‘Bold’ Ambiga vs ‘disappointing’ Shahrizat

 It is said that adversity brings out the true reflection of a character. How so true, as seen from the diverse reactions to the “walk for democracy” to be held by election watchdog Bersih 2.0.The number of police reports against the July 9 rally are mounting, as are the dissenting voices condemning the walk and the face behind it, that of Ambiga Sreenevasan, who heads Bersih 2.0, a Coalition for Free and Fair Elections.

Liberating the electoral system from the many years of abuse and manipulation is no easy task and this, Ambiga knows fully well.However, for those with hidden agendas, the rally is everything but “welcomed” while the person behind it, Ambiga, formerly president of the Malaysian Bar Council and recipient of the United States’ 2009 Secretary of State’s Award for International Women of Courage Awards, is anything but patriotic.One such condemning voice comes from Shahrizat Jalil, the Women, Family and Community Development Minister who joined Wee Choo Keong (Wangsa Maju MP) in accusing Ambiga of harbouring political ambitions.

Exorbitant prices at Indian eateries

KUALA LUMPUR: Fancy paying RM4.50 for a thosai, RM4 for a glass of iced Milo and warm water or RM4.50 for a plate of instant noodles?The prices quoted above are not the price of food of the future but what is being charged by Indian restaurants in the Klang Valley now.FMT, working on a public complaint on the prices of food at Indian eateries, did its own survey and found that the prices at these restaurants had skyrocketed and were well above the normal rates.

Last week, a businessman, who did not want to be named, complained of an Indian restaurant in Serdang, Selangor, charging exorbitant rates and which prompted FMT to check the average prices of food at Indian eateries.He claimed he was charged RM6.50 for a ghee thosai and hot lime juice by a famous restaurant in Sri Serdang."Normally, I pay about RM3.50 for the same meal in other restaurants... food prices especially at Indian restaurants are not controlled. Rampant charges are imposed by those wanting massive profits," he said.

Police tell public to stay away from KL on July 9

The police have advised the public to stay away from Kuala Lumpur come July 9.

With the city as the backdrop for three separate mega demonstrations, KL acting police chief Amar Singh is anticipating “some traffic”.“I wish to advise the people to just stay away from KL. Just for that day. Go elsewhere.“There will be a lot of jams and traffic,” he said.

However, he refused to confirm or deny that the entire city will be locked down come July 9 in anticipation of the rallies.“Maybe it's rumours, maybe not. I can't exactly tell you what we're doing except to expect heavy traffic,” he told Malaysiakini.

Adding that there will be “some” road closures, he gave an assurance that the police have their plans lined up and that these are all “in progress”.It is speculated that there will be road closures for a 10km radius from the city centre and that there will be police roadblocks beginning the night before.

Koh unveils statue of MGR

TAIPING: The event must have been a welcome relief for Gerakan president Koh Tsu Koon who together with his other BN colleagues have been preoccupied in recent days with spitting vitriol at the July 9 Bersih rally.Koh took a break from his criticism of the July 9 rally when he attended a special ceremony to unveil a bronze statute of the late South Indian matinee idol and ex-chief minister of Tamil Nadu MGR in Taiping on Saturday.Koh, the Unity and Performance Minister in the PM’s Department, recently told organisers of the Bersih rally to resolve election issues through peaceful dialogues and not by taking to the streets.

But that must have been furthest from his mind on Saturday. A big fan of the former Tamil Nadu chief minister, Koh unveiled the 5ft 4 inch tall statue (the height of MGR) weighing about 200 kilos in Taiping.With the unveiling, Taiping has now the distinction of being the third city in the world to have a bronze statue of the late MGR, after India and Sri Lanka.The credit for this goes to 60-year-old R Damodaram who achieved a life-long dream of having MGR's statue at the Ayynar Temple grounds in Ulu Sepatang.

BN, Pakatan reps meet over Tamil schools

KUALA LUMPUR: Several Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat MPs held a historic roundtable conference on the future of Tamil schools.Held in Parliament today, the conference was organised by DAP’s Ipoh Barat MP M Kulasegaran.He said discussions were held to set up a steering committee to chart a blueprint for the future of Tamil schools in the country.Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz, who chaired the conference, promised that the government would not close down or demolish Tamil schools in the future.

“What the Indian community should to do now is engage with all political parties no matter BN or Pakatan, become a united group to raise Tamil school issues,” he said.Present at the conference were Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department SK Devamany, Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Deputy Minister M Saravanan, DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang and Penang Deputy Chief Minister P Ramasamy.Others who attended the conference were MPs M Manoharan (DAP-Teluk Intan), S Manikavasagam (PKR-Kapar), Charles Santiago (DAP-Klang), R Sivarasah (PKR-Subang), Selangor exco Dr Xavier Jeyakumar, Sungkai assemblyman A Sivaneson, Senawang state assemblyman P Guna and Senators Daljit Singh Dalliwal and S Ramakrishnan.

Gov't to spend RM1 mil to reprint Interlok

The Education Ministry today agreed to reprint the controversial Interlok, the novel which was part of the syllabus for Form Five Bahasa Malaysia literature.Deputy Education Minister Dr Mohd Puad Zarkashi said the decision was made following complaints from teachers who had to use stickers to patch the corrections manually on nine pages of the books.The word 'pariah' would be deleted completely from the reprinted version, he said while commenting on an English newspaper report today about the teachers' complaints on the issue.

The cost of reprinting and distribution was about RM1 million and would involve recalling the 390,000 copies distributed to secondary schools in Putrajaya, Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Negeri Sembilan. “We do not want to burden the teachers and also prefer the books to be clean without patch marks," he said.Interlok, a novel by Abdullah Hussain turned controversial for words deemed sensitive to the Indian community.


Source : Bernama

Yen Yen becomes more unpopular over Facebook

Tourism Minister Ng Yen Yen may insist that her Cabinet colleagues had accepted her explanation, but even so, she is getting more and more unpopular following the RM1.8 billion Facebook scandal.An online poll set up a few days ago on Facebook, asking if Ng should step down over the controversy, has already chalked 16,548 'ayes'.Another sign of the writing on the wall is the official Tourism Ministry's Facebook page, which recorded only 38,260 'likes' - far short of her year-end target of 120,000 by year- end.

 By contras, a parody Facebook page named 'Curi-curi Wang Malaysia' registered an overwhelming 110,290 fans in just a few days.Nonetheless, Yen Yen appears to ready to brazen it out. She refuted reports that the Cabinet did not accept her explanation on why and how she could spend so much on 6 Facebook pages.

Skimping on wages for honest labour

It’s no secret that Malaysians love cheap stuff. They will always be drawn to the nearest bargain, whether it’s a set lunch or a few office chairs from IKEA.But the majority will agree that the best things in life don’t come cheap. In fact, they’re often quite pricey.And much of the time, even if they’re reluctant to admit it, most won’t mind paying a little (or a lot) more for quality.The best of cars may clean out your bank account, but you’ll get an exhilarating feeling when driving them down the streets.Even a masterfully grilled steak may burn a hole in your food pocket, but you will enjoy every single mouthwatering chomp.

‘What’s the delay, Muhyiddin?’

KUALA LUMPUR: A non-governmental organisation has urged Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to explain the reason behind the delays in amending the controversial novel Interlok.President of Malaysian Indian Student Association (MISA), G Kishur said that Muhyiddin, who is also Education Minister, must explain why the novel is still being used in schools.A check by MISA confirmed that the un-edited version of the compulsory reading material for Form Five students was still part of the syllabus.

In fact, recently the Gombak district education department used questions from the controversial novel during the mid-term examination."We found that the book is still being used in secondary schools in Selangor and Federal Territories despite the assurance from Muhyiddin that the novel would be removed from schools until amendments are done," he told FMT.Interlok, a Malay novel, was authored by Malaysian national laureate Abdullah Hussain. The novel was made a compulsory reading  material for Malay literature for Form Five students.But the novel was found to contain phrases derogatory to the Malaysian Indian community.

At least 41 websites hacked, no data compromised

At least 41 government websites were hacked into overnight but no personal or financial data were compromised, officials said today, as the South-East Asian nation becomes the latest target of a cyber-war waged by the activists. In the attacks, 51 websites were hit and at least 41 of these sites were disrupted, industry regulator Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission said. The attacks, which began shortly before midnight yesterday, follow a warning by Internet vigilante group Anonymous, which said it would attack the government's official portal to punish it for censoring WikiLeaks, the website that aims to expose governments and corporations by leaking secret documents.

‘Form commission to oversee scholarships’

KUALA LUMPUR: Over 200 non-governmental organisations (NGO) have urged the government to set up a special commission to handle scholarships.Speaking on behalf of the NGOs, National Anti-Interlok Team (NIAT) council member A Rajaretnam said the government must form an independent commission to examine the scholarship issue.Over the years, the Public Service Department (PSD) scholarships have courted controversy due to top-scoring non-Malay students being overlooked.

Despite the government trying to find a solution by awarding 500 additional 1Malaysia Development Board (1MDB) scholarships, the issue is still far from being resolved.Rajaretnam said that every year thousands of scholarships are given by PSD, foreign countries, government-linked companies and corporate entities.
"As far I know, there are about 20,000 scholarships every year, but nobody knows where these scholarships have gone,” he added.

Use ‘Interlok’ as model for history textbooks, says historian

PETALING JAYA, June 8 — The controversial “Interlok” novel should be used as a model for history textbooks as it’s is quite “inclusive” in its narrative and depiction of non-Malays, a historian has suggested. Professor Anthony Milner, currently with the International Studies department of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), said that despite complaints against the Malay novel, he felt that the author of the book national laureate Datuk Abdullah Hussain attempted to provide an idea of the lives of the Chinese and Indian community and their relationship with the Malay community.

“I only had a chance to read ‘Interlok’ in English, so I would not know if the Malay version of it gave it a different meaning... (but) the actual story was wonderfully inclusive compared to the history curriculum.“The novel was sympathetic towards Malays, Chinese and Indians, in fact the novel was only unsympathetic towards the British,” he said during a forum organised by the Kairos Research Group here last night.

Of human bondage

No man can put a chain about the ankle of his fellow man without at last finding the other end fastened about his own neck. - Frederick Douglass

NEW An estate in Hulu Selangor is caught in a time warp: it has not moved beyond the 19th century and life there is an unremitting cycle of misery, poverty, despair. The estate folk lived and worked like slaves for a company whose master is known for his fabulous wealth. The children's future is indeed bleak. They are malnourished and sick and have no or little hope of ever getting a decent education. While normal children elsewhere laugh and play games and enjoy their innocent childhood, the same children of God in the estate live their days in pain and despondency. The little ones and their equally famished parents have nowhere to go for help because the people who lord over them made sure the outside world does not have any inkling of the deplorable condition that exists behind the green cover. But the tycoon and all his minions have forgotten that this is the 21st century and there is no way slavery can escape the scrutiny of the ever vigilant online press.

DBKL ‘vandals’ damage estate property

PETALING JAYA: The residents of Bukit Jalil estate claimed another “official vandalism” took place yesterday when nearly 30 Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) officers tore their banners. It all took place in the presence of nearly 20 police officers.The estate action committee treasurer K Balakrishnan said that DBKL officers arrived at the estate at about 10am and started tearing down their banners placed at the estate entrance.“When I enquired one of officers, known as Abdullah, he told me that he was instructed by the minister to do so,” said Balakrishnan. The estate comes under the jurisdiction of the Federal Territories and Urban Well-Being Ministry.

The Indian vote and where will it go in GE-13

Written by P Dinesh, Malaysia Chronicle


The Indian Vote, for decades, has belonged to the MIC. Not to be mistaken with the urban Indian vote, of course, which would not touch the MIC with a ten foot pole.The urban Indian voter has little respect for the MIC and generally considers them to be a collection of bandits out for themselves. There is also peer pressure. Announce to your friends that you have joined the MIC, and you will be greeted with disbelief, derision and laughter. You will also become the butt of joke everytime that politics comes up during your teh-tarik session. And nowadays, politics is always part of the discussion. Where Samy Velu was feared by his MIC syncophants and some of the poor, he was treated as a clown by the urban Indian voter. Palanivel fares no better, he has been dismissed as a silent fool.

The MIC knows it; they waste no time on the urban Indian voter. They are, in any event, a minority. The MIC focuses on the estates and the rural poor. There they have the upper hand. The less educated Indian voters, with no access to information, and who live from hand-to-mouth are the MIC’s target. They are easier to convince, to frighten and too often, to outright buy during elections. And so the MIC survived, delivering the Indian vote to Barisan at every election, and reaping the benefits, mostly for themselves.

TNB chiefs see surge in salary

PETALING JAYA: Wages have increased dramatically for national power company Tenaga Nasional Bhd's (TNB) bosses, according to its 2010 Annual Report.By August 2010, its executive director Che Khalib Mohamad Noh received an annual basic salary of RM1.2 million, double the amount he was given in 2009.
Throw in EPF contributions, a RM302,500 bonus and other allowances, his 2010 wage would come to RM1,806,664.The report said: "During financial year 2009/2010, Che Khalib also received RM400,000 and RM600,000 in respect of arrears for new salary and special ex-gratia, approved by MoF (the Ministry of Finance) and TNB's board of directors."

TNB's second executive director Azwan Mohd, who was appointed on April 15, 2010, received a total remuneration of RM755,320.22, including a basic salary of RM457,440.The power company also saw slight wage increases for many of its non-executive directors.Former Sarawakian politican Leo Moggie received RM313,791.15 in 2010 compared with his 2009 wage of RM299,190.20.His colleague, Mohammad Zainal Shaari, took home RM134,056.95 this year compared with RM127,797.85 in 2009.Other non-executive directors, including Puteh Rukiah Abd Majid and Hari Narayanan Govindasamy, saw smaller wages in 2010.

Borrowings and liabilities

As a whole, the power company also enjoyed much larger revenues and a steady operating profit, according to a five-year group financial summary.In 2010, TNB Group gained RM30,320.1 million in revenue; nearly RM10 billion more than the 2006 numbers, and RM1.5 billion more than it got in 2009.It also received RM4,182.7 million in operating profits, second only to 2007's RM5,542.7 million.TNB Group also saw RM4,022.1 million in profit before taxation and zakat, more than double that of 2009 (RM1,543.1 million).

Its 2010 net profit attributable to company equity holders were also three times (RM3,201.9 million) higher than that of 2009 figures (RM917.9 million).TNB Group's total assets in 2010 increased to RM74,081.1 million, with a decrease (compared with 2009) of total borrowings and liabilities of RM21,263.6 million and RM45,266.6 million respectively.

 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 







Source  : http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/2011/06/02/tnb-chiefs-see-surge-in-salary/