Anwar lashes out at Singapore over MH370

By SYED UMAR ARIFF | news@nst.com.my

'WRONG': It should not be praising Malaysia's 'mediocre' search efforts, he says

PETALING JAYA: DATUK Seri Anwar Ibrahim has hit out at Singapore for supporting "mediocre" Malaysian efforts in the search for MH370, while absolving himself of a controversial statement that he could handle the tragedy in a second.
Commenting on the recognition of other countries on Malaysia's attempts to find the missing aircraft, the opposition leader singled out Singapore as being "inconsistent" between championing meritocracy and mediocrity.
"Singapore has repeatedly praised Malaysia. I thank them in the case of MH370. But Singapore sometimes contradicts itself. It talks about meritocracy, but (would settle for) mediocre leaders in the neighbouring country (Malaysia)," he said at a press conference at PKR headquarters here yesterday.
Anwar said the opposition was not against the search-and-rescue operation as a whole.
"We are not saying that everything is wrong in Malaysia. We are saying there is no transparency.
"(For example), there are (matters on) radar and mangosteens (pertaining to allegations that the MH370 flight manifest not made public or clear). These are the central issues."
The PKR de-facto leader said the Singapore government should not infer that the Malaysian opposition was irresponsible in its criticism.
"And (Singapore) repeatedly say that it is satisfied. I mean are you satisfied with mediocrity when you talk about meritocracy in your country?"
On the recent controversial statement in which Anwar was quoted as saying that he would only take one second to address the mystery of MH370, he said he was misquoted by the report.
"I refer to the original statement in which I said I would take one second... which I meant that I will take a spontaneous action on my part to take immediate action to protect national security and disseminate information in a transparent manner."
On April 5, a Chinese daily published an interview by the Southern Weekly magazine with Anwar, quoting him as saying that he would only take one second to decide to ensure national safety and provide information to the people if he was the prime minister.

Read more: Anwar lashes out at Singapore over MH370 - General - New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/nation/general/anwar-lashes-out-at-singapore-over-mh370-1.570284#ixzz32PJhJy4b

Ipoh-born wins 'MasterChef UK''

By ZAHARAH OTHMAN | news@nst.com.my

WORLD CLASS': Prime Minister tweets his congratulations to the champion

LONDON: MALAYSIAN-BORN chef Catherine Chin Wan Ping Coombes, 32, was crowned UK MasterChef Champion 2014 on Friday, catapulting Malaysia and the humble nasi lemak with sambal ikan bilis on to the international culinary stage.
Beating Jack Lucas and Luke Owen after eight weeks of nail-biting moments to become the show's tenth winner, Ping, a full time housewife who lives in Bath with husband Andrew, and 18-month-old daughter Alexa, won over judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace with dishes she was familiar with when growing up in Malaysia.
Her winning three-course meal, which included a Chinese wonton dumpling soup, nasi lemak and vanilla panna cotta for dessert, was agreed by judges of the BBC1 show as a clear winner, while her two other competitors both agreed the best chef had won.
Her win also got the attention of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who congratulated her via twitter, "@NajibRazak: well done UK Masterchef @WanPingCoombes! Malaysian flavours and talent are truly world class."
"When I eat Ping's food I feel happy, it makes my heart thump," said Torode.
There was a tense moment when Wallace said the sambal ikan bilis was too salty, but the overall presentation won him over.
Visibly overwhelmed by the announcement by the judges last night she said: "The last time I felt such emotion was when my daughter was born. Something that I don't think you get to experience a lot. (It is ) pure joy and pure bliss that feels incredible, epic."
With her mother as her constant inspiration, she added: "My mother would be really proud, I'm sure. But I say this a lot -- I'm sure she still wouldn't let me in her kitchen!"
Her entry into the vast, albeit daunting kitchen of MasterChef was followed closely by Malaysians everywhere and last night's victory was marked with "Ping! Ping did it!", all over Facebook timelines and Twitters.
The new MasterChef champion initially underestimated her ability and was not even confident she would make it to be one of the contestants.
However, once she was on the set, the adrenaline started pumping and she told herself that she was going to make it a great experience "no matter what".
Although her mother is thousands of kilometres away in Malaysia, she finds inspiration in her mum's cooking, and had watched and learnt a lot of her mother's cooking techniques.
She made sure her mother watched her using her iPad.
One of the first to congratulate her was celebrity chef Chef Norman Musa, who had also been tirelessly promoting Malaysian food on the international stage.
He said: "Ping winning MasterChef UK will dramatically boost the exposure of Malaysian food -- my big mission, for which I have been working hard over the last few years. Ping is a great example of how we Malaysians cook and eat our food with passion, which she did so brilliantly. I and all Malaysians are very proud of her!"
Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation's (Matrade) Commissioner, Mr Khairul Nizam Moonier, who had been following the programme closely, said Matrade was very happy with the victory and hoped that as MasterChef champion, she would be able to participate in Malaysia Kitchen programmes in the UK.
"I have had a chance to meet Ping when she visited the Spring Market, organised by Malaysia Kitchen recently, and informed her that we would like to invite her to participate in our events, which would include the Malaysia Night at Trafalgar Square."

MasterChef UK champion Catherine Chin Wan Ping Coombes says she is determined to make the journey a great experience

#Bantah GST Gambar Perhimpunan Bantah GST 1 Mei 2014 Kuala Lumpur

Gambar perhimpunan bantah cukai GST 1 Mei 2014 di Kuala Lumpur Malaysia. Peserta himpunan bantah cukai barang dan perkhidmatan (GST) mula berkumpul di lima lokasi ibu negara antaranya di Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC), Pusat Beli-Belah Sogo, Masjid Negara, Dataran Maybank dan Brickfields bermula pada jam 9.30 pagi. Seterusnya peserta bantah GST akan berarak ke lokasi perhimpunan utama iaitu di Dataran Merdeka. Antara tujuan himpunan bantah GST adalah untuk menyuarakan bantahan terhadap pelaksanaan cukai barang dan perkhidmatan (GST) yang dipercayai membebankan rakyat. Terdahulu, kerajaan dalam bajet 2014 telah membentangkan pelaksanaan GST yang berkuatkuasa mulai 1 April 2015.