Good morning, here's a quick rundown of what happened over the weekend.


Key Highlights

  • PAS bans gaming shops

  • Ronnie Liu ousted

  • BN's mega reclamation project



PAS bans gaming shops

The PAS-led Kedah government will make it impossible for lottery outlets such as 4D to operate in the state.

Kedah Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor announced that municipal councils won't renew the business licences of such outlets, telling punters to go to neighbouring Penang instead.

Sanusi also revealed plans to ban the sale of liquor in rural areas, including in parts of the duty-free island of Langkawi.

Penang Deputy Chief Minister II P Ramasamy described the move as denying the rights of non-Muslims.

The latest controversy was sparked almost immediately after the cabinet resolved a separate issue relating to the sin industry.

Putrajaya decided to allow the whiskey brand Timah to keep its name despite PAS' objections, on the condition that an additional label is added to explain its name.

The firm had maintained that "Timah" refers to tin but right-wing groups claimed it could be confused with Prophet Muhammad's daughter Fatimah.



HIGHLIGHTS

PAS eyes its best hope in Malacca
Serkam has been most receptive to the party.
Umno the one refusing hand of friendship - Bersatu leader
He weighs in on the split of Malay votes.
Pfizer booster more effective - Health Ministry
AstraZeneca or Sinovac only for people with allergies.




Ronnie Liu ousted

Sungai Pelek assemblyperson Ronnie Liu was ousted in the Selangor DAP election.

Liu previously clashed with the central DAP leadership after he declared the party should not dilute its "Chineseness" in order to court Malay support.

The election outcome signalled an endorsement of the central leadership's direction, which has in recent years groomed a number of Malay leaders who have risen to mid-level leadership roles.

The Selangor polls also saw two Malay leaders - Bandar Utama assemblyperson Jamailah Jamaluddin and Dusun Tua assemblyperson Edry Faizal Eddy Yusof - elected to the state committee.

The party, during the Selangor DAP convention where the polls were held, also expressed interest in contesting in a number of Malay-majority seats that were formerly contested by Bersatu when it was part of Pakatan Harapan.



HIGHLIGHTS

'Ambassadorship to 'reward' Tajuddin for backing PM'
Pasir Salak MP to be made ambassador to Indonesia.
Wanita Umno vice-chief appointed UDA chairperson
Norliza Abdul Rahim's appointment takes effect on Nov 8.
MACC probes VEP deal, MCA lawmaker's involvement
Wee Jeck Seng is an ex-shareholder.

 



BN's mega reclamation plan

BN in its manifesto touted the Malacca Waterfront Economic Zone (M-WEZ) as a cornerstone project if it wins in the Malacca polls, positioning it as the state's economic future.

But closer scrutiny of the project showed it will be a mega reclamation covering around half of the entire Malacca coastline, extensively impacting the environment and local fishing communities.

Fisherfolk along the Malacca coast lamented that they have already been severely impacted by existing reclamation projects.

Zooming in on the project, Malacca Pakatan Harapan chief ministerial candidate Adly Zahari said the 33km-long coastline reclamation was not feasible and the project would be reviewed if his coalition wins.

PKR information chief Shamsul Iskandar Md Akin believes that there is a viable path to victory for Harapan despite an uphill battle.

Meanwhile, PN is the last major coalition to unveil its manifesto for the state polls, which include various one-off handouts.

PN has sought to promote an anti-graft message in a bid to differentiate itself from BN, painting Umno in particular as self-interested and corrupt.

The attack led PN chairperson Muhyiddin Yassin to trade barbs with Umno's Shahrir Abdul Samad, with the former prime minister calling Shahrir "bodoh" (stupid).

However, one thing PN has not done is to announce its chief ministerial candidate. Rivals speculate that it is mulling a woman chief ministerial candidate but is facing internal resistance.

Meanwhile, parties in the Malacca polls continued to suffer hefty fines as they struggle with reaching out to voters amid a ban on physical campaigning due to Covid-19.

A BN event attended by Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob was also not spared.



HIGHLIGHTS

Free engine oil: PN candidate denies election bribery
It may go against the Election Offences Act.
Opponents tighten 'Squid Game' tentacles, Harapan strikes back
Booklets titled 'DAP threat to Malay-Muslims' also circulated.
Without DAP, Rafiq confident Bersatu can do better
He believes Malays will be more likely to choose Bersatu.



A daily glance at Covid-19

  • 5,162 new cases yesterday (Nov 14). 45 new fatalities put the Covid-19 death toll at 29,676.

  • After being on a recovery path since September, Covid-19 infections is now back on an exponential growth trend with the R-naught value climbing to 1.05 as of Nov 13, the highest since August.



New cases by state:

Selangor (1,266)
Kelantan (499)
Sabah (442)
Johor (432)
Kedah (366)
Penang (325)
Pahang (313)
Sarawak (299)
Kuala Lumpur (278)
Perak (258)
Malacca (216)
Terengganu (200)
Negeri Sembilan (174)
Putrajaya (66)
Labuan (17)
Perlis (11)


What else is happening?

  • Nazir Abdul Razak in his memoir relates how the 1MDB scandal strained the relationship with his brother Najib Abdul Razak, who was the prime minister from 2009 to 2018. Najib's wife Rosmah Mansor accused Nazir of conspiring to bring down Najib. Nazir also admitted that he considered endorsing the opposition due to the 1MDB scandal.

  • The Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) insists AirAsia X, which is facing financial trouble, must reimburse money owed to its customers. AirAsia X had tried to treat customers as creditors and plans to only repay 0.5 percent of the 'debt'. Mavcom maintains customers cannot be considered creditors.

  • PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang was conferred the title of "Tan Sri" by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

  • Police are probing Amanah's Morib assemblyperson Hasnul Baharuddin for allegedly assaulting his ex-wife. He had divorced her through a WhatsApp message.


HIGHLIGHTS

Meet the first urology professor at Cambridge in 800 years
He is a Petaling Jaya-born doctor.
Marina Mahathir in her own write
Ex-PM's daughter shares about her new book.
PKR's giant killer disappointed
He wanted a clash with the Bersatu veep.



What are people saying?

Timah shows that we don’t tolerate ridiculousness anymore
By Zan Azlee
Malacca polls: Leadership revivals and rivals
By Bridget Welsh
Historical truths about the 'pendatang'
By Ranjit Singh Mahli



CARTOON KINI