FMT News |  |
- Women’s issues trifling to Najib
- Long road to resolution of Philippine rebellion
- Why are the Malays running away?
- New rail stations in East Coast?
- MIC wants top posts for Indians in police force
- ‘BN govt does not care for Sabah’
- Bangladeshi workers protest over 6P scam
- Gurdon and Yamanaka win Nobel prize for medicine
- French lawyer: No Scorpene trial in France
- Luck, history line up against Alonso
- PAS, PKR bercanggah mengenai lokasi RAPID
- Three dead, 13 missing after shipwreck off France’s Mayotte
- Hamas, Islamic Jihad claim rocket fire into Israel
- Scorpene lawyers prepared to come but…
- USGS: 6.0 quake strikes off Mexico coast
- Georgia’s Ivanishvili names first cabinet
- From geek to chic
- Purge traitors from BN
- Eurozone meets to launch rescue fund
- MP accuses govt of enriching ‘crony’ Mydin
- George Soros bukan sekutu kami, kata Pakatan Rakyat
- Isu Pengerang: Penduduk hidu bau aneh
- Teluk Intan crematorium in limbo since 2006
- BN condemns attack on Youth chief’s car
- Indians know the truth, says Kula
- Bolt eyes ‘three-peat’ in Rio
- Indonesian volcano spews ash clouds in new eruption
- Medicine prize kicks off Nobel week
- Singapore union group sacks executive after racist post
- Iraqis look back into a royal past
- Bicara saman Shahrizat ke atas Zuraida ditangguh Rabu
- Investors can lodge reports against gold traders
- Bangkok’s river rides not to be missed
- Skipper: Sri Lanka not ruthless enough
- Azarenka outclasses Sharapova to take China title
- PKR Pahang perlu RM750,000 untuk PRU 13
- Migrants, church may end BN’s Borneo vote bank
- Cash strapped clubs must stump up deposits
- ‘Don’t break the temple, sack the priest’
- ‘Sell us your heirloom’ call slammed
- Anger over Perkasa’s use of state facilities
- KLIA 2: RM4b price tag justified
- Questions remain over gold raids
- Ex-DAP man’s criticism has Kok fuming
- ‘No need for EC to be under Parliament’
- Fight for change, PKR’s Chua tells Johoreans
- Obama jokes about poor debate at Hollywood fundraiser
- Chavez re-elected in Venezuela
- On the free market-type critique
- Djokovic wows Beijing with ‘Gangnam Style’ dance
| Women’s issues trifling to Najib Posted: 08 Oct 2012 03:53 PM PDT
It appears that the Suaram-initiated suit alleging prime minister Najib Tun Razak’s involvement in a multibillion dollar graft scandal has disturbed the premier’s equilibrium, so much so that it has left him ‘bewildered’ over the role of women’s movement in this country. On Oct 2, in his speech commemorating the National Women’s Day celebration, Najib who is also the Women, Family and Community Development Minister, dismissed the need for a women's right movement in the country, saying women have been treated equally "since the start" and that Malaysia was more advanced than others in that aspect. "In some developed countries, the men were allowed to vote before women but, in Malaysia women had the right to vote from the start," he had said. His flat-footed speech is testimony that women’s issues are of no significance to Najib. Had women’s struggles been of concern to him, Najib would never forget the struggles of the women’s right movement of this country which campaigned for 11 years for a domestic violence bill. He can ill-afford to discard the women’s right movement’s endeavour in seeking amendments to the Penal Code to ensure rapists are dealt with severely. Likewise, it was the women’s right movement that lobbied for sexual harassment to be recognised as a serious violation of a woman’s right besides seeking amendments to the Employment Act 1955 to ensure the 60-day maternity leave be increased to 90 days as recommended by the International Labour Organisation's Maternity Protection Convention 2000, to which Malaysia is not a signatory. It is also the women’s right movement that has time and again taken to task the sexist and chauvinistic members of parliaments. And it was the women’s right movement that paved the way for Malaysia to ratify the CEDAW (United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women) in 1995. The struggle did not end there. Six years later the Malaysian government agreed to amend the Federal Constitution to include ‘gender’ in Article 8 (2) i.e. no discrimination on the basis of gender. Najib’s disinterest in women’s rights has evoked the anger of WAO. Its executive director Ivy Josiah told FMT that there was still more work to be done by the women's movement, and that discrimination against the fairer sex continued to this day. "We are flabbergasted at this pronouncement as every day women experience discrimination – whether it is domestic violence, rape, divorce, getting child and wife maintenance, street crimes and harassment," said Josiah. She wondered who Najib's gender advisers were because discrimination against women continues. "Statistics and data that WAO and other NGOs have compiled have shown discrimination against women in child maintenance, divorce, rape and domestic violence. There is also an increase in female-headed households," Josiah added. How then did Najib arrive at the conclusion that women in this country have been treated equally and thus making the country more advanced in this respect is anyone’s guess? What is clear is that he, in his capacity as Women, Family and Community Development Minister, has not the foggiest idea of the struggles women in Malaysia face, both professionally and otherwise. Alarming arrogance It is an understatement to say that Najib’s Women’s Day speech was an insult to the womenfolk of Malaysia. It is alarming that the country’s leader has no knowledge of the state-of-affairs concerning women in this country. That explains why he has been and continues to remain indifferent to the cries of the Penan women and girls who suffer rape at the hands of timber loggers in Sarawak. Because Najib is utterly foolish in dismissing the need for a women’s movement in this country, it becomes necessary that he be ‘educated’ on women’s issues to understand just what a women’s movement is all about. Should he associate women’s movement with bra-burning, his shallow thinking reflects poorly on him. In April 2008, when an Umno MP and former Cabinet minister sexually harassed a five star hotel employee, did it rankle Najib, much less bother the prime minister?When the two men who had raped underaged girls were released on ‘good behaviour’ bonds, did Najib experience sleepless nights, troubled by the unfair and chauvinistic decision of the two judges who saw it fit to let the two rapists’ walk free? While Najib’s ignorance on this matter is unbelievable, just as shocking is the willingness of former Youth and Sports and later Tourism Minister and one-time Puteri Umno head, Azalina Othman Said to come to Najib’s defense a day after the premier was rapped for his ‘out of touch with reality’ speech. Azalina, the Pengerang MP, took the easy way out by claiming that Najib was misquoted and that he had meant something entirely different. "No, he didn't say it like that. What he meant was historically women have been participating for equal rights, even from the beginning," she had told reporters at the Parliament lobby. "The prime minister emphasised that so many women, especially from Wanita Umno, have participated aggressively. "Najib was trying to emphasise that in Malaysia, most of the community have accepted women's role and participation. What he's trying to say is that you don't need a quota when it comes to [women's] struggles. It's not an issue of quota. To be fair, you have to quote him properly," Azalina added. How did Azalina know what Najib really meant via his flabbergasting speech? Was she responsible for scripting his speech? Or was she doing her colleague a favour hoping for a quid pro quo, keeping in mind the looming 13th general election? A let down coming from a woman Syariah lawyer who has quickly taken advantage of the situation to play politics, all for the sake of reviving her political career. What an irony that Azalina whose political career nosedived in 2009, a year after Najib took over as premier, has failed to walk her talk, for she was once adamant that a woman prime minister for Malaysia is not a far-fetched dream. However, unlike Azalina, the opposition pact Pakatan Rakyat called a spade a spade by calling Najib "ignorant" for dimissing the need for a women's right movement in Malaysia. PKR Wanita chief Zuraida Kamaruddin described Najib's speech as an insult to women and "ill-advised". The Ampang MP said the prime minister was apparently unaware of Malaysia's poor rating in the Global Gender Gap index which ranked Malaysia at 95th among 135 countries, far below its regional neighbours like the Philippines and Thailand. Was it really an “ill-advised” speech by Najib or is the premier letting his ego do the talking? Jeswan Kaur is a freelance writer and a FMT columnist. |
| Long road to resolution of Philippine rebellion Posted: 08 Oct 2012 03:49 PM PDT
President Benigno Aquino raised hopes of ending the conflict when he announced the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) had agreed on a blueprint for achieving peace before his term ended in 2016. Under the plan, the MILF’s 12,000 soldiers would lay down their arms and the group would give up its claims for an independent homeland in the southern Philippines, in return for the creation of a new semi-autonomous Muslim region. However both sides acknowledged that many of the most sensitive points of contention still needed to be addressed, while experts questioned whether a final agreement could be implemented before Aquino stood down. “There are real differences between the two parties that they need to thrash out,” Rommel Banlaoi, executive director of the Philippine Institute for Peace, Violence and Terrorism Research, told AFP. “Meeting the deadline of 2016 will be difficult… the hardest part of the negotiations have only begun.” The MILF and other Muslim organisations regard the southern region of Mindanao as their ancestral homeland dating back to Islamic sultanates established before Spanish Christians arrived in the 1500s. The centuries-old animosities escalated in the 1970s amid a government crackdown, with Muslims taking up arms and establishing formal rebel groups. About 150,000 people have died in the conflict, most in the 1970s when an all-out war raged. The MILF is the largest and most dangerous rebel group left. The organisation has tried and failed to negotiate peace deals with previous governments, and its leadership remains cautious this time around even though it has confidence in Aquino. “This is just a preliminary agreement… there is much work to be done,” MILF vice chairman for political affairs Ghazali Jaafar told AFP. Among the most contentious points between the two sides that still need to be addressed is how to share the largely untapped wealth on offer in Mindanao. The region is one of the country’s most fertile farming areas, and is believed to have hundreds of millions of dollars worth of gold, copper and other minerals available for exploitation. Aquino said on Sunday that the people in the planned new autonomous region would have a “fair and equitable” share of its wealth, but gave no details. Basic law Steve Rood, Philippine country director for the Asia Foundation and a formal monitor of the peace talks, said he believed a final resolution was possible before Aquino stood down. “If I was to bet money, I would bet it can be done,” Rood told AFP, but said wealth sharing remained a major obstacle. “That has been one of the sticking points.” Another problem that has yet to be addressed is the MILF’s insistence on a constitutional amendment to give legal certainty to the autonomous region, and potentially give it more power than the government is willing to concede. Aside from the extent of power issue, Aquino’s government has resisted changing the constitution because of the difficulties in securing support from the majority Catholic public and politicians who represent them. Even without constitutional change, the national parliament will have to approve a “Basic Law” for the planned new autonomous region. The government is aiming for parliament to approve this in 2015, to allow enough time for implementation before Aquino stands down. Aquino, who is one of the most popular presidents in the country’s history, can convince enough MPs to approve the Basic Law, according to Rood and Banlaoi. But one concern is that if there are delays in the peace process the situation would be back to square one when a new president takes office in 2016. Under the Philippine constitution, presidents can serve just one six-year term. “If it is not signed by 2016, we may have another government that would have a new outlook to the problem,” Banlaoi said. -AFP |
| Why are the Malays running away? Posted: 08 Oct 2012 03:45 PM PDT
Luckily, Tengku Aziz got out in time from the DAP. We cannot expect greedy, ungrateful and dim-witted politicians like Anwar Ibrahim and Hadi Awang to do the same. Imagine, the country's dominant race losing its political power because of a few ungrateful and moronic Malays who are greedy for political power. Mahathir also warned that “Malay (opposition) parties who win the elections and form the government would have to follow the dictates of others (races). They will lose dominance in the government because of their willingness to share with others," he said in a special column titled ‘Suara Hati Mahathir’ published in Mingguan Malaysia. Yes, Umno has become weak since the last election. It can no longer dish out enough crutches for the Malays. And because of this the Malays are abandoning Umno in droves. Very soon, there will be very little Malay support left for Umno. For so long, Umno had been busy looking out for the Malays. It was focused and it created immense wealth and channelled it to their cronies to be dispensed to the Malay masses. But the Malays refused to save what they received, and spent every last cent of it. Today, many still wallow in poverty, and blame Umno for not doing enough to address their plight. Many have threatened to vote the Opposition if Umno does not arrest the situation. From farmers, civil servants to taxi drivers, everyone is crying out for handouts or else! Some are lazy, lack intelligence and plain greedy and will sell their souls to the highest bidder. Umno has been too kind in the past, and relented to their demands. But Umno's superb handling of the economy, even under such tremendous pressure is commendable, as it managed to do its bit for the Malays while suppressing the national debt from ballooning to a mere RM500 billion. Most governments in other countries would have gone bankrupt by now. Is it a surprise, that the 2013 budget sees more goodies for everyone, especially the Malays? Malays can continue to wallow in despair A national organisation to unite the Malays, Umno had always put the Malays first. It has even invited other races to become Bumiputeras as long as they abide by its constitution. Thus far there has been lukewarm response from the Chinese and the Indians. It has even offered citizenships to legible foreigners who could speak Bahasa Malaysia and be loyal to the Malay cause. What more has Umno not done for the Malays? Today, many Malays are blinded by religion, greed and power, so they join the opposition because they feel that Umno is less Islamic than PAS. PAS refuses to join Umno to jointly implement an Islamic state, but rather cohabit with the opposition, so that they can gain more power to rule, rather than to play second fiddle to Umno. And yes again, the Malays simply have to see through the insignificant corruption, and support Umno and its leaders, who are sworn to protect the Malays from themselves. At least with Umno, the Malays can continue to wallow in despair until one fine day, they can evolve into more productive humans without the fear that the Malay power base will be eroded. Today, Umno is populated by the best Malay minds in the world, superior intelligence beyond compare and you can find them in the likes of Rais Yatim, Ibrahim Ali and Zahid Hamidi. It will be a waste if these leaders are not given more time to work their magic. Imagine the horrific scenario, if Umno loses. What will become of the great leaders like Najib and Muhyiddin, Mahathir, Taib Mahmud and Shafie Apdal? The young Hishammuddin Hussein, Khairy Jamaluddin and Mukhriz Mahathir, who are slated to carry on the torch as future Prime Ministers of this land? Who will take care of the Malays? Who is going to protect the royalty and who is going to uphold the religion? Pakatan Rakyat is too preoccupied with a Malaysian Malaysia and would sell out the majority to please the minority. Bumiputeraship will lose its meaning and lustre. The Malays would become ordinary citizens like everyone else. And imagine if the Malays would have to compete on a level playing field without the NEP, it would take another 200 years before they are on par with the rest of the races. Even the Sabahans and Sarawakians have overtaken the Malays on their home ground. So, Mahathir's wake up call is timely and the Malays should wake up from their slumber to vote with their heads and not with their hearts. He even took pains to remind the Malays of how the British during colonial times had called us lazy and stupid and enslaving us in our own country. See, how times have changed? Today we have several towering Malays in the likes of Taib Mahmud, Daim Zainuddin and Syed Al-Bukhary who through blood, sweat and tears managed to eke out a simple existence. Today, they have a combined worth of nearly RM100 billion and a shining example for other Malays to follow in their footsteps. At least the Mamaks are sober But unlike them and in pale comparison, Mahathir who led the country, struggled liked a workhorse for the Malay Agenda, only retired with meagre savings even after 22 years in power. And like other Malaysians, he still has to be miserly and bargain to ensure that his precious savings last him into his golden years. But that did not stop him from chiding the Malays to get their butts moving, and to seek knowledge, and most important to ensure that Umno gets to rule for another century or more. After all, through his eyes, the Malays are the rightful heirs of this country. The opposition promises to reduce car prices, highway toll, food prices, electricity and water and free education will not benefit the Malays in the long run. The Malays already enjoy subsidies on home purchases, scholarships, and guaranteed places in the universities, so why be taken in by Pakatan Rakyat's wishful promises? According to Mahathir, Malays took on menial labour jobs like drivers, orderlies, clerks or office boys during colonial times. Their incompetence in holding responsibility, led to the import of Chinese and Indians to solve this problem of the Malays being stupid and incompetent. Today, the Malays are much better off compared to yesteryear, and even if some of them reside in wooden tin shacks, with leaking roofs and one meal a day, they can console themselves that they are still first class citizens, that they still have a roof over their heads and no hungry tummies. After all, our religion has taught us not to succumb to worldly treasures, but to build up treasures in heaven. But, we must continue to protect our fine leaders, so that they can continue to protect the master race, religion and the royalty from disintegrating. Losing Malay dominance would be an insult, even though it is not likely to happen under Pakatan rule, but Umno cannot simply lose face. PAS and PKR Malays are too inexperienced to handle the intricacies of ruling a Malay majority nation. It would be stupid of the Malays to vote Pakatan, just because the opposition promises a better country, a colour blind Malaysian Malaysia, or a corrupt free government. Raced based political parties simply cannot disappear overnight as they are still needed to unite this nation. Not only Umno, but MCA and MIC still needs the peoples’ support to continue existing and to champion the peoples’ cause! Voting them out unnecessarily, would see a lot of potential politicians without a steady job or income to fend for their families. So while, the ungrateful Malays with a bone to pick are deserting Umno, at least the Mamaks (Indian Muslims) are sober enough to see through the smoke screen and to stick with Umno. As long as BN wins the next election, racial and religious conflict would disappear in the blink of an eye, for at least another five years. So, why gamble away Malay rights for the sake of a better nation, individual freedoms or human rights? A tour guide, trained pilot and naturalist, Iskandar Dzulkarnain has been writing for a few years now. |
| New rail stations in East Coast? Posted: 08 Oct 2012 04:01 AM PDT
At least that is what it looks like in a fuzzy image (see below) in the final draft of the National Public Transport Masterplan released last week. The document is also available on the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) website. Called the East Coast Rail Route (ECRR), the line may start at one of three locations in Selangor—the Integrated Transport Terminal (ITT) Gombak, Batu Caves or Serendah. It will then enter Pahang, stopping at Bentong, Mentakab or Temerloh, Maran and Gambang before going to the upcoming Kuantan Sentral station and then onwards to Kuantan Port City. After this, it will go into Terengganu, stopping at Kemaman, Kertih, Paka, Dungun, Ajil, Kuala Terengganu, Penarik and Kampung Raja. Finally, it will move into Kelantan, visiting Tok Bali, Jelawat and Kota Bahru before terminating at Tumpat, about 9km from the Thailand-Malaysia border. The document does not say if the line will be serviced by high-speed carriages or if it will be managed by Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM), which is owned by the Finance Ministry. Tumpat is also where KTM’s 526-km single-track East Coast Line ends. Most Malaysians living on the East Coast have been depending on its roads to get around. Good for the environment Secondary lines—called “spur” lines—leading to industrial spots are also anticipated. “The enahnced transport efficiency enabled by this rail project is expected to improve the East Coast Economic Region’s (ECER) connectivity with the West Coast, thereby boosting investment and economic growth,” the masterplan said. “By 2024, it is expected to carry some 37 million tonnes of freight annually.” Engineering consultants HSS Integrated had recently conducted a RM29 billion feasibility study on this proposal rail link for the government. On its website, HSS Integrated stated that the East Coast Economic Region Development Council (ECERDC) had established that a rail route connecting all the major ports, business centres and towns in the East Coast was vital to achieve growth to the East Coast of Peninsula Malaysia. HSS Integrated was then appointed to conduct the feasibility study of the proposed route and to determine a preliminary alignment that will best serve the East Coast. A recent Bernama report cited Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak as announcing that the first stage of the rail would span 109km from Kertih to Kuantan. It also hinted that industrial areas such as the Gambang Halal Park, Kemaman Supply Base and Kuantan Port would be linked through this railway.
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| MIC wants top posts for Indians in police force Posted: 08 Oct 2012 03:30 AM PDT
Youth chief T Mohan said a top ranking police officer such as the DIG would help to reduce crime among Indians. “Even though the Home Ministry has agreed to recruit more Indians to the police force, it will not satisfy the community, if Indians are not promoted to higher positions,” he told reporters at the MIC headquarters here. Mohan said that Indian police personnel had in the past held top positions in the police force. “But, the situation has changed now. Indian youths are reluctant to join the force because they feel there is no future for them in the force,” he added. He also called upon the Defence Ministry to do more to recruit Indians into the armed forces. In another development, Mohan invited Indian youths for a special recruitment exercise to join the police force and the army. The selection process will be held on Oct 14 at the La Salle Brickfields secondary school. |
| ‘BN govt does not care for Sabah’ Posted: 08 Oct 2012 03:30 AM PDT
Lajim, who is Beaufort MP, also indicated his support for the opposition after he had remained quiet over his political leanings since he quit the government, applauding Pakatan Rakyat’s promise to raise oil royalty payments to 20%. Sabah is rich in oil and contributes some RM22 billion of oil revenue annually but enjoys a mere 5% return in royalty while government allocations to the state, one of the poorest in the country, is said to be comparatively low. Lajim’s insinuation of support for Pakatan could see BN taking on a united opposition in the Sabah. In his speech during the 2013 Budget debate in parliament, Lajim said the ruling coalition had failed to bring development in the state. Compared to the 85% rate of completed paved roads in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah has only 35%. Connectivity is a key issue in the state which is why Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak had announced increased allocations for road projects there. But the former deputy minister, who was among the few other Sabah leaders who recently defected following disillusionment with the Najib administration’s failure to address the problems in Sabah, said none of the promises have been fulfilled so far. “For 55 years BN have ruled and Sabah had contributed so much to the Malaysian economy since then but still it is one of the poorest state in the country. “This shows that Sabah and Sarawak are never the government’s priority despite us being the fixed deposit for the ruling coalition. The Sabahan people have been sidelined,” he said. Other Sabah BN leaders had also admitted recently that more must be done to improve the socio-economic situation in the state but so far none of them have been upfront about who is to be blamed for Sabah’s underdevelopment. A Merdeka Center survey released on Friday showed that 57% were dissatisfied with the state’s economic performance and only 56% of Sabah voters were satisfied with the state government, a 6% drop from 62% in November 2009. The report also showed a significant drop in the state’s chief minister Musa Aman’s rating. From 60% in November 2009, it dropped to to 45% in September. The decline was most marked among Muslim-Bumiputera voters who are the backbone of the state's Umno support, with a drop from 72% in November 2009 to 51% last month. Analysts believe the recent defections in the state will alter the state’s and the national political landscape there, suggesting BN will face some hurdles in its stronghold in the upcoming polls. Also read: Migrants, church may end BN's Borneo vote bank |
| Bangladeshi workers protest over 6P scam Posted: 08 Oct 2012 03:11 AM PDT
They want the commission to pressure authorities to bring the Akhwan Group of Companies, owned by a Bangladeshi, to book for failing in its promise to get them registered under the 6P amnesty programme. Accompanied by local workers NGO Tenaganita, the picketers, some holding placards that read, ‘We've paid for 6P, why aren't we legalised? Where are our permits?’, said they have been left in a lurch without their passports which is being held by the company. Tenaganita’s executive director, Irene Fernandez, said the workers had lodged numerous complaints to the police, immigration department and the Bangladesh embassy but to no avail. She claimed the number of victims who had fallen to the scam was estimated to be 5,000, all of whom had their passports withheld by the Akhwan Group of Companies.
When asked if he would demand the authorities to act against Akhwan or to get back the passports for the workers, he said: "It depended on the outcome of discussions." Blacklisted Irene asked how Akhwan obtained 11 biometric equipments to put the workers’ names in the national data system despite the company not being on the Home Ministry's 6P agents list. She also claimed that Siraju Amin, the man behind Akhwan, was blacklisted by the Malaysia government for malpractices in recruiting Bangladeshi workers in 2007. "Reports have been made against his company, why is he still free?" she asked. Selangor Anti-Human Trafficking Association representative Abdul Aziz Ismail claimed police had refused to open a case on the matter.
Meanwhile, one of the workers, S Rubin, claimed that he saved up the RM4,000 levy required by the company for over a year. "Because I could not produce my passport, I’m unable to get a job and also not able send money to my family for eight months now. I have been living on friends' help," he said. Another worker Yusof Safuurathman said he was afraid to go out because the police might arrest him as he is without a passport. |
| Gurdon and Yamanaka win Nobel prize for medicine Posted: 08 Oct 2012 02:50 AM PDT
“These groundbreaking discoveries have completely changed our view of the development and specialization of cells,” the Nobel Assembly at Sweden’s Karolinska Institute said in a statement when awarding the prize of 8 million crowns ($1.2 million). Medicine is the first of the Nobel prizes awarded each year. Prizes for achievements in science, literature and peace were first awarded in 1901 in accordance with the will of dynamite inventor and businessman Alfred Nobel. - Reuters |
| French lawyer: No Scorpene trial in France Posted: 08 Oct 2012 02:37 AM PDT
Yves Charpenel said the media in Malaysia should be able to distinguish between rumours and facts, and between investigations and a trial. “I am aware about all the fuss kicked up by certain media (organisations) in Malaysia over this matter but what I can say is that this is nothing more than a trial by the media,” he told Bernama here today. Charpenel, who was a former head of prosecution in France and now a state prosecutor and an executive member of the International Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities (IAACA), was here to attend the four-day IAACA conference and general meeting which ended yesterday. Following a complaint filed in 2009 by Suaram, a Malaysian human rights non-governmental organisation (NGO), that a French company had allegedly paid bribes to a Malaysian firm for the submarine deal, he revealed that two independent “investigating judges” started their investigations earlier this year. Charpenel said that in France, as in other countries practising the rule of law, all investigations were done in absolute secret. He said, it was anybody’s right to file a complaint and due to the secret nature of the investigations, some resorted to complaining to the media. He explained that for specific cases in France, the Justice Ministry would ask an independent judge, called an “investigating judge”, to investigate. “He is just an investigator. This is an old system that started from the Napolean era. If the investigating judge wants someone to come to Malaysia, he has to ask from your government because we have what is called the Treaty of Mutual Legal Assistance. And the Malaysian government can say ‘yes’ or ‘no’. It has to be decided by the Malaysian authorities. “A French investigating judge cannot take his luggage, take a plane and go to Malaysia and ask someone to answer his questions. It is impossible, it is against the French law and it is also against international law,” stressed Charpenel. In April this year, local opposition politicians here had even called for Malaysian officials to testify in Paris or risk being ostracised in the European Union. “A trial is a trial with all the rules. Investigation is another thing,” said Charpenel of the misinformation generated by certain news portals over allegations that a trial was already underway. Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi also said over the weekend that the Auditor-General had declared the Scorpene deal was done in accordance with legal procedures. -Bernama |
| Luck, history line up against Alonso Posted: 08 Oct 2012 02:35 AM PDT
A collision there, when Kimi Raikkonen drove into Alonso’s Ferrari and caused him a puncture, eliminated the Spaniard from the race — and left defending champion Sebastian Vettel free to win and cut his lead from 29 points to four. If that was not a bad enough omen, Alonso will know that only one of the last 17 winners of the Japanese Grand Prix prior to Sunday’s race did not go on to win the title — Ferrari’s Rubens Barrichello, in 2003. With five races remaining, and such a flimsy lead to protect, Alonso remained admirably defiant on Sunday night, but all around him were drivers warning that he faces a tough challenge to win his third world title. Vettel, the title-winner in 2010 and 2011, became the first man this year to reel off back-to-back wins as he sauntered to success at Suzuka and proved that he has gained momentum at just the right time. “It’s going to be very tough to hold on to Sebastian,” said Briton Jenson Button of McLaren, the last man to win the title before Vettel established his hegemony. “His lead has gone, but that’s not all. It’s also very tough for him because the Red Bulls are so fast now. Ferrari are pretty quick but not as quick as Red Bull.” Alonso’s misfortune was his second in four races in a season of otherwise almost flawless consistency, and both of his unscheduled early exits were the result of mistakes by other drivers. He was eliminated in Belgium last month by Romain Grosjean of Lotus, who was branded a “first-lap nutcase” by Red Bull’s Mark Webber on Sunday after shunting the Australian just after the start. Alonso refused to talk to the media immediately after his exit. But he later said: “It was a shame. It is always sad when you cannot do the first corner, but we need to concentrate and think about next week. “We need to keep working well and not making mistakes. Nothing we can do. Thanks to this consistency we are leading the championship. The others make mistakes, we need to avoid this.” His Ferrari team chief Stefano Domenicali echoed the Spaniard’s sentiments. “For us, the most important thing now with five races remaining is to stay really rational and not fall to the worst enemy of the team — which is pressure,” he said. Meanwhile Vettel was careful not to be drawn into any unwise predictions. “Obviously this was an important win and an important step, but there is a long way to go,” he said, when asked if he was now favourite for the title. “You don’t wish these things on people. It’s a long season and you don’t know what’s going to happen. It could be us in the next race. “We have seen this year there is a lot of up and down and things can change quickly so we have to keep our head down and go step by step and not think too far ahead.” -AFP |
| PAS, PKR bercanggah mengenai lokasi RAPID Posted: 08 Oct 2012 02:31 AM PDT
Naib Presiden PAS Salahuddin Ayub berkata, tidak timbul sebarang masalah jika RAPID diteruskan, dengan syarat tidak menjejaskan 10 perkampungan di Pengerang. “Kami (pembangkang) bukan menolak projek mega, tetapi setiap projek harus diteliti dengan terperinci agar nasib rakyat tidak terpinggir akibat daripada arus pembangunan. “Johor negeri yang luas maka Petronas boleh bangunkan projek RAPID di Pengerang atau pun mana-mana tempat di situ,” katanya dalam sidang media di lobi Parlimen hari ini. Namun, kenyataan itu bercanggah dengan PKR yang mahu Rapid dipindahkan ke loji penapis sedia ada di Kerteh, Terengganu. Pengerusi Biro Pelaburan dan Perdagangan PKR, Wong Chen dalam sidang media minggu lalu berkata kos RM60 bilion boleh dijimatkan sekiranya Petronas menggunakan lojinya di Terengganu tanpa mengorbankan penempatan penduduk Pengerang. Mengulas menganainya, Salahuddin yang juga Ahli Parlimen Kubang Kerian berkata itu hanya pendapat peribadi Wong namun mempertahankan pendiriannya itu atas ‘restu’ Pakatan Rakyat. Beliau sekali lagi menyatakan kesediannya untuk berdialog dan akan menghantar surat jemputan kedua kepada Menteri Besar Johor Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman. “Kalau enggan berdebat tak mengapa tapi dialog ini saya akan bersama beberapa pakar pembangunan hartanah, industri minyak dan gas sama-sama duduk semeja bagi membincangkankannya supaya penduduk tidak menjadi mangsa,” katanya. |
| Three dead, 13 missing after shipwreck off France’s Mayotte Posted: 08 Oct 2012 02:23 AM PDT  MAMOUDZOU, (France): Three people were dead and 13 missing today after a boat carrying illegal immigrants capsized in the Indian Ocean off the French overseas territory of Mayotte, the local prefect’s office said.Eight others survived the accident on the boat, which had departed from the Comoran island of Anjouan, about 100 kilometres from Mayotte. The boat capsized 300 metres off the coast and the search was continuing for other potential survivors, the office said. Such accidents are common in the area, with several in the last few months including a shipwreck on September 8 that left six dead and 27 others missing and one in July in which seven people died and four went missing. Mayotte is part of the Indian Ocean archipelago of the Comoros. While the three other islands chose independence from France in 1975, it opted to remain under French rule. Many Comorans hoping to find work or medical care in Mayotte board rickety fishing boats to attempt the risky voyage, often foundering on coral reefs. Some two-fifths of Mayotte’s 200,000 inhabitants are thought to be illegal immigrants. - AFP |
| Hamas, Islamic Jihad claim rocket fire into Israel Posted: 08 Oct 2012 02:20 AM PDT
“In response to the injury of civilians in the most recent strike on Rafah, the Qassam Brigades and the al-Quds Brigades fired a number of rockets at enemy military positions,” Hamas’s Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades armed wing said in a statement. Israeli police spokeswoman Luba Samri told AFP today that a barrage of more than 20 rockets hit Israel early today, causing very light damage and no injuries. The remains of “19 rockets were found in the Ofakim area, specifically near the Eshkol regional council. All rockets landed in open areas, and one home was damaged by shrapnel,” she said. In addition, “three rockets were found in the Kerem Shalom area, they caused no injuries or damage,” Samri said. The rocket fire came after an Israeli airstrike on the southern Gaza city of Rafah early yesterday evening. The strike targeted two men belonging to a Salafist militant group, the Israeli military said, accusing the men of being involved in planning attacks on Israelis. The men were critically wounded in the strike, which also injured eight others, including children. Today morning, Ashraf al-Qidra, spokesman for the Hamas health ministry in Gaza, said that tank shelling east of the Gaza city of Khan Yunis had injured three people, including one in a serious condition. - AFP |
| Scorpene lawyers prepared to come but… Posted: 08 Oct 2012 02:19 AM PDT
Lawyers William Bourdon and Joseph Breham have accepted the invitation of Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim to brief the Malaysian parliament on the latest status of the infamous Scorpones trial. "They are expected to arrive (in Malaysia) by the end of this month," Anwar told FMT after attending the general election PKR campaign function held yesterday near Gopeng. Earlier, Anwar had told the large number of PKR supporters that he had just returned from Paris after attending a seminar meeting there and he had also met the two lawyers. Contacted later, PKR vice-president Tian Chua said: "They have to first apply for their Malaysian visas (before entering the country) and we hope that the federal government will cooperate and approve their visas." He also said that a similar invitation to lawyer Olivier Metzner representing the French naval firm DCNS has been sent out but he has yet to respond to the request. It was reported in a news portal that in an invitation letter dated Oct 2, 2012, Anwar had written to the two lawyers for their presence to update the country's lawmakers and Malaysians on the latest findings on the Scorpenes trial which is of great national importance. However, it was reported that the two French lawyers want an assurance form Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak's government that they will not be deported or be subjected to physical harassment and intimidation. This condition comes after the government in 2011 deported Bourdon when he flew to Malaysia to brief his client Suaram. Earlier this year, the NGO's legal team was forced to meet their client in Bangkok amid concerns of similar harassment by the Malaysian authorities. Najib and Umno have been accused of obtaining illegal kickbacks in the federal government's RM7.3 billion acquisition of two Scorpene submarines from DCNS. As the then defence minister, Najib had sealed the deal in 2002 and the submarines were delivered to Malaysian waters in 2010. Although Najib had denied the allegation, Suaram had gone to Paris to file a corruption complaint in 2010. For taking the controversial issue to court, Suaram is allegedly facing harassment from the BN government over its administration of funding. |
| USGS: 6.0 quake strikes off Mexico coast Posted: 08 Oct 2012 02:17 AM PDT  WASHINGTON: An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.0 struck off the Mexican Pacific coast late yesterday, US researchers said, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.The epicenter of the quake, which occurred at 11:26 pm Sunday (0626 GMT today), was located in the Gulf of California 73 kilometers southwest of the Mexican town of Topolobampo, the US Geological Survey reported. The earthquake reading was based on the open-ended Moment Magnitude scale used by US seismologists, which measures the area of the fault that ruptured and the total energy released. - AFP |
| Georgia’s Ivanishvili names first cabinet Posted: 08 Oct 2012 02:14 AM PDT  TBILISI: Georgia’s Bidzina Ivanishvili announced his first cabinet today after his Georgian Dream coalition’s shock parliamentary election win over President Mikheil Saakashvili’s once dominant ruling party last week.Ivanishvili named Maia Panjikidze, a former ambassador to the Netherlands, as foreign minister in the next government which is expected to be formed later this month. He named his close ally Irakli Garibashvili as interior minister, and Irakli Alasania, a former ambassador to the United Nations, as defence minister. Former AC Milan football star Kakha Kaladze was also named as minister for infrastructure and regional development. “It will truly be a people’s government,” Ivanishvili told a news conference. Alasania and Kaladze will also serve as deputy prime ministers, he said. Ivanishvili, the billionaire tycoon-turned-politician, expects to become prime minister in the next government, although he will have to be nominated to parliament by his defeated rival Saakashvili, who is set to remain president for another year. Georgian Dream could hold 83 seats in the next parliament with Saakashvili’s United National Movement taking 67, according to the latest unfinalised figures from the central election commission after last today’s poll. - AFP |
| Posted: 08 Oct 2012 02:05 AM PDT
The trend is also huge in Asia. Some credit the fashion forward Japanese for the birth of the fad. In the land of the rising sun, where rules of fashion often obscure the line between real and surreal, lens-less – or fake – glasses have much to do with coordinating an outfit and finishing the wardrobe. Much like a bag pulling the final look together. They are matched to anything from their bags to shoes and even hairstyles and the colour of their hair. .
One fan says the frames are great to cover up her dark circles during those times when she doesn't have time to put on make-up. Others like the way the glasses provide them with a look of intellect. At least, ex-supermodel Helena Christensen thinks so – admitting in a magazine interview recently. After all, who can resist a smart girl, right?
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| Posted: 08 Oct 2012 02:00 AM PDT
It also wants the top BN leadership to bar these traitors from rejoining any other component parties with the coalition. The party further cautioned BN component parties against supporting leaders who were guilty of wrongdoings or have made mistakes. Speaking to delegates at LDP’s Tanjung Kapor division annual general meeting, its deputy president Senator Chin Su Phin, said: “As far as LDP is concerned, there is no place in BN for traitors and they must be sacked and not allowed to rejoin any of the component parties. “We (also) cannot continue to give our support to leaders who have committed mistakes, otherwise the people will use their voting right to teach us a lesson during the election." Facing a tempestuous 13th general election, Chin said it was imperative that the top BN leadership take a firm stand on the issue. In the 2008 general election, LDP faced a host of such problems in a few state constituencies. Going into the GE13, LDP is priming itself for tougher fights in all three state seats – Tenom, Kudat and Sembulan – allocated to it. It is also hoping to be allocated six ‘new’ seats – two parliamentary seats of Tawau and Sepangar and the state seats of Luyang, Likas, Elopura and Tanjung Papat – under the Sabah Sabah Progressive People Party (SAPP)’s quota. SAPP was once a BN partner but pulled out of the coalition in 2009. In July this year, party president VK Liew had reportedly said that he hoped that the BN leadership would be fair to LDP, the longest serving Sabah BN component party, in respect of the distribution of the six seats. “Although we have a better local standi to demand for the seats, we also acknowledge that other BN component parties are also interested to put up their candidates. That’s why we appeal to the BN leadership to be fair to the LDP,” Liew said. Unresolved issues In the 2008 elections LDP won all its three state seats with a comfortably majority. It also won the sole parliamentary -Sandakan – seat it contested. Liew won the seat by polling 8,297 votes against DAP’s 8,121. But going into the next general election, LDP alongwith its partners faces a rapidly rising opposition, simmering discontent over government policies, religious issues and rivalry within BN. Said Chin: “There was a lot of back-stabbing then (2008). (At that time) we even submitted a full report to the BN leadership (on the matter) but no action has been taken against the traitors. (This time) the leadership cannot afford to tolerate leaders who go against the coalition.” He added however that recent assurances from Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and his deputy Muhyiddin Yassin that the top BN leadership would not tolerate traitors or saboteurs had given the LDP hope. Chin also pointed out the need for BN component partners to stand together on issues affecting Sabahans. “I won’t deny there are still some issues that have not been resolved. But let me assure you that LDP will continue to speak up in the hope of attracting government’s attention and help find a solution to the issues. "But sadly whenever LDP speaks up on any issues with the genuine intention of seeking resolution, none from the other component parties have the guts to come out and support us. "Needless to say, all BN component parties must stand together so whatever issue or shortcoming can be resolved for the benefit of the people," he said. |
| Eurozone meets to launch rescue fund Posted: 08 Oct 2012 01:58 AM PDT
Finance ministers of the 17-nation euro bloc gather just 10 days before the EU’s 27 leaders meet in Brussels, with recent market calm giving them some breathing room after months of turmoil and anxiety over Spain’s future. The meeting will see the formal launch and inaugural board meeting of the European Stability Mechanism, a key step forward in the eurozone’s defences against the debt crisis which has help push the bloc back into recession. At the same time, the economic landscape is not encouraging, with recent data showing Europe back in recession and threatening to slip further into the doldrums. EU officials said on Friday that they do not expect Greece to get the green light, either in Luxembourg or at the October 18-19 Brussels summit, for the resumption of its drip-feed bailout after differences with its EU, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund creditors. The EU, IMF and ECB, the so-called “troika”, have been locked in discussions on more austerity with Greece which insists it has done as much as it can and now needs more time to meet the targets required. Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said on Friday that the country could not take more tough medicine and if its next aid instalment worth 31.5 billion euros ($40.6 billion) did not arrive soon, then by November state coffers would be empty. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is due in Greece on Tuesday and her visit may allow some easing of the tensions which have built up but the October summit comes “considerably too early” to resolve the problems, a senior EU official said on Friday. The position has become more complicated after eurozone hardliners Germany, the Netherlands and Finland questioned commitments made at a June EU summit, which notably agreed that the ESM would be able to recapitalise banks directly once a single banking supervisor was in place, potentially by the end of the year. The three said the ESM should not be used to help banks bailed out before it became operational — a stand on ‘legacy assets’ which must have been “very unwelcome” for Spain and bailed-out Ireland, another EU official said. In the run-up to the eurozone and EU finance ministers’ meeting in Luxembourg on Monday and Tuesday, Spain has been in the spotlight over whether or not it would ask for a bailout, thereby activating the ESM and action by the ECB. The ECB has said it will intervene, buying up government bonds to bring down their borrowing costs but only if a member state first asks the ESM for help — which will also come with conditions for reforms. Spanish Economy Minister Luis de Guindos said on Thursday that Madrid did “not need a bailout at all” and insisted that the government’s tough austerity policies were putting the country on the right track. Official briefings on Friday all suggested that finance ministers did not expect any imminent developments on Spain as Madrid’s latest austerity package showed the country was “going in right direction.” At the same time, the recent easing of strains on the financial markets, in part due to the ECB’s stance, mean “market conditions are totally distant from any need for a full, macro-economic adjustment programme,” one official said. -Reuters |
| MP accuses govt of enriching ‘crony’ Mydin Posted: 08 Oct 2012 01:42 AM PDT KUALA LUMPUR: A DAP leader has accused the Najib government of enriching crony Mydin Mohamed Sdn Bhd (Mydin) through subsidies purportedly aimed at standardising consumer goods’ prices in the Kedai Runcit 1 Malaysia (KR1M) stores. Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua said Mydin as operator of the stores in east Malaysia with Peninsular Malaysia would enjoy RM87 million in subsidies to open up 57 outlets, a move that could wipe out competition there.
That means each new outlet would get RM1.53 million or close to a 100% more than the cost of opening a store in the peninsular. Pua questioned Putrajaya’s move not to extend the help to all stores in the two states instead of just Mydin. The assistance meant Mydin would be given the “monopolistic” right to sell items at a cheaper price. “The question remains as to why is it that this benefit will not be extended to all other shops in Sabah and Sarawak offering these 'basic necessities'. “Since the RM386 million grant and subsidy is given only to Mydin, the government is in effect killing off Mydin’s competitors – from big hypermarkets to small mom-and-pop shops,” he told reporters at Parliament. The DAP national publicity chief also pointed out that the Najib administration had allocated more money for Mydin than the subsidy given for sugar which was considered an essential consumer good in Malaysia. Mydin managing director Ameer Ali Mydin last Friday denied that the company was monopolising the KR1M outlets. |
| George Soros bukan sekutu kami, kata Pakatan Rakyat Posted: 08 Oct 2012 01:20 AM PDT
Perkara itu sama sekali ditepis pemimpin veteran DAP Lim Kit Siang yang menyifatkan Mahathir takut kepada Pakatan Rakyat. “Dia paranoid,” katanya ringkas kepada pemberita di lobi Parlimen di sini hari ini. Sementara itu, Setiausaha Publisiti Kebangsaan DAP Tony Pua berkata Pakatan sama sekali tidak mempunyai kaitan, malah tidak mengenali individu bernama Soros. “Dia (Dr Mahathir) tidak lagi relevan dalam konflik ini kerana ia hanya kata-kata seseorang yang telah nyanyuk,” katanya. Ahli Parlimen Petaling Jaya Utara itu berkata, kenyataan Dr Mahathir itu hanya mencemarkan nama baiknya sendiri sebagai negarawan dimata rakyat. Takut bayang-bayang “Pakatan berpendirian tegas mengutuk tindakan kejam Yahudi ke atas rakyat Palestin. Jadi bagaimana beliau boleh kata sebaliknya pula,” soalnya. Naib Presiden PAS Salahuddin Ayub pula menyifatkan Dr Mahathir seperti takut kepada bayang-bayang sendiri apabila menjalin persahabatan dengan Soros semasa menjadi Perdana Menteri dahulu. “Negara kita tak menerima sebarang bentuk penjajahan asing dan kita sama sekali tak akan mengizinkan isu Soros berbangkit,” katanya. Manakala Ahli Parlimen DAP-Klang Charles Santiago berkata Dr Mahathir tidak telus mempertahankan kedaulatan negara daripada ancaman Yahudi apabila membenarkan Malaysia menandatangani Perjanjian Dagangan Antarabangsa (FTA). Menurut Charles, dibawah perjanjian itu Malaysia boleh diheret ke mahkamah antarabangsa oleh firma gergasi antarabangsa yang dikuasai Amerika dan Kesatuan Eropah (EU) jika wujud sebarang pelanggaran persefahaman yang dimeterai. “Kalau Tun nak timbulkan pasal isu kedaulatan beliau sepatutnya menghalang negara daripada menandatangani FTA,” katanya. |
| Isu Pengerang: Penduduk hidu bau aneh Posted: 08 Oct 2012 01:12 AM PDT
Kejadian berlaku kira-kira jam 12 tengah hari dan bau tersebut cuma semakin hilang pada pada jam 6 petang Rabu lalu. Selepas membuat penyiasatan, ahli-ahli Jawatankuasa Gabungan NGO Pengerang mendapati penduduk di Kampung Jawa, Kampung Batu Mas dan Pekan Sungai Kapal terhidu bau aneh tersebut. Menurut penduduk, mereka ternampak sebuah kapal yang berhenti di luar persisiran pantai Kampung Jawa, pada masa yang sama angin meniup ke arah barat daya, menyebabkan kapal tersebut disyaki sebagai sumber bau tersebut. Beberapa orang pekerja penambakan Syarikat Dialog Group Berhad juga berkata, kira-kira jam 1.30 petang hari tersebut terdapat sebuah ambulan hospital swasta telah keluar dari tempat penambakan. Pihak berkuasa, terutamanya Jabatan Laut perlu membuat penyiasatan terhadap bau aneh tersebut untuk mengetahui sama ada sumbernya adalah dari persisiran Sungai Kapal atau dari tempat lain. Pengerusi Gabungan NGO Pengerang Anis Anifah berkata, sejak projek penambakan Dialog Group Berhad di persisiran Sungai Kapal, terdapat banyak khabar angin bahawa kerap berlaku kemalangan industri sehingga ada yang meragut nyawa pekerja. Beliau mendakwa, kemalangan terakhir meragut nyawa projek penambakan ini berlaku pada bulan Julai yang lalu. "Jabatan Keselamatan dan Kesihatan Pekerjaan (JKKP) perlu bertanggungjawap terhadap apa yang berlaku di kawasan penambakan, di mana penjelasan terhadap perkara ini terutamanya terhadap penduduk amatlah diperlukan untuk mengelakkan khabar angin terus tersebar, sehingga menyebabkan panik di kalangan penduduk", katanya. |
| Teluk Intan crematorium in limbo since 2006 Posted: 08 Oct 2012 01:07 AM PDT
Drawing attention to the matter was the Teluk Intan MP, DAP's M Manogaran, who told FMT that political rivalry and management infighting had prevented any progress in the construction since it was halted in 2006. The project stopped because the Registrar of Societies (ROS) deregistered the committee overseeing it—the Hindu Sabha Hilir Perak—for allegedly mismanaging its funds. A pro-tem committee took over, but it too failed to get construction up and running, leading to its eventual disbanding. Manogaran said he tried to get the project going again after he won the Teluk Intan seat in 2008, but found it "very difficult to get the factions together”. It was not until March 2009, he said, that he finally got the groups to sit at a meeting, but only to see more feuding, bringing things to a standstill. Progress apparently became more difficult after the Perak state government fell to Barisan Nasional later that year, causing the factions to ignore Manogaran because he represented Pakatan Rakyat. Hindu Sabha Hilir Perak had intended to build the crematorium as early as 1997. Work started two years later, after the land was gazetted. But the site is now in a state of neglect. The grounds are strewn with building materials and the adjacent cemetery is choked with weeds, annoying the local Hindus to no end. “I am under pressure," Manogaran said. "People are asking me when this is going to be resolved. They are angry and disappointed that this has been going on for the past seven years.” ROS recently recognised a new Hindu Sabha committee, apparently headed by local MIC chief P Periyasamy. Manogaran said that the federal government gave this committee a grant of RM300,000 late last year so that the project could resume, but he said Periyasamy was reluctant to get things going because the funding fell short of the RM1.2 million needed to complete the job. However, according to the MP, the Teluk Intan locals were more than willing to contribute to the project’s completion. “But I've been told that some people don’t want this to take off while I am still the MP. There is this long-standing issue that this shouldn’t be resolved during an opposition MP’s term.” EGM next month Periyasamy confirmed to FMT that his committee had received the federal government’s money and said he would call for an extraordinary general meeting next month. “It will involve all the committees,” he said. He denied that Manogaran was being sidelined, saying he was aware that the MP had promised his full support and would raise donations for the project. He agreed with Manogaran that infighting in the previous committees made things difficult. He was trying to change that, he said, and was hoping that work on the crematorium would resume six months after the EGM. |
| BN condemns attack on Youth chief’s car Posted: 08 Oct 2012 12:53 AM PDT
Describing it as a political motivated, state BN chairman Teng Chang Yeow said the culture of vandalism and verbal abuses started to rear its ugly head only after the last general election. He said that these acts were done to intimidate local BN leaders, especially critics who dared to expose Pakatan Rakyat state government's many wrongdoings and mismanagement. A defiant Teng said that BN leaders would not be cowed by such intimidations and would continue to check and balance the Pakatan government without fear. He said such political culture did not exist when BN was ruling Penang pre-2008, adding that there was peace, diplomacy and decency then. "Such incidences and verbal abuses were never heard of before 2008," Teng said today.
"We have talked to Oh and found that the acttack had nothing to do with his personal work. It's politically motivated," he told newsmen at the state BN headquarters. Oh's car was splashed with red paint and both windscreens smashed yesterday. The incident occurred when Oh went to a clubhouse in Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah to meet some friends at 2.50pm. Oh, who had lodged a police report at the Jalan Patani police station, said he was told that two individuals on a motorcycle threw paint on his car and smashed the windscreens. Politics of fear Teng said the state BN would sponsor Oh’s repair bill, estimated to be RM10,000. The incident followed last month’s incident where a Gerakan service centre in Pulau Tikus was splashed with coffee and eggs. Prior to the incident, the Penang DAP headquarters and six service centres of party assemblymen, including Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, were splashed with red paint. The attack was preceded by another incident where a BN war truck – a mobile ceramah platform – parked at the state Gerakan headquarters, was also splashed with red paint.
"We regret that such an incident had taken place. In a parliamentary democracy like Malaysia, everyone is entitled to his political beliefs and to support any political party. "But please do not resort to using such desperate measure," Goh said in a statement. Goh, who is also Barisan Nasional Batu Uban coordinator, also lamented the "politics of inculcating fear" against rivals. Goh said Oh had been vocal in highlighting issues and problems affecting Penangites, including the sale of Taman Manggis state land. "Political rivals can have differences, arguments and quarrels until the cows come home. But we must be civil and show respect to our detractors," he added. |
| Indians know the truth, says Kula Posted: 08 Oct 2012 12:53 AM PDT
"The people are not stupid. They know the truth," said Ipoh Barat MP M Kulasegaran at the Parliament during the debate on Budget 2013. Yesterday, Tamil dailies published an advertisement comparing the allocation made for Indians in Budget 2013 as opposed to Pakatan led states’ programmes for the community. Calling it a desperate attempt, Kulasegaran said it was ridiculous for those behind the advertisement to compare a federal budget to a state budget as the latter had lesser resources. "Budget 2013 involves RM250 billion. Do you think state governments has that kind of money to offer? BN leaders are bankrupt of ideas," said Kulasegaran. Touching on allocations to Tamil schools, the DAP leader said that the federal government should not boast about it in advertisements. "That is your responsibility. You are supposed to provide adequate allocation to all schools in Malaysia because they are all our children," he said. He also poured cold water on the government’s offer to give 1,000 matriculation places to bright Indians students, saying many did not receive the offer despite being qualified. "Prove to me 1,000 places were given Indian students in recent years," said Kulasegaran. In June, a former MIC branch chairman VT Rajen pointed out that many bright Indian students were left out in the selection for the matriculation programmes. "Despite the community asking for a list of students offered matriculation seats, MIC president G Palanivel had failed to disclose the information," Rajen reportedly said. Cheap propaganda Meanwhile, PKR vice-president N Surendran also criticised the advertisements, calling it blatant dishonesty on Najib’s part. "The point is most of the problems faced by the Indian community over the past several decades has been happening under BN’s rule. "So for him to come out and pretend that he is doing better than Pakatan shows his complete dishonesty," he told FMT. Surendran was also confident that the Indian community would not fall for such "cheap propaganda and plain lies". "We can expect more such proapanda to appear in the media as the genereal election draws closer but the mainstream media will not carry advertisements from the opposition," he added. |
| Posted: 08 Oct 2012 12:49 AM PDT WELLINGTON: Jamaica’s Usain Bolt vowed Monday to defend his Olympic sprint titles in Rio but, buoyed by the West Indies’ World Twenty20 triumph, declared that cricket was his “first love”.
“Rio is about going and defending my titles,” the reigning 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay Olympic champion told reporters during a visit to New Zealand. “I don’t want to try any different events at Rio because at Rio I will just defend my titles to show the world that there is a possibility that I can do it again — to do the three-peat, that is the focus.” Speaking a day after the West Indies overcame Sri Lanka in the World Twenty20 final to claim their first world title in 33 years, Bolt said he loved cricket. “It was my first love but I don’t play much now. The only time I play now is with my brother,” said the runner, who played junior cricket before turning to track and earlier this year flirted with playing in Australia’s domestic Twenty20 league. “If I wasn’t in athletics I would probably have a career somewhere else in sport,” he added. -AFP |
| Indonesian volcano spews ash clouds in new eruption Posted: 08 Oct 2012 12:46 AM PDT  JAKARTA: One of Indonesia’s most active volcanoes has erupted again, spewing clouds of ash, an official said today.The 1,580-metre Mount Lokon on northeast Sulawesi island erupted at 2pm (0700 GMT) yesterday with thunderous sounds heard as far as five kilometres away. “Lokon has been quite active the past few months. This was the seventh biggest eruption since mid-September,” government vulcanologist Farid Bina told AFP from the volcano’s monitoring post in North Sulawesi province. “It produced a loud sound like thunder. But we cannot detect the height of the eruption as thick clouds covered its peak,” he said, adding that muddy rains fell in surrounding areas. There was no plan to upgrade the volcano’s alert level despite the series of eruptions, he said, adding that the nearest village of 250 people was outside the 2.5 kilometre danger zone. The volcano experienced its biggest recent eruption in July 2011, when more than 5,200 people were evacuated as it sent huge clouds of ash as high as 3,500 metres into the sky. Since then Mount Lokon has erupted and spewed clouds of ash about 600 times. The volcano’s last deadly eruption was in 1991, when it killed a Swiss tourist. The Indonesian archipelago has dozens of active volcanoes and straddles major tectonic fault lines known as the “Ring of Fire” between the Pacific and Indian oceans. The country’s most active volcano, Mount Merapi in central Java, killed more than 350 people in a series of violent eruptions last year. - AFP |
| Medicine prize kicks off Nobel week Posted: 08 Oct 2012 12:42 AM PDT  STOCKHOLM: The 2012 Nobel Prize season opens today with the award for medicine, marking the start of a week of announcements and speculation over who will collect the literature and peace prizes.The medicine prize will be announced in Stockholm at 11:30 am (0930 GMT) at the earliest. With the awards committees keeping mum on their choices, Nobel watchers are left to play a guessing game. Swedish media have suggested the medicine prize could go to Japan’s Shinya Yamanaka and Britain’s John Gurdon for their research in nuclear reprogramming, a process that instructs adult cells to form early stem cells which can then be used to form any tissue type. James Till of Canada could also be honoured for his related work on blood stem cells. Other medicine fields cited as worthy of Nobel recognition this year are epigenetics, which studies how genes respond to their environment, and optogenetics, where researchers can turn on or off a nerve cell, for example in a fruit fly or a mouse, to reprogramme the brain. Japanese media voiced hope Yamanaka was in with a chance, with the Nikkei business daily declaring he was a “sure” thing for a Nobel one day, but conceding it might not be this year. “It’s a matter of time,” it said. The winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, perhaps the most watched of the prestigious awards, will be revealed Friday in Oslo, and the five-member Norwegian Nobel committee has 231 nominees to choose from this year. No clear frontrunner has emerged so far, although Coptic Christian Maggie Gobran of Egypt, dubbed the “Mother Teresa” of Cairo’s slums, tops the list of one betting site with odds of 6.5-to-1. The committee keeps the list of nominees a well-guarded secret, but those who are entitled to nominate candidates can disclose the names they have put forward so the list is known to include former US president Bill Clinton, ex-German chancellor Helmut Kohl, the EU and WikiLeaks suspect Bradley Manning. The head of the Peace Research Institute of Oslo, Kristian Berg Harpviken, follows the work of the committee and each year publishes his own shortlist of possible winners. It includes US political scientist Gene Sharp, an expert on non-violent revolution; Russian rights group Memorial and its founder Svetlana Gannushkina; and independent Russian media outlet Echo of Moscow and its chief editor Alexei Venediktov. A Nigerian duo campaigning against the misuse of religion, Archbishop John Onaiyekan and Mohamed Sa’ad Abubakar, Sultan of Sokoto, are also on it, as is Myanmar President Thein Sein. Afghan human rights activist, ex-minister and burka opponent Sima Samar is meanwhile also seen as a possible winner, as is Cuban human rights activist Oscar Elias Biscet. The other closely-watched award is the literature prize, with the usual names being tossed around Stockholm’s literary circles. Among them are Chinese author Mo Yan, Japan’s Haruki Murakami, Canadian short story writer Alice Munro, US authors Don DeLillo and Philip Roth, Somali novelist Nuruddin Farah and Egyptian writer Nawal el Saadawi. The date has not been set for the literature prize announcement, although it is traditionally on a Thursday and could therefore come on October 11. Much buzz has focused on the physics prize this year, to be announced Tuesday, after the discovery in July of a new fundamental particle believed to be the Higgs boson. It is one of the biggest breakthroughs in the field of physics in the past half-century, and is widely considered Nobel prize-worthy research. The chemistry prize will be announced on Wednesday, with Swedish Radio suggesting Svante Paeaebo of Sweden could win for his groundbreaking analysis of ancient DNA. The economics prize, dominated by Americans over the years, will wind up the Nobel season on October 15. Because of the economic crisis, the Nobel Foundation has slashed the prize sum to eight million Swedish kronor (US$1.2 million, 930,000 euros) per award, down from the 10 million kronor awarded since 2001. - AFP |
| Singapore union group sacks executive after racist post Posted: 08 Oct 2012 12:38 AM PDT  SINGAPORE: Singapore’s state-linked labour movement today sacked a senior executive after she posted expletive-laden and racially charged comments on Facebook that caused outrage in the city-state.Amy Cheong, an ethnic Chinese assistant director of membership at the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), was sacked one day after posting remarks on the social networking site about the country’s Malay minority. NTUC Secretary-General Lim Swee Say, who holds the rank of minister in the office of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, announced the sacking on the organisation’s Facebook page, which was bombarded with complaints about Cheong. “We will not accept and have zero tolerance towards any words used or actions taken by our staff that are racially offensive,” Lim said. “We are sorry that this has happened,” he added. Cheong’s Facebook page could not be accessed today after her remarks caused a furore in Singapore’s Internet community, but an apology she wrote on microblogging site Twitter was still visible after she was fired. “I am truly sorry for making that stupid comment. I really didn’t mean it that way. I am truly sorry,” she said. In her Facebook rant, Cheong commented on the length of Malay wedding celebrations and derided the community’s divorce rates. Multi-ethnic Singapore, which suffered racial riots in the 1960s and is surrounded by larger Muslim neighbours Indonesia and Malaysia, takes a hard line against acts stoking racial and religious hatred. Singapore’s population is 74 percent ethnic Chinese, 13 percent Muslim Malay and nine per cent Indian, with the rest made up of other immigrant groups. Seditious acts including fostering racial hatred are punishable by a fine of up to Sg$5,000 (US$3,854) or imprisonment of up to three years, or both. Last year a member of the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) was forced to quit after describing local Muslim children photographed in a school bus as terrorists in training. The NTUC works closely with the government and is seen as a training ground for future PAP politicians. - AFP |
| Iraqis look back into a royal past Posted: 08 Oct 2012 12:33 AM PDT
Cars – including one sent by Adolf Hitler – carriages and photos of the Iraqi royal family are displayed in a courtyard and a building on Baghdad’s historic Mutanabi Street, the first time they have all been shown together. “This exhibition brings back to our minds a beautiful period of time where life was calm,” said Shakir Kemer, a visitor to the exhibition who was born in 1937 and was one the first bus drivers in Baghdad. Hundreds of visitors have been admiring the two cars on display, including the silver 1936 Mercedes convertible Hitler presented to King Ghazi, the second king of Iraq. It is one of just three cars of its kind made: Hitler himself had one, and the third belonged to Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. A Rolls Royce that was also a gift to King Ghazi is also on display, as are two carriages made in Britain and gifted by the British royal family to Faisal II, the last king of Iraq. “This exhibition gives visitors glimpses of an important phase in the modern history of Iraq that lasted for almost 40 years,” said Adil al-Ardawi, an Iraqi historian. He said that the royal family was unjustly treated, and that “this exhibition uncovers all the details of the lifestyle of this family in its simplicity and modesty… as the photos show.” Iraq’s monarchy met a bloody end on July 14, 1958, when Brigadier General Abdul Karim Qassem led a coup in which most members of the royal family were executed along with other high-ranking government officials. Dictator Saddam Hussein came to power 21 years later, leading Iraq into a bloody eight-year war with Iran, then a disastrous 1990 invasion of Kuwait that ended when his forces were pushed out the following year. Iraq was hit by sanctions over the invasion, causing widespread privation. Saddam was overthrown in a 2003 US-led invasion, but the country suffered a wave of bombings and death squad killings in the following years. The exhibition features hundreds of photographs showing details from the lives of the royal family, notably King Faisal II. Among the items on show are a wooden cabinet topped by a royal crown, which holds a set of silver and glass cups decorated with depictions of royal family members. Small statues of King Faisal I and Faisal II are also displayed, as are drawings of airplanes and cars made by Faisal II when he was still a child. “The day King Faisal II was crowned king of Iraq, I remember that he came to our neighbourhood (in north Baghdad) and he was in one of the two cars shown here, and I remember well that he was giving us money,” said one visitor who did not give his name. The king “is still in my mind. He was a simple and modest person who loved people and talked to them,” the visitor said. “Iraqis are always nostalgic for the past, because of the conditions now – not the recent past, but the distant past of the royalty in Iraq,” said Ali al-Tulaibawi, a professor at Baghdad University. “The presence of a king who looks after the rights of the people and forms a parliament was a new beginning in the lives of Iraqis, but after the death of the king and the establishment of the republic, Iraq did not see anything but wars and catastrophe.” - AFP |
| Bicara saman Shahrizat ke atas Zuraida ditangguh Rabu Posted: 08 Oct 2012 12:20 AM PDT
Pesuruhjaya Kehakiman Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera menetapkan tarikh itu di dalam kamarnya dengan dihadiri peguam Razlan Hadri, yang mewakili Zuraida, peguam Ranjit Singh, mewakili pengarah strategi PKR Mohd Rafizi Ramli serta peguam Datuk Seri Shafee Abdullah bagi pihak Shahrizat. Razlan ketika ditemui pemberita berkata perbicaraan itu yang sepatutnya bersambung hari ini, ditangguhkan ke Rabu kerana pihaknya memerlukan masa untuk menyenaraikan seramai 72 orang saksi serta meneliti dokumen yang berkaitan. Pada 19 Januari lalu, Shahrizat memfail saman terhadap Zuraida dan Mohd Rafizi, selaku defendan berhubung kenyataan yang didakwa memfitnah beliau dalam isu Perbadanan Fidlot Nasional (NFC). Shahrizat menuntut ganti rugi am RM50 juta dan RM50 juta lagi sebagai ganti rugi teladan dan teruk daripada defendan. Beliau juga memohon injunksi bagi menghalang defendan daripada terus mengeluarkan kenyataan sama ada secara lisan atau penerbitan terhadap beliau berhubung NFC atau syarikat bersekutu. Bernama |
| Investors can lodge reports against gold traders Posted: 08 Oct 2012 12:15 AM PDT
“If they have a concern (on suspected offenscs), it is their responsibility to lodge a report with the appropriate authority to protect themselves,” said Bank Negara Assistant Governor, Abu Hassan Alshari Yahaya here today. He was speaking to reporters after the launch of the “Prudent Finance Month 2012″. The central bank and related authorities had raided four companies involved in the gold trading business on suspected offenses, including illegal deposit-taking, money laundering, tax evasion and avoidance and false description. The gold trading firms were namely, Genneva Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Pageantry Gold Bhd, Caesar Gold Sdn Bhd and Worldwide Far East Bhd. “We want to protect the public from being easily influenced by the promises of high returns and buy-back guarantee on investments. If the returns are very high, the problem is whether, it is sustainable or otherwise,” Abu Hassan said. Meanwhile, he also said Bank Negara was monitoring closely the household debt, which currently stands at 77 per cent. “We want to ensure a continuing sustainable level. While, a certain amount of debt does help in terms of boosting consumption and economic activities, we also want to ensure consumers are able to manage their wealth,” he added. The Prudent Financial Month, organised by Bank Negara and the Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations, is aimed at tackling financial issues among the people. It is also focused on improving relations between consumers and financial institutions. |
| Bangkok’s river rides not to be missed Posted: 08 Oct 2012 12:15 AM PDT
Like all urban rivers, much of the city's life still revolves around Chao Phraya. Its canals provide a contrast of the old and new, giving visitors a glimpse of the traditional life rarely seen in a busy city, while the river itself is full of historical landmarks and monuments that pay homage to the city's past. There are many ways to enjoy the Chao Phraya and its many canals. Here, three to consider:
Cook on a boat: The Manohra Cooking Class is an exceptional way of discovering the Chao Phraya as you not only get to cruise along the river to enjoy the sights, but you also get to cook onboard guided by a skilled chef. Riding on the renovated local rice barge is also an experience, where you'll first make your stop at a local wet market for fresh ingredients. At the end of the class, you can enjoy your hard day's work, indulging in the dishes you've prepared while seeing the scenic river landscape. |
| Skipper: Sri Lanka not ruthless enough Posted: 08 Oct 2012 12:10 AM PDT
“When we were put under pressure, we did not react well,” Jayawardene said after the hosts crashed to a 36-run defeat in Sunday’s final in front of 35,000 stunned fans at the Premadasa stadium. Having restricted the West Indies to a modest 137-6, Sri Lanka fell woefully short with the bat and were out for 101 in 18.4 overs in a match they were favoured to win. It was Sri Lanka’s fourth successive loss in a major final, having stumbled twice in the title clash of the 50-over World Cups in 2007 and 2011 and also in the World Twenty20 in 2009. Jayawardene, who announced after the final that he was stepping down as Twenty20 captain, was “disappointed and hurt” at not being able to replicate the country’s 50-over World Cup triumph in 1996. “As a team we gave everything we had,” he said. “We wanted to win a big tournament to give something to the fans who have been cheering us. “We just did not execute a good game plan and we were not ruthless enough. We are very disappointed that we could not give the fans what they wanted, and that hurts a lot. “We need to sit together, have a chat on what went wrong and then move on.” Jayawardene said the all-round effort by Marlon Samuels, who smashed 78 off 56 balls and took 1-15 from four steady overs of off-spin, took the game away from Sri Lanka. Samuels’ hit six sixes and three fours to lift his team to 105 runs in the last 10 overs after they were reduced to 32-2 from the first 10. “In the pressure situations we could not control the match,” said Jayawardene. “Samuels batted really well and he took it away from us a little bit. “We did not react well when we were put under pressure. When those small mistakes add up, that’s where you lose a match like a final, and that’s what happened to us. “But all credit to the West Indies. They played a good game of cricket in a big final and we did not.” Jayawardene said it was hard to explain the defeats in four successive finals. “Every defeat has been different,” he said. “In a couple of the finals, we did not start well and kept chasing the game, but in this one started really well. “We did not have any momentum chasing the target. We needed a couple of partnerships, which we did not get. The West Indies handled the situations better than us. “We have been playing some really good cricket but unfortunately we have not been able to cross that hurdle. As a player, as a cricketer and as an individual, it hurts a lot. “But you just have to move on and see how well we can get over this and keep fighting again,” Jayawardene, who will remain the Test and one-day captain, said. Sri Lanka are due to host New Zealand in November, before touring Australia in December-January. -AFP |
| Azarenka outclasses Sharapova to take China title Posted: 07 Oct 2012 11:32 PM PDT
“I’m really happy to finally have a really good result here – I’ve been coming here for the last four years and I’m happy I could finally show my game and hold the trophy,” Azarenka said. “I’ve worked so hard and it all came together here,” added the Belarussian who last won a title in Indian Wells in March. Azarenka, who had beaten world number two Sharapova in their previous five hardcourt meetings, completely outclassed the Russian in Beijing’s National Tennis Stadium. “Victoria played an amazing match today,” said Sharapova, who hit 39 unforced errors. “There’s a reason she’s number one in the world right now.” -Reuters |
| PKR Pahang perlu RM750,000 untuk PRU 13 Posted: 07 Oct 2012 11:27 PM PDT
Manakala bagi satu kerusi negeri, PKR memerlukan RM30, 000, katanya lagi. Bagaimanapun, kata Razali wang bagi membayar penamaan calon dibayar dahulu oleh parti tetapi dibayar balik oleh calon selepas pilihan raya. Bayaran yang dikenakan oleh Suruhanjaya Pilihanraya (SPR) bagi kerusi Parlimen ialah RM10, 000 manakala kerusi negeri ialah RM5, 000. PKR Pahang akan bertanding di enam kerusi Parlimen dan 15 kerusi negeri pada PRU 13. Ini bermakna PKR negeri memerlukan RM300, 000 untuk bertanding enam kerusi Parlimen dan RM450, 000 bagi kerusi DUN. “Bagi PKR wang untuk pilihan raya datang dari parti dan calon sendiri..dan kami tidak pernah mendapat wang dari penajaan. Bagaimanapun, poster umum dan bahan-bahan kempen dibekalkan oleh parti manakala poster yang mempunyai gambar calon disediakan oleh calon terbabit. “Kain pemidang juga disediakan oleh calon. Petugas parti ketika pilihan raya akan diberi wang tetapi tidak ditetapkan jumlah. “Kita (PKR) parti kecil, belanja pun tidak banyak,” katanya lagi. |
| Migrants, church may end BN’s Borneo vote bank Posted: 07 Oct 2012 11:21 PM PDT
The 50-year-old lives on the outskirts of Kota Kinabalu, the capital of Malaysia’s Sabah state, where her tin-roofed shack jostles for space with more than 1,000 others in a slum where children play beside heaps of rubbish. She is hopeful that her three children will get a new home and identity cards if she votes for the government again. With a general election due within seven months, the 13-party ruling Barisan Nasional coalition is banking on Sabah and neighbouring Sarawak state on Borneo island to prolong its 55-year grip on power. But its support in the two Borneo states, which account for a quarter of parliament seats, is showing signs of slipping. A large presence of Muslim immigrants, like Fawziah, has fuelled complaints of government discrimination against Christians who have also been a bedrock of government support. Fawziah said she was a beneficiary of a secret plan said to have been approved by Mahathir that has helped fuel a five-fold surge in Sabah’s population since the 1970s and turned it into a vote bank for the ruling coalition. “I am part of Project Mahathir,” she said, referring to the plan. “I was told to turn up at an office with two photographs and some money,” added Fawziah, who showed her identity card that lists her as a Sabah-born citizen. Without support in the two eastern states, the ruling coalition would have lost power in the last general election, in 2008, when a resurgent opposition won a majority of votes on peninsula Malaysia. Now that support looks fragile. Residents of Sabah complain about competition from Filipino and Indonesian migrants for jobs in the oil and gas-rich region, whose revenues are mostly channelled to the federal government and where one in five people lives on less than $1 a day. Christians, mostly members of indigenous groups such as the Kadazandusun in Sabah and the Dayaks and Ibans in Sarawak, once made up nearly half of Sabah’s population but now form less than a third of its 3.2 million people. But they can still give a potentially vital boost to the opposition, which won a majority of votes in mainland Malaysia in 2008 but only got three of 56 seats in Sabah and Sarawak. Flexing political muscles The election is expected to be the closest in the former British colony’s history after the coalition lost its two-thirds majority for the first time in 2008. This is partly due to Christian, Buddhist and Hindu minorities in the mostly Muslim country abandoning the coalition, complaining of discrimination over issues such as the airing of Islamic programmes on state television. Arnold Puyok, a political scientist at Universiti Teknologi Mara Sabah, says the frustration could translate into votes for the opposition led by Mahathir’s former deputy, Anwar Ibrahim, which could pick up at least 10 seats out of 25 in Sabah. Opposition strategists say they need to win an extra 10 seats each in Sabah, Sarawak and mainland Malaysia to win the election with a simple majority of 112 seats. The opposition – a coalition of Borneo parties and a mainland alliance that campaigns for greater transparency – won 15 seats from the ruling bloc in Sarawak state elections for its best showing in 24 years. It got votes from indigenous Christians as well as from the ethnic Chinese minority. As Christian frustration grows over Muslim migrants, churches are becoming more vocal. Malaysia’s largest evangelical group held a 40 day-fast last month, which included prayers for the resolution of what they see as the immigrant problem. The National Evangelical Christian Fellowship also held prayer meetings across the country for Malaysia Day on Sept 16 – a holiday marking Sabah and Sarawak’s entry into Malaysia 49 years ago. The Borneo states agreed to join Malaysia on condition that religious freedom as well as the protection of native lands and cultures were guaranteed. “There are quite a few unhappy Sabah people. Sabahans do not usually show it openly, they are doing it through prayer,” Stephanie Rainier, a Kadazandusun among 7,000 worshippers at a stadium in Kota Kinabalu, said of people’s frustration. “They are taking over businesses. They are everywhere,” she said of migrants. The ruling coalition can still rely on an election system that is skewed in its favour, particularly in Sabah and Sarawak. Seat allocations are weighted heavily in favour of rural constituencies with smaller populations compared with urban centres that are more likely to favour the opposition. But in an apparent sign of concern over his coalition’s chances in Sabah, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak bowed to pressure in June and formed a royal commission of inquiry into the granting of identity cards to illegal immigrants. A survey by independent pollster Merdeka Centre found that immigration was the number one concern among Sabah voters. The survey also found scepticism over Najib’s motive for announcing the inquiry, with only 46 percent of respondents believing it was a genuine attempt to address the problem. “Only because there is an election around the corner, the government decides to do an inquiry,” said Wilfred Bumburing, a lawmaker in Sabah who quit the government coalition over its handling of the immigrant issue. Government sources say the inquiry panel has yet to meet due to opposition from the dominant party in the ruling coalition, Umno, that controls Sabah, and from the still influential Mahathir. While repeatedly denying links to Project Mahathir to media, Mahathir said in his blog that the Filipinos and Indonesians were qualified to become citizens as they had stayed in Malaysia for more than a decade and spoke the Malay language. The influx of Muslims, who can largely be counted on to support the ruling coalition, would appear to bolster the government. But despite that, some Christians worry about what they see as Muslim authorities’ growing intolerance. An example, some Christians say, is the unease over Christian congregations in Sabah and Sarawak using the Arabic word Allah to refer to God. While these Catholics, like their brethren in Indonesia, have used “Allah” since converting to Christianity in the 19th century, the government says the use of the word is subversive and is aimed at converting Muslims. Mindful of votes, Najib has not stopped Christians in Borneo from using the word in prayers. But the government has appealed against a court ruling that allowed a Catholic newspaper to use Allah in its Malay-language editions in Borneo. “I hope there is tolerance. In reality, not publicly, subtly, you can feel there is some erosion of religious tolerance,” said Bishop Cornelius Piong after Sunday Mass in the rice-growing region of Tambunan. “If there is no balanced leadership, people will think and they will decide,” he said, referring to the election. Reuters |
| Cash strapped clubs must stump up deposits Posted: 07 Oct 2012 11:16 PM PDT
Ten clubs in the 14-strong M-League are in the red while three teams face sanctions for failing to settle players’ wages, local media reported on Monday. Just four months ago the FAM warned all teams they could face expulsion from Malaysia’s top flight if they failed to pay players on time. “A warning letter will be sent to the teams concerned and we hope that they will settle the amount before the new M-League registration deadline next month (Nov. 23), failing which we may have to take action against them,” local media quoted FAM vice president Hamidin Mohd Amin as telling a news conference. “We are making a stand on this issue … we will deduct the amount owed from their prize money, incentives, deposits and gate collections to settle the outstanding amount.” From next season top flight clubs must pay a deposit of RM3 million, second tier clubs RM2 million and third-level clubs RM500,000 before they can compete. Reuters |
| ‘Don’t break the temple, sack the priest’ Posted: 07 Oct 2012 10:53 PM PDT
Instead, he added, the priest should be changed. To some observers, Saravanan’s statement could be targetted at MIC president G Palanivel, who is known to be a religious man, but the latter’s leadership style had come under criticism. However, Saravanan, a deputy minister, who was speaking at a book launch over the weekend, did not elaborate. It was an open secret that many in MIC were not satisfied with Palanivel, who among others had been accused of lacking the grassroots touch and being evasive of the media. Palanivel had succeded S Samy Vellu after the latter stepped down in December 2010. During his speech, Saravanan also said that both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat were pampering the Indian community, not out of concern, but rather to lure their votes. According to Tamil daily, Malaysia Nanban, he said that Indians must be united especially with the rising number of Indonesians in this country. The Tapah parliamentarian revealed that the total number of Indonesians already outnumbered the Indians. “What would happen after 20 years if the government considers giving citizenship to them? We would lose our position, perhaps the government would overlook us then,” he added. Citing the recent visits to the Batu Caves temple by Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and Selangor Mentri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, Saravanan said the pair went there not to pay homage to Lord Muruga but to gain the support of the Indian community. |
| ‘Sell us your heirloom’ call slammed Posted: 07 Oct 2012 10:47 PM PDT
The NGO founder-cum-spokesman Richard Sokial cautioned that while the museum's intention may be good, the social implications are that one’s heritage is for sale. The outcome of such a move could also encourage looting of their ancestors' graves for profit, he said. "We are very concerned by this statement to buy antiques from the public because we feel that it will give the wrong impression to many locals that our heritage is for sale," Sokial said. Antiques such as burial jars and their contents have often made it into the local antique market over the years after being taken from their original sites. The state museum's recent announcement that it would buy heirlooms from the public to put on show would only make the situation of heirloom and artifact theft worse, he said. "If families so wish, they can entrust the heirlooms to the care of Sabah Museum, but it should be as a donation or on loan not a sale and every donated artifact must be recorded," he said. He suggested heirloom donors be issued a certificate of donation by the museum bearing the name, image, date of possession by museum, description of the item as well as its reference number and official stamp and signature of the museum official who processed the transfer of item. Upgrade museum storage facility The procedure is to allow the donor family to inspect the condition of their heirlooms being kept by museums upon request. "During my stint in the US under the IVLP (International Visitor Leadership Programme) Cultural Heritage Preservation Programme in 2008, I observed that some museums even had catalogues of items donated to the museum which is published for public reference," Sokial said. Concerns have been raised in the past by the public who claim several precious and irreplaceable items donated to the Sabah Museum have disappeared. "This is one of the main reasons why people here are reluctant to part with their heirlooms as they believe that there is no guarantee of its safety," Sokial said. It is standard practice for museums everywhere to only display a third of their collections with the remaining either placed in storage or for restoration and preservation. "To inspire public confidence, the Sabah Museum should be allocated proper funding to upgrade their storage facility for better security for the artifacts acquired such as custom ID identification and 24-hour CCTV. "Sabah Museum carries an immense public responsibility as the custodian of Sabah's history and culture and it needs the support from the public and concerned NGOs like Heritage Sabah to assist and suggest new ways to showcase our culture in a positive way", he said. Heritage Sabah has suggested that the only items Sabah Museum should consider purchasing are those that have been found sold to private collections overseas, and then only acquire items identified by researchers and curators as being crucial to the understanding of the native culture. |
| Anger over Perkasa’s use of state facilities Posted: 07 Oct 2012 10:44 PM PDT
Seremban MP John Fernandez (DAP), state PAS commissioner Mohd Taufek Abdul Ghani and political analyst Hishamuddin Rais today blasted State Secretary Mat Ali Hassan and Menteri Besar Mohamad Hassan for what they said was an insult to citizens of the state who regard the Malay rights group as extremist. Mohamed was the guest of honour at the gathering, which was Negeri Sembilan Perkasa's second annual general meeting. "It's highly unprofessional and unethical for the Menteri Besar to officiate at the AGM of an NGO," Fernandez said. "It's as if Perkasa is a Barisan Nasional component party. "Does this mean that any NGO—let's say the Negeri Sembilan chapter of Bersih—can now use the state emblem and the building for its AGM?" Hishamuddin said Mohamad Hasan must take full responsibility for supporting what he called a "fringe racist group". "I'm a Negeri Sembilan boy and I don't believe Perkasa's sentiments reflect the sentiments of Negeri Sembilan people," he said. "The majority of Negeri people reject all forms of racism—Malay racism, Chinese racism or Indian racism. "Mohamad's act of officiating the meeting ran counter to the aim of 1Malaysia." Fernandez said that although most people were aware that BN and Perkasa were "two halves of a twin carburetor in the same engine room", it was still atrocious for the state secretary to allow the NGO to have its meeting in the same complex of buildings in which the state legislature has its sessions. He asked the government to clarify whether an NGO could rent a government building and use the state emblem in its publicity materials. Mohd Taufek said he smelled something fishy. "I hope there was no political agenda in all this, especially with the general election around the corner." |
| KLIA 2: RM4b price tag justified Posted: 07 Oct 2012 10:31 PM PDT
Deputy Transport Minister Abdul Rahim Bakri said this during the question and answer session at the parliament today. He said that the government decided to upgrade certain facilities in the airport to meet soaring passengers’ arrival to the country in the future. "Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) consulted the government on this and we decided to expand the airport in terms of size and facilities, which resulted in the price hike. "But the escalating price has not affected RAM Holdings’ triple A ratings given to the airport," said Abdul Rahim. Opposition leaders had criticised the government on the ballooning cost of the KLIA 2 project, from its original price of RM2 billion to RM4 billion this year. Petaling Jaya MP Tony Pua also questioned the government’s rationale to shift the construction work from KLIA North to KLIA West, despite experts saying the latter area being unsuitable. Abdul Rahim said that among the upgrades made were the construction of a new four kilometre runway and implementing better security features for the airport. On the project’s completion time, the deputy minister assured that the project would be completed by April 2013. "Even now, the construction is 61.92% complete, which is beyond our projection of 56.9 % completion for this month," he said. |
| Questions remain over gold raids Posted: 07 Oct 2012 10:23 PM PDT
One agent and investor from Genneva Malaysia Sdn Bhd, the first to be raided last Monday, told FMT that he suspected there was more to it than meets the eye. He said: “While I don't believe Bank Negara itself had a vendetta, I believe there is an element of envy or jealousy here,” he said. “Banks all have the same kind of investment products and it’s a level playing field. But here comes a company that doesn’t require a license and uses a commodity that isn’t regulated, and customers get almost 10 times better returns,” said the agent, who declined to be named. He argued that with gold being sold with such a lucrative return, a lot of people would be withdrawing monies from their accounts, which in turn would start to worry the banks. It is then, his suspicion, that Bank Negara would have been pressured to act by these banks. The agent also said that from his experience as a private investor and agent for Genneva for a year plus, he strongly believed in his company’s credibility. “The company made all the consultants (agents) go through very strict training. To make sure there was no misrepresentation, and so on, they did everything they could do to follow the guidelines.” Meanwhile, a former investment consultant told FMT that the investment risks of Genneva were very high, and he would warn people from putting their money into similar schemes. “When it is too good to be true, it is possibly just that, ” said Lee Ching Wei, the founder of financial product-comparison website iMoney. He said while he was in no position to say if the raid was justified, he said that on the investment point of view, it is clear that the numbers don’t quite add up. “On the surface, the risks are clear. You are buying gold at a premium and in return the company pays a stream of income. This suggests that the company go with your money and do something with it to get higher returns. “But if you look at the monthly 2% rebate that Genneva promises, which comes up to 24% per annum. I can safely say that gold investment just doesn’t give that much return. And there is, to my knowledge, no single asset class that can give you up to 20% year on year return without a great amount of risk.” Lee said that property assets, on average, can get an investor 10% returns; while and shares typically give returns 10 to 12%. “A 20% return over the long term is really very difficult amount to achieve, but that is what they are promising the investors. “That is why I am very, very skeptical that any firm in the world, without taking a huge amount of risk, or in the end losing money for their clients, can promise that for the long term.” While there are those who said that gold would always have value, Lee said:”No asset in the world can guarantee anything. Gold prices, while in the recent months have gone up quite a bit, it could be due to economic situation. Historically, you can see that prices have fluctuated quite a lot.” “While I wouldn’t call it a Ponzi scheme, it is definitely a very high risk proposition. Even professional investors of top investment firms don’t generate that much returns.” Last Monday, Bank Negara, together with police, the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry and the Companies Commission of Malaysia, carted away boxes of documents and gold bars from Genneva Malaysia’s headquarters in Kuchai Lama, near here. Similar raids were conducted on Friday, simultaneously on the other three companies– Pageantry Gold Bhd, Caesar Gold Sdn Bhd and Worldwide Far East Bhd in Bandar Baru Sri Petaling. The companies were listed under Bank Negara’s financial consumer alert list of known companies and websites that were not authorised or approved under relevant laws and regulations. The suspected offences the authorities are investigating the companies are of illegal deposit-taking, money-laundering, tax evasion and avoidance, false description, including misrepresentation and appointment of agents without licence. Investors can lodge reports against gold traders |
| Ex-DAP man’s criticism has Kok fuming Posted: 07 Oct 2012 09:23 PM PDT
She said Tan Tuan Tat hardly knew anything about what she had done and performed since he was not in the Selangor DAP committee and Pakatan Rakyat state government. Apart from weak, Tan claimed that Kok was an "incompetent politician lacking the capability to head Selangor DAP." Kok said ever since she helmed Selangor DAP, she had forged close working ties with all state committee members and elected representatives. The state executive councillor said they would all be updated on meetings and issues pertaining to the state government, Pakatan and DAP. "Tan has never been informed of these meetings and decisions because he is not a wakil rakyat, a councillor or a DAP state committee member. "So on what grounds did he make such an accusation against me?" asked the Kinrara state representative, in a text message. To prove his point, Tan, the former DAP Taman Seri Sungai Pelek branch chairman, said that Kok did not receive a strong grassroots’ mandate during the 2010 state party convention. He recalled that Kok, despite being an exco in the Selangor government, could only secure 437 of the 803 delegates’ votes to finish at 11th in a list of 15 elected members. In the subsequent state committee meeting, Kok managed to defeat state legislative assembly speaker Teng Chang Kim by 8-7 vote margin to become the Selangor DAP chairman. Tan said she managed to head Selangor DAP despite weak support from the members because "she was a loyalist to the Lim Dynasty and blue-eyed girl of Lim Kit Siang." Lim Dynasty was a political odium coined by DAP grassroots members and critics to portray the powerful internal faction headed by Ipoh Timur MP Kit Siang and his son, Penang Chief Minister and DAP secretary general Guan Eng. ‘Playing second fiddle’
Tan recalled that Liu, a state executive councillor, once mocked the party protocol to amend the state leadership-approved list of councillor appointees. He said Liu replaced certain state-endorsed nominees with his own people and got them approved by Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim, all without Kok's knowledge. When she knew about it, Tan claimed that Kok shouted at Liu right in front of Khalid. "But Liu went unscathed because he was the Lim Dynasty’s main admiral. No disciplinary action was taken against him and Kok was powerless to do anything. "She only ended up embarrassing herself," he said. To this, Kok questioned whether Tan knew what she had done after Liu amended the councillor list. But she did not deliberate further. Tan also accused Kok of negligence in resolving the grouses and issues raised by party members. Since Kok helmed the state party leadership, Tan said factionalism had also crept into Selangor DAP, breaking into three main divisions headed by herself, Liu and Teng. "The main factions have also split into sub-factions. She is the main cause for many disgruntled grassroots leaders and members to leave the party," he claimed. ‘Failed in her duties’
He said her under-performance had prompted Kinrara residents to put up anti-Teresa Kok banners in the area. Tan claimed that her only service to the people had been issuing regular press statements, blogging and tweeting, prompting her critics to label her as "YB Press Conference." Kok, however, asked Tan what he knew about Kinrara when he rarely visited the area. She claimed that Tan had not been an active member in Selangor DAP and very few members knew him, except for those from Sepang and Kuala Langat. "I hardly knew this man even when he was in the party. He was only known by the party people after being sacked due to forming phantom branches," she added. |
| ‘No need for EC to be under Parliament’ Posted: 07 Oct 2012 09:15 PM PDT
"But we will consider the suggestion for future reference," said Nazri, in response to a query by Tanjong MP Chow Kon Yeow. Currently, the EC falls under the puview of the Prime Minister’s Department. Nazri, who is also Padang Rengas MP, said that the EC is an independent body tasked to guard the nation’s democratic process through clean and fair elections. "And their role is protected by the Federal Constitution," he said. Nazri added that the EC is answerable only to the King as the EC chairman, his deputy and five committee members are appointed by His Majesty. "As for the PM’s Department, we are only involved in the EC’s daily administrative and management issues," he said. Previously the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) on electoral reforms had recommended that the EC is made answerable to parliament following growing opposition pressure for the government to clean up the election system including the EC. The opposition alleged bias on the part of the commission often for its refusal to act on complaints of irregularities involving the ruling coalition. The most notable controversy is its insistence that the electoral roll is clean despite what poll reform groups believe to be obvious proofs of discrepancies in the form of “phantom voters” which was said to number in the hundreds of thousands. Meanwhile, Nazri said that the EC would implement most of the 32 recommendations made by the PSC on electoral reforms for the 13th general election. “Among them the use of indelible ink and increasing campaigning day to a minimum 10 days. We are also allowing media officers to cast their ballots via the postal voting system," he said. |
| Fight for change, PKR’s Chua tells Johoreans Posted: 07 Oct 2012 09:11 PM PDT
"It is time for all Johoreans to stop fearing Barisan Nasional-Umno's intimidations. After 55 years of BN rule, we cannot afford to gamble further with BN's plundering ways that will surely bankrupt this nation. "We also have had enough of the racial and religious discord sowed by Umno and BN," he said at a mooncake cum ceramah outside Taman Puteri Wangsa PKR's branch office on Saturday night. "PKR leader Anwar Ibrahim has displayed marvellous leadership by example by showing that he really means business, the courage to rally his Malay community for real change to uplift their standard of living. "In unveiling Pakatan Rakyat's alternative budget, Anwar made it clear that when Pakatan comes to power, he would do away with race-based policies to stimulate and fast track Malaysia's socio-economic progress," he added. Chua, who is also PKR vice-president, said he concurred with Anwar's accusation that Umno had manipulated and hijacked the New Economic Policy (NEP) to enrich only the Umno elites and their cronies. "Are the Malays in the kampung and urban poor benefiting from the NEP? You only see cronies getting richer and richer. "Malaysians have nothing to lose by giving Anwar and Pakatan the chance to help raise the standard of living of all Malaysians," he said, adding Pakatan’s macro-focused alternative budget would in the long run ensure a progressive and prosperous nation. He said the BN had rubbished Pakatan’s budget to gradually reduce car excise duty, starting with a 20% cut. "In the first place, why must Malaysians pay more than 100% in excise duty? Why are the prices of our Proton cars so much cheaper in Langkawi and foreign countries? "It is the uncaring BN government that is abusing its power and laws to enrich their cronies in the car industry. The AP (Approved Permit) is used for this purpose," he added. Chua said the irresponsible BN-Umno had been using the ghost of May 13, 1969, bloody racial conflict to frighten Malaysians into submitting to BN all these years. "The people will not fall for such an archaic political ploy," he said, reiterating the need for Malaysians to make the right decision to fight BN's divisive and race politics. |
| Obama jokes about poor debate at Hollywood fundraiser Posted: 07 Oct 2012 09:09 PM PDT  LOS ANGELES: President Barack Obama made a thinly-veiled joke at his own expense yesterday, acknowledging his poor debate performance against Mitt Romney last week at a star-studded fundraiser in Los Angeles.Stevie Wonder, Katy Perry and Earth, Wind and Fire were among acts who played for the president, while Hollywood A-lister George Clooney also lent his star-power to the event. Referring to how such musical stars perform “flawlessly, night after night,” Obama said: “I can’t always say the same” – a clear nod to his lackluster debate performance in Denver, Colorado last week. The joke provoked sympathetic applause and laughter from the partisan packed crowd at the Nokia Theater in downtown Los Angeles, who had paid at least US$250 dollars a ticket to attend the fundraiser-cum-show. Rocker Jon Bon Jovi and singer-actress Jennifer Hudson were also on the bill, playing for some 6,000 people. The Democratic incumbent was widely deemed the loser of last Wednesday’s first presidential debate against Republican rival Romney, who is fighting to oust Obama from the White House in the country’s November 6 election. Obama’s campaign has since then intensified attacks on Romney’s honesty as it battles to halt the challenger’s momentum following his unexpectedly strong debate performance. Romney’s people have hit back, sarcastically depicting Obama’s team as childish sore losers after their candidate came across as flat, nervous and unassertive during the first face-to-face encounter. In other comments yesterday, Obama joked about Romney’s pledge to cut subsidies to the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), even though he likes Big Bird, a beloved character from long-running educational TV show Sesame Street. “Somebody’s finally cracking down on Big Bird,” he joked, adding: “Elmo’s made a run for the border” – a reference to another Sesame Street character known to generations of American children Romney would let “Wall Street run wild again, but he’d bring his hammer down on Sesame Street,” he joked. Before the musical fundraiser Obama attended an event at the home of DreamWorks Animation chief Jeffrey Katzenberg, a high-profile Democratic supporter. Ex president Bill Clinton was also present, with some 12 people. Afterwards he headed for a fundraising dinner at the WP24 restaurant run by Austrian chef-to-the-stars Wolfgang Puck, attended by some 150 guests paying US$25,000 each. - AFP |
| Chavez re-elected in Venezuela Posted: 07 Oct 2012 09:04 PM PDT  CARACAS: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was re-elected to another six-year term yesterday after seeing off a stiff challenge from youthful opposition leader Henrique Capriles, partial results showed.Chavez took 54.42 percent of the vote compared to 44.97 percent for his opponent, the National Electoral Council said, as fireworks erupted across Caracas from supporters of the president and his socialist revolution. Hundreds of Chavez supporters assembled before the announcement in front of the Miraflores presidential palace, setting off firecrackers, honking horns and holding signs as his campaign song blared. The result after a massive turnout showed a far tougher contest than Chavez has endured so far to his 14-year tenure. He won the 2006 election with 62 percent of the voter and by a margin of more than 20 percent. There was no immediate reaction from the 40-year-old Capriles, who had earlier promised to honor the result, whatever came. With the deeply divided nation bracing for the results amid an atmosphere of widespread distrust, the leftist Chavez and his rival had both appealed for calm as some booths remained open well after the scheduled closing hour. “I ask the nation to stay calm, be patient and that nobody despair, that nobody fall into provocations, no violence, and we wait for the results,” Chavez said in a phone call to his campaign team. “Calm, act sensibly, patience! Today was a historic, magnificent day, the people spoke!” Capriles wrote earlier on Twitter. “We know what happened and we must wait! Viva Venezuela!” Chavez held a 10-point lead in the latest opinion poll before Sunday’s vote, but other surveys had indicated a statistical dead heat. Capriles, a former state governor, had surged in opinion polls during the campaign as he attracted huge rallies with promises to curb runaway crime and unite the polarized South American country. Weakened by a bout with cancer, the 58-year-old Chavez stepped up campaigning in the last week of the race, warning that Capriles would undo his popular social “missions” for the poor. Sitting on the world’s biggest proven crude oil deposits, Chavez has used petro-dollars to build a network of regional allies and secure the loyalty of poor Venezuelans dependent on the generosity of his social programs. Key Communist ally Cuba and other Latin American partners were watching closely to see if Capriles, at the head of a united opposition, could pull off a stunning upset and defeat the anti-American firebrand. Voters began standing in line early after Chavez supporters played military-style bugles before dawn to roust loyalists of the president. As he arrived to vote in the 23 de Enero slum, one of his Caracas bastions, Chavez was greeted by an adoring crowd with chants of “ooh, ahh, Chavez won’t go!” Election experts say the electronic voting system is reliable, but suspicions have run high that whoever loses will not concede defeat. The campaign was marred last weekend by a shooting that left three Capriles supporters dead during a campaign event in western Venezuela. Mentored by Cuba’s Fidel Castro, Chavez has become the leading voice of Latin America’s left, railing against the US “empire” while befriending Iran and Syria. A highly polarizing figure who survived a coup in 2002 and became popular with the long-neglected poor for using the country’s vast oil wealth to fund health and education programs, he is now accused of corruption and cronyism. Capriles, who describes himself as David fighting Goliath, won an unprecedented primary election in February, uniting the opposition behind him after years of fragmentation during Chavez’s rule. Nicknamed “Skinny,” Chavez’s young rival, an avid runner, had campaigned in around 300 towns, wearing a baseball cap in Venezuela’s yellow, blue and red as he accused the president of being “sick with power.” The opposition accused Chavez of misusing public funds for his campaign and dominating the airwaves while forcing government workers to attend rallies through intimidation. Capriles has hammered Chavez over the country’s regular power outages, food shortages and runaway murder rate, which has risen to 50 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants. Though a business-friendly candidate, Capriles wooed Chavez’s base by presenting himself as a center-left politician who would continue social “missions” that deliver free health care and subsidized food to the poor. Chavez has rankled the private sector by nationalizing a slew of companies in the oil, electricity and bank sectors as part of his self-styled 21st century socialism. Capriles had pledged to invite more private investment to the state-run PDVSA oil company and depoliticize the firm. Some 140,000 troops were deployed to prevent violence while borders were closed and alcohol sales were banned until today. - AFP |
| On the free market-type critique Posted: 07 Oct 2012 09:02 PM PDT
The Oct 1-7th edition of the Edge provides Lim Ewe Ghee’s third and seemingly final defence of income inequality. This time he addresses what he calls "the Marxist-type critique”. In it he reiterates the same assertions from his previous articles, namely, that a free market system is fair because it rewards individuals based on hard work and innovation. This, Lim adds, is why markets have become the most efficient mechanism of progress mankind has ever seen. Therefore the Marxist types are wrong. In response, I present the following arguments: One need not be a Marxist to be critical of markets The reader of "Income inequality – the Marxist-type critique" will be disappointed to find that there is in fact little about Marx in the article. The word Marxist, in fact, is just mentioned once. So who is the Marxist type? According to Lim he or she is one who expresses semblance of a "generalised antipathy to market economies, focusing on points pertinent to inequality, including the nature of markets". In what can be politely termed as a stretch, Lim then links that antipathy to the "politics of envy" that supposedly characterised the Soviet Union. There are two problems with that presupposition. First, the discourse against profit driven self-interest is far richer than what Marx or the Soviet Union represented. This is evident in texts dating from centuries before Marx's time. It is found, for example, in Plato's Republic which contrasted the pursuit of material gain and virtues, and later in Aristotle's Politics whereby traders were viewed negatively since there is no telos or end point in the quest for affluence. Censures of comparable harshness can also be found in the Bible, notably in Mark 10:25 and Timothy 6:10. These concerns reverberate today. Consider world renowned Harvard moral philosopher Michael Sandel's latest book What Money Can't Buy: the Moral Limits of Markets (2012) which presents a sustained dismantling of the core arguments for natural inequality that motivates the free market worldview. Lim will be surprised to find that Sandel is no Marxist. In fact, Marx features in the book almost as frequently as he did in Lim's article. There are other examples of non-Communist thinkers such as Amartya Sen who maintain that property is a right while nonetheless questioning the extent to which free markets are really meritocratic and beneficial for all. Why then did Lim even need to mention Marx or communism in the first place? This brings me to the second problem. By equating redistribution and welfare with communism and Marxism, Lim is adopting the age old trope of libertarian defensiveness, and that is to reference the Soviet Union to erroneously posit any critique of the market system as out-dated, utopian or unpractical. The problem is market injustice Lim also seems to have misunderstood critics. Their claim is not that a free market is imperfect, but that it is unjust because the inequality it creates cannot be rationalized by differences in hard work. This is what's at stake: All human beings are born equal in dignity and worth, but we nonetheless live in a world of hierarchies. To legitimize this contradiction the beneficiaries of those hierarchies – who are typically few in number but powerful – often resort to some myth to justify having more privileges than others. For example, to compel the commoner to accept monarchical rule, absolute feudalists often relied on the myth that the king or queen is divine. Colonial slavery relied on the myth that whites are inherently superior to non-whites. Dictatorships often rely on the claim that autocracy is more stable than democracy. Similarly, income inequality is wrongly legitimised on the claim that the wealthy work hard while the poor are lazy, when in fact there are other more apparent and straightforward explanations. For one, wealth in a free market economy is most likely to be inherited than redistributed, thus proliferating generations who are born into significant privileges without having to work hard. Class, to be clear, is not just about how much one makes. The wealthy have better opportunities and networks in life, which translates to more enhanced access to education and social mobility. All this bypasses the great deal of hard work that a poor person will have to do to compensate for that lack of advantage. Furthermore, the disparity in the ability to invest and reinvest and the power to out-buy and outbid one's competitors, all place those who are wealthier at an advantage that can be best explained by economic differences, not talent or hard work. This is to say little of the influence that a wealthy class often exercises on policy makers to ensure pro-commerce, pro-corporation laws are passed. Hard work should be rewarded but a free market economy would not be the system for that to happen. Markets are not inherently good The claim that markets are not Utopias recurs in these debates because it absolves the libertarian from having to account for all the negative things that can happen under the pretext of trade. Ultimately, however, they would insist, as Lim does, that markets herald unparalleled improvements for mankind and the successes therein "serve humanity", by and large. The problem is that the claim is relative at best and is thus easily open to serious question. For example, the pollution of water and air and the environmental destruction that routinely takes place in the name of tourism, industrial manufacturing and development cannot be said to signal progress for all. The profitability of cigarettes and pornography is based on encouraging – not eradicating – stress and misogyny. One can be innovative, "work hard" and get rich from the sales of landmines, weapons and predator drones without having to care if these things actually contribute anything positive to mankind. To merely reduce all that to individual moral failings misses the point, for the wealth seeking choices of those individuals are encouraged by the very logic of profit driven self-interest by which free-markets operate. One can read Lim's disapproval of lucrative but negative products as a call for taxes on vice or harmful activities, although this presumably would be incompatible with his free market worldview. The problem then is not that markets are not Utopias but that the very rationale underlying market activity can do little to solve or even diagnose the biggest problems facing mankind. Lim is right to say that markets function efficiently because they are impersonal. Willing sellers meet willing buyers and little else is asked or thought about in the process. But nothing about this arrangement renders all, or even most, of the transactions therein as desirable or progressive simply by virtue of them being voluntary monetary transactions between unrestricted individuals. To evaluate more pressing questions on the relationship between markets and quality of life we will have to reflect on what exactly is being bought and sold and the terms and context in which the transaction is taking place. Markets are not the measure of all Lim made an interesting statement towards the end of his article. He said that human beings are not merely "economic" creatures, that there is more to our existence than just trade and the division of labour. But he did not pursue the implication of this idea: if we are not just "economic men" then the free market logic should not be the principle measure of freedom, democracy and justice. Even Adam Smith, who Lim spent almost half his article referencing, was cautious of the harmful effects of the division of labour and thus urged for the state-facilitated education of the poor. Discovering the common good by which a just society can be built requires us to partake in deeper reflection about what is needed to sustain a life of dignity and happiness for all, whereby progress is just and sustainable. The answers, as I hope for this short article to show, will not be found at the market nor will profit driven self-interest pave the way. The writer is a research fellow at Islamic Renaissance Front and Projek Dialog. |
| Djokovic wows Beijing with ‘Gangnam Style’ dance Posted: 07 Oct 2012 08:58 PM PDT
The 25-year-old Serb beat France’s Tsonga in straight sets to win the $2.2 million event and then fulfilled a promise made earlier in the week to copy the moves to the Internet sensation by South Korean rapper Psy. Djokovic, world number two, looked nervous and reluctant at first following the request by the tournament’s compere, but soon strutted his stuff along with several ball-boys and girls in front of the crowd of around 10,000. “Nothing was planned,” Djokovic said. “I was talking to fans who suggested to me to do that dance at the end of the tournament in case I win. “So I had to hold my promise, and it was fun. I think it was obvious that I was the worst dancer there out of the small group, but it still was quite a lot of fun,” he added. The video to “Gangnam Style”, featuring Psy’s much-imitated dance, went viral after its July release on YouTube, where it has notched up more than 390 million views. Almost overnight, Psy was transformed into South Korea’s best-known cultural export, succeeding where the manufactured girl and boy bands of the homegrown “K-pop” phenomenon have failed, by breaking into the US market. Despite being sung almost entirely in Korean, the song has topped the British charts and reached number two on the US Billboard’s Hot 100 chart. -Agencies |
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