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- VP Hot Takes is our weekly roundup of tech and digital lifestyle news in Malaysia.
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[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_class=”article-inner vc-no-padding” css=”.vc_custom_1533788868188{background-color: #f3f3f3 !important;}”][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=”Sports Minister Becomes Fortune Teller By Predicting E-Sports To Have Its Own Olympics” font_container=”tag:h1|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_column_text]Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman said he has plans on meeting ASEAN sports ministers to include e-sports in the SEA Games as he predicts it will overtake traditional sports in a decade’s time.
He believes that if e-sports is not included in the traditional international games such as the SEA Games and Olympics, it will have its own “Olympics”.
“E-sports is rapidly expanding in Southeast Asia. And e-sports will play a huge role in a few years’ time in terms of job creation, passion pursuance and multi-billion advertisement revenue.” He added, “It is a huge market and I don’t want Malaysia to be left behind, but to lead in e-sports.”
Which is true, as the fans of e-sports are the millennial generation who are the future leaders of tomorrow. Furthermore, he also agrees that e-sports is where the money is at, with some of the prize pools for tournaments going to the millions.
“It is a disruptive market. If they don’t accommodate and give them a place, they will be replaced,” said Syed Saddiq.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_speech_box author_id=”777″ author_image=”645474″ author_content=”I really don’t think e-sports should be lumped in with “traditional” sports like those in the Olympics. Maybe put it together with chess and robot fighting, and all those other more “battle of the wits”-type sports. Call it the “Mind Olympics” or something.”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_speech_box author_id=”849″ author_image=”645941″ author_content=”I understand the idea behind what Syed Saddiq is trying to achieve—the skill and competition (and $$) in e-sports now is pretty impressive. That said, the old man in me doesn’t fancy the idea of bastardising the historical conventions of traditional sports events. Dota in the Olympics? Sorry, nah.”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_empty_space][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row el_class=”article-content-boxed”][vc_column][vc_heading_with_icon background_color=”#f3f3f3″ heading_title=”Topics Of The Week” heading_icon=”news.svg”][vc_empty_space][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”650655″ img_size=”large” css=”.vc_custom_1541126075701{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”][vc_column_text]Image Credit: Flickr/ Mohd Fazlin[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=”Students In Standard One, Two & Three Have Less Of A Burden As They Won’t Have Exams” use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=”.vc_custom_1541126873351{padding-top: 0px !important;}”][vc_column_text]Once again, the Ministry of Education makes a change in the education system, and not necessarily for the best.
Starting from next year, primary students from year one to three will not have to sit for examinations, and it’ll be replaced with more objective assessments instead.
This “brilliant” idea comes from the Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik himself, who decided every kid should start wearing black shoes ‘cause ya know, it takes five hours to make sure those shoes are white.
According to Dr Maszlee, the assessments would be on the pupils’ learning development. “This is in line with our desire to replace the exam-oriented culture with learning-centred assessments,” he said.
It does sound all positive in theory, as seen by the approval from most parties. A lot of people are saying that not having formal exams in the early years had been successfully implemented in many developed countries.
Children should enjoy their first three years in school and that schools should be an institution that plays a major role in developing pupils’ basic skills.
But are we at a place to even compare ourselves to other developed countries that have the right resources to make this work?[/vc_column_text][vc_speech_box author_id=”774″ author_image=”645478″ author_content=”I don’t understand why people think exams are “bad”. Instead of getting rid of it completely, maybe just switch how it’s conducted? Exams can be a really good gauge of where a student is academically, especially in their early years of primary school. Plus, can the education system assess itself properly first before going around saying they can assess our young students well?”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”650656″ img_size=”large” css=”.vc_custom_1541126100606{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”][vc_column_text]Image Credit: Unsplash/ chuttersnap[/vc_column_text][vc_custom_heading text=”Thanks To SST, New Houses Could Be Up To 10% Cheaper” use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=”.vc_custom_1541126885070{padding-top: 0px !important;}”][vc_column_text]Finally something good coming out of the SST as hopeful homeowners can now rejoice as the cost of new homes are expected to fall between 5 and 10% following the SST exemption on construction services and building materials.
“We placed the exemption because we want to boost the real estate sector. We hope to see a fall in new house prices,” said Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng. He also added that if developers don’t follow suit the government might just consider re-imposing the SST on them.
However, he said that the discounts are only applicable to newly-launched homes and does not include low-cost housing projects. He added, “For existing units that have been built, you will have to wait until Budget Day (which falls on today).”
Also present during the press conference was Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association Malaysia (Rehda) president Datuk Soam Heng Choon who said, “”We hope that buyers will take this opportunity to make their purchase in view of the discounts given, as part of our efforts to assist the government to help the rakyat own homes.”
The finance minister was hopeful that developers would do their part, “I wish that it would be a 10% discount, but we will give Rehda time to work towards achieving that goal,” he said.[/vc_column_text][vc_speech_box author_id=”846″ author_image=”645475″ author_content=”With all the politicking happening in the news, it’s a relief that there is some good news as homeowners can now save a bit on their new homes. Just like the minister, although I’m hopeful, I’m also doubtful that developers would do it; wouldn’t they rather profit than give people a discount?”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_empty_space][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Feature Image Credit: Scuf Gaming[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
