WILDLIFE smuggling is now the fourth largest transnational organised crime, after drugs, weapons and human trafficking, and Malaysia is gaining infamy for being a key hub in the network.

DEATH by suicide is rising globally with almost 800,000 people taking their own lives every year – or one person every 40 seconds.

REMEMBER the adage “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me”? In the days before the Internet, it was a fitting response to taunts and insults from childhood bullies.

There should be no delays in processing citizenship for adopted children as the Federal Court has set a precedent on how the status of abandoned babies must be dealt with.

MALAYSIA’S foreign labour shortage is getting more critical by the day with no clear solution in sight to bridge the shortfall of more than 1.2 million workers needed in key sectors.

The war in Ukraine rages on under the threat of nuclear weapons as 49 million people across the world face starvation.

WHEN I read recently that university students will have to undergo a compulsory anti-corruption course from next year, a fitting Tamil proverb flashed across my mind: Ainthil valayathathu aimbathil valayathu (what does not bend at five, will not bend at 50).

IT has been a week since the govern­ment decided to scrap approved permits (APs) for food imports. While consumer bodies have lauded the move, there is much unease among small-scale farmers and livestock breeders.

Some two million citizens have emigrated to other countries and unlike in the past, they now include Malay doctors, engineers, scientists, academics and other professionals.

IN war, truth is the first casualty, noted ancient Greek tragic dramatist Aeschylus.

Malay voters face a tough choice in deciding between Barisan Nasional and Perikatan Nasional in the Melaka state election amid anxiety that a split in the ballots could lead to a Pakatan Harapan victory.

The entry of the new trilateral defence pact in the Asia-Pacific region has divided South-East Asian countries and negated the quest for a zone of peace, freedom and neutrality.