Tol: Beli saham minoriti, tak perlu bayar pampasan

Man kills sister for speaking on phone with a man

A Jordanian man used a big rock to kill his teen age sister after he caught her speaking to another man by the phone, newspapers reported on Wednesday.

The man, in his 20s, asked his 16-year-old sister to walk out with him near their house in North Jordan but she knew his intention and ran away, they said.

He then threw a rock at her, causing her to fall, before chasing her and hitting her head with the rock many times, leading to her death.

The report said a Jordanian court had sentenced the killer to 20 years in jail but reduced it to 10 years after he was pardoned by his family.

Young Woman in Uganda Hospitalized after Father Beats Her; Mulinde’s Sight Saved

Elsewhere in country, church buildings, pastor’s home razed.

NAIROBI, Kenya (Morning Star News) – A dream of praying in a church frightened a recent college graduate in Uganda, the Muslim daughter of sheikh; she knew he was capable of seriously hurting her for such a religious switch.

Wenene Nuru, 23, of Iki-Iki township in Pallisa District, had been listening to a Christian-Muslim dialogue on “The Sonship of Jesus Christ” on the radio before she had the dream on Feb. 28.

“When I woke up from the dream, I became unsettled and terrified and could not tell my father, who is a sheikh [Muslim teacher],” she told Morning Stare News. “I decided to visit a Christian girl, who took me to a birthday party. A visiting pastor from Jinja, Uganda shared about Christ being born in a person’s heart, there and then I gave my life to Christ.”

Nuru left that celebration on March 2 very excited. Like most converts from Islam, upon reaching home she kept her new faith a secret. The next day a neighbor who had attended the party telephoned her father, however, and informed him that his daughter had converted to Christianity.

On March 4, at about 8 p.m., her father, Nuru Rajabu, could no longer contain his anger.

“My father began beating me with clubs and blows, and I started screaming in great pain,” she said. “While I was down on the floor bleeding, my father went looking for a knife to kill me. A neighbor named Saleem arrived and helped me escape.”

She found lodging from a nearby church and was taken to a hospital the next day.

“Wenene was hospitalized for a week at Pallisa Hospital,” a source whose identity is withheld for security reasons told Morning Star News. “Now she is being housed by one of the elders of the church in Pallisa.”

Pallisa is 183 kilometers (113 miles) northeast of Kampala.

Brought up largely by her step-mother after her mother died when Nuru was 7 years old, the Mass Communications student completed her university education at the end of 2013.

The source said Nuru is in need of further treatment and rental lodging.

Near Pallisa, in predominantly Muslim Budaka and Butaleja districts in eastern Uganda, Islamic extremists burned down two church buildings of the Free Church of Christ in February and the home of a church leader earlier this month, the church leader said.

Bishop James Kinyewa, 47, said they set fire to one church building, in Budaka District, on Feb. 15 and another, in Nabiganda village, Butaleja District, on Feb. 25. The same Islamic extremists burned down his house on March 2, he said.

“While I was preaching , I heard loud noise, people saying, ‘Fire! Fire!’ coming from nearby neighbors,” he told Morning Star News by phone.

Rowdy Muslim youths with clubs and machetes prevented him and others from going near enough to try to put out the fire at his house, Kinyewa said.

“They were shouting, ‘Allahu Akbar [God is greater],’” he said. “Now the same militant group is hunting for my life. My family and I are now hiding ourselves, homeless and waiting for God’s intervention.”

Everything inside the two razed church buildings, which served a total of 240 people, was destroyed, said, Kinyewa, who before his conversion used to practice a former of witchcraft called Majin (“evil powers”) under the guidance of Muslim syncretists.

“My church members have no place to worship,” Kinyewa said. “The estimated cost of the damage caused is about 12 million Uganda shillings [US$4,625].”

Saving Mulinde’s Vision

Senior Pastor/Bishop Umar Mulinde of Gospel Life Church International, outside Kampala, told Morning Star News that doctors in Israel have saved his sight and hearing following the acid attack he suffered at the hands of Islamic extremists on Christmas Eve 2011.

“The eye which was to be removed was sending very wrong signals to the other one, almost making me totally blind, and two surgeries on the eye have been made to save my sight,” Mulinde wrote in a recent email.

Since Islamic extremists shouting “Allahu Akbar [God is greater]” cast acid on the street on Dec. 24, 2011, Mulinde has been in constant pain.

“I have undergone pains that I had never imagined in life, and even if I try to explain it, I feel that it’s so hard for me to satisfy another person to really understand it all,” he said. “But in all, I am glad to see that I am managing to overcome the trauma with courage to endure suffering.”

On Feb. 3, Mulinde underwent major facial surgery to reconstruct his right ear, which had been entirely closed over with skin due to acid burns, he said.

“It has been like unending battle, and this was the eight facial reconstruction surgery,” he said. “I am happy that it was successful, I am healing well. Doctors reconstructed the ear and saved my hearing too.”

Mulinde said it has been difficult being far away from his younger children and church, and he expressed concern for converts from Islam in Uganda.

“They continue to suffer discrimination, expulsion from families, and threats of death, and the recent rise of extremists taking important political positions is worrying us much,” he said. “We are networking to keep resisting evil and looking for my possible return soon, though the perpetrators are yet to be apprehended. But we trust the One who saved me will continue His work; yet we find that my return will help our community much for a solid foundation to our struggle.”

AirAsia appeals to Najib to resolve klia2 issues

AirAsia has appealed for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to intervene to resolve issues over the move from the Low-Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) to the much delayed RM4 billion budget air terminal - klia2.

Chief executive officer Aireen Omar said AirAsia was more than ready to move to klia2 but it had to be done under the right circumstances.

"AirAsia will be the anchor tenant at klia2, accounting for more than 80% of the traffic at the new airport," she said in a statement today.

"klia2 has the potential to be a global aviation hub, similar to Dubai," she said, stressing that it was necessary for klia2 to be fully functional and operationally viable in the long term.

Aireen expressed confidence that AirAsia, as the largest low cost carrier in the region, could elevate Malaysia's aviation industry as a whole.

She said AirAsia should be given a chance to present its case as it was the main user of klia2.

"Based on previous media reports, it might be perceived that AirAsia is deliberately not moving to klia2 or purposely being difficult.

"But this is not our intention as there are many concerns about klia2, especially on functionality, safety and security."

"These issues are paramount to our staff working efficiently and for our passengers to have a seamless travel experience," Aireen (pic, right) said.

She stressed that AirAsia was doing its level best to resolve all the pending and pressing issues with Malaysia Airports Holding Berhad (MAHB).

However, she said there was a need for the regulator to be independent as other industries in Malaysia.

We believe it is crucial to ensure that remedial steps are undertaken prior to a transfer, which will mitigate risks relating to any potential aviation incidents

"We are ready and committed to make the best out of klia2 although it is not the design we wanted," Aireen said.

"Moreover, klia2 is no longer a fully low-cost carrier terminal which MAHB initially promised.

"As a regional hub player, AirAsia contributes immensely to the economy of the nation by the traffic brought into Kuala Lumpur through AirAsia’s extensive network.

"This year, we expect to carry at least 24 million passengers via Kuala Lumpur, and with this size of operations, we have to ensure klia2 is fully functional without any possible interruptions."

Earlier today, AirAsia and AirAsia X had refused to move to klia2 until all the safety and security issues have been resolved.

AirAsia does not want to budge from the existing terminal known as the LCCT – which it has often referred to as the horse stable – despite warnings that it will be closed by May 9.

Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Abdul Aziz Kaprawi has said that klia2 would open as scheduled and the present LCCT would no longer be operational after May 9.

He also hoped that AirAsia would join the government authorities and four other airlines – Malindo Air, Cebu Airlines, Tiger Airways and Mandala Airlines – in the big move to klia2.

However, AirAsia and AirAsia X have stood firm and said that they would still be based at the current LCCT even after May 9.

AirAsia’s contention is that there are safety and security issues that need to be addressed before they can move.

It was also concerned with potential rise in airport charges and passenger service charge, which could raise the overall cost of travelling and burden travellers.

AirAsia also cited the recent Ikram Premier Consultings’ report, the findings of which revealed that there were depressions on the taxiway/apron and runway.

According to the Ikram report, these depressions would necessitate periodic remedial measures to be undertaken on relevant areas.

“This will prove to be operationally disruptive to a hub airline such as AirAsia Group which has about 400 aircraft movements in a day and at least 70 aircraft in its fleet in the LCCT."

"Last year alone, the group carried 22 million passengers via LCCT," AirAsia said yesterday in a statement.

"We believe it is crucial to ensure that remedial steps are undertaken prior to a transfer, which will mitigate risks relating to any potential aviation incidents," AirAsia said. – April 2, 2014.

MAS 'very responsive' to MH370 probe

It is now Day 26 in the search for the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370, and yet there is still no sign of the aircraft apart from strong yet vague clues provided by an analysis of satellite communications.

The Australian vessel ADV Ocean Shield has left Perth for the search area on Monday, carrying with it two pieces of equipment that are vital to the search effort.

This includes a US Navy towed pinger locator that can detect signals from the aircraft's black box from 1.5kilometres away.

However, aircraft black box pingers that emit this sound signal are only certified to last some 30 days before its batteries run out, meaning that there is about four days left before the search becomes considerably more difficult.

It remains to be seen if Ocean Shield can make it in time, although acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussien has repeatedly pledged to continue the search even after the pinger expires.

Follow us as we bring the latest updates and coverage for the search of Flight MH370:

Skali tries lays down the facts, sort of

 

11pm - E-business firm Skali Group has come up with a one-stop website - www.thefactsmh370.com - for news regarding the search for MH370.

 

According to the company's CEO Tengku Farith Rithauddeen, the website contains for segments: "facts, being verified, false and the unusual".

 

"From facts news based on the information issued by the authorised, being verified refers to news that are credible but yet to be confirmed by the authorities.

 

"Another two segments are false news basically those not released or made up by others while the unusual refers to interesting facts or side stories pertaining to the aircraft," he says, according to Bernama.

 

At the time of writing, www.thefactsmh370.com is, in fact, unaccessible.

 

Khazanah offers help

9.03pm: Khazanah Nasional Berhad, the major share holder in Malaysia Airlines (MAS), have always cooperated with the government to do all it can to assist in the case of the missing MAS flight MH370, Bernama reports.

Khazanah Nasional managing director Azman Mokhtar says the government-linked company would do everything possible in its capacity to assist.

"From the day the flight went missing, we have been working closely with government and MAS. In the event of a tragedy like this, everybody need to work together and move forward.

"If there are weaknesses we must be brave enough to face and rectify them. We must take such experiences as a lesson. I certainly do," he is quoted as saying.

Comprehensive caring programme

8.12pm: A more comprehensive caring programme for the families and relatives of passengers of the missing Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Flight MH370 needs to be formulated, says Chew Mei Fun.

Chew, who has been appointed as a special officer to represent Malaysia in China to meet with family members of MH370 passengers, sys the comprehensive caring programme was to ensure that the families were taken care of.

In her statement today, she says this was the outcome of the meetings she had recently with several parties including the Chinese authorities and the Family Members Committee (FMC) in China.

Families in recovery phase

8.03pm: The Malaysian Crisis Intervention Team (MCIT) is now focusing on the fourth counseling phase for families of passengers and crew of flight MH370, reports Bernama.

Its deputy chairperson Dr Abdul Jalil Hassan says the team would conduct regular home visits to provide counseling to the affected families who were beginning to recover from the impact of the trauma.

"The incident has now entered the 26th day. Their emotional state is very good, compared to more than a week ago when they found it difficult to accept the tragic news announced by the prime minister.

"They are accepting reality, are calm and have returned to their daily routine," he tells the national news agency.

'No effort and no expense spared'

7.20pm: DCA director general Azharuddin Abdul Rahman in his opening statement to families of Chinese passengers at a briefing today, continues to assure then that Malaysia is doing all that it can.

"Throughout the process, I want to assure you that we have done everything in our power to locate MH370. We have spared no effort and expense," he is quoted as saying in a statement released by the government in lieu of a press conference today.

'Develop tech for better transmission of plane data'

6.28pm: Communications and Multimedia Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek says the government believes data from aircraft, including from the black box, can be continuously transmitted and stored in data centres on the ground.

Hence he says International Telecommunication Union (ITU) must develop cutting edge technology to facilitate transmission of flight data in real time, Bernama reports.

"I believe that this simple change may have brought a different outcome today... I cannot help but note that whilst communications technologies have evolved drastically in the past five years, the story of the black box remains unchanged for more than 30 years," he is quoted saying.

MCA to hold mass MH370 prayer

6pm: MCA will be holding a mass prayer on Sunday for the crew, passengers of missing Flight MH370 and their loved ones.

According to party secretary-general Ong Ka Chuan, the prayer will be held at Dewan San Choon, Wisma MCA at 10am.

He says the prayer will be led by Buddhist organisations, among which are the Buddhist Maha Vihara, Buddhist Missionary Society, Young Buddhist Association of Malaysia and Fo Guang Shan Malaysia.

"This event is to let the world, especially the families and relatives of the crew and passengers, know that we Malaysians do care deeply about them... We hope there is a chance of a miracle and we pray for their survival," Ong says in a statement.

M'sia-China ties still good

5.52pm: Chinese ambassador to Malaysia Huang Huikang says anger in China over the Malaysia’s government will not stop its plan to send to two pandas over.

He says the animals are to arrive at KLIA on April 15, via MAS Cargo.

The ambassador also blamed Western media over its coverage of the MH370 tragedy, which fanned the emotions of families of Chinese nationals on board, causing their dissatisfaction against the Malaysian government.

Blogger questions Scorpene's SAR absence

5.25pm: A blogger and MP Mohd Ariff Sabri Abd Aziz is demanding to know why Malaysia has not sent its two Scorpene submarines to assist the search and recovery operations for Flight MH370.

Mohd Arif also questions what the country has to show after its defence spending shot up from RM13.8 million in 2011 to RM16.1 billion in 2014.

Read full story here.

'Accidents do happen'

5pm: Bernama reports that the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has credited MAS for being "very responsive" to investigations into the disappearance of Flight MH370.

Quoting ICAO air navigation bureau director Nancy Graham, the news agency states, however, that the organisation would have to wait for the outcome of the probe into the plane’s disappearance before considering any possible corrective action to be taken.

"Despite all our good intentions and wonderful safety initiatives, accidents do happen," she is quoted saying from the sidelines of the International Air Transport Association Ops Conference 2014 in Kuala Lumpur.

New cockpit security

4.40pm: Following the MH370 incident, MAS has updated its procedures to boost its cockpit security, reports CNN.

Quoting two unnamed sources, the report claims that the pilot or co-pilot will no longer be allowed to sit alone in the cockpit.

“If one or the other leaves the cockpit, a senior cabin steward must remain inside the cockpit until the pilot or first officer returns,” the report claims, with one source describing it as a positive development.

Checks with a MAS staff, who has requested anonymity, confirms the measures being introduced.

According to Singapore’s Straits Times, The Star had previously reported that Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) is also tightening security, requiring international travellers to remove their shoes, belt, jackets and any electronic devices such as cellphones and laptop computers for separate scanning.

France pledges support

3pm: France assures Malaysia of its continued support and assistant in the form of expertise as the search for missing Fligt MH370 continues, Bernama reports.

It states this was expressed by French Ambassador to Malaysia Martine Dorance when she called on Dewan Rakyat Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia at his office at Parliament House.

Dorance also expressed her understanding of the feelings of Malaysian leaders as France was in a similar predicament during the 2009 Air France 447 tragedy.

Visibility 'favouring' SAR

2.05pm: The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (Amsa) says that the sea conditions are moderating and visibility is favourable for the search effort.

Oceanograpger explains methods

1.50pm: An oceanographer helping to find MH370 explains the methods used in the search in an interview with Chinese state news agency Xinhua.

The Australian government’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation Marine and Atmosphere Research (CMAR) centre scientist David Griffin says instead looking all along probable flight path, searchers are taking advantage of the Indian Ocean’s tendency to swirl and form eddies.

“It’s a matter of working along that line a segment at a time and then going with a hypothesis - if it was at this point along that line, what area of ocean needs to be searched?

“By looking at where the eddies are and what we know about their impact on aggregation, we hope to actually find regions within the larger region that are higher priority for searching because of the possibility of aggregation,” he is quoted saying.

However, as time go by, he warns it will be increasingly difficult to trace any wreckage found back to its source - the likely crash site.

Report on Malaysia's mistakes

12.50pm: CNN lists six mistakes Malaysian authorities have made in the course of its handling of the MH370 crisis since the plane went missing. These are:

• MH370 diversion from its original flight path went unnoticed on military radar until it was long gone, and only saw it when the recording was reviewed.
   
• Early briefings were chaotic with no clarity as to who was in charge.
   
• Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) director-general Azharuddin Abdul Rahman initially describes two passengers that boarded the flight with stolen passports as black but turned out to be Iranian asylum seekers.
   
• MAS initially tells the next-of-kin on those onboard MH370 that there were no survivors, but acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein later says he has not given up hope following backlash from the families.
   
• Authorities initially claim co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid made MH370’s last communication, “Alright, good night,” but this is later revised to “Good night, Malaysian 3-7-0”, while the identity of who made this transmission is still being confirmed.
   
• Search in the south Indian Ocean was in the wrong area for three days, according to Wall Street Journal quoting anonymous sources, due to poor coordination between groups of investigators.

Search efforts to contend with fog, thunderstorms

11.25am: Perth-based Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) says 10 planes and nine ships have been deployed for today's search, spanning 221,000 square kilometres.

"The weather forecast for today's search is for marginal conditions, with areas of broken cloud, sea fog and isolated thunderstorms, reducing visibility," it says in a statement.

LOTR director's jet used in SAR

11.05am - A personal jet belonging to Oscar-winning movie director Peter Jackson (right) has been used to facilitate communications between searchers looking for MH370, his spokesperson confirms.

A report in The New Zealand Herald today says the Gulfstream G650 jet's operator had received a charter offer, which it accepted with Jackson's permission.

However, spokesperson Matt Dravitzki refuses to disclose the remuneration and adds the 'Lord of the Rings' director would like to avoid seeking publicity for this.

Many of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority's (Amsa) previous statements had mentioned the jet playing the role of a 'communications relay' but did not mention its owner.

170 questioned, with more to go

10.55am: Inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar says the investigation into MH370 disappearance is now classified as a criminal investigation, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Quoting Malaysia’s police chief, the Wall Street Journal reports that 170 statements have been recorded so far with still more people to be interviewed.

However, Khalid (left) says he will not reveal the findings now as it may affect any prosecution process later.

As for MH370 Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah's flight simulator, he is reported saying he is still waiting for experts' report, but findings are thus far inconclusive.

Read more here.

Briefing for families taking place today

10.30am: To recap, the government has released a full transcript of radio communications between MH370 and air traffic controllers yesterday.

It revises the final transmission from "Alright, good night", to "Good night, Malaysian 3-7-0," which it says reveals nothing abnormal.

Nevertheless, the Transport Ministry says investigators remain convinced that the aircraft was deliberately diverted, and it is still working to confirm whether the sign off was made by co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid, as initially claimed.

Meanwhile, relatives of Chinese families will be attended a closed-door briefing on the crisis in a hotel in Kuala Lumpur today with officials from the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) and MAS, and technical experts from Malaysia, China and Australia.

Britain's theguardian had earlier reported that British experts - satellite company Inmarsat and UK's Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) - will not be taking part in a technical briefing. Inmarsat has said it was not invited and was only an advisor to the AAIB.

PM to observe SAR first hand

10.05am: Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak will depart to Perth today for a two-day visit to observe the search and recovery operations, Bernama reports.

"The visit is appropriate to record the appreciation to the Australian government, teams and members who were involved in the search, including from Malaysia," the Malaysian Ministry of Foreign Affairs says a statement.

The premier is scheduled to meet his Australian counterpart Tony Abbot, before departing to Vietnam for a three-day visit.

Australia is heading the search efforts. Its Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC), led by Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, is tasked with overseeing the operations.

Search radius closer to Perth

9.30am: According to maps circulated by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (Amsa) today, the search area is shifted slightly closer to Perth.

It is now about 1,490 kilometres from Perth, compared to 1,950 kilometres away when search began in this area on March 28.

The search has thus far turned up only fishing equipment and rubbish from the sea.

UK nuclear sub joins search

9am: Nuclear submarine HMS Tireless joins the search for Flight MH370. According to UK’s Ministry of Defence yesterday, the vessel arrived in the south Indian Ocean while the hydrographic survey vessel HMS Echo is still on the way.

"HMS Tireless’ sophisticated underwater listening equipment can detect the underwater locator beacon of MH370 black box," tweets Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) deputy chief Ahmad Kamarulzaman Ahmad Badaruddin this morning.

To calls on Twitter to send RMN's own Scorpene class diesel-electric submarines, Kamarulzaman curtly replies, "HMS Tireless is a nuclear submarine".

Search resumes

8am: Search and recovery operations across the south Indian Ocean resume today in the hopes of a positive sighting and recovery of any MH370-linked debris.

However, after several false hopes in which objects sighted over the past few days turned out to be nothing but rubbish, hope seems to lie in the arrival of the vessel Ocean Shield, fitted with a pinger locator.

Background:

• The Beijing-bound Boeing 777-200ER aircraft went missing not long after taking off from KL International Airport in the early hours of March 8, with 12 crew members and 227 passengers.
   
• Authorities have determined the plane intentionally made a turn-back and altered its course shortly after cutting communications with tower controllers for unknown reasons.
   
• Its whereabouts is now narrowed to the southern Indian Ocean after employing "new analysis" methods to deduce the location based on six pings the aircraft sent out to British satellite communications provider Inmarsat's satellite.

Police not god, fumes 80-year-old ex-teacher

After C Sugumaran lost his father at an early age, his paternal uncle A Kuppusamy had raised him like his own son.

But the 80-year-old retired Tamil school teacher was dealt a blow when his 40-year-old nephew, whom he refers to as his son, died after he was assaulted by the police at the roadside while his hands were cuffed behind his back last year.

However, the post mortem stated that he died of a heart attack.

The inquest into his death is ongoing but it started only after the family buried Sugumaran’s remains upon failing to get a second post mortem months after his death.

Vowing to fight for justice, Kuppusamy (left) said: "Sugumaran was not cattle or a bird. He was a human being... I want rights for all, not just for my son.”

"Police are not God. The government is not God. (Only) God can give and take life...

"Police have no power to kill people. They can only guard people," he said in halting English.

Kuppusamy was speaking at launch of the Human Rights Watch's report on police abuse in Kuala Lumpur.

Will an inquest bring back my brother?

Also present was  D Ranjan, 30, who in August 2012 lost his youngest brother, Dinesh, 26, in a police shooting.

“A life is gone. Why is an inquiry done only after? Can I get back my brother back?" he asked.

More than a year on, Ranjan said the ongoing inquest into his brother's death now appears to be a "cover up" to find more reasons to justify the summary killing.

For example, he said, police testified that there is no need to lift fingerprints off the parang allegedly used to charge at police, resulting in the shooting, to prove Dinesh had used it.

"It is just another cover up. There are more excuses given for the cause of the death,” he added.

Rajan (left) said even getting an inquest into the death also took many months, while police have already decided his brother was a criminal.

"They say he was part of some gang but the supposed gang members were arrested separately and no charges made...

"The day after the shooting when Dinesh was fighting for his life in hospital, they cuffed him to the bed and did not allow family in.

"We will not give up. He will not be remembered as a criminal," he told Malaysiakini after the press conference.

Today, on paper torn out of notebooks, both Kuppusamy and Rajan wrote impassioned appeals to Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar seeking the same.

The letters will be passed to Khalid later by HRW Asia deputy director Phil Robertson who will meet the IGP to discuss the report.

Robertson will also meet representatives of the Prime Minister's Office tomorrow to urge the government to implement lengthy recommendations listed in the report.

"Abuse by police make Malaysians weary of trusting the police and make it difficult for police to build local relationships...to do their job.

"Hence draconian laws like the Prevention of Crime Act (are used)," he said.

The 102-page report found little political will to address systemic issues, which stem mostly from lack of oversight and has led to prolonged abuse and leave victims with little recourse.

‘MIC did not ask for Tamil secondary school’

A DAP MP claims that the largest Indian based political party in the country failed to champion Tamil school issues.

KUALA LUMPUR: MIC failed to push the Barisan Nasional (BN) to construct a Tamil secondary school although the Penang state government had allocated land for the purpose, Batu Gajah MP V. Sivakumar said today.

Sivakumar said he was disappointed with MIC secretary-general A. Prakash Rao for not pushing for a Tamil secondary school in Penang.

He said he was surprised to see the high-ranking MIC official saying that “the time has not arrived to build a Tamil secondary school in the country.”

He added that there were about 1,000 Tamil schools during British rule but only 523 now under the BN government.

Sivakumar said MIC had failed to champion the uplift of Tamil schools in the country.

“MIC should be the voice of the Indians and be bold to champion the rights for the community, especially in education,” said Sivakumar.

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng called on Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to look into the matter as the Penang government was offering a land in Butterworth to build the school.

Last September, Lim had sent a letter to Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, but Kamalanathan called on the Indians to enrol their children in Tamil primary schools first before asking for a secondary school.

Education Ministry director-general Khair Mohamad Yusof rejected the state’s application for a Tamil secondary school in a letter dated Jan 8.

Lim had said that the state government would appeal to Muhyiddin to build the Tamil secondary school.

He said the state government would write to the Prime Minister’s Office if the appeal failed.

Earlier this month, Indian NGOs and PAS leaders have called the federal government to approve the state government’s application to build a Tamil secondary school in Penang.

Shahidan shoots down MH370 briefing for Pakatan

Shahidan Kassim denies that he confirmed the special MH370 briefing for the opposition will be held next Tuesday.

KUALA LUMPUR: Minister in the Prime Minister Department Shahidan Kassim said that he cannot confirm next Tuesday’s special MH370 briefing for opposition MPs because Pakatan Rakyat has yet to send him an official notice on the matter.

“I have not yet said that I agreed to the date. I have to refer to Hishammuddin Hussein’s schedule first, to see if he is free on that day,” Shahidan told a press conference at the Parliament lobby today.

He said that once he received the note from Pakatan, he would pass it to Hishammuddin for the latter to confirm his attendance.

“Of course, they can send their notice directly to Hishammuddin if they wish. As the minister in charge of parliamentary affairs, I am just acting as the intermediary to facilitate their briefing.”

His statement contradicted DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang’s claim this morning that the minister had already agreed on the briefing to be held Tuesday.

The Gelang Patah MP said the briefing should only be conducted by Hishammuddin or Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.

Shahidan today urged Pakatan to stop politicising the matter, adding that the government was not hiding anything.

“All information and latest developments are delivered transparently in press conferences that are broadcast to the entire world,” he said.

Meanwhile, Shahidan defended Hishammuddin’s trip to Hawaii on Monday to attend the US-Asean Defence Forum, stressing that the defence minister had long ago agreed to be present at the forum.

“The forum is important to Malaysia because it is a platform for defence ministers from Asean to interact.

“It indirectly gives Hishammuddin a chance to express the Malaysian government’s appreciation towards America and the Asean nations, who have come together to help in the search and rescue mission for MH370,” said Shahidan.

Yesterday morning, Pakatan MPs claimed Hishammuddin’s trip to Hawaii was his attempt to “run away” from the briefing, which they claimed should have been held last night.

But Shahidan had clarified later that evening that no briefing was scheduled for that night because the opposition lawmakers had failed to provide him a notice confirming the date.

China: Najib was right to say MH370 ‘ended’

Ambassador Huang says the world "crash" or "lost" would have upset family members.

KUALA LUMPUR: China’s ambassador to Malaysia Huang Huikang today said that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak chose the right word when he announced the last position of flight MH370 in a briefing last week.

Speaking to reporters this afternoon, Huang defended Najib for using the word ‘ended’.

He said Najib had to use the word to avoid repercussions as the families of the Chinese passengers on board the plane are hoping that their loved ones are still alive.

“Najib Razak has chosen the word ‘ended’ instead of ‘crash’ or ‘lost’. I fully understood why because the purpose is to avoid any harmful meaning,”

“Chinese family members are still hoping that their loved ones are alive thus if Najib chose the word ‘crash’ or ‘lost’ it will be a big blow to the family members,” Huang said.

Huang is not the first to defend Najib as last Monday, Acting Transport Minister Hishamuddin Hussein said that claims of the plane having crashed was “totally erroneous”.

“There was no mention of a crash or that there were no survivors at all,” said Hishammuddin.

On March 24 Najib announced that new satellite analysis has concluded that the missing Malaysia Airlines MH370 has ‘ended’ in the southern Indian Ocean, bringing to end a 17-day mystery of the fate of the runaway jetliner.

‘We are like brothers’

The newly appointed Huang stressed that the focus now should be on the search and rescue effort and that China was in full support of the Malaysian government in its effort to locate the ill fated aircraft.

“I think it is best for us to focus on the effort than to argue about the word. All of us want hard evidence as soon as possible,”

“China is in full support of Malaysian government and we will do our best to offer our help in order to locate the missing flight,” Huang added.

Huang then clarified that the Chinese government has never been angry with Malaysia and refuted claims that they were dissatisfied with the way Malaysia is handling the investigation.

“We have been good friends for many years, we are like brothers.

“We never said that we are angry with Malaysian government nor did we say that we are dissatisfied with them. All of the accusation is not true,” he disclosed.

MH370 went missing from civilian radar an hour after takeoff when it was flying over the South China Sea. The aircraft was picked up by Malaysian military radar an hour later on the west of Peninsula Malaysia flying towards the Andaman Sea but it was assumed to be on the direction of the air traffic control.

The flight transponder which tracks the plane was switched off. Investigators now believe that the plane was last flying over the Indian Ocean, based on the ‘pings’ sent out by it which was picked up by the Inmarsat satellite.

The plane is suspected to have flown some five hours before its “pings” went missing. Majority of the passengers on board were Chinese nationals. The focus of the search is now centered some 2,500km southwest of Perth, Australia.

Scientists date Moon at 4.470 billion years

(AFP) - The Moon was formed about 95 million years after the birth of our Solar System, in a collision that also settled the structure of Earth as we know it, according to the latest attempt at dating that impact.

A study in the journal Nature said the crash between an early, proto-Earth and a Mars-sized object that dislodged what would become the Moon, happened some 4.470 billion years ago — give or take 32 million years.

Apart from creating our satellite, the event is also believed to have marked the final phase of Earth’s core formation from molten metals sinking to the centre from a superhot surface.

Previous estimates had ranged from an “early” impact about 30 million years after the start of the Solar System, to a later one as much as 200 million years after.

The Solar System itself is known to be 4.567 billion years old thanks to accurate dating of some components of meteorites — the oldest materials to be found on our planet.

Earth is believed to have formed at some time during the first 150 million years.
Many earlier age estimates had been based on measuring the rate of radioactive decay of atomic nuclei found in rocks.

For the new study published in the journal Nature, a team of planetary scientists from France, Germany and the United States created a computer model of how dust and rock accumulated in the early Solar System to form tiny planets called planetesimals.

These grew into “planetary embryos” that ended up as the rocky planets we know today — Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars — through a succession of giant impacts, according to the new model.

Each massive collision allowed the planets to “accrete” or accumulate matter. In Earth’s case, the lunar impact would have marked its final major growth event.

The team also looked at the chemical composition of the Earth’s mantle to trace the amount of material the planet accumulated after the impact — only about 0.5 percent of its total mass.

If the impact had happened early in the Solar System’s history, there would still have been many free-floating planetesimals for the Earth to sweep up, and if it was later, fewer.

The evidence suggested Earth took 95 million years to form, “which confirms it as the planet in our Solar System that took the longest to form,” study co-author Alessandro Morbidelli told AFP by email.

Malaysia Government Approval Dips

Bad news for Najib

Respected poll says a plurality thinks the country is going in the wrong direction

Malaysia’s government, beset with inflation, political infighting, faltering attempts to find a missing airliner and other problems, continues to face serious headwinds in public opinion, with only 38 percent of the electorate saying the country is going in the right direction against 49 percent who say it’s not, according to the latest poll by the respected Merdeka Center polling organization.

The poll of more than 1,000 voters across the country was taken between March 7 and March 20. It found that at least 15 percent of voters said the country was going “strongly in the wrong direction,” primarily because of rising costs from the termination of subsidies last year for a wide variety of consumer goods including sugar, gasoline and electricity in an effort to corral the government’s fiscal debt, which had come close to 55 percent of gross domestic product.

The Barisan Nasional, the ruling national coalition, lost the popular vote in the May 2013 general election, by 47.38 percent to 50.87 percent for the opposition Pakatan Rakyat coalition, but held onto parliament with 133 seats to 89 by dint of the first-past-the-post electoral system and extensive gerrymandering of districts.

A troubling problem is that the trend seems to be unrelievedly down. The government’s popularity topped out in February 2013 at 59 percent, briefly recovered to 54 percent in September when fuel and other price hikes went into effect, and has plummeted since, to a low of 38 percent as disapproval has steadily risen. Najib became the butt of ridicule when, in discussing food prices, he said the price of kangkung, or morning glory, had actually fallen. Kangkung grows wild throughout Southeast Asia and is ubiquitous and cheap.

Corruption, inflation, public safety and security and affordable housing topped the list of public concerns. A strong majority of 60 percent said they were dissatisfied with Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s attempts to rid the government of corruption, with only 8 percent saying they were “very satisfied.” Another 25 percent said they were “somewhat satisfied.” Of the 60 percent total, a full 33 percent said they were “very dissatisfied.” An almost equal percentage said they were dissatisfied with waste in government.

As is habitual in Malaysia, ethnic Malays – the power base for the United Malays National Organization and the prime minister – gave significantly higher ratings than either ethnic Chinese or Indians, a continuing illustration of the country’s uneasy racial relations. On the economy, however, the government has taken a relative beating from all three. Overall, 51 percent of voters said they were dissatisfied with the prime minister’s handling of the economy against 46 percent who were satisfied. On Najib’s understanding the people’s burden in facing rising costs, 57 percent said he didn’t understand. Surprisingly, given the country’s troubled race situation, 58 percent of voters said they approved of his handling of racial issues against 39 percent who said they didn’t.

Malays score the government best, with 53 percent approval to 43 percent unfavorable. A decisive 81 percent of Chinese were critical of the handling of the economy with only 14 percent favorable. Among Indians, who make up about 8 percent of the electorate, 59 percent were critical against 33 percent who were favorable.

The poll found that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s popularity is skidding as well, from 62 percent in December to 52 percent today. In the meantime, the premier’s negatives are skewing up equally rapidly, from 32 percent in December to 44 percent today, by far the highest point in his five-year tenure. His approval rating with ethnic Malays, both his and the United Malays National Organization’s base, has fallen from 76 percent last August to 65 percent today. For the 31 percent of voters who are Chinese, Najib’s approval rating has fallen from 36 percent in August to 21 percent in December before rebounding slightly to 23 percent in the current poll.

The electorate gave a failing grade to the government’s handling of the crisis involving the loss of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 with 129 passengers and crew on March 8, with 50 percent overall saying the government had done a poor job against 43 percent approving. The country has been the subject of widespread international disapproval of its performance over the disappearance of the jet.

Those unhappy with the government overall reached a high of 48 percent against 42 percent who said they were happy. Fully 7 percent said they were angry.

A Timeline of the Malaysian Government’s Many, Many MH370 Screw-Ups

 

Mistakes were made: Malaysia's prime minister, Najib Razak

Three and a half weeks after Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 vanished from the sky, the world is still waiting to find out what happened. Searching millions of square miles for broken plane parts is, of course, no simple task, but it’s only been complicated by the Keystone Cops routine put on by the Malaysian government. Upon news that officials couldn’t even correctly quote the four words uttered by the co-pilot before all communication with MH370 was lost, here’s a timeline of Malaysia’s mistakes since the plane disappeared.

March 8: Immigration officials allow two passengers to board flight MH370 with stolen passports.

March 8: The Malaysian military fails to notice that that the plane has made a sharp left turn, even though it flew over a radar facility.

March 8: The Malaysian government confirms reports that two people boarded the plane with stolen passports, then says it was actually four people, before revising it back down two.

March 9: Five hours after it happened, state-owned Malaysia Airlines finally confirms that MH370 has disappeared.

March 11: Malaysia’s chief of police withdraws the story that baggage was taken off the flight before takeoff because five people didn’t board. Turns out, all those who checked in boarded.

March 11: China calls out Malaysia for the slow pace of its search. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang says Malaysia needs to “step up their efforts and speed up their investigation.”

March 11: The search begins in the Malacca Strait, three days after military radar captured MH370 turning from its path and flying over the body of water.

March 12: Officials admit they’ve known all along that a mysterious plane, likely MH370, appeared on military radar flying on a westerly course. Still, they diverted resources to search east of Malaysia.

March 12: Vietnam suspends part of its search for MH370 after Malaysia’s government fails to respond to its repeated requests for information.

March 12: Malaysian police release photos of the two men who boarded MH370 with stolen passports and they both seem to have the same legs. A photocopying error is blamed.

March 13: Malaysian Transport Minister Seri Hishammuddin Hussein denies a WSJ report claiming the plane flew for as many as four hours after disappearing from tracking systems. The government would later accept that version of events.

March 15: Investigators finally confirm that the mysterious flight captured by military data is MH370 and call off the wasted searches underway in areas Malaysian officials already knew were not possible crash sites.

March 15: A week after the flight’s disappearance, authorities search the homes of MH370’s pilot and co-pilot.

March 16: India suspends its search as it waits for Malaysia to say whether it should be searching at all.

March 16: American officials tell the Washington Post that FBI agents are ready to go to Malaysia to help investigate the crash but their assistance hasn’t been requested.

March 17: Officials change the sequence of events concerning the switching off of the plane's communications system. Rather than insisting it happened before the co-pilot signed off with the words "Alright, good night," they said it could have happened after, which puts a damper on terrorist-pilot theories.

March 19: Family members of passengers stage a small protest at a press briefing and are forcibly removed by police who are accused of “manhandling” them.

March 24: Malaysia Airlines sends a text to the families of passengers that says, “We deeply regret that we have to assume beyond any reasonable doubt that MH370 has been lost and that none of those on board have survived.”

March 28: Four days after the above text, an official tell the families of passengers that he hasn’t discounted the possibility of survivors.

March 28: Malaysian officials tell the passengers’ families there is “sealed evidence” they cannot know about.

March 31: The Malaysian Department of Civil Aviation corrects early reports that the last communication from MH370 was "Alright, good night." The actual words were "Good night, Malaysian three-seven-zero."

In loving memory of Irene Fernandez

The Sun Daily
by Annie Freeda Cruez

SHE was a human rights activist till she breathed her last at 10.58am today.

That is none other than Tenaganita director Irene Fernandez (pix), 68, who died after complications due to a heart failure.

She was admitted to the Serdang hospital last Tuesday, after complaining of breathing difficulties, while on her way to attend the Bersih People's Tribunal on the 13th General Election.

Having interviewed her on several occasions, her demise is a loss as she has been known for her outstanding and courageous work to stop violence against women and abuse of migrant and poor workers.

She is never afraid to be in the forefront to fight her cause and this was clearly seen when she continued working, even when a conviction and year's prison sentence hung over her head on a charge of "maliciously publishing false news."

Born in 1946, Irene has three children and several foster children. She began her career as a high school teacher and was involved with the Young Christian Workers Movement (YCWM), based in Brussels, and in 1970 gave up her teaching career to become a full-time organiser for young workers.

She became national president of the Malaysian YCWM in 1972-75 and was a member of the international committee from 1973-75.

During that time, she organised the first textile workers union and began programmes to create trade unions in the free trade zones. She also focused on the development of women leaders in the labour movement.

In 1976, she joined the Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) and worked on consumer education, launching the consumer clubs for secondary school children to teach them about basic needs, safety and protection of the environment.

She also began a consumer programme for rural women, linked to a breast-feeding campaign and the Nestlé boycott.

In 1986, she led campaigns to stop violence against women. Various women's groups mushroomed as a result of these campaigns. One was the All Women's Action Society, of which Fernandez was president for five years.

It is now one of the strongest women's advocacy groups in Malaysia.

The Domestic Violence Act, Sexual Harassment Code and changes to the laws related to rape are all a result of its work.

That same year, she was the founder member of Asia Pacific Women Law and Development (APWLD). This regional organisation was designed to bring together women lawyers and activists to look at women's law across the Far East. She was director for more than 10 years.

Irene's campaigns for the rights of foreign workers, up to three million of whom are in Malaysia, began after she founded Tenaganita in 1991.

The organisation also runs a half-way house for prostitutes with HIV, and a number of other programmes relating to migrant and poor workers' health, education, awareness and human rights.

It also works with organisations in neighbouring countries to provide health, legal and pre-departure information for workers.

In 2005 Tenaganita drew attention to controversial plans by the Malaysian government to deport more than a million foreign migrants.

In 1995, Irene Fernandez published a report on the living conditions of the migrant workers entitled "Abuse, Torture and Dehumanised Conditions of Migrant Workers in Detention Centres.

In March 1996, Fernandez was arrested at home and charged with "maliciously publishing false news". Her trial became the longest in Malaysian history and in 2003 she was finally found guilty and sentenced to a year in prison, having by then appeared in court more than 300 times.

By 2005, she was still on bail pending an appeal.

Finally, in 2008, after 13 years of battle in court, she was acquitted.

Despite all this, Irene never stopped doing what she wanted to do and I am sure she found lots of satisfaction and happiness in her work and success.

Najib Arrives In Australia For Working Visit

PERTH, April 2 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak arrived at the Perth International Airport, here, at 11pm Wednesday for a two-day working visit to Australia to have a first-hand look at the search operation being conducted out of this western Australian city for the missing Malaysian airliner believed to have gone down in the southern Indian Ocean.

Accompanying him are his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman, Department of Civil Aviation director-general Datuk Azharuddin Abdul Rahman and chief of Air Force Tan Sri Rodzali Daud.

Advisor in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Jamaluddin Jarjis, Malaysia High Commissioner to Australia Datuk Zainal Abidin Ahmad and Malaysian officers welcomed their arrival.

Earlier, Zainal Abidin at a press conference said that Najib was scheduled to meet with his Australian counterpart Tony Abbott on the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Flight MH370 and also to discuss strengthening of bilateral relations between the two countries tomorrow.

Flight MH370, carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew, left the KL International Airport at 12.41am on March 8 and disappeared from radar screens about an hour later while over the South China Sea. It was to have landed in Beijing at 6.30am the same day.

A multinational search was mounted for the aircraft, first in the South China Sea and then, after it was learned that the plane had veered off course, along two corridors - the northern corridor stretching from the border of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to northern Thailand and the southern corridor, from Indonesia to the southern Indian Ocean.

Following an unprecedented type of analysis of satellite data, United Kingdom satellite telecommunications company Inmarsat and the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) concluded that Flight MH370 flew along the southern corridor and that its last position was in the middle of the Indian Ocean, west of Perth, Australia.

Najib then announced on March 24, seventeen days after the disappearance of the Boeing 777-200 aircraft, that Flight MH370 "ended in the southern Indian Ocean".

Zainal Abidin said Najib and Abbott would meet after a visit to the Royal Australian Air Force Pearce base.

He said the two leaders would discuss strengthening of bilateral relations in the areas of investment, trade, common regional issues, defence and education, and would hold a joint press conference after their meeting.

Zainal Abidin said Najib and his delegation were scheduled to leave Thursday evening for a three-day official visit to Vietnam.