Digest on Malaysian News

Malaysian political blogs (or anti-establishment blogs, if you may call it) are busy spreading news about the Quality Concrete Holdings Get-Rich-Quick Scandal.

Quality Concrete Holdings (QCHB), the infamous company partly owned by Taib’s sister, Roziah @ Raziah Mahmud, and Taib’s first cousin, Hamed Sepawi (reported to be worth at least RM600 million), is at the epicentre of another scandal rocking Sarawak. Read mocsarawak.wordpress.com - Blocking Taib’s ‘Get Rich Quick’ land scheme.

Quality Concrete Holdings Bhd has a license to extract timber issued by the Director of Forest Department, Sarawak. This is for a period of one year effective 20 November 2009. The license covers the bulk of the last of remaining rainforest between Sebangan and Sebuyau rivers. Read more at cobboldjohn.com - The damage done to Sebangan and Sebuyau Rainforest by Taib’s cronys.

Some 100 Ibans from 15 longhouses in upper Sebangan in Simunjan, Sarawak, appeared en masse at the Kuching High Court this morning, to sue two logging companies, two of their own government-appointed village leaders and the Sarawak government. The Iban landowners have named as defendants timber concession licence holder Quality Concrete Holdings, contractor Royal Billion, as well as two community leaders, Penghulu Merum anak Babu of Kampung Arus, Sebangan and Tua Kampung Agu anak Kaleng of Kampung Bajong Ili, as well as the Sarawak government. Read more at Hornbill Unleashed - 15 Iban villages sue company of Taib’s sister.

Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud returned Wednesday from his pilgrimage to Mecca and said he has received the inspiration on when to call the next state elections.

"I have the inspiration but I won't tell you (the date)," he told reporters at the Hornbill Skyways Hangar here.

Abdul Taib, who is Sarawak Barisan Nasional chairman, said the state elections could be held in any of the 12 months in the year and that it was a matter of preparing the election machinery.

Political observers have predicted that the state elections will be held next month at the earliest and by March or April next year at the latest. The current term of the Sarawak legislative assembly expires in July next year.

Sarawak Barisan has 62 seats in the 71-seat assembly, with 34 held by Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), 11 by Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP), nine by Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) and eight by Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP).

The remaining nine seats are with the DAP, which has six, PKR one, and two independents, one of whom is Barisan-friendly.

On another matter, Abdul Taib said the Sarawak Barisan would let party-less Pelagus assemblyman Larry Sng decide on his political future.

He said that if Sng wanted to remain in Barisan, he would have to apply to be a direct associate member as his present status was unclear.

Sng, 31, who is assistant minister in the Chief Minister's Office, was reported saying on Nov 19 that his political future was uncertain as he was not sure whether to contest in the next state elections.

Sng won the seat on a PRS ticket in 2006 and the party sacked him the following year citing insubordination. Abdul Taib retained him in the state administration in November last year despite him being party-less.

Recommended reading:
* Sarawak State Election will not be held until 2011

Chin Hock Nam, a taxi driver who called himself “Uncle” was jailed 14 years and ordered to be whipped five times for raping, attempting to rape and molesting seven underage girls. 14 years is too light. What has becoming of Malaysian judge. Chin Hock Nam should be sentenced for LIFE.

He was sentenced to 82 years in jail but will only be behind bars for 14 years as the Ampang Sessions Court ordered that the sentences run concurrently from his date of arrest.

Chin Hock Nam, 54, changed his mind and pleaded guilty to all charges when the case, which was supposed to be tried in camera, began yesterday.

In sentencing, Ampang Sessions Court judge Azwarnida Affandi said she took into consideration the fact that the offences had become rampant and that all his victims were underage as well as Chin’s guilty plea. Azwarnida, you are too lame for giving him 14 concurrently years. Chin Hock Nam should stay and rot in prison for 82 years !.

Azwarnida jailed him 14 years and ordered that Chin be caned twice for each of the two counts of rape.

She also jailed him 14 years and ordered him to be whipped once for the attempted rape charge.

Azwarnida also jailed him eight years for each of the five molest charges involving four victims.

Registrar of Societies (ROS) director general Datuk Md Alias Kalil yesterday brushed aside suggestions that the registration of Parti Ekonomi Rakyat Sarawak Bersatu (PERSB) was deliberately being withheld.

He pointed out that PERSB was one of the 21 new political parties throughout Malaysia of which registration is still being processed by the department.

PERSB aims to contest in all 71 seats in the coming state election.

“It is still under consideration…Not just one party, we are talking about 21 parties,” he said without elaborating further, when asked by reporters after the closing of a management course for Kuching and Samarahan organisations at a hotel here.

PERSB, a party comprising mainly former members of Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), handed over its registration to ROS on April 20.

It has even declared that it will put up independent candidates if the party is not registered in time for the state election which must be called by next July.

It also claimed that it is self-sufficient and not sponsored by outside individuals because it is funded with money from Koperasi Ekonomi Rakyat Sarawak Berhad (KERSB), which is in the jatropha plantation business.

To a question, Md Alias said there are now six Sarawak-based political parties in ROS’ registry, while four Peninsular-based parties have set up branches in the state.

He also said Sarawak ranks fifth among the states in Malaysia in terms of number of organisations and associations.

“There are 2,792 organisations in Sarawak and 3,484 branches which include those of political parties,” he said.

On another matter, he said ROS has deregistered 22 organisations in Sarawak so far this year.

“More than 90 per cent of those deregistered were because they failed to submit their annual returns to us,” he said.

The closing ceremony yesterday was officiated by Housing and Urban Development Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg, who told the participants to be constructive in managing their organisations.

“Work together within the framework of the law. Otherwise, the organisation gets deregistered. And once deregistered, that’s the end.

“Nobody wants to be in organisations if they want to be destructive (and not constructive),” he said.

Yesterday’s course was the seventh organised by ROS in Sarawak this year as part of its outreach programme.

Similar courses were held in Miri, Bintulu, Sibu, Kapit, Sarikei and Marudi.

There are around 1,300 organisations in Kuching and Samarahan.

Fifteen new organisations also received their certificates yesterday, and another seven received certificates of approval to their constitution.

Recommended reading:
* Parti Ekonomi Rakyat Sarawak Bersatu supports two terms tenure of CM

This page is reserved for the upcoming polling result (slated on Nov 04) for P185 Batu Sapi, Sabah. View N45 Galas election result. Check also the latest at BatuSapi.BlogSpot.com

Updates:
08:30pm - Official result: BN wins Batu Sapi by whopping 6,359 majority. Linda Tsen (BN) 9773; Yong Teck Lee (SAPP) 2031; Ansari Abdullah (PKR) 3414.
08:05pm - EC official results, BN: 7689, PKR: 2786, SAPP: 1726, Majority: 4903. Total 40 of 46 ballot boxes received.
07:50pm - Count for 30 streams announced. Linda Tsen leads with 5,467 votes followed by Ansari 2,427 votes and Yong 1,306 votes.
07:36pm - Returning officer Mohd Hamsan Awang Supain announces tally for 10 (of 45) streams. Linda Tsen leads with 1,440 votes followed by Ansari with 697 votes and Yong with 331 votes
07:19pm - Unofficial Result: BN: 5051, PKR: 1709 SAPP: 1018
05:30pm - Voter turnout at 5pm 15,774 or 61.47%.
03:30pm - At 3pm, the voter turnout at Batu Sapi polling was 13,318 voters or 52.06% of the electorate.
01:00pm - voter turnout is 41.06% or 10,505 voters, according to the EC.
11:30am - Voter turnout at 11am is 7,313 or 28.59% of the electorate.

Tsen Thau Lin (BN) will be up against Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) candidate Datuk Yong Teck Lee and PKR's Ansari Abdullah.

Batu Sapi has 25,582 voters comprising 59.02% or 15,099 Muslim bumiputeras, Chinese (38.06% or 9,737), non-Muslim bumiputeras (2.69% or 689) and Indians (0.22% or 57).