Wishing all my Hindu and Sikh relatives, friends and readers a HAPPY DEEPAVALI/DIWALI 2026.
May God always bless us with good health, joy, happiness and good fortune.
Let this Festival of Light today bring us together to build a better life as Malaysians.
KUALA LUMPUR: Gardenia Bakeries (KL) Sdn Bhd is investigating complaints from consumers following claims on social media that several children had fallen ill after consuming its products.
The company said it took the reports seriously and was concerned about the well-being of the consumers and families involved.
In a statement, the company said its team had met with one of the consumers concerned to better understand the reported incident and obtain further information.
It had also collected the relevant products for examination as part of its ongoing investigation.
"The relevant departments are reviewing the available information, production records and quality controls to establish the facts and determine the appropriate course of action," it said.
The controversy emerged after a woman's post on Threads about her two sons experiencing vomiting after allegedly consuming Gardenia products gained traction, prompting other parents to share similar experiences.
She had asked whether there could have been changes to the products' ingredients, formulations or manufacturing processes.
Gardenia, meanwhile, said that there had been no such changes.
"We would also like to reassure our consumers that there have been no changes to our product recipes or formulations, and that our established food safety and quality control procedures remain in place," it said.
The company also pledged to cooperate fully with the Health Ministry in any further investigations, including inspections at its factories.
"Gardenia KL is committed to providing safe and high-quality products to our consumers," it said. - NST
The prime minister says the future depends on the development of people who are civilised, possess good character and hold noble human values.
He said it must be anchored in the development of people who are civilised, possess good character and hold noble human values. Efforts to build a great nation must begin with the establishment of happy family institutions, he said in an online post.
“It is from the family institution that generations who will determine the face and future of the nation emerge,” he said.
The prime minister said the government would continue to strengthen policies and initiatives prioritising family wellbeing, including the welfare of mothers and children, childcare facilities, support for persons with disabilities and recognition of the role of caregivers.
Earlier today, Anwar opened the national Family Month celebration in Shah Alam, Selangor. - FMT
BETTER regulation is more effective than a blanket ban. The question is if products that have not received approval from the Health Ministry (MOH) are still widely available in the market, what exactly is a ban supposed to achieve?
The main issue is not simply whether these products should be allowed or prohibited but how the government can ensure that products sold comply with regulations while those who break the law are held accountable.
Even before vaping products entered the market, smoking among school pupils was already a concern.
Therefore, we cannot view youth consumption as an issue caused solely by vaping. What matters is ensuring that controls over the sale and access to these products are effectively enforced.
At present, retailers operating from licensed premises are aware of and comply with the regulations in place.
They are subject to enforcement measures and are responsible for their respective business operations.
Online channel culprits
But what about online sellers or those operating without legitimate business premises? Drugs, for instance, are not sold openly in shops. Illegal products are traded through illegal channels.
We need to look at this issue from a broader perspective. Products that have not received MOH approval are still being sold through online platforms, including Telegram and WhatsApp.
The same applies to prohibited substances such as drugs which are more closely associated with the black market and illegal distribution networks.
Why, then, should greater attention not be given to these channels with stricter action taken against those involved in illegal sales?
Retailers operating from licensed premises are subject to restrictions prohibiting sales to minors as well as the relevant enforcement measures. Minors should not be able to purchase these products from retailers who comply with the law.
Therefore, the government must ensure that online sellers and those operating without legitimate business premises are also subject to equally strict controls and enforcement.
This issue is not about rejecting regulation but about how it is enforced. More importantly, all sales channels must be monitored, unapproved products must be curbed with those who violate the law must face action regardless of whether they operate from physical premises or online.
That said, there is no denying that uncertainty surrounding the regulations governing the industry has affected business operations.
Industry players are left in a state of uncertainty and hope that there will be no further drastic regulatory changes that could disrupt their businesses.
Mohamad Neezam Talib is president of the Malaysia E-Vaporiser and Alternative Tobacco Association (MEVTA)
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT
- Focus Malaysia.
THE high-profile civil lawsuit surrounding the alleged gang rape of a student at Cornell University in the United States has resonated strongly in Singapore, prompting local women to share their own experiences of sexual harassment, assault, and everyday misogyny on social media.
Women across Singapore are utilising platforms like TikTok and Instagram to express solidarity with “Jane Doe” – the legal placeholder used for anonymous crime victims – while highlighting that issues surrounding consent, predatory behaviour, and bystander apathy remain deeply relevant locally despite Singapore’s reputation as a safe nation.
Among those raising awareness is Eunice Chua, 33, owner of an image consultancy business. Chua shared how receiving an unsolicited sexual proposal shortly after publishing her business contact details left her fearing for her personal safety.
The incident led her to install security cameras, change office locations, and adopt a heightened sense of vigilance around male strangers in enclosed spaces.
“Singapore is a very safe country. I never really thought that such things would happen, and it happened to me,” Chua said, adding that public perception of safety can sometimes make it harder for victims to speak out.
“People might not be able to speak up easily because we keep saying that Singapore is a very safe country.”
Advocates emphasise that the movement aims to dismantle victim-blaming narratives, encourage broader public dialogue regarding sexual misconduct, and challenge the bystander effect within communities. — Focus Malaysia
PRESSURE is mounting on both the Sabah state government and Putrajaya as civil society groups, regional leaders, and native rights activists call for a complete re-examination of roughly 250,000 acres of land currently alienated to the Federal Land Development Authority (FELDA).
The controversy centres on vast tracts of land in eastern Sabah, primarily around the Felda Sahabat complex in Lahad Datu.
Critics argue that the historical land allocations violated long-standing Native Customary Rights governed by the Sabah Land Ordinance.
“The original justification for handing over Sabah’s valuable land reserves to a federal agency was to eradicate rural poverty.
“Decades later, the reality is the exact opposite. While federal entities extracted massive wealth from Sabah’s agricultural soil, Sabah remains one of the poorest states in Malaysia, suffering from high poverty rates and widespread rural landlessness.
“Taking native land away from local communities did not solve poverty – it entrenched it by stripping Sabahans of their primary economic asset: land,” said Borneo’s Plight in Malaysia Foundation president Daniel John Jambun.
Writing in Jesseltontimes.com, he asserts that federal management of these agricultural lands directly conflicts with the spirit of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), which explicitly preserves state autonomy over land matters.
The renewed campaign seeks to either return the land titles to local indigenous communities or hand administrative oversight over to state-owned bodies like Sawit Kinabalu.
He argued that doing so would ensure agricultural profits and natural resource revenues stay directly within the state to benefit local communities rather than being funnelled to federal agencies.
He also said the plantations relied heavily on foreign migrants, displacing local youth from land ownership.
“While thousands of young Sabahans face landlessness today, these federal corporate plantations relied heavily on foreign migrant labour, altering local demographics and displacing local rural youth from agricultural land ownership.”
As debates over Sabah’s constitutional entitlements under MA63 intensify, the land review has emerged as a crucial benchmark for federal-state relations.
Local leaders maintain that restoring land sovereignty is essential to addressing decades of systemic socio-economic disparity across rural Sabah. — Focus Malaysia
The cyber threat level remains at a moderate level, the council says, after social media users share a map which lists Malaysia as among the top 20 targets of cyberattacks.
The security council said the national cyber security agency and the national cyber coordination and command centre continually monitored any threats to cybersecurity and had taken note of cybersecurity incidents and system disruptions involving several financial institutions, Bernama reported.
“Bank Negara Malaysia is implementing comprehensive and integrated preparedness measures, including continuous monitoring of the cybersecurity status of the critical information infrastructure,” the security council said in a statement.
Efforts were being made to ensure that any threats are detected and addressed promptly, while essential services continue to operate smoothly,” the security council said.
Late on Friday, Bank Rakyat shut off access to its websites after an attacker defaced its web page. In response, communications minister Fadzil Fahmi said banking institutions in the country remained safe.
The national security council statement came hours after social media users were reported to have expressed concerns about cyberattacks from abroad, with reports of counter-attacks allegedly being launched from Malaysia, Sinar Harian reported.
Social media users have spread images of a “Live Threat Map” from the US-based cybersecurity company FortiGuard Labs showing several locations, including Cyberjaya, Shah Alam, and Petaling Jaya, as areas where cyber-threat activity had been recorded.
The map lists Malaysia in 18th place among the top 20 countries targeted for cyberattack, with 1.8 million attacks recorded over the past 24 hours. Threat activity is shown as originating from various countries, including France, Bulgaria, Indonesia, Japan, and China, with threat levels categorized as “critical” or “high.”
Much of the displayed activity is believed to involve attempts to breach web servers and internet routers used in homes and offices. the report said. Social media users also noted claims of retaliatory actions, including posts about a person in Batu Pahat, Johor, purportedly involved in such activities until the early hours of the morning.
Italian minister’s data leaked
Italy’s foreign minister Antonio Tajani said his personal information had been leaked on the dark web by cybercriminals who were seeking further details about him and his family, exposing them to “new threats and intimidation”.
In a post on X, Tajani said the perpetrators had been circulating his data for days and were offering to pay for additional information about him and his loved ones, the Turkish news agency reported.
Tajani linked the alleged targeting to Italy’s support for Ukraine. He also suggested that the threats were partly a response to cybersecurity measures introduced at the Italian foreign ministry in recent months. - FMT
