Conceptual image of the Xingyun-2 satellites and network. Photo: Courtesy of CASIC
Courtesy of CASIC
China has successfully launched the first two communication satellites for its new space-based Internet-of-Things (IoT) project into designated orbit on Tuesday, with the first one named after its birthplace Wuhan, a city once hit hard by the COVID-19, according to China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC), the developer.
The two satellites were launched by the country's Kuaizhou-1A commercial carrier rocket, which was also developed by the Wuhan-based Sanjiang Group under the CASIC, on Tuesday from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Northwest China's Gansu Province.
The completion of the Tuesday's mission marks the beginning of China's new generation spaceborne IoT project, codenamed the "Xingyun Engineering" project.
"Xingyun" project is developed by CASIC with a network of 80 low-orbit communication satellites,
The satellites will be used to test applications in multiple fields, such as intelligent container monitoring, polar environmental monitoring, meteorological forecasting as well as marine transport communication, and lay a foundation for the following space-based IoT network.
Photo:courtesy of CASIC
CASIC told the Global Times on Tuesday in a statement that the construction of an 80-satellite network will be completed by around 2023, and will provide a solution to current "communication blind spots."
IoT services have been strained by poor coverage of ground-based cellular communication networks that are effective by only 20 percent on the ground, and less than 5 percent at sea globally.
The Kuaizhou-1A carrier rocket that participated in the launch mission is also developed by CASIC, which is mainly used to launch 300-kilogram level satellites into lower orbits, and the solid propellant rocket model has successfully conducted 8 launch missions.
Conceptual image of the Xingyun-2 satellites and network. Photo: Courtesy of CASIC
Conceptual image of the Xingyun-2 satellites and network. Photo: Courtesy of CASIC
Unpacking the institutional lies in the US: Exclusive with The Grayzone founder
https://youtu.be/5pgEpUm7RBI
Grayzone reporter talks Xinjiang, COVID-19 and western mediabr
https://youtu.be/lBz-DW0NJa4
In recent years, the U.S. and China have wrestled on several major international issues – from human rights to international trade – that reflect as much about their differences in political philosophy as the latter's rise. CGTN's Zeng Ziyi recently talked to Ajit Singh, journalist and contributor at The Grayzone, about what he learned from reporting on Xinjiang, the role of western media, as well as what he calls the U.S.' new "Cold War" with China.
Trump's gang self-exposed: We are ALL vaccinated! Covid-19 is a CIA plot against all mankind!
https://youtu.be/Vbb-i3b7E4M
Founder of The Grayzone disputes conspiracy theories targeting China
https://youtu.be/uBp3oqTMRjs
Expert:
Suing China for COVID-19 has no basis in international law
https://youtu.be/ThWyZMoX-M4
Trump's gang self-exposed: We are ALL vaccinated! Covid-19 is a CIA plot against all mankind!
https://youtu.be/Vbb-i3b7E4M
Smoking Gun Evidence Reveals Trump Was Warned About Pandemic | The Beat With Ari Melber | MSNBC
https://youtu.be/NaMSAXGQrTI
This is one of three parts of “US using coronavirus to escalate new Cold War with China: Exclusive with founder of The Grayzone”
1. US media-NGO-politician institution weaves coronavirus conspiracy: Exclusive with Grayzone founder
2. Unpacking lies that aim to deceive US into war with China: Exclusive with Grayzone founder
3. Bipartisan hardliners use coronavirus to escalate Cold War with China: Exclusive with Grayzone founder
Editor's Note: The Grayzone, a US-based independent news outlet, recently published a story busting the conspiracy theory of COVID-19 escaping from China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology, adding that it is “the Trump administration’s Iraqi WMD.”
Apart from digging into stories behind the conspiracy theories, the Grayzone also released many reports related to Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in recent months. For example, it released a report in March that stated “forced labor” stories hyped by some Western and US media and US-based nongovernmental organizations are orchestrated by the “US government, NATO, arms industry to drive Cold War PR blitz.”
To learn more about The Grayzone and its work, the Global Times reporter Liu Xin(GT) spoke to Max Blumenthal(B), an award-winning journalist and founder of the Grayzone.
GT: First, let's talk about your recent work on the stories behind the conspiracy theory. How did you investigate this topic?
B: First of all, no American outlet has invited me to discuss this latest story, where I and my colleague Ajit Singh have exposed a conspiracy theory in one of the biggest newspapers in the US, the Washington Post and Fox News, which is advanced by the president, as completely false.
We haven't been invited to debate the authors. We are not invited to debate people who favor escalating the Cold War with China. We've simply been ignored. And, at the same time, we've seen many stories in the New York Times, and other papers like Politico in the past two days about how China is advancing disinformation, and they are all sourced to US officials who are not named.
I really thank you for bringing me on. This is the only outlet that has asked me to come on board. It also shows that we are unfortunately in a kind of information war where the truth doesn't matter. The American people are not going to be exposed to the truth, and my goal with the Greyzone is to interrupt the drive to war and sanctions and hostility by simply presenting the American people and the English-speaking public with a balance, with the other side. To do so, we exposed, what we call, the lie of the day.
Every day there's a new lie, and it's advanced under the banner of, supposedly, free and independent media. But if you look at the stories, you'll often see, according to US officials, or according to this research scientist, or they'll link to an article. But, we simply go into the sources that expose what they are!
Photo: screenshot of The Grayzone
For example, in our story about how the Washington Post advanced this conspiracy theory about the Wuhan Institute of Virology and how, supposedly, COVID-19 escaped during an experiment at the Wuhan lab. One person stood out in that article, who was quoted, named Xiao Qiang. He was quoted as a research scientist, but I thought that sounds funny. A research scientist, this is not a virologist, someone who studies viruses. This is not an epidemiologist who studies epidemics. I immediately assumed this person is a Chinese dissident.
I was right! I just looked up Xiao Qiang on the National Endowment for Democracy. This is the US government entity that funds, supports, and trains opposition movements from around the world to support regime change. I quickly learned along with my colleague Ajit Singh that Xiao Qiang's whole career has been supported by the NED. This is a dead giveaway and a clear sign that something is strange about this article.
I've done extensive work on the NED. I produced a documentary about it. And, from what we've shown, it was created by the CIA, the Central Intelligence Agency, under the Reagan administration, in order to do what the CIA used to do secretly but to do it openly to support opposition movements, like the movements in Hong Kong.
I'm an American journalist. I've been working for almost 20 years in the US media environment as someone who comes from the left, who opposed the war in Iraq and exposed the Bush administration's lies. And, I know about the neoconservative movement. It is the pro-war movement that moves between both Democratic and Republican parties, and it has a lot of influence in Washington.
I knew that the author of the Washington Post story, Josh Rogan, was a big part of the neoconservative movement. He had actually worked at the Japanese Embassy in the past and is someone predisposed to pushing narratives that advance the new Cold War with China.
I don't present myself as a China expert, nor do I say that I'm a Russia expert. But I'm an America expert, and I know the institutions and the people that have been driving us into endless war for the last 20 years. And in some cases, I know them personally. So that gives me a big advantage to investigate such stories.
GT: We have noticed an anti-China campaign there. How did the US politicians and media work together to push this?
B: We've just seen that with the introduction of this Chinese lab theory on how US politicians and the media work together, as well as with NGOs and think tanks. I think this is a perfect example.
On April 14, it appears in the Washington Post, through a very anti-China columnist, in the opinion section. But it is under the banner of a paper that many people trust. The columnist himself admits there is no evidence to prove that COVID-19 escaped from the Wuhan lab, but the piece gets shared widely by Democrats and Republicans.
The following day, a similar piece appears in Fox News, which is the favorite network of President Trump and the Republican Party. This network says officially, US sources say that they believe the virus escaped from Wuhan Institute of Virology. The State Department Secretary Mike Pompeo, who is the most militaristic member of the Trump administration, also said this.
Screenshot from a Fox News report, which say sources believe the disease started in a Chinese lab.
The State Department was behind this story. They had leaked cables from the US Embassy in Beijing to reporters, claiming that there were safety issues at the lab. Actually, the cables, if you read them closely, state that these experiments, which were being done into coronavirus and SARS, were very important.
They're distorting the cables. Fox News reports this in the day. One of the most extreme pro-war Senators, Tom Cotton, appears and says, "China is responsible for every death," "China has to be punished," and "China has to be sanctioned."
Fox News opens up a propaganda blitz with all of its hosts calling for China to be punished. They're cultivating Republican opinion for the new Cold War very successfully.
You can see very clearly that the State Department leaks information to the media. The media spins the story and presents it to the public. Then, politicians issue calls for new policies of militarism and extreme hostility to China. If you look closely, in these stories, various people from the NGO sector are quoted as sort of experts. But as I mentioned before, there are people like Xiao Qiang, who are not, in fact, experts who are activists paid by the US government.
GT: Do you think the US media have objectively reported on China's anti-virus efforts? Did the biased reports prevent the American public from learning more about this epidemic?
B: Absolutely. I have not been to China. I would have to go to Wuhan and see for myself and speak to doctors and speak to people to know the response. But none of the people who present themselves as experts in the US have done this. Many of them have reasons to turn up the heat on China and to escalate with China. Some come from think tanks, which are funded by the arms industry, and some are directly funded by the State Department as well.
Others are ideologically anti-Communist. They want to break the Chinese Communist Party. Many people come to this from different directions. Some resent China because the US moved many jobs to China. And I personally think the US should manufacture goods here. We would have had a much better response to coronavirus if we were manufacturing our own masks.
But now, it is a political campaign to turn up the new Cold War and to advance Donald Trump's national security doctrine that his defense secretary James Mattis introduced in 2018, where the Defense Department declared that the US was moving from the war on terror into great power competition with China and Russia.
Immediately, we started to see more negative coverage of China. We started to see more US interest in advancing kind of human rights narratives about what China was doing to the Uygurs, for example.
Infographic: Globaltimes.cn
The conflict in Xinjiang had been going on for many years. So, why did we all of a sudden start to hear about the "supposed plight of the Uygur people" in 2019? The NED has been supporting the World Uygur Congress for decades, but why is this happening now? People in the media don't ask this question. They simply look for the new Cold War outrage because it brings readers in and it advances their careers.
Starting in 2017, because they were told that Russia had helped Donald Trump steal the election, the US public was brought into the first part of the new Cold War - a great power competition with Russia. This advanced the agenda of the National Security State and helped justify the budgets of all of these different agencies.
Then, that fell apart. It fell apart last year as the Mueller Report came out - there wasn't any proof that Donald Trump had directly colluded with Russia. And now, we have the second part of the new Cold War with China.
There is a kind of 9/11 or Pearl Harbor moment with coronavirus, where the National Security State can work through a political element. In this case, the Trump administration, which is desperate to deflect from its own failure in preventing coronavirus from coming to the US and exploding, and they can advance the second part - turning the American public against China.
US President Donald Trump addresses a news conference at the White
House in Washington D.C., the United States, on March 13, 2020. File
photo: Xinhua
And, if you look at opinion polls of American opinion - Democrat, Republican, left and right on China - last year compared to this year, it is amazing to see how much it has changed. It is incredibly negative right now. I think 70 percent of Americans see China as the greatest threat to the US. Last year, it was lower than 50 percent. Propaganda works!
While I'm not a cheerleader for China. I'm not claiming I'm an expert on China. I understand what's happening in my country and how dangerous this propaganda is and how dangerous a new Cold War will be to the US.
I'll give you one example because you asked about how this hurts our response to coronavirus. There was an article in the New York Times two days ago, stating that the US government is not sure whether it will allow shipments of N95 masks and other personal protective equipment into the US from China because it will advance China's propaganda efforts. Because of the widespread hatred that they have stirred up against China, we will not have this protective equipment that we need.
The only way out of the epidemic is through cooperation, because, unfortunately, we live in a globalized world where we're all interdependent. And, I don't think the US actually has the ability to completely cut itself from a powerful country like China. It's just impossible.
To win in the elections, there is nothing else White
House can do than to pass the buck to China. And the only way to achieve
that goal is to create more friction with China to keep the China-US
tensions and “hold China accountable” hot topics.
Global scientists have never been US government puppets.
The gene sequence of the novel coronavirus tells, just like more
upcoming evidence, how Washington will pay for its lies.
Pompeo has been lying. He has brought shame to the
evangelical Christians in the US, misusing their trust in the Republican
party. He is no doubt a degenerate politicians and despicable from the
Pompeo is indulging in a solo performance that has failed
to adhere to the professional standards expected of a chief diplomat.
His claims are not supported by scientists or reliable intelligence. It
is foreseeable that this politician, who has lost his moral compass,
will continue to surprise the world with his absurd theories and twisted
facts.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the US
exceeded 1 million on Tuesday, making the country the only one with more
than a million infections. More than 56,000 people have died from
COVID-19 in the US. On Monday, global coronavirus cases passed 3
million, meaning one in three patients is in the US. The US government
has failed its people and also failed the world.
The US response to the epidemic is undoubtedly one of the
worst in the world. While the country's powerful elites should shoulder
inescapable responsibility, the Trump administration's wrongdoing turn
out to be mostly blameful.
China's achievement in the fight against COVID-19 is way
better than that of the US. But China is confronting waves of
accusations, which have been launched by Washington, and supported and
followed by other Western countries and forces.
Lies may fulfill Pompeo's personal ambition, but they
will never accomplish the US dreams to be "great again." Pompeo is not
only a figure harmful to world peace, but also should be listed as the
worst US secretary of state in its history.
A country's public image is ultimately earned by its
efforts, rather than empty talk or lies. Chinese people should keep calm
and maintain confidence and patience.
Source: Global Times | 2020/4/26 20:33:40
Since the situation is grave, we strongly call on the WHO
to intervene in the investigation in the US' initial COVID-19 spread.
The WHO's participation can ensure that the investigation is not
distorted by the upcoming presidential election. It can also ensure that
the conclusions are scientific rather than simply catering to politics.
People need to see true reports that are responsible for history.
China's Long March-5B rocket launched from Wenchang
https://youtu.be/7WFKWs6FhuQ
From Shenzhou-1 to Long March-5B: Tracing China’s space dream
https://youtu.be/XfsWtgQwK-E
China's new large carrier rocket, the Long March-5B, made its successful maiden flight on Tuesday, marking a new chapter in the construction of China’s space station. Tracing 28 years of China’s space dream -- from the launch of Shenzhou-1 to Long March-5B.
Long March-5B
blasts off from the Wenchang Space Launch Center on the coast of South
China's Hainan Province on Tuesday. Photo: Shi Yue
China's latest state-of-the-art carrier rocket, the Long March-5B, made a successful maiden flight on Tuesday, during which the new rocket managed to send the assembly of a trial version of the country's new-generation manned spaceship with no crew and a testing cargo-returning spacecraft into planned orbit. The successful launch signaled that a new era of the construction of China's manned space projects including space stations has been officially ushered in, according to rocket developer and space industry insiders.
The 53.66-meter-long Long March-5B, with a diameter of 5 meters for its core, took off from the Wenchang Space Launch Center on the coast of South China's Hainan Province on Tuesday. After a flight of 488 seconds, the payloads separated from the rocket's body, and went into designated orbit.
"The successful maiden flight of the Long March-5B, a new type of launch vehicle that has been specially developed for China's manned space projects, marked the era of construction of a Chinese space station officially dawning," Wang Jue, chief commander of the Long March-5B rocket, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the State Council [China's cabinet,] and the Central Military Commission extended congratulations on the successful maiden flight of the Long March-5B on Tuesday.
The Long March-5B carrier rocket also made key breakthroughs including achieving a 'zero window launch' - a term to describe extremely high, second-level accuracy of the launch procedure, separation technology between a payload cabin of a large diameter and the rocket body, and high thrust orbiting technology, Li Dong, chief designer of the Long March-5 rocket, told the Global Times.
Ji Qiming, an official with China's Manned Space Agency, revealed at a Tuesday press conference that China eyes to complete the construction of its space station by roughly 2022 which includes 12 flight missions.
After the Tuesday debut flight of the Long March-5B, there will be launch missions of the Tianhe core cabin, Wentian and Mengtian lab cabins—which are modules of the space station, Ji said.
There will also be four launch missions each for the Shenzhou manned spaceship and the Tianzhou cargo spaceship, to allow astronauts to rotate time in space and cargo supply.
Photo: Tu Haichao
Photo: Tu Haichao
The One-and-a-half stage
The Long March-5B carrier rocket with one core stage and four boosters - which is known as a half stage - makes it the first heavy-lift rocket with liquid rocket propellant that has adopted such a one-and-half stage into orbit technology in China, according to a statement from the rocket developer, the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT), of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), sent to the Global Times on Tuesday.
Such a one-and-a-half stage mode would remarkably increase the rocket system's reliability as the fewer the stages, the simpler the complexity of the system would be. And the reduced time of stage separation also lowers the chance of malfunctions, per the CALT statement.
The one-and-a-half mode also means better cost efficiency, and such technology has been widely applied in countries like Russia in their space projects with a high rate of success, Song Zhongping, a military and space technology expert, told the Global Times on Sunday.
Pang Zhihao, a Beijing-based space expert, told the Global Times on Tuesday that the maiden flight of the Long March-5B would fill in a blank space in China's carrier rocket category, and declared that China has entered the world's first-class league in terms of large-scale Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) carrier rocket technology capabilities.
The new rocket, using clean fuels such as liquid hydrogen, liquid oxygen and kerosene, weighed 849 tons at launch and has a take-off thrust of around 1,078 tons, enabling it to carry payloads no less than 22 tons into LEO, CALT told the Global Times.
The 22-ton LEO carrying capability of the Long March-5B means that it could send three Tiangong-1 labs into space on one go, Wang Xiaojun, the CALT head, was quoted as saying in the statement.
From the Long March-1's launch capability of 173 kilograms to the Long March-5B's 22 tons, China's space program has set up a much bigger platform for development, Wang said.
Photo: Tu Haichao
Similar in appearance, different in services
The Long March-5B is a smaller variant of the Long March-5, which is currently the strongest member of China's carrier rocket family, and nicknamed by space fans as the "Fat Five" due to its chubby shape. Both rockets belong to the Long March-5 launch vehicle series as they have a similar appearance.
Observers are able to tell the difference between the two brother models of the Long March-5 series by simply looking at the size of their payload fairing and the nose cone on the top of a rocket to protect it against impact pressure and heating during launch through the atmosphere.
Long March-5B possesses the largest payload fairing among all Chinese carrier rockets to date, with a height of 20.5 meters - as tall as a six-story building - and a diameter of 5.2 meters, which, according to the CALT, is customized for the spaceship's launch mission.
Also, the two Long March-5 models vary significantly in the type of services they are supposed to provide. The Long March-5 is mainly used to send large-scale satellites, as well as deep space explorers such as the Chang'e-5 lunar probe and Mars probes, into high Earth orbit, whereas the Long March-5B is the go-to type for launch missions for spacecraft such as the core and lab cabins of the future space station into LEO.
Two more launch missions of the Long March-5 carrier rocket series will be conducted this year. The Long March-5 Y4 will launch the country's first Mars probe by the second half of the year, and the Long March-5 Y5 will send the Chang'e-5 lunar probe to the moon, returning with moon surface samples as the highlight of the mission, according to the CALT.
The Long March-5B launch vehicle at the Wenchang Space Launch Center on
the coast of South China's Hainan Province Photo: Tu Haichao
The Long March-5B launch vehicle at the Wenchang Space Launch Center on the coast of South China's Hainan Province Photo: Tu Haichao
The ready lineup of 'three warriors'
By the completion of the Long March-5B's maiden flight, all three types of carrier rockets, dubbed the "three warriors" that are commissioned specially for China's manned space projects, are now ready in place.
The three carrier rockets in this series are the Long March-2F, the Long March-7 and the Long March-5B.
Jing Muchun, chief commander of the Long March-2F, told the Global Times that in the past two decades, the Long March-2F has sent five unmanned, six manned spaceships and two space labs into space with a 100 percent success rate.
The 13 successful Long March-2F missions include one sending Yang Liwei, China's first astronaut, into space in 2003.
The Long March-2F has developed two working modes for manned and cargo-only missions, in order to meet the requirements of China's manned space missions.
The Long March-7 is known as the "charted train" for space cargo with a launch capability of 13.5 tons into LEO, and 5.5 tons into 700-kilometer-solar synchronous orbit (SSO.)
"The Long March-7 will be in charge of cargo shipments for the space station, delivering basic material supplies such as water, food and spacesuits for the astronauts. It will also be used to provide necessary material supplies for the space station maintenance as well as conducting in-orbit refueling missions for the space stations," Meng Gang, chief commander of the Long March-7, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
The Long March-2F, the Long March-7 and the Long March-5B carrier rockets will work jointly to build the country's upcoming space station, carrying out launch missions for the space station cabins, spaceship and cargo shuffles respectively, per the CALT statement.
China aims to complete the construction of its space station around 2022. The space station will be a T shape with the Tianhe core module at the center and a lab capsule on each side. The core module - at 16.6 meters long and 4.2 meters in diameter, with a takeoff weight of 22.5 ton - will be the management and control center, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
Pandemics have been pivotal points in history with vast contrasting effects on the affected populations. Covid-19 has triggered a global economic turmoil that threatens the world order.
Third World countries should create stronger ties with one another in view of the trade challenges ahead, Asli’s Centre for Public Policy Studies Chairman Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam said.
“Covid-19 has allowed the world to see that the US and other western countries are not all that (competent),” he said yesterday.
“The pandemic ravaged them, while many commonly oppressed countries in South America and Asia handled the situation much better. Third World countries should band together with China to create increased shared prosperity.”
Ramon said the situation would turn dismal if states and economic blocs turn to self-preservation.
“Beggar-thy-neighbour policies that call for protective barriers and sanctions, would provide opportunities for declarations of war and the suppression of the Third World.”
Emir Research President Datuk Dr Rais Hussin said the pandemic has shaken the global economy faster and more severely than the 2008 global financial crisis or the Great Depression of the 1930s.
“In the US, the S&P 500 fell 30% in 22 days, the fastest drop in its history,” he said yesterday.
The S&P 500 is a measurement of the performance of 500 large companies listed on stock exchanges in the US, and is used as a benchmark of its overall market.
“Similar situations can be seen with other countries such as China, India, and the European Union, which are Malaysia’s trading partners.”
He said global powers could force their ways on resource-rich countries as resources wane. “China has already started flexing its muscles with its recent incursions into the South China Sea.”
Meanwhile, Malaysian Trades Union Congress secretary-general J. Solomon said there could be a large exodus of foreign workers from Malaysia.
“With the economic crisis, the Malaysian government should put pressure on companies to prioritise local workers,” he said. “This could lead to an exodus of foreign workers.
“If the government fails to take care of locals, we may instead see a big departure of Malaysians seeking better pay in other countries.”
Solomon also said businesses may head towards automation, instead of employing a human workforce.
“Minister of International Trade and Industry Ministry Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali has called on the business community to reduce their dependence on physical labour and focus more on automation and the use of technology,” he said.
“We see his statement as irresponsible as it creates fear in workers, and we hope that the government will ensure that any such transition will be executed in a balanced manner.”
The Perikatan Nasional (PN) government made the decision to reopen businesses on Monday to prevent economic losses of close to RM100 billion.
In a live address, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said the country has already lost up to RM63 billion for the duration of the movement control order (MCO) since it began on March 18.
Most economic sectors in Malaysia will open from Monday (May 4) with health protocols in place, said Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin in his Labour Day message.
In his speech that was broadcast live on Friday, Mr Muhyiddin said: "With advice from the Ministry of Health, based on data collected, and protocol outlined by the World Health Organization (WHO), the government has decided to open its economic sectors carefully, while implementing stringent health standard operating procedures (SOP)."
"Almost all economic sectors and business activities will be allowed to operate from May 4, depending on protocols and SOP decided by authorities."
However, Mr Muhyiddin explained that some industries and business activities will remain closed as they involve mass gatherings, and where social distancing is difficult to enforce.
These includes cinemas, karaoke lounges, reflexology centres, nightclubs, Ramadan bazaars, Hari Raya Aidilfitri bazaars, sale carnivals as well as all conferences and exhibitions.
Furthermore, sports activities that involve body contact and mass gatherings will also not proceed. These include football, rugby, swimming in public areas and all indoor sports.
Meanwhile, outdoor activities such as badminton, tennis, cycling, golf and running in small groups with not more than 10 people, will be permitted.
Describing this as the "conditional movement control order (MCO)", Mr Muhyiddin added that restaurants, with enough space to ensure social distancing between customers, will also be allowed to open.
However, he maintained that religious activities such as Friday prayers and other prayers in congregation in mosques will not be permitted.
Interstate travel, including to return to hometowns for the upcoming Aidilfitri celebration, is not allowed, he added.
Malaysia MCO file photo
Malaysia's movement control order came into effect since Mar 18, 2020. (File photo: Bernama)
Mr Muhyiddin also said that schools and institutions of higher learning will remain closed.
"A full list of activities that will is prohibited will be reflected on the National Security Council website:www.mkn.gov.my " he said.
"The list will be reviewed from time to time depending on the number of COVID-19 cases," he added.
As of Friday, there are a total of 6,002 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Malaysia, of whom 4,171 or 69.5 per cent have been discharged.
MALAYSIA HAS SUCCESSFULLY CONTROLLED SPREAD OF COVID-19: MUHYIDDIN
Mr Muhyiddin made the announcement to open most economic sectos following a decrease in new COVID-19 cases across the country in recent weeks, a sign that the MCO has proven to be fruitful.
He highlighted in his speech that Malaysia's economy has suffered a loss of RM2.4 billion (US$560 million) each day since the MCO was implemented. The total losses are estimated at RM63 billion, he added.
Should MCO be extended for another month, Malaysia would see a further loss of RM35 billion, the prime minister said.
In his speech, Mr Muhyiddin highlighted how discipline showed by residents to stay at home during the MCO has brought encouraging results.
He explained that this has helped boost the Ministry of Health's capabilities in treating COVID-19 patients. Malaysia will have enough manpower, beds in hospitals, quarantine centres, medication, ventilators, personal protective equipment, and testing labs in case infection rate rises again.
He also acknowledged that in the coming months, it would be impossible for any countries to achieve zero new COVID-19 cases, Hence, Malaysia has to upgrade the capabilities of its public healthcare services to "face any possibilities", he added.
"Even though we have successfully controlled the spread of COVID-19, do not be careless. Stay vigilant. Practise social distancing, wash your hands frequently, wear a face mask in public and quickly see a doctor if you have any symptoms," said Mr Muhyiddin.
Parents, nurseries should compromise on fees during MCO
The move by childcare centres or nurseries (taska) to demand full fees despite the Movement Control Order (MCO) which enters its sixth week, has become a thorny issue for parents involved.
In fact, this is one of many grouses voiced by parents when majority of the nurseries insisted that the fees must be paid in full to cover certain costs as well as to pay their staff salaries.
An e-hailing driver from Johor Baru, Amir Hamzah, said parents and the nurseries should compromise and have an understanding and empathy to come up with a win-win solution for all parties to solve the crisis.
Amir, 37, said the nurseries should not think about the profit alone by charging the same fees as before, given the fact that many expenses could be saved during the MCO.
This includes saving on utility bills such as electricity and water, stationery sets, and daily meals for the children as well as receiving wage subsidy from the government under the Prihatin Tambahan economic stimulus package.
“It is not that we don’t want to pay at all, we understand the staff salaries depend on the fees, but calculations must be made by deducting unused costs from the full payment of the monthly fees.
“If the fees remain the same, that means the nurseries are making more profits before MCO while some parents are experiencing a complete loss of income. Like me, for example, e-hailing drivers are finding so hard to make ends meet as people choose to stay home,” he told Bernama.
Throughout the MCO, the nursery has allowed Amir, who allocates RM1,000 monthly for his two children - son and daughter - to defer his payment without offering any discounts.
“They do conduct online classes for an hour daily but the effectiveness is not the same as face-to-face in a classroom, especially when children are below four years old,” he said.
Even the cost of buying learning materials and a printer was borne by parents, he added.
Sharing a similar sentiment, a bank employee who wants to be known as Atirah, 39, said the nursery has given her a half-price discount for May, with a condition that both March and April fees must be settled in full.
“Otherwise, they will terminate my three-year-old daughter’s enrollment. My husband and I are working throughout MCO as we are in the essential services. We are forced to send our child to another babysitter as the centre is closed.
“We paid in full for March despite being unable to send her to the centre for two weeks. Since MCO has been extended, we hope the nursery would compromise by offering discounts or the government to come up with fees standardisation,” she said.
Meanwhile, a member of Association of Registered Childcare Providers Malaysia (ARCPM) Board of Trustees, Shamsinah Che Shariff, said many small nurseries or kindergartens were having trouble staying afloat as many parents have refused to pay the monthly fees.
Most of the nurseries have no issues of deducting all other costs as some families may also be affected financially by the MCO and it would be wise for both sides to come up with an agreement, she said.
“If the income of the parents has been affected, they can show the proof and discuss with the management, it should not be a problem. It is also fine if (parents) want the meal costs to be deducted.
“The utility bill is not so much compare to the love and care as well as good services provided for the children. The nurseries still need to pay rent, salaries and must make contributions to Employers Provident Fund and Social Security Organisations,” she added.
However, she said, some parents did settle the full payment although they were offered discounts as they understood the value of the nurseries and kindergarten as a professional provider.
She added that small nurseries have been severely affected when parents decided not to make payment since they were looking after their children at home.
In the meantime, Shamsinah said the efforts of teachers and caregivers to conduct online lessons was a proof that they were willing to put extra efforts to ensure that children did not miss the learning process apart from making most of their time with quality activities.
“With the technology, the online teaching initiative definitely needs a little assistance from parents, but parents should also see that it takes a lot of effort from teachers to make extra preparation to conduct the lesson,” she added. — Bernama
For those who are arguing on both sides that we must open now or it is too soon to open, *this is the most important thing you need to know*.
Here's the most asked question to answer:
*When will it be SAFE to end the lockdown, to re-emerge?*
*May 1st? Or May 15th?* *Or June end? Or July end? Or August?*
Here's the real answer: *Never*. *It will never be "SAFE.*”
Why ?
Social distancing, staying at home, all of these measures - were these not meant to "cure" Covid-19 ?
*No at all ! These were measures to slow it down, so as to not overwhelm our healthcare system*.
For the most part, so far we've done that.
However it should be clearly understood that It does not change the virality of Covid-19 ; or how it spreads from one person to another.
*Nor does it have any effect on the mortality rate*. *It was intended to just delay it until we find a PERMANENT CURE .*
A very important point to note here is that - As soon as we re-emerge, the virus will spread again, & the people with weak immune systems will still succumb to it in large nos .
*This is a harsh fact which all of us have to realise .*
The people who missed it this time, may eventually get it - regardless of whether we re-emerge on May 1st or September 30th ......
*What is it , that we need to do now ?*
We need to protect our healthcare system in every possible way to handle the load, but we don't need to mislead ourselves over the outcome of this quarantine.
*Hard Truth of life now is* - *It is slowing it down, but not curing it.*
Eg : If you're driving to Alor Setar from Kuala Lumpur at 50 miles an hour or 100 miles an hour, the distance doesn't change, isn’t it ???
Therefore the need of the hour now is -
*if our lifestyle is causing you to have a weakened immune system, use this lockdown time to correct that*. This should be one of our major resolutions / actionables now without any doubt !
*Otherwise, you've placed a “heavy target “ on your own back* *which will be very difficult to carry* ...
Youngsters as well as older *people should understand & make sure that this is not the time for indulging in comfort food* - but it's a time to give ourselves the healthiest, most robust immune system our body is capable of.
*How can this be achieved*? 1 - By Having healthy , nutritious food ,
2 - Compulsory, 8-hour, night sleep.- drink lime water ( warm water ) daily morning without fail ;
3 - Not having refrigerated or aerated drinks ;
4 - Detox yourself everyday &
5 - maintain social distancing for next couple of weeks/ even months until we have a vaccine or definite, standardized, proven medicine that ensures rapid cure.
It's as simple as this !!!
Hope you all understand that this is just the beginning & not the end .
We need to be careful about ourselves by maintaining real good healthly & hygienic habits in this lockdown period !
