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Articles by Ameen Kamal
What Makes Vaping Harmful? - BusinessToday
Studies are being carried to investigate the mechanisms by which vaping is bad for the health, but researchers already have some ideas. Vaping involves inhaling a vapourised liquid known as vape juice or e-liquid which may consist of many different types of ingredients mixed in a lipid (oily) base. These ingredients usually include flavourings, nicotine and other additives. Outside of Malaysia, it is also common to add marijuana extracts such as THC and CBD.
Strategies moving forward for Malaysia (Part 2) - Gaps and opportunities
In Part 1, EMIR Research elaborated on strategies surrounding the enhancement of Malaysia’s strengths and potential diversifications, formulated with the global outlook in mind. We took into account Malaysia’s financial position and the need to increase revenue streams in order to improve socioeconomic stability and the urgent need to address national security needs.
Strategies moving forward for Malaysia (Part 1): The strengths - Opinion
Strategies moving forward for Malaysia (Part 1): The strengths By：Dr. Rais Hussin, Ameen Kamal In navigating an uncertain future, EMIR Research looks into the strategies for Malaysia to not only withstand the various global outlook and trends but also to thrive in reaping the full value from opportunities arising. The following presents the strategy framework.
Nurul Izzah’s appointment - A nepotism act?
By PRIYA PUBALAN 02 Feb 2023 10:25am Political dynasties cannot be escaped from any part of the world. It has a more extensive outlook and practised in both royals and government affairs by families who have established their political or economic dominance.
Anwar’s tricky Cabinet balancing act
COMING up with the list of cabinet members isn’t straightforward. It is a tough balancing act of various competing factors such as politics, principles, merits, public opinion, popular expectations, private sector lobby and pressures from various groups with interest. Each factor would have to be scored and weighted, with the ultimate objective of ensuring stability and successful policy implementation.
Majority Malay-Muslim no excuse for bias
A fragmented majority is a problem for stability in any country. Malays make up a significant majority of Malaysia’s population, and when Malays are socially and politically fragmented, any ruling government of the day would constantly be wielding a slim majority at best, leading to perpetual political instability. The need for unity among the Malays isn’t based on negative racial sentiments, but rather, a necessity of stable administration based on factual population demographics.
"Favourable political weather for kingmakers come GE15"
THE current political weather that is rife with desperation and a highly divided landscape is favourable to aspiring political kingmakers. It is expected by many that no single coalition would gain a significant majority post the 15th General Election (GE15).
Malay unity necessary for Malaysia’s stability
A FRAGMENTED majority is a problem for stability in any country. Malays make up a significant majority of Malaysia’s population, and when Malays are socially and politically fragmented, any ruling government of the day would constantly be wielding a slim majority at best, leading to perpetual political instability. The need for unity among the Malays isn’t based on negative racial sentiments, but rather, a necessity of stable administration based on factual population demographics.
The one leadership quality you need - decision making
Have you ever been in a situation where you have a few alternatives to choose from? You need to make an important decision. Fast. By hook or by crook. Here is a scenario for you. So, you and your friends are spending quality time together and when it is about time to choose a place or food to eat, you start contemplating. Should you dine-in or take-away? What kind of food are you going for this time around?
Paracetamol and its many active ingredients
By Ahmad Dhiyauddeen Abdul Shukor 16 Nov 2022 05:34am Paracetamol, also known as acetaminophen in many countries, is a non-opioid analgesic and antipyretic agent used to treat fever and pain. It blocks the release of certain chemical messengers in the brain that are responsible for pain and fever. Paracetamol is used for most type of pain from headache, toothache, joint pain, muscle pain and menstrual pain.
The moon in the two east-coast states
KOTA BHARU – With a flip of the switch, the wings of his masterpiece begin to spin – mimicking that which it replicates – and the pensive look on Poksu Li face fades into a satisfied smile. Evidently, the 57-year-old Kelantanese man was content with his mechanical creation which was dyed in the iconic green hue of Pas; bedecked with the white moon emblem of the Islamist party.
What makes a good leader?
Remember when we were children? Everything was less complicated and we saw things either in black or white. Nothing in between. At all. I like this; therefore, I want this. I detest this and so, I couldn’t care less. What a simple approach to life. Less critical. Some might say ignorance is bliss, but with ignorance, comes harm and destruction. Black and white thinking is the tendency to think in extremes: it keeps us from seeing the world as it often is: multi-faceted and full of the shades in between.
GE15: Reduce the musical chairs game
It’s a pretty standard practice in Malaysian politics to move candidates around to different seats. It is also of course common to have all sorts of controversies about who gets retained as candidates, and who gets dropped, or transferred out to unwinnable seats. News today is rife with drama about candidates like Khairy Jamaluddin, Charles Santiago and Wong Tack.
"Will no heads roll over the MySejahtera scandal?"
THE Government appears to have a gun to its head with the application and data of MySejahtera held as ransom. It is likely that upon this consideration (among other things) that the Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) recommended a Government takeover of the app as the solution. Although officials from the Health Ministry (MOH) agree with the PAC’s recommendation, are we supposed to just accept this moving forward and ignore how the legacy issues came to be?
Malaysia Day: Malaysian by heart vs Malaysian by paper
If you think being a Malaysian is fun, think again. How do you feel about having Malay as the first language? How do you feel about having to wear baju kurung or batik printed outfits every Thursday? Or to see people having nasi lemak in the morning? I mean, there are coffee and breads, why must there be rice? Not forgetting, the recent hot topic of the former prime minister and his wife were sentenced to jail due to embezzlement related to millions of dollars. How embarrassing, right?
Continuous “Steep Inflation” has to go!
Do you know that on average, students spend around 75 per cent of their expenses on food, 12.5 per cent on clothes, and the remaining 12.5 per cent on fuel and other necessities (Malaysia Household Income & Expenditure Survey, 2019). The increasing national inflation rate has left some students struggling to afford everyday living expenses, requiring them to sacrifice time devoted to themselves and their coursework in hopes of finding financial stability. Oh, well.
Higher interest rates will slow down economy, curb inflation
By ZAIDI ISMAIL 06 Jul 2022 03:00pm A hike in interest rate would slow down economic growth, cool down the inflation rate and prompt the people to spend less and save more. Economists said an increase in interest rate is inevitable due to skyrocketing prices of food and goods at the moment which has become the main bone of contention among Malaysians.
Food insecurity: What’s next for Malaysia (Part 3)
CLIMATE change and natural resource resilience remind us of another key weakness observed from past and even current policy—the water and energy “nexus”. These dimensions appear to be missing or at least, inadequately emphasised, despite being inseparable and crucial elements in the food security equation.
Food insecurity: Taking rice as a case study (Part 2)
AS a case study on past policy target inconsistencies, we can look into rice’s self-sufficiency level (SSL) targets over the past many decades. From up to 100% SSL in the 1970s and 1980s, it dropped to 80%-85% in between the 1980s to 1990s and stagnated at a low 65% between 2000 to 2010. The National Agricultural Policy (NAP 1.0) ran between 2010 to 2020 had a 70% rice SSL target, but 2019 data reported by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) showed only 63% rice SSL.
Food Insecurity: Where we went wrong (Part 1)
HISTORY shows that Malaysia has never been short of policies related to agriculture or food. Ironically, the policy abundance has proven to be insufficient to ensure food security. Past policies have proven inconsistent in terms of self-sufficiency targets and many major food items still rely on import supplementations. Food items with 100% or more self-sufficiency levels still rely on significant external inputs.
Make food insecurity a priority national security agenda
HISTORY shows that Malaysia has never been short of policies related to agriculture or food. Ironically, policy abundance has proven insufficient to ensure food security. Past policies have proven inconsistent in terms of self-sufficiency targets and many major food items still rely on import supplementations. Food items with 100 per cent or more self-sufficiency levels still rely on significant external inputs.
How Bon Odori could’ve been handled properly (Part 2)
MINISTER in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Datuk Idris Ahmad said on Monday (June 6) that Muslims are advised not to participate in the Bon Odori festival as the festival contains elements of other religions. However, the broad statement could have been refined to put more focus or confine the “non-advisable to participate” stance to the dance/chants itself instead of the entire festival.
How Bon Odori could’ve been handled properly (Part 1)
RELATIVE to the long list of problems Malaysia is facing, permissibility for Muslims to attend the Bon Odori festival is certainly bottom-tier, if not a non-issue. But, given the unexpected attention it has garnered, leading to misunderstandings and politicisation of the topic, it’s important to shed some light on the matter. There should be discussions with relevant parties to solve issues or address concerns before making broad stoke public statements that can be misunderstood and politicised.
How Bon Odori could have been handled properly
COMMENT | Relative to the long list of problems Malaysia is facing, permissibility for Muslims to attend the Bon Odori festival is certainly bottom-tier, if not a non-issue. But, given the unexpected attention it has garnered, leading to misunderstandings and politicisation of the topic, it’s important to shed some light on the matter.
Position food security as top national agenda
COMMENT | Immediate-term measures by the government to overcome chicken supply and price issues are not sustainable and are a significant disruption to the market. Malaysia needs effective policies and medium- to long-term actions now to avoid similar problems in the future.
Position food security as top national security agenda
By DR RAIS HUSSIN AND AMEEN KAMAL 07 Jun 2022 08:05am Immediate-term measures by the government to overcome chicken supply and price issues are not sustainable and are a significant disruption to the market. Malaysia needs effective policies and medium- to long-term actions now to avoid similar problems in the future.
Think economics, geopolitics before signing up with Starlink | New Straits Times
STARLINK is a division within SpaceX — the company headed by the richest man in the world, Elon Musk. It designs, manufactures and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft — providing satellite Internet connectivity around the world using thousands of small satellites in space. As Starlink's representatives were reportedly in Malaysia in the week of May 23 for further discussions, we hope the government takes into account various factors before making any deals.
- Sow Long-Term Seeds of Unity and Growth Now
Ministries and agencies must operate under a transparent system and be monitored under an Input-Output-Outcome-Impact (IOOI) model. Oversight bodies and checks-and-balance organisations must be made independent. Competent and trustworthy people must be put in key organisations. Likewise, it is crucial that Anwar puts the right people in his cabinet, with particular attention to the education, finance, defence and home affairs portfolios.
Please Maintain Our Mask Mandate
The UK and Europe saw that when restrictions, including the mask mandate were lifted, hospitalisations rose, especially among children. The government has declared we are moving into a transition phase to becoming endemic, and are gradually lifting restrictions; as have many other countries. However, the World Health Organisation has repeatedly expressed caution that ‘endemic’ does not necessarily mean better or milder and that the pandemic is not over yet.
Highway buy-back a form of “bailout” by the people?
PARTIES benefiting from Amanat Lebuhraya Rakyat Bhd (ALR)’s proposed acquisition of the four highways would be the Government, toll operators and concessionaire owners. Arguably, the “losers” are the people as they have no say in this deal but to accept the possibility of prolonged toll payments, albeit without rate hikes. As for ALR, only through transparency and close monitoring of the individuals involved and their operations over time can we determine in which category they belong.
Highway buy-back a form of “bailout” by the people?
The traffic situation at the Sungai Besi Toll Plaza on April 2 this year round 3pm. (Source: BERNAMA) Parties benefitting from Amanat Lebuhraya Rakyat Bhd (ALR)’s acquisition of the four highways would be the government, toll operators, and concessionaire owners. Arguably, the losers are the people as they have no say in this deal but to accept the prolonged toll payments, albeit without rate hikes.
Was govt 'conned' in MySejahtera deal?
COMMENT | How obscure can the entire deal surrounding MySejahtera be that not even high-level officials from the Health Ministry and the Finance Ministry, have the same understanding of what is exactly happening? Reports on the Public Accounts Commission (PAC) hearing dated March 24, 2022 mentioned that Harjeet Singh, deputy secretary-general (finance) of the Health Ministry, told the PAC that KPISoft Sdn Bhd (KPISoft) changed its name to MYSJ Sdn Bhd (MySJ).
CSR trap: When Govt’s explanation creates more doubt (Part 2)
AS reported in Code Blue, MySJ only acquires a license to the KPISoft’s software specifically for MySejahtera “and does not acquire any other rights or ownership interests” under the five-year licensing agreement. Specifically, the agreement “grants MySJ rights to use the KPISoft software to exclusively develop, own the application trademark for MySejahtera, and test and support the MySejahtera app”.
CSR trap: Just come clean on MySejahtera’s dealings (Part 1)
OPPOSITION Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim recently had raised serious concerns on Public Accounts Committee (PAC) hearing on March 24, regarding the alleged “sale” of the MySejahtera application to a questionable private company. It was said that this transfer of ownership has been decided by the Cabinet on Nov 26 last year, allowing the Finance Ministry to approve Health Ministry’s (MOH) appointment of MySJ Sdn Bhd (MySJ) through direct negotiation.
Come clean over MySejahtera's questionable dealings
COMMENT | Opposition leader and Port Dickson MP Anwar Ibrahim has raised serious concerns, citing the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) hearing on March 24 this year regarding the alleged “sale” of the MySejahtera application to a questionable private company. It was said that this transfer of ownership has been decided by the cabinet on Nov 26, 2021, allowing the Finance Ministry to approve the Health Ministry’s appointment of MySJ Sdn Bhd (MySJ) through direct negotiation.
Will anyone commit to enacting political financing laws?
AS election season looms over the horizon, Malaysians are reminded on how money is deeply intertwined in the game through the nexus of business and politics. No doubt Malaysia requires reforms on many fronts, but if there is a priority list, depowering the influence of money on politics would be on top. After all, as the saying goes, the love of money is the root of all evil.
Authorities should study root causes of varying booster acceptance levels between races
HEALTH Minister Khairy Jamaluddin mentioned that only 47.9% of Malays have received the booster dose. This is similar to Indians (56.4%), Orang Asli (49.6%) and others (50.6%) but a stark contrast compared to the Chinese (81.3%). Despite the apparent observation, booster-hesitance is a complex issue that cannot be simply boiled down to ethnicity.
Muda - a party still in diapers with endless 'difficult' demands
Muda to contest in Johor polls SHAH ALAM: Being just two months old, Muda is still in diapers and unable to crawl yet. But it wants to be an overnight teenager. A teenager that is difficult to manage, and it is causing problems to others, including friends and relatives as they are needed to entertain it's unreasonable requests. We do not need to go far. Take a look in Johor polls where PH (DAP and Amanah) handed 6 seats to Muda but it is still not enough.
Fake news, real threats from pandemic to endemic
Close up of people using mobile smart phones - Detail of friends sharing photos on social media network with smartphone - Technology concept and cellphone culture with selective focus on right hand Hope, optimism, faith and positivity are the words occupying our minds these days. Every morning we wake up telling ourselves we need to get this pandemic over with once and for all after two years of suffering the uncertainties.
EPF withdrawals and the cost of inequality
Top income brackets with excess funds are not spending but investing in greater proportion while the poor are doing otherwise. According to EPF, 79% of EPF contributors have less than RM 1,000 in balance. During the past two years, Malaysians have been allowed to make several rounds of withdrawals from their EPF savings through i-Lestari, i-Sinar and i-Citra schemes which resulted in a withdrawal of RM 101 billion by 7.4 million members.
Navigating the Omicron wave before it turns into a potential storm
In Malaysia, the Omicron variant of Covid-19 appears to be causing less severe illness, with the vast majority of cases reportedly in Categories 1 and 2, and only 0.5 per cent in Category 3 and above. But, due to the Omicron variant's high transmissibility rate, it is vital to minimise the rate of transmission.
Is M’sia's top position in Global Opportunity Index 2022 realistic?
COMMENT | Malaysia achieved the top position in emerging Southeast Asia, according to the 2022 Milken Institute Global Opportunity Index. The 2022 Milken Institute Global Opportunity Index (GOI 2022) is an assessment to "inform investor and policymaker global investment decisions" by evaluating an economy's investment landscape. As far as having "potential", this is very much agreeable.
Is Malaysia’s position in the Global Opportunity Index 2022 realistic?
Malaysia achieved the top position in emerging Southeast Asia (SEA) according to the 2022 Milken Institute Global Opportunity Index. The 2022 Milken Institute Global Opportunity Index (GOI 2022) is an assessment to “inform investor and policymaker global investment decisions”, by evaluating an economy’s investment landscape. As far as having “potential”, this is very much agreeable.
Deconstructing 5G rollout in Malaysia - Part 1
COMMENT | Despite the broadest publicity, all sort of advocacy and lobbying by various interested parties involved, the so-called single wholesale network (SWN) model proposition by Digital National Berhad (DNB), as it stands today, doesn’t hold water from the perspectives of nation-building, technical feasibility, financial and commercial viability as well as governance and integrity.
Deconstructing 5G rollout in Malaysia - an overview (Part 2)
IN the second part of this article, we will analyse the financial and commercial viability of Digital Nasional Bhd’s (DNB) 5G rollout and how certain issues need to be addressed. Financial and commercial viability The multi-operator core network (MOCN) model proponents claim that it will enable mobile network operators (MNOs) to provide lower prices (see Figure 4). However, the justification appears to be somewhat misplaced.
Stop Illegal logging once and for all to minimise the occurrence of landslides and floods Original
Emir Research suggests for two-year logging moratorium to allow govt to investigate potential parties exploiting forest resources. The increased frequency of landslides and floods has had a devastating toll on lives, livelihoods and the environment. While struggling to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, society still has to deal with unexpected losses from environmental disasters.
Deconstructing 5G rollout in Malaysia - an overview (Part 1)
DESPITE the broad publicity, all sort of advocacy and lobbying by various interested parties involved, the so-called single wholesale network (SWN) model proposition by Digital National Bhd (DNB), as it stands today, does not hold water from the perspectives of nation building, technical feasibility, financial and commercial viability as well as governance and integrity.
TECH TALK: NFT - Steer clear unless you know what you're doing
If you grew up in the 2000s like me, you’d definitely be familiar of Gempak Starz. Currently known as Kadokawa Gempak Starz, the popular comic publisher has successfully combined NFT technology with the excitement of collectible cards, which is already extremely popular within the comic fanbase.
Emir Research: deconstructing 5G Rollout in Malaysia - Part 1
DESPITE the broadest publicity, all sort of advocacy and lobbying by various interested parties involved, the so-called single wholesale network (SWN) model proposition by Digital National Berhad (DNB), as it stands today, doesn’t hold water from the perspectives of nation-building, technical feasibility, financial and commercial viability as well as governance and integrity.
Recalibrating National Budget, Eradicating Leakages and Corruption -- Emir Research
Emir Research: Recalibrating National Budget, Eradicating Leakages and Corruption -- Bernama Photo. On May 30, 2019, New Zealand surprised the world with the world's first Wellbeing Budget. "But aren't all national budgets supposed to revolve around the concept of people's wellbeing?!"—we could rightfully exclaim. Our national plans, budgets and blueprints are also never short on using or even overusing this term.
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