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PETALING JAYA: Parents welcome the decision by the government to provide free breakfast to deserving pupils in 100 schools.

Melaka Action Group for Parents in Education chairman Mak Chee Kin said it would be quite a heavy financial burden to provide free meals to all primary school pupils.

He said those who qualify for the living aid should receive the free breakfast.

“I would also propose that instead of free food, these children should be given cash vouchers to be used in the school canteen for them to buy food like any other child, ” he said, adding that this would remove the stigma of being identified as “poor” among the pupils.

Mak was responding to Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s decision to provide free breakfasts for “deserving pupils”.

Parent Action Group for Education Malaysia honorary secretary Tunku Munawirah Putra said the free breakfast programme, which begins on Monday, was the same as the Supplementary Food Programme (RMT), and that stringent guidelines need to be set up and enforced.

“It is a fully subsidised meal plan for pupils from poor families, ” she said, referring to the RMT.

She cautioned that the right vendors need to be chosen and continuously monitored to ensure the standard of the food provided will be maintained throughout the programme.

“To provide breakfast to everyone means even those who are rich and (can afford to have breakfast at home) will get them too. So, it’s not fair, ” said Dr Mahathir, who is also acting Education Minister, after officiating at the Balai Islam Complex at Tenaga Nasional Bhd headquarters in Bangsar.

Former education minister Dr Maszlee Malik had previously stated that the breakfast scheme would be for all pupils regardless of their parents’ income status.

The programme was initially for all 2.7 million pupils in government and government-aided primary schools for both morning and afternoon sessions.

Read more @ https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2020/01/17/free-breakfast-scheme-for-deserving-pupils-lauded

PUTRAJAYA: The government has outlined seven objectives, 17 strategies and 58 programmes and actions to address issues of child marriage through a five-year strategic plan.

The strategic plan will tackle six major causes of underage marriage.

Among the six causes identified are poverty, lack or no access to reproductive health education, lack of access to education and society’s stigma that marriage is the best choice to solve problems.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said the plan would not merely tackle the causes of underage marriage, but also indirectly help to overcome other social issues affecting families and children.

She said, for instance, the social stigma that child marriage was the best solution to address unwanted pregnancies must be removed.

“Underage marriage will have a profound effect on the health of a teenager and there are studies that found that girls aged between 15 and 19 who are pregnant face a higher risk of death during pregnancy or birth.

“We believe that if we can address the causes, the issue of child marriages can be eradicated, ” said Dr Wan Azizah, during the launch of the 16-page document at her ministry here.

The Women, Family and Community Development Minister said the societies need to change this mindset, as underage marriages would not solve problems, but in fact, could lead to even more troubles.

“In the past, underage marriages were practised because the socio-economic situation, education opportunities and the realities of life at that time made it normal.

“But today, education opportunities are better, technology is more advanced, the socio-economic outlook is more positive and there is higher awareness that children deserve the chance to expand their potential.

“With this, child marriages should not at all be the option or solution to any problems, ” she said.

Dr Wan Azizah also said the government would continue to publicise the existence of shelters for pregnant teens to prevent baby dumping cases.

“It is important that those who are pregnant but are not married do not dump their babies.

“We want them to be aware that there is a support system for them and that child marriage is not the solution, ” she said.

Dr Wan Azizah added that among the initiatives in the plan was strengthening the existing socio-economic and outreach support programmes, increase the minimum marriage age to 18 for girls as well as providing self reproductive health services that were children-friendly.

She said a steering committee spearheaded by Women, Family and Community Development Ministry and participated by all agencies would be set up to monitor the implementation of the plan.

By JOSEPH KAOS Jr.

Read more @ https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2020/01/17/move-to-curb-child-marriage

KOTA KINABALU: All schools in Sabah are advised to liaise with the police if any unwanted incidents, such as crime-related activities, among the students occur.

City Police Chief ACP Habibi Majinji said that the collaboration between the police and schools could eventually help prevent students from being further involved in criminal cases.

“Therefore, as the representatives of the authorities, the police hope that the schools could report and share any information regarding crime-related activities among students.

“We will also send an officer to monitor the situation in the schools as needed. Teachers can immediately report criminal offence involving students to PDRM mediators with the schools,” he said when officiating the Maktab Sabah Parenthood Seminar programme at its Perdana Hall here recently.

The programme was organised by the school and Maktab Sabah Parent and Teacher Association (PIBG) that aims to provide exposure to parenting knowledge, thus helping parents nurture their children into becoming better persons.

Habibi acknowledged that it is not easy to be a parent, especially in this age where parents or guardians need to understand the current situation and find the appropriate ways to educate as well as to guide their children.

“Therefore, it is the responsibility of every parent to equip themselves with the latest skills so that they can effectively carry out their role as parents.

“With all the technology advancement today, parenting is so much different compared to the past. It is more challenging for parents of this age because nowadays children are smarter, especially when it comes to digital technology and most of them already have smartphones as young as five to seven.”

“For teachers in schools, it is more challenging as students are now smarter and more exposed to digital technology, the internet as well as a variety of internal and external threats.

“Therefore, parents and teachers must be more knowledgeable about digital technology than their children and students,” Habibi said.

By JASON JACK EBIT.

Read more @ http://www.newsabahtimes.com.my/nstweb/fullstory/35861

PUTRAJAYA: The attitude of some individuals who prefer to read and trust sensational news on social media without verifying their authenticity or truth has contributed to racial unity in the country becoming fragile, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department P. Waytha Moorthy.

He said the situation was made worse when some people misused the the freedom of speech granted by the government to spread false information to create misunderstanding and tensions among the people of various races in the country.

“Not only in our country, but all over the world, the social media has become a major medium to disseminate news, including false and inaccurate ones.

“Before, the media was controlled by certain groups, but now with the borderless information, some people think that they have the power to disseminate their own personal ideologies and opinions.

“They don’t read many newspapers, or authentic news and books, instead prefer (to read) sensational news. When they are impressed with the news, they will viral it immediately,” he said in a special interview with Bernama in his office here recently.

The minister, who is responsible for the National Unity and Social Wellbeing portfolio, said this group of people had no care to know the news was real or fake.

They are not interested to know the truth, but are happy and more interested to get the sensational news across to netizens, he added.

Waytha Moorthy said some of the issues raised on the social media had undermined the country’s harmony and it had become one of the main challenges facing the Pakatan Harapan government, where precautionary measures had been taken to safeguard the interests of all parties.

The minister also expressed his sadness over the action of previous government leaders for deliberately raising certain issues to build up anger against the current government for their own political survival.

“Therefore, it is the responsibility of the people to remain focus and to live as citizens who practice diversity in a pluralistic society. We have to live with each other and as long as we are focused, we can accept what we have practiced before,” he said. –Bernama

The issue on abuse of the social media was also raised by AirAsia Group Bhd chief executive officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes on Tuesday, saying too many negative things, falsities and outrages on the platform had led to the shutting down of his Twitter account.

Commenting further, Waytha Moorthy said the people, especially those in the peninsula, should emulate the close relationships and tolerance of the various tribes in Sabah and Sarawak, enabling them to live in harmony without suspicion for one another.

He recalled his visit to Sarawak and Sabah and was impressed with the understanding and respect for the religious practices and cultural diversity displayed among the people of the two states.

He said the ministry would take into account suggestions from community leaders in Sabah and Sarawak in formulating a new policy to enhance national integration between the people in the peninsula and East Malaysia.

In addressing racial and religious issues, he said the ministry hoped to set up a special commission known as the National Harmony and Reconciliation Commission to act as an independent body that would resolve sensitive matters on race and religion.

“This matter is still in the proposal stage and I am looking into the practicality of using existing laws, including the Sedition Act and the Penal Code to resolve related issues raised on social sites.

“This is because I find that some of them are unaware that their postings are offensive to other religions and in this case, the Commission will call on the relevant parties to explain to them,” he said.

by Bernama.

Read more @ http://www.newsabahtimes.com.my/nstweb/fullstory/35899

E-COMMERCE is the buying and selling of products or services over the Internet. Also known as electronic commerce, money and data are transferred over the Internet to facilitate the online transactions. Electronic funds transfer, online transaction processing, automated data collection, electronic data interchange, and mobile commerce are some of the tools used in e-commerce. With e-commerce, buyers and sellers are able to transact without the barriers of distance and time.

There has been an upward trend in the growth of e-commerce worldwide in the last 14 years. According to online providers of market and consumer data, buyers spend an average of 36% of their budget on online purchases and that the number of such buyers may reach 2.14 billion in 2021.

As more people turn to the Internet for their shopping needs, the future looks promising for e-commerce. These days, for instance, people aged 24 or younger are more comfortable with e-commerce. They find it less of a necessity to touch and try a product before purchasing. For this group of buyers, lifestyle branding and social media presence are more important considerations when deciding on their purchases. Influence from this young group of buyers is also spreading to the older generation who are becoming more open to online shopping. In Malaysia, examples of the more popular online marketplaces are Lazada, 11Street, Shopee and Lelong.

Impact on businesses

E-commerce generally requires only minimal infrastructure for the seller. On the other hand, companies using traditional business methods, spend significant amounts of money in setting up their physical infrastructure. Such brick and mortar businesses are increasingly finding themselves being outperformed by the more competitive e-commerce businesses.

The management of information systems and finance are some of the background processes in operating a business. While these activities are not as visible as the marketing functions, they are still nevertheless affected by the implications that e-commerce brings. For example, businesses need to consider various remittance and payment processes using fintech or financial technology in order to provide convenient payment methods, such as e-wallets and in-app purchases, for their online customers.

Accounting for e-commerce

A vital operational component of any business is the financials. For the e-commerce business, the accounting aspect can be a challenging task. Areas such as sales tax, inventory management, transaction volumes, sales returns and accounts receivables collection can be daunting when it comes to e-commerce transactions. Examples of the complexities include the imposition of a 6% service tax in Malaysia on digital service providers from 2020, integrating and automating the inventory management system, payment of various fees for online transactions that could considerably reduce profits, managing thousands of monthly transactions, and the handling and categorising of customer returns. These are just a few of the complexities of e-commerce which the accountant has to address in order to enable accurate financial decision making.

Additionally, the accounting profession needs to consider that e-commerce brings changes to organisational structures and business processes and strategies. For instance, information systems such as the Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERPs) which have simplified and automated accounting tasks, will mean that businesses will want to hire financial personnel who have working knowledge of such systems. Audit practices and procedures will also need to be adjusted to accommodate e-commerce transactions.

As can be seen above, a business would require qualified personnel with the skills and knowledge to manage the financial and accounting complexities that come with e-commerce. However, the lack of workforce with e-commerce expertise and knowledge has been cited as one of the major hindrances to rapid growth of e-commerce. The lack of qualified personnel prevents small e-commerce businesses from developing quickly as qualified personnel tend to work for larger corporations. Indeed, accounting professionals who are well versed in e-commerce are valuable as they can provide much needed financial perspectives when devising suitable strategies for the e-commerce business.

E-commerce courses can expose accounting students to how e-commerce relates to financial functions in the current business environment. Integrating e-commerce to accounting studies offers accounting students a more practical perspective of the environment that businesses operate in. In this way, learning institutions can meet the demands of employers sourcing for accounting graduates with knowledge and skills to handle e-commerce. The e-commerce component can be a core or elective subject or it can be integrated into the various finance and accounting subjects.

Universities are generally viewed as a source of potential recruits to fulfil the demands of businesses. One such university in Malaysia offering e-commerce-related subjects is Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman in Perak. As part of its accounting undergraduate degree programme, subjects offered relating to e-commerce include Information Technology for Management, Accounting Information Systems, Applied E-Commerce, and Introduction to Internet of Things.

by CHIN YOON MEI, FOO PIK YIN and LOH CHUN TING.

Read more @ https://www.thestar.com.my/news/education/2020/01/12/studying-e-commerce-for-accounting-students