With the last 2 months left in 2021, here’s a look at what new policies and big events are in store for you in November.
1. Public Holidays
There are 4 public holidays in November, of which only 1 is a national (except Sarawak) public holiday and the rest are state-specific holidays only.
November 4 (Thursday): Demon Festival (nationwide except Sarawak)
November 5 (Friday): Sultan of Perak’s Birthday (Perak only)
November 11 (Thursday): Kelantan Sultan’s Birthday (Kelantan only)
November 12 (Friday): The day after the birth of the Sultan of Kelantan (Kelantan only)
2. School Holidays
All primary and secondary schools are entitled to a 5-day Deepavali holiday from November 3 to 7. This year, Deepavali falls on Thursday, November 4. All state primary and secondary schools in the country (except Sarawak) will enjoy the Deepavali holiday from November 3 to November 7, 2021. Primary and secondary schools in Sarawak will only be entitled to a 4-day school holiday for Deepavali, which is from November 4 to November 7. This is because Deepavali is not a public holiday in Sarawak.
3. BKC Aid
The government will distribute the second phase of the BKC grant in November. Destitute families, destitute elderly people living alone and destitute single people will receive the grant in November.
Destitute families: RM500
Destitute elderly living alone: RM300
Destitute single person: RM300
4. GKP Grants
The second phase of GKP4.0 will be released in November. The Special Care Grant (GKP4.0) is a government assistance program to help micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) affected by the epidemic to tide them over the difficult times. Under the GKP4.0 program, beneficiaries will receive RM1,000, which means RM500 in September and RM500 in November.
5. i-Citra Distribution
The i-Citra for November will be distributed in phases starting from November 1! Members can check their bank accounts from November 1 to see if they have received their deposits. Given the sheer volume of money involved in i-Citra withdrawals, i-Citra payments will be released in a phased manner. It may take 1 to 3 business days for the payment to be credited to the member’s bank account, so members need to be patient and wait.
6. URUS loan assistance open for application
The Ministry of Finance announced that the government will launch the Financial Management and Flexibility Scheme (URUS), which will allow the B50 low-income group to waive 3 months of loan interest, reduce monthly installments by up to 24 months, and also reduce the interest rate on loans. Applications for this program will be open from November 15, 2021.
7. National Bank MPC Meeting
The National Bank will hold a monetary policy meeting in November to discuss whether to raise or lower interest rates! The monetary policy meeting will take place on November 2 and 3. The results of the meeting will be announced on November 3 at 3:00 pm.
8. Examination classes return to school en masse
The Ministry of Education has decided to let students in examination classes return to school en masse from November 8, instead of using the shift system. However, it will be limited to schools where the vaccination rate for students in the examination class is over 90%.
9. Northeast Monsoon
Malaysia will enter the northeast monsoon season in November, during which there will be four to six heavy downpours and possible major floods. Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang will have heavy rains from November to December. Johor, Sabah and Sarawak will have heavy rains from December to January next year.
10. High tides
The coastal areas along the west coast of the peninsula will experience a high tide from November 4 to 7, 2021. The affected areas include Kuala Muda, Perak, Selangor (Klang, Kuala Lengkak, Sabah Annam, Kuala Selangor) and Johor (Batu Pahat, Bumjung). When the high tide hits, it will be accompanied by strong winds, large waves and heavy rainfall, which may cause flash floods, seawater flooding and possible flooding in coastal areas.
11. Maybank Secure2u new measures
Maybank is gradually making Secure2u the preferred option for verifying banking transactions, and users will only be able to verify transactions via Secure2u when making transactions of a specific amount. Starting November 9, 2021, you will no longer receive SMS TAC when you transfer more than RM1,000, and from November 16, 2021, you will also be required to validate your transactions with Secure2u when using Maybank2u to purchase Prepaid Reload on your cell phone.
12. Double Eleven E-Commerce Day
The annual Double Eleven E-Commerce Day will be held on Thursday, November 11 this year.
13. Older phones are not compatible with WhatsApp
Phones that are still running older systems will likely face the inability to use WhatsApp. This includes older versions of iPhones and older versions of Android phones. This measure will take effect from November 1, 2021. iOS 10 is the minimum requirement for WhatsApp, which means that iPhone users with iOS 9 or older may not be able to use WhatsApp. The affected iPhones include the iPhone SE, iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus.
For Android phones, those running Android 4.0.4 or older may not be able to use WhatsApp, including Samsung Galaxy SII, Samsung Galaxy S3 mini, Huawei Ascend Mate, etc.
14. PTPTN
The government is offering a PTPTN discount of 10% for borrowers who participate in automatic payroll deduction or auto-debit, 12% for borrowers who pay half of their loan in one lump sum, and 15% for borrowers who pay the full amount of their loan in one lump sum. This offer is available from November 1, 2021 through April 30, 2022.
