The BodyMindSoul Festival which is currently taking place all weekend long (29 November 2019 – 1 December 2019) at the Setia City Convention Centre (SCCC) in Setia Alam and Edaran Tan Chong Motor Sdn Bhd (Nissan Malaysia) is conducting the Nissan Nurtures Nature (NNN) campaign as part of their efforts to ‘reconnect’ back with nature. (more…)
There’s a new marketing campaign for the all-electric Mercedes-Benz EQC and what a way to kick things off than by doing a collaboration with one of the hottest music acts today, The Weeknd. The teaser video was released a few days back gives us a taste of their full campaign which will start today on their website, www.mercedes-benz.com. (more…)
The Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations (FOMCA) and Child Passenger Safety Malaysia (CPSM) have raised several issues pertaining to the recently launched child restraint system (CRS) guidelines by the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS).
The two organisations say the guidelines are confusing to the consumers with regard to a MIROS QR Code being present on approved childseats sold in Malaysia. Upon checking by FOMCA with the Road Transport Department (JPJ), it was found that a component type approval (CTA) by the JPJ is enough to show that a child safety seat is approved as per safety standard. This leads to the question of the necessity of the QR code.
Parents hesitant about making purchases
There are currently no known child safety seats sold in Malaysia that come with the QR code and this is making parents hesitate about making purchases. “It is a counter-intuitive measure to introduce the QR code now when Malaysia is still at its early stage of introducing this new law and promoting the use of child safety seats,” a statement issued by CPSM said.
Nur Asyikin Aminuddin, a Senior Manager from FOMCA (above), deemed the guideline as misleading as it does not portray the views from stakeholders including independent bodies as well as the consumers. “MIROS, as a research body, is not a certification body. I hope that Standard Users will intervene with this issue as they are the national accreditation body,” she explained.
She added that JPJ and Ministry of Transport (MOT) should be the responsible bodies to endorse and make any guidelines and official announcement related to child safety seats. They should also publish the list of approved brands and models on their website that succeeded in getting the JPJ’s CTA and thus meet the required safety standards.
The MIROS collaboration with Lazada Malaysia
Another issue raised by FOMCA at a press conference yesterday was the collaboration of MIROS in the LAZADA Car Seat Assurance Program. FOMCA says that the collaboration is violating the Competition Act 2010 as it breached the rights of consumers, which is the right to choose. The program is restricting the market when it should be an open market. Crash-worthy child safety seats should be made available not only through one online platform.
The press conference was held after the graduation ceremony of 19 new certified Child Passenger Safety Technicians (CPST) yesterday. This number brings the total CPSTs to 66 in Malaysia, with the majority of them from retailers and distributors. The certification program, which started in 2018, is an annual training program with Safekids Worldwide as the certification body and CPSM as the co-organiser.
Creating greater awareness of CRS
The aim for the program is to increase the number of skilled and knowledgeable persons who will become the resource centres in their communities to relay updated and correct information with regards to selection and usage of child restraint systems.
Malaysia is in dire need of more personnel certified by a proper certifying body to cater for the growing awareness among the public. With that being laid out, competency of the agency in conducting any certification such as the Child Occupancy Safety Advisor (COSA) program was also being asked as the proper channel should be directed at utilising readily available resources such as Safekids Malaysia which is also in partnership with Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM).
CPSM, in agreement with FOMCA’s concerns, are both supportive of the new law. However, MOT was urged to provide clear direction and roles for its agencies in order to execute the law efficiently.
MIROS and Lazada Malaysia to work together on Child Restraint System Awareness
We’ve seen a lot of cool police cars from around the world (especially Dubai) but we never thought that someone will use a Ford Ranger Raptor for their country’s police-ing needs. That’s all about to change in the UK as police forces across the country are set to test out the Ford Ranger Raptor police car. (more…)
Following a 3-day group test in Sweden against 4 other nominees, the Ford Ranger emerged victorious in the challenge for the International Pick-up Award 2020 (IPUA). The latest Ranger with its technical and safety advancements, was up against the Mitsubishi L200 (Triton in Malaysia), revised Nissan Navara and Renault Alaskan, and Toyota Hilux. The Ranger, manufactured in Thailand, previously won the IPUA in 2013.
The fifth running of the biennial International Award for 1-tonne Pick-up trucks ‘was a very close run competition’, according to Jarlath Sweeney, Chairman, International Van of the Year Jury. Voted by 18 members of the International Van of the Year jury, just 6 points separated the top two contenders in the final tally. The Ranger scored 78 points to the 72 received by the Mitsubishi L200, with the Toyota Hilux coming in third.
“Jury members adjudged the Ranger to be the best all-rounder and noted that it’s a bestseller too, as the previous version together with this revised model dominate the European marketplace with almost 30% share of the IPUA 1-tonne segment. So the public recognize its merits also! Marks were allocated on each vehicle based on powertrain efficiencies, load volume and capability, driver and passenger comfort and safety aspects, as well as low total cost of operation from a business point of view,” added Jarlath.
Commenting on the ongoing success of the Ranger from both the press and public, Hans Schep, General Manager Commercial Vehicles, Ford of Europe said: “We are delighted that the Ford Ranger has been recognised by the IPUA jury for a second time, which is a testament to the enduring appeal of Europe’s favourite Pick-up. With its all-new powertrain and enhanced capability – not to mention the exciting new Raptor model – the Ranger is now moving the game on once again.”
Previous IPUA winners have been the Volkswagen Amarok V6 (2018), Nissan NP300 Navara (2016), Ford Ranger (2013, and Volkswagen Amarok (2011).
To test-drive or know more about the Ford Ranger that won the award, visit www.sdacford.com.my.
