12/02/2026

THURSDAY | FEB 12, 2026

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Hotter days, shorter tempers M ALAYSIA is getting hot ter, and this is no longer a matter of perception. According to national cli reduced concentration, faster emotional reactions and poorer decision making.

In simple terms, a hot brain reacts more and reflects less. In Malaysia’s humid climate, the body rarely experiences full recovery. Nights are warmer, sleep is often disrupted and rest feels incomplete. Even when we move through air conditioned environments such as offices, cars and shopping

mate records and meteorological data, Malaysia’s average temperature has increased steadily over the past decades, with recent years ranking among the warmest on record. In 2024 and 2025, multiple states experienced prolonged hot spells, with daytime temperatures frequently reaching 33 to 35 degrees Celsius. Heat warnings, school N D T

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centres, the constant shift between artificial cooling and outdoor heat keeps the nervous system in a state of adjustment. Over time, this creates a background level of physiological stress that quietly spills into our interactions. What makes this more difficult is that daily expectations have not adjusted to this reality. Work deadlines remain tight. Productivity demands stay the same. Emotional labour is still expected in classrooms, hospitals, service counters and workplaces, even when people are physically and mentally depleted. Many cope by pushing through, telling themselves this is normal and that Malaysians are used to heat. Adaptation is real. But there is a difference between resilience and slow erosion. When

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closures during peak heat and rising cases of heat-related fatigue have become more common, particularly in urban areas. These are not isolated events. They are part of a clear warming trend. What we talk about less is how this heat is affecting the mind. Lately, many people seem more irritable. Conversations escalate faster. Patience feels thinner in traffic, in offices, in public spaces and at home. Small inconveniences trigger strong reactions. We often blame stress, workload or personality. While these play a role, they do not explain why this sense of tension feels so widespread. Heat is not just a physical condition. It is a neurological one. When the body struggles to regulate temperature, it diverts energy towards

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“A society under constant thermal strain tends to react quickly and pause less. Over time, this shapes relationships, workplaces and even public discourse.

As Malaysia continues to warm, adapting how we care for the mind is just as important as adapting how we design our cities and systems. – REUTERSPIC

adjustment and gentler expectations in a warming environment. Climate change is not only about rising temperatures, floods or infrastructure. It is also about how persistent environmental stress quietly reshapes human behaviour. These mental effects are less visible, but they influence daily life in powerful ways. As Malaysia continues to warm, adapting how we care for the mind is just as important as adapting how we design our cities and systems. Hotter days may be here to stay. Shorter tempers do not have to be. DrPraveena Rajendra is the author of Mindprint: Engineering Inner Power for Growth, Purpose and editing of generated content and the creative decisions that guided the process. These records not only support claims of originality but serve as evidence in the event of legal scrutiny or disputes. In this evolving landscape, the path forward is about conscience and compliance in equal measures. Creators and organisations must take a proactive and principled approach to Gen AI: be informed, understand what the law allows, and use Gen AI ethically and transparently. It is the human touch – our experience, skills, intent, values and judgement – that ultimately defines creative expression. NorFarah Natasha Tajuddin is an ecosystem builder based at Taylor’s University’s Research and Enterprise Department: Knowledge Transfer and Commercialisation. She is an IP specialist certified by the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia and a registered technology commercialisation associate of the Malaysian Research Accelerator for Technology and Innovation. Comments: letters@thesundaily.com. Regeneration. Comments: letters@thesundaily.com

mean long breaks. It can be as simple as stepping into shade, drinking water mindfully, reducing screen exposure briefly or sitting quietly without stimulation. These moments allow the nervous system to reset. Fourth, lower emotional expectations on extreme heat days. Not every day is meant for high tolerance, deep discussions or intense decision-making. Recognising this is not weakness. It is environmental awareness. Fifth, extend compassion outwards. If everyone is operating under the same conditions, impatience is not always a character flaw. Responding with calm rather than confrontation helps stabilise the emotional climate around you. The goal is not perfect emotional control. The goal is awareness, rights provisioned by the copyright law. While there is a need for the law to rapidly adapt to Gen AI, we must first differentiate between AI-assisted and AI-generated outputs. For AI-assisted outputs, AI is used as a tool to aid human creators in the creative process. This contrasts with AI generated outputs, where AI demonstrates creative abilities independent of the human creator. Legal regulations and guidelines must be established around AI assisted outputs. The degree of intervention to transform AI generated outputs must be determined to assess the degree of reliance on the AI tool in the entire creative process. In other words, the burden of proof lies with the human creator to demonstrate that Gen-AI outputs are a result of series of tasks of at least one creative process with substantial human intervention. When producing AI-assisted outputs, human creators should maintain clear logs and records of their contributions, such as the intent behind prompts, the selection and

relationships, workplaces and even public discourse. So what can people actually do? First, reframe irritation before personalising it. When you notice yourself snapping or losing patience, pause and ask whether your body is overheated, dehydrated, underslept or overstimulated. This simple check interrupts unnecessary self-blame and reduces conflict escalation. Second, slow reactions, not productivity. Heat reduces emotional bandwidth, not intelligence. This means giving yourself a few seconds before responding to emails, messages or conversations during hot periods. A delayed response is often a regulated one. Third, build deliberate cooling pauses into the day. This does not stating that training Claude using the legally acquired books was transformative fair use, but stressed that Anthropic has no entitlement to use the millions of pirated copies in the AI model’s central library. Although Anthropic agreed to destroy all pirated copies of books they previously acquired, the ruling for the present case does not free Anthropic of future alleged input and output infringement as a result of training Claude’s model. In fact, Anthropic is currently facing multiple lawsuits from several major record labels. The lesson for us is that we should give the claim of originality and authorship of Gen AI-assisted works under copyright law, and by extension, other IP laws a serious treatment as the resulting reputational and financial damages are hefty. Using Gen AI responsibly to prime creativity The message is clear: If Gen-AI outputs are developed without meaningful and substantial human inputs, the outputs fall outside the scope and

irritability becomes the default emotional tone of daily life, it affects how conflicts are handled, how empathy is expressed and how decisions are made. A society under constant thermal strain tends to react quickly and pause less. Over time, this shapes

basic survival processes. This leaves fewer resources for emotional regulation, impulse control and reflective thinking. Research in environmental psychology consistently shows that higher ambient temperatures are associated with increased irritability,

Copyright in the age of generative AI

COMMENT By Nor Farah Natasha Tajuddin

GENERATIVE artificial intelligence (Gen AI) is more than just a tool; it is a “collaborator” that is slowly redefining originality, creativity and innovation. We use Gen AI in just about anything these days; from automated design, content generation to predictive analytics, machines have begun producing outputs that mirror human work. However, deeper questions linger: To what extent can a human creator claim originality and ownership on Gen-AI outputs? This is a multi-faceted dilemma. It is not just a technical and legal issue but also a highly ethical one as IP laws and frameworks were established on the foundation of human ingenuity. Legal systems are now faced with the urgent need to adapt to the fast-evolving industry enabled by AI and machine learning. While specific regulations and guidelines for allowing copyright registration of Gen-AI assisted works

are yet to be established, the World Intellectual Property Organisation and World Trade Organisation, through their Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights Agreement, maintain that only human creators are recognised as authors currently. This consistency is observed across the jurisdictions of member states including Malaysia. Risks of Gen AI: Are they worth it? In the US class action lawsuit Bartz v Anthropic (2024-2025) , a trio of non fiction authors Andrea Bartz, Charles Gaeber and Kirk Johnson sued Anthropic for training its AI model Claude to use their books without permission. Anthropic pirated copyrighted books from Library Genesis and Pirate Library Mirror for training Claude initially, but “remodelled” Claude’s training using cleaned-up, digital scans of legally acquired books. A partial summary judgment was given,