Education Ministry clarifies Ponggal letter, and 9 news from yesterday

KINI ROUNDUP | Here are key headlines you may have missed yesterday, in brief.

1. As ethnic Tamils celebrate Ponggal, the Education Ministry clarified that the celebration is not banned in schools, while Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mujahid Yusof Rawa said the ministry’s circular on the matter was poorly worded.

2. After meeting with Chinese educationist group Dong Jiao Zong, Mujahid said both parties agreed that Jawi lessons in vernacular schools are not meant to ‘Islamise’ non-Muslim pupils and is a part of the national heritage, and the group is only opposing the manner in which it is to be implemented.

3. Seven PKR Youth executive council members have been sacked for their absence at the wing’s council meetings.

4. All three mobile payment firms involved in the e-Tunai Rakyat scheme are offering promotions in a bid to draw new users.

5. Pakatan Harapan’s promised reforms have stalled in 2019 due to a lack of political will to carry them out, according to a report by Human Rights Watch.

6. The Kelantan menteri besar’s new official car - a Mercedes S450 L AMG allegedly priced at above RM600,000 - has caused a sensation on social media. The Menteri Besar’s Office denied that it had been bought with federal funding.

7. Former international trade and industry minister Mustapa Mohamed has been appointed as the new chairperson of Peneraju Agenda Bumiputra (Teraju).

8. The Penang Water Supply Corporation has urged Penangites to reduce water consumption, as water levels in two key dams have fallen below normal levels.

9. The Education Ministry is studying the status of the implementation of black shoes as part of the school uniform, but some quarters have misunderstood this to mean that the schools would switch back to using white shoes.

10. Singer Zarith Sofia Mohd Yasin has been slapped with a fine of RM27,000  for keeping a sun bear cub in her condominium, which she claimed she thought was a dog.