Tag: National News

KUALA LUMPUR, 18 Nov: The importance of hundreds of thousands of rice farmers were betrayed following the acquisition of Padiberas Nasional Berhad (BERNAS) by Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhrary.

Opposition Leader, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, said that the fate of 173,000 Malay farmers across the country is now clearly threatened because the federal government allegedly wants to enrich the millionaire.

“We are talking about one man called Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar or 173,000 paddy farmers, 95 percent of whom are Malays or Bumiputeras, and according to the framework of the Farmers Organisation, this number has increased to 240,000 farmers.

“Their importance has been betrayed by the central government, which pawned their interests and handed it (BERNAS) to Syed Mokhtar, who recorded a profit of over RM800 million according to projections made by Maybank Investment,” he said at the debate session in the Dewan Rakyat today.

Anwar, who is also the Member of Parliament for Permatang Pauh, said that 45 percent of the stake in BERNAS, which used to be owned by farmers and employees of the company, is now dominated by Syed Mokhtar.

In 1995, the conditions imposed on BERNAS shareholders is that 10 percent of the shares are to be given to the National Farmers’ Association (NAFAS) and the National Fishermen’s Association (NEKMAT), while five percent was to go to the Kemubu Agricultural Development Authority (KADA), the Young Agricultural Development Authority (MADA) and the company’s staff.

Anwar said that policy of the privatisation announced by the central government to make the industry more efficient has clearly strayed from its original goal.

SHAH ALAM, 18 Nov: The central government’s move to privatise Padiberas Nasional Berhad (BERNAS) will threaten the country’s main food source and cause the price of rice to increase while under the control of the company which monopolises the commodity.

The President of the Malay Empowerment Core (TERAS), Mohd Azmi Abdul Hamid, said that the move to privatise the rice industry only exposes the price of rice to speculation, which can affect the people’s lives.

He said that the federal government should have the power and a stake in the country’s main industry, especially food, because it the basic necessity for Malaysians.

“Privatisation is one thing that should not happen and the central government should intervene and correct the situation so that it is monopolised by only one company,” he said when contacted by Selangor Kini today.

Previously, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim condemned the move by Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Bukhari who claimed to fully take over control of BERNAS for his personal gain.

Anwar said that the original intent of the establishment of BERNAS is to protect the interests of farmers and Bumiputera distributors, and this has already failed when the central government allowed the company to be monopolised by certain quarters.

Azmi said that he did not rule out the possibility that the price of rice will increase; like which happened to the increase in sugar price prior to this.

“When a commodity is misappropriated by a cartel or a large company, it will be vulnerable to rising costs because it i When a commodity cartels or misappropriated a large company, it will be vulnerable to rising costs as only concerned with profit.

“We would not be surprised if the price of rice will be returned to the market to determine the price,” he said.

KUALA LUMPUR, 18 Nov: A petition will be circulated to all residents of Kuala Lumpur to protest against the tax increase by 100 to 300 percent imposed by the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL).

Member of Parliament for Lembah Pantai, Nurul Izzah Anwar, said that the increase in assessment tax only adds to the people’s suffering as they now face increasing cost of living.

She said even though DNKL has not raised assessment tax for 21 years, the dramatic increase is absurd.

“The reason given is that the property value should be given a new value, however this cannot be accepted.

“The people now face increasing prices of oil, sugar and will face the GST. DBKL cannot raise taxes from 100 to 300 percent, even though they have not raised taxes for 21 years,” she told reporters at the Parliament lobby today.

She said that DBKL has allegedly failed to show the amount of expenses used for infrastructural development on its official website.

“All taxpayers need to know where the money paid goes to, but DBKL has failed to show this,” she said.

Nurul Izzah said that she has met with the Minister of Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing, Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, and was told that the new assessment rate will still be executed on 7 December.

She said that the central government should closely examine and listen to feedback from the people before issuing a directive.

In relation to that, she urged the residents, whether renting or own a house in Kuala Lumpur, to file the petition so that DBKL will reconsider the increase.

“Only a two month notice was given and this is really pressing for the people. I urge all residents to send this petition addressed to the DBKL Director of Assessment, Valuation and Property Management,” she said.

SHAH ALAM, 18 Nov: Pakatan Rakyat (PR) criticised the actions of the Member of Parliament for Kinabatangan, Bung Mokhtar Radin, who insulted the people after relentless attacks from opposition leaders through his Twitter page.

Member of Parliament for Shah Alam, Khalid Samad, described Bung as being uncivilised and a thug when he issued words like ‘stupid;, ‘whore’ and ‘ape’.

He said Bung’s action highlights the culture of Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders which has absolutely no correlation with religion, politics, morality and debate.

“This is not the first time he (Bung) issued abusive words like that and BN is also taking no effort to advise Bung on his manners and behaviour,” he said when contacted by Selangor Kini today.

Bung attacked through comments on his Twitter page for tearing up PR’s motion when the Member of Parliament for Kuantan, Fuziah Salleh put forward the motion on the deduction of pay for five advisors under the Prime Minister’s Department, during the Dewan Rakyat session on 14 November.

Bung acted that way because he wanted ‘revenge’ for when PR leaders tore up the motion for the suspension of the Member of Parliament for Padang Serai, N Surendran, during the morning session on the same day.

Khalid said that Bung’s actions cannot be equated with that of PR’s because the motion for Surendran’s suspension was not in accordance with established procedures.

Meanwhile, the MP for Sungai Petani, Datuk Johari Abdul, said that he was not surprised with Bung’s actions because the leader has acted the same way before, by issuing abusive words and insulting everyone.

“This is an example of BN leaders who are too arrogant to a point of having no respect for others. They think that people are easily fooled on various issues such as fraud and corruption,” he said.

Johari said that the arrogant action is the true picture of BN leaders who think that they will not fall because they have rules the country for a long time and that there is no power that can snatch the administration.

SHAH ALAM, 18 Nov: It is possible that foreign nationals who have been involved in serious crimes recently are those who obtained identification cards through the granting of MyKads to vote for Barisan Nasional (BN), said Khalid Abdul Samad.

The Member of Parliament for Shah Alam said that the granting of identification cards involves thousands of foreigners and it is believed that their background was never investigated.

“The background of those who were given identification cards to vote for BN candidates were not investigates and in the process, perhaps some of those who tend to commit crimes or have been convicted of crimes were also given identification cards.

“It is possible that the foreigners who are committing crimes recently are also the non-citizen voters who obtained identification cards from the IC Project,” Khalid said to Selangor Kini in an interview after attending the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) Dinner recently at the Empire Hotel in Subang.

The action, according to Khalid, is an irresponsible act by BN merely to win in the elections, so much so that they set aside adverse implications which have to be shouldered by the people and the country.

Prior to this, the country was also shocked by a number of high-profile attacks, especially attacks with firearms which was carried out by followers of the ‘Sulu Military’.

In the incident in Lahad Datu, local residents reported that there were terrorists who managed to escape by pretending to be locals and showed the identification cards which they had as evidence.

In fact, the leader of the terrorist group, who is the brother of the ‘Sultan of Sulu’, allegedly claimed that he previously served as the Assistant District Officer (ADO) in Kudat, Sabah, in the 1970s.

Recently, two incidents of armed robbery involving foreign security guards, involving a bank in Subang and a goldsmith at the KL Festival City Mall in Danau Kota, Setapak, Kuala Lumpur, also had identification cards and obtained permission from their security companies to carry firearms.

The armed robbery in Subang involved the bank’s own security guard and caused the loss of life of a bank employee.

SHAH ALAM, 17 Nov: The ‘We Want SPPBS Repealed’ Facebook page, which was created less than a month ago, has received 40,000 ‘likes’.

According to the site administrator, due to the increasing support, it has been learned that teachers have started getting threats from certain quarters because of the protest.

“It is important for teachers to express our strength. I believe that there are those who are fearful when teachers unite because teachers are the closest group to the community,” he said.

The Facebook page was created as an initiative which is mobilised by teachers through a non-governmental organisation (NGO), the Teachers’ Union of Malaysia (KGM), as the sponsor.

It is for teachers to voice grievances and to gather support from all parties so that the SPPBS (School Based Assessment Management System) and PBS systems which were implemented three years will be repealed.

This is because the SPPBS is seen as failing to improve the country’s education system, in addition to adding unnecessary burden to teachers.

The page targets for 200,000 likes and 50,000 members to register with KGM by December to allow for the complaints of teachers to be brought to the attention of the Minister of Education and also the Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

It is said that there are almost 80 percent of the 400,000 teachers involved in the SPPBS and PBS.

SHAH ALAM, 17 Nov: The Press Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim, has urged for the issue of 40,000 Bangladeshis who voted in the 13th General Election (GE-13) to stop being criticised because his statement was intended to cover-up the real thing that happened.

Instead, this issue can only be terminated if a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) is established to carry out investigations, as was done in the issue of giving identification cards to foreigners in Sabah.

Member of Parliament for Shah Alam, Khalid Abdul Samad, said that this issue can only be successfully exposed if full cooperation is received from the National Registration Department (JPN) and the Election Commission (EC).

“When immigrants vote, they vote as Malaysians because they too have identity cards like normal citizens.

“So there is no way to trace them unless cooperation is received from the JPN and the EC, where when a royal commission is formed, they are forced or ordered to hand over all information regarding the mass registration of foreigners and so on,” he said.

He said this to Selangor Kini after attending the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) Dinner in Subang Jaya recently.

Khalid added that Barisan Nasional (BN) themselves believe that there were phantom voters, as claimed by them, after losing the Sungai Limau By-Election recently.

“Did BN not say that there are phantom voters such as foreigners and so on who voted to make PAS victorious in the Sungai Limau By-Election?

“Do not easily try to fool the people because it is clear that PR has no power to give identification cards, but those who can do it are those in power; which is BN,” he added.

SHAH ALAM, 16 Nov: The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, needs to provide a statement in Parliament this coming Monday about the Esscom looseness of security which caused a Taiwanese tourist to be shit and his wife kidnapped by a suspected terrorist group in Pom Pom Island near Semporna.

DAP Advisor, Lim Kit Siang, said that Najib must inform the Parliament about the actions to be taken by Esscom to tighten security so that murder and kidnapping incidents will not repeat.

Kit Siang said that early reports indicate that a group of armed men arrived at the Madur Pom Pom resort and stormed into the restaurant, which at the time was only patronised by the couple from Taiwan, and fired several shots.

The gunshot victim, Lim Min Hsu, 57, was shot twice in the chest and ribs. He died at the scene. His wife, Chang An Wei, 58, was abducted by the armed group and taken in a small boat heading to southern Philippines.

The Inspector General of Police, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar, confirmed that the incident took place at around 1am.

“The Pom Pom island killing and kidnap of the tourists is a major blow to efforts to restore tourist and public confidence in the security of Sabah after the intrusion of the Sulu terrorists in Lahad Datuk in February.,” said Kit Siang in a press statement.

Kit Siang said that when launching the Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) in April this year, Najib had outlined a four-pronged strategic and technical approach to be taken by Esscom in order to maintain peace and security along 1,400 km of the Sabah’s coastline in the east of Sabah.

All the Esscom’s four-pronged strategy had been seriously compromised for the tragic, criminal and terrorist Pom Pom island incident to occur, resulting in the killing of a tourist and kidnap of another.

The establishment and the huge allocations for Esscom have not brought peace and security to the East Coast of Sabah, as the three objectives of Esscom set out by the Prime Minister, have not been achieved.

“Namely “fully guaranteed security”, “the confidence of the people to return to normal life” and “restoring confidence among tourists” after the Sulu terrorist intrusions in Lahad Datuk appear as remote as ever!” he said.

SHAH ALAM, 16 Nov: The Umno-BN Government, which has been leading the government for over half a century, has been urged to be more mature and open in providing development allocations for Members of Parliament from Pakatan Rakyat (PR).

Member of Parliament for Bukit Katil, Shamsul Iskandar Mat Akin, said that there provisions for every Parliamentary constituency; however it is not channelled directly to PR Members of Parliament.

According to him, such actions have interrupted various development plans in areas that were won by PR, thus betraying the trust of the people who voted.

“The government should put a full stop to lingering problems and take an approach that will be beneficial to the people in the end.

“If they truly champion democracy, as often publicised, Umno-BN should be more open and prioritise the people and not politicise provisions,” added Shamsul who was contacted by Selangor Kini.

He was commenting on the issue of development allocations which were not channelled directly to PR Parliamentarians, instead they were placed under the jurisdiction of the State Development Officer in every state under the administration of PR.

In relation to that, Shamsul, who is also the PKR Youth (AMK) Chief, urged the Umno-BN Government to emulate the Philippine government which provides equal allocations to Parliamentarians, whether from the ruling party or the opposition.

“That is the true practice of democracy, and which is free from the stale political mindset practiced by Umno-BN here,” said Shamsul.

SHAH ALAM, 15 Nov: The state government has set up a Development Monitoring Technical Committee for Affordable Homes in Selangor in efforts to ensure that the target to build 35,000 Affordable Homes (RMM) will be achieved by the state.

The Executive Councillor in charge of Housing, Building Management and Urban Settlement, Ir Iskandar Abdul Samad, said that the duties of the committee include monitoring applications and approvals, in addition to coordinating and planning the construction of RMMs.

“Among the efforts made is to identify RMMs, including low-cost housing and medium-cost housing, which is compulsory for developers to build,” he said in a press statement here.

From investigations, Iskandar said that he has found that such houses, which are mandatory to be constructed by developers, have yet to be constructed.

“For example, during the Shah Alam City Council Public Plans Hearing programme, we have found that two housing projects, involving over 1,800 units, has still not been built despite being approved as early as 1997,” he said.

Iskandar said this in reference to the houses that received approval in the ’90s during the administration of Barisan Nasional (BN), which have yet been built.

He said that now, the state government has established a more efficient and strict monitoring and enforcement system so that developers do not abdicate their responsibility, and for such things to not repeat.

He also stressed that the state government has made it mandatory for RMMs and low-cost houses to be developed simultaneously with other types of houses.

“Some of the developers involved will also be called to explain why they have still failed to build the low-cost housing which is required of them,” he said.

RAWANG, 15 Nov: A pork processing business owner, who does not have a licence, has been making pig organs, such as intestines, as food for freshwater fish, which he farms, before being marketed, in addition to processing the meat of the animal.

The freshwater fish ranges from Patin, Tilapia and Catfish which are farmed using cages in nearby mines and ponds.

The discovery was made in a joint operation led by the Unit Chief of the Special Action Unit of the Selayang Municipal Council (MPS) President’s Office, C.Paramasivam, at Jalan Kundang here in Kampung Sungai Bakau yesterday.

Paramasivam said that the operator was given a 30 day notice before his premises is demolished, in addition to compounds for various offences.

“We will seek to demolish the premises because only the President has the power to give the order. Apart from facing demolition, the operator has also been charged six compounds amounting to RM6,000 for six offences,” he said.

Among the offences are; storing pork without a licence, failing to comply with food preparation procedures, throwing pork intestines into ponds and mines, and not getting typhoid immunisation as required by food providers.

Meanwhile, the operator claimed that he only processes pork, such as skinning and cutting, and it is then sent to pork suppliers to be sold in restaurants.

In addition, Selangor Kini also learned that the water in the pond is released into Sungai Kundang, before flowing to Sungai Sembah and Sungai Selangor, which supplies water to most of the state’s water consumers.

The joint operation began at 9.30am and ended at 2.30pm, and it involved about 70 officers from various departments in the MPS, the Department of Environment (JAS), the Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID), the Selangor Water Management Authority (LUAS), the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM), the Fire Department and the Department of Veterinary Services.

The operation was also carried out on two other premises; a dried tofu factory next to the aforementioned pork processing site, and a drum recycling factory located in the Puteri Permai Industrial Park.

SHAH ALAM, 15 Nov: The expenditure of RM270 million by the central government for an international mentoring programme in the English language did not yield promising results when the results for the Primary School Achievement Test (UPSR) showed a decline in the subject.

The Member of Parliament for Penang Hill, Zairil Khir Johari, said that the mentoring programme should have trained 7,500 English language teachers for primary schools across the country since it was implemented in 2010.

He said that students were expected to show a slight improvement in the English language results this year with the cost spent.

Zairil said that there is a significant drop in the results for the English language paper among students of national schools; with a 0.06 decline in the Grade Point Average of the paper, despite the overall improvement in performance for the UPSR.

“Therefore, the recent UPSR results is a big blow to the ministry and the irony is that the overall performance of the English language paper for national-type (vernacular) schools witnessed an increase of 0.12 points, with an increase in 4.2 percent for students receiving As and those receiving Bs and Cs increased by 2.1 percent.

“In other words, national-type schools, which did not benefit from the English language international mentoring programme, managed to improve their proficiency in the language.

“Meanwhile, the results of national schools deteriorated despite the central government spending RM270 million in the pas three years, specifically to raise the level of English language in national schools,” he said in a press statement today.