Latest news with #Zahid
Sinar Daily
a day ago
- Business
- Sinar Daily
SST on imported goods including fruits maybe reviewed
He said the fruits are not produced locally but are instead imported entirely from foreign countries, hence it should be reconsidered before imposing SST of between five and 10 per cent. 19 Jun 2025 05:28pm Zahid said the fruits are not produced locally but are instead imported entirely from foreign countries, hence it should be reconsidered before imposing SST of between five and 10 per cent. - Bernama photo BANG - The government will review the implementation of the revision and expansion of the Sales and Services Tax (SST) on several selected imported goods including fruits such as apples and mandarin oranges, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. He said the fruits are not produced locally but are instead imported entirely from foreign countries, hence it should be reconsidered before imposing SST of between five and 10 per cent. Earlier, Mydin Holdings Bhd managing director Datuk Ameer Ali Mydin Mohamed described the move to impose SST on imported fruit as unreasonable because it also affects low-income consumers. - Photo illustrated by Sinar Daily via Canva "I believe it is reasonable for (the new SST rate on certain goods) to be reviewed and I think there will be an adjustment for certain materials to be categorised for tax at five to 10 per cent. "(But) don't take that conclusively," he told reporters after officiating the Community Development Department (KEMAS) Teachers' Day Celebration, here today. Earlier, Mydin Holdings Bhd managing director Datuk Ameer Ali Mydin Mohamed described the move to impose SST on imported fruit as unreasonable because it also affects low-income consumers. Commenting further, Ahmad Zahid said the views put forward by Ameer Ali should be brought to the Cabinet meeting as it touches on the people's needs for imported fruits. "The revenue from fruit tax to the country is not that high. So if SST is imposed, the price will increase. "I know the purpose (of imposing SST on imported fruits) is to protect local fruits but we do not produce apples and mandarin oranges. I am sure the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Economy are also looking into the matter,' he said. On June 9, the government announced a targeted review of the SST rate which will take effect from July 1, 2025. The sales tax rate will remain the same for essential goods, while a rate of five or 10 per cent will be imposed on non-essential or discretionary goods. At the same time, the scope of service tax has also been expanded to cover six new services such as rental or leasing, construction, finance, private healthcare, education and beauty. - BERNAMA
Malaysiakini
2 days ago
- Business
- Malaysiakini
Govt may reassess SST on imported fruits, DPM says
The government may reevaluate the planned imposition of a five percent sales and service tax (SST) on imported fruits, said Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. Highlighting that fruits such as apples and Mandarin oranges are exclusively imported, Zahid reportedly said the proposal to impose a service tax on such items should be reconsidered.
New Straits Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- New Straits Times
Malaysia, Russia to sign MoU on disaster management cooperation this year
PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia and Russia are expected to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation in disaster management this year. Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the MoU will serve as a practical framework for joint training, knowledge exchange and coordinated emergency response. "As Asean Chair this year, Malaysia remains committed to regional leadership in disaster response," he told a joint press conference with Russian Civil Defence, Emergencies and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters Minister (Emercom) Colonel General Alexander Kurenkov, here today. Zahid, who is also the Central Disaster Management Committee chairman, said Malaysia welcomed Russia's offer of capacity-building programmes for Malaysian officers, including a specialised training course in Vladivostok this September. "We are exploring broader collaboration, including technology transfer in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) applications for disaster monitoring," he added. Zahid said Malaysia's National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) team was among the first to arrive in Myanmar following the recent earthquake, operating alongside international teams including Emercom's RUS-03. He added that Malaysia and Russia agreed to conduct joint search and rescue (SAR) training between the Special Malaysia Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (Smart) and Russia's RUS-03 team. He also expressed appreciation to Russia for the offer to train Malaysia's Smart team and the invitation to allow senior officers from the Fire and Rescue Department of Malaysia to participate in a specialised course at a leading university in St. Petersburg. Zahid also values the inclusion of Emercom's cultural ensemble as part of the visit, describing it as a meaningful gesture that fosters people-to-people ties and strengthens the foundation of the long-standing bilateral relationship between Malaysia and Russia. He said the visit marks an important milestone in enhancing Malaysia and Russia's cooperation in disaster management. He also expressed appreciation for the strong working relationship between Nadma and Emercom, particularly through regional initiatives under the International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG) and the Asean Committee on Disaster Management (ACDM). Zahid said he is looking forward to attending the upcoming international conference and the disaster management event hosted by Russia in Azerbaijan. Earlier, Zahid received a courtesy call from Kurenkov, marking an important milestone in enhancing Malaysia and Russia's cooperation in disaster management. Meanwhile, Kurenkov said that during the meeting, several key areas were discussed, including the professional training and education of firefighters and rescue personnel. "Emercom's academies offer a wide range of programmes for international specialists, not only for firefighters and rescuers but also for medics, dog handlers and UAV operators," he added. He also emphasised Emercom's interest in understanding Malaysia's modern approaches to fire and rescue training, noting the value of exchanging best practices. In addition, he said both sides are committed to improving mutual early-warning capabilities and risk communication related to natural disasters, particularly in the areas of prevention, prediction and risk management using the systems of space monitoring and distant zoning of Earth. "In Russia, the functions are performed by the National Crisis Management Centre. Generally, our countries have big potential for further cooperation in the sphere of elimination of natural and manmade disaster consequences," he added. — BERNAMA
Hindustan Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
The grooming-gangs scandal is a stain on the British state
MOHAMMED ZAHID ran a clothes stall in Rochdale market, and a grooming gang. He employed vulnerable girls, offering them gifts of alcohol and underwear, and targeted others when they came to buy tights for school. Along with his friends, who included other Pakistan-born stallholders and taxi drivers, Mr Zahid then treated the children as sex slaves, raping and abusing them in shops, warehouses and on nearby moors. Among his victims were two 13-year-old girls. One was in care; both were known to social services and the police. On June 13th, almost 25 years after the abuse began, Mr Zahid and six others were convicted of 30 counts of rape. Britain's grooming-gangs scandal, the long-ignored group-based sexual abuse of children, has been a stain on the country for decades. Yet justice for victims and action to tackle failures have been painfully slow. On June 16th the government published an audit, which pinned the blame on authorities failing to see 'girls as girls' and having 'shied away from' looking into crimes committed by minorities—in this case often men of Asian or Muslim (especially Pakistani) heritage. Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, announced a raft of measures including new criminal investigations. At last, the government is getting to grips with a scandal that should remain a case study of institutional failure. The latest report follows a succession of probes stretching back over a decade. Those include two long public inquiries, one completed in 2015 into gangs in Rotherham, another in 2022 into child-sexual exploitation more broadly. Despite taking just four months, this audit provided new valuable insights for two reasons. It was the first to look solely at grooming gangs nationally. And it was led by Louise Casey, a cross-bench peer and social-policy fixer with a reputation for plain speaking. Lady Casey begins by observing that, even now, it is impossible to know the scale of this problem. That is in part because these are horribly complex cases, victims fear coming forward and investigations were badly botched. Police forces failed to collect data. Grooming gangs have been identified in dozens of towns and cities. In Rotherham alone, thanks to an unusually thorough police investigation led by the National Crime Agency (NCA), 1,100 victims were identified. Our rough calculation suggests that tens of thousands of victims could be awaiting justice. Lady Casey's most significant contribution is on the role of ethnicity. It was known that some police forces failed to look into reports of Asian grooming gangs out of a fear of appearing racist or upsetting community relations. She goes beyond this, strongly criticising a Home Office report from 2020, which claimed in spite of very poor data that levels of group-based child-sexual exploitation were likely to be in line with the general population, with 'the majority of offenders being White'. No such conclusions can be drawn, she says. Instead she cites new, more solid data, unearthed from three police forces, showing that suspects were disproportionately of Asian heritage; in Greater Manchester, more than half were. Will this time be different? There is no evidence to support the idea, found on the right, that Asian men are more likely to commit sexual or child-sexual abuse in general. Yet the refusal of some on the left to grapple with the role of culture and ethnicity in group-based abuse was inexcusable. What marks these crimes out, says Sunder Katwala of British Future, a think-tank, is precisely that perpetrators become disinhibited from moral norms as a group. Asian men appeared to target white girls because they were from another community. Cultural over-sensitivity may also have blinded the police to obvious patterns, like the role of (disproportionately Asian) taxi drivers employed by councils to ferry vulnerable children. Lady Casey also shines a light on sexism and classism running through the state. Presented with evidence of predatory gangs, the police's reaction was often to treat victims as 'wayward teenagers' or adults who had made bad choices. Many were not believed—some were even criminalised as child prostitutes. Ms Cooper will change the law to prevent rapists getting away with lesser charges by claiming that 13-15 year-olds had 'consented' to sex. The home secretary also, sensibly, announced that the NCA would take over hundreds of cold cases. Attention, however, focused on her reversal in calling another public inquiry. Such inquiries have become something of a national addiction, often less fact-finding probes than expensive and cumbersome attempts at catharsis. In this case one seems warranted: earlier inquiries have left basic gaps, and statutory powers could be used to compel local police forces and councils to release documents, as happened in Rotherham. Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader who had called for such a U-turn, reacted gleefully, accusing the government of having attempted a cover-up. That trivialises the depth and breadth of the failure, which successive politicians in Westminster have overlooked (the home secretary at the time of the 2020 report was Priti Patel, a Conservative). But many recommendations from previous inquiries covering issues from data sharing to victim support have not been implemented, owing to a lack of political interest and bureaucratic inertia. This time, the hope must be that attention is sustained, and many more predators like Mr Zahid end up behind bars. Get 360° coverage—from daily headlines to 100 year archives.
Economist
2 days ago
- Economist
The grooming-gangs scandal is a stain on the British state
MOHAMMED ZAHID ran a clothes stall in Rochdale market, and a grooming gang. He employed vulnerable girls, offering them gifts of alcohol and underwear, and targeted others when they came to buy tights for school. Along with his friends, who included other Pakistan-born stallholders and taxi drivers, Mr Zahid then treated the children as sex slaves, raping and abusing them in shops, warehouses and on nearby moors. Among his victims were two 13-year-old girls. One was in care; both were known to social services and the police. On June 13th, almost 25 years after the abuse began, Mr Zahid and six others were convicted of 30 counts of rape.
