FMT News |  |
- Zuraida minta penjelasan Najib
- Pemerhati Umno meninggal dunia selepas hadiri PAU
- ‘Kaji polisi kerajaan yang lapuk’
- Deepak’s exposé: Najib should respond, not Zahid
- KL shares up as risk appetite returns
- Apology accepted, I’m sorry too, Karpal tells Speaker
- Indian groups divided over MIC unity talks
- Weapons stolen from Australian navy vessel
- Suu Kyi seeks end to Myanmar mine dispute
- Kremlin denies Putin shelved Japan visit over health
- Strauss-Kahn may settle with sex ‘assault’ maid
- Aamir Khan returns to big screen
- Aiden, Sophia most popular US baby names
- Asian markets rise, yen weakens on Japan stimulus
- Samy Vellu to Pakatan: What have you done?
- Demolished shrine: ‘Hindu Sangam to blame’
- Negeri Sembilan will remain under BN
- ‘Najib has a lot to answer’
- Isu Gatco semakin tegang
- Mild debates as Umno avoids polls blunder
- PKR: Anwar did better than Najib
- Strange end of year customs around the world
- Felda share fluctuations: Opposition to blame
- Of BDSM and Umno
- FGV’S stock price fall on expectation of poor results
- Bersih 3.0: Cops acquitted of assault charges
- Australia’s tobacco marketing laws give retailers a headache
- Shame on you, Shahrizat! You are a fear-monger
- Ex-home minister denies meddling in probes
- Share prices end morning session higher
- Take a look at yourself in the mirror, Pua tells Najib
- Dr Dre ranks as highest-paid musician
- Buku sindir Pakatan di PWTC
- Malays not under threat, Umno is
- Report: Hong Kong Disneyland turns profitable
- Lynas fires up rare earth plant
- Numbers do not denote strength
- Bank Negara reserves total US$138.306b
- A picnic named Bollywood
- Just words and lip service
- Joe Jackson suffers stroke
- BN’s chances in Kedah fair at best
- ‘I won’t quit MCA, sack me!’
- Universal suing over ‘Fifty Shades’ porn
- Umno leaders and London properties
- An officer and a gentleman
- UDA revives stalled development
- Sabah businesses shifting alliances?
- Sabah cops worried about political implications
- SP Setia unit in land-job swap
| Zuraida minta penjelasan Najib Posted: 30 Nov 2012 10:21 AM PST
Pertama, dakwaan ahli perniagaan Deepak Jaikishan yang mendakwa Perdana Menteri terlibat menerima rasuah dalam satu projek kementerian semasa menjawat Menteri Pertahanan. Kedua, skandal kapal selam Scorpene yang didakwa membabitkan pembunuhan model Mongolia Altantuya Shaaribu. Kedua adalah skandal kapal selam Scorpene yang membabitkan pembunuhan model Ketiga, Najib perlu memberi penjelasan tentang kes sumbangan wang RM40 juta kepada Ketua Menteri Sabah Datuk Seri Musa Aman. Keempat, dakwaan bekas Ketua Polis Negara Tan Sri Musa Hassan bahawa Kementerian Dalam Negeri sering masuk campur dalam kes siasatan berprofil tinggi. Zuraida yang juga ahli Parlimen Ampang membuat cabaran itu dalam kenyataan media semalam. "Saya menyeru supaya Perdana Menteri memberanikan diri berdepan dengan kes ini kerana ia bukan saja menjadi tumpuan rakyat Malaysia malah di peringkat antarabangsa. "Najib perlu membersihkan namanya sebelum beliau boleh mendapat mandat rakyat dalam pilihan raya akan datang," kata Zuraida.      |
| Pemerhati Umno meninggal dunia selepas hadiri PAU Posted: 30 Nov 2012 04:36 AM PST
Ahmad Hariri, ahli veteran Umno Bahagian Kamunting hadir ke Pusat Dagangan Dunia Putra (PWTC) sebagai pemerhati dari Perak secara tiba-tiba rebah, dipercayai serangan jantung di perhentian bas dihadapan Hotel Pan Pasific, di sini petang tadi. Ketua rombongan wakil Bahagian Kamunting, Mazlan Abu Malik ketika ditemui berkata, Ahmad Hariri bersama pemerhati seramai dua bas bertolak dari Perak pagi tadi untuk melihat suasana PAU. “Kami nak balik semula ke Perak petang ni. “Sepanjang hari tadi beliau kelihatan ceria. “Semasa hendak menunggu bas Ahmad tiba-tiba jatuh dan kami tidak sempat berbuat apa-apa, kejadian berlaku begitu pantas. Ahmad Hariri yang menetap di Kampung Pinang menurut Mazlan menghidapi penyakit darah tinggi. “Kami sudah memaklumkan keluarga di Perak mengenai keadaan arwah,” katanya. Kejadian itu menarik perhatian orang ramai yang membanjiri sekitar PWTC dan turut mendapat simpati Pengerusi Perhubungan Umno Perak Polis bagaimanapun dilihat berjaya mengawal kesesakan lalu lintas daripada orang ramai yang memerhati keadaan dikaki lima dan pemandu yang memperlahankan kenderaan. Jenazah kemudiannya dibawa menaiki trak polis sebelum ke Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL) untuk bedah siasat. Sementara itu, Ketua Polis Daerah Dang Wangi ACP Zainuddin Ahmad mengesahkan kejadian tersebut dan waktu kematiannya pada 5.45 petang tadi.    |
| ‘Kaji polisi kerajaan yang lapuk’ Posted: 30 Nov 2012 03:41 AM PST
Wakil pergerakan itu, Datuk Sohaimi Sahadan berkata, dasar atau polisi lapuk itu tidak sesuai pada zaman ini. "Dasar yang sudah 20 tahun jika diteruskan dibimbangi menjadi bahan ketawa kepada pembangkang," katanya ketika membahaskan usul ekonomi dalam perhimpunan agung Umno di PWTC hari ini. Bagaimanapun, Sohaimi tidak menlelaskan polisi-polisi yang sudah ketinggalan itu. Dalam ucapannya, wakil Pemuda Umno itu juga berkata, pihaknya sedang berjuang supaya kerajaan memberi peluang kedua kepada usahawan-usahawan muda yang muflis. "Pemuda mencadangkan supaya ada agensi kerajaan yang memberi bantuan dan pinjaman untuk kembali menjadi usahawan. "Bank takut kepada mereka kerana ada penyakit kurap," kata Sohaimi lagi. Sohaimi menegaskan usahawan menjadi bangkrap kerana pelbagai faktor antaranya kerana ditipu kawan dan perniagaan tidak menjadi. Katanya, golongan itu perlu dibantu kerana mereka sudah tidak mahu bekerja dengan orang lain kecuali berniaga.    |
| Deepak’s exposé: Najib should respond, not Zahid Posted: 30 Nov 2012 02:36 AM PST
It is not Zahid but Najib himself who should be responding in his winding-up speech at the 66th Umno General Assembly tomorrow, for three reasons. Firstly, Deepak's allegations pertain to Najib's family, that he had paid an undisclosed sum for the premier's intervention to allow him to come in as a party in a RM100 million defence ministry project in 2005 when Najib was the Defence Minister - stitching a deal with a Selangor Umno Wanita leader's company where he would participate as a third party in the project. As Najib is not only around but is also the chief of the pack in Umno, he should respond as whatever Zahid could say would only be hearsay with neither credibility nor legitimacy. Secondly, the Deepak connection with the high-profile and long-running Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu murder case. Deepak has expressed regret of his involvement in getting private investigator P Balasubramaniam to make a second Statutory Declaration which reversed an earlier one linking Najib to murdered Mongolian Altantuya. Deepak said in interviews that he got involved in Bala's case to help "the family of the prime minister". Again, Zahid's response to Deepak's allegation cannot be satisfactory as only Najib is in a position to respond with any credibility. Thirdly, this is an acid test of Najib's Umno Presidential Address yesterday which had asserted that Pakatan Rakyat should not be given a chance to win the 13th general election as Umno/Barisan Nasional could boast of great success in governing Malaysia in the past five decades – one of which is the "efficacy of national institutions". The sordid Deepak/Bala/Altantuya scandals are shameful testimony, not to success but corruption and subversion, of the "efficacy of national institutions" as Malaysia would not have reached such a sorry pass in the Altantuya murder case if various national institutions, whether the police, the judiciary, the Attorney-General's Chambers, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and the Malaysian press had maintained and upheld their integrity, independence and professionalism. Is Najib prepared to fully vindicate himself, his government and the country by subjecting himself to a full and independent public inquiry into the sordid Deepak/Bala/Altantuya scandals and announce it at the Umno General Assembly winding-up tomorrow? If Najib is prepared to submit himself to a full and independent public inquiry into the Deepak/Bala/Altantuya scandals, his apology in his Umno Presidential Speech on behalf of the Umno leadership for any "mistake" or "oversight" would be a bona fide one. If not, his "apology" is just mere rhetoric. Lim Kit Siang is DAP parliamentary leader and MP for Ipoh Timor.    |
| KL shares up as risk appetite returns Posted: 30 Nov 2012 02:01 AM PST
At 5.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 3.51 points to 1,610.83, after opening 3.21 points higher at 1,610.53. The market’s barometer index moved between 1,606.96 and 1,613.56. Vice-president/head of retail research, Affin Investment Bank, Nazri Khan, said the market remained bullish on rising hopes for a US budget deal and optimism on avoiding the big spending cuts and tax hikes, known as the fiscal cliff, supported risk-taking sentiment. The stronger ringgit also gave some boost to local shares in driving some money into the local equity market, he told Bernama. Later today, Malaysia’s largest listing and the world’s second biggest initial public offering, FGV, is scheduled to announce its third quarter financial results. On the scoreboard, gainers led losers 382 to 320, while 325 counters were unchanged, 625 untraded and 37 others suspended. Volume rose to 1.18 billion shares worth RM2.21 billion from yesterday’s 884.74 million shares worth RM1.53 billion. The Finance Index added 7.38 points to 14,955.06, the Industrial Index climbed 2.41 points to 2,656.64 and the Plantation Index garnered 5.44 points to 7,907.44. The FBM Ace Index shed 3.03 points to 4,174.15, while the FBM Emas Index rose 27.23 points to 10,979.48, the FBMT100 went up 27.49 points to 10,829.23 and the FBM Mid 70 Index jumped 48.98 points to 12,054.11. Among actives, Berjaya lost 3.5 sen to 55 sen, SP Setia fell nine sen to RM3.04 and Hiap Huat slipped half-a-sen to 18 sen. The Media Shoppe inched up half a sen to eight sen and Nextnation added one sen to 11.5 sen. Of the heavyweights, Maybank, Maxis and Petronas Chemicals lost two sen each to RM9.05, RM6.43 and RM5.95 respectively. Axiata earned one sen to RM5.92 while Sime Darby was unchanged at RM8.97. Volume on the Main Market rose to 911.78 million shares valued at RM2.18 billion from yesterday’s 688.14 million shares worth RM1.5 billion. Turnover on the ACE Market chalked up to 203.3 million shares worth RM24.85 million from 118.54 million shares worth RM17.22 million yesterday. Warrants declined to 72.5 million units worth RM3.74 million from 76.75 million units worth RM3.36 million previously. Consumer products accounted for 49.66 million shares on the Main Market, industrial products 109.78 million, construction 23.51 million, trade and services 515.91 million, technology 25.42 million, infrastructure 26.64 million, finance 58.24 million, hotels 416,800, properties 79.06 million, plantations 20.16 million, mining 16,000, REITs 2.88 million and closed/fund 27,000. - Bernama    |
| Apology accepted, I’m sorry too, Karpal tells Speaker Posted: 30 Nov 2012 01:57 AM PST
"I wish to reciprocate by asking for his forgiveness for the many transgressions for which an apology is due from me to him. "I wish Tan Sri Pandikar well and thank him on behalf of the DAP for his services rendered to the Dewan Rakyat," Karpal said in a statement today. Yesterday, at the end of the last parliamentary session before the 13th general election, Pandikar took the opportunity to apologise to MPs if he had hurt their feelings in the course of the parliamentary sittings since 2008. He specifically tendered his apology to Bukit Gelugor MP Karpal Singh for being insensitive over the veteran MP’s health conditions.
He said it had slipped his mind that Karpal could not lift his hand as he was disabled following a bad car crash some years ago. "I still feel bad about it till today. Although Karpal is not in the House today, I would like to say that I am very sorry. I did not mean to be so insensitive," Pandikar said yesterday.    |
| Indian groups divided over MIC unity talks Posted: 30 Nov 2012 01:37 AM PST
Hindraf chairman P Waythamoorthy declined outright MIC’s invitation to such talks, saying that the move may be politically motivated in view of the upcoming 13th general election. “Vel Paari is now making this call of ‘unity talks’ as he is worried that Hindraf's blueprint is picking up momentum among the grassroots Indians. “MIC and Umno are now worried that they would lose support of the Indian voters forever, now that Hindraf has gained momentum throughout the country over the last four months since my return,” said the Hindraf leader. Hindraf had presented a blueprint for the betterment of the Indian community during its fifth anniversary gathering on Sunday. Yesterday, MIC central working committee (CWC) member and party communications chief S Vell Paari announced that he has suggested to the CWC to call for unity talks with Indian opposition and NGO leaders for the sake of Indian community. He also cited the Hindraf rally in 2007, saying that the movement had invited MIC to a discussion then but the latter had turned it down. "We refused Hindraf's invitation just to defend Umno's stand of banning Hindraf and declaring it an illegal movement,” Vell Paari, son of former MIC president S Samy Vellu, was quoted as saying. However, Hindraf’s Waythamoorthy denied this and called it a blatant lie. “Vell Paari's statement is an absolute lie. It was Samy Vellu, the then MIC president, who desperately called me on Nov 22, 2007, three days before the mass rally for discussion. “He even volunteered to drive down to Ipoh immediately to meet me as I was then attending to a rally in Ipoh. However, I turned his invitation down as it was too late and we have absolutely lost confidence in MIC,” said Waythamoorthy, when asked to comment on the MIC leader’s call for Indian unity talks. Let’s talk Malaysian unity
“We should talk about Malaysian unity, not Indian unity, and I don’t think the talks would help the community in anyway,” he said. DAP, on the other hand, was more on a reconcilatory note. Its vice-president M Kulasegaran welcomed the notion but added that there is a need to ensure MIC is committed to it. Recalling a Tamil school blueprint initiative he had proposed in June last year, he said Minister in Prime Minister’s Department Nazri Aziz chaired a meeting on that initiative. “MIC president G Palanivel had sent his vice-presidents [Deputy Minister in Prime Minister's Department SK Devamany, and Deputy Federal Territories and Urban Well Being Minister M Saravanan]. But they had refused to follow through and yet this year Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak announced that there was a need for a blueprint for Tamil schools.” National Indian Rights Action Team (NIAT), however, has thrown its support for the unity talks proposal. “I fully support his call. If MIC has the community’s [welfare] in its heart, it must align its political interest to the community,” said NIAT chairman, Thasleem Mohamed Ibrahim, who has identified five major and 17 subsidiary issues concerning the Indian community. Welcoming the call for Indian unity talks, he noted that Pakatan Rakyat was more open to consultation and was willing to listen to NGOs. “MIC should talk to other Indian-based BN component parties such as IPF, Kimma, MMSP, MUIP, PPP and Gerakan Indian leaders. I am sure they have not sat down and discussed anything,” said Thasleem. He also took note of MIC’s non-participation in the proposal for unity talks. “MIC is least bothered. Only Vell Paari is communicating,” he said. Also read: ‘For Indians' sake, let's talk to Pakatan’    |
| Weapons stolen from Australian navy vessel Posted: 30 Nov 2012 01:19 AM PST  SYDNEY: A balaclava-wearing intruder stole a cache of weapons from an Australian navy vessel today after overpowering a seaman, officials said, in a security breach the military described as “concerning”.The Australian Department of Defence said the infiltrator “overwhelmed a duty member onboard a patrol boat” which was moored at HMAS Coonawarra, a naval base in the northern city of Darwin in a night raid. “The intruder overpowered the duty member, accessed the vessel’s armoury and removed a number of weapons,” it said in a statement. “The person then departed the vessel with the weapons.” Police said two pump-action shotguns and 12 pistols were stolen by the intruder, who was wearing a balaclava and military-style clothing and who they said “appeared to have good knowledge of the vessel”. Police Commander Richard Bryson said the raider overpowered and restrained the leading seaman who was on watch on the HMAS Bathurst patrol boat, but it was not known whether he accessed the boat from land or by sea. The seaman, who suffered only minor injuries, was able to eventually remove the cable ties he was bound with and raise the alarm. Bryson said while 14 weapons had been stolen, the magazines that matched the guns were not taken. “Unless there’s been some further assistance or intervention we’re confident that the weapons are not capable of being utilised at this point in time,” he told a press conference in Darwin. Navy chief Vice Admiral Ray Griggs ordered an investigation into security on all naval ships and bases in the wake of the incident, which was also being probed by the Australian Federal Police. “It’s certainly a breach of security and it’s a very concerning one for me,” Griggs told Fairfax radio, adding that it was the first breach of its type on an Australian navy vessel. He said the assaulted crew member had his life threatened but was recovering well. HMAS Coonawarra, where the Royal Australian Navy bases most of its 14 Armidale Class patrol boats, was placed in lock-down Friday, with police searching all vehicles leaving the base. Darwin is a vital navy port and the centre from which Australia conducts border control operations, with about 600 naval personnel in the area, many working at sea in border protection. The HMAS Bathurst is one of 14 patrol boats that provide the navy’s principal contribution to the nation’s fisheries protection, immigration, customs and drug law enforcement operations. In the event of war the highly capable and versatile warships would be tasked with controlling waters close to the Australian mainland. Tropical Darwin is a key defence hub for Australia, with rotating US Marines based in barracks outside the city since April this year as Washington looks to deepen its presence in Asia. - AFP    |
| Suu Kyi seeks end to Myanmar mine dispute Posted: 30 Nov 2012 01:15 AM PST  MONYWA (Myanmar): Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi Friday met police behind a crackdown on a Chinese mine protest and was due to hear villagers’ grievances in a bid to mediate an end to the dispute.But in a sign of the challenge confronting the Nobel Peace laureate, China’s embassy in Yangon insisted that the issues of relocation, compensation and environmental safeguards had already been “settled”. Dozens of protesters, including monks, were injured when riot police moved in to end the rally at the Monywa mine in northern Myanmar early Thursday, hours before Suu Kyi was due to visit. Some suffered severe burns. It was the toughest crackdown on protesters since a new reform-minded government took power last year, replacing decades of outright military rule. With anger mounting over the pre-dawn raid, Suu Kyi met officials from the operator of the Chinese-backed copper mine on Thursday, and later visited injured monks in hospital. On Friday she held talks with police and was later due to meet local residents opposed to the mine, her spokesman Ohn Kyaing said. In a speech on Thursday in the area, Suu Kyi said she was ready to help find a “peaceful” end to the standoff between authorities and protesters, who allege mass evictions have taken place to make way for the mine. “After getting both points of view, I want to negotiate my best,” she said. “I can’t guarantee whether I will succeed or not. But I believe I will… if the people will hold my hand in finding the solution.” Monks, villagers and student activists are calling for work at the mine — a joint venture between Chinese firm Wanbao and military-owned Myanmar Economic Holdings — to be suspended to allow environmental and social impact studies. But the Chinese embassy said the contentious points had already been resolved. “Issues such as relocation, compensation, environmental protection and profit sharing… were jointly settled through negotiations by the two sides and meet Myanmar’s laws and regulations,” it said in a statement. Activists said about 100 people were injured in the crackdown. Several monks were in a “critical condition”, according to pro-democracy campaigner Myo Thant of the 88 Generation Students group. It was unclear exactly what caused the burns but President Thein Sein’s office denied local media allegations that some kind of chemical weapon was used. In a statement Thursday it said that water cannon, tear gas and smoke bombs were deployed against the protesters, but later retracted the statement without giving a reason. - AFP    |
| Kremlin denies Putin shelved Japan visit over health Posted: 30 Nov 2012 01:13 AM PST  MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin’s health is not preventing him from working or travelling, his spokesman said today after sources said that the Kremlin cancelled upcoming talks with the Japanese prime minister.Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the visit of Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda to Moscow was “never scheduled definitively” and expressed hope it will occur in January. “We hope that this visit will take place and assume that it will happen in the second half of January,” Peskov told the ITAR-TASS news agency. A Japanese government source told AFP Friday that Russian officials informed the Japanese side of the cancellation of the meeting due to Putin’s unspecified health problem. Media in Japan also said that a mayor of a north Japanese town quoted Prime Minister Noda as saying “President Putin’s health condition is bad.” Peskov – who has repeatedly denied rumours that Putin is suffering from a back injury – also gave an interview to tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda, calling the rumours “blown out of proportion.” “He is working as before, and plans to continue working at the same pace. He is also not planning to stop his sports activities, and, as any athlete, he may sometimes have pain in back, or arm, or leg – this has never affected his work efficiency,” Peskov said. The globe-trotting Russian strongman, 60, travelled actively ever since embarking on his historic third term in the Kremlin in May, but has not ventured outside Moscow since an official visit to Tajikistan on Oct 5. This week the Kremlin confirmed that Putin will be visiting Turkey next Monday, Dec 3. - AFP    |
| Strauss-Kahn may settle with sex ‘assault’ maid Posted: 30 Nov 2012 01:06 AM PST  NEW YORK: Disgraced former IMF chief and would-be French president Dominique Strauss-Kahn will settle out of court with a Manhattan maid who accused him of sexual assault, ending a sordid 18-month legal saga, reports say.According to the New York Times, quoting unidentified sources “with knowledge of the matter,” the 63-year-old French politician and the hotel maid, Nafissatou Diallo, have “quietly reached an agreement to settle” her lawsuit. There was no word of any payments by Strauss-Kahn and “no settlement had yet been signed,” the newspaper said. NBC television also reported the possible deal, confirming that it had yet to be completed. Judge Douglas McKeon, who is presiding over the civil case, told AFP “there may be a court session as early as next week,” but declined to comment on the reports of a settlement. Diallo’s lawyers did not immediately respond to an interview request, while a spokeswoman for Strauss-Kahn’s legal team declined to comment. Strauss-Kahn, who had been widely touted as a likely challenger to then president Nicolas Sarkozy, suffered a stunning fall from grace following his arrest at a New York hotel last year on sex assault charges. He then faced a string of separate sex-related investigations in France. Diallo had sued Strauss-Kahn in New York civil court after prosecutors threw out assault charges filed against the globe-trotting politician, saying the maid’s sex assault case would not stand up before a jury. Although Strauss-Kahn has since been mired in legal troubles and brought low by the repeated tarnishing of his once stellar reputation, that initial downfall at a posh Manhattan hotel in May 2011 came as a shocking surprise. At the time, Strauss-Kahn was jetting between world capitals as head of the International Monetary Fund and was expected to announce what would have been a formidable candidacy for the French presidency. Diallo, a maid at the Sofitel hotel, shattered that trajectory when she alleged the powerful politician had leapt on her in his room, naked, and forced her to perform oral sex on him. Strauss-Kahn was arrested as he was about to take a flight back to Europe. He later conceded that there had been a sexual encounter in the hotel room with the cleaner, but insisted that it had been consensual. The subsequent court proceedings and a brief spell in New York’s tough Rikers Island detention center publicly humiliated Strauss-Kahn. Then it was the turn of the Manhattan District Attorney’s office to face embarrassment as they admitted that their case was falling part, with Diallo having been caught lying over several points. Charges were dropped and Strauss-Kahn left hurriedly for France, where his new bout of legal problems was about to begin. His lawyers have repeatedly said they would not agree to a deal to pay off Diallo, branding her a gold-digger. Diallo’s lawyers have equally often insisted that they only want their day in court to confront Strauss-Kahn. Already having left US territory, Strauss-Kahn tried to get off the hook by claiming diplomatic immunity in the civil case. However a judge rejected that move in May. - AFP    |
| Aamir Khan returns to big screen Posted: 30 Nov 2012 01:03 AM PST
In “Talaash” (Search), promoted as a darker tale than the industry’s typical mix of glamour, action and comedy, Khan stars alongside popular actress Kareena Kapoor as a prostitute and Rani Mukerji as his wife. Producer-actor Khan has given little away about the eagerly-anticipated film, which is set in the underbelly of India’s entertainment capital and has been described by the star as an “intense suspense drama”. “I want the suspense to be there, that’s part of the promotions. Sometimes being quiet also might promote it,” Khan said. “I found it fulfilling… the suspense part of it. But at its heart, it’s a story about someone coming to terms with loss… it is a very emotional story at its core,” Khan told the Press Trust of India ahead of the release. The star reportedly had to learn to swim for scenes in “Talaash” — a film that “proves once again this actor’s films are not to be skipped and completely worth the wait”, said a review in the DNA newspaper. Directed by Reema Kagti and co-produced by Khan, “Talaash” marks the 47-year-old’s first appearance in a movie since art film “Dhobi Ghat” (also known as “Mumbai Diaries”) was released in 2010, directed by his wife Kiran Rao. Khan’s last commercial hit was “3 Idiots” in 2009, a coming-of-age comedy about three engineering students which became the highest grossing Bollywood movie of all time. His 2001 film “Lagaan” (Land Tax) became the third Hindi-language movie to be Oscar-nominated for best foreign language film. This year Khan launched a 13-episode Sunday morning television show that won plaudits for tackling some of India’s darkest social problems, drawing comparisons between him and US chat show host Oprah Winfrey.—AFP    |
| Aiden, Sophia most popular US baby names Posted: 30 Nov 2012 12:32 AM PST  WASHINGTON: Aiden and Sophia are holding on as the most popular baby names of 2012 in the United States, a specialist website for mothers-to-be said yesterday. Aiden was the most-chosen name for newborn boys for the eighth consecutive year, and Sophia the top pick for girls for the third year running, according to BabyCenter.com. Jackson, Ethan, Liam and Mason also made the summit of the boys’ list, while Emma, Olivia, Isabella and Ava rounded out the top five names for girls. BabyCenter.com, which is based in San Francisco, said it compiled its list from the names of nearly half a million babies whose names were disclosed to the website by parents in the past year.
“Meaning can come from the name itself or because the name is associated with a loved one or other inspiring person,” she added. “This is a significant new trend in baby naming.” The Social Security Administration’s own list ranked Jacob, Mason, William, Jayden and Noah as the most popular boys’ names in 2011 (with Aiden at number nine), and Sophia, Isabella, Emma, Olivia and Ava as the top names for girls. Fifty years ago, in 1962, the most popular names were Michael, David, John, James and Robert for boys, and Lisa, Mary, Susan, Karen and Linda for girls, according to the federal government agency.    |
| Asian markets rise, yen weakens on Japan stimulus Posted: 30 Nov 2012 12:17 AM PST
The yen eased further against the dollar and euro after the Japanese government announced a huge spending spree to kickstart the economy just weeks before a general election. Tokyo closed 0.48%, or 45.13 points, higher at 9,446.01, Sydney ended up 0.63%, or 28.3 points, at 4,506.0 but Seoul finished 0.10%, or 1.95 points, lower at 1,932.90, reversing early day gains. In afternoon trade Hong Kong added 0.57% while Shanghai was up 0.38%. The US Commerce Department said yesterday the economy grew 2.7% in the three months to September, faster than the 2.0% first estimated, reflecting in part increases in government spending and private inventory investment. However, growth in consumer spending, which accounts for 70% of output, was revised down to 1.4%, just slightly above the second-quarter pace. Also, jobless claims fell back to 393,000 in the most recent week, the Labor Department said yesterday. The figures provide a general view that the country is gradually getting back on its feet, which will have a positive knock-on effect for the global economy. Lawmakers in Washington are locked in tough talks on averting the fiscal cliff of tax hikes and spending cuts to come into effect on January 1, which could tip the economy back into recession. But while Republican House Speaker John Boehner has rejected as “ridiculous” President Barack Obama’s first proposal to cut the country’s deficit, investors are broadly confident a deal will be achieved by the end of the year. Wall Street’s main indexes finished in positive territory for a second straight day. The Dow was up 0.28%, the S&P 500 gained 0.43% and the Nasdaq added 0.68%. On currency markets traders sold the yen further after reports said the cabinet of Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda approved a US$10.7 billion stimulus ahead of Dec 16 polls that his ruling party is expected to lose. The yen has taken a hit this month after Shinzo Abe, the leader of the opposition and the man expected to become prime minister after the vote, said he would push a more aggressive monetary easing policy. In the afternoon the dollar rose to 82.37 yen from 82.10 yen in late yesterday New York trade, while the euro bought 107.10 yen, compared with 106.58 yen. It was also at US$1.3004, from US$1.2978. The dollar is up 3.5% against the yen in November, while the euro has risen 3.3%. Also providing a little support to Tokyo shares was news of a surprise rise in Japan’s factory output for October. Production grew 1.8% from the previous month, the first rise in four months and beating an average market forecast of a 2.2% drop. On oil markets New York’s main contract, West Texas Intermediate for January delivery, was down 21 US cents to US$87.86 a barrel in the morning, and Brent North Sea crude for January dropped 10 US cents to US$110.66. Gold was at US$1,729.85 at 0640 GMT compared with US$1,724.60 late yesterday. In other markets, Taipei rose 1.02%, or 76.62 points, to 7,580.17. HTC was up 2.7% at Tw$266.0 while TSMC gained 2.28% to Tw$98.7. Wellington rose 0.83%, or 33.32 points, to 4,050.09. Fletcher Building up 1.41% at NZ$7.92, Chorus rising 1.8% to NZ$3.40 and Telecom Corp down 1.70% at NZ$2.31. Manila was closed for a public holiday. - AFP    |
| Samy Vellu to Pakatan: What have you done? Posted: 30 Nov 2012 12:13 AM PST
“Pakatan has been ruling Selangor for more than four years. But the question running in everybody’s mind is what has it done all this while,” he said. Samy Vellu, who is now Malaysia’s Special Envoy (Infrastructure) to India and South Asia, said the state government had no master plan and Shah Alam, the state’s capital, had remained as it was when the change of government took place in 2008. “They’ve got no achievements to talk about. Malaysians now are more realistic than 2008,” he said. Samy Vellu also described the presidential address of Prime Minister and Umno president Najib Tun Razak at the Umno general assembly yesterday as reflecting Najib’s determination and dynamism to lead Malaysia to greater heights and that only the BN could elevate the country’s economy through political stability, economic upliftment and social well-being. “His speech made every citizen realise that since independence, the BN had never failed to serve Malaysians through modernisation, infrastructure development and immense economic opportunities,” he said. Samy Vellu said Najib knew how best to shape Malaysia from now on towards a high-income nation through the Government Transformation Programme, Economic Transformation Programme and New Economic Model. Najib has said that Malaysia was capable of achieving a per capita income of US$15,000 (RM45,682) in seven years’ time or even earlier. Samy Vellu said most of Pakatan’s promises made before the 2008 general election had remained just that. - Bernama    |
| Demolished shrine: ‘Hindu Sangam to blame’ Posted: 30 Nov 2012 12:11 AM PST
A Thiruvengadam, a former Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) member, said the failure of the MHS to explain how and where the temples and shrines can be constructed was the reason why Hindus in the country are building such places of worship according to their whims and fancies. “Building a shrine in a car porch and in front of the house does not reflect the religion. From a religious point of view temples and shrines are not to be built at homes… there are various steps which need to be taken before such places of worship are built,” he told FMT when contacted today. He was asked to comment on a recent demolition of a shrine at a house by the Sepang Municipal Council (MPS). On Nov 20, 30 MPS officers trespassed into the residence of one S Gobi Kumar to carry out the demolition. The shrine was located within the compound of Gobi's home. “If you talk about places of worship, then it should be built in a public place, not in any private premises. As Hindus, they can have altar inside the residence. But, they cannot build statues or shrines with the purpose of prayers at their place of dwelling. Thus, I fully support the MPS’ action. “This is not something political. MHS should come out and explain matters related to the religion to Hindus in the country. If it stays mum, He said MHS, as an influential religious body, should not encourage construction of shrines or temples at houses. “Running religious classes alone is not enough. MHS must initiate a large-scale awareness campaign to tell Hindus about their own religion. It would be better if MHS comes out with a declaration stopping people from building places of worship in their house compund,” said Thiruvengadam. He also asked all parties making statements on the recent demolition not to turn it into a political issue. “They should look at the issue from the religious viewpoint and not make statements to gain publicity,” he added. Also read: 'Xavier must apologise for sacrilege'    |
| Negeri Sembilan will remain under BN Posted: 30 Nov 2012 12:07 AM PST
He said this was because Negeri Sembilan Umno and BN had many leaders and stalwarts who were fully prepared to face the GE13 and ensure big victory to the existing government, including Menteri Besar Mohamad Hasan, who is also Negeri Sembilan Umno chairman, who will lead Negeri Sembilan Umno election machinery in the GE13. “Just wait and see. When these leaders and stalwarts make their moves in the GE13, there’s no doubt that Umno and BN will retain power in Negeri Sembilan with a much bigger majority,” he said when debating the motion on president’s policy speech at the 2012 Umno General Assembly here today. Jalaluddin also expressed confidence that the young voters in the state would support Umno despite the opposition’s efforts to lure them to demand for irrelevant changes and emulate the uprising in Egypt. Just like other speakers, Jalaluddin also rapped PAS, which supposedly represented the Malays and Islam, for refusing to make peace with Umno for the sake of the Muslims. “PAS labels Umno as apostate and cruel to the people. Is it cruel to bring development, create jobs and give aid to the people? “PAS leaders have done nothing but talk. If Umno, like Israel, kills, rapes and steals from over 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza, then they can say it’s cruel,” he added. - Bernama    |
| Posted: 30 Nov 2012 12:02 AM PST
At a press conference yesterday, Deepak promised to reveal more details surrounding the murder of Altantuya. He said he was involved in arranging for a second statutory declaration (SD) for private investigator P Balasubramaniam. The second SD reversed the earlier SD which had directly linked Najib to the murder of the Mongolian national. Deepak said: "I got involved in the second SD to protect the interest of Najib. There is no other logical reason, is there?" PKR vice-president and Subang MP R Sivarasa said that Deepak's statement clearly showed that the first SD was the truth. "… Deepak’s decision for arranging the second SD was obviously to reduce the impact of Bala's revelations. "If this is true, then the prime minister has a lot of questions to answer with regard to the real murderers of Altantuya," he said. He added that the whole country knew that the two policemen who killed her had acted on instruction. "So who were the ones who ordered the murder? The policemen acted as the gun, but who really pulled the trigger? "The prime minister, his closest aides and his wife [Rosmah Mansor] should have been called as witnesses during the murder trial, which would have helped the court in determining the truth," said Sivarasa. Reopening murder trial On what PKR intends to do with the latest revelation, Sivarasa said, "It depends on the press reports; if the reports continue to reveal more things, we will decide then." He added that the latest revelation definitely strengthens the call for a re-opening of the murder trial for truth to be established. However, Batu MP Tian Chua said, "I don't need Deepak to tell me whether the prime minister is involved or not." "I already know the fact of the matter and what I do know is that the prime minister has a lot to explain," he added. He said that regardless of whether a person is a supporter of Barisan Nasional or Pakatan, everyone wants an explanation. He also said that the people know that Najib cannot just sweep everything under the carpet. Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah said that "we should all wait for the full revelation". Meanwhile, Suaram chairman K Arumugam said that Najib should clarify the allegation. "Najib should either admit or deny. He must clarify the matter or he should lodge a police report against Deepak," he said. Bersih steering committee member Maria Chin Abdullah urged Deepak to raise his allegation in the court. “Whatever Deepak alleged should be said in court if he wants justice. Then Najib can appear in court to clear the air,” she said. Also read: Deepak to reveal more dirt from under the carpet    |
| Posted: 29 Nov 2012 11:54 PM PST
Wakil peneroka C John berkata pada 28 November, pemaju telah menghantar kontraktor untuk menebang pokok getah di ladang mereka dan kontraktor itu telah menebang 43 pokok getah menggunakan jentolak. "Semalam kami seramai 70 peneroka cuba menghalang kontraktor itu daripada meneruskan kerja-kerja penebangan pokok getah kami sehingga konflik hak milik tanah perladangan ini diselesaikan. "Walaubagaimanapun pemaju atau kontraktor ini datang dengan lebih kurang 40 pemuda yang saya rasa gangster kerana mereka membawa alat-alat seperti kayu, rotan dan batang besi. "Apabila kami cuba merunding dengan mereka, pemuda-pemuda ini tanpa belas kasihan menyerang kami dengan rotan. Malah seorang peneroka wanita cedera dalam kekecohan itu. "Justeru itu kami membuat laporan polis di Ibu Pejabat Daerah (IPD) Polis Jempol semalam. Beberapa peneroka yang tercedera juga dihantar ke hospital untukmendapatkan rawatan", katanya kepada FMT pagi ini. John juga memaklumkan bahawa polis telah menahan enam peneroka Gatco untuk membantu siasatan berikutan cermin (windscreen) dua buah kereta pemuda-pemuda terbabit pecah dan sebuah kontena milik kontraktor terbakar dalam kekecohan itu. Kampung Serampang Indah secara geografi dan pentadbiran terletak di dalam daerah Jempol. Walaubagaimanapun dari segi politik ianya terletak di bawah Parlimen Jelebu.    |
| Mild debates as Umno avoids polls blunder Posted: 29 Nov 2012 11:17 PM PST
They abstained from much of the usual communal rhetoric during the presidential policy speech debate. Unlike previous assemblies, the DAP, became less of a target. Instead, PAS, once touted as a possible trump card for Umno to divide the opposition bloc, became the target of attack. Some claimed PAS had sold itself for power for supporting its allies the DAP and PKR who are promoting liberalism and religious “pluralism” which they argued would subjugate Islam. Religion has always been one of Umno’s primary weapons to court the country’s Muslim majority whose votes will be key to sustain its core support, although the tactic is seen as a major factor behind the decline of non Malay support for the ruling coalition. Yesterday one delegate, Reezal Merican Naina Merican, the party’s Youth information chief, said Umno was “chosen” by Allah to lead the country and the Malays. “When it comes to power, since 55 years ago, God had chosen Umno as the ones to liberate our country. Remember, we are the mukhtarin, the chosen ones,” declared Reezal. Analysts suggested that these attacks on the opposition reflected Umno’s concerns on its growing strength, particularly on the economic front with Pakatan Rakyat’s policies seen as popular amid voters resentment over inflationary pressure and rising cost of living. Pakatan had promised to abolish students debt, slash car prices, raise income and maintain key subsidies. These policies, said analysts, will resonate well especially with young voters whose will likely shape the elections’ outcome. There are about three million newly registered voters, a demographic said to be bi-partisan, critical and issue-oriented. Less racism But Najib denied that he was being populist and instead deflected the accusation towards the opposition who his colleagues claimed would bankrupt the nation with its “fiscally barbaric” proposals. Umno delegates boasted of the party’s successes in economic management under its 55-year rule and warned voters against gambling the country’s future by voting in a pact that could not even resolve its ideological differences. Nevertheless the tone in these attacks again signaled the party’s effort to re-brand itself as a moderate. Unlike the past, the criticism focused on policies instead of racial strife. The restrain could well be rooted in the “gag order” on the delegates but analysts believe the self-styled moderate image Umno aims to project at this year’s general assembly reflects its aim to go beyond retaining its traditional powerbase to stay in power.    |
| PKR: Anwar did better than Najib Posted: 29 Nov 2012 11:00 PM PST
The party was responding to Najib's attacks on Anwar regarding the latter's ability to manage the country's economy when he was part of the government. PKR deputy president Azmin Ali today produced figures during Anwar's time as the finance minister and compared that to Najib's track record, pointing out that Anwar obtained better results for the economic growth, reducing deficit and debt, and using funds from Petronas. "Anwar reduced the debts of the country, with prudent spending that increased earnings over expenditure, not burdening Petronas and the economy grew between 9% to 10%; [whereas] Najib took 10 times more money from Petronas, caused the country's debt to rise by five times, deficit caused by extravagant spending over 14 years and the economy remains weak at 4-5% growth only," he said. Azmin accused Najib of indulging in "politics of fear" to scare voters in the upcoming 13th general election. He stressed that the rakyat was smart enough to see through it as they did in 2008. "The figure speaks for itself," he added. Yesterday, during his opening policy speech at the Umno AGM, Najib said since he took over the ministry in 2009, the nation's per capita GDP has grown by 30%, from US$6,700 to US$9,700. In contrast, Anwar's term as finance minister would best be remembered for his response to the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s. "During the Asian economic crisis that affected Malaysia in 1997 to 1998, it was proven that the finance minister – I repeat, the finance minister then who is now the opposition leader – was not a competent economic manager," said the Umno president. However, Azmin said that during Anwar’s term as a finance minister between 1991 to 1998, the country recorded higher economic growth rate. Between 1992 to 1997, the yearly growth was: 8.8%, 9.9%, 9.2%, 9.8%, 10%, and 7.3% respectively. Najib’s tenure as finance minister saw the growth of 1.5, 7.2, and 5.1 for the years 2009, 2010, and 2011. “Najib has not once topped the results of Anwar who successfully achieved a 9%-10% growth rate in his years, while Najib’s first year took the country in the other direction and it remained in poor condition despite neighbouring countries, like Indonesia, growing rapidly,” he said. ‘We are faced with daily economic problems’ “And we are today also faced with various daily economic problems such as the rise of goods prices, and stagnant wages,” he added. Anwar’s record, said Azmin, also showed the last year where there was a surplus in the budget, as other Umno finance ministers after him chose to pile up the country’s debts yearly till now. “That is why Malaysia is still struggling with the problems of critical debts and deficit until today,” he said. He showed figures between 1992 and 1997, where the deficit, under Anwar’s management, was being reduced. Between the years 1992 till 1997, the deficit was 0.8% , 0.2%, 2.3%, 0.8%, 0.7%, and 2.4%, while the national debts for the same years were RM97b, RM96b, RM93b, RM91b, RM90b, and RM89b. However, since then, Azmin said, the debt began to rise from 1998 till now and had reached five times the debt, at RM456 billion at the end of 2011 compared to the situation Anwar left the country at. “Najib also forced Petronas to contribute the highest dividend in the history of Malaysia. There was never a finance minister or prime minister who made use of Petronas funds as much as Najib,” he said. Azmin said during Anwar’s time, the dividends given out between 1992 to 1997 were consistently at RM3.1billion. During Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s time, Petronas was giving the government dividends of RM9.1b in 2004, RM11b in 2005, RM18b in 2006, and RM24b in 2007. In contrast to these figures, said Azmin, Najib was taking 10 times more than Anwar, at RM30 billion between 2009 to 2011. “I am sure that the Malaysian public can differentiate between these figures. The leadership of this country needs to focus on reinvigorating the economy of the country with objective numbers, not trying to distort the performance of the country’s economy due to fear of Anwar’s prowess as a capable finance minister,” he added. Defections from Sabah Umno The woman was Semporna Umno division vice-chairman Kalasahan Abd Salam while her husband, Ab Habi Mustapha, was an exco in the same division. Minister of Rural and Regional Development and Umno vice-president Shafie Apdal is currently the head of the Semporna division and both husband and wife claimed that he had failed, not only the party but to fight for the welfare of the people there. Kalasahan added that favouritism, cronyism and nepotism were becoming rife within Umno Semporna Umno, and that the division had failed to bring renewal to the community, which was plagued by problems ranging from the influx of illegal immigrants, lack of water, electricity and hospitals, low levels of education, to traffic and floods.    |
| Strange end of year customs around the world Posted: 29 Nov 2012 10:56 PM PST
Scarecrow burning – Ecuador Round things – Philippines Broken plates – Denmark Eating 12 grapes – Spain Takanakuy Festival – Peru 108 rings – Japan Coloured underwear – South America LINKS    |
| Felda share fluctuations: Opposition to blame Posted: 29 Nov 2012 10:48 PM PST
He said the opposition’s overzealous allegations against FGVH had caused its shares to fluctuate. “Besides world palm oil market contributory factors, slanders hurled by opposition leaders also caused FGVH shares to be unstable,” said Ahmad, who is also Umno information chief, to reporters at the Umno General Assembly. Recently, the National Association of Felda Settlers’ Children president, Mazlan Aliman, who is also PAS central committee member, had accused Felda of selling palm oil to an Israeli company. Calling opposition leaders a group of liars and slanderers, Ahmad said Felda never had any business transactions whatsoever with Israel.
FGV'S stock price fall on expectation of poor results - Bernama    |
| Posted: 29 Nov 2012 10:28 PM PST
When Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak opened the 2012 Umno General Assembly at the Putra World Trade Centre, he started off with an inspection of the guard of honour formed by 50 Wanita members, 50 Umno Youth members and 50 Puteri Umno members. Fifty Shades of Grey is reported to be the fastest selling paperback in history. The novel, which is about sexual desire, fantasy and BDSM (bondage, domination, sado-masochists) has received mixed reviews. Many people describe the book as soft porn, because of its explicit sexual content, but it is also known as "mummy porn" because of the wide female readership; others claim that the book is written badly, with no plot. Fifty Shades of Grey tells the story of a naรฏve student, 22-year old, Anastasia Steele and her sexual liaison with an older man, the 27-year old billionaire Christian Grey. Grey has sado-masochistic tendencies and demands that Steele should be completely under his control, if she agrees to have a relationship with him. He tells her that she will be happy when she is dominated. Steele represents the rakyat – young, impressionable and naรฏve. Grey is a man with dark secrets, just like Umno. Like Grey, Umno has lots of money and has a large ego. Umno and the rakyat are locked in a violent, relationship; Umno is the dominant partner, and the rakyat the submissive. Steele or the rakyat could have walked away from the abusive arrangement, but they didn't. The rakyat's obsession with Umno has continued for 55 years and like the innocent Steele, did not realise the flaws in the relationship. If the rakyat was aware, they did nothing. Steele was captivated and soon after meeting Grey, lost her virginity to him, a bit like the rakyat being seduced and deflowered by Umno. Once Grey had decided to focus his attention on Steele, he showered her with gifts and he promised to show his "Red Room of Pain", where his sex toys and bondage equipment are kept. Steele is fascinated and curious, but she is unaware of Grey's dark side. She is told that she cannot have sex with him until she signs a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) barring her from telling anyone about what she is about to be shown. Grey tells her that he is a Dominant and tells her that if she agrees to "be" his Submissive, she has to obey the rules and surrender herself completely, to him or face punishment. There are strict rules on what she can or cannot do, right down to what she can eat. Grey demands absolute and total control over Steele's life, not just in the bedroom. Umno expects the same The rakyat is like the young virgin, who has no knowledge of sex, but is captivated by the sexual advances she receives. She is inexperienced and ripe for men like Grey. When Umno introduced policies like the NEP, the Umno cronies who benefitted, craved more. In the book Fifty Shades of Grey, we are told that when Grey was 15-years old, his mother's friend seduced him and made him her submissive for many years. Umno has learnt how to control the masses. It learnt how to do this from Malaya's former colonial masters and today, assumes the role of the dom, or colonial master. If you compare Grey to Umno, there is not much difference between the two. He is a control freak, he is power hungry, he humiliates people, he is jealous, he buys people off and when he cannot get his way, he issues threats. Fifty Shades of Grey is about mental and sexual abuse, as well as misogyny. It is almost the story of Umno and the Malaysian people – the way it subjects the minorities to discrimination and denies women their rights. Steele is swept off her feet by a man with money. She is left with no self-respect. Both Steele and Grey are individuals who seek attention. Similarly, today's rakyat demands that its leaders accede to its request for democratic reform; Umno wants to continue its absolute control of the people, and is not ashamed of using taxpayers' money to do it. Both are equally starved of recognition and respect. In a country ripe for change and faced with daily exposรฉs of corruption and injustice, how many people will openly admit that they vote for Umno? Just like the book, very few people openly declare that they are reading the book and many people read it behind the safety of locked doors. Those who read it on Kindle exhibit the tell-tale flush from the thrill of explicit sex scenes. At the end of the book, Steele confessed that she loved Grey, despite enduring his physical abuse. He did however admit her that he could not make her happy and so Steele runs away because Grey denies her the only thing she craves – his love. The rakyat have endured hardship and injustice, and they just want their leaders to listen. Unlike Grey, Umno has made outrageous claims that it can make the people happy and that it does listen to Mariam Mokhtar is a FMT columnist    |
| FGV’S stock price fall on expectation of poor results Posted: 29 Nov 2012 10:26 PM PST
The price was also at par with the oil palm plantation giant’s offer price at its initial public offering, which was Malaysia’s largest listing this year and the second in the world after Facebook. An analyst said the expectation of disappointing third-quarter result was due to the weak crude palm oil (CPO) prices and low fresh fruit bunches (FFB) production growth during the three months under review. “FGVH could also struggle with its ageing oil palm trees that accounted for 53% of the 320,000 hectares of oil palm estates which rank among the highest in the industry,” he said. He said a replanting exercise would mean even more loss of income for the group during the period for the trees to mature. The analyst said the company also reportedly suffered from a productivity issue in terms of tonnes per hectare that ranked as the third lowest among the major Malaysian plantations firms. FGV, listed on the main market of Bursa Malaysia on June 28 with 72.96 million shares offered to the public, debuted at RM5.39 and rose to as high as RM5.50 on July 4. - Bernama    |
| Bersih 3.0: Cops acquitted of assault charges Posted: 29 Nov 2012 10:09 PM PST
The court ruled that the complainant and prosecution witnesses had failed to identify positively the policemen involved in the assault. Magistrate Nurulain Abdul Rahim said after perusing all the testimonies of the complainant Wong Onn King and the four witnesses, she found that the parties had failed to establish a prima facie case against the accused. She ordered L/Cpl Mohd Khairul Asri Mohd Sobri, 30, attached to the Tanjung Malim police station and Constable Shahrul Niza Abd Jalil, 24, of the Dang Wangi police station to be acquitted and discharged. In her brief judgment, Nurulain said the prosecution had failed to fulfil all the elements needed to order both the policemen to enter their defence under Section 352 of the Penal Code. On May 18, both of them were charged with allegedly assaulting Wong, 33, at the Jalan Tun Perak and Jalan Raja junction here between 5.20pm and 5.30pm on April 28. If they had been found guilty, they would have faced three months of imprisonment or fined up to RM1,000, or both, under Section 352 of the Penal Code. Counsel Salim Bashir acted for both the policemen, while DPP Kalmizah Salleh appeared for prosecution. Salim later told reporters that even the prosecution had conceded that there was no case for both accused to answer after the complainant himself and two other photographers had contradicted their testimonies with police reports they had lodged after the incident.    |
| Australia’s tobacco marketing laws give retailers a headache Posted: 29 Nov 2012 10:06 PM PST
The packages, mandatory from Saturday when the laws take effect, make it hard to tell brands apart, complicating deliveries and adding to costs in his cramped, dark booth. The legislation, the most Draconian in the world, strips packs of all branding, bright colours and logos, leaving only the name printed in identical small font. “It used to take me an hour to unload a delivery, now it takes me four hours,” Yu said, demonstrating how difficult it is to find the brand names. “The government should have just banned them altogether and then we’d go OK, fine, we’re done, we’ll shut up shop,” he said, throwing his hands up in the air. Australia’s plain packaging laws are a potential watershed for the global industry, which serves 1 billion regular smokers, according to World Health Organisation statistics. While Australia has one of the world’s lowest smoking rates and the changes will have little impact on multinationals’ profits, other countries are considering similar steps. The government says the aim is to deter young people from smoking by stripping the habit of glamour. It is relying on studies showing that if people have not started smoking by age 26, there is a 99% chance they will never take it up. “Even from a very early age, you can see that kids understand the message that the tobacco company is trying to sell through their branding,” Federal Health Minister Tanya Plibersek told Reuters, citing studies that showed children made linkages such as crown logos and princesses. The potential hitch, experts say, is the popularity of social media with the very demographic the plan is targeting. After a series of Australian laws banning TV advertising and sports sponsorship and requiring most sellers to hide cigarettes from view, online is the final frontier for tobacco marketing. Australia has banned online advertising by local companies and sites, but the door cannot be slammed at the border. “If you are a tobacco marketer and you’ve only got this small window left to promote your products, online is the compelling place for you to be in,” said Becky Freeman, a public health researcher at Sydney University. “We have to ask, is that just a private citizen who really loves Marlboro cigarettes and they’ve gone to the trouble of making a video, or is there a marketing company involved?” Scott McIntyre of British American Tobacco Australia, maker of Winfield cigarettes, made popular by ads featuring “Crocodile Dundee” actor Paul Hogan in the 1970s, said the industry was focused on dealing with the new rules rather than marketing. Winners and losers The industry lobbied hard against the laws. Tobacco firms said they would boost black market trade, leading to cheaper, more accessible cigarettes. “There will be serious unintended consequences from the legislation,” said McIntyre. “Counterfeiters from China and Indonesia will bring lots more of these products down to sell on the streets of Australia.” Sandra Ha of Zico Import Pty Ltd, a small family business, said demand for cigarette cases, silicon covers to mask the unpalatable packages, had shot up from almost nothing two months ago since British American Tobacco, Britain’s Imperial Tobacco, Philip Morris and Japan Tobacco lost a challenge to the laws in Australia’s High Court. Ha said Zico had sold up to 6,000 to wholesale outlets and was awaiting new stock. “This is good business for us.” The industry has shifted its focus to potential copycat legislation elsewhere. Ukraine, Honduras and the Dominican Republic have filed complaints with the World Trade Organisation, funded by the tobacco industry, claiming the laws unfairly restrict trade, although their trade with Australia is minimal. A WTO ruling is likely in mid-2013. Plibersek said the government has held discussions with other countries considering similar laws. Canada was the first country to make photograph warnings mandatory in 2001. They now extend to more than 40 countries, including Brazil, Turkey and Ukraine. Tougher laws are being considered in Britain, New Zealand, South Africa and India. Many smokers in Australia remain defiant. “The pictures don’t affect me. I just ignore them. You just grab a smoke and put it away,” said Victor El Hage as he purchased a pack with a photograph of a mouth tumour. “Honestly, there’s only one reason I’d stop, and that’s my little girl.” - Reuters    |
| Shame on you, Shahrizat! You are a fear-monger Posted: 29 Nov 2012 09:57 PM PST FMT LETTER: From P Ramakrishnan, via e-mail It is disgraceful that a politician seemingly on the way out has to ressurect the fear factor to shore up her flagging fortunes in Umno. As a former minister, she should have more sense to be responsible and appreciate the democratic process. Instead, she comes across as someone who is not prepared to accept the verdict of the people in a democratic election if that verdict went against Umno. Is she planting the seeds of hatred in the minds of Umno members and instigating them to run amok and create havoc? How does one view her statement when she said at the Wanita Umno Assembly, "If we are no longer in power, we would lose political stability. Certainly, the Malays, the majority in this country, would be unsettled" (Malaysiakini, Nov 28, 2012). "I’m concerned and worried that this would bring racial tensions that could lead to a repeat of the May 13, 1969 tragedy." Is she threatening Malaysians that there will be a recurrence of the May 13, 1969 tragedy if Umno were to lose power? Why should that be so? Is she calling on Umno members to get ready to do the unthinkable if they were forced by the electorate to vacate Putrajaya? Is she aware of the terrible consequence of rioting following the likely routing of Umno? She doesn't care to think for a moment of the destruction and the loss of innocent lives that can ensue in such an eventuality. Her concern seems not to be for the well-being of the country and the people but only focused on remaining in power at whatever cost. This is utterly irresponsible! Her unintelligent gibberish only bewilders thinking Malaysians. Consider this for a moment when she rambles, "We must address this now if we don't want to be refugees in our own land. A split in the Malay vote would dull the political power of the Malays." How can citizens become refugees in their country? Refugees are people who flee their own country because they no longer feel safe for their lives. Refugees run away to another country for some valid reasons: political oppression, social upheavals, unrest, persecution, absence of rule of law, absence of protection from the government, inability to eke out a livelihood, etc. Can anyone foresee this ever happening in this country i.e. people being forced to flee? She has to exaggerate this lie to create fear and horror in the minds of unthinking Umno members! How would "a split in the Malay vote dull the political power of the Malays"? The Malay vote has been split for decades. That has not dulled the political power of the Malays. This goes to show that Umno doesn't necessarily equate with the Malays, and vice versa. The political reality is much more complex than Umno would like us to believe. Besides, Malays, like any other ethnic group in the country, should instead unite around noble principles of justice, equality and compassion. Take Kelantan for example. There was and has been a split in the Malay vote but has that dulled the political power of the Malays? Has that forced Umno members to seek refuge elsewhere outside the country? There was a change in government in Kedah. Has that dulled the political power of the Malays? How many Umno members fled Kedah to seek safer haven elsewhere? Take the case of Perak that was taken over by the Pakatan Rakyat. In recognising the political reality and the make-up of the polity of this country, Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin was appointed the Menteri Besar of Perak. Obviously, Pakatan was very sensitive to the Malay sentiment and did not do anything that could be upsetting. We are not aware if Umno members were involved in any exodus from Perak! Then there is Penang, which fell to Pakatan Rakyat in March 2008. In keeping with the tradition and original understanding – unlike Malacca – Lim Guan Eng was sworn in as Chief Minister. There was no unrest. There was no flight of refugees from Penang. So there is no basis to claim that the Malays will become refugees or that their political power will be diminished. What has been established is the fact that change can be peaceful and that the harmony of the country will not necessarily be destroyed. As long as we accept and respect the political process as a legitimate avenue of expression, political change will be without any untoward incident. By and large, the majority of Malaysians are peaceful, sensible and responsible. However, we must be on the lookout for the few who may try and stir up trouble. We should leave them to the police to take care of. Umno must be desperate if such lies have to be manufactured! The writer is the immediate past president of Aliran    |
| Ex-home minister denies meddling in probes Posted: 29 Nov 2012 09:54 PM PST
"No, I don't think [I gave instructions to Musa]. They are responsible for the law and order and they know the situation better than anyone else in the performance of their duty," said Syed Hamid, who was home minister from March 2008 to April 2009. He said this when asked to comment on Musa’s accusation on Wednesday that Cabinet ministers and politicians regularly interfered with police investigations and arrests during the latter’s tenure. Musa named current Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein as one of the politicians but the latter denied the claims yesterday and accused "certain quarters" of trying to sidetrack the public from the issues raised at the Umno General Assembly. Syed Hamid, who was Hishammuddin's predecessor, similarly denied that he meddled in police investigations, adding that his role as home minister was to listen to the IGP. "We act based on [the IGP's] advice. As minister, they advise us, then we act," he explained. Asked if there were any directives given to the police during his tenure, Syed Hamid said: "Not that I have known of, I know where my lines are." "I don't know what incidents [Musa] is referring to so it is difficult for me to say if it is right or it is wrong. Whether in our conversations it is considered interference or whether in the reporting we give out…" he said. "Each one of us must know where the dividing line is… There is lots of interaction, whether it’s considered interfering, I don't know," he added.
"He is retired. In the process of freedom of expression… Let him express his views. "[Our relationship] has always been good. I don't know who he is referring to, but I’m sure all ministers know what they need to do with their ministry," he said. Musa, who retired as IGP in September 2010, had reportedly quoted Section 4(1) of the Police Act, which states that police orders must only come from the IGP, who would be liable for such instructions. "I was informed even a secretary-general can direct CPOs [Chief Police Officers] and [ask them to] report back to him. So, who is in charge of the police now?" Musa had said.    |
| Share prices end morning session higher Posted: 29 Nov 2012 09:50 PM PST
As at 12.30pm, the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 3.84 points to 1,611.16, after opening at 1,610.53. A dealer said the local bourse gained some support from news that the US was closing a deal to avoid automatic tax increases and spending cuts on so-called “fiscal cliff” which helped improve risk appetite. Leading key indices on Wall Street extended their gains, rising between 0.3% and 0.7% in the overnight trade. On the local front, the Finance Index rose 36.41 points to 14,984.09, the Industrial Index gained 3.92 points to 2,658.15 and the Plantation Index advanced 22.11 points to 7,924.11. The FBM Emas Index expanded 25.3 points to 10,977.55, the FBMT100 garnered 25.529 points to 10,827.27, the FBM Mid 70 Index added 21.18 points to 12,026.31 but the FBM Ace Index fell 19.52 points to 4,157.66. Gainers led losers by 269 to 249, with 311 counters unchanged, 823 untraded and 37 others suspended. Volume stood at 474.24 million shares worth RM599.77 million. Among actives, The Media Shoppe and GPRO earned half-a-sen each to eight sen and 8.5 sen, respectively, Berjaya lost 20 sen to 56.5 sen and Metronic slipped half-a-sen to 12.5 sen. Hiap Huat was unchanged at 18.5 sen. Heavyweights, Maybank, Maxis and Petronas Chemicals lost two sen each to RM9.05, RM6.43 and RM5.95, respectively. CIMB gained four sen to RM7.52 and Sime Darby earned one sen to RM8.98. - Bernama    |
| Take a look at yourself in the mirror, Pua tells Najib Posted: 29 Nov 2012 09:50 PM PST
Contrasting the expenditure and debt collection records between BN and Pakatan, DAP national publicity chief Tony Pua said the prime minister’s claims were preposterous. He was responding to Najib’s fiery speech at the Umno annual general assembly yesterday where the Umno president accused Pakatan of espousing poor policies. Najib said Pakatan's plans, which included a RM4,000 monthly household income, abolition of tolls, RM500 special allowance for teachers and 20% royalty for oil-producing states, will spiral the federal budget deficit to almost 30% in the first year. "By 2015, our debts to GDP will sky-rocket to 140%. In three years, we will reach a critical stage where we will lose our economic sovereignty, like Greece," said Najib. Pua said Pakatan, in its Alternative Budget 2013, spelt out expenditure proposals at RM234 billion and projected deficit of 3.5%, as opposed to BN's RM252 billion and a 4% deficit. "How did Najib pluck a 30% or an incredulous RM300 billion deficit from thin air?" he asked. Pakatan prudent in managing finances On the other hand, Najib had instructed that the RM589.6 million outstanding debt from Tajuddin Ramli to federal government subsidiaries be written off for no good reason. Pua said at the same time, about RM140.2 billion worth of contingent liabilities or federal government guaranteed debts are not included in our official debt of RM502 billion. "The contingent liabilities or hidden debts are rising at an exponential rate as a means for the BN government to bail out cronies and failing GLCs such as the RM12.5 billion PKFZ," he said. The DAP MP said Pakatan-led states, on the other hand, have been prudent in managing state finances. He cited as examples the Selangor government's recovery of RM392 million debts from Talam Corporation and the financial surpluses in Penang and Selangor. "Hence the proof of the pudding is in the eating, and Malaysians can evaluate and compare the performance of the BN administration against Pakatan state administrations," he said.    |
| Dr Dre ranks as highest-paid musician Posted: 29 Nov 2012 09:04 PM PST LOS ANGELES: You may be singing “Call Me Maybe” or dancing “Gangnam Style” to this year’s music, but it was veteran hip-hop artist Dr. Dre who topped Forbes’ list of the 25 highest-paid musicians in 2012, released yesterday. California native Dre, 47, became one of the leading names in hip-hop and rap in the early 1990s and has worked with artists including Eminem and Snoop Dogg.
The list’s top 10 was dominated by veteran musicians, with Pink Floyd’s bassist and singer Roger Waters coming in at No. 2 with earnings of US$88 million from his lucrative The Wall Live tour, and British singer Elton John at No. 3 with US$80 million. Last year’s highest-paid musicians U2 landed at No. 4 this year with combined earnings of US$78 million from their three-year 360 tour. 1990s British boy band Take That, who reformed in 2005, rounded out the top five with US$69 million, earned from an eight-date tour at London’s Wembley Stadium, which became the highest-grossing single stadium tour to date. Forbes compiles its annual highest-paid musicians list by estimating artists’ earnings from music sales, live shows, endorsements and merchandising. Earlier this year, Dutch DJ Tiesto was named the highest-paid DJ in the fast-growing electronic dance music industry. The only two artists under 30 to break the top 10 were country-pop darling Taylor Swift, 22, who tied with ex-Beatle Paul McCartney at No. 8 with earnings of US$57 million, and Canadian pop star Justin Bieber, 18, who tied with country star Toby Keith at No. 10 with earnings of US$55 million. Pop star and “X Factor” judge Britney Spears entered the list at No. 7 with earnings of US$58 million, cementing her comeback after a turbulent few years. Her earnings encompass her multi-million dollar “X Factor” deal, music sales and endorsements. Spears led eight female artists in the top 25 list, including R&B star Rihanna at No. 12 with $53 million, coming ahead of Lady Gaga at No. 13 with US$52 million. Grammy-winning British singer Adele notched No. 22 on the list, tied with Kanye West, with earnings of $35 million following a record year for her album “21.” Music’s power couple, singer Beyonce and rapper Jay-Z, came in at No. 18 and No. 20, respectively, with earnings of US$40 million and US$38 million.—Reuters    |
| Posted: 29 Nov 2012 09:02 PM PST
Bagaimanapun, buku kecil bertajuk Jelajah Janji Ditaburi ‘memukul’ Pakatan Rakyat. Muka depan memaparkan karikatur tiga pemimpin Pakatan iaitu Presiden PAS Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang, Ketua Umum PKR Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim serta tokoh DAP Lim Kit Siang. Anwar memegang karung yang bertulis Janji Kosong, Hadi (Fitnah) dan Lim (Rasis). Keseluruhan kandungan buku kecil inilah mengenai janji yang dibuat Pakatan Rakyat. Antaranya akan memansuhkan PTPTN, menurunkan harga kereta dan rumah untuk rakyat. Bagaimanapun, buku ini memberi jawaban bahawa semua janji Pakatan Rakyat ini sebagai janji semata.    |
| Malays not under threat, Umno is Posted: 29 Nov 2012 09:00 PM PST
Let us all leave Najib Tun Razak and his pot of Mongolian alphabet goulash behind. Change comes from a changed leadership and a new government. Now, let us examine what Najib means when he says Malays must unite and Malay unity is no threat to others. When Najib uses the phrase "Malays must unite", he can mean the following things: i) All Malays must make sure Umno wins so that he can continue to be prime minister. ii) Malays submit themselves under Umno. iii) Malays must ensure Malays dominate Malaysian politics. The first two meanings are self-serving. The third implies that if Malays stay disunited, they will face threats. So we ask in turn, threats from whom? There are 18 million Malays in this country. All the security forces and every level of the government are already controlled by Malays. So where does the threat come from and to whom is the threat directed? The threat arises from the political and social consciousness of the people. Threat not ‘people to people’ After 55 years, Umno has carried out ruinous economic and social policies that have resulted in a less than prime economy and a more divisive nation. This is the lie that Umno has imposed on Malays by making them believe that they are protected only if Umno is around. The truth is the threat is directed towards Najib’s PM-ship and Umno. The threat is not from the people to the people but directed towards a parasitic ruling class that has enriched itself while creating economic injustice on the people. How do you unite a nation so divided with no shared ideals and beliefs? How do you motivate the majority to have the acquisitive inclinations to move up the social ladder when they see those cutting corners and bluffing their way through getting equal rewards? Najib can’t unite people, much less a nation. The sad truth is, Najib does not know how to secure unity. He doesn't see that the way to structure the country upon shared beliefs and ideals must start with a universal acceptance of the supremacy and rule of law. When the rule of law is compromised, it is impossible to establish shared ideals and beliefs. This is because the various groups as stakeholders in the country will always harbor suspicions that the other will seek to manipulate power to their own advantage. When one is equally protected by the law, there isn't a necessity to refer yourself according to your ethnicity, as is now done in Malaysia. The writer is a former Umno state assemblyman but has since joined DAP. He is a FMT columnist.    |
| Report: Hong Kong Disneyland turns profitable Posted: 29 Nov 2012 09:00 PM PST
The news will come as a welcome relief for the resort, which has battled below-forecast visitor numbers since opening in 2005, while doubts about its future have swirled since China gave permission for a park in Shanghai. The Wall Street Journal report, which cited an unnamed person familiar with the park’s financial situation, gave no details. A Disney spokesman declined to confirm the report when contacted by AFP, saying the park’s financial report will be released early next year. A deal to open Hong Kong Disneyland, which is majority owned by the Hong Kong government, was signed in 1999 as part of a plan to boost the city’s economy as it reeled from the Asian financial crisis. However, it has been desperate to ramp up the number and quality of its attractions as it tries to lure more big-spending visitors from the mainland, while it has also embarked on a huge public-relations campaign. Walt Disney Co has also boosted distribution of its television shows across the country, while it also runs nearly 24 hours of weekly programming, the Journal said. And it seems there has been some success. The report said attendance jumped to 5.94 million visitors in the year to September 2011 from 4.5 million in 2008. It also said the proportion of mainland visitors reached 45% in fiscal 2011, compared with 34 in 2006, while Hong Kong residents made up just 31%, down from 41%. The park in January said it posted its smallest annual loss for the fiscal year ending Oct 1, 2011, after enjoying a 13% rise in visitors and a surge in hotel occupancy. Net loss fell to HK$237 million (US$30.5 million), less than half its net loss of HK$718 million in 2010. Critics have attributed much of the park’s struggles to its size – it is the smallest of all Disney’s theme parks – and a lack of attractions. The resort, including two hotels, covers about 310 acres (125 hectares). However, the report said the park’s investors are discussing plans to add new hotels to the resort to increase overseas arrivals. Adding to the resort’s problems was news that the Chinese government had given permission for the building of a US$3.7 billion Shanghai Disneyland, which is expected to open in 2016 and could provide stiff competition. - AFP    |
| Lynas fires up rare earth plant Posted: 29 Nov 2012 08:58 PM PST
Lynas earlier this month cleared a final hurdle when a court gave the go-ahead for the company to fire up the US$800 million (RM2.4 billion) plant in Kuantan despite residents’ and activists’ fears over radioactive waste. “This is a significant milestone for Lynas,” the Sydney-listed company’s chairman Nicholas Curtis said in a statement on the plant’s start-up. He said the long-delayed start of operations would now “provide real data that will assure people that the LAMP [Lynas Advanced Materials Plant] is entirely safe for our local communities and the environment”. The refinery is set to become one of few sites outside China to process rare earths – metals used in high-tech equipment ranging from missiles to mobile phones that have become increasingly important to the world economy. Lynas and the Malaysian government have touted the facility as an important high-tech foreign investment project that will benefit the local economy and provide jobs. But it has been dogged by criticism from environmentalists and residents – opposition that has galvanised a nascent “green” movement in Malaysia and seen anti-Lynas protests by thousands of people. Legal moves to block the plant have repeatedly postponed its start-up. Following Lynas’s court victory, opponents this month staged a 13-day, 300-km (186-mile) march from Kuantan to Kuala Lumpur to rally opposition. Media reports said the march had swelled to several thousand by the time it reached the capital. Lynas, however, insists the plant is safe and that any radioactive waste would be low-level and not harmful. A photo posted today on Lynas Malaysia’s official Facebook page showed an electronic screen at the plant’s entrance displaying information on air and water quality. China currently supplies about 95% of the world’s rare earths. Lynas hopes the Malaysian plant, which will process material from its Mount Weld mine in Western Australia, will help break Chinese dominance of the market. Lynas has said that by early 2013 the plant will be able to supply 22,000 tons of rare earth concentrates per year. Meanwhile, shares in Australia’s Lynas Corp rose as much as 6% after it said it started operation at its long-delayed processing plant. Lynas shares were up 4.4% to A$0.71 by 2314GMT, but are still well below levels above A$1.50 at the start of the year. Agencies    |
| Numbers do not denote strength Posted: 29 Nov 2012 08:40 PM PST
The numbers at any political event is not the right and accurate benchmark to indicate a political party’s weakness or strength. I wonder how can some claim that the current Himpunan Hijau protest is a sign of a death knell for MCA ? In the past when Barisan Nasional was at its peak, we saw large numbers attending opposition ceramah but the opposition still failed to make inroads during the polls. MCA’s mega dinners have drawn an attendance ranging from 5,000 to 15,000 in each division but did MCA ever claim that it would win the next general election or that Pakatan Rakyat is losing steam? MCA only claimed that it was recovering and was stronger than before. MCA would never take the numbers game for granted to brag that it was a sign of early victory. In 1998, the Reformasi movement saw huge crowds, bigger than those who turned up for the Bersih and Lynas rallies, taking to the streets. But still MCA did well in the 1999 general election. If the strength and weakness of a political party were just based on the impact of the numbers at a protest, then we must also include the 1,500 NGOs that participated in a rally with Barisan Nasional recently. Do we interpret this as BN’s strength? If we want to play the numbers game, then 1,500 NGOs is much bigger compared to Himpunan Hijau. If we are talking about numbers, then it would be 1 (Pakatan) vs 1,500 (BN). What about the recent 2,000 single mothers who protested against the Selangor Pakatan government that had cheated and manipulated them with empty promise after taking over the state? Is this the death knell for Pakatan in Selangor? Selective environmentalism The Lynas issue is actually one of the most successful political deceptions, lies and manipulations in history. Until today, there are still many who believe Pakatan that Lynas is actually a nuclear plant. Any neutral science expert would tell you that the radiation of Lynas is way lower than the radiation from our mobile phones and even the radiation of taking flights. In reality, Lim Guan Eng’s solar plant in Penang would produce more radiation than Lynas. China, which has the most rare earth plants, has not shut down a single plant. But China shut down the solar plant which the Penang government is trying to build now. The same solar plant in Zhejiang Province had wiped out the local fishing industry. It is a known fact that the manufacturing of Photovoltaics would pollute the environment and affect human health. The International Energy Agency and Department of Environment had vetted the project before the Penang government gave its go-ahead. This is exactly the same agency that had reported and verified that the Malaysian Lynas development was actually safe. So how is it that when the International Energy Agency and Department of Environment said that the solar plant is safe, it is accepted as safe but when the same agency said Lynas is safe, that cannot be accepted? If we really want to be Green, then we should go Green all the way to even protest the solar plant in Penang that is scientifically proven to be much more dangerous than Lynas. Shen Yee Aun is the president of the Malaysian Youth Rights Movement.    |
| Bank Negara reserves total US$138.306b Posted: 29 Nov 2012 08:38 PM PST
For the next 12 months, the pre-determined short-term outflows of foreign currency loans would amount to US$350.2 million, arising from scheduled repayments of external borrowings by the government, the central bank said. In line with the practice adopted since April 2006, the data excluded projected foreign currency inflows arising from interest income and the drawdown of project loans amounting to US$4.291 billion in the next 12 months, it said. There were net long forward positions of US$7.55 billion equivalent as at end-October, it said in a statement today. Bank Negara said the only contingent short-term net drain on foreign currency assets was government guarantees of foreign debt due within one year, amounting to US$112.5 million. “There are no foreign currency loans with embedded options, no undrawn, unconditional credit lines provided by or to other central banks, international organisations, banks and other financial institutions,” it said. At end-October, Malaysia’s reserves remained usable and unencumbered. It said the disclosure was in accordance with the International Monetary Fund’s Special Data Dissemination Standard format. - Bernama    |
| Posted: 29 Nov 2012 08:33 PM PST
Benegal — who had been one of the pioneers of the New Indian Wave in the early 1970s with exceptionally realistic films like Ankur, Nishant, Manthan and Bhumika, and credited with working within the Bollywood system and yet daring to be different – was shooting Hari Bhari with Shabana Azmi and Nandita Das among others. As I sat in a corner of Benegal's set, a village with a water well, huts and so on recreated at the complex, I could not help noticing – and to my horror – the various kinds of distractions that were happening there. There were boys walking around with tea and snacks, vehicles just outside the set honking, and people talking so loudly that I wondered how the actors could emote or the director concentrate on getting his scene right. What about the cinematographer? Would he be able to get the kind of compositions he wanted? Well, Hari Bhari was made, and it did see the light of day. A movie propagating family planning, it was not one of Benegal's best. And how could it have been with all the on-set commotion! Of course, I have never seen Bengal on his other sets, and he did make some brilliant cinema. And if he had made it despite commotions, hats off to his power of concentration. At the just-concluded Doha Tribeca Film Festival in Qatar, on-set "chaos" in India was talked about during one of the panel discussions. Indian actor Anupam Kher – who essays a psycho-therapist in David O Russell's Silver Linings Playbook, which was part of the Special Screenings – quipped that moviemaking in Bollywood was "like a family picnic".
Getting back to Kher, I was also happy that spoke his mind without mincing words. He added that Indian stars threw tantrums and directors often tolerated such behaviour and had no qualms about reporting late for work. The attitude was irritatingly casual. Quite different from what he saw in Hollywood, where discipline mattered, and one could be fired "at the drop of a hat". Even the top actors there followed rules and ethics. Kher, who has a Padmashree to his credit and about 450 movies, praised Hollywood for its realism, subtleties and nuanced characterisations. Bollywood, on the contrary, went all out with melodrama, larger than life figures and exaggerations. These were no longer desirable. Gautaman Bhaskaran is a Chennai-India based author, columnist and film critic, and can be contacted at gautamanbhaskaran@yahoo.in. He is an FMT columnist.    |
| Posted: 29 Nov 2012 08:29 PM PST
It was also an amazingly short policy speech, if not the shortest, ever delivered by an Umno president. To quote William Shakespeare's Macbeth, Najib was "full of sound and fury signifying nothing". Pre-Umno assembly Najib had also claimed that change can be initiated within Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN) in general. After 55 years, did we see any change in the attitude of the party national delegates, in the quality of debates at the assembly? It was the same old rhetoric featuring inflammatory issues coupled with ridiculous claims like "God has chosen Umno". The May 13 bogey was still used to intimidate Malaysians to continue to support Umno and BN, racist remarks like "Malays will lose power if Pakatan Rakyat (PR) rules" and "May 13 will recur if PR rules". Is Umno claiming that only Umno Malays are Malays or Muslims? What about the Malays and Muslims in PKR, PAS, and others? What changes are Najib and his deputy, Muhyiddin Yassin, talking about? Clearly, there has been no change after 55 years and after the March 2008 political tsunami. The same arrogance is displayed by Umno and BN. Do you mean there are no important and serious public issues covering competency, accountability, transparency, integrity, abuse of power, corruption and economic policies to discuss or debate? If Umno has really changed, how could its top leaders go into the assembly pretending as if the following did not happen:
Compare the above with what the Umno leaders focused on their debates:
Where's the change and seriousness in wanting to lead and govern? Najib should explain where he is going to find the money to fund the multi-billion ringgit mega projects given out to Umno cronies when the country is at a very critical debt level. Chua Jui Meng is PKR vice-president and Johor state chief. He is also a former MCA vice-president and an ex-Cabinet member.    |
| Posted: 29 Nov 2012 08:25 PM PST
“He was doing well and says he’s feeling OK,” close family friend Brian Oxman told Reuters. Oxman, Michael Jackson’s one-time attorney, said the 83-year-old patriarch of the pop music family started experiencing weakness on Wednesday while walking in a park near his home and was later admitted to a hospital. Jackson has a history of strokes, Oxman said. “He was talking fine,” Oxman added. “He sounded excellent to me.” A former US steel employee from Gary, Indiana, Jackson managed and helped launched the career of his children with the R&B and soul group The Jackson 5 beginning in the 1960s.—Reuters    |
| BN’s chances in Kedah fair at best Posted: 29 Nov 2012 08:12 PM PST
Yesterday, state Umno liaison committee secretary Othman Aziz said Kedah Umno would reveal the PAS state government's shortcomings to make the people aware of the opposition's alleged failure in ruling the state. Othman listed the clearing of Kedah's forests, disruption to domestic water supply and padi irrigation for farmers, and cash flow problems in state-owned Koleh Universiti Insaniah (Kuin) as among the weaknesses of PAS in Kedah. But Mukhriz, who is Kedah Umno deputy chief, told reporters today that PAS' shortcomings would not be enough for BN to regain control of the state, which it lost to the opposition party for the first time in the historic 2008 general election. "We have at best a fair chance [of taking over Kedah]. I'd rather be cautiously optimistic," said Mukhriz, who is also international trade and industry deputy minister. "While I’m optimistic, it is also conditional upon us doing as much work as we can to make sure the rakyat in Kedah see and believe that we are a better alternative [to PAS]." When asked whether PAS' shortcomings in Kedah would boost BN's chances there, Mukhriz conceded that it would help, but was "not everything." "We still have to convince the people about what it is that we can do," said Mukhriz. "What's going for us is that we at least have a good track record.” BN has learnt its lesson But Mukhriz noted that BN Kedah's record was not spotlessly clean, either. "We admit that there were some weaknesses and mistakes we made, and the prime minister himself has apologised for that. "We want to convince the people we have learnt our lesson, thank you very much," said Mukhriz. "[BN's defeat in Kedah] was a wakeup call and we will not repeat [our mistakes]. We must always put the rakyat's interest ahead of everybody else." When asked if he believed he could serve the Kedah people better as a member of parliament or state assembly person, Mukhriz said: "I’m open either way." "I've made it known before that the decision lies with the prime minister and I've made it clear to him, to Muhyiddin Yassin, that I will accept any decision they make."    |
| Posted: 29 Nov 2012 08:02 PM PST
"I am not quitting, I would go only if they decide to sack me," said Kota Kecil MCA branch chairman Tai Foo Him from Kota Tinggi, Johor. The member who joined MCA in 1989 said he still believed in MCA and the party constitution. "MCA is a good party, it just that party leaders are bad. I seriously hope the president will change his style to prevent the party from sinking," he told FMT when contacted. Tai, who led three busloads of people to attend the rally, has criticised the party leadership as being out of touch with the Chinese's community during the weekend rally against the National Education Blueprint 2013-2025. The Kota Tinggi MCA division reacted by passing a resolution on Monday to refer Tai to the disciplinary board, with the charges of "tarnishing party image" and "creating disunity within the party". The division chief Ng Keng Heng also claimed that Tai is an inactive member, and has never obtained consent from his branch committee to speak against the blueprint. "This kind of coward should get out from MCA," Ng said in a statement on Monday. Rebutting the claims as "nonsense", Tai said his service track record was well-known among the grassroots members in Kota Tinggi, Johor. He claimed he was organising chairman of a Chinese New Year celebration and a gotong royong event, which were the only two major events organised by the Kota Tinggi MCA division this year. Be aggressive He also disagreed that he needs consent from his branch members to make any statement. "I was speaking in my capacity as a MCA grassroots leader, and I was elected to that post. Why can't I have the right to speak out?" "It's just like (MCA president) Dr Chua Soi Lek doesn't need an approval from the central committee member to speak out on issues," he said. He urged the party leaders to be more aggressive in pursuing issues concerning the Chinese community. "MCA claims to represent the six million Chinese in Malaysia. If they don't fight for the Chinese, what for do we need them?" he said. Meanwhile, MCA disciplinary board said that they have yet to receive any complaint on Tai.    |
| Universal suing over ‘Fifty Shades’ porn Posted: 29 Nov 2012 07:57 PM PST
Calling one of the adult movie adaptations of the British novel “a rip-off plain and simple,” Universal’s lawsuit seeks to stop sales of copycat porn movies and to recoup any profits they earn. “Fifty Shades of Grey” by E.L. James and its two sequels have sold more than 40 million copies since first being published in 2011. Universal bought the rights for a film adaptation earlier this year for a reported US$5 million. The suit was filed jointly in federal court in California on Tuesday by Universal and James’s British company which owns the copyright to the novels. The lawsuit said that Los Angeles-based based Smash Pictures had produced a movie called “Fifty Shades of Grey: a XXX Adaptation” which lifted “exact dialogue, characters, events, story, and style from the ‘Fifty Shades’ trilogy.”
Smash Pictures could not be reached for comment. Universal said Smash Pictures had two subsequent movies in production and that one of its subsidiaries had also launched a “Play Kit” of kinky sex toys called “Fifty Shades of Pleasure.” The lawsuit seeks an injunction, unspecified damages, and profits from sales of the movies, which it says are trademark and copyright infringements. Universal Studios is a unit of Comcast Corp.—Reuters    |
| Umno leaders and London properties Posted: 29 Nov 2012 07:54 PM PST
Not surprising, their spendthrift ways and that of their children have been making the news for a while. Malaysians living in London have been privy to this information for decades and view it with repugnance and shame. They are surprised that despite the dazzling light on the unusual wealth accumulated by government ministers which is displayed in their purchase of numerous properties around the world, their brazen hypocrisy elicits little comment back home. Malaysians living here claim a former top Umno leader is linked to over a thousand properties in various parts of central London. Most of the properties are in the Canary Wharf areas. “We know for a fact of this Umno guy who owns 1,400 properties in London. He is filthy rich… very, very rich. He even has a new wife now,” said one Malaysian who has been residing here for the last 20 years. He told FMT that politically-aware Malaysians in London do keep tabs on these Umno leaders, while the Umno leaders in turn are aware that their properties in the United Kingdom are no secret at all to Malaysians residing here. “We know some of their kids are studying here and we know where they live and what they do. They may be Muslims but they drink and they flirt a lot here, something that they dare not do openly back home, but who cares when they are here,” the London resident said. Political rot He said that it was a known fact that many Umno national leaders, both present and past, are rich and own properties around the world, including here in central London. “The [federal] ministers own at least a few properties in London. Once in a while they do visit their houses or in some cases their children and family stayed while on study or holidays here.” Asked if he could provide evidence of his claims, he said it was no secret here and that some of them have been caught on camera and the photos had made their way onto social media sites. Another Malaysian residing here, who also requested anonymity, claimed that Sabah and Sarawak leaders also own properties in various places here either under their own names or their family members. “How can they afford it? With just a minister’s salary they could not be this rich… they own properties everywhere in Europe. “We also know of one who have bought properties even in Argentina. “He could be preparing for himself to live in Argentina if Umno loses at the coming general election to Pakatan Rakyat,” he said. The fact that Malaysians outside the country are mortified by the wealth of their nation’s leaders should be a reminder to delegates at the ongoing annual general assembly in Kuala Lumpur that what they consider non-issue speaks volumes about how deep is the political rot in the country.    |
| Posted: 29 Nov 2012 07:47 PM PST
By yesterday afternoon, nearly 394,000 people had clicked a button on the department’s Facebook page to indicate that they “liked” the photograph. Tens of thousands left comments, most praising Officer Lawrence DePrimo for his charitable deed. The photograph was snapped by Jennifer Foster, an employee of the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office in Florence, Arizona, during a trip to New York this month, according to police. She took the picture shortly after she noticed the man asking passersby for money. “Right when I was about to approach, one of your officers came up behind him,” Foster wrote in an email to the New York Police Department accompanying the snapshot, according to the picture caption on the department’s Facebook page. She said she was some distance away, and the officer did not know he was being photographed. “The officer said, 'I have these size 12 boots for you, they are all-weather. Let’s put them on and take care of you.’ The officer squatted down on the ground and proceeded to put socks and the new boots on this man.”
DePrimo, 25, joined the force in 2010 and lives with his parents on Long Island, according to The New York Times. He paid US$75 for the boots from a nearby Skechers store after an employee there gave him a 25 percent discount upon learning they were to be donated to a man in need. “I wish more cops were like this guy,” one person wrote on the department’s Facebook page. Others suggested there were plenty of good-hearted police officers about, even if their good deeds were not photographed or touted on Facebook.—Reuters    |
| UDA revives stalled development Posted: 29 Nov 2012 07:42 PM PST
KUALA LUMPUR: After a hold-up of 40 years, a low-cost residential development in Tanjung Tokong will be revived by UDA Holdings Bhd, following a green light obtained from the Penang state government. UDA is investing about RM165 million in the project that will provide housing for 1,200 residents. "The first phase is expected to be completed by end-2014 and will be able to house 550 residents while the second phase will accommodate the remaining 650 residents," said UDA chairman Nur Jazlan Mohamed at a media briefing here yesterday. The state government had been opposed to the development of the 250-year-old settlement, wishing to have it conserved as a heritage site. However, in recent negotiations, UDA and the Penang state government have come to an agreement that allowed the resumption of the project which was awarded to UDA by then prime minister Tun Abdul Razak Hussein in 1972. "We must put aside political differences for the importance of the people. Thus, the result of the negotiations will allow us to resolve the issues one-by-one," said Nur Jazlan. "The building cost of each unit is RM120,000 with private bodies selling at RM300,000. The government will sell units to Bumiputeras at a reasonable price and priority will be given to the native residents." In addition, tenants renting property in the area over a period of 10 years who wish to purchase it will receive a 50% discount to RM21,000 from the offered RM42,000. UDA was formerly known as Urban Development Authority of Malaysia, a governmental agency established to oversee local urban development projects related to business, industry and housing. Photo: Nur Jazlan (left) and UDA property development division senior vice-president Shytul Shahryn Mohamad Shaari at the press conference in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. – The Malaysian Reserve This content is provided by FMT content partner The Malaysian Reserve.    |
| Sabah businesses shifting alliances? Posted: 29 Nov 2012 07:37 PM PST
In the meantime, any hope of hearing Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak announce polls next month came to naught at the end of the current parliamentary session yesterday after he failed to humour soothsayers and supporters of his deputy Muhyiddin Yassin. Speculations were rife that Muhyiddin’s supporters were (indirectly) “pressuring” Najib to dissolve Parliament by Nov 30. But there was no indication of this during Najib’s speech at the Umno general assembly yesterday. Technically the current government’s term ends on April 28 next year, so once again the wheel of fortune will grind with soothsayers and punters tossing possible dates post-Chinese New Year. The further delay, albeit exasperating, has given Sabah chapter of the State Reform Party (STAR) under Jeffrey Kitingan added time to continue convincing voters that they should be voted in. For fast-rising STAR, it’s the state that matters most and Jeffrey’s team is training its guns on the state seats. A recent series of meetings with the local Chinese business communities seem to attest to that. STAR has some 7,000 Chinese among its 200,000 members and its Chinese task force recently gathered 60 members of the business community to a discussion at the Sabah Golf and Country Club. Attending were “influential” members of the Sabah Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM), the Sabah chapter of the Malaysian Travel and Tours Operators Association (Matta) and several other local business councils. On the table were issues and policies”plaguing”, “controlling” or “holding back” the development of commerce in the state. But this was not the first time STAR had met with key players from the Sabah Chinese community. Support from business fratenity “We are all talking the same language and on how to work together. The big issue here is cabotage and how it’s hampering the development of imports and exports. “We all agree it is time for change… the business community is now open to change. This is real progress and they are supportive of us. “We are also working with other Chinese NGOs. There are groups which openly support us and others who do so quietly.” He said as far as STAR’s agenda was concerned, it was to convey to the Chinese community the party’s struggle and “to make them understand that STAR just wants Sabah rights returned”. This highlights the influence commerce has over politics. To quote a political observer: “If the business community is meeting up with the opposition, it means the ground is shifting and it’s not good for politics.”    |
| Sabah cops worried about political implications Posted: 29 Nov 2012 07:34 PM PST
Norikoh Saliwah’s body was found by the roadside, near Kampung Ranau, about 2km from Kota Marudu town on Nov 25 and since then the Internet has been abuzz with claims that foreigners are linked to her death. The theory that Sabah’s teeming population of illegal immigrants and foreign workers has something to do with her death has especially alarmed the police, given the political ramifications of such insinuations. State Police Commissioner Hamza Taib said earlier this week that inaccurate facts on the case published in the Internet would not only create undue fear among the people but could also threaten national security. Kota Marudu MP Maximus Ongkili, Tuaran MP Wilfred Bumburing and Tandek state assemblyman Anita Baranting have visited the family of the victim to express their condolences. In doing so they also applied further pressure on the police to solve the case. However, the police here, already under pressure over the abduction in Lahad Datu of two businessmen by a group of gunmen believed to be foreigners, are worried that the uptick of anti-immigrant sentiments on the back of political pressure to solve Sabah’s hot-potato issue regarding the massive number of illegal immigrants in the state could spiral out of control. Hamza said claims circulating on the Internet that five Pakistanis had gang-raped the victim before killing and dumping her body by the roadside was “just too much” as the case is still under police investigation. Pakistani detained Saliwa, said to have been working as a maid, was from Kampung Bombong 1, Kota Marudu, and had accompanied her 32-year-old sister and a 15-year-old male cousin to Kota Marudu to look for a job for the boy. From there the trio had gone to a furniture shop in Goshen, some 2km from Kota Marudu, where the cousin was given a job. The trio then returned to Kota Marudu together with the manager of the furniture shop for a drink. "While they were having a drink in Kota Marudu, the victim's sister realised that she had left something at the furniture shop in Goshen and asked the victim to follow the store manager back to the shop to collect it,” Hamza said. "After the victim and the store manager had left, the victim's sister was still able to call the victim to check if she was fine and the victim replied saying that she was all right and nothing was wrong. "Moments later, the sister and the cousin heard news of the victim's body with head injuries being found on the roadside, placing the 40-year-old Pakistani store manager as the last person known to be with the victim before she died," he said, adding that police had detained the latter on Nov 27 to assist in their investigation. “I strongly remind online publishers to stop releasing false information or action will be taken under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act, which carries a fine of up to RM50,000 or one year's jail term," he said during a press conference at the state police headquarters in Kepayan. Ongkili, who is also Science, Technology and Innovation Minister, said he had been briefed by the district police and assured the family on Tuesday that a thorough and speedy investigation was being conducted. “The post-mortem has revealed a cracked skull but no sign of rape on the victim. Police have not ruled out that she might have been killed and a suspect has been arrested,” he said. Did Nazri lie? On Thursday, Bumburing who recently resigned from his Barisan Nasional coalition member party, United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (Upko) and crossed over to the opposition over the government’s failure to resolve Sabah’s long-standing illegal immigrant problem, said the country was facing a “serious security threat”. “We want to know what is the real cause of the death of the girl, whether a post-mortem has been carried out to determine the cause of death and if the victim was raped before her death. “If indeed the police discover in the course of their investigation that foreign nationals are found to be involved in the death of the girl, then it confirms what I have said in Parliament about foreign elements posing serious security threat in the country. “If this incident is true, then what Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nazri Aziz said in Parliament recently that foreigners are not posing any form of security threat, are lies to hoodwink the people,” he said in a statement. Former chief minister Yong Teck Lee also muscled into the debate today by ticking off Hamza for intimidating Sabahans about posting comments on the Internet about the alleged murder. He said police should be doing their job and providing security to the people in the state rather than warning citizens that actions could be taken against them under section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act. Yong said he was particularly disturbed that Hamza had described the comments on the Internet as potential threat to national security. "The real threat to national security is the presence of illegal immigrants and crimes committed by foreigners like the drugs syndicates,” said Yong, who is also Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) president. He said the authorities should “act promptly and decisively to bring the culprits to justice in order to appease the anger of the local people who see themselves been constantly trampled upon, their lands grabbed and their human dignity hurt”. "The people of Sabah are sick and tired of officials denying the crimes inflicted on local people and our self-respect. The people expect the government to do something concrete about foreigners who now roam Sabah. "The federal government should also be held responsible for allowing the unchecked entry of dubious foreigners with ulterior motives. These are neither tourists nor genuine businessmen," he said. Serious threat Yong also noted that there has been no denial by any government official about the issuance of MyKad (citizenship) to foreigners from Pakistan who only recently entered Sabah using their passports. He reminded that party members in Keningau and Kota Marudu had recently lodged police reports on MyKad being issued to foreigners. "Some have been seen collecting their RM500 BR1M cash. All this information is available on the Internet yet the police have no comment. But when the same Internet services talk about the Saliwah’s case, the police threaten Sabahans instead. “Sabahans are the most peaceful people in Malaysia. There is no need to threaten us with fine of RM50,000 and jail terms of one year under the Act," said Yong. Meanwhile , Tawau MP, Chua Soon Bui, said Saliwah’s death was a wake-up call to the government on the security situation in the state. Chua said the relevant authorities such as the police and Immigration Department in particular, should treat the presence of foreigners in the state, especially those with dubious documents, as a serious threat to the state and its people.    |
| SP Setia unit in land-job swap Posted: 29 Nov 2012 07:33 PM PST
KUALA LUMPUR: Property developer SP Setia Bhd says it has entered into a RM845 million privatisation agreement with the federal government to develop an integrated health and research institute in Setia Alam, Selangor. In the agreement with the Ministry of Finance's Syarikat Tanah dan Harta Sdn Bhd, SP Setia's 50%-subsidiary Sentosa Jitra Sdn Bhd (SJSB), will develop 16.6ha of land in Setia Alam for the institute, in return for a 20.9ha piece of land located along Jalan Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur. In an exchange filing yesterday, it said SJSB will design, build and test the integrated centre through to its commissioning for the Ministry of Health within 48 months of the start of construction. The RM845 million project consists of a fully-integrated health and research institute in Setia Alam and 24 apartments with a polyclinic and dental clinic in Bangsar. In addition, SJSB is to pay the government RM217.11 million, being the minimum guaranteed profit for the mixed development that SJSB proposed to undertake on the piece of land in Bangsar. In the event of the profit exceeding the guarantee amount, SJSB is to pay the government the difference. There was no independent market valuation conducted on the exchange land situated within the vicinity of KL Sentral. SJSB proposes to develop the exchange land into an integrated commercial and residential development that is expected to be funded via internally generated funds and/or bank borrowings, the breakdown of which has not been determined. In its last financial result, SP Setia posted a 10% increase in its third-quarter (3Q) ended July 31, 2012, a net profit to RM100.4 million or 5.21 sen earnings per share from RM91.24 million declared in the same quarter of the preceding year. The company registered a 12% increase in revenue to RM654.19 million from RM583.47 million in the same quarter of the preceding year. SP Setia attributed the better performance to higher profit recognition from its residential and commercial properties in the Klang Valley, Penang and Johor Baru. This content is provided by FMT content partner The Malaysian Reserve.    |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Free Malaysia Today To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.