Enterprise Explores

On Wednesday, El Salvador made history by becoming the first country to allow the popular cryptocurrency Bitcoin to be legally accepted as a form of currency . See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Every year, The Economist ranks the world’s most livable cities based on a number of criterias. This year, the pandemic has factored into that ranking and significantly shaken up the list. Health has taken precedence over everything else, giving cities that have curbed the spread of COVID-19 an advantage over the others. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For the past few years, many of the products and services that we’ve grown accustomed to have been relatively cheap . Ride-hailing, Airbnb, and even Netflix have charged a fee, which to many has been accessible. Is that about to change? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Two days after Tim Cook informed Apple employees that they would have to come into the office 3 days a week, Apple employees pushed back with requests for a properly flexible working policy in the name of inclusion and diversity. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After working at home for over a year, some employees are finding it nearly impossible to fathom going back to the office full-time. On the other hand, employees who were offered remote jobs and then asked to attend on-site meetings are also equally frustrated, saying they’d rather quit than give up WFH perks . See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Malaysia Productivity Corporation has created a platform at http://mymudah.mpc.gov.my/ to allow digital economy startups to voice their regulatory concerns. This is in line with one of the goals in the MyDIGITAL initiative to meet the needs of digital economy businesses. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With the FMCO underway and businesses restricted by rules and regulations almost as stringent as the first MCO, small-scale entrepreneurs are going to need all the aid they can get from the government to survive this phase of the pandemic. As such, the government has announced that nearly one million micro small and medium enterprises will start to benefit from the Prihatin Special Grant (GKP 3.0)...

The Ministry of Finance has announced payments for all government services will be cashless by 2022, but some parties don’t see what’s the rush . See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When it comes to the definition of essential services, the assumption is that any medically-related field should be able to operate even under the strictest lockdown rules. However, the president of the Malaysian Pharmacists Society, Amrahi Buang, claims that many pharmacists are facing difficulties operating in the FMCO without an approval letter . See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informat...

Malaysia needs to vaccinate between 300,000 and 500,000 people a day to achieve herd immunity by year end . See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

News of shopping malls vaccinating their tenants and employees for a fee have created profiteering concerns . Who should bear the cost of vaccinating mall workers, and what can the government do to help this situation? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One of COVID-19’s most well-known symptoms that often lasts even after recovery is a loss of the sense of smell. A French oncologist, Fabrice Denis, and Lille-based start-up Kelindi, have teamed up to create a “smelling training” app so former COVID-19 patients and other smell disorder patients could potentially be able to stop and smell the roses again. See omnystudio.com/listen...

When will Malaysia reach herd immunity? According to the government and based on the current rollout rate, December is a likely target . Of course, the speed of the rollout could increase over time, but at the moment, it looks like we could enter 2022 as an “immune nation”. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

June 5th is World Environment Day, the United Nations day for encouraging global awareness of and action to protect the environment. This year's theme is “Ecosystem Restoration” and the day will see the launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. What small things can we do to help raise awareness? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

According to a survey conducted by Ipsos, Malaysians are far more worried about COVID-19 than the rest of the world . Locally, 74% of respondents named it their top worry, in comparison to the global country average of only 42%. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With the eBelia programme officially launched, ShopeePay has recorded 500,000 claimants for the RM150 credit in only one day . See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With vaccinations being administered by the millions around the world, countries are starting to gear-up for a return to travel. The EU has launched its own COVID-19 Digital Vaccine Certificate that will act as a “passport” for those wishing to travel within approved nations . Could this be how other countries will adapt to safe travel in the coming years? See omnystudio.com/listener f...

With vaccine decentralization underway, the Malaysian government has announced that 7 million doses will be allocated to the private sector and state governments . The move hopes to speed up vaccine rollout in the country, which was off to a slow start but seems to be picking up momentum. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the first day of the total lockdown, the confusion and difficulties in obtaining the necessary approvals to operate left many in a quandary , say business stakeholders. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With vaccination rates perhaps not rising fast enough and overloaded frontliners and ICUs, the President of the Malaysian Association of Hotels, Dato N Subramaniam, says that hotels in Malaysia are ready to act as low-risk COVID-19 quarantine and treatment centres . See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The National Security Council has confirmed all approvals for businesses and industries to operate during the nationwide lockdown will be issued through a one-stop centre manned by the International Trade and Industry Ministry (MITI) . The approval to operate will affect a workforce of 16 million people in the public and private sectors. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As an additional funding aid, RM40 billion was announced last night as being allocated to Pemerkasa Plus, dedicated to supporting three key avenues in Malaysia for financial assistance . We cover what could be relevant for SMEs as well as what the rest of the funding will be used for. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Many SMEs will take yet another hit as Malaysia heads into another full lockdown in June 2021. SME Association Malaysia president, Michael Kang, predicts that 40% of Malaysian SMEs will be financially affected and may have to cut jobs and overhead to reduce expenses . See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In situations like the Prasarana incident last week , what should be an organization's next steps? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With vaccination efforts ramping up, companies are looking for ways to aid senior citizens in their commute to vaccination centers (PPVs). One company, in collaboration with district officials, has started to offer free rides to people in need to-and-from vax centers within the Petaling district . See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.