TH advises pilgrims to use e-Taib, avoid relying on AI, Google for guidance
Instead, Holy Land haj facilitator (Pihtas) haj facilitator Salmah Sheikh Hassan urged pilgrims to use the e-Taib service as their primary reference, including when at...
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
6 hours ago
- The Sun
Ninja Van Malaysia launches 44 new international delivery lanes, extends cross-border reach
KUALA LUMPUR: Ninja Van Malaysia has launched 44 new international delivery lanes, extending its cross-border reach to 46 destinations worldwide in a move aimed at helping Malaysian businesses scale into global markets at significantly lower costs. The new routes span Asia-Pacific, North America, Latin America, the Middle East and Europe, adding to existing services to Singapore and the Philippines. With delivery times ranging from seven to 12 days and shipping rates starting at RM70, the service is more than 50% cheaper than conventional cross-border options, making it one of the most affordable logistics solutions available to local brands. 'This launch makes the world no longer out of reach for Malaysian brands,' CEO Lin Zheng said during the event. 'With 46 international lanes, we are offering a practical and cost-effective way for local businesses to enter new markets, build a global customer base and grow with confidence. Our goal is to remove the friction from cross-border logistics so that businesses can focus on what they do best, creating, innovating and scaling.' For Lin, the launch marks the beginning of a bigger vision: 'Today is just one step but an important one, towards making Malaysia not just a logistics hub, but a launchpad for regional and international success.' Ninja Van cross-border regional vice president Jeremy Hong said: 'Our goal is simple, to eliminate the friction from cross-border logistics so businesses can scale without limits.' While Malaysia has seen strong entrepreneurial momentum in recent years, high shipping costs, complex customs processes and limited infrastructure remain key challenges for SMEs seeking to export. Ninja Van's expanded network aims to close this gap by offering SMEs a cost-effective, integrated solution to ship globally. The company's advanced logistics platform allows sellers to manage both domestic and international deliveries through a single dashboard, without needing new accounts or system integrations. Orders can be processed within minutes, using the same workflow as local deliveries. Domestically, the company operates a 260,000 square foot hub in Shah Alam, supported by more than 160 hubs, 5,000 pick-up and drop-off points and a fleet of 7,000 vehicles. Regionally, Ninja Van delivers over two million parcels daily and has enabled more than 270,000 merchants to ship across borders. Founded in 2015, Ninja Van Malaysia is part of a wider Southeast Asian network backed by marquee investors including GeoPost, Alibaba Group and B Capital Group. Beyond e-commerce, Ninja Van is laying the groundwork to venture into new logistics verticals, including business-to-business inventory restocking and cold chain solutions, reflecting its ambition to move beyond being just a parcel delivery company. Industry observers note that competitive shipping options are especially critical for SMEs, which often lack the economies of scale of larger corporates. By reducing costs and streamlining processes, Ninja Van's new international lanes may provide the boost smaller brands need to compete in overseas markets.
The Sun
7 hours ago
- The Sun
Forget ChatGPT-5, Malaysian companies say it's better to ‘go local' in using AI: Juwai IQI
PETALING JAYA: Despite all the hype about OpenAI's new ChatGPT-5 model, some Malaysian business leaders say companies should instead 'go local' for artificial intelligence (AI). Doing so can create jobs, protect Malaysian consumer data, make artificial intelligence more Malaysian and boost companies' bottom line, according to insights released today by Juwai IQI. Juwai IQI Group CEO Kashif Ansari explained, 'You fall behind if you don't use artificial intelligence, but costs can grow quickly. By 'going local,' as I call it, a typical large Malaysian company can save up to RM1.7 million per year, depending on usage rates. You also get the benefits of data privacy and security, customisation and automation. ''Going local' is my way of saying two things. First, we are using open-source AI models that are offered by their creators for 'free' to the larger community. These models are usually not quite as capable as the latest commercially available models on the market but are free of ongoing external usage costs. Second, we are hosting these models on our own servers. That means we never send our data to the big AI companies' servers.' He said most of what a typical business in Malaysia does can be accomplished with these open source AI models. 'Yes, we still use GPT-5, amongst others, but only for a fraction of our AI needs. We found that we can do most of what we need here in Malaysia by going local,' he added. Juwai IQI Group COO and CIO, Nabeel Mungaye, said: 'When you use artificial intelligence models from providers like OpenAI or Alphabet, you pay for usage: the more you use, the more you pay. But when you use open-source models hosted on your own servers, there are no ongoing usage fees. This is critical if you have high-volume AI applications, like customer service chatbots or PDF summarisation tools.' 'I've run some back-of-the-envelope numbers. A typical large Malaysian company that has embraced the use of AI for things like customer support, PDF summarisation, and marketing could end up paying over RM1.7 million (US$410,000) per year in usage fees from a service like OpenAI. On the other hand, running an open-source model on a local server for those same needs could cost as little as RM63,000 (US$15,000) per year. You would essentially just pay the cost of electricity and maintenance for a powerful server,' he added. He explained, 'Here's how I arrived at those cost estimates. For a customer service chatbot processing one billion tokens annually, the cost using a paid mini-model would be approximately RM76,000 (US$18,000). PDF document summarisation is actually a very demanding task for AI, and handling some 500,000 documents per month could cost around RM1.65 million (US$390,000) per year. Lastly, the marketing content generation could reasonably cost about RM10,500 (US$2,500). When you add these costs up, you get RM1.7 million (US$410,000).' Mungaye said, 'Going open source and local also allows us to make the artificial intelligence we use more Malaysian. We can fine-tune or train the model we use to understand local slang and cultural nuances in Malay, Mandarin, English, and other languages. 'We can also teach it industry-specific terminology, so it is more accurate and relevant for the ways that we use it. In sum, by 'going local,' Malaysian companies like us can get the benefits of AI at a lower expense while also protecting their costumers' data and giving them a better service,' he added.
The Sun
9 hours ago
- The Sun
Google fined US$36m over Android search deals in Australia
SYDNEY: Google has agreed to pay a Aus$55 million (US$36 million) fine for making deals to pre-install only its search engine on Android phones sold by Telstra and Optus. Australia's competition watchdog filed proceedings in the Federal Court alongside Google Asia Pacific for the penalty. The court will now determine if the fine and related orders are appropriate, according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. 'Conduct that restricts competition is illegal in Australia because it usually means less choice, higher costs or worse service for consumers,' said commission chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb. Google admitted to striking deals with Telstra and Optus between December 2019 and March 2021 while cooperating with regulators. Telstra and Optus received a share of advertising revenue in exchange for exclusively pre-installing Google's search engine. 'Google has admitted in reaching those understandings with each of Telstra and Optus it was likely to have had the effect of substantially lessening competition,' the commission stated. Google said it was pleased to resolve the regulator's concerns, noting the provisions were no longer in its agreements. 'We are committed to providing Android device makers more flexibility to preload browsers and search apps,' a Google spokesperson said. Telstra and Optus signed court-enforceable agreements last year not to make new default search deals with Google for Android devices. - AFP
