JobsDB Moments (September 2009)
Insurance for H1N1 deaths and treatment
The Life Insurance Association of Malaysia (Liam) said today that all the 16 life insurance companies under its association will pay claims arising from deaths and hospitalisation due to influenza A (H1N1), The Sun newspaper reported.
"Even though a majority of the medical policies carry exclusion on communicable diseases requiring quarantine by law, life insurers are responding to an immediate need of the nation in light of the increasing number of people who have been infected," the paper quoted a statement.
It said, however, that insurers would continue to monitor the situation and would inform policy holders of any change in decision.
The General Insurance Association of Malaysia (Piam) said the health coverage and policies varied among insurance companies.
"It depends on the companies whether to include Influenza A(H1N1) in their policy. We cannot force them to change their policies," Piam technical advisor Tan Eng Leong said.
Wake Up Women! We need more of you up there.
Just when we thought women are now on par with men competing in the upper league when it comes to career, in comes a less pleasant news.
Yes, it seems the number of women in top posts is falling. And this news came from none other than our Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin who said women were under-represented at the decision-making levels of public-listed companies.
“The percentage of women who are members of boards of directors declined from 9.9% in 2004 to 6.1% in 2008,” he said in his keynote address at the Women’s Summit 2009 yesterday, according to The Star newspaper..
He said that women only held 12% of top positions in government-linked companies.
The report also quoted him as saying that it was important for women to continue to play a role in the country’s socio-economic development.
Get that girl power going, ladies.
More Private Docs for Gov Hospitals.
Not especially a nice sounding news when H1N1 is raging everywhere. The health ministry is looking to hire private doctors in government hospital as apparently they are experiencing shortage.
The Star newspaper quoted Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Ismail Merican as saying that the ministry would ensure private doctors were given deserving salaries and promised that their admission into public hospitals would take as fast as two weeks.
“The private doctors can work based on contract or sessions. They can work two weeks in a private hospital and spend the rest of the month in a government hospital. It would be like putting one leg in the public hospital and the other in a private hospital,” he said.
220,000 jobs by 2020: SEZ PM
That's a big number and its not impossible says our prime minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak. Why? He just lauched the country'sfirst Special Economic Zone (SEZ),
The new economic zone is expected to generate investments worth RM90bil and create 220,000 new jobs by 2020, says media reports today.
The Prime Minister was quoted in the report as saying the SEZ was expected to contribute more job opportunities and yields compared with the East Coast Economic Region (ECER).
The SEZ covers an area of 3,875 sq km from Kerteh in Terengganu to Pekan and Gambang in Pahang.
Better ICT than People.
It's heartening to note that companies is doing a humane favour when cutting cost, but not letting the people go.
A media report quoted SMI Association of Malaysia as saying that small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) spending on the information communication technology (ICT) is expected to drop this year.
The organisation's ICT bureau chairman Lee Hwee Hsiung said ICT spending was expected to fall this year due to the current economic crisis; SMEs might choose to cut down their ICT spending as a way to reduce their operating cost.
“However, SMEs will continue to spend on ICT as they need it to enhance their business operation. They will do so in a more cautious way,” he told the Star newspaper.
The report also quoted him saying that the ICT spending was expected to grow gradually from next year onwards when the market started to pick up.
Jobless grads as cops?
Calling all the jobless graduates there, or at least those who are interested to wear blue uniform and fight crime.
According to newsreports, the Home Ministry is calling on all unemployed graduates to become auxiliary cops to combat crime.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said the Government was willing to consider special allowances for jobless graduates to serve as law enforcers until they secured better jobs.
The report noted that those who had served would be offered positions in the police force if they felt it was their calling to become law enforcer.
Hishammuddin was also quoted as sayin that the ministry was willing to listen to suggestions from the graduates on the types of policing task that they preferred to focus on.
He added that the ministry would increase the presence of tourist police in popular destinations throughout the country.
More retain than retrench.
Good trend amongst companies in Malaysia, its more about retaining staff than retrenchment. The Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Malaysia (ACCCIM) said 66% of the 306 companies it surveyed were willing to retain their workers during the current challenging economic situation, reported Sinchew Daily.
According to ACCCIM’s 2009 Malaysia First Half Year Economy Report, this shows a 14% increase in companies willing to keep their workers compared with the second half of last year.
The daily quoted its economic survey panel head Datuk Chua Tia Guan as saying that the economy continued to decline due to government policies, operating costs, higher prices of raw materials and lower local and global demand in the first half of the year.
ACCCIM, which received 306 replies from the 699 questionnaires sent out said 85% of the respondents were small and medium enterprises specialising in wholesale and retail trade, manufacturing, business services and construction.
(Source: Jobsdb Malaysia)
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