Category: Development EN

As companies race to develop and deploy AI systems, there is a race to replace: humans replaced as creators, counsellors, caregivers and companions; and in most jobs and decision-making roles – concentrating ever more power in unaccountable institutions and their machines. This race to replace poses risks to societal stability, national security, economic prosperity, civil liberties, privacy,...

Dangerous to Ask AI Chatbots for Personal Advice, Study Finds Stanford computer scientists recently analysed nearly 400,000 AI chatbot messages. What they found is disturbing: AI chatbots aren't just polite – they are "sycophantic", meaning they will flatter you even when you're wrong or being harmful, the findings show. A surprising study from researchers at Stanford University has raised...

The revelations laid bare by the declassified Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) report on Lembaga Tabung Haji are not merely a tale of administrative failure or poor investment strategy. They expose an unconscionable, systemic, and calculated Criminal Breach of Trust. Tabung Haji was created as a sacred vessel - a noble development institution meant to manage the life savings of everyday...

We, representing a coalition of Malaysian organisations and groups comprising farmers, consumers and environmental interests, hereby express our objection to the application by Zen Cropscience Sdn. Bhd. for the release of the genetically modified (GM) rice of the MR219 variety at a confined field trial site in Kampung Kepayang, Perak. We submitted this formal objection to the Director General of...

Low salaries remain one of the most pressing concerns facing Malaysians today. Despite decades of economic growth and Malaysia's emergence as an upper-middle-income economy, many workers continue to struggle with rising living costs, housing affordability and financial insecurity. While the economy has expanded considerably, the Consumers' Association of Penang (CAP) observes that wages have not...

The long-awaited declassification of the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) report on Lembaga Tabung Haji (TH) has confirmed what millions of Malaysian depositors feared most: a catastrophic breakdown of governance, driven by rampant political interference and fiscal deception. For decades, Tabung Haji was viewed as a sacrosanct institution - a beacon of Islamic financial management built on the...

What if everything we’ve been taught about "progress" is completely backwards? For decades, we’ve been conditioned to look at bulldozers and concrete as signs of a booming economy and a developing world. But what if real growth isn’t about what we build — it’s about what we manage to protect? True development doesn't destroy value; it sustains it. When we lose our forests, we lose the...

Europe Returns to Basics: BOOKS, PENS, PAPER – AND FOCUS Europe is quietly admitting something big: screens may have gone too far in the classroom. Across countries like Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, France, and Italy, schools are now bringing back printed books, handwriting, and fewer digital devices after growing concerns over falling reading skills, shorter attention spans, and too much...

Norway is drawing a hard line in the classroom. Starting in the 2026 school year, Norway implemented a strict, age-based restriction on generative AI in schools. The policy completely bans AI for children aged 6 to 13, limits usage for 14-to-16-year-olds to direct teacher supervision, and allows independent AI use only for students aged 17 and older. The new standards will be imposed from the...

Famous linguist, philosopher, historian and social critic Noam Chomsky once said, "As long as the general population is passive, apathetic, diverted to consumerism or hatred of the vulnerable, then the powerful can do as they please, and those who survive will be left to contemplate the outcome." Chomsky warns that power grows strongest when people stop paying attention. When society is...