Good morning. Here's what you should know today.
Key Highlights
Uproar over local council polls
Covid-19 on the rise, no lockdown
Rafizi's 'burning' challenge
Uproar over local council polls
As expected, DAP's call for local council elections - especially in Kuala Lumpur - has triggered an uproar among conservative parties.
Umno, PAS, and Bersatu have pushed back against the suggestion, with Umno vowing it would never allow local council elections to take place.
The main premise for rejecting the proposal is that DAP - which is a not-so-subtle code for Chinese - would dominate in a local council election in Kuala Lumpur, thereby creating racial tensions.
Meanwhile, Federal Territories Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa said local polls were not a priority, but that she would discuss the matter with Local Government Development Minister Nga Kor Ming.
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Covid-19 cases on the rise, no lockdown
Covid-19 infections are on the rise in Malaysia, with 20,696 cases reported from Dec 10 to 16, up 62 percent from the previous week.
There were also 28 deaths reported.
However, 97 percent of the cases were mild.
The government said it would not consider lockdown measures for now.
It did, however, encourage masking especially in crowded areas, and for those with comorbidities to get booster shots.
However, the current vaccine supply is still the same as before, and updated vaccines are not expected to be available in Malaysia anytime soon.
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Rafizi's 'burning' challenge
Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli issued an open invitation for guests to appear on his podcast that will be airing starting Jan 8.
The show, titled "Yang Bakar Menteri" (The Minister Roaster), will be an opportunity for critics to "burn" Rafizi, and vice versa.
The minister said it was his way of countering pro-opposition influencers who did not make constructive criticisms.
An earlier challenge to a "YB Viral" appeared to break down after the influencer rejected Rafizi's invitation over semantics after the minister used the word "question-and-answer" instead of "debate".
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Views that matter
 | By S Thayaparan |
 | By Glorene A Das |
 | By R Nadeswaran |
Other news that matter
Veteran singer M Daud Kilau passed away on Monday at 85.
Former Bar Council president Sulaiman Abdullah passed away on the same day at age 77.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has expanded the Look East Policy to include learning from China.
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