HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Let me wish my blog readers a wonderful and better new year, mindful that 2010 is the century's first decade.

Health, happiness and prosperity to us all through the blessed new year...Amin!

Ya Allah!

Today, the High Court in Kuala Lumpur ruled that the Catholic weekly magazine, Herald, can use the word "Allah" in its publications.

In this case, the Home Ministry and the government are respondents. Archbishop Tan Sri Murphy Pakiam had filed for a judicial review on the usage of the word "Allah" in the church's publications.
On Jan 7, the Home Minister approved the Herald's publishing permit for the period Jan 1 to Dec 31, 2009, on condition that the word "Allah" was not used in it and the words "Restricted" must be printed on the weekly's front page whereby it could only be circulated to Christians and at churches only.

The Home Ministry has 30 days to appeal.

Here's the rest of the Bernama report

Justice Datuk Lau Bee Lan, in her oral decision, held that the Herald had the constitutional right to use the word in the magazine to propagate the Christian religion but not Islam.

She said that pursuant to Article 11(4) of the Federal Constitution, it was an offence for non-Muslims to use the word "Allah" to Muslims to propagate the religion.

But it was not an offence for non-Muslims to use the word to the non-Muslims for the purpose of religion, she added.

Pursuant to Articles 11 and 12 of the Federal Constitution, the Herald had the constitutional right to use the word in respect of instruction and education of the congregation in the Christian religion.

Article 10 allowed it to use the word in the exercise of its right to freedom of speech and expression, she said.

Lau said the decision by the Home Minister prohibiting Herald publications from using the word "Allah" in the magazine was illegal, null and void.

She said the minister had also failed to adduce evidence that the use of word would threaten national security and create misunderstanding and confusion among Muslims.

On Feb 16, Archbishop Tan Sri Murphy Pakiam filed for a judicial review on the usage of the word "Allah" in the church's publications, naming the Home Ministry and the government as respondents.

He claimed that the word 'Allah' was not exclusive to the religion of Islam.
On Jan 7, the Home Minister approved the Herald's publishing permit for the period Jan 1 to Dec 31, 2009, on condition that the word "Allah" was not used in it and the words "Restricted" must be printed on the weekly's front page whereby it could only be circulated to Christians and at churches only.

The Home Minister had justified the ban on grounds of national security and to avoid misunderstanding and confusion among Muslims.

After the decision, senior federal counsel Datuk Kamaluddin Md Said, for the minister and the government, asked the court for clarification whether the decision would affect the Herald publications for the period Jan 1 to Dec 31, 2010.

He said this was because the application was for this year and not for next year's publications.

The church's counsel, Porres Royan, informed the court that the minister had given a fresh permit early this month for next year's publications.

"The decision speaks for itself. The minister has given the fresh permit for next year. I believe the minister would abide by the decision," he said.

Kamaluddin told the court that he had to take instructions from the minister whether today's decision would affect the fresh perm it for next year's publications as it involved a very serious matter.

He also said he needed to get instructions from the respondents on whether to appeal or to apply for a stay of execution of the decision.
Lau said the respondents had 30 days to file the application.

Remembering The Dec 26 Tsunami ..

So, what were you doing on that fateful Boxing Day five years ago when the world -- in some places -- seemed to have come to an end?

Merry Christmas....

I hate to spoil your Christmas by reminding you that a child killer is in our midst. There could be many. But I'm thinking of Nurin Jazlin's killer who is still at large and he could be the same person who raped and killed the 12 year-old girl whose body was found in a retention pond.

Don't mind me.

Go off now and have a good holiday.

Take care. And of your little ones!

Can Buy Me Love.....

If you're a billionaire, you can get anything you desire.
Even love. Sometimes, happiness.

No, you say.

Maybe not.
But you CAN certainly get someone to walk the isle with.

Money talks.

Dr Mahathir : Do Set Up A Royal Commission To Investigate Me

..for allegedly burning RM100 billion on grandiose projects and corruption during my 22-year reign.

And while you're at it, you should also investigate my successor, Abdullah Badawi regarding
the RM270 billion of Petronas money that was spent during his five-year term.

And so on and so on.

This was Dr Mahathir Mohamad's take on Lim Kit Siang's proposal for Prime Minister Najib Razak to set up a Royal Commission on whether he had squandered RM100 billion as mentioned by Barry Wain in his book, "Malaysian Maverick: Mahathir Mohamad In Turbulent Times".

Dr Mahathir promises that he will co-operate with the commission.

What A Story For A Movie!

This old lady's shrewdness we can admire. But it stops right there.
Anyway, I'm sure her story has attracted some Bollywood bigwigs who have a movie in mind.

Jet-Fighter Engine Theft: An Act Of Treason

It is unbelievable, and unacceptable that some people actually got away with stealing two jet-fighter engines, each worth RM50 million, from the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) base in Sungai Besi.

This is a serious crime.

Blogger and journalist A Kadir Jasin AKA The Scribe believes so too.

"This is an act of treason,", he writes.

Read his posting HERE.

Whose "Palace" Is This?

Nobody seems to know who belongs to this palatial home being built on a sprawling piece of land near Carcosa Seri Negara in Kuala Lumpur.
People don't play dumb for no good reason.
My bet is that a very super-duper rich businessman bought this piece of land from the government for this home to be built as a present to a very important someone who has contributed immensely to the progress and success of the nation.

But I am so bad at guessing.

MACC Can Question Witnesses Beyond Operating Hours

PUTRAJAYA: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission can now interrogate witnesses beyond their office hours, the Court of Appeal ruled today.

The Court of Appeal made this ruling after hearing an MACC appeal over a High Court landmark ruling that its interrogation sessions must be conducted during office hours, from 8.30am to 5.30pm.

Court of Appeal judges Hasan Lah, Ahmad Maarop and Syed Ahmad Helmy Syed Ahmad heard submissions from senior federal counsel Amarjeet Singh, for the MACC, and counsel Karpal Singh, for Kajang municipal councillor Tan Boon Wah.

The High Court ruling prevented the MACC from interrogating witnesses after office hours, contrary to its practice all this while.

Following the ruling, MACC investigation division director Shukri Abdull had on Nov 25 issued a directive to all MACC offices to confine the questioning of witnesses to the working hours of 8.30am to 5.30pm.

On Nov 19, High Court Judge Mohammad Ariff Md Yusof, in allowing a judicial review filed by Tan, ruled that Section 30(3)(a) of the MACC Act 2009 does not empower the MACC to investigate a witness "round-the-clock".

Tan, 39, is suing (then) MACC chief commissionerAhmad Said Hamdan, MACC assistant superintendent Mohammad Hassan Zulkifli and the MACC, claiming that his detention and questioning for 16 hours overnight by the MACC was unlawful, which resulted in him suffering losses and damage.

(source: Bernama)

Nazri: No More Mahathir-bashing

According to the Star, Naz­ri Aziz will not speak anymore on Biro Tatanegara or argue about it with former PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad with whom he has had a spat.

Nazri, who is Minister in the Prime Minis­ter’s Department was summoned by PM Najib Razak to his office in Putrajaya early yesterday for a meeting over the issue.

Here's the rest of the Star report by Joceline Tan.

"He declined to elaborate on what transpired between him and the Prime Minister but said he had given his word that he would not speak any more on NCB or argue about it with Dr Ma­­hathir.

“What I can say is that the Prime Minister is very concerned that some quarters may think that I am being used by the leadership to criticise Dr Mahathir. That is not true at all. What I said and did was on my own free will. You know me, I am my own man.

“I agreed to end this whole thing because I do not want to make things difficult for the Prime Minister, I don’t want to hurt his image,” he said,

Alluding to media reports of him as the “Last Samurai” or the last of the fearless politicians, he said there would be no hara kiri.

“Muslim Samurais do not commit harakiri,” he said.

Referring to Najib as the Shogun, he added: “My Shogun has spoken. As a Samurai, I have to do as he says.”

Najib, 57, and Nazri, 56, were contemporaries in the Umno Youth in the early 1990s.

Nazri’s war of words with Dr Mahathir over the NCB issue erupted earlier this week. Dr Mahathir defended the NCB system, saying it was useful in promoting values like discipline, honesty and rejecting corruption.

Nazri argued that the system should be revamped because it promoted racial sentiments and was out of tune with the changing political landscape.

However, Nazri came under severe criticism from Malay nationalists and pro-Mahathir quarters when he used the word “racist” on the statesman."

Tiger Falling In The Woods

"After much soul searching, I have decided to take an indefinite break from professional golf. I need to focus my attention on being a better husband, father and person" -- Tiger Woods.

Woohoo!

Good for you, Tiger. Real tough decision.
Perhaps you'll return -- some day -- with a bang.

Anyway, it's amazing, and of course, so expected, that people are dissecting Tiger, cutting him up into pieces, just to find an explanation for what he did -- cheated on his wife (very much without her knowledge), many times over.
These people, including personality and behavioral experts, want to know why he acted the way he did beneath the veneer of wholesomeness and that all-American family-man image.

Bet you, Oprah will be discussing him, if she hasn't already.

Larry King had "experts" giving possible reasons for his infidelity. One expert said that Tiger behaved very much like someone with a troubled childhood. Or who was sexually abused. Oh yeah?

As the world now knows, this 33 year-old world top golfer (and the world’s first athlete to surpass $1 billion in career earnings) had been having rampant extramarital affairs with 9 women.
All this came out into the open after a car crash outside his Florida home. There were speculations arising from that accident because, among other things, his wife, Elin, was at the scene, with a golf club and the windscreen of his SUV was smashed.

And from then on, the proverbial pandora box was unlocked. Scandal after scandal were unleashed.
Quite a cheat sheet, if you ask me.

This guy had another life. And what a life. One that Elin who is the mother of his 2 young children, was not aware of...until, well.. 9 women later.

Actually, there is nothing unusual or abnormal about Tiger's transgressions. What's "outstanding" is the fact that he, a mega sports star, managed to keep his affairs pretty well under wraps, and for a pretty long time.
And we're talking about many affairs. Like a serial transgressor.
A very dissatisfied man, or someone who just wants to have loads of fun and sex simply because he can?

Anyway, as they say...you can't hide (what you're doing) forever. Sooner or later...

So...do all mega-rich men inevitably cheat on their partners?
You know, I do not know of any mega-rich man who is able to stay faithful to his partner for a long time. I suppose they are faithful to one, at a time.
But, hey...what do I know..

Can they sustain fidelity to one woman? Do they invariably succumb to temptations? And there's plenty of that around.

These men can look as ugly as hell, but when you've got the money, honey, you've got the babes.

And an athlete like Tiger? Any athlete, for that matter. them babes come to him like bees to honey.
What more when you are super-rich. Right?

Remember all the reports in the tabloids about basketball, football and soccer players cavorting with women in wild parties, and bedding them. Some names come to mind.

So. what is so difficult to understand why Tiger did what he did.

He did what any man in his position would do. And that's not an exaggeration.

Anyway, I wish him well!

Mas Kahwin and. (ahem)... Ulama

It's a three-fold increase in Selangor, from RM80 to RM300. But, don't go planning to go to Pahang or Johor where the rate is still RM22.50.
That makes the rate in Selangor the highest in the country, after Sarawak and Sabah where it is RM100.

The Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) says there's a good reason for the increase in "mas kahwin".

and in Kelantan, there's more to being an ulama. Best of all, you get the Tok Guru's consent and approval. Or is the revered Tok Guru sending us all a message?

PKFZ -- More Arrests To Follow

“The PKFZ fiasco is far from over. The investigations are still going on" -- Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail told reporters in Putrajaya today.

Gani said more people, including a Kuala Dimensi engineer, are expected to be charged in court on Monday over the Port Klang Free Trade Zone (PKFZ) scandal.

Earlier today three people - Datin Paduka OC Phang, Bernard Tan Seng Swee and Stephen Abok - were charged at the Klang Sessions Court with three counts of criminal breach of trust amounting to RM254 million over the Port Klang Free Zone scandal.

Read the full report HERE.

Are There More....

...coming out and laying claim that they had something more than a glass of martini with this guy. Aah...so much for the Mr family man image.

So deceptive.

MACC Chief Quits

Gets people wondering why he resigned five months ahead of his retirement. Got me wondering.

Ex-Top Cop's RM47m Estate.

A former deputy IGP who died in September left RM47m in property and savings.

His son and brother are fighting over his estate in the court.

Tan Sri Jaafar Abdul (who was 77 when he died on Sept 1 at the Gleneagles Hospital after massive upper gastronomical bleeding) left RM37.3m in savings and RM9.7m in property.

The NST has the story on page one today.

Here's an excerpt:

"Jeffri Jaafar, son of Tan Sri Jaafar Abdul, obtained an interim order against Ahmad Bedul in the Syariah Court in Muar on Nov 4 to freeze all moveable properties of his father until a decision by the court".

Jeffri, 39, wants Ahmad's bank accounts frozen and an order that financial insitutions, inclduing Lembaga Urusan Tabung Haji, permodalan Nasional Bhd Bursa Malaysia and enforcement agencies, adhere to the syariah court order.

He also wants Islamic religious enforcement agencies, the police , the court and other relevant departments to help him enforce the order."

The court will be hearing the case on Monday (Dec 7).

I've been made to understand that Ahmad, 70, is the late Jaafar's only surviving brother. Jaafar's own wife, a Brunei Chinese died earlier (in 1987). Jeffri is the couple's only child.

I've also been told that a chunk of the estate is family inheritance (harta pesaka) as the late Jaafar's mother was from the Muar landed gentry and his father from Brunei.
After retirement he went into corporate life. He also led a frugal life and was a shrewd and conservative investor.

Fatine

Fatine (who was born Mohammed Fazdil Bin Min Bahari) is a transsexual and is happily married to 30 year-old Ian Young. They are in the UK.

They met in KL. Ian, from Derby, England, knew from the start that Fatine, 36, was a transsexual.

Anyway to cut a story short, Fatine faces deportation due to an irregularity in her Visa application.

Ian has appealed yet again for Fatine to be able to stay in the UK. But the couple is not expecting any good news and it is highly likely that Fatine will have to return to Malaysia.
The UK immigration office has told Fatine that her visitor's pass has expired and she has to retrun home to re-apply. That was that!

Fatine is so distressed and fears for her life if she returns home because she has been receiving threatening e-mails and messages since the story of her marriage with Ian which was originally reported in The Sun (of the UK) was highlighted in a Malay tabloid, Kosmo.

It did not help that Immigration Department director-general Abdul Rahman Othman had to say that Fatine may face action when she returns home if it was found that she violated laws here.

Actually what Abdul Rahman said amounts to nothing. Of course no action will be taken against her if she had not broken any law in this country.

But, being what she is and fully aware of the prejudices that she may face from people here, even a nothing statement from such a powerful man, was enough to spook her.

I don't know what lies in store for Fatine when she comes home.
Will things be okay with her? Why shouldn't they be?
Will people even be bothered with her?

There are so many Fatines in the country.
In fact, there are among them we call friends.

I thought that most people have already accepted them as they are.

Read the Sun (UK) report HERE

The Star reports HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE

Selangor's SPIES

SPIES or the Spiritual, Physical, Intellectual, Emotional and Social programme. The Selangor Government's "equivalent" of the Biro tatanegara programme.

Menteri BesarAbdul Khalid Ibrahim said the state would be training its officers to be more effective through SPIES.

What a name. SPIES.

Know more about SPIES HERE.