When Was The Last Time You Used The "Telephone"?

Here's an article in The Huffington Post about the "conventional" good ole telephone and a young woman's account on being a "phone person".

Surprising that there are still people who have not been weaned off the telephone.

Here's the article:
 In an era of texting and GChatting, I still love talking on the phone. This, I learned, makes me a rarity — especially for a 22-year-old. 

Recently, I got into a conversation with some other women here at BuzzFeed about talking on the phone. The consensus: no one does it, unless they're catching up with an old friend.
"If someone calls me out of the blue, I immediately think someone died or got dumped," was a common refrain.
That's how I learned that I'm an anomaly – a woman in her early twenties who still gabs on the phone like I'm in a 1980s teen movie. I indulge in marathon phone conversations like others do in chocolate binges. Long phone calls give me peace and solace and an escape, the way I imagine long runs do for runners.
My co-workers aren't alone in their anti-phone ways. Apparently hating on the phone is a big ol' cultural trend. Who knew?! I guess I've been oblivious for some time.
Pamela Paul wrote in a 2011 New York Times story: "It’s at the point where when the phone does ring — and it’s not my mom, dad, husband or baby sitter — my first thought is: 'What’s happened? What’s wrong?' My second thought is: 'Isn’t it weird to just call like that? Out of the blue? With no e-mailed warning?'"
And there's data to back it up: a recent study found that minutes spent on the phone have been on the decline in the United States and Europe for the past four years.
The whole idea that people don't talk on the phone these days was a surprise, because, well, I'm not spending all those hours on the phone with myself — I talk to a number of my closest friends, every few days at least, often for an hour or more. I talk on the phone so much that my Mom bought me a big old-fashioned receiver that I can plug into my iPhone so that I don't get brain cancer. Despite my passion for the phone, I don't have a landline. (Come on, I need to keep some of my typical millenial-ness intact.)

Continue reading HERE.

Shabby, Shabby, Shabby National Service Ops...

KUALA KANGSAR: THE Defence Ministry has yet to decide on the future of the Tangkas Kendiri National Service (NS) camp in Sauk.

This follows the sealing of the camp and freezing of assets of the owner after he failed to settle his debts.

This is the first such incident faced by the NS Training Department.
Its director-general, Datuk Abdul Hadi Awang Kechil, said the ministry was still deliberating on the matter and for now, all 248 trainees and 40 trainers would be divided into groups and moved to nine other NS camps around the country.
The camps are Nilam Ehsan in Bidor, Jiwa Murni in Gunung Semanggol, Teluk Rubiah in Lumut, Segari in Manjung, Sentosa Chenderiang in Tapah and Desa Rimba in Kuala Kangsar, all of which are located in Perak; the Rekreasi Belia Baling camp in Kedah; and Batu Jong in Kuala Krai and Cancun Park in Pasir Emas, both in Kelantan.
"This transfer will not affect the training programme in any way.
"I am confident the trainees will fit in well in their new camps and finish their NS programme successfully."
The trainees had completed the self-development module, while the remaining two modules -- nationhood and community service -- will be continued at their new camps.
Hadi said the department was not involved in the company which owned the camp and its debt.

"We were only renting the premises from the camp operator. We have also notified parents where their children will be based."

On May 14, the Taiping High Court issued an order to close the camp and all its assets to be frozen after the camp owner failed to settle his debts.
The camp operator, Tangkas Kendiri Sdn Bhd, had been given 14 days to settle a RM1.25 million debt to Concern Development Sdn Bhd.
Tangkas Kendiri had, in 2009, hired contractor Concern Development to build infrastructure for the camp on land leased from a private entity.
In its claim, Concern Development said it was owed RM1,248,911, inclusive of interest.
Meanwhile, the atmosphere at the Tangkas Kendiri camp was filled with sadness as trainees bid farewell to their campmates and trainers whom they had grown acquainted with over the past three weeks.
Tears were shed as the trainees hugged each another for the last time before boarding their respective buses.

*I think this is a serious concern. How can this kind of arrangement even be allowed in the operations of National Service.
It has blown into a legal issue. This contracting and subcontracting way of doing things especially in our National Service programme should cease and desist. I know people will say there's nothing wrong in giving out contracts to run the camps....but wait a minute -- see, this is what happens. 

When I read about the closure of the camp because of a legal issue, I thought this is so crazy. Are they all serious about running a good credible programme? Are we so short of ideas on how to run the programme?


If this kind of thing is not checked and be allowed to go on, I dare say, we'll see a lot of problems cropping up.

Anak muda kita ada lah harapan bangsa dan negara!

I'm Sorry, Presana Narayanan....

..but I just cannot excuse you for all those things you "uttered" about Tamils. Because, the truth is, there is no excuse for those derogatory remarks you made in a public domain for all to see.

You are an Indian of Malayalee extraction/descent, as you have said.
 In Malaysia, the Indian community is made up of  Tamils, Malayalees, Sikhs and Telegus.
 I am aware that there have always been some kind of stereotyping or prejudices among them which have been in existence since time immemorial but are not so obvious in Malaysia. Perhaps these prejudices have dissipated over time. But if they do exist, I can say that this is so typical of or within any community or ethnic group. It is very human. A human weakness, if you may.
But these prejudices must never be allowed to rear their ugly head and get out of control.  At least I know that most Malaysians make it their business not to let that happen.

We thank God that we all have learnt to embrace each other's differences and celebrate diversity. Oh, I do hate to sound like an advertisement, but you know what I mean.  We are all anak Malaysia.


So, Presana. After all the hoopla and hullaballoo that you caused among the Tamil community following your insensitive remarks -- not to mention the backlash from the beauty and model search contests in which you were a finalist,   you are repentant.

 You have apologized.

Here's the thing, Presana. When I first heard of your "story" and the rantings in your FB status update, I thought you were either a very young girl or a very old lady.

 A young girl might not be exposed enough or an old lady might have been living a sheltered life with all those prejudices inside her. I thought, okay-lah, this Presana person probably doesn't know any better -- a kind of denial on my part that there are people like that. Also,  my own prejudice at work.

Rupa-rupa-nya, saudari berusia 31 tahun., sudah bekerja dan seorang jelitawan. Adoi! Sudah dewasa..

You have explained why you said what you said in tarring all Tamils with the same brush as those unsavoury characters you mentioned.

But I read your remarks. You sounded very clear-headed and very confident. Very sure. I also read your police report.

So, you know, you should have expected the equally rash responses. Some were vicious, of course. You unleashed all the anger in people. Not everyone can be nice at the receiving end. And those police reports against you. Ouch!

Enough anger in some to want to hurt you, right? That is terrible, right?

I'm not going to judge you (although, initially, I must have and I apologize for that) but I hope, dear Presana, that you have learnt a very very valuable lesson. You may still harbour those prejudices -- that's your right, really. You don't have to like Tamils. And they don't have to like you. But neither of you sure as hell can call those names on each other.

 People make mistakes. people are not perfect. We are but mere mortals and no one is infallible. But...it takes nothing not to vent that kind of anger.

Stay cool.

Peace, sister.

On Being Uncouth and Rethinking Conscience

DISTORTED PERCEPTIONS: We have become a nation of Don Quixotes, spending too much time fighting imaginary enemies

By Johan Jaaffar

 I AM against any attempt to set up stalls in front of Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan's house. And I deplore anyone exercising with malicious intent there. I dread the day when such acts become a new form of harassment. However, I thank Kuala Lumpur City Hall and the police for standing firm not to allow them to cause disruption in the area. Ironically, they are the same people Ambiga defied that fateful Saturday when her cause was hijacked by politicians.

I commend the police for acting professionally to maintain peace in front of her house -- as much as they were trying to contain unruly demonstrators at the Bersih rally in Kuala Lumpur.
City Hall, too, would like to see disgruntled traders reciprocated for their loss of income, but it did not. The officers acted wisely to avoid any untoward incident.
Ambiga must learn a thing or two from this. The law is not meant to be broken by anyone, especially by a lawyer and former president of the Bar Council. The petty traders also can't say that just because they are ignorant they can break the law. It is, therefore, not their fault to question Ambiga's double standards on the issue.

The damage has been done. And the country will be further divided. Which is sad. Ambiga probably meant well, but it didn't turn out that way. She was merely a pawn in a complex game of misguided justice, conspiracy and deceit. She was in fact used, her agenda hijacked. That irked many among her supporters, the thousands who would like to see real reforms in the electoral process.

The Election Commission is not perfect and the Bersih demands have been a wake-up call for them, too. They are doing a lot of soul-searching themselves. They have to buck up, or else they will lose their credibility. But to be fair to them, many of the allegations are mere hearsay and conjecture. Just because names like Kangkung, Harimau, Machine Gun, Atas Jalan, Batu Tiga or Burung came out on the electoral roll, that does not mean those names are phantom voters. As one newspaper has pointed out, there are in fact bizarre names of real people.

Sadly, we have lost our adab (courtesy) in our pursuit of some things. We have little respect for others. We have lost the willingness to listen to others or to hear the other side of the story. We have made up our minds. There are those who demanded to be heard but were rude in articulating their positions. We have surrendered all notions of hormat (respect), maruah (dignity) and harga diri (self-esteem) when we deal with those who do not agree with us. We snub others just because they represent different views. It is eventually about Us and Them.

And sadly, too, we have become a nation of Don Quixotes -- we are simply spending too much time fighting imaginary enemies. Not only that, like Quixote, our perceptions are distorting us. We can't differentiate lies from the truth and falsehood from reality.

I found the Sinar-Astro Awani debate between Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin and PKR strategic director Mohd Rafizi Ramli interesting -- two young minds arguing their case without fear or favour and with conviction. There is no need to declare the winner, for both are.
Of course, a debate is not judged by the jeering, shouting and clapping of partisan supporters. What is important is that such debates must be encouraged.

The Malays have had a tradition of intellectual discourse since the days of old, continuing into the early 19th century with reformists from Al Azhar University. The Kaum Tua-Kaum Muda debate redefined the intellectual tradition and history of the Malays. They tolerate dissent and differences, with humility, style and finesse.

Sadly, we have become a nation of selfish and self-centred people. We use whatever platforms we have to lambast others. We are allowing the Internet to be a lawless realm. We forget we have laws, ethics and code of morality. We forget adab matters even on the Net. And the possibility of us being sued for libel or worse. Remember, if it is online, you better toe the line, someone advises. Who cares these days?

We have every right to disagree with anyone. This is a democratic country. But there are civilised ways to do it. Putting up stalls in front of people's houses is not right.
On the other hand, Ambiga should know better the next time she's contemplating another Bersih rally. She will offend many people, including the petty traders. She has to question her conscience first.

(from The New Straits Times)

MP Says Petty Traders Are A Nuisance

I am sure they are. A terrible nuisance especially when you live in Bukit Damansara. That's not a busy neighbourhood. So, you can just imagine hordes of people outside your gate -- and their main aim is to be a nuisance.

They say they have a good legitimate reason to be doing what they're doing outside (Bersih chairman) S Ambiga's residence.

They've called themselves the KL Petty Traders Action Council  whose members' livelihood on April 28 was affected by the Bersih rally.

Making a statement there. Like you kacau kita, kita kacau you. So, deal with it.

But Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng says they must be hauled up for contravening Section 427 of the Penal Code.
Under Section 427, anybody who commits mischief and causes damage amounting to RM25 or more shall be imprisoned for a term up to two years or fined, or both, according to Lim.

The Deputy IGP (Khalid Abu Bakar) had reiterated that police action would not be taken against the traders because the protest was not an offence as it was in public space

Lim was quoted in the Malay Mail: "This is not a Local Government Act but a criminal act. The Deputy IGP must be sent back to Pulapol to re-learn all these Acts. Their (traders) action did not disturb Ambiga alone but all her neighbours as well."

Lim said, their act could be considered as public nuisance with the possibility of perpetrators being fined up to RM400 under Section 290 of the Penal Code.

(waaah...well said, YB. People shouldn't break the law!!!!),

On Monday, the traders  had marked out night market stall lots on the road in front of Ambiga's house in yellow paint.

According to the Malay Mail, this was part of the two-day protest, beginning today, where the traders are setting up 60 stalls to serve an expected crowd of 10,000 from 3.30pm to 8pm.

Kuala Lumpur City Hall has denied issuing them permits for the stalls.

Ambiga had said Malaysians must reject this dangerous trend which intrudes personal space.

"To be fair, the police and City Hall have been here since the night the yellow lines were removed. I'm very grateful to them for providing this level of protection," she said after meeting members from Pakatan Rakyat yesterday.

 I'd really like to see how this whole thing ends...

Government Sues Bersih

Okay. This caught me by surprise although it was not totally unexpected,.

Yesterday Bersih chairman  Ambiga and nine of bersih's steering committee members  were slapped with a suit by the government for damage to public property during the April 28 Bersih 3.0 rally.

The suit was filed by a senior federal counsel from the Attorney-General’s Chambers at the High Court on May 15.

The other defendants named in the suit were Maria Chin Abdullah, Zaid Kamarudin, Haris Fathillah Mohamed, K. Arumugam, S. Arul Prakkash, Dr Wong Chin Huat, Dr Ahmad Farouk Musa, Datuk Dr Toh Kin Woon and Andrew Khoo.

 The government, in an unprecedented move, is seeking a declaration that the defendants were in violation of the Peaceful
Assembly Act 2012. It is also seeking RM122,000 in damages for losses suffered during the rally.

 

The rest of the story here.

 

And the circus begins....

Fiction Or Non-fiction

Or a little bit of both...

AS you all know, some people, including traders of Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman , upset over their loss of income from the Bersih 3.0 rally held a symbolic protest outside Bersih co-chairman Ambiga's house by giving away free burgers.
According to the Star, last Thursday, some 10 members of the Malaysia Small and Medium Entrepreneurs Alliance (Ikhlas) set up a burger stall outside her Bukit Damansara home around lunch time.

Well, it seems comical but a friend, who runs a business in Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, didn't think it was. He said Bersih 3.0  affected his business. And he was happy these people decided to show their protest outside Ambiga's house. Like - hah, padan muka, rasa ni.

(Oh reminds me of remarks a couple of Bersih activists said on twitter-- if those traders want to complain about loss of earnings, why don't they declare their earnings...maybe the Inland Revenue would like to know, and the rest of Malaysians too.  And I'm saying - excuse me, what kind of reaction is that? You don't support us -- go to hell with you! Is that it? Shame!)

But, ok ok -- as for the Ambiga burger stall protest -  I get the picture. This is a free country. And that area outside Ambiga's house is a public road.

Still. Poor, Ambiga, I thought. Kecoh-lah these people. Can't you people leave her in peace?

Ambiga told the traders to file their claim for the losses suffered in court instead of holding protests outside her house.

“This is a troubling new phenomenon and a violation of my privacy. Bersih is not about me,” said the former Bar Council chairman.

Ambiga later lodged a police report at the Travers police station.

Anyway, everything's back to normal at her place now. The traders have left. City Hall officers and policemen are keeping watch at her home.


 

Tunku Aziz Should Remain Out Of Partisan Politics..

Frankly, when Tunku Abdul Aziz joined the DAP, I was disappointed. Not in a personal way because I don't know the man. I know of him, of course - him having been on board of Transparency International et al.
I thought, a man like him shouldn't be in any political party. In my eyes, he lost credibility. But that was just my very humble opinion.

When he joined DAP, he sang praises of the party. The only party he could trust and one that was good for the country ... or something to that effect. He was made DAP vice-chairman (and later a senator).  And why not? DAP described him as a "towering Malaysian".

Of course, it was a coup for the DAP. Like -  who says we are a chauvinistic Chinese party. Look at us -- a Malay as respectable as Tunku Aziz wants to join us. So, hurray for the DAP. Looks good on their resume.


Some three years later (which was just last month), Tunku Aziz got into trouble with the DAP leadeship because of his views on the planned Bersih 3.0 sit-in at Dataran Merdeka. He objected to it, saying that it was  against the law, He warned that it could lead to incidences of violence.


"I support any movement to ensure free and fair elections but when it comes to breaking law, I draw the line.
"Lonely as it may be to be the lone dissenter, I value my conscience more than anything."



Tunku Aziz expected what was coming -- reaction or some say, backlash, from the DAP leadership. He knew his breaking ranks and outspokenness would cost him. But he was prepared for all that, including not getting re-appointed as senator.

And the barbed wire came his way, He was no longer the towering Malay or Malaysian. He was a traitor. An old man. He should have known better than to make an opposing stand on Bersih. Not a team player, this man.

On Monday, the 78 year-old  said he was quitting the party.

He wasn't going to keep quiet, of course.

Some people feel like telling Tunku Aziz: We told you so.

And some people also feel like telling the DAP: We told you so.

Me -- I'd like to tell Tunku Aziz not to join any political party, after this. But I'm sure he's been told that.

Another faceBook Story...

Apparently, a poll showed that "everybody loves Facebook but nobody trusts it".

Read it here.

FaceBook, FaceBook...

So now we know. And no surprises, The world lives and breathes Facebook. Can't leave home without it, I'll tell you that.

Here's yet another story on Facebook.
(source: CNET)
For years, mobile operators around the world have been living large off the high traffic of SMS traffic. But the salad days are coming to an abrupt end because of a change in user behavior that ought to leave Mark Zuckerberg quite pleased.

  

Many operators are increasingly losing SMS customers to Facebook, according to a research note put out Friday by telecommunications consulting firm Strand Consult.

This is a simple zero-sum game in which smartphone users are spending more time hanging out on Facebook and thus left with less time to shoot texts to each other.

 Of the more than 800 million people around the world using Facebook, Stand Consult says that over 425 million of them access the social network on their mobile phones. Measuring by minutes of use, the report says that Facebook "probably transports more mobile traffic, number of messages and time spent online than the world's largest operator."

 People who believe that Google is currently the biggest threat to mobile operators may not realize exactly how much time mobile customers are using on Facebook and how Facebook is currently changing the way over 800 million people communicate on a daily basis. The biggest difference between Facebook and Google is that Facebook is a communication tool that people use to keep in touch with their family and friends every day.
In many ways one can compare Facebook's development in the mobile industry to how the Internet affected the media industry. Market players like Google, Skype, Twitter and MSN are only marginally important to the mobile industry compared to Facebook.
The question is whether operators can do anything to limit the damage that Facebook is making on their cash flow? Is there any way that mobile operators can retain their SMS revenue even though customers are using Facebook to communicate?

Continue reading HERE.

Ibu, Kau Ratu Hati Ku....

Honouring mothers....

And remembering Mak on this day,, Al Fatihah

Foreign Kidnap Gang Busted...

How crazy is this? Desperate? Or plain evil? Robbing and kidnapping your own people who come here for a better life. You're supposed to look out for each other.

But..please. Don't look at a Bangladeshi with suspicious eyes...

Here's the news report:

Published: Friday May 4, 2012 MYT 8:08:00 PM

SHAH ALAM: Police have smashed a foreign workers kidnapping gang with the arrest of 10 Bangladeshi men and an Indonesia woman on Thursday.
Selangor police chief Datuk Tun Hisan Tun Hamzah said police also freed two Bangladeshis and two Myanmar nationals, aged 18 to 40, who were found locked up in a shophouse in Jalan Loke Yew, Kuala Lumpur at 11.30pm Thursday.
"The raid also led to the arrest of five Bangladeshi men and an Indonesian woman aged between 23 and 39," he told a press conference here.
Police seized a Maybank account book, a hockey stick, a chain, eight Bangladesh passports and nine mobile phones.
Earlier, police arrested four Bangladeshi men, aged 30 to 43, in Mentari Court, Subang Jaya after receiving a report from a 50-year-old Bangladeshi man working in Japan.
The factory worker received a phone call on March 29 from a kidnapper known as Shiraz asking for ransom of RM15,000 for the release of his nephew here.

Continue reading here.

And Way Yonder In New York....

OWS bums are a big joke

Hard workers enjoy good laugh as May Day skirmishes fizzle

By FRANK ROSARIO, JAMIE SCHRAM and DAN MANGAN

Occupy Wall Street’s call for May Day mayhem largely fizzled yesterday — but at least provided a good laugh for hardworking people gazing from their office windows at the demonstrators’ antics as cops took a few dozen into custody.
“How can anyone take them seriously? They look like homeless people,” quipped Financial District bartender Kimberly Leo.
“I saw one woman complaining about not having a job, but she had a shirt with the word “nympho” on it,” Leo, 26, said. “These people need a change of wardrobe and a shower.”
The daylong demonstrations featured several thousand protesters doing little more than snarling traffic in sporadic gatherings around the city.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local

The US-Sponsored "Protest" Movement In Malaysia

From Centre for Global Research On Globalization.

By Nile Bowie

Protests rocked the streets of the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, April 28, as an estimated 25,000 people took to the streets in support of Bersih [1], an organization fighting to reform the nation’s electoral system.

The organization refers to itself as ‘The Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections’, comprised of 84 Malaysian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that form a ‘coalition of like minded civil society organizations unaffiliated to any political party’ [2]. The recent rally follows two previous mass demonstrations in November 2007 and July 2011, as organizers renew their demands for the Malaysian Election Commission to resign before the 13th General Elections scheduled for June 2012 [3]. Although the coalition claims to be devoid of political affiliation, the movement is fully endorsed by Malaysia’s main opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim and the Pakatan Rakyat political coalition he oversees.

Following documented cases of United States-based organizations funding pro-opposition civil society groups associated with civil unrest in Russia [4] and the Middle East [5], Chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan acknowledged that the Bersih coalition received financial support from the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the Open Society Institute (OSI) [6]. An article published in the New York Times entitled "U.S. Groups Helped Nurture Arab Uprisings" reveals organizations such as the National Democratic Institute receive funding from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), a recipient of funds directly from the US Congress [7]. The Bersih Coalition has also received support from the US-based Freedom House [8], an NGO that receives direct funding from the US State Department [9]. While concern over electoral corruption and the various legitimate grievances of Bersih supporters may be entirely justified, the coalition’s association with opposition Political parties and groups financed by the United States government suggests subversion.

Malaysia’s former Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohammed has warned that the ruling Barisan Nasional party is targeted for regime change due to its stance on Israel and criticism of US policy, while condemning Anwar Ibrahim for his close ties to Paul Wolfowitz and other adherents of the Project for the New American Century (PNAC) [10]. Furthermore, Mahathir has accused the United States of using currency manipulation and US-funded NGOs to orchestrate the kind of destabilization needed to install a compliant proxy government [11]. Dr. William Robinson explains the subversive methods of conducting regime change through “democracy promotion” in his book, ‘Promoting Polyarhcy,’ “In Latin America, in Eastern Europe with the Velvet Revolutions, in Africa, in the Middle East, really all over the world, the U.S. set up these different mechanisms now for penetrating these civil societies in the political systems of countries that are going to be intervened and to assure the outcome is going to be pleasing to Washington's foreign policy objectives” [12].

Eva Golinger, a researcher who has been investigating the democracy promotion efforts of the United States offers, “Millions and millions of U.S. tax payer dollars go every year into funding for political organizations and campaigns in different countries in the world that promote US agenda. Most U.S. citizens are unaware of the fact that that is how their money is being spent, to meddle, and to influence and to interfere in other nation’s affairs” [13]. While the demands of the Bersih coalition appear to be coherent and apolitical, the convergence of its leadership with the opposition political establishment provides Anwar Ibrahim and Malaysia's opposition front Pakatan Rakyat with the means to mobilize demonstrators under the benign common cause of “clean and fair elections.” The initial Bersih demonstration in 2007 has become widely credited for Pakatan Rakyat’s record gains in the 2008 Malaysian elections, where the opposition coalition usurped power in five states and won 82 parliamentary seats [14].

Continue reading here...

 

Is Bersih 3.0 A Success?

A Bersih supporter, Lydia Osman, gives her take. She felt cheated because PKR leaders had provoked the police into taking action:..

"For once, I have to disagree with my mentor, Datuk S. Ambiga. She says Bersih 3.0 was a success because many people attended. The Malaysian Insider puts the crowd at 30,000 while Malaysiakini puts it at 100,000. For me, for my friends who were marching, there is one reason and one reason only to proclaim Bersih 3.0 a ‘success’ and that is because a handful of protestors led by rowdy members of the opposition managed to provoke the police to react. The image above clearly shows the red-shirted Unit Amal of PAS charging and daring the Police to stop them. Because the police reacted with water and gas, the quantum of news minutes that Bersih 3.0 will get online and around the world will multiply by more than ten times.

To be fair to Datuk S. Ambiga, she did clearly urge the crowd to disperse before the water gas and water cannons were fired because she felt that objectives of the rally were achieved. But one group who were there for other reasons clearly did not listen.

The troublemaker segment of the crowd instead listened to Anwar Ibrahim and Azmin Ali who pushed them hard to break down the barriers the police had constructed. For the police, despite not having roadblocks into KL the night before like they did during Bersih 2.0, despite allowing us to walk through KL in the right spirit which was almost carnival like, Azmin breaking down barriers that a Court Judge had effectively ordered the police to erect were just too much for them to let go. Anwar knew this, which is why he ordered Azmin to ensure that adequate provocation was carried out.

If there was any further proof that any rational Malaysian needed to know that the Opposition had unfairly hijacked Bersih 3.0, this provocative action was it. It was in effect the final nail in the coffin for the independence and civil-society orientation of Bersih 3.0. I feel cheated to have marched for Bersih and for Ambiga. Instead, my small part that I wanted to play for my country’s future, my sacrifice to face any bodily harm was instead cheaply purchased for the propagation of the Opposition.

I will never march again if Anwar and his troublemakers are allowed to take over what belonged to civil society. We created the awareness of this, we sweated and struggled for this, we were arrested and inconvenienced for this yet it is Anwar and his henchmen who will gain the most from Bersih 3.0. It is Anwar and Pakatan Rakyat not democracy that gains from this. The irony is that all that Bersih and Datuk Ambiga were fighting for are the same practices that Anwar openly practiced as UMNO leader, Barisan MP and most recently as Keadilan Supremo when he rigged the entire Parti Keadilan Rakyat elections and good leaders like Zaid Ibrahim were forced to exit the party.

Without Anwar and Opposition politicians, the situation was much better, especially in the morning. The image below of my friend engaging the police is proof of this. When actual independent supporters of Bersih were the ones marching, we approached the police in peace, we did not desire a confrontation with the police but just wanted the make our point heard loud and clear. If the rally had continued in this spirit, Bersih 3.0 would have a been a real and true success for the people and Government of Malaysia. Instead it is real ‘success’ for Anwar Ibrahim and Pakatan Rakyat as BN will be skewered and vilified by the global media, with CNN etc. smiling with glee at the amount of entertaining footage that Azmin Ali and his band of Hoodies has freely provided."

(Taken from Kamalanathan's blog - tanpa izin, maaf.)

I was following twitter all day long just to see what's going on with the Bersih crowd. Not everyone who took part are Pakatan Rakyat supporters although the rally is a Pakatan agenda. Many took part because they support the call for free and clean elections. Well, they were soon to find out that it was an anti-BN rally.

A twitter exchange between 2 people caught my attention. It was between (Indian NGO People's Welfare and Rights Coalition (POWER) chairman) S Gobi Krishnan and @zarakahan.

Zarakahan attended the rally as a citizen of the country who believed that, yes, there is a need for electoral reforms, not as a supporter of Pakatan Rakyat.or because she supported PR.
She was at the rally as a rakyat.

At one point in the twitter exchange, Gobikrishan called her a moron and accused her of "making fun of the rakyat"  because of her tweets. She had asked him when she had made fun of the rakyat.
 I reckon it's because she alluded to the PR hijacking the rally.

She tweeted: "You assume I support BN because I criticize PR. This demonstrates your narrow-minded ideal of dialogue in Msian politics. @sgobikrishnan".

-"You tell me to "Stay Away" from Bersih if I don't support PR. Which demonstrates that you support your party over rakyat. @sgobikrishnan".

Her tweet that probably infuriated Gobikrishnan: "Your political hijacking dilegitimizes the real concerns of the people. BN can just call it a political rally. For shame Pakatan. For shame"


Another to Gobikrishnan: "if you believe your party iis beyond reproach then you have no understanding of what it is you are fighting for".

Another response: :@sgobikrishnan if it slipped your mind, I am part of the rakyat and attended Bersih. Sir".

She asked: "@sgobikrishnan So if I want  clean elections I have to de facto support your party? So you have a monopoly on civl society movements?"

A cheeky one: "Also wasn't your leader someone important in Barisan Nasional?'

That was probably prompted by the Gobikrishan's tweet: "rakyat's suffering will end soon when we kick out BN".

She  was pissed off because the PR rep at the rally points led anti-BN cheers including on Rosmah. That was not what she had expected.


Zarakahan had been happily tweeting about her movements etc. At one of the rally points, a PR leader addressed the crowd and shouted anti-BN slogan,

Here's where she got the drift as she tweeted:"These Pakatan reps are using Bersih to forward their agenda. From mansuh to "Tumbangkan BN". Freaking shameful".


-"Getting out of the crowd to avoid the feeling of being used. seriously Pakatan. Bersih isn't supposed to be about you".


-"Ketua sorak Pakatan kata hancurkan BN. Banyak makcik cuma nak cekak pinggang".


- "Dah tiga checkpoint semua ada ucapan dari Pakatan dan suruh tumbangkan BN. I'm leaving the crowd. I refuse to be used."


- "I will testify that the Pakatan reps in CM called upon the people to "redah apa sahaja yg menghalang kita. That is not advocating peace."

 Bersih rallies had always been about promoting the PR agenda to topple the BN government. How? Portraying the government in bad light.

 Bersih was not overall  a peaceful assembly. How could it be?  When thousands gather at various points and start making their way to one focal point i.e. Dataran Merdeka, how can that be peaceful?

There are genuine supporters of the cause. But you and I know that something  was bound to happen in such a situation.

Sure, like I said, protest and shout. That's within your right(s). But that does not give you the freedom to break the law.

I don't think it's anyone's right to break the law.

And then you push the police into taking action.....

.. and as Russell Peters would say : "somebody's gonna get hurt, real bad"...

Have You Seen Nayati?

I don't know if a NUR Alert has been activated for 12 year-old Nayati Shamelin Moodliar. He was reported to have been abducted by two men in a black car while on his way to school in Mont Kiara near Sri Hartamas.
He is a student of the Mont Kiara International School.

His distraught parents just want their only child back and has appealed to his abductors to return him safely.


We all pray for his safety and wellbeing and that he will be found -- safe and sound.

Prime Minister Najib Razak joined the chorus of Malaysian on social media to help search for Nayati. He tweeted last night that he has "spoken directly to IGP (Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar) to investigate the matter.

That's great. Let's hope he'll do the same for the next missing child.

Those with information, please contact police at 999; the school at 03-2093-8604 or 013-681-6085.

And to crank callers -- I hope you break your leg....

Dataran Merdeka Is Out Of Bounds

 

and for four days.

This is a court order that the police obtained on Thursday night.
Dataran Merdeka is supposed to be the venue for the Bersih 3.0 rally. For the past few days from two weeks ago, it was also the spot for protesters of "Hapuskan PTPTN" and supporters of OccupyDatatan.

But the culmination was, of course, the Bersih rally scheduled today...

The court order may keep the square that has already been barricaded from "invaders" but not the surrounding areas.

I say, let them protest.  They know what they're doing -- whether or not they are breaking the law. If they are not, let them be...if they are, then they should know.
 Let them, let them...this is a free and democratic country.  But this is not a lawless one.

Why Missing Children May Never Be Found....

....unless they're teen runaways because the police have proven to be effective in "rescuing" them,
or they're found by good samaritans which has always been the case...

For as long as top police officers or/and deputy ministers themselves keep saying the same things without showing any real understanding or progress on the issue i.e. NUR (National Urgent response) Alert, we might as well bury this early warning system, for good.

Federal Criminal Investigation Department director Datuk Seri Bakri Zinin:

"We know there are flaws. But what is important is that the system exists and is ready to be used. It is a matter of execution.

We have teething problems, but we are working on them to minimize errors.

Many do not understand this. It is not as easy as that (to activate the alert). We do not just use NUR Alert in every case as there are many factors to be considered, among them, legal implications and the risks involved if information is published without a proper investigation."

I totally agree that we have a system in place and a good one, adopted from AMBER Alert which was launched in 1996. We've adapted it to our needs and tweak it to suit our purposes. And remember this is the age of technology, so we should consider ourselves lucky...

Teething problems...what can they possibly be? The police took charge of it in January 2011. Whatever they are, do sort them out quickly.

Anyway, as for not using NUR Alert in every case -- we know that. WE DO UNDERSTAND. A missing child has got to satisfy some criteria, among which are that he or she is below 12, not a subject of domestic dispute, not a subject of a custody battle and not a victim of kidnap for ransom.

As for legal implications? I don't understand this. I don't get this.
And the risks involved if information is published without proper investigation? What kind of risks?

When your child goes missing, what do you do? You would go to the police, right? To make a report. The usual process would be that the duty officer would take down details of your child and so on. That is the standard operating procedure or SOP.

And then what? Wait for police to start investigations? Launch a search? Desperate parents have been known to make posters and flyers of their missing kids. In many cases, this had helped, especially in getting perpetrators -- because of the heat from the community and public eye and ears - to release the child.

Meanwhile, you wait and try to keep in touch with the police for progress in your child's case. Then, of course, the story would get to the media but not all the time. Newspapers have reporters going on crime rounds and they get their stories from the reports made to at the various police stations. Some cases, for various reasons, are off the radar and don't get publicised.

Take Nurin Jazilin Jazimin's case in 2007. Her father made a police report but the police did not act on it until more than a week later, and only after he went to the Press, out of desperation. And we all know that by then, it was all too late.

And that was why a group of bloggers pushed for NURIN (Nationwide Urgent Response Information Network) Alert initiative. After some four years, it was accepted and renamed NUR (National Urgent Response) Alert.

Now, NUR Alert is supposed to make it all swift after the SOP has been carried out and the child meets the criteria for the alert to be activated.

Key in this is that the media is alerted so that people are made aware. The community is made aware and can help in locating the child.

Back to Bakri's remarks -- the police should be satisfied that the child had been abducted by persons unknown. We should expect the investigations to be proper.

The question is how long do the police need to investigate and then disseminate the info to the media, MCMC and other "committee members" of NUR Alert?

A day? two days? A week? or like Nurin's case .....?

Like AMBER Alert, NUR Alert is all about locating a missing child in the shortest possible time because if a child was abducted, for sure the perpetrator has evil motive and intention.

This has been proven in many missing children cases. Even in this country.

So, let's not go around in circles.

As for remarks by Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Deputy Datuk Heng Seai Kie, I am so disappointed. She needs to do some homework.

When asked by reporters in Ipoh on Sunday about NUR Alert, she repeated this tired line that it cannot be immediately activated when a child is reported missing but added that this was "to ensure a child's safety."

She is right, as they all are, in saying that NUR Alert cannot be activated immediately when a child is reported missing. YES YES YES...we know. We have to be sure that the child was really abducted etc etc..

But to ensure the child's safety? When you have determined that the child has been abducted, the child is NOT SAFE! If the child was abducted by a good person, which is highly unlikely, then you don't have to worry, do you? So, let's just agree that in an abduction case, a child is NEVER safe.

"When a child is reported missing, the system cannot be immediately activated as police need to investigate if the child had been kidnapped.

If the system is triggered for a kidnapped child, it may end up endangering the child's life instead."

Which part of NUR Alert do these people not understand?

"Kidnapped child"? For ransom - we don't activate NUR Alert because that's a different case as the kidnappers would be in touch with the police and family. Even the media are cautioned not to report in case the victim is harmed or killed.

OR, or abducted by strangers like Nurin, Sharlinie (Nini), Nisha Chandramohan or Lee Xin Ru. Nurin, of course, was found dead. Nini, Nisha and Xin Ru have never been found.

So, thank you, y'all. Keep to you mindset and you"ll see no progress.

NUR Alert had been activated five times, according to official sources. Really? Four days later? And through mmses?

Of the five, two - Dass Robert, 7, and Santiran Damaraj, 8 -were recovered in Penang last year, one - Nurul Nadirah - was found charred in Johor early this year and two, Nisha and Xin Ru, were never found.

Dass and Santiran were released by the person who held them.

When a child has been confirmed to have been abducted, you can be sure, he is not in safe hands. So, you have to start disseminating info about him or her.

That is what NUR Alert is about. So that everyone knows about the missing child and can help the police locate him or her quickly BEFORE he is harmed further, or killed.

For as long as the police and politicians beat around the bush over why NUR Alert is not effective, you will never be able to save a missing child.

And please stop talking about "fine-tuning" the system. The system is there. It is the process that you have to put into effect.

Meanwhile, tell me -- how many missing children have you saved/rescued?

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly...

We have them among our people who employ maids.
(Cambodian maid may have been starved to death....)

And we have more of them among the maids.
(Businesswoman's two maids allegedly fled with her jewels and cash....."I was kind to them and treated them well..."

The thing is when an employer is done in by her maids, there is little or no recourse even when a police report has been made.

In Malaysia, say what you like, the law will get the perpetrators who mistreat, ill treat or/and torture their maids. They will be punished!

The Fab Four

No prejudice: I like this shot of the three leaders.

Retreating from a photo session during the forum in Phnom Penh are (from left) Sultan Brunei Darussalam Hassanal Bolkiah, Boediono, Najib and Philippine president Benigno S Aquino. — Bernama (Wednesday April 4, 2012)

Chinese Educationist Sham Doctorates

Folks - please excuse my re-"publishing" items from the newspapers of late. I'll post my own writing soonest.

UPDATE

From blognews portal The Mole:

Resign if it's true, man!

Original posting:

From The Star

KUALA LUMPUR: A high-profile Chinese educationist is in the spotlight again.

His doctorate degrees are in question, as the American university where he obtained the degree from has been shut down by the American authorities.

His resume was uploaded on a non-governmental organisation website that he is attached to, stating that he had two doctorates from the Kensington University.

He is said to have a PhD in education from Kensington University in 1993 and another PhD from the same university in 1991. The California court ordered the university to be shut down in 1996. It then shifted its operations to Hawaii but was subsequently shut down by the High Court there in 2003.

The controversy over his two doctorates has been circulating on Twitter and blogs, including the blog www.stopthelies.my, over the past weeks.

The status of his doctorates was first brought up by another Chinese educationist.

The educationist implicated declined to comment when asked about the status of his Kensington University doctorate.

He asked The Star to text him the question saying he had lost his voice and could not speak to the reporter.

However, the SMS to him was not replied.

One of the NGO's officials has refuted the allegations saying they had printed a booklet on the matter in 2009 to clear the air.

“We have studied the matter and find that the allegations about the status of the degrees are baseless.

“We had published a booklet on it in 2009,” he said.

According to the website, the educationist also obtained a doctorate from Southern Cross University in Australia in 1999.

It stated that he has a Masters in Business Administration from the University of East Asia, Macau, and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of London.

The Los Angeles Times on April 23, 1996, questioned the status of Kensington University, saying it had no classrooms, laboratories or dormitories with the entire campus housed in a small office building.

It said the school ran a programme, in which students studying at home could earn anything from a bachelor's degree to a doctorate; all without ever attending a single class or even meeting their instructors face-to-face.

It also reported that Kensington handed out advanced degrees, which have little, if any academic value and had allegedly perpetrated fraud in the public.

The Council for Private Post-Secondary and Vocational Education, which enforced rules in California, investigated the university.

The report said that in 1994, a review of the university found routine acceptance of below-par students, awarding inflated credit for so-called life experience and not having enough faculty.

In one case, reviewers found that the school awarded a doctoral candidate in psychology credit for reading magazine articles and doing about a dozen short reaction stories, the newspaper reported.

It also reported that the school also awarded doctorate degrees based on “as little as four months' work”.

The Kensington University also saw a prominent American politician Jennifer Caroll caught in a controversy after she was exposed by CBS Television for claiming to have a degree from the same university.

The Florida politician, who claimed she had a MBA from the university, was forced to quit from the National Commission on Presidential Scholars in disgrace.

A Common Language To Bind Us All

By Farish A Noor

ONCE again vernacular education has become an issue in Malaysian politics, though with much speculation about the date of the election going around at the moment, one cannot help but feel that the issue has been raised by some parties for the sake of gaining the popular vote above all.

It would be difficult not to draw an association between the proponents of vernacular schooling and the opposition parties after what happened at the rally for Chinese schools that took place last week.

ONCE again vernacular education has become an issue in Malaysian politics, though with much speculation about the date of the election going around at the moment, one cannot help but feel that the issue has been raised by some parties for the sake of gaining the popular vote above all. It would be difficult not to draw an association between the proponents of vernacular schooling and the opposition parties after what happened at the rally for Chinese schools that took place last week.

But the question remains unanswered by all: Can we seriously expect there to be some semblance of a Malaysian nation as long as young Malaysian children are taught separately, in different language streams? And are we naïve enough to think that nations invent themselves, without there having to be some form of intervention and direction by the state?

I have written about this so many times that I am close to giving up altogether, for fear that any more articles would simply amount to a waste of paper.

But for the umpteenth time, let me repeat some of the things I have said before: If we were to look at the major developed countries of the world such as Britain, France and Germany, we will see that historically these countries used to be far more linguistically diverse than they are today. In France alone hundreds of dialects were spoken, as was the case in Germany, where each region had a dialect unique to itself.

As Robert Bartlett has argued in his work The Making Of Europe, the coming together of these small principalities and feudal states was only possible through the centralisation of power and the streamlining of language, giving birth to the national languages we know today: French, German and English. Bartlett notes, of course, that this did not happen without some degree of discomfort, but in the long run the sacrifices of the past seem to have paid off. Disparate communities (that may not have even been able to speak to each other) are now part of larger nations.

Malaysia is likewise at a stage of its history where it has to decide firmly and decisively if it wishes to be one nation or a number of nations living side-by-side but never really communicating or understanding one another. As elections draw close, my worry is that the political parties of the country will pander to the most exclusive of communitarian voices, calling for linguistic isolationism as if it was the only benchmark of identity.

Surely, in the midst of the economically troubling times we live in, there are other matters that ought to gain our attention, such as protecting Malaysia from capital flight, securing our human resources and talent, and so on.
This also means having to create the opportunity structures whereby minorities feel that they can succeed by remaining in the mainstream, and working upwards in society by using the same common national language that is the language of one and all. For more than two decades now, I have lived as a member of the minority, first in Britain, then in France, Holland, Germany and now in Singapore.

In all these countries, I found myself struggling to get into the mainstream in order to succeed and to be the best I could be; proud enough to say that at least one Malaysian managed to teach in some of the best universities of the world. In places like France and Germany it also meant trying to master at least some basic French and German. And in all these instances my struggle was for and in the mainstream of society.

My concern about what is happening in Malaysia today is that the continued existence of separate language schools means that we do not know where the mainstream is any longer. It beggars belief that in a plural society like ours, young children may spend their entire childhood in the company of other children of the same cultural-linguistic background, and need not meet or even shake hands with another Malaysian child of a different culture or religion.

Worse still, this trend towards linguistic-cultural exclusivism seems to be on the rise among all the communities of the country. So we are back to the original question: How can we build a Malaysian nation if Malaysian children don't even go to the same schools, together?

As the tone and tenor of political contestation heats up in Malaysia in the lead-up to the elections, I also hope that the parties in the country will not jump on the language bandwagon to further aggravate things and to drive a wedge between Malaysians. In other developed countries, even parties that are bitterly hostile to each other conduct themselves with one eye on the national interest, and put national interest first.

In any plural society there are bound to be both centrifugal forces and centripetal forces, at times working against each other. To build a Malaysian nation means necessarily seeking those positive centripetal forces that want there to be a Malaysian nation that we can all call home. Parties should actively seek these forces, and lend their support to Malaysians who want there to be a national language, a national educational system and a national culture that everyone can identify with.

These forces, I believe, are there and have always been there; but what baffles me is why the political parties of the country have not reached out to them in an effective manner.

The aim, surely, has to be the creation of a common, inclusive mainstream; and then the expansion of that mainstream to make it even more inclusive and empowering for all.

Surely that is what education is for, and what smart politics is all about.

(This column was published by the New Straits Times on March 30, 2012)

Labourer Charged With Nurul Nadirah's Murder

A labourer was charged with the murder of five-year-old Nurul Nadirah Abdullah at the Magistrates Court in Johor Baru (March 26) today.

Muidin Maidin, 24, allegedly murdered Nurul Nadirah at an oil palm plantation in Bandar Seri Alam, Masai, here between 11 am and 7 pm on March 1.

He faces the mandatory death sentence upon conviction under Section 302 of the Penal Code.

Muidin who was unrepresented merely nodded when the charge was read out to him. No plea was recorded however.

Magistrate Mohd Isa Mohamed fixed May 4 for remention.

Meanwhile, in the same court, a man who was detained with Muidin for the murder, was sentenced to a month in prison and two years supervision after he pleaded guilty to taking drugs.

Razmin Mosum, 34, also a labourer, took methamphetamine at the Narcotics Crimes Investigation department of the Seri Alam police headquarters about 8.40 pm on March 2.

Mohd Iza ordered the sentence to take effect from the date of his arrest on March 2. Razmin was not represented as well.

DPP M.Vinodharan prosecuted. -- Bernama

Baby On Board

Are you one of those who get irritated with bawling babies on flight? Are you among parents with baby-on-board who have had bad experience with fellow passengers?

Baby-on-board has become a pretty heated issue of late. Only recently, a two year-old child was "kicked off" an American aircraft for throwing tantrums.

It's a huge debate out there.

Read this ARTICLE

Nurul's Alleged Killer(s) Nabbed

Four people - two of whom were Nurul Nadirah's neighbours have been nabbed.

Johor police chief Mokhtar Shariff said three of them were drug addicts and two have previous records on drug offences and kidnapping.

The three drug addicts - aged between 30 and 40 -- were found positive of methamphetamine and ice.

Police are still awaiting the chemist's report.

The New Straits Times learnt that the couple who were Nurul's neighbours was9* staying in a unit across her home.

They had held a grudge against Nurul's family since they moved into the unit last December.

The source said a feud had become a motive which led to the kidnapping and murder.

"Even the flat they occupied is actually being put on an auction by a bank. They just broke into the doors and moved in as squatters back in December. A family member of the victim often scolded them, telling them to move out and to stop stealing things."

Nurul Nadirah - may you rest in peace. Al Fatehah.

Is There A Manhunt for Nurul's Killer/Killers?

Nurul Nadirah Abdullah is gone. Murdered and her little body burnt beyond recognition. DNA tests of bone fragments match with that of her mother, Roselyn Alan. They proved that the remains were hers.

Is there nothing we can do now?

You and I can hope and pray that what happened to the five year-old will never happen to our children or those dear to us.

And you and I can hope and pray that Nurul's killer or killers will be caught and dealt with severely by the law.

But the police can do a lot more...they can start looking for the killer(s).

The police have now classified the case as "murder".

I am hopeful that Nurul's killer(s) will be caught.

We were not able to save Nurul. Let's hope that the perpetrators will pay for their crime.

I do not want to believe that in this country there is no hope for kids who go missing..

Either they are gone never to be found, or they are found dead.

And their killers are never caught.

*Nurul was reported missing by her parents after she went to a grocery store to buy instant noodles near her home at Seri Delima flats in Bandar Seri Alam, Johor on March 1.

Four people, including her biological father, are still in custody to assist police in investigations.

Nurul Nadirah Was Murdered: Was NUR Alert Activated?

Farewell, sweet Nurul.
It is a sad day for us all. We have failed another child.
Little Nurul Nadirah Abdullah who went missing after she left her Seri Delima Flats in Seri Alam (Johor) is dead.

The charred remains that police found last week have been confirmed to be that of the 5 year-old

Here's the NST online report

Could we have prevented her brutal murder? I don't know. But I do know that as a community, we would have helped to look for her in whatever way we could. I'm sure the people of Johor were in one way or another involved in the search for Nurul.

An alert system to locate missing children called NUR (National Urgent Response) Alert is in place.

It was originally called NURIN (Nationwide Urgent Response Information Network) Alert after 8 year-old Nurin Jazlin Jazimin whose brutalized and crumpled body was found in a sports bag in front of a shoplot in PJS 1/48, Petaling Jaya, on Sept 17, nearly a month after, and far from where she had gone missing near her home in Section 1, Wangsa Maju on Aug 20.

NURIN Alert was an initiative (modelled on the highly successful AMBER Alert in the US) of a small group of bloggers after the rape/murder of Nurin.
Remember how Nurin's murder shocked the nation? Shocking too was the initial apathy of the police when Nurin's father, Jazimin Abdul Jalil appealed for help (after he had lodged a report).

So desperate was he that he approached the newspapers and television stations. That got the publicity for Nurin's case.

The idea to have NURIN Alert was for the swift mobilization of assistance from the community including the police and the media, in locating a missing child.

So that no parent would be rendered helpless in face of such an ordeal.

Anyway, Women, Family and Community Development Minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil finally submitted the proposal for an alert system for missing children to the cabinet which approved it in January last year.
It was renamed NUR Alert, in line with the ministry's brand and because, according to Shahrizat, Nurin's parents might feel offended (not true, at all) or other parents of missing children might feel slighted (oh well, what can I say?).

No matter, what's important is that an alert system and mechanism is now in place to save the lives of missing or abducted children.

According to experts, there is only one reason a child is abducted -- sexual, and if a child is not found within 48 hours, the chances are that he or she may not be alive after that. These days, there is also another reason -- human trafficking.

That is why NUR Alert can go a long way in helping to locate missing children.

But are the police fully utilizing the system?

I don't know. As in little Nurul's case, I was told that the police had sent out mmses. But I don't know whether the NUR Alert was activated and to what extent it was utilised.

Was the media swiftly alerted after it was confirmed that Nurul's disappearance was a bona fide misisng child case? Because that is the first thing they should do. Were the electronic screens and billboards used to disseminate Nurul's picture and details?

I do know that Nurul's parents put up and distributed posters of her. This is effective, to an extent but we have modern electronic and information systems to make things work faster.

It's the same with 7 year-0ld Wan Hazim Mohd Khadir who went missing from his home in Subang Indah last Friday. His parents put up and distributed posters of Hazim.

But the media was not alerted.

Thankfully, Hazim is now safely returned to his family.

My point is - I hope the police nationwide are aware of the NUR Alert and what it is for and how it should be fully utilized.

AMBER Alert has helped saved the lives of hundreds of missing children in the US. Similar mechanisms/systems have been adopted and adapted in other countries.

I'm sure cases of missing children are top priority for the police.

The NUR Alert works on the basis that we are all the eyes and ears as a community to help in cases of missing children.

We have failed Nurin. God knows where Sharlinie and Nisha are.

And now Nurul Nadirah. We hope her killer is caught.

God help our children, if we cannot....

I have said this many times. Take care of your children... Nurin's killer is still at large.

Water Cut In the Klang Valley Next Week

From 8am on March 14 to 8pm March 15, residents in 153 areas in the Klang Valley will be without water supply due to maintenance work at the Sungai Selangor Phase 1 water treatment plant.

The areas are
In Hulu Selangor -- Kuang, Kundang and Bandar Tasik Puteri, while in Petaling, the areas are from SS1 to SS6, Kelana Jaya, SS8 free trade zone, Sungai Way, Damansara Kim, Damansara Utama, Damansara Jaya, Kampung Sungai Kayu Ara, Taman Megah, Taman Mayang Mas and Taman Mayang.

Also affected are Bukit Mayang Mas, Kampung Cempaka, Sungai Mas, Aman Suria, Damansara Idaman, Sunway Damansara, Mutiara Tropicana, Kampung Kayu Ara, Mutiara Damansara, Damansara Perdana, Bukit Lanjan, Taman Megah Mas, Bandar Utama, Tropicana Golf and Country Resort, Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Sungai Pencala, Kota Damansara, Monteres, Kayangan Height, Subang Sejahtera, Kampung Melayu Subang, Subang Perdana, Mah Sing and Subang Bestari.

In Kuala Lumpur: the National Civil Administration Institute (Intan) Bukit Kiara, Royal Selangor Club, Bukit Kiara Resort, Bukit Kiara Sports Centre, National Science Centre, Securities Commission, Sime Darby Convention Centre, Jalan Segambir, Jalan Belimbing, Jalan Setia Bistari, Jalan Setia Murni 1 to 12, Jalan Setia Budi, Jalan Setia Rasa, Jalan Setia Raya, Jalan Setia Jaya, Jalan Medan Setia, Jalan Setia Bakti, Jalan Setia Kasih, Plaza Damansara and Taman Seri Beringin.

In Klang and Shah Alam: Sunway Kayangan, Subang Impian, Sunway Suria, Puncak Perdana, Sungai Kapar Indah, Meru, Bukit Kerayong, Kampung Budiman, Felda Bukit Cerakah, Cerakah Jaya, Bukit Kapar, the whole areas of Kampung Delik, Kampung Sungai Udang, Jalan Sungai Bertik, Jalan Yadi, Jalan Batu Unjur, Jalan Kim Chuan, Taman Kim Chuan, Taman Bayu Perdana, Sri Angkasa flats, Vista Indah Apartment, Bandar Puteri, Bandar Ambang Botanic and Taman Kota Permai.

Also affected are Bandar Botani, Bandar Bukit Tinggi, Pendamar Indah flats, Taman Sentosa, Bandar Parkland, Kampung Idaman, Taman Gembira, Jalan Raja Lumu, Teluk Gadong Indah A, Kampung Pendamar, Jalan Tengku Badar, Persiaran Raja Muda Musa, Jalan Kastam, Pandamaran Jaya, Taman Telok Gedung Besar, Sobena Jaya, Sijangkang, Telok Panglima Garang and Kebun Baru.

Consumers can contact Syabas’ customers service centre hotline at 1-800-88-5252.

Ya PAS, Masukkan Lah Aku Ke Syurga......

Note the 3rd para: "Sehubungan itu, kerjasama dan perhatian pihak tuan amat dihargai. Mendengar CD ceramah PAS sahaja akan menjamin tuan masuk syurga. Pemilik pasaraya berbangsa cina juga tidak terkecuali, jika di dapati ingkar dan degil dengan arahan ini, tindakan tegas akan di ambil tanpa sebarang notis."

And at bottom left "undi PAS masuk syurga".

Kalau surat ini "authentic", memang dahsyat-lah Parti Islam Se Malaysia ni... awesome.

Takkan-lah PAS sanggup buat jaminan sedemikian. Ini siapa punya dirty tricks department?

Dengar-nya bab yang pasal syurga bukan dalam original circular. Haji Azhar (yang issue circular ini) berkata, ada pihak yang menambah dua kerat ayat yang berkenaan itu.

Kawan saya di Kota Baru marah sungguh.

"Ini semua kerja Umno...", ujar beliau.

The Maid Story

Just over the weekend, there was a report, quoting Indonesian embassy Information, Social and Cultural Affairs Minister-Counsellor Suryana Sastradiredja saying that the embassy had advised its government to suspend the sending of maids to Malaysia indefinitely although the maids had begun their compulsory training this month.

He said it was because of reports that two maids were physically abused by a senior government official and his wife, and that the two victims were also not paid salaries.

Apparently, one of the maids had sought shelter at the embassy last Friday night, while the other had been asked to return home earlier by the official’s wife.

So far there has been no police report lodged.

Read the New Sunday Times report here.

Today, deputy human resource minister Maznah Mazlan said that the delay in the arrival of the maids had been deferred to April 1, from March 1 earlier.

But this is not because of the alleged abuse case of two Indonesian maids.

This is because the maids have not undergone the mandatory 200-hour training.

She told reporters that that was why the Labour Department and the Indonesian government had postponed the arrival date by a month.

Bernama, quoting Maznah said the training was part of the requirements for Indonesian maids to come to Malaysia under the new regulations, besides the requirement for employers to submit their profiles.

Malaysia and Indonesia had also agreed to have a working contract for domestic maid and the cost of recruiting Indonesian maid fixed at RM4,511.

Maznah said that the ministry was coordinating with 12 employment agencies in Indonesia to bring in the maids.

"So far, 128 employers in the country have submitted their applications to the agencies concerned," she added.

She said those wanting to employ domestic helpers could do so by surfing jtksm.mohr.gov.my for further information.

If you ask me, well and good if we can still source maids from Indonesia. But I believe the government should SERIOUSLY work on finding long-term solutions to help Malaysians deal with this issue of domestic help. It affects thousands of families.

We cannot be doing this forever. There must be a cut-off point somewhere. The government should work with related agencies to find a solution -- like setting up creches in work-places, establishing good and reliable nurseries and child care centres in housing and residential estates and so on.

In this respect, the government must know that we hardly look like a progressive nation.

Dear Yitzhak., Dear Ehud

21 December 1993

His Excellency
Mr Yitzhak Rabin
Prime Minister of Israel
JERUSALEM


I would like to thank you for your letter of 17 October informing me about
the Agreement of Principles and Mutual Recognition between Israel and the PLO.

My government supports this positive development and views it as a first
step towards the realization of a comprehensive solution to the Middle East
problem. As a demonstration of Malaysia's support to this development my
country was represented at the Donor's Conference to support The Middle East
Peace held in Washington and subsequently pledged a modest financial
contribution to the Palestinians to assist in their new tasks. My government has
also offered the Palestinians technical assistance under the Malaysian Technical
Cooperation Programme.

Malaysia as a matter of general principle is prepared to develop relations
with Israel at the appropriate time. In the meantime, we would like to see
tangible progress in the implementation of the peace agreement.

The Middle East problem particularly the Palestinian issue has been a cause
of instability to the region and I hope the recent agreement between Israel and
PLO would contribute to lasting peace to the area.

I look forward to normal relations with Israel. (this last sentence is hand
written)

DR. MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD

This is to Ehud Barak.

8 June 1999

His Excellency
Mr Ehud Barak
Prime Minister Elect of Israel
TEL AVIV

Your Excellency,

May I extend my congratulations on your victory in the recent elections.
With this impressive mandate, I hope that you and your coalition partners will
be able to guide the destiny of the people of Israel at the threshold of a new
Century.

I would like to take this opportunity to reiterate that Malaysia has always
sought peace and the settlement of problems between neighbours through
negotiations. It is therefore our hope to see the mutual implementation of the
agreements signed between the PLO and Israel. We also believe that if the peace
process is to be salvaged, sincere and effective steps must be taken to honour
commitments.

As an important partner in the peace process it is crucial for Israel to be
more accommodating. The Palestinians have made major sacrifices. They no longer
demand the elimination of Israel. They are even prepared to share Jerusalem with
you. It is therefore timely that Israel respond positively so as to sustain the
hopes of the people in both Palestine and Israel. Solemn commitments made by a
previous Goverment must be honoured. The alternative I am afraid, would be a
permanent state of conflict and regional instability extending into the next
Century. This is certainly a prospect that must be avoided.

The crux of the problem is that no party should revert to the old ways of
taking what belongs to others, on the one hand and instigating hatred and
violence, on the other. Malaysia cannot countenance aggression by anyone,
whether friend or foe. Any country that focibly takes over land and properties
of others, or demolishes dwellings belonging to others in order to set up its
own settlements cannot be said to be sincere in wanting peace.

Malaysia is of the firm conviction that the security of all countries in
West Asia can only be assured with the establishment of a just, lasting, and
comprehensive peace in the region. This must be based on the principle of
"exchange of land for peace" and the establishment of an independent Palestinian
state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The world looks foward to Israel under your leadership, to push foward the
peace process with true determination. It is my sincere hope that the attainment
of a comprehensive settlement in the region would allow Malaysia to
realistically envisage a positive move towards the establishment of normal
relations with Israel.

Yours sincerely,

DR MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD