Compiled by IYLIA MARSYA ISKANDAR, C. ARUNO and R. ARAVINTHAN

       THE Malaysian Embassy in Cambodia has rescued more than 60 Malaysians coerced into working for scam call centres over the past few years and yet more continue to be duped by offers of lucrative wages, Sin Chew Daily reported.

       “Right before I was appointed (in 2019), the embassy managed to rescue 60 people,” said Malaysian ambassador Eldeen Husaini Mohd Hashim in reference to the recent case of 16 Malaysians being rescued and flown back to Malaysia from Cambodia.

       Eldeen Husaini, who began serving as the Malaysian ambassador to Cambodia in April 2019, said the embassy had in the past received tip-offs about Malaysians being held captive by scammers.

       The embassy, he said, would work with Malaysian and Cambodian police to free them.

       He noted that there had been an increasing number of Malaysians being duped into working for these scammers since the pandemic started

       “Many people became unemployed during this time. In their desperation and presented with what seemed like an opportunity to earn a high salary, it was difficult for many to resist the temptation.

       “Despite the embassy going to great length to remind Malaysians (of the scammers’ tactics), many continue to fall prey,” he said.

       Eldeen Husaini said that many of the kingpins behind the scam call centres were Chinese nationals who would target Malaysian Chinese as they know the Chinese language.

       > The number of Form Six students who signed up for the STPM Chinese Language paper is less than half of those sitting for the Tamil Language paper, said Deputy Education Minister Datuk Dr Mah Hang Soon.

       Based on 2020 statistics, 289 Form Six students took the STPM Chinese Language paper, compared to 566 candidates sitting for the Tamil Language paper that year.

       Sin Chew Daily quoted him as saying that only 29 secondary schools in the country offered the Chinese language subject last year.

       Dr Mah, who attended an event on Saturday organised by the Society for the Promotion of the Form Six Chinese Language Subject, however, noted that there had been a slight increase in the number of candidates each year.

       He also said that he was trying to set up a meeting with the Higher Education Ministry to find out if there could be extra credit given to language subjects to encourage more students to take up the subject.

       Since Form Six was a pre-university course, he said students would pick subjects relevant to the course they would like to pursue at university.

       “Many students thought that those who took Chinese Language are allowed to only pursue an undergraduate course in Chinese Studies or other language courses. This is not the case,” he said.

       The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.