3/09/2025

WEDNESDAY | SEP 3, 2025

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RM110m in Sara assistance spent in 48 hours amid high demand PETALING JAYA: The Basic Rahmah Contribution (Sara) initiative has seen an overwhelming take-up, with recipients spending more than RM110 million nationwide within just two days of its rollout. As of 9.30pm on Monday, over 1.7 million recipients had made purchases under the scheme, with nearly RM60 million spent that day alone. System operator MyKasih Foundation said it had boosted the processing capacity of its terminals by 60% following heavy traffic on the first day. By 5pm on day two, almost 600,000 transactions had been completed – a 20% rise compared with Sunday. In total, 1.45 million transactions worth RM91 million were successfully processed over two days. “Our technical team continues to actively monitor the system and will take immediate action to improve capacity where needed,” MyKasih said in a statement. Despite improvements, slow processing was still reported in Selangor, Perak, Sabah and Malacca, particularly at large hypermarkets in urban centres. Peak hours between 1pm and

glitches, forcing them to pay with cash. The Finance Ministry has advised recipients to plan purchases during off-peak hours, such as weekday mornings, to avoid congestion and ensure smoother transactions. The RM100 credit is valid until Dec 31 and can be redeemed at more than 7,300 participating retail outlets nationwide. – By KIRTINEE RAMESH

2.30pm saw long queues, which MyKasih attributed to the surge in shoppers taking advantage of the long weekend. Staff have since been deployed to major outlets to troubleshoot issues and provide on-the-ground support to traders. However, some shoppers at registered outlets reported they could not redeem the one-off credit due to

Aid recipients to get RM30 voucher for insurance PETALING JAYA: Starting from this month, STR recipients can claim a RM30 voucher under the Perlindungan Tenang Voucher 3.0 (PTV3.0) scheme to help cover the cost of affordable insurance and takaful products. The voucher, subsidised by the government, can be applied towards products with annual premiums or contributions of at least RM50. The Finance Ministry said under Budget 2025, RM60 million has been allocated to support the initiative in collaboration with the insurance and takaful industry. “The move aims to make protection products more accessible to low-income households, complementing broader safety net programmes such as the Skim Perubatan Madani and PeKa B40,” the ministry said in a statement. Prime Minister and Finance Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said PTV3.0 demonstrates the government’s pledge to raise the people’s living standards. “A nation can only progress when every household is protected. This is about restoring dignity and resilience across all segments of society. “With PTV3.0, the government is determined to expand access so that peace of mind is not reserved for the privileged few,” he added. In a joint statement, the Malaysian Takaful Association (MTA), Persatuan Insurans Am Malaysia (Piam) and the Life Insurance Association of Malaysia (Liam) said the programme forms part of the government’s strategy to strengthen social protection by encouraging proactive risk management behaviour and promoting financial inclusion. MTA chief executive officer Mohd Radzuan Mohamed said PTV3.0 provides an opportunity for STR recipients to begin financial planning. “It reflects our commitment to expanding social protection and supporting the nation’s inclusive development agenda.” Liam CEO Mark O’Dell added that the programme acts as a long-term safety net and allows more families to access affordable protection and strengthen their financial security. Piam CEO Chua Kim Soon noted that general insurers can play a role in extending affordable personal accident protection to underserved groups such as e-hailing and p-hailing riders, gig workers, micro and small-sized food and beverage traders, farmers and caregivers who require financial protection to safeguard their livelihoods. Ű BY KIRTINEE RAMESH newsdesk@thesundaily.com

New tax relief, bigger subsidies to ease M40 burden

Ű BY FAIZ RUZMAN newsdesk@thesundaily.com

o RM7,000 housing loan interest tax break, RM15b for STR and Sara among key measures to tackle living costs, says minister

while the My50 monthly travel pass will continue to provide affordable access to public transport. Existing tax reliefs for children, medical expenses, lifestyle spending, EPF and Socso contributions and childcare costs will also be maintained. Amir Hamzah said income measures are being strengthened through a revised minimum wage – the Progressive Wage Policy and the new Public Service Remuneration System – all aimed at raising disposable income for households already contending with higher costs. “These initiatives aim to ensure middle and lower-income households are not overburdened by cost-of-living pressures. “The 13th Malaysia Plan will serve as the foundation for economic reform with a focus on inclusive, balanced and sustainable development.” dragged its feet. “TikTok was very slow in providing the police with the relevant information. I had to call the CEO of TikTok myself to inform them that this is a crime and that their organisation was very slow. We can’t have such attitudes,” he said after launching the Al Grand Prix Conference 2025 yesterday. He said Meta Platforms Inc, the parent company of Facebook, would also be called up soon following reports of paedophilic content on WhatsApp and Facebook. “But these platforms don’t seem to take such issues seriously. So this dialogue will continue and we will emphasise that Malaysian law applies to them and they must comply. We will call in every platform,” he added. In June, Fahmi said Facebook, TikTok and YouTube had removed more than 159,000 harmful posts involving online gambling, scams, cyberbullying and fake news. About half were gambling related, 25% were scams, 12% involved cyberbullying and 9% were linked to fake news. He also warned about the continued presence of child exploitation content, with Facebook flagged as a key concern.

KUALA LUMPUR: To help the M40 cope with rising living costs, the government has introduced a new RM7,000 tax relief on housing loan interest for first-time homeowners. In a written reply to Senator Datuk Prof Emeritus Dr Mohammad Redzuan Othman in the Dewan Negara yesterday, Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan said the new relief applies to properties priced between RM500,000 and RM750,000. He said the government has also raised allocations for Sumbangan Tunai Rahmah (STR) and the Basic Rahmah Contribution (Sara) to RM15 billion in 2025, up from RM10 billion last year. This includes the one-off RM2 billion “Penghargaan Sara” announced in July. Amir Hamzah said further steps

“The government has also allocated subsidies for other essential goods, including cooking oil under the cooking oil price stabilisation scheme, electricity subsidies, targeted diesel subsidies, as well as the provision of the Madani subsidy assistance or Budi Madani, which helps stabilise prices. “A large majority of the people will continue to enjoy fuel subsidies with the upcoming targeting of RON95 subsidies.” On education, RM791 million has been allocated under the Back-To-School aid to help families with school expenses,

were being taken to offset the impact of rising costs, including higher allocations for subsidies and price controls. “An allocation of RM1 billion has been provided to address living costs more broadly, including price controls on essential goods such as rice and cooking oil through the Payung Rahmah programme, which has been allocated RM600 million for 2025. “The Rahmah sales initiative is being further expanded to offer essential goods at affordable prices across all state constituencies, benefiting all groups including the M40.

Authorities to meet TikTok, Meta over ‘slow’ response to harmful content

Ű BY THE SUN TEAM newsdesk@thesundaily.com

Mohd Khalid Ismail and Attorney General Tan Sri Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar. Fahmi pointed to a recent case where a man falsely claimed to be a surgeon, saying TikTok had

tomorrow over the platform’s alleged slow response in helping police tackle cases of fake news. According to an English news portal, the meeting at Bukit Aman will also involve the IGP Datuk Seri

PETALING JAYA: Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil will meet TikTok’s top management

FUTURE IN FOCUS ... Students marvel at an AI robot showcased at the AI Grand Prix 2025 Conference yesterday. The event, launched by Fahmi, discussed AI’s impact on communication, media and the digital landscape. – ADIB RAWI YAHYA/THESUN