China sees ‘sudden’ rise in sea water, jobs for Hong Kong top talents: SCMP’s 7 highlights

China sees ‘sudden’ rise in sea water, jobs for Hong Kong top talents: SCMP’s 7 highlights

1. China hit by sudden rise of sea water level ‘never seen in history’ Late Monday evening, along the coast of northeastern China’s Bohai Sea, the water began to rise as it normally does when tide comes in. But the water kept rising. It quickly flooded inland areas, prompting emergency responses and shattering official records. … Read more

Budget 2025: Civil servants in Grade 56 and below to get RM500 in special cash aid, says Anwar

Budget 2025: Civil servants in Grade 56 and below to get RM500 in special cash aid, says Anwar

PETALING JAYA: The government will implement a salary restructuring exercise through the Public Service Remuneration System (SSPA) for civil servants, starting Dec 1, 2024. This will involve a 15% adjustment for executives and professionals and 7% for top management, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim while tabling Budget 2025 in the Dewan Rakyat on … Read more

Opinion | For the best AI outcomes, good policy is key

Opinion | For the best AI outcomes, good policy is key

There is a lot of hype about artificial intelligence (AI) and technology sparking a revival of economic growth globally. As Nobel laureate economist Robert Solow said in 1987 about the productivity puzzle, “You can see the computer age everywhere but in the productivity statistics.” In recent years, growth has slowed everywhere due to productivity declines, … Read more

Opinion | Why are young Chinese lying flat? They need hope and opportunities

Opinion | Why are young Chinese lying flat? They need hope and opportunities

Many young people in China have been “lying flat” – or doing the bare minimum to get by – in recent years, or at least talking about it. Local government cadres have meanwhile been accused of lying flat at work. The social movement known as tang ping in Chinese grew out of a meme that … Read more

Why China’s public sector workers are in a rush to retire early

Why China’s public sector workers are in a rush to retire early

Under the new system, China’s 8 million civil servants and 32 million employees of public institutions must pay 8 per cent of their salaries into the pension scheme, while their employers contribute 20 per cent. Previously, public sector workers did not have to make any contributions and were paid up to 80 per cent of … Read more

Will the AI chatbot wave come for the federal government?

Will the AI chatbot wave come for the federal government?

Delayed air passengers, disgruntled phone customers and even hungry people craving a slice of pizza increasingly find their pleas to private companies being answered by artificial intelligence. Soon Canadians who need to reach out to the federal government could also find themselves talking to an employee who’s been helped by non-human assistants. Ottawa is working … Read more

Quebec calls on Supreme Court justice to recuse himself from secularism law case

Quebec calls on Supreme Court justice to recuse himself from secularism law case

The Quebec government is requesting that Supreme Court Justice Mahmud Jamal recuse himself from hearing the challenge to the province’s secularism law because he was board president for one of the plaintiffs.   In letters sent to the registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada, Attorney General of Quebec Bernard Roy, the Mouvement laïque québécois, as … Read more

PM has proved his earnestness in appreciating services of civil servants, says Ahmad Zahid

PM has proved his earnestness in appreciating services of civil servants, says Ahmad Zahid

JELEBU: The announcement of a salary increase of more than 13% for civil servants on Wednesday (May 1) proves Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s earnestness in appreciating the contributions of public sector workers to the country, says Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. He said the Prime Minister’s announcement was also … Read more

Ottawa may ‘rein in’ temporary resident numbers as housing concerns intensify, minister says

Ottawa may ‘rein in’ temporary resident numbers as housing concerns intensify, minister says

Immigration Minister Marc Miller says he’ll be scrutinizing the number of international students and other non-permanent residents coming into Canada, as political tension builds around the interplay between housing affordability and immigration. In an interview airing Sunday on Rosemary Barton Live, Miller said the relationship between housing and immigration is complex, and it was discussed around … Read more