FMT News |  |
- Plantation stocks attract interests on Bursa Malaysia
- Share prices close slightly higher despite mild profit taking
- Don’t tar gold victims with same brush
- Health hazards in your handbag
- MIC exposes ‘MB quit’, ‘bastard’ video clips
- Google Maps returns to iPhone after Apple fiasco
- Factionalism likely to surface at DAP congress
- Young Malaysians more politically conscious now
- ‘Education shouldn’t involve politics, religion’
- NS dipilih sebagai sebuah bandar pintar di dunia
- ‘Purge Bumburing from Sabah politics’
- Kongres DAP: 68 calon bersaing rebut 20 kerusi CEC
- NASA photo error puts Everest in India
- New Bahrain talks call as violence grows
- Mobile Internet forcing computers to evolve
- Spain arrests woman with cocaine breast implants
- Ramai rakyat Sabah tiada pengenalan diri
- Sabah MyKad error: ‘Ensure NRD staff know directive’
- Terserah kepada parti untuk tentukan calon
- EU seals deal on banks watchdog, ahead of end-of-year summit
- You’re a liar, MIC Youth tells Chua
- Philippines moves closer to birth control law
- Pope needs help sending out first tweet
- Asian markets mostly up after Fed move
- Singapore government under pressure over sex scandal
- Ecclestone expects 19 grands prix in 2013
- Ex-DAP man rallies support for Karpal
- Humans made cheese 7,500 years ago
- Gaza perfume sales soar with rocket name
- ‘Middle Ground will take us to Putrajaya’
- Ex-Thai PM to be charged with murder over protest death
- Share prices turn mixed at midday
- Kit Siang: Many in Umno want Najib to fail
- Penang Umno confident of a good run
- Mitsubishi Bank fined US$8.6m for flouting US sanctions
- Lidl Christmas dinner offer goes viral on Twitter
- ‘Barat Maniam was appointed as he is neutral’
- ‘Remove Lynas waste only if hazardous’
- Stop belittling sufferings of stateless Malaysians
- Khazanah sells TNB shares for RM407m via placement
- Pressure mounts on Wenger in denial
- Spot fixing threatens integrity of modern game
- Property market may remain stable in 2013
- SP Setia targets sales growth of RM5.5b
- Jayawardene to step down as skipper
- X-Stream INET for Bursa
- PJI Holdings to expand footprint in renewable energy
- BToto to be listed as trust on SGX
- Jagger love letters fetch RM 915,819
- ‘Confidence on economic recovery down’
| Plantation stocks attract interests on Bursa Malaysia Posted: 13 Dec 2012 02:26 AM PST
The report said Malaysia, the world’s second-largest palm oil producer, would set a tax rate for the export of CPO for January using the average sales price from Nov 10 to Dec 9 as the reference price, a level that analysts said could result in zero tax. It said the new tax rate came under a plan approved in October to cut CPO export taxes as it tried to claw back market share from top producer Indonesia. Under the new structure, January export taxes were likely be set at zero, given that the average CPO price from Nov 10 to Dec 9 fell below the lowest reference price of RM2,250 per tonne, it said. The government will announce the tax levy on the 15th of every month using Malaysian Palm Oil Board’s (MPOB) prices for reference and will formalise the January tax in a gazette set to be issued on Dec 17. The Plantation Index rose 34.39 points to close at 7,999.64 from 7,965.25 previously. United Plantation’s share price rose by 44 sen to RM25.30 after hovering between RM24.78 and RM25.30 with 400 lots traded. Kuala Lumpur Kepong gained 20 sen to RM21.58. It hovered between RM21.22 and RM21.68 throughout the day with 277,800 lots traded. Meanwhile, Alliance Research Sdn Bhd said given that the MPOB’s CPO price average for the Nov 10 to Dec 9 period was below the RM2,250 per tonne reference price, the export tax on CPO starting January would most likely be zero. With MPOB prices at RM2,050 per tonne as of yesterday’s close, it was generally believed that CPO prices were already net of tax, it said. “We view that CPO prices are still slated to recover by January 2013 on the back of cooling production and improved exports which will reduce inventories. “Being able to close the premium to Indonesian CPO prices starting next year will be beneficial for Malaysian palm oil exports,” the research house said in a note today. Alliance Research said with no production threats foreseen for the year it has maintained its "neutral" call on the sector. - Bernama      |
| Share prices close slightly higher despite mild profit taking Posted: 13 Dec 2012 02:18 AM PST
The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) ended three points higher at 1,652.75, lifted by gains in most palm oil and plantation-based counters. The index moved between 1,649.44 and 1,656.62 throughout the day after opening 2.48 points higher at 1,652.53. United Plantations jumped 44 sen or 1.77% to RM25.30, Genting Plantation rose 27 sen to RM8.62, Sungei Bagan added eight sen to RM2.92. Vice-president/head of retail research, Affin Investment Bank, Nazri Khan, said the current resistance level was pegged at 1,650 and was expected to remain at this level for the short term. “This is a normal profit-taking activity and investors should view it as a buying opportunity,” he told Bernama, adding that market fundamentals are positive with the strong rally, since last week, most likely to continue into the next two weeks. “Besides the window dressing, our local bourse is also affected by external factors such as the positive developments in the US,” he added. Losers led gainers 365 to 306 while 324 counters were unchanged, 647 untraded and 29 others were suspended. Volume shed to 881.12 million shares, worth RM1.54 billion, from the 950.47 million shares, worth RM1.77 billion, transacted yesterday. The Finance Index lost 8.84 points to 15,145.001, the Industrial Index slipped 13.81 points to 2,707.33 but the Plantation Index rose 34.39 points to 7,999.64. The FBM Ace Index dipped 13.13 points to 4,139.73, the FBM Mid 70 Index slipped 23.68 points to 12,092.13 but the FBM Emas Index improved 10.62 points to 11,206.48, with the FBMT100 chalking up 12.23 points to 11,063.81. Among actives, Tiger Synergy declined four sen to 32.5 sen, Cworks Systems eased half-a-sen to 19.5 sen, Malaysia Airline lost five sen to 74.5 sen while Nextnation Communication was flat at 10.5 sen. Of heavyweights, Maybank was flat at RM9.07, Sime Darby shed six sen to RM9.14, CIMB decreased three sen to RM7.57 but Axiata added 13 sen to RM6.53. Volume on the Main Market weakened to 707.03 million units, worth RM1.51 billion, from 776.74 million units, valued at RM1.75 billion, recorded yesterday. Turnover on the ACE Market strengthened to 131.15 million shares, worth RM19.82 million, from Wednesday’s 117.02 million shares worth RM17.39 million. Warrants narrowed to 40.47 million units, worth RM4.51 million, from 55.2 million units, worth RM6.93 million, recorded yesterday. Consumer products accounted for 53.26 million shares on the Main Market, industrial products 1185.01 million, construction 27.53 million, trade and services 247.57 million, technology 40.32 million, infrastructure 17.38 million, finance 42.97 million, hotels 565,400, properties 62.15 million, plantations 12.49 million, mining 135,000, REITs 17.53 million and closed/fund 143,000. - Bernama    |
| Don’t tar gold victims with same brush Posted: 13 Dec 2012 02:12 AM PST
Speaking to FMT recently, representatives of a group comprising some 100 customers of The Gold Label Sdn Bhd said that it was perplexing that BNM has, until today, failed to even charge a single director of the said company. Instead, the authorities are seemingly more interested in confiscating some RM1.5 million worth of gold bars (100kg) they claim rightfully belonged to them, said Cynthia Wong, the head of the group. They are part of an estimated 1,000 customers affected in the case with losses estimated between RM100 million and RM200 million, but the authorities have managed to so far seize less than RM20 million in assets. On May 7, 2010, BNM raided The Gold Label at its premises in Mid Valley City, following complaints received from the public. BNM then announced that it had commenced investigations into The Gold Label on suspicion of conducting illegal deposit-taking and money-laundering activities. The company was reportedly investigated under subsection 25(1) Banking and Financial Institutions Act 1989 (BAFIA) and sub-section 4(1) of the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act 2001 (AMLATFA). BNM’s completed investigations then led to a court action in 2011 where the government filed for a civil forfeiture under Section 56(1) of AMLATFA at the Kuala Lumpur High Court. This trial is still ongoing. Wong’s lawyer, Lee Min Choon, who represents some 60 victims in the case, said that his clients are innocent and are being wrongly victimised in the court action. “They are innocent here, nobody would willingly risk their life savings just to be part of an illegal scheme. “BNM and the Attorney-General’s Chambers are trying to establish that these people had colluded and participated in this as a partner,” said Lee, adding that this was a prerequisite to forfeit and confiscate the assets. “It is one thing to tar the directors of the company as conmen, but is it fair to tar all these victims with the same brush? That’s illogical.” Another buyer and former consultant from Wong’s group, who wished to remain anonymous, asked: “Why are the directors not charged until today? How is the government protecting us then? You have to prevent them from resurfacing, if they really did anything wrong, right?…” “Sadly, it does gives me an impression that the authorities are colluding with the directors of these gold trading companies to rip the public off their hard-earned savings,” he said. Meanwhile, Wong said the government seems only interested in forfeiting the money frozen, in essence helping the government get a share of what gold traders lost. The DPP takes much trouble to tie each Gold Label customer going to court as a willing rather than unwitting party to the trading process that turned bad. “Why are the authorities seemingly content at confiscating what rightfully belonged to the customers?” asked Wong. “If it really is deposit-taking or money-llaundering [activity], don’t leave it dangling. Where is the justice? Is BNM’s role just to seize and raid and leave people suffering?” She said that if this could happen to victims of Gold Label, it may also happen to the more current victims in the cases of Genneva Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Pageantry Gold Bhd, Worldwide Far East Bhd, and Ceasar Gold Sdn Bhd, which were raided in October. “Our fear is that all the other gold companies raided by BNM will eventually go down the path of Gold Label,” she said.    |
| Health hazards in your handbag Posted: 13 Dec 2012 02:01 AM PST
Many of us wouldn't consider the impact of our handbag on our health, however research suggests this essential fashion item could be more risky than you think. As our handbags tend to travel most places with us and are often placed on floors, they can easily pick up germs throughout the day. A study by microbiologists tested swabs taken from the outside and bottom of handbags and found that your handbag could contain thousands, or even millions, of bacteria, including fecal bacteria and viruses that can cause colds and stomach upsets. However, when it comes to your handbag, it's not just what's on the outside that counts. Here are five health dangers lurking in your handbag. Water bottles For a safer way to stay hydrated, try switching to a different type of water bottle. Glass bottles are a healthier solution and can be wrapped in a protective silicone sleeve, or try using a metal bottle such as stainless steel or aluminium if you are concerned about breakages. Makeup Mascara can harbour bacteria that is transferred into the product after each application and which can reproduce in the dark, warm environment of the mascara tube. Make sure you throw out mascara after six months to avoid eye infections and replace other products after roughly 18 months. To further prevent the build-up of bacteria, wash makeup brushes regularly and avoid sharing makeup with friends. Used tissues Although you may be the only person using your handbag, it is still easy to spread these germs to others. Every time you rummage through your bag your fingers can come into contact with the germs on used tissues which can then be spread to surfaces such as door handles and stair rails and easily passed on to others. When you blow your nose, make sure you throw your tissue away as soon as possible, then wash your hands or use a hand sanitiser. Mobile phone Aside from these potential serious health dangers, a study of mobile phones in Britain also found a more immediate danger associated with mobile phones, with their results showing that one in six mobile phones were contaminated with faecal matter. A condition known as "texter's thumb" is also a potential danger for regular mobile phone users, with Virgin Mobile stating that mobile phones are the cause of a reported 3.8 million cases a year of repetitive strain injury. Heavy items While you may not feel the effects of this immediately, lugging around a heavy handbag can have serious implications on your body and can eventually lead to serious back problems and neck pain as well as poor posture. To look after your health, try switching to a smaller bag and filling it only with the items that you feel are really necessary each time you leave the house. LINKS    |
| MIC exposes ‘MB quit’, ‘bastard’ video clips Posted: 13 Dec 2012 01:54 AM PST
In the clips, Manikavasagam also called state exco Dr Xavier Jayakumar a "bastard" and blamed the latter for the demolition of temples in Selangor over the past four years. The two clips, taken during the statesless Indian protest organised by PKR at Putrajaya yesterday, were shown to the media by MIC during a press conference here. In the first video, Manikavasagam criticised Khalid, urging the latter to tender his resignation. Answering a question on whether the demolition of the shrine was correct, he replied: "Wrong! Cannot accept this! I’m telling you. MB must resign." While in the second clip, Manikavasagam said: "I’m telling you, I already talk…. Xavier is another bastard. First, he protected the Majlis (Sepang Muncipal Council), after that when we pressure him, and then he twist. I also don’t agree to touch ‘kuil’ (temple), how many… already seven [referring to the number of demolished temples under the Pakatan government]." He also claimed that three notices had been served to demolish a temple in his constituency. Manikavasagam added that Jayakumar was an "idiot" who was adamant in demolishing temples and did not listen to the former. Pakatan government under pressure Meanwhile, MIC Youth chief T Mohan said that his wing would bear the cost to rebuild the shrine which was erected in the compound of a house. Citing the video clips, he said that it appeared that the Selangor government was under pressure from its own members.
A week later, Jayakumar defended the council's action, prompting MIC Youth to demand a public apology from him. However, Jayakumar later claimed that the action was done unilaterally by certain MPS officers and that he suspected sabotage. On Dec 7, MIC Youth also staged a peaceful protest in front of the Selangor state secretariat building demanding Khalid and Jayakumar to resign over the demolition. Despite repeated attempts, Manikavasagam could not be contacted for comment.    |
| Google Maps returns to iPhone after Apple fiasco Posted: 13 Dec 2012 01:44 AM PST
The company has promised an “entirely new” experience with its Google Maps app, which includes local search functions, voice-guided directions and “Street View” images of places and even the inside of some 100,000 businesses. Apple was forced to make a highly embarrassing apology in September for its own maps application in the new iOS 6 operating system used by the iPhone 5, and urged customers to use rival programs while improvements are made. Apple had booted off Google Maps — which had been the default program for Apple devices — when it developed its own mapping application. But the new Apple program immediately drew scorn, leading some users to refuse to upgrade their operating systems. - AFP    |
| Factionalism likely to surface at DAP congress Posted: 13 Dec 2012 01:22 AM PST
Delegates to the convention, as well as seasoned observers of DAP politics, froze in disbelief. Such a public display of dissent within the party had never before occurred in its history. It was simply not part of DAP culture. DAP czar Lim Kit Siang missed it. He was busy elsewhere, carrying out tasks related to his job of orchestrating the party’s expansion. But his son, party secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, was there to witness it. And so was party chairman Karpal Singh, who shook his head in despair. But although few could have predicted the demonstration, there was in fact a foreshadowing of it in Karpal's own spat with deputy secretary-general P Ramasamy. The demonstrators were the latter's supporters. Nevertheless, after the initial shock of the event, analysts and pundits began to use their hindsight to explain it. The consensus seemed to be that internal turmoil was inevitable given DAP's relatively sudden rise to prominence as a party that is part of the governing coalition in several states of the Malaysian federation. Indeed, the Penang demonstration came just months after DAP had confirmed the strength of its political muscle through dramatic victories in the Sarawak state election, proving that its successes in the 2008 general election were not a mere fluke.
Some of these problems will no doubt surface this weekend at the party's national congress in Penang. Most eyes will focus on the jostling for positions in the 20-member Central Executive Committee (CEC) although they will also be looking at how the party will handle simmering issues about its policies and direction. More recently, the Negeri Sembilan faction appears to have come into its own, largely due to the influence of former DAP Youth chief Anthony Loke, the MP for Rasah. Party insiders as well as external observers say he is being groomed to take over from Guan Eng as secretary-general when the latter’s term ends in 2014. And then there are second echelon leaders also jostling for the spotlight, namely young strategists such as Tony Pua, Jeff Ooi, Liew Chin Tong and Teo Nie Ching. Not to be overlooked are Penang DAP chairman Chow Kon Yeow, who is fast gaining a reputation as the party’s sacred cow, and Teng Chang Khim, Teresa Kok, Ronnie Liu, Gobind Singh, M Kulasegaran, V Sivakumar and Dr Boo Cheng Hau. At least some of these figures are expected to get seats in the CEC, the only question being how high or low in the hierarchy they will be. There are 20 elected slots. Ten or 15 more will be appointed later. And then, among themselves, they will decide who will hold which posts.
Karpal has set one of the dominant tones for the coming congress with his proposal for DAP candidates to each contest only one seat in the 13th general election, with an exception given to Guan Eng. He was also the main inspiration behind the law against party hopping that the Penang legislature passed this year. Guan Eng's own popularity in the party is less secure than Karpal's. Insiders say some leaders associated with him may not feature too predominantly on the CEC list. Some delegates are unhappy over being overlooked by these leaders and are expected to vent their anger by dismantling Guan Eng's list of preferred candidates. Guan Eng himself has been criticised for being too busy as a statesman to handle party issues efficiently. An insider mentioned his lack of attention to vetting membership applications, resulting in an alleged failure to weed out BN infiltrators. The insider, who declined to be named, admitted that this was not yet a major issue, but he said it should not be left unchecked in the interest of the party's long-term aspirations. Party leaders have told members to maintain discipline in discussing internal problems. There is an indirect gag order with regard to speaking to the media, including operators of blogs sympathetic to DAP. Some insiders, as well as the cyber troopers, find such an order unsettling, coming as it is from a party that is supposed to uphold freedom of information and other democratic values. A veteran blogger said DAP seemed to have forgotten that it owed much of its success to the work of the alternative media. He said this was one sign of the arrogance that the party has often been accused of in the last couple of years. DAP must remind its leaders, the blogger added, that good politics requires a high dose of humility on the part of its practitioners. ‘Middle Ground will take us to Putrajaya’    |
| Young Malaysians more politically conscious now Posted: 13 Dec 2012 01:19 AM PST
Although voter registration numbers are the poorest among the 21- and 22-year olds, it is encouraging to note that by the time they reached 35,ninety percent of them registered as voters. The National Youth Survey 2012, an initiative by The Asia Foundation, surveyed 2,105 youths aged from 17 to 35. "Youths are beginning to adopt a change in attitude and behaviour towards political issues," said Nur Azrina Azhar, senior programme officer at The Asia Foundation. However, the results of the survey were also consistent with the Election Commission's findings that Selangor and East Malaysia have the lowest proportion of registered voters in the country. This may be because, among those of voting age, lack of time to register (33%) and a dislike for politics (21%) are the top two reasons for non-registration. A lack of voter awareness and education was also cited as a key factor behind reasons such as unsure of where to register (15%) and unsure of the procedure for registration (10%). Prof Khaldun Malek, a senior research fellow at the Institute of Ethnic Studies of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, had a reason for this non-registration issue. "Malaysian politics is weird… there is no ideological politics present but only race and religious politics which continue to make headlines," he said. His explanation was that due to the present political climate in Malaysia, many youths can and are being driven away by the unnecessary race and religion discussions which are rampant in Malaysian politics. An unfair electoral system was deemed to be another area of concern for youths, with 19% of the total respondents saying that the current election process is still corrupt. "Malaysia's 13th general election is imminent and youths are a critical and pivotal electorate" said Anthea Mulakala, country representative for The Asia Foundation in Malaysia. "We hope the findings will enable both government and opposition to better understand and respond to the nation's youth," she said. Of those registered to vote, 55% voted in the 2008 general election and the foundation hopes that more of Malaysian youths will vote in the next general election.    |
| ‘Education shouldn’t involve politics, religion’ Posted: 13 Dec 2012 01:14 AM PST
This warning came from Henry Lau, the managing director KTS Group of companies, who was speaking at a one-day education forum titled “Education in Malaysia: How Do We See It? The Sarawak Perspective” held here yesterday. According to Lau, the claws of political interference and racial quota had also stretched to the country’s institutions of higher learning where innovation and intellectual freedom, which should in essence be the primary thrust of education, was being hijacked. “Each year, we are spending billions on education nationwide. “But after more than four decades of almost free education in primary and secondary schools, we are still baffled and unable to distinguish the differences between language and knowledge learning. "Education should be limited to knowledge and should not involve politics and religion. We should refrain from raising the issue of politics or religion or any other issues except education in its pure sense,” he said. Lau added that the country's “malleable young” should be taught to recognise the multicultural origins of the various ethnic groups, appreciate each other's religion and show respect and understanding for one another. "If our education system does not inculcate these attitudes in our students, it will only tend to polarise us. “Getting a string of academic As is meaningless if the students fail to understand, appreciate and practise good moral values," he said. He also warned that the country will have to “pay for the defects, if we do not correct” immediately the prevalent malaise affecting the education system in the country. SPM ‘grads’ can’t read, write Seven speakers gave their views on the issue, among them was Open University Malaysia’s Professor Dr Selvaraj Oyyan Pillay who shocked the 300-odd participants when he revealed that some SPM “graduates” he had met “couldn’t even read and write”. “I have come across school leavers wanting to do a certificate programme. And we found out that some couldn't even read or write. "They are usually children of illiterate parents. It happened in Sarawak and in Peninsular Malaysia. These are cases which I have personally come across. “What about the cases which I don't see? We must look into why this is happening. "The government is putting an all-out effort to make good education policy but at the executive level, but something must be wrong. If a student has gone through our school education system, then he or she should be able to read and write. "But since they can't read or write, they can't even fit into the vocational education system, ” said Pillay, who is a director in the university’s Institute of Professional Development. Pillay’s observation seems to lend weight to the commonly held views that something is acutely wrong with the Malaysian education system. According to the Global Competitiveness Report 2012-2013 released by the World Economic Forum (WEF), Malaysia slipped four notches from last year’s 21st spot to the 25th this year. Also to note is that none of the Malaysian universities was ranked among the top 200 universities of the Times Higher Education World University Rankings. Education activists are of the opinion that there are loopholes in the current education system, which the National Education Blueprint must rectify. But this, they said, was not happening. The blueprint, they added, was still stressing language education, reading, writing and calculating, without fully “utilising the advantages of diversity in education”. Flip-flop policies Meanwhile, Bandar Kuching MP Chong Chieng Jen, who was also a speaker, said the government’s flip-flop policies had led to the federal administration being forced to spend some RM200 million in re-training its graduates. Chong was alluding to Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s recent Budget 2013 speech in which he announced that the government will establish the Graduate Employability Taskforce with an allocation of RM200 million. He said over the last few decades, the government had introduced different education policies but none seemed to have been successful. “Why can't we go back to colonial times where the Chinese schools and national schools taught Bahasa Malaysia and missionary schools taught English?” he asked.    |
| NS dipilih sebagai sebuah bandar pintar di dunia Posted: 13 Dec 2012 01:06 AM PST
Menteri Besar Datuk Mohamad Hasan berkata kerajaan Negeri Sembilan akan menerima geran bernilai USD400, 000 dari IBM meliputi akses kepada beberapa pakar terkemuka IBM. IBM merupakan sebuah syarikat teknologi dan perunding antarabangsa yang bertapak di Amerika Syarikat; yang akan menganalisis dan mencadangkan cara meningkatkan perkhidmatan dan penyampaian (delivery system) pentadbiran serta pembangunan negeri. "Dalam usaha membangunkan Negeri Sembilan terutama bandar Seremban sebagai bandar tempat tinggal dan bekerja yang sejahtera, geran ini akan digunakan untuk tujuan kajian penyelidikan berhubung konsep tersebut. "Faktor Negeri Sembilan dipilih sebagai salah sebuah bandar pintar ialah berdasarkan konsep dan struktur pembangunan pintar dan berasaskan teknologi hijau yang dibuat dan dirancang kerajaan Negeri. "Dengan inisiatif ini saya yakin sasaran Kerajaan Negeri untuk membangunkan tiga zon strategik iaitu membina hab pendidikan, mewujudkan rangkaian industri dan menarik pelaburan asing akan tercapai. "Pasukan pakar IBM akan memulakan kerja awal bersama Rangkaian Minang Sdn Bhd (RMNS) selama tiga minggu bermula awal 2013", kata Mohamad. Mohamad berkata beliau bangga dan mengucapkan terima kasih di atas kepercayaan serta keyakinan IBM terhadap inisiatif Kerajaan Negeri bersama RMNS di atas pemberian geran ini. Sementara itu Mohamad juga mengumumkan bahawa kerajaan negeri memperuntukkan RM14 juta kepada Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) bagi menjayakan Dasar Pencahayaan Negeri yang akan dilaksanakan secara berperingkat dalam tempoh dua tahun. "Sehingga kini sebanyak 123, 000 lampu jalan dipasang di bawah projek tersebut berbanding 70, 000 pada tahun lepas. "Pemasangan lampu jalan mampu mengurangkan kadar jenayah dan orang ramai lebih yakin untuk keluar rumah bagi melakukan pelbagai aktiviti", katanya.    |
| ‘Purge Bumburing from Sabah politics’ Posted: 13 Dec 2012 01:03 AM PST
STAR’s Sabah chapter deputy chairman, Daniel John Jambun, said Bumburing’s comment in the local media on Tuesday that the Orang Asal, especially the Kadazandusun and Murut, should not pin their hopes on STAR is patently mischievous, misconceived and misleading. “It should be condemned in no uncertain terms by all right-thinking Sabahans, deplored and exposed as ‘the mother of all lies’ by a political has-been who shamelessly continues to be a stooge of the local proxies of the peninsular masters,” said Jambun who also leads a UK-based Borneo’s Plight in Malaysia Foundation (BoPiMaFo). On Tuesday, Bumburing painted a picture that there is no future for the natives in STAR but in PKR-led Pakatan Rakyat. He suggested that his newly-minted NGO, Angkatan Perubahan Sabah (APS), is the right one for new hopes for the Sabah natives especially the Kadazandusuns. But hawkish Jambun in his statement today reminded Bumburing that STAR is all about the dignity of the people of Sabah and Sarawak, and that man does not live by bread alone. “Bumburing, being a long-serving Upko deputy president before defecting to Pakatan, was a stooge of Umno in Upko. Now he appears wanting to continue to be a stooge but this time in Pakatan via his so-called Angkatan Perubahan Sabah (APS). “The people here look at these Sabah and Sarawak proxies and stooges of peninsula-based parties, especially those operating in Borneo, as traitors who must be driven out from our politics…” Jambun claimed. He also stressed that by driving out such traitors it would be like cleansing Sabah natives’ spirits of the politics of self-serving leeches, parasites and bloodsuckers which has plagued them since they lost their self-determination on July 22 (Sarawak) and Aug 31 (Sabah) in 1963. “The issue before us is clear. We must oppose the Malayan Agenda, which is very obvious to our eyes now, which is all about internal colonisation. “Opposing internal colonisation is the thrust of our Borneo Agenda struggle which is in line with what the Borneon natives want. This we will put it to the voters at the coming election. “We shall walk that path from generation to generation for an eternity, if necessary, until we are finally free again and the Malayan colonialists have left our nations in Borneo,” said Jambun. Divided Malays Jambun also said the more Bumburing and his APS speak bad about a resurgent STAR, the more they appear like a puppet of the Malayan Agenda. “We hope it shall be revealed to Bumburing and his small group of armies soon that they are no better than a puppet. “They must be treated with the utmost contempt, rooted out from our body politics and destroyed if self-dignity and Borneo empowerment are to be realised at the coming general election. “This is the only way that we will be able to stand on our two feet again and regain our rightful place as nations in Malaysia – Sabah and Sarawak – if not as free, independent and sovereign countries in the community of nations recognised by the United Nations,” Jambun added. He also said that Sabah has a historical window of opportunity before her to strike a blow for Sabah and Sarawak. “The 12th general election in 2008 divided the politics of Peninsular Malaysia, in particular the Malay-speaking communities – Bugis, Javanese, Minang, Achehnese and Indian Muslims – or the 55% majority, forever. “The 45% minority communities, divided by ethnicity, language, religion, geography and economics, stand poised to rule Malaysia with moderate elements from the Islamic faith. “Sabah and Sarawak will be the beneficiaries of the emerging new politics in Malaysia on both sides of the South China Sea,” he said. He said compounding the complexity of the new politics will be the emergence of a third force led by STAR in a hung Parliament, which will emerge from the 13th general election. “This third force will come from both Malaya and Borneo since not everyone will be committed to the Barisan Nasional and Pakatan. “All these developments are beyond comprehension of people like Bumburing and other local political parties which are being held to ransom by the peninsular parties for the proverbial 30 pieces of silver. “The Orang Asal in particular have a real opportunity at last to neutralise the illegal immigrants on the electoral rolls and end their marginalisation and disenfranchisement engineered by BN and likely to be continued by Pakatan in the absence of a third force,” Jambun added.    |
| Kongres DAP: 68 calon bersaing rebut 20 kerusi CEC Posted: 13 Dec 2012 12:36 AM PST
Antara calon berkenaan ialah orang kuat parti iaitu Pengerusi Kebangsaan parti Karpal Singh, dua anak lelakinya Gobind Singh Deo yang juga Anggota Parlimen (MP) Puchong dan Jagdeep Singh Deo, Anggota Dewan Undangan Negeri (Adun) Datuk Keramat. Tidak ketinggalan ialah Setiausaha Agung parti dan Ketua Menteri Pulau Pinang Lim Guan Eng bersama-sama bapanya yang merupakan veteran DAP dan MP Ipoh Timur Lim Kit Siang. Turut tidak melepaskan peluang untuk merebut jawatan berkenaan ialah Pengerusi DAP Perak Ngeh Koo Ham yang juga MP Beruas dan sepupunya Nga Kor Ming, yang merupakan Setiausaha DAP Perak. Nga juga adalah MP Taiping dan Adun Pantai Remis. Antara calon Melayu pula ialah Naib Pengerusi DAP Johor Ahmad Ton, Senator Ariffin S.M. Omar, Timbalan Pengerusi DAP Pahang Tengku Zulpuri Shah Raja Puji, anggota Jawatankuasa DAP Pulau Pinang Zulkifli Mohd Noor, Roseli Abdul Ghani yang akan diletakkan sebagai calon di Negeri Sembilan pada pilihan raya umum ke-13, Pengerusi DAP Cawangan Desa Manjung Solaiman Op Syed Ibrahim dan Harun Ahmad. Setiausaha Penganjur DAP Kebangsaan Teresa Kok berkata tiada calon dibenarkan menarik diri daripada bertanding. “Mereka (calon) yang ingin berbuat demikian boleh memaklumkannya kepada Speaker kongres pada hari berkenaan, tetapi namanya akan kekal dalam senarai dan perwakilan masih boleh mengundinya pada hari berkenaan walaupun calon telah menarik diri,” katanya kepada Bernama hari ini. Berdasarkan senarai calon, lebih separuh daripada mereka terdiri daripada sama ada MP atau Adun, atau kedua-duanya. Kok berkata: “Dalam DAP, asalkan anda dapat pencalonan daripada dua cawangan, anda boleh menjadi calon dalam pemilihan parti”. Selain daripada Kok, yang juga Pengerusi DAP Selangor, nama-nama terkenal lain yang bertanding bagi kerusi CEC termasuk MP Bukit Mertajam Chong Eng, MP Tanjung Chow Kon Yeow, MP Petaling Jaya Utara Tony Pua, MP Cheras Tan Kok Wai, MP Kepong Dr Tan Seng Giaw, MP Rasah Anthony Loke, MP Ipoh Barat M. Kulasegaran, Timbalan Ketua Menteri Pulau Pinang P. Ramasamy, Speaker Dewan Undangan Negeri Selangor Datuk Teng Chang Khim, dan Naib Pengerusi DAP Chong Chieng Jen, yang juga MP Bandar Kuching. Kok berkata setakat ini, DAP mempunyai kira-kira 150,000 anggota dari 730 cawangan. Sejumlah 2,576 perwakilan akan menghadiri kongres dua hari itu. Kit Siang dalam kenyataan berkata Kongres DAP akan menjadi pembuka tirai bersejarah kepada kempen “Seratus Hari ke Putrajaya”. Pakatan pembangkang menyasarkan untuk menjatuhkan kerajaan Barisan Nasional (BN) pada pilihan raya umum akan datang. - Bernama    |
| NASA photo error puts Everest in India Posted: 13 Dec 2012 12:29 AM PST  KATHMANDU: The world’s highest mountain should not be hard to spot but American space agency NASA has admitted it mistook a summit in India for Mount Everest, which straddles the border of Nepal and China.The agency said on its website that Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko’s snap from the International Space Station, 370 kilometres above Earth, showed Everest lightly dusted with snow. The picture spread rapidly via Twitter and was picked up by media around the world, including the US-based magazine The Atlantic, astronomy website Space.com and US cable news channel MSNBC. But Nepalis smelt a rat and voiced their suspicions on social media. Journalist Kunda Dixit, an authority on the Himalayas, tweeted: “Sorry guys, but the tall peak with the shadow in the middle is not Mt Everest.” NASA confirmed on Thursday that it had made a mistake and removed the picture from its website. “It is not Everest. It is Saser Muztagh, in the Karakoram Range of the Kashmir region of India,” a spokesman admitted in an email to AFP. “The view is in mid-afternoon light looking northeastward.” He did not explain how the picture from the space station, a joint project of the US, Russia, Japan, Canada and Europe, had been wrongly identified. Everest, which is 8,848 metres high, is an sought-after photographic target for astronauts in orbit but is tricky to capture, according to astronaut Ron Garan, who lived on the International Space Station last year. “No time is allotted in our work day normally for Earth pictures. So if we want to capture a specific point on the ground we have to first know exactly when we will fly over that spot,” he told The Atlantic. - AFP    |
| New Bahrain talks call as violence grows Posted: 13 Dec 2012 12:19 AM PST  MANAMA: Bahrain’s crown prince has made a renewed appeal for dialogue to end the political impasse in the Gulf kingdom, a call welcomed by the Shiite-led opposition, despite no end in sight to violent protests.Prince Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, widely viewed as a moderate member of the Sunni ruling dynasty, took the opportunity when hosting a global security conference last week to invite the Shiite opposition to sit down and talk. “We had our own experience of the so-called Arab Spring last year. It divided the nation, and many wounds are still to be healed,” he told the conference. “I am convinced… that dialogue is the only way forward” in the tiny but strategic nation across the Gulf from Iran, and the base of the US Fifth Fleet. But he also said “opposition leaders must condemn violence on the streets. Silence is not an option,” while insisting that “political groups must be reconciled.” For his part, State Minister for Information Samira Rajab told AFP that “dialogue is the only solution; a consensual dialogue between all forces to reach a comprehensive solution.” Al-Wefaq, the largest Shiite opposition formation, seized on the crown prince’s proposal and responded positively, but demanded a “serious dialogue” and said the results must be subject to a referendum. The crown prince’s latest overture is just one in a series of calls he has made since February 2011. It was then that activists, mostly from Bahrain’s Shiite majority, took a page from the nascent Arab Spring to demand democratic reforms, but were crushed by forces loyal to the Sunni monarch with the aid of Gulf troops led by Sunni neighbour Saudi Arabia. The opposition has repeatedly said it was ready for a meaningful dialogue, but has stuck to its demands for a real constitutional monarchy with an elected prime minister. Khalil al-Marzooq, a former Al-Wefaq MP, said the group was ready to talk. “We are ready for dialogue without any conditions,” he said, reiterating his movement’s position, which does not challenge the monarchy but demands that “the prime minister be named by the elected parliament.” Current Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman, an uncle of the king, has been in office since 1971, and is widely despised by Shiites, the country’s majority population. Calls for his ouster echo in almost every demonstration organised by Al-Wefaq or any other Shiite opposition group. But on the walls in Shiite villages outside Manama, graffiti calls for more: the departure of King Hamad. In those villages black flags of mourning fly and portraits of the revered seventh century Imam Hussein are displayed next to posters of radical Shiite opposition figures jailed following last year’s crackdown on dissent. Despite a brutal clampdown in which a protest camp at Manama’s Pearl Square was demolished and protesters were chased back to their villages, it was not long before demonstrators were back on the streets. According to the International Federation for Human Rights, a total of 80 people have been killed in Bahrain since the violence began on February 14, 2011. Confrontations between mostly youthful protesters and police occur frequently after calls made on social media networks by the “February 14 Movement,” which was behind last year’s protests. The demonstrations in Shiite villages often turn violent with protesters using petrol bombs and police responding with tear gas and birdshot. Key ally Washington urged the Bahraini authorities in November to exercise self-restraint. Some observers questioned whether traditional opposition groups, mainly Al-Wefaq, are in control over protests, as radical groups appear more active. “We have not lost control of the street,” insisted Marzooq, but adding that protesters’ demands have become “stern,” and acknowledging that “violence has increased.” Manama came under strong criticism from international rights group over last year’s deadly crackdown. An international panel commissioned by King Hamad found that excessive force and torture was used against protesters and detainees. The government has made no concessions to the opposition since, but claims to have begun a robust implementation of the special commission’s recommendations. “Almost all those sacked” for taking part in protests, estimated at around 4,400 people, “have been reinstated in their jobs,” and police have adopted a “new code of conduct,” Rajab said. - AFP    |
| Mobile Internet forcing computers to evolve Posted: 13 Dec 2012 12:17 AM PST  SAN FRANCISCO: The shift to smartphones and tablets became a landslide this year, crushing desire for laptop computers and pressuring manufacturers to adapt to the mobile Internet era.The trend promised to gain momentum in 2013, with people using handheld gadgets to remain connected to the Web on the go and switching to sophisticated systems in homes or offices. “Tablets will not kill PCs (personal computers),” Forrester Research analyst Frank Gillett told AFP. “Tablets will force them to evolve.” Signs that the evolution is underway include Microsoft overhauling Windows to synch the world’s most widely used computer operating system with tablets and smartphones as well as desktops and laptops. Microsoft is even selling its own Surface tablet based on the Windows 8 software released in October. “I don’t think the PC is going away,” said analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group in Silicon Valley. “What is clear is we are going through some turmoil; the market is resetting itself around new products.” While people opt for tablets instead of laptops for computing on the move, they will yearn for bigger screens and more processing power when they settle down for “real work,” according to analysts. “Your tablet can do so much that fewer people need laptops, but when you get to your desktop you want something that contrasts significantly from your tablet,” Gillett said.
Gillett described a future in which people go seamlessly from working on mobile devices to desktop stations where tablets can be docked and augmented with sensors, processors, bigger screens and more. He refers to the concept as “frames” for computing. The analyst contends that the limping economy is among factors behind a temporary lull in PC purchases destined to end as people “go through this illusion they will do it all on a tablet and realize they can’t.” “Tablets will substitute for some, even many, laptops but because a tablet can’t do as much as a laptop it will eventually stimulate PC sales,” Gillett reasoned. “What ultimately happens here is that the laptop and desktop get rethought and re-invented for a tablet world.” The market for tablets and smartphones is red-hot, leaving the PC as an afterthought for many. Microsoft, which was the biggest tech firm in 2009 because of its dominant Windows operating system for PCs, has fallen behind Apple and is struggling to remain a major force amid gains by Google and Amazon. Onetime giants like Hewlett-Packard and Dell are struggling amid sluggish demand as sales of tablet computers and other devices surge. However, Enderle pointed out, China-based Lenovo is thriving by selling the gamut of computing devices. “Lenovo is showing success in all categories, supporting the notion that while the market has more products it is all still personal computing,” Enderle said. “Before we were buying a laptop or desktop computer,” he continued. “Now, we are increasingly carrying many products.” Research firm IDC projects global PC sales this year of 367 million, up just a fraction of a percent from 2011 and marking the second consecutive year of growth below two percent. ABI Research predicts tablet computers will overtake notebook PCs by 2016. Roger Kay of Endpoint Technologies Associates said that the PC “still is pretty relevant” but “not the center of the computing universe.” “I think people are going to choose a pantheon of devices, and all of these are connected through the cloud… so the user is now the center of the tech universe.” More than 32 million tablets were shipped worldwide in the third quarter of 2012, a 75 percent increase from the same period a year earlier, according to Futuresource Consulting. Futuresource projected that global tablet shipments this year would hit 137 million units and nearly triple during the coming five years. “We’re seeing significant industry growth across all key world territories, with the majority of tablet market activity still originating from consumer purchases,” said Simon Bryant of Futuresource. Part of the success of tablets was attributed to the average price dropping below US$400, due in large part to competition between device makers using free Android operating software from Google. “Tablets continue to captivate consumers,” said Tom Mainelli, research director for tablets at IDC. - AFP    |
| Spain arrests woman with cocaine breast implants Posted: 12 Dec 2012 11:27 PM PST
The woman was taken to the police at Barcelona’s El Prat airport after her vague answers to questions about the reasons for her trip from Bogota raised suspicion at the border control, the Interior Ministry said in a statement. Spanish authorities carry out rigorous checks of passengers arriving on so-called “hot flights” from Latin America, to fight drug smuggling. When border police discovered fresh scars and blood-stained gauze on the woman’s chest she was taken to a nearby hospital to check her claim that she had recently undergone breast implant surgery. The implants were found to carry 1.38 kg of cocaine. - Reuters    |
| Ramai rakyat Sabah tiada pengenalan diri Posted: 12 Dec 2012 11:26 PM PST
Ia juga berlaku kepada masyarakat orang Asli, kata beberapa aktivis masyarakat. Aktivis masyarakat di Sabah, Androd Sadian berkata, masalah rakyat negeri itu yang tidak mempunyai pengenalan diri berada dalam keadaan serius. Beliau mendakwa, tidak ada pihak kerajaan untuk memberikan kad pengenalan kepada mereka yang tinggal di kawasan pendalaman. “Pada tahun-yahun 1960-an, kerajaan masuk kampung untuk memberikan kad pengenalan kepada mereka. “Kini tidak ada usaha sedemikian rupa,” tambah beliau yang juga seorang blogger. Androd berkata, rakyat tempatan di kawasan pendalaman sukar pergi ke pejabat jabatan pendaftaran negara kerana masalah perhubungan dan pengangkutan. Katanya, mereka terpaksa berjalan kaki dengan jarak berpuluh batu, malah ada yang sejauh 50 batu dengan naik dan turun bukit. Beliau, hanya kenderaan pacuan empat roda yang boleh sampai ke perkampungan mereka. `Surat sumpah’ “Manakala, pihak sekolah masih menerima anak-anak mereka belajar dengan menggunakan surat sumpah yang dibuat oleh ketua kampung. “Tetapi jumlah yang tidak mempunyai pengenalan itu semakin ramai. Jika keluarga itu besar, makin ramailah yang tidak ada pengenalan diri,” tambah beliau lagi. Pengarah Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara Sabah, Jaffear Henry dilaporkan berkata, lebih 50,000 rakyat Sabah yang miskin tidak memiliki MyKad disebabkan mereka tinggal terpencil di pedalaman dan menghadapi masalah perhubungan. Sementara itu, ketua biro orang Asli PKR, Suhaimi Said ketika dihubungi memberitahu, “ramai orang Asli di Pahang yang tidak ada kad pengenalan.” “Orang Asli yang tua, mereka kata tidak mahu kad pengenalan kerana mereka hanya duduk di kampung penempatan. “Mereka tidak keluar ke bandar atau pun mengundi. Tetapi orang muda memerlukan kad pengenalan,” tambah aktivis masyarakat itu. Manakala Pengarah Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara Sabah, Jaffear Henry berkata, lebih 50,000 rakyat Sabah yang miskin tidak memiliki MyKad disebabkan mereka tinggal terpencil di pedalaman dan menghadapi masalah perhubungan.    |
| Sabah MyKad error: ‘Ensure NRD staff know directive’ Posted: 12 Dec 2012 11:11 PM PST
With this in mind, Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) secretary-general Teo Chee Kang has urged the authorities to immediately ensure that a “proper guideline” be put in place to deal with the issues in the National Registration Department (NRD). “I am glad that the federal Cabinet has cleared the air on this issue. But I propose proper guidelines be formulated in the NRD so that the officers can be guided accordingly,” he said. Teo was commenting on reports that the Cabinet had given the NRD the go-ahead to rectify mistakes in the religious status of non-Muslim Bumiputeras in their MyKads. Non-Muslim Bumiputeras whose names bear the word "binti" and "bin" have had their religious status tagged as "Islam" in their MyKads by the NRD. The NRD has always maintained that it would continue to list Bumiputera Christians in Sabah as Muslims as long as they are known by "bin" or "binti". The department has also refused to entertain any requests to amend this status, saying that it would only act upon receiving an order from the Syariah High Court clearing the applicants’ status as to whether these Bumiputeras were indeed Christians and not Muslims. Yesterday, reports quoting federal Minister Bernard Dompok noted that Najib had agreed to allow NRD to rectify the error without having to wait for the Syariah Court certification. Said Teo: “I believe it is fundamentally wrong for NRD officers to require an order from the Syariah Court to amend a person’s religion which was mistakenly registered as 'Islam'. "I welcome the decision of the Cabinet, as disclosed by Dompok [United Pasok Momogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation president] that such rectification will not involve the Syariah Courts and that it could be done at the NRD." Meanwhile, Sabah NRD director Ismail Ahmad has denied that there is "difficulty" in rectifying errors in the MyKad. He claimed the mistaken tagging of the religious status of non-Muslim Bumiputeras were “technical glitches” that occurred when NRD first started computerising its system. “Sometimes we make mistakes but this is actually something that can be rectified immediately. All you have to do is point out the mistake and we will rectify it for you," he said. Stateless children In Sarawak, meanwhile, four cases of "stateless" children have led Assistant Minister of Communications Lee Kim Shim to believe that it is only the tip of the iceberg. "I believe and suspect there are many, not only children but also adults, who are still without identify cards and birth certificates, particularly those living in the squatters in the city and in the rural interior,” he said. He urged the NRD to send out its mobile units to squatter areas, villages and longhouses to register those without the identification documents. He also urged the NRD to speed up the process of registering the "stateless" children so as not to deprive them of education and healthcare. He said he would also write to the Home Ministry to request for a taskforce to be sent to Sarawak to look into the matter, "Stateless" children are a big problem in Sabah and in Sarawak. While the numbers in Sarawak are sketchy, aid workers and NGOs in Sabah estimate there are about 50,000 stateless Indonesian children and thousands more of Filipino descent. Most of these children were born in Sabah but do not possess birth certificates or any form of documentation to prove their nationality.    |
| Terserah kepada parti untuk tentukan calon Posted: 12 Dec 2012 11:10 PM PST
Beliau berkata pucuk pimpinan di Kuala Lumpur sahaja yang boleh membuat sebarang keputusan tetapi walau apapun keputusan, beliau tetap akan bekerja kuat sepanjang masa untuk menentukan kemenangan BN. “Saya tidak mempunyai kuasa bagi menentukan soal calon termasuk diri saya dan terserahlah kepada pucuk pimpinan atasan yang membuat keputusannya bagi menghadapi PRU-13 nanti,” katanya ketika berucap pada majlis Mesra Bersama Pengundi Wanita di Rancangan Kemajuan Tanah (RKT) Kesedar Meranto, di sini, hari ini. Pada majlis itu, beliau turut menyampaikan sumbangan kepada golongan wanita yang bekerja kuat untuk parti. Hadir sama Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri (ADUN) Nenggiri, Mat Yusoff Abdul Ghani dan ADUN Galas, Ab Aziz Yusof. Tengku Razaleigh, yang juga Ketua Umno Gua Musang, berkata, bekerja keras bagi kemenangan parti itu adalah tanggungjawab semua pemimpin dan anggota bagi memastikan BN akan terus kekal mendapat mandat daripada rakyat. Beliau berkata pada Perhimpunan Agung Umno di Kuala Lumpur baru-baru ini, Presiden Umno Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak memberi semangat baharu kepada semua perwakilan untuk menggerakkan jenteranya di semua peringkat. “Oleh itu, kita di bahagian Gua Musang juga telah bersiap sedia untuk menghadapi PRU-13 pada bila-bila masa termasuk menggerakkan jentera bagi memastikan kerusi BN Parlimen Gua Musang bersama tiga kerusi DUN kekal menang. “Tidak ada sebab bagi rakyat menolaknya jika kita bekerja kuat untuk memperjuangkan nasib mereka kerana kini terbukti kerajaan BN mampu melakukan segala perubahan bagi faedah semua rakyat di negara ini,” katanya. Katanya, bagi kerusi Parlimen Gua Musang bersama DUN Nenggiri, Paloh dan Galas mungkin tidak menghadapi sebarang masalah untuk mengekalkan kemenangan. Beliau berkata ini kerana pemimpin dan anggota Umno peringkat bahagian itu sentiasa terbuka bagi bekerja dalam satu pasukan dan sejarah juga telah membuktikan BN di Gua Musang terus kekal mendapat mandat rakyat. - Bernama    |
| EU seals deal on banks watchdog, ahead of end-of-year summit Posted: 12 Dec 2012 11:09 PM PST
The summit later today will aim to end the third gruelling year of the debt crisis on a high note with a Christmas gift for Greece, by officially releasing the next tranche of international aid. Under the scheme approved by EU finance ministers overnight, a new single supervisor for eurozone banks will allow banks to be recapitalised directly without adding to government debt loads. The European Central Bank (ECB) is to manage the system in tandem with the EU-wide European Banking Authority and national supervisors. The “overall aim is to restore confidence in the banking sector,” said the meeting’s chair, Cypriot Finance Minister Vassos Shiarly as he announced the deal to the press in the early morning hours, comparing the deal to a “Christmas present for the whole of Europe.” From March 2014, banks with assets worth more than 30 billion euros will be covered directly, although the ECB will be able to call up other smaller lenders over which it has liquidity fears. EU Financial Markets Commissioner Michel Barnier said the new supervision deal was a “first stage” that would over the course of 2013 be followed up by legislative proposals for a fund to wind up banks that can’t be fixed and also a cross-border deposit guarantee. The “historic” agreement came after 14 hours of talks and less than 12 hours ahead of the two-day summit of EU leaders who ordered the marathon preparations. Britain, which will not be joining the new system, wanted special voting rights that would protect the City of London global financial centre, and Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said it was “a good outcome for the entire European Union,” but that “the countries that weren’t going to join the banking union, like Britain, were protected.” The so-called Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) will ultimately allow eurozone rescue funds to directly recapitalise struggling banks such as those which failed in Greece and Spain, where a burst property bubble left a string of bad debts. Barnier told a press conference that the European Central Bank (ECB), which lies at the centre of the new arrangements, would directly supervise some 200 of the biggest of the estimated 6,000 eurozone lenders under the scheme. Economic doom and gloom Fresh from the European Union’s much-discussed Nobel Peace Prize, the summit later in the day is set to turn back on the tap and begin delivering some 40 billion euros (US$50 billion) in loans to Greece. The release of the funds, after months of delay, comes in return for harsh economic austerity programmes that have generated a flood of protests – and chilling talk of Greece’s exit from the eurozone. But economic reform efforts across Europe, while whipping up social unrest, have eased market pressure on the euro single currency. And the biggest impact was a vow by the European Central Bank (ECB) to offer almost unlimited guarantees to prevent bigger countries falling into similar trouble. The crisis has seen debt bounce around between government and bank books, and the foundation stone for a banking union delivers a fresh step towards closer cross-border integration in future. “We will come out of this together, and stronger,” said EU Council president and summit chair Herman Van Rompuy of the combined moves to beat the economic doom and gloom at this week’s Nobel awards ceremony in non-EU star economy Norway. Yet recession is back, now eating into the euro economic heart of Germany after piling on unemployment across Spain where one out of two youths currently cannot find a job. Political and economic uncertainty meanwhile were back in Italy, where Prime Minister Mario Monti, credited with restoring the country’s international credibility and pulling the economy back from the brink, has said he would step down in the coming days and former premier Silvio Berlusconi launched a comeback bid. Experts also warn that Socialist-led France will increasingly struggle to make common cause with Germany, the latter turning inwards ahead of potentially pivotal elections in the fall, and that non-euro Britain’s future course looks increasingly unclear. Against this backdrop, the long, laborious slog towards fixing the flaws in the euro’s design appears to have lost, not gained momentum over the past six months. Analysts speak of fresh fears in Berlin of complacency among euro partners. Awaiting the leaders’ final green light later on Thursday, Germany and France signalled at the all-night negotiating session on the banks that Greece had passed a critical test with a “buyback” offer to slash its debt. The International Monetary Fund and the eurozone would then release 43.7 billion euros in rescue loans in four instalments to enable Greece to avoid bankruptcy. Much of these monies are to recapitalise Greek banks that have written off large chunks of paper holdings, and leaders are also to consider planning for a similar cry for help – albeit on a lesser financial level – from Cyprus. - AFP    |
| You’re a liar, MIC Youth tells Chua Posted: 12 Dec 2012 11:07 PM PST
He also challenged Chua to lodge a police report soon on the claim that he was manhandled yesterday by some 50 MIC members outside the National Registraion Department (NRD) director-general’s office in Putrajaya. The MIC Youth leader claimed that the incident happened when one of his Youth members questioned what Chua had done to help the stateless Indians when he was a minister in the 90s. "He must have known about the problem as he was the health minister. Surely, he had some data on how many stateless Indians tried to seek treatment at government hospitals. When that question was posed to him, Chua tried to push my Youth member, K Novinthen," alleged Mohan. Targetting PKR vice-president N Surendran, he called the former "a liar" as to date, he had yet to provide evidence that there were 300,000 stateless Indians in the country. Click here to view the video on YouTube. "He previously accused us of trying to beat up a teenage girl and now he is accusing us of manhandling Chua. A lot of people were there, including reporters. They know what happened," he said. Calling Surendran a "parachute leader", Mohan urged the lawyer-politician to work with the grassroots first before taking up issues. "Ask your boss [Anwar Ibrahim] why he didn’t resolve the stateless Indian issue when he was the deputy prime minister. Stop creating dramas like your boss. I think one Anwar is good enough for the whole country," he said. ‘This is MIC’s culture’ Meanwhile, Chua said he was considering lodging a police report on the incident. "We are discussing about it. I’m just waiting for Surendran, who is now in court, to deliberate on the matter," he added.
Targetting MIC, Chua said that it was politically foolish for them to stop PKR from addressing the plight of stateless Indians. He added that MIC should have instead assisted them in the matter as it involved the Indian community. "But with MIC’s history, they cannot stop this culture but they don’t realise that this kind of action is highly detrimental to them," he said. Chua also criticised the police for allowing MIC members to enter the NRD building while the PKR leaders were having talks with the NRD director-general Jariah Mohd Said. "Police only allowed five of us to attend the meeting. When we came out of the meeting room, we saw a group of MIC members waiting for us. The police failed to protect us," claimed Chua. The PKR leaders had led hundreds of stateless Indians to protest at the NRD office, alleging that the government had deliberately denied them blue MyKads. SMS invites Indian nationals to Putrajaya rally    |
| Philippines moves closer to birth control law Posted: 12 Dec 2012 11:04 PM PST  MANILA: The Philippines moved closer to a controversial birth control law today as lawmakers passed a version of the bill after a long debate over an issue that has deeply polarised the largely Catholic nation.The bill paving the way for sex education in schools and the provision of free contraceptives in a country with one of Asia’s fastest-growing populations was passed by the lower house of parliament after a five-hour vote. “Let us have children by choice, not by chance,” Edcel Lagman, a lawmaker who initiated the legislation, said after voting on the bill that passed with a narrow majority just before dawn. His comment reflects the view of President Benigno Aquino who is pushing for the law that he hopes would help bring down poverty in a nation of nearly 100 million people as well as the high maternal mortality rate. The move is supported by women’s groups and the United Nations but is vehemently opposed by the politically influential Catholic church, which is against the use of contraceptives, including condoms and birth control pills. The proposed legislation would come into force after both houses of parliament agree on a common version that would be signed into law by the president. Aquino had urged legislators at a recent meeting to help get the law passed after more than a year of bitter debates on the issue. But he stressed that while he was for “responsible parenthood”, he would leave it to the legislators to vote on the measure based on their conscience. - AFP    |
| Pope needs help sending out first tweet Posted: 12 Dec 2012 11:00 PM PST
Images on Vatican television appeared to show the first try didn’t work. The pope, who still writes his speeches by hand, seems to have pressed too hard and the tweet was not sent right away. So, he needed a little help from his friends. Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli of the Vatican’s communications department showed the pontiff how to do it, but the pope hesitated. Celli touched the screen lightly himself and off went the papal tweet. “Dear friends, I am pleased to get in touch with you through Twitter. Thank you for your generous response. I bless all of you from my heart,” he said in his introduction to the brave new world of Twitter. The tweet was sent at the end of weekly general audience in the Vatican before thousands of people. The pope actually has eight linked Twitter accounts. @Pontifex, the main account, is in English. The other seven have a suffix at the end for the different language versions. For example, the German version is @Pontifex_de, and the Arabic version is @Pontifex_ar. The tweets will be going out in Spanish, English, Italian, Portuguese, German, Polish, Arabic and French. Other languages will be added in the future. The pope already had just over a million followers in all of the languages combined minutes before he sent his first tweet and the number was growing. Papal Q and A Later yesterday after the audience was over and the television cameras turned off, the pontiff answered the first of three questions sent to him at #askpontifex. The first question answered by the pope was: “How can we celebrate the Year of Faith better in our daily lives?” His answer: “By speaking with Jesus in prayer, listening to what he tells you in the Gospel and looking for him in those in need.” The pope, who, as leader of the Roman Catholic Church already has 1.2 billion followers in the standard sense of the word, won’t be following anyone else, the Vatican has said. After his first splash into the brave new world of Twitter yesterday, the contents of future tweets will come primarily from the contents of his weekly general audience, Sunday blessings and homilies on major Church holidays. They are also expected to include reaction to major world events, such as natural disasters. The Vatican says papal tweets will be little “pearls of wisdom”, which is understandable since his thoughts will have to be condensed to 140 characters, while papal documents often top 140 pages. The Vatican said precautions had been taken to make sure the pope’s certified account is not hacked. Only one computer in the Vatican’s secretariat of state will be used for the tweets. After yesterday, Benedict won’t be pushing the button on his tweets himself. They will be sent by aides but he will sign off on them. The pope’s Twitter page is designed in yellow and white – the colors of the Vatican, with a backdrop of the Vatican and his picture. It may change during different liturgical seasons of the year and when the pope is away from the Vatican on trips.
In a document issued last year, he said the possibilities of new media and social networks offered “a great opportunity”, but warned of the risks of depersonalization, alienation, self-indulgence, and the dangers of having more virtual friends than real ones. In 2009, a new Vatican website, www.pope2you.net, went live, offering an application called “The pope meets you on Facebook”, and another allowing the faithful to see the pontiff’s speeches and messages on their iPhones or iPods. The Vatican famously got egg on its face in 2009 when it was forced to admit that, if it had surfed the web more, it might have known that a traditionalist bishop whose excommunication was lifted had for years been a Holocaust denier. - Reuters    |
| Asian markets mostly up after Fed move Posted: 12 Dec 2012 10:58 PM PST
However, the gains were capped after the central bank’s chief Ben Bernanke said the looming fiscal cliff of huge tax hikes and deep spending cuts was already hitting the economy. The yen continued its slide ahead of the weekend’s general election in Japan that is expected to see a victory for the opposition, whose leader has vowed to press for more aggressive measures to kickstart growth. Tokyo climbed 1.15%, lifted by the weakening yen, Hong Kong gained 0.22%, Sydney added 0.10% and Seoul was 0.60% higher, but Shanghai lost 0.36%. After a two-day meeting the policy committee of the US central bank said it would replace its “Operation Twist” bond swapping programme with US$45 billion a month in straight bond buys, on an open-ended basis. That comes on top of the US$40 billion a month purchasing announced in September. The Fed also provided a surprise by saying it would not lift rates as long as the inflation outlook was below 2.5% and the jobless rate, now at 7.7%, stays above 6.5%. “The Fed’s decisions did not really surprise anyone, although its comments about expecting rates to remain very low as long as unemployment remains above 6.5% were somewhat novel,” said Hiroichi Nishi, general manager of equities at SMBC Nikko Securities. “The bottom line is that it will continue its aggressive steps to foster economic growth,” he told Dow Jones Newswires. However, the Fed’s announcement was followed by a warning by Bernanke that Washington needed to come to an agreement in their talks on avoiding the fiscal cliff, adding that the lack of action was already causing problems. “Even though we have not even reached the point of the fiscal cliff potentially kicking in, it’s already affecting business investment and hiring decisions by creating uncertainty or creating pessimism,” he said at a news conference. On Wall Street the Dow and S&P 500 ended flat, while the Nasdaq fell 0.28%, with earlier gains from the Fed announcement cut back by Bernanke’s comments. On currency markets the yen remained under pressure as Sunday’s poll approaches, with Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda’s Democratic Party of Japan likely to lose to the Liberal Democratic Party, which is headed by Shinzo Abe. Abe, a former prime minister, has promised to push a more aggressive monetary easing policy to jumpstart the economy. The dollar was changing hands at 83.42 yen in early Asian trade, from 83.24 yen in New York late Wednesday, while the euro was at 108.95 yen from 108.85 yen. That compares with 82.67 yen and 107.48 yen earlier yesterday in Asia. The euro bought US$1.3063 against US$1.3075. Oil was lower in Asia today, with New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in January, falling 19 US cents to US$86.58 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for January delivery shedding 15 US cents to US$109.35. Gold was at US$1,699.60 at 0230 GMT compared with US$1,713.22 late yesterday. - AFP    |
| Singapore government under pressure over sex scandal Posted: 12 Dec 2012 10:55 PM PST  SINGAPORE: Singapore opposition parties urged Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong today to call a by-election after the parliamentary Speaker abruptly resigned due to an extramarital affair.The calls came less than 24 hours after Michael Palmer, 44, publicly confessed and announced his resignation from his parliamentary seat and membership of the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP). Confessing to “a serious error of judgment,” the married father of one — who was only sworn in as Speaker in October 2011 – said he quit “to avoid further embarrassment to the PAP and to Parliament”. Local dailies today splashed pictures of Laura Ong, a 33-year-old married community worker fingered as Palmer’s lover, in the latest sex scandal to hit the city-state. The resurgent political opposition immediately urged Premier Lee to call a by-election to fill Palmer’s seat in the Punggol East ward. “We strongly urge the Prime Minister to call for a by-election as soon as possible, to ensure that the constituents of Punggol East are democratically represented hereafter,” Singapore People’s Party chairman Lina Chiam said in a statement. The Workers’ Party echoed the call and announced its intention to run for the vacated seat. Reform Party secretary-general Kenneth Jeyaretnam said in a statement it was “strongly considering contesting this seat if and when a by-election is called”. Opposition politician Benjamin Pwee told the Straits Times daily he was also intending to contest the seat, possibly as an independent. Singapore Democratic Party chief Chee Soon Juan said today that Lee “cannot avoid calling for a by-election… without inflicting severe damage to his and his party’s political and moral standing”. “Voters of Punggol East have been badly let down and they deserve the opportunity to elect another representative,” he added. By law, the decision to call a by-election is made wholly at the prime minister’s discretion. Lee however gave no indication of his intentions in a Facebook post. “The Constitution does not require me to call a by-election within any fixed timeframe,” Lee said on his Facebook page late Wednesday. “I will carefully consider whether to call a by-election in Punggol East and, if so, when. I assure Singaporeans that I will make my decision based on what is best for the constituents of Punggol East and the country.” Netizens weighed in on calls for a vote. “Who win(s) the by election is secondary, what is important is the democratic process. MP (Members of Parliament) are elected by the people for the people not appointed by the winning party,” Ben Teo posted on Lee’s Facebook page. Opposition parties have been emboldened since last year’s general election in which the Workers’ Party won a total six seats in the 87-member parliament, riding on a wave of sentiment against PAP policies on a range of issues, including its open-door policy on foreign workers. The PAP suffered its lowest share of the popular vote since coming to power more than 50 years ago. - AFP    |
| Ecclestone expects 19 grands prix in 2013 Posted: 12 Dec 2012 10:51 PM PST
Speaking to Austria’s Kleine Zeitung newspaper, the 82-year-old Ecclestone poured cold water on suggestions that the country’s grand prix could be reinstated after a 10-year absence to take the vacant July 21 slot. “Really? Who says that? Until now I have not talked about this with anyone,” Ecclestone said of speculation that a race could be held at Spielberg’s revamped Red Bull-owned circuit, formerly known as the A1 Ring. Ecclestone said he had not spoken to Red Bull’s billionaire owner Dietrich Mateschitz for some time and there had been no approach by the Austrian energy drinks company whose team have won the F1 title for the past three years. He added that the lack of hotels in that part of rural Austria remained a problem. “At the moment I am thinking more about Turkey and a return to Istanbul,” said Ecclestone, although he recognised those efforts might come to nothing. The Turkish race was removed from this year’s calendar due to disagreements over the hosting fees and money has again proved a stumbling block in talks to have the circuit reinstated. Turkey’s motorsport federation has said some government funding will be required but the country’s sports minister ruled that out last week and said it was entirely a matter for the private sector. “At the moment I think that we will have only 19 grands prix next year. That would not be a big problem for F1,” said Ecclestone, who had a record 20 races on the calendar this season. The vacancy was created by the postponement to 2014 of a planned street-circuit race in New Jersey, against a backdrop of the New York skyline. The calendar uncertainty has been irksome for others already, with MotoGP’s governing body and the organisers of the Goodwood Festival of Speed in Britain both changing their dates to accommodate Formula One’s latest calendar revision and avoid a clash. The German MotoGP round at the Sachsenring and Goodwood, a hugely popular event on the British motorsport calendar, had been scheduled for July 7 – a date now filled by the German Formula One Grand Prix which was moved forward to create a space for a July 21 race that may not happen. -Reuters    |
| Ex-DAP man rallies support for Karpal Posted: 12 Dec 2012 10:48 PM PST
The DAP will be electing its central executive committee (CEC) members at its 16th national congress in Penang this weekend. "Karpal has urged people to speak against Pakatan Rakyat-ruled states too. For being vocal, there are plans to oust him from the CEC. "Please support Karpal, Tan and [party adviser] Dr Chen Man Hin," Tuan Tat said at a press conference in Sungai Long near here. Tuan Tat, who was a branch chairman in Sungai Pelek, Sepang, said that Karpal has been consistently outspoken, and can play a check and balance role in the party. His comments come in the wake of Karpal's call to the people to highlight the wrong-doings in Pakatan-administered states on Dec 2. "DAP's principles since its early days remain intact. We must point out when Pakatan is wrong," Karpal has said. In answer to Karpal’s call, Tuan Tat listed a litany of wrong-doings within the Selangor government and Selangor DAP. He questioned DAP disciplinary committee’s inaction against Sri Serdang state representative Ean Yong Hian Wah and Kajang municipal councillor Lee Kee Hiong after the Royal Commission of Inquiry had found them to be partly responsible for the death of Ean’s former aide, Teoh Beng Hock. Teoh was found dead at Shah Alam Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission in 2009. ‘Why blame BN?’ He also questioned CEC’s inaction over the list of DAP councillors prepared in 2008 by the DAP state committee, which was changed without approval by Selangor executive councillor Ronnie Liu. He also questioned Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim’s action in defending his political secretary Faekah Husin who had given out supporting letters to legal firms which bid for contracts from state government-linked companies earlier this year, which he claimed breached the state government’s code of ethics. Tuan Tat also pointed out irregularities over a carnival organised by the state government in Kuala Selangor in March this year to thank the Selangor people for voting for Pakatan. "The state treasury and Khalid admitted that the carnival did not comply with procedures but Liu, the carnival committee chairman, said it was a misunderstanding. “Why isn’t there any action taken even after a police report was lodged?” Tuan Tat asked. He also took Liu to task for blaming the former Barisan Nasional government over the condominium project in Batu Caves. “Why blame the former government? The state government has every right to cancel the project. Why didn’t he do it?” He also rapped state executive councillors Teresa Kok and Xavier Jayakumar for not doing anything to help the Sri Maha Mariamman temple in Sungai Pelek to acquire two acres of land despite a request from the temple committee. The temple is located on a land belonging to a company, Hap Seng. Tuan Tat justified his actions to raise all these issues despite not being a DAP member. “We are the taxpayers and we have every right to question how and where our money is spent, especially under Pakatan-ruled Selangor administration.”    |
| Humans made cheese 7,500 years ago Posted: 12 Dec 2012 10:28 PM PST
Milk production and dairy processing allowed early farmers to produce food without slaughtering precious livestock, and making cheese turned milk into a less perishable food that was more digestible for a population who at the time would have been intolerant to the lactose contained in milk. Researchers from the University of Bristol in Britain, with colleagues in the United States and Poland, analyzed fatty acids embedded in prehistoric pottery from the Polish region of Kuyavia, and found they had been used to separate milk into fat-rich curds for cheese and lactose-containing whey. “The presence of milk residues in sieves … constitutes the earliest direct evidence for cheese-making,” said Mรฉlanie Salque from Bristol, one of the authors of the research, which was published in the journal Nature. Peter Bogucki, another researcher involved in the work, said: “Making cheese allowed them to reduce the lactose content of milk, and we know that, at that time, most of the humans were not tolerant to lactose.” Milk residues have been found at ancient sites up to 8,000 years old in Turkey and Libya, but there was no evidence that the milk had been processed into cheese. Until now, the earliest evidence of cheese-making came from depictions of milk processing in murals several thousand years younger than the pottery fragments. The researchers believe other vessels found in the same region were used for other specific purposes. Jars lined with beeswax were probably for storing water, and pottery containing the remnants of carcass fats was probably used for cooking meat. “It is truly remarkable, the depth of insights into ancient human diet and food processing technologies these ancient fats preserved in archaeological ceramics are now providing us with,” said Richard Evershed, who heads the Bristol team. - Reuters    |
| Gaza perfume sales soar with rocket name Posted: 12 Dec 2012 10:13 PM PST
“M-75″ perfume, which comes in men’s and women’s fragrances, is named for the missiles Hamas Islamist militants shot at Tel Aviv and Jerusalem in an eight-day conflict that killed more than 170 Palestinians and six Israelis, ending with an Egyptian-brokered truce. Although both sides proclaimed victory, and Israel said it had halted rocket fire at its towns, many in Gaza take pride in militants having shot a rocket as far as Tel Aviv, the longest-range aerial strike by the Palestinians so far. “I hope the smell is strong enough for them to whiff in Tel Aviv and remind the Jews of the Palestinian victory,” Ahmed Hassan, a customer from neighbouring Egypt, said as he bought 30 vials of the perfume as souvenirs in a Gaza City shop. Rajaey Odwan, director of Gaza’s Continental Style perfume company which markets imported fragrances and local knockoffs, said he thought he’d give customers a chance to smell victory and “turn it into a perfume”. He sells the 60 ml black-and-green bottles made of orange, lemon and other herbal scents collected in Gaza, for about US$13 apiece. “Sales have gone through the roof,” he said. - Reuters    |
| ‘Middle Ground will take us to Putrajaya’ Posted: 12 Dec 2012 09:55 PM PST
And as his troops prepare for their 16th national congress this Saturday, the final huddle before the next battle, Lim Kit Siang tells them that the road to victory lies with the Middle Ground. Alienating the Middle Ground, he warned, would be perilous to Pakatan Rakyat’s march towards the administrative capital. "Any party or leader within Pakatan could easily alienate the Middle Ground if he or she chose to pander to any small but vocal group that only represented a small segment of society. "Efforts to consolidate one’s ‘base’ would not win many new votes but would most likely isolate and turn away many of the three million new voters in the electorate, 60% of whom were below the age of 30," he added in a statement. Rather, Lim stressed, Pakatan needed to work in unison to reach out to the Middle Ground in order to win 70% of the three million new voters and 3% of the one million GE 2008 swing voters so that it could capture Putrajaya with a comfortable majority of at least seven seats. "Pakatan needs to convince the Middle Ground that it could provide better and more credible solutions to the problems which affect all Malaysians and not just selective groups," he said. Lim warned that if Pakatan repeated the mistake of BN and of the Republicans in the US presidential elections by instinctively reaching out to respective "bases" in terms of voters, then the opposition would be conceding these votes to BN rather than BN winning them from Pakatan. "Even if Pakatan loses the three million new voters by a small majority [48% to 52%] and just lose 1% of the one million GE 2008 swing voters, we would be giving back BN 2/3rd control of Parliament [BN would win 149 parliament seats under this scenario]. As such, we cannot afford to take our eye off the Middle Ground. "I am confident that if DAP together with our colleagues in PAS and PKR as part of a united coalition remain focused on winning the voters in the Middle Ground, the wave of their support would take us all the way to Putrajaya and usher in a new era…," he said.
He said the Umno president was right when he warned delegates at the recent Umno general assembly not to repeat Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romeny's mistake to over-rely on older, white voters to win the elections. Similarly, Najib said Umno should not be too dependent on rural Malays to win the upcoming general election at the expense of ignoring the growing urban multiracial middle class. "Sadly, Najib’s advice was likely to fall on deaf ears within his own party. "Firstly, he himself does not seem to be taking his own advice of reaching out to the middle ground despite his efforts to create a Global Movement of Moderates," said Lim. The DAP leader recalled how Najib "cowardly refused" to ask the attorney-general not to appeal the High Court’s decision regarding the Home Ministry’s ban on the use of the word "Allah" by the Catholic Herald. "He had to make a quick U-turn to ‘reinstate’ the NEP into the New Economic Model after Perkasa complained that Part One of the NEM emphasised a shift to a market friendly affirmative action with no mention of the NEP. "He either directly or indirectly directs Utusan Malaysia to create a climate of fear among the Malays that they would somehow lose their rights if Pakatan were to come to power and spin seditious lies about how DAP wants to turn the country into a Christian nation," he said. "The harsh and brutal actions taken by Najib's administration towards the peaceful protesters who turned up for the Bersih rallies shows a complete lack of regard towards the Middle Ground voters who want to see cleaner and fairer elections, regardless of the party in power. "These are not signs of a prime minister who is sincere about appealing to the Middle Ground," he added.    |
| Ex-Thai PM to be charged with murder over protest death Posted: 12 Dec 2012 09:49 PM PST BANGKOK: Thailand’s former premier Abhisit Vejjajiva is set to be charged with murder on Thursday over the death of a civilian during a military crackdown on anti-government “Red Shirt” rallies two years ago. Abhisit, along with his then-deputy Suthep Thaugsuban, will be formally charged at Bangkok’s Department of Special Investigation (DSI), making them the first officials to face court over Thailand’s worst political violence in decades. About 90 people were killed and nearly 1,900 wounded in a series of street clashes between demonstrators and security forces, which culminated in a deadly army operation to break up the protest in May 2010. The charge against Abhisit, who was prime minister at the time, relates to the fatal shooting of taxi driver Phan Kamkong. DSI chief Tarit Pengdith announced the move last Thursday and said it was prompted by a court’s ruling in September that Phan was shot by troops — the first completed inquest into the bloodshed. Abhisit dismissed the case against him as “political” and said his government had no choice but to take tough action. A terrorism case against 24 Red Shirt leaders, including five current lawmakers, is also set to begin on Thursday over their part in the rallies, which drew around 100,000 people at their height. One of the accused, deputy commerce minister Nattawut Saikur, told AFP on Wednesday he would not attend the hearing because he was required to accompany Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on an official visit. The trial against the Red Shirt leaders, who pleaded not guilty in August 2010, has been repeatedly postponed. Sitting lawmakers have immunity so hearings can only be held when parliament is not in session, which is expected to further prolong the legal process. The Red Shirts — mostly supporters of ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra — were demanding immediate elections in their 2010 protest. They accused Abhisit’s government of being undemocratic because it took office in 2008 through a parliamentary vote after a court stripped Thaksin’s allies of power. Polls in 2011 brought Thaksin’s Red Shirt-backed Puea Thai party to power with his sister Yingluck as premier, sweeping Abhisit into opposition. In an interview before the charge against him was announced last month, Oxford-educated Abhisit told AFP that he was “not above the law” and would insist on his innocence in any prosecution. “I’ve expressed my regret but I think a lot of people understand how much effort I put in to avoid losses. But it was the job of the government of that day to also restore order in the capital, in the country,” he said. The DSI on Thursday said that after hearing the charges Abhisit and Suthep would be released without bail because they were prominent figures. Tarit told reporters at DSI headquarters in Bangkok that it was “very awkward” for him to file the charges against the pair because of their position in Thai society and as he himself had served on the official body that oversaw the crackdown in 2010. -AFP    |
| Share prices turn mixed at midday Posted: 12 Dec 2012 09:48 PM PST
The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) earned 0.66 of a point to 1,650.41 after opening at 1,652.23, with losses seen in selected bluechip counters like Public Bank and TNB. Public Bank declined two sen to RM15.88, while TNB slipped five sen to RM6.90. The Finance Index lost 23.23 points to 15,130.62, and the Industrial Index shed 14.28 points to 2,706.86, but the Plantation Index rose five points to 7,970.25. The FBM Emas Index dipped 1.03 points to 11,194.83, the FBM Mid 70 Index decreased 16.45 points to 12,099.36, and the FBM Ace declined 18.32 points to 4,134.54. Decliners led advancers by 313 to 221, while 280 counters were unchanged, 826 untraded and 29 others suspended. Turnover stood at 451.26 million shares worth RM595.09 million. Among actives, Tiger Synergy eased 2.5 sen to 34 sen, Nextnation shed half-a-sen to 10 sen and Malaysia Airlines lost 4.5 sen to 75 sen, but Mulpha International added one sen to 40 sen. Of the heavyweights, Maybank was one sen down at RM9.06, CIMB dipped four sen to RM7.56 and Sime Darby slipped seven sen to RM9.13, with Axiata rising 14 sen to RM6.54. - Bernama    |
| Kit Siang: Many in Umno want Najib to fail Posted: 12 Dec 2012 09:44 PM PST
He said that Muhyiddin hoped to achieve this by appearing to be more Malay than Najib. "Many within Umno are waiting to see Najib do worse than Pak Lah [Abdullah Ahmad Badawi] in the next general election so that they could boot him out and replace him with a ‘Malay first’ Umno prime minister," he added in a statement. It was under Abdullah’s watch that Umno and Barisan Nasional suffered its worst ever electoral outing in 2008 just four years after Abdullah secured the ruling coalition’s biggest ever mandate. In the aftermath of the polls, daggers were drawn and Abdullah was forced to relinquish his post to Najib in 2009. And now history could repeat itself. Meanwhile, Lim also recalled how Muhyiddin did not give Najib any support for his 1Malaysia slogan as exemplified by his statement in Parliament that he was Malay first and Malaysian second. Speculation of a rift between Najib and Muhyiddin had been rife for months despite the two leaders claiming otherwise. It was often said that Najib’s numerous initiatives to attract non-Malay voters had ruffled the feathers of the ultras in Umno, who viewed it as a concession in terms of Malay supremacy and this group had gravitated towards Muhyiddin. When opening Perkasa’s inaugural annual general meeting in 2010, former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad had said that the sudden mushrooming of Malay non-governmental organisations reflected Umno’s weakness in defending the rights of the Malays. He added that NGOs like Perkasa would cease to exist when Umno regained its strength to defend the rights of the Malays. Over the months, there had been no shortage of conspiracy theories, linking the numerous scandals such as the National Feedlot Centre fiasco to Muhyiddin, who apparently had the backing of Mahathir. Observers also find it difficult to dismiss talk that Muhyiddin was also behind the latest revelations involving former inspector-general of police Musa Hassan and carpet dealer Deepak Jaikishan. ‘The best PM’
"There is no doubt that certain factions in Umno are unhappy with Najib but as far as the component parties are concerned, he is the best prime minister. "I don’t think Pakatan Rakyat would be able to capture the government but if BN fails to perform better than in the 2008 election, then Najib’s position would be in trouble," he added. Recently, Anwar Ibrahim also claimed that Mahathir was persuading Umno leaders to remain patient until after the general election. The opposition leader said he "knew for a fact" that Mahathir had been asking state leaders to lend their support to Umno and BN, suggesting that they could "topple the leader after the election”. "This message has gone to almost all state leaders. I think that is why because of this fear, Najib feels that his personal position is rather insecure," he had told a press conference.    |
| Penang Umno confident of a good run Posted: 12 Dec 2012 09:41 PM PST
He said this early preparation was state Umno’s response to the call of party president and Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to strengthen state-level election machinery. “Penang Umno has started moving, we have gone down to the grassroots, house to house and are giving speeches. We’ll do what is needed to strengthen our general election machinery,” he told Bernama here. Musa added, "We leave the candidacy to the president and support his decision. I believe that after the PM and DPM’s advice, Umno grassroots leaders will support whoever is chosen. “There won’t be any sabotage. Because they’ve seen the political situation in Penang and experienced [the opposition coalition rule].” Musa also said that Umno was increasingly being accepted as a party which not only represented the Malay community but others as well. He cited an example saying the state party and particularly Bukit Mertajam division service centres received visitors of all races seeking help on various matters. “In Bukit Mertajam, the majority of residents are Chinese and they come to the service centre to apply for various assistance including the 1Malaysia People’s Aid (BR1M),” he said. The people were no longer influenced by the opposition’s propaganda alleging Umno was racist but instead they see the party as Barisan Nasional’s backbone. “Umno has also brought national prosperity from the start, with unique power-sharing concepts through the coalition of Umno, MCA, MIC and other component parties,” he said. He claimed that the opposition coalition in the state was increasingly worried about the multi-racial community accepting help from Umno and hence its attempt to weaken BN’s strength with such allegations. “It’s also evident by the large turnout of all races for the prime minister’s visit recently,” he said. The Chinese community’s presence at the “Promises Fulfilled Tour” was also large and it was a good sign compared to two or three years ago, said Musa.    |
| Mitsubishi Bank fined US$8.6m for flouting US sanctions Posted: 12 Dec 2012 09:39 PM PST
Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubish-UFJ (BTMU) circumvented the sanctions between April 2006 and March 2007, Treasury said in a statement. “BTMU’s Tokyo operations engaged in practices designed to conceal the involvement of countries or persons subject to US sanctions in transactions that BTMU processed through financial institutions in the United States,” the US government authority said in its statement. Washington said the bank’s “egregious” conduct “displayed reckless disregard for US sanctions.” “BTMU employees systematically deleted or omitted from payment messages any information referencing US sanctions targets that would cause the funds to be blocked or rejected, prior to sending the transactions through the United States,” the Treasury Department statement said. “As a result of these practices, BTMU processed at least 97 funds transfers, with an aggregate value of approximately US$5,898,943, through BTMU’s New York branch or other banks in the United States.” Treasury said the deception was uncovered in 2007 by senior officials at the Japanese bank, who undertook an internal audit and brought their findings to US officials. - AFP    |
| Lidl Christmas dinner offer goes viral on Twitter Posted: 12 Dec 2012 09:26 PM PST
The supermarket launched a Twitter campaign in Belgium on Monday, saying it would hand out five four-course Christmas dinners to food banks for each tweet on a hash tag. Lidl had expected to hand out about 1,000 of the 20-euro dinner packs, consisting of tomato soup, vol-au-vents with chips, an ice-cream cake and chocolates, a spokesman for the German-based company’s Belgium unit said on Wednesday. But local newspapers wrote about the offer and people retweeted using the hash tag – #luxevooriedereen, Dutch for “luxury for everyone”. By the end of the 24-hour campaign, 1,500 people had tweeted, meaning Lidl has to deliver 7,500 dinners. That sparked reports the supermarket had been caught out by its campaign. To quash such talk, Lidl rounded up the number of dinners to 10,000, and branded the campaign a success. Lidl said it had not yet decided whether to repeat the exercise next year. “We’ve learnt quite a few lessons over the past 48 hours, to say the least,” the spokesman said. - Reuters    |
| ‘Barat Maniam was appointed as he is neutral’ Posted: 12 Dec 2012 09:21 PM PST
"Not only is Subramaniam a senator, he also hails from the nearby division and is aloof of the internal problems in PJU," said MIC secretary-general S Murugesan. Earlier today, SS2 Tengah MIC branch leader S Padnmangan questioned the party’s decision to appoint Subramaniam, better known as Barat Maniam, as a coordinator at his area, claiming the latter had not even received an appointment letter from the headquarters. "They have also failed to give us the B Form to update our membership, which will lapse on Dec 15," the branch leader reportedly said. Dismissing Padnmanagan’s claims, Murugesan said that party headquarters had issued a letter of appointment to Subramaniam. Padnmanagan also called on party president G Palanivel to quit politics, accusing the latter of blocking others from serving the community. He further alleged that Palanivel had failed to provide allocation to PJU MIC branches since 2009 to conduct programmes for the local Indian community. But Murugesan disputed this. He said that it was a usual procedure that allocations for party works are normally channelled through its division leaders. "That’s why we tried to revive the division since 2011 but Padnmanagan told us that there were some complaints against some of the local branches that needs to be resolved first. "We checked the matter with our disciplinary committee chairman, KS Nijhar, and he agreed with Padnmanagan’s view. "In the meantime, we appointed Subramaniam as a stop-gap measure to resolve issues there but now he is complaining about that too," said Murugesan, who urged party members to close ranks nearing the general election. Meanwhile, Subramaniam, when contacted, said that he called for two meetings since early this year, with all 23 MIC branches in PJU to resolve whatever problems they had. "I informed all the branches that I will give the B Form in the meetings but only 13 branches showed up. Those aligned to Padnmanagan failed to show up. "So how am I to give them the forms? They don’t have to respect me but at least respect the party constitution," he said. Subsequently, Subramaniam said three branches from Padnmanagan faction met him to get the B Form. "As per the procedure, I told them to submit an explanation letter on why they were absent, which they did. The party found their explanation satisfactory and the form was issued," he said. The three MIC branches were from Damansara Baru, Rumah Pangsa Damansara Bistari and Section 19. Subramaniam also denied any intention of sidelining Padnmanagan or his team in the party. "What am I going to get from that? I’m just a temporary coordinator there pending the division election which will be held soon." On his appointment letter, Subramaniam said, "I challenge Padnmanagan to prove that I did not receive the letter."    |
| ‘Remove Lynas waste only if hazardous’ Posted: 12 Dec 2012 09:02 PM PST
The by-product of the Lynas rare earth plant in Kuantan should only be exported if it exceeds 1 becquerels per gram (1Bq|g), Chua said in a video blog. “Our stand has been consistent that the waste, if it is has radioactivity that exceeds 1Bq|g, it should be exported. “How should it be exported is the problem of Lynas,” said Chua in the video blog published yesterday on YouTube. MCA’s “consistent” stand appears to clash with a ministerial statement issued earlier this week, which instructs Australian miner Lynas to ensure all residue and by-products from its rare earth refinery be removed from Malaysia. The statement, issued by International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed; Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Maximus Ongkili; Natural Resources and Environment Minister Douglas Unggah Embas; and Health Minister Liow Tiong Lai, received the backing of the Cabinet just yesterday. But Ongkili had added to the confusion on Tueday by apparently backpedaling on the issue; he stressed that rare earth waste could be sold in Malaysia if Lynas converts it into commercially safe products — a stand which Chua supports. “Lynas has come out with the idea that it will reprocess the radioactive waste so that it will become non radioactive and that it can be used locally,” said Chua. “Now that needs to be tested,” he said, again contradicting the ministerial statement. According to national news agency Bernama, the four ministers had urged Lynas to remove all products made from the residue of the Lynas plant as well as the residue itself — a condition that was stated in the Temporary Operating License (TOL). In response, Lynas said it would convert the plant’s water leach purification residues (WLP) into a commercially safe product called “synthetic aggregate”, which would then be exported to other countries according to local and international standards, the Star reported. Stop politicising Lynas also said the plant to convert the WLP residues had been built in the plant but was not ready for operation. Click here to view the video on YouTube. “We want the government to monitor [this] closely, and the party has directed the minister of health to be in a committee to monitor Lynas,” said Chua. He also urged the public to stop politicising the matter and to stick to the scientific evidence. “It is obvious that Lynas has been politicised beyond recognition and there is a lot of emotion attached to it. “So lets hope that this project will not be politicised beyond recognition and defy even scientific evidence,” said Chua. Lynas began operations earlier this month, with the Atomic Energy Licensing Board reportedly saying this week it will place its officers at the plant to monitor the trial run. But many Kuantan residents continue to protest against it, citing environmental and safety concerns. Chua responds on Twitter But in a subsequent tweet, he stated: "it is also up to Lynas on how to handle the processed waste. The waste must not stay in the country." Also read: Govt says it again: Lynas must remove waste    |
| Stop belittling sufferings of stateless Malaysians Posted: 12 Dec 2012 08:51 PM PST
Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein in his statement on Dec 12 has given proof that the Barisan Nasional government is turning “stateless” Malaysian citizens into non-citizens. This is an extremely dangerous, unlawful and serious action by the Home Ministry. Hishammuddin claimed that yesterday the National Registration Department (NRD) in Putrajaya received 308 applications, out of which 280 were for permanent resident status. This is a blatant and irresponsible lie. The 308 Malaysian Indians at Putrajaya NRD yesterday filled up applications for the issuance of blue MyKads. They did not fill up any applications for permanent residency. The applicants were all Indians born in this country and either of whose parents were Malaysian citizens. Thus under Article 14 of the Federal Constitution, this makes them Malaysian citizens by operation of law. The government has thus unlawfully denied blue MyKads to them. Why has Hishammuddin branded these persons who are already citizens by operation of law as permanent residents? In fact, during the Pakatan Rakyat organised rally yesterday, about 500 stateless Indians were present at Putrajaya NRD, accompanied by about 1,000 supporters. Although advance notice was given, the NRD was unable to properly cater for the large numbers and only 308 managed to put in their applications. We challenge Hishammuddin to produce the filled application forms, which will show that they are MyKad application forms, and not applications for citizenship. Hishammuddin and BN political leaders continue to ignore and belittle the sufferings of stateless Malaysians. Instead of taking steps to resolve the problem, the BN leaders are childishly asking Pakatan to produce the 300,000 stateless Indians. It is the duty of the federal government to locate and register the stateless Malaysians throughout the country. It is the federal government that has the resources and manpower to do so. It is a complete abdication of duty for the BN government to ask the opposition to resolve the problem. The fact that stateless Malaysian Indians are encountered in alarming numbers everywhere in the country, whether in estates, rural or urban areas, shows conclusively the devastating failure of the system and the BN government. We in Pakatan say again that there must not be a single person forced to be stateless in our country. N Surendran is a PKR vice-president.    |
| Khazanah sells TNB shares for RM407m via placement Posted: 12 Dec 2012 08:43 PM PST
KUALA LUMPUR: State-owned sovereign fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd has sold 60 million shares worth RM406.8 million in Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) via a private placement exercise. The sale, seen as part of the sovereign fund's divestment in government-linked companies, was managed by placement agents – CIMB Group Holdings Bhd and Deutsche Bank. The shares sold represented 1.1% of TNB's paid-up capital. Transacted at RM6.78 per share, the price represents a discount of 2% of TNB's closing price on Tuesday. The shares closed three sen higher at RM6.95 yesterday. According to Bloomberg data, Khazanah's stake in TNB fell to 34% after the sale exercise. In a brief statement released yesterday, CIMB said the placement agents have successfully completed the exercise, adding that there was strong demand from both domestic and foreign institutional investors for the exercise. Last month, Khazanah also sold an 8.7% stake in Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd through a placement exercise. Over the past seven years, Khazanah has made profits of RM13.6 billon from divestment of its non-core assets. From May 2004 to the end of 2011, the sovereign fund has sold RM31.7 billion worth of non-core assets. Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak had announced early this year that Khazanah and Permodalan Nasional Bhd would transfer 10 non-core businesses to Bumiputera companies. Last year, the sovereign fund posted a higher pretax profit of RM5.3 billion from the RM3 billion recorded in 2010, boosted by eight divestments that raked in total proceeds of RM7.7 billion. This content is provided by FMT content partner The Malaysian Reserve.    |
| Pressure mounts on Wenger in denial Posted: 12 Dec 2012 08:38 PM PST
Before an Arsenal side close to full strength had been humiliatingly defeated on penalties by Bradford City on Tuesday, Wenger complained that the dressing room facilities were not what his team were accustomed to. Arsenal then played like a team who did not fancy any aspect of a freezing midweek night in the north of England against committed opponents who fully deserved their victory after the sides were locked at 1-1 following extra time. Asked afterwards if he was embarrassed on an evening when his team, who with the exception of Santi Cazorla and Jack Wilshere created pretty patterns but failed to generate any real urgency or penetration, Wenger apparently saw no fault with his players. “You feel embarrassed when you don’t give everything. I feel the team did fight and will be more disappointed and frustrated,” he told Sky Sports. “I cannot fault the effort. We have put the effort in (and) have given absolutely everything until the last minute. It was a typical English Cup game and Bradford got on top of us in the end. We missed three penalties – that’s a lot to take.” English bookmakers reacted with a far less charitable verdict, giving odds of 4/1 that Wenger will be the next Premier League manager to lose his job. William Hill quoted odds of 4/6 that Arsenal, who have not won a trophy since the 2005 FA Cup, will not win another under Wenger. Wenger, who a decade ago used the League Cup as a proving ground for his seemingly unlimited pool of youthful talent, took advantage of playing their next league game on Monday to play eight of the team who beat West Bromwich Albion last Saturday. They still could not defeat a Yorkshire side who have tumbled down the divisions and his team’s glaring deficiencies will add to the fans’ frustrations and a growing belief that the Wenger model has finally broken. Wenger, in charge of the north London club for the past 16 years, possesses admirable but ultimately incompatible obsessions. A commitment to attacking football at all costs has made Arsenal irresistible at their best and always consistently entertaining. But flawed defence, particularly in the air, persist and the appointment of former defender Steve Bould as Wenger’s assistant appears to have made no difference. Wenger also has a commendable commitment to balancing the books, spending less on buying players than the club makes on sales. However, the result has been a steady exodus of the club’s best performers, including Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie, with Theo Walcott set to become the sixth first team regular to leave in less than two years. The 23-year-old England winger, who is out of contract at the end of the season, has rejected a new five-year deal with the club. After a meeting with chief executive Ivan Gazidis on Wednesday, where he apologised for the Bradford defeat, Arsenal’s Supporters Trust spokesman Tim Paynton tried to sound positive over potential January playing recruits. “There is plenty of money there,” he told reporters. “That was the message that Ivan and his finance director were giving this evening. “Lots of people have asked me whether Arsene Wenger should go. He certainly needs to change and improve, spend the money he’s got, strengthen the set-up around him and the results will be the judge.” Wenger still guided Arsenal to the knockout stages of the Champions League for the 13th successive time this season but that is likely to be the summit of their ambitions in Europe. They lie seventh in the Premier League and face a third-round trip to Swansea City in the FA Cup. Swansea recently defeated Arsenal 2-0 at the Emirates in the Premier League, a result which enraged sections of the Arsenal faithful. After Tuesday’s loss, not only the fans will be questioning the future of the man who has brought three Premier League titles to the club accompanied by a revolution in style. -Reuters    |
| Spot fixing threatens integrity of modern game Posted: 12 Dec 2012 08:30 PM PST
In “Bookie Gambler Fixer Spy; A Journey to the Heart of Cricket’s Underworld”, English author and cricket betting tipster Ed Hawkins says his confidence in the sport has been eroded “on the long trip to cricket’s corrupt core”. Early in the book, Hawkins describes a bookmaker’s message sent to him during last year’s World Cup semi-final between India and Pakistan, accurately predicting the course of the match. He watches, with a friend, “in a daze” as the match won by India, unfolds as outlined in the script. Hawkins says during the course of his investigations he was given the names of 45 former and current internationals and domestic cricketers alleged to have been involved in corrupt activities. None of them are named for legal reasons. Finally, he says, English county one-day matches, broadcast live on television in India, are now being targeted by bookmakers and fixers. Hawkins’s three-year journey started at the site of a London shop owned by the bookmaker recorded by Delhi police fixing matches with former South Africa captain Cronje in 1999. It continued in India where he met bookmakers, punters and fixers and included lengthy interviews with Paul Condon, the first director of the International Cricket Council’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU), and Lalit Modi, the man behind the Indian Premier League who said his life had been threatened three times by mobsters. Cronje, who died in a plane crash 10 years ago, and two other international captains Mohammad Azharuddin (India) and Salim Malik (Pakistan) were banned for life for fixing the results of matches. Spot-fixing, the manipulation of individual incidents within a match which may not affect the result, is a more insidious crime and one which can be impossible to detect. It hit the international headlines when Pakistan players Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir were jailed after arranging for deliberate no-balls to be delivered in the 2010 Lord’s test against England. Hawkins learned that Indian bookmakers had four markets in all forms of cricket: the innings’ scores, the match outcome, the favourites at an interval and the bracket scores – for example the number of runs scored in a 10-over segment in a 50-overs match or a six-over segment in a Twenty20 match. Brackets are alarmingly easy to manipulate by the illegal syndicates who set the odds, if they can bribe a corrupt player. “Spot-fixing is not what people think it is. So, for example, a corrupter might say to a captain ‘move your gully fielder five yards to the left or the right and instruct your bowler to bowl just outside off-stump’,” Hawkins told Reuters in an interview. “So the batsman cuts and up goes the run tally. And people think wrongly the market is for there to be no gully fielder, or for a fielder to be positioned in a particular place. But what is actually happening is that they are manipulating the session’s runs or the bracket because they want runs to be scored. “If you a corrupter and you know that you’ve got your captain on side and he is going to make sure runs are scored then they are able to manipulate the odds in their favour. So the syndicate can send out fake odds tempting gamblers, and as you know there are thousands in India, to bet a certain way, to bet on not many runs being scored when they know lots of runs are going to be scored because the captain is in their pocket. “It is just like insider trading and the alarming thing about it is that it is such a subtle art so you have the potential for almost every game to be manipulated. Just for one ball you’ve got fixing.” Whereas match-fixing requires the connivance of at least one of the captains, spot-fixing needs only one corrupt player who agrees to under-perform with either bat or ball at a certain stage of the match to influence the number of runs scored. For that reason, Hawkins said, the emphasis had shifted from match-fixing to spot-fixing. County cricket Hawkins said the 45 players whose names he had been given came from each of the test-playing nations apart from Bangladesh. “Included in that are players who have retired and players who have not played international cricket,” he said. He said there was “huge potential” for corruption in county cricket. “County cricket is so vulnerable because it’s a little bit of a treadmill, there are a lot of games and players don’t get paid a lot of money,” he said. “For someone earning 40 grand (pounds) a year, if he could earn a fair chunk of that by just batting out a maiden over…he’s not affecting the result, he’s not really getting found out, why wouldn’t that player do it? “It’s an enticing option for a cricketer. So county cricket has to face up to it, there are going to be lots of approaches to players, lots of attempts to corrupt them, to try out spot-fixing, maybe less so match-fixing because obviously that’s a lot harder.” Hawkins, who has shared his information with the cricketing authorities, said he not included a lot of the information he had received in the book for legal reasons. “I didn’t expect to find all this stuff and I certainly didn’t seek it out. I didn’t expect to get all the information like I did for the semi-final,” he said. “I can’t watch a game again in the same way, when you’ve got as close to the illegal market as I have, heard all the things that I have.” -Reuters    |
| Property market may remain stable in 2013 Posted: 12 Dec 2012 08:25 PM PST
KUALA LUMPUR; The Malaysian Institute of Estate Agents (MIEA) expects the property market to remain stable in 2013 as buyers buck expectations of busts and booms. MIEA president Nixon Paul said recent news reports predicting a boom for next year are creating an artificial situation in the market. "We view the property market to remain strong for 2013 and prices will continue to increase if the stock availability remains tight," he told reporters at the MIEA Property Outlook 2012 here yesterday. He said there were also misconceptions that the condominium market is going to drop, caused by low rental income and take-ups by expatriates. "We believe the market for the condominium market will hold, especially in the areas of KLCC, Mont Kiara and several other places in the city," he said. However, Paul said many foreign companies are repackaging the housing allowance for expatriates into their salaries and this is causing many of them to seek lower rents outside the city centre and closer to international schools for their children. Touching on the industrial market, Hectares & Stratas Sdn Bhd director Stephen Tew Peng Hwee said the demand for industrial space in the Klang Valley is strong but the supply is limited with overall vacancy being well below 5%. "Capital values have increased as much as 50% over the past four to five years, rentals by 20%-30% and the main cause of these increases is not much on overly demand but rather lack of new supply,” said Tew. "Today, the biggest gobblers of industrial space are trading and logistics companies and not manufacturing as in the past." As for Penang, Tew said there is also a supply shortage of industrial space and rentals and it can often be more expensive than the Klang Valley. "The biggest demand for industrial space in Penang comes from the electric and electronics industry and it is not uncommon to hear companies complaining of the difficulty of finding space in Penang for logistics." He said the demand for industrial space in Johor has improved substantially over the past few years due to the success of Tanjung Pelepas port and better relations with Singapore. "Many Malaysia-Singapore joint ventures to develop residential, commercial and industrial facilities in Johor have created a better environment and leadership guidance to Singaporeans to start seriously looking at building new factories in Johor. "Demand for industrial land and buildings has been improving and land values have begun moving up a bit slower as Johor is a huge state with plenty of land," he said. This content is provided by FMT content partner The Malaysian Reserve.    |
| SP Setia targets sales growth of RM5.5b Posted: 12 Dec 2012 08:16 PM PST
KUALA LUMPUR: Property developer SP Setia Bhd is targeting its sales to grow by 30% to RM5.5 billion in its financial year ending Oct 31, 2013 (FY13), after posting a 29% rise in sales to RM4.23 billion in its last financial year. The rise in sales saw its net profit attributable to shareholders rise 20% to RM393.8 million in FY12 from RM328 million a year earlier, according to its fourth-quarter (4Q) results announcement in the local exchange yesterday. The improved net profit was on the back of a higher revenue of RM2.53 billion from RM2.23 billion a year ago. For the 4Q ended Oct 31, 2012, SP Setia posted a 54% jump in net profit to RM127 million from RM82.5 million a year ago as revenue rose to RM763.6 million compared to RM633.4 million previously. SP Setia has proposed a gross final dividend of nine sen per share. Together with the interim dividend of five sen per share, total dividend for the year works out to be 14 sen per share. In a statement in conjuction with the release of its results, SP Setia president and CEO Liew Kee Sin (photo) said while the market environment is expected to be challenging in 2013 due to continued uncertainties in the global economy, the group's pipeline of ongoing and upcoming projects should be able to sustain its strong growth trajectory. As at end FY12 the group has 21 ongoing projects with 16 located in West Malaysia spread out through the Klang Valley, Johor Baru and Penang, one project in Sabah and four international projects. It said these existing projects will continue to underpin the group's sales performance in FY13. In addition to the group's existing portfolio, Liew said the company has several new projects to be launched in FY13 which will further expand its product offering and market reach. On the international front, SP Setia said it will be introducing Parque Melbourne and has recently launched Eco Sanctuary. Both are the group's second projects in Melbourne and Singapore respectively. This content is provided by FMT content partner The Malaysian Reserve.    |
| Jayawardene to step down as skipper Posted: 12 Dec 2012 08:14 PM PST
The 35-year-old Jayawardene told a new conference on the eve of the first Test against Australia that he thought next year would be a good year to make the transition to a younger leader as there were few high-profile series scheduled. Jayawardene, who led Sri Lanka to the 50-overs World Cup final in 2007, agreed to take over the captaincy for a second spell in place of opener Tillakaratne Dilshan earlier this year. “I don’t want to continue to captain after this tour so this will be my last. I hope I don’t get any more SOS calls from them,” Jayawardene told reporters in Hobart. “It’s been great, I’ve enjoyed the last year and what I’ve achieved but we need to move on to a younger leader. It’s best that we get a new player in while the senior guys are still around so we can help him out in building a team.” Jayawardene said his choice to succeed him as skipper would be 25-year-old Mathews, who has matured into a world class all-rounder over the last couple of years. “Angelo is the one everyone has earmarked, and I think he is good enough,” Jayawardene added. “Maybe the first few years will be tough for him but they’ll grow into the job. If Angelo gets the opportunity, I think it will be easier for him if he has (the senior players) around him and we can build him through those tough periods.” -Agencies    |
| Posted: 12 Dec 2012 08:12 PM PST
KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia has chosen Nasdaq OMX Group to power its securities market trading through the American multinational financial services corporation's technology, X-Stream INET. The new platform will handle trading of equities, fixed income, exchange traded funds and issuer warrants for the local stock exchange to attract a variety of market participants and create innovative products and services to match international demand. In a statement released yesterday, Bursa Malaysia said the deployment is scheduled during the firstquarter of 2014. Nasdaq OMX was selected in competition with a number of global exchange technology providers, it said. Its CEO Tajauddin Atan said: "As we aim to complete a major technology refresh for our securities market and build on overall strategic business roadmap, we wanted a trading technology that would satisfy our demands and desire for growth. "Selecting Nasdaq OMX’s X-Stream INET is a sign of this commitment to our customers and our growth towards becoming the centre of Asean's multinational marketplace," he said. Nasdaq OMX's X-Stream trading technology is currently used by 22 exchanges globally. This content is provided by FMT content partner The Malaysian Reserve.    |
| PJI Holdings to expand footprint in renewable energy Posted: 12 Dec 2012 08:10 PM PST
PETALING JAYA: Property development and infrastructure company PJI Holdings Bhd plans to get more involved in the renewable energy sector through equity participation in Agni Power Sdn Bhd (APSB). PJI will subscribe for irredeemable convertible preference shares for RM17 million in APSB, which is engaged in renewables like biomass, in a move that will also provide it with the ability to become a turnkey contractor as well as maintenance and services provider for the industry. "We are already an established company. We are looking at increasing interest in the renewable energy sector through equity participation in APSB", PJI director Choy Ping Keong said after the company's annual shareholders meeting yesterday. The company will not derive any direct financial benefit from the subscription during the initial five years prior to the conversion of the shares but will eventually own 19% of APSB at the end of the period. The move can be deemed to be in the right direction as renewable energy such as biomass, solar, mini hydro and solid waste is being actively encouraged by the Malaysian government. PJI has also announced its plan to acquire a 5ha piece of land in Mukim Damansara, worth RM13.2 million, to increase its assets base, said Choy. Asked about the company's expectations from its business next year, he said the company expects to post better financial results. Profits of the company for the first-quarter ended September 2012, were almost double at RM449,000 than the same corresponding period last year. Choy said the company is not looking to expand beyond Malaysia for the moment and will concentrate on the local market. Photo: (from left) PJI Holdings managing director Lim Chong Ling and financial controller Esther Tan Ai Leng during the press conference at the PJI annual shareholders meeting in Petaling Jaya yesterday. This content is provided by FMT content partner The Malaysian Reserve.    |
| BToto to be listed as trust on SGX Posted: 12 Dec 2012 08:02 PM PST
KUALA LUMPUR: Berjaya Sports Toto Bhd (BToto) has obtained shareholders' approval to be listed as a trust on the Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX). In its extraordinary general meeting yesterday, shareholders voted overwhelmingly in support of the resolution for 4.4 billion units to be issued in Sports Toto Malaysia Trust (STM) for a consideration of RM6 billion. The issue price of the units will be determined later. "The company will also list the trust in Malaysia once the Capital Market Services Act is amended, to include the listing of trust companies which is expected to take place in the second-half of 2013," said Berjaya Sports Toto Bhd executive director Freddie Pang. The Singapore listing will take place at the end of January next year. The rationale for the listing was to unlock shareholders' value to gain access to potentially larger pool of investors for non-syariah compliant stocks as well as by adopting a corporate structure that facilitates capital management. The company has also payments due under its mediumterm notes of RM550 million next year and dividends to shareholders could be affected if the listing was not carried out. Although the effective interest of Btoto in STM would be reduced to 79.54% post the listing, BToto will continue to consolidate the financial results of STM via BToto Cayman's unit holding in STM Trust. The dilution of up to 20.46% in STM will be partly mitigated by the annual management fees payable by STM to Sports Toto Malaysia Management Pte Ltd. Pang said that the operations of BToto will remain unchanged post-listing and the listing is expected to raise SG$500 million (RM1.24 billion).    |
| Jagger love letters fetch RM 915,819 Posted: 12 Dec 2012 07:58 PM PST
The 10 letters, dating from the summer of 1969, had been expected to fetch 70-100,000 pounds, according to the auctioneer. “The passage of time has given these letters a place in our cultural history,” Hunt said after the London sale. “1969 saw the ebbing of a crucial, revolutionary era, highly influenced by such artists as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, James Brown and Bob Dylan. “Their inner thoughts should not be the property of only their families, but the public at large, to reveal who these influential artists were – not as commercial images, but their private selves.”
“I’m broke,” Hunt, who lives in France, told the newspaper. Jagger wrote them to Hunt while filming the Tony Richardson movie “Ned Kelly” in Australia. They showed a sensitive side of the then-young singer, who wrote about the poetry of Emily Dickinson, meeting author Christopher Isherwood and an unrealized multimedia project. Jagger’s relationship with Hunt, who is African-American, was kept under wraps until 1972. Hunt has said she was the inspiration for Brown Sugar, which Jagger wrote while in Australia. The rock star also cites in the letters the disintegration of his relationship with singer Marianne Faithfull, whom he was also dating at the time, and the death of Rolling Stones’ guitarist Brian Jones. There has been a surge in interest in the rock band this year, as Jagger and his three surviving bandmates celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Stones with a series of concerts, a photo book and a greatest hits album. - Reuters    |
| ‘Confidence on economic recovery down’ Posted: 12 Dec 2012 07:53 PM PST
KUALA LUMPUR: Financial professionals say they are less confident about a global economic recovery in the third-quarter (3Q) than they were in the 2Q of this year, according to the Global Economic Conditions Survey (GECS) conducted by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA). In its survey for the 3Q of 2012, only 4% of respondents reported confidence gain, compared to 12% in the preceding quarter. More emphatic is the 63% of respondents who say they have lost confidence and that only 18% believe that the global economy is actually recovering. In the survey, 2,550 professional accountants worldwide were canvassed including 109 respondents from Malaysia. "Malaysia, along with the US and China, is one of the few GECS markets in which respondents believed, on balance, that the country was engaged in unsustainable fiscal stimulus and this belief has persisted in the latest edition of the survey," said ACCA Malaysia country head Jennifer Lopez in the press release. She said the research highlighted continued uncertainty across the Asia-Pacific region, which still feels the effects of the downturn in China. Lopez said China was not the source of the pessimism but its neighbouring countries which are not only suffering from China's downturn but the persistently sluggish recovery of Western economies. The survey noted that South Asia has resisted the trend and had achieved a rebound resulting from significant fiscal and monetary intervention. In the 3Q, 77% felt that recovery was stagnating or deteriorating compared to 54% in the preceding quarter. Only 18% believed that the recovery is on the right track. The survey said analysis suggested that the fall in global confidence is due almost entirely to changing business fundamentals – such as demand, access to finance, prompt payment and inflation – and not due to sentiments. The survey indicated that the rollout of the government's Economic Transformation Programme projects is a good step towards job creation and development but some respondents are wary of substantial spending deemed as being unsustainable fiscal stimulus. Concern was also expressed about the introduction of the national minimum wage, which is expected to substantially impact the bottom line of some sectors especially hospitality. The survey highlighted the theme that emerged strongly was the interconnectedness of global economy. Institute of Management Accountants vice president of research Raef Lawson said: "The slowdown in Asia, the eurozone debt crisis and sluggish US recovery are all feeding into each other and no region is unaffected." This content is provided by FMT content partner The Malaysian Reserve.    |
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