July 2026 – Page 3 – Consumers Association Penang

How Many Clothes Is Too Many?

Lai Cheng July 9, 2026 0 Comments

Guidelines from the EU recommend dresses should be worn at least 70 times to offset the carbon emissions involved in their production. Multiply the number of a type of garment you own by the EU’s recommended minimum number of wears. For example: 23 dresses X 70 recommended wears = 1,610 total wears. Divide that total by the number of times you wear the item each year: 1,610 ÷ 52 wears per...

Restaurant of Mistaken Orders

Lai Cheng July 9, 2026 0 Comments

In Tokyo, there is a restaurant where customers are happy to get bad service. You ask for dumplings, and you get miso soup. You order grilled fish, and maybe you get sushi. It’s a regular thing here for the waiters and waitresses to mix things up, bring the wrong meal, misunderstand what a customer requests, or actually drink the glass of water they were meant to deliver to some table. Called...

Saving Frogs, Safeguarding Our Ecosystems

Lai Cheng July 6, 2026 0 Comments

The Consumers' Association of Penang (CAP) is concerned that frogs remain among the most overlooked creatures in Malaysia's rich natural heritage. While conservation efforts often focus on larger and more charismatic wildlife, the indispensable role of frogs in maintaining healthy ecosystems receives far too little attention. Frogs are among nature's most valuable animals. Their declining...

Giving AI Control Over Society Led to Total Extinction in Just 4 Days, Virtual Experiment Shows

Lai Cheng July 6, 2026 0 Comments

In a fascinating but sobering digital experiment, researchers at New York-based AI lab Emergence AI created "Emergence World", a simulated society where an artificial intelligence system was given full autonomy over its environment. Various AI models were placed in charge of a virtual world populated by autonomous digital citizens. They could make decisions, interact with one another, manage...

Nurturing Young Environmental Stewards

Lai Cheng July 3, 2026 0 Comments

On 5 June 2026, in conjunction with World Environment Day, the Soroptimist International Pearl of the Orient, in collaboration with the Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP), organised an environmental programme at Tenby International School Penang for young children aged 5-6 years old. A total of 38 students participated in the programme, comprising 23 boys and 15 girls. They were...

State planning authorities had no lawful authority to grant planning permission

Lai Cheng July 2, 2026 0 Comments

Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) refers to the decision of the Court of Appeal on 30 June 2026 concerning the Penang South Reclamation Project (PSR) and the response by the Penang state government to media reports yesterday. The following is the excerpt from the Court of Appeal judgement, paragraph 49, p. 58. “…we dismiss this Appeal and affirm the High Court’s Decision on either one or both...

HOW REAL IS YOUR FOOD ─ If It Needs Marketing, It Probably Isn’t Real Food