Category: Development EN

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...

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...

By Predeep Nambiar In a ruling with wide ramifications, the Court of Appeal says the territorial sea and its seabed remain under the federal government's jurisdiction until reclamation is completed. The Court of Appeal has found that the state planning authorities acted beyond their powers in approving the reclamation for the Penang South Reclamation project. A three-member bench, comprising...

Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) is deeply disappointed by today’s decision of the Court of Appeal to dismiss the appeal brought by the fishermen and environmental groups, SAM and Jaringan Ekologi dan Iklim (JEDI) against the Penang South Reclamation (PSR) project, despite the Court stating that the planning permission granted was without lawful authority. The Court of Appeal decided today that the...

A "data heat island effect" is the very last thing we need right now. By Victor Tangermann As Europe bakes in the throes of a deadly heatwave, residents living near the continent’s largest data centre in Slough, a town just west of central London, UK, are enduring extreme temperatures. As The Guardian reports, the enormous facility 10 miles from London Heathrow is making the sweltering heat...

The Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) is deeply concerned by the findings of Think City’s recent report, From Roof to Resilience: A Social Assessment of Malaysia’s Public Housing, which highlights growing social and economic challenges within Malaysia’s public housing communities. Malaysia’s public housing programme has been crucial in reducing urban poverty and improving access...

More than half a century ago, Malaysia embarked on an ambitious housing mission to move the urban poor out of squatter settlements and into homes with access to basic necessities such as water, sanitation and proper infrastructure. The efforts would eventually become one of the country’s development success stories, helping to sharply reduce urban poverty while avoiding the sprawling slums...

The cost-of-living crisis is partly a result of decades of car-centric planning that make car ownership an expensive necessity while eroding public space and affordable alternatives. For most Malaysians, the gap between income and living costs is growing. And if you want to know where much of that missing money goes, look no further than the family car. For decades, Malaysian cities (especially...

“Mankind invented the atomic bomb, but no mouse would ever construct a mousetrap.” This observation strikes at the heart of the paradox of human intelligence: we possess the unique capacity to innovate tools for our own destruction. Animals act to survive, not to destroy their own kind. A mouse builds a nest strictly for protection and breeding. It would never construct a tool designed to...

The oil supply shortage is a global issue, and Malaysia cannot continue sustaining its RON95 and diesel subsidies indefinitely. It was reported in early March 2026 that the government was subsidising RM3.2 billion per month, but by April 2026 this had risen to more than RM6 billion per month. Even at RM3.2 billion per month, the subsidy would cost the government close to RM40 billion per year,...