Government emphasises importance of expanding digital access: Chief Minister
Published on: Friday, June 20, 2025
Published on: Fri, Jun 20, 2025 Text Size: Hajiji (second right) in discussion with Gobind during the courtesy call. Kota Kinabalu: The State Government strongly emphasises the importance of expanding digital access to all segments of society, including rural communities. 'With the support of the Federal Government, we are confident that this effort can be accelerated,' said Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor during a courtesy visit by Federal Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo at his office in Menara Kinabalu here Thursday.
Advertisement Hajiji said digital transformation is one of the main components of the Hala Tuju Sabah Maju Jaya development plan, particularly in driving technology-based economic growth and enhancing the efficiency of public service delivery. The visit was part of Gobind's official working trip to Sabah, which included attending the State's Digital Economy and Fourth Industrial Revolution Council (MED4IR) Meeting. Hajiji welcomed the visit and expressed appreciation to Gobind for the Federal Government's continued commitment to supporting the State's digital agenda. Also present were the Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Dr Mohd Arifin Mohd Arif; State Secretary Datuk Seri Sr Safar Untong; Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry's Permanent Secretary Datuk Mohd Hanafiah Mohd Kassim; and the Digital Ministry senior officials. * Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel and Telegram for breaking news alerts and key updates! * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available.
Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express's Telegram channel. Daily Express Malaysia
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
WhatsApp is getting ads - time to delete? Here's what to know
Are there messenger apps that can match WhatsApp in terms of functionality, but don't collect chat metadata or at least maintain a privacy-oriented approach to it? Yes, there are. — Pixabay LOS ANGELES: In what may be the final straw for some users, ads are officially coming to WhatsApp in an upcoming version that will incorporate Meta's biggest source of revenue into one of the world's biggest messenger apps. "Sponsored" brands are set to appear in WhatsApp's Updates tab, where users can see the latest from both channels they follow and status updates from their contacts, Meta announced on June 16. The sister company to Instagram and Facebook said it won't use your personal messages and call logs for advertising purposes. But WhatsApp does use information about you – how you use your phone, which country or city you're in, what channels you follow, what language you speak and what contacts you have – to create a profile of you for Meta's advertisers. But nobody has to tolerate this if they don't like it. There are plenty of easy messenger alternatives widely in use, and switching is easy. Anyone who wants to turn their back on WhatsApp just needs a strategy. And that sounds more difficult than it is. It can be done in just two or three steps: find a messenger alternative, back up WhatsApp chats if necessary, then delete your account. Are there messenger apps that can match WhatsApp in terms of functionality, but don't collect chat metadata or at least maintain a privacy-oriented approach to it? Yes, there are. Signal and Wire are among the most widely recommended in security circles, and both are open source, securely end-to-end encrypted and available as Android, iOS and desktop applications. Telegram is another major alternative, but some security experts believe the company also has a worrying policy on data privacy. If in doubt, you can try out a few new messengers at the same time. Before taking the plunge, you should probably check if many of your contacts are already on your new messenger platform. If you're ditching WhatsApp, you may want to keep your old messages and media (photos, videos and voice messages). No problem. Open the individual or group chat you want to save, tap the three-dot menu at the top right (Android) or Settings (iOS), select "More/Chat export" and specify in the next window that the media should also be saved. Then you choose whether the text document with the chat history and media files should be stored on the device or in your cloud. Since, according to WhatsApp, a maximum of the 10,000 most recent messages can be saved in this way, you should repeat the whole procedure for the respective chat and specify that no media should be saved. This way you get a second text document with up to 40,000 messages. Taking this third step before the second is dangerous. If a WhatsApp account is deleted, all chats and backups are also deleted – irretrievably. So you've backed up everything that should be backed up? Good. To leave WhatsApp, tap on the three-dot menu or settings at the top right and select "Settings/Account/Delete account". Next, enter your mobile phone number in international format (with the +00 country code and without the first zero of the area code) in the corresponding field. With a final tap on the red "Delete my account" button, the job is done and the app can then be removed from your smartphone. – dpa
The Star
3 hours ago
- The Star
220 agri projects approved nationwide under land usage scheme
KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 220 projects have been approved under the Land Use Optimisation Programme in collaboration with state governments nationwide last year and this year, as of May 30. The Agriculture and Food Security Ministry said the projects encompass crop cultivation, livestock, fisheries, agro-tourism, and capacity-building for farmers, planters, fishermen and breeders. ALSO READ: Malaysia's food security at risk "Through Budget 2025, the Federal Government has allocated RM300mil to execute various agricultural development initiatives in partnership with state governments. "This programme includes improving, upgrading and carrying out agricultural activities on land which is under the joint jurisdiction of state governments and the ministry,' it said in a statement on Friday (June 20). The matter was announced at the first meeting of the Agriculture and Food Security Minister with state agriculture executive councillors for this year in Putrajaya on Thursday (June 19). The meeting also discussed a proposal for the official handover of 51 National Satellite Farm complexes built by the Veterinary Services Department using federal funds on state-owned land in Negri Sembilan, Johor and Perak. ALSO READ: Food security game-changer: Malaysia entering cultured meat revolution "This move aims to streamline the leasing and maintenance of immovable assets by the respective state authorities in a lawful and organised manner. "The meeting agreed that the handover would resolve issues of unclear asset ownership and enable state governments to manage and maintain the assets more systematically, ensuring the continuity of livestock operations and optimal use of existing infrastructure,' the statement read. Meanwhile, on the role of state executive councillors addressing "grey areas" in rice bowl zones, one of the proposals raised was to transfer assets with unclear ownership to the state or district Irrigation and Drainage Department (DID), to ensure more efficient and effective padi field irrigation management. "This effort is expected to resolve overlapping responsibilities between the Integrated Agriculture Development Area and DID, thereby streamlining infrastructure management and boosting national padi production,' the statement added. ALSO READ: Ensuring food security in face of climate change Meanwhile, state governments are encouraged to leverage data from the 2024 Interim Agricultural Census and the Integrated Agricultural Statistics System (TaniStats) to formulate more focused and high-impact policies, strategies and development plans for the agri-food sector at the state level, it said. "The meeting also noted the urgent need for strategic action to address cross-border livestock smuggling along the Malaysia-Thailand border, to safeguard the sector from disease threats and ensure its continued competitiveness,' the statement read. The meeting was a platform for policy coordination, information sharing and aligning commitments between the Federal and state governments to drive a more integrated agri-food development agenda. – Bernama
Daily Express
3 hours ago
- Daily Express
Federation of Malaysian Manufacturing hails removal charges delay
Published on: Friday, June 20, 2025 Published on: Fri, Jun 20, 2025 Text Size: The decision reflects a thoughtful approach to address the challenges faced by the industry, particularly as the manufacturing sector continues to grapple with uprising operational costs. Kota Kinabalu: The Federation of Malaysian Manufacturing, (Sabah) praised DP World for its pragmatic decision to defer the enforcement of the removal charges implementation to Sapangar Bay Container Port's users from June 4, 2025 to July 15, 2025. It was to gauge feedback from port users and extend the free storage period at the port container yard from five (5) days to eight (8) days. Advertisement The decision reflects a thoughtful approach to address the challenges faced by the industry, particularly as the manufacturing sector continues to grapple with uprising operational costs. These additional charges will make import cost more expensive and products less-competitive in the market as the cost would be passed on to consumers. The deferment is necessary to provide industries with the transition period to prepare for the changes. DP World imposed removal charges effective June 4, 2025 with RM45.00 per day for a 20-footer and RM90.00 per day for 40-footer container that exceed the limit of five (5) days at container yard in effort to reduce the yard congestion issue. Increased cargo volume from increased number of vessels calling on Sapangar Bay Container Port (SBCP) coupled with the surge in export containers, of some additional 3,500 per month from China and Korea investors are the main reasons for this congestion. Advertisement To alleviate the yard congestion issue, the Branch urges members and other port users to accept containers during off peak periods, namely, Saturdays, Sundays, Public Holidays and after 5.00pm on working days as a way to ease congestion. FMM hopes with the completion of expansion project aims to double SBCP's capacity by 2027 will ensure prompt and more efficient discharge of import containers and ease yard congestion. FMM Sabah is thankful for the great commitment demonstrated by the Ministry of Industrial Development & Entrepreneurship, under the helm of YB Datuk Phoong Jin Zhe who had been attentive to the plight of port users, and on numerous occasions, personally engaged with the management of DP World and visited the Port facilities. Whilst the yard congestion is a good sign of increased in exports and imports activities, we call on the Government gives greater focus to be accorded to growth of exports by local investors and to rethink future foreign investments until port infrastructure is well-developed and ready to cope with increased cargo volume. * Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel and Telegram for breaking news alerts and key updates! * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express's Telegram channel. Daily Express Malaysia
