Hybrid rice: A missed opportunity

Women are more suitable to be forensic scientist compare to men said Dr Tan Ran Zhi, Deputy Director of Sungai Buloh Hospital’s Forensic Department. This was headlined in Guang Ming Daily.

Sin Chew Daily and Kwong Wah Yit Poh Daily led the leadership change in Singapore. Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will hand over the leadership baton, after nearly 20 years, to the current Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Lawrence Wong on May 15th.

China Press led with the fire at the home of the Deputy Minister in the Sarawak Premier’s Department Datuk Gerawat Gala.

Nanyang Daily led with confidence in Bank Negara Malaysia by analysts despite the Iran-Israel conflict worsening Ringgit’s exchange rate.

Editorial

Famed Chinese agronomist Yuan Longping who passed away in 2021 year, once stated at a lecture titled “Can Hybrid Rice Avoid Food Crisis?” held in our country, that preliminary trials of hybrid rice in Malaysia have yielded promising results. He believes commercialization of hybrid rice can be achieved within 3 years.

However lack of response and follow-up from relevant units and personnel in our country, the cooperation for the transfer of hybrid rice technology mentioned above has stalled, becoming one of the regrets in Malaysia-China cooperation.

Malaysian entrepreneur Tan Sri Chua Ma Yu, who played a pivotal role in making the whole affair possible, disclosed to Nanyang Daily that the Perlis state government, officials from the Ministry of Agriculture, and relevant university researchers failed to actively follow up, resulting in the abandonment of this plan.

Ensuring food security is vital. Our Ministry of Agriculture must seize opportunities and leverage China’s advanced agricultural tech to secure ample food supply and maintain control of our destiny said Nanyang Daily in its editorial.

China Press highlighted the neglected condition and disrepair in general wards by Malaysian Medical Association president Dr Azizan Abdul Aziz.

He claimed the general wards in hospitals have long been neglected and, as a result, fall into disrepair. Many doctors have reported the ceilings have leakage and are mouldy, claiming serious repairs are needed in its editorial.

According to the daily, there are reasons why there are issues with Malaysian hospitals.

The Ministry of Health claimed it was due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, high-paying offers abroad, and nurse vacancies in our country’s government hospitals have increased by 10%, reaching 40%.

Our country’s healthcare personnel hiring system has long-standing issues, especially in the hiring of contract healthcare workers, which has been criticized for years.

This is one of the reasons driving medical graduates, and even seasoned healthcare personnel, to leave.

The daily mentioned that a U29 nurse in our country earns around RM1800 per month, while a newly graduated nurse in Singapore earns five times more. With such a huge salary difference, what can we offer to retain talent?

To address these issues, the government should reform and improve the healthcare system and institutions, and raise the salaries and career prospects of medical personnel.

The government needs to reduce bureaucratic red tape in funding applications and prioritize speedy disbursement as a top priority.The outflow of Malaysian medical talents is also another reason.

Offering fair pay and clear career paths will attract more healthcare workers to stay and develop locally, said China Press Daily.

Numerous NGOs, charities and welfare organizations, appeal to the public to collect donations to aid in various causes such as helping vulnerable victims of scams or helping the helpless, but some exploit public generosity for personal gain. Funds raised may be laundered and misappropriated, even colluding with criminal groups, according to Sin Chew Daily.

Before donating, it’s crucial to scrutinize an organization’s background to avoid funding illicit activities. While charities play a vital societal role, some tarnish the noble cause by engaging in criminal activities, undermining trust in charitable endeavours.

Law enforcement must unmask fake charities and hold them accountable under the law. As for philanthropists, they should continue being charitable despite setbacks, after all, society still harbours many unfortunate groups in need of aid, so we need to aid others if we can.