Making a living is usually a challenging undertaking for the visually impaired. This has been made worse with the recent sudden increases in living expenses. According to the 2022 data from the Department of Social Welfare Malaysia, there are 52,027 registered visually impaired in Malaysia.

Bringing hope to the visually impaired

This year, even before the northern hemisphere hot season began, temperature records were being shattered. Spain for instance saw temperatures in April (38.8°C) that would be out of the ordinary even at the peak of summer. South and south-east Asia in particular were hammered by a very persistent heatwave, and all-time record temperatures were experienced in countries such as Vietnam and Thailand (44°C and 45°C respectively). In Singapore, the more modest record was also broken, as temperatures hit 37°C. And in China, Shanghai just recorded its highest May temperature for over a century at 36.7°C.

Why 40°C is bearable in a desert but lethal in the tropics

Turkish voters will head to the polls on May 28, 2023, for the second time in the month — this time facing a choice between a winnowed field of two candidates, each of whom is vowing to take the country in a very different direction.

Turkey's presidential runoff: Four essential reads on what's at stake

The advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been deemed a menace to some due to its potential repercussions for employment.

Malaysia's unemployment rate is projected to stand at 3.8% in 2023. However, this figure might rise in the future due to the advent of AI, as a report by investment bank Goldman Sachs says that as many as 300 million full-time jobs will be replaced by AI in the future.

Prepare for future job losses due to AI

The current campaign to call women (and men, too) domestic workers — those who provide domestic labour in our homes to make our life better — is in tandem with the ILO Convention 189’s call to recognise domestic work as work. Why are migrant domestic workers in Malaysia pushing this agenda?

Names do matter for recognising the rights of domestic workers

The release of ChatGPT less than six months ago has demonstrated to us the seemingly powerful capabilities of generative artificial intelligence (AI), which can grasp a gigantic amount of information and then construct new, original content after receiving a prompt from any registered user.

ChatGPT: Legal implications of algorithmic bias and consumer privacy

Plastic pollution is suffocating our planet — and it's only getting worse. Production has rocketed in the last two decades, with more plastics being produced between 2003 and 2016 than in the whole of the 20th century.

While plastics is cheap and versatile, with countless uses across many industries, almost half of all plastics is used to create short-lived or single-use products that can spend hundreds of years degrading. Globally, less than 10% of plastic products are recycled.

Ban on plastic bags for retail purposes a welcome move, but execution is key

The gig economy is growing rapidly in Malaysia, and it's important to address the challenges and risks that come with this type of work. While gig work offers flexibility, gig workers often lack social protections, fair wages, continual learning and development, and safe working conditions.

Prioritise the welfare of gig workers

LABOUR crunch seems to feature prominently in the conversation among employers, even after the government has relaxed restrictions on hiring foreign labour. Employer organisations are even talking about prisoners and refugees as potential workers.

Paying more to avert the labour crunch in Malaysia

In response to our previous articles on national unity, published in the local media, some people have said that we should have elaborated a lot more about the role of education in promoting unity. We agree absolutely on the importance of education but reforming or overhauling our education syste...

The way forward for national unity

Media reports that the legislation for the establishment of Ombudsman Malaysia — an independent body to address the wide range of public complaints against government departments or agencies — is now slated for Parliament tabling in October.

Law ought to be in sync with a sound political culture

THE US dollar has become the world’s leading international currency due to many reasons that range from economic to political and historical factors. It is estimated that around 60% of all foreign exchange reserves held by central banks are denominated in US dollars and approximately 40% of global trade is invoiced in the same currency. This has made the US dollar very dominant in global trade, a fact which is also referred to as the US dollar’s hegemony.

US dollar will remain the world’s leading currency for an indefinite time

After nearly a decade of grinding conflict, Yemen looks to be inching toward a peace deal.

Talks between the Houthi movement controlling much of the country’s north and Saudi Arabia, the regional power backing an anti-Houthi coalition in the war, are ongoing and being encouraged by international observers.

Can China broker peace in Yemen — and further Beijing's Middle East strategy in the process?

(May 4): Google, Microsoft and Apple celebrated last year’s World Password Day by announcing plans to expand their support for a common passwordless sign-in standard.

Major companies in the Asia Pacific region are following in their footsteps as well, including Yahoo! JAPAN and SK Telecom, which now support passkeys on Apple and Google platforms.

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