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Proposal to make Malay as ASEAN’s second language

KUALA LUMPUR (CNA) – Malaysia will discuss with regional leaders to make Bahasa Melayu, or Malay, as the second language of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), said Malaysian Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri bin Yaakob yesterday.

He was responding to questions in the Upper House on the efforts to elevate Malaysia’s national language at the international level.

Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri said apart from Malaysia, the Malay language is already used in several ASEAN countries such as Indonesia, Brunei, Singapore, Southern Thailand, Southern Philippines and parts of Cambodia.

He said during his visit to Cambodia recently, he was informed there were 800,000 Malay-Chams who used Malay and in Vietnam, there were some 160,000 Malay speakers among those of Malay-Cham ancestry.

“Hence in the whole of ASEAN there are people who can speak Malay. Therefore there is no reason why we cannot make Malay as one of the official languages of ASEAN,” Dato’ Ismail Sabri said. The prime minister added that he would discuss the matter with his ASEAN counterparts.

“I will discuss with the other leaders of ASEAN countries, especially those in countries that already use Malay.

“I will discuss with them on making Malay as the second language in ASEAN. After that, we will discuss with other leaders of ASEAN countries that have populations who speak Malay,” said Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri.

The prime minister was responding to a member of the Senate, Isa Ab Hamid who wanted to know about the government’s efforts to empower Malay language in Malaysia’s diplomatic and foreign relations.

“At this time, only four out of 10 ASEAN countries use English in official events at the international level. Whereas six other countries use their mother tongues for official matters which require translation,” he told the Senate.

Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri said that he always asked the Foreign Ministry to prepare for him speaking notes and related documents in Malay for his reference when conducting overseas official trips.

“We do not have to feel ashamed or awkward to use Malay at the international level. The effort to empower Malay is also in line with one of the priority areas of Malaysia’s Foreign Policy Framework launched on December 7 last year,” he said.

Malaysia’s Prime Minister Dato Sri Ismail Sabri bin Yaakob with Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh. PHOTO: AFP

The Foreign Ministry was also asked to provide Malay language classes for ministry staff who had been posted overseas along with their children.

Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri said that some of the children of the diplomatic officers have a weak command of the Malay language because they study in international schools.

Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri’s statement to the Upper House followed his earlier statement he made at the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) General Assembly last Saturday, where he announced that the learning of Malay language would be made compulsory for foreign students enrolling in Malaysian universities.

Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri who is one of UMNO’s three vice presidents said that Higher Education Minister Dr Noraini binti Ahmad had agreed to implement the proposal.

“The time has come for us to be proud of the Malay language, as such there is no reason for us to feel awkward about speaking Malay even at the international stage, as language is the soul of the nation,” he told party delegates.

He also said that the ‘Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka’ Act which established the setting up of the body to coordinate the use of Malay language in the country, would also be amended. This is to provide the body with the enforcement powers to take action against those who misuse the language, including those who put up sign boards containing language errors.

“Over 300 million of ASEAN’s population use Malay in daily speech. Malay has the seventh largest number of speakers in the world,” said Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri, expressing his hope that Malay would be ASEAN’s second language.

US agrees to lift taxes on British steel, aluminium

AP – The United States (US) has agreed to lift tariffs on British steel and aluminium, mending a rift between allies that dates back to the Trump administration.

At a meeting on Tuesday in Baltimore, the US and the United Kingdom (UK) announced a deal that would remove taxes on British steel and aluminum that comes in below new quotas on the imports.

The British agreed to lift retaliatory tariffs on US exports.

In 2018, President Donald Trump imposed tariffs of 25 per cent on imported steel and 10 per cent on aluminum, calling the foreign metals a threat to US national security – a move that outraged the British, Europeans and other longstanding American allies.

Although President Joe Biden had criticised Trump for alienating America’s friends, he was slow once taking office to undo the metals tariffs, popular in the politically important steel-producing states.

Steel rods produced in the US await shipment. PHOTO: AP

Last year, the Biden administration reached a deal with the European Union (EU), agreeing to drop the tariffs on EU metals that come in below new import quotas and continuing to tax imports that exceed them.

Critics said all along that Trump’s steel and aluminium tariffs did little to address the real problem confronting American producers of steel and aluminium: overproduction by China.

But the US already shuts out most Chinese steel.

Under the agreement announced on Tuesday, Chinese-owned steel companies in Britain must undergo annual audits to ensure that cheap Chinese steel can’t slip into the US tariff free.

Poland seeks expulsion of 45 Russians suspected of spying

WARSAW, POLAND (AP) – Poland has identified 45 Russian intelligence officers using diplomatic status as cover to stay in the country and authorities are seeking to expel them, officials said yesterday.

Poland’s Internal Security Agency said it’s asking the Foreign Ministry to urgently remove the Russians, who were described as a danger to Poland’s security, from the country.

“These are people who have and operate using their diplomatic status, but in reality conduct intelligence activities against Poland,” said the state security spokesman Stanislaw Zaryn.

He said the decision to expel them now was made “taking into account Russian aggression against Ukraine”.

He said the agency’s work also showed that the Russian services are increasingly on the offensive and “are acting aggressively against Poland”.

Zaryn said in a separate statement that the security agency found that the activities of the 45 Russians have served “the objectives of the Russian undertakings designed to undermine the stability of Poland and its allies in the international arena and poses a threat to the interests and security of our country”.

A man waves the Ukrainian and Polish flag during a demonstration in front of a building housing Russian diplomats in Warsaw. PHOTO: AP

Application opens for Kg Meragang Ramadhan stalls

Izah Azahari

Applications are open for Ramadhan stalls in RPN Kampong Meragang for the village’s residents from March 22 to 27.

Vendors can obtain the application form from RPN Meragang Village Consultative Council committee representatives.

The committee representatives are Chief Secretariat Madzlan bin Haji Jumat at No 7, Jalan Kamangsi Timur, RPN Kampong Meragang, Participant Coordinator Rapiah binti Hidup at No 5, Spg 183-5, Jalan Kamangsi, RPN Kampong Meragang; Assistant Participant Coordinator Hajah Jaria binti Haji Besar at No 7, Spg 21, Jalan Kamangsi Barat, RPN Kampong Meragang; Sales Types Coordinator Yati binti Haji Tuah at No 16, Jalan Kamangsi Timur, RPN Kampong Meragang; and Assistant Sales Types Coordinator Tampoi binti Haji Jair at No 51, Jalan Kamangsi Barat, RPN Kampong Meragang.

Individuals are advised to contact the committee representatives to set an appointment prior to collecting application forms.

Conditions of participation include BND50 rental fee for the whole month of Ramadhan for half a tent provided with a table and two chairs; full payment of rent must be made when collection of application form is made as there is a limited number of only 20 spaces.

Each participant is only allowed to rent two spaces; and identification card must be brought during the collection of application forms.

The application form collection will end on March 27 at 5pm.

Business operating hours of the RPN Kampong Meragang Ramadhan Stalls will be from 2pm to 6.30pm and the types of items allowed for sale are grilled food, dry or wet food, beverages, vegetables, fruits and accessories.

Participating vendors must abide by standard operating procedures (SOP) when present at the application form collection location by always wearing a face mask, having a green or yellow BruHealth code and have completed two vaccine doses.

Participating vendors will also have to abide by the SOPs set during the Ramadhan stalls’ operations with always wearing a face mask, having a green or yellow BruHealth code and have completed two vaccine doses, carry out body temperature check and are healthy.

Children aged 12 and below are not allowed at the place of business.

Vendors, stall keepers and visitors to the Ramadhan stall must complete two doses of vaccine. The organiser reserved the right to reprimand and take action against anyone who does not comply with the SOPs enforced as directed by the Ministry of Health.

The fee paid will not be refunded if there is any cancellation on the use/rental of the space.

Woman found guilty of importing over 1,000 elephant tusks from Nigeria

SINGAPORE (THE STRAITS TIMES/ANN) – A Vietnamese woman was a director of a trading company when it imported a 40-foot container containing over 1,000 elephant tusks from Apapa, Nigeria.

Yesterday, District Judge Ong Chin Rhu found Dao Thi Boi (The Star pic below), 40, guilty of an offence under the Endangered Species (Import and Export) Act following a trial.

At the time of the offences, Boi, a Singapore permanent resident, was the owner and director of VNSG Trading as well as Song Hong Trading and Logistics.

During the trial, the court heard that on March 3, 2018, an Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officer on duty at the ICA Pasir Panjang Scanning Station scanned the container, whose permit declared it contained 203 packages of groundnuts.

The ICA officer found images akin to animal horns inside, and the container was detained for investigation.

A total of 61 bags containing 1,787 suspected elephant tusks weighing 3,480 kilogrammes was found.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Lee Zu Zhao said in his submissions that Boi not only turned a blind eye, but actively and knowingly assisted in the dishonest business practices by her client – a man named Su Thien.

According to court documents, Boi handled about seven consignments from Nigeria to Singapore on behalf of Su Thien through her companies between 2017 and March 5, 2018.

As the sole person operating Song Hong Trading and Logistics, Boi had to be fully aware that the company had imported the container that the elephant tusks were in, said DPP Lee.

The court heard that she also failed to take all reasonable precautions and exercise due diligence to avoid the commission of the offence.

DPP Lee added, “Just because Song Hong was not involved in the initial stuffing of the container where the elephant tusks were found… or did not participate in the shipping out of the elephant tusks from Nigeria, does not mean that Song Hong did not cause the elephant tusks to be imported into Singapore.

“In fact, the evidence shows that Song Hong played an essential role, and that the elephant tusks could not have been imported into Singapore without Song Hong’s involvement.”

Boi is represented by Wee Pan Lee.

The defence argued that while Boi’s companies were the named consignees, Su Thien should ultimately be responsible for the contents of the shipments.

It also said that Boi’s responsibility or any due diligence on her part extended only to carrying out Su Thien’s instructions.

Given her constraints as a one-person operation, she should not be expected to do more, the court heard.

Boi’s mitigation and sentencing is expected to take place in May.

Warriors fall to Magic 94-90; Suns clinch first in Pacific

ORLANDO, FLORIDA (AP) – Franz Wagner made three free throws with 12.2 seconds left and dunked on an inbounds play for the final points, leading the Orlando Magic to a 94-90 win over the Golden State Warriors yesterday.

With the Warriors’ loss, the NBA-leading Phoenix Suns (58-14) clinched first place in the Pacific Division.

Mo Bamba’s three-pointer with 52 seconds left gave Orlando an 89-88 lead.

Wendell Carter Jr led Orlando with 19 points and Wagner had 18 points and a big finish.

“Franz can play, man,” said Magic guard Cole Anthony, who had 14 points and five assists.

“He can hoop. I saw it here first hand tonight.”

Jordan Poole scored 26 points for the Warriors, who shot 40 per cent for the game and had seven turnovers in the fourth quarter on the way to their third straight loss. Klay Thompson added 15 points and Otto Porter Jr had 14 points and 15 rebounds.

Golden State Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins looks for a shot against Orlando Magic forward Franz Wagner. PHOTO: AP

“I think we’re playing soft, I think we’re playing stupid,” Warriors forward Draymond Green said. “We’re just not playing good basketball. We’re getting punked, and we’re losing a lot of fourth quarters. No disrespect to the Orlando Magic, but they’re one of the worst teams in the league.”

Not having Stephen Curry for a second straight game did not qualify as an excuse, according to Green.

“No, Steph’s not going to bring a level of physicality to the game,” he said. “That’s not his job.”

Warriors coach Steve Kerr said things change without Curry in the lineup.

“We have to look at our lineup, we have to address everything,” Kerr said. “It’s like a domino effect. You saw me searching for lineups tonight. But I was really disappointed in the fourth quarter. We did not execute at all in the fourth quarter.”

The Warriors shot seven for 24 without and failed to hit a three-pointer in the first quarter, falling behind 25-12 before Porter and Thompson scored the final five points of the period. Jonathan Kuminga had 10 points and four rebounds in the second quarter to keep the Warriors in it.

Golden State was three for 18 from three-point range until Poole, Porter and Thompson combined for five straight in a five-minute pan, giving the Warriors with a 69-61 lead with 3:15 left in the third quarter.

Poole’s long three-pointer at the start of the fourth quarter gave Golden State its first double-digit lead of the game at 77-65.

“But we stayed engaged in the game,” Anthony said. “We realised there’s four quarters to a game, and we’re not going to lose in one moment like that.”

But Markelle Fultz scored twice in a 13-0 run by the Magic while the Warriors were scoreless for nearly five minutes.

Thompson could not avoid fouling Wagner on his three-point attempt in the final seconds.

Project reaches out to provide food aid for Muslim converts

Lyna Mohamad

The Fathul Barakah 3.0 project continues to help underprivileged Muslim converts (Muallaf) in the Sultanate by providing food necessities in the run-up to the holy month of Ramadhan.

Funds collected from the public are used to make purchases, under the joint project by the Ministry of Religious Affairs (MoRA) through the Muallaf Development Division (Tarbiyah Muallaf), Islamic Da’wah Centre (PDI) and the converts associations nationwide.

The contributions were distributed to recipients in the Brunei-Muara District on March 22-23, a follow up to earlier distributions carried out through drive-throughs across all four districts.

PDI Director Haji Abdul Rajid bin Haji Mohd Salleh led the delegation yesterday, which included Tarbiyah Muallaf Head Dr Hajah Rohanita binti Haji Yaakub and a representative of the Nurul Islam Association committee.

The delegation first made its way to Kampong Bengkurong homes of Nur Amirah binti Haji Haswan and Muhammad Saiful Rizal bin Abdullah Nagang, before stopping by the Kampong Masin home of Siti Nurhalizah binti Abdullah.

ABOVE & BELOW: Photos show contributions being handed over to recipients. PHOTOS: LYNA MOHAMAD

Items were distributed to Siti Nooraishah binti Mohd Wan Adam in Kampong Sinarubai, and Kampong Bebuloh residents Hanafi bin Rozisham, Sandurin bin Abdullah, Hajah Fatimah binti Manang and Ahmad Ayyudi bin Abdullah.

The day also saw the director handing over to converts the Ramadhan Practices poster and waqaf mushaf contributed by Universiti Islam Sultan Sharif Ali (UNISSA).

The Ramadhan Practices poster is an initiative by Tarbiyah Muallaf in collaboration with the PDI Research and Publication Section to guide converts in carrying out religious practices, aside from performing their fasting obligation.

The Fathul Barakah Project 3.0 serves as a platform for the public to contribute basic necessities to asnaf converts in helping them prepare for Ramadhan and fasting.

The project also aims to strengthen ties between converts and PDI members.

Britain pledging to respond to war, cost-of-living crisis

LONDON (AP) – Britain’s Treasury Chief is pledging to respond to Russia’s war in Ukraine and a cost-of-living crisis hitting working families when he delivered his spring budget statement yesterday.

Rishi Sunak didn’t offer details on specific policy proposals but said Britain would continue its “unwavering” support for Ukraine and seek to strengthen the domestic economy to counter the threat posed by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“So when I talk about security, yes, I mean responding to the war in Ukraine,” Sunak said in remarks released ahead of the statement. “But I also mean the security of a faster-growing economy. The security of more resilient public finances. And security for working families as we help with the cost of living.”

Sunak has come under increasing pressure to announce further measures to help consumers facing what one economist has called “the biggest year-on-year fall in household incomes in a generation”. Utility bills are set to rise by more than 50 per cent in April, on top of a planned income tax increase and an acceleration of consumer prices for everything from fuel to food at the fastest pace in decades.

Some politicians also are calling for increased defense spending amid rising tensions between NATO and Russia due to the conflict.

Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak leaves 11 Downing Street for the House of Commons where he delivered the Spring Statement to the house in London. PHOTO: AP

The spring statement Sunak will deliver to the House of Commons is a midyear update on public finances. It often includes policy announcements that respond to new challenges facing the government.

The economic and security picture look much bleaker now than when Sunak released his budget in October.

Economists now estimate inflation will peak at close to nine per cent this year as the war in Ukraine boosts food and energy prices. That’s double the 4.4 per cent forecast government advisers made in October.

Accelerating inflation is also likely to curtail economic growth and squeeze government finances.

Some economists now suggest gross domestic product will grow less than one per cent next year, compared with the 2.1 per cent forecast by the Office of Budget Responsibility when Sunak released his fall budget.

Politicians and consumer advocates have suggested that the government could help ease the cost-of-living crisis by delaying a planned 1.25 per cent income tax increase set to take effect next month.

Other suggestions include cutting taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel, raising benefits for low-income households and doing more to help people pay utility bills that are set to rise by 54 per cent next month because of the soaring costs of natural gas.

Kicking the chemical habit

MOUGON, FRANCE (AFP) – In a field in western France, the small purple and white flowers quivering among tender shoots of wheat are a clue that this is not conventional single-crop farmland.

In fact, the whole area is part of scientific work to help farmers cut down on their use of pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilisers.

“I felt that these products were dangerous,” said farmer David Bonneau as he hunched over the little wildflowers – veronica and hickweed. And “the general public is asking for reductions”.

One of his experimental plots is treated the standard way, with chemical weedkiller; another he weeds mechanically with a harrow whose teeth tear up the wild plants; while a third will not be treated at all.

He is part of a project involving 400 farms and around 40 villages in the Deux-Sevres region of western France, where scientists are experimenting with different techniques to cut pollution.

Researchers from the French research agency CNRS support volunteer farmers to reduce the use of pesticides – probable sources of cancer and fatal to birds – as well as water-polluting chemical fertilisers, the prices of which are exploding.

Farmer David Bonneau prepares an insecticide before spraying it in a field in Mougon, France. PHOTOS: AFP
The stiches delimiting pesticide-treated plots from untreated ones in an experimental field in Mougon

While Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has raised the spectre of food shortages, policymakers in Europe should not waver in their commitment to green agriculture, experts said.

And protecting Nature, a central task of biodiversity negotiations currently taking place in Geneva, is also a matter of safeguarding the water we drink, the food we eat and the air we breathe.

“It’s important from a political point of view to show long-term engagement,” head of farming systems research at ETH University of Zurich Robert Finger said.

And greener could even mean more profitable.

“In many parts of the world, we are at a point where fertiliser use is very inefficient in terms of additional yield,” he said, referring to Europe and parts of Asia.

Excessive use of fertilisers or pesticides can affect small and large crops.

Meanwhile, researcher at the World Vegetable Centre Pepijn Schreinemachers said farmers in countries such as Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia were misusing pesticides with potentially harmful consequences.

“It is important to realise that it is farmers themselves most affected by the misuse of agrochemicals,” he said. This could be using too much of a chemical, unsafe techniques or the use of the wrong products.

“Every farmer can share details about pesticide-poisoning incidents they have experienced, ranging from skin rashes to vomiting and unconsciousness. Still, most farmers strongly believe that pesticides are necessary for farm production.”

So how can farmers be persuaded to change?

Robert Finger believes farming needs to have a middle way, between full organic farming and chemical-heavy conventional agriculture.

“The most important point is that the farmers have an option to do something different,” he said.

Clear long-term public policies should help support the development of new technologies, as well as investment in pesticide-free production and techniques like growing legumes among crops to reduce the need for fertilisers.

The costs of pesticides and fertilisers should properly reflect the damage they can do, he said.

And in regions where “highly toxic” products are not being used safely, Schreinemachers said they should be banned outright, or heavily taxed to discourage use, while encouraging alternatives like biopesticides.

To help farmers overcome worries about making a switch, CNRS researchers are considering a mutual fund which would compensate them in the event of losses linked to the reduction of synthetic fertilisers and pesticides, a model that already exists in Italy.

David Bonneau has seen savings so far on the costs of buying weedkiller and equipment.

When he made his first attempts at ditching the chemicals, he used his neighbour’s machinery. Since then, a more efficient device has been purchased by the agricultural cooperative.

But the proof will come at harvest time, when researchers will measure the wheat yields of each of the plots to find out the impact of the herbicide reduction.

In Deux-Sevres, “we have demonstrated that conventional farmers can reduce nitrogen and pesticides by a third without loss of yield, while increasing their income because they lower their costs”, CNRS Research Director Vincent Bretagnolle said.

But changing behaviour long-term is another challenge.

“Even the farmers who participated in the experiment and saw the results with their own eyes did not noticeably change their practices,” Bretagnolle said.

BuzzFeed cutting jobs, top editors leaving news division

AP – BuzzFeed is shrinking and shifting the focus of its Pulitzer prize-winning news division as the digital media company, best known for its lighthearted lists and quizzes, strives to increase its profitability.

The New York-based company is offering voluntary buyouts in its high-profile, 100-person newsroom and some top editors are leaving.

They include, Editor in Chief of BuzzFeed News Mark Schoofs, and Deputy Editor in Chief Tom Namako, who announced a move to NBC News Digital on Tuesday. Ariel Kaminer, the Executive Editor for Investigations, is also leaving.

BuzzFeed News is unprofitable but has won awards, including its first Pulitzer last year, and its staff has been regularly poached by traditional news organisations.

BuzzFeed spokesman Matt Mittenthal said about 35 people were eligible for the buyouts, but the company doesn’t expect all of them to take one. Buyouts will be offered to news staffers on the investigations, inequality, politics and science teams, as BuzzFeed focusses more on big breaking news and lighter content.

Beyond the newsroom buyouts, the company also said it is cutting 1.7 per cent of its staff. In a January filing with securities regulators, Buzzfeed said it had 1,524 US and international employees, so the cuts would amount to roughly 25 people.

The entrance to BuzzFeed in New York. PHOTO: AP
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Borneo Bulletin is the leading English daily in the country. It was first published by Brunei Press. Today, Borneo Bulletin has become the foremost source of information on local and foreign affairs, and the region’s business news.

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