(More) Women On Top Is a Very Good Thing..

I mean...at the top, or in boardrooms in decision-making positions.

Seriously. They bring good things to the companies they lead, or a part of.

According to Women, Family and Community Development Minister Shahrizat Jalil, research has shown that public-listed companies with more women directors had better returns on equity or stock prices versus their respective market indices.

She was speaking at the Women's Summit 2011 in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

The research was undertaken by Shireen Muhyideen, who led the roundtable discussion of the Women's Summit, last year.

Shahrizat pointed out that on June 27, Prime Minister Najib Razak announced the Cabinet's approval for a policy that advocated for at least 30% women at the decision-making level in the private sector.

She noted that the world's Fortune 500 companies, particularly in Europe and the United States, had all improved their financial performance and enjoyed better returns on investments largely due to having women directors who insisted on accountability, innovation and a better work environment.

Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin who attended the event, said women had become the majority of university graduates (60%) and the majority of consumer goods purchasing decision-makers (80%) in many countries.

"Putting a minimum of 30% of women in the boardrooms will help companies develop more gender sensitive products and services," he said.

He urged Shahrizat's ministry to take the lead in drawing up serious training intervention strategies to get women to the top.

"There must be serious mentoring programmes put in place to make women board'-ready," Muhyiddin said during his keynote address at the summit here.

Media Practitioners Reject Information Ministry's Proposed Media Consultative Council

It was unanimous. Newspaper editors and their representatives who attended a meeting to discuss the setting up of a media consultative council in Kuala Lumpur pretty much shot down the idea.
They were from the NST, Berita Harian, Nanyang, Oriental Daily, The Sun and Utusan. Also there were Syed Akbar Ali who was there not to represent all bloggers but as president of Bloghouse Malaysia and National Union of Journalists' secretary-general V Anbalagan.

Bernama editor-in-chief Yong Soo Heong was present.

Notably missing were representatives from the Sun, the Malay Mail, Sin Chew and the Edge who were invited.
The online news portals were not invited to the meeting.

Chairing the meeting was the Information, Communication and Culture Ministry's secretary-general, Kamaruddin Siaraf.

After the outline of the proposal was read out, we were asked for our views.

The print media representatives spoke up. So did Syed Akbar and Anbalagan.
After about an hour of exchanging views during which Kamaruddin explained at great length and insisted that it would be a "consultative" council and not at all to control the press - it was clear that none of us were in favour of having the council.

Kamaruddin accepted the decision and concluded the meeting, saying that he would be reporting to the government the outcome of the meeting.

Tipu, Tipu....

Some take advantage and exploit situations. Some simply tipu....

Post Bersih 2, some truths have emerged...

Click HERE

and HERE

RCI : TBH Driven To Suicide

The Royal Commission of Inquiry's verdict: Teoh Beng Hock was driven to "commit suicide by “aggressive, relentless, oppressive and unscrupulous” interrogation by three MACC officers."

This brings a closure to this very tragic case. Rather, it should.

But not for TBH's family. As expected, they have rejected the suicide verdict and may ask for a judicial review.

Family lawyer Karpal Singh is studying the RCI report. He told reporters that they may request a judicial review of the suicide verdict.

“The verdict of suicide is unacceptable to the family. The RCI is an inferior tribunal in law and any decision made by an inferior tribunal is reviewable by the High Court,” Karpal said today.

It looks like they are not going to let it go, nor let it rest. No closure yet.

As for Karpal: "inferior"?

Wasn't it Teoh's family that demanded for the RCI?

As for the MACC culprits - action will be taken against them.

Meanwhile, the MACC will be studying the RCI findings.

Here's the story:

KUALA LUMPUR :The Royal Commission of Inquiry, in an unanimous decision, found that Teoh Beng Hock had been driven to commit suicide by “aggressive, relentless, oppressive and unscrupulous” interrogation by three MACC officers.

The three named were Selangor MACC Deputy Director Hishamuddin Hashim, and his officers Mohamad Anuar Ismail and Ashraf Mohd Yunus.

The commission said that unlawful intimidatory tactics used "would have had grave consequences upon Teoh's mind and would have been a culminating factor that drove him to suicide.”

In the 124-page report released Thursday the commission said that three MACC officers had probably tried to coerce him into making a statement that it was Selangor state executive council member Ean Yong Hian Wah, Teoh's boss, who had “directed him to commit unlawful acts in handling” an allocation.

“This session must have been very taxing on Teoh both physically and mentally.

“He had been deprived of sleep throughout that night and into the morning and had had to endure persistent, aggressive and unscrupulous questioning.

“His physical condition as described by Ashraf when fetching him the glass of water was that Teoh had moved to sit in an upright position very slowly.

“This fourth interrogation session, to our minds, must have been the final straw that broke the camel's back.”

Teoh, 30, the political secretary to Ean, was found dead on July 16, 2009 on the fifth floor corridor of Plaza Masalam, Shah Alam, Selangor, after giving a statement at the Selangor MACC office on the 14th floor of the same building.

The setting up of the commission was announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak last Jan 26 after the Coroner's Court delivered an open verdict: The Star

Dear Uncle Kit....

This photograph that appeared on the front page of the New Sunday Times was NOT doctored.

It was taken by an NST photographer. Authentic.

The NST did not say that he was carrying a knife, nor made any suggestions about the protester.
In fact, at the point of the photograph being taken, the identity of this protester was not known until of course, he revealed himself later.

So, it is just this picture. And by any newspaper standard -- a good picture.

It may not be worth a thousand words nor tell the whole story. But a good picture.

So, Uncle Kit, you may not like this picture but it was not doctored, nor tampered with.

And How Did This Taman Tun Dr Ismail Project Get Approved?

I have to ask.
You don't have to be a resident around Jalan Burhanuddin Helmi to be puzzled, and angry, over how this project got approved by the Kuala Lumpur City Hall.

Honestly, it is beyond anyone how it was approved.

You will be forgiven for being suspicious, for thinking the worst of city councillors.

How could anyone in their right mind approve this building project?

This site is sandwiched between TWO petrol stations along a narrow side e road that runs parallel to Jalan Burhanuddin Helmi which is a busy road.

For a long time, the site was a vacant parking lot. And then for a time, the popular neighbourhood food court, Rasta.

When the site was cleared, residents had expected some kind of project, but never in their wildest imagination that it would be thi -- a 13-storey building that include a hotel, office and retail lots.

Not a few metres behind this site are residential homes (link houses). Really, to close for comfort (read article below).

Across are a row of shoplots, including CIMB, a supermarket and clinics - a commercial part of the neighbourhood.

Residents are stumped at how the project got approved. It does not make sense that a huge project such as this is located near residential homes in a housing estate.

Who will it benefit?
Traffic will increase multi-fold, that's for sure.

You city councillors -- don't blame people for thinking the worst of you!!!

Nothing is lost yet for the residents affected by this horrible project. I am sure they - through their association - can take the matter to court to stop the project ....and more...

It is a meaningless project, I tell you...

Read the story below, from NST "Streets":

Residents in Lorong Burhanuddin Helmi 1, Taman Tun Dr Ismail (TTDI), are worried about a construction site behind their houses. (See photo above of the roof of the link houses from the construction site)

Tan Fok Kheong, a 65-year-old resident, claimed that cracks started to appear in the back portion of his home when work on the project began a few months ago.

The project, on the main road of Jalan Burhanuddin Helmi, consists of a 13-storey block, which will house a hotel, office and retail lots, as well as a four-storey car park building.

"The site is too close to our houses. The fenced-off area is less than two metres from our kitchen door. Our tiles and the back door are damaged. We believe it is because of the piling work. I can feel the vibration.

"We want City Hall to look into this as we don't want to suffer more damage to our houses.

"Also, we have to bear with the noise from the site every day," said Tan, who has been staying there for over 30 years.

"We met the developer over the cracks and broken tiles. They assured us they would repair the damage.

"But, we want to have everything in writing before we can allow them to carry out any work on our homes.

"We need to know whether the developer is going to guarantee to repair the structural damage," he said, adding that a complaint had been lodged with City Hall.

TTDI Residents' Association chairman Mohd Hatim Abdullah said they met the developer in May.

"We are disappointed over several issues, including the fact that we did not receive the traffic noise study report. Residents, especially those staying near the site, are upset as they were not consulted before the project was approved by City Hall, said Hatim.

"House owners learned about the project before it started, about two months ago. But, they could not raise any objections at the time, because it had already been approved by City Hall."

Hatim added that residents were also concerned about the traffic congestion and parking problems that will occur when the high-density project was completed.

When Thousands Thronged The City

...with the huge presence of the police's Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) cordoning off entry points to Stadium Merdeka. Now, the organizers can promise you a peaceful march but you and I know that there will always be trouble-makers.

Some say the police acted without any provocation from the protesters. But there were reports that the protesters deliberately defied police orders not to proceed further.

Macam-macam.

Anyway, Ambiga, Anwar, Khairy, Kit Siang and Hadi were all there at the Bersih rally.

And they all got (tear)gassed too. Anwar who was injured earlier as he and his group were evading the police, is (as I am writing this) receiving treatment at Pantai Hospital.

The crowd was huge. They gathered and marched from different points and merged in the city near the Dataran Maybank.

People began gathering in several spots around the city as early as 7am. Policemen and women were seen talking to teenagers, advising them to leave the areas.

As the crowd picked up in numbers and began walking towarsd the city, shouts of "bersih, bersih" could be heard.

There were also shouts of "reformasi" heard.

By afternoon, things got hot and heated....

I did not take part in the Bersih march this time. I did in 2007 - the 10-Eleven march.
Then, it was organized by social/civil rights activists although at the end when the crowd reached Istana Negara, a couple of political leaders emerged to make known their presence and their part in the march. And that was the high point where the memorandum was to be handed to the palace.

This time it is clearly a political rally with political leaders behind it.

The first time, it was held before the 2008 general election. And as you know, five states fell to the opposition.
What a tidal wave!

Anyway, Saturday, for some time now, has been a working day for me, so...

Back to Bersih 2.0 -- there were arrests made today. Some of those arrested were released.

By about 4.30pm, most of the hot spots were cleared of protesters who then headed towards KLCC in the city.

Someone at KLCC got really spooked when she got to know that the protesters were heading there...

Do get your updates online.....and check out twitter...

KL's Persona Non Grata on July 9

Police have named 91 people barred from entering KL city centre on that B-Day on July 9.

Are you among them?

The police have obtained a restriction order preventing the 91 including Bersih organisers, Patriot/Umno Youth and Perkasa from entering the Kuala Lumpur central business district on Saturday.

Of course, Bersih chief S. Ambiga, Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin and Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali are among them.

Police say that they can be liable and charged under Section 188 of the Penal Code with Disobeying a Lawful Order of the Court which carries a maximum six months imprisonment or a fine or both upon conviction.

1. Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan
2. Mohamad Sabu
3. Hishamuddin Md Rais
4. Khairul Anwar Ahmad Zainuddin
5. Maria Chin Abdullah
6. Chua Tian Chang
7. Kamarulzaman Mohamad
8. Dr Mohd Hatta Md Ramli
9. Syed Shahir Syed Mohamud
10. Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh
11. Teresa Kok Suh Sim
12. Badrul Hisham Shaharin
13. Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin
14. Arutchelvam Subramaniam
15. Wong Chin Huat
16. Ong Boon Keong
17. Enalini Elumalai
18. Haris Fathillah Sathiasingam Mohd Ibrahim
19. Datuk Khalid Yunus
20. Datuk Zulkifli Noordin
21. Dr Zubir Harun*
22. Datuk Seri Mohd Hilmi Ismail
23. Datuk Seri Abd Hadi Awang
24. Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim
25. Lim Kit Siang
26. Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat
27. Nurul Izzah Anwar
28. Kohila Yanasekaran
29. Zaid Kamaruddin
30. Khoo Teng Swee
31. Fadiah Nadzwa Fikri
32. Yap Swee Seng
33. Salahuddin Ayub
34. Datuk Mahfuz Omar
35. Nasarudin Hassan
36. Mazlan Aliman
37. Dr Syed Azman Syed Nawawi
38. Dr Dzulkifli Ahmad
39. Dr Mujahid Yusof
40. Khalid Abd Samad
41. Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin
42. Azman Shapawi Abd Rani
43. Suhaizan Kaiat
44. Nor Azli Musa
45. Mohd Firdaus Jaafar
46. Loke Siew Fook
47. Lau Wen San
48. Mohd Azmin Ali
49. Mat Shuhaimi Shafie
50. Satipul Bahari Mamat
51. Wan Hassan Mohd Ramli
52. Mohamad Izzuddin Hilmi Mohd Zaini
53. Mohd Shazni Munir Mohd Ithnin
54. Muhammad Hilman Idham
55. Mohd Shukri Che Ab Razab
56. Mohd Syukri Kamaruddin
57. Ahmad Syazwan Muhammad Hasan
58. Choo Vhon Kai
59. Sarasvathy Muthu
60. Soh Sook Hwa
61. Nurul Izham Nurul Anuar
62. Abd Rahim Osman
63. Mohd Sibri Ismail
64. Mohd Lukman Muda
65. Datuk Prof Kamaruddin Kachar
66. Datuk Mohd Noor Nordin Abdullah
67. Datuk Ibrahim Ali
68. Datuk Ab Rahman Ab Bakar
69. Syed Hassan Syed Ali\
70. Irwan Fahmi Ideris
71. Roslan Kassim
72. Sharifuddin Abd Hamid
73. Dr Zubir Harun.*
74. Ameir Hassan
75. Datuk Ahmad Saad
76. Ahmad Zaini Ismail
77. Muhammad Zahid Md Arip
78. Abdullah Mansor
79. Zaira Jaafar
80. Norkhaila Jamaludin
81. Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar
82. Datuk Megat Firdouz Megat Junid
83. Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican
84. Megat Zulkarnain Omardin
85. Rizalman Mokhtar
86. Tengku Azman Tengku Zainol Abidin
87. Lokman Noor Adam
88. Datuk Abdul Azeez Rahim
89. Ungku Saleh Ungku Jamal
90. Arman Azha Abu Hanifa
91. Tun Faisal Ismail Aziz

Well. Yippee... my name's not there.....

By the way: Khairy just found out and he tweeted:
"Just landed back in KL after trying to break Israeli blockade of Gaza only to find that I've been blockaded from KL. Excuse me if I say WTF?"

As for Nurul Izzah, here's what she has to say:
"Sorry to break this to u, officer. But I live in KL".

Dead For 8 Years Without Anyone Knowing....

An elderly woman's skeletal remains were found in her home. Police believed she died in 2003. No one, not even her closest neighbour realized that she had died in her upstairs room. Everyone thought she had left, and that the house was abandoned.

Her death and absence went unnoticed. She had no living relative other than a sister-in-law with whom relations were estranged.

Here's the report:

A FAMILY falling out is believed to have led to an elderly woman's body lying undiscovered for eight years at her home in inner Sydney.

Authorities are trying to determine how Natalie Wood died and how her remains lay undisturbed for so long in a busy inner-city suburb.

Officers visited the home after Ms Wood's sister-in-law had not been able to contact her. It is understood she had tried to get in contact to pass on some family news, but failing that, she called police.

It had been eight years since they had spoken, due to a family dispute.

Police found the skeletal remains on the floor in an upstairs bedroom of the Kippax St, Surry Hills home yesterday at noon. The death is not believed to have been suspicious.

Ms Wood would have turned 87 in August.

Read the rest of the story HERE.

Really sad.

@5Xmom: I think all Christians shud march for all the persecution they had done to us and our Lord.

So when do we take tweets seriously? When do we not? How do we know when someone is jesting and when she is not?

Certainly, sometimes people don't think before they tweet happily away in cyberspace.

I don't know 5Xmom (Chan Lilian) but I have come across her comments in some blogs that I follow. I don't follow her on twitter so I don't really know what she's been tweeting about..

Some people who follow me on twitter retweeted her tweet (above).

Some people took exception to her tweet. One of them is Tony Yew. He is not amused. He thinks her tweet is seditious.
So, this afternoon, he lodged a police report against Lilian. HERE

Lilian, according to this blogger is employed by the Penang DAP government.
She is the official video-journalist for Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng. HERE.
The blogger, Apanama, thinks that 5Xmom has crossed the line. Just like Tony, he thinks her tweet is seditious.

As for me, I think she should know that her tweet will elicit all sorts of reaction.

Was it meant in jest?
Because in the first place, she's making a false statement.

That is a lie.
I know one thing, our tweets reflect our thinking. Not everyone realizes this, of course.