Interactive THURSDAY • APRIL 27, 2023 JURGEN KLOPP has said Liverpool must go about their pre-season differently this summer as they look to improve on what has been an often frustrating campaign. A year after coming within a couple of games of an unprecedented quadruple, instead settling for two domestic cups, Liverpool will go into the final month of this season already out of every knockout competition and facing a fight to qualify for Europe via the League. Klopp has already voiced regrets about last summer, saying a trip to Asia came too early during preparations for the season, with the squad flying to Bangkok only a month after the Champions League final brought to an end a 63-match campaign. No plans for this summer have yet been confirmed by the club, but it has been reported that a possible trip to the United States has been axed with a single fixture in Singapore preferred. While insisting last summer’s tour was not enough alone to explain why Liverpool have been so far from their usual standards this term, Klopp was clear there must be change this time around. “We have to plan (pre-season) early and usually you have to plan without the Champions League final because that doesn’t happen constantly, you just have to deal with it,” he said. “And that is what we did (last summer), we dealt with it. “But then we started in Hong Kong and pretty much playing immediately because we had to and then the boys came back step by step by step. “It was never a perfect pre-season but that is not the reason for our season now because before that we had similar pre-seasons. “But this year must be different. We have now already three, four, five weeks without (European) football. Usually you play all the time. “Now we play a lot – I actually have no clue where they would have put in the Champions League games (if we had got through). “But it’s different and that’s why we have to step up. We have to step up. “And we have to prepare that in the pre-season and that’s why I want them back together as quick as somehow possible, respecting the necessity of holidays. “I know that and I respect that and I want them to go on holiday for as long as possible but for this year we have to make sure we are together as soon as possible and can go from there.” Liverpool’s season will end on May 28 with their final Premier League fixture away to relegationbattling Southampton. Several players will then be heading off to national team training camps before the international window which runs from June 12-20, but Klopp said it would be possible for his players to fit in three weeks of holiday and recuperation before they report back for pre-season. The first players are due back on July 8, with those who have been in international action reporting on July 11. “The day after the season ends they go on a camp to prepare for whatever is coming up, it’s crazy but our hands are tied, we cannot say anything about that,” he said. “So that is why the next season stands above everything to be honest. It means the next season starts with the pre-season and the boys on international duties will have at least three weeks plus the three days more “But then we start here, we will have three or four days here for the testing and all these kind of things – even the boys who come slightly late – and then we go on a training camp to Germany and we can work there properly with the whole squad and that is exactly what we need.” – The Independent █ IAN PARKER No entry! Pochettino ‘tells Boehly’ he wants a dressing room ban at Chelsea Klopp wants Liverpool to have different approach to pre-season Jurgen Klopp