As Expected, Najib Has Denied Involvement In Anwar Sodomy Allegation

Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has denied any involvement in the sodomy allegation against Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. “I am not involved in the case in any way,” the Deputy Prime Minister told reporters at Parliament lobby here on Monday.

On Saturday, Anwar's former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan had lodged a police report alleging he had been sodomised by the PKR de facto leader. A day later, Parti Keadilan Rakyat president Datin Seri Wan Azizah Wan Ismail released a picture of Najib's special officer Khairil Anas Yusof with Mohd Saiful at the Deputy Prime Minister’s office, implying that he was behind the conspiracy against Anwar.

Najib said the picture was taken three months ago when Mohd Saiful went to his office to apply for a government scholarship. “The accuser (Mohd Saiful) met with my officer (Khairil Anas) because he wanted to apply for a scholarship from the Government. The picture was taken three months ago.

“He was a student leader and met with my officer. He had also met other leaders. The main question is did the act take place. That is for the police to establish,” Najib said. (The Star Update)

***** Why not try sending a young man to the DPM's office on the pretext of applying for a scholarship and see if the person can get beyond the guardhouse. If he succeeds and also manages to get a photograph with some senior pegawai there, then we'll consider taking Najib's words as truth.

It is a sign of the times however that not many people will believe Najib's denial. For such is the credibility of our current crop of leaders.

Anwar Ibrahim Files Suit Against Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan

Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has filed a suit against his former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan for allegedly lodging a false, malicious and libellous police report against him.

The suit was filed at the Kuala Lumpur High Court civil registry by Anwar’s lawyers R. Sivarasa, Ranjit Singh and William Leong at about 10.30am on Monday.

Saiful had on Saturday lodged a police report alleging that he had been sodomised by Anwar, a former deputy prime minister.

Anwar is residing at the Turkish Embassy here, saying that he fears for his life after receiving death threats. (The Star Update)

***** With the PM already convinced of Anwar's guilt it seems purposeless to file a suit. However it does publicize the issue and with the attendant publicity here and abroad, the government will perforce have to be restrained in the manner it plans to punish Anwar. Will the courts be able to provide him any relief? Doubtful, but worth a try.

Iraq To Sue In U.S. Courts Over Massive Oil-For-Food Embezzlement. Will Pak Lah Be Implicated?

Iraq is expected to file an oil-for-food lawsuit in U.S. courts, seeking to recover damages against the Iraqi people brought upon them by the corruption within the UN program under Saddam’s rule.

The Iraqi government announced today that it intends to file suit in United States courts to recover funds allegedly embezzled from the United Nations oil-for-food program during Saddam Hussein’s rule.

A statement by government spokesman Ali Dabbagh said the lawsuits would target companies and individuals that conspired to corrupt the U.N. program.

Dabbagh did not name any companies or say how much the government hoped to gain by going to court, but his statement cited the findings of a 2005 U.N. inquiry into the program.

That investigation, headed by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul A. Volcker, concluded that 2,400 companies and individuals participated in fraud that included $1.8 billion in kickbacks to Hussein.

After the inquiry several of those named were prosecuted in the U.S. and Europe, resulting in prison sentences for two Texas oilmen and restitution from several companies totaling 10 of millions of dollars.

But little has been done to recover larger sums from those named in the Volcker report in countries including Russia, China, Yemen, Egypt, Vietnam, Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates.

Iraq is right to do so. But rest assured this will get ugly, and fast. The oil-for-food program was intended to allow humanitarian goods to reach Iraq while the country was under international sanctions after its invasion of Kuwait, which precipitated the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

***** There has been much speculation that Pak Lah was one of the individuals involved in this mega embezzlement. Although he has previously denied any involvement, it remains to be seen what will surface if the Iraqis go all out with their threat to sue.

Arrest And Prosecution Of Anwar Will Isolate And Further Weaken Umno

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi says he is leaving to the police to investigate to determine the authenticity of the sodomy allegation against Parti Keadilan Rakyat de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim by a 23-year-old youth claiming to be his aide.

He said investigations must be carried out and not merely rely on Anwar's denial as was the usual case in any criminal case the accused person would surely deny committing the offence.

"It is the police who should take appropriate action. Since a report has been lodged, the police should investigate to establish whether the allegation was true or otherwise. What Anwar has said is not for us to decide. He will surely deny. Normally, it's like that. The accused will normally deny the allegation," he told reporters today.

Abdullah was responding to a police report lodged at the Jalan Travers police station in Brickfields by a 23-year-old man that he was sodomised by the former deputy prime minister last Thursday at a luxury apartment in Kuala Lumpur.

Anwar had denied the allegation, saying it was a "total fabrication" and a repeat of the methods used against him in 1998 when he was sacked as deputy prime minister over similar allegations.

Police are expected to question Anwar today.

Abdullah, who is also Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman, denied claims that the BN planned to curtail the resurgence of Anwar's political career by hurling all sorts of allegations against him.

"Umno has no intention to disturb him in this way. BN also does not intend to give him problems, to disturb him, create problems like this or to do something bad to him.

"There is no intention like this...it never crossed my mind at all to betray him. I and my friends, Datuk (Seri) Najib (Tun Razak) also harboured no such intentions. The person concerned wants to lodge a report, what can we do, what else. He has the right to lodge a report. We cannot stop him from doing so. "We don't have any plan to do something to him (Anwar) because he said he has made a political comeback," he said.

Asked whether Anwar would be detained by the police, the prime minister said: "I am not going to say anything about it, enough...no speculation, nothing. All that I know is that a report has been made to the police and the police will decide what they want to do and how." (Bernama)

***** It is advisable that Umnoputeras don't take out their sirap glasses out too quickly for any premature celebration. On balance, even to the most Anwar-hating person, this sodomy accusation will clearly look like a set-up, the sole motive of which is to compromise the PKR leader. It has all the ingredients of a politically motivated hatchet job, replete with deceit and trickery, no matter how sincere Pak Lah's explanation may be. There is no lack of greedy and desperate scoundrels out there, who for a hefty 'compensation' will sell their souls and prostitute their reputation and dignity in order to satisfy the nefarious political intentions of certain government leaders.

This fact will not be lost on a large number of ordinary Malaysians. If their suspicion, that a legitimate candidate for the nation's prime ministership had been illegally struck down by foul means is even half-proven, the end result may well be a further 'haemorrhage' of public goodwill from Umno.

After all how many of our countrymen, except for those hard core specimens in Umno, would want to travel back to the bad old days of Dr Mahathir's tyranny? Even George W Bush's America is clamouring for change for the better. Why shouldn't we?

Anwar Ibrahim Denounces New Sodomy Charges As 'Fabrication'

Malaysia's opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim on Sunday denounced as a "complete fabrication" new allegations of sodomy against him, the same charge that saw him jailed a decade ago, reports AFP.

Anwar's Keadilan party said one of his aides, Saiful Bahari, had been arrested and forced to make a report saying the opposition leader had sodomised him -- an illegal act in Malaysia.

"The police report lodged against me earlier today is a complete fabrication," Anwar said in a statement. "I believe we are witnessing a repeat of the methods used against me in 1998 when false allegations were made under duress," he said.

The charges have erupted after Anwar's spectacular return to political life at the helm of a resurgent opposition, after being sacked as deputy prime minister in 1998 and spending six years in jail on sex and corruption charges.

Keadilan said it feared Anwar would be arrested soon, but police said he would be investigated first.

"Yes, we have received a police report from an aide of Anwar Ibrahim that he was sodomised. But no, we will not arrest Anwar at the moment," said deputy police chief Ismail Omar. "We will investigate this report first. We will look into it and carry out the necessary steps before issuing any warrant of arrest," he told AFP.

The charismatic opposition leader said the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition was striking after he gave evidence against the government and police over fabrication of evidence in the original case against him.

"This is clearly a desperate attempt by the Barisan Nasional regime to arrest the movement of the Malaysian people towards freedom, democracy and justice," he said.

"I urge the Malaysian people to stand against the repressive forces that will be unleashed by the government in the coming days and weeks."

Anwar was convicted of the original charges of sodomy and corruption, which he said were politically motivated. He famously appeared in court with a black eye after being beaten by the police chief. He was released in 2004 when the sex charge was overturned, but the corruption conviction kept him out of politics until recently.

In March he led an alliance of opposition parties to unprecedented gains, wresting a third of parliamentary seats and five states from the Barisan Nasional coalition which has ruled for half a century.

Since then he has said he is poised to form a new administration with the help of defecting government lawmakers.

***** Although Dr Mahathir may have left the government and party, it seems that his below-the-belt strategies and dirty tricks are very much in vogue at Umno HQ. Such is the fear of Anwar that these desperadoes are even willing to recycle old ploys and schemes to get rid of him and retain power. But we have gone too far down the road of real freedom recently to turn back and embrace dictatorships, racists and tyrants.

Ali Rustam Says RTM Should Not Air Ahmad Shabery-Anwar Debate.

Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam has called for a halt on any plans to air the upcoming debate between Information Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on RTM.

"It's not relevant and should be cancelled," he told reporters after opening the annual general meeting of the Malay Contractors Association Malaysia, Saturday.

He said it was not proper for the state-run television station to air the debate as it involved Anwar who had always been keen on bashing the Barisan Nasional (BN) government.

Ali, who is Melaka chief minister, was commenting on the debate -- themed "Hari Ini Membentuk Kerajaan, Esok Turun Harga Minyak" (Form the government today, reduce the oil prices tomorrow) -- scheduled for July 15 at the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.

Ahmad Shabery and Anwar have confirmed their participation in the debate which may be telecast live.

Anwar had previously said that the Pakatan Rakyat (People's Alliance) would reduce the fuel prices if it formed the government.

Mohd Ali said there were many other leaders who had the credibility and had worked hard to help the government, who could be invited for a televised debate on the issue. "We should invite members of non-governmental organisations who have been helping the government to explain the issue rather than a person who have nothing good to say about the government," he said.

Mohd Ali also objected to a proposed forum to discuss issues related to Malay supremacy and social contract, saying that such a forum could create racial tension. (Bernama)

***** In which part of the Malacca Air Keroh forest reserve has Ali Rustam been spending the past few years? The one important issue affecting most Malaysians today is the fuel hike and its attendant side-effects. Yet old Ali here says that it is 'irrelevant'!

Also isn't it sheer stupidity to invite some government well wisher to debate the minister when it was Anwar who claimed that he'll bring down prices if he forms the government? Bung Ali has absolutely no idea of what a genuine debate is all about. Can't blame him. After all he's been having sham debates in the Malacca state assembly all this while, so much so he has developed an aversion for the real McCoy.

He seems to have a great dislike for Anwar now. Apparently he has forgotten that at one time he used to crawl on bended knees before prostrating at Anwar's feet when the latter was DPM. Oh Rustam, Rustam.

But The Snake Is A Phallic Symbol, Hamidah Osman. Or Didn't You Know?

At a time when Umno is at its weakest and the quality of its politicians already at the lowest levels since Independence, a Perak state assemblywoman, Hamidah Osman (BN-Sungai Rapat) hit rock bottom yesterday and proceeded to actively dig herself deeper into whatever slime she may have expected to find down there.

While the rest of the members at the Perak state assembly were dueling the way our politicians are wont to, with at least some relevant point being raised to hit out at each other, our lady Hamidah interjected in the midst of the debate to expose her filthy, racist mind as well as give free expression to her irrational preoccupation with snakes. Whether it ends with snakes or extends further to the level of a sexual obsession for phallic symbols and more, is something only that she and those 'close' to her can clarify.

It was reported in today's The Star that this racist Umno excuse for a pemimpin, Hamidah Osman (BN-Sungai Rapat) "earned the wrath of the Pakatan Rakyat assemblymen when she asked whether State assembly Speaker V. Sivakumar 'agreed to disagree' with the well-known fable of whether a snake or a man from a certain racial community should be killed first."

How do you like that for a quality debate? What does it tell you about this detestable woman who probably projects herself to her penyokong2 as a pious and God fearing member of society? With people like her at the helm of Umno what remote chance is there for a truly united and prosperous Malaysia? And do you for a minute think that she'll be the last of the racists from that accursed political party? God bless Malaysia.

It's 'No Hair, No Passport' In UK!

If you are bald and in Britain, beware. Chances are you might be refused a passport.

It happened to Ian Down, a bald father of three who also happens to be the photo editor of the Daily Mirror.

He got the pictures taken at a photo kiosk and submitted them along with the application form at the passport office.

The clerk looked at the flash reflecting off Ian's bald head and asked: "What's this mark?"

Ian tried to explain in vain that he could not be made accountable for losing his fight with his hair.

"I was shocked. I told them what it was but they said some countries might not let me in if they saw it."

Ultimately he had to go back to the kiosk and return with fresh photographs. The shine off his pate was less glaring than last time. The clerk reluctantly accepted the form.

New rules have been introduced for the electronic reading of passports, but shining pates are a no-no.

Ian's tale might come as a shock to over seven million men in Britain, who surveys say are losing hair. About 40 percent of men suffer hair loss by the age of 35. (DNA)

***** Luckily our pegawai2 are more relaxed than the Brits. In fact here we are so lenient about what there should be on our head that even serbans are allowed in lieu of helmets in places like Kelantan. Never mind the fact that in the event of a serious accident, God won't be around to save the pious serban user from getting his head and brains bashed in.

Oil Jumps To New Record Near $142 A Barrel!

Oil leapt to a new record high near $142 a barrel on Friday, extending gains after surging nearly 4 percent in the previous session, as tumbling global stock markets triggered a wider commodities rally.

U.S. light crude for August delivery was $1.71 up at $141.35 a barrel by 5:25 a.m. EDT, off highs of $141.71. London Brent crude was $1.56 up at $141.39, off highs of $141.98.

World stocks fell to a three-month low as a fast deteriorating global inflation picture fanned concerns over the outlook for corporate profits, hastening the rush of investors' funds into commodities.

"It has a lot to do with asset allocations. The equity markets are under serious pressure, breaking support levels. When equities are going nowhere, the money is parked into commodities," said Olivier Jakob at Petromatrix.

The MSCI main world equity index fell more than 0.6 percent to its lowest since March, with the index on track for the worst monthly performance in percentage terms since September 2002, according to Reuters data.

By contrast, commodities fared better, with gold steady near a one-month record high while U.S. corn futures jumped to a fresh record high.

CURB SPECULATION

Oil's latest surge comes despite moves in the U.S. to curb energy market speculation.

U.S. lawmakers on Thursday have approved legislation which directs the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the futures market regulator, to use all its authority including emergency powers to "curb immediately" the role of excessive speculation in energy futures markets.

Oil prices have doubled from $70 a year ago on supply disruptions and geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. Rising flows of cash into commodities from investors seeking to hedge against inflation and the weak dollar have also added to gains.

"It may be months away before the legislation comes into effect but just the fact that it was passed is definitely enough to give the market a little bit of a bearish sentiment," said Toby Hassall, analyst at Commodities Warrants Australia.

Oil, which had been trading in a range for most of the week, broke out of that range after Libya said it was studying possible options to cut output in response to potential U.S. actions against OPEC countries.

"We are studying all the options," Libya's most senior oil official, Shokri Ghanem, told Reuters, adding oil producers needed protection from what he viewed as U.S. attempts to extend its jurisdiction beyond its territory.

OPEC President Chakib Khelil's comments that prices could reach $170 a barrel in the coming months, also fuelled the rally. "I forecast prices probably between $150 and $170 during this summer. That will perhaps ease towards the end of the year," he told France 24 television.

Talks between oil workers and Chevron continued in Nigeria, with the oil minister saying he was confident a deal could be reached, but union officials left open the possibility of a strike early next week. (Reuters)

***** If like dis, die lah brudder!
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Expel Those With ICs, Too: Dr Jeffrey Kitingan

Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) on Thursday said the Government should not only flush out illegal immigrants but also those in detention centres and illegal immigrants in possession of Malaysian identity cards (ICs).

Its Vice-President Datuk Dr Jeffery Kitingan said the operation should take into account the mostly Filipino refugees and the alleged "Project IC" holders.

He said PKR is perplexed as to how the Government is going to deal with illegal immigrants who possess genuine Malaysian ICs.

"How is the Government going to deal with this issue? Is it through the formation of a Royal Commission of Inquiry or Special Task Force or Select Cabinet Committee?" he asked.

Towards this end, Jeffrey reminded the Federal Government that immigration in Sabah is a State matter as pointed out by Kimanis MP Datuk Anifah Aman.

Under Article 161E(4) of the Federal Constitution, immigration matters in Sabah and Sarawak lie with the State authority, the Chief Minister, to regulate and control.

Jeffrey said the Government should have also explained in detail the specific steps and action they are taking in the exercise to flush out illegal immigrants from Sabah.

"We want the Government to explain who are the targets and who will be involved in the exercise such as the police and Immigration Department, among others," he said in a press conference at Sokid Villa. "It is very unclear what specific steps the Government will be taking although we welcome their intended move."

He was commenting on Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak's announcement that the Government would soon be launching a massive operation to flush out illegal immigrants from Sabah.

He said the announcement was long overdue and that it came a little too late considering the seriousness of the situation in Sabah now.

Jeffrey questioned why the Federal Government was only now making the move, which he said reflected its insincerity and non-committal stance over the matter despite repeated calls from Sabah leaders.

He suggested the Government form state, district and village committees as well as task forces that meet on a weekly basis. "The State Government should work out a policy of issuing work passes on an annual basis or half a year basis," he said.

He also suggested the Government conduct a re-registration exercise to determine who among the identity card holders are illegal immigrants. And once the exercise is completed, he said the State Government should take over immigration. (Daily Express, Sabah)

***** It is indeed a terrible disgrace that the genuine citizens of this country cannot trust their own federal government to get rid of illegal immigrants! Especially since the government itself was in the first place responsible for this mess.

By deceipt and subterfuge from the time of Dr Mahathir's administration, the federal government with the active connivance of the civil service, for ethnic and political reasons, sought to fill the two states with illegal immigrants to bolster the ruling government's vote bank and to give a marked tilt to the demographics favouring Muslims and 'Malays'.

The unchallenged and unproven theory then was that Muslim, rumpun Melayu 'citizens' would be steadfastly loyal and eternally grateful to Umno even if they may be from countries other than Malaysia. That religio-racist belief and myth have of course now been blown to smithereens.

As Dr Kitingan said the government has no sincerity in dealing with this matter and is in actual fact playing for time by talking about action against illegals. As a result of getting walloped in the last GE, with their backs against the wall and finding that their immediate survival now depends on East Malaysian goodwill, they have started to play out this sandiwara.

Now who would be stupid enough to fully trust such a government to clean up after the act?
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Japan Firm Scraps Ad After Racial Controversy

A Japanese mobile phone firm has halted an advertisement depicting a monkey as a political candidate after bloggers said the commercial was a racial slur against U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

An ad aired by the mobile unit of eAccess Ltd showed the firm's mascot, a monkey, addressing a political rally in Japanese and surrounded by supporters brandishing placards with the word "Change".

Some bloggers said the eMobile ad was racist because it seemed to refer to Obama and his campaign slogan advocating change. Earlier this week Britain's Telegraph newspaper ran a story saying the ad "apparently portraying Barack Obama as a monkey has provoked a new row about racial depictions of the Democratic candidate".

Monkeys, while revered in parts of Asia, are viewed in the United States as a racial slur if used to depict African Americans.

eMobile said on Friday that the firm never meant to malign Obama but was withdrawing the ad after the outbreak of criticism in cyberspace.

"We have decided to stop the commercial," eMobile spokesman Takashi Igarashi told Reuters in an e-mail. "We should avoid every possibility of misunderstanding and unintentional reaction."

eMobile CEO Sachio Semmoto said the advertisement, which he said was produced by WPP Group Plc's JWT unit, had meant to underscore his firm's commitment to change.

"For two years I've been saying that Obama has the capacity to change America, the kind of capacity that Japan needs," said Semmoto, who has a reputation as a maverick and whose company has carved out a niche in Japan with a pricing model that differs from more entrenched competitors.

Monkey deities exist in Hinduism, Buddhism and Shintoism, and monkey figures are common in Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines in Japan, including the famous 17th century carving of three wise monkeys on the facade of the Toshogu Shrine in Nikko. In Hinduism, Hanuman is a monkey god revered for courage and power.

Semmoto is a director and trustee of Reuters Founder Share Company, which is charged with safeguarding Thomson Reuters independence, integrity and freedom from bias. (Reuters)

***** Trust the Japanese to come out with a racist ad at the worst possible moment! There are many who have stayed in Japan who will vouch that they are among the most racist and chauvinistic people on the planet.

BN Backbenchers Club Upset With Nazri For Branding Them 'Childish' & 'Gangster-Like'

The Barisan Nasional Backbenchers Club (BNBCC) is upset with Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Nazri Abdul Aziz for branding them childish and gangster-like for removing a barricade at the Parliament lobby on Tuesday.

The barricade was initially put up to ban reporters from the lobby.

BNBCC chairman Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing said the backbenchers felt insulted by the description as they were merely trying to rectify the situation.

He said BNBCC members felt that it was unfair to restrict the media's movement in Parliament it was there to do its job.

"When we felt this thing was not proper (not allowing the media to enter the lobby), we try to rectify it (situation). This was after we had checked with the Speaker who seemed to have no knowledge about it (barricade).

"Then, my colleague went to see Nazri who said he did not know. Later, we checked with the Parliament House Committee and they also said they did not have such ruling.

"Therefore, we felt we should open it. No point in having such (a) barricade as this will create unnecessary misunderstanding between the media and BN," he told Bernama here today.

Without naming the person who give the order to barricade the lobby, Tiong said: "Why did the person who made the decision (to have the barricade), does not dare to face the problem? (sic) Why run away?

"We must be brave enough. If we make a mistake, we must apologise. In this world, nobody can claim he did not make a wrong decision as we are human beings."

He said it was inappropriate to brand MPs in such a manner as they were elected by the people in their respective constituencies.

"If you think we (MPs) are not right, you must at least, respect our constituencies. Don't simply label us as gangsters and the BNBCC as a gangster club," he added.

Therefore, Tiong said, the BNBCC would hold a meeting this Monday to discuss the issue and decide on the next course of action to be taken, as they felt Nazri had gone overboard by branding them in such manner.

Meanwhile, BNBCC deputy chairman Datuk Bung Moktar Radin clarified that it was not just the Opposition MPs, but also the BNBCC members who had raised the issue in Parliament.

"However, there was no decision from the deputy speaker at that time. At lunch break, we went to see Tan Sri Speaker (Pandikar Amin Mulia). It was only after we removed the barricade as they did not make any decision on that," he said.

Bung said BNBCC was bold enough to take that action as they (members) believed the media was unfairly treated by such a ruling.

"We are not like Opposition MPs who only want to talk, but take no action. We talk, but we also take action," he added. (Bernama)

***** Typical of our Boleh-style of politics and governing - total absence of accountability. No one wants to take responsibility when the crap hits the fan. Not surprising really. As for Nazri, after lying low following BN's debacle in the last GE, he's slowly getting back into form. Expect more faux pas from the past master himself.

Proton To Design ‘Malaysian’ Taxi

National carmaker Proton Holdings Bhd is likely to be the biggest beneficiary of a government plan to standardise taxis in the country, similar to the black cab in London or the yellow taxis in New York.

Under the plan mooted by the Cabinet recently, existing taxis comprising different makes and models will gradually be phased out and replaced with a standard model that would also be fitted with a fuel-saving device as well as the NGV kit.

Minister of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperation Datuk Noh Omar said the government has asked Proton to design a taxi that could be uniquely identified as a “Malaysian taxi”.

“The existing taxis come in varying sizes and sometimes are not comfortable for foreigners, especially those of bigger built or with extra luggage since the smaller taxis retrofitted with NGV kits have less storage space. Therefore, we need a special model that would have the space and comfort, together with a unique design,” he said.

Noh said the government hoped that Proton would be able to roll out the taxi model by 2010.

Proton managing director Datuk Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir said the company would study the request by the government as a change in design required extensive research and development. He estimated that about 50,000 taxis on the road in Malaysia were of Proton models.

Syed Zainal said there had been a higher demand now for cars fitted with NGV kits, both for taxis and retail vehicles. He said the national carmaker would start fitting new taxis with the NGV kits at its factory as it would be cheaper and carry a warranty, rather than retrofitting as done elsewhere by taxi owners currently.

He said Proton expected to start rolling out its new taxis with the NGV kit by year-end. (The Edge Daily)

***** The government's decision and Proton's commitment should be lauded. However it is the quality of the drivers of these taxis which is seriously doubted and indeed very worrying.

A recent survey revealed that our cabbies are among the worst in the world. Quite a few of them are mercenaries out for a quick kill, both literally and figuratively, and this is one area which will require a lot of work. Care must be taken to ensure that not every Tom, Dick and Khairy be allowed to man these cabs. Easier said than done since taxi politics is inextricably intertwined with that of Umno's.
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Oh No, Not Again! M'sian Hindu Family In Court To Reclaim Relative's Body Set To Be Buried As Muslim Islamic authorities in a Malaysian state are seeking custody of a man's body for burial, saying he was a Muslim convert, but his Hindu family disputes the claim, their lawyer said Thursday.It is the latest in a series of religious conversion disputes that erupt regularly in this Muslim-majority country, straining ethnic and racial tensions. The case puts renewed pressure on the government of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who had recently pledged that the rights of Chinese and Indian minorities would not be comprised in disputes with the majority Malays.B. Elangesvaran, 34, committed suicide by hanging on Sunday, family lawyer R. Nethaji Rayer told The Associated Press.After the autopsy, hospital authorities refused to release the body, saying they had been informed by the local Islamic Religious Department that Elangesvaran had converted to Islam. The department wants to give him a Muslim burial.His family has filed a case in a high court in the northern state of Penang, seeking a declaration that he is a Hindu and that his body should be handed over to them, Rayer said.The Star daily newspaper quoted Elangesvaran's brother, Selvan, as saying that Islamic authorities had failed to give him proof of conversion."I was only served with a police report alleging that my brother had embraced Islam at the Penang Islamic Religious Department ... and a letter with some scribbling allegedly done by Elangesvaran that he had converted," Selvan was quoted as saying.About 60 percent of Malaysia's 27 million people are Malay Muslims, and Islam is the official religion. Non-Muslims — mostly ethnic Chinese and Indians — make up 40 percent of the population. They generally practice their religions freely, but often complain that Islamic authorities refuse to look compassionately at interfaith disputes and flaunt their powers over minorities.In a bid to appease minority fears, Abdullah announced earlier this year that non-Muslims would soon be required to inform their family before converting to Islam to avoid post-death disputes.But Elangesvaran's case showed that Abdullah's announcement had amounted to nothing, said A. Vaithilingam, who heads a prominent interfaith group. "It's again coming back to fighting for the dead body. People who never knew him want to bury him, and his family has no chance to get involved," said Vaithilingam, president of the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism."It's the same old story. ... Every time there is a problem, the government makes a statement to ease tension and then forgets all about it," he told The Associated Press.Malaysia has a dual court system with civil courts for non-Muslims and Shariah courts for Muslims. In interfaith disputes involving Islam, the Shariah courts typically get the last word, leading to fears that minority rights are being compromised. (International Herald Tribune)***** Pak Lah needs this latest complication like he needs the HIV virus. The poor chap already has his hands full with political problems and is probably shaking his head in disbelief at the relentless avalanche of misfortune and bad luck which is besetting him. Perhaps it's time for him to consult a Feng Shui master!

Islamic authorities in a Malaysian state are seeking custody of a man's body for burial, saying he was a Muslim convert, but his Hindu family disputes the claim, their lawyer said Thursday.

It is the latest in a series of religious conversion disputes that erupt regularly in this Muslim-majority country, straining ethnic and racial tensions. The case puts renewed pressure on the government of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who had recently pledged that the rights of Chinese and Indian minorities would not be comprised in disputes with the majority Malays.

B. Elangesvaran, 34, committed suicide by hanging on Sunday, family lawyer R. Nethaji Rayer told The Associated Press.

After the autopsy, hospital authorities refused to release the body, saying they had been informed by the local Islamic Religious Department that Elangesvaran had converted to Islam. The department wants to give him a Muslim burial.

His family has filed a case in a high court in the northern state of Penang, seeking a declaration that he is a Hindu and that his body should be handed over to them, Rayer said.

The Star daily newspaper quoted Elangesvaran's brother, Selvan, as saying that Islamic authorities had failed to give him proof of conversion.

"I was only served with a police report alleging that my brother had embraced Islam at the Penang Islamic Religious Department ... and a letter with some scribbling allegedly done by Elangesvaran that he had converted," Selvan was quoted as saying.

About 60 percent of Malaysia's 27 million people are Malay Muslims, and Islam is the official religion. Non-Muslims — mostly ethnic Chinese and Indians — make up 40 percent of the population. They generally practice their religions freely, but often complain that Islamic authorities refuse to look compassionately at interfaith disputes and flaunt their powers over minorities.

In a bid to appease minority fears, Abdullah announced earlier this year that non-Muslims would soon be required to inform their family before converting to Islam to avoid post-death disputes.

But Elangesvaran's case showed that Abdullah's announcement had amounted to nothing, said A. Vaithilingam, who heads a prominent interfaith group. "It's again coming back to fighting for the dead body. People who never knew him want to bury him, and his family has no chance to get involved," said Vaithilingam, president of the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism.

"It's the same old story. ... Every time there is a problem, the government makes a statement to ease tension and then forgets all about it," he told The Associated Press.

Malaysia has a dual court system with civil courts for non-Muslims and Shariah courts for Muslims. In interfaith disputes involving Islam, the Shariah courts typically get the last word, leading to fears that minority rights are being compromised. (International Herald Tribune)

***** Pak Lah needs this latest complication like he needs the HIV virus. The poor chap already has his hands full with political problems and is probably shaking his head in disbelief at the relentless avalanche of misfortune and bad luck which is besetting him. Perhaps it's time for him to consult a Feng Shui master!

Salman Rushdie Is Finally Knighted

Indian-origin British author Salman Rushdie received a knighthood for services to literature from Britain's Queen Elizabeth II on Wednesday, saying he was proud of the honour and had ''no regrets'' over the controversy sparked by his work.

Sir Salman, as the Anglo-Indian writer will now be known, said the knighthood was in recognition ''not for any specific book but for a very long career in writing and I'm happy to see it recognized''.

Rushdie, 61, enraged opinion in the Muslim world with his 1988 novel ''The Satanic Verses'', which was considered blasphemous against Islam by Iran and made him the subject of a fatwa of death sentence by the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

Announcement of the British honour for Rushdie a year ago sparked worldwide protests in Muslim countries and caused considerable diplomatic tension between Britain and Pakistan.

The terror network Al Qaeda, in a chilling website audiotape, called the knighthood an ''insult to Islam'' and threatened a ''very precise response'' against Britain.

The British government of Gordon Brown said ''sorry'' if the award had caused offence, but refused a demand by the Pakistan government to withdraw the honour.

The decision to honour the author was taken by Tony Blair, Brown's predecessor as prime minister. There were also protests in Iran, Malaysia and other parts of the Muslim world.

After imposition of the fatwa in February, 1989, Rushdie was forced into hiding and moved 30 times in an attempt to keep his whereabouts secret.

Over the last 10 years, he has returned to public life, living in London and New York.

Speaking after the ceremony Wednesday, and displaying his knighthood medal, he said: ''I'm very proud, very happy.''

''It's been a long time - my first novel was published 33 years ago but I think the thing you hope to do as a writer is leave behind a shelf of interesting books and it's great just to have that work recognized.''

Asked about the controversy surrounding his knighthood, he said: ''At this stage, you know, it's certainly not a day to talk about controversy, it's a day for myself and my family to celebrate this.''

Asked if, with hindsight, he had any doubts about writing The Satanic Verses, Rushdie said: ''I really have no regrets about any of my work. If you're lucky enough to have one book that gets into people's consciousness in that way then it's fortunate.''

''The fact that that book, 27 years after it was published, it still interesting to people, I'm very proud of that,'' he added.

But Rushdie said he was really ''more interested'' in his recent work. He would write another children's book next. (NDTV.com)

Raja Petra's Statutory Declaration - 'Garbage' Says Najib

A full week after the astounding claim on the Internet, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak dismissed Raja Petra Kamaruddin’s statutory declaration linking Najib’s wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansur to the Altantuya murder as "politically motivated, fabricated garbage."

Raja Petra, editor of online news portal Malaysia Today, filed the declaration at the High Court here on June 18, naming three individuals who were purportedly present when Mongolian translator Altantuya Sharibuu was murdered in 2006. Apart from Rosmah the two other individuals named were acting colonel Aziz Buyong, who is described as ‘a C4 expert’ and the latter’s wife, known only as Norhayati, who is also said to be Rosmah’s aide de camp.

Raja Petra had further alleged that he had also been 'reliably informed' that Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi knows of Datin Seri Rosmah's alleged involvement and that Pak Lah had received a written report from military intelligence confirming the allegation and that this report was subsequently handed over to his son-in-law Khairy Jamaluddin for safekeeping.

The PM has since denied any knowledge of such a report.

Najib said the police have taken a statement from his wife, but described Raja Petra’s allegations in the statutory declaration as "a desperate and pathetic attempt to taint my political image."

On Monday the police had said that they were investigating Malaysia Today editor Raja Petra Kamaruddin on his statutory declaration over purported facts related to the murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu under Section 203 of the Penal Code.

Federal CID director Comm Datuk Mohd Bakri Zinin had said that it was an offence punishable up to two years’ jail or a fine, or both, for anyone to give false information.

He said police had yet to pick up Raja Petra for questioning as they were still studying the allegations filed by the 58-year-old blogger on June 18.

This allegation is naturally causing quite a stir and concern right up to the higher echelons of power. Of course the veracity of such a surprising revelation is in itself doubtful and one must wonder what Raja Petra's long term strategies are. As for the immediate consequences, suffice to say that his statutory declaration has got tongues wagging, politicians all riled up and the Malaysian blogosphere working overtime to make some sense out of it. And let's not forget that the Mongolians and the rest of the world are carefully watching and I'm sure wondering, "what the devil is going on?"
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Indonesia Becoming Terrorist Complacent; Malaysian Government Fuelling Radical Islam - Study

The decline of the Indonesian terrorist group Jemaah Islamiah (JI) has led some Indonesian political leaders to believe that further counter-terrorism measures are unnecessary, a new study says.

Security experts Dr Carl Ungerer and Dr Peter Chalk also warn that Malaysian ruling party polemics, designed to win the ethnic Malay vote, appeared to be producing an environment conducive to the emergence of Islamic extremism.

The study, released on Wednesday by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) surveyed the evolving terrorist threat in Southeast Asia.

That includes Muslim radical movements in the Philippines and southern Thailand, but most importantly for Australia, the activities of JI in Indonesia.

JI is blamed for terrorist attacks on Bali in October 2002, which killed 202 people including 88 Australians, and in October 2005 which killed 23 including four Australians.

JI also is blamed for the attacks on the Jakarta Marriott Hotel in August 2003 and on the Australian embassy in Jakarta in September 2004. Each attack killed 11.

The study said JI had been hard hit by Indonesian security forces, assisted by Australia, with key members captured or killed. It had now split into a small pro-bombing group and another, more moderate group.

Dr Ungerer and Dr Chalk said JI could still count on a hard core of 900 militants and continued to represent a significant threat to Australian and regional security interests.

"Complacency will remain one of the biggest challenges Australia faces in pursuing its counter-terrorism strategies in the region. There are already some signs of this in Indonesia," they said.

"According to one Indonesian analyst, elements of the political leadership in Jakarta believe that the terrorist problem has diminished and that further counter-terrorism initiatives against JI are unwarranted or, at the very least, are unnecessary.

"Moreover, there appears to be little genuine effort across the Indonesian government to understand the underlying support dynamics or the continuing role of religious schools associated with the JI movement and affiliated jihadist groups."

Dr Ungerer and Dr Chalk said Australia needed to pay close attention to the internal dynamics of states not presently afflicted by Muslim conflicts.

Cambodia had been identified as a potential extremist logistics hub because of lax border controls, endemic corruption, entrenched criminal activity and the presence of a substantial Muslim population.

They said another state to watch was Malaysia, praised for its effective counter-terrorism stance, but which produced some of JI's most infamous leaders. "It has become increasingly apparent that radical Islam is being fuelled, somewhat paradoxically, by the policies of the central administration," they said.

"Various commentators have observed that a troubling enabling environment for extremism may have begun to surface as a result of the polemics of the ruling United Malays National Organisation, which aims to give institutional expression to a more fundamentalist ideology in order to win the Malay ethnic vote and, thereby, outflank the Parti Se-Islam Malaysia opposition." (THE AGE, Australia)

***** The irony is that Pak Lah's much touted Islam Hadhari was to supposed to usher in a more moderate face of the religion. Instead, like the state of our politics, the reverse seems to be the reality. What our PM had intended to do and what really happened are glaring opposites. Eliminate corruption he said, but we are deeply entrenched in slime at the moment. He talked the talked, but when push came to shove he didn't walk, he balked. And therein lies the tragedy of good intentions, roughly wrestled down and shattered by a lack of genuine leadership.

China Demolishes Mosque For Not Supporting Olympics - Exiled Group

Chinese authorities in the restive far western region of Xinjiang have demolished a mosque for refusing to put up signs in support of this August's Beijing Olympics, an exiled group said on Monday.

The mosque was in Kalpin county near Aksu city in Xinjiang's rugged southwest, the World Uyghur Congress said.

The spokesman's office of the Xinjiang government said it had no immediate comment, while telephone calls to the county government went unanswered.

"China is forcing mosques in East Turkistan to publicise the Beijing Olympics to get the Uighur people to support the Games (but) this has been resisted by the Uighurs," World Uyghur Congress spokesman Dilxat Raxit said in an emailed statement.

Beijing says al Qaeda is working with militants in Xinjiang to use terror to establish an independent state called East Turkistan.

Oil-rich Xinjiang is home to 8 million Turkic-speaking Uighurs, many of whom resent the growing economic and cultural influence of the Han Chinese.

Dilxat Raxit added that the mosque, which had been renovated in 1998, was accused of illegally renovating the structure, carrying out illegal religious activities and illegally storing copies of the Muslim holy book the Koran.

"All the Korans in the mosque have been seized by the government and dozens of people detained," he said. "The detained Uighurs have been tortured."

The Olympic torch relay passed through Xinjiang last week under tight security, with all but carefully vetted residents banned from watching on the streets and tight controls over foreign media covering the event, reports Reuters.

Four PKR MPs Cycle To Parliament As Mark Of Protest. SAPP MPs Nowhere To Be Seen

Four Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) MPs - Tian Chua (Batu), Hee Loy Sian (PJ Selatan), N. Gobalakrishnan (Padang Serai) and Zulkifli Nordin (Kulim Bandar Baru) - cycled to Parliament Monday as a mark of protest against the recent fuel hike.

Tian Chua said move was also to "appeal to the Cabinet Ministers to understand the difficulty in using bicycles or public transport" in the country. "Changing of lifestyles is not as easy as what the Government claims," he told reporters.

He said that he and the three others had taken about 20 minutes to cycle from Bank Negara to the Dewan Rakyat.

"It's a difficult task because the road transport system here is not designed for bicycle use and cyclists will face problems cruising around town," he said.

Asked if they would cycle to Parliament again, he said the MPs would discuss it further.

"Today, because of the debate on petrol price hike, we rode our bicycles here to make a point," he said. (The Star)

Meanwhile the much awaited tabling of a vote of no-confidence against Pak Lah has apparently fizzled out, at least for the time being as the two SAPP Members of Parliament, Datuk Eric Enchin Majimbun (Sepanggar) and Datuk Dr Chua Soon Bui (Tawau) were not seen at the august house today, where a business as usual mood prevailed. Any idea where the mavericks are at the moment? At some lock-up perhaps?

Perlis Mufti Denies Joining PKR

Perlis Mufti Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin has denied talk he has joined Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) or other political parties as he wants to remain apolitical.

"At this point of time it has not crossed my mind to join any political party but instead wants to remain apolitical without being aligned to any party. I think there are already enough members in the party. I don't want to be seen as a spoiler," he told reporters after appearing as a panelist in a forum entitled "Premier Discourse -- Pakatan Rakyat 100th Day Administration".

His participation in the forum, jointly hosted by the state government and the Kota Baharu Municipal Council, fuelled talk he had joined PKR.

Dr Mohd Asri said he accepted the invitation to be a panel member at the forum as it was part of his duties as an Islamic preacher. "I've also attended similar events organised by others," he said.

"As a mufti, I cannot be involved in politics and be a member of any political party. I want to be at liberty to talk about the truth preached by Islam irrespective of the political ideology.

Refuting that his attendance at the forum signifies his support for the PKR-led alliance and opposed the federal government.

"It's not so, my attendance is merely to honour the invitation and to give my independent and neutral views and not to support any party," he said, admitting that he supported some policies of a certain party and opposed other policies as well. (Bernama)

***** It looks like in the present fluid political climate even muftis are not spared from rumours of 'defection' and support for the opposition.
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Dr Mahathir's Blog & Speeches - Defending The Indefensible; Beginning To Grate On Our Nerves

Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad claims that former judges removed during the 1988 judicial crisis were “bribed” into making allegations against him.

It was evident, he said, that the former judges who received ex-gratia payments from the Government had been made to say negative things about him.

“It’s been five years since I stepped down (as prime minister) and they had all these years to come out without fear to say I am bad. But why is it that only now, after having gotten money, are they saying so?'' he questioned when speaking to over 1,000 supporters here yesterday.

“Give all the judges some money so they all say the same thing,” he added.

Dr Mahathir, who regarded the billions given to Sabah and Sarawak as bribes in exchange for support, said a government which practised such corruption could not expect its people and followers to be different.

“When people oppose, make them senator or minister, give them money, give them a Tan Sri title but is this the Government that we want, is this what we call democracy? We can give money to Sabah and Sarawak but that doesn’t mean we will get their support,” he said.

During his one-hour speech, Dr Mahathir also suggested the setting up of an advisory panel to the prime minister.

“When power is given to only one person, there is a tendency to misuse that power and it becomes hard to separate the person from that power,” he said.

The same, he noted, should also be applied to the post of Umno president. (The Star)

***** Displaying signs of paranoia or senile decay or both, Dr Mahathir seriously voiced his concern yesterday that former judges had been 'bribed to throw dirt' at him! Dr M was of course referring to the comments made by retired Federal Court judge Tan Sri Azmi Kamaruddin who alleged that the former PM had wanted to amend Article 121 of the Federal Constitution because he wanted the judiciary to be under his control.

As a consequence of his convoluted thought process and a mind which is impervious to hearing the harsh truth about his misrule, Dr Mahathir cannot or will not perceive that it was his pernicious impatience in complying with the rule of law as well as his politically calculated wrongdoings which turned the lives of these honest judges into living hell.

To their credit these senior judges kept their opinion and counsel to themselves until now, when the government itself has accepted the gross injustice done to them. The ex-gratia payment is a poor substitute to the way their lives had been traumatised by Dr Mahathir's devious strategies and unbridled ambition. If some of them don't speak up now, then when can they get to tell their side of the story? - The horror story of one man's total domination of a country for 22 years during which he successfully either destroyed, dismantled or substantially weakened every single institution of the state. But now that some of them have directly pointed to Dr M as the culprit-in-chief, his only defense is that they have been bribed! Only a graft-ridden mind can so clearly smell bribery where there is none.

It is rich that Dr Mahathir should refer to Pak Lah by saying “when power is given to only one person, there is a tendency to misuse that power and it becomes hard to separate the person from that power.” That very statement totally embodies Dr M's tyrannical rule of the nation and it grates on our nerves to listen to this kind of argument from him ad nauseam, for there is this arrogant assumption that we are a bunch of suckers who'll believe all the misinformation which he feeds through his blog and speeches.

PKR Claims BN Brought 10 Sarawak MPs To Beijing To Prevent Crossover! Fact Or Fiction?

In the wake of the political drama in Sabah following Sabah Progressive Party's (SAPP) announcement that they will go ahead with the vote of no confidence against the Prime Minister, Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) has stepped up its sabre-rattling.

It has made a claim that 10 Sarawak Members of Parliament (MPs) were taken overseas in an effort to prevent them from leaving Barisan Nasional (BN) to join PKR.

PKR deputy president Dr Syed Husin Ali claimed that they had been taken to Beijing.

Not all the 10 would join PKR, he told reporters after officiating the PKR's Kaamatan celebration here Saturday.

PKR vice-president Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan when asked whether other Sabahan MPs are also considering to join them, said: "Yes, definitely, there are some from Sabah."

Syed Husin said so far SAPP had not made any application to join PKR but if the party did, it would be accepted.

In Miri, Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) deputy president Datuk Seri Abang Johari Tun Openg Saturday likened SAPP president Datuk Yong Teck Lee to a political cowboy who smeared the image of other politicians in the country. (Bernama)

***** With so many claims and counter-claims from so many sources over so many issues, the mind reels at the info coming in every day. At times it becomes so difficult to distinguish the truth from the manufactured story. The above PKR claim is one such instance. Can someone please verify this?

Price Of Paper, Stationery, Printing & Packaging Go Up By 10% - 40%! The Greed Merchants Have Started Their Plunder

The price of paper, stationery, printing and packaging products will go up by 10% to 40% starting Sunday, and possibly by 50% by the end of the year.

The Malaysia Paper Merchants Association, Selangor & Federal Territory Chinese Printing Presses' Association, Malaysia Printers Association and the Selangor & Kuala Lumpur Stationers & Booksellers Association jointly announced the increase on Saturday.

Selangor & Federal Territory Chinese Printing Presses' Association secretary Alexander Lee told reporters at a press conference that the price hike was inevitable.

"There has been a tremendous increase in the global price of raw materials, especially pulp.

"The industry has tried to absorb the global raw material price surge without increasing product prices, but it cannot sustain this anymore," he said. (The Star)

***** These buggers had been waiting for an opportune time to screw the nation and now with the fuel price hike and with the government more concerned about trying to stay in power than worry about rising prices, these greed merchants have struck this weekend. This is just the beginning. Let us await the thousands of other avaricious bastards who feed off our economy and are now eagerly standing in line to take their turn at right royally pillaging us. I wonder what Shahrir Samad has to say about this?
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"Anwar Offering Yong Teck Lee DPM's Post," Says KJ! What Rubbish

Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) president Datuk Yong Teck Lee's declaration that his party has lost confidence in Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is believed due to him being taken in by former deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's offer.

Umno Youth vice chief Khairy Jamaluddin said he was made to understand that Yong would be appointed to the number two post in government if Anwar was to be Prime Minister.

"I heard loads were offered (to Yong) like the deputy prime minister's post and oil royalties. Actually I want to know what was the offer which came individually from Anwar to Yong. Was Yong offered the DPM's job if Anwar becomes PM?. If this is true, it proves it is not a stance based on principles but with conditions because they did meet," he told reporters.

He also criticised the move by Yong and the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) adviser who held the meeting in Hong Kong.

"In terms of morality this is wrong because after admitting he had met Anwar and then wanting to support a no-confidence motion against the Prime Minister, he still not being direct and said not leaving Barisan Nasional (BN). This raises questions.

"Why would they meet in Hong Kong? Afraid of people seeing? This raises a lot of questions. We know the Anwar and Yong history in 1994 which brought down the Sabah government. This is not something new," Khairy said.

The Rembau Member of Parliament said SAPP's move to table a motion of no-confidence against the Prime Minister also showed the party's inconsistent stance. This was because, he said, it was inconceivable that BN component parties would want to support the motion of no-confidence against the BN chairman and at the same time wanted to champion the politics brought by the BN.

He said Yong had also been alleged to have used his position as party president to get their support on his stance with regard to the motion. "I was made to understand most SAPP Supreme Council members disagreed with Yong's stance but he managed to get their approval. The question is, will those in SAPP who do not support Yong come forward to make a different stance that is more consistent, namely if they want to continue with the BN, must support the BN chairman? There is no choice for any party in the BN not to support its chairman," he said.

As a member of Parliament also, he said, he would see whether SAPP members of Parliament -- Chua Soon Bui of Tawau who is also the party's deputy president and Datuk Eric Majimbun of Sepanggar -- would table and support the motion.

"I hope the BN chief whip will take proper action if they proceed with the plan," he said. (Bernama)

***** This is an outright lie from a barefaced liar. Khairy spins his view by stating repeatedly that he "was made to understand" this and that. Perhaps we should ensure that he be made to understand that Anwar is not so stupid to offer a DPM's post to a minor politician, Yong is not so naive to accept even if it were symbolically given on a silver platter and that the public are not that dumb to be taken in by such a patently idiotic spin. Grow up KJ.
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Federal Government's Cheap Kick in The Balls At Yong Teck Lee

In a very rapid and brutal response to 'Judas' Yong Teck Lee's breaking from the ranks of the BN by way of an unprecedented threat to table a no-confidence vote against the Prime Minister, the federal government today unleashed one of the prime hatchet job accessories in its vast arsenal of dirty tricks, the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA), to take a large bite of Yong's considerably dirtied political flesh.

The totally discredited ACA, distinguished as nothing more than an errand boy of the government, proudly announced today that in pursuance of an allegation made by a witness, former director of Briskmark Enterprise Sdn Bhd Datuk Wasli Mohd Said, at the Kota Kinabalu High Court yesterday, they will question Judas Yong over the payment of RM5 million in proceeds from the sale of shares of a state-owned company given to his agents. Waah! What super efficiency bradder! I'm sure more charges will follow pretty quickly.

This is nothing but direct intimidation and threat of massive, dirty and underhanded retaliation should any BN leader or official get another bright idea like Yong to bail out on the ruling party. A forewarning of the dangers which await other mavericks who dare to stir the already rough political waters.

Will the government go the whole hog and make a sorry example of Yong? Who knows? But the essence of the message is clear - The PM will fight this and other attempts vigorously, without any regret whatsoever and without regard to political niceties and the law. Potential traitors have been warned.

No doubt, the Inland Revenue Department's enforcement and vigilance staff too must have already been put on a war footing to berkhidmat untuk negara at a second's notice.

Samy Vellu Is Racist, Says Dr Mahathir!

The pot calls the kettle racist too!
Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu has exposed his own deep racist sentiments by sympathising with Hindraf, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said.

The former prime minister said that by calling for the release of Hindraf leaders, Samy Vellu was supporting a group who represented racist Tamils who still looked to their old masters – the British – to protect them, and didn’t believe in Malaysian institutions.

“They speak not just of Indians, but of Tamils as a separate race. They and their apologists are racist to the core.

“Seeing the death and destruction inflicted on Sri Lanka by the Tamil Tigers, they threaten to bring this kind of violent racial politics to Malaysia,” Dr Mahathir said in a posting on his blog www.chedet.com yesterday. (The Star)

***** Ha Ha Ha!!! The irony is that of all the people in the world, it is Dr M who is calling someone else racist!

Dr Mahathir is slowly but surely losing his bearings. If anyone, just anyone disagrees with him or accuses him of maladministration he is prepared to rubbish that person with the most ridiculous charges. Kindergarten kids do such things, not former leaders.

Pakistani Resident Of New York Pleads Guilty To Arms Exports To Malaysia

A Pakistani man pleaded guilty on Thursday to illegally exporting parts for F-5 and F-14 military fighter jets to Malaysia which prosecutors said may have eventually ended up in Iran.

Jilani Humayun, 60, a Pakistani citizen and resident of Long Island, New York, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Manhattan to conspiracy to illegally export arms and to commit money laundering.

The charges carry a maximum prison term of 30 years and a $1 million fine. But the deal offers Humayun the possibility of a reduced sentence in exchange for full cooperation in future prosecutions related to the scheme.

Humayun is due back in court on Dec. 12. "I knew what I was doing was illegal," Humayun told U.S. District Judge Laura Swain as he leaned heavily against the defense table. His lawyer said Humayun, who has been free on bail, is "in very poor health."

Prosecutors said that in 2003 Humayun unsuccessfully sought a license to export military equipment to a Malaysian company.

But he then set up a company called Vash International and between January 2004 and May 2006 exported to Malaysia F-5 and F-14 fighter-jet parts, as well as Chinook helicopter parts, in 11 unauthorized shipments, prosecutors said.

Humayun told investigators he never knew who the "end users" of the items were, prosecutors said.

Known as the Tomcat, the supersonic F-14 was used by the U.S. Navy as a fighter plane but retired from service in 2006. The United States exported F-14s to Iran in 1976 when Washington still had good relations with Tehran.

Iran is now the only country using the F-14 and is one of many countries which use the F-5.

"As is well-documented in public reports, the sole customer of F-14 parts is the Iranian Air Force," U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia said in a statement at the time of his arrest. (Reuters India)

***** Why do these guys have a penchant for routing through Malaysia, illegal arms purchases destined for the Middle East? Is our security that lax or are we willing participants in terror and fraud? Whatever may be the case, our country's image takes another hit.
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Pak Lah Should Recommend A Tunship For BN 'Judas', Yong Teck Lee

A small Malaysian party yesterday fired the opening shot in an campaign to topple the government of Abdullah Badawi by saying it would table the country's first ever no-confidence vote on Monday in spite of being a member of the ruling coalition.

The crossover of the Sabah Progressive Party to the opposition could trigger other defections by government members of parliament. The 14-party National Front coalition government has a slim 30-seat majority in the 222-member parliament.

Anwar Ibrahim, the opposition leader, claims he has the numbers to bring down the government after the National Front coalition suffered its biggest electoral setback in March since taking power at independence in 1957.

Some analysts believe that it is unlikely that SAPP, which has only two MPs, would have called for no-confidence vote without consulting Mr Anwar.

"Anwar has been upping the ante (against the government). The SAPP may be either testing the waters on his behalf or Anwar now believes he has sufficient strength to bring down the government," said an opposition political advisor. Mr Anwar had set a mid-September deadline for toppling the government with a no-confidence vote.

Mr Anwar has been wooing political parties from the Borneo states of Sabah and Sarawak, which hold the balance of power in the coalition government. The two states have long complained that they have been ignored by the central government.

But some observers cautioned that the SAPP move may be a ploy to see whether the government or opposition will offer the most concessions to win the support of the Sabah parties, which are seeking increased government spending and more royalties from natural resources.

"We must make a stand before the window of opportunity closes," said Yong Teck Lee, the SAPP president. Sabah politicians complain that they are under-represented in the cabinet in spite of the election results that gave them increased power.

The SAPP decision could undermine support for Mr Abdullah within the government's dominant party, the United Malays National Organisation. The SAPP action "points to the depth of the leadership crisis facing the country," said Razaleigh Hamzah, who plans to challenge Mr Abdullah as government head in Umno party elections in December.

The prime minister has been criticised by Umno members after the government lost its two-thirds parliamentary majority and an unprecedented five of 13 states in the March polls. Mr Abdullah also is facing public discontent over his recent decision to raise petrol prices by 40 per cent to curb a surge in state fuel subsidies. Mr Anwar has seized on the issue to win popular support.

SAPP said it could decide today whether to join formally the current three-party opposition People's Alliance led by Mr Anwar.

However, a parliamentary showdown next week could still be averted if the parliamentary speaker, a MP from Sabah, rules against the motion or decides to postpone it for two weeks as allowed under the constitution.

His decision will be seen as an indication of whether Mr Anwar is gaining ground in Sabah, whose MPs are viewed as being the most likely to defect to the oppostion.

Mr Anwar recently claimed that MPs from the Malaysian Chinese Association, which represents the interests of the ethnic Chinese minority in the ruling coalition, are ready also to defect.

Mr Anwar has promised to reform the government's policy of giving preferential treatment to the ethnic Malay majority, which minority groups claim discriminates against them.

If the government loses a no-confidence vote, Mr Abdullah must resign or ask the king to dissolve parliament and call for new elections. If the king refuses to do so, he would appoint a new prime minister. (Financial Times, UK)

***** The PM should be quite glad that the SAPP have at last come out of the woodwork to initiate this no-confidence motion in Parliament. For one, the suspense of when and by whom is over.

The threat to the government from such a move is minimal in real terms. Chances are that the motion would not even be allowed to be tabled. However this SAPP (mis)adventure gives Pak Lah the golden chance to rally not only Umno members but also the other Malays wavering on the sidelines.

Nothing motivates the average Malay more to close ranks than a perceived threat from the 'opportunistic, disloyal and greedy' Chinese. Suddenly the fake cry of "Malays in danger" by Umno last month seems more likely to be true and indeed requires urgent addressing by the sons of the soil.

If this no-confidence vote had been initiated by the East Malaysian natives or a Malay it would have been tolerable. After all, one Malay backstabbing a 'brother' Malay in politics is par for the course. But a bloody Chinese shafting the Melayu? God forbid! As for the other component BN parties their reaction to this silly SAPP move would be predictable and pedestrian.

Fully expect Dr Mahathir to take the stance of the rabid racist and fan and stoke the embers in the next few days with a typical "this is what happens when you have a weak Umno leader and the Malays are divided and eventually 'forced to give up everything' to the kaum pendatang and the Singaporeans."

Chances are that Yong Teck Lee, whatever may be the reason for sticking his neck out, has willy nilly provided a platform for Pak Lah to give the clarion call for Malay unity in the midst of a 'challenge' from the traditional 'archenemy', the Chinese. There will definitely be people within Umno who even now be plotting the strategy for feeding the Malays with this sort of innuendo and fuel the fire of hatred and the fear of the loss of Malay political power to the others.

And for this, Pak Lah should be very grateful to SAPP and its unreliable leader. Congratulations TunYong Teck Lee for you will succeed in achieving what even the strongest of Umno leaders couldn't, in uniting the Malays like never before.
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Malaysian Sultan Clashes With Islamic Party Over Entertainers

The sultan of Malaysia's Selangor state has threatened to cancel a football tournament after the Islamic opposition objected to the entertainers performing at the event, a report said Wednesday.

Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah told The Star daily that the protest over the two women -- rock singer Ella and Mas Idayu, who performs the hip-swivelling "dangdut" dance -- was "hypocritical" and "trivial".

He said future Selangor Cup matches between his state and Singapore could be cancelled if the Islamic party PAS was successful in its campaign to have them struck off the schedule.

"If this is going to be so difficult, we might as well hold this annual event in Singapore. I am sure they will be more than happy to play host," he told the daily.

The PAS youth wing in Selangor sent a memorandum to the state's chief minister objecting to the performers at the July 6 match, saying they were inappropriate as the event would be attended by many youngsters.

It threatened to demonstrate at the stadium if the women were allowed to perform, The Star said.

Malaysia's population is predominantly Muslim, and the nation's sultans are the traditional guardians of Islam in the states they rule.

But Sharafuddin said Selangor was not made up of "just PAS and Muslims" and that in any case the two performers were suitable for families.

"I don't know what the fuss is all about," he said.

PAS, which rules the northern state of Kelantan, has had ambitions of turning Malaysia into a theocratic state under Islamic rule.

However, in recent years it has begun introducing reforms designed to tone down its hardline reputation and woo young voters.

***** When will PAS learn that it is not to their advantage to consistently take one step forward followed by two steps back? Just when a few non-Muslims seem to place a little trust in their future with PAS, some petty nutcases in the Islamic party's youth wing decide to make asses of themselves by creating such a fuss over a trivial matter.

The senior leaders in PAS should ensure that the lower level partymen and women don't shoot themselves in the foot from time to time which will only lead to further estrangement between them and the mainstream. There is no doubt that almost every non-Muslim views PAS with suspicion and distrust and many consider them as unbending fanatics and potential terrorists. Incidents like the above merely reinforce that image.

Set Example And Don’t Raise Sensitive Issues, Dr Mahathir Urged

From The Star.

Tamil Nesan has called on the former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to avoid raising sensitive issues which will affect national unity or create racial tension.

In its editorial, the paper said that the retired elder statesman should set an example for future leaders by showing the proper way and giving the necessary advice.

The paper also reminded the people that the country belonged to them and that it was their responsibility to cooperate and work together for the country’s economic growth and success.

The people must support the new economic policy and the new government led by Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi who had brought about many reforms, the paper said.

It also said that the people expected to get equal opportunities in the education, economic and government sectors.

The paper hoped that Malaysians would continue to maintain unity and racial tolerance so that the country would continue to prosper.

***** It is indeed a disgrace that the people are now forced to remind a one time leader of the country to stop playing up race issues! In an explicit display of his innermost thoughts and his convoluted approach to political and ethnic issues lately, Dr Mahathir has convinced the whole country that he is at the moment, the biggest impediment to national unity and inter-racial harmony. A clear and present danger, if you will.

One wonders how our nation actually survived his twenty-plus year rule without having shattered into a thousand pieces. Perhaps we should thank the non-Malay leaders of BN component parties for their endless display of servitude through the eighties and nineties which ironically kept Dr M in check and didn't give him the excuse or opportunity to engage in Umno-style genocide.

Over the past few years, through his own recalcitrance and without any help from his detractors within Umno, Dr Mahathir has singlehandedly dismantled his own increasingly dubious legacy and the people will not view him kindly half-a-century from now. But the damage he is potentially capable of inflicting on everyone of us today by deviously inciting racial passions, must indeed be a worry. How do you handle an influential, aging and racist loose cannon? Especially one who apparently has decided to take leave of his senses.

Petronas Accounts - For Once I Agree With Khairy

Petronas should publish a more detailed financial statement and then table it in Parliament so that there is greater transparency, said Rembau MP and deputy Umno youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin.

“The call that I made for Petronas to disclose its financial statement goes above and beyond the annual report that is published on its website. I believe most MPs are aware of Petronas’ published financial accounts.

"However, the annual report only highlights a summary of Petronas’ financial position without going into any detail.

"While I appreciate that the standard of the annual report surpasses the requirements of the Companies Commission of Malaysia, I think it is also fair to say that Petronas is not an ordinary corporation," he said in a statement.

He was responding to a report in The Star on Tuesday quoting Petronas acting chairman, president and chief executive officer Tan Sri Mohd Hassan Marican as saying that the corporation’s account had been published and made public for the past 18 years. Hassan said 5,000 copies of the report was printed and distributed to various quarters and it was also available on Petronas' website.

Khairy said Petronas had been tasked with safeguarding the nation’s most important natural resource on behalf of the people and, "therefore, should be held to a higher level of scrutiny.

He claimed that the summarised financial figures found in Petronas’s annual report did not meet this higher level of scrutiny.

"I would suggest that Petronas commits itself to greater transparency and accountability by agreeing to give a special briefing to all MPs on the company’s corporate activities and financial position, and open the briefing to questions from the floor.

"This would provide the MPs, and therefore the public at large, with a more meaningful insight into Petronas apart from the financial summaries that are currently available to the public,” Khairy added.

In Penang, Chief Minister and DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said Petronas should give details on how it spends its earnings, including money used for purchases of planes.

He said Petronas should explain to the people how it spent money on sponsorship programmes and charity as well as reveal the number of luxury cars and jets it owns.

“The online annual report is insufficient as we need to know more than the number of oil barrels Petronas produced in a day,” he said after opening Axon’s new Penang office here on Tuesday.

“In hard economic times, we expect Petronas to play a role in easing the burden on the people,” he said. (The Star)

***** Petronas acting chairman, president and chief executive officer Tan Sri Mohd Hassan Marican thought he could bullshit his way out of this situation by saying that the corporation’s account 'had been published and made public'. But alas there seems to be much, much more to the story than what he's letting on. Hopefully over the next few days we can get to see some real, unedited figures which will tell their own sordid tales of avarice and abuse of power.
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The Evil Some Malaysians Do

A restaurant worker who flagged a passing car for help to save his dying mother was instead robbed and beaten unconscious by the occupants of the vehicle.

By the time help arrived about two hours later, his mother had died from an asthma attack.

The incident occurred in Skudai yesterday when Moh Cheng Mau, 39, (pic) returned home from work around 3am to find his mother, Foo Yoon Yew, 63, fighting for her life.

Cheng Mau left his mother near the door of their home along Jalan Hang Jebat 52 in the care of his younger brother Seng Fong, 37, and ran to stop a taxi about 100m away from their home.

According to the victim’s elder brother, Mok Aik Kuan, 41, the taxi refused to stop and Cheng Mau then flagged down a dark-coloured car with four men inside. “He begged them for help and got into the vehicle when they told him that he had to follow them to get an ambulance,” he said.

Aik Kuan said the men stopped the car near a graveyard about 300m away from the house, beat his brother unconscious and robbed him of a handphone and around RM500 in cash.

According to him, by the time his brother regained consciousness and staggered back home, it was past 5am. Neighbours then called the ambulance and police, he said.

Aik Kuan said the ambulance took his brother to the Sultanah Aminah Hospital for treatment as his mother had died at about 5.40am.

“Cheng Mau’s face and body were swollen. Two of his ribs were broken,” he said, adding that his brother had also been repeatedly kicked and stepped on with studded shoes.

Nusajaya OCPD Supt Abd Aziz Ahmad urged those with information to call 07-221 2999. (The Star)

***** What kind of bastards would do such a thing? I hope the cops would somehow nab the culprits. Let them get the harshest punishment that can be given by the justice system. They deserve it.

Petronas To Open Its Ledgers To The Public?

Malaysia's state oil company Petronas will open its books to the public after a decision to hike fuel prices by more than 40 percent set off days of protests, news reports said on Monday.

The reports come with a major opposition party still calling for as many as 100,000 people to take to the streets at a rally early next month amid growing anger over the cost of fuel in Malaysia, which is heavily state subsidised.

Nor Mohammed Yakcop, the country's second finance minister, told the New Straits Times newspaper that Petronas could open its ledgers to the public as soon as next week as the government looks at cutting the fuel subsidy.

"As a government that is entrusted by the people, we have to make sure our revenues are spent prudently," he said.

The government has forecast that unless subsidies are restructured, it will spend around 10 billion ringgit (3.1 billion dollars) in the second half of 2008 in the face of a global surge in oil prices .

But Nor Mohammed brushed off calls to use the Petronas revenues to finance the subsidy. "We can't simply spend all our revenue on the people of this generation," he said. "What will happen to our children in the next generation and beyond?"

Malaysia hiked its fuel price by 41 percent earlier this month, which raised the price of petrol to 2.70 ringgit (84 cents) per litre.

Opposition groups welcomed the news that Petronas would show how it has spent its money. "The time has come for the full accounting of its stewardship of the country's oil billions," said Lim Kit Siang from the Democratic Action Party. There should be a full explanation with regards to the management of the funds, with nothing hidden from the public," he told AFP.

***** Whether there will be full disclosure or a distilled, abridged version for public consumption remains to be seen. Perhaps Dr Mahathir might come out screaming tomorrow that this is yet another ploy to 'shut him up' from speaking out. If hypothetically Petronas should release a true and verifiable record of its accounts, then apart from Pak Lah, Dr M too will have his hands full answering a lot of inconvenient questions on their roles in the manipulation of the Petronas billions.
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"I'll Defend My Post At Umno's Election In December," Says Pak Lah

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi reiterated that he will defend his Umno president post at the party's election scheduled in December this year.

He said there was no reason for him not to contest.

Asked about the date for the leadership handover, Abdullah said this would be discussed with his deputy Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

"We have not precisely agreed on the date for transition. It won't be in the next one, two or three months," he said.

On the Malaysian economy, Abdullah said it will be able to chalk up a gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 5.5 percent this year despite difficult economic challenges, especially skyrocketing oil prices.

With high crude oil prices, there was a need to postpone mega-projects and place emphasis on people-centric development projects as well as agriculture projects with immediate impact, he said. "Some projects need not necessarily be postponed but will be readjusted," he added.

To a question on the government's response to a planned protest against the increase in fuel prices next month, he said: "Allow them to protest. We will continue to do what is best for the people to deal with the higher crude oil prices," he said.

For Malaysia, as a small producer with an output of 700,000 barrels per day, it could do little compared with Saudi Arabia whose output is nine million barrels per day. "We are a small boy," he said.

To a question on reforms of the judiciary, the Anti-Corruption Agency, the police and the public delivery system, he said it was important to have the capacity to implement them.

He said it was not possible to do everything at the same time and that it would take some time.

On why there was a need to retain the Internal Security Act (ISA), he said preventive detention was important but at the same time justice was equally important. "Those who have been detained under the ISA have a chance of up to three months to have their cases reviewed through legal representation," he said.

To a question as to why there was a need for the five Hindu Rights Action Force leaders to be detained under ISA and not tried in court, he said it was not political but steps taken to prevent threats to security.

Abdullah also said the thrust of the New Economic Policy, which was replaced by the National Development Policy, would continue to be on eradicating poverty regardless of ethnic background. "But eradication of poverty will take a long time," he said.

More importantly, he said, Malaysia would strive for high growth to ensure equitable distribution of opportunities and wealth for all. "We will not take from Peter to pay Paul," he said, stressing that no group would be helped at the expense of another which was why it was important to grow the economic cake for the country. (Bernama)

***** He's spouting the same mantra just as his predecessor did, about 'eradicating poverty regardless of ethnic background' and 'ensuring equitable distribution of opportunities and wealth for all'. Dr Mahathir took us all for a long, long ride with those empty slogans and Pak Lah seems to be heading in the same direction too.

And apparently he has not softened his stance on the draconian ISA, while his unjustifiable justification for its retention merely proves his insincerity.

His belief that we 'will be able to chalk up a gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 5.5 percent this year' seems terribly misplaced and makes one doubt his grasp on matters economic.

As for refusing to yield power without a fight, frankly it's his prerogative and in any case would you like to see Najib ascending the throne at Putrajaya any time soon? If there has to be a 'smooth transition of power' let it be from Pak Lah to Anwar Ibrahim.
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Ali Rustam Wants Police To Investigate False Blogs!

Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam wants the police and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to take appropriate action against those who had created false blogs in his name.

He said the false blogs are http://mohamadalirustam.blogspot.com and http://mohdalirustam2.blogspot.com.

"My actual blog is www.mohdalirustam.com," he told reporters here Sunday.

Mohd Ali said both the false blogs were still active and carrying articles purportedly written by him and there were also comments on the articles written.

He said there were people who had included comments using his name in the blog created by former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad although these comments did not come from him.

He believed those responsible for the false blogs had malicious intention against him.

He said a police report on the matter had been lodged by his special assistant in charge of his blog, Ahmad Faisal Mohd Yunos at the Melaka Tengah Police Station, here Sunday. (Bernama)

***** And what does this quasi-computer-literate whinger expect the cops to do now that there are AliRustam clone blogs on the Net? Moreover he does not write his own posts and most of its contents are from his kerani2 who have turned his 'blog' into another propaganda vehicle like the idiotic Suara Melaka majalah which his government publishes without fail. It's a bloody boring blog which is best given a miss.

Iskandar Malaysia Development Can Cause Malays To Be Sidelined, Says Dr Mahathir

Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad again charged that the development of Iskandar Malaysia in south Johor bordering Singapore, would not only turn the 2,217sq km area into 'Singapore North' but could also cause Malays in Johor to be sidelined.

"The residents there will be quite rich and they will be from Singapore. In the end, there will no be more Malays there because they will not be able to buy land (due to high prices) and when the outsiders are too many, they will start asking for this and that right," Dr Mahathir said in a dialogue session here Saturday.

In that regard, he reminded Malays in the development corridor to not easily sell their land when offered very high prices by certain quarters.

The corridor that was also known as the South Johor Economic Region (SJER) was announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on July 30, 2006.

Its name was changed to Iskandar Development Region on Nov 4, 2006 in line with the name of the Sultan of Johor, Sultan Iskandar, before it was again changed to Iskandar Malaysia on April 11 this year.

More than RM47 billion is needed to develop the area as the largest growth centre in the region until 2025.

The total development area is said to be about 2 1/2 times the size of Singapore when fully completed with Khazanah Nasional Berhad as the primary driver of this development vision. (Bernama)

***** Dr Mahathir is increasingly becoming synonymous with scaremongering, a devious tactic he had not only mastered but had used to perfection during his twenty-plus-year rule of the country. But that cunning strategy will not pay him dividends at this point in time although he so desperately hopes it would. And to that end he is prepared to use every dirty trick in the book to get his way.

Aussie Ex-Flight Attendant Offloads Herself From Three Successive MAS Flights After Fume Concerns

An Australian former flight attendant offloaded herself from three successive Malaysia Airlines flights on which she was due to depart from London Heathrow airport this month, on the grounds that she could smell oil fumes. .

MAS's Heathrow station manager Kevin Jones told Flight International that Lesley Williams was going to be boarded early for the 22:00 departure on 12 June so she could make up her mind about whether to travel at this third attempt, but that if she decided against flying she would not be offered another flight on the same ticket. He says the airline would consider recompensing her for the cost of the flight, which would have been Williams's return journey to Australia.

Williams was one of many flight and cabin crew who gave evidence to the Australian Senate inquiry in 2000 into cabin air contamination and its effect on aircraft safety and health.

Immediately on boarding the aircraft Williams could smell oil, and she says that in all three Boeing 747s she boarded it had been the same. She was informed by MAS that the air conditioning was being provided by the aircraft air conditioning packs supplying external air using ground power, not the auxiliary power unit. She says she believes the air conditioning system must have been contaminated by earlier events involving engine or bleed air. She decided not to fly.

MAS flights from Australia to the UK had been free of oil smells, Williams says, but she adds that her determination not to fly on an aircraft she recognised as contaminated stems from identifying the same smell on boarding a Qantas 747 flight from Heathrow to Australia in August 2004. She decided to fly anyway, and suffered six months' chronic fatigue syndrome before, as she explains it, her system purged itself of the toxins to which she had been subjected. She says she reported the state of affairs to Qantas at the time and the airline promised to get back to her, but it never did. (Flight International)

***** Is the real problem in our aircraft or in this lady's mind?

Don't Politicise Oil Price Hike Says Home Minister Syed Hamid

Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar slammed the Opposition for politicising the fuel price hike issue and said protests will not solve any problems.

"The price increase of crude oil is a global phenomenon. We did not raise the price just because we felt like it. We do not like the high price too," he said.

He was speaking to reporters Saturday after opening the police family day here.

Syed Hamid was asked to comment on Friday's protest in Kuala Lumpur over the increase in fuel prices.

"It does not solve anything. In fact, it causes more problems such as traffic congestion and affects businesses around the area," he said.

He added that the police practised a high level of tolerance during Friday's demonstration and did not engage the crowd.

On Friday, a large group led by PAS Youth chief Salahuddin Ayub gathered in front of the Kampung Baru mosque after Friday prayers to protest against the recent fuel price hike.

Syed Hamid stressed that the organisers should ask for permission from the Home Ministry first before holding demonstrations.

"If they want to do it in a contained area, we will consider it.

"I cannot say yes, I cannot say no (whether to approve or not), but I will look at the application," he said.

***** Syed Hamid said that the ''police practised a high level of tolerance during Friday's demonstration and did not engage the crowd'. How come the cops didn't show the same restraint at a gathering of Indians at Istana Negara this morning?

I suppose it would have been politically suicidal for an already weakened government to unleash the thugs in the police force on Muslim Malays and that too after Friday prayers. Indians however seem to be fair game all year round. Some things won't change.

Justice Ian Chin's Allegations Meant To Shut Me Up, Says Dr Mahathir

Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said Friday the allegations that he "threatened" judges during his term as prime minister, was meant to shut him up.

He said even though he understood the reason for the allegations, he would continue to speak his mind and would answer all allegations in his blog.

"This is one of the ways to wallop me for speaking out but I am not going to stop. I will continue writing in my blog and it will be up to the people whether to believe (the allegations)," he told reporters here.

Asked whether he was planning to take action if the claims were not true, he said: "In which court should I bring up my case? I don't have the money and I don't know if I can win."

On Monday, Sibu High Court judge Datuk Ian Chin, while hearing a dispute over results of the March 8 general election in Sarawak, revealed that judges were threatened with dismissal if they did not make pro-government decisions.

On the statement by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak that he would not contest the Umno president's post and would instead accept the presidency by way of leadership transition, Dr Mahathir said Najib was taking the slow path to the presidency.

Najib told reporters in London on Thursday that he would not challenge Abdullah for the post. "I'm a true party man who believes in the traditional way of leadership transition," said Najib. (Bernama)

***** Dr Mahathir's claim may or may not be true. But more importantly if there was no basis to the High Court judge's allegations why should Dr M be perturbed or worried that this is an attempt by the government to muzzle him? Why indeed do we not see a strong rebuttal from the former PM on the points raised by Justice Chin? Perhaps Justice Chin has given an accurate and unvarnished description of the state of the judiciary during Dr Mahathir's tenure? Very plausible.

Justice Ian Chin Should Lodge Police Report, Says Karpal Singh

DAP chairman Karpal Singh urged Sibu High Court judge Ian Chin to lodge a police report over his allegation that former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had threatened to remove judges if he disagreed with their verdicts.

Karpal, who is also MP for Bukit Gelugor said Chin should not seek protection by hiding behind the immunity provided to judges under the law by just revealing it in the court.

"Even though his revelations had further weakened public confidence in the judiciary, he should give a chance to Dr Mahathir to defend himself by allowing police to probe on the matter," he told a press conference here Friday.

On Monday, Chin, while hearing a dispute over results of the March 8 general election in Sarawak, revealed that judges were sent to an indoctrination boot camp and threatened with dismissal if they did not make pro-government decisions.

Karpal also urged police to record statements from all judges who attended the judges' conference on April 24, 1997 where Dr Mahathir had allegedly issued the threat.

He also asked the police and the Attorney-General's chambers to give top priority in investigating the latest allegation.

Karpal said he would raise the matter at the parliament sitting on June 23.

Asked on the contents of Chin's allegation, Karpal said: "I don't think Chin wanted to create a story to frame up Dr Mahathir as it will affect his credibility."

Karpal urged prime minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to take personal interest on the latest allegation against Dr Mahathir, adding that what had happened cannot be dismissed out of hand.

In a related development, a police officer from Tun H.S. Lee police station recorded a statement from Karpal over his report on this case on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, Abdullah said the government did not see it fit to set up another royal commission to investigate the alleged threats by Dr Mahathir against high court judges because it had already decided to introduce reforms in the judiciary. (Bernama)

***** The big question is whether the cops will be allowed to investigate any report that Justice Ian Chin may make. Since Pak Lah as well as the Minister in the PM's Dept, Zaid Ibrahim have said that nothing more will be revealed by a probe and therefore are not in favour of an investigation, it looks like the usual three letter word NFA (No Further Action) will be in play. Dr Mahathir can be expected to get away scot free once again.

Raising Fuel Prices An Inevitable Move, Says Pak Lah

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said today he hoped the people would understand that the government's move to raise fuel prices recently was inevitable.

He said the government had to up the price of petrol by 78 sen to RM2.70 per litre and the price of diesel by RM1 to RM2.58 per litre on June 5 though it was never its intention to burden the people.

"The price of crude oil in the global market is continuing to rise and the government has been forced to increase its fuel subsidy," he said when addressing community leaders and senior government officers at a lunch in conjunction with his one-day visit to Kelantan today.

The prime minister said that though the government had to continue subsidising the rising fuel prices, it would not raise them again this year.

"We understand the problem faced by the people and are doing everything possible to ensure that the recent increase in fuel prices will not further burden them, and we give the assurance that the fuel prices will not be raised again (until the end of this year)," he said.

He said he would elaborate on the issue of higher fuel prices at his meeting with the people scheduled for tonight at the Kelantan Poverty Foundation in Padang Kala here. (Bernama)

***** Pak Lah - between the devil and the deep blue sea.

Government Says It Will Clamp Down On Today's Fuel Hike Protest

Malaysian authorities vowed to stop an opposition rally on Friday against a sharp fuel price rise that has stoked public anger and handed a poltical weapon to Prime Minister Ahmad Abdullah Badawi's rivals.

Protests have so far been small and scattered, but on Friday after Muslim prayers, the opposition plans to draw 20,000 people in a march from a mosque in a poor part of Kuala Lumpur to the iconic Petronas towers in the city centre to underline anger against the state energy giant.

Police have urged people not to join the rally, termed illegal because no permit has been issued, and warned they would arrest protest leaders.

"Demonstrations and illegal assemblies only disrupt public order and cause traffic chaos," the pro-government New Straits Times quoted city police chief Muhammad Sabtu Osman as saying. We are not sure how many protesters will turn up and which routes they will take. But we are taking all precautionary measures," a police spokesman told Reuters.

There are tight restrictions on public gatherings in Malaysia, but the opposition has said it will go ahead anyway.

"The people are angry. They say the fuel price is very high so they want to say something," said Safarizal Saleh, a leader of the youth wing of the Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS), the main Islamist party and one of the organisers of the rally.

Petrol prices were raised by 41 percent and diesel 63 percent in line with a global surge in oil prices, a measure that would drive inflation to a 10-year high of 4.2 percent in 2008.

The government says it will save 13.7 billion ringgit ($4.2 billion) as part of a broad overhaul of its heavily subsided energy pricing system.

Trying to assuage public anger, Prime Minister Ahmad Abdullah Badawi has said there will not be any more fuel increases this year and announced a cut in the allowances of ministers as part of measures to cut government costs.

Despite the rises, pump prices for petrol in Malaysia are still among the cheapest in Asia.

But critics led by former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim have rejected the measures as too little and questioned why Malaysia, the largest net oil exporter in Asia, should face the fuel hike when the country earns 250 million ringgit ($76.76 million) a year in revenue for every $1 rise in crude prices.

"Although Petronas is estimated to have earned RM2trillion over the last 34 years ... its accounts are not accessible to (the) public nor by the people's elected representative in Parliament," said Waytha Moorthy, chairman of HINDRAF, a group campaigning for the rights of ethnic Indians which is supporting the fuel protests.

Petronas posted a record profit of $12.9 billion for the year ended March 31 2007, helped by a boom in crude oil prices. The state oil firm is expected to release its 2008 earnings at the end of June.

***** Petronas' earnings over the years have been siphoned off by various government 'policies' and we can forget about getting even an estimate of where it all ended up. When the government can't even give us a proper accounting of the KL Commonwealth Games expenses do you think they'll budge on the Petronas billions?

Playboy Brunei Prince Jefri Goes On The Run Over Missing £3 Billion

A playboy prince has gone on the run rather than face jail for refusing to hand over £3 billion of assets to the Sultanate of Brunei, ruled by his brother. An English judge issued a warrant yesterday for the arrest of Prince Jefri, who failed to turn up for a five-day hearing for contempt of court.

The Prince, whose main home is the imposing St John’s Lodge in Regent’s Park, London, appears to have put himself in exile rather than face prison. Lawyers for the Sultan’s Brunei Investment Agency (BIA) will continue trying to seize his disputed fortune in a string of court cases around the world.

Prince Jefri, 53, a father of 17 with four wives, is said to have swapped his notoriously decadent lifestyle of vulgarly named yachts and gold-plated lavatory brushes for a fugitive existence. He was accused by his brother of embezzling a fortune from the oil-rich state while Finance Minister.

Prince Jefri, who denied any wrongdoing and said he had authority to use state funds, took his case to the Privy Council in London last year but lost. Brunei sources say that he has since surrendered a few diamonds but held on to other assets. Brunei has adopted a hard line, applying to the High Court in London to commit the Prince to prison for contempt of court.

Friends of Prince Jefri are shocked at what they see as the harshness of the Sultan in attempting to get his youngest brother locked up. But legal sources have always emphasised that these actions were being taken by the nation’s investment vehicle rather than the Sultan.

Mr Justice Peter Smith was clearly unamused by Prince Jefri’s failing to turn up for the hearing yesterday. When Martin Pascoe, QC, for the BIA, told the court that the Prince would be absent, the judge asked the Prince’s counsel James Lewis, QC, why. “Tell me where he is,” the judge said, “or don’t you know?”

Mr Lewis said: “I don’t know where he is. He is abroad, I believe in France. My understanding is that he does not mean to attend these proceedings at all.” Mr Lewis said that the Prince had also given an address in Monaco.

The judge said: “If he is arrested he will have to come before me. It will take an advocate of great skill to persuade me that he should have bail.” The judge issued a warrant that will result in England’s ports and airports being put on alert to watch out for Prince Jefri. But lawyers doubt that the warrant could be extended beyond these shores. The Prince had already exiled himself from Brunei in 2004.

The sultanate’s legal team have managed to take back ownership of the New York Palace Hotel by suing in Malaysia. But they are still pursuing claims in California and the Cayman Islands to seize the Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles from Prince Jefri.

The court order at the core of the case resulted from claims that the Prince embezzled £8 billion as Finance Minister. He claims that he has already complied with the terms of the order made in 2000. But the BIA alleges that he allowed money to be taken out of bank accounts that were supposed to be frozen and that he failed to disclose other assets.

It says that Prince Jefri is in contempt of court for breaching an order freezing his assets, failing to disclose his assets and putting false evidence before the court.

The Prince’s friends said that Brunei’s attempt to get him jailed was “purely vindictive”, serving no purpose “other than to extract punitive revenge on your brother”. He seemed to have decided it was best “not being around to be locked up for the best part of two years”, they said. “What’s going on is a cruel and unusual form of punishment inflicted on Jefri,” one said. “The one thing he didn’t want to be is locked up. If he sets foot in the UK he will be arrested and imprisoned on remand. Had the proceedings gone ahead and concluded he would have been jailed at the end.” (Times Online, UK)

" I'm A True Party Man," Says Najib

"I am a true party (Umno) man" and not the son who destroys the party that his father has helped to set up in a move to gain control of it, said Umno Deputy President Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

The eldest son of Malaysia's second prime minister Tun Abdul Razak Hussein said he "believed the transfer of power (in Umno) should be done in the traditional, conventional way rather than by creating factions".

He said this during a question-and-answer session after delivering a talk on "Malaysia in the Face of New Gobal Challenges" at Chatham House, the home of the Royal Institute of International Affairs, yesterday.

Najib, who is the Malaysian deputy prime minister, said this when asked by a participant why he had not taken over the leadership of the country after the poor performance of the Barisan Nasional (BN) and Umno in the recent general election.

The BN had failed to recapture Kelantan from PAS and lost Kedah, Penang, Perak and Selangor to the Pakatan Rakyat opposition alliance in the general election on March 8. It also failed to garner a two-third majority in Parliament.

Najib said people could give their views and that it was not a question of having courage or being a coward, but "it is just (that) as a person you have core values".

"And I believe what is important (is that) whatever position you take, it must be a core value personal to you. I come from a family where my father helped build the party, and I am not the son to destroy the party. I want to continue to build the party further," he said.

Najib said Umno was now at its lowest point and "if you create a serious fight for the leadership, Umno will be further weakened and not be able to face the challenges of (the next) general election. What is there in inheriting a position when you lose in the general election. I don't want to lead the party to defeat," he said.

Earlier, in his speech, Najib touched on the need to revitalise bilateral relations between Malaysia and Britain, saying that it was now "in a state of benign neglect". (Bernama)

***** I wonder what Dr Mahathir's reaction would be to this very 'tame' assertion by Najib?

Former Indonesian Ambassador To Malaysia Jailed For Corruption

A former Indonesian ambassador to Malaysia, Rusdihardjo (pic) who overcharged for immigration documents and split the profits with his staff was jailed for two years, a corruption court judge said yesterday. The former envoy was said to have received a monthly stipend of between RM 30,000 and RM 40,000 in illegal immigration fees from the embassy's former immigration head Arihken Tarigan between 2004 and 2006. Tarigan, was sentenced to four years in jail and was given a Rp 200 million fine by the same South Jakarta court.

"Rusdihardjo is legitimately and convincingly guilty of corruption," said Moerdiono, chief judge for the case, in sentencing the retired four-star general and former police chief.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono promised to tackle graft and boost economic growth when he was elected president in 2004.

Meanwhile, police guarded mosques belonging to the minority Ahmadiyah sect across Indonesia yesterday as fears of vigilante violence rose after the government threatened sect members with jail.

Police were deployed outside Ahmadiyah mosques in several towns and cities as religious leaders of all stripes struggled to digest Monday’s decree ordering the sect to stop spreading un-Islamic beliefs.

Samy Vellu To Contest MIC President Post For 11th Consecutive Term!

MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu has declared that he would contest the top post for a record 11th term at the party's presidential election in March next year.

"I will not stop anyone from contesting the president's post. We are a democratic party. I am elected by popular vote in the past elections, so it is the members who will decide.

"I will continue serving until the members say they don't want me. My term ends on March 8," Samy Vellu told reporters.

Samy Vellu, 72, has declared that he would quit active politics in 2012 and this bid would be his last as party president, a post which he has held since 1981, after serving two years before as acting president.

The MIC supremo lost the Sungai Siput parliamentary seat in the March 8 general election, and speculation has been rife that the veteran politician would contest the post for the last time next year before handing over the party to the chosen successor.

To contest the president's post, a potential candidate needs to amass at least 50 nominations from the 3,600 MIC branches nationwide.

Samy Vellu, who joined the party in 1959 as an ordinary member, garnered 528 nominations to contest the post in the last presidential election, which he won uncontested.

He moved up the ranks in the party from being an ordinary member to taking over the highest position in the MIC after 22 years.

In 1971, he became the Youth chief, was elected vice-president in 1975 and became deputy president in 1977 after defeating Datuk S. Subramaniam who was then party secretary-general.

He became a Member of Parliament in 1978 and following the death of Tan Sri V. Manickavasagam in 1979, he was made acting party president.

He was elected president on March 22 1981, a position he had held since despite a challenge by Subramaniam for the post in 1990. (Bernama)

***** What more does this man want to prove? He's out of the Cabinet because the people handed him a solid defeat in the last general elections. Is he now itching for a loss in party polls too? Does MIC have the testicles to show him the door once and for all?

A High Court Judge's Severe Indictment Of Dr Mahathir

A High Court judge here has alleged that Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad threatened to punish the judiciary in 1997 for decisions he disliked. Justice Datuk Ian Chin, 60, is the most senior of the 48 High Court judges in the country.

He made the stunning allegation at the start of proceedings on Monday when hearing an election petition filed by Wong Hus She, the defeated DAP candidate for the Sarikei parliamentary seat, the Borneo Post reported.

Anticipating a motion for his recusal, Chin took the "step to disclose what the parties and counsel may not be aware of but which they may later complain that I should have disclosed".

Wong lost the Sarikei seat to Barisan Nasional's Ding Kuong Hing by 51 votes. Both sides did not object to Chin as the presiding judge, the Borneo Post reported.

He referred to two cases he had presided over in February 1997 - a libel suit and an election petition - the decisions with which the then prime minister was apparently displeased, he said.

He said Dr Mahathir had gone to the judges' conference about a month later "to issue a thinly veiled threat to remove judges by referring to the tribunal that was set up before".

From May 26 until 30, he was "packed off to boot camp" for lessons on taking the government line in judicial decisions.

Last month, the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Lingam video clip castigated Dr Mahathir for going against the Constitution in appointing judges and called for an investigation into Dr Mahathir.

According to the notes of proceedings made available to the New Straits Times, Chin said in the libel suit: "I distinguished M.G.G. Pillai v Tan Sri Datuk Vincent Tan Chee Yioun & Other Appeals (1995) 2 MLJ 493 and refused to give what I consider to be an astronomical award for damage to reputation in libel cases".

In the election petition, he had set aside the victory of BN's Mong Dagang in the 1996 state polls in the Bukit Begunan seat.

Chin said Dr Mahathir had "expressed unhappiness" over the decision. "After he was done with issuing that threat, he then proceeded to express his view that people should pay heavily for libel.

He managed to get a single response from a Court of Appeal judge who asked whether he would be happy with a sum of RM1 million as damages for libel. He approved of it and he later on made known his satisfaction by promoting this judge (since deceased) to the Federal Court over many others who were senior to him when a vacancy arose."

Chin said he was "devastated" by what went on but was consoled by fellow judges who remarked "the prime minister was too much".

"It will be recalled that the prime minister not long after he assumed office had said, in a much publicised campaign against corruption, that he will put the fear of God in man but this apparently, given his diatribe in that conference, changed to instilling a fear of him if any judgment is to his dislike."

He said the "boot camp" he attended with selected judges and judicial officers was "an attempt to indoctrinate those attending to hold the view that the government's interest" was "more important than all else when we are considering our judgments".

"Stating this devilish notion was no less a person than the president of the Court of Appeal," he said.

"The perversion of justice did not stop there. My brother judge (Datuk Muhammad) Kamil Awang was one morning looking for me after clocking in. We were both then serving in Kuching.

"When I met him in his chambers, he was distraught and he told me about receiving a telephone call the night before from the chief justice asking him to dismiss the election petition that he was going to hear in Kota Kinabalu.

"He sought my opinion as to what to do about the telephone call. We went into the possibility of making a police report or of writing to the chief justice a letter to record what he had said over the telephone but in the end, he decided against it since it would be his word against that of the chief justice," Chin said.

"I was happy to learn later on that he did not bow to the pressure by the chief justice and went on to hear the petition and thereafter, making a decision based on the law and evidence."

Chin also declared that he had twice stood unsuccessfully for election as a BN candidate in the 1980s, in one of which he lost to the DAP. He had also heard other election petitions.

"Now, though no longer the prime minister and so no longer able to carry out his threat to remove judges which should, therefore, dispel any fear which any judge may have of him, if ever there was such fear, nevertheless the coalition party that he led is still around and the second respondent won on a ticket of that coalition party and it may cross someone's mind that I may have an axe to grind against the party concerned or any member thereof.

"The petitioner in this case may also have a similar view with regard to my defeat by a candidate standing on the ticket of the party to which he belongs. So I wish to hear from the parties as to whether they entertain any such notion and whether they wish to apply for my recusal so that, if any, I can make a decision thereon.

"After this disclosure, litigants who were affected by the hundreds of judgments that I handed down since those infamous days may justifiably worry as to whether any of my judgments were in any way influenced by this attempt to hang the Sword of Damocles over my head.

"No amount of words from me would assuage you of your worry; you will have to read my judgments as to whether they are according to the evidence and the law or whether they were influenced by threat."

Chin then adjourned for half an hour to let the parties consider an application for his recusal.

None, however, was made.

Datuk Ian Chin was appointed judicial commissioner on Feb 26, 1992 and since then has served in the High Court in Sabah and Sarawak. He is, at present, a resident judge at the High Court in Kota Kinabalu. (NST)

***** This revelation by Mr Justice Ian Chin is another nail strongly driven into the coffin of Dr Mahathir's reputation and decades old despotic rule. Many are the allegations that have been made against the former PM but remarkably he has escaped totally unscathed and has been never held accountable for the numerous acts of commission and omission during his tenure. Now he has the gall to blame everyone else except himself!

Umno Strikes Back - Sanusi Junid Sacked As International Islamic University President

Tan Sri Sanusi Junid has been "relieved of his duties" as International Islamic University Malaysia president with immediate effect.

In his second term now and with two more years to serve, he said he received the letter, dated June 2, on Monday.

The letter was from the Sultan of Pahang, the constitutional head of the university, Sanusi said.

He had previously said he would not step down from the post, which he considered part of his “duty to God and service to the people.”

The former Kedah Mentri Besar said there had been speculation over his post after he had resigned from Umno, following former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s resignation on May 19.

On June 1, Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Khalid Nordin that there was no reason for Sanusi’s services to be terminated unless he “played politics” at campus. (The Star)

***** Umno couldn't directly hit out at the big man Dr Mahathir, so they whacked one of his underlings who had the 'temerity' to resign from Umno. More such petty moves on the cards? You bet!

An Obama Presidency - Whose Race Problem?

Lots of Americans Accept Obama. But Will The World?
"Will Americans vote for a black man?" I've been asked this question by foreigners of various origins a dozen -- or maybe three dozen -- times since the U.S. presidential campaign began for real in January. Now we have the answer: Yes, Americans will vote for a black man. Which means that it is time to turn this rather offensive question around: Will foreigners accept a black American president?

I realize that this, too, may seem like a rather offensive question, particularly if one believes everything that one reads in newspapers. Germany, to take one random example, is at the moment experiencing something like its own version of Obamamania. The media appear to see the Democratic candidate as what a Der Spiegel journalist calls "a cross between John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr."; the German foreign minister has been heard chanting "Yes, we can!"; and Obama T-shirts can be spotted in the hipper quarters of Berlin. This sort of enthusiasm isn't unique to Germany: British, French and even Polish newspapers splashed Obama and his candidacy on their front pages this past week, most accompanied by laudatory articles that solemnly proclaimed, "America has changed."

But has Europe changed? And have Asia and the Middle East changed? I hate to put it so crudely, but -- European newspaper reporting to the contrary -- racism is not unique to the United States. The situation of ethnic minorities in Europe and Asia is completely different from that in the United States, and in many ways our societies aren't comparable: Most nonwhite inhabitants of European societies are recent immigrants, not descendants of former slaves, and the particular circumstances of, say, the black Christian population in Arab-dominated Sudan are unique.

Nevertheless, it is safe to say that there is a distinct dearth of nonwhite politicians in Europe. The Indian caste system has an element of skin-color discrimination built in. Arab societies have their own history of trading in black slaves, and the existence in the Arab world of prejudice against black Africans is no secret. Periodically, African students in Moscow are beaten up on the street. Though it is certainly more severe in those countries that actually have large nonwhite populations, unreflective racism exists even in parts of the world that have barely any darker-skinned or nonnative inhabitants. Japan has been singled out by the United Nations for racist treatment of foreigners. And while some of the stares that black Americans say they get on the street in Warsaw or Prague reflect simple curiosity, some, I'm told, contain an element of hostility, too.

A President Obama wouldn't have to worry too much about angry stares from people at bus stops, of course, and it is fair to assume that prejudices harbored by the odd foreign leader would vanish in the presence of the American president. In the rosiest scenario, an Obama presidency -- or merely an Obama candidacy -- might even force a broader international discussion of race. Andrew Sullivan wrote eloquently last year about the way in which Obama's face, by itself, will help change America's image around the world. By the same token, candidate Obama -- merely by being who he is, and looking the way he does -- could begin to change European, Arab and Asian attitudes about race. Millions of Africans would surely treat an American president of African descent as "their" president, just for a start.

But in the meantime, do not be surprised if there is some backlash as well. A hint of what might be hiding behind those enthusiastic headlines emerged last week in Obamamanic Germany, where a Berlin newspaper, Die Tageszeitung, put a photograph of the White House and the headline " Uncle Barack's Cabin" on its front page. The editors argued that their intention was satirical, but since the same newspaper has also referred to the current U.S. secretary of state as "Uncle Tom's Rice," it is clear that they understood the nastiness of the "Uncle Tom" connotation perfectly well.

Listen carefully, too, when foreigners start worrying about Obama's lack of foreign policy experience. Though this is a legitimate concern, I occasionally catch a racist undertone in this kind of conversation. "How could a black man possibly understand European/Middle Eastern/South Asian politics?" is what my interlocutors sometimes in fact seem to be saying.

The correct response, of course, is that plenty of white men don't understand European/Middle Eastern/South Asian politics, either. But not everyone, everywhere, is going to understand that. Foreign coverage of U.S. politics always reveals a lot about foreign countries, but never more so than in this election season. (Anne Applebaum, The Washington Post)

***** I don't know about the rest of the world, but Malaysians will embrace an Obama presidency without reservation. It is only when accepting an Obama-like figure as our own leader that serious objections will crop up and the contentious question of race and religion will rear its ugly head.

Anwar Ibrahim Seeks Government Ouster Over Fuel Hike

Thousands of Malaysians on Sunday took part in the biggest opposition protest against a sharp rise in fuel prices that has stoked public anger in the oil exporting country.

The rally in a football ground in the capital by opposition figurehead Anwar Ibrahim was part of a series planned to pile pressure on beleaguered Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to either reconsider the oil and diesel price rise or resign.

"Reformasi, reformasi", the crowd in a poor, largely ethnic Malay part of Kuala Lumpur shouted, recalling Anwar's rallying call for reforms from a 1998 campaign after he was sacked as deputy prime minister.

"Politically, the message was clear on March 8, economically it's now a disaster. That is why we are calling on them to resign," Anwar said at the late night rally.

Abdullah, fighting for political survival after leading his coalition to its worst electoral performance in five decades of rule in March, has said the price rise was necessary in line with a global surge in oil prices.

Fuel subsidies have become financially crippling, the government said. Pump prices in Malaysia are still one of the cheapest in Asia.

But Anwar said the decision to raise petrol prices by 41 percent and 63 percent for diesel will hasten the government's fall as members of the ruling coalition begin to break ranks over the move that would drive inflation to a 10-year high.

Anwar has said he has enough lawmakers to topple the government following the March 8 election and was waiting for the right moment. Anwar said in the past three months alone his party had received 50,000 applications for membership and these included members of constituent parties of the ruling coalition.

"We have seen clearly more interest and support for Pakatan Rakyat (the opposition alliance). This applies even to members of parliament. Even some of them have been encouraged to approach me directly even though they are being closely monitored," he said.

But he did not give any details and analysts say Anwar, who was cast into the political wilderness after being dumped in 1998 by his former mentor, ex-prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, has repeatedly made claims without showing any evidence.

PROTESTS

Protests in Malaysia, unlike in countries such as India and Indonesia which too have raised fuel prices, have been small and scattered, partly because of restrictions on public assembly.

But the opposition has planned a demonstration on July 12 when it says it will bring 100,000 people into the city centre to demand that fuel prices be restored to earlier levels.

The government has said it would save 13.7 billion ringgit ($4.23 billion) as part of a broad overhaul of its heavily subsidised energy price system. The money used for subsidies, which eats up a third of the budget, would be better spent on development projects, the government said.

Abdullah, also fighting to fend off a challenge to his leadership from within, will spell out measures this week to ease the burden on consumers, state media said. The proposals include ways for state bodies to save costs, widen the social safety net for the poor, increase the number of price-controlled items and improve public transport.

***** What strategy has the opposition to control fuel prices here amidst an unprecedented and devastating surge in the selling price of crude oil? These protests seem more like rank opportunism and cashing in on the misery of the average Joe. The dilemma that we face now is not of the government's making. It is merely responding to the economic situation and while we have no choice but to bite the bullet, the kerajaan is at least trying to soften the blow with relief in other sectors. If this can be done speedily and efficiently then the ill-feeling all round would be somewhat assuaged.

Assembling a hundred thousand people to protest the fuel hike is not the way to go. Carefully and precisely enunciating their plan to overcome the current economic crisis is what the opposition should be doing instead of stirring unnecessary trouble at a time of stringency.

Another Desperate 'Malays In Danger' Umno Ploy To Stay Relevant

Malay unity is presently at its lowest level, said Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

"Unlike previously, the Malays do not have a common direction and because of this, some groups have raised issues which are no longer relevant like Malay supremacy," Zahid told reporters.

He said the Malays were not asking more than what had been stated in the Federal Constitution nor did they want to deny other races of their rights.

"We just want to defend our rights," said Zahid.

He added that the Malays had also lost their political power, based on their representation in parliament and recent incidents in Selangor and Perak. (Bernama)

***** The things these buggers will do stay alive! Umno only recently whacked every citizen in the country with a crippling fuel price hike and so soon after the damage done this idiot speaks of ketuanan Melayu as if others are responsible for the predicament the once powerful political party is in. The fact is that many Malays have seen through the game these buggers have been playing and have realised albeit late that they have been duped over and over again. Now Zahid wants to pull the race card again hoping against hope that it will resonate. Sorry brudder, too little too late. The Malays have found a more genuine party and truly dedicated pemimpin2 Melayu to lead them.

Umno can't even keep the Melayu2 in the party united and happy, what more of those outside? To hell with hypocrites. Get a life Zahid.

Fuel Price Hike 'Unconscionable', Says Anwar Ibrahim

Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim said Friday that his government's decision to sharply raise fuel prices was "unconscionable."

In a move to end decades of heavy subsidies that have kept Malaysian fuel prices among Southeast Asia's lowest, the Malaysian government Thursday jacked up the pump price of gasoline by 41 percent to 2.70 ringgit (US$0.87) a liter, or 10.23 ringgit (US$3.30) a gallon.

Diesel prices shot up 63 percent to 2.58 ringgit (US$0.80) per liter.

Speaking at a forum in Manila, Anwar noted that Malaysia is a net exporter of petroleum, which annually generates "huge resources and profit."

"To decide summarily, without regard to the plight of the vast majority, particularly the poor and the marginalized, to me, is unconscionable," he said.

In Kuala Lumpur, Domestic Trade Minister Shahrir Samad said Friday that the government will not revise the price increases despite opposition protests, but assured there would not be further hikes anytime soon.

Like some other Asian countries, Malaysia had faced a spiraling fuel subsidy bill that could have been more than 56 billion ringgit (US$17 billion) this year due to rising world oil prices.

Anwar, a former deputy prime minister and finance minister who now leads an opposition coalition, said, "We cannot opt for any other thing except for market economy ... but this cannot be done without regard to the issues of good governance and accountability."

Anwar was fired by then-Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in 1998 in a power struggle. He was expelled from the ruling party and convicted of sodomy and corruption, charges he says were politically motivated.

He was released from prison in 2004 after the sodomy conviction was overturned, but the corruption conviction barred him from holding political office until April 15, 2008. (International Herald Tribune)

Another 'Great' Suggestion By Muslim Consumers Association - Ban Handphone Use To Youths Below 18!

The Muslim Consumers Association of Malaysia (PPIM) has proposed the promulgation of an act to ban handphone use to youths below 18.

PPIM project director Noor Nirwandy Mat Noordin said this was due to the rise in recording of vulgar acts on handphones by youths.

"Youths below 18 should get the permission of their parents to use handphones while the handphones should be registered under their parents' names," he told reporters here today.

Noor Nirwandy said action should also be taken against handphone sellers who forwarded obscene video clips.

"They downloaded obscene material from handphones sent for repairs or traded in," he said.

Noor Nirwandy said in a survey, PPIM discovered that several handphone shops in the capital and Selangor were selling lewd video clips downloaded from handphones for between RM5 and RM30 each. (Bernama)

***** When it comes to 'novel' suggestions, no one can beat these guys from PPIM. In their typically befuddled logic, if they don't like something then it should be banned. No questions asked. In the case of 18-year-olds it's ok for them to ride motorbikes and vote in elections but handphones? No way brudder.

I say just ignore these folks and let them wallow in their shallow little world.

Umno Seeks To Ride Out Fuel Protests

Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's party was meeting on Friday hoping to weather a storm over unpopular fuel price hikes that come on top of a poor showing in elections earlier this year.

The two-day meeting of the supreme council of United Malays National Organisation was meant to set out a blueprint to revitalise the party following the election in March.

But Abdullah has come under renewed pressure from the opposition over the 41 percent rise in petrol prices and the 63 percent increase for diesel.

UMNO is the backbone of the National Front coalition which has led Malaysia since independence in 1957. Supreme council members planned to "chart the party's future and formulate strategies to regain support", Bernama said.

But analysts said this week's price rises could trigger an early exit for Abdullah. State media said he was expected to attend the meeting's closing session on Friday.

"The fuel price hike makes it more difficult for the prime minister to conduct a smooth transition of power," said Hussin Mutalib, a political scientist who tracks Southeast Asian issues at the National University of Singapore. "There could be a push forward for him to leave fast."

The fuel rise is expected to lift average inflation to a 10-year high of 4.2 percent in 2008, central bank chief Zeti Akhtar Aziz said on Thursday, compared to last year's 2 percent.

The hike comes two months after the ruling coalition recorded its worst-ever performance in a general election during its 50-year rule.

Angered by the rising cost of living and growing racial and religious conflict, Malaysians voted to hand control of five of the country's 13 states to the opposition in the poll.

There was a small protest against the fuel hike in the capital on Thursday and the opposition plans a bigger protest after Muslim prayers on Friday.

Mustapa Mansor, chairman of Ikrar, a non-governmental organisation that is made up of opposition front members, said between 100 and 200 people were expected to take part in the protest ahead of a likely bigger demonstration next month.

***** Pak Lah finds himself in a lose-lose, damned if you do, damned if you don't situation. I don't envy him. Let's wait and see how Umno extricates itself from this mess.

Government Over-Reacting To Global Oil Market, Says Mukhriz Mahathir

Being a net oil exporter, Malaysia should not have overly reacted to the artificially inflated global fuel price, Jerlun MP Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir said.

Instead of restructuring the country’s subsidy package according to the volatile global market price, the authorities concerned should have formulated strategies to cushion the impact, he said.

He described the petrol price increase by 78 sen per litre and diesel by RM1 per litre as too drastic.

“The rakyat is already burdened by the rising cost of living. We cannot justify the increase by saying that our fuel price is still lower than Singapore. “We cannot compare with Singapore, as their per capita income is three times higher than us,” he said, adding that the people were not prepared for the additional burden.

He appealed to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to look into the possibility of imposing the fuel increase on staggered basis.

“If Pak Lah is not up to it, please make way for someone who is willing to do it (impose measures that would ease public burden),” he said.

Abdullah had not taken into consideration the feelings of the rakyat when he made such a drastic decision, which had a spiralling effect on consumer goods and food.

“Although we read in papers that the economy is thriving, men on the street are not feeling it. They also do not have the means to absorb the sudden increase in fuel price,” he said.

He called on the authorities to formulate a workable solution to avert a crisis. “We can look into unconventional methods to address the problem. For example, during the Asian financial crisis, Malaysia pegged the ringgit to shield currency onslaught. During that time, we were criticised for ignoring the principles of economy. But such unconventional measure proved to have worked in our favour,” he said.

Mukhriz also criticised an article that highlighted Singaporeans expressing relief that the Malaysian government would not imposed a ban on sales of fuel to foreign-registered vehicles at petrol stations located within 50km from the border.

“It sounds ironic, as if we are doing this for the Singaporeans, not for us (locals),” he said. (The Star)

Protesters Target Malaysian Fuel Price Hike

Malaysia's government faced demonstrations and public outrage Thursday over its decision to hike petrol prices 40 percent overnight, in a bid to curb its massive subsidies bill.

Opposition groups said they would hold protests in Kuala Lumpur at 11.30am (0330 GMT) and in the northern city of Ipoh at 11.00am over the "unconscionable" increase.

"The fuel increase is both economically inefficient and socially unjust," said Lim Guan Eng, secretary-general of the Democratic Action Party which is part of the opposition alliance.

"So long as rich companies continue to enjoy such fuel subsidies, especially the independent power producers, the fuel increase will be seen as both pro-rich and punishing the poor," he said in a statement.

The new pump price for petrol will be 2.70 ringgit (0.84 dollars) and 2.58 ringgit for diesel. Petrol previously cost 1.92 ringgit, among the cheapest in Asia.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's announcement on Wednesday evening triggered chaos across the country as motorists swamped fuel stations to fill up before the measure took effect at midnight.

Traffic snarls brought streets to a standstill in the capital Kuala Lumpur as up to 100 cars queued at each petrol station which still had fuel to sell, while many others said they had sold out and turned angry customers away.

Abdullah indicated that further increases were in the pipeline as Malaysia moves to completely abandon fuel price controls that would have cost 17.4 billion dollars this year -- about a third of the national budget.

"God willing I hope Malaysians will not demonstrate over this," he said, referring to fury over earlier hikes in a country where public transport is poor and most people are reliant on their cars.

Motorists who turned up at petrol stations Thursday to pay sharply higher prices to fill their tanks were uniformly furious over the decision.

"We can do nothing about this government increase -- we have to buy fuel, otherwise how can we go to work?" said 56-year-old engineer K. Letchumanan. "For my family it's not so bad as we have two incomes, but the poor people will suffer."

Aminah Rahmat, a 46-year-old streetside vendor who had set up her food stall outside a petrol station, said she could already barely manage on her monthly income of less than 1,000 ringgit (300 dollars). "The government does not care for our welfare, that is why they have made such a huge fuel increase," she said. "How can I afford to pay so much to transport my cooked food to my customers? I will go out of business."

Bus operators said that a third of companies may have to close down and lorry firm said their rates would have to rise, in a move that will trickle down to higher prices for goods and services.

Abdullah is taking a major political risk in removing price controls as he attempts to recover from disastrous March elections that dealt the ruling coalition its worst results in half a century. Rising prices of food and fuel were a major factor in the ballot, which has triggered repeated calls for the premier to stand down.

"It is not an attempt to be popular, we have to think in the best interests of the people," Abdullah said Wednesday.

Under a revamped subsidy system, drivers of smaller vehicles will receive a cash payment of 625 ringgit to offset the rising cost, equating to subsidising some 800 litres of fuel.

But economists said the subsidy cut was deeper than anticipated, and that the cash payment was not large enough to compensate for average use.

Abdullah said the price hike could suppress economic growth and drive up inflation as high as 5.0 percent this year, from current levels of 3.0 percent in April.

As part of the subsidy reform, industry and power producers will be charged higher prices for gas from July. Electricity tariffs will rise 18 percent for householders, and 26 percent for commercial and industrial users.

But there was good news for Thais and Singaporeans who will now be allowed to buy fuel at border petrol stations after a recent ban was lifted in view of the subsidy cut.

Barack Obama Wins Democratic Nomination

Barack Obama captured the Democratic presidential nomination on Tuesday, capping a rapid rise from political obscurity to become the first black to lead a major U.S. party into a race for the White House.

A surge of support from uncommitted delegates helped give Obama the 2,118 votes he needed to clinch the nomination and defeat rival Hillary Clinton, a former first lady who entered the race as a heavy favorite.

Obama will be crowned the Democratic nominee at the convention in August and will face Republican John McCain in November's election to choose a successor to President George W. Bush.

"Tonight, we mark the end of one historic journey with the beginning of another," Obama said in remarks prepared for a victory celebration in St. Paul, Minnesota, at the site of the Republican convention in September.

"Tonight, I can stand before you and say that I will be the Democratic nominee for President of the United States."

Obama's win over Clinton, projected by U.S. networks, came in one of the closest and longest nomination fights in recent U.S. political history. Five months of voting in 54 nominating contests concluded on Tuesday night with votes in Montana and South Dakota.

Clinton, who would have been the first woman nominee in U.S. political history, won in South Dakota, adding to the more than 1,900 delegates she gathered during the campaign. Her aides gave mixed signals about her immediate intentions, but said she would not concede on Tuesday night.

Facing defeat, Clinton told New York members of Congress that she would be open to becoming Obama's vice presidential running mate, and her backers began to turn up the pressure on Obama to pick her as his No. 2.

Obama, 46, is serving his first term in the U.S. Senate from Illinois and would be the fifth-youngest president in history. He was an Illinois state senator when he burst on the national scene with a well received keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic convention.

For the full report from Reuters, Click Here

Asian Medical Student Jumped To His Death After Being Bullied

A 25-year-old Asian medical student leapt to his death from the seventh storey of a university library after he was bullied by his teacher, an inquest heard here.

Amir Mahmood was told by his tutor that he had been expelled from the course after failing his fifth-year finals for a second time.

Mahmood died from multiple injuries after jumping from a window on the seventh storey of the Worsley Building at Leeds General Infirmary, which houses Leeds University's Schools of Medicine and Dentistry.

Amir's father, Khalid Mahmood, a doctor, said his son had been harassed throughout his final year by Richard Fuller, the head of the fifth year, before the incident in June 2007.

He told the Leeds inquest on Monday that Amir was a bright student who was never forced to follow in his footsteps but had a lifelong interest in becoming a doctor.

He said "We had become very concerned about the pressure from one member of staff. Once he came home and was very upset, he said a tutor had been bullying and harassing him, also downgrading his work. Amir didn't want any complaints made as he thought it would make it worse."

He claimed two months before his death Amir told the family that his tutor, Fuller, had told him "People don't want a doctor like you. Just because your parents are Asian doctors, it doesn't mean you have to be. Just look at other careers."

The medical school and Fuller deny the allegations.

Prof Trudie Roberts, the head of the School of Medicine at Leeds University, told the hearing that Fuller went before an inquiry "due to the allegations of racism and bullying."

"The investigation exonerated Fuller from these allegations. He is an extremely valuable member of the School of Medicine and if the allegations had been true we would not have wanted anyone like that to be a senior member of our team."

***** That racism exists at the highest levels in British medical schools and hospitals is hard to deny. It's the price that some have to pay to graduate from their universities and practise there.

MCA 'Shocked' By Objection To PSD Move

The MCA is saddened and shocked by an Umno Youth leader’s objection to the fairer distribution of Public Service Department (PSD) scholarships for all races.

MCA Youth education bureau chief Dr Wee Ka Siong said the last five years had seen an expansion of PSD scholarships from 900 places in 2004 to 2,000 this year.

“The decision to increase the percentage of non-bumiputra recipients is in tandem with the rise in the number of scholarships. It is a win-win situation for all,” said Dr Wee.

He was commenting on the statement by Umno Youth education bureau chairman Ahmad Ikmal Ismail that increasing the quota for PSD scholarships for non-bumiputras without increasing the actual number of scholarships had drastically affected the bumiputras.

Ahmad Ikmal added this meant scholarships were being taken from the bumiputras and given to non-bumiputras.

Dr Wee, who is Deputy Education Minister, said outstanding bumiputra students should not worry about being deprived of a scholarship if their qualification met the criteria set out by the PSD.

He added the PSD move would also ensure a more level playing field because when more competition prevailed, students would be encouraged to perform their best.

Dr Wee also said the MCA supported the PSD move as a step in the right direction.

He said Malaysian students must strive towards achieving meritocracy in applying for government scholarships, just like the criteria for intake into public universities. (The Star)

***** I'm shocked that the MCA is only now 'saddened and shocked' by an Umno idiot's objection! On which planet have the MCAputeras been residing all these years?

Worldwide Recall Of Infant Formula

Abbott Nutrition of Columbus, Ohio, has announced a voluntary worldwide recall of two lots of Calcilo XD® Low-Calcium/Vitamin D-Free Infant Formula with Iron because of possible oxidation. When consumed, highly oxidized foods can cause gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

The recall is limited to product in 14.1-ounce cans with stock code number 00378 and lot numbers 39973RB or 47239RB6 that are printed on the bottom of the cans.

Abbott is voluntarily recalling the two lots of this product because small amounts of air may have entered the can, resulting in product oxidation. A common sign of oxidation is a foul aroma.

This particular infant formula is specifically designed for infants and children with hypocalcaemia, or high calcium in the blood, and is available only by special order.

The two lots were distributed in the United States, Canada, Malaysia, Korea and Bahrain, between 06/06/06 and 04/17/08. Consumers who purchased the infant formula from either of the two lots mentioned above should contact Abbott at 1-800-638-6493.

Consumer protection officials from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment advised parents to contact a health care professional if they have questions or concerns.

Abbott is working with its distribution partners and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to execute this recall.

Fuel Price May Rise Beginning August, Says Minister Shahrir

Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad today hinted that petrol and diesel prices may go up beginning August.

"It will happen...petrol prices will increase, I think the idea is in August this year when the subsidy system is re-structured," he said.

The increase in fuel prices is in line with the structuring of the new mechanism for the fuel subsidy scheme enjoyed by the people now.

"There are already several proposals and the mechanism has been submitted to the Finance Ministry and it will be decided in the best manner," he told reporters at the Parliament lobby here.

He said although the fuel price would go up, the petrol subsidy would continue to be enjoyed by the people based on requirement instead of usage.

"If we look at the subsidy that we receive today, it is based on the amount used, if we consume 200 litres per month, we will receive subsidy for each litre that we purchase. If we use only 100 litres, will will also be given the subsidy, so this means there is no restriction to the subsidy that we get based on our usage. (Bernama)

***** Be prepared to tighten your belts further, if you haven't already.

An Umno Mamak's View On PSD Scholarship Quota

The Peninsula Malay Students Federation (GPMS) has urged the government to review its decision to raise the Public Service Department (PSD) scholarship quota for non-bumiputra students up to 45 per cent.

Its President, Datuk Reezal Merican Naina Merican, said the association, without any intention to be racist, wanted the government to review the decision.

GPMS has been receiving many calls from members from all over the country who wanted an explanation on the matter, he said in a statement Sunday.

"GPMS believes in and upholds the meritocracy principle and hopes that the scholarship scheme will be implemented in the right spirit and mechanism.

"The awarding of scholarships should be based not only on the performance merit but also the socio-economic merit of the people so that the opportunity for higher education focuses on the right target groups of Malaysian society," he said.

***** Note this mamak's doublespeak, who "without any intention to be racist, wanted the government to review the decision." Another gem was this line - "GPMS believes in and upholds the meritocracy principle," BUT .......

What a bunch of shameless beggars.

PSD Scholarships - An Umnoputera's Racist Math

Increasing the quota for non-bumiputras for Public Services Department (PSD) scholarships without increasing the actual number of scholarships has drastically affected the bumiputras, the Umno Youth Education Bureau said.

Its chairman Ahmad Ikmal Ismail said while the bureau agreed with the Government to give more scholarships to non-bumiputras, it did not agree with the way it was done.

“The quota for non-bumiputras has increased from 10% to 45% but the number of total scholarships has remained at 2,000.”

Ahmad Ikmal said this meant that scholarships were being taken from the bumiputras to be given to the non-bumiputras.

“We object to this move because it now means 700 scholarships for bumiputra students are gone,” he said.

Ahmad Ikmal said a better way would be to use the New Economic Policy concept to increase the number of total scholarships so that the bumiputras were not affected and the non-bumiputras got even more opportunities.

“For example, if the 'cake' was increased to 3,000 scholarships, using a ratio of 70:30, then bumiputras would get 2,100 places while non-bumiputras would get 900 places,” he said.

Ahmad Ikmal said although it would require more money to implement, education was an investment that was needed to develop society and the country.

He added that there were also instances of well-performing bumiputra students who failed to obtain scholarships from the PSD. (The Star)

***** Some things and some people will never change. So we have to change them.
Image - Source

Dr Mahathir Outlines 'Master Plan' To Oust Pak Lah Without Losing Power

Malaysia's influential former premier Mahathir Mohamad urged disgruntled ruling party lawmakers not to defect to the opposition to oust the embattled prime minister, but to become independents.

In a de facto masterplan for toppling Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi without losing power, Mahathir said becoming independent lawmakers meant they could avoid opposition figurehead Anwar Ibrahim having a shot at the job.

Abdullah has come under intense pressure to step down since a humiliating setback for his United Malays National Organisation (UMNO)-led coalition in March 8 general elections.

A three-party opposition alliance, unofficially led by 60-year-old Anwar, seized control of five states and a third of parliamentary seats.

Abdullah, however, insists he still has a mandate and will only discuss a transition of power to his deputy Najib Razak after party polls in December.

Mahathir urged UMNO lawmakers not to join opposition ranks in order to push Abdullah out but to become independent candidates instead.

"Say 35 of them come out (of UMNO), the government will collapse, the prime minister will have to resign and if Anwar tries to become the PM you don't give your votes to him," Mahathir said.

"If say Najib, if he has the guts, decides to step in and be the candidate for prime ministership, you can then give your 35 votes to him and he becomes the PM, no loss to anyone, except to Abdullah."

Mahathir, an 82-year-old veteran who resigned from UMNO two weeks ago, said he would not rejoin the party until Abdullah stepped down as party president and premier. He has been campaigning to oust Abdullah, his hand-picked successor, after the coalition's poor electoral results earlier this year.

Anwar, for his part, has said he is confident of attracting enough defecting government lawmakers to topple Abdullah's administration, but Mahathir brushed aside that claim.

"I think it's a pipe dream," he said.

"He has the money but he is not likely to get the support for crossing over. Crossing over is very painful." (AFP)

***** Dr Mahathir - from international statesman to exalted trouble maker. Sad.

Malaysia's Grand Economic Plan Hit By Politics, Apathy

Malaysia's plan for a showpiece economic zone in its south is in doubt because of the uncertain fate of the country's prime minister and a lukewarm response from big investors in nearby Singapore.

On paper, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's pet project to develop the 2,200 sq kms (850 sq miles) of land in southern Johor state into a economic zone to complement the rich but land-scarce city-state of Singapore looks good.

The area has so far drawn $10.5 billion in investment, much of it from the Middle East, riding on investor hopes the area will become a hinterland for the city-state the way that China's booming Shenzhen, once a tiny fishing village, complements neighbouring Hong Kong.

The Iskandar Malaysia zone, three times bigger than Singapore, would be Malaysia's largest economic zone. The government says it should create 800,000 jobs and attract $100 billion in investment over 25 years.

Its proponents say it could be Southeast Asia's answer to China's Pearl River delta, a manufacturing heartland that turns out more than a quarter of China's worldwide exports.

But Malaysia's track record in getting such grand projects off the ground is patchy and Singapore developers are looking to booming China and India instead, worried the plans will be shelved if Abdullah loses power.

"It's Abdullah's project. If he's not around, no one knows what's going to happen as different prime ministers will have different priorities," said Suan Teck Kin, an economist at Singapore's United Overseas Bank (UOB).

Abdullah's position weakened after the poor showing of his ruling coalition in March polls and speculation is rife he may be forced to resign.

"Given this kind of political vacuum in Malaysia, I don't think anyone will be rushing into Iskandar," said Song Seng Wun, a Singapore-based economist at Malaysian bank CIMB.

Expensive government development projects have been for years Malaysia's answer to regional economic disparities in a country spread over the Malay peninsula and parts of the island of Borneo.

Their success has been mixed at best. UOB's Suan cited a proposed IT zone near the capital Kuala Lumpur as an example of a project that is struggling after its sponsor and Abdullah's predecessor, Mahathir Mohamad, left office.

SINGAPORE WARY

State investment arm Khazanah Nasional, which has opened a marketing office in Singapore to promote the Iskandar zone, brushed off political concerns and said investors are committed to Malaysia.

Mainly Muslim Malaysia has been a magnet for Middle Eastern investors flush with petrodollars who have been snapping up banks, hotels and malls.

Abu Dhabi investment arm Mubadala Development Co is leading a consortium to develop a multi-billion dollar city within Iskandar. Kuala Lumpur has also established itself as a leading centre in Asia for the burgeoning Islamic Finance market.

But state-linked Singapore developers have been cool to Iskandar. Many analysts say for it to really take off, it needs Singapore firms such as CapitaLand to develop on land that costs as little as 1/30th of Singapore land.

"Singapore investments could be very crucial for Iskandar," said Malaysian political analyst Khoo Kay Peng. "Malaysia needs investments in high-technology areas such as biotech, rather than just a pure real estate play," he said.

Singapore developers are wary after they got burned by frequent and unexpected policy changes during Mahathir's reign, said the head of investments at one Singapore firm.

The two countries have a long history of strained relations dating back to 1963 when they gained independence from the British as a federation only to split up two years later.

At the time Singapore feared it could not survive on its own with no natural resources and squeezed into an area half the size of Greater London. But since then the island has established itself as a major Asian business and finance centre competing with Hong Kong.

However, it lacks a readily available pool of land and labour that booming southern China offers to Hong Kong, and south Malaysia's development plans aim to fill that void.

Yet rather than counting on its neighbours, Singapore has tried to overcome the lack of space by reclaiming land from the sea and shifting factories to the neighbouring Indonesian island of Batam.

Local firms in their quest for profits and growth are also looking further afield to booming economies of China, Vietnam and India. For example, a group of Singapore government-backed firms led by Keppel Corp is building an "eco-city" in China, while state firm Ascendas manages business parks in five Indian cities.

And despite Malaysian lobbying, Singapore's official response to the project did not go beyond forming a joint committee with its neighbour.

The plan also has its critics in Malaysia.

Mahatir, who still pulls considerable weight in local politics, recently described the blueprint as "a platform for Singapore to expand its sovereignty."

"In the end the area ... will be filled with Singaporeans and populated only with 15 percent of Malays," he said. (Reuters India)