Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- Warning of monopoly in aviation amid AirAsia-MAS deal
- BN eyeing 25 winnable seats to regain Penang
- Despite ‘lazy’ leaders, MCA believes BN can retake Selangor
- Muslim lawyers warn Jais against sharing probe info
- Wira Perkasa lodges police report over allegation against Church
- Khir Toyo ordered to enter defence
- Teachers fume over new directive
- Defence varsity don makes his choice by joining DAP
- Chinese punishing ‘cocky’ Umno brother
- Sodomy II: Anwar can call Najib, Rosmah subject to their consent
| Warning of monopoly in aviation amid AirAsia-MAS deal Posted: 07 Aug 2011 10:57 PM PDT
(Harakah Daily) - Aug 8: PAS's Kuala Selangor member of parliament Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad has raised concern over the government's decision to allow Malaysia Airlines Berhad to embark on a 20 percent share swap deal with budget airlines AirAsia. "We understand, MAS will be in the red this year if nothing drastic is done. But this is not a solution, in fact the people and the consumers will lose out. This is not only my view but also others," the head of PAS Research Centre told Harakahdaily.
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| BN eyeing 25 winnable seats to regain Penang Posted: 07 Aug 2011 10:37 PM PDT
By Athi Shankar, FMT GEORGE TOWN: Confidence is running high in Penang Barisan Nasional (BN) camp nowadays. If the intelligence reports are anything to go by, BN should win enough state seats in the next general election to wrest the Penang government from Pakatan Rakyat. It is learnt that the intelligence reports have identified at least 25 constituencies as winnable seats for BN – 15 on the mainland and 10 on the island. The mainland seats are Bagan Dalam (Bagan); Berapit and Machang Bubok (Bukit Mertajam); Bertam, Penaga and Pinang Tunggal (Kepala Batas); Teluk Air Tawar, Permatang Berangan and Sungai Dua (Tasek Gelugor); Penanti, Permatang Pasir and Seberang Jaya (Permatang Pauh); and Jawi, Sungai Bakap and Sungai Acheh (Nibong Tebal). On the island, the targeted seats are Sungai Pinang and Datuk Keramat (Jelutong); Seri Delima and Air Itam (Bukit Gelugor); Batu Uban, Pantai Jerejak and Batu Maung (Bayan Baru); and Bayan Lepas, Pulau Betong and Teluk Bahang (Balik Pulau). BN is also confident of winning Kepala Batas, Tasek Gelugor, Batu Kawan, Nibong Tebal, Balik Pulau and Bayan Baru parliament seats. In the 2008 general election, BN won 11 out of the 40 states and two out of 13 federal seats, all through Umno. Gerakan, MCA and MIC were all whitewashed. However, BN leaders are confident that the political tsunami of 2008 would not be repeated this time. Strategically, the state BN leaders are now conducting group tours on Mondays in earmarked constituencies to meet and be friendly with the people. "We are going to the ground to listen to views and address issues hands-on. "People have been responsive," said a BN official. Regaining lost ground Today, they visited PKR stronghold Permatang Pauh, whose MP is Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim. The weekly constituency visits going on for more than a month now have boosted the coalition confidence that it was on its way to regaining lost ground.
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| Despite ‘lazy’ leaders, MCA believes BN can retake Selangor Posted: 07 Aug 2011 06:25 PM PDT
(The Malaysian Insider) - Conceding today that some MCA leaders in Selangor were "lazy", Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek believed there was still time to put in the work and win back support from voters in the state. The MCA president was commenting on a recent report in The Malaysian Insider about the party's lacklustre leadership in Selangor, in which one party leader predicted a total wipe-out for MCA in the frontline state. Local MCA leaders had told The Malaysian Insider that while Umno may be brimming with confidence that it can recapture Selangor in the next elections, there are fears that a lethargic MCA could lose the game for the coalition. They also pointed the finger at Selangor MCA chief Datuk Donald Lim for the party's sluggish state in Selangor. "Some of them may be lazy, but saying MCA has not done any work is not true," Dr Chua told reporters today when asked about the report. "MCA in Selangor works like normal. Maybe it is not enough and must increase. "Some of them work very hard; some only talk a lot. I know who they are. As a president who always goes to the field, I know who works and who does not," he added. When asked if any disciplinary action would be taken against these leaders, Dr Chua said it was up to the people to decide. "In politics, disciplinary action is election results," he said.
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| Muslim lawyers warn Jais against sharing probe info Posted: 07 Aug 2011 06:19 PM PDT
(The Malaysian Insider) - The Malaysian Muslim Lawyers Association (MMLA) today backed the Selangor Islamic Religious Department's (Jais) "legal" church raid last week and cautioned the agency against revealing details of its investigation in public. The association said there was no need for Jais to curry favour with any political party, saying the agency was merely carrying out its lawful duties when it acted on a complaint that Christians were proselytising to Muslims at the church last Wednesday. MMLA secretary-general Abdul Hamin Bahari also warned all politicians today against issuing reckless statements on the issue, saying that Jais should be allowed to carry out its duties without revealing the facts of its case as it could jeopardise its investigation. "However, should there be any charges made later, Jais will have to bear the burden of proof in court. So MMLA urges all politicians to stop politicising this matter, whether it is to release open statements on the investigation or to use the issue as an opportunity to garner support," he said. Jais raided the Damansara Utama Methodist Church (DUMC) at the Dream Centre in Petaling Jaya last Wednesday during a dinner function that saw the attendance of 12 Muslims. The agency was purportedly acting on a complaint that Muslims were spotted among those at the dinner, and was said to have found proof later that Christians were attempting to convert them during the function. The raid had caused uproar among religious communities, and the Selangor government under Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim has since demanded a report from Jais to explain the raid. But MMLA insisted today that Jais had acted lawfully and expressed disappointment at the "ignorance" of those who thought otherwise. "Jais had acted within the provisions of the Constitution and state enactments. The check (on DUMC) was clearly based on a complaint that Jais must investigate, as an agency tasked to take such action. "Clearly, all these statements made (against Jais) were not based on facts, were irresponsible and were aimed at belittling the status of Islam in the country," Abdul Hamin said.
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| Wira Perkasa lodges police report over allegation against Church Posted: 07 Aug 2011 06:05 PM PDT
(Malaysian Digest) -- Wira Perkasa Malaysia lodged a police report today urging the authorities to conduct a thorough investigation over the allegation that the Methodist church in Damansara Utama which held a dinner event that was raided by Jais last Wednesday was attempting to deviate Muslims. Wira Perkasa Chief, Irwan Fahmi said that the organization is very concerned over the matter and called for the police and other related authorities to clarify the matter as Perkasa believes it can bring harm to the country. He also urged the police to conduct an investigation to clarify the status of a report by Harian Metro which claim that there is an attempt by churches that lend their help to Muslims to proselytize them.
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| Khir Toyo ordered to enter defence Posted: 07 Aug 2011 03:11 PM PDT
(Bernama) - The High Court here today ordered former Selangor Menteri Besar Dr Mohamad Khir Toyo to enter his defence on the charge of corruption pertaining to the ownership of two lots of land including a bungalow at Section 7, here, four years ago. Judge Mohtaruddin Baki made the decision after being satisfied that the prosecution had succeeded in proving a prima facie case against the accused. Khir is alleged to have obtained for himself and his wife, Zahrah Kechik, a valuable property, namely two lots of land and a house at No 8 & 10, Jalan Suasa 7/1L, here from Ditamas Sdn Bhd (Ditamas) through its director, Shamsuddin. The property, located at Section 7, was purchased at a price of RM3.5 million, although the purchase price by Ditamas on Dec 23, 2004 was RM6.5 million. The transaction was alleged to have been made when Khir knew that Shamsuddin had ties with his official duty as the Selangor Menteri Besar then. Khir, who is also the state assemblyman for Sungai Panjang, is alleged to have committed the offence at the official residence of the Selangor Menteri Besar at Jalan Permata 7/1, Section 7, here on May 29, 2007. At the proceedings today, the prosecution was led by Abdul Wahab Mohamad while the defence was led by M.Athimulan. Twenty-five prosecution witnesses had been called up to give evidence at the trial. Mohtaruddin later fixed Sept 26 to 30 for the defence who was expected to present nine witnesses.
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| Teachers fume over new directive Posted: 07 Aug 2011 03:02 PM PDT
By S Rutra, FMT KUALA LUMPUR: A directive issued by the Education Ministry in its attempt to improve the quality of the education system has not gone down well with teachers. The directive to key in mid-term examination marks online forced teachers nationwide to stay up into the wee hours of the morning just to get access to the School Examination Analysis System (SAPS) website. Besides this, teachers were also required to key in marks known as Take-off Value (TOV) and Expected Target Results (ETR). Speaking on condition of anonymity, several teachers complained to FMT that whenever the ministry came up with a new directive, it increased their workload and pressure. They also said that the new system had caused "uneasiness" among teachers since each school only had one teacher coordinating the system and he or she must deal with some 200 teachers. "The coordinating teacher pushes others to complete the task on time, but some cannot complete it on time or simply cannot access the web page," they added. 'We have to suffer in silence' One coordinating teacher based in Petaling Jaya said she received text messages and phone calls from her colleagues as early as 3am who were complaining about accessibility and missing data. "I have no choice but to attend to their queries, but I myself am not familiar with the system," she said, adding that some of the frustrated teachers had even raised their voices at her. Another teacher from Rawang said teachers were overloaded with work as it is, especially during the second half of the academic year because they needed to prepare their students for major exams. "It's nothing new that we teachers suffer in silence because we cannot highlight our grievances and have to go through NUTP (National Union of Teaching Profession)," he said, adding that school heads should ask the clerical staff to handle the matter or even hire temporary data entry clerks. "They should stop burdening the teachers," he stressed. NUTP caught by surprise Meanwhile, NUTP secretary-general Lok Yim Pheng said the union was caught by surprise since it was not consulted by the ministry with regard to the new directive. She also revealed that the union was being "bombarded" with calls from teachers complaining about the issue. "Most of them lament that the servers cannot cope with the high volume of people attempting to access the website and this causes them much stress because there is a deadline to meet," she said.
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| Defence varsity don makes his choice by joining DAP Posted: 07 Aug 2011 02:39 PM PDT
(The Star) - Academician Prof Dr Ariffin Omar has joined the DAP, lauding it as a party that fights for all races. Dr Ariffin who is attached to National Defence University of Malaysia, said he chose DAP because he belived in its causes. "I have studied the party's history for decades. I believe Malaysia's future is secure with a party like DAP," he said at a press conference yesterday. Party secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said DAP's drive to recruit more Malay members had seen a steady progress. On the video-clip purportedly showing how DAP should be blamed for instigating businessmen to raise prices of goods, Lim said the party would ask YouTube to remove the clip as it contained malicious allegations. He said his officer would lodge a report with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission on the eight-minute video-clip entitled Sembang Rakyat - Kedai 1Malaysia. The party will also lodge a report at the Jalan Bandar police station on the video today. On the issue of the Selangor Islamic Religious Department raiding the Damansara Utama Methodist Church, Lim said it was contrary to the freedom of religion. "Was the raid conducted just because the event was held in a church or church compound?" he questioned.
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| Chinese punishing ‘cocky’ Umno brother Posted: 07 Aug 2011 02:37 PM PDT
The general economic independence of the Chinese community in Malaysia gives them the luxury of choice - to choose or not to choose Barisan Nasional. (Free Malaysia Today) - All is not well with our country. The majority of the Chinese are not going to vote for Barisan Nasional. Moving from one Chinese based party (MCA) to another( DAP) presents no mental hurdle for the Chinese. They are businesslike in their decisions. For one, the Chinese are aware that Chinese interests are better looked after by a more aggressive political party. Secondly, stepping out from Umno's shadow offers some satisfaction for the Chinese because doing so remits a form of punishment to their cocky big brother The Chinese have long wanted to teach MCA a lesson. MCA will not be able to stop this rising disenchantment. Most important of all, the general economic independence of the Chinese gives them the luxury of choice. They can choose and Umno and BN don't appear on their radar screen. MCA will probably be left with five parliamentary seats while MIC will be completely annihilated. Umno deceiving itself MIC will be reduced to another People's Progressive Party (PPP) and Indian Progressive Front (IPF) and operate on the same level as KS Nallakaruppan's party MIUP. The more pragmatic Indian parties will chose to work with whoever comes into power for the sake of the Indian community. The Indian parties do not have friends. They have only permanent interests. Meanwhile Umno veteran Tun Daim Zainuddin's prognosis of Umno is shattering. It seems Umno people continue to enthrall themselves into believing that all is still well. They have no inkling that the next general election will be the most formidable fort them. Some commentators in my blog have said that the opposition Pakatan Rakyat can never influence the kampung people. What keeps the kampung people loyal at the moment is the reasonably good prices of rubber and palm oil. They couldn't care less about the quality of BN and Umno's leadership.
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| Sodomy II: Anwar can call Najib, Rosmah subject to their consent Posted: 07 Aug 2011 02:05 PM PDT By Yow Hong Chieh, The Malaysian Insider KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 8 — The High Court has allowed Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's applications to call 15 key witnesses in his sodomy trial, including the prime minister and his wife, on the condition that they agree to be interviewed. Judge Datuk Mohd Zabidin Mohd Diah said today it was the prosecution's responsibility to provide witnesses as the defence has the right to interview them but stressed that it was up to the witnesses whether they agreed to be interviewed. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor have said they will skip interviews for Anwar's sodomy trial unless subpoenaed. Najib and Rosmah, along with former Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan and former Malacca police chief Datuk Mohd Rodhwan Mohd Yusof, are four key witnesses expected to snub the trial unless compelled to appear. Interviews are usually conducted to determine whether a witness will be called to testify in a trial. It is also understood that another witness, Hasanuddin Abdul Hamid, said he will only agree to be interviewed if his lawyer was present. Besides Najib and Rosmah, other witnesses include former Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (MIER) executive director Mohamad Ariff Abdul Kareem and Bursa Malaysia chief operating officer Omar Malek Ali Merican. Speaking to reporters outside the courtroom, lead defence counsel Karpal Singh said the prosecution was now required to produce the 15 key witnesses with or without a subpoena. "We are not bothered in what way they are brought here. They have to be brought here. That is the order of the court, and they must answer questions we put to them," he said.
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