3. Couples who divorce without valid reasons may be punished

KOTA BARU: The Kelantan Government is thinking of imposing heavier penalties like whipping or jail sentences on married couples who divorce without valid grounds.

State Women Development, Family and Health Committee chairman Wan Ubaidah Omar said stringent enforcement and heavier penalties would help keep the divorce rate down.

“The Government is willing to consider the suggestion (whipping and jail sentences) if it can help reduce the divorce rate,” she said during question-and-answer time at the Kelantan State Assembly in Kota Darul Naim here yesterday.

Wan Ubaidah (PAS-Kijang) was replying to a supplementary question by Hassan Mahmood (PAS-awang), who asked whether the Government intended to introduce jail or whipping sentences for those who divorced with “no probable reasons”.

Hassan did not say what he meant by “no probable reasons”.

Earlier, Wan Ubaidah, in reply to the original question by Tuan Zamri Tuan Zakaria (PKR-Guchil), said Kelantan was fourth among states in the number of divorces cases with the divorce rate of 14.67% between 2005 and 2010.

Without mentioning the number of cases, she said the divorce rate in 2005 was 13.5%, 14.6% in 2006, followed by 2007 (13%), 2008 (15.5%), 2009 (16%) and 2010 (15.8%).

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18. Clerk the culprit behind visa sale

PETALING JAYA: A clerk at a college here has been charging foreigners between RM500 and RM1,000 for student visas so that they can continue to stay in the country.

Some of the “customers” had used the visas to stay in the country for as long as four years.

A Nigerian student at a college here, known only as Christopher, said some foreigners wanted to continue living in Malaysia because they ran businesses here, including selling drugs and providing car rental services.

“Most of the clerk’s customers are former college and university students.

“Some are also students who have no interest in studying and do not attend classes. Instead, they earn money by running businesses,” said the 20-year-old, who had tried to get a visa from the man.

“In order to apply for a student visa legitimately, you need to have full attendance in class. You must also fulfil other requirements such as paying all outstanding tuition fees,” Christopher told The Star in an interview.

He added that the clerk would obtain the data of students with good track records and use the information to apply for visas for his clients.

Christopher, a finance student, claimed the man charged the foreigners between RM500 and RM1,000 for new student visas or to renew existing ones.

“The price depends on where you are from and how long you intend to stay in the country,” he said.

Christopher, however, said none of the customers had ever met the man because he would deal with them through his “agents”, who were usually trusted regular customers.

He added that the man did not even go by a nickname and people only knew about his business by word of mouth.

Christopher said the man had 10 to 20 customers a month, and the customers needed to wait for two weeks to a month to obtain the visas.

He also claimed the man was not the only one conducting the illegal business. “As far as I know, there are two other sources to get student visas in the Klang Valley.”

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14. Couple who stole cars fall flat

KUALA LUMPUR: A couple believed to be involved in stealing at least 31 cars used various master keys to steal cars and “hide” them at the parking lot of their flat to evade arrest for more than a year.

But their crime spree ended last Wednesday when they were spotted in a Proton Saga at the parking lot of a flat in Pandan Perdana here.

The couple, aged 41 and 32, is believed to be connected to more than 30 robbery and car theft cases in the Klang Valley.

Selangor police chief Deputy Comm Datuk Tun Hisan Tun Hamzah said the two would steal cars parked by the side of the road by using master keys and park the vehicles at the flat where they lived.

The car they were in when they were arrested was stolen during a robbery some months ago.

“They would sell the vehicles to their ready customers who in turn dismantled the parts and sold them as second-hand parts,” he told reporters yesterday.

Police also found a laptop, five electronic items, a bunch of car keys and a parang in the car.

They then led police to a unit in the flat and seized five handphones, watches, women’s accessories, 31 car registration cards, five passports from various countries, four parang and an axe.

DCP Tun Hisan also said police recovered nine stolen cars at the flat’s car park.

“Six of the nine cars were stolen in Selan-gor while the rest were from Kuala Lum-pur.”

The jobless couple’s modus operandi was to steal cars using a master key and at times, using weapons to rob their victims.

The two have been remanded until to- day.

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1. Lim: Finish me off, but leave my children out of this

PETALING JAYA: Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has refuted an allegation made against his son and has dared his political foes to train their guns on him instead.

“If you want to finish me off, do your worst, but leave my innocent children alone,” he said.

The DAP secretary-general said allegations circulating on the Internet that his son was transferred out of his school following an offence was untrue.

Lim said subjecting a child to such allegations publicly was “unacceptable and inhumane”.

Lim added that he had allowed his son to transfer out from SMK Heng Ee to St Xavier’s Institution in January this year in keeping with his side of the bargain because his son had scored 6As in PMR.

Lim said his son asked for the change because he did not agree to the crew-cut hairstyle ruling in Heng Ee.

“My son is very shaken up by these lies. He has also not gone to school for two days,” he said in a press statement yesterday.

Lashing out at bloggers who had spread what he described as “lies”, Lim said he and his wife were now trying to help their son “heal”, claiming that his son was being targeted just because he was a son of the Chief Minister.

In Parliament lobby yesterday, Pakatan Rakyat leaders expressed outrage and condemned the “gutter politics”.

“We all have children and our own family. Don’t stoop to such a level and ruin a person’s family member just to gain political mileage,” said Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in a press conference with other Pakatan leaders yesterday.

DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang said he was under great strain because of the “baseless wild attack” on his grandson.

“What was reported were complete lies. Even the allegation that the matter was settled with RM200,000 is completely ridiculous.

“This is the lowest level I have ever seen in my 40 over years (in politics),” he said.

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7. 'Visa for sale' racket allows foreigners to do everything but study

PETALING JAYA: A “student visa for sale” operation is making it easy for many foreigners to do everything else but study in Malaysia.

For a fee of between RM500 and RM1,000 paid to a middleman, the foreigners can obtain or renew their student visas without going to the Immigration authorities, according to those in the know about the operation.

Instead of attending classes, the foreigners operate businesses, such as trading in car spare parts and offering beauty services, while many others are involved in vice.

There are about 110,000 foreign students in the country, and about 30,000 of them attend six-month courses, mostly in technical skills.

Other developments:

> Action will be taken against these foreign students if the authorities find out that they are involved in criminal activities or caused problems in the community, said Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein;

> Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Khaled Nordin said the ministry usually dealt with higher learning institutions which would report students suspected to be abusing their student visas;

> Immigration director-general Datuk Alias Ahmad warned that those found abusing the student visas would be blacklisted and barred from entering the country.

Related Stories:

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20. Thief shot dead after hitting cop car

KOTA KINABALU: Police shot dead a suspected thief who rammed into a police patrol car using a four-wheel drive in Kinarut near here.

The suspect, who was at the wheel, was travelling with three other accomplices when they were surprised by the patrol car at 1.10am yesterday in Jalan Sapoda near the Maktab Rendah Sains Mara in Kinarut.

State CID chief Senior Asst Comm Omar Mammah said the two policemen were patrolling the area when they spotted the four-wheel drive and approached it.

“Suddenly, the vehicle headed straight for the patrol car and rammed into it, pushing it some 30m to 40m back.

Scene of the incident: Police looking at the patrol car which crashed into the Isuzu Trooper used by the suspects in their attempt to flee the police in Kinarut, Kota Kinabalu.

“The corporal and lance corporal attached to the Papar police crime prevention unit ordered the driver to stop but he ignored him,” Omar Mammah said.

He said the policemen jumped out of their moving car and fired three shots, one hitting the driver, believed to be in his 30s, in the body.

The three accomplices ran out of the vehicle and fled into the nearby bushes.

Omar Mammah said police believe the area was used to destroy or discard parts from stolen goods, such as electric cables and stolen cars.

He said Papar police had in the past found several stolen cars in the area, adding that police were investigating why the men were in the area at the time.

“The number plate of the four-wheel drive was found to be fake,” he said.

A manhunt is on for the three suspects.

He added that the case was being investigated under Section 307 of the Penal Code for attempted murder.

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12. Guan Eng denies blog allegations against son

PETALING JAYA: Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has refuted allegations that his son was transferred out from his school due to an offence.

He said he and his wife were furious that political bloggers and opponents had made false allegations against his son.

"My (Form Four) son had transferred to St Xavier's Institution in Penang from SMK (Cina) Heng Ee because I had promised him he could transfer to the school of his choice if he scored at least 6As in his PMR.

"When he achieved that, he was transferred at the beginning of the school term this year, in January 2011. My son wanted to go to SXI because he did not want to have his hair crew-cut as is required for Heng Ee students, but wanted to keep his hair longer."

Lim said for a young kid to be maligned in such a manner was unacceptable and inhumane.

"My son is very shaken up by these lies. He has also not gone back to school for two days. I feel sad that I am not able to protect my young son," Lim said in a statement Tuesday, blaming pro-Umno bloggers for the allegations.

"If you want to finish me off, do your worst to me but leave my innocent children alone," he said.

View the original article here

16. High Court to hear union's attempt to strike out Maybank's defamation suit

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court has set Nov 24 to decide on an application by the National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE) to strike out a defamation suit against it by Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank).

High Court judge Justice V.T. Singham set the date when the case was called up yesterday.

NUBE is applying to strike out the suit on grounds that it has absolute immunity as a trade union.

It also contends it could not be sued for defamation.

In its suit filed on April 22, which named NUBE and its general-secretary J. Solomon as defendants, Maybank claimed that in February or March this year, Solomon, acting on his own behalf and the union, had published and/or caused to be published articles containing defamatory statements of the plaintiff on the website, www.nube.org.my.

It claimed the statements meant that the plaintiff had conducted its affairs in a dishonest manner by seeking to use funds for the sole benefit of its senior management at the expense of, and in total disregard for, its employees.

In the court papers filed for the application, NUBE contended that the statements were related to an on-going trade dispute between the bank and the union related to alleged lack of, or insufficient, performance bonus for the bank's lower-level staff.

The dispute has been going on since 2009.

However, the defendants stated, the plaintiff had denied the existence of a trade dispute.

NUBE lead counsel Alex De Silva said Maybank lawyers want to file further submissions over the application.

He argued Section 22(1) of the Trade Unions Act 1959 gave NUBE and Solomon absolute immunity against the defamation claim.

He applied to the court to use its discretion to strike out the action on the grounds it was a plain and obvious claim to be dismissed.

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8. Two cops among 25 men who beat me, says trader

JOHOR BARU: A trader has alleged that he was abducted and beaten up by a group of more than 25 men, including two police personnel.

Sheikh Abdul Hifzuldeen, 21, said he was riding pillion with his friend on his way back home at Taman Universiti here at 12.30am on Sept 30 when a car stopped in front of them.

He said five men got out and started hitting them.

Hifzuldeen claimed he knew the five men, two of whom he alleged were police personnel.

“They kept hitting us and my friend was knocked out due to the blows he received to his face,” he said.

“The men then pushed me into the car and drove to a field near a mosque at Taman Sri Skudai where about 20 other men were waiting,” he told a press conference organised by Skudai assemblyman Dr Boo Cheng Hau.

Hifzuldeen said that while in the car, two men kept hitting his head with a sharp bangle and demanded to know if he had beaten up anyone before.

He denied doing so, but the men kept on hitting him every time he answered.

“They kicked, punched, and hit me for about 30 minutes and kept on asking if I had beaten anyone before,” he said, adding that he was then locked in a room at a shophouse near the field.

Hifzuldeen said a couple living at the shophouse lent him their mobile phone so he could call his family for help.

Dr Boo said he had submitted a letter to Suhakam.

Johor Baru (North) OCPD Asst Comm Ruslan Hassan, who confirmed the police report, said police were investigating the matter including the victim’s claim that two police personnel were in­­volved.

He urged those with information to contact the police hotline at 07-2212999 or lodge a report at the nearest police station.

View the original article here

4. Action taken against medical personnel over wrong blood transfusions

KUALA LUMPUR: Two medical personnel have been suspended following two cases of blood transfusions in which patients were given the wrong blood type.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said the ministry had strict protocol in place for blood transfusions and these sort of incidents “should not be happening”.

“The two individuals were immediately suspended as they did not follow procedures,” he said after launching a blood donation campaign at Kolej Tunku Abdul Rahman yesterday.

Liow said the two cases which occurred in Penang and Kajang recently were not the fault of the National Blood Centre (NBC).

He assured the public that blood from the NBC system was “completely safe” for use as the ministry would not allow anything to threaten the safety and quality of blood from donors.

In the case of a HIV-positive housewife in Ipoh, Liow said the ministry would closely examine all activities and medical procedures she had undergone to find out how she contracted the virus.

The 56-year-old kidney patient, Vun Ah Thai, was suspected to have contracted HIV via blood transfusion but all eight donors have been confirmed to be free of the virus.

She had received 18 pints of blood from the donors through several blood transfusions since January and tested positive for HIV at Uni­versiti Malaya Medical Centre on Aug 15 where she was supposed to undergo minor surgery.

The investigation by the state Health Department is expected to take two weeks.

Liow said plans were also underway to build a plasma fractionation plant here next year as an initiative by the private sector and supported by the ministry.

Currently, he said blood was sent to Australia to be fractionated (broken into component parts such as plasma and platelets).

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10. Teen raped by stepdad and then mum kicks her out

A TEENAGER who was raped by her stepfather when she was 13 has been left high and dry by her own mother she kicked the girl out of their home two weeks ago.

With nowhere to go, Ita went to a public complaints centre in Johor Baru to pour out her sorrows and to seek help.

The girl, now 15, said she was first raped by her stepfather two years ago.

“I told my mother about the incident but she believed him instead and I continued to be his victim,” she told Sinar Harian when met at the centre on Monday.

Ita pleaded with her mother to keep watch over her, leading to an occasion when her mum caught the man assaulting her.

She said she was initially relieved that her mother decided to lodge a police report against her stepfather.

“However, my hope of seeing my father go to prison for his actions was dashed when my mum withdrew the report,” Ita said, adding that her mother gave the excuse that she did not want to see her (Ita's) two step-siblings growing up without a father.

“I love my mother. She is, after all, the only mother I have,” sobbed Ita, saying she was devastated when she was thrown out of the house.

? Other News & Views is compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with this > sign, it denotes a separate news item.

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11. Nurin's kidnapper on the prowl again?

IT seems that a kidnapper who drives a white van is on the prowl again after a nine-year-old boy was almost abducted in the Klang Valley, Sin Chew Daily reported.

The newspaper said, according to witnesses four years ago, Nurin Jazlin Jazimin (pic) four, was dragged into a white van before she went missing.

Her body was discovered a month later stuffed in a bag.

In the lastest incident, the boy was almost dragged into a white van before he managed to break free from the clutches of his abductor.

Apparently, the abductor would entice young victims who waited outside their schools with RM100 or RM200.

Ampang Jaya OCPD Asst Comm Amiruddin Jamaluddin confirmed the near-abduction of the boy, saying police had received a report lodged by a parent and would record a statement from the boy soon.

He urged parents to monitor the whereabouts of their children.

> China Press reported that there was a demand for organ transplants among kidney patients and this had caused the price in the black market for a kidney to soar to between RM6,000 and RM10,000.

It was reported that the original price of a black market kidney ranged from RM100 to RM300 depending on the country of origin but the price escalates when the organ is actually made available to the patient.

It was said that the kidneys are normally brought in from China and India, with prices ranging from RM200 to RM300 and RM100 to RM150 respectively.

However, “Indonesian kidneys” had also started to appear in the market for cheaper price at less than RM100 each.

> Nanyang Siang Pau reported that effective Nov 1, it would be easier for Malaysians to drive in Taiwan.

It reported Transport Minister Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha as saying that Malaysia and Taiwan had agreed in principle to recognise their respective drivers' licences.

Kong said Malaysians could verify their driving licence at the Malaysian Friendship and Trade Centre before applying for conversion at regional commissioner offices in Taiwan.

Similarly, Taiwanese only need to verify their licence at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Malaysia and complete the conversion at Road Transport Department offices.

? Other News & Views is compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with this > sign, it denotes a separate news item.

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12. Petroleum firms get up to two years to come up with diesel

KUALA LUMPUR: Petroleum companies have been given another one to two years to make Euro 4 diesel available to the public, said Transport Minister Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha.

He said the petroleum industry was still not ready to make Euro 4 diesel available in the Malaysian market.

“Euro 4 diesel is not requested by the automobile industry,” he told a press conference yesterday after attending the 1st Malaysian-German Sustainable Automotive Mobility Conference here.

“Many companies like Volks­wagen and Mercedes Benz are not bringing in diesel vehicles to the country,” he added.

On how soon Euro 4 diesel, which is more enviroment-friendly, would be made available in Malaysia, Kong said the Interna­tional Trade and Industry Ministry was looking into it.

Euro emission standards are enforced throughout the European Union, and the higher the standard (meaning lower sulphur content), the lower the emission of pollutants.

On another matter, Kong said infrastructure that allowed electric vehicle owners to change their batteries needed to be set up to encourage the use of such vehicles.

“Making the shift from fuel vehicles to electric vehicles is difficult without such infrastructure.

“It should allow electric vehicle owners to change their battery instead of charging it and the time it takes for them to do it should not be longer than filling up one’s tank,” he added.

However, he said, there was an insufficient number of electric vehicles in the country presently to require the setting up of the infrastructure.

View the original article here

17. Deaf-mute Kumara tells it all through beautiful art and colours

PETALING JAYA: While he is unable to express himself through words, Kumara Aselan, who is a deaf-mute, does it through the beautiful “kolam” he designs.

Although the 31-year-old has to be on his knees for up to five hours at times to produce the kolam, he remains passionate about his work.

Kolam is a form of sand painting art using either rice flour, rice or sago. It is usually drawn at the entrance of Hindu homes to welcome the Hindu Goddess of Fortune, Lakshmi.

Kumara’s employer, Ramesh Perumal, said his team produced about three elaborate kolam each day for shopping complexes and companies during the Deepavali season. Depending on how elaborate the kolam was, he said, it would take about two to three hours to complete.

Strutting his stuff: Kumara (left) and teammate Isara Maduranga hard at work at Menara Star.

“Orders usually begin coming in a month before Deepavali,” Ramesh said, adding that each design was conceptualised and created by Kumara with the help of two people.

The kolam, he said, was believed to be able to absorb the negative energy from people who look at it.

“The vibrant colours of the kolam create a positive and festive feeling,” he said after his team completed a peacock-design one using crushed rice at Menara Star here.

In Hinduism, the peacock represents patience, compassion and good luck.

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9. Thumbs up for low-cost meal

KUALA LUMPUR: The campaign for the 1Malaysia People’s Menu has received overwhelming response from restaurants.

According to the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry, there were now 1,004 restaurants taking part in the programme as at Oct 14.

“We were supposed to achieve the target of 1,000 restaurants by December, but we achieved it three months earlier,” he told a press conference after a lunch with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak at Restoran Ukhwah in Lorong Medan Tuanku yesterday.

“The Prime Minister came just to eat. He wanted to taste the food eaten by ordinary folk. He also wanted to find out whether the lunch menu served at RM4 and breakfast at RM2 under the programme were really of quality,” he added.

Ismail Sabri said Najib’s lunch experience at the restaurant also proved wrong the perception of some quarters that cheap food at the eateries were of low quality.

He added that in the peninsula, the restaurants could offer breakfast at a maximum of RM2 and lunch at RM4. In Sabah and Sarawak, it’s RM2.50 for breakfast and RM5 for lunch.

Ismail Sabri urged more restaurant operators to take part in the programme and offer food at affordable prices while helping people reduce their financial burden.

Restoran Ukhwah serves a RM1 breakfast menu that includes teh tarik, roti canai and a piece of kuih while the RM3 lunch menu includes a plate of rice with meat and one vegetable dish and a syrup drink.

Asked how the restaurant could maintain its profit at such rates, Ukhwah Cooperatives president Datuk Rahim Baba said they carried out volume selling while offering other menus at regular prices.

Regular customer Ramlee Salleh, 76, said he ate at the restaurant with his wife Zaleha Salleh, 63, and grandson daily to reduce their financial burden.

Ramlee, who has two wives, said he earns RM700 a month as a petition writer and gets a RM400 pension.

“But it is still not enough for us and I sometimes just eat bread,” he added.

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19. Pontian dies after illness

KUANTAN: A daughter of the late Datuk Wong Ah Jang, a prominent businessman who named her after a district in Johor, has died of illness.

Wong Pontian died in Negri Sembilan on Sunday after being hospitalised at the Seremban Hospital. She was 82.

With her death, retired headmaster Wong Bentong remains the only surviving sibling of the 13 children from Ah Jang’s three wives who were named after places and a steamship.

While Pontian’s name was picked from a district in Johor, Ah Jang named 10 of his children after places in Pahang.

One of his children was also named Pahang while another daughter was named Krona, after a steamship that once brought goods from Singapore.

A relative of Pontian, Vincent Jiam, said she had gone to see her brother Bentong in Seremban, where she fell ill and was hospitalised.

Her remains were brought here on Monday after she died a day earlier.

Jiam said she would be buried at the Tanjung Api Christian cemetery today after memorial services at the Kuantan Chapel in Jalan Datuk Wang Ah Jiang.

Jiam, an activist of the “Save Malaysia, Stop Lynas” movement, said Pontian, who was his wife’s grand-aunt, was fondly known as Aunt Pon.

“We were close to her and she was a wonderful woman.

“She was supportive of me and would pray for my safety,” added Jiam, formerly the chairman of the anti-Lynas group.

Ah Jang’s other children included Kwan Tan (named after Kuantan), Pekan, Lipis and Raub (all districts in Pahang).

Among the others were Gambang and Beserah (from towns near Kuantan) and Jelai (named after a small town near Fraser’s Hill).

Two others were named after rivers in Pahang, Boo Latt (named after the Belat river) and Lembing (from the river of the same name).

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6. Proton's electric cars to hit the roads in 2013

KUALA LUMPUR: Proton Holdings Bhd is looking to commercialise its electric vehicles in 2013.

The vehicles, which are now in the test fleet stage, will be brought to the commercial front to cater to an increasing demand for full electric cars, Proton Holdings director Datuk Zainuddin Che Din said.

“Currently, we have already delivered three Proton Saga EV and five units of the Proton Exora Range Extender EV to the Government for the test fleet.

“In the process of commercialising the vehicle, we are looking to provide at least 200 Range Extenders and 150 Proton Saga EV’s to the Government by the end of next year,” he said here yesterday.

He said the cars would be competitively priced once commercialised.

The Proton Saga EV is expected to be sold at RM70,000 and the Proton Exora Range Extender at about RM100,000.

“The price will be cheaper and competitive for a full electric car in the country,” said Zainuddin, who is also the project director of Proton’s Green Tech Department.

He said that to accommodate the needs of the electric cars once commercialised, Proton and the Government were working on a mechanism to build infrastructure to place charging centres.

“The charging stations will be placed initially in Putrajaya, Cyberjaya and certain prime locations in Kuala Lumpur. — Bernama

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13. Former teacher tells of students who are not

PETALING JAYA: A former English teacher at a language centre here claims that many foreigners there had no intention of studying but merely signed up for courses to get student visas.

“They are here legally but their intention to be students is questionable,” said the teacher, known only as Linda.

She said the foreign students had even admitted to her that they just wanted to get the visas to stay in the country.

“They even asked me: ‘What are you going to do about it? The centre has already taken money from us.’”

Linda added that she quit her job after teaching in the centre for a year, partly because she was frustrated at the students’ attitude.

“They would come to class and mark their attendance. Then, they would disappear and return at the end of class to sign out,” she said.

Linda also claimed that some foreigners in her class spoke excellent English but deliberately failed their examinations so that they could re-take the course.

She said some had businesses such as trading car spare parts and running beautician services.

View the original article here

15. Punish father for baby's death

KUALA LUMPUR: Police should go all out to find the father of the newborn baby girl who was murdered by her 16-year-old mother in Betong, Sarawak, Women, Family and Community Deve­lopment Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil said.

“He should be brought to court for this crime too, and not just the girl, because he is equally responsible for what has happened.”

Shahrizat was commenting on a recent case where a newborn was found slashed to death by her mother after her 27-year-old boyfriend’s family refused to accept the child.

She said this after recording a Children’s Day message with 74 pupils at the National Population and Family Development Board’s Permata Timang kindergarten yesterday.

The message was recorded in conjunction with the 58th World Children’s Day, which will be celebrated at Sri Pentas on Satur­day.

She added that the ministry had made plans to expand children’s welfare work under the 1Malaysia Social Welfare (KAR1SMA) programme, which was launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in August.

Earlier, Shahrizat gave 800 low-income members of the Indian community a one-off token of RM200 each at a KAR1SMA Deepavali event, jointly organised by the ministry and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk G. Palanivel.

“Take care of your families. You must pay attention to your family’s needs and make sure your children go to school,” Shahrizat urged parents while delivering her opening speech at the event.

Palanivel later said that low-income members of the Indian community who had registered at MIC service centres in other states would also be given the assistance before Deepavali on Oct 26.

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5. 'Printing shop' busted over fraudulent activities

KUALA LUMPUR: It looked and operated like a legitimate printing company from a shoplot in Bandar Puteri, Port Klang.

They were printing cards but not the ordinary kind. Instead, the company was producing fake blank credit cards.

Investigations revealed that the syndicate printed an average of 50,000 cards a month and had raked in a whopping RM3.75mil from the production and sale of the fake cards that were sold to international syndicates distributing such cards complete with card holder details.

Police from the Federal Commer­cial Crimes Investigations De­­partment (CCID) busted the local syndicate after arresting two men aged 21 and 44 and seizing more than 3,000 fake credit cards, a variety of machinery including a microchip cutter and embossing and engraving machines from the shop­lot which was the only one open for business in the area.

CCID deputy director (I) Deputy Comm Datuk Tajudin Md Isa said police were alerted by a public tip-off some time in May.

“A task force led by Deputy Supt Teh Eng Hin was set up to investigate and gather intelligence about the syndicate’s operations before the shoplot was raided at about 6.30pm on Monday,” he told a press conference at the federal CCID headquarters in Bukit Perdana yesterday.

DCP Tajudin said the syndicate was believed to have produced more than 250,000 fake credit cards and had raked in about RM3.75mil.

He said the syndicate was operating under the cover of a legitimate business specialising in printing club membership, institute of higher education and employee cards.

“Based on our investigations, we believe that the syndicate was supplying the fake cards to international syndicates including in China, Hong Kong and Britain.

“They were selling the blank cards for RM15 each and would courier the finished products to other syndicates which would then insert details of credit card holders,” he said.

DCP Tajudin said this was the biggest seizure of fake credit cards this year and could possibly put a major dent in the operations of syndicates that were receiving the supply.

He said police were working closely together with Interpol and Aseanapol as well as with the affected banks to identify the international syndicates.

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2. Woman fears ex-boyfriend paid someone to infect her with HIV

JOHOR BARU: A 37-year-old woman who broke up with her boyfriend of 18 years could face the possibility of contracting AIDS after she was injected with a needle at a shopping mall here.

The victim, who only wanted to be known as Fanny, believed that her former boyfriend Jerry, 40, paid somebody to inject her with a HIV-positive needle after their relationship soured.

“When Jerry told me he was terminally ill, I quit my job to care for him,” she told reporters during a press conference organised by the Mentri Besar’s special aide Loh Teh Hian.

“Every time I told him I was leaving him, he would threaten me by saying he would inject me with a HIV-positive needle and that made me stay by his side.”

She added that he became short-tempered and violent.

Fanny said that she could not take the abuse and moved out of Jerry’s apartment last Tuesday, but met him at the Holiday Plaza last Sunday to talk things over.

She said that at a fast-food outlet there, she felt a piercing sensation in her back and saw a man fleeing when she turned to look.

He dropped a syringe on the ground and Jerry told her she had been injected with HIV-positive blood.

She said that although a test had showed her to be HIV negative, she had to wait six months to be sure.

Johor Baru (South) OCPD Asst Comm Zainuddin Yaakob said police were investigating the matter under the Penal Code for voluntarily causing hurt.

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14. Football team logo designs not for 'kolam'

MALACCA: Instead of creative and captivating kolam designs promoting the cultural heritage of Indians, youths here are creating designs of popular English Premier League football teams.

The state MIC is worried about this disturbing development and wants the practice of putting the crest of teams like Liverpool and Manchester United on kolam designs stopped.

Expressing disappointment over this trend, which has surfaced among younger football fans, state MIC chairman Datuk R. Perumal said: “Kolam is an ancient art dating back some 5,000 years and should not be sullied by images that have nothing to do with Indian culture.”

Perumal said many kolam designs depicting the two football clubs were drawn during competitions organised in conjunction with Deepavali. He noted that kolam was not just a decoration.

“It used to be created using coarse rice flour to invite birds and other small animals to come into one's home and life.

“The kolam depicts the harmonious co-existence between men and animals.

“It is a sign that all are welcome into one's home and also brings prosperity,” he said.

Using the kolam method to create the crests of soccer clubs deviated from its original design and purpose.

“It used to be a matter of pride to be able to draw large, complicated patterns but we are not going to commend those who draw crests of soccer clubs as they are just copying the designs from pictures,” he added.

Separately, Perumal said the state government had distributed RM200 cash aid to some 500 Hindus in the state on Saturday.

They also received household items so that they could enjoy the celebration.

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11. 19 hurt after man drives against traffic

SEREMBAN: Nineteen people were injured when a 62-year-old man drove his Mercedes Benz against traffic and ploughed into eight vehicles at a traffic light junction near Bukit Mas.

The incident, which happened at 8.30am yesterday near the state Road Transport Department headquarters, caused a traffic crawl for several kilometres as the stretch was temporarily impassable to traffic.

Six injured motorists aged bet-ween 20 and 40 were admitted at the Tuanku Ja'afar Hospital.

A pile-up: Onlookers at the accident scene along Jalan Tampin near Bukit Emas in Seremban Monday.

Eyewitnesses said the driver of the Benz may have lost control of his vehicle, causing it to crash into the other vehicles.

Passers-by then helped free the driver of the Benz as well as those who were trapped in their vehicles.

Another eyewitness said it was a miracle that there were no fatalities.

“We have no clue how the Benz ended up on the side of the road.

“There would surely have been casualties if a fire had broken out,” he said.

District deputy police chief Supt Mohd Yusoff Awang appealed to eyewitnesses to contact the police to help in investigations.

He said police would record a statement from the driver of the Benz to determine the cause of the crash.

It is understood that he had been hospitalised following the accident.

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16. Taps will run dry by 2014 if treatment plant not built, Putrajaya reiterates

PUTRAJAYA: Taps will run dry in Selangor by 2014 if the Langat 2 water treatment plant is not built, the federal government has reiterated.

Faulting the Pakatan Rakyat state government for the delay, Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri Peter Chin said Tuesday that his ministry would be releasing a 20-minute documentary to "educate" the public about the looming possibility of water shortages.

"If the people of Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya face water cuts by 2014, I hope the public don't come and blame Peter Chin, the prime minister or the federal government," he said.

Both the federal and Selangor state governments are locked in a battle of wills over the construction of the RM8.65bil project to treat water from Pahang.

Earlier in the year, Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim said the state government was not against the Langat 2 project in principle but questioned the priority given to its completion before the state's water restructuring exercise was completed.

He said in addition to the construction of the plant, the management of the state's water industry and its assets must also be given due attention.

The Selangor government, Khalid said, was prepared to cooperate with any party, including the federal government to ensure the people's well being.

The federal government, in July 2010, had asked for the state government's consent for the construction of the plant, which Khalid said was not urgent as the state was sufficient in water resources until 2019.

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20. NTC forces celebrate capture of Gaddafi bastion Bani Walid

BANI WALID, Libya (Reuters): Fighters with Libya's interim government have captured the town of Bani Walid, firing their guns into the air and hoisting the country's new flag over the centre of one of the final bastions of Muammar Gaddafi's loyalists.

A Reuters team that drove into the heart of Bani Walid, in desert hills 150 km (90 miles) south of Tripoli, saw no signs of resistance from supporters of the deposed leader who have been holed up inside the town for more than six weeks.

"Bani Walid is completely free. It is liberated, 100 percent," said Mohammed Shakonah, a military commander with the National Transitional Council (NTC).

The apparent capture of Bani Walid brought Libya's new rulers a step closer to being in full control of the vast, oil-producing North African country almost two months after rebels entered Tripoli and ended 42 years of one-man rule by Gaddafi.

Along with Gaddafi's home town of Sirte, Bani Walid was one of Libya's last sources of armed resistance to the NTC.

Bursts of gunfire, fireworks and car horns merged into a cacophony on streets littered with empty bullet casings and lined with buildings damaged or destroyed by the fighting.

Some buildings were still ablaze just before sundown on Monday, others were flattened by NATO air strikes. Several shops looked like they had been looted. Thick black smoke billowed in the distance.

An NTC fighter in camouflage fatigues and with an AK-47 assault rifle hanging from his shoulder, embraced a medical worker and both men wept in joy.

"If Gaddafi could see this, he would give up," said Abdelfattah, another NTC fighter in the central square.

There was no evidence of civilians joining in the street celebrations in Bani Walid, home to the Warfalla, Libya's biggest tribe, whose members are traditional supporters of Gaddafi.

"This is a very important day because it now means Gaddafi doesn't have even one town in Libya," said Ayad Sayed al Russi, a senior NTC commander. "We hope that the residents who fled will come back now that the town is free."

The town had been under siege for weeks, with hundreds of Gaddafi loyalists dug into its steep valleys and hills resisting advancing interim government forces.

NTC officials had been negotiating with Bani Walid's tribal leaders for its surrender. In Sirte, where Gaddafi loyalists have been under siege for weeks, there was little or no indication of the often disorganised NTC forces making any progress on Monday. Chaos and confusion forced them to retreat in some places.

A doctor for the medical aid charity Medecins Sans Frontieres in Sirte has estimated that 10,000 people remain trapped in the city of 75,000. Many are women and children, some are sick or injured.

NTC tanks and rockets bombarded a small area of central Sirte where they have boxed in the remaining Gaddafi loyalists. Libya's new leaders say they will only begin the transition to democracy after they capture the city.

Frustration is growing on the front line. Some fighters are irritated that their commanders have not ordered a big push to take the rest of the city.

There is also anger between NTC forces from Misrata to the west and from Benghazi to the east, who have accused each other of hitting their allies in "friendly fire" incidents.

"What we are trying to do is to limit attacks from the east and west to avoid friendly fire, and instead attack from the south," said Mohammad Al Sabty, a field commander.

"We have lost a lot of martyrs in recent days," said Mustafa Salim from a Misrata brigade. When Misrata units get close to Benghazi units "it gets harder," he said. "They fire at us and we fire at them."

Government forces captured 15 Gaddafi loyalist fighters on Monday, all of them black, a Reuters witness said. Gaddafi armed many sub-Saharan Africans to fight for him and black people have been subject to arbitrary reprisals by the NTC forces.

Some government fighters present tried to hit the newly captured prisoners, but were held back by more senior officers and the 15 men were marched off to the rear as NTC forces laid down suppressing fire at nearby snipers.

The new government's forces have been accused of mistreating prisoners and Amnesty International said in a report last week it was in danger of repeating some of the abuses of Gaddafi's rule, particularly through the use of arbitrary detention.

The often chaotic struggle for Sirte has killed scores of people, left thousands homeless and laid waste to much of what was once a showpiece Mediterranean city where Gaddafi entertained foreign leaders.

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2. Sex slaves freed

KUALA LUMPUR: A major Ugandan sex slave ring that forced its own nationals into prostitution in China and here was busted by police in a sting operation.

Twenty-one women, many of them in their 20s, were locked up as syndicate members worked them non-stop for 10 hours daily for the past three months.

The women were holed up inside four units of the Mentari Court apartment in Bandar Sunway.

Syndicate members kept the women in line by beating and raping them if they refused to “work.”

Each customer was charged RM300 for a night out with the woman that they chose.

The hellish nightmare for these women ended at 10.30am on Friday when a team of policemen from Bukit Aman stormed the premises and rescued the women, aged between 18 and 42.

Two women in their 40s and believed to be working for the syndicate were also arrested, as well as an African customer.

The raid followed a report lodged by a victim who had related her ordeal to an embassy officer.

It is learnt the officer had earlier gone undercover as a client and booked the 20-year-old woman before taking her out.

All the victims have been placed at a welfare home and they are expected to be deported once the investigations are over.

Police had the apartment under surveillance for two weeks before raiding the premises, said Federal CID Director Comm Datuk Seri Mohd Bakri Zinin.

“They were basically slaves and if they wanted to be free from the syndicate's clutches they had to pay a debt bondage of US$7,000,” he said.

It was learnt that although many of the victims had raised enough money through their “work” to pay off the debt bondage, syndicate members still refused to let them free by lying to the them that their debt was still pending.

The women from Kampala were lured here with promises of lucrative jobs in hotels, opportunities to study in colleges and to work as maids with a salary of US$1,000, said Comm Mohd Bakri.

He added that the women fell for the offers when they were also provided with free passports, flight tickets and other documents.

Related Stories:
Lured, beaten and then raped

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20. Permit given for Himpun gathering

SHAH ALAM: Police have approved and given a permit to the organisers of Himpunan Sejuta Umat (Himpun) to hold a gathering here against alleged proselytisation by Christians.

OCPD Asst Comm Zahedi Ayop said they approved the permit last week as the Himpun event was to be held inside a stadium (Shah Alam Stadium) and would not pose any public order situation.

"We have taken into account all aspects of security and approved their application," he said.

He also said policemen would be stationed in and outside the stadium to ensure no untoward incidents occurred.

Although the event has been dubbed as "a gathering of one million faithfuls", the stadium's capacity is only about 80,000.

Meanwhile, PAS Youth has thrown in its support for the gathering.

Its chief Nasrudin Hassan Tantawi praised the organisers for holding the event.

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19. Old Kapar robbery victim dies

KLANG: A senior citizen, who lived alone in Kapar, died a week after he was robbed and slashed.

On Oct 4, Ng Seng Ping, 70, was caught off-guard when five assailants barged into his house and slashed his hands and legs before demanding for cash and jewellery.

However, they only managed to escape with a television set and a fan, said Ng's neighbour, who declined to be identified.

“He was then rushed to Hospital Tengku Ampuan Rahimah by neighbours,” she said.

She said Ng, who was healthy before the incident, managed to live for about a week before dying of kidney failure at his son's house in Tanjung Karang last Friday.

At Ng's funeral yesterday, several residents demonstrated along with the hearse convoy, claiming house break-ins were becoming rampant in Kapar town.

Another neighbour who only wanted to be known as Devi, claimed there had been numerous house break-ins in which some residents were injured.

“Ng was a nice man. Such a thing should not have happened to him or anyone else,” the 44-year-old security guard said at the funeral.

Kapar MP S. Manikavasagam, who was present, said more police patrols were needed in the area to ensure the safety of the people.

Meanwhile, North Klang OCPD Supt Shukor Sulong said there had been a decline in the number of criminal activities under his jurisdiction.

There were 519 criminal cases reported from January to September last year while this year, only 228 cases were reported, he said.

Although the number of crime cases had dropped, Supt Shukor said police were always vigilant.

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16. Obama begins campaign-style jobs tour in key states

MILLERS CREEK, N.C. (Reuters): President Barack Obama sought on Monday to turn up the heat on Republicans for blocking his jobs bill as he started a campaign-style bus tour across states vital to his 2012 re-election chances.

Hitting the road again, this time in North Carolina and Virginia, Obama struck a populist tone and argued that Congress should pass at least parts of his $447 billion jobs package that was defeated as a whole last week.

"We're going to give members of Congress another chance to step up to the plate and do the right thing," Obama told a cheering crowd at the airport in Asheville, North Carolina, the starting point for his three-day trek in a black armored bus.

As Senate Democrats prepared to force a vote this week on one of Obama's jobs proposals, which would give states money to employ teachers, the president mocked the Republicans who had blocked his original bill.

"Maybe they just couldn't understand the whole all at once. So we're going to break it up into bite-size pieces so they can take a thoughtful approach to this legislation," he said.

The president's strategy is to force Republicans to accept his proposals or be painted as obstructionists getting in the way of economic recovery as campaigning for the November 2012 presidential and congressional elections heats up.

"I need you to give Congress a piece of your mind," he told about 2,000 supporters packed into a high school gymnasium in Millers Creek, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge mountains.

"Tell them what's at stake here. There are too many of our fellow Americans hurting and you can't stand by and do nothing. Now is the time to act," he said.

Republicans saw Obama's jobs package as laden with wasteful spending and counter-productive tax hikes for wealthier Americans who tend to be entrepreneurs and job creators.

Their disagreement has extended the deadlock that brought the United States to the edge of sovereign default in August when Democrats and Republicans failed to agree on deficit cuts as part of a deal to raise the U.S. debt ceiling.

That impasse makes it unlikely that any major steps to spur hiring will be passed before the 2012 election, when Obama will be judged for his economic stewardship.

The White House billed Obama's trip - his second bus tour through small-town America since he visited the rural Midwest in August - as a chance to reconnect with ordinary citizens.

His itinerary spans two traditionally conservative states he won in 2008 but which polls show he is in danger of losing in his bid for a second term. North Carolina is also site of the Democratic presidential convention next summer.

But the White House said the bus tour was official business with all costs covered by taxpayers, not from Obama's campaign coffers.

Onlookers lined the streets in front of gas stations, fast-food restaurants and shopping malls as Obama's bus, with dark-tinted windows and red and blue flashing lights, led a long motorcade across the green, rolling hills.

Some cheered and snapped photos with their cellphones but a few turned their thumbs down as the string of vehicles passed, and others held protest signs including one reading: "No more massive government spending programs. They don't work."

The bus tour is taking place well over a year before the election, during a period when incumbent presidents generally are spending their campaign time raising money.

Obama's focus on retail politicking at this stage suggests he realizes he has a tough road in 2012 and has to start early to hammer home his message that Republicans are refusing to join with him in finding ways to fix the U.S. economy.

In Millers Creek, Obama derided the jobs plan Republicans presented last week as an attempt to roll back environmental standards and Wall Street regulations without having the wealthy pay any more taxes to help those struggling.

But Brendan Buck, a spokesman for House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, said the Republican ideas that would require a balanced budget, promote foreign trade and push offshore energy exploration would have a more meaningful jobs impact than the "sugar high" of Obama's recommended stimulus.

Buck also questioned why Obama was on the road and not working with lawmakers to find compromise. "This bus tour looks a lot like the kind of political game the president has said the American people are tired of," he said.

At a Southern barbecue restaurant where Obama stopped for lunch, diners expressed mixed views of the Democrat's record.

"This isn't 'Obama Country' but I voted for him once and I'll vote for him again," said Howard Ward, 76, a retired textile manager. "He's doing the best he can with jobs. But it's going to be very close in this state in 2012."

An elderly woman sitting nearby shook her head as she ate a barbecue chicken sandwich. "He hasn't done anything to fix the economy. He doesn't deserve a second chance," she said.

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3. A case of sex as ransom, abduction and extortion

MALACCA: A 27-year-old bank employee is alleging that a family friend demanded sex as ransom for the release of her husband.

Malacca police chief Senior Asst Comm Datuk Chuah Ghee Lye said they were investigating the allegation and the counter police report lodged by the 29-year-old alleged perpetrator, who claimed the duo attempted to extort money from him.

It is learnt the man and woman had threatened to lodge a police report claiming he had raped the woman if he did not pay them.

“We are still probing both stories and wouldn't be able to furnish much details as the investigation is ongoing,” he said yesterday.

In her Oct 8 report, the woman claimed she was raped and forced to perform oral sex hours after she and her husband treated the foreign businessman to a meal at a restaurant in Bukit Beruang on Oct 7 at 3am.

She alleged that her husband and the man travelled in the same car after the meal while she returned home in a separate vehicle.

She claimed that at about 6.30am the same day, the man called her asking where her husband was and she told him that he was supposed to be with him.

She alleged the man then claimed that her husband could have been abducted and offered to take the woman to the nearest police station to lodge a report, to which she agreed.

The woman alleged she attempted to contact her husband several times but failed.

However, during the trip, the woman alleged the man threatened her and said he was the one who was holding her husband captive at his house in Bukit Beruang.

Upon reaching the man's house, the woman claimed that she was forced to perform oral sex and was also raped in exchange for her husband's release.

She also claimed that she sustained injuries on her thighs after the man performed kinky sex on her.

She claimed the man then sent her home and told her not to tell anyone.

The husband claimed that he had gone to a relative's house after the meal and failed to inform his wife while his handphone had been switched off.

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1. Ritual held to enable Jobs to be reincarnated

ABOUT 40 people took part in a ritual in Pulau Jerejak, Penang, so that Apple founder Steve Jobs could be reincarnated.

Sin Chew Daily reported that Sunday's ceremony, which was organised by a medium from Rawang, Selangor, was criticised by the Federation of Taoist Associations Malaysia and several Buddhist associations, calling it “ridiculous and superstitious”.

The daily reported that most of the medium's followers did not know who Jobs was and many took part in the ceremony to enjoy a day trip to Penang and to pray for good fortune.

Iconic figure: Jobs may have died but his memory lives on for many people around the world. ? EPA

Followers were asked to take a bite from an apple and observe three minutes of silence before throwing the fruit into the sea but some had finished half of the fruit before doing so as it was very sweet.

According to an earlier report, followers had to pay between RM50 and RM75 to take part in the ceremony.

> A woman, who was said to be disturbed by a female spirit, threw her baby on the bed before attempting to kill herself and the child in Ipoh last week, China Press reported.

The woman's mother, suspecting something amiss, quickly took the baby away when the woman went to the kitchen to take a knife, it reported.

The woman, 19, ran amok and attacked her mother when she found out the baby was no longer in the room.

She then broke all the plates in the kitchen before locking herself in the bedroom.

The family called a medium to “negotiate” with the spirit but the spirit did not show up to “talk” to the medium.

According to the woman's father, the house was haunted by two ghosts, but they could not afford to move out as they had nowhere else to go.

“Who wants to stay in a haunted house? I will move out with my family as soon as I can afford to,” he said.

> Nanyang Siang Pau reported rumours suggesting that Hong Kong singer Faye Wong was three months' pregnant.

The 42-year-old Cantopop queen has two daughters, and her second husband, Li Yapeng, was said to be hoping for a son.

Wong's manager refused to comment on the issue.

Other News & Views is compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with this > sign, it denotes a separate news item.

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17. All eight blood donors HIV-free

PETALING JAYA: The case of a 56-year-old kidney patient suspected to have contracted HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) via blood transfusion took a twist as all the donors have been confirmed HIV-free.

Perak Health Committee chairman Datuk Dr Mah Hang Soon said all the eight donors involved were “tested and confirmed HIV-negative”.

He said housewife Vun Ah Thai is currently undergoing treatment at the Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital in Ipoh.

She had received 18 pints of blood from the donors through several blood transfusions since January.

Dr Mah said the state Health Department would get to the bottom of the case, pointing out that there were several possibilities of how she could have contracted HIV, including through blood transfusions and dialysis.

“An expert committee comprising various government specialists and state Health Department officers has been set up to investigate the case and identify the source of infection” he told The Star yesterday.

On Aug 15, Vun tested positive for HIV at the University Malaya Medical Centre where she was scheduled to undergo minor surgery.

Her family subsequently demanded an explanation from the Teluk Intan Hospital as to how she had contracted the virus.

Meanwhile, the Health Ministry said it needed two weeks to identify the cause of HIV infection in Vun.

“We don't know for now and we don't want to speculate,” Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said yesterday.

He said as a haemodialysis patient, Vun would have gone through several medical procedures which they had to look into.

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8. QE's yellow dress has nothing to do with Bersih

THE yellow dress worn by Queen Elizabeth II during a courtesy call by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak was merely a coincidence, said Deputy Foreign Minister A. Kohilan Pillay.

He also dismissed allegations that the colour of the dress had anything to do with the Bersih 2.0 rally in July and chided the Opposition for linking the attire to the rally.

?The meeting was beyond reading the meaning behind the colour of the dress worn by the Queen.

?The courtesy call was aimed at strengthening the relationship between Malaysia and Britain,? he told R. Sivarasa (PKR ? Subang) during Question Time.

Sivarasa had asked whether the Queen?s decision to wear a yellow dress during Najib?s courtesy call at Buckingham Palace had affected rela?tions between Malaysia and Britain.

Kohilan also noted that the Queen preferred to wear soft and bright colours for official functions during spring and summer.

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10. Syrian tank forces kill 25 in opposition hotbed Homs

AMMAN (Reuters): Syrian tank forces killed at least 25 people in a thrust into the opposition hotbed of Homs aimed at stemming growing armed resistance to President Bashar al-Assad's crackdown on a seven-month-old popular uprising, residents said.

It was one of the highest daily death tolls in the large central Syrian city that has seen some of the most extensive protests in a tide of unrest where protesters are demanding an end to 41 years of repressive Assad family rule.

The clashes on Monday followed the deployment of loyalist militiamen in Sunni Muslim districts, fanning tension between the city's Sunni majority and members of Assad's minority Alawite sect, residents told Reuters by telephone.

Mindful of the threat of civil war in Syria, which straddles major fault lines of Middle East conflict, the Arab League offered on Sunday to host talks in Cairo between the opposition, who have formed a National Council, and the Damascus leadership.

But Syria's representative to the League said Syria had major reservations about the offer, while the opposition Syrian National Council said it could not engage in talks while Assad's military continued to storm restive cities and towns.

In Homs, 140 km (90 miles) north of Damascus, tanks firing heavy machineguns swept into Sunni districts of Bab Sbaa, Bab Dreib and Bab Amro where large protests demanding the removal of Assad have taken place regularly, residents and activists said.

They said loyalist forces encountered rudimentary resistance, although army deserters were helping some inhabitants defend their neighbourhoods and managed to hit several tanks with rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs).

"Most residents of Bab Sbaa have fled. The troops are firing heavily from tanks and from the roadblocks in the area. The fire coming from the other direction is small and intermittent," a local resident said by phone.

"Roadblocks have cut off every neighborhood from another, and random firing by troops manning them is common," said another resident, who gave her name as Manal.

Homs, the hometown of Assad's wife Asma, lies amid fertile farmland on the main highway to Aleppo, Syria's second city.

Homs is close to the border with Lebanon, which has begun to serve as a supply line to insurgents in the city and its countryside, including army defectors who have increased in numbers since the crackdown intensified two months ago.

Inspired by "Arab Spring" popular uprisings that have overthrown entrenched autocrats in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, protests have spread across much of Syria calling for the Assad family's ouster and more political freedoms.

Syrian authorities blame the unrest on "armed terrorist groups" which they say have killed 1,100 army and police and are operating in Homs, killing civilians and prominent figures.

The official news agency said troops had arrested "the head of one of the most leading terrorist groups" in raids into the districts of Bab Sbaa and Mreijeh and confiscated weapons, including RPGs and gunpowder.

Foreign reporters are largely banned from Syria, making independent confirmation of reported events difficult.

The United Nations says Assad's crackdown has killed 3,000 people across Syria since March including at least 187 children.

The army defectors have been mostly Sunni Muslims, who comprise most of the army's rank and file while the officer corps is composed mainly of members of the Alawite community under the command of Assad's younger brother, Maher.

The Alawites, who are an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam, expanded their hold on the Syrian state, the military and secret police - a bloc now underpinning the power structure - after Assad's father, the late Hafez al-Assad, took office in a 1970 coup.

In Cairo, Arab League foreign ministers urged Syria's rulers and opposition to negotiate and decided to create a committee to work for a halt to the bloodshed. They stopped short of adopting a proposal to suspend Syria from the pan-Arab group.

Youssef Ahmad, Syria's representative to the Arab League, said its decision was "not transparent" and that Damascus could not accept taking part in any talks outside Syria.

Arab states were silent for months while Assad's troops tried to stamp out unrest with tanks and machineguns, but began to criticise Assad after the United States and European powers said he must go and slapped economic sanctions on Damascus.

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11. Myanmar and Malaysia to swap detainees

MYANMAR illegals held at Immigration depots will be sent back home in a detainee exchange programme.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said the programme would also see Malaysians detained in Myanmar returning to the country.

?There are currently 1,000-odd Myanmar nationals detained in the depots. But the number to be sent back has yet to be confirmed.

?Officials from both countries will be meeting next week to start working on the details of the exchange,? he told reporters after meeting Myanmar deputy foreign minister U Maung Myint in Parliament.

Hishammuddin also said that he could not confirm the number of Malaysians to be sent back from Myanmar.

He said the joint initiative would reduce crowding in the depots and showed the close relationship between both countries.

?If we can carry out such an exchange with Myanmar, I don?t see why we can?t do the same with other countries,? Hishammuddin said.

He added that Myanmar nationals were the third highest number of immigrants registered under the ministry?s 6P programme, with a total of 257,000 in Malaysia.

A total of 2.3 million foreigners registered under the programme, of which 1.3 million were illegals.

Hishammuddin said the detainee exchange programme was important in principle as it could help combat crime across borders, among other benefits.

?We have also set up a joint working committee with Myanmar to discuss issues of concern periodically,? he said, adding that the committee would consist of relevant agencies.

On the refugee swap deal with Australia, Hishammuddin said the ministry would be meeting with Australian authorities to discuss the matter next month.

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6. KTM will pay for delays

PETALING JAYA: To repair its battered image of late trains, KTM Komuter will give its passengers a full refund for trips that are delayed by more than 30 minutes.

“We had revised the policy since last year although not many people are aware of this,” said KTM Komuter acting general manager Mohd Hider Yusoff.

Previously, the rail company gave refunds only when trains were delayed by more than two hours.

“We are committed to providing good service to our customers. If we can't get the trains to be on time, we are giving the option for a refund,” he said.

While this is a better deal than offered by some airlines, travellers are not impressed, saying “it is not about the money”.

Most airlines have rules for cancelled and delayed flights caused by the company but often ask passengers to make appeals for compensation.

Depending on the flight distance and length of delay, some airlines provide passengers with free meals, drinks and compensation up to a stipulated amount, among others.

Nevertheless, like the plane passengers, train commuters here said while refunds were acceptable, they just wanted to get to their destinations on time.

HR executive Izzaty Halim, 23, said: “When they have train problems, perhaps, as an alternative, the company can provide shuttle buses or other alternative means of transportation.”

Private sector worker Fatin Aqila Abdul Mutalib, 23, said:“They should give more attention to upgrading services. The refund is an easy way out.”

Universiti Teknologi Mara Nur Haniz Nor, 21, said: “It would be better for the trains to be on time. Even if I ask for a refund, I would have been late.”

HELP University student Kavithah Rakwan said: “As an impatient person, I would take the refund and take a cab rather than wait for the train.”

Engineering student Aidilf Nordin, 23, said: “There are insufficient coaches, especially during rush hours. The refunds will not make much difference because I would have still lost at least 30 minutes.”

A frequent commuter, who declined to be named, said: “Last month, I had to wait for an hour. In the end, I took a cab. I would not bother to ask for a refund if that would require me queuing up and result in a further waste of time.”

Another regular said he had experienced frequent delays over the past two months. “Announcements are made over the PA system but most of the time the message cannot be clearly heard.”

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9. Work on second Penang bridge ahead of schedule

GEORGE TOWN: Construction of the second Penang bridge is running ahead of schedule.

As such, the bridge is expected to be completed two months before November 2013.

“Some of the packages are ahead of schedule while some are behind, but on average the bridge is 65% complete,” said Works Minister Datuk Seri Shaziman Abu Mansor.

The second Penang bridge taking shape, as seen from the island side of the project. The bridge is expected to be ready two months ahead of the November 2013 completion date. - CHIN CHENG YEANG / The Star

He described this as a good “buffer” for the contractor ahead of the monsoon season.

“There are many factors when it comes to projects of this size and this one is being conducted in the middle of the sea.

“If conditions are favourable, construction may finish two months early,” Shaziman said during a visit to the bridge's Pier 90 where work on the superstructure is currently in progress.

He added that construction was targeted to reach 70% by the end of the year with the overall cost of the bridge unchanged at RM4.5bil.

The construction of the RM4.5bil second Penang Bridge is expected to be completed by September 2013.

Shaziman expressed disappointment that there was no industrial trainee working on the second Penang bridge this year.

“I have asked the implementing agency to get in touch with universities that have engineering schools to send their students to this project.

“Last year, we had more than 50 university students doing their practical training here,” said Shaziman, adding that he would get in touch with the Higher Education Ministry on the matter.

He said the experience of working on sizable projects like the second Penang bridge was invaluable for students.

“We want the local workforce to benefit as much as possible from this project,” he said, urging companies involved in the construction to hire more local skilled workers.

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5. Man tries to burn wife alive in bathroom

IN what was described as a gruesome act, a man tried to burn his wife alive in the bathroom of their home in Kampung Baru, Kuala Lumpur.

Just before his wife, a nurse, came back from work, the 28-year-old husband had poured petrol on the bathroom floor and discreetly placed a home-made bomb there.

As his wife went in to take a bath, he flicked a lighted cigarette, causing a big explosion and engulfing the bathroom in flames, Harian Metro reported.

The man allegedly left his wife burning and screaming in pain for about 10 minutes before he dragged her out of the bathroom to rush her to Kuala Lumpur Hospital and lodge a report at the Dang Wangi police station.

After questioning the man and inspecting the scene, the police found discrepancies in his statement and arrested him for arson and attempting to kill his wife.

The victim is reportedly in a critical condition, with almost 80% burns on her body.

City deputy CID chief Asst Comm Khairi Arasa said the motive could be jealousy.

He said the suspect had been remanded for further investigations.

> More than 1,600 US$100 notes and 700 euro notes of various denominations all counterfeits were found stashed in a steel safe belonging to a student from Guinea at a campus hostel.

The student was arrested in the waiting hall of a bank in Taman Sri Gombak on Oct 13, Harian Metro reported.

The seized notes amounted to more than RM810,300, sources told the paper.

Police also confiscated a bank book, a credit card and three international passports belonging to the suspect and his friends.

A team from the federal police headquarters in Bukit Aman raided the student's room after a week of surveillance.

Police said the 25-year-old man, believed to have entered the country on a student visa, was also wanted for Internet fraud in Labuan early this year.

Other News & Views is compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with this > sign, it denotes a separate news item.

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19. 14 items on fixed price list

KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 14 items will be placed under the festive season price control scheme from Oct 21 to Oct 30 for Deepavali.

The items announced by Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob included live chicken, standard chicken, super chicken, local bone-in mutton, imported bone-in mutton, imported bone-in mutton leg and imported boneless mutton.

Grade A, B and C chicken eggs, tomatoes, shallots (India), imported potatoes (China) and dhal (lentils) from Australia were also in the list.

Unveiled: Ismail showing the list of price-controlled items for Deepavali during the press conference as his deputy Datuk Tan Lian Hoe looks on.

“All traders must not sell these items above their maximum price.

“They must put a pink price tag on these items to differentiate them from others,” he said during a press conference at the Parliament lobby.

“Under the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act 2011, individuals found to be selling the price-controlled items at a higher price, can be fined up to RM100,000 or jailed up to three years, or both, or face a compound of up to RM50,000.

“Individuals who do not display the pink tag can be fined up to RM10,000 or face a compound of up to RM5,000,” he said.

Enforcement personnel and price surveying officers would be stationed at popular shopping hotspots like morning and public markets to monitor the price.

Meanwhile, Ismail said the ministry's move to issue 127 showcause notices between Oct 8 and Oct 14 to chicken traders, wholesalers and breeders had led to lower prices.

On the possibility of Thailand importing chicken from Malaysia which may cause a price hike, Ismail said he would discuss the matter with the Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Ministry.

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4. Lured, beaten and then raped

KUALA LUMPUR: Yola, in her 20s, left her home in Kampala, Uganda, a few months ago after she was enticed by a “recruitment agent” to work as a maid here with an attractive salary of US$1,000 (RM3,100) a month.

It turned out to be an offer from hell.

Yola never worked as a maid.

Instead, she was sent to China where she was forced to service men against her will.

A month later, she was sent here, where she was again forced to entertain clients.

“It seemed a good offer back then.

“The agent said he would pay for my travel documents and asked me to sign a contract.

“This made it even more convincing that this was a legitimate thing,” said Yola, who did not disclose her real identity for fear of retaliation from syndicate members.

She said once she landed in China, she was whisked away to a location where she was told that if she did not “serve” the customers, she would be beaten.

“I tried to resist and begged them to let me go but they just laughed at me.

“When they had nothing to do, they would entertain themselves by beating and raping us.

“If any of the girls refused to work, they would starve us,” she said.

Yola said that after a month in China, she and the rest of the women were flown to Malaysia to continue being sex slaves to her countrymen here.

Her ordeal finally ended with the police raid on Friday.

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Sex slaves freed

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12. Wireman's good deed turns awry after being called a thief

KUALA LUMPUR: A wireman's kind act of helping a man lift some metal rods led to him being labelled a thief and beaten up until he fainted.

Recounting the incident, Ali Saifuddin Abdul Rahman, 37, said he had just dropped off his son at a kindergarten near Bandar Baru Ampang at around 10am on Oct 11 and gone to a shop in the area for electrical supplies.

“I got off my motorcycle and was looking at some DVDs at a stall when a man in his 40s asked me if I could help carry three metal rods and place them on his shoulder.

“I helped him and then went back to look at the DVDs when a man approached me, grabbed my motorcycle keys and told me to go to a scrap metal shop nearby to discuss' something,” he told The Star.

Ali was led into the shop together with the man he had helped earlier. They were then locked in and accused of theft.

“I denied the accusations but three men armed with iron rods began assaulting us. Despite still wearing my motorcycle helmet, the blows rained on my head caused me to faint.

“When I regained consciousness minutes later, I saw the man whom I had helped earlier covered in blood,” he said.

Police, believed to have been alerted by workers of the scrap metal dealer, arrived at the scene shortly afterwards.

Ali later lodged a police report at the Pandan Indah police station.

Meanwhile it is learnt that the other man suffered serious injuries, including two broken arms, and is in a coma.

He is being treated at Serdang Hospital.

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15. Canadian brothers die in road crash

KUALA LUMPUR: Two Canadian brothers were killed when the car they were travelling in with a local friend plunged into Sungai Bunus off Jalan Ampang here.

City traffic chief Asst Comm Rusli Mohd Noor said the incident occurred at around 3.45am yesterday when the three were travelling in their rented Honda Accord from Jalan Munsyih Abdullah.

“Based on initial investigations, we believe that the driver lost control of the car before it hit the divider and plunged into the river,” he said.

ACP Rusli confirmed that the Canadian brothers in their 20s had been identified as Jason and Michael Price. Their friend escaped with minor injuries.

“We have also learnt that they were working for an IT firm here,” he said, urging anyone with information on the accident to contact 03-21460522 or visit the nearest police station.

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10. Aviation policy finally takes off

SEPANG: The National Aviation Policy, shot down by the Government when the idea was mooted early last year, will take off again with the Prime Minister saying it is a timely move in view of the industry's progress and the country's changing landscape.

Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the Transport Ministry would formulate the policy.

“I am certain a comprehensive National Aviation Policy will give us an important boost as we take the step forward to a brighter and more defined future for Malaysian aviation.

Up is the only way: Students grabbing their chance to take a group photo with Najib and Transport Minister Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha.

“I look forward to unveiling this policy after input, views and concerns from all stakeholders have been considered and evaluated.”

He was speaking to a gathering of aviation experts and airline industry players at the 100 Years of Aviation in Malaysia celebration at the MAS Hangar 6 here.

In May last year, the Transport Ministry rejected calls by Malaysia Airlines and AirAsia for such a policy, stating that existing guidelines were sufficient.

Najib said the aviation industry was being held back by “clawing and unrelenting challenges that fluctuate erratically.”

“From fuel prices to security threats, to natural disasters and disease outbreaks; never before has aviation faced so much peril in such a short span of time,” he said.

Despite that, he tipped his hat off to the country's aviation industry for what it had achieved in the past 100 years, since the first flight was recorded in 1911 when one G.P. Fuller landed his Antoinette monoplane at the Ampang race course in Kuala Lumpur, where the Petronas Twin Towers now stand.

“No one would have imagined how far we would come, given the state that we were in then. But we confounded critics and today, in aviation as well as in various other areas, we stand no less than some of the most developed countries in the world,” said Najib.

He said it was timely to implement a national policy, considering the progress of the aviation industry and the country's landscape.

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7. Malaysia bound to be top five destination by 2020

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia shines in world tourism, said United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) secretary-general Dr Taleb Rifai.

“I say this without compliment but as a fact.

“It is now the eighth or ninth best receiving tourist destination in the world, and is likely to be in the top five as the largest and most important destinations by 2020,” he said after presenting Najib with an open letter for the Global Leaders for Tourism Campaign yesterday.

The UNWTO is a specialised agency of the United Nations and the leading international organisation in the field of tourism. It serves as a global forum for tourism policy issues and a practical source of tourism know-how.

The body was impressed by the commitment shown by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak towards promoting and developing Malaysia's tourism sector.

He said the aim of UNWTO's campaign was to garner support and recognition of world leaders towards the proper growth of global tourism.

He added that tourism was currently the third largest global industry responsible for one out of 12 jobs and revenue amounting to US$1.1tril (RM3.41tril) annually.

Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen said UMWTO's initiative augured well in efforts to further develop and promote the nation's growing tourism sector.

She added that Malaysia was chosen to chair the UNTWO Commission with regards to the East Asia and Pacific regions.

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