News In Brief

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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 August 1 till the end of the week.

Walk to Work Day Supporting Diabetes Australia 

Sydney, Aug 1: Walk to Work Day supporting Diabetes Australia is on Friday, Sept 2 and encourages employees and employers to build regular walking into their daily routines.   
With millions of Australians living with all types of diabetes or at risk of type 2 diabetes there has never been a better time to get walking and start on the path to a healthier workplace and a healthier you.
Celebrating its 22nd year, the annual event encourages workplaces to walk to and from work, take a walk at lunchtime, and use the stairs instead of the escalator or elevator. 
For more information, please visit walk.com.au

COVID-19 Vaccination Rates Now Available Online

Sydney, Aug 1: The Albanese Labor Government has now made COVID-19 vaccination rates of aged care residents publicly available to increase vaccination uptake as part of the Government’s Winter Plan.
From Aug 1, the aggregated data for each residential aged care home will be available in both a list and an interactive map.
The data will be updated weekly on the Department of Health and Aged Care’s website, health.gov.au.
The Labor Albanese Government’s Winter Plan to boost vaccination rates is already working. 
At the start of June, less than 60 per cent of residents had a fourth COVID-19 dose but vaccination rates have now increased to 78.8 per cent of eligible residents in aged care facilities.

Alibaba LiveNOW 2022 Trains 300 Entrepreneurs 

Kuala Lumpur, Aug 1: Alibaba Group successfully concluded its LiveNOW Training Programme this year, equipping 293  Malaysians across English, Bahasa Malaysia and Mandarin sessions with fundamental skills of Key Opinion Leader live streaming and video production to unlock potential opportunities in the interactive e-commerce sphere.
Conducted in collaboration with special training partner MODEN KOL Academy, and supported by Human Resource Development Corporation (HRD Corp), MYNIC Berhad, Selangor Information Technology and Digital Economy Corporation (Sidec) and Penang Youth  Development Corporation (PYDC), the second edition of LiveNOW was again a corporate social responsibility initiative by Alibaba Group dedicated to the Malaysian community.
It primarily targeted individuals interested in developing a career in e-commerce live streaming or video production, and business owners who wish to leverage interactive e-commerce marketing tools to boost their business growth.
On the foundation of KOL live streaming training covered by the 2020 edition, this year’s  LiveNOW programme included an online video production component in view of the increased use of short videos as marketing means in recent years.
During the three full-day free online training sessions respectively conducted in English,  Bahasa Malaysia and Mandarin, participants had the opportunity to learn from sharing sessions hosted by popular local KOLs including Kate Ke En, Kartini Ariffin, Jae C and Xiao  Gu, as well as lectures by trainers from Taobao, MODEN KOL Academy, Lazada and homegrown video production house UNINESS.
“We are happy to have received an overwhelming response to our LiveNOW programme from the Malaysian community this year, indicating a strong demand for such capacity-building opportunities. This is especially evident post-pandemic with many individuals have started their journey in the e-commerce realm. We hope the programme has not only provided our participants with the relevant knowledge to explore this arena with confidence but also demonstrated through the stories of our KOL trainers that success is not unattainable if we have the will to reach for our goals,” Jess Lew, Country Manager, Tmall Taobao World  Malaysia said.

Incentives For Early Childhood Education 

Sydney, Aug 2: Up to $25,000 of financial support is now on offer for aspiring early childhood educators and teachers in NSW, as the Department of Education continues to boost staff numbers in the early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector.   
Applications for the 2022-23 Early Childhood Education Scholarships Program and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Early Childhood Education Scholarships Program opened today to help students entering the workforce enhance their skills, thanks to the $281.6 million Workforce Package to attract and retain ECEC staff over the next four years.   
Successful scholars would receive a boost of up to $25,000 to begin or complete an ECEC bachelor’s degree at TAFE or university. A $5,000 incentive annually over 4 years ($20,000) may also be available to help keep them working at a community preschool, mobile preschool or long day care service once they’ve finished their degree.   
Applications for Round 2 of the Early Childhood Education Scholarships and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Early Childhood Education Scholarships program are open from Tuesday, Aug 2 and close on Sept 12.   
Interested applicants are encouraged to visit the Department’s website for more information and to submit an application.  

Australia Ranks 8th Globally

Sydney, Aug 2: The latest study by cybersecurity company Surfshark shows that Australia ranks 8th in government surveillance based on the number of accounts specified in data requests by the local authorities and law enforcement agencies. In total, over 5 million accounts were requested in 177 countries from 2013 to 2020, with a steady increase in the latest years. The research shows that the US and EU authorities request the most data. Apple complied with the most useful data requests (80 per cent) compared to Microsoft, Facebook, and Google (from 69 per cent to 72 per cent).
Surfshark’s research analyzes user data requests that Apple, Google, Facebook, and Microsoft received from 177 countries’ local authorities between 2013 and 2020.
The cases of requests are related to government surveillance and law enforcement when digital evidence is needed in legal processes. 
The research shows that Australia ranks 8th in the world based on the online accounts requested by authorities from 2013 to 2020 (257 accounts per 100k people), in comparison to the U.S. (1st with 585/100K), U.K. (3rd with 486/100K). 

Create Change With Coway Run 2022

Kuala Lumpur, Aug 2: Dust off those running shoes as the highly-anticipated on-ground Coway Run is back after a two-year long hiatus.
Stretch out those limbs, flex those muscles and show your true spirit by giving it your all and leave behind nothing but smiles of satisfaction from October till November, this year.
Themed Unite to Create combines healthy living, wellness, fitness and art, participants can choose to join either the virtual run or on-ground run.
Participants who are choosing to run on-ground will also be able to run virtually!
In the virtual run, participants will be able to run at their own pace and leisure from Oct 1 until  Nov 6.
For more details on Coway Run 2022, visit www.cowayrun.com.my.

Skysports Secures USD3.13M In Investment

London, Aug 2: Skyports, the Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) vertiport infrastructure and drone services provider, has completed the final close of its Series B capital raise with fresh investment from ST Engineering through its Corporate Venture Capital unit, ST Engineering Ventures.  
ST Engineering, which has over 45 years of experience in the aerospace industry, will join as the final investor in Skyports’ Series B funding round, following the first close in March this year.
The addition of the Singapore heavyweight to Skyports’ roster of investors brings the total funding to USD $26.13 million.
The heavily oversubscribed Series B round highlights confidence in Skyports’ offering and industry direction. 
Other Series B investors include Japanese conglomerate Kanematsu Corporation, global industrial property group Goodman Group; Italian airport platform 2i Aeroporti, backed by Ardian’s Infrastructure Fund and F2i Italian Infrastructure fund; and US-based Venture Capital firm GreenPoint.

 YTL’s Founder Honoured

Putrajaya, Aug 3: As part of its year-long 10-year anniversary celebration,  Heriot-Watt University Malaysia (“HWUM”) honours the late Tan Sri Dato’ Seri (Dr) Yeoh Tiong  Lay, the founder of the YTL Group, for his contributions to the University’s impact in Malaysia on July 21.
The YTL family has a long tradition with the UK University. Tan Sri Dato’ Seri (Dr) Yeoh’s son,  Dato’ (Dr) Yeoh Seok Kian, attended Heriot-Watt University (“HWU”) as an undergraduate and graduated with a Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Building in 1981.
In 1988, the University awarded Tan Sri Dato’ Seri (Dr) Yeoh with an Honorary Doctorate, Deng for his contribution to the industry. Similarly, Dato’ (Dr) Yeoh Seok Kian was recognised for his work and bestowed an Honorary Doctorate, DUniv in 2017.
In January 2019, Dato’ (Dr) Yeoh Seok Kian, who is the Managing Director of YTL Corporation  Berhad, gifted £1,000,000.00 (RM5,340,313.08) to establish the “Tan Sri Yeoh Tiong Lay  Global Scholarship Programme” in memory of his father, who was known as a visionary leader by many.
The scholarship programme is aimed at widening Malaysian students’ access to UK  higher education at the University. 

Sarawak Consolidated Industries Bhd Signs MOU

Kuching, Aug 3: Civil engineering specialist Sarawak Consolidated Industries Berhad has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with PT. Semesta Noor Berkarya and PT. Envy Manajemen Konsultansi to explore the formation of a partnership in relation to the construction of 4G telecommunications towers for Indonesia’s outermost regions.
Under the MoU, SCIB will anchor the formation of the partnership as well as provide the corporate management setup.  SNB, a state-owned enterprise of the Republic of Indonesia is an engineering, procurement and construction specialist with expertise in handling large-scale domestic projects, will build and install the 4G telecommunications towers, including site survey and acquisition as well as other supporting infrastructure works.
EMK, which is involved in business advisory, consultation, project management and other corporate management activities, will provide project management services through operational and technical supervision.
The project, which comes under Indonesia’s Telecommunications and Information Accessibility Agency (“Bakti”), is expected to take three years to complete and involves the construction and installation of 4G telecommunications towers in 3,704 villages. Bakti is an agency under the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology tasked to provide the telecommunications network. 

MDEC Introduces IdeaKita

Cyberjaya, Aug 3: Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), Malaysia’s lead digital economy agency, introduced the IdeaKita initiative to create and foster 200 new tech companies by the end of the year. 
Chief Executive Officer of MDEC, Mahadhir Aziz, said that the programme is designed to facilitate the journey of budding entrepreneurs in establishing their own tech companies.
The programme is also part of MDEC’s new Malaysia Digital initiative which aims to catalyse and transform the capabilities and capacities of our digital ecosystem and accelerate the growth of Malaysia’s digital economy.    
IdeaKita is aligned to increase the number of startups to 5,000 by 2025 as identified as one of the nine focus sectors under the Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint.
To find out more on IdeaKita, visit https://mdec.my/IdeaKita.

Perfect Corp Partners With DOUGLAS

Berlin, Aug 3: Perfect Corp., the leading artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented reality (AR) beauty and fashion tech solutions provider, has partnered with DOUGLAS, Europe’s leading platform for premium beauty and health, to introduce a new digital skin type analysis tool powered by state-of-the-art AI deep learning technology.
Customers can use the digital skin analysis tool via the DOUGLAS app to determine their skin type and additional skin properties.
Users simply scan their faces with their smartphone camera and in just a few seconds the algorithm detects their unique skin concerns.
Once the skin type has been determined, along with levels of hydration, oiliness and facial wrinkles, specific product suggestions can be made.
These are precisely tailored to the customer’s unique skin type and individual needs. 

Nigeria Into Cryptocurrencies 

Sydney, Aug 4: Nigeria is the most cryptocurrency-obsessed country in the world, a new study reveals. 
The research, carried out by crypto price tracker CoinGecko, examined Google Trends data of search terms frequently used by people interested in cryptocurrency.
These terms were then combined to give each English-speaking country a ‘total search score’ to discover which countries have been the most interested in cryptocurrency since the market crash in April 2022. 
The study revealed that Nigeria ranks highest as the country most curious about cryptocurrency since April this year.
With a total search score of 371, Nigeria topped the list for its population having the highest search levels for the phrases ‘cryptocurrency’, ‘invest in crypto’ and ‘buy crypto’ worldwide while Australia ranks as the fourth most crypto-curious country worldwide.

 Meta Malaysia launched #TakNakScam 2022

Kuala Lumpur, Aug 4: Meta Malaysia today announced new initiatives under the nationwide #TakNakScam awareness campaign in the presence of core campaign partners, including Royal Malaysian Police’s Commercial Crime Investigation Department (PDRM CCID), Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs (KPDNHEP), Securities Commission Malaysia (SC), Bursa Malaysia Berhad, Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), CyberSecurity Malaysia (CSM), The Association of Banks in Malaysia (ABM) and the Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations (FOMCA).
Meta’s #TakNakScam campaign was first launched in July 2021 with the aim to create awareness and educate the public on how to spot, check and report against highly deceptive tactics employed by scammers.
The campaign which ran for five months was well received by the public and had a total reach of 2.3 million and 105,000 link clicks via various social online campaign channels
Meanwhile, the influencer campaign through Meta Marketing Partner had a total reach of 4.8 million and a total engagement of 23,007.
In addition, the campaign also received support from local celebrity Chef Wan, who through various social content on the campaign, had a total reach of over 1.38 million and a total engagement of 137,000.
“New consumer behaviours around online buying and browsing habits that emerged during the pandemic will remain entrenched amongst Malaysians.
We recognize that more Malaysians are going online to build meaningful connections with people, communities and businesses they love. Together with our partners, Meta is committed to providing safety tools and resources so that Malaysians can stay safe on our platforms. We will continue to find new ways to reach out to everyday Malaysians, raise awareness, encourage critical thinking so that people remain vigilant and empower them to take action to protect themselves,” Nicole Tan, Country Director,
Malaysia at Meta said.
According to The Commercial Crimes Investigation Department, PDRM, there were 71,833 cases with losses amounting to more than RM5.2 billion, from 2020 until May 2022 with 48,850 or 68 per cent of them involving online scams. E-commerce scams recorded 5,851 cases in 2020, 9,569 cases last year and 3,833 cases up to May this year. Job scams recorded 350 cases, while loan and investment scams also recorded a total of 11,875 between 2020 to May 2022.

Bigo Live Premieres ‘BIGO Gagaga 

Kuala Lumpur, Aug 4:  Bigo Live, the global leading live streaming platform has announced the launch of BIGO Gagaga, an all-new entertaining online game cum-talkshow variety program featuring Bigo Live’s very own broadcasters and some of Malaysia’s top radio personalities.
The inaugural three-episode variety program will air every Thursday at 9 pm MYT exclusively on the Bigo  Live app. The first episode of BIGO Gagaga will premiere on Aug 4, with the series finale scheduled on Aug 18.
Viewers who missed the live streamed episodes will be able to catch an encore telecast on Bigo Live Malaysia’s Facebook page the following Fridays at 9 pm MYT.  

Indonesian Mall Treated With Modern Parking System

Jakarta, Aug 5: One of the largest and most comprehensive malls in the country, Grand Indonesia, which is located in Central Jakarta, has officially implemented new parking technology innovations to increase visitor comfort and accelerate access to and from the mall parking area. This innovation is the result of the development of a service provider and parking technology company, PT Centrepark Citra Corpora (CentrePark).|
Through the CentrePark brand, PT Centrepark Citra Corpora was plotted as the parking manager for Grand Indonesia Mall in November last year. As an umbrella for cooperation, the two parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Jakarta, on February 3, 2022. The signing was carried out by the President Director of PT Centrepark Citra Corpora, Charles Richard Oentomo accompanied by CenterPark Director Chris Haryadi, with two Grand Indonesia Directors Murali Daran and Harry Kusnadi. That way, since August 1 CenterPark has officially managed the vehicle parking area at Grand Indonesia Mall.
“CentrePark has the same mission as Mall Grand Indonesia, which is to call for an exclusive shopping experience through a number of global brands that are its tenants, equipped with condominium, office and hotel facilities with the same luxurious classification. Suitable for to see and to be seen, people.
Therefore, we are grateful for the opportunity given by Grand Indonesia,” said Charles Richard Oentomo.
In the signing ceremony of this cooperation, both parties were enthusiastic. CenterPark incidentally is known as a national parking operator company with various major projects in Indonesia. CentrePark’s experience includes managing various parking areas for skyscrapers and commercial areas, housing to townships in 50 cities in Indonesia ranging from Jakarta, Tangerang, Surabaya, Bandung, Medan, Batam, Semarang and others.

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