Bantuan kepada keluarga mangsa keutamaan AirAsia

Husam tak mahu tahu peruntukan ratus juta untuk mangsa banjir

IS supporters seeking suggestions of bizarre ways to kill captured Jordanian pilot

Islamic State supporters have set up a hashtag to invite suggestions on how to kill the captured Jordanian pilot.

ISIS supporters are having the morbid debate predominantly on Twitter, using the hashtag "Suggest a Way to Kill the Jordanian Pilot Pig," vocativ.com reported.

The ideas include decapitating Moath al-Kassassbeh, burning him alive and even running him over with a bulldozer.

The hashtag has reportedly been retweeted more than 1,000 times.

Lieutenant Moaz al-Kasaesbeh was captured when his jet crashed in north-eastern Syria during a bombing mission on Wednesday.

IS militants have not said anything as yet regarding the fate of the Jordanian pilot.

It is still unclear as to what caused the plan to crash near the IS stronghold of Raqqa. (ANI)

http://www.bignewsnetwork.com/index.php/sid/228930151

Accused terrorist told comrade suicide bombings against innocent civilians were a 'forgivable sin' — just like masturbation

• Ali Yasin Ahmed will stand trial in federal court in New York City
• Allegedly joined Somalia terror group al-Shabaab and recruited members
• Told his colleague not to worry about suicide bombing as a sin
• An alleged terrorist facing trial in New York City justified killing innocent people in suicide bomb attacks as a 'forgivable sin comparable to masturbation', court papers show.

Ali Yasin Ahmed made the twisted claim during conversations in 2008 intercepted by federal authorities as they put him and co-defendants Mahdi Hashi and Mohammed Yusuf under surveillance.

All three are to stand trial in Brooklyn charged with providing financial and material support to Somalian based militant group al-Shabaab, which has merged with al-Qaeda.

The recorded messages were presented to the federal court and reveal Yusuf expressing his doubts to Ahmed about traveling to Somalia in November, 2008, because he was frightened of becoming a suicide bomber in the war-torn nation.

Ahmed though calms his would-be terror colleague's fears by telling him that in his interpretation of Islam, suicide bombing attacks on civilians were easily justified.

'Ahmed minimized the significance of suicide bombings against civilian targets and suggested that if such attacks were in fact a sin, they were an immaterial, forgivable sin comparable to masturbation,' wrote Assistant U.S. Attorneys Shreve Ariail, Seth DuCharme and Richard Tucker in court papers submitted last week.

The three al-Shabaab members were commanded from the United States by Arabi-American Jehad Mostafa, who lived in San Diego and was on the FBI's most wanted list.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2890096/Accused-terrorist-told-comrade-suicide-bombings-against-innocent-civilians-forgivable-sin-just-like-masturbation.html

Indonesian VP says object in sea not from flight QZ8501

An object spotted during a sea search for an AirAsia plane was not from the aircraft, Indonesian vice-president Jusuf Kalla said today after reports that an Australian surveillance aircraft had found something.

"It has been checked and no sufficient evidence was found to confirm what was reported," Kalla told a press conference at the Juanda International Airport in Surabaya from where the ill-fated plane departed.

Australia, Singapore and Malaysia have deployed military planes and ships to assist in the Indonesian search for flight QZ8501, which disappeared over the Java Sea yesterday en route to Singapore.

Kalla said there were 15 ships and 30 aircraft searching the area.

"It is not an easy operation in the sea, especially in bad weather like this," he said.

Indonesian Air Force spokesman Hadi Tjahjanto told AFP the search was now focused on a patch of oil spotted off Belitung island in the Java Sea. – AFP, December 29, 2014.

- See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/indonesian-vp-says-object-in-sea-not-from-flight-qz8501#sthash.IrQM7s9n.dpuf

A-G should explain why emergency not declared during floods, says law expert - See more at: http://www.th

The country’s top lawyer must explain why Putrajaya is reluctant to declare a state of emergency in areas affected by the current devastating floods, constitutional law expert Abdul Aziz Bari said.

"The Attorney-General (Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail) should come out to explain the issue," he added.

Aziz said the legal provision on emergency in Malaysia was different from that of the United Kingdom or the United States.

In the US, he said it was implied that the executive authority was in the hands of the President while in the UK it was contained in an ordinary legislation.

"In Malaysia, the power to declare a state of emergency is in the Federal Constitution and in the hands of the Yang diPertuan Agong, who normally acts on advice from the Cabinet," Aziz said in a statement.

He said this in response to federal opposition parties, DAP and PAS, which had criticised Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak for his failure to declare a state of emergency, especially in Kelantan.

The Universiti Selangor academic said PAS Youth's legal committee had also cited a standard operating procedure (SOP) issued by the National Security Council (NSC) in the event of such disasters.

"But the NSC is just a government agency and the SOP is not even a law, let alone able to take precedence over the Constitution," he added.

Aziz said PAS claimed that the state of emergency that it talked about was not the one under Article 150 of the Federal Constitution.

"Now, who has the authority to say that? How many types of 'state of emergency' are there in Malaysia?" he asked.

PAS Youth legal committee also claimed that the declaration of a state of emergency was crucial in order to allow the use of military assets.

"I think they are wrong. All those assets, including helicopters and ships are all under the control of the government," he said.

On Saturday, Najib had said floods submerged much of Kelantan but insisted that there was no necessity to declare a state of emergency in the northeastern state as insurance companies would be absolved from paying compensation.

"If the government announces an emergency, the implications that will arise include the insurance companies being absolved from paying compensation... and compensation arising from damages to property and vehicles is enormous," he had said.

Aziz said he felt that the government had some good reasons for not declaring a state of emergency as it would not have improved anything.

"Emergency declaration will not stop the rain or will help us with more food or boats," he added.

He said todate, a state of emergency has only been declared once, that is, during the severe haze problem in Sarawak in 1998 but it was not done by the King.– December 29, 2014.

- See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/a-g-should-explain-why-emergency-not-declared-during-floods-says-law-expert#sthash.AQor5wTs.dpuf

Kelantan, for first time, shows some improvement

 

FLOODS LIVE BLOG Malaysiakini brings the latest updates on the flood situation as they happen.

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Latest developments

• Malaysiakini observes serious food shortage in Kelantan
   
• School opening for 2015 delayed a week
   
• Ahmad Shabery Cheek says not all mobiles affected
   
• The water on Sungai Pahang has reached dangerous level in three areas
   
• Top civil servants recalled from leave to assist in relief efforts

Slight drop in evacuees as water recedes

7.31pm: There is slight improvement in the overall flood crisis as the number of displaced people fell slightly from 224,980 this afternoon to 222,365 this evening.

The number of evacuees has been on a decline, albeit very slowly, since this morning when there were 225,730 people housed at hundreds of relief centres in several states.

Kelantan, for the first time, shows some improvement. Conditions also improved in Johor, Perak and Terengganu.

Pahang is the only state which number of evacuees increase while the small number of people displaced by floods in Selangor have returned home.

The following is the latest number of displaced people as of 5pm today compared to noon's figures (at 3pm).

Kelantan 147,072 (-4,000)
Terengganu 32,210 (-572)
Selangor 0 (-33)
Johor 175 (-153)
Perak 7,407 (-133)
Pahang 35,501 (+2,276)

PM: Don't accept false news on social media

7.05pm: Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak urges regulators to go after those who spread false news about the ongoing flood crisis.

"I hope the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission will trace those spreading false information and take action against them,” he is quoted as saying by Bernama.

Najib also urges the public to rely on official information provided by the government and not accept rumours circulated on social media.

Railway infrastructure damaged

6.40pm: KTM Berhad says that some delay is expected in restoring the train services in the east coast line because the damages to infrastructure.

According to a Bernama report, the floods have damaged basic infrastructures like tracks, bridges, platforms and railway stations between Gua Musang and Tumpat in Kelantan.

Meanwhile, the Singapore government would be contributing S$100,000 (RM264,359) to aid flood victims all over Malaysia.

The funds will be channelled through the Singapore Red Cross to the Malaysian Red Crescent Society to be distributed here.

Husam: Numbers not important

6.28pm: PAS vice-president Husam Musa, who has been surveying the flood situation in Kelantan, shrugs off the RM500 million allocation announced by the federal government to help flood victims.

Husam says the figures are unimportant at this stage and focus should be on what immediate actions are being taken to assist the flood victims.

“I don’t want to hear about hundreds of millions, I want to know if there will be school uniforms, whether there will be help to repair damaged houses and cars,” he says while visiting Kampung Kadok in Pasir Mas.

DAP wants RCI on floods

5.22pm: Gelang Patah MP Lim Kit Siang has urged a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) into the massive flooding in Malaysia, and that the government should learn from countries like South Korea and Japan so that the same incident won't happen again.

"This time, areas that have never experienced flooding before were also hit by the disaster.

"The water rose very fast and caught the authorities by surprise," he says during a press conference in Penang this evening.

He adds that such a situation should not have occurred in Malaysia, and the fact that it did, is a shame.

According to Lim, it shows the weaknesses in our country's disaster management system and standard operating procedure.

 http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/284782

DPM: School opening delayed a week

 

The Education Ministry today announced the postponement of the start of the 2015 school session for the whole country by one week because of the floods in several states.

Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said the new school session would begin on Jan 11 for Kedah, Kelantan, Terengganu and Johor on Jan 12 for the other states.

"The postponement is inevitable due to the use of several schools as flood evacuation centres and floods at several other schools.

"It will take time for the teachers, parents and schoolchildren affected by the floods to make the necessary preparations by the time the school session starts," he said in a statement.

The new school session for Kedah, Kelantan, Terengganu and Johor was originally scheduled to begin on Jan 4 and for the other states, on Jan 5.

"As Education Minister, I understand and am concerned about the difficulties faced in this situation by all parties including the schools' management, teachers, parents and students if the 2015 school session starts as scheduled,"
he said.

Muhyiddin said until yesterday, the Education Ministry found that 340 schools in seven states were affected by the floods, either they were turned into flood relief centres or were inundated by flood waters.

He also advised the schools' management that after the flood waters had subsided, they should use that time to organise gotong-royong to clean up the schools and compounds for the safety and comfort of the students.

Up to this morning, the number of flood victims in six states including Selangor has reached 225,731.

No replacement

Muhyiddin later also said the postponement of the start of the 2015 school session by a week does not require schools to replace these school days.

"There is no necessity to replace those days as the schooling period is sufficient. It is not a case of providing additional school holidays. We had to postpone the session due to a specific problem," he said.    
Muhyiddin spoke at a news conference after visiting two flood relief centres, at Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Durian Mentangau and SK Kampung Nyior, Dungun.    

Terengganu Menteri Besar Ahmad Razif Abdul Rahman, state secretary Mazlan Ngah and Terengganu National Security Council acting secretary Roslina Ngah were also present at the news conference.  

- Bernama

Pilot’s daughter pines for papa

The young daughter of Captain Irianto, the pilot of the missing AirAsia plane posts a sad message begging her dad to come back to her.

FMT

PETALING JAYA: With search efforts of the missing Indonesia AirAsia flight QZ8501 already underway near Belitung Island, emotionally whipped family members and friends are struggling to come to terms with the loss of their loved ones on board that Sunday flight.

One such person was Angela, the daughter of Captain Irianto, the pilot on duty, who posted a piercingly sad appeal for her father to return home.

As reported by kompas.com, Angela posted the message on Path, a social networking site that read: “Papa pulang. Kakak masih butuh papa. Kembalikan papaku. Papa pulang pa, papa harus ketemu.” (Papa come back. I still need you. Return my papa to me. Papa come back, we have to meet.)”

Irianto, whose wife is a homemaker, has one other child besides Angela.

The pilot was well known for being experienced with 6,100 hours of flying time under his belt.

The actual cause of the plane losing contact with traffic control is as yet unknown as efforts are more focussed on searching for the wreckage.

Najib told to sack half of his ministers

The Federal Cabinet is as disastrous as the floods, says Umno critic.

FMT

KUALA LUMPUR: The Federal Cabinet has proven to be a disaster, a popular blogger and Umno critic has declared.

In his latest blog entry, Shahbudin Husin notes that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has had to order holidaying ministers to return immediately to take part in handling the crisis brought on by heavy flooding in the East Coast.

They should have been sensitive enough to cut short their overseas vacation at the first sign of a crisis and without having to be told, he says.

“That they need to be summoned back like ducks that have forgotten their nests is as much a disaster as the floods and the loss of flights MH370 and MH17,” he writes.

He says the ministers, some of whom he names, apparently do not care that Najib needs them not only to assist in managing the flood crisis, but also to help improve the battered image of his administration.

“Only by dismissing at least half of the ministers and replacing them with trustworthy new faces will it be even possible for Najib to bring back a little shine to himself, Umno and BN so that they can maintain their power,” he says.

“If he’s still reluctant to throw them out, he, together with these useless ministers, should prepare to pack up and go.”

He says it is disastrous that Malaysia is saddled with ministers who do not seem to understand that their primary task is to serve the people.

He notes that it was only on the second day of his return that Najib directed the ministers to cut short their holidays “in London, Australia, New Zealand, Dubai and China”. This was probably after he realised that only a handful of ministers were in the country, he adds.

Shahbudin says the errant ministers include those eyeing the Prime Minister’s position, such as Umno vice presidents Zahid Hamidi, Shafie Abdal and Hishammuddin Hussein.

“Similarly,” he adds, “Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin, who is considered by some to be the second echelon candidate for the Prime Minister’s position, has also disappeared without a trace to the extent that posters proclaiming his absence are strewn across social media.”

He says there are only a handful of ministers in the country and it’s the same faces who are struggling to help flood victims in the various states.

Seven planes in the air with Air Asia Indonesia QZ8501

Two other planes were flying at the same level as Air Asia Indonesia QZ8501.

FMT

KUALA LUMPUR: Wisnu Darjono, the director of safety and standards of Air Navigation of Indonesia, was reported as saying in detik.com, that the missing AirAsia Indonesia plane QZ8501 was not alone in the sky before it requested an unusual change in route.

“There were seven other planes near QZ8501.”

Uni Emirates Arab 406, AirAsia 502, and AirAsia 550, three of the other planes, were flying at the same level as AirAsia Indonesia QZ8501, said Wisnu.

Lack of leadership in dealing with floods

By Jeswan Kaur

GOING BY Putrajaya’s scramble to deal with the seasonal floods assailing the country, a quote from Abraham Lincoln comes to mind – “nearly all men can stand adversity but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power”.

For Malaysia, the true test of its leaders’ character has been revealed one too many a times and that too in the most unflattering of ways.

The classic case in point was Putrajaya’s fumbling over the March 8, 2014 disappearance of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 which exposed the government’s weaknesses the world over.

However, the embarrassment that Putrajaya brought upon Malaysia with its apathy vis-à-vis the missing MH370 flight has not taught the government the much needed lesson in “thinking before speaking”.

Now, as the country battles the never-like-before floods, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has proved that old habits just refuse to die. When reacting to pressure to declare a state of emergency to deal with the floods, he said Putrajaya would only do so when power and water supplies were completely cut off and flood victims numbered “hundreds of thousands”.

So once again Putrajaya’s character leaves much to be desired.

From the callous remark by Muhyiddin to the fact that he was forced to turun padang or get his feet dirty and look at the flood situation in Kelantan – the worst-hit state – only after much flak from DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang, the handling of the flood problem by Putrajaya has been a let-down.

More than 160,000 Malaysians, so far, have been displaced by floods in nine states, the highest in the nation’s history.

Najib deserted the rakyat for leisure

As for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak who left Malaysians to their own devices to deal with the ravaging floods, he finally got the message when netizens lampooned him for opting to go off on his golfing holiday in Hawaii and deserting the rakyat at a time of crisis.

Najib wisely decided to cut short his break and return to a very wet Malaysian soil. He has also since ordered all his cabinet ministers to return home from their various jaunts to handle the flood situation.

Still, the lethargic attitude displayed by both the premier and his deputy in addressing the flood problem speaks volumes about Putrajaya’s ill-preparedness in dealing with such disasters, despite floods not being uncommon in Malaysia.

When International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed spent 10 hours by boat to travel to Kuala Krai, an area deeply affected by the floods, it was then that he admitted to weaknesses in managing and rescuing flood victims in Kelantan.

Why has it only now dawned on Mustapa, who is also the MP for Jeli, that there are shortcomings that need to be addressed? Was he not aware of it in the many years he has been the parliamentary representative for Jeli and whenever Kelantan was inundated by floods?

Mustapa described this year’s floods as “big” to Astro Awani and said this resulted in the government’s weakness in coordinating aid.

How ironic that in times of adversity many an unpleasant truth surfaces. But then no excuse can compensate for Putrajaya’s lackadaisical attitude in reacting to the floods problems in the country.

While Najib got excited teeing away with US President Barack Obama in Hawaii, back home the National Security Council (NSC) failed to rise to the occasion by showing no sense of urgency in tackling the worsening floods.

Get rid of archaic thinking

To DAP’s Lim, Putrajaya’s frustratingly slow reaction to the flood conditions especially in the worse hit East Coast was unacceptable.

In a statement, Lim lashed out at Putrajaya saying “Surely Muhyiddin, the Cabinet and the NSC are not expecting for fatalities to pile up to tens or hundreds accompanying the number of flood victims reaching the scale of hundreds of thousands before a state of emergency as a result of a flood disaster is declared!”

Lim went on to show proof that other countries were fast to react and had in place centralised flood-relief operations before the tragedies got out of hand, much unlike what was happening in Malaysia.

The MP for Gelang Patah cited the Nov 28 flooding along the Gaza Strip that affected hundreds; the flooding on Dec 24 in Central Java, West Java and Aceh where 6,000 people were evacuated; the flooding in Vancouver on De 9 caused by a sub-tropical storm and the Dec 16 floods in the Bay Area of San Francisco.

Explaining that the governments of these countries did not wait for “hundreds of thousands of flood victims before an emergency was declared”, Lim said: “There is an urgent need for the immediate review of such outmoded, archaic and obsolete rules” such as was put forth by Muhyiddin.

Putrajaya and NSC need to buck up

DAP lawmaker Tony Pua urged the NSC to demonstrate leadership to tackle the worst floods in Malaysia's history.

In a statement, he said: “There has been almost no demonstration of urgency from the NSC. All we have heard two days ago was NSC secretary Datuk Mohamed Thajudeen Abdul Wahab warning people against spreading rumours regarding the flood situation.

“Thajudeen was only interested in the formalities of the process of calling for a state of emergency by claiming that it could only be declared by Najib.

“Worse, instead of informing the public what are the proactive and concrete efforts Putrajaya will undertake to manage the disaster, he was more concerned with going after those responsible for starting the rumours once the flood in the east coast had abated.”

Lim and Pua are not the only ones frustrated with Putrajaya’s nonchalant attitude towards the critical flood situation. The rakyat, post-March 8 have learned that the government is simply too stubborn in wanting to do the right thing at the right time.

Flight QZ8501 likely at bottom of the sea, Indonesian search agency says

Malay Mail

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 29 ― Missing Indonesia AirAsia Flight QZ501 is likely at the bottom of the sea, Indonesia’s search authorities said today after more than 24 hours lapsed since the disappearance of the commercial plane.

UK daily The Guardian and Indonesian news portal Detik News reported Chief Marshal Bambang Soelistyo as saying that the last coordinates of the A320 jet carrying 162 on board placed it over water.

“The last coordinates were in the sea so it is likely it is on the sea floor,” The Guardian quoted Bambang as saying in a press conference at the Soekarno Hatta airport in Jakarta.

He also reportedly said search and rescue authorities were using a sonar system to look for the missing plane, adding that the tool can detect objects up to a depth of between 1,000m and 2,000m.

The Guardian reported Indonesian officials as being positive about finding wreckage from Flight QZ8501, if the jet has indeed crashed into the sea, as the Java Sea has a relatively shallow depth of 46m, the part of the western Pacific Ocean where the plane disappeared from radar.

Detik News reported Bambang, who heads Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas), as saying it would not be easy to locate the missing plane in the water.

“From previous experience, we found Adam Air only after eight months,” he was quoted saying, referring to Adam Air Flight 574, a domestic flight between Indonesian cities Surabaya and Manado, which crashed in the sea off Sulawesi in 2007.

Flight QZ8501, which carried one Malaysian on board, vanished from Jakarta’s radar at 6.18am local time yesterday amid stormy weather enroute to Singapore from Surabaya in Indonesia.

On board Flight QZ8501 were 155 Indonesians, three South Koreans, one Malaysian, one Singaporean, one Frenchman and one Briton, comprising 155 passengers and seven crew members.

Indonesia resumed search operations for the missing jet early this morning, whose last known position was between the Indonesian port of Tanjung Pandan and the town of Pontianak, in West Kalimantan on Borneo island.

Temerloh: Spirit of generosity and tenacity not dampened by the floods

Malay Mail
by MELISSA CHI

TEMERLOH, Dec 29 ― The sight of massive treetops at eye level, front doors of homes and windows almost completely submerged, and men rowing from one point to another on a makeshift raft seemed like a scene from a movie.

But this was Temerloh, the second largest town in Pahang.

With the fourth wave of the northeasterly monsoon expected to slam into the east coast this morning, Pahang remains one of the worst-hit states.

The number of evacuees climbed to over 33,000 peiople as of 8pm yesterday. Three deaths were reported yesterday including one in Temerloh.

“I don't dare to leave with my grandchildren now. The current is too strong,” 46-year-old Siti Faridah told Malay Mail Online yesterday at one of the evacuation centres on Jalan Kampung Kerai.

Carrying her one-year-old granddaughter, she said about 30 over people from the village have been surviving on boiled bananas and a bit of rice since Friday.

“There is not enough food for all of us. We can use a makeshift raft and row our way to shops but the supplies had already been cleared out,” she said in a slight northern Malay accent at the evacuation centre which is actually a small hut.

Some of them have even had to sleep out in the open at night.

One of her other grandchildren said the family of 16 left their home in a hurry on Thursday night for their neighbour's house. But by Friday morning, they had to find a raft and row their way to the nearest evacuation centre as even the neighbour's house was not spared from the rising floodwaters.

The group also said the supplies received yesterday were inadequate, leaving them in need of more food and medication.

Yesterday, Malay Mail Online spent eight hours with the Temerloh Fire and Rescue Department to reach out to flood victims as well as deliver food supplies to residents along the Pahang river, which has already doubled in size.

The drop-off yesterday consisted of 300 bags ― each containing a tin of biscuits, teabags, 5kg of rice, sugar, salt and two cans of sardines ― to five evacuation centres sponsored by the Social Welfare Department Malaysia (JKMM) as well as Kerdau assemblyman Datuk Syed Ibrahim Syed Ahmad who helped with the distribution.

Many of the evacuees said their food supplies were almost exhausted. For most of them, road access has been cut off for the past five days.

After receiving the food supplies at Kampung Galok near Kampung Kerai, one man asked his elected representative, Syed Ibrahim: “Will you come back today?”

“No, there are still many more evacuation centres to go to,” the assemblyman replied.

The man explained that there were families who have not registered in time for the aid.

In Pahang alone, nine towns are affected by the floods. Electricity and water supply have been disconnected for safety reasons in many areas for the past few days.

One lucky family in Kampung Peragap, however, had stocked up enough food and supplies before they were hit hard by the floods and miraculously still had electricity and water as of yesterday.

“I don't think what we have is enough for another week though. By then, we would have to rely on aid,” one woman said.

Even with such scarcity, the family that is already hosting four other families with almost 30 people under one roof, offered Malay Mail Online journalists a simple yet delicious lunch with sardines, pumpkin gulai, fried fish and sambal with rice.

The same woman, who did not want to be named, said she was concerned that electricity and water would be cut off because they saw that the utility pole nearby had fallen over.

Many villages are still not accessible by road and the only other way out is by boat, which must be slowly maneuvered around trees, logs and other debris washed from the river.

Temerloh Fire and Rescue Department Chief Hashnuddin Hussin led the rescue mission yesterday and told Malay Mail Online that his department has 40 men on operation in 10 boats.

He said the Royal Malaysia Police, the Malaysian Armed Forces, the Malaysian Civil Defence (JPA) also contributed boats for the daily flood operations although he was unsure of the total number.

“I think operations at this scale will continue for another week or so,” he said.

Syed Ibrahim, who is also the state executive councillor, said although there is enough food supplies, the lack of boats and helicopters to transport the goods to the flood victims remain a huge challenge.

Yesterday's trip was only to send out food items, which are expected to last the evacuees three days before another round has to be sent. Meanwhile, evacuees are expected to receive bottles of mineral water today.

Pahang, Kelantan and Terengganu have been the worst hit with more than 30,000 evacuated from each state since last week. So far, 10 deaths have been recorded.

Senior meteorologist at the National Weather Centre Dr Mohd Hisham Mohd Anip told Malay Mail Online the fourth wave of continuous rain is expected to start last night or this morning with Johore and parts of Pahang expected to receive  the heaviest rainfall.

He noted, however, it will not be as severe as in the previous days.

Basarnas Forms Seven Sectors In Search For AirAsia Indonesia Flight QZ8501

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 29 (Bernama) -- The Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) has formed seven sectors in the search area in Pulau Karimata, West Kalimantan, Indonesia, to locate the AirAsia Indonesia flight QZ8501 which was reported missing on its way from Surabaya to Singapore, yesterday.

Royal Malaysian Navy chief Admiral Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Jaafar said the search and locate (SAL) mission at sea was led by Indonesian Navy First Admiral Rashid Kacong.

"Besides other Indonesian maritime assets, countries involved in the operation are Malaysia, Singapore and Australia. Meanwhile, India has stated their readiness to mobilise its assets at any time," he said in a statement today.

Abdul Aziz, who was also appointed as Malaysia SAL coordinator, said three of the Royal Malaysian Navy's (RMN) ships have been deployed to join the mission.

Flight QZ8501, which was scheduled to have arrived in Singapore at 8.30am yesterday, lost contact with the Jakarta air traffic control at 7.24am.

The aircraft was carrying 162 people, including seven crew members.

Abdul Aziz said the vessels involved in the search were KD Pahang, KD Lekir and KD Lekiu and a Fennec helicopter.

"KD Pahang under RMN Commander Fadhil Abd Rahman is nearing the search sector and is expected to reach at 2pm today while KD Lekir and KD Lekiu will join KD Pahang tomorrow morning," he said.

He added that search efforts by RMN will be assisted by a Royal Malaysia Air Force Hercules c-130H aircraft which is expected to be at the search area today.

-- BERNAMA