Cow-gate, Anak-gate & now Car-gate: But for BN, it's 'TUTUP SATU MATA' & 'SEMUANYA OK'

Cow-gate, Anak-gate & now Car-gate: But for BN, it's 'TUTUP SATU MATA' & 'SEMUANYA OK'

Written by  Terracotta, Kuala Lumpur 

First, out of the blue shot the ‘cow-gate’ saga. And as the cards came tumbling down, we settled with the resignation of a Cabinet Minister. The case meanwhile is still being dragged slowly through the courts.

Hardly have we even had time to swallow all the cow-shit surrounding a national programme that was supposed to enrich Malaysians, now comes the car-saga.

The relentless pursuit after the mysterious RM40-million ‘Funds for Sabah’ has suddenly opened another tin about a Cabinet Minister’s son spotted running around in a mother-of-all-cars.

Funny or silly, but in both instances – the ‘cow-gate’ and ‘car-gate’ stories, we see the same train of defense, i.e. ‘how the hell am I to know what my husband is doing’ and ‘how the hell am I to know what my son is doing’ .

Do we laugh, cry, scream or shall we all just keep up with that infamous ‘tutup satu mata’ advice?

"Close an eye' syndrome but the working class are NOT AMUSED!

While the majority of the working class population is struggling to make ends meet; while the children of our nation’s productive working class are burning midnight oil towards getting better grades in school to make it to university education; while working adults are squeezing finances, time and responsibilities juggling work, family and further education to try to migrate to a higher level of social and economic status through work opportunities, we are left to enjoy the horrendous stories surrounding cows and cars that speak volumes of a high-flying lifestyle.

Can you fault the working class for wondering out loud how come a young punk who hardly has the seasoned experiences of a businessman be seen enjoying the mother-of-all-cars – a Hummer that goes with a cool half-million price tag and never mind the cost of maintaining such machines.

One thing is certain and that is BN is indeed getting flayed from all sides. The arrogant responses and talking-down to the public is only adding more stones to the milestone that is being wrapped around some politicians’ necks.

BN must make a quick decision on whether it wants the party to suffer because of its members or that its members should suffer because of their party.

Trying to save both its members and the party can be a costly mistake for BN especially when we are already so close to a general election.

MAILBAG

  http://www.malaysia-chronicle.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=43304:cow-gate-anak-gate--now-car-gate-but-for-bn-its-tutup-satu-mata--semuanya-ok&Itemid=2

 

2 oil fields in Kelantan owned by Dr M's children

 2 oil fields in Kelantan owned by Dr M's children 
- PKR's Saifuddin 

PKR secretary general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said oil producing states would be able to operate their respective oil operation through state government-linked companies should Pakatan Rakyat come to power. 
Saifuddin said this was different than the current practice. 
“That is because the companies operating on oil fields are owned by UMNO leaders’ family. For example, two oil fields in Kelantan are owned by Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s children,” he said at a ceramah with PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu in Kota Bharu yesterday. 
The new deal, according to Saifuddin, forms part of PR’s pledge if it wins the next general election. 
In Kelantan, the Machang member of parliament said there were 23 oil fields yet to be explored. 
“Every oil field is estimated to be worth RM3 billion. So to avoid those oil fields being controlled by UMNO leaders’ family, the government in Putrajaya must be changed,” he added. 
In its alternative budget, PR pledged to increase royalty payment to 20 per cent for petroleum-producing states, from the present five percent. 
UMNO Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin had spoken out against the idea, saying it would affect the government’s tax revenue and profits for national oil company Petronas. 
Earlier this week, the Kelantan state government, locked in a legal battle over unpaid oil royalties, was allowed by the Federal Court to pose questions of law surrounding its suit against Petronas. 
-Harakahdaily

MORE INSINCERITY: BIG PLANS for Sabah if BN given mandate again - Najib

Sunday, 14 October 2012 17:05

MORE INSINCERITY: BIG PLANS for Sabah if BN given mandate again - Najib

Written by  - 

KUNDASANG, -- Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the Federal government has major plans for the people of Sabah if Barisan Nasional (BN) was given the mandate once again.

If given BN is given the mandate in the coming General Election (GE), the Federal and state government will work even harder to develop Sabah which has a vast potential.

"I am happy to see the reception and support from the people of Sabah towards Barisan Nasional," he said in his speech during a walkabout session in Kundasang town here.

Najib was accompanied by Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman, Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan and state Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun.

The Prime Minister who is also the BN chairman urged the people of Sabah to continue their support for BN to ensure continuity in the development of Sabah.

In the last election (2008), BN Sabah almost made a clean sweep of all the 25 Parliament and 60 state assembly seats.

The only seats that fell to the opposition, namely DAP, were the Kota Kinabalu Parliamentary seat and Sri Tanjung (Tawau) state assembly seat.

Speaking of his visit to Kundasang, Najib described the serenity of Kundasang, situated at the foot of Mount Kinabalu, as God's blessing and gift to nature and environment.

"Kundasang is a blessed place and a gift from nature. Plant any type of crop and it grows well. There is a delectable and refreshing choice of fresh greens and exotic fruits which grow here and farmers can earn a good income if they put in extra effort," he said.

People from all walks of life from Kundasang and its surrounding areas like Ranau, made a bee-line to meet the Prime Minister in person, clamouring over each other to shake his hands.

Wasli Kandung, 74, a farmer from Kampong Cinta Mata said he was happy to have met a leader whom he had adored.

"I have never met a Prime Minister in person all these years. I have only seen them on television. All our Prime Minister's were good but Najib is special because he likes to go down and help the people, not just make empty promises," he said.

"I hope he will continue to rule the country until he is 70."

Sagin Belinsai, 72, from Kampong Kouluan near here said he got up at 5.30am to make sure he would not miss an opportunity to see the Prime Minister in person.

Malaysia is fortunate to have a Prime Minister who has the peoples' welfare and interest at heart and who always went down to the ground to meet the people, said Sagin.

Meanwhile, at 7am this morning, Najib was at the Mount Kinabalu Park here to flag off participants of the 26th Mount Kinabalu International Climbathon.

About 700 participants from 28 countries took part in the climbathon that featured the men's and women's open category plus the men's and women's veteran categories.

-- BERNAMA

 

Malaysia widens crackdown on gold trading companies

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 6 (Reuters) - Malaysian authorities have

expanded a crackdown on suspected illegal gold trading
activities, raiding a total of four companies suspected of
taking deposits illegally, money laundering and tax evasion.
A central bank spokesperson confirmed on Saturday that
police and government agencies jointly raided the offices of
gold investment companies Pageantry Gold, Caesar Gold and
Worldwide Far East.
The Friday operations followed a raid by the authorities
earlier this week on the office of gold trading firm Genneva
following complaints the company had failed to pay its clients
and agents. Singapore's Commercial Affairs Department also
raided Genneva's offices in the island republic on the same day.
The raids come as gold is increasingly coveted by Asian
investors looking for a hedge against inflation and to ride the
strong gains in the precious metal's price. The price of gold is
around 11-month highs, driven higher in recent weeks by concerns
that loose monetary conditions in Europe and the United States
will stoke inflation.
Genneva Malaysia has more than 50,000 "satisfied" clients in
the country, according to its official website. It has
affiliated firms in China, Hong Kong, and the Philippines,
according to Malaysian national news agency Bernama.
"The management is working hard looking into the matters and
will keep you posted of the events," its management said in a
statement.
Company officials at Pageantry Gold, Caesar Gold and
Worldwide Far East could not be reached for comment.
Crowds of clients and agents of Genneva gathered outside its
closed branches in Kuala Lumpur this week following the raid,
many of them criticising the operation and calling for the
freeze on its trading operations to be lifted.
"We sell gold bars and have agreement letters for the
transaction and no cash is involved, everything is done using
cheques or online transfer, thus there is no fraud here,"
Nordiana Nasaruddin, a Genneva branch consultant in the northern
state of Penang, was quoted as saying by Bernama.
"We hope the company can continue its operations for the
sake of the 8,000 customers in the state, who are mostly
retirees," she added.
(Reporting by Yantoultra Ngui; Editing by Stuart Grudgings and
Jeremy Laurence)

http://my.news.yahoo.com/malaysia-widens-crackdown-gold-trading-companies-100938454--finance.html

 

Malaysia-born makes camera that takes ‘living pictures’

Malaysia-born makes camera that takes ‘living pictures’

March 05, 2012

 

 

 

Ng holds a Lytro camera during a presentation at HP Auditorium, Soda Hall, University of California, Berkeley February 22, 2012. — Picture by Derrick Coetzee

 

Malaysia-born Ren Ng is revolutionising photography with his Lytro light-field camera.

 

The Australian has developed a new technology for the mass market that allows anyone to adjust the focal point of digital photographs after they have been taken, and without having to fiddle with Photoshop or other image-editing tools.

 

The hand-sized digital point-and-shot camera looks like a torchlight; its key feature is what the California-based company calls “shoot now, focus later”.

 

In an interview with the New York Times last year, Lytro chief executive Ng described the images as “interactive, living pictures” due to their ability to be manipulated.

 

The Lytro achieves this trick with a special sensor called a micro lens array, which puts the equivalent of many lenses into a small space.

 

The camera was listed as Time magazine’s “50 best inventions” in its November 17 edition last year.

The 32-year-old Ng, born in Malaysia and raised in Australia from age nine, started work on the digital camera while studying for his doctorate in computer science at Stanford University in California six years ago.

 

The Lytro camera captures far more light data, from many angles, than is possible with a conventional camera.

 

When pictures are shared online, the “light field engine” travels with each image so anyone can interact with them on their computers, whether on desktops, tablets or smartphones, a technology review in the Sydney Morning Herald reported today.

 

However, the camera is not quite perfect yet, based on first reviews that came out last week.

 

A reviewer with the New York Times, Sam Grobart, noted that adding a filter or importing the image into Photoshop was not possible at the moment.

 

“Should Lytro’s engineers refine light-field photography into something more versatile and cheaper (imagine this on a smartphone), it may turn out to be a game changer,” he was quoted as saying by the Australian daily.

 

Another influential technology reviewer with the Wall Street Journal, Walt Mossberg, reported that the Lytro pictures can currently only be imported to Macintosh computers with its accompanying software, adding that the process is slow because of the relatively large files.

 

The Lytro camera is now available in the market in two storage sizes. The red hot 16-gigabyte (GB) model of the camera costs US$499 (RM1,500) and can take up to 750 pictures.

 

An 8GB version costs USUS$399 and can capture 350 images. It is available in graphite gray and electric blue.

Wednesday October 3, 2012

‘Gold’ raid long overdue

I REFER to the front page report on the raid on Genneva Malaysia Sdn Bhd “Raid on gold trader” (The Star, Oct 2).

The authorities should have acted long ago.
Now, millions of ringgit of innocent depositors and investors are at stake. My deepest sympathies go out to them.
I was approached by a consultant of the company, shown some gold investment schemes, and told not to worry about storing gold as it would be in the form of a deposit account that paid guaranteed attractive interest rates.
Being in a financial institution, I knew that only a licensed bank could do so.
So I rejected the scheme even though it appeared attractive.
Undeterred, the consultant insisted that the scheme was perfectly legal and even showed me the company’s profile, letter of incorporation, form 49, etc.
I was later invited to their office for a preview which I rejected.
Living near their office, I often passed by and saw huge crowds outside on most weekday nights.
For added security, there would be police standing guard at the office. What is puzzling is that this scheme had been going on for at least four years.
Many investors are not aware that a company can be legally registered or incorporated (eg. Sdn Bhd) with a minimum RM2 paid up capital, but the business may not be legal.
There are many more such schemes in the form of gold investments, forex, land banking, plantations, etc. which are illegal.
From the layperson’s perspective, deposits are regulated by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and investments by the Securities Commission (SC).
But we would later be told that such schemes, better known as interest-based schemes, come under the Companies Commission of Malaysia (CCM).
There is much confusion here.
These products are usually marketed like unit trusts.
The Securities Commission should be the main regulatory body for this kind of investments. A phone call to the SC would verify whether this company is properly registered and its business legal.
When will all this stop?
These investment schemes have definitely tarnished the nation’s image with local and foreign investors.
We need to streamline and consolidate the regulatory bodies for all investment schemes.
Set up a dedicated hotline and website which the public can use to verify the legality and authenticity of the scheme.
Education programmes should also be conducted to forewarn the public about such schemes.
THOMAS
Kuala Lumpur

Arabic is not tied to a particular religion

Arabic is not tied to a particular religion

Kevin Chin

I am really appalled by the politicisation of our schools and all public institutions and the various applications of Islamisation in Malaysia. I am absolutely against compulsory religious indoctrination of children in our schools.

However, I would like to share this; I worked in Egypt for two years as an engineer.

Being a Christian, I attended mass in Egyptian churches on Sundays.

As mass was celebrated in English only in a very few churches and only at certain times, I had to attend mass in various other languages that were used in the Churches there; French, German and Arabic.

I was taken aback the first time I attended mass in Arabic, because the priest started by saying:"Bismillah Al-Rahman, Al-Rahim".

Remembering this was mass in a Catholic church, I asked my Egyptian friends what it meant. They informed me that it meant "In the name of the Almighty, God".

I also found out that the word "madrasah" meant religious school, Christian or Muslim.

The word "Allah" was used in Christian churches all the time. In fact there were many Christians in Arabia, speaking Arabic and praying in Arabic; Copts, Orthodox Greek, Armenian, Syrian, all Christians, speaking Arabic.

Learning Arabic is not necessarily a bad thing, in fact I found the Arabic people so genuine, honest and caring, I eagerly tried to learn as much Arabic as possible.

The only thing wrong with the picture in Malaysia is that the Malays are trying to hijack Arabic and make it a Muslim language, which it is not, it is just a language.

Paul Anka was an Arab and he is Christian and there are many Arab Christians.

I still am devastated by the things, Malays are forcing upon our children; however, if we fail to prevent this practice, I think we should inform our children that Arabic is not Islamic - they should visit the many beautiful churches in Egypt and attend mass in Arabic.