In Malaysia's northern states, scorching temperatures are posing health risks and affecting daily life, including payment card functionality.

Across peninsular Malaysia, the heat is getting unbearable and posing health risks for many, and nowhere is this felt more sharply than in Kedah and Perlis, two northern states at the centre of Malaysia’s food-growing belt. Over the start of the Eid period last weekend, the scorching sun dampened the holiday mood during the festival marking the end of the holiest month in the Islamic calendar. Families are timing visits to avoid the fierce afternoon sun, farmers are watching paddy fields – known...