30-Aug-24 17:00

Senthuran Elalingam, Financial Services Indirect Tax Leader, Deloitte

Stories we covered today:

1. Our top story: The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development has recommended that Malaysia reintroduce the goods and services tax, as it would increase the government's revenue. Senthuran Elalingam, a financial services indirect tax leader at Deloitte, weighs in.

2. Six influential individuals received the Merdeka Awards in recognition of their lifelong dedication to fostering the nation, through their life's work. We reached out to Education & Community Merdeka Award winner Datuk Faridah Merican for her reaction to winning the award for her significant contributions to nurturing Malaysian theatre.

3. The Freedom Of Information Act is expected to be tabled in Parliament by the end of the year. On top of this, the Official Secrets Act 1972 is expected to be retained but amended to accommodate this new right to information framework. We ask Wathshlah Naidu, executive director of the Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) whether these acts are able to coexist, and what would need to be done to implement it effectively.

4. The Malaysian government will soon be acquiring new trains in a deal with the Chinese government, in hopes to enhance our KTM services. We spoke to Nischal Muniandy from TRANSIT Malaysiaon how we can improve our country's train services.

5. With Merdeka being celebrated tomorrow, we take a look at all the fun things you can do to commemorate the 67th Independence Day.

Image Credit: Tara Winstead, Pexels