Day: May 27, 2024

KUCHING, Differentiating between a real journalist and an instant journalist is like comparing between diamond and glass, said Bernama Chief Executive Officer, Nur-ul Afida Kamaludin.

According to her, the community should be able to identify the results of the work of those who are termed as instant journalists as they are made up of individuals who do not comply with journalistic ethics.

“Journalists who have ethics are diamonds in the profession. The instant version is just glass. He may look the same but the quality is missing and maybe, I believe they are just looking to fill the content space to see how many followers they have,” she said.

She said this when appearing as a guest on the programme ‘Selamat Pagi Malaysia (SPM) X Apa Khabar Malaysia (AKM)’.

For the first time, two morning talk shows; SPM produced by RTM and AKM produced by BERNAMA TV merged and was broadcast live directly from here in conjunction with the celebration of National Journalists’ Day (HAWANA) 2024.

Meanwhile, RTM director-
general, Datuk Suhaimi Sulaiman who was also a guest of SPM X APM programme said the HAWANA 2024 celebration took the theme “Ethics, Core of Sustainable Journalism” to remember the importance of ethics in the field of journalism.

“If we do not have ethics and if we are not professional in our work, we are not journalists. We are just one of the (individuals) who only deliver (the message),” he said.

Recalling his first days as a journalist, he said the elements of information validity, correct information and the right to reply were often emphasised by his editors in carrying out their duties.

“There are many things a journalist has to go through but the challenge of journalists now is how to summarise all those (elements) in a short period of time,” he added

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, A total of 1,100 MARA Junior Science College (MRSM) students who took their Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examinations in 2023 scored straight As (A+,A dan A-) compared to 1,006 candidates the year before.

Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) said in a statement that the number of candidates who scored all A+ rose to 44 from 34 students in 2022, and the college average grade index was 2.400 with all candidates receiving their certificates.

‘There was a rise in the average subject grade for the core subjects of Bahasa Melayu, English and Mathematics. 53 colleges achieved the Secondary Education Division key performance indicator (KPI), with more than 81 per cent achieving Highest Credit Grade (Grade B+ and above).

‘Kepala Batas, Gemencheh and Pasir Salak MRSM achieved a 100 per cent A score for Mathematics while nine MRSMs recorded 100 per cent A scores for Moral studies, while Kota Putra achieved 100 per cent A score for Arabic Language,’ MARA said.

The best eight MRSMs are Tun Ghafar Baba, Taiping
, Kepala Batas, Johor Bahru, Pasir Tumboh, Kuala Kubu Bharu, Alor Gajah and Pengkalan Chepa, with an average grade index of under 2.0.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

GEORGE TOWN, The Penang government aims to make the state a global high-tech hub to ensure it remains competitive internationally in the semiconductor sector.

Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said in addition to continuing to develop the electric and electronic (EandE) sector, especially the semiconductor industry, the state government is also focusing on developing the supply chain for front-end manufacturing equipment and encouraging research and development activities (RandD) and Design and Development (DandD.

‘Penang is also committed to encouraging and helping more local companies get involved in the global value chain to move the value chain and strengthen the existing ecosystem.

“In addition, the government also encourages research and development, the use of technology and innovation, especially related to the digitalisation aspect because this is capable of changing the high value and sustainable industrial to generate jobs and income,” he told the State Assembly today.

He was responding to an oral
question from Lee Khai Loon (PH-Machang Bubuk) about the state government’s plan to ensure Penang remains competitive in semiconductor development at the international level.

Chow (PH-Padang Kota) also said that the Semiconductor Strategic Master Plan, pioneered by the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI), is being developed to provide a direction to the semiconductor industry.

This is to ensure the industry continues to develop into more value-added activities and the country remains a quality investment destination, he added.

To achieve this, he said, the state government has to play an important role, especially in facilitating the setting up of factories.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

PUTRAJAYA, The Election Commission (EC) will hold a special meeting on June 6 to discuss the important dates of the Sungai Bakap state by-election in Penang.

EC secretary Datuk Ikmalrudin Ishak, in a statement today, said it was due to the unexpected vacancy of the state seat following the death of its incumbent Zamri Latiff on May 24.

He said EC had received an official notification from the Speaker of the Penang State Legislative Assembly, Datuk Law Choo Kiang regarding the vacant Sungai Bakap seat.

“As provided under Clause (5) Article 19 of the Penang State Constitution, the contingency vacancy must be filled within 60 days from the date the seat vacancy is confirmed by the EC,” he said.

Ikmalrudin said a press conference would be held immediately after the special meeting ended.

On May 24, Nor Zamri, 56, died at about 1.38 pm while receiving treatment at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Hospital Seberang Jaya (HSJ) due to inflammation in the stomach and had been receiving treatment at the medical c
entre since the beginning this month.

In the Penang State Election (PRN) last August, Nor Zamri who is also Nibong Tebal PAS president defeated Pakatan Harapan (PH) candidate Nurhidayah Che Rose with a majority of 1,563 votes.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, At least 300 million children become victims of online sexual exploitation and abuse annually, according to researchers from the University of Edinburgh, as quoted by international media.

The first global estimate of the scale of this crisis, published today, found that one in eight (equivalent to 12.6 per cent) of the world’s children fell victim to non-consensual taking, sharing and exposure to sexual images and videos over the past year. This amounts to approximately 302 million young people.

Additionally, 12.5 per cent of children globally (300 million) are estimated to have been subjected to online solicitation, such as unwanted sexual talk, which can include non-consensual sexting, unwanted sexual questions and unwanted sexual act requests by adults or other youths, in the past year.

These offences can also take the form of ‘sextortion’, where predators demand money from victims to keep images private, and the abuse of artificial intelligence (AI) to create deepfake materials.

While t
hese problems exist worldwide, the research suggested that the United States is a particularly high-risk nation, with one out of nine men in the US (nearly 14 million) admitting to online offending against children at some point.

The University of Edinburgh’s Childlight initiative, which aims to understand the prevalence of child abuse through a new global index, “Into The Light,” also found that seven per cent of British men (1.8 million), as well as 7.5 per cent of men in Australia, admitted to the same offences.

Childlight chief executive Paul Stanfield emphasised the widespread nature of child abuse material, stating, “Child abuse material is so prevalent that files are on average reported to watchdog and policing organisations once every second.”

“This is a global health pandemic that has remained hidden for far too long. It occurs in every country and is growing exponentially, which requires a global response. We need to act urgently and treat it as a public health issue that can be prevented. Childr
en can’t wait,” he added.

The report follows a warning from United Kingdom police regarding criminal gangs in West Africa and Southeast Asia targeting British teenagers in sextortion scams online last month.

Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) also issued an alert to hundreds of thousands of teachers, urging them to be aware of the threats their pupils might face.

Scammers often pose as other young people to make contact on social media before moving to encrypted messaging apps and encouraging the victims to share intimate images.

They typically make their blackmail demands within an hour of making contact and are primarily motivated by extorting as much money as possible rather than seeking sexual gratification, according to the NCA.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency