News In Brief

Welcome to our ‘News In Brief’ column in which we digest all the news releases for you and write them in no more than five paragraphs. Below are snippets of all the media releases that we received from Sept 21 till Sept 26. Please check back throughout the week for more updates.

MR D.I.Y. Slashes Prices On Essential Items

Kuala Lumpur, Sep 21: As offices and businesses around the country reopen, and students prepare for a return to school in October, MR DIY is ensuring that everyone has affordable and accessible personal protective gear to stay safe. 
The Malaysian retailer recently announced a permanent price reduction on face masks and face shields through the “Poket Selamat 7” campaign. 
“We want to help the rakyat to stay safe as they return to work and school, or if they need to travel,” Vice President of Marketing, MR D.I.Y. Group (M) Berhad said in a statement.
Effective from September 15, 3-ply face masks are priced at RM5.00/box [down from RM5.90/box previously], while face shields are priced at RM5.90 per piece [down from RM7.90 per piece]. 
The campaign, which is in its seventh edition, discounts of up to 40 per cent on 45 selected products are being offered at 738 MR D.I.Y. stores nationwide, as well as on the retailer’s e-commerce website www.mrdiy.com.my.   

Ling Heads AICB

Kuala Lumpur,Sept 21: The Asian Institute of Chartered Bankers (AICB) has announced the appointment of Edward Ling Hsiao Wee as the new Chief Executive, effective immediately. 
Ling takes over from Prasad Padmanaban, who served the Institute for close to five years.  
“I am excited to join AICB and look forward to contributing to raising the professional standards in the banking industry and ensuring our members are equipped with the professional knowledge and skills to navigate the future of banking,” Ling said in a statement. 
Ling was awarded the Chief Executive’s Award in 2017 from ACCA and Academic Excellence Scholarships from USA Groups in 2000. 
He is an accomplished business leader in the financial sector with many awards and accolades to his credit. 
Edward will lead AICB strategy for its 32,000 members and oversee its activities and initiatives to empower bankers in Malaysia and beyond. 

Intel’s Generous Donation

Penang, Sept 21: Intel Malaysia, has committed another RM2 million to assist in the battle against COVID-19 in the country. 
This is in addition to RM3.2 million already contributed since the onset of the pandemic last year, making the total contribution over RM5 million so far.  
“The healthcare system is under a huge strain right now, especially in states like Penang and Kedah where COVID-19 cases continue to rise,” Intel Corporation, Corporate Vice President and General Manager of Assembly Test Manufacturing Robin Martin said in a statement.
“As a company that has deep roots in the country, we are committed to supporting the Malaysian community, and hope that our contributions help ease some of the burden on our brave healthcare front liners so that they can continue to look after us all.”
These donations are being administered and managed by the Penang Science Cluster to ensure the donations reach the institutions and individuals who need them in a timely manner.

Spritzer Pledges Aid

Kuala Lumpur, Sept 21– Spritzer Malaysia which produces Malaysia’s best-selling natural mineral water, is committed to the wellbeing of the community and has endeavoured to send aid to the vulnerable and less privileged in society during these challenging times brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a statement, the company said it is especially poignant for Spritzer as the company turns 32 today, that the best way of celebrating another milestone in its corporate journey is to continue the commitment to support fellow Malaysians, especially those who have been marginalised by society and lack the basic necessities such as food, shelter or even safe drinking water.
Spritzer Malaysia recognises that the pandemic has been especially hard on those in the Bottom-40 income bracket, the Orang Asli (Aborigionals), the homeless and those living in rural areas. 
The company escalated its community outreach programme by working through non-governmental organisations to send them aid in the form of clean drinking water amid the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The company has, to-date, sponsored more than RM60,000 in aid nationwide that has been distributed through NGOs, food banks and restaurants on top of the other donation outreach activities, and will continue to support initiatives and community outreach programmes that targets marginalised or vulnerable groups.

BancoEstado Picks Mambu

Singapore, Sept 22:  Mambu, has been selected by Chile’s largest financial institution, BancoEstado to improve customer access to digital services.
This includes designing and creating new products for the Chilean bank, offering reliable and intuitive financial services that meet the changing demands of its more than 13 million customers.
Founded in 1855, BancoEstado’s mission is to provide financial services to individuals and businesses, support its customers’ growth, and act as a catalyst for Chile’s sustainable development.
Mambu will digitise BancoEstado’s transactional services via a complete transformation, furthering the bank’s medium and long-term strategy to become a sector leader.
These new capabilities will position BancoEstado as a modern and cutting-edge financial pioneer, both among traditional banks and new industry entrants.

Camp For B40 Youths

Kuala Lumpur, Sept 22: The National Digital Leadership Camp for 300 underprivileged youths from the Leaderonomics Community was held this month just a few days shy of Malaysia Day.
Held online from September 11-14, the Way Forward Digital Youth Camp saw 300 campers – all of which were from B40 communities across the country – embarking on a four-day interventional leadership programme to bring about hope and impact in this time of pandemic.
The Way Forward Digital Youth Camp is endorsed by the Ministry of Education, Malaysia and has participation from 59 secondary schools of almost all states and federal territories of Malaysia.
Birthed through the efforts of kind donors via the LaunchGood crowdfunding campaign platform, and Belia 105, the Way Forward Camp is a culmination of hope from all these individuals and the evolution of digital camps across the two years.
The camp featured themes under the acronym G.R.A.M. which stands for Growth, Relationships, Adaptability and Moving Forward with each theme being explored on a different day of the camp. 

Jabil’s May Yap Awarded 2021 CIO Of The Year By IDC Singapore

Singapore, Sept 22 – Jabil Inc. a global manufacturing solutions provider has announced that Chief Information Officer May Yap has been recognised as CIO of the Year by IDC Asia Pacific in the 2021 IDC Future Enterprise Awards Singapore (FE Awards). 
IDC’s FE Awards recognises outstanding professionals that have made critical breakthroughs in digital transformation across the Asia Pacific region.
“I’m delighted to be conferred the Singapore 2021 CIO of the Year award by IDC,” Yap said in a statement. 
“The manufacturing industry is seeing a growing demand for intelligent data and digital solutions. Customers are looking to Jabil to increase innovation and competitive advantage by combining technology, data and scale to harness actionable insights. 
“This award provides a strong momentum for my team and I to bring to fruition the vision of IT as a key enabler.”

WORLDREMIT Partners With Nepali Bank 

Kuala Lumpur, Sept 22: WorldRemit has announced a partnership extension with NIC Asia Bank, one of the largest private-sector commercial banks in Nepal, to allow Nepalese living in Malaysia easy access to digital money transfers.
From today through the end of September, WorldRemit customers in Malaysia can send money directly into NIC Asia Bank accounts of their family and friends in Nepal without fees. 
This promotion comes following the recent WorldRemit launch in Malaysia earlier this month, which allows for bank transfers, cash pick ups and transfers to multiple mobile wallets in Nepal. 
As part of this partnership, beneficiaries of more than 500,000 Nepalese migrants in Malaysia can also take advantage of the extensive branch network of NIC Asia Bank to collect their cash payments in Nepal. 
Eighty percent of Nepalese receiving funds using WorldRemit can expect to receive funds within an hour, using the platform’s safe and easy-to-use service.

Monash Receives Aid For Health Centre

Melbourne, Sept 22: Monash University will establish Victoria’s Health Innovation Centre, including a flagship cardiovascular disease-focused research accelerator, HeartLabs, and a new focal point for clinical trials, to create high-value jobs, intellectual property, start-ups, and attract and nurture new clinical trials.
Enabled by $17.5 million in funding through the state government’s Victorian Higher Education State Investment Fund (VHESIF), the Centre will be housed in the Monash Technology Precinct and networked across the state through its clinical trials.
“HeartLabs will house business development groups and strategic industry commercial partners as anchor tenants, accelerating new health and clinical innovations, and attracting significant global investment to Victoria,” the lead of HeartLabs, and Director of Monash University’s Victorian Heart Institute (VHI), Professor Stephen Nicholls said in a statement.
“It’s a critical step in the pipeline to allow the VHI to turn its discoveries into real solutions for the community.”
HeartLabs will translate and commercialise clinical research, cardiac technology, models of care, drug discovery, and biomedical engineering.

1337 Ventures Organises Insurtech Hackathon

Kuala Lumpur, Sept 22: 1337 Ventures is calling all data wizards, coding ninjas and insurtech enthusiasts to disrupt the insurance and the takaful industry.
The three-day Insurtech Hackathon which will be held from October 1-3 with a demo day held on the last day of the event. 
This hackathon brings together innovators and technical partners to work with tech talents from various disciplines. 
The top three teams will walk away with RM10,000, RM8,000 and RM5,000 respectively.
All participants will receive grab vouchers and a welcome pack which includes a T-shirt and swags. 

FedEx Express Teams Up With E-commerce Platforms 

Hong Kong, Sept 23: FedEx Express has  unveiled a series of new integrations with leading e-commerce technology platform across the Asia Pacific region which will substantially benefit e-tailers or e-commerce sellers. 
Under the FedEx Compatible program, FedEx customers can generate FedEx shipping labels and use additional FedEx features, such as Express Shipping Services and International Shipping Documentation Service, without leaving the e-commerce or marketplace platforms. This simple and easy-to-follow integration of FedEx and platform/ marketplace accounts enables e-tailers easy and automated access to process orders. 
In addition, e-tailers on marketplaces will also benefit from exclusive discounts on FedEx rates under the Compatible program. 
To date, FedEx has integrated with 17 platforms, allowing hundreds of thousands of e-merchants across Asia Pacific direct access to FedEx services, using their FedEx account number, to manage shipments and grow cross-border their e-commerce business. 
Please click HERE to view the technology platform providers who are integrated with the FedEx Compatible program. 

ACROMEC Launches Co-Working Space

Singapore, Sept 24: ACROMEC Limited, a specialist engineering services provider, announced that subsidiary ACROMEC Engineers Pte Ltd (ACROMEC Engineers) through joint-venture associate Life Science Incubator Pte Ltd, has launched the first Life Science Incubator coworking laboratory space, with a ceremony on location at the German Centre, International Business Plaza, Singapore.
The ceremony was attended by Mr Alvin Tan, Minister of State, Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth and Ministry of Trade & Industry and others from the Economic Development Board, Enterprise Singapore, SGInnovate, A*STAR, NTUitiv and NUS accelerator. Members of Life Science Incubator’s current network of some 20 industry partners, including Merck, also attended the event.
Serving early-stage bio and pharma start-ups, companies and entrepreneurs in the MedTech, Biotech, Biopharma and FoodTech sectors, Life Science Incubator will provide flexible co-working laboratory spaces for research and development. 
With access to communal state-of-the-art technologies and facilities, start-ups will be able to fully focus on innovation and talent in science without having to think about hefty infrastructure capital.
In July, the Group announced that wholly-owned subsidiary ACROMEC Engineers had entered into a joint-venture agreement with strategic partner Tako Ventures to build, own, and operate JVCo and co-working laboratory facilities. 

Agilex Biolabs Announced as Citeline Award Finalist

Adelaide, Sept 24: Agilex Biolabs, Australia’s most experienced and technologically advanced bioanalytical laboratory and the only biolab in the region with a dedicated toxicology unit, has been selected as a finalist for the Most Successful Early Phase Research (Preclinical & Phase I) category in the Citeline Awards 2021.
The Citeline Awards were created to recognise accomplishments across the biopharmaceutical industry, providing an opportunity for the industry to honour its highest achievers. Achievements across the spectrum of key R&D activities are celebrated, from successes in early and late-stage research, to advances in technological tools, to innovations in trial design and execution.
Agilex Biolabs offers advanced bioanalytical services for biotech companies and delivers toxicology services to support pre-clinical and early phase research within their TetraQ, division.
Dr. Peter Tapley, Director Toxicology at TetraQ, said the research submitted for the Citeline Award focussed on preclinical assessment of the safety and tolerability of a SARS-CoV-2 Sclamp protein subunit COVID-19 vaccine in rats.
“The preclinical toxicity studies conducted by TetraQ were required to enable the rapid approval and safe progression of the novel SARS-CoV-2 Sclamp subunit vaccine into clinical testing in healthy volunteers,” he said.

Didian, Marketplace For Developers, Agents

Kuala Lumpur, Sept 24: Didian – Malaysia’s first B2B marketplace for primary residential properties from developers, is a modern real estate platform that accelerates and grows property sales.
With its technology, industry know-how, and a nationwide database of more than 3,000 agents, the property technology company helps developers and agencies by providing an easier, faster, and more efficient way to help buyers secure their dream homes.  
“Developed in response to issues such as finding the right project to sell, cash flow problems and paperwork, which have been identified as the reasons for agents and negotiators leaving the industry, we developed our platform to make it easier and convenient for them to work,” said Chow Nam Kit, Co-founder and Director of Didian
With proven track records with Malaysia’s most reputable developers and an eye on market trends, Didian’s platform automatically pairs the most qualified agents from its national network of over 3000 experienced agents from over 400 agencies to make selling and marketing projects fast, intelligent and seamless.
Since 2018, Didian has transacted RM2.2 billion worth of bookings, and reputable developers who have leveraged on Didian have seen 100 per cent take-up rates on projects listed on the platform. 

NTT’s Latest CX Research

Petaling Jaya, Sept 24: NTT Ltd. has released the 2021 edition of the Global Customer Experience Benchmarking Report (GCXBR), its highly influential annual survey assessing the global state of play for CX. 
Now in its 24^th year, the latest GCXBR arrives at an important juncture to help organisations calibrate their rapid adoption of CX technology, revealing a significant gap in perceptions between organisations and consumers.
This year, NTT interviewed 1,359 professionals across 34 global markets and 14 different sectors.
For the first time, the research also included a voice of the customer (VoC) survey, supplementing evidence from professionals with opinion from a consumer panel of 1,402 respondents.
Read the full report here.

Watch the Thai League 1 on Astro Arena 2

Kuala Lumpur, Sept 24: Astro is proud to support local athletes through coverage of Malaysian footballers Junior Eldstal of Chonburi FC and Dominic Tan of Police Tero FC in the Thai League 1.
Matches from the two clubs will be shown live starting October 1 on Astro Arena 2 (CH802), along with selected matches of the clubs participating in the Thai FA Cup and League Cup.
Astro Arena 2 will feature edgy and refreshing local sports coverage and live studio presentations for local and international sporting events in new formats which will appeal to younger fans. 
Astro Arena 2 will be on the Family Pack for all Astro customers to enjoy.
Watch Chonburi FC vs Singha Chiangrai United on Oct 1, 7PM and Nongbua Pitchaya FC vs Police Tero FC on Oct 2, 8PM on Astro Arena 2 CH802.