News In Brief

Follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter

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

MHTC Receives Approval

Putrajaya, March 21: Minister of Health Malaysia Khairy Jamaluddin, endorsed strategies and plans for 2022 put forth by the Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC), the agency tasked to facilitate and promote the growth of Malaysia’s healthcare travel industry globally.
Jamaluddin, who is also Co-Chairman of MHTC is confident that these strategies will play a significant role in reviving the economy as we transition into endemicity.
The strategies and initiatives are anchored upon the Malaysia Healthcare Travel Industry Blueprint 2021-2025, launched on Nov 1 last by Jamaluddin, which will be implemented in two phases.
This follows the success of Malaysia Healthcare, Malaysia’s healthcare travel industry, in garnering RM551 million in revenues based on hospital receipts, six per cent above targeted revenue goal for 2021.
This achievement was largely driven by the implementation of a stringently monitored Medical Travel Bubble, vigorous G2G and B2B engagements, 18 industry partnerships contributing to the volume of inbound patients, alongside continuous branding, and awareness initiatives to keep international customer base informed on Malaysia’s commitment to being a safe and trusted healthcare destination.

AFC Announces Trustees

Kuala Lumpur, March 21: The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has today confirmed the AFC Dream Asia Foundation Board of Trustees under the Chairmanship of Saudi Arabia’s President of the Olympic and Paralympic Committee, HRH Prince Abdulaziz Bin Turki Al Faisal, for a four-year term from 2021 to 2025.
In addition to the President of the Saudi Arabian Olympic and Paralympic Committee HRH Prince Abdulaziz Bin Turki Al Faisal, the two remaining Board of Trustees are Hong Kong Football Association Ltd. President and Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong President Timothy Fok Tsun Ting as well as the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) President and Football Federation of Cambodia (FFC) Vice President Major General Khiev Sameth.
With more than 50 years of cumulative experience in a diverse range of industries which include sports administration, public service, business, economics as well as social development and philanthropy, the esteemed trio will further strengthen the strategic oversight and management of funds received and disbursed under the AFC Dream Asia Foundation.
“The AFC Dream Asia Foundation was established with the primary purpose of driving the AFC’s ambitions of maximising the unifying force of our beautiful game to positively impact our vulnerable communities across Asia,” AFC Dream Asia Foundation Board of Trustees, AFC President and Patron of the AFC Dream Asia Foundation Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa said.
“Our three founding members bring with them their vast and diverse range of experiences and, on behalf of the Asian football family, I am pleased and honoured to welcome them to the AFC Dream Asia Foundation.”

beIN SPORTS To Air AFC Asian Qualifiers

Kuala Lumpur, March 21: The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has confirmed beIN SPORTS, the flagship sports channel of beIN MEDIA GROUP (“beIN”), as the broadcast partner for the remaining AFC Asian Qualifiers – Road to Qatar™ fixtures scheduled to take place on March 24 and 29.
beIN SPORTS has secured the rights to broadcast the eagerly anticipated contests in Algeria, Bahrain, Chad, Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Palestine, Qatar, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia and Yemen.
To showcase the new AFC rights, beIN SPORTS will launch four new dedicated AFC channels – namely beIN SPORTS AFC, beIN SPORTS 1 AFC, beIN SPORTS 2 AFC and beIN SPORTS 3 AFC – which will be presented utilising 4K state-of-the-art technology, complemented by world-class studio punditry to provide the most comprehensive coverage and premium viewing experience, while commentary will be available in Arabic, English and French.

Forest App Launch BTS Characters

New York, March 21: Productivity app, Forest has collaborated with TinyTAN to launch their newest feature now available today.
The productivity app that allows you to build a virtual forest and stay focused on their work, can now grow TinyTAN characters of the iconic K-pop band BTS!
Forest is the top productivity and focus app in 136 countries with 40 million users worldwide.
The app has donated more than one million real trees through Trees for the Future and will continue doing so in this collaboration by donating one real tree when 1 TinyTAN character tree is sold. When users spend virtual coins they earn in Forest on planting real trees, the Forest team donates to our partner and creates planting orders.
The Forest app is available to purchase for US$3.99 for Apple and Google Play.

BrainStorm Offers Freebie

Sydney, March 22: BrainStorm is offering a free 30-minute consultations to businesses who are currently frustrated with their current technology stack with their newly appointed Business Innovation Strategist and Bendigo local Tim Grimes to help businesses roadmap what a future technology implementation could look like for them.
In these initial consultations, Grimes will uncover how businesses could potentially be saving money or simply improve productivity with technology to drive business sales and improve customer service.     
Get in touch with Grimes directly, by email: tim@brainstormsoftware.com.au or phone: +61 26188 7306.

SMEs Vital Help

Kuala Lumpur, March 22: The Ministry of Environment and Water Malaysia (KASA) and Capital Markets Malaysia (CMM) have jointly launched an initiative to advance the adoption of environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia, today.
The webinar is the first in a series of capacity-building initiatives to support SMEs in developing corporate sustainability programmes that will contribute towards the nation’s aspiration to achieve net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions earliest by 2050.
The fulfilment of this target is contingent upon the completion of the Long-Term Low Emissions Development Strategy (LT-LEDS), currently being developed by KASA and expected to be finalised by the end of 2022. 
“As part of our strategy to address climate change, the Government encourages companies in Malaysia to declare the aspiration of net zero GHG emissions in ensuring the sustainability of the company’s operations,” KASA Secretary-General Datuk Seri Ir. Dr. Zaini Ujang said.
“Given that small and medium-sized enterprises accounted for 38.9 per cent of Malaysia’s overall GDP in 2020, SMEs will have an extremely vital role to play in the national climate change agenda.” 

​​ ​​Epson Partners With WWF 

Kuala Lumpur, March 22: Epson Southeast Asia has announced its partnership with World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), as part of Epson’s commitment to co-create sustainable solutions and empower communities.
The new partnership seeks to scale marine conservation impact and climate solutions across Southeast Asia by working with youths, citizen scientists, as well as businesses and local communities. 
“Sustainability has been and will continue to be a core focus for Epson as part of our renewed Epson 25 Corporate Vision,” Epson Southeast Asia regional managing director Siew Jin Kiat. 
“Beyond our ongoing efforts to deliver sustainable technology and solutions to our customers and partners, we are extremely proud to be extending this focus on sustainability to the places we operate in by co-creating a myriad of eco-innovative solutions with WWF and local communities to truly make an impact on a greener tomorrow.”

Celebrities Back Everyrealm 

New York, March 22: Everyrealm, one of the most active developers of metaverse content and infrastructure, revealed that a host of A-list entertainment talent are investors in the ten-month-old company, alongside existing investors Andreessen Horowitz and Coinbase.
Everyrealm’s latest investors include The Weeknd, Will Smith, Marc Anthony, Nas, Paris Hilton, Gunna, Baby Keem, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Gene Simmons, Lil Baby, Mario Götze, Hannah Bronfman, Fara Leff, Ebonie Ward, Miye Oni, Belly, Pro Logic, NAV, and others.
“Having such an accomplished roster of people on our cap table is an honor and a testament to the allure of the metaverse opportunity, one where artists and entertainers can foster direct connections with their communities,” Everyrealm CEO Janine Yorio said.
Everyrealm is best known for its vast metaverse real estate holdings and developments in leading metaverse platforms including The Sandbox, Decentraland, and 23 others.
Everyrealm’s metaverse real estate development projects include Fantasy Islands, an ultra-luxury master planned community in the Sandbox which sold an associated NFT megayacht for 150 ETH ($650,000); Metajuku, a shopping district in Decentraland, Realm Academy, the premier online educational campus in the metaverse, which is located in Somnium Space.

Ni Hsin Signs OEM Manufacturing

Kuala Lumpur, March 23: Ni Hsin EV Tech Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Main Market-listed Ni Hsin Group Berhad has entered into an Original Equipment Manufacturing Agreement with Dongguan Tailing Motor Vehicle Co Ltd for the manufacture of the eBixon EV Bike. 
Under the OEM Agreement, TAILG will manufacture the eBixon EV Bikes and deliver as semi-knocked down components that includes spare parts and software while NH EV TECH will assemble and test as well as run quality control and commission the electric two wheelers in Malaysia.
“Our venture into the e-mobility business is in line with the Group’s commitment to seek opportunities under the ESG criteria of sustainability. This venture is now coming to fruition with the OEM Agreement and the manufacturing license from the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (“MITI”) obtained in October 2021,” NH EV Tech managing director Khoo Chee Kong said.
“The eBixon EV Bike will be used as proprietary mobile beverage machines in our BLACKBIXON Coffee business concept of cafe@anywhere, serving BLACKBIXON coffee to customers at various popular locations in cities around the country.

Heriot-Watt Promotes Happiness 

Putrajaya, March 23: In conjunction with the United Nation’s International Day of Happiness, Heriot Watt University Malaysia (HWUM) held its annual flagship event, the Global Happiness Forum held last week.
Themed ‘The Importance of Laughter’, the virtual event was aimed at promoting HWUM’s  happiness agenda and its wider efforts to promote positive mental health and resilience.
HWUM’s 5th Global Happiness Forum garnered the participation of over 400 participants from  all around the globe including the United Kingdom, Dubai, Hong Kong, Pakistan, and many  more.
The principles of the UK university are rooted deeply in the belief that education and science  should be used for the betterment of the wider society.
This year’s edition featured a line-up  of ‘Happy’ hosts and speakers including renowned Malaysian comedian Harith Iskander; UK  academic and comedian Professor Sophie Scott; as well as Malaysian humanitarian activist  and volunteer Kuan Chee Heng, more popularly known as ‘Uncle Kentang’. 

Risers Partners With JPWKL 

Kuala Lumpur, March 23: The Risers, a community led by students from Taylor’s College, have collaborated with Jabatan Pendidikan Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur (JPWPKL) to help ease the transition of students going back to school ahead of the commencement of the new term on Monday
Understanding these hardships, Taylor’s College and JPWPKL have reached out to 1,000 families and children in the areas of Bangsar, Pudu, Keramat, and Sentul with school bags and stationery supplies through the ‘Bag to School’ programme.
Last week, JPWKL and Taylor’s distributed the school supplies to various schools within Kuala Lumpur.
The Risers is a student-led community that encourages young learners to engage with like-minded peers and promotes opportunities to equip themselves with valuable skills whilst also empowering one another to make things happen.
The ‘Bag to School’ programme is one of the projects helmed by Taylor’s College under their ‘The Risers Community Outreach’ initiative. 

Nokia Selected By TIME dotCom 

Kuala Lumpur, March 24: Nokia has announced that it has been selected by TIME dotCom (TIME) for the supply and delivery of a DWDM optical network.
With this nationwide rollout, Nokia will help TIME meet fast growing traffic demands by enhancing connectivity across data centres and cable landing stations in Malaysia with a highly resilient optical network. 
The optical network will connect multiple data centres, cable landing stations, and telecom exchanges spanning across peninsular Malaysia to Singapore and Thailand. 
The deployment will feature Nokia’s 1830 PSS portfolio to provide a level of scalability for supporting a wide range of applications and services. 
The 1830 PSS platform will further allow TIME to deploy services rapidly, reduce network total cost of ownership, and extend network  lifecycles.
The deployment will also be supported by Nokia’s fifth generation PSE-V chipset and 400G multi-haul pluggable optics to power coherent transmission at the lowest possible cost per  bit, with low power and space requirements.  

Top Glove Supports Employee Wellbeing 

Shah Alam, March 24: Top Glove has inked a partnership with Manulife Investment Management Bhd, iFAST Capital Sdn Bhd and UOB Kay Hian Wealth Advisors Sdn Bhd to enhance the private retirement scheme for its eligible employees.
The scheme which was introduced in Feb 2016 was done as part of its ongoing efforts to offer competitive rewards and remuneration for employees.
Through Manulife’s PRS Scheme, the glove maker will be able to make contributions for its employees via the iFAST integrated online platform.
Further, Top Glove will have access to the full range of Manulife PRS series which comprises both conventional and Shariah compliant PRS funds.
“Our employees are not just our most valuable assets, they are also part of the growing Top Glove family, thus we would like to support their retirement years through this initiative,” Top Glove Managing Director Datuk Lee Kim Meow said.

SheMaps Appealing For Donors

Sydney, March 24: In an effort to challenge students to come up with solutions and encourage a psychological identification to the geospatial industry, She Maps, a national social enterprise committed to breaking down gender biases in STEM fields, has launched the fourth round of its annual ‘How Cool is your School?’ competition.
Established in 2019, the Australian-first initiative encourages students to use satellite data to create a map meeting cartographic (mapping) conventions, and then calculate the percentage of green shade on their school grounds, with this map then forming students’ competition entry.
She Maps ‘How Cool is Your School?’ the competition is open to all students from Kindergarten (Foundation) through to Year 8, with prizes of DJI Tello drones awarded to individual winners in each school year level for the best map that meets cartographic conventions.
She Maps is now appealing to the corporate sector, charity groups, philanthropists and the community at large to throw their support behind its ‘How Cool is your School?’ competition.
Interested sponsors can email Jules Blundell at jules@shemaps.com.

SHAREit Amongst The Top 5 Media Sources

Singapore, March 25: SHAREit Group, a global technology company has announced that its digital content sharing and streaming app SHAREit, has been ranked No.4 media source globally in volume and power rankings in non-gaming categories and No.7 in all categories on the In-App purchases (IAP) index, marking another growth milestone. 
It also ranked at No.8 on the global retention index across all categories for driving huge volumes.
SHAREit has become a marketing platform of choice for mobile marketers as they look to drive quality users and branding, and these rankings underscore the app’s role in growing the ecosystem.
SHAREit’s primary feature is the peer-to-peer file transfer, allowing users to share files, pictures, music, and more, with other devices without using an active internet or Bluetooth connection.
It is also one of the first app channel partners of Google Play that ensures secure application transfers with Peer-to-Peer Offline App Sharing. 

Editor’s Note: You can now download our app on the Google Play Store or the Apple Store, or write your next best selling novel with our sister app Toolis, available on the Apple Store and Google Play Store or purchase something from us at www.tapiroo.com, yayaezzy.com or at lazybumskincare.com.au. Also, check out our rate card and media kit here if you would like to advertise with us on this website. Thank you!