KUALA LUMPUR: PLUS Malaysia Bhd has appointed Datuk Mohamad Nasir Ab. Latif as its chairman effective from Thursday. He succeeds Tan Sri Mohd Sheriff Mohd Kassim who has opted to retire on Thursday after almost 17 years of leading the PLUS group. Mohamad Nasir who serves on the board of director PLUS Malaysia since Dec 31, 2013, began his career with the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) in 1982. He has held several positions before being promoted to Employees Provident Fund’s (EPF) deputy CEO of investments. He was previously state enforcement officer (1990-1995), senior research officer, manager and senior manager in the investment and economics research department (1995-2003) and gene

KUALA LUMPUR, June 26 — Former Foreign Ministry secretary-general Tan Sri Othman Hashim will be the new chairman of the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam), the Prime Minister’s Office announced today. In a press statement, Hashim's appointment, along with eight new commissioners, have been approved by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah, and their terms of service effectively beginning on April 27, 2019, and lasting for three years. The new commissioners are Datuk Seri Mohd Hishamudin Md. Yunus, Medaline Berma, Datuk Godfrey Gregory, Datuk Mah Weng Kwai, Datuk Lok Yim Pheng, Prof Nik Salida Suhaila Nik Saleh and Jerald S. Joseph. With t

PETALING JAYA: The government has announced the appointment of eight new commissioners for the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam). The eight include some new faces, notably its new chairman, former diplomat Othman Hashim. The announcement of the new lineup comes two days after Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Liew Vui Keong said a list of the proposed commissioners had been submitted to Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad a week ago. Suhakam has been without commissioners since its chairman, Razali Ismail, resigned on April 16, almost two weeks before the end of his term on April 27. The terms of the other seven commissioners ended on April 25. In a statement today, the

KUALA LUMPUR, June 23 — National Anti-Drugs Agency (AADK) chief Datuk Seri Zulkifli Abdullah on Friday said forced-rehabilitation for those caught in raids remains effective in battling drug addiction. Zulkifli’s assertion comes amid growing calls for the government to decriminalise substance dependency, reform its drug laws and put in place harm reduction programmes which experts say have shown more success in preventing relapse or repeat offences. “I support the idea that (addiction) is a health issue... but we still have to make arrests because when the public complains, we need to act,” the AADK director general told Malay Mail at a press conference on Friday. “But what we are doing is t

PETALING JAYA: It is a norm in Malaysian universities for academics to get their names published in research papers – without having to actually write anything. This is part of the insight provided by a senior lecturer to FMT – a glimpse into the world of paper chase and academic competition. In the rush, some academics have no qualms about getting recognition without earning it, and the stakes are too high to resist. This comes in the wake of the revelation by FMT last week of a foreign student at a local university whose work was stolen by his PhD instructor. A Yemeni student said his paper was published last year on his university’s official website under the names of his supervisors, one

KUALA LUMPUR, June 19 — UCSI University has been ranked the nation’s best private university for the second year in a row, according to the QS World University Rankings 2020. UCSI rose 39 spots to be ranked 442 among the world’s universities, placing it in the top 2 per cent of the world’s universities. UCSI Vice-Chancellor and President Academician Senior Professor Datuk Dr Khalid Yusoff said the latest milestone was a result of a consistent university-wide push for excellence and performance. “This has not in any way been a natural or organic growth. Rather it reflects the strategies adopted and the dedication and commitment of all concerned,” he added. Earlier this year, UCSI’s Institute

G25 welcomes the appointment of Ms. Latheefa Beebi Koya, as Malaysia’s new Chief Commissioner of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC). On the advice of Prime Minister Tun Mahathir Mohamad, His Majesty the Yang di Pertuan Agong made the appointment. She succeeds Datuk Seri Mohd Shukri Abdull, who resigned a year before his two-year contract was due to end in 2020. G25 is confident that the controversial appointment of the prominent human rights lawyer will prove to be an asset for all citizens of Malaysia. Even though the appointment is seen as a unilateral move on the part of the Prime Minister, the post needed to be filled immediately. While we uphold the democratic process of ch