Big draw: Nvidia chief executive officer Jensen Huang speaking at an industry event in California. Some big tech companies are trying to show developers how to migrate away from Nvidia’s dominance in AI. — Bloomberg
[1/2]A smartphone with a displayed NVIDIA logo is placed on a computer motherboard in this illustration taken March 6, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
Nvidia’s grip on AI by targeting software.html
Alliance seeks to use alternative open source software
SAN FRANCISCO: Nvidia earned its US$2.2 trillion market cap by producing artificial-intelligence (AI) chips that have become the lifeblood powering the new era of generative AI developers from startups to Microsoft, OpenAI and Google parent Alphabet .
Almost as important to its hardware is the company’s nearly 20 years’ worth of computer code, which helps make competition with the company nearly impossible. More than four million global developers rely on Nvidia’s Cuda software platform to build AI and other apps.
Now a coalition of tech companies that includes Qualcomm, Google and Intel plans to loosen Nvidia’s chokehold by going after the chip giant’s secret weapon: the software that keeps developers tied to Nvidia chips.
They are part of an expanding group of financiers and companies hacking away at Nvidia’s dominance in AI.
“We’re actually showing developers how you migrate out from an Nvidia platform,” Vinesh Sukumar, Qualcomm’s head of AI and machine learning, said in an interview with Reuters.
Starting with a piece of technology developed by Intel called OneAPI, the UXL Foundation, a consortium of tech companies, plans to build a suite of software and tools that will be able to power multiple types of AI accelerator chips, executives involved with the group told Reuters.
The open-source project aims to make computer code run on any machine, regardless of what chip and hardware powers it.
“It’s about specifically – in the context of machine learning frameworks – how do we create an open ecosystem, and promote productivity and choice in hardware,” Google’s director and chief technologist of high-performance computing, Bill Magro, said in an interview.
Google is one of the founding members of UXL and helps determine the technical direction of the project, Magro said.
UXL’s technical steering committee is preparing to nail down technical specifications in the first half of this year. Engineers plan to refine the technical details to a “mature” state by the end of the year, executives said.
These executives stressed the need to build a solid foundation to include contributions from multiple companies that can also be deployed on any chip or hardware.
Beyond the initial companies involved, UXL will court cloud-computing companies such as Amazon.com and Microsoft’s Azure, as well as additional chipmakers.
Since its launch in September, UXL has already begun to receive technical contributions from third parties that include foundation members and outsiders keen on using the open-source technology, the executives involved said.
Intel’s OneAPI is already usable, and the second step is to create a standard programming model of computing designed for AI.
UXL plans to put its resources toward addressing the most pressing computing problems dominated by a few chipmakers, such as the latest AI apps and high-performance computing applications.
Those early plans feed into the organisation’s longer-term goal of winning over a critical mass of developers to its platform.
UXL eventually aims to support Nvidia hardware and code, in the long run.
When asked about the open source and venture-funded software efforts to break Nvidia’s AI dominance, Nvidia executive Ian Buck said in a statement: “The world is getting accelerated. New ideas in accelerated computing are coming from all across the ecosystem, and that will help advance AI and the scope of what accelerated computing can achieve.”
The UXL Foundation’s plans are one of many efforts to chip away at Nvidia’s hold on the software that powers AI. Venture financiers and corporate dollars have poured more than US$4bil into 93 separate efforts, according to custom data compiled by PitchBook at Reuters’ request.
The interest in unseating Nvidia through a potential weakness in software has ramped up in the last year, and startups aiming to poke holes in the company’s leadership gobbled up just over US$2bil in 2023 compared with US$580mil from a year ago, according to the data from PitchBook.
Success in the shadow of Nvidia’s group on AI data crunching is an achievement that few of the startups will be able to achieve.
Nvidia’s Cuda is a compelling piece of software on paper, as it is full-featured and is consistently growing both from Nvidia’s contributions and the developer community. — Reuters
Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte is on a working visit to China from Tuesday to Wednesday, at a time when the Netherlands’ chip export policy has been in the spotlight. Chinese analysts pointed out that Rutte’s visit is perfectly timed, as his country’s largest company, the semiconductor equipment maker ASML, is seeking to expand outside the Netherlands after raising concerns about the country’s business climate.
The Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) convened its annual conference in Boao, South China’s Hainan Province on Tuesday, with officials and other participants calling for unity and cooperation in Asia and around the world to jointly tackle rising regional and global challenges, ranging from trade protectionism to geopolitical tension.
Central bank officials and financial regulators from several Asian countries on Wednesday called for expanding currency swap arrangements through both bilateral and multilateral mechanisms to support cross-border trade and investment and reduce reliance on the US dollar, as part of the region’s efforts to bolster financial safety nets and fend …
Central bank officials and financial regulators from several Asian countries on Wednesday called for expanding currency swap arrangements through both bilateral and multilateral mechanisms to support cross-border trade and investment and reduce reliance on the US dollar, as part of the region’s efforts to bolster financial safety nets and fend off risks.
YTL said the YTL AI Supercomputer will be located in a 664ha data centre facility in the YTL Green Data Centre Campus in Johor.
KUALA LUMPUR: YTL Power International has announced the formation of YTL AI Cloud, a specialised provider of massive-scale graphic processing unit (GPU)-based accelerated computing.
YTL AI Cloud will deploy and manage one of the world’s most advanced supercomputers on Nvidia Grace Blackwell-powered DGX Cloud, an artificial intelligence (AI) supercomputer for accelerating the development of generative AI.
In a statement yesterday, YTL said the YTL AI Supercomputer will be located in a 664-ha data centre facility in the YTL Green Data Centre Campus in Johor, powered by a renewable energy source from its on-site 500-megawatt solar power facility.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said YTL AI Cloud, the first for Malaysia, will accelerate Malaysia’s adoption of AI and spearhead the development of the country’s Sovereign Cloud.
“The collaboration with Nvidia is a testament to Malaysia’s attractiveness as a hub for digital investments,” he said.
Meanwhile, Investment, Trade and Industry Minister, Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz said the AI Cloud will create high-value, high-income jobs for Malaysians.
“This marks a significant step forward in our mission to become a leading AI and data centre hub in the region,” he said.
He said the initiative not only brings Malaysia closer to achieving its goals under the New Industrial Master Plan 2030, but also demonstrates Malaysia’s capability and readiness to play a significant role in the global technology landscape.
It is to be noted that YTL will be among the first companies to adopt Nvidia GB200 NVL72 – a multi-node, liquid-cooled, rack-scale system with fifth-generation NVLink.
The supercomputer will be interconnected by Nvidia Quantum InfiniBand networking platform.
The platform acts as a single GPU with 1.4 exaflops of AI performance and 30 terabytes of fast memory, and is designed for the most compute-intensive workloads.
The YTL AI Supercomputer will surpass more than 300 exaflops of AI compute, making it one of the fastest supercomputers in the world.
“There is no doubt that AI is a critical tool that will power the global digital economy,” said Digital Minister, Gobind Singh Deo.
He said having one of the most powerful Nvidia cloud computing infrastructures in Malaysia is a game changer and will spark innovation and development of solutions which are instrumental to the success of the Malaysia Digital Economy blueprint.
“Nvidia is working with YTL AI Cloud to bring a world-class accelerated computing platform to South-East Asia – helping drive scientific research, innovation and economic growth across the region,” founder and chief executive officer of Nvidia, Jensen Huang said.
The latest supercomputer marks one of the first deployments of the Nvidia GB200 Grace Blackwell Superchip on DGX Cloud, supporting the growth of accelerated computing in the Asia-Pacific region.
Meanwhile, YTL Power International managing director, Datuk Seri Yeoh Seok Hong said the group is proud to be working with Nvidia and the Malaysian government to bring powerful AI cloud computing to Malaysia.
“We are excited to bring this supercomputing power to the Asia-Pacific region, which has been home to many of the fastest-growing cloud regions and many of the most innovative users of AI in the world,” he said. — Bernama
Growth engine: An employee works on steel castings in a factory in Hangzhou, China. The country’s contribution to worldwide economic growth is approximately 30%. — AFP
IN today’s world, China occupies a pivotal position in the global economy, showcasing a unique combination of rapid economic growth, innovative strategies and global influence.
The country has evolved from a regional power to a global economic leader, making significant contributions to international affairs and economic development.
Through active participation in international organisations, development of extensive trade networks and investments in global infrastructure projects, China exerts a profound impact on the world economic system.
At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Chinese Premier Li Qiang articulated the key aspects of China’s economic policy and strategy.
He noted that China demonstrates sustained progress in economic development and exerts a significant influence on the global economy, serving as a vital engine of global development.
China’s contribution to global economic growth is approximately 30%, underscoring its central role in the world economic system.
Li also highlighted that China achieved an economic revival with an expected gross domestic product growth of 5.2% in 2023, surpassing the initial target of 5%.
Furthermore, Li pointed out that China is the only country covering all industrial sectors classified by the United Nations, and its added value in industry accounts for about 30% of the global level.
This testifies to China’s leading position in the global industry and its ability to stimulate worldwide productivity.
China’s active participation in international organisations underscores its commitment to multilateral cooperation and global responsibility.
The recent reelection of China to the United Nations Human Rights Council for the 2024-2026 term at the 78th session of the UN General Assembly marks a significant milestone, affirming its influence and commitments in international affairs.
This is the sixth time China has been a member of this crucial body, demonstrating its active role in advancing global dialogue and cooperation in the field of human rights.
Furthermore, the Belt and Road Initiative, which celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2023, stands as one of China’s most ambitious projects in global economic development.
The third forum of international cooperation under this initiative achieved 458 significant outcomes.
Chinese financial institutions allocated 780 billion yuan to finance projects associated with the initiative, facilitating the creation of close economic ties with numerous countries.
Chinese and foreign enterprises reached business cooperation agreements worth US$97.2bil, emphasising China’s role as a global economic partner and a bridge between various world regions.
China’s transportation infrastructure plays a critical role in its economic dominance. The country has established air connections with over 100 countries and regions worldwide, fostering stronger global connections and increasing trade.
The total tonnage of the fleet owned by Chinese shipowners amounts to 249.2 million gross tonnes, reflecting the scale of its maritime power.
These achievements, combined with leadership in cargo and container throughput at ports, underscore China’s strategic role in global logistics and trade.
China’s industry also exerts a significant influence on the global economy.
The country leads in many sectors, maintaining the world’s top position in industrial added value for the past 14 years.
This achievement is particularly notable given that China is the only country covering all industrial sectors classified by the United Nations.
With over 200 major industrial clusters, China boasts a large and diverse industrial system that contributes to the global distribution of production factors and enhances worldwide productivity.
The China-initiated South-South Cooperation Assistance Fund, with a capital of US$4bil, serves as a key tool in supporting international development and strengthening global partnerships.
Additionally, Chinese financial institutions are preparing to launch a special fund of US$10bil aimed at implementing initiatives for global development, highlighting China’s strategic role in worldwide economic progress.
Evidence of China’s growing economic power is also seen in the significant increase in foreign investments.
From January to September 2023, 41,947 enterprises with foreign investments were established in China, representing a 32.1% increase compared to the previous year.
This reflects the attractiveness of the Chinese market to international investors and its ability to draw capital from various corners of the world.
In conclusion, China’s contribution to the global economy is multifaceted and substantial. From active participation in international organiaations and global initiatives, to leadership in the industrial and financial sectors, China demonstrates its role as a global economic leader.
Social and humanitarian efforts, along with contributions to peacekeeping missions, further underscore its commitment to cooperation and sustainable development.
The reflections of these achievements in the speeches of leaders like Li Qiang underscore China’s strategic vision and contribution to shaping the future of the global economy. — China Daily/ANN
By Azerbaijan-based journalist Seymur Mammadov is a special commentator for China Daily. The views expressed here are the writer’s own.
Oppstar is one the few Malaysian companies in the front-end of the semiconductor industry, offering a full spectrum of IC design services. The chips we design play a prominent role ushering in a new era of digitalization and are used in various industries including telecommunication, consumer electronics, industrial electronics and automotive.
Oppstar was founded in 2014 by three IC design industry experts, with the vision to become a preeminent global Semiconductor brand in R&D.
“We would like to grow by double digits for our top and bottom line. our talent is our asset and our retention strategy is to pay them a competitive market rate.” Ng Meng Thai
WHILE Malaysia is known as having a strong base in the semiconductor industry, there are not many companies that operate in the higher parts of the sector’s value chain.
That is beginning to change, as a small number of companies are making a successful business out of designing integrated circuits (ICS).
IC designers, as they are called, design chips which are then tested out and manufactured by other parties.
One such IC designer in Malaysia is Oppstar Bhd, which is slated to be listed on the ACE Market in the middle of this month.
Its upcoming listing will see it raising funds mainly for the purpose of hiring more professional engineers.
This is a departure from the norm in the country’s public listing companies’ inclination where most of the funds raised would usually be channeled towards capital expenditure initiatives such as to build factory capacity or to acquire a fixed asset.
IC designers don’t need such assets as their value is in chip designing, which in turn is done by their engineering talent.
Investing in talent would help Oppstar expand its capacity to take on more projects and boost its competitive edge.
The company says it also aims to develop intellectual property (IP) assets with these new hires. The IP is meant to lead to additional income and at the same time improve its market profile.
In its prospectus, Oppstar says some of the IPS it aims to develop are for the RISC-V (or risk-five) based system on a chip. Such a system enables artificial intelligence and machine-learning applications to run on chips.
“These are technical terms in the industry but we can license these IPS separately or incorporate the IPS into future IC design projects,” Oppstar’s chief executive officer Ng Meng Thai tells Starbizweek.
The company would also like to expand into “post-silicon validation services” which would complement its IC design business.
The move would help improve its standing among its peers, says Ng, adding that all these plans would enable it to continue on its strong growth trajectory.
“We would like to grow by double digits for our top and bottom line. Our talent is our asset and our retention strategy is to pay them a competitive market rate,” Ng says.
Oppstar aims to more than double its engineering headcount to 500 from 220 presently and this effort would take up close to half of the funds or Rm50mil raised from its initial public offering (IPO).
Ng claims that demand for the company’s expertise is strong as it wants to expand its geographic reach to India, Singapore and Taiwan with the allocation of about a quarter or Rm25mil of the IPO proceeds.
“From time to time, we receive enquiries from customers. For the next three years or so, we would still need to continue to go out to find more customers to consume our capacity of 500 staff,” he says.
Its customers comprise integrated device manufacturers, fabless and fablite companies, electronic system providers and other IC design houses.
End-industries that require such expertise are the consumer electronics, telecommunications, industrial electronics and automotive sectors.
Its financials showed a gross profit margin of close to 60% and net profit margin of 33% in the financial year 2022 (FY22).
The company says its strong margins are driven by having turnkey design service projects, which command better margins when compared to specific design services.
As at the time of its prospectus issuance, Oppstar’s order book stood at Rm34.29mil, which mainly consists of turnkey design services and is expected to be recognised in the next 12 months.
With zero borrowings, Ng says the company will be in a good position to quickly capture opportunities and have these delivered to its bottom line immediately.
Notwithstanding that, retaining its talent that grants it its competitive advantage is key to its sustenance.
“We notice that younger talent are a bit different in valuing a job from what was considered as good 10 to 20 years ago, as workers then tend to value jobs from multinational companies (MNCS).
“Younger engineers surprisingly now would like to try all the different IC designs before locking themselves down in their career,” he says.
“If you go to an MNC, you would be focused on a very niche and narrow field in IC design. But since we have a broad customer base, our engineers will have the opportunities to experience a variety of design work.
“Also we have overseas customers as some 80% of our revenues are from overseas, so there are a lot of travelling opportunities for them as well,” Ng adds.
He points out that some 14% of the company’s public issue of new shares would be available for its eligible directors, employees and business associates who have contributed to its success.
“This would help us retain some of our talent for the longer term. Last year, we saw a low single-digit rate in the turnover of our manpower.
“The original team of the three founders that started the company have stayed on until now and we grew the employee count to about 220 currently,” he adds.
The company is also eyeing other growth opportunities such as through joint ventures and inorganic ones after its listing.
Xi wants country to rank among world’s best as strategic force in science
BEIJING: President Xi Jinping has set out a vision to develop China into a global hub for talented people and innovation, with steps to train and bring in more top-flight professionals to enable them to fulfil their potential.
Speaking at a central work conference on human resources – held in Beijing on Monday and Tuesday – Xi called for greater emphasis to be given to training talent and quicker steps to establish a competitive edge in human resources.
As China edges closer to the grand goal of realising its great rejuvenation, the nation is more eager for talented people than at any period in history, said Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission.
The country’s competitive strength and national development and rejuvenation hinge on the fostering of more talented people, he said.
Xi summed up key experiences of the nation’s work related to talent in eight areas, including adhering to the Party’s across-the-board leadership, following the strategy of talent-led growth and focusing on the forefront of global science and technology, the economy, the major demands of the country and people’s health.
He unveiled the nation’s goals in this area over the next 15 years..
By 2025, China will see a sharp increase in spending on research and development, secure important progress in developing a leading force in scientific and technological innovation, bring together more top scientists and have a large number of talented people in core technologies..
China will establish a talent system in keeping with high-quality growth and have stronger appeal to high-calibre talent globally by 2030..
By 2035, China aims to rank among the world’s top nations in terms of being a strategic force in science and technology and have high-calibre talent, he said..
The president proposed building a leading area for high-calibre talent in Beijing, Shanghai and the Guangdong-hong Kong-macau Greater Bay Area, saying that the nation’s high-quality resources should prioritise support for a group of national laboratories and new research institutions..
In deepening the institutional reform for talent development, Xi highlighted the need to give play to the role of employers in training and bringing in talented people and enabling them to fulfil their potential..
Scientists must be given greater say in deciding what technological routes to take, allocation of funds and resources, he said, adding that it is equally important to ensure that scientific and research programmes can yield outcomes..
Xi urged stronger efforts to train scientists and enable them to play a more important role, adding that it is important to find more scientific workers with broad horizons, strong foresight and judgment..
The role of national laboratories, research institutions, high-level universities and leading tech companies must be amplified to develop a large number of leading scholars and innovation teams, he said..
The nation must focus the strength of its talent policies on young specialists while enabling them to take major responsibility, he added..
China, with the world’s biggest higher-education system, is capable of training a large number of high-calibre talented people, giving rise to leading scholars, he said..
Higher-education institutions, especially top universities, must play a major role in training talented people in the areas of fundamental research, with measures to develop a host of training bases in fundamental science, he said..
Xi also underlined the need to give rise to more philosophers, social scientists and artists, saying that stronger measures must be taken to enhance international exchanges of talent. — China Daily/ ANN.
Botched Afghan retreat reveals an America struggling to contain China
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Unable to better China in positive competition and with military options unfeasible, the US can only fall back on the ‘moral high ground’. But in its hasty Afghan withdrawal, to focus on China, the US risks losing even this – Dr. Zhengxu Wang
The core of the Kylin computer operating system has been guarded as a national secret and its use in the country’s space programme has only just been officially confirmed.
Its main codes were written by Chinese military researchers, according to developer China Electronics Corporation (CEC), but it also includes elements of Unix-like software FREEBSD, parts from Linux, and a user interface similar to Windows.
It is a hybrid, like the mythical qilin dragon beast it is named after.
Speaking to state media, members of the Kylin development team revealed the role the operating system played in these missions, coordinating communication between artificial intelligence software, human controllers on the ground and all the hardware on board the spacecraft.
Until about a decade ago, China, like most other countries, relied on Linux and Windows to drive its space programmes, according to a paper published in domestic journal Space Industry Management last year.
From 2008, China’s space authorities started to replace Western software and hardware in satellites and spacecraft.
The process sped up after Edward Snowden’s revelations in 2013 about US hacking activities.
Kylin was one of the results – along with the Zhanxing, or Warring Star, system developed by the Chinese military’s space force, according to the paper.
Dan Jianqun, a lead scientist with CEC’S Kylin project, said China had no other choice but to develop its operating system.
“Using other people’s systems, to quote President Xi (Jinping), is like building a house on other people’s land.
“It can be large and beautiful, but it can also be destroyed overnight,” he said in an interview on state television.
The transition from western to home-made software was full of challenges, according to some of the software engineers involved.
Liu Jun, a software engineer on the Kylin team, said space missions required not only high security, but reliability and performance.
The Kylin OS system is used in China’s space programme. Photo: CCTV
Liu said Kylin was initially developed for computers on the ground.
To go to space, processing times on certain tasks had to be cut to less than a third, he told the state television.
“It was as difficult as compressing a packet of biscuits into a few grams without losing any nutrition,” Liu said.
The space mission sometimes also required the operating system to execute a specific task without being distracted by lower priorities, and many codes were written to meet these needs, said Liu.
Kylin’s first tests were demanding. No one had landed on the far side of the moon. And no country had put a rover on Mars without failure.
Liu Hongyu, another Kylin engineer, said the team was under extreme stress when these missions reached a critical stage. “We were just praying. When the spacecraft landed, the whole building rocked with applause,” he said. Kylin is now the most widely used operating system in the Chinese government and military, according to previous state media reports. When its first version was released in 2006, the system came under a lot of criticism for its poor user experience and its lack of compatible software.
But Kylin worked well with domestically developed computer chips such as the Loongson CPU. As the Chinese government began replacing Intel chips and Windows systems in the military, government, banks and other sensitive sectors, the Kylin user base grew rapidly.
But some challenges remained. One issue was hardware adaptability. China still used a lot of scientific equipment from the West and many devices were not compatible with Kylin. In addition, most software on the Kylin system is displayed in Chinese.
Any foreign astronauts planning to take up China’s offer to visit its space station will need to learn some Chinese or they will be confused by the characters on the screen of every Kylin device, including the tablets. – South China Morning Post
Go big in digital or risk being left behind. The government took full cognisance of this, which saw it roll out the Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint or MyDigital recently.
It dove deep into the national digitalisation journey since 1996 when the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) was initiated and picked up on several weaknesses to address before it went back to the drawing board.
The Covid-19 pandemic and its wrath further cemented the need for digitalisation efforts, not only for the economy to rebound post-pandemic but even more so to future proof the nation from any sort of further crisis.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed (pic below) said the pandemic has laid bare the weaknesses and the gap in the economic structure that has to be addressed immediately.
“Covid-19 affected the B40 more than the T20 and M40. We saw the impact from the MCO on micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
“The reality is, most of the traditional or brick and mortar business owners have to shut down because they were unable to generate any revenue for months but they still had to pay their workers and for rental. Most of them have low digital literacy and it is not easy for them to move into the digital economy quickly, ” he said in a 10-point question and answer on MyDigital.
Mustapa added that there was no other choice than to accept and adopt digital technology, where the agenda is to improve the quality of life of the people, to improve business productivity and to stimulate the country’s economic growth.
He said Malaysia is one of the countries with the highest Internet usage, far higher than Thailand and Singapore.
“During the pandemic, Internet data usage rose by approximately 30%. The government sees an importance in this in empowering the business community. Business sectors are expected to grow rapidly in line with global competition and this will give our local businesses opportunities to penetrate the global market to become even more competitive through digitalisation, ” he said.
From a macro perspective, the digital economy is expected to contribute 22.6% to the gross domestic product (GDP) by 2025.
MyDigital is also targeted to produce some 500,000 jobs in the digital economy and ensure that some 875,000 MSMEs adopt e-commerce.
For the people, the target is to achieve 100% of households with Internet access and for all students to have access to online learning.
Mustapa stressed on the importance of the blueprint in bridging the digital divide among Malaysians, between the urban and rural and between the young and old.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has raised our awareness that the adoption of digital technology needs to be expedited to protect our people from the risks of the digital economy. We are expected to see a change in the digital economic landscape towards improved digital literacy, creation of high-income jobs, a simpler and better organised banking and financial management, access to better education virtually, and the mobilisation of medical facilities to remote towns, ” he said.
For instance, Mustapa said one no longer needs to rent a shop to run a business and can do so entirely online using Facebook, Instagram or WhatsApp.
While digitalisation was not something alien to Malaysia, the minister noted that the digital foundation has to be further strengthened in a more aggressive and integrated manner.
There are three phases to the Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint – the first phase from 2021 to 2022 on accelerating adoption to strengthen the digital foundation, the second phase from 2023 to 2025 to drive digital transformation and inclusion, and the final phase from 2026 to 2030 to become the digital product manufacturer and digital services provider for markets in the region.
“The first phase places a holistic emphasis on data and digital intelligence as the lifeblood of empowering the digital economy in Malaysia.
“In the second phase, the government will look towards an inclusive digitalisation strategy where government efforts will be focused towards digitalisation engagement on a larger scale.
“This will also see the private sector empowered with human capital to encourage innovation in business areas such as the gig economy sector whereas phase three will chart the path for strong and sustainable growth in the coming decades, ” Mustapa said.
The government also hoped that the initiatives under MyDigital will serve as a catalyst for 5,000 new start-ups in the next five years and to attract unicorn companies to operate in Malaysia due to its tremendous spillover effect. A unicorn is a privately-owned start-up valued at over US$1bil (RM4.06bil).
When the unicorns perform well, Mustapa said this will contribute to the country’s cash flow and will also become the starting point to attract new foreign and domestic investments of some RM70bil into the digital sector.
“Old or young, urban or rural, or what your level of education or career is, the blueprint is for all of us. There’s something in it for everyone. I urge all Malaysians to grab the available opportunities and make the most of it. Together, we will be able to improve the standard of living of every Malaysian, ” he said.
China’s Tianwen-1 probe successfully entered orbit around Mars on Wednesday after a nearly seven-month voyage from Earth. http://www.cctvplus.com/news/20210211…
China’s Tianwen-1 Mars Probe to Prepare for Landing after Entering Orbit
China’s Mars probe Tianwen-1 will initiate the breaking sequence as it is approaching the Mars and expected to be “captured” by the planet around Thursday.
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Strong words are being hurled at each other but there is calibration in the cursing.
THERE’S this memorable anecdote in Mario Puzo’s crime classic, The Godfather, where the mafia don from New York sends his henchman to reason with a Hollywood mogul who is standing in the way of his godson getting a film role perfect for him in every way, except that he has alienated the studio big shot who now hates his guts.
Where words fail, more potent nudges are sometimes needed – in this case, a horse’s head placed in the studio chief’s bedroom while he is asleep, blood and reedy tendons included, did the trick. It persuaded the man that the favour requested, and declined, is serious business. And thus he yields, shouting invectives and threats at the actor and his Italian origins, the consigliere who had reached out to him with the initial contact on behalf of his boss, and the mafia.
But not a word against the Godfather, himself. Genius, writes Puzo, has its rewards.
There’s no special genius, and even less reward, in the acrimonious exchanges that are causing a tailspin in ties between the world’s two biggest military powers and economies.
If anything, it bespeaks dangerous brinkmanship as a once-overwhelmingly dominant hegemon confronts a resolute challenger now picking a cue or two from its own playbook on how to throw weight around.
Nevertheless, the curses the movie mogul held back from uttering came to mind as I checked around the region about the goings-on at the Asean Ministerial Meeting and related meetings with dialogue partners hosted earlier this month by Vietnam.
Perhaps the two warring sides were mildly cramped by the fact that the conference did not take place in a single hall but over video link. Even so, while both the United States and China did robustly put forth their positions, each seemed to be taking care to keep the attacks from getting too immoderate.
Indeed, the rare frisson, according to Asian diplomats privy to the talks, came when China’s Vice-Foreign Minister Luo Zhaohui, standing in for Foreign Minister Wang Yi, dropped an acid comment about “drunken elephants in the room”.
Faint light at the end of the dark tunnel of US-China ties? Maybe not. But then again, maybe.
Some cultures, particularly in Asia, teach their young that even insults have to be measured; if you spit up at a person high above you, the mucus falls back on yourself. If you do that to someone far below you, it is a waste of time to descend so low. Insults have to be exchanged between equals. But most important of all, never insult so completely that the door to a reconciliation is closed forever. Perhaps that’s what we are witnessing.
A real estate and casino mogul before he ran for his first elected office, which happened to be the US presidency, the New York-born and raised Donald Trump, whose most trusted counsel is close family, has ordered his administration to pile on his strategic adversary the most intense pressure seen in a halfcentury. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has enthusiastically fallen in line, as have his key deputies, including Max Pottinger. Other arms of US government such as the Pentagon have fallen in line as well.
In July, two aircraft carrier groups led by the USS Nimitz and USS Ronald Reagan conducted war games in the South China Sea, joined by subsurface vessels and nuclear-armed bombers. Technology links built up over decades are being torn apart like the wanton act of a child and within the US, the Federal Bureau of Investigation is putting Chinese nationals and Americans of Chinese ethnicity under unprecedented scrutiny.
Trump’s long arm has even snatched Meng Wanzhou, the powerful daughter of the Huawei founder, one of China’s most respected tech tycoons.
Chinese diplomats and media have pushed back, and unfeelingly for a nation where the virus was first identified, sometimes suggesting that the US could learn a lesson or two from Beijing on how to control a pandemic. Also mocked at have been the racial tensions and the rioting that have scarred the US in the wake of the pandemic and the resultant economic hardship.
Nevertheless, through it all, most of the US vitriol has targeted the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), not the Chinese nation.
In a landmark speech in July at the Nixon Presidential Library, Pompeo declared that the “free world must triumph over this new tyranny”. At the Asean forum earlier this month, he underlined US “commitment to speak out in the face of the Chinese Communist Party’s escalating aggression and threats to sovereign nations”.
This week, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs David Stilwell began his testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee by saying he was there to “discuss the threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party to the US and the global order” in three geographical regions, before going on to say that “it is now clear to us, and to more and more countries around the world, that the CCP under general secretary Xi Jinping… seeks to disrupt and reshape the international environment around the narrow self-centred interests and authoritarian values of a single beneficiary, the Chinese Communist Party”.
Just as the US has tried to separate the CCP from the Chinese people, Trump and Xi have been careful to not throw barbs directly at each other.
Indeed, Trump has claimed to have a “tremendous relationship” with Xi and he has described Xi as a “man who truly loves his country” and is “extremely capable”. He has also stressed that the two will be friends “no matter what happens with our dispute on trade”, and he also has spoken of his liking and “great respect” for China. On the other side, Chinese anger seems to be largely directed at Pompeo, rather than his boss.
At a recent panel discussion I moderated for the FutureChina Global Forum, I asked Professor Randall Kroszner, former member of the board of governors of the Federal Reserve System and who currently serves on the advisory board of the Paulson Institute, which works to promote US-China ties, whether he saw wiggle room for a patch-up after the election.
“Ultimately, there’s an understanding that major economic and military powers need to have connections, need to be able to talk and work with each other,” Prof Kroszner responded.
“There is a lot of manoeuvring and posturing that’s going on right now, but I don’t think anyone wants to burn any bridges. They want to make sure the bridges are still there, even if there are some blockades now.
“(That said) I don’t see those obstacles being removed right now.”
For now, of course, it does look as though things will get worse before they get better.
In July, the US shifted position on the South China Sea, proclaiming that it held as illegal all of China’s claims outside its territorial waters. This has emboldened some, Vietnam and the Philippines particularly, to be more assertive with China over the South China Sea dispute.
Still, some in Asean suspect a certain fakery in all this, a sense that a lot of the noise coming from the US is mere posturing. There are few illusions about China either.
Indeed, the lull in assertive Chinese behaviour in the South China Sea witnessed in the lead-up to the Asean ministerial meet and forums is generally seen as nothing more than temporary easing of pressure to get a “good meeting”.
Malaysian Foreign Minister Hishammuddin Hussein spoke for many when he said the South China Sea issue “must be managed and resolved in a rational manner” and Asean has to “look at all avenues, all approaches, to ensure our region is not complicated further by other powers”.
Indeed, some even think Trump is capable of doing a deal with Beijing the week after election day, should he win.
Already, the latest iteration of the TikTok deal is being called by some analysts as a watered-down version of what Trump originally sought to demand, something that had been on the table months ago, although it is not quite clear if China could live with it.
Likewise, it is not lost that China has held back on announcing its own blacklist of US firms – “unreliable entity list” as it is called, although its intentions were announced more than a year ago.
Beijing is said to be staying its hand to both not exacerbate tensions, as well as to wait for the US election results. While the document explaining the unreliable entity list is 1,500 characters long, the attached clarifications are double in length – suggesting much of this is shadow play.
If a deal needs to be made, the Pompeos and Pottingers can always be switched out and more moderate voices brought in; Trump does not shrink from letting people go. Indeed, given that he is said to harbour ambitions about a 2024 presidential run, it might even help Pompeo’s political career to be made a casualty of a rapprochement with China, so he can distance himself from the deal.
Still, it hardly needs to be said that Trump is capable of busting every code in the book, spoken or unspoken. With the election looming and his own standing in pre-election surveys not looking too promising, he let fly this week at the United Nations, returning to his “China virus” theme, boasting about three US-developed vaccines in Phase III trials, and the unprecedented rearmament of America under his watch. America’s weapons, he declared, “are at an advanced level, like we’ve never had before, like, frankly, we’ve never even thought of having before”.
Judging from Chinese media, Beijing read it for what it was; while made to a global audience, the speech was targeted at the domestic voting public. Nevertheless, it did not go without a response.
An editorial comment in the Global Times on Wednesday reminded Trump that the “hysterical attack on China violated the diplomatic etiquette a top leader is supposed to have”.
In short, never omit to leave that bit of margin for a future reconciliation.
by Ravi Velloor, is an associate editor at The Straits Times, a member of the Asia News Network (ANN) which is an alliance of 24 news media entities. The Asian Editors Circle is a series of commentaries by editors and contributors of ANN.
Trump’s speech jeopardized the atmosphere of this UN General Assembly, and threw the assembly’s theme astray. His hysterical attack on China violated the diplomatic etiquette a top leader is supposed to have. This means Washington elites do not take the UN into consideration and pay no heed to diplomacy.
Both Xi and Trump addressed the General Debate on Tuesday with pre-recorded videos. Xi emphasized unity and cooperation, while Trump mentioned China 12 times, making the country his most outstanding stunt. Judging from such different performances, it is easy to tell which side was more reliable. If the 21st century would finally become a century of divisions, the US ruling elites shall be regarded as the sinners of history.
As strong as the US is, it’s not a country that serves its people heart and soul. That’s why the coronavirus is so ravaging in the world’s most developed country.
This morning! Seriously warn the United States: China’s nuclear weapons are not for viewing! We are not afraid of things, but you are not qualified!
Wang Yi f>Uck trump and his dogs – SG Talk
Foreign Minister Wang was furious and seriously warned the United States that 2 million troops are ready at any time?
1. At the press conference, a reporter asked Wang Yi, a spokesperson for the outreach ministry: US President Trump wanted to send his own investigator to China to investigate the epidemic-related situation. If China has deliberate responsibility for the spread of the virus, Need to bear the consequences, do you have any comments?
2. Wang Yi’s answer: The virus is the common enemy of all mankind and may appear at any time and anywhere. Like other countries, China has been attacked by the new coronavirus and is the victim, not the perpetrator, nor the virus. “accomplice”.
At that time, H1N1 flu was first diagnosed in the United States and broke out in a large area, spreading to 214 countries and regions, resulting in the death of nearly 200,000 people. Has anyone asked the United States to compensate?
In the 1980s, AIDS was first discovered in the United States and quickly spread to the world, causing pain to many people and many families. Has anyone sought compensation from the United States?
The financial turmoil that occurred in the United States in 2008, Lehman Brothers went bankrupt, and eventually evolved into a global financial crisis. Does anyone demand compensation from the United States?
The United States must be clear that their enemy is a virus, not China.
3. Wang Yi went on to say: If Trump and Pompeo were not guilty of geriatric madness, then they should be clear that China is not the one that was allowed to be trampled on by the “eight-nation coalition”, nor is China even Iraq. Venezuela, not Syria, is not where you want to come, what you want to check.
China is not guilty, but you are not qualified, nor are you qualified! In the early stage of the epidemic, we took the initiative to invite WHO and Chinese experts to conduct a joint inspection in the epidemic area, and put forward preliminary inspection results on the outbreak and spread of new coronavirus.
The investigation request made by Trump is purely unreasonable and is a manifestation of hegemony. They override the United States above international organizations and all humankind, and it seems that only they can be trusted. But is the United States really credible? Iraq and Venezuela are a lesson.
4. We have to warn Trump that if we want to calculate China’s abacus, it is better to think about it. Because 1.4 billion people will not agree, China’s 2 million army is not a decoration, but China’s steel Great Wall. China’s Dongfeng missiles are not used to rake, but to fight dog jackals.
China’s nuclear submarines are not used to travel on the seabed, but to combat uninvited guests. Chinese nuclear weapons are not used to frighten anyone, but from self-defense. Anyone who wants to taste something, think about it, you tell me.
5. We want to warn Trump that if China wants compensation, it will count from the time when the Eight-Power Allied Forces invaded China, until the cases that Wang Yi has just proposed are counted together. You have to compensate the old historical accounts of China and the world.
6. Now China is in a very good position in the world, the first to control the new coronary pneumonia, the first to enter the stage of economic recovery, and now it is to increase horsepower to export anti-epidemic materials to the world, China is catching up with the total economy The time to go beyond the United States is also greatly advanced. This is unacceptable to Trump. The United States has been dragged into the quagmire by Trump. At this time, Trump wants to make China and the world feel better. Harmfulness is indispensable, anti-Trumping indispensability is absolutely indispensable, and wicked people have their own harvest!
I hope that every Chinese can turn this article out so that our China becomes stronger and stronger and support all patriotic groups.
by Ravi Velloor, is an associate editor at The Straits Times, a member of the Asia News Network (ANN) which is an alliance of 24 news media entities. The Asian Editors Circle is a series of commentaries by editors and contributors of ANN.
Rightways 