KUALA LUMPUR: This week's 'Beyond the Headlines' covers the recent car repossession syndicate reports by the New Straits Times Focus Team, detailing the scheme behind the organised crime that has plagued both the credit and used car industries.
Led by unscrupulous repossessors, these groups exploit bank records to repossess vehicles with outstanding loans. These syndicates then orchestrate the illegal sale of these seized assets at a low price.
The modus operandi of the syndicates is to put on a helpful front, assuring loan defaulters that their vehicles would be well cared for. And that this was an alternative to being blacklisted by banks.
Some would also offer to help find new buyers, promising loan defaulters the minimum amount of compensation.
The show also talks about the dual language programme (DLP) in schools for the teaching of mathematics and science and the recent protests by parents, following a sudden switch from English to Bahasa Malaysia in some schools in the Klang Valley. Special guest, Dr Ida Baizura Bahar, a senior academic from Universiti Putra Malaysia's Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication helps navigate this discussion.
Parents of Standard One pupils in four schools are up in arms as their children will have no choice but to learn Science and Mathematics in Bahasa Malaysia, instead of having the option of undergoing the Dual Language Programme (DLP).
They questioned the need for the Education Ministry to now push for "stricter" DLP conditions that require a minimum of one full class per school learning the subjects in Bahasa Malaysia (BM) as a "prerequisite" for DLP classes.
This requirement, seven years after the DLP started in 2016, has led to an overnight shift for some students, who are now required to study the subjects in BM instead of English.
In cybersecurity, the team delves deep into the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in manipulating digital content. In the age of 'deep fakes', video content going viral online is increasingly more prevalent. With technology advancing so rapidly, the laws in place to circumvent cyber crimes and production of fake or doctored digital content must be able to keep up too.
In light of the recent viral lewd clip of former Community Communications (J-KOM) Department director-general Datuk Dr Mohammad Agus Yusoff, which he claims was manipulated, the hard question remains; how do we ascertain the authenticity of digital content? Cybersecurity expert and AI researcher from Universiti Sains Malaysia, Associate Professor Dr. Selvakumar Manickam helps break down the issue, highlighting some key elements in regards to laws and precautionary measures to be protected against digital infringement.