Pakistan Malaysia Business Forum - PMBF

As we stand on the threshold of a new year, the Pakistan Malaysia Business Forum extends warmest greetings and heartfelt wishes for a joyous and prosperous New Year 2024.

Reflecting on the achievements and collaborations of the past year, we are filled with gratitude for the unwavering support and dedication of our esteemed members. Your commitment has been instrumental in fostering strong business ties between Pakistan and Malaysia, and we look forward to reaching new heights of success together.

May the coming year bring with it abundant opportunities for growth, innovation, and collaboration. As we continue to navigate the dynamic landscape of international business, let us seize every moment to strengthen the bonds between our nations, creating a foundation for mutual prosperity.

In the spirit of unity and shared goals, let us embrace the challenges ahead with resilience and determination. May the New Year be a canvas of new ventures, partnerships, and accomplishments that elevate the Pakistan Malaysia business relationship to unprecedented levels.

On behalf of the entire Pakistan Malaysia Business Forum, we express our deepest gratitude for your continued support. Here's to a year filled with success, prosperity, and fruitful collaborations. May 2024 bring you and your loved ones joy, good health, and fulfillment in every endeavor.

Happy New Year!

Happy Independence Day

Passport renewal: Counter operating hours revised, says Immigration DG

Operating hours at Immigration passport issuing offices in Peninsular Malaysia have been revised following a decline in passport applications at night.

The operating hours at all immigration state and branch offices will be from 8am to 7pm on working days, effective Aug 15.

For Perlis, Pahang, Terengganu and Kedah, operating hours will be from 8am to 5pm.

These offices will be open on Saturdays from 8am to 12.30pm except in Perlis, Pahang, Terengganu and Kedah.

Immigration offices located at the Urban Transformation Centres will operate from 8am to 9pm on weekdays except in Perlis, Pahang, Terengganu and Kedah, which will open until 5pm.

During weekends, offices at UTC will open until 5pm.

Immigration director-general Datuk Seri Khairul Dzaimee Daud said the department had extended its operating hours since April due to a surge in application for the Malaysian international passport.

Offices with a high volume of applications, including Putrajaya, Kuala Lumpur and Selangor were open until 10pm.

"We are revising the operating hours as the number of applications for passports made at night is showing a downward trend," he said in a statement.

Khairul Dzaimee reminded those who made an online application to renew their international passports to collect the travel document as soon as possible.

A country is nothing without its constitution and therefore, Pakistan Day makes an important day for each one of us. Warm greetings on this occasion to all.

Best wishes for Peace, Progress & Prosperity to all Malaysians. Happy 64th Malaysia Independence Day!

EMERGENCY
1. The Malaysian Constitution provides for the declaration of a state of emergency.
2. A state of emergency is necessary because the ordinary or normal structure, constitution or laws of the country do not provide for action to be taken to deal with a situation threatening the country.
3. Under a state of emergency actions, and structures not provided in the constitution and laws can be taken so as to deal with the reason or threats facing the nation.
4. The threats or cause which justify the declaration of the emergency has to be identified.
5. In the 1969 case, the reason was the race riots resulting in the breakdown of law and order.
6. In 2020 the stated reason for a declaration of the state of emergency was the COVID-19 pandemic. No other reason was stated.
7. Therefore the Government needs to show and to act beyond the provision of the Constitution and the laws specifically to deal with the threat posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
8. The Government may claim that a sitting of Parliament would obstruct the actions needed to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. But the sitting on 26 July is merely to brief members on the Government’s plans for dealing with the pandemic. It has already been demonstrated that these plans are ineffective. The number of new cases, deaths and su***des have actually greatly increased during the emergency period.
9. Both the plan and the briefings do not require a state of emergency as they are not against the Constitution or the laws of the country.
10. So they do not warrant the declaration of an emergency. On the other hand it is evident that the COVID-19 pandemic has taken a serious turn. New cases have increased above 8,000 daily, deaths have reached 6,260 and su***de cases have reached 468 (as of Jan – May 2021).
11. People are suffering from the loss of their loved ones, from inability to work or do business and earn a living, from the tensions caused by the lockdown, lack of food, inability to look after their families etc.
12. The pandemic has also affected the country’s economy and finance, the social life of the people and the uncertainties in politics.
13. The Government has used the emergency to make laws by decree e.g. the fake news law and the raising of funds for the Government.
14. Clearly under the emergency anything that can mitigate or blunt the effect of the pandemic is legitimate.
15. The King under the constitution acts on the advice of the Prime Minister or the Ministers. But this requirement is for normal situations.
16. But in an emergency if the action is in order to deal with the cause of the emergency i.e. the COVID-19 pandemic, the ordinary requirement for the King to be advised by the Prime Minister, if this stands in the way of dealing with the epidemic, then this provision in the Constitution can be disregarded.
17. The situation is very serious. There is a need for immediate action, even if the action is contrary to the provisions of the Constitution or the laws of the country.
18. It is proposed that a special organisation be set up immediately, with special powers to act in whatever ways to reduce the increase in new cases, to reduce it until it ceases to be a threat to the lives and normal activities of the people.
19. The actions to be taken should be funded by the Government under a special allocation commensurate with the needs of the actions. Civil servants involved in the implementation must be put at the disposal of the organisation.
20. The organisation must be given the same powers and authority as that given to the National Operation Council in the 1969-1971 Emergency.

The Cabinet has agreed to appoint medical officers, dental officers and pharmacists by contract for a period of two years once they have completed their compulsory service to ensure continuity of service and preparation for pursuing specialist studies.

Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the Cabinet also agreed to extend the contractual appointment to a maximum of four years for medical officers and dental officers who are
pursuing specialisation studies during the contract period of the first two years.

Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi today dismissed assertions by some members that he had left out the resolutions made in last night’s supreme council meeting from his statement declaring the party’s withdrawal of support for Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

He maintained that all decisions made by the party’s top leadership council is based on democratic practices and are for the betterment of Malaysia.

“All decisions are made constitutionally, with intent and wisdom. Based on the welfare of the rakyat and the country.

“So the propaganda and perception that the Umno president makes his own decisions for the party is not true,” he said in a Facebook post this afternoon.

Ahmad Zahid emphasised that his party has always acted decisively for Malaysians and upheld the sovereignty of the Malay Rulers.

“It is proven that Umno listens to the conscience of the grassroots and fulfilled their mandate at the 2020 Umno General Assembly.

“It is clear that Umno as a party will continue to hold on to and champion the principle of parliamentary democracy. Umno will continue to be with the people no matter what the challenge or obstacle. For the love of Malaysia,” he wrote.

Several Umno insiders have disputed Ahmad Zahid’s press statement made after the four-hour supreme council meeting last night. They claimed that all but one resolution was mentioned, which mainly related to the free choice given to the party’s MPs should a no-confidence vote be tabled in Parliament against the prime minister in the next sitting.

In his post midnight press address, Ahmad Zahid said Umno’s supreme council has decided to withdraw support for Muhyiddin on account of the Bersatu leader’s purported failures in handling the Covid-19 health, economic, and political crises.

Ahmad Zahid urged Muhyiddin to act honourably and relinquish his post and allow the appointment of an interim prime minister to handle the current pandemic and subsequently advise the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to accede for a general election be called.

The supreme council meeting and Ahmad Zahid’s statement came on the heels of Muhyiddin’s surprise promotion of two Umno lawmakers, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob and Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, as deputy prime minister and senior minister respectively.

And today, vehicles ferrying Ismail and Attorney General Tan Sri Idrus Harun were spotted entering Muhyiddin’s house in Bukit Damansara here at around 9.40am.

Herd immunity target on schedule Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin is confident that Malaysia’s target to achieve herd immunity as projected by the national recovery plan can be completed as scheduled following the increase in the supply of Covid-19 vaccines by the country’s major suppliers.