14/06/2025

SATURDAY | JUNE 14, 2025

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Speed limit rule for heavy vehicles starts in October

Journalists Day celebration kicks off with carnival KUALA LUMPUR: The National Journalists Day 2025 celebration, themed “Journalism in the New Era: Embracing AI, Safeguarding Ethics,” officially kicked off yesterday. Organised by the Communications Ministry with the Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) as the implementing agency, the three-day celebration runs until tomorrow. It began with a carnival, held at the ground floor concourse of Sunway Putra Mall here from 10am to 10pm. The carnival, expected to attract 5,000 visitors, was officiated by Communications Ministry Deputy Secretary-General (Telecommunications Infrastructure) Mano Verabathran. The carnival features 20 booths, including those from Bernama, Radio Televisyen Malaysia, Astro, TV AlHijrah and digital portals such as RotiKaya and Vanakkam Malaysia, as well as participation from media agencies in Sabah and Sarawak. Among the activities at the carnival are Bernama’s mini studio, pocket talks, Bernama services, as well as quizzes, lucky draws and a news reading challenge. Nearly 100 strategic partners are sponsoring and contributing to the celebration, an increase from 44 last year. The celebration is expected to gather around 1,000 media practitioners from both domestic and international organisations, making it an important platform for strengthening professional networks and empowering journalistic ethics in the era of artificial intelligence. The celebration will continue today with a forum at Dewan Tun Hussein Onn, World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur, followed by the main event officiated by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim at Dewan Merdeka. – Bernama Move to improve reproductive health awareness KUALA LUMPUR: The teaching time for the Reproductive and Social Health Education Guidelines module will be increased in the implementation of the 2027 School Curriculum. Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek said the module, which was launched in November last year, among other things, aims to increase reproductive health awareness among the community, especially students, teachers and parents. “All educational institutions under the Education Ministry are requested to comply with the guidelines to address the issue of sexual harassment. Psychosocial support services also need to be further strengthened to provide support to students,” she said in a statement yesterday. Fadhlina said the ministry takes seriously media reports on the existence of paedophile pages on social media featuring school students, and urged that such pages be reported immediately. “The existence of social media pages that display pornographic and immoral content needs to be curbed,” she said. – Bernama

significant step towards ensuring commercial vehicles meet safety standards, reducing accident risks and protecting lives and property. He said RTD will soon hold a meeting with major vehicle manufacturers and relevant certification bodies to discuss the implementation. Loke highlighted that this is not the only step being taken to address road safety, but the enforcement of SLDs is a crucial element aimed at strictly controlling the speed of heavy vehicles. “Operators who fail to comply with the SLD requirements will not be allowed to operate their vehicles on public roads, including vehicles without valid SLD functionality certification or Puspakom approval.”

He stressed these inspections will ensure that SLDs installed at the factory adhere to the national speed limit, which is capped at 90kph for all buses and heavy vehicles. “Even if the road’s speed limit is higher, such as 110kph on highways, the SLD will still cap the vehicle’s speed at 90kph.” He added that on roads with lower speed limits, such as 60kph zones, drivers are expected to comply with the set limits. “Manufacturers are required to standardise their SLD configurations to only allow a maximum speed of 90kph,” he said, urging all industry players to cooperate fully with the initiative. Loke said this comprehensive enforcement initiative marks a

o Initiative marks significant step towards ensuring safety standards, reducing accident risks, protecting lives and property, says minister

Ű BY QIRANA NABILLA MOHD RASHIDI newsdesk@thesundaily.com

documentation and renewal rules apply,” he said at a press conference yesterday. Loke also said the Road Transport Department (RTD) will expand its conformity of production checks at manufacturing plants, first introduced in April 2025 for commercial vehicle models with vehicle type approval from 2015 onwards.

SHAH ALAM: The Transport Ministry has set a deadline of October 2025 for buses and heavy vehicles to activate existing Speed Limit Devices (SLD), and January 2026 for new installations. Transport Minister Anthony Loke said the SLD is a speed control system designed to limit a vehicle’s maximum speed, playing a vital role in preventing speeding, especially among vehicles carrying heavy loads or passengers. He said enforcement will be rolled out in phases. Starting October, all tour buses, express buses and heavy goods vehicles over 3,500kg registered from January 2015 must have a certified SLD functionality report. This report, issued by approved parties, must be renewed every two years, submitted during Puspakom inspections and Land Public Transport Agency permit applications, and kept in the vehicle at all times. “Meanwhile, from January 2026, vehicles registered before 2015, including rebuilt and used SHAH ALAM: The Transport Ministry will revamp the Sistem Keselamatan Jalan Raya (Kejara) demerit system, which failed to effectively penalise traffic offenders. Transport Minister Anthony Loke said the system, which was designed to award demerit points to drivers who commit traffic violations, has not been functioning as intended. “We acknowledge that the Kejara system is not working. “It has failed to award points to drivers with outstanding summonses. “This overhaul is aimed at addressing the current loophole, where many drivers avoid penalties simply by not settling their fines. “It will ensure prompt and consistent enforcement so that

Loke said SLD configurations to be standardised to only allow a maximum speed of 90kph. – AMIRUL

SYAFIQ/ THESUN

imported heavy vehicles, must activate any existing SLD in their electronic control unit. The same ‘Ineffective’ Kejara demerit system to be revamped

road safety. “This is a shared responsibility involving public, users, drivers and transport companies. “It’s not that we lack laws or regulations, they exist.” In another development, Loke said the owner of the lorry involved in the crash that killed nine Federal Reserve Unit personnel will be taken to court. He said the company’s operator licence has been revoked, and none of its vehicles are allowed to operate. “These are criminal offences, but the victims’ families also have the right to file civil suits against the company to seek compensation and damages.” – By QIRANA NABILLA MOHD RASHIDI ministry said. The ministry added that the Madani government is committed to positioning the 19th Consal as a key platform to advance libraries as agents of social transformation and human empowerment, in line with national and regional unity objectives. – Bernama

platform to identify such drivers, so this system will help address that issue. When companies hire drivers in the future, they will be able to check whether the individual has a record or not. “Some companies may not be conducting background checks at present, but the tools are there. Why aren’t the operators checking? We need to look at the issue in a holistic way.” Loke said bus operator associations must also play their part by working with the ministry, including blacklisting problematic operators or companies, and removing them from their membership. “Blaming the Transport Ministry alone will not solve the problem of

errant drivers are held accountable without unnecessary delays,” he said yesterday. The Kejara system was introduced in 2017 as part of the Automated Awareness Safety System aimed at reducing road crashes by identifying and penalising repeat traffic offenders. Under the system, drivers who accumulate too many points risk having their driving licence suspended or revoked. Loke also said the Transport Ministry is developing a new centralised database system that will be integrated with the Road Transport Department and police systems to track drivers with past offences or problematic records. “Right now, there is no unified scheduled to be officiated by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. The congress aligns with Malaysia’s chairmanship of Asean in 2025 and reflects the nation’s commitment to strengthening regional cooperation anchored in the values of unity, knowledge and inclusive societal development.

Malaysia to host 19th Southeast Asian Librarians Congress PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia will host the 19th Southeast Asian Librarians Congress (Consal), a four-day event beginning next Monday at the World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur. The National Unity Ministry said “The congress will focus on the role of libraries as strategic partners in community development, catalysts of knowledge ecosystems for

marginalised and differently abled groups and supporters of the Sustainable Development Goals in bridging social gaps,” the

in a statement the congress, themed “Embracing Inclusivity, Empowering Humanity”, is