Channel loan to urban Indians

According to a PKR leader, there is no point in the government forking out RM50 million for those living in rural areas when the majority of Indians are in urban…

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According to a PKR leader, there is no point in the government forking out RM50 million for those living in rural areas when the majority of Indians are in urban areas.

PETALING JAYA: A PKR leader has urged Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to convert a loan scheme announced in the last budget for plantation workers to cater for urban Indians.

In the 2011 Budget, Najib announced the RM50 million loan scheme – with a 4% interest rate and 40-year repayment period – to upgrade the living standard of plantation workers.

However, the scheme was shrouded in mystery when Bank Simpanan Nasional which was appointed to handle the scheme stated that the money had yet to be transferred despite the Finance Ministry having approved the amount.

Malacca PKR vice-president G Rajendran said Najib should channel the money for the betterment of urban Indians.

“Currently, only less than 15% Indians stay in estates while the rest have already moved to urban areas. So what is the point in spending RM50 million for rural Indians?” he asked.

He noted that urban Indians were struggling to make ends meet due to low wages and lack of employment opportunities.

“By allocating the RM50 million for them, it will help upgrade their standard of living,” he said.

Under the scheme, Rajendran said, the government should encourage the urban Indians to venture into small businesses, allocate a certain amount for their children’s education and to provide them with enough money to fork out the initial payment for a house.

He added that such a move would also encourage more Indians from rural areas to move to urban areas.

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Anwar is like a Renaissance man who likes ‘naked men’, says Utusan

Anwar (left) arrives at the Kuala Lumpur High Court with his wife and PKR president Datuk Seri Wan Azizah Wan Ismail before delivering his defence statement from the defendant's dock…

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Anwar (left) arrives at the Kuala Lumpur High Court with his wife and PKR president Datuk Seri Wan Azizah Wan Ismail before delivering his defence statement from the defendant's dock August 22 2011.

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 24 — Utusan Malaysia mocked Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today and likened him to Renaissance era artists such as Michaelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci who “like fully naked men and handsome young boys.”

Its assistant chief editor Datuk Zaini Hassan wrote in the Umno-owned newspaper that the opposition leader’s “32-page statement was as usual, complete with quotes from the Quran, former South African President Nelson Mandela, Shakespeare and many others,” in reference to Anwar’s unsworn testimony from the dock during his sodomy trial on Monday.

“Anwar wants to be known as The Renaissance Man of the new millennium. He has even written a book called The Asian Renaissance,” Zaini wrote in his Cuit column today.

He stated in the Malay daily that Michaelangelo and Leonardo “like fully naked men and handsome young boys” and asked readers to look up their works, such as the statue of David and the sketch of the Vitruvian Man — both naked depictions — on online encyclopedia Wikipedia.

Anwar is currently fighting a sodomy charge levelled against him by his former aide Mohamed Saiful Bukhari Azlan who was 22 when the alleged incident happened in 2008.

The former deputy prime minister said in a nearly two-hour testimony from the dock on Monday that this second sodomy charge was a “conspiracy by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak” and denied ever having sex with Saiful.

PKR later said that its de facto leader’s decision to enter an unsworn statement in his defence was an act of protest against “the legal and political establishment’s” trumped-up charges, following in the footsteps of Mandela, who also took the same course of action when charged with treason in 1963.

But Zaini mocked the Permatang Pauh MP, writing that “Anwar using Mandela’s words? Does he want to be known as the Malayan Mandela?”

“He wants his speech to be in high language, with jargon and philosophy, making reporters dizzy... unlike his former boss Dr Mahathir who would use simple language, whether Malay or English,” he wrote in the Malay daily.

This is the second time Anwar has had to defend himself against sodomy claims, the first coming after he was sacked as deputy prime minister by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in 1998.

Although Anwar was convicted of the first sodomy charge, it was overturned by the Federal Court in 2004, allowing him to make a political comeback.

He then lead the opposition pact in denying Barisan Nasional (BN) its customary two-thirds majority of Parliament and five state governments in Election 2008.

Over three years after the allegation first surfaced, Anwar is now entering his defence against the charge which could see the Permatang Pauh MP being jailed for up to 20 years, which will likely end his political career.

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‘Crude nationalism’ no longer appealing

Malay nationalism is no longer what it used to be. It now finds expression in universal causes.

COMMENT - FMT

The new generation of Malay voters adopt different values and…

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Malay nationalism is no longer what it used to be. It now finds expression in universal causes.

COMMENT - FMT

The new generation of Malay voters adopt different values and have different expectations from the sledgehammer variety so enthusiastically expounded by organisations like Perkasa.

That variety of base and crude nationalism is dying. A clear indication was the Bersih 2.0 march.

The crude nationalism propounded by the Perkasa-type variety made out that the Bersih march, for example, was masterminded by Malaysian Indians out to topple the Malay government.

They thought that this would turn the Malay ground xenophobic until they discovered the majority of the marchers were Malays.

You get disappointed that you can no longer reduce the issue to a simple clash between the Malays and the non-Malays.

So, what’s the other important thing to the Malays? Their religion!

So Umno leaders came out accusing homely Bersih 2.0 coalition chairman S Ambiga as a threat to Islam.

Unfortunately, no one buys that argument because that allegation would assume the Malays’ faith in their religion is so fragile that even the appearance of Ambiga, who is probably remotely interested in another person’s religious denomination, is sufficient to shake the religious fibre of the Malay ground.

New nationalism

Let’s try communism, that godless creed.

The Malay’s hatred for communism seemed to be a possible source to limit empathy from the Malay ground.

So pictures of Shamsiah Fakeh, a member of the Malay communist regiment of the 1940s, were resurrected and given prominence.

The idea was to say that Bersih marchers were communism-inspired.

The feeble attempt was not impactful because the attempted association with communism goes against mainstream logic.

Even China has gone free market. Why would a band of marchers rally in the cause of communism?
Let’s face the facts. Umno cannot appeal any longer to the cruder form of xenophobic nationalism or group pride.

Malay nationalism is no longer what it was. It has mutated into the finer form of nationalism, which finds expression in variegated forms of universal causes.

The abhorrence for corruption is one reconstituted form of the previously crude form of nationalism.
Why? Because corruption cuts across and affects the interest of the whole country and undermines the moral fibre of the whole nation.

Umno must reformat

Another example of mutated nationalism is the revulsion towards economic thievery and corporate pillaging.

Nowdays the Malays despise their own kind for doing a sting on the country with equal vehemence as if economic con jobs are inflicted on them.

Of course, I have in mind the lightning fast deal between Malaysia Airlines (MAS) and AirAsia.
I am left with the bitter after-thought that all these so-called Malay corporate chieftains should be sent to re-education schools to be taught the meaning of nationalism.

Where is that sense of overriding concern to put things right as a matter of probity and correctness without doing corporate shenanigans to profit from the man-made miseries of MAS?

MAS belongs to the nation as a whole, the pride of Malaysians.

Appreciation of that alone is sufficient to preclude it being treated as a pawn in an elaborate corporate board game.

More disturbing and unsettling is the more malignant inference that the government is playing along with the game that the business elite plays.

Therefore, if Umno continues to peddle the cruder form of nationalism, while the Malay ground has shifted forward, it will be rendered irrelevant.

Umno needs to reformat or even reboot its raison d’être.

The writer is a former Umno state assemblyman and a FMT columnist. This is an excerpt from his blog sakmongkolak47.

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J’kuasa Pendengaran tangani krisis Jais-DUMC

Matlamat asal, gerak kerja dan keahlian jawatankuasa ini tetap sama.

PETALING JAYA: Kerajaan negeri Selangor memutuskan untuk menukar nama ‘Majlis Syura’ kepada ‘Jawatankuasa Pendengaran’ bagi menangani krisis di antara Jabatan…

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Matlamat asal, gerak kerja dan keahlian jawatankuasa ini tetap sama.

PETALING JAYA: Kerajaan negeri Selangor memutuskan untuk menukar nama ‘Majlis Syura’ kepada ‘Jawatankuasa Pendengaran’ bagi menangani krisis di antara Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor (Jais) dengan Gereja Methodist Damansara Utama (DUMC).

Penukaran nama ini bertujuan untuk mengelak kekeliruan dan pertindihan dengan nama Majlis Syura Negeri Selangor yang diterajui oleh Majlis Agama Islam Selangor, demikian menurut satu kenyataan dari pejabat Menteri Besar semalam.

Namun menurut kenyataan itu, matlamat asal, gerak kerja dan keahlian jawatankuasa ini tetap sama dan selaras dengan perbincangan antara Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim dan Sultan Selangor Sultan Salahuddin Idris Shah.

“Kerajaan Negeri berharap perubahan nama ini akan dapat merungkai sebarang kekeliruan yang wujud dan meneruskan segala usaha mencari penyelesaian berhubung isu DUMC dan Jais bagi kesejahteraan rakyat jelata.

“Kerajaan negeri tetap akur kepada segala nasihat dan titah yang diterima secara langsung daripada baginda serta bekerjasama dengan semua pihak bagi memastikan penyelesaian terbaik dalam isu ini,” kata kenyataan itu.

Pada 3 Ogos lalu, sekumpulan pegawai dari bahagian penguatkuasa Jais melakukan pemeriksaan di DUMC Seksyen 13, di sini ekoran laporan bahawa proses memurtadkan umat Islam sedang berlangsung pada majlis makan malam anjuran gereja tersebut.

Berikutan itu, seramai 12 individu Muslim telah ditahan dan mereka hadir di pejabat Jais di Shah Alam minggu lalu untuk memberi keterangan berhubung dakwaan membaptiskan individu-individu Muslim itu.

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GE-13: BN wins landslide victory

(Malaysiakini)Only an optimist would believe that their vote would sweep Umno from power in GE-13. Why bother with a sham election and waste resources going through the motions of an…

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(Malaysiakini)Only an optimist would believe that their vote would sweep Umno from power in GE-13. Why bother with a sham election and waste resources going through the motions of an election, where the outcome has already been decided in advance? The headlines will proudly boast: “BN wins. Najib scores a landslide victory, in a massive 103 percent turnout”.

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak wants GE-13 before electoral reforms. In a functioning democracy, the rakyat has a choice. The fundamental difference is that we are denied that choice.

We distrust our electoral processes despite Najib's assurance about the parliamentary select committee (PSC) on electoral reforms. Will Umno/BN leave office gracefully?

At the 61st Umno general assembly Najib declared: “Even if our bodies are crushed and our lives lost, brothers and sisters, whatever happens, we must defend Putrajaya”.

At the World Youth day meet in Putrajaya, Najib screamed, “Will you defend Putrajaya with me?” before breaking into a disturbing tirade: “Defend Putrajaya! Defend Putrajaya! Defend Putrajaya!”

By 2011, the People's Volunteer Corps (Rela) would consist of 2.6 million members. Will they be issued postal votes too?

Some people believe that certain western democracies are far superior, with honest and principled people in government.

Not true! Politicians in foreign establishments can be just as devious and as corrupt as the Malaysian ones. Their government appears to be working only because their rakyat makes sure the politicians serve them and not the other way around. They are not afraid of criticising their MPs. Politicians who do not adhere to the minimum parliamentary standards, are booted out.

In these countries, elected representatives are monitored, pursued and made accountable for their actions. Politicians are important in that they enact laws in parliament, on our behalf. But politicians need to be regulated. They are the tools with which the state can meddle in our lives.

MPs are to be controlled

MPs are to be controlled, not controlling. It is by us being watchful, and not sycophantic, that keeps MPs in check.

Malaysians have seen a constant barrage of electoral fraud. Last week, former soldiers alleged that they were ordered by their superiors to manipulate votes. But the denunciation by the Chief of the Armed Forces, General Zulkifeli Mohd Zin, who labelled these ex-soldiers as traitors, is itself an act of treachery.

Illegal workers being granted citizenship and voting rights have been unearthed. MyKads of dubious authenticity are distributed to foreigners. Political expediency seems more important than sovereignty. It appears that the NRD is a major threat to national security.

Scores of centenarians, or people who have long since died, have been resurrected, to cast their votes. These accompany the usual complaints of vote-buying, intimidation and promises of aid in exchange for votes.

Gerrymandering, or the division of geographical areas into constituencies which will unfairly benefit only one party, is overlooked by the EC. Pro-opposition areas may have one MP representing over 100,000 voters in the one constituency whereas in BN strongholds, constituencies consist of around 5,000 people.

Just before Bersih's 9 July march, Wan Ahmad Wan Omar (left), the EC's deputy chairman, complained that NGOs were obsessed with the comparison of election practices between Malaysia and other countries.

He said, “Elections observers must be domestic observers. Foreign observers, they don't know our election laws, they don't understand. It's a different value system.”

Yet he failed to act after Ambiga Sreenevasan and other local election activists were banned from monitoring the Sarawak state elections.

Wan Ahmad claimed that our election laws were “fair and impartial” and was stung by the “negative” comments of foreign observers.

He said, “They are foreigners, who are they? Why do we need foreigners, Germans commenting on our election system?”

He is right. The culture of “You help me, I help you” is “Umno-esque” and peculiar to Malaysia. Malaysia is 'superior' and has nothing to learn from others. Wan Ahmad's arrogance smacks of “Ketuanan Melayu” and extols the virtues of the warped BTN indoctrination.

So what exactly is the EC's role when it continually coughs up excuse after lame excuse of why it cannot ensure clean elections?

EC but a toothless dragon

The EC is but a toothless dragon whose only job seems to be the defence of BN. It turns a blind eye when Umno/BN uses government resources, the national media and other instruments of the state, for its own propaganda.

The poor appear to be supportive of Umno and in past elections, people living in decrepit hovels have posters of Umno, Najib or Taib Mahmud (for Sarawak) adorning their homes.

In Sarawak, the villagers idolise Taib, like teenagers would their pop-idol, when Taib makes his grand entrance, by helicopter, at longhouses. Usually, his Mercedes is on standby in case Taib fancies the trek home by car.

The contrast between the villagers' pitiful surroundings with basic infrastructure, and Taib's opulence, makes it hard to imagine how they have benefitted from Taib's long rule. What do they hope to gain by supporting him for another term?

It is the same story in peninsular Malaysia. The rural people and the poor appear to support Umno/BN. Perhaps they are comfortable with the devil you know than the one you don't. Perhaps the opposition has yet to gain the confidence of the rural folk.

Have the destitute given up hope of change; they are prepared to accept the few tokens of appreciation like sacks of rice, Milo and sugar, in exchange for votes? Does “stability” triumph over “change”?

Bersih cannot do it alone because Umno/BN dominates Malaysian politics. Any attempt by the opposition to “oppose” in Parliament means they are not allowed to table their motions or at worst, they risk being suspended.

With enormous cash reserves, and the ability to utilise government resources, unlike the opposition, Umno/BN can command political patronage amongst businesses. In an election, favours are called in and Umno/BN do act like they are above the law.

Too arrogant to acknowledge the voters

'Najib & co' are too arrogant to acknowledge the voters: What is the rakyat saying? What do they want? Can they cast their vote and be sure that the policies and the person they voted for, will be reflected in the final outcome?

Fraud, manipulation, phantom votes and money politics are useful instruments which have helped to prop up Umno, for 54 years.

Umno has been rattled by Bersih and the popular uprising in Egypt has given Malaysians hope. The rakyat is finally getting to have a real taste of democracy but the challenges are enormous as we try and adapt to being “free” and “fair”.

The trick to improving Malaysian politics is not to allow the political parties and their leaders any let-up but to be constantly critical of their performance. Let's have less praise and more scrutiny.

GE-13 should not be held until electoral reforms are under way. Don't be fooled by Najib's latest spin on democracy and his smokescreen about the PSC and electoral reform.


MARIAM MOKHTAR is a non-conformist traditionalist from Perak, a bucket chemist and an armchair eco-warrior. In 'real-speak', this translates into that she comes from Ipoh, values change but respects culture, is a petroleum chemist and also an environmental pollution-control scientist.

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Kerajaan teliti cadangan beri 4 hektar tanah Orang Asli

Utusan Malaysia

SUNGAI SIPUT 23 Ogos - Kementerian Kemajuan Luar Bandar dan Wilayah sedang meneliti cadangan memberi tanah tidak melebihi empat hektar kepada setiap keluarga Orang Asli menerusi Dasar Pemberimilikan…

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Utusan Malaysia

SUNGAI SIPUT 23 Ogos - Kementerian Kemajuan Luar Bandar dan Wilayah sedang meneliti cadangan memberi tanah tidak melebihi empat hektar kepada setiap keluarga Orang Asli menerusi Dasar Pemberimilikan dan Pembangunan Tanah Orang Asli yang sedang digubal.

Menterinya, Datuk Seri Mohd. Shafie Apdal berkata, cadangan itu atas permintaan masyarakat Orang Asli sendiri yang membantah pemberian tanah seluas 0.8 hingga 2.4 hektar dalam dasar tersebut sebelum ini.

"Kementerian sedang mengadakan perbincangan mengenai perkara ini dengan Pahang, Negeri Sembilan, Johor, Melaka, Perak, Terengganu, Kedah, Kelantan dan Selangor.

"Setakat ini perbincangan itu mendapat maklum balas positif. Secara umumnya semua negeri bersetuju dengan keputusan Majlis Tanah Negara untuk melaksanakan pemberian individu kecuali Kelantan yang mahu penempatan Orang Asli diwartakan dahulu," katanya.

Beliau berkata demikian selepas menghadiri majlis ramah mesra dan berbuka puasa bersama masyarakat Orang Asli di Kampung Kenang, di sini, malam tadi.

Turut serta Ketua Pengarah Jabatan Kemajuan Orang Asli (Jakoa), Datuk Mohd. Sani Mistam.

Menerusi Dasar Pemberimilikan dan Pembangunan Tanah Orang Asli, masyarakat Orang Asli berpeluang memiliki tanah yang akan dibangunkan oleh Jakoa mengikut konsep Felda dan Felcra.

Berdasarkan rekod Jakoa sehingga 31 Disember 2010, Orang Asli yang populasinya sekitar 150,000 orang cuma memiliki tanah seluas 1,424.31 hektar secara individu walaupun menduduki dan mengusahakan tanah seluas 145,379.67 hektar di negara ini.

Dalam perkembangan lain, Mohd. Shafie memberitahu, seramai lapan pelajar Orang Asli yang cemerlang akan dihantar melanjutkan pengajian ke luar negara pada tahun ini.

Katanya, setakat ini seorang sudah melanjutkan pelajaran ke Universiti of New South Wales, Australia melalui tajaan Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara) dan seorang lagi yang mendapat tajaan Jabatan Perkhidmatan Awam (JPA) sedang menunggu giliran untuk ke luar negara.

"Kita akan hantar enam lagi anak Orang Asli melanjutkan pengajian ke universiti di United Kingdom, Australia, Jepun dan New Zealand pada tahun ini. Mereka sedang mengikuti persediaan untuk ke luar negara," katanya.

Sementara itu, Mohd. Shafie berkata, setakat ini pihaknya belum menerima laporan kajian struktur tanah Kampung Sungai Ruil di Cameron Highlands yang terlibat dalam kejadian tanah runtuh dari Jabatan Mineral dan Geosains.

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More Than A Million Job Vacancies For Malaysians - Home Ministry

PUTRAJAYA, Aug 23 (Bernama) -- A total of 1,051,427 job vacancies have been listed by eight ministries and related to agencies to be filled by Malaysians before they are given…

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PUTRAJAYA, Aug 23 (Bernama) -- A total of 1,051,427 job vacancies have been listed by eight ministries and related to agencies to be filled by Malaysians before they are given to illegal immigrants who are given amnesty under the ministry's 6P programme.

Home Ministry deputy secretary-general Datuk Alwi Ibrahim said of the figure, the International Trade and Indutry Ministry had the most vacancies at 275,723 followed by the Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Ministry (237,700) and Domestic Trade, Cooperative and Consumerism Ministry (220,000).

As for others, the Construction Industry Development Board has 165,000 vacancies; Plantation Industries and Coomidities Ministry (140,000); Home Ministry (10,000); Tourism Ministry (2,041) and Transport Ministry (963).

"This statistics were made avaliable to the Home Ministry at a meeting to update the status on the 6P programme which was chaired by the Home Ministry secretary-general yesterday," he said in a statement here.

Alwi said most of the vacancies involved five sectors identified as the ones using the highest number of foreign workers which were manufacturing, production, plantation, agriculture and construction.

He said the vacancies would be advertised in several local dailies in stages beginning Thursday, and urged Malaysians particularly those who are still unemployed to grab the opportunities.

Alwi said the next stage of the 6P programme would be matching the needs of employers with the list of illegal workers registered under the programme for vacancies not taken up by Malaysians.

Meanwhile, he said the total number of legal workers and illegal immigrants registered stood at 2,210,235 as of 8.30am today, and of the number 1,215,004 were ilegals.

"The ministry reminds all illegal immigrants to register before the expiry of the extended deadline on Aug 31 after which the 6P programme will enter its whitening phase (legalising or providing amnesty).

"Besides this, the ministry also wishes to reiterate that illegal immigrants will not be arrested when registering under the 6P programme," he said.

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French woman in Malaysia 'killed for refusing sex'

A Malaysian man was charged Tuesday with the murder of a French tourist, a government prosecutor said, as a report quoted police saying the woman was killed after refusing his…

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A Malaysian man was charged Tuesday with the murder of a French tourist, a government prosecutor said, as a report quoted police saying the woman was killed after refusing his sexual advances.

Stephanie Foray, a 30-year-old civil servant, went missing in Malaysia in May and her remains were found earlier this month buried in a cave on the resort island of Tioman, off the east coast of peninsular Malaysia.

She and the suspect Asni Omar, a 36-year-old local businessman, had been drinking together on the island and she was later killed after refusing to have sex with him, the New Straits Times quoted police sources as saying.

Asni was charged with murder in a court in the town of Pekan, prosecutor Amalina Zainal Mokhtar told AFP, adding that he faced death by hanging if convicted.

He has not yet entered a plea, she said.

Asni earlier took investigators to a trash dumping site on Tioman to retrieve the murder weapon, a bottle, the New Straits Times said.

Amalina said she had no details on the alleged crime, while police declined to confirm specifics to AFP.
Foray had arrived in Malaysia on May 5 and went missing shortly after taking a ferry five days later to Tioman island.

She had left France last November on a holiday that took her to India and Sri Lanka before arriving in Malaysia.

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Sodomy II, Polis telah memotong beg Exhibit

Semen from Saiful’s anus cannot be used as evidence, says forensic expert

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 23 — Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s forensic expert said today that semen specimens taken from accuser Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan’s anus cannot be used as evidence in…

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KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 23 — Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s forensic expert said today that semen specimens taken from accuser Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan’s anus cannot be used as evidence in the sodomy trial as they had deteriorated and were only retrieved 56 hours after the alleged act.

Forensic pathologist Dr David Wells charged that the DNA samples taken from the semen found in Saiful’s anus were not likely to be “meaningful”, stressing that it was important to have immediately rushed the semen evidence for analysis as soon as possible.

“After a long delay, the sample won’t be pretty,” he told the court today.

The court was told earlier in the trial that DNA specimens from Saiful were obtained only 56 hours after the alleged act, when he went to Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL) for a medical examination on June 28, 2008 and subsequently lodged a police report against Anwar.

The court was informed back then that the DNA specimens were kept for a further 43 hours in a filing cabinet by investigating officer Supt Jude Pereira before they were handed over to government chemists for analysis.

The prosecution has insisted that it had obtained “good” DNA samples from Saiful, which they have linked to Anwar.

“If the specimen is more than 24 to 36 hours before it is extracted, it would be difficult to get any results.
“I would be exceedingly surprised. I have not been in a case where DNA taken from the anus or rectum was more than 24 to 36 hours after the deposit... If you add to it another lengthy period without air-drying (the sample), I would be sceptical to get any meaningful results,” Dr Wells said, casting doubt that the DNA evidence could be used against Anwar.

Anwar’s lawyer Sankara Nair told reporters later that Dr Well’s testimony had “demolished” the prosecution’s case as Saiful’s DNA samples were not suitable to be used as evidence in the trial.

“If you keep DNA specimens not in a freezer, especially organic specimens, or don’t air-dry them or don’t give space for ventilation, then within hours the DNA sample will turn mouldy and the DNA protein is destroyed by bacterial action,” he told reporters outside the court.

“If you count it is 90 hours (before analysis)... so you are going to get zero (results),” Sankara added.
Dr Wells criticised Pereira’s decision to cut open a sealed bag of DNA evidence in order to re-pack the various packages before handing them over to the government chemists for analysis, which he claimed affected the item’s chain of custody.

“I would be personally horrified if any specimen I took arrived at the lab in any other form.
“I’m not a police officer but I suspect he (Pereira) would be looking for a new job,”said Dr Wells, who is head of forensic medicine at the Victoria Institute of Forensic Medicine.

“The integrity of the specimen is absolutely crucial,” he added.

The trial will resume tomorrow morning with the prosecution’s cross-examination of Dr Wells.
Anwar is charged with sodomising former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan at a condominium in Bukit Damansara here between 3.10pm and 4.30pm on June 26, 2008.

He faces up to 20 years in jail if convicted under section 377B of the Penal Code, but will escape the whipping sentence due to his age.

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How to Turn Peanut Butter into Diamonds

Peanut butter is a favorite breakfast and snack for many Americans, and not only for them. The food paste, made primarily from ground roasted peanuts, with or without added oil,…

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Peanut butter is a favorite breakfast and snack for many Americans, and not only for them. The food paste, made primarily from ground roasted peanuts, with or without added oil, was first used by the Pre-Columbian peoples of Mexico, who used it as a base for various "moles", meaning sauces.

Now, a team of scientists presented the most recent and spectacular use of peanut butter ever. They have proven it's possible to turn the common peanut butter into the most expensive gems in the world, diamonds.

The formation of a natural diamond requires very specific conditions, like exposure of carbon-bearing materials to high pressure, ranging approximately between 45 and 60 kilobars, but a comparatively low temperature range between approximately 1600-2370F (900-1300C). These conditions are known to be met in two places on Earth: the litospheric mantle below relatively stable continental plates, and at the site of a meteorite impact.

Professor Malcolm McMahon, based at the Centre for Science and Extreme Conditions at Edinburgh University, said that his team of scientists can replicate these extreme conditions, by squeezing the peanut butter between the tips of two diamonds, thus producing a "stiletto heel effect".

"Obviously large gem-quality diamonds would be extremely expensive, so we are looking at ways to make them artificially," he said. "Many carbon containing materials can be converted into diamond including peanut butter."

He sustains that huge pressure is all that it takes to transform ordinary elements into new materials, thus proving that the century-old dream of the alchemists is really possible.

"Pressure can cause extraordinary changes in all kinds of materials and can create completely novel materials," the professor added. "We are currently developing techniques that will create pressures of up to five million atmospheres, much higher than the pressure at the center of the earth, to find the holy grail of high-pressure physics, the metallic phase of hydrogen."

Metallic hydrogen is obtained when hydrogen is compressed sufficiently to undergo a phase change. In it, the electrons are unbound and behave like the conduction electrons in a metal do. "If we manage to make metallic hydrogen, the next step will be to make enough to study it in real detail, which would mean using much larger diamond anvils, about the size of your thumb, to squeeze it."

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Butter: Jakim sticks by ‘non-halal’ stand

Despite regional authorities stating otherwise, Jakim maintains that the product cannot be consumed by Muslims.

PETALING JAYA: Regional Islamic authorities give the green light for “Pure Creamery Butter-Golden Churn” but…

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Despite regional authorities stating otherwise, Jakim maintains that the product cannot be consumed by Muslims.

PETALING JAYA: Regional Islamic authorities give the green light for “Pure Creamery Butter-Golden Churn” but the Islamic Development Department (Jakim) maintains that the product is non-halal.

Last week, Jakim confirmed that the Pure Creamery Butter-Golden Churn sold in Malaysia was non-halal as it contained porcine DNA. Jakim’s decision came after several months of uncertainty over the status of the product.

This announcement however contradicted religious authorities from Indonesia, Singapore and Brunei who approved the product.

Brunei’s Ministry of Religious Affairs, in a statement released two weeks ago, stated that after evaluating reports from the department of scientific services and Health Ministry which had analysed 17 samples from four districts, the results were negative for porcine DNA.

When FMT highlighted this to Jakim’s halal hub deputy director Hakimah Mohd Yusoff, she said the discrepancy might be due to differences in methodology.

“The differences may be because of different method testing or equipment or contamination at level handling. Maybe best if you check with the department of chemistry,” she said in text message.

She also conveyed that samples were taken from three states – Johor, Sarawak and Kuala Lumpur – where tests revealed that they were positive for porcine DNA.

She added that the tests were conducted at the Chemistry Department in Petaling Jaya but did not reveal the amount of samples gathered for testing.

She added that regardless of other regional religious authorities’ decision, Jakim stood firm with its decision that the product was not halal.

On July 19, the Sarawak Islamic Religious Department declared the product non-halal after it was found to contain porcine DNA. In May, the Johor Islamic Religious Department said it found contamination in the product.

Pure Creamery Butter-Golden Churn is one of the dairy products produced by Ballantyne Food Pty from New Zealand and Australia.

On its website, Ballantyne Food guaranteed Muslim consumers that all their products were in full compliance with regulatory guidelines as laid down by respective halal certifying bodies.

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Wan Azizah as alternative to Rosmah

PKR is moving full steam forward with its Demi Rakyat campaign and its president Dr Wan Azizah is being presented as a role model to Malaysian women.

PETALING JAYA: PKR…

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PKR is moving full steam forward with its Demi Rakyat campaign and its president Dr Wan Azizah is being presented as a role model to Malaysian women.

PETALING JAYA: PKR today unveiled its party president, Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, as an alternative role model to self-declared first lady, Rosmah Mansor.

PKR Wanita chief, Zuraida Kamaruddin, launched a six-part series of stories entitled “Cerita Kak Wan” as part of the opposition’s new campaign strategy ahead of the upcoming general election.

The stories chronicle the life and career path of a housewife who took on the role of parliamentary member and raised six children while her husband languished in prison.
Zuraida told a media conference today that the stories were meant to expose Malaysian women to an alternative and better role model than “the one we have right now”.

The first print run will consist of 35,000 copies which will be personally distributed by the PKR women’s wing nationwide.

“We will especially target women in the rural areas who don’t have access to stories on Wan Azizah and PKR,” Zuraida said.

“We want these women to know that Wan Azizah is an ordinary woman who has also faced a bittersweet life. That she isn’t like other women who can spend millions of ringgit on a ring, handbags and shoes.”

This was a thinly veiled dig at Rosmah who recently made headlines for allegedly purchasing a RM72 million diamond ring from luxury jeweller, Jacob & Co. Rosmah and husband Najib Tun Razak both denied the allegation.

Zuraida however clarified that the Kak Wan stories were not intended to counter Rosmah’s image but to divert attention away from her.

“Lately there have been lots of debates and discussions revolving around Wan Azizah and Rosmah,” she said. “But there is a vast contrast between the two and we want Malaysian women to know that.”

Election strategy

The Ampang MP added that the stories and exclusive interviews can also be downloaded on Wan Azizah’s personal website.

“Cerita Kak Wan’ is just the tip of PKR’s new election campaign strategy which party communications director, Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, said is aimed at changing the manner of electioneering.

The campaign, dubbed “Demi Raykat” will reach out to voters through fewer ceramahs and more internative video presentations.

Two DVDs have already been screened as part of the trial run which Nik Nazmi deemed a success. The DVDs’ contents cover a wide range of national issues including the rising price of essential goods and police violence.

“We have always been at a disadvantage compared to BN as they have access to national TV and we only had ceramahs,” he said. “But now our online videos have been viewed by over ten thousand people.”

PKR strategic director, Rafizi Ramli, stated that PKR is now leading in national issues which has put BN on the defensive.

“Our central theme is to have a contrasting message to that of BN,” he said. “And we’re confident that once we get this message across the people will subscribe to it.”

Each PKR branch now has a Demi Rakyat director and is required to have a big screen and projector to run the DVDs.

According to Zuraida, BN and Umno with their outdated tactics are now having a hard time catcing up to PKR.

“We are ready for the general election no matter when it is held,” she said. “Our young leaders are taking the party forward and we will keep BN and Umno breathless.”

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’43-hour-old DNA samples not pretty’

The Australian forensic expert says the samples would have degraded.

KUALA LUMPUR: An Australian forensic expert, the third defence witness in the Anwar Ibrahim Sodomy II trial, drilled holes into…

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The Australian forensic expert says the samples would have degraded.

KUALA LUMPUR: An Australian forensic expert, the third defence witness in the Anwar Ibrahim Sodomy II trial, drilled holes into the prosecution’s case today when he pointed out several weaknesses in the way the local authorities conducted themselves in gathering evidence in the sodomy case.

Dr David Lawrence Noel Wells, the head of forensic medicine at the Victoria Institute of Medicine, said it was more than likely that DNA samples – which were extracted from complainant Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan’s anus after 56 hours, and later kept in a drawer for 43 hours – would have degraded.

“Is sending a swab for testing 43 hours after the swab was taken acceptable?” asked Anwar’s lawyer Sankara Nair, to which Wells replied: “It certainly wouldn’t be pretty.”

“There would be large amounts of bacteria. A warm moist environment will damage the protein in the DNA. If you freeze these samples, then probably you are safe… at room temperature it would start to degrade,” the associate professor at Monash University told the High Court here.

Wells said the integrity of DNA specimen is “absolutely crucial”, adding that he would be horrified if his samples were tampered with.

He said contamination is real as there is always the risk of other DNA being present if one is not careful.
He also cautioned the use of DNA as evidence, warning of the uncontrollable elements (present), including environments, human error and even the “dark side” of a deliberate attempt to contaminate.

Asked if DNA can be extracted if kept in a rectum for 56 hours, Wells said: “If the specimen is more than 24 to 36 hours old before it is extracted, it would be difficult to get any results. I have never seen a case where DNA taken from the anus or rectum was more than 24 to 36 hours old (after the semen) was deposited (into the anus).

“If there is another lengthy period without air drying, I would be sceptical (if you can) get any meaningful results.”

Medical report deficient

Asked about how investigating officer Supt Judy Blacious Pereira kept the DNA samples in a metal cabinet instead of a freezer, Wells said: “Well, I am not a police officer but I suspect I would be
looking for a new job (if I were him).”

He also said that he has never come across a case where semen was being extracted from a victim’s body 56 hours after an alleged assault.

Wells also pointed out that there were several areas in the medical report prepared by Kuala Lumpur Hospital doctors Dr Mohd Razali Ibrahim, Dr Siew Sheue Feng and Dr Khairul Nizam Hassan which he termed “deficient”.

All three doctors had examined Saiful on June 28, 2008, when he first complained of the sodomy.
Wells, a specialist who has handled some 1,000 sexual cases and has frequently given evidence in Australian and UK courts for 25 to 26 years, said: “I was a little disappointed… I didn’t get a sense of confidence that the author or authors knew what they were exactly about.”

“The (medical) report is significantly deficient,” he said.

Wells said that he would not have chosen to have used ambiguous words to conclude that (there were) “no conclusive findings suggestive of penetration to the anus/rectum nor any significant defensive wounds on the body of the patient”.

“The report should have just read ‘no clinical findings’. The word ‘no conclusive’ leaves a doubt as to whether there was penetration,” he said.

He added that, aside from the conclusion, the rest of the results of the report clearly showed that there was no form of penetration.

Crucial gaps

Wells said that the report also contained comments that were not significant.

“It is ambiguous, not accurate. What comes to mind is perhaps clumsiness. Is it biased? Is it reflective of inexperience? I am not sure what to make of it. It is inaccurate… and could (potentially) be devastating,” he said.

Wells also pointed out contradictions between Saiful’s proforma report and the medical examination report – the former stated there was bleeding in the anus, whereas the latter showed otherwise.

He also said that the proforma form was not filled in properly. “It must be filled in to show the examination was done accordingly. I am puzzled by the crucial gaps,” he said.

Speaking to reporters outside the courtroom, Sankara said the testimony today proved that it was impossible that DNA samples taken from Anwar could be used against him.

“So case closed lah, what else are we talking about?” added Anwar.

Yesterday, Anwar denied the charge of sodomy against him, saying that he never had any sexual relations with Saiful. Giving evidence from the dock, he called Saiful’s allegation a “blatant and vicious lie” and a “vile and despicable attempt at character assassination”.

On May 16, High Court judge Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah ordered Anwar to enter his defence after ruling that the prosecution had established a prima facie case against the latter.

He ruled that Saiful was a “credible” and “truthful” witness whose testimony was corroborated by the evidence of expert witnesses, including doctors and chemists.

The trial resumes tomorrow. Another Australian DNA specialist Dr Brian Mc Donald is expected to
take the stand.

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Anwar Assails Malaysian Officials, Court

By JAMES HOOKWAY

Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim smiled as he arrived at the courthouse for his trial on sodomy charges in Kuala Lumpur on Monday. Mr. Anwar is fighting…

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By JAMES HOOKWAY

Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim smiled as he arrived at the courthouse for his trial on sodomy charges in Kuala Lumpur on Monday. Mr. Anwar is fighting the charges.

Quoting liberally from Shakespeare, Nelson Mandela and the Quran from the dock, Mr. Anwar read for an hour from a prepared text, saying his political rivals cooked up charges that he violated Malaysia's sodomy laws by having sex with a former male aide three years ago.

"It is a vile and desperate attempt at character assassination," Mr. Anwar said. "They can do all they want to assassinate and sully my character and threaten me with another 20 years in jail, but mark my words: They won't be able to cow me into submission."

Mr. Najib and judicial officials didn't respond to messages seeking comment Monday. Mr. Najib previously has denied any involvement in the case against Mr. Anwar, saying the charges against the 64-year-old opposition leader were filed independently by his former aide, 26-year-old Saiful Bukhari Azlan. People familiar with the government's thinking also say Mr. Najib is concerned that the international community doesn't appreciate that Malaysia's judiciary has become more independent in recent years and the government sometimes loses cases.

In a telephone interview with The Wall Street Journal prior to Monday's court proceedings, Mr. Anwar said he was dismayed at how debate over how to modernize this multiethnic country and make its economy more competitive internationally had degenerated into a series of sex allegations. Besides the sodomy trial, some of Mr. Anwar's political opponents also suggested he was featured in a grainy video clip released on the Internet hugging a woman who his opponents claimed is a prostitute. Mr. Anwar and his family have denied he is the man pictured in the film.

"It's really very telling how low they are willing to go," Mr. Anwar said, without specifying who he was referring to.

Mr. Anwar was arrested and charged with sodomy in 2008, a few months after his three-party opposition alliance won control of several key states in hotly contested elections and broke the ruling National Front's customary two-thirds hold on Parliament.

Mr. Najib, the 58-year-old aristocratic son of Malaysia's second prime minister, became the country's leader in 2009 and set about trying to reassert the National Front's dominance. The coalition built around Mr. Najib's United Malays National Organization party has controlled Malaysia since independence from Britain in 1957. To attract voters from ethnic minorities, he began rolling back Malaysia's extensive system of race-based affirmative action policies that are designed to give an economic leg-up to the less prosperous majority Muslim Malay population by offering, among other things, subsidized loans and quotas at top universities. Mr. Najib also opened the way to more foreign investment in the financial sector and other businesses.

Although Mr. Najib doesn't have to call elections until 2013, many analysts say they expect him to call early polls if it provides him with an advantage.

The multiethnic opposition continues to command considerable support, however, and Mr. Najib last week pledged to consider ways to change the country's election laws in response to a massive demonstration of more than 20,000 people on the streets of Kuala Lumpur in July. That protest march, which included Mr. Anwar, himself a Muslim Malay, was forcibly broken up by police equipped with water cannons and tear gas.

In his speech Monday—which Mr. Anwar read from the dock instead of from the witness stand in order to avoid cross-examination from prosecutors—the opposition leader accused the judge of allowing DNA evidence that Mr. Anwar's camp alleges is contaminated to be admitted.

Mr. Anwar also said his accuser, Mr. Saiful, was being manipulated by rival politicians. Mr. Saiful couldn't be reached for comment.
This isn't the first time Mr. Anwar, a former deputy prime minister, has accused Malaysia's powerful leaders of manufacturing sex allegations to silence him. In 1998 he was charged with sodomizing two male aides and later convicted after challenging former leader Mahathir Mohamad. That conviction was overturned in 2004 and Mr. Anwar was freed after spending six years in prison. Mr. Mahathir denies fabricating a case against Mr. Anwar.

This time, Mr. Anwar said he expects the court to press for a conviction as quickly as possible. "They want to wrap things up quickly," he told the Journal.

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Did Malaysia's Anwar Say too Much?

Najib and Rosmah: Was this their idea?

He says accuser acknowledged readying himself for sex
Deep into Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim’s hour-long attack Monday on the Malaysian court that is…

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Najib and Rosmah: Was this their idea?

He says accuser acknowledged readying himself for sex
Deep into Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim’s hour-long attack Monday on the Malaysian court that is trying him for sodomy, a sentence appeared that seems extremely awkward for both prosecution and defense.

Anwar was brought up on the charges by his accuser, former aide Mohamad Saiful Bukhairy Azlan, in July of 2008, five months after the opposition Pakatan Rakyat coalition that he heads scored a historic victory in national elections, for the first time breaking the Barisan Nasional’s historic 50-year two-thirds majority in Parliament. It is the second time he has been in the dock on sodomy charges. The first was in 1998, when he was convicted in a trial that has been widely condemned as engineered to end his threat as an opposition leader. He served six years before he was pardoned on the sexual perversion charges.

Anwar said in his prepared statement that after Saiful went to Anwar’s condo in an exclusive area of Kuala Lumpur, he admitted that “he had brought along lubricant and had himself voluntarily and without hesitation applied it” to get ready to go ahead with the sexual act.

That sentence would tend to invalidate any assumption that the then-60-year-old Anwar suddenly forced himself on the 24-year-old aide. If, as Anwar says, Saiful brought the lubricant with him, it would certainly indicate that Saiful knew what he was getting into when he went to Anwar’s condo that night.

This in turn is hardly helpful for Anwar, who is on trial for his political life in the High Court in Kuala Lumpur over the allegations, because Saiful’s statement has the ring of truth to it. If you are going to make up a story about being forced into a sex act, you would hardly acknowledge that you voluntarily lubricated your own anus.

Saiful’s defense is that he was afraid of what Anwar might do to him if he didn’t submit. Anwar supposedly had the power to hire people do damage to him if he refused.

But that hardly seems realistic. Saiful has also admitted in court that in the days prior to the alleged rape, he met with then-Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, Najib’s wife Rosmah Mansor, and Rosmah’s close friend, former top athlete Mumtaz Jaafar, the executive chairperson of the National Athlete Welfare Foundation, an organization to which Rosmah is the patroness.

Saiful also acknowledged meeting with Rodwan Mohd Yusof, who was the investigating officer in Anwar’s discredited first trial for sodomy in 1998 and was accused of fabricating the evidence that put Anwar in prison for six years. He also met with Khairil Anas Jusof, an aide to Najib, and spoke on the telephone with Musa Hassan, now the head of the Malaysian police who led the investigating team in the first sodomy case.

How was a former student whom Anwar described in his statement as “just a university dropout working part time helping out my chief of staff,” able to gain access to Najib, his staff members, his wife, one of the country’s former top athletes and other officials if he didn’t have anything important to talk about?

It is hard to believe that after meeting with several of Malaysia’s top law enforcement and government figures before his journey back to Anwar’s condo – some with every intention to drive Anwar out of politics and back to jail – Saiful wouldn’t feel protected against everything Anwar could throw at him in the way of violence or threats, especially if he told the police he was in danger of being sodomized.

If he didn’t tell them he was in danger, why didn’t he? If he did tell them, why didn’t the police then instruct him to stay away from the condo for his own sexual safety, since he was engaged to be married?

It is not so hard to believe they would have sent him back to the condo with instructions to get Anwar to do something that would be actionable in court. Did they?

In his statement, Anwar said that Najib, Rosmah, Musa Hassan and Rodhwan have said they were not prepared to be interviewed over their alleged role in the affair. The defense, he said, must now resort to having subpoenas issued for their presence. It remains to be seen if they will be questioned. But that single sentence about Saiful and the lubricant certainly raises some questions that seem necessary to answer.

A US diplomatic cable on the WikiLeaks website that was published in Asia Sentinel on Jan. 20, 2011, related that “Singapore's intelligence services and Lee Kuan Yew have told the Australian Office of National Assessments (ONA) that opposition leader Anwar ‘did indeed commit the acts for which he is currently indicted,’ citing unshared technical intelligence. ONA assessed, and their Singapore counterparts concurred, ‘it was a set up job -- and he probably knew that, but walked into it anyway.’"

It is hard not to come to the same conclusion.

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More Than A Million Job Vacancies For Malaysians - Home Ministry

PUTRAJAYA, Aug 23 (Bernama) -- A total of 1,051,427 job vacancies have been listed by eight ministries and related to agencies to be filled by Malaysians before they are given…

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PUTRAJAYA, Aug 23 (Bernama) -- A total of 1,051,427 job vacancies have been listed by eight ministries and related to agencies to be filled by Malaysians before they are given to illegal immigrants who are given amnesty under the ministry's 6P programme.

Home Ministry deputy secretary-general Datuk Alwi Ibrahim said of the figure, the International Trade and Indutry Ministry had the most vacancies at 275,723 followed by the Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Ministry (237,700) and Domestic Trade, Cooperative and Consumerism Ministry (220,000).

As for others, the Construction Industry Development Board has 165,000 vacancies; Plantation Industries and Coomidities Ministry (140,000); Home Ministry (10,000); Tourism Ministry (2,041) and Transport Ministry (963).

"This statistics were made avaliable to the Home Ministry at a meeting to update the status on the 6P programme which was chaired by the Home Ministry secretary-general yesterday," he said in a statement here.

Alwi said most of the vacancies involved five sectors identified as the ones using the highest number of foreign workers which were manufacturing, production, plantation, agriculture and construction.

He said the vacancies would be advertised in several local dailies in stages beginning Thursday, and urged Malaysians particularly those who are still unemployed to grab the opportunities.

Alwi said the next stage of the 6P programme would be matching the needs of employers with the list of illegal workers registered under the programme for vacancies not taken up by Malaysians.

Meanwhile, he said the total number of legal workers and illegal immigrants registered stood at 2,210,235 as of 8.30am today, and of the number 1,215,004 were ilegals.

"The ministry reminds all illegal immigrants to register before the expiry of the extended deadline on Aug 31 after which the 6P programme will enter its whitening phase (legalising or providing amnesty).

"Besides this, the ministry also wishes to reiterate that illegal immigrants will not be arrested when registering under the 6P programme," he said.

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Muslihat di sebalik permohonan maaf Kompas (Malaysiakini)

Ahad lalu, harian terkenal Indonesia Kompas memohon maaf kepada Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak berhubung laporan yang diterbitkan mengenai dirinya dan isterinya, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor.

Namun, permohonan…

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Ahad lalu, harian terkenal Indonesia Kompas memohon maaf kepada Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak berhubung laporan yang diterbitkan mengenai dirinya dan isterinya, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor.

Namun, permohonan maaf itu didapati hanya diselitkan dalam satu wawancara dengan Najib. Malaysiakini juga difahamkan bahawa ia juga dilakukan pada saat-saat terakhir oleh pengurusan tertinggi Kompas.

Artikel pedas, yang menjadi kontroversi itu bertajuk 'Istri PM Najib dan Cincin 24 Juta Dollar'. Ia disiarkan pada isu Kompas 4 Ogos lalu tetapi dengan mudahnya boleh dilayari di versi Internet di Malaysia.

Antara lain, artikel itu mengaitkan Rosmah dengan pembelian kontroversi sebentuk cincin bernilai RM24 juta, dan mendakwa bakal besan Rosmah, Maira Nazarbayev, mempunyai hubungan dengan "mafia Rusia".

Maira Nazarbayev dari Kazakhstan adalah ibu kepada Daniyar Nazarbayev yang telah bertunang dengan Nooryana Najwa, anak gadis Najib dan Rosmah.

Kompas juga dalam laporannya itu menyifatkan Rosmah sebagai menjalani "kehidupan yang penuh kontroversi", dan mengaitkannya dengan Perimekar, syarikat yang dikatakan telah menerima komisen jutaan ringgit berikutan penjualan kapal selam Scorpene.

Menurut penulis, perjanjian yang mencurigakan itu antara faktor yang membawa kepada pembunuhan wanita warga Mongolia Altantuya Shaariibuu pada tahun 2006.

Menyedari artikel berkenaan mampu memberi kesan dan menjejaskan reputasi Najib, dua penasihat perhubungan awam tidak rasmi Najib - seorang daripada mereka dikaitkan dengan konglomerat Indonesia - bertindak segera mententeramkan keadaan - dengan meminta Kompas memohon maaf.

Menurut sumber Malaysiakini, permohonan maaf yang dituntut oleh Pejabat Perdana Menteri (PMO) pada mulanya ditolak oleh editor Kompas yang bertegas mempertahankan artikel mereka, khususnya berhubung dakwaan kegiatan kongsi gelap Maira, yang juga boleh dilayari secara meluas di Internet.

Dua penasihat itu kemudiannya mengancam mengugut Kompas dengan tindakan undang-undang, tetapi ini juga gagal untuk menundukkan akhbar Indonesia yang berpengaruh itu.

Kompas, bagaimanapun bersetuju membuka ruang kepada Najib untuk menjawap dan menangkis segala tuduhan dengan menghantar editor antarabangsa, Jimmy Harianto bagi menemubual Najib di Putrajaya pada Khamis lalu.

Bagiamanapun pada Ahad lalu, agensi berita nasional Bernama mengesahkan bahawa Kompas telah meminta maaf kepada Najib.

Setakat ini, mengapa Kompas membuat pusingan U pada saat-saat terakhir belum jelas tetapi menurut sumber, keputusan berkenaan telah dibuat dalam keadaan "situasi luar biasa".

Namun, akhbar itu jelas tidak membuat permohonan maaf secara penuh - ia boleh diibaratkan sebagai 'permohonan maaf separuh'.

Malah, permohonan maaf itu diselitkan pada perenggan 10 di halaman 10 akhbar itu dalam laporan yang bertajuk 'PM Najib Razak: Demokrasi Juga Terjadi di Malaysia'.

Artikel wawancara dengan Najib itu memetik perdana menteri Malaysia itu menafikan dakwaan dalam artikel Kompas sebelum ini dan diikuti dengan permohonan maaf satu ayat yang berbunyi: “Atas pemberitaan tersebut, Pemimpin Redaksi Kompas Rikard Bagun, Sabtu (20 Ogos) di Jakarta, secara khusus menyatakan permintaan maafnya kepada Ketua Kerajaan dan Keluarga."

Selain menerbitkan penafian Najib, akhbar itu juga tidak menyatakan bahawa dakwaan dalam artikelnya itu adalah tidak benar. Malah Kompas juga tidak menarik semula balik artikel, yang didakwa menghina Najib dan isterinya itu.

Namun, di Malaysia, media arus perdana mencanang-canangkan permohonan maaf itu dan menyiarkannya di halaman utama mereka.

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Sodomy II updates

A couple of interesting updates this afternoon from the Sodomy II trial.
Courtesy of Malaysian Insider:
… Dr David Wells reads out excerpt of report.
Wells says in his…

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A couple of interesting updates this afternoon from the Sodomy II trial.
Courtesy of Malaysian Insider:
… Dr David Wells reads out excerpt of report.
Wells says in his experience he has never heard of semen being extracted 56 hours later from a victim’s body…
Sankara: If semen in rectum 56 hours before extracted, can DNA be retrieved?
Wells: If more than 24-36 hours before extracted, would be difficult to get any results. I’d be surprised.
Wells: I must admit aspects of proforma etc does not leave me with a lot of confidence those involved knew what they were doing.
Who is David Wells? From thomsonreuters.com.au

David Wells is head of Clinical Forensic Medicine at the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine and Honorary Associate Professor in the Department of Forensic Medicine at Monash University.
He is an Examiner in Medical Jurisprudence for the Society of Apothecaries of London, Board Member of the Australian Drug Foundation, Member of the Advisory Panel – National
Institute of Forensic Science and Member of the International Editorial Board of the Journal of
Clinical Forensic Medicine.
His professional interests cover the full span of clinical forensic medicine but current activities are centred on non-accidental injury of children, sexual assault, injury interpretation and medical education. He is coordinator of the Monash University postgraduate program in forensic medicine.
His recent work has been with the World Health Organisation in Geneva, assisting in the establishment of medico-legal services for victims of sexual violence in developing countries.

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