Category: Development EN

The Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) strongly urges the Government and the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) to immediately discontinue the practice of offering discounts on traffic summonses, including the recently announced 70 percent discount on summonses from November 1 to December 30, 2025. Such offers make a mockery of the law and severely undermine the credibility of enforcement...

Kuala Lumpur/ Jakarta / Manila / Bangkok: 23 October 2025 — Ahead of the 2025 ASEAN Summit, a coalition of civil society organizations from across ASEAN is calling for greater transparency and meaningful public engagement in the ongoing negotiations of the Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA), a major regional trade agreement that aims to establish binding and enforceable digital rules...

The Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) applauds several consumer-focused measures announced on 10 October 2025 in the 2026 Budget, including the long-awaited Lemon Law and the proposed Anti-Bullying Bill. The Ministry of Education (MoE) should expedite the drafting of new amendments to the Education Regulations (Student Discipline) under the Education Act 1996, as the number of reported...

The Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) lauds some of the measures outlined in the National Budget 2026 but is at the same time disappointed that the government is not taking more effective measures to protect the nation’s health and the environment. CAP welcomes the introduction of the Lemon Law through the amendments to the Consumer Protection Act. CAP has been actively campaigning for a...

The draft Urban Renewal Act, promoted by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government (KPKT), has sparked a crucial debate about the future of Malaysia’s cities. While the intention to rejuvenate aging urban areas is commendable, the bill’s approach is a flawed fix. It focuses on the symptom – old, poorly managed buildings - while ignoring the disease: a broken system of urban planning and...

Forum Kedaulatan Makanan Malaysia (FKMM) urgently raises the alarm that, despite widespread objections from farmers and civil society organisations, the Ministry of Agriculture continues to push for Malaysia to accede to the 1991 Act of the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV 1991). UPOV 1991 is a draconian international agreement that threatens to hand...

Think your smartphone is just plastic and glass? Think again. Modern smartphones are among the most resource-intensive consumer products, incorporating over 30 elements from the periodic table. Common materials like aluminum, copper, and iron support structural and electrical functions, while rare elements such as lithium, cobalt, tantalum, and neodymium power batteries, capacitors, and audio...

We refer to the report Govt wins Duta land dispute, retains title but ordered to compensate The Duta land dispute between the Government and Semantan Estate (1952) Sdn Bhd has its roots in pre-Merdeka Malaya, around 69 years ago. In 1956, the government acquired around 250 acres of land owned by Semantan for public purposes under the Land Acquisition Enactment. An enquiry was held to...

HOW ART UNITED & TRANSFORMED A NEIGHBOURHOOD Graffiti artists are often viewed as hooligans and rabble-rousers who vandalise property and cause trouble for society. But perhaps their expressive spark can be put to good use? That’s what the Mexican government did some years ago – with surprising results. A group of young graffiti artists were asked to paint a Mexican hillside village of...

The Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) strongly condemns the cowardly attack on the former Economy Minister's 10 year-old son at a mall in Putrajaya, followed by further threats to his family. Such behaviour is vile, disgraceful and an affront to basic decency, revealing the perpetrators’ inability or refusal to face the person concerned through lawful means such as the courts or the...