No need for MACC chief to resign, says Nazri

Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Abu Kassim Mohamed (photo) needed not resign from his post although pressured by some quarters to do so, said Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohamed Nazri Aziz."We did not expect the incident to happen and it was not the MACC's wish for it to happen. So, I do not agree with calls for Abu Kassim to resign as it will not solve the problem," he told reporters at the Parliament lobby today.

Samy Vellu: Chithirakala drafted supporting letter to Najib

KUALA LUMPUR: Former Maju Institute of Educational Development (MIED) chief executive officer P Chithirakala drafted a supporting letter to then Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Najib Tun Razak over an application for the National Service Camp project, the Sessions Court here was told today. Former MIC president S Samy Vellu said the letter, dated July 28, 2006, was signed by him on a works ministry letter-head, based on trust on Chithirakala after she had convinced him that Silver Line Services Sdn Bhd was 100% Indian-owned company and the community could benefit from it.

"I signed the supporting letter for the purpose of the Indian community and not for the benefit of Chithirakala's family," he said when cross-examined by defence counsel Salehuddin Saidin.Nevertheless, Samy Vellu agreed with Salehuddin's contention that he, as a senior minister then, should have been more careful in knowing the contents of the letter since it involved the ministry's official letter-head.

Customs officer falls to his death at MACC office

KUALA LUMPUR: A Customs officer fell to his death from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) office in Jalan Cochrane here today.The deceased was identified as Selangor Customs Department assistant director, Ahmad Sarbani Mohamed, 56.He was among 62 officers arrested in a joint operation in Penang, Johor, Selangor and Pahang by a special task force comprising MACC, the Inland Revenue Board, the Customs Department and Bank Negara.

Speaking at a press conference here, MACC director of investigations Mustafar Ali said the deceased came to the commission's office at about 8am to meet the case's investigating officer."He was one of the Customs officers arrested during the raid on April 1 at Port Klang. He was released the day after at 12.30pm after posting bail," he said.Upon arriving at the office, Sarbani was unable to meet the investigating officer as the latter was in a meeting.The deceased then waited at the lobby until 9.30am and was later escorted by another officer who brought him to his office.

Interlok: MIC man accepts debate dare

KLANG : Combative MIC leader KP Samy today accepted a DAP challenge to an open debate on Interlok and offered to fund the session.However, he said the challenger, Sungkai assemblyman A Sivanesan, must bring along a statement from the Pakatan Rakyat leadership calling for the banning of the controversial novel.Samy, a former member of the MIC Central Working Committee, claims to be the first man to have sent a letter to the Prime Minister protesting against the use of the novel in schools.

Interlok protest: DAP MP, PKR man arrested

KUALA LUMPUR: The police today arrested Teluk Intan MP M Manogaran and PKR division leader MS Arjunan for protesting against the controversial Interlok novel at the Batu Caves Hindu temple.They were taken to the Gombak police district headquarters for questioning and were released at 3.30pm after their statements had been recorded.Manogaran, a DAP first-time parliamentarian, and Arjunan, who is also the president of the Malaysian Tamil Students Progressive Associations (MATSAP), arrived at the Batu Caves temple this morning with a small group of supporters to demonstrate against the novel.

They were protesting against the government's decision to retain Interlok as compulsory reading for Form Five students taking Malay literature.The anger over the novel has been simmering for months now after it was discovered that the school edition novel contained words which disparaged the Indian community.

Indian voters: PKR shoos, Najib woos

KUALA LUMPUR: Pakatan Rakyat is losing support among the Indian community and this is because of PKR, said the party's former deputy secretary-general PS Jenapala.“There is no need for an analysis (on this matter), it's clear that Pakatan is losing Indian support because of PKR,” he told FMT.Jenapala, who now heads the Indian Justice Party, pointed out that in by-elections held in Hulu Selangor (Selangor), Bagan Pinang (Negeri Sembilan), Tenang (Johor) and Merlimau (Malacca), Indian votes played a big role in securing victory for Barisan Nasional.

According to him, the main reason why PKR had lost Indian support was because the party refused to take care of the plight of the community."People are fed-up with PKR. Internal problems, grassroots leaders being neglected, not recognising the Human Rights Party and party leaders jumping ship. The people have grown tired of PKR,” he said.

Muhyiddin says government will not revisit ‘Interlok’

PAGOH, March 31 — Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said today the federal government will not bow to fresh demands from Chinese groups to remove the controversial “Interlok” novel from the school syllabus.The deputy prime minister said that as far as the government was concerned the issue had been resolved.He also described groups raising the issue again as irresponsible.

Fresh trouble is brewing over the use of “Interlok” in schools, with Chinese groups yesterday condemning the novel’s depiction of Chinese characters as greedy, opium-smoking lechers keen to exploit Malays for profit.Having weathered a storm of controversy from the Indian community over the novel’s use of the word “pariah”, the Education Ministry now faces Chinese calls to drop the “racist” book from the Form Five Bahasa Malaysia syllabus.