The Feasibility of Mandatory Vaccination Program Under the Malaysian Legal Framework for Education Sector

The spread of the COVID-19 virus has been halted partially due to the vaccination program around the globe. However, such initiation has been actively under attack by a portion of society that believes vaccination is not the way out of the pandemic. A similar notion of anti-vaccine has slipped through Malaysia, particularly in the education sector, as they refuse to be vaccinated. This has been contributed by the lack of legal provision that regulates vaccination in Malaysia. Based on the literature and scientific data on the effectiveness of vaccination programs in curbing the spread of COVID-19, this paper aimed to weigh the legal argument on the possibility of imposing mandatory COVID-19 vaccination in Malaysia’s education sector to eradicate this deadly disease virus permanently. This paper embarked on a comparative, doctrinal analysis methodology where secondary data were collected and analysed. Literature from primary and secondary sources such as the laws, guidelines, textbooks, journal articles, government reports, newspaper articles, and online sources from multiple jurisdictions was analysed. The outcome of such analysis is laid down in a narrative design in highlighting the importance of mandatory vaccination within the education sector. This paper proposed hard and soft approaches on imposing mandatory vaccination programs within the education sectors in Malaysia is highly recommended, considering that the benefits of vaccination outweigh the risk of eradicating COVID-19 in Malaysia

The Adequacy of Data Protection Laws in Protecting Personal Data in Malaysia

With the burgeoning technology, Malaysia has seen a staggering number of data breaches and data leaks within this past decade alone, with no signs of the trend decreasing. This has raised questions on whether the Personal Data Protection Act 2010 (PDPA) adequately protects the personal data of Malaysians. With the recent COVID-19 pandemic, data has been collected on a larger scale than before, with more frequent data leaks occurring. Hence, this study aims to analyse the adequacy of the PDPA by benchmarking it to the United Kingdom’s (UK) Data Protection Act 2018, which have seen a decrease in data breaches since the implementation of the new legislation. In this context, personal data refers to information processed or recorded that relates directly or indirectly to a data subject, who may be identified from the information and may include sensitive personal data. The study uses a doctrinal analysis methodology to best explore the ideas and concepts within the literature available regarding the protection of personal data. The study also employs a comparative analysis methodology by comparing the scope and application of Malaysian and UK legislation for benchmarking. The findings suggest that there are improvements to be made for the PDPA to be adequate