Just shortly after the passing of Batang Ai state assemblyman Datuk Dublin Unting, the Internet rumour mills have been on overdrive churning out combo lists of potential candidates for the Batang Ai by-election (expected to be held within these 60 days).
For the BN, two names have surfaced even before the death of Dublin. The two potential candidates from BN coalition are Nelson Mujah and Nelson Naga Alam. Nelson Mujah, Lubok Antu district officer is the brother of the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Douglas Uggah Embas. Nelson Naga Alam is the private secretary to the late Dublin Unting. Nelson is a local, while Mujah is from Balingian.
For the PKR side, the likely candidate is Nicholas Bawin, a veteran politician in Batang Ai. In the last election, despite his handicap such as the lack of money and logistical support, Bawin on a SNAP ticket did quite well securing 2,489 votes as against Unting’s 3,298 votes, a majority of 806 votes.
Bookmark this page for future updates.
UPDATES:
* Mar 04, 2009 - Batang Ai by-election on April 7 simultaneous with Bukit Gantang and Bukit Selambau
For more news, check out Broken Shield - Batang Ai by-election: more than a litmus test of support.
Checking for the latest news on slow Streamyx Internet connection? No news is good news? It's the opposite for Streamyx subscribers. No news meant no progress. Same old story. Streamyx still suck. Screamyx is driving me crazy lately!!
Connectivity for ping sensitive things like online gaming, streaming, ventrilo, etc. will suffer. Websites taking forever to load. Downloads were not possible.
Restoration time not known eventhough TM has announced that their restoration has been completed in Jan 2009! Insiders from TM suggested it is not. The connection restoration to normal bandwidth will "probably" be completed by end of this month.
In the meantime, forget about logging to Facebook, uploading photos to your Flickr gallery. Forget about Torrent, BitComet, LimeWire, YouTube Downloader for a while.
I for one, is really tempted to ask Steamyx, please roll over and die asap.
In doubt or just plain curious on the religion of Idris Jala, the Managing Director of Malaysia Airlines? You come to the correct page. I post this page since MalaysiaDigest got a lot of queries on Datuk Idris Jala religion.
Idris Jala was born in 1958 as a member of the Kelabit tribe from the Bario highlands in Sarawak, Malaysia. His name sounds like a Malay name but Idris Jala is not a Malay. He is a Christian. Yes, a man with a Malay name is a Christian. Surprise ? Not in Sabah or Sarawak, whereby the native with their first name in English is a Christian but a native with his or her first name in Malay is not necessary a Muslim.
Could the global economic meltdown unravel the remarkable recovery achieved by Malaysia Airlines (MAS) over the past three years?
It is a question which could be answered on Thursday when the airline unveils its full-year results for 2008. The results could also be a verdict on managing director Idris Jala’s efforts to put it on a stronger footing through drastic measures over the last three years.
The airline posted a profit of RM198 million during the first nine months of last year.
But with travel demand collapsing in the October- December period, analysts forecast full-year earnings at only between RM190 million and RM210 million – implying almost zero bottomline growth during Q4 FY08.
This is far short of the airline’s own profit target range, made last year, of RM400 million to RM1 billion.
Still, the fact that MAS will remain in the black at all this year is vindication of Mr Idris’s efforts to boost yield, cut inefficient routes, raise productivity and bring costs under control – goals he outlined in his now-famous Business Turnaround Plan (BTP) in 2006.
Related posts:
* Who is Idris Jala
* For those in the doubt, check out Idris Jala's religion
More news at MalaysianInsider - Moment of truth for MAS
The government is quite good in playing some ploy to deceive the rakyat (that's us). I'm short of calling the government as a con artist. Anyway, government ministers are also quite good in giving excuses, reasons and in-direct information.
From the snippet below, according to Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat, if RM51 airport tax is collected from an international flight, RM5 is allocated to ERL (owned by YTL Corporation). That's roughly about 10% share. The airport tax is meant for the government who is the servant to the rakyat.
Ong Tee Keat also revealed that in 2008, RM292 million airport taxes were collected from KLIA (he didn't says how much were collected from foreigners). Based on the 10% allocated given to ERL, that would amount to about RM29.2 million. RM29.2 million given for free YTL. Of course, Ong Tee Keat has reminded us that it is the "concession" money.
Wonder how much YTL refunded back to their kaki in the government. Only in Malaysia.
From MalaysianInsider
Fly or ride, or neither, taxpayers still pay ERL
By Shannon Teoh
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 24 – Malaysians have been subsidising the Express Rail Link (ERL) service since last April, it was revealed in Parliament today
Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat said that YTL Corporation’s ERL Sdn Bhd, the operator of the high-speed rail service from here to the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, had been indirectly subsidised since last April because the company is unable to cover costs due to poor sales.
Answering a question from PKR’s Azmin Ali, the minister said that under a concession agreement for the rail service, Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB), the operator of KLIA, is required to pay ERL a portion of service charges it levies on all passengers.
But since April 1 last year, the finance ministry has been reimbursing MAHB for the money it pays ERL.
Ong said this arrangement was a result of a restructuring exercise in MAHB under a “marginal cost support scheme.”
He did not, however, reveal how much has been paid indirectly to ERL under the scheme.
Ong told Parliament that ERL was not being given any allocation from airport taxes, but under the concession agreement, an allocation from passenger service charges levied by MAHB was due to ERL since 2002.
“For example, if RM51 is collected from an international flight, RM5 is allocated to ERL,” he said.
Later, he told reporters that the Finance Ministry has been reimbursing this amount to MAHB since April 2008 but insisted that “ERL gets no monetary support from the government.”
However, the fact that the government-linked company is reimbursed for whatever it pays ERL by the government, effectively makes it an indirect subsidy.
Ong justified the allocation to ERL by pointing out that there had been a massive capital outlay to operate the rail line but that ticket sales “cannot cover the cost of the outlay and maintenance.”
He added that the allocation was agreed upon based on projected traffic before the ERL had begun operations.
“With the inception of the low-cost carrier terminal two years ago, (ERL) takings have further deteriorated,” he said.
Ong also revealed that the government has collected RM1.86 billion in airport taxes since 2004.
In 2008, RM446.4 million was collected, with RM292 million from KLIA.
All is not well in the MCA as the party’s top two leaders look set to go toe-to-toe in a battle which is likely to have an adverse impact on the greater Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition.
An online news portal claimed that supporters of the deputy president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek are planning to call for an extraordinary general meeting to remove party president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat.
Ong’s backers are also planning to have Dr Chua hauled up before the party’s disciplinary committee to have him suspended for up to two years for “tarnishing the MCA’s image.” This is apparent when Ong said that the party won’t back illegal act.
More story from MalaysianInsider - First shots fired in MCA civil war and Tee Keat says party won’t back illegal act
PUTRAJAYA, Feb 24 – There has to be a by-election for the Sarawak state assembly seat of Batang Ai following the death of long-serving assemblyman Datuk Dublin Unting today.
Election Commission (EC) chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof said the Sarawak state assembly was only over two years old and, according to the state constitution, the assembly’s term ends in July 2011.
“Which means there are more than two years to go. So a by-election is necessary,” he told Bernama here.
Abdul Aziz said this when asked to comment about the death of Dublin, 53 (** some media reported that he was 56), the vice-president of Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) at the Normah Medical Centre in Kuching at 1.25am today due to a stroke suffered in May last year that left him in a coma. Ingkot suffered a stroke following a radio interview.He leaves behind widow Datin Froline Moriah Dimies Impoi and three children.
He was also state minister for sports and agriculture as well as the assistant minister for Agriculture (Research and Coordination), retained the seat after beating challenger Nicholas Bawin from the Sarawak National Party (SNAP) in the May, 2006 state election.
In KUCHING, state legislative assembly speaker Abang Othman Abang Fata said the EC would be formally notified of the vacancy of the Batang Ai state seat by today.
“We are awaiting the death certificate from the National Registration Department so that we can inform the EC,” he told Bernama here today.
The Sarawak state election was last held on May 20 2006 and the Sarawak BN won 62 seats of the 71 seats contested while nine seats fell to the opposition, six to the DAP and two to Parti Keadilan Rakyat. One seat was won by an independent candidate.
Sarawak BN comprises Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP), Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) and Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP). – Bernama
Here a summary of the Maju Institute of Educational Development (MIED) scandal over alleged mismanagement of fund.
* MIED is an education arm of MIC.
* Samy Vellu is the MIED chairman.
* MIED chief executive officer P. Chitrakala Vasu to go on leave.
* Missing amount totaled to RM5.265mil at MIED.
* Mismanagement of awarding of construction contracts for AIMST.
* Tan Sri M. Mahalingam, a signatory of MIED cheques, was removed as MIC treasurer-general last December.
From TheStar
A MIED top official linked to funds mismanagement
By FLORENCE A. SAMY
PETALING JAYA: The Maju Institute of Educational Development controversy has taken another twist with the MIC president pointing fingers at a top MIED personnel for the alleged mismanagement of funds amounting to millions of ringgit.
Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu claimed that they had identified the person as the one allegedly responsible for the missing RM5.26mil He also hinted that more discrepancies would be revealed.
“The police are investigating the case. MIED has made a report to the police over two people. The first stage of the missing amount is RM5.265mil.
“We investigated and identified that the money was taken under different disguise and put into someone else’s account. We have to report this to the police.
“We cannot keep quiet and allow things to happen. We are still investigating and there are more and more coming,” he told reporters on Sunday at the MIC-owned MIED’s UPSR excellent achievement awards ceremony here yesterday. MIED is MIC’s education arm.
Controversy had plagued MIED over the alleged mismanagement.
On Saturday, it was reported that the Commercial Crimes Investigation Department was investigating two senior MIED executives for alleged criminal breach of trust.
Samy Vellu said Sunday that many had an incorrect perception that MIED was being investigated.
“MIED is not being investigated. We have reported to the police and have asked them to investigate,” he added.
On being queried by the police recently, Samy Vellu said the police came to see him given his capacity as the MIED chairman.
“Naturally, police came to see me as I am the head of MIED.
They wanted to find out what had happened - who is the chief executive officer, how did we employ her, what are her responsibilities - all this I have to answer,” he added.
Samy Vellu also chided the media for reporting that the construction cost of party-owned Asian Institute of Medicine, Science and Technology (AIMST) had ballooned, which he said was untrue.
He explained that there were four stages of construction, with the first stage costing RM235mil. The cost at the final stage, he said, stood at RM485mil. AIMST university, which is in Kedah, was officially opened last year. MIED runs AIMST through MIED Capital Sdn Bhd.
A furious Samy Vellu challenged the media to look into their account books, stating that “every cent is accounted for.”
“There is a project manager and a quantity surveyor to oversee the thing. We do not call for tender; the quantity surveyor calls for tender.
“The newspapers should have more responsibility. They should ask us,” he said, adding that they were planning to take legal action against a news agency which first stated that the cost had ballooned.
Samy Vellu said that it was impossible to build a university for RM265mil as “even the government university cost’s RM1bil.”
When the controversy broke out, Samy Vellu had asked MIED chief executive officer P. Chitrakala Vasu to go on leave. He also issued her with several show-cause letters which she had replied to.
Last week, a former MIC member lodged a police report with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, alleging that he had evidence of alleged mismanagement in the awarding of construction contracts for AIMST.
Last month, MIC vice-president and MIED director Datuk Seri S. Sothinathan had lodged police reports over missing MIED files.
Last December, Tan Sri M. Mahalingam, a signatory of MIED cheques, was removed as MIC treasurer-general by Samy Vellu who said the move was part of an MIC rebranding exercise.
