What does Congress look at in this issue of "Count" review?
1. 66% of affordable homes sold to young people
2. The government calls on Facebook to remove nearly 250,000 harmful content
3. Child abuse cases fell by 50% compared to last year
Affordable housing scheme 66% of homeowners are young people
According to data released by Housing and Local Government Minister Ni Kormin in the House of Commons, as of September 30 this year, 66% (89,922) of the 136,779 affordable housing units developed by the State Housing Limited (SPNB) and 1MA Housing Agency (PR1MA) were young.
In addition, 104,081 units in the 166 Program Perumahan Rakyat (PPR) have also been completed, with 35.9% of homeowners between the ages of 31 and 40.
In order to enable more Chinese people to realize their dream of buying houses, the government continues to implement the "House Ownership Plan 2.0" (HOC 2.0), and enjoys stamp duty exemption for first-time buyers who purchase houses worth RM500,000 or less.
The authorities have also introduced relevant measures in the 2025 fiscal budget, including:
- Personal income tax exemption policy for home purchase : For first-time buyers who sign a house purchase contract from January 1, 2025 to December 31, 2027, the mortgage interest payment can be exempted from personal income tax. Among them, tax relief of up to RM7,000 can be obtained for purchases of houses worth less than RM500,000, and tax relief of up to RM5,000 can be obtained for purchases of houses worth more than RM500,000 to RM750,000.
- Mortgage guarantee: The government continues to provide mortgage guarantees up to RM10 billion, benefiting 20,000 home buyers.
- Building more affordable housing : The government allocates nearly RM900 million to implement 48 Program Residensi Rakyat (PRR) and Rumah Mesra Rakyat (RMR).
Child abuse cases this year are halved compared to last year
The Ministry of Women, Family and Social Development revealed in a written reply through Congress that as of August this year, there were 2,240 cases of child abuse in the country, a 50% decrease from 4,469 cases in the whole year of 2023.
Authorities divide child abuse cases into three categories: physical abuse, sexual abuse and emotional abuse. By the perspective of men and women, most male victims suffer physical abuse, while most female victims suffer sexual abuse.
In addition, cases related to child sexual crimes are classified into 14 categories, including rape, incest, molestation, child pornography, etc. In the first four months of this year, 2,059 related cases were recorded nationwide, while 5,401 were reported last year.
To strengthen the protection of children, the government has introduced several measures, including amending the penalty for Article 31 of the Children's Act 2001 (Parents and Guardians Negligent Care of Children), increasing the maximum imprisonment sentence from 10 years to 20 years, increasing the fine cap from RM20,000 to RM50,000, and forcing offenders to perform social service orders.
In addition, the Social Welfare Bureau launched the "Children's Care Program" last year, aiming to increase people's awareness of child protection through various publicity activities. As of November 5 this year, the program has been implemented in 327 schools, covering 174,079 participants.
Government calls on Facebook to withdraw nearly 250,000 content online gambling frauds
Communications Minister Fami said in the House of Commons that the Communications and Multimedia Committee (MCMC) this year asked Facebook to remove 91.6% of 249,268 posts from 249,268 were involved in online gambling and scams.
Regarding the authorities' actions that were accused of hindering freedom of speech, he stressed that the government can only make a request for content removal. Whether to remove the content will ultimately depend on the social media platform and a decision will be made based on community guidelines.
The minister also denied that the authorities asked social media platforms to remove content criticizing the government and added that anyone could file a complaint about online content to the Communications Commission.
“The Commission has neither noticed me nor confirmed before taking action, as they have the right to connect directly with these platforms.”
Data and data collection, writing, and drawing: Chen Liyang, Chen Chenghui
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