Two die as M’sia retains football gold

JAKARTA: Two fans died in a stampede at the Southeast Asian Games football final in Jakarta, a report said on Tuesday, overshadowing a win on penalties for defending champions Malaysia against hosts Indonesia.The two men, wearing Indonesian red-and-white football team T-shirts were taken to hospital at 8:30 pm, around 90 minutes after the stampede broke out, according to a report by the Detik.com news portal, which cited a paramedic.

Local media reported that several other spectators had been taken to hospital, including a nine-year-old boy who had fallen into a coma, as tens of thousands of fans swarmed to the Gelora Bung Karno stadium for Monday night’s final.Hundreds of people were packed tight against ticket barriers as police closed the gates shortly before kick-off, with many fans inside forced to crouch in aisles and walkways, according to an AFP reporter at the scene.

RM70k rental for cattle condo ‘unbelievable’, say property gurus

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 18 — The reported RM70,000 in monthly rental for not one but two condominiums owned by the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) has property consultants and real estate agents shaking their heads in disbelief. The experts say that the highest rental that can be expected for even the penthouse at Bangsar’s One Menerung condominium is about RM24,000 per month.

They also point out that even if the tenants were renting the biggest condominium unit at One Menerung, which is between 6,000-7,000 square feet, the tenants would be paying least RM10 per sq ft, which is double or more the rate at KLCC’s Binjai On The Park, currently KL’s most expensive condominium address.The NFC also said yesterday that the rental yield for the two condominiums had hit 12.9 per cent, which is far in excess of the industry benchmark of three per cent or less.

“Who is the tenant?” asked one veteran property consultant. “It is unbelievable. To get RM70,000 for a condominium is unheard of. Usually when renters pay more than RM15,000 they expect to get a whole luxury bungalow.”He pointed out that multinationals were very unlikely to have such a huge budget for rent and wealthy Arab businessmen would prefer to buy their own place rather than rent.Real estate agents for One Menerung contacted by The Malaysian Insider said that it was “not possible” to get RM70,000 in monthly rent and that it would be difficult to find anyone willing to pay even RM4 a sq ft.

MIC faces ‘cremation’ in Port Dickson

PORT DICKSON: The two “forgotten” crematorium projects in Negri Sembilan, which received government aid of RM270,000 in the 1990s, is set to haunt MIC, which is aiming for a comeback here in the 13th general election.Apparently the crematoriums never got past the “artist's impression” stage and the money is still unaccounted for.Just over two decades ago, one of the choice locations between Port Dickson and Lukut was home to the district's sole Hindu and Sikh crematoriums.

Then the state government divided the 10-acre plot of land along Jalan Seremban and separately allocated portions to the Hindu, Sikh, Catholic and Baha'i communities.The Hindus and Sikhs received 55 percent of the land to build a crematorium each while the Catholics and Baha'i were given 30 percent and 15 percent respectively for their burial sites.But the land turned out to be too swampy for a burial ground hence only the two crematoriums were eventually built there.

'Banks deterring Indians from buying into unit trusts'

Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department SK Devamany has hit out at banks that have put putting obstacles in the way of Indian Malaysians who want to buy into the ASM and AS1M unit trust schemes.He said the banks have told these customers that they had run out of units whenever inquiries have been made.

“This is because they fear losing fixed deposits (placed by customers). I have told off the bank managers, asking them why this is so, and informed Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB),” Devamany said during Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat today.He said the Indian Malaysians affected had wanted to withdraw their fixed deposits to buy the special allotment for Indians in the unit trust schemes.

Devamany lamented that Indians are at the losing end, as fixed deposit accounts only pay about 2.5 percent interest, while some unit trust schemes may bring in about 6.5 percent in dividend.
Met later, he reiterated that the PNB must monitor the situation to prevent this from happening as banks play an important role in ensuring that allocations for the Indian community are successfully distributed.

Istana Negara closes with pomp and pageantry

KUALA LUMPUR: After serving for 54 years, Istana Negara at Jalan Istana here, which is the official residence of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, today ended its function officially with pomp and pageantry.
The ceremony beginning at 9am, witnessed the marching in of the First Battalion of the Royal Malay Regiment (RAMD) comprising two officers and 58 men of various ranks accompanied by the RAMD central band.The ceremony continued with a team of flag-bearers comprising 10 members of the RAMD who lowered the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s private flag as the last post was being played to signify the shifting of Istana Negara at Jalan Istana to the Istana Negara in Jalan Duta.

Later, the ceremony continued with the procession of the flag-bearers with the ceremonial horse squadron to the palace main entrance to present the flag to Istana Negara Grand Chamberlain Tengku Farok Husin Tengku Abdul Jalil who represented Istana Negara in signifying the palace’s completion of duty.
The flag was presented by acting RAMD First Battalion Officer in Command Major Mohd Kadri Abu Bakar.As a symbolic closure of the monumental building with its golden dome, the Grand Chamberlain later directed Istana Negara officer Rosli Asri to lock the main entrance of the palace signifying all duties at Istana Negara had been completed before moving to the Istana Negara at Jalan Duta for another flag-raising ceremony.

Najib’s pledge on Indians too little, too late

Joe Fernandez

COMMENT

Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak belabours under a misconception that the makkal sakthi – people power – wave unleashed by Hindraf Makkal Sakthi in the political tsunami of March 2008 has petered out.As a result, he has erroneously concluded that Indian voters are abandoning the opposition alliance in droves and flocking back to the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) led by Umno.Hence, his public pledge in recent days at a Deepavali function in Kuala Lumpur that BN will not ignore the Indian community and indeed cannot afford to do so.He furthered contended that the BN, unlike the opposition Pakatan Rakyat, will not take Indians for granted.He did not say that “the BN will no longer continue to take Indians for granted”.
There’s a world of difference between the two statements.

The former would mean that the BN has never taken the Indians for granted. The latter would concede that BN has indeed been taking Indians for granted, but more like taking them for a ride. Is there even a hint of an apology from Najib here somewhere?This – taking for granted – is rich with meaning coming from Najib who presides over an apartheid-like state and a caste system rolled into one.He forgets that it’s the very same BN, and its predecessor the Alliance in another incarnation, which has ridden rough-shed over the Indian community for the better part of half a century and more.Why would the Indian community now suddenly accept that BN is a leopard that can indeed change its spots?If Indians have a quarrel with Pakatan, they have even more to beef about with BN, Umno in particular.

‘I like Najib, but I don’t like BN’

KLANG, Nov 11 — Support for Datuk Seri Najib Razak among the Indian community here was palpable at a national Deepavali party last night, but the adoration may not translate to the votes he needs to wrest the state back for Barisan Nasional (BN).Yesterday, thousands thronged to a Deepavali open house at SMK Kampung Jawa here. Many came hoping to catch a glimpse of the country’s top leader.“I’m here to see Najib,” 30-year-old M. Sumathi told The Malaysian Insider. “I took a day off for this event. I spent the whole day getting ready to see him.”Like Sumathi, many arrived in support of the prime minister who, in recent months, has engaged with the people through a series of events and activities. These have garnered him both admiration and support, plus the label “cool”.But more extensive interaction with the visitors exposed an undercurrent of discontent with the BN federal government.

“I like Najib, but I don’t like BN.”

With that, self-employed L. Perichiappan summed up what could be a potential indicator of the upcoming general election, at least among the community here.

 
“Najib is a nice man. He wants to bring about changes for the country. But when it comes to implementation, it does not come down to the public,” Perichiappan, or Pere as he prefers, said.

“His policies are good for the community and country, but the people under him fail to implement it properly... Only them and their cronies are doing well, the rest are suffering,” he explained.“Najib is sincere. He is trying his best. But his own people are stabbing him in the back.”Shan (sole name given), a caretaker born and raised in Klang, agreed that the flawed implementation of policies was to blame for the lack of faith in BN.

“The 1 Malaysia concept by Najib promotes racial unity, so why is it the Indians and Chinese cannot get equal opportunities like the Bumiputeras?” she asked, pointing out the community’s blanket discount for property purchases as one particular bugbear.“It is also very hard for the Indians and Chinese to get a PTPTN (National Higher Education Fund) loan because of the Bumiputera quota. Why is there such a thing? Better give the loan to people who deserve it than to just fill the quota,” Shan said.

“Najib made promises, but he has failed to keep them,” she added.When asked of the present situation in Selangor under Pakatan Rakyat, Pere said the current state government has done more for the people in the past three years as compared to 50 years under BN.“Pakatan show results. They have given land for schools, temples, churches, and do not discriminate against races. Even the (state) Budget yesterday is better compared to Najib’s,” he said, referring to Selangor’s Budget 2012 as announced by Menteri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim on Wednesday.

“It is high time BN gives the opposition a chance to rule. Najib wants to do good, but the damage is already done. Now it’s too late.”During his address to the open house visitors, Najib said the government has never taken lightly the plight of Indians in the country and will “never take Indians for granted”.
“The government has a special committee to look into problems faced by Indians... I see no reason for the Indian community to not support the government,” he said.


Source : http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/i-like-najib-but-i-dont-like-bn/