PETALING JAYA, April 30 —  The family of a Grup Gerak Khas (GGK) personnel from the 22 Commando Regiment, Trooper Abdul Hamid Talib, has urged the government to provide an explanation and conduct a thorough investigation into the severe injuries he sustained while at camp.

Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) adviser N. Surendran, who is also the family’s spokesperson, said at a press conference today that the family had yet to receive a reasonable explanation as to how the 25-year-old victim suffered such serious injuries, leaving him in a vegetative state.

He said the victim, who was previously healthy, was reported to have sustained severe injuries on March 11 while at a military camp in Mersing, Johor.

“The victim is currently receiving treatment at the University of Malaya Medical Centre after being transferred from several other hospitals,” he said during the press conference held at the LFL office here today.

Also present were the family’s legal representative Suzana Norlihan Alias, the victim’s mother Josmah Duim, 54, his brother Saifudin Talib, 30, and his sister Noreliana, 29.

Surendran said a police report was lodged by Saifudin on March 14, but there had been no significant progress in the case so far.

As such, he said the family wanted the Ministry of Defence and the leadership of the Malaysian Armed Forces to provide a comprehensive explanation regarding the actual incident, and also called on the police to carry out an immediate investigation.

“The family is also demanding that all officers and personnel involved be suspended pending investigations to ensure transparency,” he said.

Meanwhile, Josmah demanded justice over what had happened to her son, describing the incident as unacceptable.

“I sent my son in a healthy condition, and suddenly he ended up like this. I cannot accept it,” she said.

Petaling Jaya District Police chief Shamsudin Mamat, when contacted, confirmed that family members had lodged a second police report at the Petaling Jaya district police headquarters today. — Bernama

ISKANDAR PUTERI, April 30 — Johor Regent, Tunku Mahkota Ismail, today called on the federal government to expedite approval for a rail transit system that will integrate with the upcoming Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link.

He said the federal government must give urgent support and attention to such projects in ensuring seamless connectivity and to reduce the city’s traffic congestion.

“There is an urgent need to ensure that Johor is prepared to face the increased movement of people.

“I hope that all necessary considerations and approvals can be expedited to ensure that the public transport system in Johor is truly capable of supporting economic growth and the well-being of Johoreans,” he said when officiating the Johor state legislative assembly’s new session at the Sultan Ismail Building in Kota Iskandar here today. 

The RTS Link, scheduled to begin operations on January 1, 2027, is a four-kilometre (km) shuttle service connecting Bukit Chagar in Johor Bahru to Woodlands in Singapore.

Upon completion, the RTS Link will be the third land crossing to Singapore and is expected to further reduce the severe congestion that is experienced along the Causeway Johor.

With a peak capacity of 10,000 passengers per hour each way, the RTS Link aims to enhance cross-border connectivity and foster stronger Malaysia-Singapore ties.

It has a projected daily ridership of 40,000.

Once operational, it is expected to transform the commute for the 350,000 people who use the Causeway daily, one of the busiest border crossings in the world.

On March 12, Malay Mail reported that a light metro people mover (APM), similar to that of the Light Rail Transit (LRT), is the ideal solution for a rapidly growing mid-size city like Johor Bahru.

Malcolm Owens, an Australian public transport expert with four decades of experience in helping to design and operate metro systems in Asia, said that other systems proposed such as the Autonomous Rapid Transit (ART), while potentially costing less, was not cost effective and would not cope well with the traffic and passenger increases projected for Johor Bahru.

The LRT-style APM system is capable of loads of up to 10,000 to 30,000 persons per hour per direction, while the ART is only expected to be able to cope with 3,000-5,000.

APMs are already used across the Causeway in Singapore on its Sengkang and Bukit Panjang LRT lines, as well as more than 50 cities globally.

KUALA LUMPUR, April 30 — Hyperscale data centre platform company AirTrunk will increase its investment in Malaysia by up to RM12 billion this year, bringing its total committed investment to RM27 billion, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said.

In a Facebook post, Anwar said the matter was conveyed during a courtesy visit by AirTrunk founder and chief executive officer Robin Khuda and his delegation yesterday.

He said discussions also covered the progress of AirTrunk’s ongoing data centre construction in Johor, as well as efforts to develop a localisation framework to boost participation of local companies in the data centre value chain.

Anwar said the expanded investment commitment reflects growing investor confidence in Malaysia’s position as a competitive and capable regional digital hub.

He added that the development also underscores trust from global technology firms in Malaysia as a strategic partner, particularly as the government continues refining policies and strengthening capabilities in data centre development and operations.