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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.”

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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

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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.

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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.

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#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.

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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.”

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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.

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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.

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Concern over access to online porn

Netizens and NGOs are united in their concern over the inappropriate content children can access of the web.

Their concern is heightened after the recent incident in which brothers, one in Year Four and the other in Year Two, allegedly forced a Year One girl to perform oral sex on them.

The brothers apparently watched an adult movie at their school’s computer lab and later invited the girl to their house in Tanjung Minyak Utama to re-enact what they had seen.

P Nagasayee Malathy, Executive Director of Protect and Save The Children (P.S. The Children) says that although there has been no research done on children accessing inappropriate content online, studies show that young children are a prominent presence on the Internet.

A study by Malaysia Communications and Multimedia Commission in 2012 shows that children below 15 years contribute to 11% of the national home internet users and children aged 15-19 years contribute to about 8.6% of internet users.

“This shows that the children have high access to internet and it is on the rise,” said Malathy.

“Access to obscene materials to a child in any form (online or offline) would affect the child in terms of psycho social aspects,” she said.

“This may also lead to the child sexually abusing other children because of the anxiety or mixed feeling which may lead to a confused state of mind,” she adds.

Malathy says that this incident will surely affect the young girl and the two boys who were involved  in a “psychological, social and overall development”.

“While the abused child may have feelings such as confusion, guilt and fear; the children who were involved in the incident may also feel guilt, fear and cluelessness,” she said.

“P.S. The Children strongly recommends that the survivor as well as the boys who are alleged to have committed the act should undergo healing process through appropriate therapy such as Play Therapy,” said Malathy.

“The healing process would enable survivor to come out of the trauma and live a positive life while it would break the abuse cycle with the boys,” she said.

Chairman of Suriana Welfare Society for Children James Nayagam says that many more cases like this that often go unreported.

“It shows that the schools are weak in their teaching of respect as a form of human rights for girls,” said Nayagam, adding that another important topic that should be taught is preventive sex education.

“In my 30 years of working with school kids, I have come across so many cases of unwanted pregnancies resulting in illegal abortions,” said Nayagam.

“In fact research shows that abortions in Malaysia amongst teenagers can reach up to 300 a day,” he adds.

But Nayagam says that every attempt to teach preventive sex education in schools has been put off.

Cheok Hoong Poh, General Manager of Shelter Home for Children, believes that the potential of children coming across inappropriate material is high due to the easy access to the Internet.

“Influence of friends is another reason for our children going to inappropriate websites,” he said.

Cheok cites "lack of education, lack of supervision and monitoring" as the cause of sexual abuse cases among plaintiffs this young.

He believes that parents should have a heart-to-heart talk with their children as well as educate them on the consequences and penalties that will arise for sexual abusers.

Lily (not her real name) who is a parent and lecturer, says that parents and teachers should be more vigilant in knowing what their children are up to on the Internet.

“Setting up proper "parental controls" in the home and schools are important, as are moral boundaries (knowing the difference between right and wrong),” she said.

“The Internet is an indispensable part of our society so it is not possible or feasible to stop children from accessing it. Therefore, careful supervision and controls must be kept up-to-date as youths are becoming more tech-savvy,” she added.

However, Lily says that the Internet is not the only source of potential inappropriate material; television and music are also responsible for the “sexualization” of youths.

“Children are impressionable and that's where good parenting needs to come into play. Parents need to help children distinguish what is right and wrong and avoid using the computer or television as an "electronic nanny" that can influence the youths if left unsupervised,” said Lily.

Melissa (not a real name), a teacher, expressed her surprise that the two brothers were able to access such material on their school’s computer.

“As far as I know, the website blocking system is quite stringent at schools,” said Melissa.

“Kids should not be exposed to such matters at such a young age and it is very sad that this is what they are involved in rather than reading books or playing games outdoors with their friends,” she said.

Melissa suggests that parents and teachers work together by engaging kids in activities that do not involve the computer.

“Nowadays students spend far too much time on the computer and not outside living and enjoying life,” said Melissa.

She recommends encouraging children to join reading or dancing clubs at school or join sporting activities like badminton or football.

Melissa says that parents and teachers should also have open and age appropriate discussions with children about sexual activities.

She says that “Children are naturally curious creatures, and if they are not told, then they will use whatever means they have to find out. Isn't it better that we teach it to them properly rather than them having 'adult websites' as their only point of reference?”

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Hired killers gunned down in shootout

Three killers high on the wanted list were shot dead in a gunbattle with the police when they tried to evade a roadblock here.

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said the trio fired at the police from the Pahang contingent who were trying to stop their car at about 1.49am on Tuesday in Jalan Intan, here.

“Police returned fire to defend themselves and the suspects were killed in the exchange,” he told a press conference at the district police headquarters here yesterday.

“None of our personnel were injured.”

Two pistols, bullets, mobile phones and pliers were found in their vehicle.

Sources identified the three as Mohd Baaqir Badrolhsam, 25, Zali­zan Amin Elias, 26, and Mohd Sahrufuzin Ali, 35.

The hunt for the suspects was carried out under Ops Cantas Khas by Bukit Aman police and the Perak and Pahang contingents.

The car the suspects were in bore Pahang registration plates but all three dead men were from Kelantan.

The three were involved in the murder of a steamed rice seller in Terengganu and had tried to kill a single mother in Pahang.

“They had also committed car thefts and robberies and had been especially active since six months ago,” Khalid said.

The trio, who were believed to be organising “criminal activities” in Perak, were known to be ruthless and would “do anything to get what they wanted, including murder”.

Investigations revealed that two of the suspects were involved in six criminal cases and the third in two.

Khalid said police were probing to find out whether the three had been hired as killers.

Asked if the three belonged to a gang, he replied: “If so, their deaths have crippled the group.”

The three bodies have been sent to the Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital in Ipoh for a post-mortem.

Taman Toh Purba Lahamat resident Roshana Abdul Rahman, whose house is near where the shootout took place, said she was awakened by the sound of gun shots.

The 39-year-old, whose husband works in Penang, said she and her two teenage daughters peeped from their living room window to see what was happening.

A neighbour told them there had been an accident.

They followed him to the scene, about 100m away from their house and learned that a shooting incident had just occurred.

Roshana’s 15-year-old daughter Nurliyana Mohd Ariffin said they were afraid to walk too near the car, which was surrounded by many policemen.

“It was terrifying to know that such an incident actually took place in this quiet housing area,” she said.

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Cigarette prices go up

British American Tobacco (BAT) Malaysia has announced a new price increase for its cigarette brands effective today.

The new price for a pack of 20 cigarettes for Dunhill, Kent and Benson & Hedges will now cost RM12 each.

Pall Mall and Lucky Strike Plains will cost RM12.50 and Pall Mall and Peter Stuyvesant will cost RM10.50.

The last price increase for BAT cigarette brands was in June.

Meanwhile, a taxation expert said excise tax hikes needed to be implemented gradually to avoid destabilising the legal cigarette market.

International Tax and Investment Centre president Daniel A. Witt said an increase that was too high implemented over too short a term could shock the market and create a demand for black market goods.

“Increasing excise tax should be done in a predictable way to stabilise the legal market, meaning those who can be taxed,” said Witt, who presented the “Asia-11: Illicit Toba­cco Indicator 2012” study to the media yesterday.

Asia-11 is a report on the illicit cigarette trade among 11 countries in 2012.

He was speaking on the recent increase of tobacco excise tax of 14% that was gazetted by the Government last Friday.

Witt said illicit cigarette trade had increased by 40% in the past eight years, caused by the steady increase of tobacco excise tax to its current level of 48%.

The report also stated that the Government lost an estimated RM1.9bil in taxes last year and had the third highest consumption levels of illicit cigarettes among the countries surveyed.

Meanwhile, Netizens and observers said the price increase would make no difference to smokers here.

Facebook user Benjamin Azad said while it was easy to blame tobacco products for health issues, it was unfair to do so.

“Why is no one taking action against fast food, processed meats, carbonated drinks or even the cooking oil used in restaurants? This is an unfair judgment,” he said.

Steven Lee said trying to curb smoking by increasing the price was pointless as it would “just drive smokers to smoke smuggled cigarettes.”

Chief activist of Malaysian Islamic Consumers Association Datuk Nazmi Johan said the price increase, while good, wouldn’t do much to stop people from smoking.

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Ceiling falls down

The Serdang Hospital has been shamed for a third time, when its ceiling structure came crashing.

In the latest incident early yesterday morning, parts of the ceiling at the hospital’s maternity ward collapsed at 2.55am.

According to Bernama, no one was injured in the event.

The Star visited the hospital yesterday afternoon, but was denied access to information by staff at the hospital. A security guard also prevented photographers from going near the scene.

It was the third ceiling collapse in as many years for the eight-year-old hospital.

The first occurred on Jan 30, 2011 in the main lobby. No one was injured as it occurred at about midnight.

On Aug 13 last year, three nurses and a female medical officer at the Emergency Department were injured after 15 ceiling pieces measuring 2 ft x 2 ft each collapsed.

The hospital had reportedly cost RM690mil to build and is one of the e-hospital networks envisioned by the Government.

Works Minister Datuk Fadillah Yusof was not amused and said the building contractor would be hauled to court if he was found to be responsible for the latest ceiling collapse.

“I will leave it to my team of experts and I am waiting for their report first,” he said at the Parliament lobby yesterday.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam has ordered a probe into the incident.

“We take a very serious view in the quality of work by the contractors. We have requested the Hospital and JKR (Public Works Department) to submit a report of the incident to us,” he said.

“The areas which we are concerned about are the design, structure and the work standards of the contractor.”

On the roof collapse of the Kampung Tebauk Mosque in Bukit Tunggal, Hulu Terengganu on Sunday, Fadillah said the mosque was not under his ministry’s purview as it was a state government managed project.

Earlier at the Parliament lobby, two Terengganu PAS MPs called on the Government to disclose the identity of the contractor of the mosque.

Kuala Nerus MP Dr Mohd Khairuddin Aman Razali at-Takiri and Kuala Terengganu MP Datuk Raja Bahrin Raja Ahmad said the authorities had not learnt from past mistakes.

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Group of robbers abandons ATM heist at petrol station

A group of robbers drove a tow truck through the glass panel of a petrol station and tried to steal an automated teller machine (ATM) before abandoning their attempt.

The incident happened at 5.30am yesterday near Persiaran Indahpura Utama in Bandar Putra, here. The masked men came in two four-wheel-drive vehicles and a tow truck and stopped in front of the station, which was closed at the time.

They then approached a 64-year-old guard and tied him up after threatening him with a parang and a knife.

One of the robbers then rammed the tow truck into the station, shattering the glass panel of the convenience store inside.

They got out to take one of the ATMs, but as they were pulling it, one of the robbers shouted that a motorcycle was passing by and all of them drove off without taking the ATM with them.

The guard, who refused to be identified, said the alarm did not go off when the glass panel was shattered.

The petrol station manager, however, said the CCTV and alarm system were working well.

“But, somehow they stopped functioning during the incident and the cameras failed to capture images of the robbery,” he added.

“They abandoned the ATM and only managed to grab RM700 worth of telephone prepaid cards,” Kulaijaya OCPD Supt Zulkefly Yahya said.

Supt Zulkefly added that the tow truck was recovered with burnt marks on it along Jalan Seelong-Kota Tinggi.

He advised witnesses to call the police hotline at 07-221 2999 or go to the nearest police station.

On Aug 10, five suspects dragged an ATM out of a bank branch using a four-wheel-drive vehicle in Kulaijaya.

In that incident, they managed to load it onto a white MPV and escape.

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