The International School of Kuala Lumpur (ISKL) has reported stellar results in this year’s  International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP). Results were released by the International Baccalaureate Organization on 5 July 2021. ISKL’s Head of School, Mr. Madani described the school’s results as “a testament to the hard work, resilience, and determination of our students, teachers, and administrators during especially challenging circumstances”.

ISKL continued its long-held tradition of outperforming the worldwide IB Diploma average score with students scoring an average of 37.1 points, four points above the global average of 33.02 points. ISKL’s 97 per cent pass rate was also well above this year’s worldwide pass rate of 88.96 per cent.

Eight students from ISKL were among the very top students worldwide to achieve a perfect score of 45 points, placing them in what is typically the top 0.3 per cent of IBDP candidates globally. A further 10 students scored 44 points and a remarkable 36.8 per cent of students scored 40 or more points compared with 17.8 per cent of students worldwide.

18.8 per cent of students earned a Bilingual Diploma in Danish, Dutch, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian, and Spanish.

ISKL is Malaysia’s longest-running IB World School and this year’s cohort of 144 students was the largest IB Diploma cohort since the school was authorised to run the IBDP in 1989. Mr. Madani noted, “It is a wonderful way to celebrate this milestone. Undertaking the IB Diploma is a major accomplishment and regardless of the score, we are proud of every student, the global citizen they have become, and the contribution they will make to the world. The IB offers a broad learning experience and opportunities to apply learning which are aligned with ISKL’s future-ready curriculum and educational philosophy”.

Mr. Madani said that faculty, staff, and administration were united in being proud of its students who have demonstrated continued resilience, agility, and determination. He also attributed the school’s success to the support and dedication of its IB Coordinator Ms. Ebony Manning, its team of highly experienced IB teachers, counselors, and administrators including High School Principal Jeff Farrington who was a 2021 recipient of the US-based National Association for Secondary School Principals Principal of the Year award. “We have an outstanding High School team who has acted exhaustively on behalf of our students’ best interests in a time of unprecedented challenge and uncertainty,” said Mr. Madani.

This year the International Baccalaureate Organization offered a dual-route for grading with schools in some countries by taking exams while others awarded grades via teacher assessment. ISKL advocated for its students to take IB exams and Ms. Manning said she believed this route will, “Help make a difference to students’ preparedness for university and beyond”.

Ms. Manning echoed Mr. Madani’s praise for ISKL’s students and teachers and also noted that in addition to doing everything possible to ensure its students could learn on campus whenever possible, “Our results also reflect the high quality of our online learning program which ensured our students experienced a seamless transition in their learning regardless of whether they were learning on campus or online. This is such a validation of ISKL’s successful management of learning under hard and ever-changing conditions”.

ISKL’s bespoke online learning program, ‘Continuous Learning’, was designed to deliver ISKL’s high-quality academic program and ensure the continued progress towards established learning targets as well as nurture student well-being. The online program, which is refined on an ongoing basis, is based on recent global research and the previous 20 years of educational research on online and blended learning before the pandemic.

At ISKL, academic pathways are designed to accommodate the needs of every learner enabling students to select the program that fits with their interests, abilities, and aspirations. These pathways reflect the school’s commitment to being an inclusive school that values diversity and empowers each student to succeed. High School students have the choice of either the IBDP which is offered on a non-selective basis or the innovative ISKL Pursuits Program which gives students the opportunity to combine individual IB, Advanced Placement, and other High School Diploma courses to create their own program of study and focus in a chosen area. Each of these two-year pathways provides a comprehensive, relevant, and challenging course of study that can be tailored to individual interests, strengths, and goals.

In addition to attending universities and colleges worldwide, ISKL students are well prepared to undertake work and service placements, gap years, and internships in Malaysia and around the world. To date, the Class of 2021 has received more than 300 acceptances and offers from over 130 universities in 12 countries including the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Australia, Korea, and Hong Kong.

The American Liaison Network (ALN) is a key component of the Embassy’s efforts to ensure the safety and security of U.S. citizens in Malaysia. The Citizen Liaison Volunteer (CLV) will have an important role in helping the embassy keep the U.S. citizen community informed and, in extraordinary circumstances, helping the embassy to deliver emergency services to U.S. citizens.

As a CLV, you are expected to be an active part of the U.S. citizen and CLV communities, maintaining regular communication with the embassy, as well as other CLVs, working together to continuously identify the needs and vulnerabilities of the U.S. citizen community in Malaysia.

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Microsoft Malaysia, the Social Security Organisation (SOCSO) and Junior Achievement (JA) Malaysia, have forged a partnership to upskill some 25,000 Malaysians targeting graduates and unemployed individuals, through the ‘Digital Skills for Tomorrow’s Jobs’ Programme.

The programme is in support of the Government’s MyDIGITAL and National Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) Policy to build future-ready digital talents including the development of 30,000 data professionals by 2025, well-equipped with in-demand skills required to thrive in an evolving job market.

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EY has outlined the key highlights of the following Indirect Tax updates as at 1 July 2021:

Remission of penalty for any outstanding Goods and Services Tax (GST) payments made between 1 May 2021 and 31 August 2021

The Royal Malaysian Customs Department (RMCD) has offered to grant remission of penalties to any company that remits the relevant outstanding tax and/or penalty payments to the RMCD during the period from 1 May 2021 to 31 August 2021, subject to the following prescribed conditions:

Application for the remission of penalty can be made via the Taxpayer Access Point (TAP) portal, through the “Request for Remission” link. Such applications are required to include the following documents:

► Application letter for the remission of penalty

► Proof of payment

► GST account statement prior to the repayment

Service Tax Policy No. 2/2021

The RMCD has recently released a Service Tax Policy No. 2/2021 (STP 2/2021) via the MySST portal, which supersedes Service Tax Policy No. 9/2020 (as amended) and provides clarification regarding service tax exemption on the provision of accommodation premises effective 1 July 2021, in accordance with the Program Strategik Memperkasa Rakyat dan Ekonomi (PEMERKASA).

The salient points of the Policy are as follows:

► The service tax exemption on accommodation services provided under Item (a), Group A: Accommodation, First Schedule of the Service Tax Regulations (STR) 2018 has been extended until 31 December 2021.

► However, the service tax exemption does not apply to other taxable services provided by the operator of accommodation premises, as stipulated under Items (b), (c) and (d), Group A: Accommodation, First Schedule of the STR 2018, for example, parking, food and beverage, and rental of venue, amongst others. As such, these services are subject to 6% Service Tax with effect from 1 July 2021.

► In addition, operators of accommodation premises are required to comply with the following:

► Invoices are still required to be issued, and the same should clearly indicate that the corresponding service tax is “0%” or “exempt”

► To furnish the respective SST-02 return within the stipulated timeline

► To indicate the total service tax exempted under Column 18(c) of the SST-02 return

► With respect to the accommodation services provided from 31 December 2021 to 1 January 2022, the service is exempted from service tax.

Amendments to the Indirect Tax Orders

We wish to inform you that the following Orders were published in the Official Gazette, whereby these Orders will take effect from 1 July 2021:

Customs Duties (Exemption) 2017 (Amendment) Order 2021
Sales Tax (Persons Exempted From Payment of Tax) (Amendment) (No. 2) Order 2021
Excise Duties (Exemption) (Amendment) Order 2021
Excise Duties (Exemption) (Amendment) (No. 2) Order 2021

The amendments focus on the following persons entering Malaysia who purchase exempted goods (subject to meeting the prescribed conditions):

► Any person entering Malaysia (other than Labuan, Langkawi, Tioman and Pangkor) through all modes, excluding air mode

► Any person entering Malaysia (other than Labuan, Langkawi, Tioman and Pangkor) by air mode

► Any person entering Malaysia from Labuan, Langkawi and Tioman

The amendments should apply to all the persons mentioned above, unless specified. With that, please find below the salient points of the amendments to the above-mentioned Orders, for your kind attention:

The full and complete version of the above-mentioned announcement and Service Tax Policy (only available in Bahasa Melayu at this juncture) can be found in the MySST Portal, while the legislations can be found in the Official Federal Gazette.