Digest on Malaysian News

On October 16, Syed Hamid chicken out at Chow Kit when he said that the Chow Kit police beat was closed because of too many thugs and samseng in that area. After almost a month, he gave another excuse saying that the Chow Kit police beat was not close for fear of thugs BUT because the owner took back the building.

Of course the owner took the building back after the police run away like coward. And it takes Syed Hamid a few weeks to cook up another excuse. For a man who throw people into ISA detention centre at his wimp, that is the best excuse he has.

From Bernama

Lorong Haji Taib Beat Base Not Closed On Security Reasons - Syed Hamid

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 6 (Bernama) -- Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar said today that the police beat base along Lorong Haji Taib here was not closed due to security reasons.

It was closed after the building owner decided to take back the land, he said.

"I would like to stress here that the written reply I made in Parliament on Oct 16 on the closure of the beat base was not accurate and clear.

"Actually the landowner wants to construct a new building, so the beat base has to be closed. But this area still has the Chow Kit Police Station with a strength of 10 personnel and four patrol cars and conducts 24-hour patrols," he told reporters after visiting the Chow Kit Police Station and surrounding areas.

On Oct 16, Syed Hamid said in his written reply to Titiwangsa Member of Parliament Dr Lo' Lo' Mohamad Ghazali that the Lorong Haji Taib beat base had to be closed because the police found the location no longer suitable or safe for the police personnel on duty.

The dirty surroundings, possibly exposed to infectious diseases as well as criminal threats endanger the security of personnnel, he had said.

Syed Hamid said the Kuala Lumpur City Hall had agreed to allocate land on which a new beat base would be built and the discussion on the matter was ongoing.

He said the Chow Kit Police Station was able to reduce the crime rate in the surrounding areas and strategically located.

"Surveillances and patrols are conducted constantly from time to time and the public have to cooperate with the police. Chow Kit is not a black area as portrayed," he said.

On the illegal ownership of firearms, he said the ministry was working together with the neighbouring countries to check arms smuggling.

-- BERNAMA

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The Thai Food and Drug Administration has ordered Malaysian-made Omodo cream crackers off the shelves after finding excess levels of melamine, the second product from Malaysia to be banned after Julie’s cream crackers.

The Thai Food and Drug Administration said it found6.08 mg per kilogram of melamine in Omodo crackers, far above the 2.5 mg allowed.

Can't get any images or photo of the Omodo cream crackers. Can't find the website or homepage of Omodo either. Omodo.org is not the website for Omodo cream crackers.

Related posts:
* Khong Guan ordered to recall melamine tainted products
* Excessive melamine in Munchy’s crackers
* List Of Melamine Free Milk | Dairy Products

From TheStar

Thailand bans cream crackers from Malaysia

BANGKOK: The Thai Food and Drug Administration has ordered Malaysian-made Omodo cream crackers off the shelves after finding excess levels of melamine, the second product from Malaysia to be banned.

On Oct 21, it ordered all stores to remove Julie’s cream crackers made by Perfect Food Manufacturing (M) Sdn Bhd in Malacca for the same reason.

Thai FDA secretary-general Dr Phipat Yingseri said the crackers contained 6.08 milligrams per kilo of melamine, which is over the permitted 2.5ml/kg.

He said the Omodo cream crackers were also manufactured by Perfect Food and imported into Thailand by Markin International (Thailand), which is based in the southern city of Sungai Golok Nara­thiwat. — Bernama

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From TodayOnline (MediaCorp Press)

M’sia crackers banned in Thailand for melamine risk

BANGKOK — Thailand’s health authority has removed a Malaysian-made brand of cream crackers from the shelves after detecting excessive levels of the toxic chemical melamine, officials said yesterday.

The Thai Food and Drug Administration said it found6.08 mg per kilogram of melamine in Omodo crackers, far above the 2.5 mg allowed.

The provincial FDA authority in Narathiwat immediately banned the sale of the crackers until they could be certified safe for consumption.

Melamine has been at the root of a major contamination scandal in recent weeks, with four babies dying and 53,000 children falling ill from consuming tainted Chinese-made dairy products.

Governments around the world have banned or recalled Chinese dairy products found to contain melamine, with the contamination recently spreading to Chinese eggs. AFP

SEO: Omodo cream crackers not Komodo reptile or Comodo bags

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The RM3bil Petronas gas pipeline project from Kimanis in Sabah to Bintulu in Sarawak was canceled by the PM on May 31, 2008. The PM however, flip-flopped his own decision and announced that the gas pipeline project is ON again but UPKO is against the idea.

Upko president Tan Sri Bernard Dompok contention about the gas pipeline project is that Kimanis is only a natural gas landing point as the gas would be piped to Bintulu where it would be processed and exported as Liquefied Natural Gas.

“What we are saying is that the gas could be used here (in Sabah) as a pit stop for a lot of other downstream activities - urea, fertiliser and all this. The gas can be used for the generation of electricity, so that we can have energy security,” he explained.

Prime Minister on May 31 had announced that the gas pipeline project was scrapped and a power plant would be built. However, the PM on Saturday said the gas pipeline project was on and assured that the state government would be paid oil royalties while Petronas would build a narural gas-powered plant in Kimanis.

Related posts:
* UPKO To Quit Barisan Nasional ?
* UPKO frustrated with Barisan Nasional

From TheStar

Upko determined to get gas pipeline project scrapped
By MUGUNTAN VANAR

KOTA KINABALU: Upko is keeping everyone guessing as to what it will do if it fails to get the controversial RM3bil Petronas gas pipeline project scrapped.

Upko president Tan Sri Bernard Dompok said that he wants to first bring up the issue of the proposed 500km pipeline from Kimanis in Sabah to Bintulu in Sarawak to the Cabinet.

“To be fair, we will cross that bridge when we come to it,” Dompok said when asked if Upko will get off the Barisan Nasional bus if it fails to get the pipeline project scrapped.

“We have to take things one at a time. I will be talking to the Cabinet about this on Friday and I want to pursue it,” he said when asked if Upko planned to leave Barisan if it fails to get the project scrapped.

On PKR’s call to Upko to quit Barisan, Dompok replied: “They are entitled to express whatever opinion they have. We are not beholden to any other party, our client is the rakyat.”

Dompok, who is Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, told this to reporters Thursday after launching an integrated multi-agency mobile public complaints programme at Buhavan Square in Penampang here.

He said that the contention about the gas pipeline project is that Kimanis is only a natural gas landing point as the gas would be piped to Bintulu where it would be processed and exported as Liquefied Natural Gas.

“What we are saying is that the gas could be used here (in Sabah) as a pit stop for a lot of other downstream activities - urea, fertiliser and all this. The gas can be used for the generation of electricity, so that we can have energy security,” he explained.

He said the Gayang Independent Power Plant in Tuaran had about 20 years guaranteed supply and questioned what would happen after the gas ran out.

What we want to do is to explain the need for energy security for Sabah itself, he said, adding that the Prime Minister on May 31 had announced that the gas pipeline project was scrapped and a power plant would be built.

Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on Saturday said the gas pipeline project was on and assured that the state government would be paid oil royalties while Petronas would build a narural gas-powered plant in Kimanis.

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Police investigating allegations that Penan women were sexually abused by loggers found no evidence to support their claims, but will continue their probe, Inspector General of Police Tan Sri Mussa Hassan said.

Either the Penan community changed their mind and kept silent or the Police cannot trace the culprits. Just hope that the Police continue their investigation and get to the root of the allegations. found no evidence to support their claims, but will continue their probe, Inspector General of Police Tan Sri Mussa Hassan said.

From TheStar

IGP: No evidence found in Penan rape claim
By LOURDES CHARLES

KUCHING: Police investigating allegations that Penan women were raped by timber workers found no evidence to support their claims, but will continue their probe, Inspector General of Police Tan Sri Mussa Hassan said.

He said a Bukit Aman taskforce investigating the allegations had interviewed and recorded statements from two of the alleged victims as well as several others recently.

“Although we have yet to find any evidence, I have instructed my officers to probe further as the alleged incidents have been occurring over the past 14 years.

“Another problem we face in our investigations is the reluctance of certain non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to cooperate with us in our investigations,’’ he told reporters after attending a briefing on the security and crime situation in Sarawak by the state police chief Deputy Comm Datuk Mohmad Salleh.

Musa said police have identified the NGOs and would compel them to come forward and assist in investigations.

He said police viewed such allegations seriously, adding that Sarawak police had investigated 10 reports of rape lodged in the Baram district over the years.

The rape also involved several other tribes.

“In the 10 cases investigated, five cases were brought before the courts.

“We will investigate all cases, regardless of whether they are legal or illegal. That is my assurance and there is nothing for them to fear," he said.

The allegations were first highlighted by the Bruno Manser Foundation on its website.

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Ops Bersepadu currently ongoing in Sabah has seen a total of 312,837 pilaks (illegal immigrants) mostly from Indonesia and the Philippines have been registered as legal workers in Sabah under first phase.

Over three hundred thousand sound big but it just a tip of an iceberg. Before the Ops Bersepadu kick off, millions of those illegal immigrants has slipped out of Sabah temporarily. They will return from their hiding when the authority has left their settlement.

There is no mention of what the authority will do in the next phase of Ops Bersepadu. The authority (if there care to read) could do the following:
* destroy any abandoned shelters of the illegal immigrants so that they do return to the same place.
* re-screen the 312K registered illegal for criminal records. Evicts them immediately if they have any criminal record.
* frequent patrol on known immigrant settlements and watch out for new faces.

Related posts:
* RM50 million for illegals eradication in Sabah
*

From TheStar

Sabah legalises 312,837 illegal immigrants
By MUGUNTAR VANAR

KOTA KINABALU: A total of 312,837 illegal immigrants have been registered as legal workers in Sabah under first phase of Ops Bersepadu as it moves into the second phase to flush out remaining illegal immigrants.

State Secretary Datuk Sukarti Wakiman said Indonesians made up the largest group with 217,367 registering while 95,470 Filipinos registered during the three month programme that allowed them to legalise their stay in Sabah without going back.

During the operations that begun on Aug 7, 192,889 of 312,837 registered as foreign workers while the remaining were their family members, he said.

Under the first phase, the authorities allowed foreign workers to obtain their countries’ passport locally and apply for a work permit with employers sponsoring them. They did not have to go back to their home country.

The response from the employers was good.

The objective of the operations - to document illegal foreign workers and clean up Sabah of illegal immigrants - was showing positive results, he said.

Sukarti, who is director of the integrated operations, said that over 30,000 migrants were checked in 460 areas that included villages, squatters, building sites, plantations and factories between Aug 7 to Nov 5.

Of the 30,000 screened, 2,714 were found to be illegal immigrants without any document or employer.

He said that, during the period, a total of 3,218 illegal immigrants were deported bringing the total to 16,321 up to Nov 5 this year.

Sukarti said under the second phase, the authorities would close in on groups that had evaded the authorities during the first phase of operations.

He said the second phase of the operations would begin in the west coast of the state and checks for illegal immigrants will continue until the problem no longer existed.

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Finance Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, in announcing the RM7 billion stimulus package which he termed as a policy response to the crisis, said the Government was adopting an expansionary policy and extraordinary times require extraordinary measures.

Najib said the additional economic measures announced was “not a new budget” as the development and the operating expenditures remained the same. The extra RM7 billion package is actually pinched from the RM7bil savings from the fuel subsidy which was based on the global oil price of US$70 (RM206) per barrel.

The opposition group Pakatan Rakyat meanwhile stated that none of the budgetary proposals amounting to a RM7 billion injection have been tabled in the House. DAP Adviser Lim Kit Siang added, “Every sen of government allocation must be approved by Parliament. So this RM7bil injection must be approved by Parliament but the amendments were not presented before the House".

Related posts:
* Malaysia 2009 Budget Summary - Good and Bad
* MALAYSIA 2009 BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS: The Poor become poorer

From the Star

RM7bil spending

KUALA LUMPUR: A total of RM7bil will be spent by the Government in its stimulus package to boost the country’s economy in the face of the global financial crisis.

Finance Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, in announcing the package which he termed as a policy response to the crisis, said the Government was adopting an expansionary policy.

The money is to be spent on a wide range of projects, from the LRT to repairing of houses belonging to the poor.

Among the major announcements in Najib’s winding-up reply in Parliament yesterday were:
* Gross Domestic Product (GDP) this year expected to be at least 5% while the GDP for next year is estimated to be 3.5%.
* The inflation rate expected to drop next year to between 3% and 4%, provided crude oil prices continued to fall.
* Contributors allowed to reduce their EPF contribution by three percentage points to 8%, so that they will have more money to spend.
* Civil servant car loans increased by RM10,000.
* Religious, missionary, Chinese and Tamil schools to get RM200mil as aid.
* Open tender system will be practised in the sale of government land and in government procurement.

-------------------------

Najib: Government to adopt open tender system

PETALING JAYA: Open tenders to ensure transparency and value for money as well as to generate more income will be the way forward for the Government.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the Government would ensure that a large portion of government procurement would be via open and restricted tenders.

“Procurement for bumiputra contracts will also be awarded via ‘competitive bidding’ among bumiputra companies,” he added.

--------------------------------
From TheStar

A window of spending opportunity
COMMENT
By P. GUNASEGARAM

In a global downturn, the confidence factor is all-important, so the Government has chosen to spend in its RM7bil stimulus package.

WHAT do you do when you want to spend – but not too much – to keep confidence up and to make up for the restraint in expenditure when people turn cautious?

If you want to be prudent you spend from your savings, otherwise you borrow.

The Government has done it through savings – oil prices have fallen, which means that it does not have to spend as much as it anticipated in subsidies for oil and related products. This can be diverted to other areas without increasing Budget expenditure.

That’s precisely what the Government chose to do in its RM7bil stimulus package announced by Finance Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak in Parliament yesterday.

It’s a smart way to go, but doesn’t government revenue go down when the oil price goes down because we are a net exporter of oil?

Well, if you thought you caught Najib out, no you did not. You see, the national oil corporation, Petronas, pays out dividends to the Government based on the previous year’s earnings.

In 2009, the dividends the Government gets from wholly-owned Petronas will be based on 2008 earnings.

That will be high because for most of 2008, oil prices were at record levels.

But a year further out in 2010, and if oil prices remain at these levels, government revenue from oil would shrink. And what is it going to do then?

Well, it can only hope that by that time the major part of the crisis would be over and that the private sector would have regained some confidence and begun to spend more.

In which case, it may be possible for the Government then to cut back its expenditure.

If confidence still remains low, implying that the world economy has not recovered sufficiently from the problems that it has been through, then it will be a time to tighten the belt, grit the teeth and bear the pain.

What the oil price drop and the still buoyant revenues from Petronas in 2008 have given the Government is a window of opportunity to step up spending in selected areas to have maximum impact on the economy in terms of income and activity generation.

Because that window will close a year down, the Government should and has taken the opportunity to help shore up confidence by taking up some of the slack that may appear in spending. That will help keep growth up for next year.

In a global downturn, the confidence factor is all-important, even if Malaysia is relatively insulated.

The very apprehension of the future can produce bad times when too much caution chokes off economic activity and brings things to a crawl in a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The measures that the Government has undertaken recognises that there is a problem which needs action and soon.

As Najib said in a briefing to editors: “We are not in denial. Otherwise, why would we announce these measures?”

But new ways of doing things have to be examined. The plan to raise revenue by selling government land through tenders must be welcomed.

But the Government should seriously consider adding value by breaking up the parcels and selling smaller pieces to maximise value.

Voluntary cuts in Employees Provident Fund contributions have been tried before.

The three-percentage-point cut proposed is not something we are in favour of because it will reduce the eventual retirement benefits of those who will probably need it the most.

It would have been better to reduce taxes where possible so that consumers can get more bangs for the same buck.

Still, that cut is only for two years and therefore the long-term impact may not be too adverse on retirement savings.

All said, there is little to fault the package and a lot to praise in terms of helping to mitigate the fall-out from a crumbling global economy following the financial meltdown in the US and Europe.

That’s however for the short term. As the conversation with editors drifted to Obama and McCain and how open the US was and how it would recover quickly because it was so open, Najib made an observation.

“Any society which is open tends to do well. The only way Malaysia can move forward is to be more open.”

It would be interesting to see what the Finance Minister and the future Prime Minister will do in the longer term to help secure Malaysia’s place in the future and in the world.

--------------------------------

From The Star

HMs elated by generous allocation for schools

PETALING JAYA: The Government’s RM7bil stimulus package has given all national-type and government-aided schools a reason to cheer.

An allocation of RM200mil will be evenly distributed to SJK(T), SJK(C), religious and mission schools with each school type receiving RM50mil.

When contacted, Education director-general Datuk Alimuddin Mohd Dom said that the move would improve Malaysian education as many schools would benefit.

“The allocation is meant primarily for schools to upgrade their infrastructure and furniture,” he said.

“On top of that, the allocation can also help schools improve their teaching and learning tools.”

His view was shared by the National Union of the Teaching Profession president Hashim Adnan, also the principal of SK Sungai Ramai – a religious school in Air Tawar, Perak.

“It is a good move by the Government as many schools lack proper infrastructure and the allocation will enable these schools to upgrade their old and damaged buildings,” he said.

Meanwhile, principals from various school lauded the move in the interest of fairness.

“It is very fair that all national schools will get the same amount,” said SJK(C) Salak South, Kuala Lumpur, principal Lim Choy Kim.

“My school is in need of upgrades and repairs and the allocation can really help improve learning conditions,” said Lim.

Likewise, SJK(T) Thamboosamy Pillai, Kuala Lumpur, principal Vanaja Seenivasagam said the equal allocation was fantastic and hoped that it would help ease the shortage of classrooms, and pay for the repair of the dilapidated roof and rewiring.

While some already have a wish list, SK Methodist ACS, Seremban, principal Wong Mei Peng was just happy to hear the news.

“This allocation is really what I need,” she said.

“Mission schools have been waiting for a long time for this, and I’m happy with the Government’s move.

“Maybe now I can solve my school’s termite problems once and for all,” she said.

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Barack Obama an African-American has been dully elected the 44th President of USA. American voters expressed excitement and pride in their country after casting their ballots Tuesday in what has proved to be a historic election.

More at Obama inspires historic victory

Malaysia for one should learn from this episode and vote for leaders who are capable not based on their race. We all yearned for the day when a Chinese-Malaysian or Indian-Malaysian or a Dayak leader to be the Prime Minister of Malaysia. That day will be very far in the future, after all Malaysia only have 5 Prime Ministers and there are still 39 Malay PM to go (waiting time of 390 years). So perhaps in year 2398 Malaysia could have a Dayak Prime Minister.

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Maya Soetoro-Ng is Barack Obama’s younger half-sister. Maya is a high school teacher at La Pietra Hawaii School for Girls where she teaches US History, global studies and peace studies. She earned her PhD in Education from the University of Hawaii as well as an MA in Second Language Studies. She also has an MA in English from New York University. Konrad Ng is Maya’s husband. He is an Assistant Professor in the Academy for Creative Media at the University of Hawaii. Konrad earned a PhD in Political Science from the University of Hawaii and a MA in Contemporary Social and Political Thought from the University of Victoria.

Konrad's father Howard Ng was born in Sandakan and married his mother, Joan from Kudat. Howard and Joan then moved to Canada where Konrad Ng was born there. Though Konrad is a Canadian, his parents are Malaysian (or maybe ex-Malaysian).

Related links:
* Konrad Ng's Blog
* Sabahan root Konrad Ng has a link to Barack Obama

Global perspective as observed by Barack Obama"

"If I am the face of American foreign policy and American power, I think that if you can tell people, 'We have a president in the White House who still has a grandmother living in a hut on the shores of Lake Victoria and has a sister who's half-Indonesian, married to a Chinese-Canadian,' then they're going to think that he may have a better sense of what's going on in our lives and in our country. And they'd be right."


Maya Soetoro, sister of presidential candidate Barack Obama, poses with her husband, Konrad Ng of Burlington, Ont., and their daughter Suhaila, 4, after meeting with Obama supporters in Honolulu in May 2007. (Lucy Pemoni/Associated Press)

Our UMNO led Barisan Nasional leaders should understand and adopt Barack Obama's global perspective in dealing with our deteriorating racial harmony in Malaysia.

Howard Ng (father of Konrad Ng) probably has sensed that and have moved to Canada to become a Chinese-Canadian instead of Chinese-Malaysian (or just plain Malaysian)

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