Thursday 31 October 2013

Havoc as heavy rain lashes Klang Valley

Heavy rain, stalled vehicles and accidents caused massive traffic jams in the Klang Valley following a heavy afternoon downpour yesterday.

On Twitter, @LLMinfotraffic reported a flash flood on the Besraya Highway between KM8.7 and 9 (Sungai Besi heading towards Kampung Malaysia), causing a crawl along the highway.

@Plushotline also tweeted that the traffic in Kuala Lumpur was un­usually congested.

Some of the badly-affected routes on NKVE included the stretch from Damansara towards Dataran Prima and from Jalan Duta towards Bukit Lanjan.

Jams were also reported on the Middle Ring Road II from Bukit Jalil, and on Lebuhraya Damansara Puchong (LDP), with crawls from Puchong IOI Mall towards Kelana Jaya and from Damansara Utama and Bandar Utama towards SS2.

As of 8.35pm, Twitter users were still reporting that several roads leading out of Kuala Lumpur city centre were still congested.

Some of the more congested roads were those leading from Petaling Jaya’s Jalan Dato Abu Bakar towards NKVE, along the Sprint highway, from the LDP Sunway toll plaza heading towards the Federal Highway, Jalan Masjid heading towards Motorola, and from Bandar Utama towards Taman Tun Dr Ismail.

Posted on 15:30 | Categories:

Ex-Immigration D-G jailed for graft

Former Immigration Depart-ment director-general Datuk Wahid Md Don has been convicted by the same Sessions Court judge who had earlier acquitted him.

Sessions Court judge Rosbiahanin Arifin found Wahid guilty of corruption involving visa applications for 4,337 Bangladeshis, and sentenced him to six years in prison and a RM300,000 fine.

She found that the defence had failed to raise reasonable doubt and its arguments were merely an afterthought.

Rosbiahanin also impeached Wahid’s evidence, thus agreeing with the prosecution’s stand that the contradictions between Wahid’s statement to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and his testimony in court made him a suspect witness.

Wahid, 59, appeared stoic when the judgment was handed down and was seen speaking to his wife while in the dock, before being led out of the courtroom.

Counsel Datuk V. Sithambaram applied for a stay of execution against the jail time and fine, pending an appeal against the Sessions Court’s decision.

However, Rosbiahanin denied both points of the stay application, despite MACC legal and prosecution division director Datuk Abdul Razak Musa only objecting to the stay of jail time.

The decision comes as an about-turn, as Rosbiahanin had acquitted Wahid of his charges at the end of the prosecution stage on Oct 15, 2010.

The MACC had appealed against the decision, but on May 31 last year, the Kuala Lumpur High Court upheld Ros­biahanin’s earlier judgment that the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case.

However, the case was remitted to the lower court when the MACC’s appeal was allowed by the Court of Appeal.

The panel, led by Justice Abu Samah Nordin, unanimously found that the Sessions Court had erred in its finding that the presumption of Wahid’s corruption could be rebutted without hearing his defence.

Wahid was first charged on Aug 19, 2008, with agreeing to accept a RM60,000 bribe from businessman Datuk Low Chang Hian as part of the payment to expedite the approval of visa applications for 4,337 Bangladeshis to enable them to enter Malaysia.

He is accused of committing the offence in Jalan Lembah Ledang, off Jalan Duta here, at 10.15pm on July 10, 2008, while still a director-general.

His lawyer Sithambaram filed for an appeal against the Sessions Court’s decision yesterday.

He told reporters that he would be applying to the High Court for a stay of execution and to bail his client, but in the interim, Wahid would be sent to Kajang prison.

Wahid, who served 35 years in govern­ment service, has since retired.

Posted on 10:55 | Categories:

Wednesday 30 October 2013

Many cashing in on business of recycling used cooking oil

Used cooking oil, to most, is considered a waste product with no value, but to some it is considered liquid gold.
With the huge potential it holds, many are cashing in and grabbing a piece of the pie, resulting in a largely unregulated industry.

A biodiesel producer, Kris Biofuels Sdn Bhd (KBSB) acknowledges the need for a review of the industry.

Its business development manager Jaafar Abdullah said there was a lot of demand for used cooking oil but because the entire industry had almost no regulation at all, it was open to abuse.

KBSB collaborates with several local authorities, including the Petaling Jaya City Council, Kuala Lumpur City Hall, Shah Alam City Council and Ampang Jaya Municipal Council.

The company was established in 2009 with the goal of producing biodiesel in an ethical manner and, at the same time, create awareness by engaging communities and businesses to help reduce climate change effectively by empowering them through the benefits of using clean energy.

“The business of collecting used cooking oil has existed in Malaysia over the past 20 years but it is only in the past eight years that it has boomed, with many new players entering the market.

“In the beginning, the collectors used to pay shops, restaurants and hotels a paltry sum of 30sen to 50sen per kg, but once demand shot up, the used cooking oil can be sold for up to RM2 per kg,” he said.

“When KBSB ventured into the business four years ago, we had little competition in biodiesel production locally. But we did, and still do, have a lot of competition from small groups who collect used cooking oil for other companies for export and those intend to use the oil in other products,” he added.

According to Jaafar, used cooking oil can be processed into various products such as candles, soap, additives for animal feed and biodiesel that is used in diesel-powered vehicles, generators and other machinery powered by diesel.

“The reason there is an especially large market in Malaysia for used cooking oil is because the price of cooking oil here is subsidised by the Government.

“Since it is much more expensive overseas, there is already a demand in place to export it overseas where they can convert it into biodiesel,” he said.

He said the used cooking oil business was nationwide, with collectors operating even in Sabah and Sarawak.

He highlighted that in the unregulated industry, the problem arose when the used cooking oil was collected indiscriminately from food stalls and kitchens and processed for use in the manufacturing of products such as soap, perfume, candles and animal feed.

“As for the used cooking oil that is exported overseas, it would be unethical that we stop caring once it is out of our country, because Malaysia is regarded as an international halal hub,” he said.

Hence, Jaafar believes converting the used cooking into biodiesel was the best solution for all.

Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) Health and Environment Depart-ment director Dr Hayati Abdullah said the issue regarding used cooking oil was rather tricky and a grey area for many government departments because it was not clearly stipulated in any laws or guidelines.

She stressed that it was dangerous for food outlets to buy and use reprocessed used cooking oil because they could not ascertain the origins.

“The health and religious implications are very wide but the laws surrounding it are not very clear, this is one reason we have little authority to act on it,” she said.

She reasoned that because of the religious complexities here, it was best to restrict and ensure used cooking oil was only turned into biodiesel.

She pointed out that the best way to regulate the industry was at the source, where business outlets sell the used oil to collectors.

“If we can educate the public and the business operators on the big picture of where their used cooking oil may end up, and teach them to sell it to responsible reprocessors, then half the battle is already won.

“Once we have a proper law or guidelines to tackle this issue, then it will empower us and all other local councils to be able to monitor and act on this issue effectively,” she added.

At their factory plant in Shah Alam, KBSB processes almost 20 tonnes of used cooking oil every month into biodiesel.

Jaafar said creating biodiesel required stringent monitoring and accurate mixtures of various compounds to produce purified biodiesel of the highest quality.

“Methanol and alkaline catalyst are additives that are essential in creating cleaner biofuel energy.

“This process is called ‘transesterfication’. After this process is complete, the biodiesel is further purified until it meets the benchmark of quality.

“We produce purified biodiesel that is non-toxic and virtually sulphur-free biodegradable diesel,” he added.

“Collecting used cooking oil has a huge direct and indirect impact on society, economy and the environment.

“Business operators earn extra cash by selling their used oil, and businesses as well as local councils spend less money cleaning up oil-clogged drains. Less filth means less chances of pests and rodents to breed and utlimately it keeps the drains and rivers clean, which means healthier living for everyone,” Jaafar said.

Residential network

He said despite the used cooking oil business having existed for the past two decades, it has barely scratched the surface involving residential units.

“Over the past two years, we have been working with several local councils to set up collection centres in schools, mosques and public housing (PPR) flats.

“So far, our campaign has seen very strong response from these communities and we hope we can expand this programme to many more residential areas, with more support from the Federal Govern-ment and other state governments,” he said.

Posted on 12:00 | Categories:

Tuesday 29 October 2013

Drugs worth RM1.5mil seized

An international collaboration involving Sabah police and their Hong Kong counterparts resulted in the arrests of three men and a woman and the seizure of more than 6kg of suspected cocaine with an estimated street value of about RM1.5mil.

One of them was detained at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) Terminal 2 before he boarded a 5.45am flight to Hong Kong on Saturday.

The two other men and a female companion were arrested upon their arrival on the same flight in Hong Kong after police there were alerted by their Malaysian counterparts.

All four were Malaysians and had arrived in Kota Kinabalu from Penang on Oct 25, said Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Hamza Taib.

Hamza said police, with the help of Malaysia Airports auxiliary police personnel detained the 31-year-old man at the Terminal 2 departure hall and upon checking his body, found two packets strapped to each of his thighs.

He said the total weight of the substances recovered from the man was 2.124kg with a street value of RM500,000.

Also recovered from him was HK$1,000 (RM404) and 200 yuan (RM103).

Upon further investigations, Hamza said police discovered that the man’s two accomplices had checked in earlier for the same flight.

This prompted Sabah police to alert their Bukit Aman counterparts, who in turn passed the information to the Hong Kong police.

He added that each of the men held in Hong Kong were also had two packets of substances strapped to their legs.

Hamza said the man arrested at airport here had been detained under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act which carries the mandatory death penalty upon conviction.

Police are trying to determine the origin and destination of the drugs.

“We believe Sabah was being used as a transshipment point and those carrying the drugs were mules,” Hamza said.

Posted on 15:21 | Categories:

Monday 28 October 2013

Property sector measures in #Budget2014 hailed.

Describing the proposals for the property sector as “apt, correct and measured”, property professionals said Budget 2014 will curb excessive speculation and help to solve affordability issues besetting the housing market.

In a post-budget commentary on Saturday, James Wong, the publicity chairman of the Association of Valuers, Property Managers, Estate Agents and Property Consultants in the Private Sector, Malaysia (PEPS), said the proposals, along with macro-prudential measures taken by Bank Negara, would stabilise and strengthen the market.

The proposed establishment of a National Housing Council and the provision of RM1bil in a public-private partnership to boost the affordable housing sector was much needed as previous measures were ineffective, Wong said.

“The affordable housing model has to be tweaked to include pre-fab housing, releasing more land by government agencies and increasing urban area density, particularly in places near transport terminals in order to average out land cost,” he said.

“It is not that private developers do not want to build affordable housing. Land prices have gone up too high in the Klang Valley, Penang and southern Johor. It is impossible for private developers to build homes priced between RM150,000 and RM450,000 in urban centres.

On the 30% tax on gains within the first three years of disposal in the proposed real property gains tax (RPGT) effective Jan 1, 2014, Wong said such measures in previous budgets for 2012 and 2013 were ineffective as an anti-speculation tool. The latest move would give RPGT more bite, he said.

“The budget promotes properties as a long-term investment, not something to be flipped to make short-term gains,” he said.

The Budget 2014 review of the RPGT has extended the quantum of increase from 15% within the first two years of disposal to 30% within the first three years of disposal. It has also re-imposed a prevailing 5% tax on companies and non-citizens in the sixth and subsequent years.

The new RPGT, and the removal of developers interest bearing scheme (DIBS) which enable buyers to pay a 5% or 10% downpayment with mortgage payments kicking in until the property is completed, would also stamp out bulk buying by foreigners, Wong said.

Although this would affect Iskandar Malaysia in southern Johor, over time the proposed measures would bring about confidence into that market as there had been “too much hype and speculation going on there”, he said.

The exemption of RPGT between 2007 and 2009 and the entry of DIBS in early 2009 created fertile ground for speculation. Home prices have increased by between 20% and 30% annually in urban centres, a situation PEPS president Lim Lian Hong said was “unhealthy” and needed to be corrected.

“Research by RAM (Ratings Agency Malaysia) into the past 50 years shows that a steady annual growth of 7% is healthy for the market,” said Lim, who is also the executive director of Raine & Horne International Zaki+Parners Sdn Bhd.

He said the property sector was an important part of Malaysia’s economy – or any other country for that matter – and that excessive speculation had a destabilising effect on the overall economy.

“The RPGT is an important anti-speculation tool, and with the removal of DIBS, we expect the market to self correct in the next six to 12 months,” Lim said, adding that affordable houses must be build as quickly as possible.

On the impact of the 6% goods and services tax (GST), buyers will try to complete transactions before April 1, 2015 when the GST is enforced. There may be a dearth of launches after the GST is in place.

He said the imposition of GST, the removal of DIBS and the RPGT must be considered in totality.

Although housing is GST-exempt, there will be an impact on house prices. At the same time, the RPGT will weed out speculative elements and remove the artificial element in the market.

A check with a developer showed that they have removed DIBS packages starting yesterday.

The developer will discuss with its bankers and lawyers as there is a lack of clarity when the scheme is prohibited. The move would not be retrospective, a marketing personnel said.

Separately, in a statement, C H Williams Talhar & Wong Sdn Bhd managing director Foo Gee Jen said it was “surprised at the quantum”.

Foo said he had reservations that foreigners had been discriminated against with a 30% RPGT imposed for all five years.

“Considering that foreign investments in Malaysian properties have been consistently encouraged, RPGT should have been equally applied to Malaysians and foreigners at the same rate.” he said.

Unsafe sites to be demolished

DBKL will go ahead and demolish abandoned and rundown buildings in the city that pose a danger to the public and are potential fire hazards.

Kuala Lumpur mayor Datuk Seri Ahmad Phesal Talib said DBKL would work with the Federal Territory Fire and Rescue Department to identify such structures.

We are concerned about the situation as many of the building owners have taken too long to demolish these buildings.

Also, the abandoned buildings have become sites for rubbish-dumping and unsavoury activities, as well as a den for drug addicts,’’ Ahmad Phesal said.

I have asked DBKL deputy director-general (Socioeconomic Development) Datuk Amin Nordin Abd Aziz to form a task force to tackle this problem,” he said.

The mayor added that once the buildings were identified, the owners would be informed and asked to demolish them.

“If they fail to do so within the stipulated period, DBKL will proceed to demolish the structures and bill them for it,’’ he said.

The mayor was responding to a recent StarMetro report that highlighted the problem of faulty fire hydrants and fire hazards.

It had stated that many tourist hotspots and shopping centres were potential fire traps due to poor planning and congestion.

Amin said the task force would also identify buildings that were fire hazards, where every inch of available space in the premises including staircases were filled with merchandise, leaving very little room for anything else.

He said areas such as Petaling Street, Jalan Masjid India and Little India had many such buildings and that a survey would be conducted to determine the numbers and solutions would be found to make them a safer place.

“We will also identify fire hydrants that have been blocked or concealed due to roadworks or by ignorant traders,’’ he said, adding that making the city safe was everyone’s responsibility.

Federal Territory Fire and Rescue Department director Khirudin Drahman praised the mayor over the move to demolish derelict buildings.

“It is about time. We get many calls from the public tipping us off about fires in abandoned buildings, occupied by drug addicts and vagrants who have made the sites their home. The premises are usually filled with rubbish and materials that catch fire easily.

“Putting out fires in abandoned buildings is more dangerous to our firemen. We are at risk because the structure is dilapidated and can collapse any time,” he said.

When contacted, waste management company Alam Flora Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Mohd Zain Hassan said the company was willing to work with DBKL and the Fire and Rescue Department to clear abandoned buildings of waste that could lead to fires.

Mohd Zain said abandoned buildings such as Pekeliling Flats, the former Brickfields police station, and many other buildings had become a dumping ground for rubbish and other combustible materials.
Posted on 14:50 | Categories:

Friday 25 October 2013

Killer guard took RM450,000; cops recover RM20,000 from 3 family members

The security guard who shot dead a bank officer escaped with about RM450,000 cash in the vault, said Selangor police chief Senior Deputy Comm Datuk Mohd Shukri Dahlan on Friday.

However, police managed to recover about RM20,000 after arresting three of the suspect’s family members, including a woman, following a raid at a shop in Subang Jaya on Wednesday.

“Two of those arrested worked as security guards and they were also using fake MyKad.

“All of those arrested were foreigners, believed to be Indonesians,” he said adding that, all three did not have proper documents.

He told a press conference that the main suspect, along with the two other security guards arrested have been working in Malaysia for about two years.

Posted on 15:46 | Categories:

Stabbing frenzy shatters housing estate's calm


The morning peace in Taman Melati here was shattered when a cigarette delivery man went on a stabbing spree, killing two people and injuring two others.

His 40 minutes of terror began at about 11.20am when the 26-year-old man went in his van to a kiosk at the Gombak Putra LRT terminal to deliver a shipment of cigarettes.

Without warning, he pulled out a rambo knife and stabbed the outlet proprietor Lau Siew Ling, 49, and her woman helper Sulianti Johari, 31.

He then got into his vehicle and drove towards Jalan Pertahanan which is parallel to the Melati LRT station less than 2km away, and rammed into another van.

When the owner of the van, Lee Kah Ghee, 48, got out to investigate, the man stabbed him several times and left him to die on the busy road.

The man then got back into his van and drove a few hundred metres before colliding with a car driven by a college student.

He got out and confronted the student Kwan Chun Tai, 25, and stabbed him. Kwan ran, trying to escape the crazed killer.

The man chased him, caught him and stabbed him to death in Jalan Tumbuhan.

City deputy CID chief Asst Comm Khairi Ahrasa said a crowd of onlookers cornered the man.

“He was disarmed, beaten up and detained until police arrived and arrested him.

“The man has been taken to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital for medical treatment and psychological evaluation,” he said.

He said the man was acting erratically when he was taken into custody.

“We believe he belongs to a cult, but have yet to verify this,” he added.

The bodies of the two dead have been taken to the same hospital for a post-mortem.

ACP Khairi said the case was being investigated under Section 302 and Section 326 of the Penal Code for murder and voluntarily causing hurt with dangerous weapons.

Those with information on the case should contact the police hotline 03-2115 9999 or go to the nearest police station.

Posted on 11:17 | Categories:

Thursday 24 October 2013

Ringlet dam disaster: Death and destruction on highlands

Ragom Wasrip held his wife’s hand so tightly when mud and water gushed into their home in Bertam Valley here but he could not hang on to her.

The current pulled his wife Kesmat Iduan, 46, away from him and he lost sight of her from then on.

“When we heard the sirens at about 1am, we frantically tried to find our way out. But we couldn’t move as water was gushing in too fast.

“When the water current pushed me right to the roof, I managed to get out but my wife got trapped inside the house,” he told reporters at the Sultanah Hajjah Kalsom hospital’s mortuary to claim his wife’s body yesterday.

Kesmat’s body was found trapped in the house at 8.15am yesterday.


He lamented that they had both planned to return to Surabaya in December.

“But this is not to be,” a grief-stricken Ragom said.

The 54-year-old who works in a farm has been living here for 25 years.

He said her body would be flown back to Surabaya to be buried there.

Ragom said his wife had come to Malaysia 10 years ago, and both were planning to return home to visit family and friends. Their kongsi house was located near the Bertam riverbank.

Student Shaifa Jamil and his mother were trapped in their house as water reached their waist.

They tried to open the main door but they could not.

However, his father and brother who were outside the house broke one of the windows and saved both his and his mother’s lives.

The 19-year-old Form Six student of SM Sultan Ahmad Shah in Tanah Rata said when they got out of the house the water level was already reaching their chest.

“We waded through the water to safety, and did not take any of our belongings.

“Almost every year, we face a similar flood situation, but this is the worst,” he said at the community centre.

Shaifa said the water was gushing so fast that it brought along timber wood, mud and rubbish.

Another victim Mohd Esswandy Zubir, 21 who had just completed his diploma in business a few days ago from a polytechnic in Rompin, said water gushed into his home in minutes.

“But Thank God my family and I managed to reach to safety,” he added.

The rescue operation was stopped at 6pm due to heavy rain, and will continue at 8am today.

Posted on 15:30 | Categories:

Guard kills officer during robbery

A bank’s security guard shot dead its operations officer and fled with the cash from the safe.

Bank officer Noazita Abu Talib, 37, was opening a safe with a colleague in the bank along Jalan USJ Sentral 2 at around 6.18pm yesterday.

The suspect then shot the mother of two in the face using a pumpgun before forcing the terrified colleague to load a bag with cash from the safe.

He finally made off on a motorcycle. Selangor deputy police chief Deputy Comm Datuk Abdul Rahim Jaafar said there were only five staff members in the bank, including the suspect.

“According to the security firm, he was meant to be a replacement guard for the bank and had worked in another bank next to the crime scene. However, he raised concern over facts of the suspect’s identity.

“Checks on his IC revealed that it was a fake. We are going to look into this more and find out how he was employed with a fake IC,” he said, adding that police were investigating the CCTV footage of the bank and nearby shops.

“I advise the public to be cautious. I urge anyone with information on him to come forward,” he said.

Subang Jaya deputy OCPD Supt Tan Ah Chua revealed that the suspect was identified as Ardi Hamza (770818-12-6721) from Tawau in Sabah.

Wednesday 23 October 2013

Homemade bomb thrown at UKM student's house, warning note left on car

A Molotov cocktail was thrown at a Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia's students' rented house in Section 3, Bangi Perdana early this morning causing an explosion and small fire, ahead of the campus election today.
No one was hurt in the incident, although a warning note was left behind.

Engineering student Siti Aishah Shaharudin told the Star Online that the incident occurred at around 3.30am when a loud explosion was heard in her  front porch.

"We heard a motorcycle pass by the house but we didn't suspect anything until we heard a loud explosion and we saw flames spreading," she said.

While checking the compound of the house after the explosion, Aishah discovered a note clipped to one of the students' car windshield.

It said: "Tarik diri atau mati" (withdraw or die).

Some of her fellow housemates, are contesting today's student elections under the Pro-Mahasiswa banner.

"We do not know who the culprit is. But we suspect it has something to do with the election," she said.

A police report was lodged at the Bandar Baru Bangi police station at 4am.

The UKM campus election is currently underway for 2013/2014 session.
In an immediate reaction,  vice-chancellor Prof Tan Sri Dr Sharifah Hapsah Syed Hasan Shahabudin said no extra security measures would be taken in the university since the incident happened outside of the campus.

"As far as I know, the election is going on peacefully, what happened outside of the campus is beyond control, " she said when contacted on Wednesday.

She added that no untoward incidents happened during the campaigning period of the campus election.

Posted on 15:27 | Categories:

Six nabbed as cops bust ATM ring

Police have crippled the notorious automated teller machine (ATM) syndicate with the arrest of six suspects.

State police chief Senior Deputy Comm Datuk Mohd Mokhtar Mohd Shariff said the male suspects, aged between 15 and 35, were arrested in Kampung Ban Foo, Ulu Tiram, at around 10am on Oct 17.

He said police discovered a tow truck used to cart away the ATMs, five ATMs, two parang and a bag containing six rolls of champ belts used to drag the machines out during a raid.

“The gang has been involved in 27 ATM theft cases in Johor, Malacca and Negri Sembilan for the past three months. All in all, they have carted away about RM2mil,” SDCP Mohd Mokhtar said in a press conference here yesterday.

He said the suspects dumped the five ATMs in a discarded pool at the village and even burnt the truck used to transport the machines to the village to cover their tracks.

“We are not stupid. Our men have ways of tracking these criminals and I’m warning them that we are not resting on our laurels despite our success in crippling the syndicate,” he added.

SDCP Mohd Mokhtar said that high on the police wanted list was the mastermind of the ATM gang.

Police are also looking for Marie Subramaniam, 36, with the last known address at 21, Jalan Mutiara 3, Taman Gunung Emas, Ulu Tiram, to help in investigations. Members of the public are urged to come forward if they have any information.

Posted on 11:24 | Categories:

Tuesday 22 October 2013

Debt-ridden man flees, leaving wife to face the music

A 37-year-old housewife was left to bear the brunt of the Ah Long when her husband disappeared after allegedly borrowing RM135,000 from 45 different loan sharks.

The distressed Chia Pui Sing said her husband Ang Kok Ang, a wholesaler, had kept his loans a secret from her and their three children.

She said her family started receiving threats from loan sharks and that was when they found out that Ang was laden with a huge debt.

“A loan shark locked our house on Oct 11 when he failed to locate my husband,” she said at a press conference held at Wisma MCA here yesterday.

“The loan sharks have even distributed flyers defaming my family and defaced our house with red paint.

“We are afraid that the attacks will escalate and my children will get hurt.”

The family’s tale took an interesting turn when Ang sought the help of MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head Datuk Seri Michael Chong on Oct 14 but he was ambushed by Chia and her sister at Chong’s office.

Ang told Chong that he does not have any money to settle the loans.

“In the end, Chia paid the loan sharks more than RM10,000 to put an end to the attacks on her family,” Chong said.

“What Ang did was utterly irresponsible.

“He is endangering his family’s lives by delaying paying off his debt.” Over the past year, the department had received 456 reports involving loan sharks with a total loss amounting to RM35.7mil.

Posted on 20:00 | Categories:

Ex-lecturer is #BN man for #PRKSgLimau by-election

Former Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) lecturer Dr Ahmad Sohaimi Lazim will be the Barisan Nasional candidate in the Sungai Limau by-election.

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced this at the Barisan election centre in Kampung Sungai Lintang here yesterday.

Muhyiddin said Dr Ahmad Sohaimi, 52, from Titi Batu in Guar Chempedak, near here, fulfilled the party’s criteria based on his educational background and personality.

The by-election follows the death of Tan Sri Azizan Abdul Razak on Sept 26.

“Our candidate can ensure changes in the area by voicing the needs of Sungai Limau folk,” said Muhyiddin, when announcing the candidacy of Dr Ahmad Sohaimi, who is also a Jerai Umno division committee member.

Muhyiddin said the Sungai Limau by-election is a test for Umno and Barisan after the 13th general election.

“Barisan won back Kedah from PAS and the Federal Government is giving full support for it to become one of the developed states in the country.

“It will be unfair for Sungai Limau folk if they are left behind in the development,” he added.

Muhyiddin said he was happy with the Umno machinery in the Jerai division, which stood united despite the change in the division leadership at the just-concluded party polls.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department and Jerai MP Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom became the new division chief after defeating incumbent Datuk Mohd Suhaimi Abdullah.

Muhyiddin said both men had shown good cooperation to strengthen the party machinery.

In his speech, Kedah Mentri Besar Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir took to task groups that twisted the Barisan’s pledges as “threats”.

“We never make threats. When Barisan make a promise, we deliver,” he said.

Dr Ahmad Sohaimi said he was confident of facing the electorate despite Sungai Limau being a PAS stronghold.

He said he would focus on human capital development and education in his campaign, with the help of Jamil Khir.

Cop charged over Casanova escape

A senior woman police officer has been charged in a magistrate’s court here over the escape of the Casanova, accused of cheating women of their valuables and money.

ASP L. Chandkumary, 56, from Bedong, Kedah, claimed trial yesterday to intentionally releasing K.K. Prabaharan, 45, who was in her custody at 1.50pm on Oct 9 at the George Town court complex here.

The offence under Section 225A (1)(a) of the Penal Code carries a maximum jail term of three years or a fine or both.

She also claimed trial to lodging a false police report at 8.05pm on Oct 9 at the Jalan Patani police station, claiming that the suspect had disappeared when she was writing down remarks on the case at her office, while waiting for the case to be mentioned in court.

She was alleged to have included in the report that she and several police officers went in search of the suspect in the court’s vicinity, Little India, Padang Kota Lama and Jalan Penang but to no avail.

The offence under Section 182 of the Penal Code carries a jail term of up to six months or a fine of up to RM2,000, or both.

It was reported that on Oct 9, Prabaharan, a computer technician, escaped and fled on foot after arriving at the courthouse here under police escort from Cameron Highlands.

Deputy public prosecutor Mohd Faisal Md Noor asked for bail to be set at RM10,000 to ensure her presence in court.

Counsel R.S.N. Rayer pleaded for a lower amount, saying that she was present in court even though she was not under police remand.

Another counsel V. Parthiban also requested the court to produce an order to prevent the case and accused’s name from being published in the media, as she is a police officer with 32 years’ of service

Magistrate Dianne Ningrad Nor Azahar rejected the request and set bail at RM7,000 with one surety and fixed Nov 25 for mention.

Bail was not posted at press time.

Monday 21 October 2013

#Police seek help to tackle crime with #CCTV

Police have sought the cooperation of 20 government and private agencies in the state to tackle crime via closed circuit television (CCTV).

Kelantan deputy police chief Datuk Mazlan Lazim said under the Safe Cam programme launched last year by the Home Ministry, owners of premises with CCTVs could assist the police by letting them have the recording of crime incidents in their area.

“We called them today for a briefing on the Safe Cam programme before initiating a memorandum of understanding with them on crime prevention.

“Among the advantages of being in the programme is that police will be patrolling their area more frequently,” he said in conjunction with the briefing at the state police contingent headquarters here yesterday.

The Safe Cam programme is an initiative under the 1Aman-United Against Crime campaign listed in the government’s transformation programme to reduce crime.

Posted on 14:14 | Categories:

Saturday 19 October 2013

Parking facility in PJ misused

Motorists in Petaling Jaya are upset by the way a public carpark in the area has been misused.

The facility in Jalan Lampan 8/3, Section 8, is operated by the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ).

It is located across the Petaling Jaya district police headquarters.

Following complaints, StarMetro visited the site and saw the cause of the public’s anger — wrecked cars occupying the precious bays.

A source said most of the wreckage were from accident cases. The situation is said to have been going on for about 10 years.

This has deprived the public of the much-needed parking space, especially in the busy Section 8 commercial area.

During peak hours, the carpark is fully occupied, leaving some motorists driving in circles in desperate search of an available bay.

A business operator in the area who did not want to be named, said the abandoned vehicles were towed away by the council about three years ago, following complaints.

“However, soon after, the problem resurfaced with even more wrecked vehicles left to rot here.

Those who work or live nearby believe tow-truck operators are the culprits.

“Tow-trucks have been seen bringing vehicles involved in accidents and parking them here, while waiting for them to be sent to workshops for repairs.

“In some cases, where the vehicles cannot be salvaged, they are left lying here for years,” he said.

The source added that the tow-truck operators worked round-the-clock from a tent put up near the parking area.

He said the damaged vehicles were usually brought in at night.

The facility in Section 8 is not a closed carpark and does not have a boom gate.

When contacted, Petaling Jaya deputy mayor Puasa Md Taib said MBPJ would check on the situation soon.

“It is not right that public parking space is used to keep wrecked vehicles.

MBPJ Enforcement Department director Mohd Fauzi Maarop said the council would tow away the vehicles to the council’s garage in Sungai Way today.

“We contacted the police but they have no knowledge of this wreckage.

“We will also seek help from the Road Transport Department to locate the owners and issue notices. If left unclaimed, we will send the vehicles to the scrapyard,” he added.

Posted on 12:30 | Categories:

Friday 18 October 2013

Man stays regal even as he is charged with posing as royalty

Looking distinguished in a long-sleeved blue shirt, black trousers, songkok and walking stick, a man claimed trial at a magistrate’s court here to cheating by posing as a royalty and using an symbol of an unregistered organisation.

Roshidi Fadzil, 47, from Taman Bunga Raya in Malacca, arrived at the courthouse in a police vehicle, and appeared confident and calm.

He pleaded not guilty to using a symbol of the Pertubuhan Amal Kebajikan Islamiah Malaysia (Pakim Diraja/Serampang Tiga) that had not been approved by the Registrar of Societies Malaysia.

He denied committing the offence at the banquet hall of Cititel Hotel in Penang Road here at about 4.15pm on Oct 23 last year.

The offence carries a jail term of up to three months or a fine of up to RM3,000.

Roshidi also pleaded not guilty to cheating one Ooi Ten Seng, 39, by posing as a member of a royal family with the title “Yang Teramat Mulia (YTM) Tunku Putera Roshidi Tunku Hj Fadzil” at the same place that day.

This offence carries a jail term of up to seven years or fine, or both.

Magistrate Umma Devi Loganathan set bail at RM10,000 in one surety and fixed Nov 18 for mention. Roshidi posted bail.

As he stepped out of the courtroom, Roshidi looked into the cameras for a moment, standing straight and tall, but did not maintain the stare. He then walked away with a frown.

It was reported that on Oct 23 last year, police nabbed a man claiming to be a Kedah royal family member and 12 others.

They also confiscated a BMW 7 Series, Malacca Syariah court receipt and letter, walkie-talkie, scarves and key-chains and stickers of non-governmental organisation (NGO).

The suspect was said to be using the BMW, which had yellow plates reserved for royalty and an emblem.

Posted on 20:00 | Categories:

The National Cancer Society is supporting those living with advanced breast cancer.

When Katharine Len learnt that she had advanced breast cancer (ABC) a year ago, she felt as though the ground had shifted from under her feet. She’d gone to see a doctor because of a nagging ache in her lower back and right leg that had been bothering her for close to a month. Len thought it was because she had overstrained her back.

When her doctor came back with a diagnosis for stage four cancer, which had metastasized from an undetected tumor in her breast, Len was shocked.

“I didn’t know what to say. I couldn’t even think of what to ask the doctor. I just remember feeling numb, not knowing what to do next,” shares Len, 42.

Subsequent scans and blood tests showed that Len’s cancer had spread. She underwent an immediate mastectomy followed by chemotherapy and radiotherapy. She is currently on oral chemotherapy to control the spread of the disease.

“My friends and I used to say that if we were ever to be diagnosed with cancer, we’d want it to be breast cancer because it is supposedly the ‘most treatable’ type of cancer. But we’d never even heard of advanced breast cancer, which is a stage where the disease is treatable but uncurable,” says Len.

Advanced breast cancer, explains National Cancer Society Malaysia (NCSM) president/medical director Dr Saunthari Somasundaram, is breast cancer that has spread extensively to the lymph nodes and/or other tissue in the area of the breast (stage three) or to distant sites of the body such as the liver, lungs, bones, brain and/or other sides (stage four).

“The survival prognosis for advanced breast cancer is generally between 18 months to two years. However, with the advances in treatment that are available now, the average survival has gone up to four or five years, sometimes even more. Treatment parameters have changed and so have the outcomes,” says Dr Saunthari.

However, while treatment for women with ABC has advanced, Dr Saunthari says that support mechanisms for patients with ABC are close to nonexistent.

“For any woman with cancer, one of the first questions which will arise is ‘Why me?’. The emotional aspects of finding out you have the disease and the physical changes that will happen are some of the first things they will confront.

“For women with advanced breast cancer, however, the main issue is the uncertainty of the disease. With early stage breast cancer, you can have a plan – you chart out your treatments (with your oncologist) and at the end of it, you are able to have a life without cancer. With ABC, you don’t have that option … the question is not “Am I going to survive this disease?” but “What quality of life do I want and how do I achieve this?”.

“Treatment for ABC patients is continuous. Patients have to live with cancer and with the uncertainty of knowing that at any point, the cancer can progress. It is a whole different set of physical and emotional needs that need to be addressed,” she says.

In Malaysia, research shows that 6-10% of breast cancer cases are diagnosed at an advanced stage while 20-30% of women diagnosed with early stage breast cancer will develop advanced breast cancer.

A global survey conducted by pharmaceutical company Norvatis Oncology of nearly 1,300 women in 12 countries found that women living with ABC feel isolated and left out of the broader breast cancer movement.

The Count us, Know Us, Join Us survey indicated that nearly two-thirds of the women surveyed who have ABC feel like no one understands what they are going through: 77% of the women interviewed shared that they sought information on their own and between 45% to 55% of these women said information was still hard to come by and did not fully address their needs.

Lean on me

While medical support is readily available for patients with ABC, what is lacking is emotional, financial and community support, says Dr Saunthari.

“Treatment is available but when it comes to medical support (that goes) beyond treatment, it really depends on the hospital you go to. Some hospitals have an oncology nurse or a counsellor who can help a patient through it. But to be very honest, you are very lucky if you get into a hospital like that. Ideally, we should have hospital-based support as well as community support.

“In Malaysia, hospital-based support is very minimal and community support comes mainly from the non-government organisations, most of which focus on breast cancer awareness and early detection,” she says.

The Count us, Know Us, Join Us survey also revealed that while 80% of the women were happy with the medical support provided by their oncologists, 76% said they would like their health care professionals to address their emotional needs too.

Len agrees, sharing her experience.

“My doctor was really very helpful in explaining my disease and the treatments I had to go through. But I didn’t have the opportunity to talk to him about all the other things I was going through. After my initial treatment, I joined a support group for breast cancer because my friends urged me to. But I realised after going for a support group meeting that my concerns are very different from the other women in my group, most of whom are diagnosed with early stage breast cancer.

“I was not worried about getting a mastectomy or about how I would look after that. I was a little worried about my treatment but I was more concerned about how much time I have to be with my daughter who is only five years old. I was thinking about all the things I wanted to do while I had the time and strength to do it. I didn’t know how long I had? I didn’t know how long I should keep going for treatment and how much it would cost. I couldn’t relate to the group and so I left and looked for support online.”

This lack of local support for the ABC community has prompted NCSM to launch their first campaign for advanced breast cancer - Count Us In - to raise understanding and more importantly provide support for the ABC community and the challenges they face.

The campaign, endorsed by the Malaysian Oncological Society and supported by Novartis Corporation, hopes to not only circulate educational material and ABC guidebooks to cancer clinics, hospitals and medical centres but also to form an ABC advocacy group in Malaysia.

NCSM also hopes that through the campaign, Malaysia would be included in the next Count us, Know Us, Join Us survey conducted by Novartis.

“NCSM has until now focused primarily on the prevention and early detection of breast cancer. However, through our support groups we have realised in recent years that there is a growing group of women who require a different kind of support … those with ABC. With the advances in therapeutics, we are seeing more women who are living with ABC for longer periods of time and we need to address their needs as well as the needs of their family and caregivers.

“A supportive network will provide a net for these patients … knowing that there are others going through the same things and experiencing the same issues whom they can talk to can make a huge difference,” she says.

Family first

For ABC “survivor” Aldila Isahak, 43, support from her family has enabled her to maintain a positive attitude about living with cancer.

“I was first diagnosed with early stage breast cancer in 2009. At the time, it was easy to be positive and have hope because I knew that when detected early, treatment was possible and I could beat the disease. I started living a more healthy life … I watched what I ate and I kept active and two years later, my doctor declared that I was clear of cancer. He didn’t say I was cured but he said I was clear.

“So, when I was diagnosed with ABC last year, I was quite shocked. I had taken good care of myself … why had it come back? I was feeling good and even ‘adopted’ Nabilah, a 20-something-year-old whom I regard as my daughter. I went for chemotherapy (again) and it was tough. I experienced mood swings and was highly irritable and sensitive. It wasn’t because I was angry at people or at the disease. It was just a side effect of the treatment that I could not control.

“Thankfully I had the support of my family who took care of me during my treatment. My brother and sister-in-law insisted I stay with them and my mother helped them look after me. Because of their support, I became stronger … and so did my relationship with my siblings.

“I also had tremendous support from my boss who allowed me to take time off work to focus on my treatment,” says Aldila, a lecturer at the International Islamic University here in Kuala Lumpur. “Colleagues became my friends, offering support and spiritual and moral guidance. And now, I don’t want to just survive with cancer, I want to live. I want to be there for my daughter.”

For freelance insurance agent Pang Pay Fen, 49, one of the biggest concerns after being diagnosed with ABC was how she was going to finance her treatment.

“My insurance covered my surgery and initial treatment but I am on oral chemotherapy now which costs RM7,000 every three weeks. I told my doctor that I didn’t think I could afford it and he helped me apply to get into a trial with the Kuala Lumpur Hospital. Thankfully, my application went through and I could get the medication for free. This was a blessing because I could not afford to pay for treatment on my own. I have a son studying in Singapore and I didn’t want to have to withdraw him from school there. That would be very selfish of me,” says Pang whose son is a national athlete who represented Malaysia in swimming at the recent Sukma games.

Posted on 15:00 | Categories:

Safe place for unwanted babies

Once criticised for further encouraging social ills, Malaysia’s first baby hatches are proving to be a way out of the woods for many a new mother who cannot or does not want to keep her child.

Four years since its inception in 2009, 133 babies have been received at its three centres in Johor Baru, Kota Baru and here. And the number has been growing by some three babies every month.

The OrphanCare Foundation, which runs the centres, said the women who left their babies at the centres were between the ages of 15 and 32. Most girls say their parents were unaware that they were even pregnant.

“There are many cases where the parents do not even realise their daughters are pregnant, even when they are living in the same house,” said the foundation’s trustee, Noraini Hashim.

Most of the babies, she said, were given up by young mothers because they were afraid to tell their parents and families.

“We have always advocated celibacy but we want people to know that if they do get pregnant out of wedlock and don’t wish to keep the child, there is a safe place here for the baby instead of dumping the child elsewhere,” she said.

According to figures from the Islamic Development Department of Malaysia (Jakim), some 257,000 babies were born out of wedlock in the country from 2002 to 2012.

A survey conducted by Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, meanwhile, indicated that over 10% of secondary school students were sexually active, with many of them having had multiple sex partners.

Of the 133 babies left at the three baby hatches, 50 of the young mothers had a change of heart and decided to keep their babies after speaking to counsellors there.

The centres took in 83 babies, all of whom have since been adopted. Of the babies received, 52 were Malay, four Indian, two Chinese and 16 other races. The races of another nine were undetermined as they were left there by mothers who wanted to remain anonymous.

Forty-five were girls and 38 were boys.

At the baby hatch, there is a small air-conditioned space to place the baby outside the premises. The mother has to open the door, place the baby in the space and shut the door, after which an alarm goes off to alert the staff.

Noraini said she was surprised that only nine of the babies had actually been left in the hatch by mothers who preferred to remain anonymous.

“All the other women, who usually come alone or with friends or even with one parent, enter the centre, speak to us and provide us with the necessary documentation for the baby.

“This makes the adoption process much easier as we would also know the race and religion of the child.

“We first try to convince them to keep their babies, especially if they are in stable relationships and plan to eventually marry their partners,” she said.

After the baby is taken from the hatch, the foundation gets its doctors to conduct a full medical check-up after which the baby is given up for adoption.

The priority is given to couples who have been married for more than five years and do not have children.

Posted on 09:43 | Categories:

Wednesday 16 October 2013

Malacca revives straits bridge project

The Malacca Government has revived the controversial 48.69km-long Malacca-Dumai, Indonesia, bridge project across the Straits of Malacca, after a seven-year lull.

Chief Minister Datuk Seri Idris Haron said finer details of the project linking Teluk Gong in Malacca in the peninsula to the port of Dumai, in Sumatra, would be revealed when all mechanisms were in place.

If implemented, the bridge straddling the busiest international shipping waterway would be the world’s longest, even without including a 71.2km-long highway to be built between Dumai and Pulau Rupat, the closest connecting point.

“The project was discussed during the 10th Chief Ministers and Governors’ Forum (CMGF) of the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) convened in Koh Samui, Thailand, on Sept 12.

“The forum took note of the economic potential and strategic positioning of the IMT-GT with the construction of the Malacca-Dumai Bridge,” Idris said yesterday.

Insights on a feasibility study on the bridge undertaken by Strait of Malacca Partners Sdn Bhd were given during the meeting.

The company had earlier appointed the Hunan Provincial Communi-cations Planning, Survey & Design Institute of China to prepare documents pertaining to the study.

The idea of the bridge was first mooted in 1995 to foster new economic opportunities, especially in trade and tourism, between the two countries but died down during the Asian financial crisis in 1997.

In 2006, then Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam restored interest in the project by saying that the groundwork for it had started and that studies showed that the bridge was technically feasible.

He also announced that the Export-Import (Exim) Bank of China had agreed to finance 85% of the link’s total cost, then estimated at RM44.3bil.

The proposal was submitted to the Economic Planning Unit with details on how the bridge would stimulate economic activities between the peninsula and Sumatra.

However, the plan came under strong objection from various quarters, including environmentalists.

Works Minister Datuk Fadillah Yusof, when contacted, said he was yet to be briefed on plans to revive the project.

Posted on 20:00 | Categories:

Concern over how easy it is to make weapons

Police are worried over how easy it is for anyone to learn how to make weapons such as air rifles merely by referring to the Internet.

According to Crime Prevention Department Director Comm Datuk Ayub Yaakob, it was worrying that anyone can learn how to make these guns at home using items available in hardware stores.

“No matter how much effort we put into monitoring our borders and making sure that no illegal gun enters our country, there are people sitting in front of their computers learning how to make one,” he said yesterday.

With the current crackdown on gangland violence and tighter border controls, there may be an increase in the prevalence of homemade guns.

While not as lethal as real guns, these gas or spring-powered rifles can fire metal pellets at speeds up to 380m per second, comparable to the projectile velocity from small-calibre guns.

Comm Ayub said while some people liked to own these guns as toys or as a means of showing off, others had been known to make them for more sinister purposes.

“Gang members want them when they can’t get their hands on real guns.

“There have been cases of homemade air guns which have been used in robberies,” he said, adding that this was why police were trying to make sure the public understood that air guns were not toys but dangerous weapons.

Anyone having a homemade air gun can be charged with possessing fake weapons, an offence which carries a maximum jail term of one year and a fine.


Posted on 13:48 | Categories:

Monday 14 October 2013

Salam Aidiladha

MDS mengucapkan Selamat Hari Raya Aidiladha kepada semua umat Islam.

Friday 11 October 2013

Cash for rats scrapped

Several local councils such as Petaling Jaya and Selayang have stopped offering monetary rewards for catching rats, as it is deemed to be ineffective.

Some local councils had been paying between RM1 and RM2 for every rodent caught.

Other local authorities such as Putrajaya Corporation has been offering hampers as well as cash incentives.

Selayang Municipal Council (MPS) Health Department director Dr Razif Zainol Abidin said they had stopped rewarding the public for catching rats since January this year.

“We are focusing on educating the public rather than rewarding them.

“It has not been effective anyway.

“Catching rats does not translate into being responsible residents who keep their properties clean, including the drains,” he said recently.

He added the most effective way to get rid of rats was through poison.

“Every month, we would identify hotspots and put 100 bed stations of poison in a location.

“From there, we would monitor on a daily basis if the bait has been eaten,” he said.

Dr Razif added the method had proven to be effective as they were able to collect 500 to 600 carcasses at a location every month.

For example, 1,300 dead rats were collected in three weeks in Sri Gombak.

“Challenges we face include the dirty drainage system and the fact that rats breed very rapidly.

“Many drains provide an optimum breeding ground for the rodents,” he said.

He added restaurant owners were not taking care of the drains by filtering their waste and treating them.

“Dirty drains attract pests such as rats, mosquitoes and cockroaches.

“Business operators must be responsible in ensuring the cleanliness of drains surrounding their restaurants,” he said.

MPS had also distributed 100 traps at commercial areas such as food courts.

“We tell them to contact us when the traps are full and we will dispose of them safely.

“We dig a hole and put the carcasses in it but we bleach them first to kill all germs,” he said.

Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) Health and Environment Department director Dr Chitra Davi N. Vadivellu said they had stopped giving RM1 for every rat caught as response from residents was poor.

“We find using an innovative rat trap to catch these rats to be more effective.

“We manage to catch about 200 to 300 rats a month,” she said.

She added the council also has a contractor to help with pest control in the area.

However, Ampang Jaya Municipal Council (MPAJ) public relations officer Norhayati Ahmad said they were still offering RM3 for every rat handed to them.

“Every assemblyman gives RM2 while RM1 comes from MPAJ. About 500 rats were surrendered last year and 312 so far this year,” she said.

The five assemblymen that contribute are Teratai, Lembah Jaya, Cempaka, Bukit Antarabangsa and Hulu Klang.

The council has identified Pasar Pandan Jaya, Bandar Baru Ampang, Keramat, Pekan Ampang and Taman Kosas as hotspots for the rats.

MASwings chief: Twin Otter that crashed was airworthy

The Twin Otter airplane that crashed in Kudat on Thursday afternoon was fit to fly and in good condition, MASwings chairman Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said.

Ahmad Jauhari, who extended his deepest condolences to the families of the two people who died in the crash, said pilot Captain Wan Mohd Abd Amir Wan Yahya had more than 4,700 flying hours and had been with the company since August 2011.

He said an investigation will be carried out by the authorities, and Malaysia Airlines and MASwings will fully co-operated and assist in every possible way.

"We extend our deepest sympathies to the families and friends of the deceased and those involved in the accident. We are doing everything we can to assist them in this extremely difficult time," he told reporters here late Thursday before leaving for Kudat, some 190km north of here.

He said Malaysia Airlines and MASwings will continue to monitor the situation at the crash site and provide information relating to the flight itself and updates on steps being taken.

Jauhari said their utmost priority was to ensure the complete well-being of their passengers, crew and other affected parties.

MAS, he said, would be providing assistance to the victims of MASWings flight MH3002, which was carrying 14 passengers and two pilots.

"Out of the 16 onboard, 15 were Malaysians and one is Filipino national," Jauhari added.

A 24-hour Call Centre service has been activated. Families of passengers who were onboard can call 603-7884 1234 for further inquiries.

"We have also set up our Go Team in Kudat to look after their needs and keep them as quickly informed as possible," he added.

He said all other MASwings scheduled flight operations were continuing as usual.

Two people were killed and five others injured when a MASwings Twin Otter went off course as it approached the runway and crashed into a house in Kudat.

Co-pilot Marc Joel Bansh suffered multiple fractures and head injuries and was airlifted by helicopter to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kota Kinabalu. However, the 23-year-old died on arrival at the hospital.

A 69-year-old passenger, Tan Ah Chai, died at the hospital two hours after the 2.5pm crash.

Posted on 11:33 | Categories:

Thursday 10 October 2013

Be patient with parking woes due to renovations. #HKL

Members of the public are urged to be patient with the renovation works at Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL) and park their vehicles at the temporary designated lots.

HKL director Datuk Dr Zaininah Mohd Zain advised the public to park their vehicles at the lots next to the Hindu temple and the Specialist Clinic Ambulatory Care Centre (SCACC) during the renovation works.

“Several parking areas have been closed to make way for the construction of a new health centre for women and children by 2015.

“Renovation works will also see upgrades done to the Urology and Neurology department as well as to ambulance routes,” she said in a statement yesterday.

She was commenting on The Star’s report, highlighting that access to HKL has been challenging ever since it embarked on an extensive renovation programme that involved taking away many parking spots.

The renovations resulted in patients and visitors having to park more than 1km away while pedestrians saw their walkway removed.

Dr Zaininah said four vans are provided during the weekdays and two on the weekends to ferry patrons to their destinations.

“The shuttle service runs from 7am to 7pm everyday with 10 drop-off zones located around the hospital,” she added.

Dr Zainiah said a seven-storey car park building is also set for completion in 2015 and woud be able to accommodate 1,949 vehicles.

“HKL is patronised by 27,000 people everyday, including 10,000 hospital staff.

“In addition to limited parking space, the ever-increasing number of employees and visitors have made movement around the hospital difficult,” she said.

Posted on 15:30 | Categories:

Smash-and-grab gang members shot dead after car chase

Three smash-and-grab gang members were gunned down during a shootout near the Sentul toll plaza on the Duke Highway.

The three had earlier been in a 60km high-speed chase with police in South Klang.

The drama began when a team from the Selangor police serious crime division (D9) – patrolling under the Ops Banker – spotted the men and their accomplices in South Klang at about 11.30am yesterday.

Three black Proton Wira were seen sandwiching another car while a man on a motorcycle broke a window and snatched the victim’s money amounting to RM2,000.

A chase ensued with the gang being chased through several urban areas before two of the cars were cornered near the toll plaza.

Selangor deputy police chief Deputy Comm Datuk Abdul Rahim Jaafar said the gang members fired several shots at the police.

“We had no choice but to fire back, hitting three suspects. They died at the scene,” he said, adding that there were no casualties on the police side.

DCP Abdul Rahim said the gang’s victim – a woman in her 30s – was not hurt during the robbery.

He said the dead men were believed to be Indonesians.

He said police were looking for other members of the gang as well as the driver of the third car and the motorcyclist.

A security guard, identified only as Sundram, 59, said he saw the gang members fire first before the police returned fire.

“Two of the robbers were still firing away when one of them was gunned down,” he said.

A worker at the toll plaza, who only wished to be known as Jai, said he was shocked that a shootout had taken place near his workplace as he had thought the blasts were tyres exploding.

“The police then instructed us to stay in the toll booth and duck for fear of stray bullets,” he said.

Posted on 11:10 | Categories:

Wednesday 9 October 2013

Policewomen going to schools

The police are bringing their women cops to school to tell the students that it is not worth it to be a gangster.

The police reasoned that female officers and policewomen would be more approachable and student-friendly in its crime prevention at the schools.

Bukit Aman principal assistant director of the D7 (secret societies, vice and gambling) division Senior Asst Comm Datuk Abdul Jalil Hassan said that the move was part of the overall operations to combat organised crime.

“We are sending our policewomen to all high schools in the Klang Valley to engage students and speak to them about staying away from gangs,” he said.

He was speaking to reporters after launching the Ops Cantas Khas Wanita at SM Taman Sri Rampai here yesterday.

With him were nine female police officers and 37 policewomen who interacted with the students and their parents.

“We told them why they should say ‘no’ if any gang comes to recruit them and what to do if they are approached,” said SAC Abdul Jalil.

He said the operations would focus on keeping students from skipping school and loitering.

“The move will be carried out at the state and district police levels.”

Environmental effects: It's our doing

 Human activity is the dominant cause of global warming observed since the 1950s, and scientists predict temperatures will rise another 0.3˚C to 4.8˚C this century.

The world’s leading climate scientists have for the first time established a limit on the amount of greenhouse gases that can be released before the Earth reaches a tipping point and predicted that it will be surpassed within decades unless swift action is taken to curb the current pace of emissions.

The warning was issued recently by a panel of United Nations-appointed climate change experts meeting in Stockholm, Sweden. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimated that once a total of one trillion tonnes of carbon dioxide are emitted into the atmosphere, the planet will exceed 2°C of warming, the internationally agreed-upon threshold to the worst effects of climate change.

“We’ve burned through half that amount” since pre-industrial times, Michael Oppenheimer, a professor of geosciences and international affairs at Princeton University who reviewed the report and is a co-author of the panel’s upcoming report on the effect of climate change, said.

“Because the rates of emissions are growing, it looks like we could burn through the other half in the next 25 years” under one of the more dire scenarios outlined in the report.

Other scenarios show that the threshold will be reached later this century. The finding constitutes a warning to governments to cut emissions of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, which is generated by the burning of fossil fuels, industrial activity and deforestation.

Calling climate change “the greatest challenge of our time,” panel co-chair Thomas Stocker said humankind’s fate in the next 100 years “depends crucially on how much carbon dioxide will be emitted in the future”.

In the report, the panel said it is 95% certain that human activity is the dominant cause of the global warming observed since the 1950s. That is up from 90% six years ago.

“Human influence has been detected in warming of the atmosphere and the ocean, in changes in the global water cycle, in reductions in snow and ice, in global mean sea level rise, and in changes in some climate extremes,” the report said.

The report is the panel’s fifth major assessment since 1990. It reaffirms many of the conclusions of past reports, but with greater confidence.

“The atmosphere and ocean have warmed, the amounts of snow and ice have diminished, sea level has risen and the concentrations of greenhouse gases have increased,” the panel wrote in a 36-page summary of its findings.

The report also addressed the so-called hiatus, a slowdown in the rise of surface temperature that has been observed over the last 15 years. That slowing of the increase in temperatures has been seized on by sceptics to cast doubt on the science of climate change. The report touches the subject only briefly, saying that temperatures fluctuate naturally in the short term and “do not in general reflect long-term climate trends”.

Brenda Ekwurzel, a climate scientist for the Union of Concerned Scientists, said the slowdown is more like a speed bump, a result of heat being trapped and circulated through the ocean and atmosphere in different ways rather than a fundamental change in the climate. She said surface temperature is just one of many expressions of climate change, including sea level rise, melting ice and ocean acidification.

“The global average temperature is one kind of a thermometer, but an even bigger thermometer is the ocean, which is absorbing most of the excess heat that climate change is creating,” she said.

The report updates predictions of how temperature and sea level are expected to rise over the century.

The panel now expects sea level to rise globally by 26cm and 82cm by century’s end, up from the rise of 17cm to 57cm it projected in 2007.

Those figures now include the contribution of massive ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland that are creeping toward the ocean as they melt. The panel failed to account for that variable in its previous report, prompting criticism from the scientific community that its previous sea level rise projections were too low.

The panel also lowered the bottom of the range of temperature increase expected over the long term if carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere double. The planet would warm by at least 1.5°C even if aggressive action is taken to cut emissions, but temperatures could rise as much as 4.5°C in other scenarios.

“If no action is taken, no way will you be in the lower band,” Michel Jarraud, secretary-general of the UN’s World Meteorological Organisation said.

Environmental activists greeted the report with calls for government action.

“This IPCC climate science assessment tells us in the strongest possible terms that we ignore climate change at our great peril,” said Earthjustice president Trip Van Noppen.

The assessment was written by more than 800 scientists from around the world. The panel does not conduct its own research, but collects and summarises thousands of peer-reviewed scientific studies. The report will inform negotiations toward a new international climate treaty to cut greenhouse gas emissions that is supposed to be reached by 2015. – Los Angeles Times/McClatchy-Tribune Information Services

Tuesday 8 October 2013

RM2mil worth of drugs seized in raids

Penang police scored major successes over the last four days when they seized drugs amounting to RM2mil, a pistol and arrested four people.

Among the arrests were two foreign women – a 17-year-old Malawi student and a 37-year-old Indian national – at the Penang International Airport in Bayan Lepas on Saturday and yesterday respectively.

Both of them were said to be drug mules attempting to smuggle in syabu.

A police narcotics team found 4.5kg of syabu worth about RM1mil in the student’s bag after she arrived.

The suspect arrived from Malawi after transit stopovers in Johan­nesburg, South Africa, and Singapore.

Similarly, the Indian national, who was found with 3.1kg of syabu worth RM680,000 in her luggage, had arrived from New Delhi with a transit at KL International Airport.

Penang police chief Senior Deputy Comm Datuk Abdul Rahim Hanafi said they had doubled their manpower at the airport from nine to 18 men.

SDCP Rahim said they busted a condominium turned drug laboratory lab in Sungai Nibong on Friday.

Police recovered 5.19kg heroin, 60kg caffeine, a pistol, utensils and chemicals used for drug procession.

“We did not make any arrests but we have identified the suspects. The drugs seized are worth RM260,000, They have already been in operation for three months,” he said.

On the fourth case, SDCP Rahim said a police team picked up two men, aged 30 and 35, from a motel in Seberang Jaya for possessing 23gm of heroin and 28gm of syabu worth RM60,000.

Posted on 15:29 | Categories:

Not so sweet and flour-y news

Consumers must be prepared for a possible hike in sugar and flour prices if the Government decides to further reduce subsidies for the two essentials.

Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism Minister Datuk Hasan Malek said: “If certain decisions could help to strengthen the economy, we will have to do it although it may not be well received.

“We will have various possibilities, and decisions will be made based on our studies.”

Hasan said the Government’s priority was to enhance the economic growth and development of the country, as well as to take care of the people’s welfare.

Hasan said the details would be announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak during Budget 2014 on Oct 25.

“Letting the people understand the reasons behind the slashing of subsidy is important,” Hasan said after opening a new Kedai Rakyat 1Malaysia (KR1M) located at Bandar Baru Ayer Hitam here yesterday.

He said this year, the Government would set up 40 more KR1M (Kedai Rakyat 1 Malaysia) outlets nationwide, especially in Sabah and Sarawak.

He said in Johor alone, 12 KR1M outlets had been set up.

“An additional four more are being planned for Segamat, Batu Pahat, Bakri and Sri Gading, ” added Hasan.
Posted on 10:54 | Categories:

Monday 7 October 2013

#Petronas strengthens Canada-Malaysia ties

Malaysia is now the largest foreign direct investor in Canada following the confirmation of Petronas’ C$36bil (RM110bil) liquefied natural gas (LNG) export business project in the country.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak confirmed this after a bilateral meeting with his Canadian counterpart Stephen Harper yesterday.

The one-hour closed door meeting was held at the Prime Minister’s office here. Harper arrived here on Friday for a three-day visit.

Najib said Malaysia was pleased with the Canadian government’s approval of Petronas’ earlier investment of C$5bil (RM15.3bil) in Progress Energy Canada, which was a significant investment for Malaysia in Canada.

“We are confident in the policies of the Canadian government and saw a wealth of opportunities in opening up the country’s energy industry to new markets.

“There is a 30-year timeline for the C$36bil investment and Petronas is very positive about this decision,” he told a joint press conference after the meeting.

Progress Energy Canada, formed after Petronas bought over Progress Energy Resources Corp last December, will undertake the project known as Pacific Northwest LNG which has been designed to capitalise on Asia’s growing demand for LNG by tapping into the abundant supply of cheap and land-locked natural gas in Canada.

On the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), Najib said he expected it to take a longer time to be concluded than the initial year-end timeline.

“The end of the year is very tight timeline. We (countries involves in TPPA) will have our discussions in Bali and have a sense of whether that timetable is feasible.

“But our sense is that it (TPPA conclusion) may take longer than the end of the year,” he said.

Harper, meanwhile said Petronas’ huge investment gave a positive indication that the oil giant was looking for further investments in Canada.

Posted on 16:18 | Categories:

Residents of Bukit Antarabangsa against slope levy

Residents of Bukit Antarabangsa are seeing red over the Selangor government’s nod to impose a levy on those wishing to build or develop anything near a slope that is in need of maintenance.

It is learnt that all landowners in Bukit Antarabangsa will be affected by the move, as well as those living close to the slope, which has been divided into two lots, 541 and 6873.

The levy also applies to developers of new projects close to risky slopes in areas under the Ampang Jaya Municipal Council’s (MPAJ) jurisdiction.

Sources said details of the levy were still being discussed at the state level.

This comes together with the state’s approval for a loan of RM16.5mil to MPAJ, with an interest rate of 4%, to maintain and stabilise the two lots.

The slope is next to the 15-year-old Taman Bukit Utama residential area and above the sites of the Highland Towers and Taman Hillview tragedies.

Ungku Farid Ungku Abd Rahman, 59, who is a survivor of the 2008 landslide in the area that took five lives and destroyed the houses of 14 families, said the move came at a bad time.

He is one of the few landowners who have plans to rebuild their homes at the site of the tragedy but have yet to submit plans for approval.

“This is like an afterthought after the landslide. Why is it only being implemented now? All the works carried out at the slope after the incident has made me feel safe enough to want to live there again,” he said.

Another victim of the same landslide, Datuk K. Thanarajah, 45, said the purpose of the levy needs to be stated clearly.

“If it is going to be used to set up a special unit of experts to monitor and maintain slopes or for slope works, then I am all for it,” Thanarajah said.

He also said the move should be transparent, with proper mechanisms in place.

“If this levy is merely to discourage future development and construction in the area then it is not right,” he said, adding that he has already submitted the plans for the new house he plans to build to the council.

A resident from Taman Bukit Utama, Dr Mohamed Rafick Khan Abdul Rahman, whose area is directly adjacent to the slope, described the move as unfair to individual landowners.

“While we are not objecting to imposing a levy on property development by companies seeking to make profits, imposing this on individuals who just want to build their homes is unfair,” he said.

He also pointed out that as the land was owned by the state, it should maintain it instead of taxing the residents.

“The loan may also lead to higher assessment rates for us.

“If the government wants to do something like this, it should also state its efforts in maintaining and ensuring the safety of this slope,” he said.

He said the funds from the government should be in the form of a grant that it could afford, considering its claims of having a reserve, an excess of RM2.62bil in funds.

“The amount of the loan is not justified, unless there is something very wrong with the slope. I have climbed the slope and found nothing wrong with it except for the drains that need maintenance as well as the trees near the top that need to be removed,” he said.

Dr Mohamed Rafick said the policy was discriminatory and that the decision should also apply to other parts of the state where there were slopes.

Also, in reply to a concerned resident via email, Tourism, Consumer Affairs and Environment committee chairman Elizabeth Wong said charging interest on government loans was applicable to all councils.

“This is regardless of whether it is a loan for slope works or rubbish collection and is aimed at encourage fiscal discipline and responsibility.”







Friday 4 October 2013

New enhanced I-Kad for foreign workers next month

Foreign workers will be issued with new I-Kad with enhanced security features, including biometric and bar code chips, from Nov 15.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the cards would be issued in stages by middle of next month to some 2.3 million foreigners.

"We are confident that the new cards will ensure only legal foreign workers are in the country.

"It will also ensure more effective enforcement," he told a press conference after launching the Tafsir Al-Quran Ar-Rahman at PNMB headquarters here Friday.
"Migrant workers only have to produce the card and not their passport to verify their identify," he said.

 Ahmad Zahid said the more sophisticated card could store much more data about the holder than the previous identification document and could be examined easily by the security authorities.

The minister also said that the authorities would press on with the operation to haul up illegal migrant workers even after issuing the card.

 "We will not relent and will carry on (with the operation) until the end of this year and even into next year. The card will serve to differentiate the legal and illegal foreigners," he said.

Ahmad Zahid the card would come in different colours to identify the workers in the various sectors of employment and the cost would be borne by the holder.

He said the ministry would study the immigration laws to determine the duration for renewal of the card, either annually or biennially.

He also said that the card would be introduced for foreign students, holders of firearms licences and Department of Civil Defence and People's Volunteer Corps (Rela) volunteers.

Posted on 16:02 | Categories:

Modified lorries caught for diesel smuggling

An attempt to smuggle subsidised diesel was thwarted by the authorities during a raid in Mentakab near here recently.

Enforcement officers from the Temerloh Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consume-rism office seized 1,350 litres of diesel worth RM47,000.

District enforcement chief Mohd Yusoff Othman said two men were detained in an operation after receiving a public tip-off.

Mohd Yusoff said checks showed the two men filling up diesel into their lorries which had been modified with bigger storage tanks.

“We caught them on the spot and detained them for further questioning. Both vehicles were also seized as evidence,” he said.

Mohd Yusoff said operations had been conducted regularly since the increase in prices of diesel and petrol earlier this month.

He said another five lorry drivers had been held for questioning near several petrol stations around Karak after they were found to have receipts for payment of 275 litres of diesel.

“Normally, the maximum capacity of five-tonne lorries is around 200 litres,” he said.

Mohd Yusoff said offenders would be investigated under Section 20 (1) Control of Supplies Act 1961.

Posted on 11:30 | Categories: