Noor Fikrie's last SMS dashed cleaner’s hopes of seeing her son again

“The only way you will see me is when I return in a coffin,” said Mohd Noor Fikrie Abd Kahar in his last text message to his mother a day before he was shot dead.

The message all but dashed the hope of Noresah Kusin, 45, for her son's safe return, said his close friend and neighbour Mohd Musa Abd Rashid, 26.

“A relative of ours in Kuala Lumpur informed her about the shooting and she became hysterical and could not stop crying,” Mohd Musa said.

He said the whole family had left for Cheras and were currently residing at Mohd Noor Fikrie's brother's house.

Mohd Musa said they were shocked but had suspected something was amiss when he did not return for Hari Raya in September.

“He was a religious and quiet person who never failed to return to Benut to be with his mother for Hari Raya,” he said.

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Noor Fikrie's dad: His character changed after failed marriage

The father of suspected Jemaah Islamiyah bomber Mohd Noor Fikrie Abd Kahar (pic) believes his son became a terrorist after his bitter divorce two years ago.

Retired cop Abd Kahar Sirul, 53, said he noticed his son's character change after the disappointment of his failed marriage to a local woman whom he had wed in 2005.

The marriage produced three children aged four, five and six now.

“After the divorce, he spent a lot of time on social media. When we questioned him about his Facebook postings which touched a lot on jihad and the fight to protect Islam, he brushed us off.”

He said that shortly after this, Mohd Noor Fikrie moved out and lived with a friend from Sabah at a rented home in Tanjung Kling, Klebang.

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Police introduce customer satisfaction survey system

A customer satisfaction survey system (STKP) with short message service (SMS) has been introduced by the police to determine how the public rates the force's service and response.

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar explained that the service rating ranges from one (very satisfactory) to four (not satisfactory) for all police stations and contingents nationwide.

He said the feedback could help the force identify areas for improvement, especially at the counters.

“For example, police personnel taking down reports must treat the public in a friendly and sympathetic manner and not be high-handed.

“So, if a member of the public is unhappy with the service, they can evaluate and the police force can improve on it,” he added.

The system was introduced following the success over the use of 165 STKP evaluation kiosks at 82 police stations in Selangor last year.

The system was implemented in cooperation with the Home Ministry and is an initiative under the Reducing Crime NKRA.

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Malaysia does better in CPI

Malaysia has moved up six notches to 54th place in the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2012 which is conducted by Trans­parency International (TI).

The announcement made by Transparency International-Malaysia (TI-M) ranked Malaysia third among Asean countries, behind Singapore (5th) and Brunei (46th).

“Malaysia’s position has improved slightly, staying in the mid-range average, indicating that many steps undertaken by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak through the Government Transformation Prog­ramme (GTP) to fight corruption have shown results,” said TI-M president Datuk Paul Low when announcing the CPI 2012.

This year, a total of 176 countries were assessed using an upgraded methodology.

Moving away from the old scoring system of one to 10, the new CPI scores range from zero to 100 with zero being most corrupt and 100 being corruption-free.

Malaysia scored 49 while Singa­pore scored 87 and Brunei, 55.

TI also stated that while none of the 176 countries in the list obtained a perfect score, two thirds of the countries scored below 50, indicating a serious corruption problem.

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Cops foil illegal exit bid

Marine police have thwarted an attempt by 66 illegal immigrants to leave the country following an operation in Bandar Penawar here.

Region Two Commander Asst Comm Zainul Abidin Hasan said police managed to stop the group, all Indonesians, after arresting five men who had just supplied food to them at Ladang Mados here on Saturday.

“The five comprising a local man and four Indonesians were arrested at about 12.45pm.

“Following the arrests, we managed to find out that this large group of immigrants was planning to leave the country illegally,” he said in a statement.

ACP Zainul Abidin added that a team of officers, including personnel from the Bandar Penawar police station, quickly scoured the coastline and discovered the group.

“We believe all of them were waiting to board a boat back to their country but we do not know how long they had been waiting there.

“We also arrested five local skippers and two men with permanent resident status during the raid,” he said.

ACP Zainul Abidin said two children and 16 women were among those captured.

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Davao beefs up security after failed terror attack

Davao police are conducting random checks in public places in a bid to tighten security following the death of suspected Jemaah Islamiyah member Mohd Noor Fikrie Abd Kahar.

Davao City Police Office (DCPO) chief Senior Supt Ronald dela Rosa said he had added more police personnel to patrol the streets as well.

“We are also placing random checkpoints in places like shopping malls, hotels and churches places where many people gather,” he told The Star yesterday.

The Philippine coast guard has been ordered to keep watch over the city's seaports.

Supt dela Rosa said safety in churches was very important as the nine-day Simbang Gambi (dawn masses) started yesterday.

He said Mohd Noor Fikrie's parents are expected to arrive in Davao today to claim his body at the Angel Funeral Homes.

The Malaysian national was shot dead by Davao police on Friday night after they received intelligence that he had a bomb and was planning a terrorist attack in the city.

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A Facebook recruit of terror

Mohd Noor Fikrie Abd Kahar (pic) was another Facebook recruit of regional terror group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI).

The son of a retired policeman is a classic example of one who became self-radicalised through the social media and killed in a failed terror mission.

His intended target remains a mystery but Philippine police said the explosives could have gone off in a shopping mall, hotel or a church as pre-Christmas Simbang Gambi (dawn masses) were about to begin.

There is also speculation that it could have been Mohd Noor Fikrie's initiation rite as a JI flighter to rise up its ranks.

Despite being a relative newcomer, he was already in close contact with top JI leader and fellow Malaysian Zulkifli Abdul Hir, also known as Marwan.

(Marwan is believed to have escaped a Philippine security forces offensive on Feb 2, which killed Abu Sayyaf leader Umbra Jumdail Gumbahali, also known as Dr Abu.)

Kedah-born Mohd Noor Fikrie, 26, was in touch with Marwan and the Abu Sayyaf via social media and used a Sabahan contact to travel between Sandakan and Zamboanga City in southern Philippines.

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Don starry-eyed over Dec 21

Despite the many doomsday prophecies surrounding Dec 21, 2012, an astronomy enthusiast is looking forward to positive events to occur on that day.

Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) Astronomy Club adviser Assoc Prof Dr Chong Hon Yew believes that two positive events may occur on that day.

He is hopeful of a supernova (exploding stars) in the Milky Way galaxy and the possibility of mankind making contact with an extra-terrestrial intelligence civilisation.

“If people are thinking that there will be catastrophes such as devastating earthquakes, typhoons or tsunamis, in my opinion these are not going to happen.

“And neither is the earth going to collide with the killer asteroid, nor are the planets, comets, sun or moon going to finish the earth off,” he said yesterday.

Some have interpreted the apocalyptic prophecy as the day the Mayan calendar comes to an end, and have predicted that the world would come to an end on that day.

Dr Chong believed that astronomers worldwide who have been listening to radio telescope since 1960 might discover signals or contact with extra-terrestrial life.

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AKPK bantu 83,000 individu urus kewangan sistematik

Kementerian Perdagangan Dalam Negeri, Koperasi dan Kepenggunaan (KPDNKK) tidak menolak kemungkinan mewujudkan undang-undang bagi memantau penyaluran dana asing ke badan bukan kerajaan (NGO) dan syarikat di negara ini.

Timbalan Menterinya, Datuk Tan Lian Hoe, berkata pada masa ini bidang kuasa penguatkuasaan KPDNKK melalui Suruhanjaya Syarikat Malaysia (SSM) hanya terhad kepada kawal selia undang-undang yang termaktub mengikut Akta Syarikat 1965 dan Akta Pendaftaran Perniagaan 1956.

“SSM tidak mempunyai bidang kuasa seliaan terhadap perkara berkaitan penerimaan dan kemasukan dana asing ke dalam NGO, syarikat dan juga perniagaan di Malaysia...penggubalan undang-undang baru ini kelak mungkin akan membabitkan KPDNKK dengan Bank Negara Malaysia.

“Sebagai contoh pula, undang-undang baru itu akan menggariskan supaya NGO atau mana-mana syarikat yang menerima dana asing mengisytiharkan jumlah dana asing yang diterima serta cara penggunaannya,” katanya menjawab soalan tambahan Senator Ahamat @ Ahamad Yusop di Dewan Negara, semalam.

Menjawab soalan asal Ahamat mengenai bentuk pemantauan yang dibuat terhadap syarikat bagi mengelakkan pelanggaran Akta Syarikat 1965, Lian Hoe berkata SSM melaksanakan beberapa langkah proaktif dan reaktif bagi memastikan pematuhan terhadap akta berkenaan.

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Gejala spam perlu ditangani

Malaysia berpendapat Kesatuan Telekomunikasi Antarabangsa (ITU) perlu terus berani mengemukakan pandangan lebih tegas mengenai perkara berkaitan soal integriti, keselamatan jaringan serta spam, dan tidak hanya mengehadkan perbincangan kepada aspek teknikal dalam telekomunikasi semata-mata.
Menteri Penerangan Komunikasi dan Kebudayaan, Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim, berkata selagi badan dunia itu tidak berani mengemukakan pandangan yang boleh melindungi hak asasi anggotanya, selagi itu peranannya akan dilihat amat terhad.

Katanya, soal seperti gejala spam, jika tidak dapat diketengahkan dan ditangani dalam persidangan antarabangsa seperti Persidangan Telekomunikasi Antarabangsa Sedunia 2012 (WCIT), ia merugikan banyak pihak.

“Kita bukan nak kacau atau masukkan sesuatu yang tidak wajar dalam dunia IT (teknologi maklumat), yang kita maksudkan ialah supaya talian atau jaringan kita bebas daripada sebarang gangguan yang boleh merosakkan perkhidmatan,” katanya kepada pemberita selepas diwawancara media ITU di sini, semalam.

Rais berkata, apabila seseorang melanggan dengan syarikat telekomunikasi untuk melayari internet, individu berkenaan mempunyai hak untuk bebas daripada gejala seperti spam.
Sebagai agensi Pertubuhan Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu yang merujuk khusus kepada isu berkaitan teknologi komunikasi dan maklumat (ICT), ITU yang membabitkan keanggotaan hampir 200 negara di samping pemain industri, menyediakan pentas untuk forum dan perbincangan antara pihak berkepentingan ke arah mencapai persetujuan dalam isu berkaitan hala tuju industri ICT.

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Govt agencies will monitor Lamp operations

The cabinet yesterday reaffirmed that public health and safety was its  priority and that it will ensure that all  government agencies   monitored the operations of the Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (Lamp) in Gebeng, Pahang.

It said the monitoring would focus on the operations of Lamp, especially the handling and management of the residue generated by the plant.

The statement was issued by International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed; Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Johnity Ongkili; Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Douglas Uggah Embas and Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.

The statement said there would be no change in the government's position to demand that Lynas remove the residue from the country, consistent with the conditions stated in its temporary operating licence (TOL).

It said the cabinet reaffirmed the ministers' Dec 10 statement that Lamp was obliged to remove all the residue generated by the plant from Malaysia.

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AES cameras vandalised

Vandals struck at four Automated Enforcement System (AES) cameras in Perak over the past two months.

Two cameras, located at KM205.6 of the North-South Expressway in Taiping Utara and KM85.5 of the Ipoh-Kuala Lumpur stretch near Sungkai, were sprayed with paint.

Two others at KM376 of the expressway in Slim River and at Jalan Pasir Puteh collapsed.

All four cameras, however, have since been repaired and are functioning again.

ATES Sdn Bhd Depot (Tapah) head Rashid Karim told reporters this after a briefing by the state Road Transport Department here yesterday.

“Police reports have been lodged on the four cases but no one has been arrested yet.

“In the meantime, our control centre will continue to detect cases of vandalism and will deploy our teams to repair the equipment,” he said.

Rashid said the AES provider was responsible for the maintenance of the cameras while the Standards and Industrial Research Institute of Malaysia (Sirim) was tasked with recalibrating the cameras once every eight months.

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42 AES cameras for Sabah and Labuan

Forty-two Automated Enforcement System (AES) cameras will be installed at various locations in Sabah and Labuan by early next year.

Sabah Road Transport Depart-ment (JPJ) director Mohd Shuhaili Taufek said 32 cameras would be placed in Sabah and 10 in Labuan.

In Sabah, 20 cameras will be placed in the city, including at 11 main traffic intersections.

Three each would be placed in Sandakan and Lahad Datu, two in Kinabatangan and one each in Tawau, Kunak, Ranau and Papar.

Mohd Shuhaili said the state JPJ would brief their staff, driving instructors and civil servants on the cameras.

“Signboards on the presence of AES cameras would be placed about two or three kilometres before the location as a warning to motorists to exercise caution.

“The public can lodge complaints with the department if there is no signboard,” he added.

Source : CLICK

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Blood bank sends out SOS

The National Blood Centre needs blood from 400 to 450 donors daily to meet the demand in the Klang Valley, its director Dr Roshida Hassan said.

She said the blood was needed to meet the demand from government and private hospitals which required about 3,000 units (one unit equals about 0.5 litre) of blood a week.

“All blood types, A, B, O and AB, are needed,” she said yesterday.

Dr Roshida said donated blood had a shelf life of up to 42 days for red blood, five days for platelets and between two and three years for frozen plasma.

She said individuals interested in donating blood on Christmas Day could do so at the centre from 8am to 4pm, or visit www.pdn.gov.my to obtain information on its mobile blood donation campaign.

TheStar

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Govt to set up 100 youth outreach centres

One hundred 1M4U (1Malaysia For Youth) Outreach Centres will be formed in higher learning institutions nationwide in stages next year.

Each of these centres would receive RM5,000 in federal grants to kickstart its activities, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said.

“These centres will be set up using the existing facilities in the institutions. They will act as catalysts for more volunteer activities among university students,” he said after meeting 10 finalists of the “My Uni Rocks” contest at the Prime Minister's Department complex here.

The centres are part of the plans to promote volunteerism based on the 1Malaysia philosophy.

Another programme that would be launched under the 1M4U initiative is a national convention for volunteers, which will take place next year in conjunction with National Volunteerism Year.

The 1M4U programme was launched on July 15 under a government initiative to coordinate and promote youth volunteer activities with an initial funding of RM30mil.

Najib expressed optimism in the programme, saying that youths had begun to identify themselves with 1M4U.

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Rebuild altar in house - MIC

MIC will rebuild the Hindu altar which was demolished by the Sepang Municipal council in a case that has angered Indians nationwide.

MIC Youth chief T. Mohan said work to rebuild the altar would start tomorrow morning and would be done by a contractor and an altar-maker who would be paid by the party.

“We will keep on rebuilding the altar, no matter how many times they demolish it. We want to see how many times they tear it down after this,” Mohan told The Star.

On Nov 20, the Sepang Municipal Council demolished the altar within the compound of a house in Taman Seroja, Bandar Baru Salak Tinggi.

House owner Umah Devi said she received a notice from the council to demolish it on grounds that the structure violated council by-laws.

A second letter warned that she could be fined RM250 per day if she did not tear it down.

Last Friday, hundreds of disgruntled people demonstrated in front of the Selangor State Secretariat building to demand a public apology from the state government over the demolition of the altar.

Mohan criticised Selangor state executive councillor Dr Xavier Jayakumar for initially defending the council by saying that it had the right to tear down structures constructed without approval.

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The Personal Data Protection Act

The Personal Data Protection Act, aimed at preventing abuse of personal data for commercial purposes, will come into force on Jan 1.

The Act, which was passed by Parliament in 2010, would play a crucial role in safeguarding the interests of individuals and made it illegal for corporate entities or individuals to sell personal information or allow the use of data by third parties, said Deputy Information, Communications and Culture Minister Datuk Joseph Salang.

He added that many quarters felt that the enactment of the Act was timely as it would facilitate the transferring and transmitting of personal, and often very important, information seamlessly.

“It gives the public more control over their personal data.

“Whenever consent is required for data processing, it'll have to be given expressly rather than impliedly or be assumed,” he said in his keynote address at the Second Annual Personal Data Protection Summit here yesterday.

He said organisations on the other hand would need to conduct continuous data privacy audit exercises to ensure compliance with the law as they now faced increased responsibility and accountability in processing personal data disclosed to them.

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