:: Mr. Brightside ::

Aminurasyid Amzah case: Witness who was in car reveals all

2010-05-03T16:39:00.009+08:00

This is the latest information revealed by Azamuddin Omar, friend of the late Aminulrasyid Amzah who was also in the car driven by the deceased and now become primary witness to the tragic incident. He revealed in a press conference that Aminulrasyid did not try to ram the police as claimed.

In the meantime, Karpal Singh has been appointed by the family of the late Aminulrasyid Amzah as their legal counsel pertaining to this case.

Both news report by Malaysiakini as below.

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Witness: Aminulrasyid didn't ram car into police

May 3, 10 3:31pm

The passenger who was with 14-year-old Aminulrasyid Amzah when he was shot dead by police last week, has cast doubts over a police allegation that the latter had had tried to ram the car into police personnel.

"When he was shot, his body fell on my lap, but his foot was still on the accelerator. So the car continued moving and the police kept on firing shots," he told a press conference at Aminulrasyid's family home in Shah Alam this afternoon.

Recounting the incident, Azamuddin Omar (centre in pix), 15, said the Proton Iswara eventually crashed into a wall, after which the police continued shooting.

This was his first public statement on the incident.

Azamuddin, who sustained injuries on his arm and back, said more than five police officers assaulted him after he got out of the car to surrender.

The Form Three student, who appeared still shaken, is undergoing treatment for trauma.

Asked why Aminul had not stopped the car, Azamuddin said: "He was scared and said he wanted to go home.

"He said that we were in his sister's car and that he wanted to return it to his house."

The car crashed about 200m away from Aminulrasyid's home in Shah Alam in the early hours of April 26.

'Stop speculating'

Kamaruddin Hassan, who is Aminulrasyid's uncle, reiterated that the family does not want an inquest into the teenager's death, as proposed by the Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan.

"What we want is a royal commission of inquiry because that is the only way we can get a transparent and fair investigation," he said.

The family's lawyer N Surendren (right) also said there is no need for an inquest because there is no dispute about how the boy died.

Kamaruddin hit out at police chief Musa Hassan for saying that he would pull his men off the streets if the people do not want them to enforce the law.

"We respect the police, but there might be some rotten fruits in the bunch," he said.

The family also appealed to everyone to stop speculating and making statements which could hurt the feelings of Aminulrasyid's mother.

Among the hurtful statements, he said, was the accusation that the two boys are criminals, and that the family should be blamed for Aminulrasyid being out late at night.

"There is talk that his sister may be charged because her car was used. This would be a case of shooting the brother and summoning the sister," he said of police action.

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Karpal to act for Aminulrasyid's mum

Christine Chan
May 3, 10
3:29pm

DAP chairperson and senior lawyer Karpal Singh will accompany the family of Aminulrasyid Amzah tomorrow to the spot where the teenager was killed in a police shooting on April 26.

"The first thing would be to look at the crime scene," he told a press conference today to announce his appointment as the lawyer for the family.

Karpal said he was engaged yesterday by Norsiah Mohamad (right in photo), the mother of the 14-year-old, and showed reporters a signed document to back his assertion.

"I have been engaged to act on behalf of Aminulrasyid's mother in all matters arising out of the death of her son, including initiation of legal proceedings - both civil and criminal - against the police and the government," he said.

Karpal echoed the family's view that there is no need to conduct an inquest into the teenager's death, since the incident “has been classified as murder”.

He called for the immediate disbanding of the panel headed by the Deputy Home Minister Abu Seman Yusof, to identify what transpired during the fatal shooting.

While agreeing that the police personnel concerned are entitled to a fair investigation, Karpal (right) noted the possibility of conflict of interest arising if the investigators are colleagues of those allegedly involved.

The investigation must be open, impartial and transparent, said the lawyer, as he suggested that police officers from Sabah or Sarawak be brought in to handle the investigations.

He urged the media not to criticise Aminulrasyid's family or to brand the Form Tree student as a criminal.

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Source and credits: Malaysiakini

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Is GST inevitable in Malaysia?

2010-05-01T14:02:00.004+08:00

As we are celebrating International Worker's Day today, some of us took part in peaceful demonstration to protest against implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) today at Dataran Merdeka. While the protest is going on, the National Economic Advisory Council (NEAC) is mulling over how best to go about it.

Read the full story as reported by Malaysiakini below

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NEAC proposes measures to cushion GST blow

Aidila Razak
May 1, 10
1:01pm

While protestors gather in Kuala Lumpur to oppose to the goods and service tax (GST) today, the National Economic Advisory Council (NEAC) is mulling over how best to go about it.

According to council member and London School of Economics (LSE) professor Danny Quah, the council is proposing a reduction in corporate and income tax to soften the blow of the GST.

"We are proposing to drop one percent of corporate and income tax every year for the next three to five years, while at the same time implementing a broad-based tax like the GST," he said.

In addition to that move, he said, the needs of roughly 80 percent of Malaysian workers who do not earn enough to pay income tax will be catered for through rebates.

Speaking to reporters after addressing the LSE alumni in Kuala Lumpur last night, Quah said that this is among the tax reform measures considered for the final version of the New Economic Model (NEM) due in June.

A broad overview of the NEM, was unveiled on March 30, with the council currently collecting multi-stakeholder feedback to inform the final version, which will be announced with the 10th Malaysia Plan.

Quah (right) added that as a country with a narrow tax revenue base, Malaysia has no choice but to implement the GST as a long term solution, with a view to gradually raising the rate.

As a long-term venture, he said, it is acceptable if the initial implementation at four percent only serves to neutralize the sales and service tax and does not generate extra income.

"There has been political opposition to the GST but this is something we desperately need because the traditional steady sources of revenue are literally drying up," he said.

He added that lower personal and corporate income tax can encourage savings and investments, while GST provides a reliable stream of income.

That way, Malaysia can use the revenue from natural resources to invest in human capital and capacity building, he said.

'We may be the next Greece'

Taking a question from the floor about political will, Quah said that he is positive that the government will undertake economic reforms even in the face of short term pain.

"Everybody expects no political will on the most dramatic reforms, so I am impressed that that the political leadership does not want to take the easy way out which has been prepared by the pessimism and negative reports," he said.

In his presentation, Quah said that among the more urgent matters which need to be addressed is the government debt-to-GDP ratio.

He said that with the fiscal stimulus, Malaysia's ratio is heading towards 70 percent in 2015 and is on an upward trajectory.

If the reforms are not in place and the economy is not weaned off the fiscal stimulus, the Malaysian economy may face issues similar what Greece is facing.

"Greece is in trouble, among other reasons, because their debt to GDP ratio is 130 percent.

"With (the sort of trajectory), it would not be long before we head into the region of the PIGS countries," he said.

PIGS is an acronym referring to Portugal, Italy, Greece, Spain, and more recently the Ireland and the UK, which are all facing issues of high government debt and deficit, relative to GDP.

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Source and credits: Malaysiakini

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HP to buy struggling smartphone maker Palm Inc.

2010-04-29T10:30:00.007+08:00

HP announced that it is acquiring Palm Inc, once a leading smartphone maker with aims to resuscitate the company and compete with Apple's iPhone and RIM's BlackBerry. The deal was reported to amount US$1.2 billion (RM3.84 billion)

Source and credits: Reuters via Malaysian Insider

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HP to buy Palm in bet on smartphone arena

Hewlett-Packard Co announced a deal to buy Palm Inc. - Reuters pic

SAN FRANCISCO, April 29 — Hewlett-Packard Co announced a US$1.2 billion (RM3.84 billion) deal to buy Palm Inc, betting it can resuscitate the struggling smartphone maker to compete with the likes of Apple Inc and RIM.

Analysts say 2010’s third-largest US tech acquisition grants Palm’s devices global production and distribution reach while launching the world’s top PC maker into a tech arena experiencing blistering growth.

The news yesterday surprised many on Wall Street, since much of the long-running takeover speculation surrounding Palm had shifted in recent weeks to focus on potential Asian bidders, such as China’s Lenovo.

An early pioneer in handheld devices, Palm once dominated the market but has since been surpassed by Apple’s iPhone and Research in Motion’s BlackBerry. Palm put out a new mobile operating system, the well-reviewed webOS, last year but even that has been overshadowed by Google Inc’s Android software.

In a sign of Palm’s struggles, the money-losing company headed by Jon Rubinstein — an ex-Apple executive famous for developing the iPod — slashed revenue expectations for the current quarter. It said slow product sales have led to low order volumes from carriers.

“If you saw the guidance Palm just put out, it was clear they had to sell,” said Phil Cusick, analyst at Macquarie Research. “Given how quickly Palm’s business was falling off and how fast their cash was going out the door, they’re lucky to get what they got.”

Shares of Palm, 30 per cent owned by Elevation Partners, jumped 27 per cent to US$5.88, above HP’s US$5.70 cash offer. Some investors could be betting on a higher bid, while others could be covering short positions on the heavily shorted stock, analysts said.

HP said the deal for Palm, which both boards have approved, valued the company at US$1.2 billion including debt. Based on Palm’s latest filing, the deal values Palm’s 167.892 million shares outstanding at US$957 million.

Analysts said HP has deep pockets to invest in Palm, can expand its carrier relationships and negotiate better component pricing from existing suppliers.

“PC companies don’t need cellphone-type margins to make the model work; they can be much more price-aggressive in capturing share and will certainly drive margins down for everyone else,” said Avi Cohen at Avian Securities.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch advised HP, while Goldman Sachs advised Palm.

HP’s foray into the fiercely contested smartphone arena, while it may not immediately threaten Apple, and Research in Motion’s BlackBerry, may increase pressure on Nokia, Motorola and other device manufacturers now battling to expand their market share.

“Nokia will be one of the most affected players,” said IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo. Because of a “wrong portfolio and lack of carrier support, Nokia never moved from its eighth position...in the smartphone segment. This deal puts also pressure on Motorola and HTC.”

Others, however, were more skeptical about HP’s ability to turn around Palm, whose Pre and Pixi phones have withered in the face of fierce competition.

“If HP wants to have a global role in the mobile space, spending US$1.2 billion in Palm is not the way. Palm has no brand outside the US, and it has no distribution outside the US” said John Strand, chief executive of Strand Consult.

“To pay US$1.2 billion for a US-centric mobile player that’s not successful is a first-class way to destroy shareholder value. Palm has tried to move from the PDA world into the mobile world for eight years without success,” Strand said.

According to Gartner, Palm held 1.2 per cent of the global smartphone market in 2009, compared with Nokia’s 41.1 per cent, RIM’s 19.9 per cent and Apple’s 14.4 per cent.

Despite Palm’s shortcomings, persistent takeover rumors have attracted many investors to the heavily shorted stock. For example, Philip Falcone’s hedge fund Harbinger Capital Partners LLC bought Palm shares on April 12, when they were trading between US$5.43 and US$6.29, and had a 9.48 per cent stake.

The deal may mark the culmination of a long-running effort by private equity firm Elevation Partners, the private equity firm that boasts U2 frontman Bono among its partners.

Elevation — which bought a quarter of Palm for US$325 million in 2007 — had brought in numerous ex-Apple executives over the years in hopes of turning the company around, including Rubinstein.

It was unclear how much Elevation, which has invested about US$460 million in Palm, made or lost.

Some investment banking sources had thought that Lenovo was the leading candidate to buy Palm after the US company was rebuffed by other potential Asian buyers including HTC Corp and Huawei.

Palm now expects fiscal fourth quarter revenue in the range of US$90 million to US$100 million, compared with its mid-March forecast that revenue would be less than US$150 million.

Todd Bradley, executive vice president of HP’s computer division, said the company plans to “invest heavily” in Palm, increasing spending on sales and marketing and research and development in the hope of spurring the developer community into writing more applications for the platform.

Palm’s app universe now has more than 2,000 applications, dwarfed by Apple’s App store with closer to 200,000 apps.

Bradley also said Palm’s platform is attractive for an entire ecosystem of mobile devices, from smartphones to slate devices to netbooks.

HP Executives expected a few cents” dilution for from the deal in the second half of fiscal 2010 and “mild” impact in 2011 — for a company that in the fiscal first quarter reported non-GAAP earnings of US$1.07 per share.

“Coupled with our scale, global reach and investments in the ecosystem, we expect we will see solid growth,” he said.

HP already has a smartphone, the iPaq, which runs on Microsoft’s Windows mobile platform. But the device has gained little traction in a crowded market.

Rubinstein is expected to remain with the company, HP said in a statement, adding that the acquisition would likely close during its third fiscal quarter ending July 31.

Shares of HP fell 1 percent to US$52.75 in extended trading from their New York Stock Exchange close of US$53.28.

HP “would be one of the few companies that I think could successfully turn Palm around. The company has great brand, great international distribution,” said C.L. King Associates’ analyst Lawrence Harris. “That will open a lot of doors.” — Reuters

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Source and credits: Reuters via Malaysian Insider
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Malaysia scorpene deal probe underway

2010-04-28T10:17:00.005+08:00

Legal team from France represented by Joseph Breham is due to arrive in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia today to seek further information about the alleged scandal involving the purchase of Scorpene submarines by Royal Malaysian Navy in 2002.

The first of the two submarines arrived in Malaysia in January this year and quickly become the subject of embarrassment to Royal Malaysian Navy when it is reported to be having technical problem and unable to dive. A submarine that could not dive! What a shame.

Source and credits: Malaysiakini and Asia Sentinel

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French legal team in KL to probe Scorpene deal

John Berthelsen
Apr 28, 10
9:16am

Joseph Breham, a member of a French legal team that filed complaints in a Paris court in connection with a potentially explosive scandal over the billion-dollar purchase of French submarines by Malaysia is due to land in Kuala Lumpur today, to seek further information on the case and to speak with their clients, human rights organisation Suaram.

The deal was engineered by then-defense minister Najib Razak, now prime minister, in 2002 and resulted in a massive RM3.7 billion commission for one of Najib's closest associates, Abdul Razak Baginda.

The purchase price included two Scorpene-class diesel submarines built by Armaris, a subsidiary of the French defense giant DCN (formerly Direction des Constructions Navales) and the lease of a third retired submarine manufactured by a joint venture between DCN and Spanish company Agosta.

Breham, one of the three lawyers who filed the case with Parisian prosecutors on behalf of Suaram, told Asia Sentinel the French court has opened a preliminary investigation into the matter and that he would be advising his clients on the next steps.

Breham, Renaud Semerdjian and William Bourdon, the lead lawyer, filed the request to investigate bribery and kickback allegations against DCN first in December and filed additional documents in February.

The case has been making headlines in Malaysia since the gruesome October 2006 murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu, a Mongolian translator and spurned lover of Razak Baginda who had accompanied him to France on some of the transactions over the submarines.

Altantuya was shot in the head and her body was blown up with military explosives in a patch of jungle outside of Kuala Lumpur. Two of Najib's bodyguards, who were directed to intercede with her by Musa Safri, Najib's chief of staff, have been convicted of the killing. Neither Najib nor Musa has ever been questioned by law enforcement officials about the case.

Although records showed Najib was in France at the same time as Altantuya and Razak Baginda, he has repeatedly sworn to Allah that he had never known Mongolian. One report filed by a private detective hired by Razak Baginda said she had been Najib's lover first. After she was killed, authorities discovered a letter she had written saying she was blackmailing Razak Altantuya for US$500,000, although she did not say why.

In addition to the cost of the submarines and the whopping "commission" fee, it has now emerged that under the terms of the original contract, the vessels were basically bare of armaments and detection devices. The Malaysian military must pay an additional €130 million (RM550 million) to equip them.

"You mean we bought bare metal?" wrote one incredulous and anonymous military official in an email to Asia Sentinel.

Other countries investigated

The charges go well beyond the Malaysian purchase. Judges in the Paris Prosecution Office have been probing a wide range of corruption charges involving similar submarine sales and the possibility of bribery and kickbacks to top officials in France, Pakistan and other countries. The Malaysian piece of the puzzle was added in two filings, on Dec. 4, 2009 and Feb 23 this year.

French politicians seem to have a knack for backhanders. On Oct 26, in a trial that centered on illegal arms sales to Angola, Jean-Christophe Mitterrand, the son of the late president Francois Mitterand, was given a two-year suspended sentence and ordered to pay a €375,000 (RM1.6 million) fine for receiving embezzled funds.

The court ruled that he had accepted millions of euros in "consultant fees" on the arms deals between 1993 and 1998. In the dock with him were 42 people accused of selling weapons to Angola in defiance of a UN arms embargo, or of taking payments from the arms dealers and using their influence to facilitate the sales.

The trial, it was said, shined a light into a murky world of secret payments made in cash and discreet deals linking Parisian high society with one of Africa's longest-running wars. But it hasn't shined a light on what happened elsewhere with contracts concluded by the representatives of France, and particularly by DCN.

For instance, 11 French engineers employed by DCN, which peddled subs to Pakistan, were blown up in a bus bombing in 2002 which was first thought to have been perpetrated by Islamic militants. The 11 were in Karachi to work on three Agosta 90 B submarines that the Pakistani military had bought in 1994, with payment to be spread over a decade.

According to Reuters, commissions were promised to middlemen including Pakistani and Saudi Arabian nationals. Agosta is a subsidiary of DCN. It is believed that Pakistani military officials blew up the bus in retaliation for the cancellation of the payments.

In the Taiwan case, the French company Thales, formerly Thompson-CSF sold six DCN-built La Fayette-class 'stealth' frigates to Taiwan in 1992 for US$2.8 billion (RM9 billion).

At least six people connected with the case have died under suspicious circumstances including a Taiwanese naval captain named Yin Ching-feng, who was believed to have been killed because he planned to go to the authorities about fraud connected with the case. His nephew, who was also pursuing the case, a Thomson employee in Taiwan and a French intelligence agent were also among the dead.

It gradually emerged that some $600 million (RM1.9 billion) in commissions had been paid into various Swiss accounts set up by Andrew Wang Chuan-pu, the Taiwan agent for Thomson-CSF. In October 2008 a French judge finally ruled that no one could be prosecuted because of lack of evidence.

Half a billion ringgit in commissions

The Malaysian allegations revolve around the €114 million (RM482 million) payment to a Malaysia-based company called Perimekar for support services surrounding the sale of the submarines. Perimekar was wholly owned by another company, KS Ombak Laut Sdn Bhd, which in turn was controlled by Najib's best friend, Razak Baginda, whose wife Mazalinda, a lawyer and former magistrate, was the principal shareholder, according to the French lawyers.

In the complaints filed in Paris, the issue revolves around what, if anything, Razak Baginda's Perimekar company did to deserve RM482 million. Zainal Abidin, the deputy defense minister at the time of the sale, told Parliament that Perimekar had received the amount - 11 percent of the sale price of the submarines - for "coordination and support services". The Paris filing alleges that there were neither support nor services.

Perimekar was registered in 2001, a few months before the signing of the contracts for the sale, the Paris complaint states. The company, it said flatly, "did not have the financial resources to complete the contract." A review of the accounts in 2001 and 2002, the complaint said, "makes it an obvious fact that this corporation had absolutely no capacity, or legal means or financial ability and/or expertise to support such a contract."

"None of the directors and shareholders of Perimekar have the slightest experience in the construction, maintenance or submarine logistics," the complaint adds.

"Under the terms of the contract, €114 million were related to the different stages of construction of the submarines." The apparent consideration, supposedly on the part of Perimekar, "would be per diem and Malaysian crews and accommodation costs during their training. There is therefore no link between billing steps and stages of completion of the consideration."

- Asia Sentinel

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Source and credits: Malaysiakini and Asia Sentinel
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Shooting of Aminulrasyid Amzah: Justice to be served during cabinet meeting?

2010-04-27T18:55:00.016+08:00

The shooting of teenager Allahyarham Aminulrasyid Amzah (15 years old) will be discussed during weekly Cabinet Meeting tomorrow, Wednesday 28 April 2010

Source and credits: Malaysiakini

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Teen shooting case to be brought to cabinet

Jimadie Shah Othman
Apr 27, 10
2:43pm

The case of teenager Aminulrasyid Amzah who was shot dead by police yesterday in Shah Alam will be brought up in the cabinet's weekly meeting tomorrow.

Minister for Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Noh Omar (far right) said he would raise the matter for deliberation.

Noh, who is also Selangor Umno deputy chief, said the party would offer legal assistance to the family as they have a right to sue the police force and the government over the incident.

"They can also bring up this case to Suhakam (Human Rights Commission)," Noh told reporters at the teenager's home this afternoon.

The 15-year-old was shot in the head in the early hours of Monday, after Aminulrasyid allegedly acted suspiciously and tried to ram a car into members of a police patrol unit in Section 11, Shah Alam.

Noh said the party sympathises with the family over the incident and expressed hope that the matter would be investigated transparently in the interests of justice and the truth.

“I hope this case will not be sensationalised or politicised,” said the minister.

Noh said this after meeting with Aminulrasyid's family members, who had held a press conference at their home in Section 11.

Aminulrasyid's mother dismissed media reports published today portraying her son as a criminal.

"I know my son. He is not as they report in the newspapers. I know who my son was," insisted Norsiah Mohamad, 60.

The anguished mother of eight - Aminulrasyid was the youngest - said her son had never been involved in criminal activities as alleged in media reports.

The media, therefore, should not report "yang bukan-bukan" (nonsense), because "as a mother, I cannot stand to read such things," said Norsiah as she wiped away tears.

Asked whether the family would take legal action against the police force, Norsiah (right) - a single mother - said the matter would be discussed with the rest of the family.

Also present at the press conference were Norsiah's daughter Norazurah and her son-in-law Kamarudin Hassan.

According to the police report lodged by a witness involved in the incident, he and Aminulrasyid were returning home in the latter's Proton Iswara from a restaurant in Section 7.

After overtaking a police MPV, they were chased, then shot at by the police until the car was forced to the side of the road.

"I went out of the car to surrender. One of the police personnel kicked me from behind, while others punched and kicked me.

"I struggled and was able to escape from the police, then went straight home," said the witness in his police report.

Suspect tried to ram police

A different version of the episode, however, was reported by the print media today.

Speaking to the press yesterday, Selangor police chief Khalid Abu Bakar (right) was reported as having said the police chased Aminulrasyid after chancing upon him and the other suspect "in suspicious circumstances".

Rather than slowing down after being told to stop their car, the teenager sped up. The police then shot at a tyre of the Iswara, said Khalid.

After the car stopped, he added, one of the suspects exited the vehicle and escaped on foot.

The driver of the vehicle suddenly reversed the car and tried to ram into the police personnel - who had by then been joined by officers from another patrol unit.

"Surprised by the action of the suspect and (trying) to defend himself, the police officer shot in the direction of the suspect in the car," said Khalid.

The suspect died on the way to the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital in Klang due to the injury sustained, added the police chief.

A long machete was found in the Iswara by police personnel, Khalid said.

All four police personnel involved in the incident have been transferred to desk jobs while investigations are carried out under Section 302 of the Penal Code, he said.

He posed no threat

This afternoon, Norsiah lodged a report at the Shah Alam district police station.

"I ask that an independent probe be carried out by police (officers) from the federal police headquarters of PDRM (Royal Malaysian Police Force) on every police officer involved, including superior officers who had allowed this incident to occur."

She was accompanied by PKR information chief Latheefa Koya, Selangor exco Yaakob Sapari, Seri Setia state assemblyperson Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, and Kapar parliamentarian S Manikavasagam.

"I want justice for my son," Norsiah told reporters, reiterating Aminulrasyid's innocence.

She also questioned why the police could not merely stop the car her son was driving, as "there was no proper reason why the police had to shoot".

She dismissed the suggestion that Aminulrasyid (left) had posed a threat to the police officers involved.

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Source and credits: Malaysiakini

Not to point fingers to anybody, but this is a very sad tragedy .

Hopefully justice will be uncovered, I fully support for a Royal Commission of Inquiry be set up to determine the what, who, why, where, when and how was the events that lead to the shooting of late Aminulrasyid Amzah.

Al-Fatihah

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RM77 mil paid to APCO for 1 year period

2010-04-13T19:30:00.004+08:00

Datuk Nazri Aziz, Minister in the Prime Minister's department today revealed in Parliament that the contract signed between the government of Malaysia and APCO Worldwide amounted to RM77 million currently.

News report by Malaysiakini as follows...

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Apco contract cost RM77 mil a year

Hazlan Zakaria
Apr 13, 10
5:52pm

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Nazri Aziz today revealed in Parliament that the contract signed between the government and the controversial communication consultant giant Apco Worldwide amounted to a whopping RM77 million.

In a written reply to Tian Chua (PKR-Batu) to his query on the fees paid to Apco, the amount provided by Nazri is more than twice what was earlier reported.

Chua referred to a newspaper report which quoted Nazri as saying that the amount paid to Apco was RM28 million.

"Convert this to ringgit and you will get almost RM77 million," he said based on last year's currency exchange rate.

"I don't know whether he was mistaken or his conversion rate of ringgit to US dollars is different. Maybe he thinks that the Malaysian ringgit is still strong, almost on one to one with the dollar?"

Chua also expressed his disbelief that much money is being paid to a foreign contractor for a task which could have been performed by a local company.

He said that the RM77 million contract was for one year.

"Are Apco's services so special that we need to pay so much? Why wasn't a local company employed? I am sure there are local firms that can do the job."

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Malaysia APCO contract to be terminated in August?

2010-04-08T16:58:00.003+08:00

It appears that APCO will cease serving as PR for Government of Malaysia comes August.
According to Malaysiakini, APCO will not have its contract renewed once it expires this August.

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Apco to face the axe in August?

Apr 8, 10 3:10pm

Controversial media consultant Apco Worldwide Sdn Bhd will not have their contract renewed once it expires in Aug 4.

A highly-placed government official said that Apco, engaged by the government to oversee their international media strategies, will not have their yearly contract extended.

"He (Prime Minister Najib Razak) is not very happy with the way they have been handling themselves in the recent controversy and are becoming a liability," said the source.

He added while it appears that Najib (left) will give Apco the axe to reduce pressure on the BN government for hiring the international image consultancy firm, which has been recently linked to Israel, the premier is generally not satisfied with their services.

It is understood that Apco had started work for Najib as early as June last year even before the contract was signed.

But when Najib was interviewed by the Associated Press during his visit to Beijing last June, where he was asked about slain Mongolian model-cum-translator Altantuya Shaariibuu, he was less than impressed by the company's preparation for the interview.

Apparently the question had caught Najib off-guard, but he was still able to handle the question and even took the opportunity to joke about it.

Apco alienating PM's officers

It is also understood that Apco's presence has stirred uneasiness even among Najib's media strategists.

Malaysiakini understands that the PM's media advisor Jalaludin Bahaudin, a vocal critic of Apco in private, has been at loggerheads with Najib's press secretary Tengku Sariffuddin Tengku Ahmad over Apco's role in the Prime Minister's Department.

"It is mainly because Jalaludin thinks that Apco does not know what they are doing," said the source.

Tengku Sariffuddin could not be reached for comment while Jalaludin refused comment when contacted.

Journalists in the foreign press circles have also said that Apco seemed to be "aloof" when it comes to local issues with the potential to grab worldwide attention.

Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim had previously alleged that Apco was formerly known Mind Teams Sdn Bhd and that it was Omar Mustapha, a managing partner in Ethos Consultancy, who had introduced Tengku Sariffuddin to Apco.

RM28 million contract?

Apco was tasked with "promoting and improving Malaysia's image overseas", as confirmed by Minister in Prime Minister's Department Koh Tsu Koon in Parliament last October.

Apart from their bread and butter task of setting up interviews with foreign wires such as BBC and CNN, their job is also to repair the government's image in the eyes of the US government, which has traditionally been sympathetic towards Anwar.

The Washington-based firm has also brought in international public relations figures to give training to various press secretaries to ministers.

While Minister in Prime Minister's Department Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz said in Parliament yesterday that the total payment of the contract has not decided, it is understood that the bill comes up to RM28 million.

Controversy regarding Apco Worldwide reached a crescendo last month when Anwar had alleged that the 1Malaysia concept was derived from the One Israel initiative, and that Apco had a hand in both.

Both Apco and Najib have since gone on the record to deny the accusations.

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Unacceptable! Malaysia ranked 48 out of 66 in broadband service quality

2009-10-03T13:48:00.003+08:00

Taken from Malaysian Insider
----------------------------------------------------

Malaysia’s broadband quality is below par, says Oxford study

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 2 – Malaysia was ranked a poor 48 out of 66 countries for Internet broadband quality in a study conducted by Oxford University and sponsored by Cisco.

The global study on broadband quality conducted by Oxford’s Said Business School listed Malaysia among countries which had Internet speeds which were “below today’s applications threshold.”

Malaysia is listed in the same category but above countries like the United Arab Emirates, Philippines, Pakistan, Morocco, Vietnam and Indonesia. China, Malta, Brazil and Thailand are among countries just ahead of Malaysia in broadband quality but still in the same low category.

Countries like Singapore, Britain, Australia, Spain, Turkey and the Ukraine were listed above Malaysia as having Internet speeds “meeting needs of today’s applications.”

Switzerland, the United States, Russia, Taiwan and Hong Kong “comfortably enjoy today’s applications. Crucially, Korea, Japan, Sweden, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Latvia, Netherlands, Denmark and Romania were identified as countries with broadband speeds that were “ready for tomorrow.”

The study was conducted between May and July this year and Broadband Quality Scores (BQS) were awarded based on 24 million records sourced from speed tests.

A similar study conducted last year established that download speeds of 3.75 Mbps and upload of 1 Mbps was the quality requirement needed for today’s applications such as social networking, video steaming, video chatting and file sharing.

For what was classified as “tomorrow’s requirements” speeds of 11.25 Mbps for downloads and 5 Mbps for uploads was needed for visual networking, HD video streaming, consumer telepresence, large file sharing and HD IPTV applications.

According to the study, the research team had found that broadband quality was linked to social and economic benefits and that countries with high broadband quality have broadband on their national agenda.

In a statement earlier today, the DAP’s Lim Kit Siang described the study as confirmation of Malaysia’s unchecked plunge in international IT competitiveness.

“Internationally, broadband quality has moved from one of penetration, i.e. who had broadband connection and who did not, to broadband speed but Malaysia is till bogged down in the initial stage.

“Some six months ago, when Datuk Dr Rais Yatim was also appointed Communications Minister apart from his other portfolios of Information, Culture and Arts, I had called on him to give top priority to turn Malaysia into a broadband power, both in broadband penetration rate as well as in broadband speed if Malaysia is to enhance its competitiveness to take its rightful place in the global arena.

“I had asked what Malaysia’s national average broadband speed was, because nobody was talking about 2Mbps – we are lucky if we get 512 or 256kbps without disruption!”

Malaysians in selected areas will get access to high-speed broadband only by the first quarter of next year.

Residents of Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Bangsar, both in Kuala Lumpur, Subang Jaya and Shah Alam have been promised broadband speeds of 10 Mbps and above under the High-Speed Broadband (HSBB) project.

Residents in high-worth economic zones such as the rest of the Klang Valley and Iskandar Malaysia are expected to get the service later with 1.3 million households expected to have access by 2012.

The HSBB project is a public-private partnership between Telekom Malaysia and the government. Telekom is expected to invest RM8.9 billion of its own funds while the government will put in RM2.4 billion.

Telekom has so far claimed RM290 million from the government for work done.

Malaysia currently lags behind advanced countries in terms of quality and affordability of its broadband offerings, which has been confirmed by the Oxford University study.

While some countries such as Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Sweden and Finland have been enjoying speeds up to 100 Mbps for several years now, most Malaysian still make do with speeds of 1 Mbps or less.

Recently, Singapore, China and Australia have also upped the stakes in this strategic sector and announced massive initiatives to wire up their countries with fibre optics.

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Taken from Malaysian Insider

...

Subject in Harvard: Najib Razak's Economic Policy

2009-09-25T13:38:00.002+08:00

Taken from Malaysiakini
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Harvard business school to study Najibnomics

The Harvard Business School in Boston will undertake a case study, highlighting Prime Minister Najib Razak's “courageous and bold” initiatives to tackle financial crisis.

The case study, to be used as a subject in the core curriculum of the macro-economic module, will be a capstone on how crisis is transmitted internationally.

It will also discuss how a country that has sound fundamentals and good regulations could withstand an international crisis.

The country is known for consolidating the banking, insurance and financial institutions following the 1998 currency crisis, said Harvard Business School Alumni Club of Malaysia in a statement today.

Besides highlighting Najib's bold economic reforms, the Harvard study would also focus on the various economic liberalisation moves, measures taken to prepare the country for the Asean Free Trade Agreement (Afta) and World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations, said Alumni president G Gnanalingam.

“Harvard would also bring to attention how the country positions itself on free trade agreements with other countries and how its economic zones are poised for further foreign direct investment attractions.

“We in the alumni are proud to be associated with such a work as the study would become part of the syllabus programme and taught to thousands of international students.

“Moreover, the students at Harvard will hear about what the government and Bank Negara Malaysia have done since the 1998 crisis to regulate and stabilise the economy,” said Gnanalingam.

Previous case study on capital controls

The previous case study on Malaysia published in April 2002 entitled 'Malaysia – Capital and Control' written by Rawi Abdelai and Laura Alfaro, has been one of Harvard's most successful case studies.

It analysed the political economy of capital controls in Malaysia during the 1997/98 Asian financial crisis. It has been taught in every class for the last seven years not only to Harvard Business School students taking a masters degree in business administration but also to senior managers who attended executive programmes.

The students constantly praised the case study as it highlighted the views expressed by Malaysian leaders, the statement added.

- Bernama

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Full Credits to Bernama and Malaysiakini

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Aku, Dia, dan Payung Biru

2009-09-14T22:19:00.002+08:00

Hujan itu hujan rahmat.

Tatkala jam di dinding menandakan berkahirnya hari aku di sana, hujan turun dengan lebat. Seolah-olah tidak mengizinkan aku pulang.

Tetapi hari itu tidak seperti hari yang lain. Hari itu hari terakhirku di sana.

Sang hujan seakan memahami hatiku. Dua minggu tempoh yang singkat, tidak cukup puas aku di sana.

Aku melangkah keluar dari bangunan itu buat terakhir kali, payung biru ku tujahkan ke langit, bersedia mengharungi derap-derap titisan hujan yang deras.
Tatkala itu dia muncul dari pintu, resah melihat ke langit dan lantai bumi yang basah.

Hujan seakan menyebelahi aku, dia tidak punyai payung di tangan.

Aku kaget. Dia datang kepadaku.

Aku kaget. Dia tiada payung.

Dua minggu tempoh yang singkat untuk mengenali seseorang. Buat seketika waktu itu, aku dan dia berpayung bersama, menyusuri hujan. Persis sebuah babak yang selau terpapar dalam layar wayang.

Tetapi kali ini ia bukan sebuah babak dalam layar wayang. Ia adalah hadiah sang hujan kepada aku.

Dua minggu tempoh yang singkat. Aku, dia, dan payung biru ku, akan terpahat menjadi memori indah di dalam hatiku.

Mungkin juga aku dan dia hanyalah satu infatuasi. Mungkin tidak.

...
..
.

Schedule of Buka Puasa and Imsak in Malaysia for 2009/ 1430H

2009-08-22T16:00:00.004+08:00

Waktu Imsak Dan Berbuka Puasa Negeri-Negeri Seluruh Malaysia Tahun 1430H / 2009M

Jadual dibawah tertakluk :-

* Tertakluk Kepada Pengisytiharan Penyimpan Mohor Besar Raja-Raja Malaysia

** Tarikh Melihat Anak Bulan Syawal Tertakluk Kepada Pengisytiharan Penyimpan Mohor
Besar Raja-Raja Malaysia

Source and download links from http://www.islam.gov.my

***Full credit goes to Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia (JAKIM)***

MELAKA
Melaka

JOHOR
ZON 1- Pulau Aur Dan Pulau Pemanggil
ZON 2- Daerah Johor Bahru,Kota Tinggi,Mersing Dan Pulau Berdekatan
ZON 3-Daerah Pontian Dan Kluang
ZON 4-Batu Pahat,Muar,Segamat Dan Gemas Johor

PERAK
ZON 1- Daerah Hulu PERAK, Daerah Kuala Kangsar, Daerah Kinta Dan Daerah Batang Padang[Pengkalan Hulu (Keroh), Gerik, Lenggong, Kuala Kangsar, Sg.Siput, Ipoh,Batu Gajah, Kampar, Tapah, Slim River Dan Tanjung Malim
ZON 2-DAERAH KERIAN, DAERAH LARUT MATANG DAN SELAMA, DAERAH PERAK TENGAH, DAERAH MANJUNG DAN DAERAH HILIR PERAK.Parit Buntar, Bagan Serai, Taiping, Selama, Parit, Kg.Gajah,Beruas, Lumut, Sitiawan, Pulau Pangkor,Teluk Intan DanBagan Datoh]
ZON 3-BUKIT LARUT(TANAH TINGGI)

SARAWAK
ZON 1-LIMBANG, SUNDAR, TRUSAN DAN LAWAS
ZON 2-NIAH, BEKENU, MIRI, SIBUTI, DAN MARUDI
ZON 3-TATAU, SUAI, BELAGA, PANDAN, SEBAUH DAN BINTULU
ZON 4-IGAN, OYA, BALINGIAN, MUKAH, DALAT, SIBU,KANOWIT, KAPIT DAN SONG
ZON 5-, MATU, DARO, SARIKEI, JULAU, BINTANGOR DAN REJANG
ZON 6-KABONG, LINGGA, SRI AMAN, ENGKELILI, LUBOK ANTU, BETONG, SPAOH, PUSA, SARATOK, ROBAN DAN DEBAK
ZON 7-SAMARAHAN, SIMUNJAN, SERIAN, SEBUYAU DAN MELUDAM
ZON 8-KUCHING, LUNDU, BAU DAN SEMATAN

SABAH
ZON 1-BAHAGIAN SANDAKAN (TIMUR),TOMANGGONG, SUKAU, BANDAR SANDAKAN,SAMAWANG, KOTA KINABATANGAN DAN BUKIT GARAM.
ZON 2-BAHAGIAN SANDAKAN (BARAT) TERUSAN, BELURAN, KUAMUT, JAMBONGAN, PAITAN, TELUPID, TONGOD DAN PINANGAH
ZON 3-BAHAGIAN TAWAU (TIMUR) TAMBISAN, SAHABAT, TUNGKU, SEMPORNA, SILABUKAN,LAHAD DATU DAN KUNA
ZON 4-BAHAGIAN TAWAU (BARAT) BALUNG, BANDAR TAWAU, PULAU SEBATIK, MEROTAI DAN KALABAKAN
ZON 5-(BAHAGIAN KUDAT) PULAU BANGI, PITAS,KOTA MARUDU, MATUNGGONG DAN KUDAT
ZON 6-GUNUNG KINABALU ( KETINGGIAN 4,101 M)
ZON 7-(BAHAGIAN PANTAI BARAT) RANAU, KOTA BELUD, TUARAN, PENAMPANG, KOTA KINABALU, PUTATAN DAN PAPAR
ZON 8- BAHAGIAN PEDALAMAN (ATAS) PENSIANGAN, NABAWAN, SOOK, SEPULUT, TAMBUNAN, DAN KENINGAU
ZON 9-BAHAGIAN PEDALAMAN (BAWAH) TENOM, LONG PA SIA, MEMBAKUT, BEAUFORT, KUALA PENYU, WESTON, MENUMBOK DAN SIPITANG

TERENGGANU
ZON 1-KUALA TERENGGANU DAN MARANG
ZON 2-BESUT DAN SETIU
ZON 3-HULU TERENGGANU
ZON 4-KEMAMAN DAN DUNGUN

KELANTAN
ZON 1-JAJAHAN KOTA BHARU, BACHOK, PASIR PUTEH,TUMPAT, PASIR MAS, TANAH MERAH, MACHANG, KUALA KRAI DAN DAERAH CIKU (JAJAHAN GUA MUSANG)
ZON 2-JAJAHAN JELI DAN GUA MUSANG TERMASUK DAERAH GALAS DAN BERTAM

SELANGOR
ZON 1-DAERAH GOMBAK, PETALING/SHAH ALAM, HULU SELANGOR, HULU LANGAT DAN SEPANG
ZON 2-DAERAH KLANG, KUALA LANGAT,KUALA SELANGOR DAN SABAK BERNAM

PAHANG
ZON 1-PULAU TIOMAN
ZON 2-KUANTAN, PEKAN, ROMPIN DAN MUADZAM SHAH
ZON 3-TEMERLOH, CHENOR, MARAN, JERANTUT DAN BERA
ZON 4-RAUB, BENTONG DAN LIPIS
ZON 5-GENTING SEMPAH, JANDA BAIK DAN BUKIT TINGGI
ZON 6-CAMERON HIGHLAND, BUKIT FRASER, GENTING HIGHLAND

WILAYAH PERSEKUTUAN
KUALA LUMPUR
PUTRAJAYA

WILAYAH PERSEKUTUAN
LABUAN

PERLIS
PERLIS

NEGERI SEMBILAN
ZON 1-JEMPOL DAN TAMPIN
ZON 2-: SEREMBAN,REMBAU, PORT DICKSON, KUALA PILAH DAN JELEBU

KEDAH
ZON 1-DAERAH KOTA SETAR, KUBANG PASU, PENDANG, YAN DAN KUALA MUDA
ZON 2-PADANG TERAP, SIK DAN BALING
ZON 3-DAERAH KULIM DAN BANDAR BAHARU
ZON 4-DAERAH LANGKAWI
ZON 5-PUNCAK GUNUNG JERAI

PULAU PINANG
Pulau Pinang

***Full credit goes to Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia (JAKIM)***

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~Awarded by Insyirah Qahirah~

2009-08-22T11:36:00.004+08:00

I normally don't do this tagging things often but in spirit of Ramadhan I will break my tradition once in a while..

1. Meletakkan imejan penghargaan yang diberi

created by mommawannabe? hahaha

2. Nyatakan 5 fakta menarik tentang pemberi penghargaan ini

orang nye comel
agak malu2 kucing (tuan punya badan pun mengaku kan? :P)
malu2 kucing tapi takut dgn kucing? erkk
suka warna pink
orang nye cute
pandai main bowling
pandai menjaga adab pergaulan ^^
suka handphone brand Sony Ericsson je
eh.. ni dah lebih 5 kan? :P

3. Blogger yang mendapat penghargaan ini perlu menyenaraikan 10 fakta atau hobi diri

Fakta dgn hobi kan?

berat 77kg (kena kuruskan lagi)
ada 2 handphone
ada 1 ipod touch
ada 1 ipod classic 60GB
tak pandai melukis
tak mudah merajuk
tak gemar baca fiction (comic, novel, etc.) except yg ada recommendation
suka buku non-fiction (biography, self-help, social psychology)
tak pandai shopping
suka barang2 komputer, yg ni reti nak shopping tp takde duit =(

4. Bloggers yang bakal menerima penghargaan ini dan sedikit gambaran tentang mereka

Fadhli
Izwanwan
Latif
Rahim
Nazay
Tun Nakiwa
Hanis Zalikha.. erkk
Obefiend.. erkk
Paul Tan.. erkkk

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To all my Muslim companions, May this Ramadhan bring us calm, happiness and barakah =)

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Menara Gading

2009-07-02T22:38:00.006+08:00

Alhamdulillah..
All my hard works have paid off.
Most importantly I did it with love and support from my parents, friends and family.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you =)

Friends, hope to see as many of you during our convocation day.

....
..
.

Towards a Liberal Malaysian Market

2009-06-30T12:11:00.009+08:00

PM Najib today introduces sweeping changes to its capital markets to boost foreign investments, cutting Bumiputera equity quotas for share offerings and in fund management firms while trimming the role of a powerful but conservative panel overseeing such investments.

These changes are primed to ease restrictions on foreign investment and become a major initiative to make it easier to do business in Malaysia, he said.

Najib announced the changes in his speech at the Invest Malaysia conference in Kuala Lumpur this morning.

The prime minister said the changes are a result of a review of the Foreign Investor Committee guidelines.

Some of the changes:

Guidelines on the acquisition of equity stakes, mergers and takeovers have been repealed with immediate effect, without any new guideline in its place;

There is a change in the requirements of bumiputera equity for companies seeking listing. Previously a company seeking listing was required to satisfy a public spread requirement of 25 percent and 30 percent bumiputera equity condition, but the equity condition is subsumed within the public spread requirement with 50 percent of public shareholding spread to bumiputera investors.

Post-listing fund-raising exercises will no longer be subjected to any equity condition.

FIC approval for property transactions will now be required where it involves a dilution of bumiputera or government interests for properties valued at RM20 million and above. All other property transactions, including those between foreigners and non-bumi will no longer required FIC approval.

"The scope and function of the FIC have been substantially rationalised. FIC's scope now involves far fewer transactions, far fewer rules and far fewer conditions," Najib said.

He also announced other new measures, which include:

Setting up a new investment institution, called Ekuiti Nasional Berhad (Ekuinas), in order to promote the participation of bumiputeras;

Redefining the roles of government-linked companies to play a complementary role to the private sector and to avoid detriment of private sector competition;

Ownership in the wholesale segment of the fund management industry will be liberalised to allow 100 percent foreign ownership for qualified and leading fund management companies to establish operation in Malaysia;

For unit trust segments, the foreign shareholding limit will be raised from 49 percent to 70 percent;

Foreign ownership shareholding limits in existing stock broking companies will be increased from 49 percent to 70 percent;

Bank Negara and the Security Commission will review all visa applications for the financial services industry and capital market industries.

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Credits: Malaysiakini, The Star and The Malaysian Insider

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Terengganu showdown looms

2009-04-14T13:02:00.005+08:00

Terengganu plunged into crisis today..

These two news article were taken from Malaysiakini and The Malaysian Insider respectively

News# 1
------------------------------------------------------------

BN rebels move to oust Terengganu MB
Apr 14, 09 11:02am

More than half of Barisan Nasional backbenchers today did not turn up at Terengganu state assembly sitting today in a move related to their bid to oust Menteri Besar Ahmad Said.

Ten of the 14 BN backbenchers in the state assembly are said to have "boycotted" the second day of the sitting as plans are being made to force Ahmad to step down.

It is believed that the failure of the state representatives to be present at the assembly is linked to ‘death threats’ which some of them had received yesterday.

Late last night, three assemblypersons have lodged a police report saying that they received an SMS warning them against moving a motion of no-confidence against the MB.

Paka assemblyperson Zakaria Abdullah, Abdul Halim Jusoh (Permaisuri) and Rosol Wahid (Ajil) lodged their police reports shortly after midnight following the SMS ‘death threats’.

According to Bernama, Abdul Halim said they received the SMS at about 11.20 last night from an individual believed to be a government official.

They were warned not to proceed with their plan to oust the MB.

"As a senior state government official, he should not threaten anyone, what more a state assemblyman like me. You cannot make threats on people's lives... I don't know why I was targeted," he said.

Of the 32 seats in the state assembly, BN controls 24 while opposition has eight seats.

Umno divided

Ahmad had on Saturday warned those who attempt to table a motion of no-confidence against him would face disciplinary action, including expulsion from the party.

Ruling party Umno is deeply split on the issue of who should be the state menteri besar.

Former MB Idris Jusoh was the then prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s choice but this was opposed by Terengganu palace headed by King Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin.

The Terengganu sultan has backed Ahmad to helm the state and after a brief stand-off, Abdullah relented.

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News# 2

Terengganu BN revolt

APRIL 14 – The end is near for Terengganu Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Said after 10 Barisan Nasional (BN) state lawmakers boycotted the state assembly today in a bid to force his resignation.

Bernama named the absentees as Tepoh assemblyman Muhammad Ramli Noh, Mohd Zawawi Ismail (Kuala Berang), Abdul Halim Jusoh (Permaisuri), Datuk Din Adam (Bukit Besi), Datuk Rosol Wahid (Ajil), Alias Abdullah (Alor Limbat), Zakaria Abdullah (Paka), Ramlan Ali (Jabi), Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh (Jertih) and Mohd Pehimi Yusof (Kota Putera).

Ahmad’s position as BN’s mentri besar has become increasingly untenable amid talk that his own party men were planning to table a no-confidence vote against him.

The seeds of this revolt were planted when Ahmad was put in place as BN’s mentri besar soon after last year’s general elections in place of the incumbent Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh.

Idris was not reappointed due to friction with the Terengganu palace.

But The Malaysian Insider understands that the palace will have no objections to Ahmad’s removal as MB if he is unable to hold the government together.

Ahmad had warned that any BN men involved in moves to table a no-confidence vote against his government faced expulsion.

The BN rebels are now believed to be holed up in a hotel and are expected to speak to reporters shortly.

A number of BN assemblyman are said to have met with deputy Umno president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to obtain “official sanction” for the revolt.

The Malaysian Insider understands that Ahmad had been picked to be MB last year because he was untainted and was relatively popular among the grassroots.

But he has been seen in recent months to become “vicious”, especially in the removal of various heads of state agencies.

Yesterday, three BN lawmakers also lodged police reports for allegedly receiving death threats in text messages related to the planned no-confidence vote.

The Malaysian Insider understands that some of the text messages have been traced to individuals associated with the MB.

The three assemblymen alleging the death threats are Datuk Rosol Wahid (Ajil), Zakaria Ariffin (Paka) and Halim Jusoh (Pemaisuri).

“As a senior state government official, he should not threaten anyone, what more a state assemblyman like me,” Halim told reporters at the Kuala Terengganu police headquarters. “You cannot make threats on people's lives ... I don't know why I was targeted.”

Asked whether he would inform the mentri besar of the threat, he said he would not do so because he had lodged a police report, Bernama reported.

Besides the palace, it is understood that the senior leadership of Umno also has no objection to a change of leadership in the state government.

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2009 Malaysia Cabinet Line-Up

2009-04-09T16:39:00.006+08:00

I present you Malaysian government new cabinet line-up as announced by our 6th PM, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Abdul Razak.

Perhaps one of the surprise is the exclusion of Khairy Jamaludin, Umno Youth chief in the cabinet list. To add insult to his injury, even Umno Youth deputy chief and Mukhriz Mahathir, who lost to Khairy in the contest for the Umno Youth top post were appointed with deputy minister post.

Khairy is also the only head of the three Umno wings not appointed minister.

The following are ministers dropped by Najib:

Syed Hamid Albar (Home Affairs), Muhammad Muhd Taib (Rural and Regional Development), Azalina Othman Said (Tourism), Ong Ka Chuan (Housing and Local Government), senator Amirshah A Aziz (Minister in the PM's Department), Mohd Zin Mohamed (Works) and Zulhasnan Rafique (Federal Territories).

Shahrir Samad who had tendered his resignation as domestic trade and consumer affairs minister last week was not considered in this line-up.

NEW CABINET LINE-UP:

Prime Minister and Finance Minister 1 Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak

Deputy PM and Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin

Ministers in Prime Minister’s Department
Unity Dr Koh Tsu Koon
Law and Parliament Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz
Religious Affairs Brig. Gen. (Rtd) Datuk Jamil Khir Baharum
Economic Planning Unit Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop

Finance
Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak (Finance I)
Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah (Finance II)
Deputies: Datuk Chor Chee Heung, Datuk Dr Awang Adek Hussein

Education
Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin
Deputies: Datuk Wee Ka Seong, Datuk Puad Zarkashi

Transport
Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat
Deputies: Datuk Abdul Rahim Bakri, Datuk Robert Lau

Home
Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein
Deputy: Datuk Wira Abu Seman Yusop

Information, Unity, Culture and Arts
Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim
Deputies: Datuk Joseph Salang Gandum, Heng Sai Kee

Energy, Green Tech & Water
Datuk Peter Chin Fah Kui
Deputy: Noriah Kasnon

Plantation Industries and Commodoties
Tan Sri Bernard Dompok
Deputy: Datuk Hamzah Zainuddin

Rural and Regional Development
Datuk Shafie Apdal
Deputies: Datuk Hassan Malek, Datuk Joseph Entulu

Higher Education
Datuk Seri Khaled Nordin
Deputies: Dr Hou Kok Chung, Saifuddin Abdullah

International Trade and Industry
Datuk Mustapa Mohamed
Deputies: Datuk Muhkriz Mahathir, Datuk Jacob Dungau

Science, Tech and Innovation
Datuk Dr Maximus Ongkili
Deputy: Fadillah Yusof

Natural Resources and Environment
Datuk Douglas Unggah Embas
Deputy: Tan Sri Joseph Kurup

Tourism
Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen
Deputy: Datuk Seri Sulaiman Abdul Rahman Abdul Taib

Agriculture and Agro-based industries
Datuk Noh Omar
Deputies: Johari Baharum, Rohani Abdul Karim

Defence
Datuk Ahmad Zahid Hamidi
Deputy: Datuk Dr Abdul Latif

Works
Datuk Shaziman Abu Mansor
Deputy: Datuk Yong Khoon Seng

Health
Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai
Deputy: Datuk Rosnah Rashid Shilin

Youth and Sport
Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek
Deputies: Datuk Razali Ibrahim, Wee Jeck Sing

Human Resource
Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam
Deputy: Datuk Maznah Mazlan

Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs
Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri
Deputy: Datuk Tan Lian Hoe

Housing and Local Government
Datuk Kong Cho Ha
Deputy: Lajim Ukin

Women, Family and Community Development
Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil
Deputy: Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun

Foreign Affairs
Datuk Anifah Aman
Deputies: Lee Chee Hong, A. Kohilan

Federal Territory
Datuk Raja Nong Chik Zainal Abidin
Deputy: M. Saravanan

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Future TM IPTV content?

2009-04-05T19:00:00.003+08:00

Taken from Malaysiakini,

Telekom to bid for EPL broadcast rights

State-owned Telekom Malaysia may bid for exclusive rights to show live matches in the next three English Premier League seasons, from 2010 to 2013.

MCPX

The multimillion-dollar tender will open for bidding in the second quarter of this year and the country's largest telecommunications firm is considering taking part, the Edge financial weekly quoted an unnamed source as saying.

The weekly said Telekom Malaysia is likely to compete with Malaysia's dominant pay-TV operator, Astro All Asia Networks, which currently holds the Malaysian broadcast rights for 2007 to 2010 seasons, for the 2010-2013 rights.

"We hope to acquire interesting content for our triple-play platform that could help us to enrich and add value to our service offering," Telekom Malaysia vice-president Jeremy Kung told the weekly, declining further comment.

EPL matches draw a strong following among Malaysians especially top teams such as Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool.

==============================================================

Should TM wins this bid, starting from next year Malaysian customers might needed to subscribe to TM HSBB (High-speed Broadband Project) package which will include IPTV to watch live EPL matches. Having a competition is good for us customers, it will also put pressure for Astro to improve its service.

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Film by Malaysian, for Malaysian

2009-03-28T19:27:00.007+08:00

Talentime - go watch it!

2 thumbs up

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Kedah civilization older than Angkor Wat

2009-03-05T16:45:00.004+08:00

History book may have to be rewritten now. Apparently the latest find in Kedah in Lembah Bujang pre-dated back in 3rd and 4th AD, older than Angkor Wat which existed in 12th to 14th AD.

Here's the news reports from Malaysiakini:

~~~~~~~~

Pre-Angkor civilisation found in Kedah

Archaeologists today said they had discovered the main site of an ancient kingdom that predates the Angkor temples of Cambodia and could be the oldest civilisation in the region.

MCPX

Archaeological team leader Professor Mokhtar Saidin said the find, which could lead to a rewriting of history books on the region, was made in two palm oil plantations in Kedah last month.

He said buildings found at the site indicate it was part of the ancient Hindu kingdom of Bujang which existed in the area some time in the third century AD, predating the Angkor civilisation of Cambodia which flourished from the 12th to 14th centuries.

"We have dated artifacts from what we believe are an administration building and an iron smelter to 1,700 BP (years before present) which sets the Bujang civilisation between the third and fourth century AD," he told AFP.

"We have only one date so far so we can say it is one of the earliest civilisations in the region but with more dates we will be able to verify whether it is the oldest civilisation in the region," he added.

Iron smelter a surprise find

Mokhtar said the iron smelter was a surprise find as it showed that such an early civilisation was already quite advanced technologically.

"We have 30 more mounds at the site that have to be excavated and we are hoping to also find the port area for the kingdom as it was near the sea," he added.

"This will give us a clue to how the civilisation was trading and influenced by China and India, who would have been the two main powers back then to have influenced development in this region."

Archaeologists last month also announced the discovery of stone tools they believe are more than 1.8 million years old and the earliest evidence of human ancestors in Southeast Asia.

The stone hand-axes were discovered last year in the historical site of Lenggong in northern Perak state, embedded in a type of rock formed by meteorites.

~~~~~~~~

:::
::
:

Ancient finds in Kedah

2009-03-05T00:19:00.003+08:00

More ancient buildings were found in Kedah's Lembah Bujang (Bujang Valley)
Following is the news report taken from Bernama:

~~~~~~~

USM archaeologists unearth ancient Kedah buildings

SUNGAI PETANI, March 4 — A group of archaeologists has unearthed two prehistoric buildings from the third century AD in the Bujang Valley recently.

The group, from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM)’s Centre for Global Archaeological Research, found a building and a smelting factory, following an excavation project in Sungai Batu, Semeling.

Discovered in two areas near an oil palm plantation in Jalan Lencongan Merbok recently, the buildings proved that an ancient civilisation had existed in the Bujang Valley.

USM Vice-Chancellor Prof Tan Sri Dzulkifli Abdul Razak disclosed today that the discoveries were important historical findings.

He said the date depicted the early beginnings of commercial smelting activities in the Bujang Valley.

The excavation — conducted with the cooperation of the National Heritage Department with an approved grant of RM2.3 million by the unity, culture, arts and heritage ministry -- began on Feb 1, with a total of 70 participants, including USM students.

“This finding is solid proof that the prehistoric civilisation depended on basic knowledge, trade and large-scale industrial production,” he told reporters after a working visit to the site.

The excavation project was headed by USM Centre for Global Archaeological Research director Prof Madya Dr Mokhtar Saidin, and it resulted in two weeks of digging before the buildings were unearthed.

Dzulkifli said the project was part of a plan to develop the National Heritage Department Bujang Valley Heritage Park.

“The finding at Sungai Batu is different from artifacts found in other sites in the Bujang Valley. Previously, archaeologists only found buildings that had the characteristics of ancient temples.

“This latest finding at Sungai Batu I were of bricks believed to be from a house or office, and another at Sungai Batu II which functioned as a smelting factory,” he said.

According to Dzulkifli, both findings were important as it could unravel questions regarding the real date when civilisation started in the Bujang Valley.

Dr Mokhtar said coal samples found at the foundry were sent for Radiocarbon Dating tests at the Beta Analytic Inc, Florida, US, which confirmed that it dated back to the third or fourth century AD.

He added that the Sungai Batu area would be gazetted as the Bujang Valley Heritage Park next year, after research was completed.

The Bujang Valley area consists of almost 300 sq km of land from Gunung Jerai to Sungai Muda, Seberang Perai.

Captain James Low identified the Bujang Valley civilisation after discovering more than 20 temples in Kampung Bujang in 1840.

Research and excavation activities carried out found that the Bujang Valley was a main port in South-East Asia from the fifth century AD to 13 century AD. — Bernama

~~~~~~~

Perak showdown (updated with reports)

2009-03-03T19:10:00.000+08:00

Today 03/03/2009 is a historical day as something unprecedented is happening in Perak.

We shall see the outcome later...

UPDATED with chronological reports by Malaysiakini below:

Court halts assembly sittings

At an emergency assembly meeting held under a tree in a car park next to the state secretariat, the Pakatan representatives passed motions to support Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin as the menteri besar as well as to dissolve the state assembly.

Meanwhile at the Ipoh High Court, a new twist developed when judge Ridwan Ibrahim told speaker V Sivakumar's lawyers that they had no legal standing to represent the speaker, who should be represented by the state legal advisor.

See below as developments unfolded.

LIVE REPORTS

4.56pm: Justice Ridwan has ruled in favour of Zambry by restraining the Perak speaker from convening state assembly sittings, according to Zambry's lawyers.

4.38pm: Zambry's lawyers are out of the judge's chambers. They are expected to hold a press conference soon.

3pm: Lawyers representing Zambry and his six exco members enter the judge's chambers.

2.50pm: The drama is back at the Ipoh High Court again - this time for judicial commissioner Ridwan Ibrahim to hear an application by Zambry to stop "all unlawful assembly sittings by Pakatan".

Speaker Sivakumar's lawyer Leong Cheok Keng and M Kula Segaran submit a letter to the judge stating that Sivakumar had no prior knowledge that the state legal advisor would be representing him.

The speaker told the judge that the decision to bar his lawyers from representing him this morning was wrong.

"I had no communication from the state legal advisor that he would be acting on my behalf," he said in the letter.

11.55am: Those who had lashed out at police personnel when Pakatan Rakyat state representatives were prevented from entering the state secretariat building this morning will be tracked down.

According to Bernama, Ipoh police chief Azisman Alias said more than 200 people had gathered outside the building but there were no untoward incidents.

However, he said several individuals had uttered harsh words against the police, and they would be tracked down from the photographs and videos taken of the incident.

Azisman said the police would also seek the help of the media to publish or broadcast the images of these individuals who attempted to prevent the police from exercising their duty.

11.45am: The crowd at the DAP headquarters start to disperse.

11.20am: Zambry's lawyers Mohd Hafarizam Harun and Firoz Hussein Ahmad Jamaluddin hold press conference at the Ipoh High Court. They reveal that they had filed an injunction application at 8.30am against all unlawful assembly sittings by Pakatan.

The matter will be heard before justice Ridwan at 2.30pm today. They said that the speaker must be represented by the state legal advisor for this application.

They also said that the judge will fix another date to hear Zambry's two other applications.

11.15am: About 300 people have gathered at the DAP headquarters, listening to a ceramah by Pakatan leaders.

10.57am: Nizar also urged the people to stay calm and follow the law. He told them not to emulate the troublemakers who had tried to stop him and the other representatives from entering the state secretariat earlier today.

10.53am: Ngeh also said that speaker Sivakumar will initiate contempt proceedings against the police and the state secretary.

10.50am: State DAP chief and senior exco member under the Pakatan government Ngeh Koo Ham: "It is a very sad day. We have descended into a police state."

10.49am: Nizar says that he will seek an audience with the Perak sultan to inform him the decision of the House. He insisted that the sitting was held in accordance with the rules and regulations.

10.46am: Nizar at the press conference said: "We held a sitting under a tree based on the doctrine of necessity because we were prevented from entering the assembly but we had to fulfil our duties based on the notice issued by the speaker".

10.35am: A new twist at the Ipoh High Court. Speaker Sivakumar's lawyer Tommy Thomas held a press conference to say that the judge had ruled that private lawyers have no legal standing to represent the speaker.

Thomas said that according to judge Ridwan Ibrahim, only the state legal advisor can act for the speaker since he (the speaker) is part of the state government.

With this ruling, Thomas said that they would be taking instructions from Sivakumar on the next course of action.

Thomas also said that their arguments that it would be a conflict for the state advisor to represent the speaker was dismissed by the judge.

He also said that the judge dismissed their application to conduct watching brief with the right to submit on behalf of the speaker.

The issue of legal standing was raised by Zambry's lawyers.

10.31am: Sivakumar is now heading towards the DAP headquarters nearby where he will be holding a press conference to explain the next course of action. Nizar is also expected to hold a press conference there. The DAP HQ is located right opposite the state secretariat's rear entrance.

10.30am: The speaker has adjourned the "historic" assembly meeting. Sivakumar will now have to present the motions to the Perak sultan for further action.

10.25am: The second motion to dissolve the state assembly was also moved, debated and passed unanimously.

The emergency sitting under the tree also passed a third motion - to adopt the decision of the rights and privileges committee headed by Sivakumar to suspend Zambry and his six exco members.

10.23am: The first motion was passed unanimously. Every present Pakatan representative shouted 'setuju' (agree) when a vote was taken on the motion.

10.20am: The first motion to express confidence on Nizar as the menteri besar is being tabled now.

10.18am: Sivakumar is in his full speaker's robe to chair the meeting. It is held in a very formal manner. He told the viewing crowd not to clap or cheer and to respect the meeting.

10.15am: The meeting starts with a prayer session, It is held under a raintree, without any chairs for the state representatives and the speaker to sit.

10.13am: Speaker Sivakumar has decided to hold the emergency meeting right at the car park. All Pakatan representatives are present. Some 300 people are watching the historic proceeding.

10.08am: Speaker Sivakumar and Nizar are also seen with the other state representatives at the car park. The impromptu meeting is still proceeding there.

10.05am: Meanwhile at the Ipoh High Court, lawyers from both sides are learnt to have been in the judge's chambers for the past 30 minutes.

10.01am: The Nizar entourage has stopped at the car park located some 50 metres away from the state secretariat's main entrance and are huddled in a meeting. Speaker Sivakumar is not in this group.

10am: Nizar and the state representatives are leaving the area. They are headed to the DAP headquarters and will be holding a press conference there.

Some 200 Pakatan supporters are still waiting at the state secretariat entrance.

9.55am: Ipoh police chief Azisman: "I have spoken to both Ngeh and the state secretary (Abdul Rahman Hashim) and the state secretary said no one is allowed to enter the state secretariat".

9.53am: Senior state exco member under the Pakatan government Ngeh Koo Ham is still trying to negotiate with Ipoh police chief to allow them to enter the state secretariat.

9.50am: Eyewitnesses say that the police have asked speaker Sivakumar alone to enter the state secretariat. This could not be confirmed.

9.49am: The police are ordering the crowd to disperse. The crowd is shouting 'Hidup Rakyat!'.

9.45am: Ipoh OCPD Azisman Alias refuses to negotiate, says no one is allowed to enter. The police are pushing away the Pakatan state representatives away from the main entrance. The situation is very chaotic.

9.40am: Nizar's people are negotiating with the police as the FRU are not allowing anyone inside the state secretariat. The crowd now stands at about 200, most of whom are Pakatan supporters. The water cannon is pointed towards the crowd.

9.35am: A group of people numbering about 30 are blocking Nizar and his team from heading towards the main entrance. No police interference. Nizar and group walked past them to the main entrance.

9.30am: Ousted Menteri Besar Nizar and his state representatives arrive at the state secretariat.

9.25am: A slanging match ensues between BN and Pakatan supporters at the main entrance of the secretariat. The BN supporters showered profanities at the Pakatan lot who had been shouting ‘reformasi!'.

9.21am: The police and FRU trucks are blocking the main entrance to the state secretariat. The Pakatan state representatives are expected to try to get into the building to go to the state assembly through this entrance.

9.20am: The crowd - a good multi-racial one - at the state secretariat has swelled to about 100 now.

9.15am: Pakatan state representatives who had earlier met at a nearby hotel are on their way to the state secretariat.

9.10am: Lawyers from both sides are in the court house.

9am: About 40 FRU personnel in full gear position themselves at the rear entrance of the state secretariat. Some of them are armed with rifles and tear-gas launchers.

8.55am: At the Ipoh High Court - no crowd, no police. Only lawyers for the speaker are present so far. This defence team is led by constitutional expert Tommy Thomas, Chan Kok Keong, Philip Koh Tong Ngee and Augustine Antony. Several other lawyers are expected to join them.

Perak MB Zambry Abd Kadir's two applications will be heard today. The first is on speaker Sivakumar's use of the undated resignation letters of three BN-friendly independents to vacate their state seats. The second is over the suspensions of Zambry and his six exco members.

The matters will be heard before judicial commissioner Ridwan Ibrahim at High Court 4.

Zambry and Co are not expected to be present in court today. Their defence team is led by Mohd Hafarizam Harun with Badrul Hishah Abd Wahab, Faizul Hilmy Ahmad Zamri.

8.50am: About 50 curious onlookers have gathered at the rear entrance of the state secretariat. "No signs of any trouble," says Malaysiakini journalist Andrew Ong.

8.30am: Roadblocks have been set up since yesterday along the main road leading to the state secretariat. No vehicles are allowed near the building.

More than 100 police personnel are on standby at the state secretariat. Dozens of journalists are also there.

8.15am: The main entrance to the state secretariat building in Ipoh is shut, denying access to anyone wanting to enter the secretariat. A huge police presence is also visible around the state secretariat.

The police have also cordoned off the road at the back of the state secretariat. Federal Reserve Unit trucks and water cannons are on standby as well.

Yesterday state police chief Zulkefli Abdullah had warned people not to gather at the state secretariat.

The Pakatan Rakyat state assemblypersons have planned to gather at the main entrance of the state secretariat at 10am before going into the state assembly located in the secretariat to conduct their emergency meeting.

Meanwhile, Menteri Besar Zambry Abdul Kadir's legal suits against speaker V Sivakumar is expected to be heard at 9am at the Ipoh High Court.

...
..
.

Dear Malaysian Politicians

2009-02-27T12:04:00.008+08:00

A businessman, Anas Zubedy who runs a consultancy company Zubey (M) Sdn. Bhd. forked out more than RM 36,000 to publish a full-page advertisement that appeared in The Star, 26 February 2009 in page N37.

In the ad, he wrote an open letter to Malaysian politicians, asking political parties to call a truce and focus on the shaky economy and jobs.

He also spoke of the challenges faced by his 20 staff, their fears for the future — and how the country's leaders seem oblivious to the anxiety that he feels is gripping the nation.

“Whether (the governing) Barisan Nasional or (opposition) Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leads is meaningless . . . if Malaysians have no job to go to, no money to pay rent and no means to put food on the table,” he wrote.

“Pakatan Rakyat, please stop your attempts to take over the federal government and just let go. The nation can wait until the next general election if they want change.

“Barisan Nasional, please stop any attempts to take over PR states and win over PR lawmakers. You have proved your point with Perak. The nation can wait for the next general election if they want your party.”

Anas called on politicians from all sides to “get together and compromise”, telling them: “Someone has to give in. Take the nation to heart. That's why you are in politics in the first place. Focus on the people. Focus on the economy.”

Click on the image below to see the full page advertisement for yourself

Click on the image to see the ad in full-size

I wish the Rm 36,000 he spent does not go down the drain, politicians should take heed of his pleading, it basically represents what other Malaysians are wishing for right now.

...
..
.

Are you gonna finish strong?

2009-02-24T12:19:00.004+08:00

I stumbled upon this inspirational video at Youtube.

The guy is an Australian named Nick Vujicic, who was born without any limbs.

" If I fail and I give up, do you think I'm gonna be able to get up? No!
But I just want you to know that it's not the end, it matters how you gonna finish.
Are you gonna finish strong? " - Nick Vujicic

...
..
.

Weirdness

2009-02-22T13:43:00.002+08:00

I continue to surprise myself lately.

Currently I find myself listening to Britney Spears's Circus album every time of the day.

My favourite tracks include Circus, Out From Under and Shattered Glass...ouch.

Hopefully this infatuation stops, ASAP.

Kids nowadays

2009-02-14T16:27:00.011+08:00

Budak² zaman sekarang....

__________________________________________________________________

He is a 13-year-old who likes computer games, boxing and Manchester United. But what sets Alfie Patten from East Sussex, England, apart from other boys his age is the fact that he became a father last Monday.

MCPX

Baby-faced Alfie, who is 13 but looks more like an eight-year-old, became a father four days ago when his girlfriend Chantelle Steadman,15, gave birth to their daugther Maisie Roxanne.

In an exclusive story in The Sun yesterday, Alfie was quoted as saying, "I thought it would be good to have a baby. I didn’t think about how we would afford it. I don’t really get pocket money. My dad sometimes gives me £10 (RM51.95)."

Alfie, who is just 4-feet tall, added: "When my mum found out, I thought I was going to get in trouble. We wanted to have the baby but were worried how people would react.

"I didn’t know what it would be like to be a dad. I will be good, though, and care for it."

Maisie was conceived after Chantelle and Alfie - just 12 at the time - had a single night of unprotected sex.

They found out about the baby when Chantelle was 12 weeks pregnant. However, they kept it a secret until six weeks later when Chantelle’s mother Penny, 38, became suspicious about her weight gain and confronted her.

Chantelle admitted she and Alfie, who are both being supported by their parents, would be accused of being grossly irresponsible. She said: "We know we made a mistake but I wouldn’t change it now. We will be good loving parents.

"I have started a church course and I am going to do work experience helping other young mums. I’ll be a great mum and Alfie will be a great dad."

'They have no idea what lies ahead'

Chantelle and Maisie were released from hospital earlier today. They are living with Penny, Chantelle’s jobless father Steve, 43, and her five brothers in a rented council house. The family lives on state benefits. Alfie, who lives with his mother Nicola, 43, spends most of his time at the Steadmans’ house.

He is allowed to stay overnight and even has a school uniform there so he can go straight to his classes in the morning.

Alfie’s father, Dennis, 45, who is separated from Nicola, believes the boy is scared deep down.

"Everyone is telling him things and it’s going round in his head. It hasn’t really dawned on him. He hasn’t got a clue of what the baby means and can’t explain how he feels. All he knows is mum and dad will help.

"When you mention money, he looks away. And she is reliant on her mum and dad. It’s crazy. They have no idea what lies ahead."

__________________________________________________________________

Bapak pun muka budak2 lagi... dahsyat sungguh dunia zaman sekarang

Coming soon

2009-01-29T15:04:00.006+08:00

Langkawi Trip
22 - 24 January 2009

~full story soon~

Tags Frenzy by Erma

2009-01-24T07:34:00.009+08:00

Due to unforeseen circumstances, this blog is alive again ^_^

During this trimester break I was tagged in no less than 3 times by Erma.
Here I will answer them gradually one by one :P

1st tag

What is your name? ~~NukM4N
How old are you? ~~18
What are the 3 electronics you can’t live without? ~~My PC, Omnia and iPod
Are you amazing? ~~Yeah!
What is/are the brand of the phone you are using? ~~Nokia and Samsung
What color is/are your phone? ~~Blue and Black
Have you slept in school before? ~~I think so
How long are you online in a day? ~~approximately 18 hours a day
How would you describe yourself? ~~178cm tall, need to lose weight for ideal BMI
What’s your favourite topic to talk about? ~~err.. IT stuffs?
Which teacher do you like? ~~My english teachers
Who do you think is the most prettiest in your class? ~~Aisha ^_^
Who are you currently aiming on? ~Supermodels
Do you know a lot of your siblings’ secret? ~~I do..
How do you describe your siblings? ~I have 5 siblings, too many to describe
Are your siblings gorgeous? ~~Yeah!
Do you judge people? ~~By the 1st impression, yeah.
Do you run? ~~I jog sometimes :P
Are you lazy to tag people? ~~Yes, in fact I will end this tag here.
Who was the last person you spoke on the phone? ~~Husaini, a friend from diploma days
What is 2 + 2? ~~Is this a trick question? My answer is 4
Who is your idol? ~~Beloved Prophet Muhammad SAW
Are you a monster? ~~......
Do you play with Barbie dolls? ~~my sisters has few of them
What was the last movie you watched? ~~ Cidade de Deus (City of God)
What do you think of your English? ~~I speak the English the cannot cannot
What do you think about your Bahasa Malaysia? ~~My level of bahasa was at its best during my SPM days. Now I struggled a bit to write an essay in bahasa, even writing letters in bahasa took a bit more time =P
Who do you hate? ~~evil Zionist
Do you love yourself? ~~I do
Blurt out 5 random words. ~~Nuclear, Langkawi, Laptop, Wedding, Relative
People I tag. ~~Nobody, I wish to end the tag here.

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2nd tag

1. Copy badge "2008 Cute's 3logger Award" di bawah untuk diletakkan di blog anda.aku cute ke, time kasih :P^

2. Link/ceritakan kembali siapa yang memberikan award ini kepada anda.

Erma a.k.a cik Daiyan Trisya yg blog nya private =P

3. Setiap blogger mesti menyatakan 10 fakta/hobi diri sendiri sebelum memilih penerima award seterusnya.

5 fakta:

Saya anak sulung
Saya tak kuat merajuk
Saya suka kucing
Saya southpaw boy
Oleh sebab saya anak sulung maka saya lebih tua dari adik-beradik saya

5 hobi:

Saya suka baca blog
Saya main game utk release tension
Saya suka menganalisis sesuatu keadaan
Saya minat menonton muvi
Saya juga minat menonton dan mengumpul siri² TV

4. Anda perlu memilih 10 penerima award seterusnya dan menyatakan nama mereka di blog anda.

tiada sesiapa... terpulang kepada pembaca blog ini untuk membuat tag ini

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1 more tag... malas lah pulak =P

Good Luck!

2006-01-07T15:35:00.005+08:00

Dearest friends and families,

Short trimesters are really... short. One day I woke up thinking of skipping classes. The next thing I know is my final exam starts next week on Monday! Just wanna take this opportunity to wish all MMUians

GOOD LUCK for your final exams

and

HAVE A NICE BREAK

This will be my last exam as a diploma student. I'm entering Beta next trimester (InsyaALLAH).

Expect to see my blog moved to NukM4N.net after this trimester break. =)

Yours sincerely,

NuKe

One hella good day

2005-12-23T20:29:00.000+08:00

Everything went well today... woke up with a fever-free body =)
Went to finance to unbar myself which I don't even need to do in the first place if not for some "accounting glitch" - that's what finance people said to me.

Never mind, I'm not holding any grudge. At least I got my 1st experience meeting finance personnel other than the counter ladies :P

Neway, I had Midterm #2 for Math Tech.2 at 3PM today. Alhamdulillah, I managed to answer all the questions given with all the help that I've got =D thankz to Prof and Miss Yuzi for some guidance/hints ;)

what the... ?

2005-12-22T19:35:00.000+08:00

A while ago, just out of the blue I logged on to Student Info Center to check on my results and this is what I got

You have been barred by Finance Department from seeing your results. Please settle your fees.

Well well well... I immediately checked the Student Financial Kiosk that says my outstanding balance is: RM -770.00

That means MMU owes me RM770.00 and they barred me for that??? . Wow!!! what the...

lagi murah lagi bagus

2005-12-21T09:13:00.000+08:00

Isn't this a good news for all of us =)

Cheaper hellos

BY M. KRISHNAMOORTHY
KUALA LUMPUR: Mobile phone users can expect lower charges for calls and text messages once a fixed inter-network access price list is introduced next year.
The mandated access price list will state the specific costs that a service provider must pay another network provider for allowing calls or Short Messaging Service (SMS) messages to get through.

Energy, Communications and Water Minister Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik said he would “force the network providers” to follow the fixed access price.
“This can ultimately benefit consumers, with most calls and SMS messages being charged less,” he said in an interview.
“In the process of developing the ICT (information communications technology) sector, I want the operators to open their services to more users.

Asia Telecoms chief operating officer A. Sritharan said the move would benefit mobile phone consumers.
“Mobile users will benefit from this as the cost of calling or sending short messages can be cheaper.

He said that telecommunications operators would also benefit because the fixed access price list would help them to structure their rates.Dr Lim said that his ministry came up with this initiative to instil “new vibrancy” in the industry and to further propel Malaysia’s economic growth.
“We have discussed the pricing with the different operators and a final decision will be made soon,” he said.

On another matter, Dr Lim said applications from three candidates vying for two more 3G licences were still being processed.
The applicants are DiGi, MiTV and Time DotCom.
The existing 3G licence holders are TM Bhd, via Celcom (M) Bhd, and Maxis Communications Bhd.

Untying the Knot, Celebrity Style

2005-12-19T09:32:00.000+08:00

I love celebrity marriage! They never fail to amuse me *snickers*
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LOS ANGELES - No mother-in-law sleepovers. Only one football game per Sunday. Mandatory sexual positions. With celebrity marriages often shorter than Jessica Simpson's Daisy Dukes, the power of the prenuptial agreement cannot be denied.

Simpson and soon-to-be-ex-husband Nick Lachey didn't have a prenup — he actually had more earning power than she did when they got married three years ago — so Simpson could have to part with half of the $30 million she earned last year. That's a lot of Chicken of the Sea.

Other recent breakups include Valerie Bertinelli and Eddie Van Halen and Christina Applegate and Jonathon Schaech. Prenups are the norm for most stars — even regular folks should have one, if you listen to Kanye West — and these documents can dictate far more than who gets what. Attorneys say some recent celebrity prenups include:

• Limiting the wife's weight to 120 pounds or she must relinquish $100,000 of her separate property.
• Allowing a spouse to perform random drug tests, with financial penalties for positive results.
• Requiring a husband to pay $10,000 each time he is rude to his wife's parents.
• The previously mentioned rules regarding mothers-in-law, football and sex.

"Everything is legal unless you're dealing with custody of children or child support," said Los Angeles divorce attorney Robert Nachshin, who has represented Barry Bonds (his ex signed the prenup the day before their wedding) and author Terry McMillan (who discovered the young hubby who brought her groove back was gay). "Everything else is up for grabs."

So if Simpson had planned ahead, she could have limited Lachey's football-watching plus protected her "Dukes of Hazzard" and Dessert cosmetics dollars.

"People have their own little peculiar peccadilloes they're concerned about," said attorney Leon F. Bennett, who has represented Marlon Brando, Kelsey Grammer and Dennis Hopper. "People of wealth have a sense they have power over others that their money can acquire, and reality shows it can."

High-profile prenups typically contain confidentiality clauses to keep them out of the public eye, Nachshin said. Even during divorce, many celebrities keep their arrangements private by hiring a retired judge to oversee the proceedings, said attorney Connolly Oyler, who has represented producer Sam Simon and Ali Landry.

Infidelity clauses are common, Nachshin said. Michael Douglas agreed to pay Catherine Zeta-Jones millions should he stray, and Denise Richards made similar requirements of Charlie Sheen.

Custody of pets is another common concern. Bennett once handled a case that dictated the destination of a couple's taxidermied horse. Even gardeners, baby sitters and pool men have been addressed.

Most states, including California, consider anything earned or bought after the wedding day to be community property that should be divided equally in a divorce. Prenuptial agreements — which are signed by both parties by don't have to be filed in court — can legally determine the distribution of almost anything the couple shared, from art collections to country club memberships.

But discussing the prenup isn't exactly romantic.
"The problem is the implied distrust," said Jeremy Ritzlin, a longtime Los Angeles marriage and family therapist.

One of Bennett's celebrity clients was so worried about offending his future wife, he skipped a prenup in favor of financial planning to keep his pre-marriage property separate. Roseanne Barr was so in love with Tom Arnold before their 1990 wedding that she fired her attorney for suggesting she sign a prenup. When the couple divorced four years later, Arnold left with $50 million.

Britney Spears was reportedly so taken with Kevin Federline that she refused to sign a prenup until her mom and business managers intervened.

"They may be blinded by love and lust," Bennett said, "but they still need to be protected."

Goodbye PGE, Welcome LA !

2005-12-16T22:08:00.000+08:00

Howdiess~

Been busy this whole week finishing up 30-question Calculus assignment... but that's not exactly why I haven't update this blog. It's just that there weren't anything that I feel worth sharing ;)

Anyway, my parents dropped by on Wednesday night, all the way from SgPetani after stopping at UTP Tronoh to send my post-SPM brother Ahmad off for his 3-day UTP Scholarship interview session. Please my friends let us pray for my brother's success =D

Newayz, my beloved Waja- PuteriGunungEverest is now back with her rightful owner- my father. In exchange, I'm using my mom's Wira - hey! Let's call her miss LosAngeles =)
It's better to have this Wira as I'm more used to driving her than my father's Waja.
Although I must admit I do miss her after being faithful to me for approximately a month.

From the practical point of view, driving this Wira is definitely more economical since my LosAngeles has lower fuel consumption than the relatively brand new Waja.

See... I told you I only have boring stories to tell =P

Port Dickson Trip

2005-12-11T22:48:00.000+08:00

Today Neil invited us (Zarul, Harith and I) to go makan-makan at his grandparents' house in PD to mark his sister's engagement ceremony.

Off we go with my beloved PuteriGunungEverest at around 12.30 noon. Since this
will be our first time travelling to Port Dickson, Neil constantly guided us the
way to his house on the phone with Harith as my co-pilot. Luckily finding the house was quite easy since the landmark (Oil Refinery) is very hard to be missed when you travel along the Port Dickson road.

We reached the kenduri at around 2.15pm. After having our stomach stuffed, Neil
brought us to see the beaches.
Now if only we had brought along extra clothes and towel >.<

Neil tag along on our journey back to Melaka using the trunk road and it took almost the same time as using the highway.
Right now, I'm quite tired and hungry after driving for approximately 212.8 kilometres.(source: the car's odometer)

More stories and also pics on my next posting.

awkward encounter during friday prayer

2005-12-09T14:09:00.000+08:00

Fridays consist of 1-hour tutorial session but we finished a bit later than usual since our lecturer gave us extra exercise for each of us to solve in front of the class. Most of us did excellent job proving Miss Yuzi that her teachings really help us poor RS students ;)

Around 12 noon I'm already dressed for Friday prayer coz Aslah asked me to fetch her to Melaka Sentral.
Arrived at Melaka Sentral around 12.30, since I still have 35 minutes before Zohor time, I decided to pray at the mosque near Sek Keb Bkt Beruang, the nearest mosque outside the campus. Nevertheless it only took me 10 minutes to get there from Melaka Sentral, pretty fast!

Nearing 1.05 pm, the khatib was reading announcements about the Qurban ceremony scheduled in 2006 and that for those who are interested can take part @RM300 per person. Suddenly, this pakcik sitting next to me whispered
"Nak, dia ckp aper tu nak, pakcik kurang dengar la".

"Dia cakap pasal Qurban pakcik, kalau nak ambil bahagian bayar 300 sorang", I whispered back.

"Ooh Qurban.. itu pakcik dah buat dah tahun lepas, pak cik buat sorang-sorang jer, takde nak kongsi-kongsi", I just nodded and smiled back at him

Not long after that the Azan came up. This pak cik still continued chatting and cracking jokes to me in a loud voice without realizing that bilal is performing azan. I tried my best to signal him that it's azan time now and you're not supposed to talk during azan. Finally after azan was halfway finished he got the message and kept quiet. I believed he really has limited hearing capabilities since he's always eyeing what others are doing to guide him on when to perform the do'a, etc.

Nevertheless I think the regulars at the mosque understand his condition since they were not annoyed when he was practically laughing during the azan.. >.<
I still do not get what his jokes were all about =P

the one with the midterm while the other has fever

2005-12-08T00:25:00.000+08:00

Howdy~

Let me fill you in on parts and pieces of my life on Wednesday, December 07, 2005 :

Went to bed rather early last night @12.30AM. Harith dozed off way earlier than me (a rare occurence in the history of us being roomates).

Harith is having midterm for Data Comm n Telecomm Sytem tonight at 2000hours (way to go Ramly! ;) His Data+Tele class started at 10AM while mine only begin at 12.00 noon so we were not going to class together today.

I chose to go by bike today for reasons both practical and economical; save minyak and parking!
Since all my classes are held at Old Fosee building (Block B) this trimester, going to class by car means you have to park either around EP area or outside the MMU back entrance which is always full during the day *sigh*

After classes were over at 1400 hours + lunch till 1500 hours, Harith made a last minute attempt peering through all the notes and slides for his midterm. I tried chipping in but I guess I didnt help much since Data Comm was the subject I took during my 3rd trimester in MMU and that was approximately 2 years ago...
!*_*

Anyways, Zarul is suffering a very bad fever and his condition kept deteoriating through the day so at around 8:00 PM off we went to the clinic. Doctor said the good news is that his fever has cooled down, however should he's not completely healed in 5 days time then a further checkup has to be made. He shoud be ok and at the moment of this writing, Zarul has regained his appetite and is having his dinner right now. =D

On a side note, I have added a column on the right-side bar, Funny Quotes. - Thanks to ika for the links ;)
I'll regularly update the quotes whenever I see fit or if somebody complained that they're not funny anymore :P

chows~

Grilled Ostrich

2005-12-06T18:20:00.001+08:00

Class starts at 1000 a.m today, followed by 2-hour tutorial at 1400 hours.
In between the session, Harith, Aphesz, Shahiwan and I decided to hit The Windmill@JJ for lunch. FYI, having lunch at The Windmill has been kinda ritual for me and Harith, we've been frequenting the place for at least once a week since last trimester.

Usually I'd decide what to eat even before the menu was handed to me, but for reasons unknown I was undecisive betweeen Grilled Chicken or Fish and Salad.

Guess what I ordered, Grilled Ostrich set for the price of RM19.90. My instincts whispered that I should try something new today...but it turned out to be a regret, and a big waste of money too. The ostrich meat tasted... funny.. it tasted like.. bird, Period. That's the best description I can give you. Wanna see how grilled ostrich looks like?

Afterall, it ought to taste funny since Ostrich is one funny animal, they would hide their heads inside a hole in the ground whenever they felt threatened. It gives them a feeling of being secure since they couldn't see whatever things that they are afraid of.

( Me thinks the above sentence serves just to console my frustration and regret over big waste of money spent on a meal today. [sigh] )

Nevermind, I'd better start saving now... roti + kaya until the end of the month should save lots of money for me :D

Monday = no classes

2005-12-05T21:54:00.000+08:00

greeting earthlings..

so now let's get to the real deal - blogging ^_^

today, monday 5/12/2005 marks my 1st day of blogging.
Woke up faily early today considering that I dont have classes on Mondays this trimester (woohoo!)

Azrul, my very very 1st friend a.k.a housemate in Melaka came by for like 10 minutes. That's very short considering he won't be in MMU Melaka anymore after finishing his diploma last trimester.
Zarul (also one of my 1st friends) and I caught up with him during that 10 minutes period. He's applying to enter UPSI and in the meantime working part time as a car broker back in his hometown (he's very knowledgeable about cars and managed to sell a few - way to go AroL!!).

Harith woke up at 2.15 PM after he approximately went without sleep for 25 hours (more on that in my next posting, can't promise tho :P). Already made plan with him and Hau to do "little" shopping at JJ. We did just that ;)

While Harith and Hau busy picking things to buy in the supermarket. I proceded with my plan - bought a new pair of Levi's jean and a B.U.M sweater - Finally I have my own sweater!Mom finally decided (due to my intense lobbying) that I deserve no more 2nd hand, soggy sweaters. Thank you mom (",)

That's the events highlighting my class-free Monday =)

NukM4N Welcomes You =)

2005-12-05T14:34:00.000+08:00

a·poc·a·lypse

Apocalypse abbr. Apoc. Bible. The Book of Revelation.
Great or total devastation; doom: the apocalypse of nuclear war.
Literally, "unveiling", "uncovering" or "revealation." A literary work that purports to reveal heavenly truths.

Hello and welcome to my lot. If u happen to be lost, this corner is just a space for me to dispose or expose my views about my life and everything that's circling around it. Hence the choice of word, Apocalypse entitling this space (technically a blog space =). This blog is for me to put together my thoughts, my perspective into writings so for other earth inhabitants who are care enough to read them (thank you~)

Well, seems like a fair amount of length for my first post. I'm off to JJ my friends ;)

p/s: Thank You and Have a Nice Day