“Avoid free/paid courses given by ‘investment guru’ who are not
professionally qualified. The public must be aware and know how to
differentiate them.’’- Kimberly Law
LOSING money is the hardest misfortune if you have just enough income for survival.
Many people have fallen victims to scams and have lost money in a bad investment.
Some have lent money to others but the loan was not repaid.
There are many reasons why people lose money and in the current times, every ringgit counts.
The costs of buying groceries, clothes, medical supplies and even essential body care items have risen so much that at the end of the month your salary may not be enough.
It is no surprise that a survey by Capital Market Research Malaysia (ICMR) showed that 64% of Malaysians respondents, feel that they are either financially unstable or are living from salary to salary.
Even Deloitte’s recent survey has indicated that 65% and 70% of the local Gen Z and millennials are living from hand to mouth. The global numbers are 51% and 52 respectively.
The majority of those within these categories report suffering from mental stress with regard to their finances.
It said there are still gaps between awareness and application when it comes to good savings behaviour.
There are gaps in financial literacy in the country and the rising rate of people falling to scams is also a concern.
Financial literacy is about how you budget, save, build credit, borrow, repay debt and invest to grow money.
If you want shortcuts by hoping your money will double or triple in the shortest amount of time then you ought to ask yourself if that is really possible or if it is part of a scam.
Everyone knows how to manage money, but the question is how effectively is it managed and whether you are making your money work for you.
There are many management and personal finance courses available to improve your financial literacy skills.
Some are offered free and some charge a fee. It is not wrong to learn and improve one’s skills even though you may be an expert in money management.
Several websites offer personal finance, money management courses available. Some are free, others charge less than RM100.
Some of the sites that offer courses include Udemy, Coursera, LinkedIn.
Often in a few hours of online learning, you will be able to create a format and update your budget or even create a plan using the tools they provide to help you reach your financial goals, according to a report.
However, Uno Advisers Sdn Bhd licensed financial planner Kimberly Law said she would avoid the free courses offered by people who are not from the industry.
“Avoid free/paid courses given by ‘investment guru’ who are not professionally qualified. The public must be aware and know how to differentiate them.’’ she said.
She recommends those interested to attend reliable courses from institutions such as the Financial Planning Association of Malaysia (FPAM) and the Malaysian Financial Planning Council (MFPC)
She says they offer some paid programmes while others are offered free to the public for financial literacy enhancement.
For her, the best way to get free financial education is to attend/listen to events/programmes organised by FPAM/MFPC and that are offered together or with the blessings of the industry regulators such as the Securities Commission and Bank Negara.
These organisations will get professionals to volunteer to offer/teach the programmes.
Some people felt that basic money management courses should be offered in schools to help children prepare for their future. This will surely benefit the larger school going population.
Even if it is not part of the syllabus, it can be a supplementary programme offered for a limited period of time every year at schools.
Law believes the syllabus for the young should include basic money management skills such as basic training or exercise on budgeting, managing expenses and planning that will be useful in their management of money and investments.
This will certainly raise the financial literacy rates over time in the country.
Even if you are doing well in your money management skills, it doesn’t hurt to enhance and learn new ways to budget, save and invest.
But don’t fall for courses that will make you invest even before you can learn something from it.
Proud achievement: USM occupies fourth spot in the THE Impact Rankings 2023 overall top 100 list and ranks first in Asia.
Global recognition for USM, UTM and UM
THE latest edition of the Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings proves that Malaysian universities are making a positive mark with research involving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
For the second consecutive year, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) maintained its position in the top five universities, sitting comfortably at number four on the THE Impact Rankings 2023 overall top 100 list.
Ranked first in Asia, it also came first for SDG 16 (peace, justice and strong institutions). This was based on its research on peace and justice, participation as advisers to the government and policies on academic freedom.
In addition, USM is the country’s highest ranked varsity for eight other SDGs. It ranked sixth for SDG 17 (partnerships for the goals), seventh for SDG 2 (zero hunger), eighth for SDG 1 (no poverty), 42nd for SDG 6 (clean water and sanitation), 51st for SDG 14 (life below water), 55th for SDG 3 (good health and well-being), 65th for SDG 15 (life on land), and 89th for SDG 13 (climate action).
As the country’s sole Accelerated Programme for Excellence (Apex) university, USM, said its vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Abdul Rahman Mohamed, understands that sustainable practices extend beyond the confines of academia, and aims to inspire its students and staff to become responsible global citizens.
“By embedding sustainability principles in its teaching and research, USM empowers individuals to address complex challenges through innovative solutions and to become advocates for sustainable development in their respective fields.
“We are proud of this achievement as it underscores our dedication to creating a sustainable future, driving positive change, and inspiring a generation of leaders who will shape a world that prioritises the well-being of people and the planet,” he said in a statement following the release of the rankings on June 1.
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia ranked first for SDG 7 (affordable and clean energy).
The fifth edition of the rankings by THE, publisher of the globally recognised THE World University Rankings, assessed institutions worldwide on their commitment to the world’s greatest challenges as listed in the UN 17 SDGs.
It assessed university commitment to sustainability across four broad areas: research, stewardship, outreach and teaching.
Universiti Malaya (UM) ranked third globally for SDG 5 (gender equality), marking the first time the varsity has achieved a top five position in any of the SDGs featured in this ranking.
It also ranked 13th for SDG 7, 50th for SDG 1, 60th for SDG 6, 72nd for SDG 11 (sustainable cities and communities), 73rd for SDG 12 (responsible consumption and production), 81st for SDG 17, and 85th for SDG 14.
UM vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Mohd Hamdi Abd Shukor said the rankings show where the varsity stood against other institutions of higher learning in addressing global issues such as poverty, hunger, health and well-being, gender equality, quality education for all, and climate change.
THE chief knowledge officer Phil Baty said: “The growth in participation from Asean has been rapid and hugely impressive, with participation more than tripling since 2000.
“This gives rise to real optimism that Asean can become a global hub of excellence in the drive for a better, more sustainable future for us all.
“It is inspiring to see even more universities participate and see countries that don’t normally rank so highly do so well.”
A record 1,705 universities from 115 countries or regions were assessed, with Western Sydney University in Australia emerging the world’s overall top institution.
The recent talks between China and the United States surprised the world even more than the last meeting in Alaska, and shocked the United States even more. Because in this meeting for the first time, China has completely, systematically and sharply denounced the anti-China behavior of the United States, and issued a list of correcting the wrong policies, words and deeds of the United States, as well as individual cases that China cares about and should be corrected. This is a diplomacy that the United States has never encountered an opponent. Because the United States has dominated the world for more than a hundred years. It has successively defeated competitors such as Spain, the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, and the Soviet Union, and maintained its position as the head of the global village. It can be said that there has never been a country that has issued a list and drawn red lines for the United States like China. Before that, only the United States had this kind of attutude to others.
Yes, on earth, in the eyes of the United States, there are mainly six types of countries. The first category is allies, such as Israel, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Australia, etc.;
The second category is occupied countries, such as Japan and South Korea;
The third category is quasi-allies, such as some countries in Europe, the Philippines in Asia, South Africa in Africa, and Brazil in the Americas.
The fourth category is countries with strategic cooperation, such as Saudi Arabia, India, Turkey, Egypt, etc.;
The fifth category is some weak countries that can be bullied by it at will;
The sixth category is countries that are hostile to the United States, but their overall strength is indeed far behind, such as Iran, Venezuela, Cuba, North Korea and other countries.
These five types of countries can only rely on, flatter, deal with, or succumb to the diplomatic pressure of the United States. The only exceptions are Russia and China. Relying on its strategic weapons and military strength, Russia often confronts the United States tit for tat, but it has never directly reprimanded the Americans diplomatically. China, on the other hand, has a comprehensive ability to resist pressure due to the enhancement of its political, military, economic, technological and other comprehensive strengths. It is also the first country to directly reprimand Americans on diplomatic occasions and draw red lines for Americans.
Americans are very shocked. All the elites in Washington these days are realizing the significance of China's actions.
This time China has created six unprecedences.
The first is that Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng has systematically and completely reprimanded the Americans, which is unprecedented.
The second is to publish the complete critical speech of the Chinese before the Americans, without saying a single word of the other party's speech, which is unprecedented.
The third is to directly issue a list of questions for Americans to correct their mistakes, which is unprecedented.
The fourth is the refusal to discuss the American list of problems, and the refusal to discuss cooperation without the United States correcting its mistakes, which is unprecedented.
The fifth is to directly deny the United States' definition of Sino-US relations, which is unprecedented.
The sixth is to directly draw the bottom line for Americans to improve Sino-US relations, which is unprecedented.
The three bottom lines drawn by Foreign Minister Wang Yi are almost impossible for the United States to abide by. This also means that from now on China will not intend to unilaterally tolerate and improve bilateral relations when the Americans insist on going their own way.
Wang Yi said:
First, the United States must not challenge, slander, or even try to subvert the path and system of socialism with Chinese characteristics. This is the core interest that China must uphold.
Second, the United States must not try to obstruct or even interrupt China's development process. China urges the U.S. to lift all unilateral sanctions, high tariffs, long-arm jurisdiction and technology blockade imposed on China as soon as possible.
Third, the United States must not violate the sovereignty of China's national sovereignty, let alone undermine China's territorial integrity. It is not allowed to damage China's sovereignty on issues such as Xinjiang, Tibet, and Hong Kong. As for the Taiwan issue, it is even more important.
If the "Taiwan independence" dares to provoke, China has the right to take any necessary measures to stop it. We urge the US side to honor its commitments and act with caution on the Taiwan issue.
As long as you take a serious look at these three bottom lines, you can see that Americans may never abide by these three bottom lines. If China dares to draw them, it shows that China is determined to fight the United States to the end this time. Either the United States will change its course and China-US relations will be on the right track, or China will not hesitate to show its sword and show its cards to force the Americans to submit to these major issues.
In a word, the United States must not deliberately try to bring China down, destroy China, and mess up China. This is a high-tension line. It would be impossible for the US to insist on these three activities while pretending to cooperate with us. Everyone says that diplomacy needs the backing of strength. China is the first to formally teach the United States a lesson, put forward a list of mistakes to correct, and clearly draw the bottom line.
What is the confidence? I gathered three recognitions.
First. The Chinese people's support for the leadership of the Communist Party and their recognition of the country's system and path have reached an unprecedented high level.
The Chinese people have never had before as they do today such a clear understanding of the ugly nature of imperialism and capitalism, and the ugly faces of those hideous people who cooperate with each other from the inside and the outside.
This is where China has the most confidence.
The second is that after 70 years of rapid development, China has made great progress in the fields of politics, economy, culture, finance, science and technology, military affairs, and diplomacy. It has become the second strongest country in terms of comprehensive strength. From the perspective of development momentum, it is entirely possible to become a superpower that surpasses the United States in about 20 years. Tomorrow I will analyze that.
China is not afraid of the so-called comprehensive decoupling between China and the United States.
The third and most important one is that China already has a very specific and realistic nuclear strike capability. This is a capability that the United States is particularly afraid of and dreads. Russian President Vladimir Putin once said that if Russia does not exist, then the world is meaningless to us.
What he meant was that if someone was going to destroy Russia, Russia was going to destroy the world. This is why a country whose GDP is only at the level of Guangdong Province in China, and whose economic scale is smaller than that of South Korea, is feared by Americans. Because Russia have the ability to destroy America more than once. If the United States and Russia start a nuclear war, they will definitely destroy themselves.
In fact, today's China, the United States is very clear, already has the actual nuclear capability to destroy the United States.
My country's latest Dongfeng 41 intercontinental missile is currently the most advanced in the world. Its performance has surpassed the American Minuteman 3 and Russia's Topol M, with a range of up to 15,000 kilometers. It can carry more than a dozen nuclear warheads with variable orbits, and the nuclear equivalent is equivalent to 23 atomic bombs that bombed Nagasaki Hiroshima. Under such nuclear missile attacks, it is difficult for a country to survive. The most terrible thing is that Dongfeng 41 is mobile and all-weather, that is to say, it can be launched from any place at any time, This ensures that China has a reliable second-strike nuclear capability. Because such a mobile missile cannot be completely destroyed in the first round of nuclear strikes. Therefore, from now on, the Americans will never dare to have any fluke mentality to start a war with China. What's more, China also has the submarine-launched nuclear missile Julang-3, which also has a range of more than 15,000 kilometers. It is also a multi-warhead nuclear bomb and is also a highly mobile strategic weapon. Julang 3 only needs to be in the inner sea of Bohai Sea to complete the launch. Land-based and sea-based also have mobile long-range nuclear strike capabilities. If you have such an advanced dog-beating stick in your hand, you will certainly have the confidence to see any vicious dog.
Friends, the Americans have also created an unprecedented situation this time. After the Chinese reprimanded Sherman and his party, the arrogance of the Americans disappeared in the second half of the negotiations.
On the contrary, in the face of the unprecedented tough attitude of the Chinese, the Americans at the scene, the spokesperson of the US State Department, the US President and the Secretary of State all expressed one meaning, that is, the US does not seek confrontation and conflict with China.
Listen. China for many years was relatively weak. This is a concept that has repeatedly declared for many years.
Now, whenever China and the United States draw their swords to counter each other, they will probably say something like this. This is also unprecedented.
Why? This is because China's strategic nuclear weapons are becoming more and more powerful, and Americans are very afraid. So I emphasize again that Americans should never even think about going to war with China.
希望每一個中國人都能把這篇愛國文章轉出去，讓我們的中國變得越來越強大，支持所有愛國團體。
I hope that every Chinese can forward this patriotic article to make our China stronger and stronger and support, all patriotic groups.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry expressed regret on Tuesday for the remarks made by the South Korean President and the South Korean
media reports on the Chinese Ambassador to South Korea Xing Haiming, saying that they are inconsistent with the facts and even involve
personal attacks.
Attacking the Chinese ambassador will only bring disgrace to South Korean diplomacy and expose its shortcomings. Only by
correcting its attitude toward China, can Seoul avoid being "overly sensitive" and constantly proving its petty mind like a small country.
Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI (right), delivers an online speech at the conference held by the Beijing Academy of Artificial Intelligence in Beijing on June 10, 2023. Photo: Shen Weiduo/GT
Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, has called for a global cooperation in setting up the regulatory guardrails for powerful artificial intelligence (AI) systems at an industry forum held in Beijing on Saturday, noting that China can play a significant role with some of its "best AI talent in the world."
"China has some of the best AI talent in the world... given the difficulties solving alignment for advanced AI systems requires the best minds from around the world," Altman said at an industry forum hosted by the Beijing Academy of Artificial Intelligence （BAAI） on Saturday.
Altman predicted that in the next decade, artificial general intelligence systems, commonly called AGI, may surpass human expertise "in nearly every domain," and could eventually exceed the collective productivity of some of the largest companies.
"The potential upside here isn't one. AI revolution will create shared wealth and make it possible to dramatically improve the standard of living for everyone. We must manage the risk together in order to get there," Altman said.
At present, a new round of AI boom triggered by ChatGPT is sweeping the world including China. While people have been thrilled for the productivity improvement that AI can bring, they are increasingly aware of the huge risks, with governments slowly stepping in to harness the powerful yet dangerous tool.
In May, hundreds of industry leaders, including Altman himself, have signed a letter warning that "mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war." Altman made a point to reference the IAEA, the United Nations nuclear watchdog, as an example of how the world came together to oversee nuclear power.
"We need international cooperation to build global trust in the safe development of increasingly powerful AI systems. In a verifiable way, I have no illusions that this will be easy. We will need to devote significant and sustained attention as an international community to get this right," Altman said.
In a possible indication to the current geopolitical conflict's impact on the global AI cooperation, Altman noted that "great powers may have their share of differences." This is true today, as it has been before. But even during the most difficult times, great powers have found ways to cooperate on what matters. "We see great potential for researchers in the US, China, and around the world to work together to achieve the shared goal."
Altman used an ancient Chinese proverb, "a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step," in describing how the world should start on the difficult but necessary cooperation.
In talking about the next frontier that OpenAI is engaging on in a later Q&A session, Altman said OpenAI is discussing about opening source more models in the future, but does not have a specific model or timetable.
"Certainly, at some point, we'll try to do a GPT-5 model in the sequence, but not anytime soon and we don't know exactly when," Sam said, adding that he's hoping someday the company can get to return to robotics - a sector the company has worked on at the very start.
The two-day conference hosted by the BAAI has invited leading figures in the industry such as AI "godfather" Geoffrey Hinton and Turing Award winner Yann André LeCun. Apart from exchanging on AI frontiers and technology progress, this year's conference placed a special focus on AI regulation and alignment.
Industry players and experts at the forum have also emphasized on the importance of global cooperation in harnessing the "double-sword" technology, which is especially urgent as the large models are development "too fast."
"We are fully aware of the urgency of AI regulation, but under the current global situation, as some in the US are hyping China threat with AI as a key battleground, global cooperation and an international rule could be hard, though some cooperation might be achievable in certain areas,"Wang Peng, a research fellow at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Saturday at the sidelines of the event.
Looking ahead, the development of large models and major technological breakthroughs is clearly be related to the life and death of human society, Wang said, noting that it's critical for some nations to drop closed and retrogressive minds of "small courtyards and high walls," join forces together with the rest of the world, and concentrate on overcoming difficulties for the benefit of all mankind.
Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company iFlytek unveiled its generative language model SparkDesk on Saturday, joining other Chinese counterparts
...
THEIR affair had sent tongues wagging in China, but it was the “mistress dress” that stole the show.
A top executive at state-run firm China National Petroleum (CNPC) lost his job on Wednesday after a video of him holding hands with a much younger woman while out shopping in downtown Chengdu went viral.
The woman was not his wife – a fact that led to the executive’s downfall. But it was what the woman was wearing – a body-hugging, summer dress with floral prints of pink, yellow and blue – that drew “oohs” and “aahs”, and sent online sales of the frock soaring.
Chinese netizens have taken to calling it the “mistress” or “dismissal” dress.
Mr Hu Jiyong, the erstwhile general manager of CNPC subsidiary Beijing Huanqiu Construction, and Ms Dong Sijin, a co-worker of his, were spotted this week at a popular shopping district in Chengdu by a street photographer.
A short clip of Mr Hu – who was dressed in a matching pink polo T-shirt – and Ms Dong walking hand-in-hand was posted on Douyin, TikTok’s Chinese sibling, on Wednesday, and quickly drew millions of views.
Within hours from the time the video appeared, CNPC released a statement saying Mr Hu had been sacked. Ms Dong, too, was let go.
But that didn’t stop the online tongue-wagging.
Some said Ms Dong’s father was himself a senior executive at CNPC, and that Ms Dong was known for posts on social media that showcased her taste for expensive designer bags and luxurious vacations. Netizens noted that she was carrying a Lady Dior handbag that retails for around S$8,000 in the video.
But it was the infamous dress that stood out.
Online sleuths quickly learnt that the dress was being sold by a vendor on the online shopping platform Taobao for 618 yuan (S$116).
On the same day Mr Hu’s and Ms Dong’s video was posted, some 1,000 units of the dress were sold, lifting the item to the top of Taobao’s hot items list.
By Thursday, 4,000 units were sold. Overwhelmed by the sudden interest, the Taobao vendor told its customers to “shop rationally”.
But the “mistress dress” also sparked fierce online debate.
“Why would someone want to dress in the style of a mistress? The craze over this really reflects a moral decline in our society,” a Weibo user lamented.
Another person thought the dress was “kinda tacky”.
One fan, though, wrote: “Every dress is probably worn by a mistress at one point. The dress is innocent!”
Others took to using AI imaging tools to render screenshots of Mr Hu and Ms Dong as manga and anime characters.
The ruckus compelled The Beijing Daily, a state newspaper, to post an editorial to say that the dress was attracting attention for all the wrong reasons.
“Focusing too much on the dress and making up salacious stories will divert public attention from the real lesson here,” it said. - The Straits Times/ANN
