Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- Rosmah puts some sparkle in her biography
- Anwar threatens RM100mil suit against blogger
- ‘Over 60,000 dubious voters in Sabah’
- Attack on coffeeshop worker: No cover-up, say police
- Johor DAP row worsens
- GE13: Kedah PAS No. 2 prevented from speaking at ceramah
- Sarawak cop, gangsters assault youth
- GE13: BN Veterans Face The Axe, 40% Of Candidates Will Be New Faces
| Rosmah puts some sparkle in her biography Posted: 18 Mar 2013 09:37 PM PDT
(Free Malaysia Today) - 'First Lady' says it is common to receive expensive jewellery and gifts and denies purchasing a RM24 million diamond ring in her book. Rosmah Mansor, the wife of the prime minister, finally shed more light on the RM24 million diamond ring scandal – in her biography, two years later. In her biography, she said it is common for the prime minister's wife to receive expensive jewellery and gifts while on official duty. "While welcoming guests, it is common courtesy for them to present us gifts as memorabilia. Among these gifts include rings, watches, jewellery and others. Some are very expensive and custom-made," she said in the book's Question and Answer section. Rosmah was responding to allegations that she had purchased RM24 million diamond ring as claimed by the opposition two years ago. Her 180-page biography entitled "Biographi Rosmah Mansor" was launched today by former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad. The authors are Siti Rohayah Attan and Noraini Abdul Razak. In the book, Rosmah explained that it was common to receive gifts from hosts while visiting another country on official duty. "When someone gives us something, it is not nice to reject it. This said, there is no reason for me to go around announcing that I have been presented watches, designer bags, and the rest. That's just showing off," she said. Rosmah said she would then "wear" the gifts presented to her as it was a "waste" for them be kept in a safety deposit box. "It is illogical to keep them [the gifts] in a metal box when they were presented to me sincerely, are beautiful and suitable for use," she said. Rosmah added that she also purchased jewellery and designer clothes using her own money. "What's wrong with that?" she asked. "As a woman and wife of a leader, I have to look presentable, neat and upkeep my appearance. I don't want to look unkempt because if I do, I will be criticised. "It would be embarrassing for the rakyat when other countries tease the PM's wife for being unkempt," she said. In her book, Rosmah reiterated that she did not own the RM24 million diamond ring as alleged by former PKR central committee member Badrul Hisham Shaharin in 2011. "The ring was brought in through Customs to be viewed by Maira Nazarbayev who was with me at the time preparing her son's engagement to my daughter," she said, adding that Maira was a "regular customer" of jewellery maker Jacob & Co. "Once viewed by Maira, the ring was returned and sent out of Malaysia through Singapore port on April 20, 2011. It arrived at Jacob & Co's headoffice in New York on May 13, 2011." Rosmah's book should be distributed in schools Meanwhile, during the launch of the book, Mahathir said it was important for all leaders and public figures to chronicle their experiences and achievements in a biography for future references. Read more at: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2013/03/19/rosmah-puts-some-sparkle-in-her-biography/ |
| Anwar threatens RM100mil suit against blogger Posted: 18 Mar 2013 06:56 PM PDT
(Freemalaysiakini) - Lawyers acting for Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim sent a letter of demand to Umno-aligned blogger Papagomo or Wan Muhammad Azri Wan Deris today for implicating Anwar in a fabricated sex video. PKR vice-president N Surendran said Wan Muhammad Azri, who is the owner or operator of Papagomo, had on March 16 published fake photographs and allegations about Anwar. "The faking and distribution of photographs and false allegations of a sexual nature against Anwar have become a trademark of the gutter politics practised by Umno and its bloggers. "Hence, today we sent a letter of demand to him. Anwar's solicitors have demanded Papagomo withdraws the malicious allegations, apologises within 48 hours from today and pays damages in the sum of RM 100 million. "The sum of damages demanded reflects the blogger's close ties with Umno and Umno's clear backing for him," Surendran (above), a lawyer, said in a statement. Privileged access to submarine He claimed Papagomo was notoriously close to and had confidential ties with senior Umno leaders such as party vice-president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. He said the blogger was even allowed privileged access to Malaysia's Scorpene submarine KD Tun Razak during a controversy that erupted between BN and Pakatan Rakyat over the capabilities of the submarine. The hidden hand of Umno was thus clearly present behind this latest disgusting attack on the character and reputation of the leader of Pakatan Rakyat. "Umno's heavy reliance on sleazy politics and dubious bloggers highlights its utter moral and ethical collapse. It proves Umno-BN's complete unfitness to continue to rule and administer our nation," Surendran added. Anwar over the weekend denied the latest allegation, calling it "Umno's disgusting pre-election slander".
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| ‘Over 60,000 dubious voters in Sabah’ Posted: 18 Mar 2013 06:51 PM PDT
DAP also finds 29 instances of old IC duplications in the electoral roll. Anisah Shukry, FMT The Sabah electoral roll has 60,673 or 6.3% potentially dubious voters, the DAP said today. Ong Kian Ming, director of the party's Malaysian Electoral Roll Analysis Project (Merap), said they arrived at this figure from the proceedings of the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) probing the issuance of identity cards (IC) to illegal immigrants in Sabah. "Ruslan Alias, an assistant head in the IC division of Sabah/Sarawak in the National Registration Department [NRD], revealed a list containing 130,459 'problematic' old IC numbers where their records with the NRD were either incomplete or where these cards had been cancelled," Ong told a press conference at the party's headquarters here. He said Merap did a search of the old IC numbers using the first quarter of the 2012 electoral roll and found that 60,673 of those problematic ICs were on the roll. "These voters are not evenly distributed across the state. Eight out of the top 10 parliamentary constituencies featuring these voters can be found on the east coast of Sabah. Some 66% or 39,750 voters out of the 60,673 problematic ICs can be found in these eight parliamentary seats," said Ong. The top eight seats are Silam (7,934 dubious voters), Kalabakan (7,536), Semporna (4,742), Libaran (3,949), Batu Sapi (3,442), Sandakan (2,603), and Kinabatangan (2,068), according to Merap. Ong conceded that the current electoral roll may not reflect similar figures, but he said it was unlikely the Election Commission (EC) would be able to remove over 60,000 voters from the roll within a span of four months. "Far from seeing a decrease in voters in Sabah's electoral roll in the past few months, we have actually seen a surge of voters," he said. He also said Merap found 29 instances of old IC duplications from the list of problematic ICs. "These voters are still on the electoral roll at the time of writing," said Ong. Serious issue Meanwhile, Ong questioned why 20 IC numbers listed as having been cancelled in 1996 were only removed from the electoral roll in the fourth quarter of 2012. "How did these voters manage to stay on the electoral roll up until the fourth quarter of 2012? "Who was responsible for registering these voters with cancelled ICs? According to the data collected previously by Merap, all these voters were registered after 1996, when these ICs were supposed to be cancelled," he added.
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| Attack on coffeeshop worker: No cover-up, say police Posted: 18 Mar 2013 05:47 PM PDT
In another incident, a company director linked Taib Mahmud was released on bail following a three-day remand for attacking a NCR landowner. Joseph Tawie, FMT KUCHING: Kuching police chief ACP Roslan Ahmad has given an assurance that there will be no cover-up of a case involving a police inspector attached to the 11th battalion of the General Operations (GOF) who was caught on CCTV assaulting a 21-year-old youth in Batu Kawah area last week. The youth, Andrewson Ngalai, a coffeeshop worker, and his friends were reportedly attacked by the police inspector and some gangsters in the early hours of March 14. Roslan told reporters today that the police inspector and two of gangsters have been detained. "He has been arrested together with two men aged 22 and 39. The six handphone sets robbed by them have also been confiscated," he said, adding that all were currently under remand until March 21 pending an investigation. The police inspector not only aided and abetted a group of gangsters in assaulting Andrewson but also slapped him. The inspector's actions was caught on a CCTV camera in a coffeeshop at MJC Batu Kawah where Andrewson works. Following the incident, Andrewson lodged a report at the Kawah police station. In his report, he said he was attacked with a iron rod while the officer watched. He also said the thugs demanded that he and his friends pay RM500 each for a handphone set as well as an "ang pow" to settle the case. "All this happened in front of the police officer," Andrewson said reportedly said. He added that the police also advised him not to mention the police inspector in his report. Andrewson said that after lodging the report against the gangsters, he received a threatening call from the inspector to withdraw it. Fearing for his safety, he approached Bandar Kuching MP Chong Chieng Jen for advice and was told to lodge a report against the inspector. Meanwhile, in Serian this morning, a director of a company linked to Taib Mahmud's Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu Party (PBB) – Andrew Wong – was released on police bail after a three-day remand. Wong, a director of United Teamtrade Sdn Bhd, had attacked Surik Anak Muntai, a native customary rights land owner last Friday. He is closely linked to two PBB leaders – a senior minister and another assistant minister. Three other security personnel of the company, who had aided Wong, are however still at large. Surik, who was slashed on the head, also suffered a broken arm and legs. He is admitted at the Sarawak General Hospital.
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| Posted: 18 Mar 2013 01:33 PM PDT
(NST) - REVOLT: Senai rep leads 16 branches in show of defiance of state party chief JOHOR BARU: THE infighting among opposition leaders in Johor took another twist when state DAP vice-chairman Ong Kow Meng led 16 party branches to throw their vote of no-confidence against state party chairman Dr Boo Cheng Hau. Ong, who is also DAP's Senai assemblyman, had accused Dr Boo of attempting to split the "long-established cohesion among the opposition pact's component parties". This he said was because of Dr Boo's disclosure of his conflict with Johor PKR chairman Datuk Chua Jui Meng with regard to seat allocations between the two opposition parties last month. Ong, who revealed this at a press conference yesterday, listed out his dissatisfaction with Dr Boo, and lambasted him for advocating "cronyism" ever since he became the Skudai assemblyman in 2008. He said Dr Boo arranged for his cronies within the party to assume important positions and duties, and ignored the voice of senior and grassroot leaders. "Last week, I visited several constituencies in the state, including Batu Pahat, Kluang, Muar, Labis and Johor Baru. Many of the grassroot leaders have told me about their unhappiness with Dr Boo. "When he found out that I visited the constituencies, he texted me a message, asking me who am I serving? "When I replied by asking what he meant, he kept quiet. "My conscience as a Johor party vice-chairman and an elected assemblyman to serve the people is clear. How could he be doubtful about this?" he asked. Among representatives of party branches who were with Ong at the press conference were those from Johor Baru, Taman Nesa, Kulai, Bukit Indah, Taman Skudai Baru and Kulaijaya. Ong also criticised Dr Boo as being arrogant for publicly attacking his PKR counterpart, adding that such an act could thwart the opposition pact's march towards Putrajaya. He said Dr Boo should not be doubtful about Chua's identity and sincerity. "Take PKR chairman Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as an example. He was formerly with Umno but is with the opposition pact and our comrade now." Sources within Johor DAP had, however, informed the New Straits Times that Ong's outburst against Dr Boo was caused by a revelation that the state party chairman had not endorsed Ong to be fielded in the next general election. Meanwhile, DAP Kulai division liaison committee chairman Ng Pack Seong, who was also at the press conference, claimed that it was unbecoming of Dr Boo to appoint his crony to assume important posts. He said Dr Boo had appointed an "outsider" to lead the election operations room in Kulai, which is where Ong's Senai constituency is located. "As a state leader, he should know the will of party members and his duty is to unite the party, and not otherwise," said Ng. Dr Boo responded to the criticisms by pointing out that the choice of election candidates was in the hands of the party central selection committee, adding that there was no need to blame him if anyone was not selected as a candidate. At state-level, he said the choice of candidates was done by a three-member team comprising the state chairman, deputy chairman and secretary. "Our choice of candidates is based on several criteria, such as quality, discipline, team spirit and language proficiency, among others. "To prevent any conflict, we have yet to submit the candidates' list to the headquarters. "I am sad that there are certain people who do not understand the procedure, and quickly jump to the conclusion that they will not be fielded and level their attack at me." 
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| GE13: Kedah PAS No. 2 prevented from speaking at ceramah Posted: 18 Mar 2013 01:30 PM PDT
(The Star) - Some of Phahrolrazi's supporters have claimed he was kidnapped but he stressed it was probably a "friendly warning" to stop him from entering the mentri besar's territory. Datuk Phahrolrazi Zawawi, the No. 2 PAS man in Kedah, was "locked in" in a religious school compound for two hours to prevent him from speaking at a ceramah. Phahrolrazi said he was on the way to the ceramah in Kampung Kabu which is located in the state constituency held by Kedah Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Azizan Abdul Razak when the head of the Sekolah Agama Nahdah Bukit Besar phoned him to stop by the school. "The moment my car entered the school compound, they locked the gate and I had the feeling that I was not going to get out," said Phahrolrazi who has had a long-running feud with the mentri besar. He was then led to the school canteen where the school head Ustaz Nasir Othman tried to deter him from proceeding to the ceramah. Ustaz Nasir is a committee member of the Jerai PAS division of which Azizan is the chairman. "He claimed there were rival groups at the ceramah venue and that he did not want any harm done to me. I tried to leave several times but he told me not to go and that he was doing this to protect me. It was all very cordial but the point is that I was prevented from leaving until two hours later," he said. When Phahrolrazi phoned the organisers of the ceramah about his dilemma, they sent four representatives to the school to negotiate with Ustaz Nasir but he refused to unlock the gate. Some of Phahrolrazi's supporters have claimed he was kidnapped but he stressed it was probably a "friendly warning" to stop him from entering the mentri besar's territory. Phahrolrazi's supporters said they have lodged a police report about the incident. The ceramah was eventually cancelled when Phahrolrazi did not show up. "The MB is the Jerai chairman but I am the party's deputy commissioner in Kedah. Surely I should be free to speak at any ceramah. I don't blame Ustaz Nasir, I think he was afraid of his boss," said Phahrolrazi. |
| Sarawak cop, gangsters assault youth Posted: 18 Mar 2013 12:27 PM PDT
(Free Malaysia Today) - Sarawak DAP wants the IGP to act on 21-year-old Andrewson Ngalai's report against a police inspector. A police inspector attached to the General Operations Force (GOF) not only aided and abetted a group of gangsters in assaulting a 21-year-old coffeeshop worker, but also took part by slapping the youth in the early hours of March 14. The inspector's act was caught on a CCTV camera in a coffeeshop at MJC Batu Kawah where Andrewson Ngalai anak Tandang works. After Andrewson lodged a report at the MJC Batu Kawah police station on the same day, the man seen in the CCTV was identified as the police inspector attached to the GOF at Batu Kawah by other officers. Relating the incident at the DAP headquarters here today, Andrewson said that when he came out of a karaoke outlet, two men approached him. While one held him, the other hit him with an iron rod. All this happened in front of the police inspector. Andrewson said he and his friends were upstairs in their hostel above the coffeeshop when they heard a knock on their door. "A man identifying himself as a police officer demanded that five of my friends and I go down stairs to the coffeeshop. "In the coffeeshop, I was slapped by the inspector. His action was caught on CCTV," he said, showing the wounds on his head and eyes to reporters. Andrewson received several stitches on his head. "The gangsters seized six handphone sets from us and demanded we pay them RM500. The inspector was present all the time," he said. Police brutality Andrewson said that in the police report, he was asked to lodge a report against the gangsters but not against the police. After the report was made, he said that he received a call from the inspector to withdraw the report. Fearing for his safety, he went to Chong Chieng Jen, who is Sarawak DAP secretary, to seek his advice. Accompanied by Chong, Andrewson made another police report, this time against the inspector. Read more at: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2013/03/18/sarawak-cop-gangsters-assault-youth/ |
| GE13: BN Veterans Face The Axe, 40% Of Candidates Will Be New Faces Posted: 18 Mar 2013 12:22 PM PDT
(The Star) - Barisan Nasional will drop up to 40% of veterans in the 13th general election to give way to new blood. Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who is making final adjustments to the list of candidates, has identified quite a number of the old guard to be excluded, with some of them coming forward to voluntarily step aside.
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