channelk

Panduan Ringkas Solat Hajat

2006-07-15T11:06:00.000+08:00

Panduan ringkas solat hajat berdasarkan kitab "al-Azkar" tulisan Imam Nawawi disampaikan oleh Ust Zahazan Mohamad, UIA. Klik di sini untuk mendengar audio di channelk.multiply.com Klik di sini untuk membaca blog di tafsirquran.blogspot.com

Transformational Leadership

2006-06-29T12:27:00.000+08:00

Coming soon to Channel K!

Cara Mudah Belajar Bahasa Arab

2006-06-27T12:52:00.000+08:00

Cara mudah memperlajari Bahasa Arab dengan menggunakan kata pinjaman Bahasa Arab yang terdapat di dalam Bahasa Melayu. Klik di sini untuk mendengar audio di channelk.multiply.com Klik di sini untuk membaca blog arabmudah.blogspot.com

Biografi Muhammad Bin Abdullah - Bersama Penulis, Dr Zulkifli bin Mohd Yusoff

2006-05-04T22:14:00.000+08:00

Wawancara bersama penulis buku "Muhammad Bin Abdullah". Penulis menceritakan latarbelakang yang mendorong penulisan buku. Komentar dari para pendengar. Ada yang menitiskan airmata apabila membaca kisah ini. Apakah yang menarik tentang buku ini? Klik di sini untuk mendengar audio di channelk.multiply.com

7 Core Traits Of Leadership by Dr Mohd Hamdi Abd Shukor

2006-05-02T23:36:00.000+08:00

Pemergianmu...

2006-04-17T22:47:00.000+08:00

Akil Hayy - Maulidur Rasul 2006

2006-04-14T22:37:00.000+08:00

ChannelK

2006-04-13T18:13:00.000+08:00

Global Risk & Crisis Forum - A Hadhari Approach

2006-04-13T11:50:00.000+08:00

Just 3 Simple Questions... ...Dare To Fail?

2006-04-05T22:24:00.000+08:00

"Just 3 Simple Questions..."

Date: 6th April 2006 (Thu) Time: 8pm - 10pm (Msian Time) Venue: Banting

Speaker: Ust. Hasrizal bin Abd Jamil

Available now at ChannelK

ChannelK is up and running with Theme 001

2006-04-01T11:53:00.000+08:00

Why Islam?

2006-03-30T07:27:00.000+08:00

Read personal discoveries at http://www.why-islam.net

Muslim Heritage

2006-03-30T07:10:00.000+08:00

Discover the Muslim heritage at www.1001inventions.com

Let moderate voices speak

2006-02-10T10:08:00.000+08:00

Let moderate voices speak (THE SUN) A LETTER from an Australian, published in the Times of London sums up the whole issue: What hope do we have of winning the hearts and minds of Muslims when we insult them? We tell them that the problem with Islamic nations is that they are not democratic. Then we condemn them for daring to vote in a party we don't like in Palestine, and next we make fun of their most sacred symbols. Why should they trust democracy when we only use it to attack them? A few weeks ago, Hamas won in the Palestinian elections, much to the surprise and horror of the West. Then, Jyllands-Posten, a rightwing Danish newspaper published cartoons depicting images of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) including those depicting him wearing a bomb for a turban and meeting suicide bombers in heaven. When Muslims protested, the Danish newspaper cited free speech, and called for other European journalists to publish the cartoons in solidarity. Make no mistake. I am against suicide bombing, especially those that involve civilian casualties. A recent fatwa, by an esteemed and erudite Oxford-based Malaysian Shafii scholar, Sheikh Afifi al-Akiti, has categorically provided the reasons why suicide bombing is contrary to the legal principles of Islam. That should be read by all Muslims. Furthermore, I support the general notion of free speech. I believe that the Muslim protesters are mistaken when they seek to get the governments to apologise for the actions of the newspapers, as those newspapers are independent from the governments; nor do I support any of those who invoke violence in response to the pointless provocation of the cartoonists. But the recent developments will only polarise the whole debate in the Muslim world, and undermine many mainstream Muslims like myself, as we seek to encourage an environment of understanding, compassion and tolerance from the ashes of Sept 11 and the war in Iraq. As the letter in the Times mentioned Muslims will feel that it is hypocritical of the West. A victory by Hamas through democratic elections was condemned, with threats of sanctions and a halt in negotiations. Yet when a Danish newspaper insulted the most revered human being for all Muslims, some newspapers in the West then raised the issue of free speech. However many European newspapers would be more reluctant to lampoon the Holocaust in the same manner. The extremists will rejoice. For so long they have protested when many mainstream Muslims argue that democracy is compatible with Islam, which has many similarities with the heritage of openness and pluralism of Islam. They now find that their thesis that democracy is merely a Western tool to be used only when it benefits the West has been proven. The thesis has now been given a provoking symbol: the 12 caricatures. The West might be appalled at the Hamas victory, but for many Palestinians it is pure common sense. Perhaps partly because they see in Hamas' suicide bombings however wrong a sense of defiance against the loss of their homeland. But a more central reason is that whereas the Palestinian Authority has been saddled with corruption, inefficiency and poor leadership, Hamas has been working hard in providing social services and excellent infrastructure throughout the years. That indeed is the beauty of democracy. The West might want the incumbent, but the people speak. This should be seen as an oppor tunity to inculcate into Hamas the reality of power, to replace the rhetoric of opposition. We see a similar case in Iraq. Politically, there were two main agendas for the neo-conservatives clique of George W. Bush: remove Saddam Hussein, and in its place install a liberal, pro-American sec ular leadership led by the likes of Ahmad Chalabi. But surprise, surprise the forced imposition of democracy has consistently returned religious Shiite parties as the majority. With all their military might, it is of no surprise that Saddam was easily defeated. Nevertheless, that same strength has little influence on the chaotic reconstruction of the country, what more on the voice of the people in the polls. As we seek to build a peaceful common future together, mainstream Muslims must be strengthened, not undermined. There are many merits in democracy, but the West too must live by the ideals, even when it is inconvenient to them. Only then we can recreate bit by bit a semblance of trust and understanding between Muslims and the West. We must disprove those on both sides who believe that a clash of civilisations is inevitable. Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, who has commented in various publications, blogs at http://www.niknazmi.com. The fatwa by Sheikh Afifi al-Akiti can be publicly accessed at http://www.livingislam.org/maa/d cmm_e.html.

`Islamic Family Law not against women'

2006-02-10T10:06:00.000+08:00

`Islamic Family Law not against women' (THE SUN) KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian women are urged to have faith in the country's laws because the government has never let them down or deny their rights. Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil said yesterday the Islamic Family Law (Federal Territories) (Amendment) Act 2005 is not flawed, punitive or oppressive to Muslim women. However, she said it has some grey areas due to differing interpretations by different groups but this is not unusual. "I felt very sad when the mind of women in Malaysia were poisoned into thinking the law will deprive them of their rights, their dignity, their money and their property. "The law is not flawed. There are some provisions in it which are not clear. That is all." She said the ministry supported the law because it is for the purpose of uniformity among the states and to better protect the rights of women and children. She said her main concern now is to convince Muslim women since many had expressed their worries to her about the law.

Unconstitutional

2005-12-22T09:10:00.000+08:00

22nd December 2005 source: The Sun 22nd Dec 2005 source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:1in_god_we_trust.jpg source: http://www.helplinelaw.com/law/constitution/malaysia/malaysia01.php How do you justify that the Article 3.1 does not contradict with Article 4.1?

Don't Let The Machine Takes Your Life

2005-12-21T14:48:00.000+08:00

KOREAN CASE 10th October 2002 source: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/10/10/1034061260831.html 8th August 2005 source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6448213/did/8888579 9th December 2005 source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20051209/tc_afp/skoreacomputerdeath_051209110606 MALAYSIAN CASE 15th December 2005 source: The Sun 16th December 2005 Source: The Sun

To stop the rot, start from the top

2005-12-17T13:45:00.001+08:00

TheSun 15Nov2005 To stop the rot, start from the top THE slip in Universiti Malaya's ranking to 169 in 2005 from 89 previously in The Times Higher Education Survey is welcome yes, welcome because it may finally galvanise action to turn our universities around. Everyone but the university authorities knows that standards have been sliding inexorably over the years. There may be reasons for the latest slide, for instance, mistakenly classifying Chinese and Indian students as international ones in the last survey, which would have ranked not just Universiti Malaya but Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) higher on the degree of internationalisation. The point is we have only one university in the top 200 USM dropped out of the rankings completely this year. But let's not be too obsessed with the ranking, it is just one ranking after all, but let's be very focused on how to improve the quality of our deteriorating universities. There are definite steps that can be taken to improve the quality of universities, and very importantly, the quality of its graduates. It is frightening to think that 60,000 local graduates are still unemployed, a clear indication that our local universities are not doing their job well. Any improvement must start from the quality of its academic staff and the will to promote excellence above all in academia. That would mean employing those who can teach and those who can do cutting-edge research without consideration of other factors. That kind of change must come from the top down. If vice-chancellors are not good enough, if they serve political interests rather than academic ones, the battle is already lost. We need vice-chancellors who care, who are independent and are genuinely interested in improving academic standards. The likes of Professor Ungku Aziz at Universiti Malaya and Professor Hamzah Sendut at USM come into mind. They brought respect to the institutions they headed. If the VCs are not up to mark and are more interested in shamelessly promoting themselves and playing to the political gallery and political parties, then they should be replaced by those who can make a real contribution to the university. Here's where the first change should take place. Then there must be the commitment by the government to shelter the vicechancellors from the politicians who lobby for this and that at the expense of the university and its academic excellence. Lobby groups must be kept firmly out. Finally, it must be realised that producing graduates of the right type with the right skills is much more important than producing an abundance of graduates. Quality is all important. That starts from the entry of students and depends on best teaching and assessment practices. Being sad about the deterioration in university standards is not enough we must be prodded and pushed into doing something positive about it. The rot must be stopped now.

Make academics earn their posts

2005-12-17T13:45:00.000+08:00

TheSun 15Nov2005 Make academics earn their posts THE current controversy over the fall in ranking for two local public universities in the Times Higher Education Supplement (THES) survey shows the need for the nation to review the status of our universities, and in particular their academics. In the late 1980s, there was a similar controversy when a local daily published revelations about mediocrity in the academia. Back then, there was already a realisation that the quality of some of our academics was questionable. Having followed this controversy closely since then and also having first hand experience with some of these academics, I would say that the situation now has worsened. It is no secret that many of the professors and associate professors in the local public universities got their posts not for their academic ability or international recognition but due to their seniority. Some, especially those in science and engineering, got their posts even earlier when they were offered them by their vice- chancellors (VCs) in order to stop them from leaving for one of the newer universities or for the private sector. This has led to some talented young lecturers leaving the teaching field since they do not wish to play along with the unethical crowd. In some universities, a lecturer can obtain the post of associate professor if he has published a set number of papers in local or foreign journals. To obtain the post of professor, he only needs to double the number of published papers or write a book that is published. In most cases, it really does not matter whether the lecturer's work has broken new ground or his papers have been cited by others. As a result, these universities now have professors whose intellectual ability is highly questionable by international standards. Having surfed the websites of leading western universities, I often come across the resumes of their academics. These resumes are usually accompanied by a list of published works and some include the membership of international organisations, where their expertise is recognised. Some of these professors also do not have doctoral degrees but they are recognised as authorities in their fields from the citations they have accumulated. Often, I could see that some senior lecturers have a long list of published papers but they have not even been promoted to the rank of associate professors. This is because at these universities, these higher ranks are reserved only for those whose works have been recognised through peer citations. Hence, a professor in a leading western university is usually an academic who is already recognised as an authority in his field of study, not someone who has been in service longer than others or who has published papers that are often neglected by his peers. In order to arrest the decline in the quality of local academics, the Ministry of Higher Education should ensure that all universities and colleges post the resumes of their academics on their respective websites. The resumes should include all the papers that the academics have published in local and foreign journals and conferences. There is no problem for universities to publish all these resumes since their websites often display non-academic information that use memory intensive graphics. A few years ago, some of the local universities did post the resumes of their academics but these have been withdrawn when a regional magazine pointed out their low publication rate. The ministry should also set a minimum standard for the post of professors and associate professors so that VCs will only promote those well qualified. Besides the papers that they have published, these academics must also provide the list of citations that proved that they are worthy of being called a professor or an associate professor. This is to ensure that those who already hold the posts are really qualified for the post, otherwise they should be redesignated to the appropriate rank until they make the grade. If the ministry is serious about the quality of the public universities, then it should ensure that only deserving academics of international standing hold the rank of professors and associate professors. This will ensure that the younger generation of lecturers will strive to become professors through intellectual abilities rather than by other means. Zahar Kuala Lumpur

Chinese brides in demand

2005-12-17T13:42:00.000+08:00

TheSun 15Nov2005 Chinese brides in demand MALAYSIAN Chinese men like to take Chinese nationals as their brides mainly because of similarities in their language and culture, the Chinese press reported yesterday. Deputy Home Minister Datuk Tan Chai Ho said statistics showed that more than 6,000 Chinese women have married Malaysians. Of all foreign women, Chinese nationals are the top choice of Malaysian Chinese men as they share the same language and culture, mak ing it easy for them to communicate and foster mutual understanding. He said in jest that Malaysian women should not set too many conditions for their prospective Mr Right as "there is a trend that local men are going for China brides". After marrying, these Chinese nationals have settled down in Malaysia, Tan said after officiating at a Chinese primary school storytelling competition organised by the Federation of Kwong Tung Association of Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday. However, he said the government has not relaxed its immigration rules to allow these Chinese nationals to apply for permanent resident status. As such, they have to renew their social visit pass every year. Asked about the allegation by a Chinese national, who is married to a Malaysian, that she was manhandled by the police recently, Tan said the incident, although an isolated case, may affect the tourism industry. He also said some Chinese tourists who are not happy with the treatment they get in Malaysia would spread negative stories on the internet when they returned home. For example, some young Chinese women may encounter problems with the immigration because of the language barrier, and are refused entry. Foreign women who arrive with too little money would raise the sus picions of immigration officers, and the problem is compounded by the language barrier. If these women can produce their credit cards or give contacts of their relatives and friends in Malaysia to show they are here for visits, they would be cleared for entry. Tan believed that such incidents would be reduced when the first batch of 20 Mandarin-speaking airport officers are stationed at KL International Airport next month.

Oral sex victim deflates robber's pride

2005-12-17T13:41:00.000+08:00

TheSun 15Nov2005 Oral sex victim deflates robber's pride by Charles Ramendran PETALING JAYA: A robber nearly lost his manhood when his victim, whom he had forced to perform oral sex on him, sunk her teeth into his genitals instead. For her act, however, she suffered serious injuries after the infuriated robber battered and repeatedly kicked her before escaping. The 30-year-old woman, who lives alone, had been awakened by the robber who had broken into her doublestorey house at Seri Puchong at about 6am. He held her at knife-point and demanded that she hand over her cash and valuables but was disappointed by the poor loot. He grabbed her and tried to undress her, but she pleaded with him not to rape her. The robber then ordered her to perform oral sex on him. After being forced to per form the act, the woman locked her jaw on the robber's penis. Gripping his crotch and howling in pain, he began punching and pulling the woman's hair, but the gutsy victim kept her teeth firmly sunk into his genitals. She only let go of it after she was unable to bear the repeated blows from the robber. Her ordeal continued when the injured robber vented his anger by kicking the victim who was on the floor. It is learnt that a neighbour who heard the commotion called the police who arrived soon after, but the robber managed to escape in the nick of time. The woman, who was warded at a private hospital here, is reportedly in stable condition. Police urged medical practitioners to contact them if they are approached by a man seeking treatment for bite injury on his genitals.

Group in drive against tobacco

2005-12-17T13:37:00.000+08:00

TheSun 15Nov2005 Group in drive against tobacco PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Women's Action for Tobacco Control and Health (MYWatch) has vouched to create awareness of the dangers of tobacco, in the face of the Emerging Tobacco Markets 2005 trade fair which is being held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre till tomorrow. MYWatch president Datin Hatijah Ayob, when contacted yesterday, said she was courteously denied a police permit for fear it would create unnecessary tension. "I represented MYWatch and was accompanied by two other individuals and a Canadian activist who are also promoting the dangers of tobacco. "We were not looking to protest or raise a commotion but only wanted to create awareness among the people," she said. "The police said the permit could be granted after the fair but if it is given then, the effectiveness will not be there."

Apprenticeship for jobless graduates

2005-12-17T13:35:00.000+08:00

TheSun 14Dec2005 Apprenticeship for jobless graduates THE issues pertaining to unemployed graduates continue to dominate social and political discussions. Essentially we could talk till the cows come home. Let us look instead at an immediate solution that would address inherent weaknesses in our system. We should initiate a systematic programme to encourage companies (large and medium) to accept unemployed graduates for their Industrial Training. The graduates themselves should ask "How could I add value to myself and to this company during my Industrial Training here", as opposed to the perennial question "How much is my salary?" As the undergraduate adapts to the adoptive companies (very much like the Industrial Training programme undertaken in Europe, without pay, only travel and meal allowances), they could acquire new skills, strategies and tools, as well as interaction with a working peer group that is substantially better than the unemployed peer group. When the economy picks up, the companies that provided this Industrial Training could absorb these undergraduates by offering permanent employment. On the other, the graduate could also realise his/her own weakness and strengths in a real working environment and not just textbook acquired skills. Sanjay Veloo Kuala Lumpur

Don't enforce dress code on women undergrads

2005-12-17T13:34:00.000+08:00

TheSun 14Nov2005 Don't enforce dress code on women undergrads SISTERS in Islam (SIS) is concerned about conflicting reports re garding the imposition of tudung upon Malaysian undergraduates. The New Straits Times (Nov 10) reported Datuk Maximus Ongkili as saying: "It is agreed that wearing of tudung be made optional for students in all universities and higher learning institutions in the country," without differentiating between Muslims and nonMuslims. However, The Star (Nov 10) quoted Higher Education Minister Datuk Dr Shafie Mohd Salleh as saying that although non-Muslim students from the International Islamic University (IIUM) are not compelled to wear tudung to lectures, they must "respect Islam and adhere to the university's dress code," which explicitly states that non-Muslim women students have to wear headscarves. Further more, the IIUM Students' Discipline Rules 2004 guidebook also compels all Muslim women students to wear tudung at all times, and compels all women students regardless of faith to wear tudung during convocation as part of the convocation dress code. Sisters in Islam firmly believes that no government or public institution should legislate on dress where women are forced either to cover or uncover their heads. We understand that the IIUM authorities have said that its dress code is not a religious issue but remains a right of the university to decide on. We find this justification flawed for many reasons. Firstly, the claim that this dress code is not a religious issue is problematic. In fact, the act of covering one's hair is certainly an act of religious observation for many Muslim women. Sisters in Islam maintains that there can be no compulsion in matters of religion. Thus, by instating the tudung as a dress code for Muslims and headscarves for non-Muslims while claiming it is not a religious issue is tantamount to ignoring the context of covering one's hair, which is very much an issue of politics, identity and faith. It follows that the enforcement of this style of dressing for both Muslims and non-Muslims is an act that disrespects an individual's right to express her own identity and belief, a right that is upheld by the Quran and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Secondly, we would like to draw attention to the parallels between the current situation with undergraduates in Malaysia to the situation in France not too long ago, where the wearing of hijab by Muslim women was banned in public institutions. In this case, Sisters in Islam also opposed the ban imposed by the French government because it violated the religious freedom and rights of French Muslim women. The point here is that to cover or not cover one's head remains the sovereign choice of the individual, not any external human authority under any pretext. We understand that certain institutions may want to impose a certain uniformity of dress either for symbolic or practical purposes, but such dress codes must not exploit religious and cultural symbols that are best left to the individual's personal conscience. Thirdly, it is merely a matter of semantics to say that non-Muslims do not need to wear tudung but have to observe IIUM's dress code, which states that non-Muslim women have to wear headscarves. Even amongst Muslims, the style of wearing tudung varies and this distinction between tudung for Muslims and headscarves for non-Muslims ignores the underlying grievances of women who do not wish to have their dressing dictated by any external human authorities. Furthermore, in the history of Islamic jurisprudence and scholarship, there has been no consensus regarding the "right" form of women's dress. Even the several verses in the Quran that talk about women's dress do not explicitly espouse a specific type of dress. In fact, the Quran infers that modesty can be achieved in different forms of dress suitable to dif ferent cultures, times and places. Thus, to legislate on women's dress based on a perceived single "Islamic" standard is a misguided attempt at representing the breadth of thought and scholarship in Islam. Fourthly, IIUM also states that its dress code for non-Muslims has never been challenged before this. We question the veracity of and underlying assumption behind IIUM's assertion. IIUM's dress code has been challenged by non-Muslims before. In fact in 2003, the Member of Parliament for Batu Gajah, Fong Po Kuan, called on then-Education Minister Tan Sri Musa Mohamad to address the issue of the requirement imposed on non-Muslim students at the International Islamic University (IIU) to wear the tudung. Furthermore, the climate of discussion on Islam in this country has left non-Muslim minorities with very few options. Many non-Muslim Malaysians therefore defer to the coercive will of the Muslim majority, while those who challenge this coercive will usually face varying levels of ostracism and public humiliation. Either way, it is not becoming of a self-proclaimed multi-ethnic and multi-religious society to dismiss the views of ethnic or religious minorities, or even differing views among the Muslim majority. The key point here is that we must respect and embrace the diversity of our plural society. Fifthly, Sisters in Islam also hopes that the authorities do not ignore the impact of peer pressure in universities and higher learning institutions in the country. Policies that defend the rights of women undergraduates become useless if there is rampant and unchecked peer pressure by various groups to force women to either cover or uncover their heads. Sisters in Islam Petaling Jaya

Man with eggy underpants nabbed

2005-12-17T13:33:00.000+08:00

TheSun 14Dec2005 Man with eggy underpants nabbed SYDNEY: An Australian man about to board a flight to Bangkok was found to have six galah eggs in his underpants, news reports said. The 56-year-old has been charged with attempting to smuggle native wildlife without a permit and will appear in court next month. Customs officers seized the eggs and put them in an incubator at Sydney airport, the Sun Herald newspaper reported yesterday. The offence carries a maximum sentence of 10 years' jail. The galah is a species of cockatoo native to Australia. dpa

Stolen laptop shows Iranian nuke designs

2005-12-17T13:31:00.000+08:00

TheSun 14Dec2005 Stolen laptop shows Iranian nuke designs WASHINGTON: US intelligence officials have shown leaders of the International Atomic Energy Agency a stolen Iranian laptop computer containing nuclear designs as proof the country is secretly pursuing a nuclear weapons programme, The New York Times reported on Saturday. The newspaper said during the demonstration, which took place in Vienna in mid-July, officials displayed selections from more than a thousand pages of Iranian computer simulations and accounts of experiments, saying they showed a long effort to design a nuclear warhead. The Americans acknowledged that the documents do not prove that Iran has an atomic bomb but they presented them as the strongest evidence yet that the country is trying to develop a compact warhead to fit atop its Shahab missile, which can reach Israel and other countries in the Middle East, the report said. The briefing for officials of the IAEA, including its director Mohamed ElBaradei, was a secret part of a US campaign to increase international pressure on Iran, the Times said. But while the intelligence has sold well among countries like Britain, France and Germany, which reviewed the documents as long as a year ago, it has been a tougher sell with countries outside the inner circle. The computer contained studies for crucial features of a nuclear warhead, according to European and US officials who had examined the material, including a telltale sphere of detonators to trigger an atomic explosion, the paper said. Nonetheless, doubts about the intelligence persist among some foreign analysts because US officials, citing the need to protect their source, have largely refused to provide details of the origins of the laptop computer beyond saying that they obtained it in the middle of last year from a longtime contact in Iran, it said. "I can fabricate that data," the paper quotes an unnamed senior European diplomat as saying of the documents. "It looks beautiful, but is open to doubt." Iran is facing referral to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions after failing to convince the international community its nuclear ambitions are entirely peaceful. Agencies

Good scholars born early: Norway

2005-12-17T13:30:00.000+08:00

TheSun 14Dec2005 Good scholars born early: Norway OSLO: Children born during the first three months of the year are more likely to make good grades than children born towards the end of the year, newspapers said yesterday quoting a new Norwegian study. Students with birthdays in January, February and March tend to have far better grades than those born in the last three months of the year, a University of Oslo survey of 6,752 14 and 15-year-olds showed. "I was surprised by how great the diffe rences actually were," Lars Lien, a researcher at the University's Institute of General Practice and Community Medicine and one of the authors of the report, told Norwegian daily Dagbladet. The report, which also showed that boys born late in the year were more likely to have problems making friends, did not delve into the reasons for the differences. "I think that more research in this area is needed," Lien said. AFP

Survey: More women in Singapore hitting the bottle

2005-12-17T13:24:00.000+08:00

TheSun 15Dec2005 Survey: More women in Singapore hitting the bottle SINGAPORE: A growing number of Singapore's youth are going on drinking binges with the sharpest increase among young women, a survey said yesterday. The rise in the number of female drinkers is the reason Singapore has more drinkers than non-drinkers for the first time, the study authors noted. The percentage of teetotallers has dropped from 59.5% in1998 to 49.2% in 2004, according to a national health survey published in The Sunday Times. Twice as many women under 30 are drinking at least five days a week. The proportion of women who binge downing at least five drinks in one sitting has tripled in the last six years. Those who binge tend to be between 18 and 29 years old, forming two in 10 of the heavy-drinking men and one in 10 among the women. The Health Promotion Board expressed concern. "People who drink large amounts of alcohol are more likely to develop alcoholrelated diseases, such as hypertension, liver disorders and cancer of the mouth, throat, oesophagus and larynx," it warned. People who binge are likely to have impaired judgment, said Dr. Ang Yong Guan, a psychiatrist. He cited the case of a man who molested a woman while inebriated. "It is the clearest example of when someone stops thinking and only feels," Ang was quoted as saying. Since 2000, the number of motorists charged with driving while intoxicated has doubled from 1,470 a year to 2,929. Patrons queried by the newspaper had no regrets and sentimentally recalled such escapades as washing hair in a public urinal, getting lost and sleeping in a park, and vomiting on themselves. Investment banker Charles Tank said that he once got so drunk he mistook his study for a toilet. dpa

Whirling Dervishes a money-spinner

2005-12-17T13:23:00.000+08:00

TheSun 15Dec2005 Whirling Dervishes a money-spinner by Gareth Jones KONYA (Turkey): Irina and her friends have no regrets about travelling thousands of kilometres from their native Latvia to this grey Anatolian town in mid-December. But then they have not come for the weather or the scenery. They are converts to the mystical Sufi branch of Islam and are among tens of thousands of people converging here for an annual festival marking the death in 1273 of Jalaladdin Mevlana Rumi, poet, guru and founder of Turkey's whirling dervishes. "Distance does not exist where the heart is concerned," said Irina, who did not want to give her last name. "We have come to Konya to know ourselves, to understand why we, why all of us, are here in this world," she said as her 30 fellow ethnic Russians nodded in agreement. They have just taken part in an evening of music, chanting, prayer and "whirling" at a Sufi lodge and their excitement, as they head back to their hotel, chatting in Russian, is palpable. English, Italian, Dutch, Bulgarian and Farsi are among other languages echoing in the narrow streets around the lodge this frosty night, testifying to the inter national appeal of Rumi's inclusive brand of Islam. Rumi's teachings were once considered dangerous. In the 1920s, the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, closed down the Sufi lodges, along with other religious orders which had wielded great influence in the old Ottoman Empire. But Sufism, which has deep roots in Turkish culture and is essentially apolitical, has staged a steady comeback since the 1950s, not least because of the tourist dollars its most famous adherents, the whirling dervishes, have helped bring to Turkey. The government of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, which has roots in political Islam, now actively supports the dervishes. Across town from Irina's lodge, 3,000 people have packed into the huge Mevlana Culture Centre, completed two years ago with government money and resembling a huge sports stadium, for a performance by Turkey's only state-funded troupe of dervishes. Pious headscarved Turkish matrons clutching rosary beads and Australian backpackers sit side by side watching the 11 male dancers, dressed in white robes and tall conical hats, turning gracefully from right to left, like the planets around the sun. "The whirling, or `Sema', is a vehicle to reach God, to reach happiness. It is a kind of therapy that cleanses us of pain and stress," Fahri Ozcakil, the most senior dancer, said before going on stage for the hour long performance. "We don't feel giddy when whirling. We have been trained for it. But we do feel tired afterwards, we are covered in sweat and breathe heavily. We have to be physically fit. Every day we do gymnastic exercises to help prepare us," he said. An economics graduate and father of three, Ozcakil has been practising Sema for 32 years but he only became a full-time whirling dervish when the government in Ankara set up the troupe in 1991 and started paying them a regular salary. "We have visited more than 20 countries. Interest in the Mevlana philosophy and culture is definitely increasing worldwide," said the gently-spoken former accountant. Rumi's poetry has become a surprise bestseller in the United States and Europe over the past decade or so, presenting a picture of Islam as a religion of love and compassion an image that is sharply at odds with some of the crude stereotypes sometimes found in Western media. "We know some people sadly associate Islam with terrorism, but we have never encountered hostility abroad. When people watch us, they think such a culture cannot possibly have any link with terrorism. This makes us very happy," said Ozcakil. Last month, Unesco, the United Nations' cultural body, added the whirling dervishes to its list of world heritage treasures a move many Turks saw as an overdue mark of recognition for an ancient institution espousing the United Nations' ideals of peace and fraternity. "Rumi welcomed all men and women, irrespective of religion, race or creed, teaching that God is One," said Omer Faruk Belviranli, an of ficial at Turkey's Culture Ministry who used to sing at performances by dervishes. "We hope this new status will help more people to find out about and understand the Mevlana," he said. The Mevlana Museum in Konya, which houses the tomb of Rumi and other Sufi masters, is Turkey's second most visited museum, after the Topkapi palace of the Ottoman Sultans in Istanbul, and draws two million people a year. About 35,000 people including Erdogan will watch performances by the whirling dervishes during the 11-day Konya festival which ends on Saturday, the date of Rumi's death which is known as the Sheb-i Arus, or Wedding Night. Reuters

Secret of Mona Lisa's smile revealed

2005-12-17T13:21:00.001+08:00

TheSun 15Dec2005 Secret of Mona Lisa's smile revealed PARIS: Now it's official: Mona Lisa was 83% happy, 9% disgusted, 6% fearful and 2% angry. That's the conclusion of a University of Amsterdam computer that applied "emotion-recognition software" to Leonardo da Vinci's work, the British weekly New Scientist reports. The algorithm, developed in conjunction with the University of Illinois, tries to assess the human mood by examining key features such as the curvature of the lips and crinkles around the eyes, then makes a score with respect to six basic emotions. AFP

Nude prank turns into whodunit

2005-12-17T13:21:00.000+08:00

TheSun 15Dec2005 Nude prank turns into whodunit NICOSIA: A raunchy picture of a Cypriot teacher in a state of undress was surreptitiously downloaded from her mobile telephone and sent to hundreds of pupils. The picture made the rounds at the school in the port town of Limassol on the Mediterranean island on Tuesday after the teacher left her phone unattended by her desk. But the prank was not appreciated by parents or teachers, and police have launched an investigation. "There is a (police) patrol car at the school and the crime department are here to take fingerprints off the mobile phone," the head of the parents' association said. Reuters

Researchers seek brain wave access to bank accounts, homes

2005-12-17T13:19:00.000+08:00

TheSun 15Dec2005 Researchers seek brain wave access to bank accounts, homes OTTAWA: Canadian researchers hope to soon be able to use brain waves to unlock doors and get access to bank accounts. Some companies are already offering iris recognition systems that many countries want to put into biometric passports. But Julie Thorpe of Carleton University in Ottawa wants to take the idea much much further. She says it is possible to do away with key cards, pin num bers and a litany of other security tools that allow people to retrieve bank money, access computer data or enter restricted buildings. "A user would simply think their password," said Thorpe, who hopes to develop the first biometric security device to read your mind to authenticate users. Her idea, yet to be proven viable for commercial application, assumes that brainwave signals, like fingerprints, vary slight ly from person to person, even when they think alike. "Everyone's brainwave signal is a bit different even when they think about the same thing. They're unique like fingerprints." While people may be tricked into giving up their passwords, smartcards may be lost or stolen, as can biometric templates stored on computers for comparing eye or fingerprint scans, so-called "passthoughts" are unique. A user would only have to think up a different password and save it on a computer, Thorpe said. "You could use a sound or music or childhood memory as your pass. You could even flash someone an image to help them remember their passthought." The doctoral student is working with leading Canadian security technology researcher Paul Van Oorschot in Ottawa to turn her idea into reality. AFP

Woman shows face at inquiry

2005-12-17T13:16:00.000+08:00

TheSun 15Dec2005 Woman shows face at inquiry by S. Tamarai Chelvi and Maria J. Dass KUALA LUMPUR: The young woman in the nude ear-squat video clip was recalled by the commission of inquiry yesterday and asked to reveal her face to those at the hearing. This was done at the request of lawyer S.N. Nair, representing four Chinese nationals listed as witnesses, who said the woman had to be positively identified. Dressed in a pink baju kurung and black tudung, the woman entered the courtroom at the Federal Courthouse at 5.05pm from the back door with her face covered with a black blazer. She was accompanied by a woman investigating officer, S. Thilagavathy. At 5.10pm, the inquiry reconvened and commission chair man Tun Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah reminded the press about the order prohibiting them from publishing her name, photograph and personal particulars. DPP Suhaimi Ibrahim then informed the inquiry that the clearest-possible static image taken from the video clip of the woman was being displayed on the projector. (Her breasts in the image were covered.) The projector, positioned earlier in front of the commission members exclusively for their viewing, was placed facing the commission members, the media, and those in the public gallery for them to compare the image on the screen with her face. Suhaimi asked her "whose picture is being displayed?" and she replied "mine". Dzaiddin asked her to remove her headscarf to allow Nair to look at her. Nair, who was seated behind her, got up and took two steps forward to look. He looked at the image on the projector and nodded. Suhaimi then asked the woman to face the gallery. She did so for about 10 seconds. Her face matched the still image on the screen. Nair then got up and told the commission the woman was "positively identified". The woman was also shown her black-and-white hair band, which she identified as hers. Her hair band could also be seen on the video clip. Earlier, Nair told the commission the woman should be recalled for positive identification. He said nobody saw her face when she appeared on Tuesday, except for the commission members. Nair said the woman's hair band was also not produced or shown to her for identification. Asked by Dzaiddin why he did not raise the matter when she testified, Nair said he had expected the handphone used to record the video clip to show the particular time the recording was made as this will prove the timeframe given by the woman matched the details in the handphone recording. The Chinese nationals represented by Nair were not called to testify. Sixteen of the 21 witnesses appeared before the inquiry during the three days of hearing. The inquiry reconvenes tomorrow to hear the closing submissions.

Video game addiction ends in tragedy

2005-12-17T13:12:00.000+08:00

TheSUn 15Dec2005 Video game addiction ends in tragedy by Charles Ramendran PETALING JAYA: For the past three years, 16-year-old Yap Wui Chung's life revolved around the video games he played on his computer. Sadly, it also led to his death. Wui Chung (pix) would shut out the rest of the world, sit for hours in front of his PC, often missing his meals and sleep. Being the only child and seeing how much his hobby meant to him, his parents indulged his passion for the latest computer gadgetry. They obliged because seeing him spend time at home meant that he was not mingling with wrong company. But yesterday, all that joy of seeing his smiles and laughter ended when the Sultan Abdul Samad secondary schoolboy was found electrocuted in his room at his Section 4, PJ Old Town, home with power cables coiled around his hand. Beside him was a note which read: "When I die, please give my computer to my friends." Wui Chung was found sprawled on the floor by his parents at 3am after they rushed into his room on hearing his screams. The power supply circuit breakers in the house had also tripped, causing a blackout. Wui Chung had brought the cables home a day earlier and told his parents that it was for a school project. His parents sent him to the University Malaya Medical Centre but the teenager was pronounced dead on arrival. Wui Chung's family and friends are puzzled by his death. They describe him as quiet and reserved. He was not known to have any personal problems and appeared nor mal when his parents last saw him watching TV an hour before his death. Deputy OCPD Supt Abdul Rahman Ibrahim said police initially classified the case as sudden death, but are keeping the probe open. When met at the SS1 Kampung Tunku Crematorium, Wui Chung's father, a businessman aged 57, who did not want to be named said: "I blame myself and the computer for my son's death. "My wife and I were lenient with his long hours on the computer which led to his death. We got him the computer after he begged his mother for it. "We were afraid that he may mix with wrong company if he went out to play video games, so we bought it for him. Had I been more strict ... had I spent more time with him ... it's too late for regrets. "It's over, my only child is gone. His addiction for video games and computers led him to do this," said Yap who was still in a state of shock. He said his wife, who was very close to Wui Chung, had to regularly force the boy to leave his computer to have his meals. "Even then, he would take his plate to his room and eat with one hand while operating the computer with the other," Yap said, adding that Wui Chung had been pestering him to upgrade his computer. "A technician was supposed to replace it with a new system this evening (Wednesday)," he added. Yap said he agreed to upgrade the system on condition that Wui Chung spent no more than seven hours surfing the Internet and playing computers. "He agreed." He described his son as an average student in school but excelled in science and English. "Although he spent his primary years in a Chinese school and spoke Chinese at home, his English was suprisingly very good. Even the note that he left was in English," he said. Asked about the note's contents, Yap said Wui Chung named two friends whom he wanted to bequeath his computer and accessories. Among the Taoist funeral parapher nalia which will be burnt during the cremation at 10am today is a cardboard replica of a computer.

Any majority is usually enough

2005-12-17T13:11:00.000+08:00

TheSun 16Dec2005 Any majority is usually enough Scene: Tanglin Food Court, KL. MOHAN: So PAS rules Kelantan with a one seat majority. After failing to retain Pengkalan Pasir its majority is really paper thin now. Why doesn't it just resign? Azman: That's what the Barisan Nasional leaders campaigning in the just concluded Pengkalan Pasir byelection had been saying. Lose Pengkalan Pasir, resign. Chong: What do you think, Cikgu? Do you think the PAS government should just resign and go to the people again for a new mandate? Zain: I don't understand this obsession. PAS has been given the mandate to rule. A small mandate maybe, but a mandate nevertheless. Everyone should respect that mandate. It is the people's mandate. It would be very irresponsible of PAS to resign. Tax payers will have to pay, don't forget that. Chong: I agree with you. Elsewhere, a majority of one is good enough. It is credible enough. In fact there have been occasions when a party without a majority but won the most seats in the legislature have been invited to form the government. That is really precarious. But they managed to rule and sometimes remarkably well, too. But here we seem to think a government is not good enough if it does not control two-thirds of the seats in the legislature. Too much obsession with two-thirds. What for? A majority of one is enough for the government to run the state. You need the two-thirds when you want to amend the constitution. But there is no need to amend it all the time. Zain: Well done, Chong. I am really proud of you. Azman: I think many people have forgotten the situation in 1969 when the Alliance, the forerunner of the BN, suffered huge reverses in many states. In Selangor, for instance, it won only 14 seats in the then 28-seat legislative assembly. DAP won nine, Gerakan four and independent one. Of course, you know what happened lah. Mohan: So what you are saying is that the PAS gover nment in Kelantan should just go on with the business of ruling the state? Zain: Yes. And uninterrupted. It now has 23 seats to BN's 22. In terms of administering the state, it is not incapacitated in any way. Mohan: So the BN will just have to wait. Zain: Yes. All its elected representatives have to perform remarkably well so that those in the PAS constituencies will tell each other how good the BN reps are and in the next general election let us return the BN candidates. Chong: But some BN guys are talking about two PAS assemblymen who are in a bad shape health wise. They are talking about another byelection soon or two by-elections. So maybe the BN may not have to wait until the next general election to rule the state. People are saying anytime now. Azman: Wishful thinking. They are talking about "anytime now" ever since last year's general election. Those two gentlemen had been sick even before then. They were expected to provide the by-elections. And the BN guys were already boasting that they will win the two seats whenever they become vacant. Mohan: Not sure yet the BN will win both seats to force a state election. After all while they were expected to provide the elections, it was another person who quite unexpectedly provided the by-election in Pengkalan Pasir. And again, who knows? The PAS government may just survive up to the next the general election. Azman: Also remember that even though they are sickly, they may even survive many people including leaders of the BN. Zain: I think it is not nice to talk about sick people like that or in those terms. Where is our morality? Mohan: But I heard BN guys were talking about them in the north Kelantan town of Pasir Mas, which is in the Pengkalan Pasir constituency during the by-election. Zain: I know. I was there with Azman. Azman was there to report on the by-election while I was there to visit relatives and gape. Anyway I met a few old friends there. I also met a cousin of sorts a teacher in one of the pondok schools near Alor Setar. He was in Pasir Mas to cam paign for PAS. Chong: Since you were there Cikgu why do you think PAS lost? BN had a lot of problems disunity, PAS' personal attacks on Kelantan Umno chief Datuk Annuar Musa, too many cooks and so should have lost. Yet it won. Zain: Everybody talks about BN's problems but few talk about PAS's problems. Mohan: PAS has problems too? Azman: Everyone has problems. You know that Mohan. Zain: PAS' main problem is its candidate, Hanifah Ahmad. This was what PAS members in Pasir Mas told me. They said they recommended the names of a few young ones with strong religious background. Young people have no baggage they said. When Mentri Besar Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat vetoed them and chose Hanifah, they were quite disappointed. They said the guy was CEO of the State Economic Development Corporation. Naturally he had some baggage. But Nik Aziz refused to listen to them. So from the beginning the PAS leaders responsible for the election had to fight two things BN and those in PAS who did not like Hanifah. Mohan: How do you know all this, Cikgu? Zain: It was talked about in the foodstalls in Pasir Mas. Open knowledge among PAS members in the town. And as I said, I have relatives and friends there. And after the vote they pointed to me the number of spoilt votes 160. People don't know how to vote? Surely not, they say. BN and PAS conducted several courses on how to mark the ballot papers before the election. They said the voters purposely spoilt the ballots. Mohan: Why did they go to the polling station if they did not want to vote? Why take the trouble to go and then not to give their vote to anybody? Zain: Well. Let's say it was the PAS voters who spoilt their votes. They had to go as they were taken to the polling stations. So they could not refuse even though they did not like the candidate. So they spoilt their vote. Even though they protested against the selection of the candidate, they would not vote for BN's Hanafi Mamat or independent candidate Datuk Ibrahim Ali. Azman: Among the spoilt votes could be those who did not like Hanafi but would not give his vote to Hanifah. Zain: Could be. Chong: What are the other factors that helped the BN in Pasir Mas? Zain: Besides fewerpeople voting for Ibrahim, BN had Tan Sri Muhammad Muhammad Taib, an organisational man. He did his best to keep the campaign organisation going. He and his Selangor boys deserve a lot to credit. Also like in Kuala Brang, the first by-election since the massive general election victory last year, it was the relentless house-tohouse campaigning by members of Puteri Umno that helped. They say the best form of flattery is copying. Thus Parti Keadilan Rakyat has its puteri brigade and PAS has Sri Kandi. But in Pasir Mas they were no match for Puteri Umno.

Culture clash Down Under

2005-12-17T13:10:00.000+08:00

TheSUn 16Dec2005 Culture clash Down Under CRONULLA BEACH: The barebreasted woman stepping into the surf is tanned golden brown. The face of the woman on the street, under her headscarf, is pale ivory. In the topsy-turvy language of race forced on anyone trying to make sense of Australia's riots this week, however, the brown woman is white and the pale woman is not. But beyond their skin colours, and their religion or lack of it, a clash of lifestyles played a large part in Australia's worst racial violence in living memory, commentators say. Cronulla beach, where race riots erupted on Sunday, and the streets of the mainly-Muslim suburb of Lakemba, are a short drive apart in Sydney, but they could be different worlds. To the government they reflect multicultural proof that the country has moved on from its despised "White Australia" policy and is worthy of acceptance by its Asian neighbours at forums such as this week's East Asia summit. To the white supremacists and neo-Nazis spotted by police at the riots at Cronulla beach, in which ethnic Lebanese from suburbs such as Lakemba were attacked by white mobs, the differences are intolerable. But somewhere between the flat denial of racism by Prime Minister John Howard, and the hatred on the faces of the drunken white youths attacking fellow Australians while draped in the national flag, lies the truth. The fact that many other countries, most recently France, experience racial unrest has been a constant point of reference in remarks by politicians here and in media coverage of the riots. And few would quibble with the government's claim that Australia has moved far beyond the days when this former British colony was viewed as home to "Asia's white tribe". Sydney is a cosmopolitan city where the racial violence has come as a shock simply because it is unprecedented. John Saleh, 23, a Palestinianbor n store manager, agreed, saying he had not experienced racism in his adopted country. "It's beautiful, friendly, I get along with everybody," he said. "Those who made the problems should be arrested." At Cronulla beach, the question of who "made the problems" usually elicits the answer: "Lebanese gangs." Some politicians have suggested that the violence was partly fuelled by anger over militants, but young "white" workers at the Alley Break beachfront cafe don't mention religion in their assessment of the riots. Scott Veltmeijer, an ethnicDutchman born in Australia, and Melanie Campbell, 21, say large gangs of ethnic-Lebanese men descend on the beach at the weekends and spoil it for others through boorish behaviour. "They play soccer and kick sand all over people, they make rude remarks to women, they intimidate everybody," said Campbell. Girls in bikinis are called sluts and whores, the gangs play loud music and leave rubbish on the beach, local residents say. While the clashes have been described as being between whites and people of "Middle Eastern appearance", it is the Lebanese community that is singled out for criticism. "The Lebanese have been left behind compared with other g roups such as the Chinese, Vietnamese, Greeks and Jews," said James Jupp, director of the Centre for Immig ration and Multicultural Studies at the Australian National University. "Their level of education and therefore their level of employment and employability are lower than average. "So there is a lot of resentment there: they haven't done terribly well and they feel that they are not being treated like Australians and that they are being picked on." AFP

Computer able to spot blockbusters

2005-12-17T13:09:00.000+08:00

TheSun 16Dec2005 Computer able to spot blockbusters LONDON: Hollywood producers fretting over this year's box office downturn should take heart. A scientist in the US says he has come up with a computer programme that helps predict whether a film will be a hit or a miss at the box office long before it is even made. "Our goal is to try to find oil in a way," said Professor Ramesh Sharda of the Oklahoma State University on Wednesday. "We are trying to forecast the success of a movie based on things that are decided before a movie has been made," he told Reuters by telephone. Sharda, an expert in information systems, has been working on the model for seven years and analysed more than 800 films before publishing a paper which appears in Expert Systems With Applications journal early next year. Sharda applied seven criteria to each movie: its rating by censors, competition from other films at the time of release, strength of the cast, genre, special effects, whether it is a sequel and the number of theatres it opens in. Using a neural network to process the results, the films are placed in one of nine categories, ranging from "flop", meaning less than US$1 million (RM3.76 million) at the box office, to "blockbuster", meaning more than US$200 million (RM750 million). The results of the study showed that 37% of the time the network accurately predicted which category the film fell into, and 75% of the time was within one category of the correct answer. Sharda said he was in discussions with a "major" Hollywood studio about further developing the system to make it more accurate. Sharda may have picked the ideal moment to publish his findings. As of mid-November, North American ticket receipts for the year so far stood at US$7.6 billion (RM28.5 billion), around 7% down on the same stage in 2004, although that was before the release of three big films Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and King Kong. Reuters

Iraqis vote in landmark election

2005-12-17T13:08:00.000+08:00

TheSun 16Dec2005 Iraqis vote in landmark election BAGHDAD: Undeterred by scattered violence, Iraqis voted in large numbers in an election yesterday, with minority Sunni Arabs who boycotted the last poll determined not to miss out on power again. The demand to vote was so strong that polling stations were kept open for an extra hour in some areas to allow those lining up outside to cast their ballots. The largely peaceful election, which will raise US hopes that a stable government can pave the way for American troops to pull out of Iraq, was in sharp contrast to January's vote for an interim assembly, when 40 people died. Sunni Arabs mostly boycotted that poll but took part with enthusiasm on yesterday, backed by nationalist rebels who vowed to protect those who voted. "I'm delighted to be voting for the first time because this election will lead to the American occupation forces leaving," Jamal Mahmoud, 21, said in the battle-scarred city of Ramadi. Turnout in 10 hours of voting was at least 10 million, or 67%, election commission chief Hussein Hendawi said, much higher than the 58%on Jan 30. In Saddam Hussein's home province around Tikrit, once a heartland of Sunni opposition, turnout was 83%, an election official said. Some provisional results may be known today, but definitive tallies could take two weeks or more, officials say. United Nations envoy Ashraf Qazi was pleased: "All in all it was a good day and a historic day". A White House spokesman also called it a historic day. Informal polling by Reuters around the country showed the ruling Shiite Islamist Alliance and their Kurdish allies still dominant in their southern and northern bases respectively. But there also seemed to be a strong turnout in favour of former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, who heads a secular slate with candidates from across Iraq's sectarian and ethnic divides. While voting went well generally, two people were killed in mortar attacks in Mosul and Tal Afar in the north and three, including a US Marine, were wounded when a mortar round landed in Baghdad's Green Zone. A nationwide three-day traffic ban, and the presence of 200,000 Iraqi soldiers and police backed up by US troops, appeared to succeed in protecting 6,000 polling stations. A suicide car bomber was shot dead in Baghdad and police said they arrested another east of the capital. US diplomats hope that if Sunnis are drawn into the political process, the revolt will be undermined, letting Iraqis gradually take over security without provoking a civil war. "Ballot boxes are a victory of democracy over dictatorship," Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said after voting, his finger purple with the dye that prevents double voting and is a symbol of Iraqi democracy. "They've chosen voting over bombs." Reuters

Real life 3D gizmo comes closer home

2005-12-17T13:07:00.000+08:00

TheSun 16Dec2005 Real life 3D gizmo comes closer home by Emily Tan KUALA LUMPUR: Imagine playing God and watching a perfect miniature world evolving and developing under your nose, enclosed in a glass dome. Or think of manipulating a spaceship through a 3D universe you can stroll around and study from all angles. Thanks to a project by University College Sedaya International's (UCSI) Centre for Research Excellence (CRE) all this may be possible in the near future. The project entitled "Volumetric Display Using Light Emitting Diodes (LED)" aims to produce an affordable 3D holographic display unit that produces high quality 3D images in real life. Earlier this year, CRE received a grant of almost RM1 million for the project from the Multimedia Development Corporation. Called Volex, the project is headed by CRE manager Andres Trianon, 25, and five researchers. Trianon, a UCSI computer graduate, plans to create the 3D display using LEDs. The secret behind Volex are rapidly spinning LEDs creating the illusion of a 3D image. "The speed at which the LEDs spin tricks the human eye into seeing a continuous, 3D image," explains Trianon. Trianon demonstrated that because the LEDs rotate, the centre, or "central axis" around which they spin remains blank. However, Trianon is confident that the problem can be solved. For now, one of the most advanced 3D displays is Perspecta by Actuality Systems. Not available commercially, costing USD$40,000 (RM152,000) per unit, Perspecta works by projecting detailed image slices onto a rotating screen. "Perspecta is flawed. It requires a huge amount of processing power, makes a loud whirring sound, and produces an image that has a blank centre,"he said. He admits the technology that Volex is based on is not really new. Back in 1979, a researcher in the United States, Berlin Junior, developed the idea for a basic 3D image display using LEDs. "I contacted him in the early stages of the project, and asked him why he did not develop the device. He said at that time, the required bandwidth and technology to produce the imagery for 3D display was either too expensive, or just didn't exist. "However, with advances made new, I believe it is the perfect time to develop Volex," said Trianon. The marketing potential for a product like Volex is tremendous. With the market primed by science shows like Star Trek, The Matrix, and Star Wars, the mere idea of a holographic display fires the imagination. "Not only home-users, but shops, restaurants, hotels, and advertising agencies will find a use for Volex. Leave it to them, they'll figure out how best to use it!" laughed Trianon. A software engine to create 3D images that can be projected by Volex will be developed along with the display unit. The team hopes to have a working prototype ready by Dec 2006.

`We don't want his computer'

2005-12-17T13:06:00.000+08:00

TheSun 16Dec2005 `We don't want his computer' It took our friend's life, say three classmates by Charles Ramendran PETALING JAYA: The three friends of 16-yearold Yap Wui Chung who were left his computer after the teenager killed himself on Wednesday have refused to accept the machine. None of them, who were Wui Chung's classmates at Sultan Abdul Samad secondary school in Section 14, want the computer that robbed their friend of his life. Wui Chung, who was said to have been obsessed with computer games and the Inter net, had electrocuted himself when his father refused to upgrade the computer. He willed his three friends as the recipients of his computer and accessories. He had typed their names down in a note and instructed his parents to hand them the machine. "I did as my son wanted me to do. But the boys declined the offer," said Wui Chung's father, who only wanted to be identified as Yap. "Since they refused, I will donate the items to an orphanage or charitable organisation. At least it will be put to good use." Yap had approached the boys when they turned up for his son's funeral at the Kampung Tunku crematorium yesterday. Some 20 classmates had turned up for the ceremony. A classmate said Wui Chung was worried about his academic performance and the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia examination he would be taking next year and this could have led to his death. "We believe he could control his passion (for computer games). We think he was worried about his studies and that drove him to commit suicide," the classmate said. But Yap thinks otherwise. He maintains that his son's obsession with computer games and the Internet had killed him. "We never pressured him about anything, including his studies. He was our only child and we wanted the best for him," he said. "We believe he could not control himself. He was a computer junkie and that drove him to kill himself."

Investing into the lives of others

2005-12-17T12:27:00.001+08:00

TheSUn 17Dec2005 Investing into the lives of others BY LAUREN LIM I RECEIVED A new diary a few days ago and the reality of it sank in 2005 is indeed coming to an end in two weeks. Maybe I say this at the end of every year but time does seem to pass us by quicker than before. Of course the Earth is not rotating any faster and 24 hours is still many hours. The fact is that a large chunk of my time has been occupied with a myriad of activities in the course of the year that I have not noticed the the clock ticking away. Seconds they don't seem to mean anything anymore except to athletes who are bent on breaking more records. Minutes what are they except that which are kept at every meeting and read by no one after that. Hours we could spend them to surf the Internet or read a book ... or make a difference in someone's life. As I pen down my particulars on the front page of the diary, a picture of an old woman came to mind. She lies in a hospital bed with tubes attached to her frail body. What is time to her as she drifts between sleep and awakening the whole day long? As a midwife she spent a big part of her life in the hospital caring for newborns. She was a dedicated nurse who often worked the graveyard shift so much so that upon her retirement, her services were still requested by the hospital. On the home front, she was aunt to many nephews and nieces. She played host to many of them who came to the city to study and in her later years, baby sat the grand-nephews. In doing that, she invested into the lives of the younger generation. She lived a simple life herself and was never a burden to anyone. Her quiet and gentle demeanour made her a great friend and companion. She was always ready to lend a helping hand to those who needed it and often did what she could quietly and without any fanfare. Such was her character that till the time she had a fall, she would still insist on washing the dishes after a meal even though the maid was on hand to help. Later on in life, she spent her days "reading" newspapers often holding them upside down. I have noticed the way she watches those around her with a far away look. What is on her mind? I have no way of knowing because her answer to my question is always "Nothing" accompanied by a smile. When I first met her, she often asked where I live and how many "miles" it was from her home. A few minutes later, she would ask me the same question and then again ... and then again. Nowadays, she would ask me about the "two boys" her grand-nephews whom she babysat some years back. Initially, I used to tell her that they were in school no matter what time or day it was. After all, what difference is it to her where they were? While the truth has no direct consequence on her, still, every person ought to be treated with dignity. I have since repented from giving her the usual mundane answers. While I do not always have the answers to her questions, telling her the day of the week and what they "might" be doing makes it more meaningful for me because I believe that every living being would appreciate a sense of decency and selfesteem when spoken to. Also, why should anyone behave in a lowly fashion just because the other is feeble? Yes, she has Alzheimer's but that does not change the fact that she is alive. I looked at my diary again and it seems that I have 365 days to do a whole slew of things! How should I spend the New Year and Chinese New Year and Christmas in 2006? How would she spend them? It dawned upon me then that she does not have much choice because of her infirmity. But I do. I can spend my time learning to cook or improving my IT skills; I could teach my daughter how to read or take up ballroom dancing. We are bombarded by so many choices from the media that we often "think" we do not have enough time. It is a matter of choice really, what we choose to do with our time. Prioritising seems to be an alien concept to many nowadays because we are told that we "need" this and we "have to" do this in order for us to be cool, hot, techno-savvy and beautiful. Lacking one or the other would deem us geeks and nerds. I suppose that is where the danger lies. One never knows when to stop doing ... and start being. I think of her again. She taught me a lesson of great worth invest into the lives of others, for then, one's labour will overflow into the generations to come. What better way to protract one's investment of time! Lauren Lim is a homemaker, a rusty musician and a life observer.

Police force deserves better

2005-12-17T12:27:00.000+08:00

TheSun 17Dec2005 Police force deserves better "... the worst thing of all is to have an irresponsible police force, and the next worst is to have one that is responsible only to the executive..." Lord Devlin, 1957. THE COUNTRY WAS still digesting the Royal Commission Report on enhancing the operation and management of the Royal Malaysian Police (RMP) when the ear-squat pictures were revealed last month. I share the view of Tan Sri Musa Hitam, our former deputy prime minister cum home minister, that the public response to it had been overblown the government's response to the pictures, the appointment of yet another commission, a visit to China by the home minister and apologies galore. Looks to me like knee jerk responses to the media build-up and as many commentators noted, a recognition of the vast influence of the New China. Lots of tourists, students and investment income to be lost during this slow growth economy. Let us view the squat pictures with some perspective. Taken at its worst, the pictures do not display torture or physical harm. Breaches of lock-up and body search rules are another matter. There had been far more serious transgressions which deserve public and gove nment attention. The deaths and injuries alleged in lock-ups, the shooting of a van in Pengkalan Kubor involving innocents sometime back, the loss of crucial drug evidence to be used in court, the escape of powerful criminals from detention all these issues deserve greater attention. One of the benefits of studying at the University of Buckingham two decades back was the exposure to police officers, both serving officers and those that had left the force. I g athered from my interactions that police work is indeed hard and stressful. Officers are subject to frequent relocations and 24-hour calls. The stressful nature of the work frequently resulted in family break-ups and health problems. Work procedures are ridden with rules and regulations and with much paperwork. Then there is the constant danger to life and limb for officers handling violent crimes and other dangerous duties. While focusing on weaknesses in the police force one must not forget the sacrifices put up by the officers and men as well as the constraints they have to face in their daily tasks. The police need the active cooperation and support of the public in carrying out its duties. Let not the undergoing negative publicity deter the public from providing the necessary support and encouragement. The Royal Commission Report on the whole had been well received by the nation. Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's readiness to set up the commission speaks well of his administration. We have to reco gnise and to face up to weaknesses. Of course one must not believe that problems only exist in the RMP. Similar critical examinations of other organisations such as the military, immigration, local councils, Economic Planning Unit and more would also reveal surprising, even shocking results. If one calls for complaints, one will get loads. The Royal Commission, given the time available to it, had attempted to familiarise itself with the current state of policing and had confronted head-on sensitive issues such as corruption in the force. The public were allowed to air their numerous grievances. Owing no doubt to its terms of reference, the report is somewhat lacking in several areas. First, there is little by way of assessing the demand for policing, both current and in the future. In my article, "Policing in the 21st Century" (The Edge Dec 23, 2002), I noted that, "Rapid changes in the socio-economy, notably urbanisation and excessive population growth have resulted in increased problems for the police". Factors resulting in greater demands on policing include illegal immigration, dislocation of estate labour, urban unemploy ment, increase in number of vehicles, access to mobile phones and g reater availability of firearms. Second, the inadequate resources made available for policing. In my article I gave the example of police patrols. "There is just not enough police patrolling done, particularly during the wee hours. The deputy IGP had pointed out that financial allocations for police vehicles are just not sufficient ... "The civilian population is laden with the latest sports utility vehicles and luxurious four-wheel drives while the police force has to make do with Land Rovers that have seen better days". And of course the most important resource is manpower. My comment here, "Sad to say, gone are the days when head prefects, house captains and top athletes at our premier schools were the prime candidates for the nation's police force. We must do more to ensure that our police force attracts the country's cream of the crop". Third, management concepts and strategies. The RMP, from its inception more than a century ago had been expanding and expanding. Arising from our history, principally the Emergency (194860), continuing communist insurrection till late 80's and the May 1969 riots, para-military and anti-terrorism responsibilities had been assigned to the RMP. Its centralised management structure had continued to this day. Contrast this with the separate constabularies of Great Britain and the separate state, county and city police forces in the United States. We do need to review the management structure to deter mine if cer tain RMP functions could be better placed under other agencies, to consider the for mation of regional contingents to take up certain Bukit Aman functions and so on. Fourth, supervision of the police. There is nothing unusual or untoward in seeking better supervision of the police. Public listed companies have exter nal auditors, audit committees of the board, general meetings of shareholders and the purview of regulators (Companies Commission, Securities Commission and Bursa Malaysia). The police have enormous powers which are exercised by men and these powers and men need to be closely supervised. There is nothing I hate more than to see two policemen on a motorcycle stopping a "foreign worker-looking" man in a back lane. Apart from the unhealthy image it conveys, it reflects poor supervision. The policemen are not being supervised by any officer and would appear to be on a frolic of their own. Like it or not, the key word in policing is proper supervision the constables by junior officers, juniors by seniors, right up to the top. Who supervises the top police officers? The answer is the Home Ministry and the Police Force Commission. The Federal Constitution Article 140 provides, "There shall be a Police Force Commission whose jurisdiction shall extend to all persons who are members of the police force and ... shall be responsible for the appointment, confirmation ... promotion, transfer and exercise of disciplinary control ..." The Article also provides for the Police Force Commission to delegate its duties, to consult outside persons to carry out other matters it considers necessary or expedient to better perform its functions. Through all the recent travails faced by RMP, it is surprising that we have not heard more from or about the Police Force Commission. This commission is the body primarily responsible, under the Constitution, to supervise the police force. The supervision is not only by way of selection/ promotion/emplacement but also the exercise of disciplinary control. The Royal Commission Report did not address the issue of the function of the Police Force Commission. Perhaps the Police Force Commission staffing and resources can be suitably expan-ded so that we do not need to set up separate bodies to hear police complaints or ad hoc commissions every time there is a major public uproar. Fifth, addressing the future. The Royal Commission, in line with its terms of reference, did not directly tackle this area. However it did look at modernisation aspects which are relevant here. Here are some "future" issues which the authorities should look at. · I have mentioned how urbanisation, illegal immigration, motor vehicle "explosion", etc had affected the demand for policing. This trend is likely to continue. The police would not only need additional resources but would also have to change their policing and investigation methods. · Related to the above is the growth of urban conurbations outside the Klang Valley. From newspaper and anecdotal reports, crime rates in fast-growing areas such as Penang and Johor Baru are worrying. Existing policing resources and organisational set-ups for large urban centres should be reviewed. · Rise of organised crime. As a country gets richer and more urbanised, the scourge of organised crime appears. Syndicates prosper from the rise of drug trafficking, illegal bookmaking, prostitution and extortion. Organised crime must be clearly distinguished from crimes like purse-snatching and burglaries. In some less fortunate countries, crime overlords even take over towns and small states. We need American-style racketeering, postal fraud (including wire, wireless and electronic communication) and money laundering statutes and enforcement. RMP would need to gear itself organisationally and resourcewise to tackle organised crime. Left untended organised crime can even take over the police and government itself. · Surveillance equipment. It is shocking when a jewellery shop located deep within a major shopping mall could be robbed and we had no closed-circuit photos of the perpetrators. And motorists entering and leaving the toll highways are not photo-recorded as in most countries. No wonder criminals are able to travel far and wide undetected. And market areas like Section 14, Petaling Jaya; and Jalan Chow Kit, Kuala Lumpur; should certainly be under camera surveillance. The authorities, in particular RMP, and the private sector should work together on electronic surveillance to cut down waste and promote effectiveness. · Self-help security services. Companies and organisations having property and people to protect should be encouraged to provide more of their own resources for protection purposes. Such private guards, vehicles and surveillance equipment can help reduce the taxpayer burden. RMP should ensure private guards are vetted and supervised. While I support more self-help efforts, I am not in favour of g ated communities. The authorities should study this issue carefully in relation to the country's image and its effect on race-relations. Malaysians, under the present administration, are justifiably enjoying their greater opportunity to expose and to criticise wrongdoings. Although most government bodies are also ridden with weaknesses, to a large extent RMP had taken the brunt because its involvement with the public is so great. In my view, exposes and criticisms are fine. But issues have to be seen in their proper perspective. We, the present Malaysian public, owe a great deal to the police force for its courage and sacrifices during the Emergency, Confrontation and public disorders. Do not paint with too broad a brush. Weaknesses in the force are not only due to internal factors but are also the result of lack of resources and policy failures on the part of the government. The police force is imbued with super-enormous powers. For this reason it, from top to bottom, has to be properly supervised and be made accountable. This is the major issue which we must all address. At the same time we must be mindful of the new, difficult challenges of policing work in the future. Finally, let us consider another thought from Lord Devlin, " ... policemen are not by origin or by training simply creatures of the executive. They are not men in barracks but citizens living and working among the communities they serve". Radzuan Halim, a former banker, teaches MBA and law students.

An Interview With Nazri Aziz

2005-12-17T12:12:00.000+08:00

the SUN: Why are you in politics? What drove you to enter politics? I am in politics by accident. When I came back from UK (after completing his law studies), the person who moved my call to the Bar was Haji Suhaimi (former Umno Youth chief Datuk Suhaimi Kamaruddin). At that time, he was the Umno Youth chief and under the Umno Youth constitution at that time, he had the power to appoint to the executive committee two people under the age of 30. At that time I was 24 years old, and so Haji Suhaimi after he moved my call (to the Bar) and after having had dinner with me, said he was appointing me (to the committee). I did not immediately say yes, and I told him that I would think about it. After a week, my uncle who was also my master, said Suhaimi was his friend and would really like me to accept it (the appointment). After a week of being advised by my uncle, I accepted. Some people say that once you enter politics, it's difficult to let go. Do you think it is true? Have you any regrets joining politics? Ya ... once you enter politics, it is difficult to get out, because you are used to the life and you know in politics you have people around you, and once you leave politics, you feel lonely, you feel you are useless and that is why I think they want to come back. I have no re g rets joining politics. I have enjoyed every moment of it. Your first cabinet portfolio was entrepreneur development minister. It was here that you had some kind of altercation with the Anti-Corruption Agency and it became quite controversial. What actually transpired? The altercation with ACA was because it was taking a long time to investigate something which was not even about me. It was about the Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board. When it came out in the papers, and as CVLB was under me, suddenly the focus was on me. The election (General Election 2004) was drawing near, the delay would certainly be a question mark over me. And I was worried that if it went on till election day, I would probably be dropped just because the ACA was looking at the CVLB. I knew all along that the allegation by that chap was not true. It (the probe) was taking too long. All I did was to tell the ACA to proceed quickly (with the investigation). And because of that, some people took offence and suddenly I got to know that they wanted to arrest me, put me in a hotel and question me. And also because of ... orang kata apa? ... trying to blow up their investigation ... which is not the case. I asked the ACA to hurry up. As you know, the AttorneyGeneral announced there was no case against me. Not because I asked them to cover up the case or slow down or otherwise. I did what I thought was right. When you were told you were going to be in charge of parliamentary affairs, how did you define your role and was there any model that you followed? I was surprised when the prime minister reminded me of a conversation I had in 1999 with Tun Daim (Zainuddin) in which I asked whether I could go to the Prime Minister's Department to take charge of Parliament. I was surprised that Pak Lah remembered it (the conversation in 1999). He knew that I would like to be in charge of Parliament. When I became minister in charge of Parliament, the prime minister reminded me (that) he wanted me to ensure Parliament functioned (properly). Because he said our majority was really big, which was 92%. The prime minister does not want Parliament to be a rubber-stamp. The prime minister wants a Parliament where we debate everything. He told me because our majority is big, we must be seen to be listening. I understood what he meant. I did not look at any par ticular model, such as Westminster, which we should follow. I think we have to build our own model, through trial and error and then we just have to move on in accordance with the needs in Malaysia. We don't have to copy any other model. I saw the need to have a select committee, and I talked to the PM and he agreed to it. That is why now you see a lot of select committees. There are two now and soon a third parliamentary select committees on Criminal Procedure Code and Penal Code, National Unity and National Integrity. I also always thought that we should move beyond partisan politics. We must recognise the f act that we are all elected members, and it does not depend on your position or otherwise. So in a move to go beyond partisan politics, we should have a caucus ... where we can look into issues which are close to the heart of the public, such as human rights. I thought about all these, such as the setting up of the Myanmar Caucus. I think Malaysia should be confident of itself. For example, if democracy is good for Malaysia, it should also be good for neighbouring countries. A point in case being Myanmar. So that is why I thought why not push for a caucus to promote democracy in Myanmar. Also it was urgent this year, because Myanmar was about to take over as chairman (of Asean). It would be very embarrassing for us. So this was one issue which we took up and succeeded. In fact, we were the ones who star ted and now there are Myanmar caucuses in all the other Parliaments in South East Asia. And then, of course, there is human rights. This is important because it cuts across party politics. We are elected members and despite having different political leanings, there are issues which are common to us. One example is the issue on ear-squat. I defended Teresa Kok (DAP member for Seputeh). It is not a question of being pro-DAP or pro-BN. We are pro-people. These are the people's problems. If they can't get redress from somewhere, where else do they go? They come to Parliament or go to their elected representatives. That is why we have to be pro-people and besides, this (Dewan Rakyat) is the House of the People. So, when you asked what model I used, it would be to run it (Parliament) in a way where it would assist ordinary people. Did you bring in the Head of Administration because you were dissatisfied with the way things were being run? When I became minister in charge of Parliament, the prime minister clearly said that I must look into all matters involving Parliament everything from the physical building to the needs of MPs. What I found was the Secretary of the Dewan Rakyat also acted as general secretary of the whole Parliament. He is burdened with everything. Not with just the work in the Dewan but also when it comes to such things as parking, toilets, Speaker punya rumah and other things which rosak. I think it is not fair to him, to be burdened with all these. When I attend cabinet meetings, there are instructions with regards to Parliament. Then I have to bring this to the Dewan secretary. But he has got so much on his plate that some times cabinet decisions are not implemented. Because of that, I discussed it with the Chief Secretary to the Government and asked him how to go about this. He said we could probably have an officer here (in Parliament) with the responsibility to solve problems that have nothing to do with the Dewan affairs. So we can free the secretary. That is how we came up with the decision and it was approved by cabinet. So what I did was to improve Parliament, not to form another power base. I am a Member of Parliament, and I do not want to set up something which would rival Parliament. With the administration head in place, will the MPs be getting what they have been seeking, such as research assistants and better facilities? Yes. Definitely they will. Because the head of administration is always in contact with me and will follow up on matters; such as claims which have to be settled in two weeks. All these have been conveyed to the head of administration and he keeps tabs on the progress, position and the status (of issues). Sometimes you take your job as an executive too seriously. When provoked, you shout MPs down. You are seen as scolding them. Some people are actually scared of being verbally abused. They call you a bully. I am very passionate about my job. I am a lawyer by training and I believe in freedom of association and freedom of speech. If I answer passionately, don't blame me, because that's how passionate I am in defending the government and my position. You will find people like Lim Kit Siang (Parliamentary Opposition Leader) going berserk and shouting. I don' t feel of fended because he is passionate about his job. So it is the same with me. If I am seen as being very hard and go strongly at a particular person at a particular time, that is because I am passionate about my job. Don't be angry or blame me for that. I don't look at it as vengeance (on his part). It's all in a day's work. Outside Parliament, it is different. I know you have a job to do, and I have a job to do, it's just who is better. For example, I remember one occasion (when) I was angry with Kula (DAP Ipoh Barat MP M. Kulasegaran). He was trying to show that the government is racist, in the sense that we don't recognise CSMU (Crimea State Medical University) degrees. He was implying that two years ago the then minister of education said there were too many Indians there, and was trying to relate it to the issue of non-recognition of CSMU. Many people say that our MPs cannot be referred as law- makers, as they do not make the laws. Mostly, they approve that which has already been decided. What's your take on this? You know that in any country when they have a Westminsterstyle Parliament, there is also this system of the Whip. You even have this in the UK. The Whip means that once the government decides on something, everybody must support. And you know, we have a big majority and naturally when it comes to voting on a Bill, we will use the Whip. But this is something which you have to live with. We allow some latitude for MPs to criticise but when it comes to making a decision, we use the Whip. If you call this r ubber stamping, then even in the UK it is rubber stamping. Is a Unicameral (single House) not efficient, when compared to the present system of a Upper House and Lower House? This Bicameral is more of a window dressing, rather as a check and balance. But we all know that appointments to the senate are done by the government. Even if you do it through the Unicameral way, there is still only one Parliament. So it makes no difference whether we are Unicameral or Bicameral. When the government is strong, that is what you are going to see, that all Bills come from the executive and 100% it is going to get through. You can't run away (from it). This is a fact of life. Let's not kid ourselves. This is the system and it has been there for more than 40 years and we will continue to be like this. If the public somehow one day decide this is not a good system, then it is entirely up to them.

Why docs leave

2005-11-15T09:44:00.000+08:00

KUALA LUMPUR: Apart from the poor pay and long hours, time spent away from patients is driving doctors to leave government service. Last year, 374 doctors left the government service an average of about one per day, according to statistics from the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA). Many joined the private sector because they wanted better pay and better hours. But some quit because they were frustrated that administrative duties, meetings, examinations and seminars kept them from treating patients. MEETINGS vs PATIENTS MMA deputy secretary Dr Kuljit Singh estimates that at least 20-40% of a government doctor's time is spent in departmental, hospital, state and Ministry of Health meetings as well as attending courses and seminars. "I get taken away from clinical work and have to leave the afternoon clinic with juniors," he told Bernama. If there is a delay in tackling this problem, he predicts, "Government doctors will move to greener pastures where they can get at least four times the salary and see patients from 8am to 5pm". "In the private sector, they have no administrative work or courses and not as many meetings," he said. NO COURSE, NO PROMOTION Some doctors have also complained about the Efficiency Level Assessment under the new remuneration scheme which includes in-house evaluation, courses and examinations. Instead of doctors spending time on courses such as how to apply for leave, he suggests that the human resources department in their organisation could advise them. "If doctors don't take the course, they cannot be promoted," he said, questioning whether the assessment measured their efficiency as doctors.

Consumer groups seek more time to study Bills

2005-11-10T15:07:00.000+08:00

Consumer groups seek more time to study Bills by R. Manirajan PETALING JAYA: Consumer associations feel there are too many loopholes and weaknesses in the proposed Water Service Industry Bill and the National Water Services Commission Bill and want these rectified before they are tabled in Parliament next year. They also want the Energy, Water and Communications Ministry and its minister, Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik, to extend the consultation period on the Bills, which aim to overhaul water supply and services, so that all interested parties can scrutinise the proposals and give feedback. Lim held a two-hour closeddoor consultation and briefing for about 20 consumer associations yesterday. ERA Consumer Association president N. Marimuthu said: "The minister agreed in principle to extend the Nov 24 deadline by another four months and present the Bills for first reading in Parliament in March instead of the end of this month." He said the associations want more time to refer to similar legislations in other countries. Marimuthu said the associations also asked the ministry to pay for five consultations and to post all responses on its website. Coalition Against Privati sation of Water coordinator Charles Santiago said its members want the ministry-appointed consultant, KPMG, to post its report on findings on the Bills on the ministry website. "KPMG officials who were present objected, but the minister said he will try to declassify the report before putting it on the website as it's under the Official Secrets Act," he told theSun. Santiago described as improper a provision which stipulates that water supply and sewerage services will be disconnected after 14 days in cases of non-payment. "Water is a basic necessity, especially for the poor. It is not like Coke or Pepsi. This provision can't be made into a law and, by right, should be a regulation." Asked about his impression of the Bills, Santiago said they will not solve all the water problems. He said the National Water Services Commission Bill will result in massive bureaucracy. "Having the Bills alone is not enough ... there are other things such as protecting our rivers and educating the people on water usage that need to be looked into," he said. "There is also the need to reform certain things in the public sector ... as there is too much political interference in certain states where water is concerned and we need to separate this."

Standard rates not fair, says Koh

2005-11-09T15:04:00.000+08:00

Standard rates not fair, says Koh by Opalyn Mok PENANG: It will not be fair to consumers in Penang if water tariffs were standardised throughout the country as the state would have to increase its rates, Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon said yesterday. "I do not agree that water rates for all the states be standardised because in Penang, the rates are lower than those in the other states," he said. Koh was commenting on a statement by Energ y, Water and Communications Minister Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik on Monday that all the states will charge the same rates for water under a plan to correct imbalances in the water services industry. Currently, the rates in Penang are 31 sen for the first 1,000 litres for domestic users, and 94 sen for the first 1,000 litres for industrial users. The rates in the other states are between 50 sen and 90 sen for domestic users, and between RM1.15 and RM3 for industrial users. Koh said that standardising the rates would have a big impact on Penang. "I do not believe that we need to increase the water rates to such an extent as the rates must reflect the cost structure of water supply in each state," he said. Koh, who is also the chairman of PBA Holdings Bhd, said the water tariffs must be fixed in tandem with cost structures and management efficiency of water supply in every state. "This does not mean we are denying the fact that the cost of supplying water has been increasing and will continue to rise," he said. He said the state government, however, supports the proposal of the Water Services Industry Bill and National Water Services Commission Bill to be tabled in the Dewan Rakyat. Koh was speaking at a press conference after officiating at the 2005 Young Enter prise Prog ramme Achievers' Showcase at Universiti Sains Malaysia. On the teaching of Mathematics and Science in English in primary schools, he said there is a need to continue to study the effects of the implementation of the programme during the past three years. "I will take into consideration the views and feedback from all parties when looking into ways to improve or improvise the programme," he said.

Stocking up on Tamiflu

2005-11-09T14:42:00.000+08:00

Stocking up on Tamiflu by Giam Say Khoon and Regina William PUTRAJAYA: The Health Ministry has ordered RM4 million worth of the anti-viral drug Tamiflu, enough to treat 60,000 patients, in case there is an outbreak of the deadly H5N1 bird flu. Its Disease Control Department director Dr Ramlee Rahmat said that more orders would be placed whenever allocations are approved. Health Minister Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek had recently announced that the government would be stockpiling the drug up to a level which would enable the treatment of at least 10% of the population. Ramlee said yesterday that medical staff and other health workers would be given priority in treatment "because they have a higher chance of contracting the disease". He said it would take some time for the drug, manufactured by Swiss phar maceutical company Roche, to be delivered due to high demand. In the latest case, a Vietnamese man has died of bird flu as health experts meet in Geneva to map out a strategy to prevent a global pandemic. In Vietnam, 42 people have died from H5N1. The latest case is a 35-year-old man who died late last month after eating a chicken with his family (Report in Page 10). There is no vaccine now to protect humans against the virus which is presently known to be transmitted from birds to humans. "However, there is global fear that the virus may mutate, enabling it to be transmitted from human to human," Ramlee told a media briefing. He said the ministry is well prepared to face a possible outbreak of the H5N1 virus with standby isolation wards, active case detection teams, clinics and protective equipment like masks and gloves. "We displayed our readiness in Kelantan when there was an outbreak of the flu last year," he added. Poultry farms being monitored as precaution Asked if the mysterious death of 100 pigeons in Bidor, Perak, last Saturday was caused by bird flu, he said the veterinary department had confirmed the birds tested negative for the H5N1 virus. As for the incident in Taman Mutiara, Sungai Petani, last Thursday, when more than 10 pigeons dropped dead, Kedah veterinary services department director Dr Quaza Nizamuddin Hassan Nizam said no other cases of pigeon deaths were reported. He, however, said the more than 200 poultry farms in the state are being monitored as a precaution. "We are not sure how many pigeons actually died because we have only one carcass and the rest were disposed. The pigeons in the vicinity and in neighbouring areas look healthy," said Quaza in a telephone interview. Penang veterinary services department director Dr Mohd Zairi Serlan said the 357 chicken farms, 50 duck farms and seven other avian farms in the state are being monitored although there has been no reports of unsual bird deaths. The director of the Veterinary Research Institute in Ipoh, Dr Sharifah Syed Hassan, said it received faecal swabs from the dead birds' droppings yesterday afternoon. Test results are expected today. Meanwhile, Tourism Minister Datuk Dr Leo Michael Toyad said Malaysia is well-prepared to prevent the spread of avian flu. He said his ministry is working closely with all tourism players and would issue health advisories, like in the recent dengue outbreak. Instead of experiencing a drop in tourist arrivals, Malaysia is seeing double-digit percentage increases from the long-haul markets, Toyad said.

Child heart surgeons in short supply

2005-10-17T16:21:00.000+08:00

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

2005-10-17T16:20:00.000+08:00

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

2005-10-16T14:55:00.000+08:00

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

2005-10-16T14:52:00.000+08:00

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

2005-10-16T14:51:00.000+08:00

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)

2005-10-16T14:49:00.000+08:00

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

2005-10-16T14:37:00.000+08:00

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

2005-10-15T16:07:00.000+08:00

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

2005-10-15T16:00:00.000+08:00

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?

2005-10-15T15:59:00.000+08:00

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

2005-10-15T15:53:00.000+08:00

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

2005-10-15T15:47:00.000+08:00

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

2005-10-15T15:46:00.000+08:00

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.

The frenzied attacks that once shook Bali

2005-10-15T10:38:00.000+08:00

The frenzied attacks that once shook Bali Mazlan Nordin THE SUN At stake now is its lingering reputation as an island paradise ... EXOTIC Bali is much in the news again for the wrong reason, following the recent bombings which killed 25 people and wounded some 140 others, including Indonesians. They were repeats of similar attacks three years ago which killed over 200 people, mostly foreign tourists. At stake now is its lingering reputation as an island paradise with its myriad art forms; its gamelan music, dance, shadow puppet theatre and manipulative dalang (puppet master), painting and sculpture of gods, demons and witches, kings and princesses, heroes and villains. In Tampaksising, a palace designed by the late President Sukarno stands atop a hill overlooking a lovely centuries-old temple, built according to legend, in one night by a Hindu god. Village maidens used to bathe in the temple pool. On all sides are hills of terraced rice fields and coconut palms, presenting a picture of pastoral symphony. And at night, as a peasant said it: "One can almost reach for the twinkling stars." To the palace Sukarno used to go by special flight from Jakarta, to seek inspiration for his speeches to the nation. Bali was deemed to be part of the Javanese cultural cosmos. It was said that Sukarno had been blessed with the Wahyu Chakraningrat, special powers from the gods whose wishes were commands to be obeyed without question. Questions were raised, though, during a conference in Bali organised by the Press Foundation of Asia in August 1971. It was attended by more than 110 newspaper editors and publishers from India, Japan, the Philippines, Hongkong, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Indonesia. One question in particular touched on the violence which erupted in Bali in the wake of the failed communist coup on Sept 30, 1965, which later led to the collapse of the Indonesia Communist Party and the fall of Sukarno. As recorded later in The Dark side of Paradise (Cornall University Press) by Geoffrey Robinson, Professor of History, University of California, an estimated 80,000 people or roughly 5% of the island population, died. Noting the views among academies that the political violence was "a historic aberration caused by lamentable meddling of outsiders", Robinson adds: "The massacre has often been described, for example, as the consequence of a religiosity rooted in Balinese desire to rid the island of evil and restore cosmic balance. "The frenzy with which it was carried out has been attributed to schizophrenic tendencies in the Balinese character and to a cultural predilection for going intro a trance." Question: Was it then a mass amok? Going back further to past history, Robinson refers to the Dutch colonial tendency during its rule on the island: "Dutch policy had a strong elitist element or, more precisely, a caste bias."An official decision "to uphold the caste concept, being the principle of Balinese society, gave rise to signs of frustration" among the people. One such sign was the polemic over "caste privileges" which raged in the local Malay language newspapers Surya Kanta and Bali Adnyana in the 1920s." Of interest is the explanation in the footnote: "Strangely, the editors did not question the use of the Malay language as the medium for articulating this debate: their own paper was written entirely in Malay. "It was the Dutch who, some years later, struck upon the idea of shifting the language of discourse to Balinese." As the cliche goes, so much water has flowed under the bridge since then. Blamed now for the bombings of tourist areas in Bali is the Jemaah Islamiah, said to be an ally of Al Qaeda in this region. Another question: Who then is the dalang? Foreign pressures exerted on Indonesia to ban the movement have been set aside because of its positive contribution in education, philanthropy and other areas among the rakyat. To all of which might be added A Poet's Lament from Rendra, the renowned Indonesian poet. Some excerpts: Oh God Most Merciful As I write this poem, the rain is falling and the night is all around me Bamboo bushes shake in the darkness, and large rain drops rush at my window, bringing new life and coolness to the earth Oh Allah, I see the greatness of the primordial world and all its secrets spread out before me. How great You are, How beautiful You are Then, suddenly, I am shocked. I can see the trees in the forests of Borneo dripping blood The patchouli gardens in Aceh, with flowers shaped like bleeding wounds The waves of the ocean around Ambon turning red and becoming tongues of fire Tonight I do not hear insects singing I do not hear the birds calling to each other I hear only the rhythmic sound of the rain, formed into patterns from time to time as the wind beats on the window and the leaves of the trees And the sad cry of a wounded birdof-paradise, caught in the branches of a tree in the forests of West New Guinea Allah, I can no longer write about the beauty of the world The words in the philosophy books scattered across my table turn into severed heads Images of warm and friendly villages turn into uncertainty, as they surrender their faith and soul to slander As they lose their self-confidence Allah, our faith and soul as a people lie in tatters, spin in the whirlwind, and finally become the rubbish left behind by history. (Translated by Harry Aveling). Composed by Rendra in his village of Kampung Rawa exactly a year after the end of Suharto's 32-year rule in 1998, the poem carries a cautionary tale.

Pakistan rattled by aftershocks

2005-10-15T10:36:00.000+08:00

Pakistan rattled by aftershocks THE SUN MUZAFFARABAD: Pakistani troops struggled yesterday to reach remote villages cut off since the massive weekend quake, as powerful aftershocks triggered panic among millions of homeless and traumatised survivors. Desperately-needed supplies were beginning to arrive in devastated northeast Pakistan, but not nearly enough to feed, clothe and shelter some 2.5 million people who have been sleeping out in the cold and rain since Saturday. Stunned villagers were also pouring out of the mountains into the devastated cities of Pakistani Kashmir in search of aid, forced to leave behind their dead and injured in remote settlements where rescuers have not yet set foot. "We are worried for them. We can't reach them by road so we have to use helicopter," said a Pakistani army colonel in charge of one of the units moving higher into the mountains. United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland said: "We're still racing against the clock and we need to get more helicopters, more water, more tents and more money." Independent observers working in towns and villages now re duced to rubble have said the aid effort is poorly organised, with survivors left to fight over handouts from some 30 nations being delivered by truck and helicopter. Pakistan raised the official death toll to more than 25,000, with 63,000 injured, but aid workers believe up to 40,000 have been killed. On the Indian side of divided Kashmir, the toll has hit 1,329. The hardship has been compounded by a series of aftershocks, including a powerful tremor overnight which triggered panic on both sides of the heavily militarised Line of Control that divides Kashmir. "It shook us out of our beds. We fled outside in panic," teacher Muzaffar Wani said in Srinagar, capital of Indian Kashmir. In Islamabad, thousands of jittery residents rushed out of their houses and began reciting verses from the Quran, and later in the day rumours of another imminent earthquake sent them out on the streets again. Many buildings still standing after Saturday's quake have been left in a perilous condition, leading to fears that further tremors could bring teetering walls and roofs tumbling down. AFP

Oprah goes after sexual predators

2005-10-15T10:33:00.000+08:00

Oprah goes after sexual predators THE SUN 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. Winfrey launched Oprah's Child Predator Watch List, which features a round-up of the FBI's most wanted sex offenders, last week, to almost immediate results. Within 48 hours, federal agents had picked up William Davis, 33, in North Dakota follow ing a tip from two Oprah viewers. "We were happily surprised," said Rex Tomb, chief of the FBI's fugitive publicity and public affairs unit. Shortly afterwards, another absconding child molester, Niles Scott, 50, was arrested in Belize City, Belize, after a local woman recognised him from the show and contacted local authorities. Scott was flown back to Cleveland, where he is awaiting trial on charges of molesting three boys. The swift results were testimony to the huge audience Winfrey's syndicated talk show enjoys, pulling in around 30 million viewers a day and reaching 112 countries. "She has an enormous audience that cuts across most demographic boundaries and it has been tremendously helpful," Tomb said. "We see this as an extremely beneficial development." Winfrey, 51, who was named the world's most powerful celebrity by Forbes magazine in June, has sweetened her campaign by offering US$100,000 (RM376,000) of her own money for each fugitive brought to justice. On Tuesday's broadcast of the Oprah Winfrey Show, the talk show host handed over two cheques for US$50,000 (RM188,000) to the two women responsible for turning in Davis. "This is the best money I've ever spent," she said. Winfrey, who was molested as a child, has devoted many shows to the issue of sexual predators, but her new campaign to publicise fugitives' identities has taken her involvement to a new level. "With every breath in my body, whatever it takes and, most importantly, with you by my side, we are going to move heaven and earth to stop an evil that's been going on for far too long," Winfrey said on her show. Tomb said the number of calls received by the FBI's tip line had spiked significantly since Winfrey launched the new watch list.

Deceased's family mulls action against council

2005-10-15T10:31:00.000+08:00

Deceased's family mulls action against council THE family of a painter who was killed when a lamp casing fell off a lamp post and hit him in Johor Baru last Friday is not happy with the explanation given by the city council, which had blamed the accident on a "strong wind". In the incident, Wong Fook Man, 41, died on the spot when the 4kg lamp casing struck him on the head on Jalan Sutera at 1.15am. Wong's kin do not believe it was an act of God and would get details from the weathermen if indeed there was strong wind in the area at the time. Wong's brother, Thien Lai, 45, told China Press on Wednesday that if the Malay sian Meteorological Services (MMS) can prove that there was no strong wind at the time, the family will sue the Johor Baru City Council. He said the family is looking at the matter seriously as it believed the city council is trying to absolve itself of any responsibility over the incident. However, he said he will find out more from the city council before resorting to legal action. Thien Lai said even if the MMS's records showed that there was indeed strong wind at the material time, he will still seek other opinions to find out what possible action he can take. Following its report on Tuesday that the city council had put the blame on a strong wind, the daily received many calls from readers to express their disbelief over the council's explanation. Some of the readers said if the casing is firmly attached to the lamp post, even strong winds would not have caused the casing to fall off. Meanwhile, Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman openly criticised the city council and mayor. Clearly upset over the incident, Abdul Ghani told Datuk Bandar Datuk Wahid Dahlan it should not have happened. He said he hoped it was not because of negligence on the part of those responsible for street lamps in the city, which would be the city council and Tenaga National Bhd. Apart from conveying his sympathies and condolences to the family, he said the family of Wong could make a public liability insurance claim against the city council.

Drug ring nipped in the bud, eight held

2005-10-15T10:30:00.000+08:00

Drug ring nipped in the bud, eight held JOHOR BARU: Police have arrested eight people, including two women, believed to be members of a drug processing and trafficking ring active in the Johor Baru area since two months ago. Johor police chief Datuk Mohd Amir Sulaiman said yesterday they were arrested in two separate raids conducted at Desa Tebrau, here last Tuesday, and at Taman Pelangi Indah, Ulu Tiram, early yesterday. Police seized two pistols, two luxury cars, three motorcycles and Ecstasy pills. In the first raid, conducted at 11.30pm at a house at Desa Tebrau, police arrested a man, believed to be the ringleader, and two women and seized 254 ATS pills weighing 229gm, and a motorcycle. Five others, aged between 38 and 41, were detained in a raid at a house at Taman Pelangi Indah at 3.30am yesterday. Police found two pistols a Norrinco with seven bullets and a Colt and 104 bullets of various types. Also seized were 805 Ecstasy pills, 799gm of Ecstasy powder and 1,972gm of ketamine powder, 18 iron rods, 10 sets of iron mould, three small funnels, a weighing machine, a compressor, a table lamp and a hammer. Police also seized two cars a Mercedes Benz and a Toyota Camry and two motorcycles. "Preliminary investigations found that the eight people detained were involved in processing Ecstasy pills which were distributed to entertainment centres in the city," he said. Mohd Amir said the eight would be remanded until Oct 21 for investigation under Section 39(B) of the Dangerous Drugs Act, Section 8(a) of the Firearms Act 1960 and Section 8 of the Firearms (Heavier Penalties) Act 1971. Bernama

Company and four directors charged (PKPM)

2005-10-15T10:28:00.000+08:00

Company and four directors charged by Maria J. Dass THE SUN KUALA LUMPUR: A company and its four directors were charged in a magistrate's court here yesterday with 26 counts of offences under the Companies Act 1965. The offences include failure to submit the annual accounts a month after the first annual general meeting (AGM) and failure to hold an AGM 18 months after the establishment of the company. P.K.P.M. Services Bhd and the directors Nor Azami Ahmad Ghazali, 37, Sarina Mansor, 34, Saliah Ramli, 57, and Abdul Rahman Baba, 57 were also charged with allowing the company to operate without a company secretary and for knowingly failing to record the names, nationality, addresses, birth dates, identity card numbers and designation of the company directors, in addition to failure to pro vide details of the company secretary and members. They claimed trial to the charges under Sections 139(1b), 141(2)(a), 141(4), 143(1), 165(5), 158(1)(a) of the Companies Act 1965 . Magistrate Azniza Mohd Ali fixed the hearing for Dec 13 and 14. The company and its four directors were represented by Mohd Rashid Mokhtar. Narainasami Alagu and Azmil Harun prosecuted.

Two face RM14m forgery, theft charges

2005-10-15T10:27:00.000+08:00

Two face RM14m forgery, theft charges by Regina William THE SUN BUKIT MERTAJAM: Two former Dell Asia Pacific employees claimed trial in a magistrate's court here yesterday 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 former manager with Dell, denied 10 counts of falsifying material requisition forms causing the company to lose RM11.98 million. Ng is alleged to have caused Dell losses ranging between RM714,400 and RM1,786,000 on each charge. He is alleged to have made alterations to the numbers on the forms with the intention of using the documents to cheat the company at its premises at Bukit Tengah Industrial Estate. Ng faces another charge of stealing 33,000 pieces of certificates of authenticity belonging to Dell between April and September 2003. Tan Boon Hoe, 31, a former technician, also denied falsifying material requisition forms causing Dell to lose RM2.42 million. He faces another charge of stealing 5,000 pieces of certificates of authenticity belonging to Dell between June and July 2003. DPP Muna Mohamed Jaafar asked the court to impound their passports and asked for bail of RM1 million for Ng, and RM100,000 for Tan. Counsel M. Athimulan, representing both Ng and Tan, asked for much lower sums, saying they did not abscond from the country. "When they left Dell, they were given a farewell party by the company ... they never absconded," he said. "They resigned from the company in September and left to join the company in China for two years from October 2003 and had been scheduled to return here last Oct 5 after serving their contract. "It was only in May 2004 that a police report was lodged by the company and the police went there on Sept 22 to arrest them. So there is no question about both of them having absconded." Magistrate Sharmila Abdul Samad set bail at RM33,000 for Tan and RM175,000 for Ng and ordered that their passports be handed over to the court.

Man on molest charge

2005-10-15T10:26:00.001+08:00

Man on molest charge SHAH ALAM: A man was charged in a magistrate's court here yesterday with outraging the modesty of his 19-year-old girlfriend. Mohd Sabri Hussin, 23, self-employed, denied committing the offence in a house in Padang Jawa at about 10.30pm on Aug 31. If convicted, he is liable to a maximum of 10 years' jail or a fine or whipping, or any two of the penalties. Magistrate Hafizah Abdul Rajak fixed Dec 7 for the hearing.

Court to hear suit against Subang council

2005-10-15T10:26:00.000+08:00

Court to hear suit against Subang council SHAH ALAM: The case of a businessman who sued the Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ) for injury to his professional practice and loss of use of office equipment as a result of a raid on his office on Nov 27, 2000 will continue today. The case was brought before High Court Registrar Mohd Khalid Abd Karimis yesterday. K.S. Kok is claiming costs awarded to him by the Shah Alam magistrate's court on April 26, 2002, and a bill of costs amounting to RM10,905 from the council. He is asking for RM1,000 in damages to his property; general damages for injury caused to his professional practice, social status and credibility as a result of the adverse publicity; RM12, 500 for cost of office equipment carted away; cost for loss of use of computer data and time; refund of assessment of RM4,032 paid by him to MPSJ for 1999 and 2000; and any other relief deemed fit by the court. The magistrate's court had, on April 26, 2002, dismissed MPSJ's claim for RM17,400, which it alleged Kok owed in assessment, with costs. Kok then served a bill amounting to RM10,905 on the local authority. The council had offered RM445, which Kok rejected.

We've proven BN wrong, says Kit Siang

2005-10-15T10:23:00.000+08:00

We've proven BN wrong, says Kit Siang by B. Suresh Ram OPPOSITION Leader Lim Kit Siang said the DAP has proved the Barisan Nasional wrong for supporting the Constitution Amendment Bill 1992, which led to the repeal of the Parliamentary Services Act 1963. He said what is worth noting is that in the debate on the Constitution Amendment Bill 1992 to lay the basis for the repeal of the Parliamentary Services Act and the "demotion of the high status" of secretary of Parliament, the DAP MPs opposed the Bill while the BN MPs supported it. The DAP now supports the BN move to ask for the re-enactment of the Act, Lim told a press conference at the Parliament lobby Earlier, Lim told the House the move by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz to appoint a head of administration "has created a troika of unequals" to run Parliament. He said the move will end in a stalemate and "cold wars" in the administration and management of Parliament, allowing Nazri to be the "overlord of Parliament, gravely undermining the doctrine of the separation of powers and parliamentary independence from the Executive". He wondered how the posts of the Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara secretaries and that of the head of administration of Parliament can be equal when they are on different salary scales, with the latter being higher. In reply, Nazri said there is no conflict between the posts. He said the new post of head of administration was merely meant to enhance the efficiency of Parliament and will not not erode the rights of the Dewan Negara and Dewan Rakyat. Nazri said he was also confused over Lim's statement defending the post of the Dewan Rakyat secretary as being the highest post. "And then, he goes and tells us that the speaker is the servant of the House. This is not right," he said.

`Don't fault govt for Indians' low equity'

2005-10-15T10:21:00.001+08:00

`Don't fault govt for Indians' low equity' KUALA LUMPUR: The government should not be blamed for the failure of the Indian community to increase their wealth in the country, said Backbenchers Club chairman Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad. He said MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu should not fault the government as the weaknesses were with the community itself. "The Indian community's problems are more than just equity. Most of their problems are social problems such as gangsterism. "I admit Indians are among the poorest in this country but their participation and achievements in many other fields are amazing," he told Bernama yesterday. Shahrir, who is also Johor Baru MP, was asked to comment on Samy Vellu's outburst on Tuesday that if the gover nment failed to help raise the Indians' equity, the party would not seek its help again and "we (MIC) will close shop". Samy Vellu, who is also works minister, said the government had ignored calls to help the Indians achieve the 3% equity target by 2010. Shahrir said the Indian community had attained significant achievement as professionals and the inter-community income disparity was better than the Malays. "They have all the government assistance to increase their economic stake, for instance Maika Holdings, MIC's investment arm ... what happened to all that?" he asked. MIC should focus on real issues rather than talk about equity, he added.

Local govt not solely to blame for delays

2005-10-15T10:21:00.000+08:00

Local govt not solely to blame for delays by R. Manirajan PUTRAJAYA: The local government alone should not be blamed for the level of corruption in the country. "You can't entirely blame the local gover nment as other government departments are also involved in things, like approval of plans," said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak yesterday when commenting on the cause of delay in approvals. "As I said before, other technical departments are also involved. "Not all powers are with the local government as the powers are also with other technical agencies ... so it should not be blamed (entirely)," he told newsmen after chairing the cabinet committee on local government here. He said he had to clarify the issue and confusion more so after the recent statements made about the local government. Najib said the committee also discussed the need to improve services at one-stop centres, especially approvals for certificate of fitness and building plans as well as client service. The committee, he said, has among other things, found that delays in approvals are sometimes due to nondecision-making junior officers from technical agencies being sent for major meetings. Some problems are due to developers changing their plans and consultants. "The committee has decided that from now on, only senior officers from the technical agencies be sent for such meetings to avoid delays." Najib said it was also known that certain developers have gone directly to technical agencies for approval. "It has also been found that as many as 46% of developers like to go directly to the technical agencies, and deal directly with them. From now on, technical committees need not entertain such developers, he said, adding that developers must submit their applications through the onestop centres. The committee also decided that all developers who want to carry out projects on land bigger than 1ha must submit an erosion and sediment control plan report when making an application, to prevent pollution. "We want to make sure our rivers are not polluted due to development and the Drainage and Irrigation Department will go through the report and make a decision in two weeks. On restaurants in local government areas, Najib said all owners must install a food and oil drainage or filter system at their outlets to prevent the drains from getting clogged-up.

MPs stand for freedom

2005-10-15T10:18:00.000+08:00

MPs stand for freedom `Bring back Parliamentary Services Act' by B. Suresh Ram KUALA LUMPUR: In the name of greater parliamentary independence, Members of Parliament from both sides of the aisle unanimously called for the re-enactment of the Parliamentary Services Act. They took the cue from Backbenchers Club chairman Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad who called on his colleagues to stand up in unison to support the revival of the Act, which was repealed in 1992 on the Speaker's request. The Act basically provides for a civil service for Parliament and its own budget befitting its autonomy and independence. The 50-odd BN back benchers who were present got up on cue. Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang and other opposition MPs, who were caught unawares, also stood up to support the move. "Whether it is early or late, and to enable it to be taken to the Executive for approval, today we should show that we, the MPs, are keen and want the Parliamentary Services Act to be revived," Shahrir declared when posing a supplementary question to Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Nazri Abdul Aziz during question time. "Can the minister talk to the Executive and let's not stretch the story longer than is necessary, and no need to refer to the House Committee. "I urge all my colleagues to stand in unison and show our support and that we want the Act to be revived." Hamid Albar, DeputyDatuk Seri Syed Foreign Minister Home Minister Datuk Tan Chai Ho and Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Mustapa Mohamed remained seated. Syed Hamid later told reporters he did not get up as he was, and still is, a member of the Executive and thus did not take part in supporting the move. However, he welcomed it. In the Dewan Rakyat, Speaker Tan Sri Ramli Ngah Talib told the members not to get too excited and asked them to sit. Shahrir said it is now the duty of the minister to submit to the cabinet the total support from MPs for the Act. Nazri said he would do so but asked that procedures be followed. "We should not speak with a forked tongue (bercakap dengan lidah bercabang). If we want to do this, we have to follow procedure. The house committee of both houses have to meet and submit to the Dewan Rakyat for it to be approved," he said. Nazri said there should not be doubts on the part of the Executive on the procedure involved in reviving the Act. "We do not want in another 20 years from now, an MP getting up and saying the (revival of the Act) was improper as the House Committee had not met on the matter. "A decision cannot be made during a question and answer session. I request that that decision not be put on my shoulders. "Instead the House Committee should meet and come to a decision and put forward a proposal to the government, and I will forward it to the Executive." Earlier in a supplementary question, Ahmad Shabery Cheek (BN-Kemaman) said the reason that was given for repealing the Act then, was that it would enhance the administration of the institution of Parliament. However, he said, apart from improvements to the floor, doors, ceiling, chairs, and now with a minister in charge, there has been no other improvement. "We cannot be proud of our library, we do not even have a Parliament shop. People who want to buy a legislative Act have to buy it at a shop outside. There is also no infor mation centre on Parliament." Nazri, whose announcement last week on the establishment of a department of Parliament set off a debate on the separation of powers between the Executive and the Legislature, in his reply, said the Act was promulgated in 1963 but repealed in 1992. "For nearly 30 years, it (the Act) was going well. I would like to clarify here that it was repealed not as a result of any suggestion made by the Executive," he said. Nazri said MPs could refer to the Hansard and the debate associated with the repeal. "The move to repeal the Act was made by the Speaker at that time (the late Tun Dr Zahir Mohd Ismail)," he said. Nazri said that when the Speaker, who represents the Legislature, wants to repeal the Act, the Executive will have to carry it out.

Top cop's son held by ACA

2005-10-15T10:15:00.000+08:00

Top cop's son held by ACA by Charles Ramendran 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. Sources say the 32year-old suspect, an unemployed, was detained together with a 25-year-old accomplice believed to be a City Hall officer, at a shopping centre on Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman about 4pm on Wednesday. The city ACA rushed a team to the shopping centre following a tip-off from an anonymous caller. The team staked out the place and detained both men after RM12,000 was handed over to the suspects. The payment is said to be an inducement from traders to secure City Hall's Ramadan-month stalls in the city which are permitted to operate until Hari Raya Aidilfitri. It is also learnt that the police officer's son had secured 18 of such stalls. Yesterday, the suspects were brought before a magistrate who issued a three-day remand order. On Thursday, theSun reported that there is big demand for choice trading lots at the Bazaar Ramadan on Jalan Mesjid India which were obtained through a balloting system by City Hall. Some traders have alleged that there were discrepancies in the issuance of the licences.They alleged that the stalls had been given to non-traders who paid RM300 for each lot but sold them to genuine stall operators for between RM2,000 and RM6,000 each.

Chechens hit south Russia city

2005-10-14T10:37:00.000+08:00

Chechens hit south Russia city THE SUN NALCHIK (Russia): Chechen rebels launched a large-scale attack on a southern Russian city yesterday, triggering fierce street battles with security forces that left scores dead and undermined Kremlin claims of control in the volatile North Caucasus region. The city of Nalchik, capital of the province of Kabardino-Balkaria, looked like a war zone as camouflaged security personnel ranging from local police to elite federal troops backed by armoured vehicles exchanged gunfire with gunmen who attacked at eight locations in the city. Officials said the situation in Nalchik had been brought under control but acknowledged security forces were still in a standoff with gunmen holed up in buildings at two locations in the city, including a police station where hostages were being held. They gave no details on how many gunmen were still at large or how many hostages were held, but estimates on the numbers of fighters involved in the brazen early-morning assault ranged from 100 to 300. President Vladimir Putin dispatched Dmitry Kozak, his special envoy on the North Caucasus appointed after last year's Beslan school hostage siege, to the region and ordered that the city be sealed off to stop gunmen from escaping. "Anyone who puts up resistance with weapons in his hands must be liquidated," Russian deputy interior minister Alexander Chekalin said after a meeting with Putin outside Moscow. "This order from the president will be carried out." Chekalin and the head of the Kabardino-Balkaria province, Arsen Kanokov, both stated that at least 50 rebel fighters had been killed in the clashes as well as a dozen local residents. Another official spoke of 12 policemen and 12 local residents killed. Local medical workers quoted by various Russian media put the number of people wounded in the attacks at between 90 and 150. A website frequently used by Chechen rebels, Kavkazcenter, said the attack on Nalchik was carried out by a unit of the local detachment of the armed Chechen rebel forces, which it identified as the "Yarmuk Jamat of Kabardino-Balkaria". One report said Chechen rebel leader Shamil Basayev had recently entered Kabardino-Balkaria, but officials said the assault was planned and executed by two other fighters already wanted for "acts of terrorism and murder" in the province. The attacks appeared to have been focused on local offices of Russia's FSB federal security service and the interior ministry, but targets also included several police stations, a private weapons store and the Nalchik airport, Russian news agencies said. The Nalchik airport was closed for part of the day but the attempted attack on the facility was thwarted and it was later reopened,. Witnesses said the attack took local residents by surprise and created panic throughout the city, which has a population of around 300,000. "I was driving by a police building and suddenly I saw the body of a dead man," said Oleg, a local resident. "I slammed on the brakes and turned around. At that moment, the fighters spotted my car it was the only one on the road and opened fire. The car is full of bullets but I managed to get away without being hurt." The attack, the most spectacular since Beslan in September 2004, was the latest in a series by Chechen rebels on security installations. AFP

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2005-10-14T10:15:00.000+08:00

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New chair of Malay studies

2005-10-07T17:50:00.001+08:00

New chair of Malay studies PUTRAJAYA: A new chair of Malay Studies will be set up in Hankuk University, South Korea, in addition to the existing ones in the Netherlands , Ohio, United States, Wellington, New Zealand , Beijing Foreign Studies University and Xiamen, China. Higher Education Minister Datuk Dr Shafie Mohd Salleh said the decision, which has been approved by the cabinet on Wednesday, is meant to enhance internationalisation activities through exchange of students and lecturers. "The cost of the chair will be born by both the government and private sector of Malaysia and Korea. The first chairholder will sit there for five years first but his tenure could be extended later after negotiations," he said at the ministry yesterday. Earlier, he presented the certificate of appointment to Prof Datuk Mohamed Abu Bakar who has been selected as the 13th chairholder of Tun Abdul Razak Chair at Ohio University, Athens, United States. Present was US ambassador Christopher J. LaFleur.

Don't overreact, councils told

2005-10-07T17:50:00.000+08:00

Don't overreact, councils told by R. Surenthira Kumar KUALA LUMPUR: Municipal councillors should not over react to remarks by Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk M. Kayveas that they lacked transparency and accountability, operating like "secret societies". Institute of Integrity Malaysia member and Transparency International exco member Josie Fernandez said a random check with the man on the street will show the public do not think highly of local governments. "Councillors need not ask for proof or evidence of their incompetence because there are ample indicators like clogged drains, dirty food stalls, uncollected garbage and construction wastes and illegal business operations, to name a few. "There is also a lack of transparency from administrators and appointed councillors while meetings are shrouded in secrecy with decisions made without feedback from ratepayers," she said, adding she attended one such meeting but was "not allowed" to give her views. "The appointed councillors should stop bragging about complaints centres set up by them for the people. We just want service and work." National Consciousness Movement (Aliran) president P. Ramakrishnan said Kayveas seems to have hit a raw nerve when he criticised the shortcomings of local councils. "Many council projects have ended up in wastage. "A recent example is the case of a local authority in Penang warning motorists that they cannot park their car in bays with defective or missing meters." On local council heads' demand for evidence of the allegations, Ramakrishnan said: "There are several clear examples. Like the tacky `beautification' project at the Udini Road roundabout in Penang. "Last year, the Seberang Perai Municipal Council racked up a huge bill for the weekly supply of freshly cut flowers as part of a five-year contract worth RM1.5 million or about RM5,700 a week," he said, reiterating calls for the restoration of local municipal elections. Transparency International president Datuk Param Cumaraswamy said: "For a very long time, considerable complaints have been levelled against municipal services, such as poor road conditions, traffic lights that do not work ... the list is endless." He said the destruction of the environment, especially green lungs, and improper development activities were concerns that expose the weaknesses of councils. DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said an elected council answerable to the people is the only solution to ensure accountability, transparency and corruption-free service by the local councils.

Govt backbenchers to focus on AG's report

2005-10-07T17:48:00.001+08:00

Govt backbenchers to focus on AG's report by B. Suresh Ram BARISAN Nasional Backbenchers Club chair man Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad has given notice that government backbenchers will direct the limelight to the Auditor-General's Report for 2004. He said members of parliament would raise the issues contained in the report, and that the Public Accounts Committee ? of which he is chairman ? would examine the report thoroughly. Shahrir said the report would be discussed during the debate on the Supply Bill 2006. Speaking to reporters at parliament lobby, he welcomed the statement by Transparency International Malaysia president Datuk Param Cumaraswamy urging MPs to focus on the issues contained in the report. Cumaraswamy had described some of the matters raised in report as damning and mind boggling. The report has led to a number of headline-grabbing newspaper reports. Shahrir said: "We will do it while at the same time go through other issues of interest. "Obviously, there are issues being raised now that are of importance too, such as the KL-Putrajaya Highway. "It is not an issue of alignment, but of the whole project itself. It is an issue of govern ment procedure. "When you plan, how does the government plan, how does it take into account issues from, let's say, the residents' perspective." He said the perspective of MPs is no longer just how much money is allocated and which projects will be approved, "but we want to see how decisions are made and how they are implemented". Shahrir said the government had acted on the feedback contained in the AG's report, describing it as a continuous and ongoing process.

`Petronas profits go back to the people'

2005-10-07T17:48:00.000+08:00

`Petronas profits go back to the people' ALL profits derived from the earnings of national petroleum company Petronas go back to the people and none of it is retained by the government, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Mustapa Mohamed said. In reply to a question from Dr Tan Seng Giaw (DAP-Kepong), he said this could be seen from the RM16 billion which it utilised from Petronas' profits of RM31 billion, to subsidise the price of petrol and diesel. "The remainder is deposited into the Consolidated Fund and used for various development projects to benefit the people," Mustapa said. Tan had asked whether the government had utilised any of Petronas's profits following the increasing price of petroleum, for the benefit of the people, as was done in the past when prices of commodities like rubber and palm oil shot up. To the original question from Jawah Gerang (BN-Lubok Antu), Mustapa said Petronas' profits had jumped due to the increasing world oil prices ? from RM15.1 billion in 2003 and RM23.7 billion last year, to RM35.6 billion this year.

`M'sians understand meaning of true jihad'

2005-10-07T17:47:00.001+08:00

`M'sians understand meaning of true jihad' KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Muslims understand that the improvement of their institutions, democratisation, education and balanced economic development are the true "jihad" (holy war), Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said yesterday. He said this approach emphasised the centrality of the pursuit of knowledge. Malaysia is proud of its record of fostering a peaceful, democratic and progressive multi-religious society that is also a Muslim society, he said during the general policy debate at the 33rd session of the Unesco General Conference in Paris. The text of his speech was made available here. "We educate, persuade and train people to seek their common prosperity in a progressive economy rather than their mutual destruction," he said. The country's efforts for unity draw on the moral and religious sources of all their people but they were also drawn officially on the teachings of Islam, he said. Hishammuddin said education had an absolutely crucial role in inoculating people against racial or religious hatred. "Open, inquiring minds, pondering the wonders of the world, seeking to contribute to humanity are invariably also peaceful minds," he said. Ignorance of each other caused people to fear one another and, fearing one another, to hate, he said. "In a world in which people of different religious and racial backgrounds are coming into contact with each other more and more, we should seek to understand in detail rather than impose grand visions dreamt up in fear and triumphalism; visions meant to congratulate ourselves and demonise others, or simply to sell airtime," he said. ? Bernama

Ex-UiTM student gets 10 years, rotan for drug offence

2005-10-07T17:47:00.000+08:00

Ex-UiTM student gets 10 years, rotan for drug offence SHAH ALAM: A former student of Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) was sentenced to 10 years jail and 10 strokes of the cane by the High Court here yesterday after pleading guilty to an alternative charge of possessing 230.2gm of cannabis three years ago. Justice Datuk K.N. Segara ordered Fazil Ibrahim, 29, to serve the sentence from the date of his arrest on May 22, 2002. Fazil, a former student of the Art and Design Faculty, admitted having the dangerous drugs on Jalan 4/6, Pandan Perdana, Ampang, about 8.50pm on May 22, 2002. He was charged under Section 6 of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 and sentenced under Section 39A (2) of the act and liable to imprisonment of not less than five years jail and up to 10 strokes of the cane. Earlier, Fazil was charged under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 which carries a mandatory death sentence upon conviction. The prosecution, however, amended the charge after the defence made a representation to the Attorney-General's Chambers. Based on the facts of the case presented by DPP Wan Saharuddin Wan Ladin, the accused was detained by a police team from the Narcotics Division of the Ampang Jaya district police headquarters. Upon inspection, police found a red plastic package containing 230.2gm of cannabis. Justice Segara, in passing sentence, said the court took into account the accused had not tried to escape when he was arrested and had pleaded guilty to the alternative charge. Earlier, defence counsel Mohd Taqiyuddin Yahya pleaded for a minimal sentence as it was the first offence committed by the accused. ? Bernama

Ka Ting makes political history

2005-10-07T17:46:00.000+08:00

Ka Ting makes political history by Ng Kee Seng WHEN Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting was "installed" as MCA president on May 23, 2003, his detractors passed unsavoury remarks to the effect that "that Ling's bag carrying boy will not last". Ong was retired president Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik's longtime aide. Today, in just under three years, Ong has mustered more political will than many of his seniors could to initiate radical political changes. In fact, he has proven he is a man of few words but plenty of action. Within months after becoming the leader of Malaysia's largest Chinese political party, Ong amended the party constitution, limiting his own tenure in office to three terms or nine years. He also amended Articles 67 and 94 of the constitution to limit the number of delegates to party general assemblies, making it almost unrewarding for leaders to continue "manufacturing" phantom members for political self-interest. Ong's detractors were still not convinced with the changes, dismissing them as "cosmetic" political stunts to gain popularity. But he had done enough to garner the confidence of the majority of party members to win the presidency in the party elections on Aug 20. Armed with an electorial mandate, Ong called for a brainstorming session with his newly-elected central committee (CC) members onboard an oceanliner on Sept 23 and 24. In the two-day outing, the CC members gave their input and drafted general guidelines for MCA leaders holding public office. Last Tuesday, the presidential council endorsed the proposal to cap the tenure of MCA ministers and state executive councillors to two and three terms respectively. The draft also covered the term of office of Senators, the minimum criteria for selection as candidates to become Members of Parliament, assemblymen and Senators. Ong has made unselfish and radical changes to MCA's polit ical culture, giving the party a revolutionary image transformation from what was once perceived as a "towkay party" to one that is likely to attract young professionals and academicians with its emphais on democracy and transparency. Though the changes are politically radical, the silence of other parties, including the opposition, has been deafening. Political leaders have generally avoided comment for fear of offending their bosses because what Ong has done is to tackle head-on two protracted problems of Malaysian pol itics ? succession and phantom members. With such a radically-positive political attitude which has won silent praises from party grassroots, it will surely be a Gargantuan task for any MCA leader to unseat Ong before his term ends in 2012. Ong may yet go down in history as the president who introduced a new political culture in MCA. While others continue to grapple with "overstaying" issues and phantom members, Ong has set in motion a pressure effect on all other political parties.

`White House spy stole documents from Cheney'

2005-10-07T17:45:00.000+08:00

`White House spy stole documents from Cheney' WASHINGTON: A former US Marine and naturalised US citizen from the Philippines breached security at the White House and allegedly used his top secret clearances to steal classified documents from Vice President Dick Cheney's office, ABC News said on Wednesday. The FBI and CIA are calling it the first case of espionage at the White House in modern history, according to ABC. ABC said Leandro Aragoncillo, 46, worked undetected at the White House for almost three years before leaving to take a job with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He was arrested last month and accused of downloading more than 100 classified documents from FBI computers. Officials told ABC the classified material which Aragoncillo stole included damaging dossiers on the president of the Philippines. They were allegedly passed on to opposition politicians planning a coup in the Pacific nation. The White House referred reporters to the FBI, but confirmed an investigation had been launched. "No comment, all questions have to be addressed to the FBI, it's a pending investigation and the White House will do its best to cooperate," deputy White House spokesman Trent Duffy said. Officials are trying to figure out how Aragoncillo got his job at the White House in 1999, and when he started spying, ABC said. The former Marine worked on the staff of then vice president Al Gore in 2000 and told friends he also worked with former president Bill Clinton and with Condoleezza Rice when she was national security advisor, the network said. "Even though it's not for the Russians or some other government, the fact that it occurred at the White House is a matter of great concern," John Martin, the government's lead espionage prosecutor for 26 years, was quoted as saying.

Floods paralyse Central America

2005-10-07T17:44:00.000+08:00

Floods paralyse Central America GUATEMALA CITY: Raging flood waters cut off large areas of Central America and southern Mexico yesterday, hurting efforts to rescue victims of mudslides that have killed at least 164 people in the wake Hurricane Stan. Emergency teams battled to reach remote villages where hillsides collapsed under torrential rains, and thousands of evacuees from urban shantytowns hunkered down in emergency shelters as rain pounded the region. "We have lots of landslides, and some bridges have collapsed," said Benedicto Giron of the civil-protection agency in Guatemala, where at least 20 communities were completely isolated with rescuers were unable to reach them. Guatemala said it confirmed 79 deaths. There were 62 dead in El Salvador, 10 in both Nicaragua and Mexico and three in Honduras. The flooding came from storms sparked by Hurricane Stan, which smashed into Mexico from the Atlantic earlier this week. Stan was only briefly a hurricane and its winds caused moderate damage but several days of rains swelled normally slow rivers into thundering, brown torrents that swept away bridges, houses, roads and trees across the region. Thousands of homes were destroyed. Troops tried to reach flooded areas with drinking water, food and medical kits but relentless downpours made the task more difficult. Meanwhile, tropical Storm Tammy, the 19th storm of an unusually active Atlantic hurricane season, came ashore in northern Florida on Wednesday and brought heavy rain and high waves to parts of the US Southeast coast. The storm was moving northwest at 22kph with maximum sustained winds of 80kph. Tammy could bring up to 13cm of rainfall to north Florida, southeast Georgia and parts of the Carolinas. ? Agencies

No liberal democracy, gay parades for S'pore

2005-10-07T17:40:00.000+08:00

No liberal democracy, gay parades for S'pore SINGAPORE: The city-state must evolve into a more "inclusive" society but freewheeling democracy and gay-pride parades will not work, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said. "I don't think we are homophobic," Lee told the Foreign Correspondents Association of Singapore yesterday, adding he agreed with predecessor Goh Chok Tong that "homosexuals are people like you and me". "But there are some segments of Singaporeans who vehemently disagree with that (attitude), and we have to be aware of that," he said when asked about his policies on gays. Lee also said a westernstyle democratic system with various contending political parties would not work for Singapore, which has been ruled by the People's Action Party over the past 40 years. "I do not see a wester n model which you described in an idealised form as being the target that we want to aim for." "There are free elections and the electorate has given their confidence overwhelmingly to one party ? for a good reason because it is the party which has delivered." ? AFP

Koreatown in the city

2005-10-07T17:36:00.000+08:00

Koreatown in the city One Ampang Avenue has become a place where the Koreans in the Klang Valley congregate by Fintan Ng TUCKED AWAY IN a corner of Ampang Jaya on the fringe of the city is a compact community of Koreans. Having been around since the late 1990s, this "Little Korea" is known as One Ampang Avenue, a collection of shopoffices and condominium blocks that has been around for 10 years or more. Little Korea is located off Jalan Ampang, opposite Ampang Point shopping centre and Dataran Palma. As you make the turn off the busy Jalan Ampang into One Ampang Avenue, you would not know that a Korean community exists in the area. After all, there are few signs on those shoplots fronting Jalan Ampang to show the presence of a thriving Korean community. But once you get into the shops located behind, except for the distinctly local architecture, it's as if you have just wandered into one of those ethnic neighbourhoods in large American cities, where everything from grocery stores to houses of worship of that particular community can be found on several streets. And that is exactly what One Ampang Avenue is. A casual observer strolling along the three rows of shopoffices that make up its commercial element would be amazed at the things Korean that one can see. A pasaraya with the unlikely name of Lotte Mart, easily the largest grocery store in the neighbourhood, has part of its wall pasted with notices in Korean. In fact, notices and advertisements in Korean abound in this neighbourhood. Internet caf鳬 restaurants, beauty salons, grocery stores, service companies, bakeries, language and tuition centres as well as a library and resource centre advertising their products or services can also be found here. And yes, there is even a Korean church in the upper level of one of the shopoffices. Apart from two large grocery stores, there were several other such shops stocking goods and foods to cater to the Koreans. On the upper floors can be found companies providing different types of services for the community. If you are into Korean cuisine, there are traditional dishes and the popular Korean BBQ as well as Korean-run outlets selling pizzas and Western dishes. The community seems self-contained and the young Koreans can have a kindergarten of their own to go to. It is understood that many of the Koreans work in the city with multinationals or in the many Korean firms involved in construction, engineering, manufacturing and other industries. Over the course of several days, Propertyplus visited the neighbourhood in the hope of learning why the place has become a focal point for the Korean community in the city. Unfortunately, this writer did not have much luck in convincing people, especially business owners, to talk about the community. Communicating with them was frustrating as many did not speak English and this writer

Fight dengue, builders urged

2005-10-07T17:35:00.000+08:00

Fight dengue, builders urged BY GIAM SAY KHOON HOUSING developers have been urged to take more pro-active steps to help fight the dengue scourge. In addition to keeping construction sites clean in order to deprive aedes mosquitoes of breeding grounds, they were asked to follow the example of Bandar Utama Development Sdn Bhd which has mounted its own fogging campaign, especially in housing areas developed by the company, which are already occupied. In making the call recently, Petaling Jaya Municipal Council (MPPJ) president Datuk Ahmad Termizi lauded Bandar Utama's initiative in the fight against dengue fever. He said the council was facing a shortage of manpower to fight the disease, with only six fogging teams and a large area to cover. "Although we have scheduled our teams to operate daily with state Health Department staff, it is quite impossible to cover all the areas. "We also cannot afford to hire private fogging companies as they are expensive. "Therefore, we welcome Bandar Utama's initiative and hope more developers can organise fogging campaigns to help MPPJ combat dengue fever," Ahmad Termizi told reporters after opening the company's AntiDengue Campaign on Monday. Willie Kuok, a purchaser for Bandar Utama Development, told theSun the company had launched the campaign to help protect residents of the housing estate. He said a private fogging company had been hired to cover all phases of the housing area ? an operation which would last a month. "Each day of the operation (which covers two to three phases) costs us around RM3,000," he said. Ahmad Termizi said the shortage of staff also makes it difficult for the council to conduct houseto-house checks. However, random checks on houses, shop lots and factories are being conducted. The council has issued about 200 summonses to owners of premises on which mosquito larvae were found.

Giving children a life worth living

2005-10-07T17:30:00.000+08:00

Giving children a life worth living BY OPALYN MOK Year Four pupil H'ng Eng Chai used to be confined to his house and was not allowed to take part in any sport or run around like other children. This was because Eng Chai had a Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD) in his heart, and his parents worried that he might over-exert himself. Now, thanks to Operation HeartBeat, the 10-year-old will soon be able to play badminton with his friends like any healthy child. "My mother did not want me to strain myself, but I secretly took part in various activities at school," Eng Chai said, adding that he sometimes sneaked off to played badminton with his friends. "I am glad that now, as the doctors have `repaired' my heart, I'll be able to go out and play without having to sneak out." Eng Chai is recuperating after having corrective surgery at the Penang Adventist Hospital on Sept 30. His parents, general worker H'ng Ee Teik, 40, and housewife Wong Poh Suan, 38, were relieved after the long wait for their youngest child to have surgery. "If not for Operation HeartBeat, we would still be waiting for the Penang Hospital to arrange for our son to be operated," H'ng said, adding that they could not afford to send their son to a private hospital. Operation HeartBeat is a charity project jointly organised in conjunction with World Heart Day by the Penang Adventist Hospital's Heart Patients Fund and Wong Keng Fei Fund, named after a boy who died from a defective heart 10 years ago. Under the project, RM150,000 would be provided for 10 Malaysian children to receive corrective heart surgery. However, only six children qualified to benefit from it. H'ng is the project's second recipient. The first was one-yearold Saw Jin Wen from Alor Star, Kedah, who underwent surgery on Sept 21.

`Goalscoring ? I eat,sleep and drink it'

2005-10-07T17:26:00.000+08:00

`Goalscoring ? I eat,sleep and drink it' OF all places, the interview room at St James' Park is the very last in which Michael Owen(pix) is ever likely to be found getting too big for his boots, even if he does happen to possess two of the golden variety. After all, it was in that corner of the Newcastle United ground that Carlos Alberto, the Brazilian World Cupwinning captain turned Azerbaijan coach, launched his staggering sizeist tirade against England's 5ft 8in centre-forward. "Who is this No. 10, this midget who doesn't play in the Real Madrid first team?" the great overlapping full-back railed in the aftermath of England's 2-0 World Cup qualifying group win against Azerbaijan on Tyneside in March. St James' had seen nothing quite like it, nothing as farcical, since ... well, until three days later, when Lee Bowyer and Kieron Dyer started knocking seven bells out of one another out on the pitch. Carlos, it transpired, had got somewhat ahead of himself ? somewhat more advanced than he was when he outflanked the Italian defence to score the signature goal of Brazil's 1970 World Cup final tour de force. He had been under the impression that Owen had proclaimed he would eclipse Malcolm Macdonald's record-breaking five-goal haul for England against Cyprus in 1975 ? a very mistaken impression. Anyone who knows even the public persona of Michael Owen, the painstakingly self-effacing persona, knows he would be more likely to request a trial with the towering Harlem Globetrotters than to indulge in what might be termed as bigging himself up. As England prepare for their two dates with World Cup qualification destiny at Old Trafford, against Austria tomorrow and Poland the following Wednesday night, it is strictly for others to suggest that Owen might be starting to live up to his rather sizeable reputation once again. In truth, his standing as one of the globe's great, natural goalscorers has never greatly diminished. Although he spent most of last season warming the bench at the Bernabeu, Owen proved himself to be the David Fairclough of the Primera Liga, plundering an unequalled goals-per-minute ratio as a supersub in Spain. He was also on the mark for England at Old Trafford in March, in the summary 4-0 dismissal of Northern Ireland, and scored a hattrick against Colombia in May. Still, it has been reassuring for all England followers to see Owen back in prime poaching form in the Premiership; al though a "dead leg" kept him off the pitch against Portsmouth last week, it is not regarded as serious. The flashing header against Blackburn and the toe-poke against Manchester City were both firsttime finishes born of supreme instinct, timing and execution. His debut for Newcastle might have been as frustrating as the night he spent in less-thansplendid striking isolation for England at Windsor Park last month, but the ?17 million (RM119m) man has swiftly got himself back in the groove again on home soil. "Confidence is a good thing as a striker," Owen reflected."Everyone knows me by now. I am 25. I have played in the Premiership for 90% of my career and everyone knows that I will score goals, given the chance. Some will say I don't contribute in certain other areas and that is a fair comment, because I am not the size of [the 6ft] Alan Shearer and people like that. My game is all about scoring goals. If someone gives me a chance, I normally stick it away." For England, Owen has stuck away 32 chances in 72 internationals. His goals haul for England is greater than that of his new Newcastle teammate; Shearer scored 30. Only Bobby Charlton (49), Gary Lineker (48) and Jimmy Greaves (44) have scored more. With the prospect of at least five more years in the international firing line, the chances are that Owen will end up in the record books. In fact, with 21 goals in competitive matches for England, he is only one behind Lineker's national mark in that department. At 25, Owen is still young, and his appetite for goals remains undiminished. "There is no better feeling than when the ball hits the back of the net," he said. "It is what I go to bed thinking about and what I wake up thinking about. I think about it when I'm eating and drinking. It's what my life is about: scoring goals. I eat, sleep and drink it." Owen came back to the Premiership specifically to keep himself in the World Cup picture, and his hunger and desire can only help the national side in their quest to reach the finals in Germany next summer. "We have to win our [next] two games and that's probably a good thing," England's "midget" gem pondered. "We know what we have to do. There could be a second bite of the cherry, in the play-offs, but we expect to win the group we're in. I'm confident that we can." ? The Independent

Power to the executive

2005-10-01T17:40:00.000+08:00

theSun: Prof. Do you think we are being old fashioned if we were to ask you whether this so-called separation of powers in the government between the executive, le gislative and judiciary still exists? A: It much depends on whether you look at things structurally or you look at things functionally. If you look at things structurally, then we do have an executive branch, a judicial branch and a legislative branch but functionally of course, the executive has begun to dominate all three organs. And the executive is now basically the heart of the gover nment process. It was not meant to be that way. There was meant to be a check and balance between the three. They are supposed to be the pillars of government but standing apart. All of them supporting the superstructure called government. That separation seems to have been overtaken by political events. However, let me mention this, that we were never really meant to be entirely separated like in the USA. Our system calls more for check and balance rather than separation because at the level of the executive and the legislature, there was always an overlap because the PM and members of his cabinet sit in Parliament and, therefore, are part of it, are answerable and accountable unlike in the USA where the president and his cabinet are totally separate from the legislature. So, to sum it up then, in Malaysia, structurally, there is still some separation, especially at the level of the judiciary. But functionally, I have to say, the executive has begun to tower over everyone else. And part of the reason, I think, is the people have given to the government consistently a two-third majority. So Parliament dominates the legislative sphere. In the area of the judiciary, more and more tribunals are being created to decide on cases where the judicial function of deciding cases is handed over to specialised agencies or tribunals. So there is truth to what Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim said in his book Freedom Under Executive Power in Malaysia in which he argues that over the years, the executive has become much more powerful than it was meant to be? I think Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim certainly hit the nail on the head. But the alarm he is sounding about had been sounded a long time ago. As early as 1932 when Lord Hewart, one of the English law lords, wrote a book called The New Despotism. In which he talked about the growing power of the executive? Yes. The trend is that the executive is beginning to control Parliament and is getting more and more involved in decisionmaking, even in the judicial sphere through tribunals. So the executive is now dominating all three organs of the state. You see, we tend to think of disputes as belonging to the judicial branch. Well, that's the general impression. But not all are settled by the courts anymore. For instance income tax disputes, labour disputes, students being expelled, licences withdrawn, houses to bedemolished, planning per missions these are all involving rights, duties and they're decided by the executive through tribunals exercising what could be called quasi judicial functions. Then there are advisory boards on preventive detention. Courts do not even examine the matter as it is done purely by executive-appointed tribunals. So the executive does make hundreds and thousands of quasi judicial or judicial decisions where the courts have absolutely no say. And Lord Hewart was not alone in sounding the alarm. Someone wrote a book Bureaucracy Triumphant. There was also a book called The Passing of Parliament that Parliament has died. So actually, in the (19)30s, (19)40s, in England, this alarm was being sounded. The trend of executive dominance of legislature and of the judiciary is pronounced everywhere. In which he talked about the growing power of the executive? Yes. The trend is that the executive is beginning to control Parliament and is getting more and more involved in decisionmaking, even in the judicial sphere through tribunals. So the executive is now dominating all three organs of the state. You see, we tend to think of disputes as belonging to the judicial branch. Well, that's the general impression. But not all are settled by the courts anymore. For instance income tax disputes, labour disputes, students being expelled, licences withdrawn, houses to bedemolished, planning per missions these are all involving rights, duties and they're decided by the executive through tribunals exercising what could be called quasi judicial functions. Then there are advisory boards on preventive detention. Courts do not even examine the matter as it is done purely by executive-appointed tribunals. So the executive does make hundreds and thousands of quasi judicial or judicial decisions where the courts have absolutely no say. And Lord Hewart was not alone in sounding the alarm. Someone wrote a book Bureaucracy Triumphant. There was also a book called The Passing of Parliament that Parliament has died. So actually, in the (19)30s, (19)40s, in England, this alarm was being sounded. The trend of executive dominance of legislature and of the judiciary is pronounced everywhere. So Parliament, which is supposed to question the executive on its policies, on its programmes, has failed too. Is that what you are saying? Yes. MPs are supposed to question the executive branch or the front benchers. But how much can MPs ask in the one-hour question time? At the most 10-12 questions are asked. Or six or seven only. That's about it. And Parliament does not sit every day. So it's more like a part-time institution. Whereas the government works 24 hours a day and its tentacles spread everywhere. How can a part-time institution control an over- time institution? The executive is an over- time institution. There are about 800,000 public servants, if not more, and they do many things. It is difficult for Parliament. Thus, the amount of discretionary power that developed over the last one century is just unbelievable. It's the same in England? It's the same. But in England there are some differences. One difference is this that Parliament does exercise check and balance over the executive in many areas. Reason for this is that the Opposition is very strong. The Opposition has nearly 50% or 45% of the seats. And then there the tradition of the free press is very strong. They have very strong NGOs. We have some of that but nevertheless there are lots of qualitative differences. But everywhere in the world executive is beginning to dominate. A recent British parliamentary report said that "Parliament legitimates, it does not legislate". So basically, it's a rubber stamp? Not in so many words but it is. It signs, it approves. It puts the chop. It's a fact that the policy behind the law is contributed by the ministers or the departments. The timing of the Bill is decided by the government. The minister then pilots the Bill through. The date the Bill is introduced is decided and even the date the Bill is likely to be passed. Let's go back to what you said just now " parliament legitimates, it does not legis- late". This means that our MPs should no longer be referred to as lawmakers as they no longer make law. True, true ... Actually no doubt about it, in the lawmaking sphere, the executive has become more important than Parliament for a number of reasons. One is that, as I mentioned earlier, the policy behind the law is executive policy. The timing for the law is determined by the executive. The executive then uses its brute majority to push the Bill through. Without any change? Ah, I did some research on this. Something like 80% of the Bills over a period of five years from 1991-1995 were passed without a comma or a full stop being amended. About 15% of the Bills were withdrawn by the government. Because of MPs' input, or inputs by the NGOs, or inter national pressure, the government decided to withdraw and relook at the Bill. Only 5% of the Bills did Parliament make any impact in terms of amendments, and these amendments are incorporated by the government. So, it is quite clear that the legislative process is basically an executive process, not a parliamentary process. So you can actually say that the centre of gravity of the entire legislative process has shifted from Parliament to Putrajaya. So there is no point talking about a world-class Parliament when there is already a trend of executive dominance. And the dominance all the more real with the government controlling 90% of the seats. Let me clarify this. Much depends on what the functions of Parliament are. In traditional constitutional theory, Parliament performs four separate functions. Law making in this area, one has to admit Parliament legitimates, it does not le gislate. Executive is more important than Parliament in the law-making sphere. Secondly, the control of national finance. Here, the control of Parliament is even weaker than the le gislative sphere. Financial policy is basically executive policy. Parliament merely votes the budget. But large parts of the budget are voted without any debate whatsoever because time runs out. You spend about 20 days or so discussing the budget. How much can you discuss? As you newspaper people have observed, the budget debate is used to hit the government on the head about everything else other than the budget. From potholes to education policy to illegal immigrants. So, the realities of the budget are that the executive determines the votes how much money will be spent on education, on defence, how much will be allocated to UiTM and to other universities. I think the executive determines and the MPs basically, legitimate (it). Well, it need not be that way. But it is that way because of our system? Exactly. In our system, if the budget fails, the government will have to fall because the budget vote is an issue of confidence. MPs may criticise, they may have their say but the government will have its way. MPs may have their say but the government must have its way because if the budget is defeated, that will amount to a vote of no-confidence in our system of parliamentary democracy. Unlike in the USA where the president's budget is often rejected and the president stays as the president. But here, that's impossible. So in the legislative sphere, government has become more important in the sphere of control of national economy. Parliament basically legitimates. It looks into broad policies but that's about it. The third function? You call that the deliberative function. MPs deliberate on policy, they ask questions, they size up the government, they require further information. I think on that, question time does serve its purpose. It highlights problems of national policy, it highlights problems of the constituents. I know question time doesn't get a full and fair coverage in the papers. Actually a great deal of very critical stuff is uttered on the floor of Parliament during question time. But of course, question time is not entirely effective as I have said earlier. And then there is a fourth function constituency function. MPs are supposed to be the voice of the people, to highlight the problems of the people in Parliament and to give feedback to the government. I think on that, the Malaysian MP does a good job. He goes back to his constituency, he keeps his ears close to the ground, his fingers on the pulse beats of the nation. Somebody has done comparative studies, of Malaysia and Japan and (South) Korea, have found that the Malaysian MP is closer to his constituents then MPs in (South) Korea and Japan. Of course, it's a matter of interpretation. Why do you say it's a matter of interpretation? Now, this author who wrote this report says this is because of under-development of certain aspects in Malaysia. He feels that the Malaysian MP is able to provide a voice to his constituents better in Malaysia than in other countries because in other countries, citizens have better recourse to the courts, better recourse to the media and better recourse to other remedies. He said because these other remedies are under-developed here, therefore the MP has become the predominant voice in raising the grievances of the citizens. But I would like to say the Malaysian MPs are doing a good job in providing redress to their constituents. Every MP plays a one-man public complaints bureau role and I think for that, we have to pat them on the back. Now despite the growing dominance of the executive in the legislative sphere, surely we can still aspire for more active parliament. Surely there must be something we can do to make our Parliament world class. Whatever that means these days. Certainly. A great deal can be done to improve things. For example, in the legislative sphere, I think we need to make use of the Select Committee procedures. They are in the book. As far as I know, since Merdeka, I am told, only about six times have we appointed this committee. I understand one is sitting right now to look into criminal law. This committee can provide very useful feedback to the government on what specialists in the area say. This committee can meet upstairs and invite citizens groups, scholars, and any affected party to give feedback on the Bill. I would like to say something about the unusual and undesirable practice that Bills are embargoed till the day they are presented in Parliament. Bills should be made known to the public even before that. So we can still have a better parliament. So I'm making a number of suggestions. Number one is we should resor t to the Select Committee Procedure more often. Bills should not be embargoed as they should be made available to the public for further comment. Thirdly, there is a procedure for private members Bills. We should give monetary support to MPs to draft private members Bills. In the UK the procedure is MPs who wish to introduce private members Bills apply, to take part in a ballot. The top 10 in the ballot will receive financial assistance because drafting a Bill requires expertise, money, time so they will receive monetary support. Fourthly, I think, all MPs must have legislative assistants or support staf f. Support staf f consisting of researchers on economic matters and even in legislative matters. In countries like the Philippines, which is economically much worse off than us - not as well off as us, each cong ressman has four legislative assistants. We don't give to our MPs any assistant. I think each MP must have legislative assistants to do their research for them, to draft their speeches for the debate on the budget the impact of the budget on, let us say, fishermen, on tappers, on the poor. I also think we should have an Institute of Parliamentary Affairs. If we can have I lkap for the judiciary, In tan for the administration, why can't we have an Institute of Parliamentary Affairs to train our MPs in improving their institutional efforts. This is done in other countries? Yes, in many other countries. I have travelled to the Philippines often, I am involved in some groups there. There are special groups to train MPs to perform their parliamentary function. Not only to train MP in parliamentary procedures but also to sensitise MPs to the problems of the poor, the marginalised. Sensitise them, for example, on gender issues and assist them with information, with background research on what they can raise in Parliament. So I think we need to assist our MPs. We are not being fair to our Parliament and to our MPs. Other countries, are their amendments also this numerous? Well, there is no uniform pattern. If you look at the American Constitution, it's been amended only about 30 times in 230 years. And they jokingly say America is the frozen continent when it comes to amendments because things just don' t thaw that easily. India is like Malaysia. Partly rigid, partly flexible. In India too, many amendments have been passed but in India what has happened is that the courts have risen to the occasion and have told Parliament that "you cannot amend the basic structure." In Malaysia, that argument has been raised and rejected by our courts. Our courts have said as long as the gover nment follows the proper procedures, it can amend anything Regardless of whether the spirit of the Constitution still remains or not? Yes. The danger of rejecting the basic structure is this. I'm just giving a hypothetical example. Let us say tomorrow, the government of the day says let us amend the Constitution to extend the life of Parliament from five years to 25 years. As long as the two-third majority is obtained, that amendment can be passed but that amendment would totally destroy the democratic basis of the Constitution because that means for 25 years, there will be no elections. Remember in Sri Lanka, one day they passed the law, they said "okay, no elections this time". And the government just continued for another five years. Britain too had extended the life of Parliament several times. What happens if an amend- ment extends the life of Parliament to 20 or 25 years? Well, it's a case of using the constitution to destroy the constitution. In which case, the constitution will contain the seeds of its own destruction. The basic structure argument is highly contentious because it raises the question of who should decide what is basic? The government of the day or the judges? Anyway, what is basic structure? So suppose you take away the immunities of the rulers. Was that part of the basic structure? The late Tun Suffian Hashim in the Faridah Begum case said "yes, it is". So, it's a controversial doctrine. Anyway, amendments of the constitution always pose a political dilemma. The Constitution has to be open to change because life is always larger than the law and the law has to keep moving. Otherwise, it will just fall behind. As someone nicely said: "The cConstitution that will not bend will have to break." What is your comment on Article 10 of our national charter which provides for freedom of speech, assembly and association. Did the original drafters of the constitution really wanted us to have all those freedoms? Well, my impression is Article 10 does not safeguard free speech very well. In the chapter on fundamental rights, some rights are very well protected or better protected. For example property, religion. But two or three fundamental rights were always left at the mercy of Parliament. Liberty was one of them and fundamental right to speech was another. Article 10 Clause 1(a) from day one said all citizens are entitled to freedom of speech and expression. Article 10 Clause 2 says Parliament, may by law, impose on the above right, restrictions on eight grounds public order, national security, incitement and offence, friendly relations with other states, contempt of court, contempt of Parliament, defamation, morality. And Parliament has used public order, national security grounds to enact laws like the Police Act whereby permits are needed to march, to assemble; Internal Security Act, Official Secrets Act. So actually from day one, freedom of speech and expression was not one of the better

No, the absentees did not squirm

2005-10-01T17:39:00.000+08:00

No, the absentees did not squirm If Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang could obtain the attendance record of Rafidah, others could very well obtain the records of the other ministers. ZAINON AHMAD AT THE DEWAN RAKYAT WHEN INTERNATIONAL TRADE and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz was flayed in the Dewan Rakyat on Tuesday, and much of last week, for her poor attendance record, many wondered whether some other ministers did not feel uneasy or guilty as well. If Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang could obtain the attendance record of Rafidah two days this year and only once in six years to answer a question directed at her ministry others could very well obtain the records of the other ministers. After all, many MPs, especially Datuk Mohamad Aziz (BN-Sri Gading), are on record as having excoriated some ministers Rafidah among them for their non-attendance. The records may just show that the attendance of some ministers, especially during question time, could very well be only slightly better than Rafidah's. How many times have the hallowed hall of the Dewan Rakyat heard MPs complaining about the unsatisfactory answers given by the deputy ministers or parliamentary secretaries while wringing their hands in exasperation and saying "Ah, but this is policy mat- ter; the minister should be here". So when Kit Siang lambasted Rafidah for being a minister who had lost her "democratic moorings and is contemptuous of the fundamental principle of ministerial responsibility and accountability to parliament", the other cabinet mem- bers must surely have felt a little hot under the collar. Or did they? No less a person than Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi himself has told his cabinet ministers to attend parliament to respond to queries. But the records have not improved. For instance, on Monday, two of the six questions during the one-hour question time were answered by the ministers concerned and on Tuesday, only three of the eight questions. No ministers were present to answer questions on Wednesday as they had to attend the weekly cabinet meeting. During the meeting, the absence of Rafidah was discussed and she was directed by the cabinet to attend parliament. Again, many wondered whether the other ministers squirmed. Hardly. Because on Thursday, of the eight questions that came up for responses, only one was answered by a minister, namely Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Dr Jamaluddin Jarjis. But there were nine other ministers in the House during the onehour question time Datuk Aziz Shamsuddin, Datuk Seri Lim Keng Yaik, Datuk Azalina Othman Said, Datuk Azmi Khalid, Datuk Maximus Ongkili, Datuk S. Samy Vellu, Datuk Dr Shafie Mohd Salleh, Datuk Mustapa Mohamed and Datuk Radzi Sheikh Ahmad. Certainly a rare sight, said a backbencher. Samy Vellu has been complimented by a number of backbenchers a couple of times for being "a regular at the Dewan Rakyat whenever he is in the country". He is one of those who remembers that he took his oath as MP first before he was sworn in as minister. And as minister, he is responsible to parliament. Radzi had walked in towards the end of question hour to be in time to present the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2005. When the next order of business for the day was announced, the minister stood up and said the bill is presented for second reading. After Speaker Tan Sri Ramli Ngah Talib announced that the bill was opened for debate, Kit Siang, who was noticeably prickly since question time began, asked whether the minister was not going to say something about the bill. Ramli looked at Radzi, and the minister said: "Ada". To which Kit Siang said: "If you have, then make your presentation." It was only after Radzi had completed his presentation that the bill was debated. The bill was a compendium of amendments which, mainly, sought to increase the number of seats of the Dewan Rakyat from 219 to 222 following the electoral boundary delineation exercise in Sarawak and to make changes Ethics. Judges to the Code of By the end of the day the bill received the "ayes" of the members of the Dewan where even Abdullah and Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak were present to make up the 203 votes in favour of the proposed changes. Kit Siang was visibly peeved in the mor ning when Datuk Che Min Che Ahmad (BNPasir Puteh) who stood up to ask the first question of the day also greeted and welcomed a recent practice which is almost becoming customary Kelantan BN state assemblymen who were sitting in the visitors' gallery. He stood up and asked Ramli whether it was really necessary to greet those in the visitors' gallery. He said it was a waste of time as they had only an hour to query the front benchers. Che Min protested and almost all the government backbenchers were on their feet shouting their disagreement with the Opposition Leader. Ramli suggested that perhaps the welcome should be extended to all in the gallery instead of limiting it to just a particular group. And as if to thumb their noses at Kit Siang on the subject, Deputy Rural and Regional Development Minister Datuk Dr Awang Adek Hussin and Natural Resources and Environment ministry parliamentary secretary Sazmi Miah both from Kelantan also wel comed the assemblymen when they stood up to answer questions on behalf of their ministries. The practice has even spread to the opposition. Last week Salahuddin Ayub (PAS-Kubang Kerian), when standing up to move that the Dewan debate the continued detention under the ISA of the alleged members of Kumpulan Militan Malaysia (KMM), greeted a group of his supporters from Kelantan and welcomed them to the Dewan Rakyat. During the week, the Dewan also passed the Supplementary Supply Bill 2005 involving a sum of about RM3.9 billion. MPs also discussed Lachau, the name of a town in Kuching, whether the volume of the azan coming out of mosques could be lowered and reality TV shows like Akademi Fantasia and one of its winners, Mawi. The MPs were also told the government collected RM7.06 billion in taxes from gaming between 2001 and 2004 and that tour guides found plants growing in public toilet bowls.

Not just old wives' tales

2005-10-01T17:38:00.000+08:00

Not just old wives' tales Research shows there may be truth in what your mother's always said -- some plants are good for you BY JENNY NG WHEN PROF Dr Suhaila Mohamed was growing up, her mother told her about the medicinal properties of a common local plant, pegaga, or centella asiatica. She was sceptical but chose to study the plant in her research years later. "I was looking for a plant to research on, something that would be appropriate for Malaysia. I looked at local plants, and zeroed in on plants consumed based on traditional beliefs," says the professor of food science at Universiti Putra Malaysia. Six years into her research, which included testing the efficacy of pegaga on rats, she is convinced her mother was right. Suhaila's lab tests show pegaga contains diuretic and weightreducing properties and aids in protecting the eyes, lungs, kidneys and heart. Now, Suhaila takes daily doses of dried pegaga in capsules as a weight-management supplement. She is not alone in turning to traditional medicine. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), up to 80% of people in the developing south use traditional medicine as part of primary healthcare, and it is becoming popular in industrialised countries, where it is used in preventive and palliative care. The WHO defines traditional medicine as "health practices, approaches, knowledge and beliefs that incorporate plant, animal and mineral-based medicines, spiritual therapies, manual techniques and exercises, applied singularly or in combination to treat, diagnose and prevent illnesses or maintain well being". In industrialised countries, adaptations of traditional medicine are known as complementary or alternative medicine (CAM). The WHO says that in France, 75% of the population has used complementary medicine at least once and in Germany, 77% of pain clinics provide acupuncture. In the UK, expenditure on CAM stands at US$2.3 billion per year. According to WHO figures in 2002, globally, the market for traditional therapies stood at US$60 billion, and the figure is growing. Along with acupuncture, ayurvedic medicine and yoga have also become popular. The growing acceptance of traditional, complementary and alternative medicine (TCAM) in the West is partly attributable to the assimilation of immigrant communities with their cultures and traditional cures and therapies into Western societies, Dr Padma Venkat tells theSun. A joint director of the Foundation for Revitalisation of Local Health Traditions, a Bangalore-based, non-governmental organisation that focuses on revitalising Indian medicinal heritage, Padma was one of the speakers at the first international Women's Health and Asian Traditional (WHAT) Medicine conference held in late August in Kuala Lumpur. Another reason for complementary medicine's popularity is a growing awareness of the side effects of long-term use of pharmaceutical drugs. Some turn to traditional medicine to avoid invasive and costly surgeries where success is sometimes not guaranteed, adds Padma. Yoga therapist Florence Thomas can vouch for that. In July, she fractured and badly dislocated her right arm after a fall, and specialists initially suggested immediate surgery. The downside of surgery was it would take at least a year before she regained full use of her arm, and she would not be able to raise and straighten her arm over her head even after that. "I decided to seek other options. I went for ayurvedic massages using herbal oil and hot-salt treatment. As a trained yoga therapist, I practised certain yoga postures and relied on my diet," says Thomas, who has been practising and teaching yoga for more than 30 years. Six weeks after the accident, she removed her arm sling and her last X-ray shows the fracture had healed. A recent visit to the specialist confirmed no surgery was necessary, she says. Thomas' case highlights an interesting fact -- women are twice as likely as men to use complementary or alternative medicine. Professor Gerard Bodeker of Oxford University told the WHAT medicine conference that in developing societies in which traditional medicine is the primary healthcare, health knowledge has been passed down through the generations from grandmothers to mothers and daughters, making women the purveyors of traditional health knowledge. In the West, women have also emerged as early adopters of CAM. In 2002, a Women's Health Initiative study to evaluate the use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for disease prevention was halted due to increased risks of breast cancer, heart disease and stroke in long-term users. Since then, more women have turned to traditional medicine to manage menopausal symptoms. Although some scientists have said the findings have been misinterpreted, doubts have been cast on HRT, once hailed as the wonder cure for menopausal symptoms. According to Dr Ong Hean Choon, the former president of the Malaysian Menopause Society, about 30% of post-menopausal Malaysian women complain of menopausal symptoms but over 80% of these women do not seek treatment at all. Of those who do, 80% receive some form of treatment but 43% do not comply with the treatment prescribed. A 1994 study found that 41% of women who seek treatment for menopausal symptoms take herbal remedies, compared with 31% on HRT. Ong said in his presentation at the WHAT medicine conference that Malaysian post-menopausal women frequently resort to vitamins, calcium and evening primrose oil, although the last does not offer much value in the treatment of postmenopausal symptoms. Following the HRT controversy, other herbal substitutes like red clover, black cohosh and soy isoflavone supplements entered the picture. Herbal remedies such as dong quai and Chinese ginseng have always been taken by Malaysian women for menopausal flushes and to relieve fatigue. Other preparations taken include Bor age Plus, Ginkgo biloba, sea salmon oil, ginkgo phytosome and wild yam extract. But the decision whether to go on HRT or alternative remedy is ultimately a personal choice, says Dr Ravi Chandran, president of the Obstetrical and Gynaecological Society of Malaysia. Risks The popularity of traditional and complementary medicine aside, its misuse poses risks to users. For one, some herbs have interactive reactions with pharmaceutical drugs. For example, St John's wort, taken as an anti-depressant, affects the way the body processes certain drugs. Ginseng has blood-thinning effects and should not be taken with other anti-coagulant drugs. The field needs to be regulated but the sharing of information between modern medical doctors and practitioners of complementary medicine is also necessary. Bodeker says in the UK, for example, all medical schools are required to conduct an introductory course on complementary medicine. "Instead of self-medicating, consult reputable and qualified practitioners of traditional medicine," he advises. The lack of regulations and strict enforcement, coupled with the absence of evidencebased research, have led to some manufacturers of traditional medicinal products making wild claims about their products to enhance sales, or adulterating traditional products with steroids to enhance their effectiveness. "It is a quality-control issue. What you need is good quality control and once it's what it is supposed to be, it is less likely to have side effects," says Prof Fredi Kronenberg, director of the Rosenthal Centre for Complementary and Alternative Medicine at Columbia University, New York. In Malaysia, registration of traditional medicines has been enforced since 1992 under the Control of Drugs and Cosmetics Regulations 1984. The registration process involves preliminary screening of applications, testing of samples and evaluation of product documents. In fact, Minister of Health Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek announced in August that the drafting of the Traditional and Complementary Medicine Bill 2006 is close to completion. The legislation is to regulate practitioners of traditional medicine in the country. Currently, close to 7,000 traditional practitioners have registered with the ministry. It's easy to see why -- herbal medicine registered annual sales exceeding RM4.5 billion since 2001 and the industry expects it to double by 2010. Chua also announced that three government hospitals -- Putrajaya Hospital, Kepala Batas Hospital and Pandan Hospital in Johor Bahru -- would be offering traditional treatment under the Ninth Malaysia Plan. But the combination of modern, traditional and complementary medicine is not something new. Bodeker estimates 95.5% of those using traditional and complementary medicine also rely on modern medicine. For instance, yoga therapist Thomas attributes her speedy recovery to yoga techniques and ayurvedic medicine but without X-rays, she wouldn't have known where and how bad the fracture was. "Someone involved in a car accident may not want a herbalist tending to him in the emergency room. However, in the rehabilitation process, he may want acupuncture treatment. There is a great role for modern medicine in managing acute conditions or trauma but for long-term illnesses like arthritis and asthma, many resort to alternative medicine," says Bodeker. "Eastern and Western medicine are interrelated. You can't divorce them, you need both," says Thomas.

A budget with heart, say ordinary folk

2005-10-01T17:37:00.000+08:00

A budget with heart, say ordinary folk THE BUDGET DOES not change the life of ordinary Malaysians. However, it is a good budget with the people in mind, seems the general view of the public. "It looks more like a soft-hearted budget rather than one with earthshattering changes," said Gilbert Yeoh, who was featured with his family in last weekend's edition of theSun. Yeoh said: "It looks like it focused more on the lower-income (group) and on parents with disabled children. "I suppose, looking at the current economic situation, it was the very best that the government could do." The 50-year-old doting father of two added that "if we asked anything more from the government, it will be straining on them and will indirectly do damage to the economy". "From the business side, if the government did take into consideration the annual application for the separation of insurance and the Employees Provident Fund, it would encourage the insurance industry and help the economy too," added Yeoh, to which his wife Amy Huee, agreed. Insurance agency manager Huee, 45, had just returned from a week-long business trip to Shanghai and missed listening to the Budget. However, she is looking forward to catching the Budget while watching the news later. "We have always been expecting news of the separation scheme ... but with each year, our request is not granted. "Nevertheless, we will look forward to next year's Budget," she said. For the increase in taxes on liquor and cigarettes, Yeoh said it came as no surprise, especially with the "Tak Nak" anti-smoking campaign. "I will not say that it is very good either because I will come under fire from my circle of friends if I do ... but it is a good idea since the government has healthy living in mind," he added. Meanwhile, retiree John Lim, 70, said the government should exempt retirees from paying income tax. "If someone started working at the age of 18 and has been paying income tax since then, when he or she reaches the graceful age of 60, the individual would have been paying 42 years of tax to the government. "Why not give us an exemption, allowing us to work hard to enjoy the fruits of our labour for the rest of our natural life?" he asked. He suggested that the government pick 55 as the cut-off age for the exemption of income tax.

Accent on productivity gets the thumbs up

2005-10-01T17:36:00.000+08:00

Accent on productivity gets the thumbs up REPORTS BY B. SURESH RAM, HUSNA YUSOP, R. SURENTHIRA KUMAR, LLEW-ANN PHANG, ANANSA JACOB AND GIAM SAY KHOON BARISAN NASIONAL BACKBENCHERS Club chairman Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad (pix) said Budget 2006 focused a lot of attention on productivity and efficiency. He said the backbenchers were also happy that attention was given to matters such as natural gas and alternative fuel. Shahrir said he was also confident the country's niche economic sectors would be able to face the competition from economic giants China and India. He said competition from other countries does not mean that Malaysia was duplicating what was happening elsewhere, as the country has it own resources to fall back on. "For example, we have palm oil which can be converted into biofuel and made available for export," he said. Meanwhile, there were contrasting views among the opposition MPs. PAS secretary-general Datuk Kamaruddin Jaafar (Tumpat) said there was no clear indication as to how the government was going to tackle the various shortcomings plaguing the economy. "Our first impression was that the prime minister did not give any clear indication on how to spur economic growth," he said. He said the budget did not explain how the country was going to maintain a higher growth rate nor was there any mention of how it was going to face challenges from emerging economic giants China and India, in attracting foreign direct investment. Kamaruddin said the finance minister also did not say a single word on the automotive sector and how to resolve the crisis it was in. DAP deputy chairman Dr Tan Seng Giaw (Kepong), speaking on behalf of his party, said the budget was quite positive as it touched on areas which required attention. "This is a positive sign such as in the corporate sector which benefited in the form of flexible taxation, and bonds," he said. Tan said the move to allocate about 20% of the budget to education is a step in the right direction. He said the move to promulgate new laws on renewable energy as well as its promotion in the form of tax breaks and financial allocation was the right step towards easing dependence on traditional fuels. Datin Seri Dr Wan Wan Azizah Wan (Keadilan-Permatang Pauh), who described it as a cautious budget, said there were some good points such as attention being paid on alternative fuel. However, she said the budget does not do much to attract foreign direct investment. Attention was also not paid to areas such as research and development or improving the public transportation system.

Eye on prices to prevent sharp hikes

2005-10-01T17:35:00.000+08:00

Eye on prices to prevent sharp hikes THE GOVERNMENT WILL keep an eye on prices to prevent any sharp increases by opportunistic traders attempting to exploit the payment of a cost of living allowance and a bonus to public sector employees under Budget 2006, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said. He said the government would take other measures as well including reviewing the list of necessities that come under price control. "The list is now being looked at thoroughly by the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs," he said after the presentation of the budget by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Najib said enforcement would be stepped up and officers would act firmly against traders who failed to price-tag goods displayed for sale. The government is also studying ways to extend the "fair price" concept, he added.

Four strategies to keep growth momentum

2005-10-01T17:34:00.001+08:00

Four strategies to keep growth momentum BY R. SURENTHIRA KUMAR BUDGET 2006 is guided by a fourprong strategy to ensure continued growth. Under the first strategy, which is to accelerate economic activities, funding for the operating and development expenditure will be increased by 13%. It proposes that RM136.8 billion be allocated to sustain the growth momentum. To nurture the social sector which encompasses education, health and housing RM9.9 billion will be provided while the security sector is allocated RM5.6 billion and RM3.6 billion is for administration. The economy and infrastructure in the rural areas will be further improved with an allocation of RM5.7 billion. A substantial portion of the allocation, RM2.7 billion is for the implementation of agriculture projects, particularly value- added activities that can generate higher income for the farmers. A sum of RM1.2 billion is set aside for education, RM581 million for the construction and upgrading of roads and RM299 million for water and electricity supply. Abdullah said the government is aware of complaints of inadequate basic infrastructure facilities, particularly in rural areas. He urged MPs, state development officers and district officers to identify a list of basic infrastructure urgently required in their areas before submitting it to the Implementation Unit in his department before the end of November to facilitate implementation. Abdullah said there is also a need to emphasise the development of soft infrastructure, which includes human capital, management and organisational systems and thoroughly inculcate the cul ture of maintenance. Under the second strategy, business-friendly policies and measures will be undertaken. To reduce the cost of doing business, tax and non-tax measures will be introduced. Group relief to companies within a group, with a minimum of 70% ownership between them for those venturing into highrisk projects, will be allowed. The relief allows 50% of a company's current year losses to be offset against the profits of other companies in the same group. Accumulated losses and unabsorbed capital allowances will allowed to be carried forward and the accumulated losses deducted, during the pioneer period from the post-pioneer income, for companies granted pioneer status. The third strategy involves the development of human capital whereby, emphasis will be given to skills training and technical expertise. Enrolment of students in technical, vocational and skills training will be increased to 98,000 students next year from the present 72,000 with an allocation of RM1 billion for trade and industrial training. Under the fourth strategy, the well-being and quality of life of the Rakyat will be enhanced. The government has given the assurance there will be no more hike in petrol, diesel and cooking gas prices up to year-end nor rise in toll rates up to end of 2006. With the exception of Sarawak, a 40% reduction in road tax for private diesel vehicles exceeding 1,600cc will be given effective Oct 5. To eradicate poverty, RM700 million has been allocated to increase the income of rural population and to provide houses for the hardcore poor in rural areas.

Growing agriculture

2005-10-01T17:34:00.000+08:00

Growing agriculture COMMENT BY ANNA TAING AS FAR AS national budgets go, Budget 2006 was hailed as a positive one. It was expansionary yet prudent against a backdrop of weaker economic growth and the need for fiscal constraint. It was pro-business; at the same time there was also something for the man-in-the-street. But let us not forget that this budget is a very important one it is actually the first budget of the 9th Malaysia Plan (9MP), which will map out the country's development strategies for the next five years. Towards this end, Budget 2006 has put in place significant measures to kick start efforts to move Malaysia to a higher position on the global value chain. Of significance are the measures to modernise the agriculture sector. In the past, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had talked about plans to invigorate the agriculture sector to make it one of the key growth drivers for the economy. The question then was, how? Now, we are now seeing this rhetoric being translated into more concrete measures. That's a good start. Malaysia can no longer rely on the manufacturing sector as the main growth engine, at a time when stiff competition is coming from new manufacturing powerhouses such as China and India. Indeed, growth in the manufacturing sector has slowed in the last couple of years. Gone are the days of double-digit growth numbers enjoyed by this sector in the last decade or so. What the government has done in Budget 2006 is this: it has allocated RM2.8 billion to help the agriculture sector become more dynamic. It has also announced plans to restr ucture the Ag riculture Department, beefing it up with the creation of 255 new posts. To promote the exports of agricultural products, Agriculture Counsellor Offices will also be set up, as has already been done in The Hague and Beijing. But what is of greater significance, we believe, is the move to place gover nment-linked companies (GLCs) in the forefront of its plans to commercialise this sector. In this regard, the government has allocated RM400 million to finance agricultural projects by GLCs. There is more. Khazanah Nasional will establish the National Agriculture and Food Corporation with a capital of RM500 million. Functions of the corporation include matching and management of production, processing, marketing, distribution and related logistics. Focus, according to Abdullah, will be given to activities such as commercialisation, branding, research and development and establishment of hi-tech plantations. Prior to the budget announcements, the government has already put in place several initiatives to develop biotechnology in the agriculture sector early this year. These include a National Biotechnology Policy and the setting up of the Malaysian Biotechnology Corp. Industry observers say the agriculture sector has not seen such major policy moves for the longest time. Ever since manufacturing took over as the biggest growth driver in the mid 1980s, in fact. Today, agriculture's contribution to the country's gross domestic product (GDP) is just 8.4%, compared with 31.5% from manufacturing. Yet, it has the potential to con tribute more. The global value of agriculture biotechnology (agrobio) is estimated at US$6 billion this year. Already, we are beginning to see some of these potential being harnessed. Malaysia has applied agrobio to improve yields and to develop new products, such as extracting Vitamin E from palm oil and anti-fungal extracts from seacucumbers. The breeding of ornamental fish through agrobio, for example, has turned into a lucrative industry. Starting out as a hobby, this industry today generates export earnings in excess of RM40 million a year for the country. For the first half of this year, exports of ornamental fish rose by 10.2% to RM24.8 million. The global industry is valued at US$303 million in 2005. Are the measures contained in Budget 2006 enough? Perhaps not, although it is a start. For sure, these measures will not yield results overnight, but then, that wasn't the intention in the first place. Much will depend on how effective the National Agriculture and Food Corporation will be when it becomes operational. The corpora tion is equivalent to an umbrella body to oversee the industry. The ultimate objective is to move the agriculture sector, long regarded as a traditional sector confined to the rural areas, to a high value-added and technology-based platform. It will not be an easy task because it involves a paradigm shift in the mindsets of those involved in the sector. If agriculture is to be revitalised to become a new growth area and a lead contributor to GDP, there is a need to link the supply processes from production to manufacturing and finally, to services. This will take time, but with the right incentives and an enabling environment, it can be done. And if we can be successful in doing that, we would have killed two birds with one stone shifted a traditionally production-based sector towards higher value-added downstream activities to earn foreign exchange. At the same time, it would be a boon for rural development because that is where most of the farmers are. This article is taken from the Oct 3-9 issue of The Edgee.

Prudence in sustaining growth

2005-10-01T17:32:00.000+08:00

Prudence in sustaining growth "The government is aware of complaints of inadequate basic infrastructure facilities, particularly in rural areas." THE THEME OF Budget 2006, "Strengthening Resilience, Meeting Challenges", reflects the current economic environment that prudence and belt-tightening are needed to weather the current storm. Presenting his second budget yesterday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said with more money in the coffers RM136.8 billion, an increase of 5% from last year the government hopes to lower the budget deficit from 3.8% this year to 3.5% next year something it has been struggling with the last nine years. Attributing the deficit to oil prices, Abdullah hinted at a raise in electricity tarrifs. "Higher crude oil prices will result in higher subsidies for fuel and other sources of energy, such as electricity. "We cannot rely on subsidies to maintain our competitiveness and thus should be more energy efficient in our production processes. "In due course, electricity tariffs will need to be adjusted to promote greater energy efficiency. "However, the government is committed to ensuring there will be no additional burden," he said. Abdullah, who is finance minister, painted an overall optimistic picture, saying growth is estimated at 5%. "We are fortunate that within a short period of seven years after the 1997 financial crisis, the economy has fully recovered to achieve sustainable g rowth. GDP (Gross Domestic Product) grew at an annual average rate of 5.4% during the period." To affirm this point, Abdullah said per capita income is expected to increase to RM17,741 in 2005 compared with RM16,616 last year. "Our ability to succeed in an environment marked by greater external vulnerabilities and challenges depends on our agility to make changes to our lifestyle," he said. "(Thus the) willingness to make short-term sacrifices for long term benefits." Outlining the blueprint for 2006 the start of the 9th Malaysia Plan (2006-2010), Abdullah said Budget 2006 would have four main strategies: · implementing pro-active mea sures to accelerate economic activities; · providing a business-friendly environment; · developing the country's human capital; · enhancing the well-being and quality of life of Malaysians. Emphasising the development of human capital, RM5 billion has been allocated for education and training, including ICT and curriculum development and building more hostels and teachers' quarters, as well as upgrading teachers' colleges. "The target of providing secondary schools with 100% graduate teachers and 50% in primary schools will be met by 2010," Abdullah said. The prime minister proved once again that his administration has the low-income earners at heart. "The government will continue to ease the financial burden of Malaysians, especially the lowincome group," he said, announcing an increase in allocations of between RM20 and RM75 for the old, needy as well as orphans and poor children. Abdullah said rural folk will be able to enjoy adequate roads, water and electricity and improved educational facilities through an allocation of RM5.7 billion the implementation of which will see the involvement of small-time bumiputra contractors. "The government is aware of complaints of inadequate basic infrastructure facilities, particularly in rural areas. I am saddened by reports of fatal accidents involving school children while crossing dilapidated bridges. As a nation with world-class infrastructure, such incidents should not occur," said Abdullah. The 1.2 million civil servants will again be receiving their bonus, this time between one and oneand-a-half months' worth, and pensioners will get RM200 this month. Cost of living allowance for public servants has been raised between RM50 and RM150, depending on where they live. But, there is little for those in the middle and higher income brackets to cheer, apart from Abdullah keeping to a promise he made early last month that there will be no fuel hikes this year, as well as no toll increases. However, if you have a child studying abroad, you are entitled to a RM4,000 tax relief. The expected raise in sin taxes will cost smokers 13% more and drinkers 9%. Most of the extra income will probably go towards boosting the health sector, which has been injected with a RM1.3 billion allocation. "We should sustain our physical, spiritual and emotional wellbeing. "If this becomes our way of life, we will become a nation that is successful, resilient and capable of overcoming challenges," Abdullah said before wrapping up.

Perfect incubator for pandemic

2005-09-16T11:50:00.000+08:00

Perfect incubator for pandemic by Tan Ee Lyn THE SUN GUANGZHOU (China): The little boy jumped on a crate of clucking chickens as his father called out to him to transfer more birds from a large enclosure into the crate. In this dank, poultry wholesale market in Guangzhou in souther n China, a woman in the next stall selling ducks chomped on an apple while five barechested men sat down to lunch. All around the humans are cages of live chickens, ducks, geese, rabbits, goats, pigeons and pheasants ?the perfect setting for the H5N1 bird flu virus to mix with other viruses or mutate into what experts predict would be the next pandemic strain. Once the hybrid is easily transmissible among people ?which experts say will ultimately happen as the virus changes ?they predict more than 25 million hospital admissions and up to seven million deaths globally within a short period. At least two of the three pandemics in the last century originated in southern China. And it seems more than a coincidence that the H5N1 made its first known jump to humans in 1997 in Hongkong, which lies in southern China. So why is this region such a hotbed for new deadly bugs? "A large proportion of the global population is in this region, and beyond that there is a diversity of animals that are thought to be important in the generation of these pandemic viruses," Malik Peiris, a microbiologist at the University of Hongkong who has worked extensively on the H5N1 virus and SARS, said in an interview. "These include waterfowl, particularly ducks which are reared in large numbers in this region, pigs and the fact that poultry, pigs and humans are present in very large numbers and in very close proximity to each other in this region. Not just China but southeast Asia," said Peiris . Spread across Guangdong province in southern China are tiny farms, where villagers raise small numbers of pigs in open sheds. Outside, chickens and ducks are free to roam. "In places where you have pigs, birds and humans living close to each other, they create the ecology for the emergence of new strains. In southern China, you can easily see them keeping chickens, water birds very close to pigs and humans. This environment makes gene reassortment more likely," said Paul Chan, a microbiologist at the Chinese University. Gene reassortment is the closest things viruses have to sex. They can swap genes with other viruses, often allowing them to acquire vastly new abilities overnight. It is a faster way to change than simple mutation ?which could also lead to a new H5N1 strain deadlier to people. The H5N1 strain has haunted the world since it made its debut in humans in 1997. It is now endemic in parts of Asia, where it has killed more than 60 people since late 2003. The crisis deepened this year when wild migratory birds began dying from it in central China and experts have since war ned that species which survive could carry the virus all over Europe and Africa within the next two migrating seasons. The virus has been detected in regions north of China in Kazakhstan, Russia and Mongolia. It has also been found in China's southwestern regions of Xinjiang and Tibet, which hangs just over Nepal and the rest of the Indian sub-continent. But such worries cannot be farther from the minds of farmers and poultry vendors in southern China, where such husbandry practices have been handed down for generations. "Sick? I have never been sick!" snapped the woman at the market as she carried on eating her apple. But health experts continue to be alarmed and governments worldwide have hammered out contingencies in the event of a pandemic, which is certain to put a stop to all air travel, trade and ordinary life. Chan said the threat of a pandemic has become infinitely larger with the involvement of mig ratory birds. "With land birds you can catch and kill them, but with migratory birds you can't. What we fear is that migratory birds will spread the virus to poultry (in other parts of the world). Poultry is closest to humans, that's the tipping point," he said. "Up until now, transmission from bird to human is not ef ficient, but with a lot of contact, you will end up with a lot of human cases. When you have a sufficient number of human cases, there is chance for human influenza to mix with avian virus." "When that time comes, it wouldn't be a pig, but a human mixing vessel (that produces the next pandemic strain). We are far more efficient mixing vessels than pigs. And once H5N1 becomes easily transmissible in humans, it will be the end. We can do nothing to control this spreading." Health experts urged full biosecurity measures at farms, saying everything must be done to keep poultry from mixing with waterfowl and wild birds. They also called for close surveillance of the virus in birds of all types. "We must make sure our preparedness plans are well organised and ready and we must also get a vaccine ready and make sure it can be mass produced in the numbers required ," Peiris said. ?Reuters