Cabaran dihadapi rakyat hari ini memerlukan lebih daripada sekadar politik lama dan wajah yang sama, kata Muda.
Muda akan mempertahankan kerusi Puteri Wangsa pada PRN Johor kelak.
PETALING JAYA: Parti Ikatan Demokratik Malaysia (Muda) mahu menampilkan lebih ramai calon muda yang berkualiti, berwibawa dan mempunyai rekod perkhidmatan kepada masyarakat, pada PRN Johor kelak.
Ketua Penerangan Rasid Abu Bakar berkata cabaran dihadapi rakyat hari ini memerlukan lebih daripada sekadar politik lama dan wajah yang sama.
“Johor memerlukan barisan pemimpin yang memahami aspirasi generasi baharu, berani membawa pembaharuan dan bersedia mempertahankan kepentingan rakyat.
“Pilihan raya ini bukan sekadar soal parti politik atau perebutan kuasa. Ia adalah soal masa depan Johor dan generasi yang akan mewarisinya,” menurut kenyataan.
Muda mengumumkan ia akan memainkan peranan aktif dalam PRN kali ini, dan akan mempertahankan kerusi Puteri Wangsa yang dimenangi pada pilihan raya lalu.
Pada PRN 2022, Muda menerusi Amira Aisya Abdul Aziz, kini pemangku presiden parti, menang dengan kelebihan 7,114 undi, hasil kerjasama dengan Pakatan Harapan.
Calon Muda meraih 22,884 undi, berbanding Barisan Nasional (15,770) dan Perikatan Nasional (8,957), serta tiga calon lain.
Pada Mac, Amanah Johor mengumumkan ia mahu ‘mengambil balik’ Puteri Wangsa yang ‘dipinjamkan’ kepada Muda. - FMT
The former Selangor executive councillor asks where the party learnt such a ‘self-serving’ approach.
Former DAP strongman Ronnie Liu today urged Johor DAP to reflect seriously on how it treated its younger leaders such as Marina Ibrahim.
PETALING JAYA: Former DAP strongman Ronnie Liu has questioned why the party would propose that Skudai assemblyman Marina Ibrahim be made the chairman of a statutory body if she failed to win a seat at the upcoming Johor state polls.
Marina yesterday announced that she was leaving politics and would not seek re-election in Skudai, a seat she won at the 2022 Johor election with 26,359 votes — more than double her nearest rival’s tally.
Johor DAP had planned to move Marina to contest the Tiram seat in the upcoming state election, with a statutory body post offered should she lose.
Liu, a former Selangor executive councillor who was a DAP member for 41 years, questioned the motive behind such a proposition.
“What sort of practice is this?” he said in a Facebook post.
“Where did DAP learn such a self-serving approach?
“Is this the standard of political culture that DAP wishes to promote today?”
Johor DAP chief Teo Nie Ching yesterday said the party felt that Marina was the “most winnable candidate” for the Tiram seat, and she intended to propose that Marina be made the chairman of a statutory body, regardless of the outcome of the election.
“To assure her that the party would stand by her regardless of the outcome of the Johor election, I also shared my intention to propose her as the chairman of a statutory body, where I believe she could contribute constructively,” said Teo.
Marina joined DAP in 2017 as a member of its Indahpura branch, which she continues to lead as chairman, and was also appointed to the Kulai Municipal Council in 2018.
Liu urged Johor DAP to reflect seriously on how it treated its younger leaders, saying Marina, 38, represented the kind of principled and capable politician the party should be nurturing.
Despite that, he said Marina’s decision to leave politics should be praised and suggested that the offer to chair a statutory body may have been a factor in her departure.
“Perhaps Marina wanted no part in such arrangements.
“If so, her decision to leave quietly and honourably deserves respect,” said Liu, who left DAP in 2023 due to dissatisfaction with the leadership’s move to amend the party’s constitution regarding the termination of memberships. - FMT
A FRIEND recently shared an article about how education systems around the world are moving away from rote learning and placing greater emphasis on critical thinking, problem-solving and analysis.
In Malaysia, we have been talking about Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) for years. It appears in education blueprints, policy documents and ministerial speeches. Yet many classrooms remain driven by examinations, model answers and the pursuit of grades.
That raises an uncomfortable question: are we truly teaching students to think, or are we still rewarding them mainly for memorising information?
A student who can reproduce pages of notes may score highly in an examination. A student who asks difficult questions, challenges assumptions or offers an unconventional perspective may not always receive the same encouragement.
That is not a criticism of teachers. Many educators are working tirelessly to nurture curiosity and creativity. The challenge is that they are often operating within a system that continues to prioritise syllabus completion, examination performance and measurable outcomes.
The world, however, is changing rapidly.
Artificial intelligence can retrieve information and generate answers in seconds. In such an environment, the ability to memorise facts becomes less valuable than the ability to evaluate information, distinguish truth from misinformation, solve complex problems and think independently.
These are the skills that will define success in the future.
Many teachers themselves were educated in systems that emphasised memorisation. Today, they are expected to cultivate creativity, critical thinking and innovation in their students.
The question is whether we are giving them the support, training and classroom flexibility needed to achieve those goals.
A teacher racing to complete the syllabus before examinations may have little time to facilitate meaningful discussion or debate. Likewise, students focused solely on achieving top grades may be reluctant to take intellectual risks or explore alternative viewpoints.
There is also a broader cultural challenge.
In many settings, obedience is often rewarded more readily than curiosity. Students quickly learn that providing the expected answer is safer than asking difficult questions.
While this may create orderly classrooms, it does little to prepare young people for a world that increasingly demands adaptability, creativity and independent judgement.
The consequences extend beyond education.
When people are not taught to question information critically, they become more vulnerable to misinformation, manipulation and extremist narratives.
In an age where social media can amplify falsehoods at remarkable speed, critical thinking is no longer simply an academic skill. It is a civic necessity.
If Malaysia is serious about developing a culture of critical inquiry, then the conversation must move beyond slogans and policy statements.
Teacher training should place greater emphasis on inquiry-based learning and classroom discussion. Assessments should reward reasoning and analysis rather than simple recall.
Students should be encouraged to engage in debates, research projects and collaborative problem-solving throughout the school year, not only during special programmes or competitions.
Most importantly, teachers must be trusted and supported. They cannot be expected to nurture independent thinkers while being constrained by excessive administrative demands and relentless pressure to meet performance targets.
Some of the most memorable lessons are not those in which students sat quietly and copied notes. They are the moments when teachers encouraged discussion, challenged assumptions and genuinely listened to different perspectives.
Malaysia’s future will not be determined by how many facts students can memorise. It will be shaped by their ability to ask questions, evaluate ideas and solve problems.
The country does not need another generation of exam machines. It needs a generation of thinkers.
That begins by giving both students and teachers the freedom to explore, to question and, occasionally, to be wrong.
KT Maran is a Focus Malaysia viewer.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.
WHEN news emerged of a norovirus outbreak aboard the Caribbean Princess cruise ship, many Malaysians may have paid little attention. Stomach bugs contracted while travelling are often dismissed as routine food poisoning or a minor inconvenience that resolves within a day or two.
However, the outbreak, which affected more than 100 passengers and crew members, serves as a useful reminder that not all gastrointestinal infections behave in the same way, nor can they all be prevented using the habits many people adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Norovirus, sometimes referred to as the “winter vomiting bug”, is highly contagious and spreads rapidly in crowded environments such as cruise ships, hotels, schools, hospitals and care homes.
What makes it particularly challenging is that only a very small number of viral particles are needed to cause infection. A person may feel perfectly well in the morning and then develop sudden vomiting and diarrhoea within hours.
For most healthy adults, the illness resolves within one to three days. However, the rapid onset of symptoms and the risk of dehydration can make the infection particularly unpleasant, especially for children, older adults and individuals working or travelling in hot environments.
Although large norovirus outbreaks are uncommon in Malaysia, increasing international travel means imported cases remain possible.
Cruise holidays are becoming increasingly popular among Malaysians, particularly on regional routes involving Singapore, Phuket, Penang and Langkawi.
Large gatherings associated with Umrah, Haj and overseas travel can also increase exposure to infectious diseases that may be less familiar locally.
(Image: Unsplash/Fusion Medical Animation)
One reason norovirus often catches people off guard is that it behaves differently from the bacterial food poisoning many Malaysians are more familiar with.
Bacterial infections caused by organisms such as Salmonella may involve fever, abdominal cramps, or blood and mucus in the stool, with symptoms often lasting several days.
Norovirus, by contrast, tends to strike suddenly. Vomiting is often the most prominent symptom, fever is usually mild or absent, and recovery is generally quicker.
The other important difference lies in prevention.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, many people understandably became accustomed to relying heavily on alcohol-based hand sanitisers.
While sanitisers remain useful against many infections, norovirus is more resistant because of its protective outer structure. Alcohol alone may not remove the virus effectively from the hands.
For norovirus, thorough handwashing with soap and running water remains the most reliable defence. The process is just as important as the soap itself because the virus must be physically washed away from the skin.
This is particularly important before eating, after using the toilet and when caring for someone who is unwell.
Cruise ships, unfortunately, provide ideal conditions for norovirus transmission. Thousands of passengers share dining facilities, toilets, lifts, handrails and recreational spaces within relatively confined environments.
The virus can spread through contaminated food, surfaces, direct contact with infected individuals and even droplets released when someone vomits nearby.
This does not mean Malaysians should avoid cruise holidays altogether. The risk can be reduced significantly through simple precautions.
Travellers should prioritise handwashing, exercise caution when consuming raw or undercooked shellfish, avoid unnecessarily sharing eating utensils and seek medical attention early if symptoms develop.
Anyone experiencing vomiting or diarrhoea should avoid crowded dining areas and minimise close contact with others until fully recovered.
(Image: Unsplash/Murat Ts)
At home, norovirus can continue spreading if proper cleaning measures are not followed. The virus is capable of surviving on surfaces such as taps, toilet handles, remote controls and doorknobs for extended periods.
Household members caring for an infected individual should pay particular attention to hygiene practices, especially in shared bathrooms and kitchens.
Hydration is also critical. Oral rehydration salts, readily available at pharmacies, are generally more effective than sugary drinks or plain water alone in replacing lost fluids and electrolytes.
Medical attention should be sought if a person is unable to keep fluids down, becomes unusually weak or confused, or develops signs of severe dehydration.
Importantly, antibiotics are ineffective against norovirus because it is caused by a virus rather than bacteria.
Malaysia has not reported any major norovirus outbreaks at present. Nevertheless, awareness remains important as international travel continues to increase.
Public health preparedness is not only about responding to major outbreaks, but also about understanding the simple measures that help prevent transmission before problems arise.
In an era of advanced medicines and increasingly sophisticated healthcare systems, one of the most effective defences against norovirus remains remarkably simple: washing your hands properly with soap and water.
Dr Muhammad Amir Yunus is a molecular virologist at the Pusat Kanser Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (PKTAAB), Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM).
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.
