TRAGEDY

TEOH BENG HOCK was found dead at the MACC Shah Alam office compound yesterday. It is a tradegy as any death would be. Personally, I pray for his family and fiancee. I also pray that this beloved country of ours will be able to face all these and move forward as a better nation. Malaysia Boleh, if really we want to. Political will. Rebranding. 1Malaysia. People First. Performance Now. Call it what you want. Life is a journey. Let us make the best of it...

'THEY ASKED ME WHETHER I WAS FROM CHINA?"

By Adip Zalkapli

SHAH ALAM, July 17 — A Kajang municipal councillor who was also interrogated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) alleged commission investigators hurled racist remarks at him during questioning at the state MACC headquarters here.

"They called me a stupid Chinese... Are you from China? You can't speak Malay?” said Tan Boon Wah.

Tan was called in by the MACC as part of the investigation into the alleged misuse of public funds by state executive councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah.

Tan, who is also a businessman, had last year supplied flags worth RM2,400 for Ean Yong's constituency of Seri Kembangan.

“They asked whether I supplied flags. I said yes but then I was forced to admit that I did not supply the flags,” said Tan.

He added that he could not furnish the MACC with details of the transaction during the investigation because he needed time to look for the documents.

Tan, who went to the MACC office on Wednesday evening, also claimed that he was subjected to torture and was threatened that he would be beaten if he refused to admit to allegations made by the investigators.

“I was shouted at: 'This is my place, you better believe that I can hit you',” said Tan.

“I was then asked to stand and look straight. I was not allowed to rest my head. I was made to stand for four hours,” he added.

Tan said the MACC officials also threatened to arrest his wife and detain his children.

He denied that detainees were provided with beds to sleep on after interrogation.

He said that while under detention, he met Teoh Beng Hock early yesterday morning at the MACC office pantry and he looked tired.

Tan added that he was also told by an MACC investigator not to talk about the interrogation, before he was released yesterday afternoon.

“The MACC officer said don't bring the matter outside, but one life has ended, so now I have to,” said Tan. Malaysian Insider

OPPOSITION STATE GROWING

AM tempted to raise my voice about the oil industry in the country. It is an open secret that the oil producing states in Malaysia are Terengganu, Sarawak and Sabah.

The first two states are doing alright though they, like Sabah, received only 5 percent oil royalty. The 95 percent belongs to Petronas (or at least that's the perception of a lot of people).

Thus, Upko and my boss had been very vocal, insisting that a full fledged oil factory is established in Sabah, rather than chanelling Sabah gas to Bintulu. My oh my, now, Kedah which is under opposition government, scored big with this news. One of the often repeated reasons why there is no oil factory in Sabah is the mammoth cost it entails. Now, Kedah shows funding is not a problem at all.... sigh

MALAYSIA'S LARGEST OIL REFINERY IN KEDAH

KUALA LUMPUR, July 15 — Kedah’s economy received a major boost today with the launch of the largest oil refinery project in Malaysia.

The Merapoh oil refinery in Yan, Kedah will cost US$10 billion (RM35.7 billion) and have a refining capacity of 350,000 barrels per day, nearly twice the capacity of the country’s second largest refinery in Melaka.

The refinery will be developed by Merapoh Resources Corporation and funded by international investors.

The Merapoh refinery will refine crude oil sourced from the Middle East for export, mainly to China. MORE

YES OR NO

HE he he he he. I knew this English thing will not pass just like that. This posting has proven me right. And it will go on and on. By the way, I went through primary and secondary schools in the Bahasa Malaysia medium. Perhaps that's why my English is so so only. But in the same context, I believe I can get by in life rather alright. I believed the policy was discussed thoroughly in 2003. Primary and secondary education usually takes at least 11 years to complete. Why scrap it now after only six years? And by the way, I wish those for or against the policy are doing it really for the good of the people and not to score points or political mileage...

MCA WANTS ENGLISH

KUALA LUMPUR, July 14 – Tomorrow, the MCA will propose to the Cabinet to maintain teaching science and mathematics in English at secondary school-level, said party president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat.

He said the party needed to be mindful of the students in science or pure science streaming in Forms 4 and 5.

“As such, we should maintain using English as a medium of instruction in science and mathematics in secondary school-level because of the streaming,” he told reporters after chairing the pre-Cabinet meeting for MCA ministers and deputy ministers here today.

Ong also suggested that mathematics and science should be taught bi-lingual (Bahasa Melayu and English), if needed in Form 1 to 3, because the students might face problems in switching languages after they moved to Form 4.

Last Wednesday, the Government had annouced that the teaching and learning of science and mathematics in national schools would be reverted to the national language, effective 2012.

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the teaching and learning of the two subjects in Chinese and Tamil national-type schools would be carried out in their respective mother tongue. MORE

UPKO PERAK

ONE of the privileges working with leaders such as Bernard Dompok is you get to meet lots of people. It is a great networking avenue. I know Suki Mee. The very first time I met him, I thought I was speaking to a fellow Sabahan. His aspiration, his grouses, his concerns, his visions, his anger and those of mine, are the same. Orang Asli and the Kadazandusuns in Sabah are reaching for the same targets. Congrats, Suki and friends. 11 July 2009 will be remembered, at least by your people, that the Orang Asli had made a very bold step to join the mainstream of national politics and hopefully development. All the best. READ ALSO HERE

ORANG ASLI PERAK JOIN UPKO
TAPAH: The Sabah-based United Pasok Momogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (Upko) spread its wings to Peninsular Malaysia when it launched four divisions in Perak yesterday. The four are Tapah, Tanjung Malim, Parit-Kuala Kangsar and Gopeng-Kampar.

Upko president Tan Sri Bernard Dompok said the Upko divisions, which recruited some 2,000 Orang Asli as members, would help champion Orang Asli native rights, especially in land matters.

He said Upko would be a platform for the Orang Asli to voice out their grievances to the highest authorities, adding that the Orang Asli seemed to shy away from other Barisan Nasional component parties, but had an affinity with the party.

To avoid misunderstanding with other BN component parties, Dompok said Upko was not pinching members from within BN and did not expect to be given seats to contest during the elections.

Upko has members in Shah Alam and Johor but the four Upko divisions in Perak is the first to be officially recognised.

Upko has 101,081 members nationwide.

Yayasan Orang Asli Perak chairman and Upko's Tanjung Malim division chief Suki Mee said the move to join Upko was the starting point for Orang Asli in Perak to be more politically active in championing their native rights.

"We've been looking for a platform for our struggle. We feel that our voice and our difficulties have not been viewed seriously." THE NEW STRAITS TIMES

ARE YOU MAD?

THIS is ridiculous. Provocation. Some people drew cartoons of whoever and they went to the street and demand for blood. Now, this is happening. What will Christians and Catholics do? This supposedly investigative reporting is an action of insane people. I believe there will be more to this....

CATHOLICS LODGE POLICE REPORT

The two lodged a police report on 8 July 2009 at the Patani Road police station in Penang over the article "Tinjauan Al Islam Dalam Gereja: Mencari Kesahihan Remaja Murtad" which was published in the May 2009 issue of Al Islam. The magazine is published by Utusan Karya Sdn Bhd.

In the article, the Muslim journalist, accompanied by another person, went to two Catholic churches in Kuala Lumpur on an investigative mission to find out if allegations that young Muslims were being converted to Christianity were true. MORE

OPPOSITION IN RULING PARTY

IT IS an open secret. Upko, of which am a Supreme Council member, had often been seen as an opposition within the Barisan Nasional coalition. Its true. Upko had been vocal against government actions and policies. Why, leaders such as Anifah Aman, Bung Mokhtar and a few others had asked Upko to quit BN. But Upko president Tan Sri Bernard Dompok said, including in the last General Elections campaign, there is no need for opposition parties in Sabah simply because Upko would be voicing out, courageously, sincerely and daringly the needs of the people. I can therefore understand Azmin. And no. I did not say, Azmin is like Upko. Thats what you think....

AZMIN ATTACKS HIS OWN PARTY

SHAH ALAM July 8 – Appearing to don an opposition mindset, PKR’s Azmin Ali broke party ranks and attacked the policies of his own Pakatan Rakyat (PR) state administration today and called for a reshuffle of Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim’s executive council.

The Bukit Antarabangsa lawmaker said the members of the state executive council were “getting too big for their boots” and were refusing to listen to others.

The PR backbencher chief and PKR party whip today did a better job at pointing out the shortcomings of the state government in the legislative assembly than the 20 Barisan National (BN) opposition members combined during a supplementary budget debate.

The disgruntled state lawmaker said he had been receiving a lot of complaints from the business community on excessive delays in approvals and this was stifling the economy of the state. MORE

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

FOR being there when am not around
For the scores of things done on my behalf
For being patience, prayerful, understanding
And all and everything
A mother, woman, wife
Allysha, Allyshandhra, Alexshandhro, Allyshearha
and me,
from the bottom of our hearts
Happy Birthday dear Nelly
God bless you, and us all
We, the Bingkasans, love you so very much