Good morning, here's what you need to know today.


Key Highlights

  • Aid for total lockdown

  • Putting the aid package in context

  • Mega vaccination centres



Aid for total lockdown

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin unveiled an RM40 billion aid package last night, on the eve of the “total lockdown” which takes effect today.

The package mostly focused on helping the most vulnerable groups compared to the one last year (when MCO 1.0 was implemented), which also provided substantial aid to the middle class.

The prime minister conceded the government was facing financial constraints. In a symbolic move, ministers and deputy ministers agreed to forgo three months of salary.

Some of the measures of the latest Pemerkasa+ aid package include:

  • Three-month loan moratorium for B40 group and those laid off

  • Additional RM500 for households earning RM2,500 or less and RM300 for households earning RM2,501-RM5,000

  • RM500 for tour guides, taxi drivers, school and tour bus drivers, rental and e-hailing drivers

  • Extension of the wage subsidy programme

  • Sales and Service Tax (SST) exemption for vehicles extended



HIGHLIGHTS

It's Najib, not Zeti on trial in 1MDB case - prosecution
Najib wants banking docs involving Zeti's family.
Najib's son Nizar agrees to pay tax arrears
This is for the assessment years 2011 to 2017.
Azmin, his children settle suit with travel firm
The firm claimed his family did pay for trips.

 



Putting the aid package in context

How helpful an aid package is to the economy is often measured by its fiscal injection - money directly pumped into the economy, such as cash transfers.

This is in contrast to items such as loan moratoriums, which can make the quantum of aid packages look impressive but is ultimately a postponement of payments.

In the context of the latest Pemerkasa+ package, the fiscal injection is RM5 billion. How does this compare to past aid packages?

Here’s a quick recap of all aid packages to counter the Covid-19 pandemic to date.


2020

March 28: RM250bil Prihatin (RM25bil direct injection)

April 6: RM10bil Prihatin SME+ (RM10bil direct injection)

June 5: RM35bil Penjana (RM10bil direct injection)

Sept 23: RM10bil Kita Prihatin (RM10bil direct injection)


2021

Jan 18: RM15bil Permai (RM6.6bil direct injection)

March 17: RM20bil Pemerkasa (RM11bil direct injection)

May 31: RM40bil Pemerkasa+ (RM5bil direct injection)



HIGHLIGHTS

PAS sets up Covid-19 disaster fund
Party members to contribute.
Cameron MP slams Jakoa bureaucracy
This was after villagers were denied food aid.
S'wak MTUC calls for 'total lockdown'
S'wak is the only state that won't join the lockdown.

 



Mega vaccination centres

Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin addressed various criticism of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme. They are as follow:


Criticism: The government is focusing too much on mega vaccination centres that leads to overcrowding.

Response: Mega vaccination centres are needed due to the high vaccination rate, but it’s not the sole strategy. Other strategies include clinics, mobile units and drive-through. SOP weaknesses being addressed.

Criticism: The government makes it hard for general practitioners to participate in the Covid-19 vaccination efforts.

Response: Health Ministry will conduct an ongoing audit of the clinics instead of requiring pre-approval to speed up the process. But some procedures, such as training, are still needed as Covid-19 vaccines are different from normal ones.

Criticism: MySejahtera users complaining about being sent to the wrong state for their Covid-19 vaccine appointment.

Response: Users selected similar but wrong address (eg. Taman Bahagia in Kuala Lumpur vs Sandakan). MySejahtera app will be improved for users to confirm postcode and state. However, this explanation was disputed.



HIGHLIGHTS

'Time for advice is over', says IGP
Cops will enforce the total lockdown.
Undocumented migrant workers don't pay tax
Immigration DG defends raids.
EMCO in several areas in Perak, Pahang, Sabah and Sarawak
It takes effect on June 2.

 


A daily glance at Covid-19

  • 6,824 new cases yesterday (May 31).

  • A total of 1,289 people have died from Covid-19 in May. That's 46.1 percent of the total deaths since the pandemic started in January last year.

  • Active cases are now approaching 80,000. May started with 29,631 active cases and ended at 79,523 active cases.

  • For trends on daily cases, tests, hospital beds capacity, vaccination progress and more, follow our Covid-19 tracker.


What else is happening?

  • Putrajaya, which decided to revoke the International Trade and Industry Ministry's (Miti) permission letter in favour of businesses getting a new one from their respective ministries, changed its position in less than 24 hours. It decided that Miti will coordinate the new letters needed for travel to work under the total lockdown.

  • The family of a critically injured patient from last week's LRT crash will initiate an RM1.8 million suit against Prasarana Malaysia Berhad. The victim suffered head and spine injuries and has yet to regain consciousness.

  • The government plans to begin vaccinating "economic frontliners" by converting malls into vaccination centres to administer Covid-19 vaccines to tenants and retailers.

  • Inspector-general of police Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani said police have written to the Enforcement Agencies Integrity Commission to investigate claims of a "cartel" within the police force. He said cops preferred a third party to probe the matter.

  • Genome sequencing showed that there is an increasing prevalence of the South African Covid-19 variant in Malaysia, which can render the AstraZeneca vaccine significantly less effective.


HIGHLIGHTS

Lawyer demands police show CCTV footage
This is over A Ganapathy's death
Police to review the health of new suspects - IGP
This follows a string of custodial deaths.
'Amend Constitution to protect rights of innocent children'
'Kids should not be denied citizenship for being illegitimate'.



What are people saying?

Cancel the Penang South Reclamation project
By Nurul Izzah Anwar
Quitters are winners
By Mohideen Abdul Kader
YBs, if you are not helping, please keep quiet
By Francis Paul Siah


CARTOON KINI