Child heart surgeons in short supply

Child heart surgeons in short supply by Opalyn Mok PENANG: The country urgently needs more paediatric heart surgeons as there are only 22 such specialists here at present. Health parliamentary secretary Datuk Lee Kah Choon said there has been an increase in the number of children suffering from heart disease. "Statistics show that about eight to 10 out of every 1,000 children suffer from heart disease and each year, about 1,500 of them need corrective heart surgery," he said. Lee said of the 22 paediatric heart surgeons, seven are in private hospitals, seven in the National Heart Institute, four in Hospital University and four in general hospitals. "This is not enough to meet the high demand and the ministry is doing all it can to produce more of such specialists," he said. But it is not easy to produce specialists as it may take up to 15 years to train a surgeon of any discipline. "We need more doctors to go into subspecialty fields and train for specific disciplines such as heart and brain surgery," he said after visiting several beneficiaries of Operation HeartBeat at Penang Adventist Hospital yesterday morning. He commended the hospital for jointly organising the project with the Wong Keng Fei Fund to benefit poor Malaysian children with heart disease. "Despite our country's lack of paediatric heart surgeons, the standard of our surgeons is very high as many children from other countries have come to Malaysia to undergo corrective heart surgery," he said. Earlier, Lee distributed gifts to five of the six beneficiaries of Operation HeartBeat.

ACA must be made independent: TI

ACA must be made independent: TI by Terence Fernandez PETALING JAYA: While it is crucial for the Anti Corruption Agency (ACA) to be independent, it is also important to ensure the agency does not become a law onto itself. Transparency Inter national (TI) Malaysia president Datuk Param Cumaraswamy said like the AuditorGeneral, the ACA should be insulated into the Constitution. "If the Auditor-General can present a report of its work and findings, I don't see why the ACA can't (do the same)," he said, calling for an amendment to the Constitution to enable this. Param said TI's stand has always been for an ACA independent of interference and encroachments. "All these years, the ACA has been perceived as an agency of the government, therefore, it (the ACA) will be subject to the dictates of the political masters," he said. However, Param said for this to work, parliament must be effective and MPs must play their role. "Will they debate on the report? That remains to be seen." He was responding to queries by theSun, following remarks by ACA direc or-general Datuk Zulkipli Mat Noor at a recent anti-corruption forum. Zulkipli said while his agency reports o the prime minister, it does so only on "administrative matters". "In his battle against graft, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had given the ACA a free hand to unction," Zulkipli told about 60 participants in the "Anti Corruption Initiatives n Malaysia" seminar, organised by the Asian Institute for Development Communication and the KonradAdenauer-Foundation. He also said the ACA does not need to nform complainants on the status of nvestigations, the outcome of a probe, as well as reasons for dropping a case. "If we want to prosecute, only then will we inform the Attorney-General," he said. Meanwhile, to a suggestion that the ACA be answerable to a parliamentary committee akin to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Param said this also depends on an effective parliament and pro-active MPs. DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said the ACA cannot be answerable to ust one individual. "No matter how benevolent the prime minister is, the ACA cannot come under one person. "The laws must be amended to give it full powers but accountable to Parliament," he said, adding that to ensure the ACA does its job, it must present annual reports to Parliament. Lim said in being answerable to Parliament, the ACA will be more effective and transparent in discharging its duties. "It will also have to answer all the public's queries and give reports on the status of investigations within a time frame." Lim also stressed that the ACA must protect whistle-blowers. Citing his own experience, Lim said when he brought up former Sabah chief minister Tan Sri Osu Sukam's alleged gambling habits, the ACA probed him instead. "That's why I say it cannot be a law onto itself. It needs to be regulated effectively." Backbenchers Club chairman Datuk Shahrir Samad, however, remained cautious but said the issue is important enough to warrant further study. "Isn't the ACA already independent? The minister (in the Prime Minister's Department) is already there to answer," he said. Zulkipli, meanwhile, when informed of these responses, said he does not see a problem with the current arrangement. "Let me look at the arguments first before I respond," he said, declining to say more.

Interview with Dr Rais Yatim

CULTURE, Arts and Heritage Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim is a veteran of the political stage, having served under four prime ministers. In 1987, he resigned as foreign minister in Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's cabinet after the Umno group he belonged to lost in its bid for power. After returning to the fold in 1996, Rais was back in the cabinet following the 1999 general election. Speaking about his chequered political background, the 63-year-old culture maven, who is also an avid photographer, told HUSNA YUSOP he has no regrets about all that has happened to him. What in your view is Malaysian culture? To me the answer is very simple. It is what you see about people in this country. The way they live, the festivals they celebrate, the food they eat, the mode of their dressing and the way they greet each other and the way they bring up their young ones. All of these constitute Malaysian culture. What is so important about culture that you need to have a ministry to look after it? It is important because it gives the people we call Malaysians an identity peculiar to this country. Otherwise, how do we recognise them? It is through observing their culture. It is important because it is also a national identity. So do we create this Malaysian culture consciously or allow it to develop by itself? We allow it to develop by itself. We give it the freedom to develop on its own volition. But at the same time, we have to also help to shape it so that we get what we call the Malaysian characteristics which is indigenous to this country. This is in accordance with the decision of the cultural congress we had long ago. So while we allow our culture to evolve by itself we also make sure that it is based on the indigenous culture. So there is also a conscious effort to ensure the culture that evolves also has traits of indigenous culture. Is this working well? But I must say this is easier said than done. Sometimes, it is difficult to interpret what is really wanted. The Malaysian multi-cultural facets have been working well. But it is not easy to incorporate into this traits of the indigenous culture. What is it that we want to take? Mind you, the indigenous cultures too are not static. For instance Malay culture, too, is evolving. So it is not as simple as all that. No. But overall, we are not that culture mad. Malaysians are very submissive to changes and have a lot of give-and-take kind of attitude. Of course, there is a very small core group of people who appear to be resistant to change. They believe Malay culture should remain as it is. But when you ask them what they mean by this, they cannot elaborate satisfactorily. Because, basically culture changes as value systems change. The only thing is, these changes are not well modulated or nurtured and planned. Those responsible do not strategise properly. As such the changes are much left to take their own shape. For example? The changes brought about by the entertainment and electronic media. These are very strong and have a powerful influence and no community in Malaysia can withstand them, remaining unaffected. To an extent, we have been influenced in terms of our cultural basis as well as cultural practices. Another point is, people confuse dances, music and songs as being the bulk of culture. It is not. These are manifestations of how each community entertains itself. So, culture is a very, very wide field, as demonstrated by this pantun. Membilang dengan satu Tanya khabar dengan salam Kalau dilipat sekecil kuku Kalau disibar seluas alam. It is a very wide field. But however wide it is, we still have to work on it. You said there are some problems with the develop- ment of Malay culture. Can you elaborate? This is a very interesting (issue) and at the same time it is muted. Muted in the sense that some people do not want to talk about it. At the same time there are those who wish to talk about it. But I believe in discussing it openly. Basically, traditional Malay culture ­ the way the Malays lived ­ emanated from the istana. The istana and the aristocracy set the standard. That's the fountainhead of Malayness. And essentially the Malays learnt good behaviour through the istana, like during the golden age of Malacca. The aristocracy and the lesser aristocracy spread it. Such that a person is described as berbudi bahasa or cultured or of good breeding if his behaviour conformed to the ways of the aristocracy. It emerged from there. (It was) a dilution of court etiquette or the ways of the court. Of course the further away a group of people was from the palace the more diluted the socalled "culture" was. T hus society is stratified culturally. And this stratification is further emphasised by the use of mode of address like patik and tuanku and the language. But over the years the ways of the istana, bombarded by all sorts of influences, also changed. And as a result, the culture of the Malays, too, underwent changes. But much remained . Berbudi bahasa remains central. So we have Malay culture as reflecting the sum total of their experiences. So a Malay is a person who practises this way of life that you described? Yes, it is legal as well. Under Article 160 of the Constitution a Malay is one who speaks Malay habitually, who professes Islam and conforms to the Malay custom. You cannot take away any of these and still call him a Malay. So now culture stems from there itself. You must have Islam, your Bahasa and your adat. Culture comes from there but the extrapolation of these three has not been an easy job. Since 1974 when I was in the Culture (Youth and Sports) Ministry with Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, we have been debating, we have been talking, about this problem. How to make Malay and other indigenous cultures an integral part of the national culture. And so we came up with the National Culture Policy. So, the indigenous culture becomes the core with traits of other cultures also becoming part of it. As these cultures evolve they too enrich the Malaysian culture. Is religion a source of culture? You see, we forget. We always think about Islam as only a religion but it is actually a very big source of culture. These are not being answered in full but this ministry is trying to "practise" it. From Islam, what are the tenets? After all, culture is a way of life. When you pray, when you believe in truth, when you believe in justice, it is culture. We have not done enough of that kind of work to interpose (this culture) into our lives. We have been very ritualistic. From the niat (intentions) to the sembahyang, we have been ritualistic but we have not interpreted its contribution to culture. We want to have a culture where a person who is cultured the Malaysian way is considered as a cultured person. That is one aspect I want to see this ministry get involved with. A cultured Malay is described in Malay as a person who is berbudi bahasa. Which means he behaves well and speaks the proper language. So language is important in determining whether one is cultured or not. Yes, language is important. Bahasa Melayu as the source of culture is not exploited. It is one of the richest sources. But sadly, the importance of Bahasa has not been promoted (so as) to be at par with English, now that we have Maths and Science being taught (in English) in school. It is also the dream of this ministry to see Bahasa Melayu come up alongside in culturalising things, in teaching things and in transporting the thoughts of the literary works from the West, from the Middle East into Bahasa. When you teach Maths and Science intertwined, naturally English becomes a language of knowledge. Where does that put Bahasa? Bahasa will have to trot along in a secondary role, whether you like it or not. This kind of argument some of my colleagues do not like but I have to tell the world. But how do you do that? Bahasa will take a secondary role because we want to be a player in this globalised world. So Bahasa will have just to trot along. It need not be so. We have to campaign that Bahasa should not be relegated to a secondary role. By campaigning on it, by nurturing the usage of it, by making language-based cultural programmes, right down to the Jawi script ­ Bahasa need not have to play a secondary role. The language aspect of Jawi is very important. The Malays learnt their culture through the istana, in the olden days, through Jawi, not through Rumi. The Roman characters came later. And now that Jawi is as good as dead, this ministry is very sad. But I am not just lamenting. I have just pushed through a cabinet paper for this week that Jawi must be resurrected culturally. Culturally meaning we must have the khat (Jawi callig raphy), we must have posters in Jawi, we must glamorise Jawi as in the Quran, we must anecdotise Jawi. But again I must tell you that this is not very wellreceived by certain people. It seems this kind of effort will have a negative impact on the development of our country. This kind of talk I am prepared to debate. If the Chinese can develop their characters why can't Malays keep Jawi as well? Give me a good answer. So far I have not got a good answer. So, that is why I have pushed this paper and I have requested my colleague (Education Minister) Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein to support it so that in school it becomes a very integral part of our campaign. And besides Jawi, which is the heart of Malay culture, we must also popularise our pantuns, bidalan, seloka, perumpamaan and make them come into everyday use again. That is not easy if I do not get assistance from the schools. Not many people, when speaking Malay these days, are using perumpamaan (similes) anymore or spicing up their conversations with pantun and seloka. You are right. So that is it. And you know, it is easier said than done because we have left Bahasa behind too far, too fast. Within 48 years we have not been talking about culture. We have been talking about, "what do I get?" My scientific knowledge, the material things I must get, the bigger salary, the physical things that you want to have in the house. You go to a Malay house, what do you see inside? You see Italian furniture and very little of Malay artifacts. You mean no more ronggeng or joget? Yes. That was why I put this idea of having dances, but with your wife. So the partners of a ronggeng are married couples. Let us revive and popularise Malay dances. Let us all dance at weddings to celebrate the occasion. We need to keep our heritage alive ­ the zapin, joget and inang. And this is one thing that the ministry is encouraging. I am going to introduce it in some of these Hari Raya gatherings. But let us dance with our spouse, not with somebody else, otherwise we will get into trouble ... although it is not like we are touching each other. But you will become into conflict with some of the ulama? True, but I do not care. I can give the answer. So long as I do not violate Islam basically, that is it. Okay, since we are into it now let me say this. Due to sanctions by our ulama a large part of our culture has been killed also. Of course, fine. We cannot argue with it because religion is something that you cannot argue (about), it is whether you accept or not. Alright. But dances like joget, zapin, inang should be given a chance to survive and we (should) make the majlis for it. But what about the other cultures? I am also encouraging traditional dances by the Chinese, the Indians, the orang asli. On Article 160, about: you are a Malay if you speak Malay, practise Malay culture and are a Muslim, what about a Chinese who practises Malay culture, speaks Malay and then if he converts into Islam, is he a Malay? It would be very interesting to see that Chinese go to court and get himself declared a Malay. But no one has done this yet. But legally speaking, can he do it? Yes. Constitutionally a Malay is (defined under) Article 160. But anthropologically, sociologically, that is a different matter. But if you want something legal, go and have a prayer. Being a lawyer, I think it would be a very interesting case. I think he will win. Culture is not all traditional. What we regularly do today is also culture. Like roti canai is part of our culture today. Yes. Culture can be divided into traditional culture and modern culture. Clearly demarcated, each balances the other. Also the pattern of the other cultures in Malaysia must be clear. While they combine to form Malaysian culture, the characteristics of each culture ­ Chinese, Indian, Malay and other indigenous cultures ­ must be recognisable. We ought to know basically what is Chinese culture, Malay culture and Indian culture and other cultures, in order for the three to be imbibing and harmonising with one another to form Malaysian culture. Not forgetting the insistence of the national cultural policy, of course. Of course. Having said that, the national culture policy remains intact and what I have been telling you just now. We will also look at heritage, and that is the reason we are trying to preserve as many early buildings as possible. These buildings, especially along Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman in Kuala Lumpur, are our cultural heritage as they represent things created during the period of our shared experience. They are our common heritage. We will be one step ahead in wanting to create what is history for us, what is identity for the Malays and for the Malaysians for example. But also having said that, this ministry is very concerned with the value system because values create culture. Hence, we have embarked on the Budi Bahasa campaign and we are going onto our second phase. We are going to assist authorities in keeping the environment, the rivers, roadsides and houses clean. We want to show that we, in our collective culture, abhor littering. Not getting anywhere on this, I think. You are right. We still have not inculcated the culture of having clean toilets, for example. After 50 years of existence, it is still a problem although those of the KLIA for example, are good. I am not sure the Malay culture as we know today or 20 years ago will survive. As you said, Malays are forgetting their culture. Our traditional culture will gradually fade away and so will the modern one especially after bombardment by influences from stronger cultures. So what indigenous culture are we talking about when it is no longer in existence? I am not that pessimistic. There is no one authority on earth or in any country that can say, "I can stop the development of other forms of culture or prevent foreign cultures from coming to my state or country". Because basically, culture is values. It is imbued from entertainment, it is imbued from learning and also education. Let us face it. About 13,000 graduates return from overseas after being away for about three or four years. Don't these people bring back something? They bring back western culture, western thinking, English. They themselves have undergone chenges. They have become argumentative, for instance. Also cultural influences come through the sky - through television, Astro, the movies, the soap operas. And out of 24 films screened, there is (only) one local production. These are the odds I am facing. And they say with tounge in cheek, "kekalkanlah bahasa dan budaya kita" but the infrastructure is changing fast. Nevertheless, I am saying to myself that we got a job to do. As a nation we must have an identity. And so despite the influences our students bring back and influences from television, we must continue with our effort. The Bahasa Melayu must continue, for example. Our dances must be practised at majlis, at ceremonies. And meantime, we also tell people about the danger of cultural osmosis. You mentioned education just now. I remember our second prime minister Tun Abd Razak said in 1965 "Our National Education Policy is aimed at bringing children of all races together; learning the same thing in the same way under one roof so that they will feel that they share the same ideal and the same country". But this is not happening. Yes, it is not happening. You are right. To a certain extent it does happen. Let me admit again. Culture can be nutured. It does not happen by chance. Culture can be nurtured in the cocoon or in the testing bed. Now what is the testing bed? The testing bed is education, the schools. Instead of sharing a common experience, we see polarisation of the races. No shared experience. This because there are Chinese Schools and Tamil Schools. And Sekolah Kebangsaan today is not what was envisaged long ago as a place our children learn and grow up together. We want all races to pass through the same schools, but they are not. In the 60s and 70s, yes, but not now. Why is this happening? Because they see certain things in the Sekolah Kebangsaan which frighten them. Too much religion, too much Islam. They became frightened. That is the big impediment to the races studying together under one roof. Therefore, if Islam in schools can be reduced, SK can once again play the role intended for it. Now it is not about the teaching of ugama that is being questioned. No, not that. Have religious classes by all means. But keep away Islam from other aspects of life in the school. No doa at the assembly, no doa in the classroom except during religious classes. Then, and only then can Sekolah Kebangsaan be the crucible where shared experience is cooked. Finally, we must improve the quality of teachers in SK. You said Islam is also a source of culture and I agree with you. But the Islam that is imposed on us by the ulama does not help towards the creation of a national culture? It is actually a Catch 22 situation. It would seem that culture and religion do not go together. But they do. The ministry is in quite a bind. Concerning the knowledge aspect of culture we have no problem with Islam. In terms of the value system, it's okay. But entertainment and music are problem areas. Why? Because when I joined cabinet in 1982, no women wore the tudung like you do. They wore their selendang and shawls and some not at all. Then in the mid-80s, things began to change. It was the new Islamic revival and its strong influence and its new values. So it is a new culture ­ wearing of the tudung. Elsewhere, for instance, Islam has its own approach to music. However, there is no uniformity. For example some nasyid groups have string music while some groups only use the gendang. So sometimes it is not religion that dictates. And if you know it you can sometimes put your foot down to certain demands. So when you ask them, why is your music so dull? They say it is because they are prohibited from using certain instruments. Tell me which part of the Quran or hadith says that. Most of the time they have no answer. So it is just belief. We should break from this. I went to Egypt. I had a good time listening to the philharmonic orchestra of Egypt. Beautiful. Why can't we have it in our country? After all we are not asking people to undress. It is just music. These are some of our difficulties. Again, I have to repeat it is not an easy equation. So the ministry is treading on sensitive ground sometimes, but by and by as they say, we get along. So, I think it is not difficult for you to move from law to culture and the arts. After all I think you are a berbudi bahasa person. Well, culture has been my interest for a long time. I started with this ministry, don't forget, in 1974. But that time, the ministry was a sibling of other things. Kementerian Kebudayaan Belia & Sukan. And then you have Kementerian Kebudayaan, Seni dan Pelancongan. And now all culture. I am happy. I am very happy. So, I come here from law. Law is something very exciting in many ways but culture is not a simple thing, as people say. In this ministry, either you sink on your own ignorance or you survive well because of your interpretation of what culture for Malaysia is. I am not too worried about the Malays losing some aspects of their traditional culture but I don't want them to lose their selves. I hope you follow that. Just losing yourself because of influences that come via Astro and the new cable network, globalisation, overseas education and everything. Therefore, you lose your identity. I do not want that to happen. So my job is to remind them all the time. The second segment is to remind Malaysians we have got our own modern Malaysian culture in the open houses, the gotong royong, the political setup. This is culture. People forget. Other elements are the ronggeng, the joget, the Chinese wayang, the nyonyas, putumayam, Thaipusam and so on. The food we eat, the way we talk to each other, the salam we give, the Selamat Pagi and vanakkam. And, of course, how dirty our rivers are is a reflection of our culture. Therefore, you have to be very optimistic here. You have to find ways and means. That was why perhaps the prime minister's wife, Datin Seri Endon Mahmood, said she was happy you were appointed to this ministry. I am flattered by that but I miss law, though. But at the same time it is a good thing. I can bring back certain things. It takes time though. This is my problem. For example, for budi bahasa to come back, I need another few segments of campaign through TV broadcast and radio to the kampung, Felda, new villages, schools and family. Therefore we have to nurture all these through various programmes. In the cultural shows, sometimes we see Chinese traditional dances being performed by non-Chinese. Is there a reluctance on the part of Chinese to participate in this kind of activity? Yes. In some instances, there are not enough Chinese groups we can use. These are all our deficiency. For example, which Malay will do a Chinese dance readily? None. But we have it now in Istana Budaya. I have got girls and boys who can dance the Chinese dances. But do you have Chinese there also? Ha ... This is the question. We don't have enough of Chinese and Indian dancers in Istana Budaya, despite our advertisements and all that. Why? Well, this is a handicap we are facing. But we are not saying there are no people. We want to say the time will come when enough dancers of the other cultures will be there. So we are now conscripting the NGOs. They are now coming to dance the Malay, Chinese and Indian dances. You know Ramli (Ibrahim)? He will dance nothing else but Indian dance, for example. That is good. If we want a good portrayal of Indian dance, we ask Ramli for example. Then we have a group in Brickfields who will dance the Indian dance. Most of them are Indians. You cannot escape from this. But I would like more interchange. The Chinese can dance Malay dances and vice versa. That must be achieved. I have not achieved that fully yet but that is a dream I am pursuing. The other one is Chinese singing Malay songs and we want more Malays also to sing the Chinese songs. We have improvement there but not to the desired extent. Let's go back to the question of there being a tendency now of the executive gradually arrogating to itself most of the power and leaving less power to parliament and even the judiciary. Well, it's what I have been saying since 1995. In fact, I wrote my thesis on it. My doctorate in Law is based on that study. The book Freedom Under Executive Power in Malaysia is there for everybody to read. It is my personal academic pursuit. I see it before my own eyes how the other segments of the government have become subject to the laws created by the executive and thereby arrogating power onto itself. (This is) still ongoing. And I think this must be re-examined. But to re-examine it, it needs an awareness of the law and how it operates. Sadly, we have not that value system within us throughout society. It emerges once in a while, then it goes off. Recently you will recall you have this national integrity plan. It is very good but you have to go further than that, by examining the laws of the country which are seen to be overly siding one element which could in the long run not benefit us. I mean overly siding the executive. What do you think of Suhakam? I was very happy when Suhakam was set up but again Suhakam is very limited in its overtures to overcome abuse of power in relation to human rights and things like that. But one thing I have to assure our colleagues is that in every power base there must be a balance to it. So Suhakam and perhaps the Integrity Institute of Malaysia should look into it and make recommendations. But you see finally it is the people. Everytime you go to the polls, the BN wins well. So it means only one thing: they approve what the government is doing. Anyway, I believe the people will always return BN to power. But there are some, probably the elite like you say, who prefer a slightly stronger opposition. Yes. But that is not the job of the government. It is the job of the people. My job is how to strengthen Pak Lah and his colleagues. If in so doing, it gives good dividend for Malaysians, I welcome it. But so long as we are not atrocious in our deeds, my guiding light is, at the end of the day, whatever your way, it must be just and fair. If you satisfy that yardstick I am happy.

Deadly Driving

Deadly driving Are Malaysian drivers reckless by nature? If so, what will it take to tame the beast that drives them? BY JENNY NG TWO EARLY MORNING ACCIDENTS -- one in Penang on Sept 17, which killed seven people, including three policemen, and the other on Sept 26, which killed three people, including a newlywed who'd taken his marriage vows 10 hours earlier and a university graduate who'd attended his convocation the day before -- were just the latest in a string of deadly road accidents this year which caused multiple deaths. Speaking on the accident on Sept 22, federal traffic police chief Datuk Gingkoi Seman Pancras said from the information gathered from the sole survivor as well as witnesses, the cause of the crash pointed to reckless driving. Indeed, going by the statistics alone, it would seem that Malaysian drivers are a reckless lot. In the last 10 years, more than 5,000 lives have been lost every year on Malaysian roads. That works out to almost 14 people getting killed every day on our roads. The World Health Organisation says road fatality rates (measured as rates per 10,000 population) grew by 44% between 1975 and 1998 in this country. Although the annual number of deaths has levelled off since peaking at 6,304 in 1996, the figure is still alarming. Last year, 6,223 died (an average of 17 deaths daily) and in 2003, there were 6,286 fatalities, making traffic deaths the fifth leading cause of deaths in Malaysia. Traffic injury ranks as the third most common reason for admission to hospitals. In terms of Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) -- which accounts for lost years of healthy life due to premature death or disability -- road-traffic injury ranks third after mental health and cardiovascular diseases, information from the Ministry of Health shows. Traffic injuries and deaths are not only traumatic and disruptive for the survivors and their loved ones -- the economic cost is high too. Most traffic deaths occur in the productive group of those aged between 16 and 35, with the economic value for each life lost estimated at RM1.2 million. Last year, the total loss in monetary terms, taking into account the economic value of lives lost and cost of treating injuries, was RM9 billion. General insurance payouts for medical and personal accident insurance and motor insurance are also on the rise. Last year, the total paid out for both types of insurance was RM2.8 million, compared with RM2 million in 2001. The good news is, the fatality index -- the number of deaths per 10,000 registered vehicles -- has been declining from 8.2 in 1996 to 4.5 last year. But that is small consolation for those who have lost loved ones in traffic accidents. According to police records, careless driving was the leading cause of road deaths, says Professor Dr Kulanthayan K.C. Mani, researcher at Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM)'s Road Safety Research Centre. The second leading cause of road deaths is speeding. Suret Singh, director-general of the Road Safety Department, agrees that the attitude of Malaysian drivers is worrying. The department within the Ministry of Transport was set up in September last year. In 2003, at a road safety seminar, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi called for the formation of a road safety department and revival of the Cabinet Committee on Road Safety, in view of the high accident rate in Malaysia. Suret attributes the high death rate to a number of reasons, primarily the carelessness of drivers themselves. Bad behaviour, over time, becomes bad habits and lax enforcement enhances that behaviour. "Habit is formed by doing it repeatedly. The first time, you're cautious. After some time, the person doesn't realise he's beating the red light. Some things have become bad habits," says Suret. Dr Goh Chee Leong, director of the Centre for Psychology at HELP Institute, says bad behaviour on the road has become part of Malaysia's driving culture, which encourages new drivers to conform. The idea is, if everyone is doing it, why shouldn't I? "All the things they learn in driving schools may be forgotten quickly because there are so many bad models. It didn't just happen overnight. Over a long period of time, attitudes developed and standards dropped," he explains. Believe it or not, some drivers see the road as a place to release stress and anger. Goh says these drivers have not found healthy ways to express their frustration and see driving as an outlet. The rising volume of traffic and pressures of urban life compound the stress of driving. Each year, 800,000 new vehicles hit the road. Last year, there were 13.7 million motor vehicles on the road. "People are rushing, always in a hurry and impatient. The problem is everyone is practising a `me-first' mentality," says Suret. Goh says many Malaysians don't plan their time well and are willing to take risks when they drive to make up for lost time as they rush for appointments. These are the human factors. The existing infrastructure and environment are contributory factors. For example, developed countries have lower fatality index because of their efficient and integrated public transport systems, which account for more than 80% of passenger trips in urban areas. A rail-based public transport system is far safer than being on the road, says UPM's Kulanthayan. "When you are on a rail line, you're in a safe zone where you don't share the road with other users. If we want to improve our accident rates, get people to use the public system. We have to move some trips to the public transport system," he says. A sound rail system should connect the commuter from his home all the way to his final destination via rail lines and feeder services, Kulanthayan says. High-risk state roads As for the safety of Malaysian roads, statistics show that state and municipal roads are the riskiest for motorists. One of the reasons for the high fatality rate on these roads compared to highways and federal roads is due to the absence of a median or physical divider between two-way traffic which contributes to averting head-on collisions. Without medians, the risk of fatal collisions is even higher when drivers and motorists speed. "Secondly, a lot of homes are near these roads where there's movement of people. Also motorists think nothing would happen since they are familiar with these roads. Another reason for the high fatality is the public's perception that there's less traffic enforcement on these roads. That's the reason they violate traffic laws," adds Kulanthayan. If that's the case, would better enforcement on state roads help to reduce the number of accidents and fatalities? If the answer is yes, the next question is, with the resources of the police stretched as they are, is that likely to happen? "How many enforcement personnel will you need to cover the whole country? And how long can they be on the road in the rain and hot sun? Under these limitations, let's move to equipment-based surveillance," suggests Kulanthayan. Surveys show that drivers believe there is a 17% to 25% chance of getting caught for violating traffic laws under normal circumstances. With the integrated enforcement programmes conducted by the police and the Road Transport Department (RTD) during major festive seasons like the various Ops Sikap, drivers surveyed believe the possibility of getting caught goes up to 55%. With cameras, the risk of getting caught is even higher. In developed countries, drivers perceive that the risk of getting caught for committing a traffic offence is more than 90% when cameras are in place. The Road Safety Department's Suret says in the short term, police and RTD officers will still be doing most of the work; in the long term, however, there will be greater reliance on technology. What other ways are there besides better enforcement and the use of technology? Suspension and seizure of driving licences may be an effective deterrent. The Road Safety Demerit Point system was first introduced in 1984 but it has had a difficult 21 years -- suspended and reactivated a few times as coordination problems were sorted out. Suret attributes the demerit system's ineffectiveness to the slow machinery of law and enforcement in bringing errant drivers to book. But things may change soon. On Sept 21, Transport Minister Datuk Chan Kong Choy revealed seven offences for which an errant driver's driving licence may be seized immediately and retained for two weeks. The Road Transport Act 1987 will be amended to accommodate these changes and should take effect early next year. Kulanthayan believes these steps will yield results and save lives. Changing the laws is just the first phase in helping drivers change their behaviour -- the second phase is enforcement activities. Both have to work in tandem for effective results, he says. As for concerns that seizure of driving licences will lead to higher incidence of corruption, Suret says that is an issue which should be tackled on its own. "For us to be effective, the laws have to be very effective, they must not be ambiguous, they must be clear. If there're loopholes or weaknesses, they must be plugged. We're mindful of comments from human rights groups and we're working with JPJ [Road Transport Department] and the police, looking at ways to reduce corruption," he explains. He adds that they are taking various steps to improve the delivery system, including the use of fixed and mobile cameras. Road map to improvement Aside from stepping up enforcement, the government has been taking other steps to curb road accidents since 1996, when the number of deaths spiked. It has embarked on researchbased intervention programmes and focused road safety campaigns. The government has also stepped up identification and rectification of hazardous locations, also known as black spots, on highway and federal roads. Under the Eighth Malaysia Plan, Suret says 153 black spots were repaired. Such activities will be extended to state and local roads under the Ninth Malaysia Plan. The declining fatality index bears testimony to the success of these efforts. Suret says based on a study by UPM's Road Safety Research Centre, if the trend had continued from 1996, the number of deaths could have reached 9,127 in 2000. The Road Safety Department's functions include lowering traffic accidents, road injuries and the fatality index; conducting research on road safety; and coordinating enforcement programmes between the police, RTD and local authorities. Suret says the department is going to roll out more comprehensive intervention programmes. It has come up with a road safety road map for the next five years, aimed at improving the fatality index from the current 4.5 deaths per 10,000 vehicles to two in 2010 and one in 2020. The road map has identified 15 sectors for improvement, including traffic education for children, raising vehicle safety standards, improvement of hazardous locations, safety planning and design, funding, effective enforcement, collaboration with other parties like public, private sector and international road safety bodies, emergency assistance, research, driver training and testing and publicity campaigns. A Road Safety Act has also been drafted. Suret expects the Act to be gazetted by the middle or third quarter of next year. The objective of the act, in a nutshell, is to involve all levels of society in road-safety programmes, including educationists, nongovernment organisations, local authorities, employers, professional bodies, parent-teacher associations and schools. For example, it will become the duty of employers to ensure safety of employees travelling to their place of work, Suret says. And it looks like Malaysians may have to rely on the next generation to make roads a safer place. Since it is harder to change adults' behaviour, road safety will be incorporated into schools' curriculum. "It's difficult and challenging to change adults' behaviour. It's easier to change them when they're young," says Kulanthayan. He reveals that the Road Safety Research Centre is conducting research for a road-safety education programme -- now in the pilot stage in Pasir Mas, Kelantan -- for Primary One, Two and Three students, conducted by the Ministries of Transport and Education. In driving schools, the syllabus for learner drivers already includes defensive driving which is based on the principle of courteous and safe driving regardless of the surrounding conditions and behaviour of other drivers. Suret says the syllabus is updated from time to time but the quality of instruction and seriousness of students are factors that come into play as well. His department is also working on incentives to be included in auto insurance packages for drivers who further their basic driving skills to include first aid (other road users are the first on the scene when an accident occurs) and other advanced driving programmes. While much is being done to make Malaysian drivers better and safer drivers, Suret says ultimately, road users themselves bear responsibility for their own actions. "There is no excuse for me not to use [a] safety belt, [or] to beat red lights. You can't say the Road Safety Department is not doing its job. I feel Malaysians are mature enough to regulate themselves. If we avoid even the small acts of carelessness, there'll be less chaos on Malaysian roads and they will be a safer place for all," he says. Avoiding accidents BY JENNY NG MOST ROAD ACCIDENTS are unnecessary and avoidable. Yet the trend shows that Malaysians never learn. Road accidents have more than doubled in the last 11 years, from 148,801 in 1994 to 326,817 last year. Throughout these 11 years, 65,295 people have lost their lives, which works out to close to 17 deaths every day. The problem is not limited to Malaysia alone. Road accidents have become a major public health problem in Asia and the Pacific, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). It says if the current trends continue, road accidents will be the third global cause of disease or injury by 2020, after heart disease and depression. The numbers of those killed and disabled in road accidents will increase by 60%. As WHO obser ves, "accidents" are rarely random, uncontrollable events. Much can be done to prevent accidents, in particular, drivers and motorists themselves should be more careful and considerate on the roads. A lady driver in her mid-30s, who only wants to be known as Fong, says not all Malaysian drivers are reckless but they are an inconsiderate lot. Top on her list of driving etiquette faux pas are cutting in from the left or from the emergency lane, driving against traffic on one-way streets, road hogging and indiscriminate parking. "They will just park on the side of the road, worse still when they park on the yellow line," she says. In her book, some motorcyclists and jaywalkers are just as badly behaved. "There are inconsiderate motorcyclists and jaywalkers who think they own the road. Jaywalkers stand in the middle of the road which can be very dangerous. If there's an accident, they should be held responsible," she adds. How does Fong rate herself as a driver? "Overall, for a woman, I think I'm an excellent driver," she quips. A lawyer who prefers to be known only as James agrees that Malaysian drivers are not necessarily reckless but says they are not very civic-minded. For him, the worst thing about driving in Malaysia is sharing the road with drivers who "drive as if they own the road". "Or perhaps they drive as if they are the ultimate driver driving the ultimate car and are quite oblivious to drivers around them," he says. Other behaviour that annoys James are drivers and motorcyclists who refuse to use their indicator lights, cars straddling lanes, road hogging and overtaking from the left. As for himself, James says he tries to be as considerate as possible on the road. Drivers often complain about motorcyclists. Well, motorcyclists complain about drivers too. Mary Anne Tan, an editorial consultant, was once knocked off her motorcycle by a car making a sudden left turn. "I don't think he even knew he knocked me off, he kept driving. For a car, it was probably just a brush, but it was enough to make me fall off my bike," she says. Tan, who lives in Subang, also drives but to save time, she relies on her motorcycle when she goes to Kuala Lumpur or when she foresees traffic conditions being bad. The risk of getting killed or involved in an accident is particularly high for motorcyclists. Last year, 56% of traffic deaths were attributable to motorcyclists and pillion riders, compared with 19.5% for car users. Dr Kulanthayan K.C. Mani, researcher at Universiti Putra Malaysia's Road Safety Research Centre, says total traffic fatalities could be lowered by a quarter if the number of motorcyclist deaths could be reduced by half. The risk of accidents is higher for motorcyclists because they are not always clearly visible to drivers of other bigger vehicles. "The size of motorcyclists is small, so the chances of seeing them is slim. They have to improve their visibility by turning on the headlight in the daytime, front and back lights at night. They must also wear bright clothing or safety vest," he says. To prove that enhanced visibility prevents accidents, the centre will be evaluating a study conducted by the Road Safety Department. Under the study, a total of 150,000 reflective stickers are currently being distributed, to be placed on the rear number plates of motorcycles in Klang. Motorcyclists are also to blame for the high fatality rate as most do not wear their helmets properly. "Head injuries make up 56% of deaths among motorcyclists. Another 30% is caused by multiple injuries, including head injuries," says Kulanthayan. He says although laws on safety helmets were introduced in 1973, last year, it was observed that only 76% of motorcyclists wear helmets and out of this number, only 54% are wearing them properly. In urban areas, 90% of motorcyclists wear helmets; in rural areas, only 30% wear helmets. Tan is aware of the dangers of riding a motorcycle and practises defensive driving, which simply translates to safe driving no matter what the conditions around you may be, or how other drivers and pedestrians behave. "It means being on alert all the time. You assume the motorcyclist in front of you may stop suddenly, so you have to be on alert and keep the distance," she says.

MPs take a historic stand

MPs take a historic stand "The show of solidarity represents the first real start by the MPs to work together towards reforming the national legislature ­ the first real start to more efforts needed to finally erase the stigma that it is but a rubber stamp of the executive branch of the government." ZAINON AHMAD AT THE DEWAN RAKYAT WHAT happened in the Dewan Rakyat on Thursday can only be described as "historic". It was indeed a rare show of solidarity when MPs ­ the backbenchers, some front benchers and the those in the opposition pews ­ rallied to demonstrate that they want parliament to be left alone to run its own affairs. They stood up in unison to indicate that they wanted a Parliamentary Services Act to be legislated which will allow parliament to have its own scheme of service and to administer itself like what was allowed under the Parliamentary Services Act (PSA) 1963 before it was repealed in 1992. As if in solidarity with them the house committee of the Dewan Negara, chaired by president Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Pawanteh, on Friday declared that it wanted the Act and called for all moves to change the structure of the administration of parliament to be halted. Everyone now is waiting for the house committee of the Dewan Rakyat , chaired by Speaker Tan Sri Ramli Ngah Talib, to meet and to make its stand. By their stand the MPs and the Senate were in fact saying `no' to the administrator that Minister in the Prime Minister's Depart ment Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz said the government wanted brought in to supervise the running of the national legislature. Seen from the perspective of other parliaments in the world, what happened was nothing. And Malaysians who are generally uninterested in something that does not benefit their pockets would probably say it was "much ado" over nothing or that they do not understand "what the fuss" was all about. But to those who have been calling for the reform of the national legislature to make it world class in terms of independence and the quality of debates that go on inside, Thursday was a significant day in the history of democracy in Malaysia. It was as if the MPs were finally putting their foot down to more changes that will reduce further ­ no matter how miniscule ­ the independence of parliament and saying: "No more, please." The show of solidarity represents the first real start by the MPs to work together towards reforming the national legislature ­ the first real start to more efforts needed to finally erase the stigma that it is but a rubber stamp of the executive branch of the government. It is to the credit of the few front benchers ­ among them deputy minister of international trade and industry Datuk Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah and deputy tourism minister Datuk Ahmad Zahid Hamidi ­ that they acted according to the dictates of their conscience. Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar, who was in the House when Datuk Shahrir Samad (BN-Johor Baru) called for those who supported the restoration of the PSA to stand up, remained seated but said outside the House later that he supported bringing back the Act. No doubt the restoration of the Act will not immediately remove the unsavoury appellation of "rubber stamp" currently attached to parliament but it will at least represent a major step forward in efforts to make the national legislature much more independent, said Salahuddin Ayub (PAS-Kubang Kerian). What shook the MPs and started them again on the path of reforming parliament was the announcement at a press conference by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz on Oct 6 that the gover nment had on Se pt 15 agreed to the setting up of a parliament department to manage the affairs and administration of parliament. It would be headed by a director-general. Shahrir, chair man of the backbenchers club (BBC) was apprehensive of the move. So were his fellow Barisan Nasional MPs who fear ­ as had often happened, said one of them ­ that a toe-hold could eventually lead to a complete takeover. Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang said Malaysia would be a laughing stock of the global parliamentary community as it would be the only country in the Commonwealth to have a "department of parliament which virtually runs parliament." Following Kit Siang's failure to get the Dewan Rakyat to debate the move, Nazri held a press conference on Wednesday to say that he was misreported. All he wanted was a "head of administration" to oversee administrative matters, leaving the secretaries of the Dewan Negara and the Dewan Rakyat to handle all the legislative matters. The MPs were not convinced as the head would be on a Superscale B salary while the secretaries, who currently also administer the running of the building, are in Superscale C. They foresaw problems. "I am not convinced of the rationale to appoint someone from outside to head the administration," said Datin Wan Azizah Wan Ismail (Keadilan-Permatang Pauh). "There is a lot of nonsense going on," said Shahrir. The MPs decided that just as it was the problems in parliament which caused late Speaker Tun Dr Mohamed Zahir Ismail to initiate moves to repeal the PSA, the future problems in its administration could be averted by bringing back the Act. The opportunity came during question time on Thursday when Ahmad Shabery Cheek (BN-Kemaman) asked whether the government intends to amend the constitution to define parliamentary independence especially in financial matters. Nazri who answered on behalf of the prime minister brought in the issue of the PSA. He said it could be re-enacted following the decision of the house committee. Shahrir asked whether the process of bringing back the PSA could be short-circuited by MPs showing their support. And he asked all those in favour to stand up. At a press conference later Shahrir insisted that there was no need for the house committee to meet and report to the Dewan Rakyat its decision before Nazri could report the matter to the Cabinet. "The power to initiate legislation is with the Executive. "If the Executive can't see the support today, then they may not be getting the right report," remarked the BBC chairman.

Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA)

Y's 100 years young BY SHARON KAM THE YOUNG MEN'S Christian Association, more popularly known as the YMCA, is familiar to both the young and old, men and women. While the worldwide movement has been around for 160 years, the Kuala Lumpur chapter (YMCA KL) celebrates its 100th year this year. Since it was founded by Sir George Williams in London in 1844 for the development of young Christian men (women were not allowed to join then), the YMCA has spread internationally and crossed borders of religion, gender, race and age. In Malaysia, there are two other YMCAs in Ipoh and one each in Penang, Kota Kinabalu and Sibu. Each YMCA is given the mandate to run the association and provide activities which are suitable for the local community. "We do not touch politics, we just want to transcend divisions and create peace and unity," says YMCA KL executive director Albert Chong. Through the decades, YMCA KL in Brickfields has humbly gone about serving and implementing programmes and activities for the benefit of the local community. Today, it continues to host a myriad of activities for members and non-members, at very reasonable costs. YMCA KL has been the pioneer in areas of social work such as setting up the first senior citizens' group in Malaysia in 1984. "We cannot be put under one category. We are a non-profit organisation whose main objective is to promote social development of the community, children, youth, the elderly. "As long as there is a need, YMCA must respond, and so we evolve with the needs of the times," says Chong. Its success and the fact that it has existed so long whilst remaining strong is due to its fluidity and not remaining static. Each YMCA is also given the right and the freedom to serve as it deems suitable in its local community. "We can serve according to the times, the country and the environment in which we serve," says Chong. Incorporated on Oct 27, 1905, the first YMCA premises called the YMCA Rooms was located in a shoplot at 3, Watkin Street, near the railway station in Kuala Lumpur. In 1908, the government gave it a piece of land in Brickfields. It has not moved since. During the Japanese Occupation, the headquarters was used by the army as its base. Unfortunately, most of the association's early records were burnt and destroyed. When the association was revived, members decided to expand the facilities. The main building, initially located nearer to the main road where a petrol station now stands, was replaced by the current building in 1968. YMCA KL now has some 3,000 members with the youngest being a five-year-old. "Those days, most of the members were British and it was successful because of the financial support from the Chinese towkays such as Loke Yew," says Chong. Today, most of its funds are derived from the government, corporate bodies, individual donors, public donations and earnings from the operations of the YMCA hostel which has been in operation since 1931. YMCA is a hive of activities almost everyday from morning till night, seven days a week. The YMCA logo, which is in the shape of a triangle, represents its emphasis on the total and holistic development of the person ­ development of the body, mind and spirit. There are language courses, martial arts classes, ballroom dance classes, and sports facilities like tennis and basketball courts. Many of the sports we play today, including basketball and volleyball, were invented at YMCAs around the world by its members. Other than the self-development centre for the deaf, there is also a childcare centre. Senior citizens also have their gatherings regularly while talks, camps and forums are also held. There is also an active Boys Brigade. Chong himself became a YMCA KL member when he joined the English classes offered almost 20 years ago. "We believe that the way to meet the needs of people is to have a broad spectrum of activities so that people have greater chances to develop themselves. We help ordinary people in every way, not just the poor and the deaf; which is why we have self-development classes," says Chong. Among the more popular courses are the language courses for which part-time tutors are hired. YMCA budget accommodations are well-known icons of the movement around the world. Today, however, some YMCA hotels such as the one in Hongkong, have reached the standards of five-star hotels. With its worldwide network of affiliations, YMCA's "chain" of hostels and hotels can be considered the oldest and largest "chain" of hotels in the world. YMCA KL is affiliated through the National Council of YMCAs of Malaysia with both the Asia Pacific Alliance of YMCAs and the World Alliance. The Mission of the World Alliance is expressed in its motto: "That they may all be one" and also through what is known as the Paris Basis which states the YMCA's goals of working for unity and for a society characterised by justice, peace and love. Its international link also means that it has a network of resources which can be shared. Although the YMCA board is made up of Christians, its work transcends religion and race although it initially faced difficulties from people who were suspicious of its intentions. "Personally, the 100 years have been humbling and we give thanks to God that we have reached so far and help people with our limited resources," says Chong. For the centenary celebrations, events have been lined up until Oct 29, as Oct 27 is the day it was founded. On Oct 29, there will be a Centenary Charity Golf event in aid of its centre for the deaf or Pusat Majudiri Y, followed by a thanksgiving service and the anniversary dinner at a hotel. Those interested in the golf event or buying tables for the dinner, please call 03-2274 1439.

TheSun News of the week 15/10/2005

EPF lodges police reports KUALA LUMPUR: The Employees Provident Fund has lodged police reports in connection with six cases of fraudulent withdrawal and 19 cases of attempted fraudulent withdrawal under the Incapacitation Withdrawal category in Penang and Perak. EPF investigation found the applications were made using forged medical reports purportedly issued by government hospitals and clinics. In a statement on Friday, EPF's senior public relations manager Nik Affendi Jaafar said: "We take a serious view of fraudulent withdrawals and the fact that we have made police reports in Penang and Perak is a testimony to our resolve to end this unhealthy practice." Top cop's son detained KUALA LUMPUR: A top brass federal police officer's son was arrested by the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) for allegedly taking bribes to secure City Hall licences to set up Ramadan trading stalls. The ACA detained him the man together with a 25-year-old, believed to be a City Hall officer, at a shopping centre on Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman at about 4pm on Wednesday. He was arrested following a tip-off from an anonymous caller. On Thursday, the suspects were brought before magistrate Nazran Mohd Sham who has issued a remand order for three days. RM4m LCD heist KUALA LUMPUR: All vehicles leaving the KL International Airport (KLIA) are now subject to 100% checks. The move followed the theft of RM4 million in LCD panels from the airport's cargo village at 4am on Monday, right under the noses of Customs officers. Carpenter charged KUALA LUMPUR: A carpenter was charged in the magistrate's court on Friday with throwing two Molotov cocktails (petrol bombs) into the Jalan Tun H.S. Lee traffic police station at about 8.45pm on Oct 8. Chok Wan Wai, 27, from Jalan Kuchai Lama, pleaded not guilty. He expressed surprise when the interpreter explained to him the act had caused losses to the station. RM14m CBT charges BUKIT MERTAJAM: Two former Dell Asia Pacific employees claimed trial in a magistrate's court to a total of 14 charges of forgery and theft involving more than RM14 million while under the employ of the company in 2003. Ng Chung Khoon, 33, a for mer manager with Dell, denied 10 counts of falsifying material requisition forms causing the company to lose RM11.98 million while Tan Boon Hoe, 31, a former technician, claimed trial to similar charges which allegedly caused Dell to lose RM2.42 million. Tan also faces another charge of stealing 5,000 pieces of certificates of authenticity belonging to Dell between June and July 2003. Car kills sleeping man KUALA PILAH: A man who was fast asleep in his room died after a car ploughed into his house at Km6 KepisSenaling Road at 2pm on Thursday. Kuala Pilah Deputy OCPD DSP Mohd Isa Hussin said Mohd Nor Abdul Rahman, 50, died on the spot due to serious head and body injuries. The car is believed to have gone out of control and ploughed into the wooden house situated close to the road shoulder. Dr M unhappy KUALA LUMPUR: Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad continues to be unhappy with the International Trade and Industry Ministry (Miti). On Monday, he accused the ministry of covering up the award of national status to South Koreanmade cars. He also said International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz has not answered his questions on the Approved Permits issue. Much ado over an office KUALA LUMPUR: The creation of a parliamentary affairs office caused a furore among members of Parliament who saw it as meddling by the executive. During a roundtable called by the Opposition Leader on Tuesday, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Nazri Abdul Aziz assured MPs that the new department will not undermine Parliament's independence and the rights of MPs. On Wednesday, National Service director-general Kamaruddin Mohd Baria was appointed Head of Administration of Parliament. The next day, MPs from both sides unanimously called for the re-enactment of the Parliamentary Services Act. The 50-odd backbenchers and opposition members present stood in unison, heeding the call by Backbenchers Club chairman Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad to show support for the Act's revival. The Act, repealed in 1992, provides for a separate service for Parliament. ­ (MPs take a historic stand Page 5). WORLD Rescue work halted MUZAFFARABAD (Pakistan): Pakistani authorities on Friday called off efforts to rescue any survivors caught beneath the rubble of last week's massive earthquake, saying the focus must now shift to the living. Between 30,000 and 40,000 people died in Saturday's earthquake. Unicef spokeswoman Julia Spry Leverton said children were especially vulnerable and accounted for around half of the population in the affected areas in northern Pakistan and Pakistani-administered Kashmir. Tough new laws LONDON: Britain has published sweeping plans to fight terrorism which, if passed into law, would let police hold suspects for three months without charge, sparking anger from senior judges and civil rights groups. However, Tony Blair's government may still have to back down on the most contested parts of the bill, which was drawn up after the attacks on London's transport system in July. The government has heeded police calls to extend the time they can detain terrorism suspects without charge to 90 days from 14. Back on course BEIJING: China's Shenzhou VI space capsule fired rockets Friday morning to tweak its trajectory during a 30th orbit of Earth, a correction that state media described as routine and planned even before lift-off. The operation took just a few seconds to restore the vessel to its original trajectory, Xinhua news agency said. The Shenzhou VI blasted off on Wednesday, carrying China's second and third men into space. Germany's first BERLIN: Gerhard Schroeder's Social Democrats agreed on Monday that conservative leader Angela Merkel should replace him as chancellor at the head of a coalition government, a spokesman said. He said party members had approved by a large majority the deal that would make Merkel the first female chancellor in German history. Parting shot SINGAPORE: The outgoing US envoy to Singapore criticised the city-state's limits on political expression, saying governments will pay an increasing price for failing to give citizens freedom of choice and expression. US Ambassador Franklin L. Lavin said it was surprising to find what he called constraints on discussions given Singapore's strong international links. "In this era of weblogs and webcams, how much sense does it make to limit political expression?" Lavin said at his farewell dinner on Tuesday. Saddam's `immunity' LONDON: Saddam Hussein's defence lawyers will argue that he has immunity from prosecution at his trial in Iraq later this month, according to a member of his legal team. Lawyer Abdel Haq Alani told the BBC the former president "had full immunity under the prevailing Iraqi constitution and you cannot have a retroactive legislation that removes that immunity". Oprah's mission NEW YORK: US talk show queen Oprah Winfrey, whose influence can turn the New York Times bestseller list on its head, is having a similar impact on the FBI's most wanted list with a campaign to catch fugitive paedophiles launched last week. The results were almost immediate. Within 48 hours, two absconding child molesters had been picked up following tips from viewers of Winfrey's syndicated talk show which pulls in around 30 million viewers a day and reaches 112 countries.

Siti Baizura Husin - The First Malay Model

The life & times of Siti Baizura Husin Dined with Bob Hope, acted with William Holden and dallied with Salvador Dali ... this woman has done all these and more in her precocious youth BY BISSME S. WHICH WOMAN CAN claim to have rubbed shoulders with the rich and famous of the world in a time where a girl is traditionally constrained by culture and norm to stay at home and bear children? Kuala Lumpur-bor n Siti Baizura Husin can proudly lay claim to having defied convention and left home at a young age to make her mark in the world. That was back in the 60s when well-brought-up Malay girls did not venture out far from home on their own. "I am the black sheep of my family ... the rebel with a cause," says Siti Baizura. "I was a tomboy. I loved climbing trees." This coming from a woman who was bor n with a silver spoon in her mouth and had two amahs to look after her when she was a child. Her father, Husin Ibrahim, was a doctor ("one of the first Malay doctors in the country") and mother Majmim Mohamad was a housewife ("a true beauty whom even royalty were chasing after"). Siti Baizura is the third among five children. Restless to see the world after the death of her father and with the blessings of her mother, she headed to Bali and Jakar ta where she claimed to have turned the heads of kings and politicians there. Then she hopped onto a plane to London without telling her family and with little money in her pocket, landed at the doorstep of a distant relative who was shocked to see her, to say the least. On her own accord, she managed to find a job at the Malaysian embassy there. It was in London that she saw the filming of the Hollywood movie, Road to Hong Kong (1962), which star red American comedian Bob Hope. The casting director was so captivated with her that she ended up playing an extra in the movie. "All I had to do was to sit in a trishaw," she recalls. After the shoot, Hope came over and asked to sit beside her. She ended up being invited to his dressing room and they had dinner together twice. She declines to elaborate more on their dates. "That will all be in my book," she says, referring to the autobiography she is in the midst of writing. The book will be out early next year. And if you think she is pulling a fast one on you, Siti Baizura has the photos, letters and mementos as proof. Being an extra also provided opportunities for her to rub shoulders with other Hollywood greats such as Bing Crosby and Joan Collins who were also starring in the movie. Siti Baizura was an extra on another Hollywood production, Play It Cool (1962). "I even had a few lines to say," she says proudly. From there, she had a screen test and made several appearances in commercials and magazines. "I attended parties and mingled with celebrities. I even appeared on the front page of the London Times," she says, showing off the cutting from that 1961 paper. Her `stardom' was unfortunately short-lived. She rushed home on receiving word that her mother was very sick and near death's door. But her mother was perfectly fine and she found herself cheated out of a promising career in London. Refusing to bow down to fate, she did some modelling ("I was one of the first Malay models in this country"). And when William Holden was in town to shoot his movie, 7th Dawn (1964), based on the book, Under the Durian Tree, she grabbed the chance to play the role of his secretary. "William took me out for dinner," she says, refusing to go into details about what happened after the date. It was also during this period that she received a proposal from a highly-placed political figure to be his second wife. But she declined, not wanting to cause trouble in his family. "I come from a strong religious background," she says, adding that her faith was strong enough to resist temptation. Her restlessness soon took over and once again she was off ­ this time to Paris where she worked in various jobs, including as a typist and translator, to support herself. There, she met the famous Spanish surrealist painter, Salvador Dali. She was only one of the few people to have been allowed to touch Dali's moustache. Dali even gave her one of his paintings, The Star of Bethlehem as a memento. She remembers organising dinner parties at her house where her guest lists included famous ar tists and musicians. "I remembered Ravi Shankar once dropped by at one of my dinner parties and played his sitar on the floor of my living room." One of her greatest regrets was cancelling a lunch date with Spanish cubist painter and sculptor Pablo Picasso at the last minute and thus missing the chance for a tete-a-tete with the artist. It was off to the Big Apple next where she got a job with the Thai embassy there. It was a dream come true for Siti Baizura: "All my life I had wanted to visit London, Paris and New York," and she did. In New York, she attended the inauguration ceremony of President Richard Nixon in 1969 where she met with the (then) richest man in America, Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller, the governor of New York, who later became the vice-president of the United States in 1974. Later, she was to visit the United States often when she joined the Tourism Ministry of Indonesia. Then in late 1988, she returned home to Malaysia to look after her sick mother. Her mum died in 2002. When asked why she never got involved in the local film industry, she recalls the time she was approached by (Tan Sri) P. Ramlee to play the lead in one of his movies. "I had to turn down the offer," she says, "as I was leaving for London soon." She remembers meeting Ramlee again in one of the nightspots in Singapore where the legendary singer sang more than 10 songs for her. Three weeks later, she heard he died. On one wall in her house, there hangs a huge portrait of herself, painted by well-known artist Peter Harris who was also her art teacher. "I was then 16 and a virgin," she says with a laugh, refusing to reveal her age now. "Age is useless. It is just a figure." She has certainly not let age stop her from enjoying life. Last August, she was in Monte Carlo for a charity ball where she sat at the same table with former James Bond Roger Moore and his wife, Christina. Her friends had called her silly for not using her opportunities to find herself a rich husband. "I am not the kind (of person) to take others for a ride," she says, adding that in many cases, she had been taken advantage of by others instead.

Scouring the globe for ideas

Scouring the globe for ideas BY BEN PAUL DR MARK MOBIUS' private jet is revving up its engines, preparing for take-off from a runway at Subic Bay in the Philippines. Suddenly, the control tower orders the plane to stop. "What's the matter?" asks the president for emerging market equities at Franklin Templeton Investments, recounting the story to reporters in Singapore over lunch recently. "The people in the tower want a hundred bucks each," was the reply. To be sure, immigration, customs or airport officials in developing countries asking for "tips" is something that many travellers have encountered. But air-traffic controllers demanding payment before allowing a plane to leave the ground was a first even for Mobius, whose search for promising companies regularly takes him to Latin America, Eastern Europe and the Middle East besides Asia. So, does the incident give him pause about investing in the Philippines? "Damn right it does," he laughs. "It gives me a lot of pause." The unpleasantness aside, though, that was exactly the sort of firsthand insight into how emerging-market countries and their companies work that keeps Mobius on his punishing travel schedule, despite having a capable team of portfolio managers and analysts around the globe keeping track of things. Investing in emerging-market countries isn't as new an idea as it was when Mobius first arrived at Templeton Asset Management in 1987. In fact, several of these markets that global investors might have considered exotic and a little dangerous two decades ago are thought to be a lot more mainstream and hospitable today. "Probably the most interesting and critical indicator is the spread between emerging-market bond rates and US Treasury bond rates," says Mobius. Over the past decade, that spread has narrowed from as high as 17%, or 1,700 basis points, to about 2.8% now. "That decline is mirrored by the rise in emerging market stocks," he adds. There are fundamental reasons behind the pick-up in investor interest. For instance, many companies in emerging markets have improved their balance sheets and are starting to pay more attention to shareholder value. In addition, many emergingmarket countries are running large current-account surpluses and building up a wall of foreign-exchange reserves. "China's foreign-exchange reserves are reaching the size of Japan's -- over US$700 billion," says Mobius. "[South] Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Russia, and a number of other countries, now have foreign-exchange reserves in excess of US$100 billion. So, this has given confidence to people that if they lend to these countries or their companies, they will be able to pay it back." Despite the steep rise in emerging-market equities over the past couple of years, Mobius is still confident. "If you look at the valuations -- the price-to-earnings ratios, the price-to-book ratios, the dividend yields -- you will see they are still far [better] than the US and other developed countries," he says. In terms of individual markets, South Korea is currently the top holding within Franklin Templeton's global emerging-market funds. Its Singapore-registered FTF-Emerging Markets Fund had a 14.7% weighting in that single market in August, according to its last factsheet. "We look at the valuations between compa nies... and they are so much cheaper [in South Korea]," says Mobius. Close behind are Taiwan and China, which accounted for 12.2% and 8.6%, respectively, of the FTF-Emerging Markets Fund's holdings in August. Singapore also features prominently in the fund, with a 4% weighting that month, despite not being included in its benchmark index. Singapore companies also sometimes offer an outright cheaper means of accessing the growth offered by some emerging-market countries. "In some ways, we prefer to buy Singapore Telecom [SingTel] to Bharti, because it is cheaper and we get exposure to India," says Mobius. SingTel owns more than 30% of Indian telecommunications group Bharti Tele-Ventures. Mobius is less optimistic about India, calling its stock market "frothy". However, he adds that the emerging economic giant has some great companies and Franklin Templeton plans to continue to invest in its market. India wasn't listed among the FTF-Emerging Markets Fund's top geographical exposures in August. While Asia accounts for more than half of the global emerging-markets universe, Mobius urges investors not to ignore Eastern Europe and Latin America, which have also been delivering stellar returns. "Be diversified," he says. "Don't count out these other places. Brazil, for example, is now the cheapest of all the emerging markets and looks good from the macroeconomic point of view." However, despite the best efforts of Mobius and his team at Franklin Templeton to ferret out the most attractive bargains offered by emerging markets around the world, the performance of the FTF-Emerging Markets Fund has consistently trailed the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. Since its inception in June 1996, the fund has returned an annualised 5% versus the benchmark's 7.56%, according to its last factsheet. Mobius attributes this performance to structural constraints within Franklin Templeton's funds. "A good example is our [South] Korea fund," he says. "Samsung Electronics represents about 30% of the index, but the most we can put in the fund is 10%." Then there is the "5-40 rule", which limits holdings that account for more than 5% of a fund from adding up to more than 40% of its total assets. But the rules to enforce diversification within its funds are there for a reason, Mobius adds. "Our funds may be underperforming the index, but when these markets turn down... when Samsumg has problems... our downside is limited." And, as Mobius' story about being held up on the Subic Bay runway demonstrates, investors in emerging markets will encounter occasional, unexpected setbacks. -- The Edge Singapore

Children ­ whose responsibility?

Children ­ whose responsibility? I see trees a green, Red roses too I see them bloom for me and you And I think to myself What a wonderful world! THESE ARE THE famous words of a song I used to hear as a child and often imagined the world as that. Everytime I see a rainbow, I would think of that song. I held on to what was sung in that song and believed that the world was indeed that perfect. I was a child then and my innocence was further encouraged by the wonderful childhood I had. There was so much love in the family and among friends. I believed that every hand-shake and "how do you do?" was really people telling me "I love you". I smile as I think of those times because even though it was very naive of me to live according to a song, I was really living in a wonderful world. And I was a child. This brings me to my thoughts o n ch i ld re n . I k n ow t h at t h e children of today and those of yesterday are different in many ways, but I am convinced that each child starts life looking for and needing the same things ­ love and acceptance. I b e li eve t h at t h o se t wo ing redients are the very core building blocks of any child's life. I write this with much pain in my heart thinking of a group of orphans I visited recently. Each of them has a story to tell ­ and each a tragedy no less. There is a certain kind of blankness and fear in their eyes. As I talked to them and ate with them, I realised that all they want is a friend who will treat them as a fellow human being ­ with respect and honour. These kids are between four to 11 years old but many of them have gone through experiences that no adult would desire. I was told about little Sam. This four-year-old lived on the streets of Chow Kit where both his parents were drug addicts. He slept along the sidewalks and never had a home from the time he was born. He was taught to identify the easy targets in the kopitiams while on his begging rounds and today, he can stand up to the older boys in the orphanage when bullied. But Sam had the traumatic experience of seeing his mother foaming at her mouth from a drug overdose and then ... dying in his arms. He was three then. Is this a wonderful world for Sam? Then there is May. This sevenyear-old is the latest addition to the orphanage. She is shy and reserved. When I spoke to her, she managed a quick smile but offered no answers. Her story is one of abuse ­ sexually and physically. Her father would send her to school but she never attended classes. A man would take her away and send her back to school later. What this man did to her is up to anyone's imagination, but when her father found out, this helpless little girl was beaten up. Was it her fault? She knew nothing of what was right or wrong because it was never taught to her. She keeps to herself now and hardly plays with the rest of the girls. Is this a wonderful world for May? Children are our future. Like it or not, we do not remain in this world forever. What we have and what we build now will inevitably be left to them to continue. Will they have what it takes to build better lives than what we have now? After all, this is our h o p e fo r t he m ­ th at ea ch generation will do better than the previous. If we want to give our children a better world to live in, we need to start investing in their lives. I am n o t ta l k i n g ab ou t m at er i a l possessions. They don't bring happiness if there is no proper g ove r na n c e. And p ro p er governance ­ be it of possessions or otherwise ­ is to be taught now. One way in which we can enable them to learn is to give them the opportunity to observe our lives ­ in short, we need to talk and spend time with them. What better way to learn from one's master than to sit at his feet. Children need to be loved and accepted ­ not compared with others and exhibited like trophies. We need to assure them of their place in society; we need to affirm their strengths and their individuality to build up their confidence; they need to be given space for mistakes. As we allow them to develop, we guide them along the way with good examples from our own lives. It starts with us as parents and family members ­ not with their teachers. While they too have a role to play, it behoves us to bring up children who will be the kind of citizens that we expect everyone else to be. Children's children are a crown to the aged and parents are the pride of their children. How apt! As we grow old, we look forward to having grandchildren ­ every grandparent I know beams when he or she talks about the grandchildren. It's a sign that our lives have come full circle. On the other hand, children will know when their parents have done their part in bringing them up in the way they know best even if they don't say so. I am very proud of my parents for what they have done for me. I am no perfect creature but I know as I know that they have given their all. And I in turn, will give it my best shot to bring up my child the best way I know how. Lauren Lim is a domestic minister, rusty musician and life-observer.

The paradox of human suffering

The paradox of human suffering BY DEBORAH ORR IN THIS YEAR of cataclysm, it has become all too easy to recognise the pattern of information that mass death and maiming dictates. Early on, there is a period of incomprehension, a moment of paralysis during which there is only an abstract understanding of what has occurred. An earthquake, a tsunami, a terrorist attack, a famine, a massacre, a storm, a fire ... The barest facts are before us, or at least are trickling ineffably through, but the desire to minimise the bad news overwhelms the dictates of common sense. The earthquake in Pakistan, India and Afghanistan on Saturday was being reported all through the weekend. But it is not until now that a real understanding of what has gone on is coming together. In the face of such damage, of course, there is sheer inertia, alongside the practical difficulties faced when disaster strikes poor, crowded or remote areas. But there is also a period of wilful stillness from the spectators around the world, as if refusal to acknowledge the full extent of the damage will somehow be a bolster against it. For a full day after the tsunami struck last Christmas, there was talk of 300 deaths in Thailand, and of one British fatality, maybe two. For hours after three trains and one bus suddenly and simultaneously exploded in London, the population of the capital clung firmly to the silliness of an "electrical fault". For months beyond the warnings of coming famine in Niger, the world carried on as if this may not happen, as it has with famines so many times that lessons ought to have been thoroughly learned. Then, a hysterical brand of reality rushes in, filling the still pool of paralysis with a writhing, screaming tumult of stories that leave us slack-mouthed with the nightmare of it all. The after math of the hurricane in New Orleans was the most awful example of all, because the need and the chaos struck in a place and time of plenty, and suddenly the world saw how much more destabilising than mere poverty, wealth inequalities really were. This awful time usually inspires a sudden, shocking, irresponsible need to inflate the most awful of hor rors with estimates of the dead and the injured that actually outdo the dreadful-enough reality. In this phase of the story, the horror transfixes, and stories of little orphans who have lost scores of close relatives, and madeyed mothers clinging to their dead babies, abound. Often, it is easy to see how such mistaken estimates occur. In the aftermath of the atrocities of 9/11, death tolls were being quoted at three or four times the eventual number, because there was an assumption that everyone who worked in the building, would have been in it during those incomprehensible moments. Likewise, in the wake of Hurricane Rita. At other times, though, and when human nature is at its least empathetic, it is clear that the overestimates are sociopathic, bor n out of a disconnected excitement at the awful scenes, and a scary-movie desire for the horror to keep on mounting. It's at this point, though, that revulsion as well becomes too much. No matter how terrible the devastation, there comes a point usually when a baby is discovered alive long after its survival woul d count as a miracle ­ when people want to start looking on the bright side. Finally, the human interest stories take shape, as the living and the mourning emerge from their shock or their illness enough to give eyewitness accounts. Ultimately, when single human faces emerge from the disaster and are hailed as somehow embodying it, the face is not of death but survival ­ beautiful Davinia Turrell is literally unveiled as the woman behind the surgical-dressing mask after the London Tube bombings, plucky Ali Abbas is pictured grinning and merry as he stretches out his prosthetic limbs after the Iraq War, or Birhan Woldu is led on stage by Madonna, to be hailed by Bob Geldof as the face of famine survival and, of course, most importantly, "a bu-u-diful wooma-an". Last, but not least, comes the political fallout. Here, sadly, the drive never really appears to be towards change. Instead, there is simply a need for blame-dumping. Will the Foreign Of fice perfor m any better the next time the bloated remains of British citizens wait to be identified in tropical heat? Will George Bush have a sudden revelation about how divisive his economic policy is, post-New Orleans? Will the corrupt local government that repaired the city's levees with cheap concrete emerge as the inspiration for a sea change in local corruption around the globe and change their ways? Will a new system of funding disaster be inaugurated , whereby the money is waiting in UN coffers for the next emergency, rather than being drummed up in pledges once there are bodies to count? Will there be a move towards pursuing conviction under Britain's new corporate manslaughter laws? The answer to each of these ­ possibly a bit, probably not much ­ says a lot about how tiny the human machinations called politics are, in the face of the epic story of human survival in an indifferent universe. And maybe, just maybe, that is the way we prefer it. The stories we tell ourselves and each other about a huge disaster, couched in terms that allow us to eng a g e, at first reluctantly then passionately and then to select a positive image that offers personal and self-absorbed closure, are stories designed to help us to survive the cruel r a nd o m n ess of vu l n er abl e human existence. But when we enter the public and political realm, what we crave is a different story, a mirror-image tale whereby a trifling mistake or misdemeanour can be writ large as somehow significant, somehow disastrous, somehow a piece of godlike fury or poetic justice, hubris punished or arrogance crushed. Human suffering is either so horribly vast that people cannot face the fact it is being inflicted, or so tiny and absurd that people cannot resist watching ­ at the least ­ as it is inflicted. The planet's dee pening paradox is that as the need for global political leadership grows more urgent, the very concept of such leadership becomes more farcical. ­ The Independent

ACA should answer to Parliament

ACA should answer to Parliament And with politics being a central part of all this, it is certainly difficult for an honest individual like Pak Lah to go after the big guns without compromising his own political survival. REVELATIONS BY THE AntiCorruption Agency (ACA) director-general on the workings of his agency, at a recent forum on anti-corruption initiatives, was an eye-opener as to exactly how open and transparent the agency is. It is common knowledge that the ACA is an independent body answerable only to the prime minister; but wether this is a good thing is open to debate. The effectiveness of the ACA depends largely on the prime minister being pro-active in ensuring it does its job without fear or favour. But Datuk Zulkipli Mat Noor, in stressing that the agency he heads is 100% independent said that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi gave the a g e n cy a " fre e h and " i n its operations. Thus, it only answers to the p rim e mi ni s te r on "administrative matters". Zulkipli went on to say that the ACA is not obliged to inform complainants about the status of investigations or if anyone will or has been prosecuted. The ACA also does not have to give reasons if it decides to drop investigations into a case or reveal the results of its findings. "If we want to prosecute, only then will we infor m the A-G (Attorney-General)," he said when presenting his paper on "Malaysia's Role in Regional Initiatives" at the seminar on Anti Corruption Initiatives in Malaysia: An Update, which was attended by about 60 people. So, while we acknowledge the need for the ACA to act independently, there must also be t h e nec es s ar y ch e cks a n d balances to ensure that it acts with accountability. As the saying goes, power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. T hus i f t he AC A i s o n ly answerable to itself, then how is the public to believe that the agency is really doing its job? How do we know for certain that it is not just catching fry and letting the big ones get away? Even if the prime minister plays a more pro-active role in monitoring the ACA, it is an alltoo important agency for him to shoulder alone. Not because Abdullah is untrustworthy, but because the system and environment he works in is too complex and farreaching for one man to ensure it is transparent and effective. We do not know for how long corruption has been a part of life in this country, however it is safe to say that it has been simmering long enough to take root in many levels of public and private governance. And with politics being a central part of all this, it is certainly difficult for an honest individual like Pak Lah to go after the big guns without compromising his own political survival. Moreover, with the ACA a cc o u n t abl e t o on ly on e indivi- dual ­ and in this case as implied by Zulkipli, a cosmetic exercise ­ we cannot guarantee t h at f u t u re l e a d e r s o f t h e country will not take advantage of this perk either for political mileage or to protect themselves or selected individuals ­ which was alleged but never proven with the previous administration. Thus, if the present adminis tration is sincere about eradicating corruption ­ and we believe that Pak Lah at least, is serious about this ­ the last thing it should do is offer carte blanch to the ACA to act on its own. The best option would be for the agency to be answerable to the public ­ i.e. Parliament, as is practised in countries such as India and Thailand. E ven a n o m bu d sm a n a s practised in so-called third world countries like Papua New Guinea, or a parliamentary committee, with say about 12 members, similar to the Public Accounts Committee, would ensure that the ACA is more transparent in its dealings, invest i g at i o n s a n d i n d ec i si o n s whether to prosecute or not. This is because such pertinent i n fo r m ati on wo u l d no t be available to just one person, but to the public at large. This would certainly boost public confidence i n t he a g en cy an d th e administration. In s om e c o u nt r i es, t h e ombudsman serves for a short fixed term, normally about two years, thus eliminating the risk of himself being influenced and compromised. If there is a need to remove the ombudsman before his term is up, an independent committee or commission, made up of parliamentarians as well as government and non-government representatives will pore over any evidence of misconduct and decide his fate. And with the committee made up of a group of individuals representing various political and ideological beliefs, the committee will be a check-and-balance onto itself. Another suggestion, as put fo r w ard by T r a ns p a ren cy International Malaysia president Datuk Param Cumaraswamy, is for the ACA to be insulated into the constitution like the AuditorGeneral ­ present a report to the King. The report is then tabled and debated in Parliament. Thus, in our craving for world rec o g n i t i o n , m ak i n g th i s significant change would go a long way in boosting public and investor confidence in the ruling government and lend greater c re de nc e t o t he p re sen t administration's war on graft.

Take an honest re-look at licensing

Take an honest re-look at licensing RECENT EVENTS SURROUNDING the award of temporary trading licences for the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan have delivered a rude jolt to the public. The more visible of these shocks is the conflict between traders who have been allocated lots at bustling Jalan Mesjid India, and those who have obtained the written permission of Federal Territories Minister Tan Sri Mohd Isa Samad to set up stalls in the city. The resultant jostling for the best spots to snare the millions of Raya shoppers looking for bargain buys and Puasa delicacies has spilled into the news, because the affected par ties have got into a heated confrontation, even taking their dispute to the streets. Many people are pained that the religious occasion that ought to be marked by fasting and moderation in behaviour is being sullied by the open display of greed for profit, business rivalry, extravagance and gluttony. Indeed, such comments have become almost standard at the religious festivals of all the communities, and may reflect the social trends of these materialistic times. However, another aspect of the licensing exercise bears fur ther scrutiny, and this is where a sensational development this past week has caught the headlines. This is the reported arrest of a senior police of ficer's son by the AntiCorruption Agency for allegedly accepting a bribe to secure Ramadan trading licences. While public attention may be focused on the alleged suspect's family connections and the amount that is said to have changed hands, the more important issue is the perception that licences can be made available through the intervention of influential people. In the light of these incidents, it is imperative for local councils to revamp their licensing procedures so that such permits are awarded in the full light of public scrutiny. This reform must be achieved before the perception becomes entrenched in the public's mind that shadowy dealings are the order of the day for those in public office. If we sincerely wish to encourage a society that is anchored in integrity, the uproar over trading lots should become a catalyst for bringing the stall allocation process into the open. Let a new culture of transparency and accountability be installed in our local authorities. This will ser ve as an excellent case study for the implementation of the much-anticipated National Integrity Plan.