Stop PR stunts, get real with Christians

An NGO says this Christmas is the time for Najib to ponder and really hear the Christians on the issue of fairness and justice.



KOTA KINABALU: Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has been asked to stop his “public relations stunts” and instead deal with the biased treatment his federal administration has meted out to Christians in Sabah and Sarawak.



Demanding that Najib “walk his talk”, a local NGO, Borneo’s Plight in Malaysia Foundation (BoPiMaFo), said the PM’s “nice words” in his Christmas message yesterday, rang “hollow as far as sincerity and truth is concerned” when compared to the “real situation” in Malaysia affecting Christians.



The foundation’s president Daniel Jambun said that in Sabah especially, the “Christian community continued to be increasingly marginalised and victimised by loads of actions from Najib’s ruling party Umno.”



“This Christmas time is for Najib to ponder and really hear the Christians on the issue of fairness and justice.



“In Sabah especially, we are constantly being marginalised. Christians face difficulty in building their own churches, mission schools are in a sorry state, there’s marginalisation in scholarships and government jobs and promotions.



“What justice does he speak of if mosques, suraus and even madrasahs and all their officials like imam, bilal, missionaries are being salaried from taxes the government collected from us the rakyat while our churches and officials are being left out only for the faithfuls to support?



“And on top of that, there seem to be various open concerted efforts from the government agencies to frustrate the development of Christianity in worship, education, literature, arts, even cultures. We cannot even put up crosses,” said Jambun.



Christians marginalised



Jambun, who is also a deputy chairman of the Sabah chapter of opposition State Reform Party (STAR), also raised the issue of the Alkitab and Bibles which are subjected to unnecessary scrutiny.



“Our Alkitab or Malay Bibles are still being subjected to unnecessary scrutiny by Muslim officers of the Home Ministry which is an intimidation because these Bibles are meant for Christians.



“Why must Muslim officers be scrunitising them (books)? Where is justice when you tax us to pay your officers to whack us ? It is absurd, ” said Jambun further demanding to know how many thousands of Alkitabs and other Christian books were still in the custody of the Home Ministry?



He said the civil service was also a poor reflection of the ‘fairness’ with Christian officers being sidelined in many departments.



“In many departments, there are less than five or even two percent of Christian staff, and this reflect the condition of fairness Najib is talking about.



“Listen to our grouses, walk your talk, and stop doing a public relations just to spruce up your dented image Mr Prime Minister.



“Sabah and Sarawakian Christians who are majority (in Borneo) demand better treatment,” Jambun said in a statement issued today.



Luke Rintod



ORIGINAL ARTICLE / Artikel Asal

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Cancer Patient Turned Away by 4 Hospitals

KOTA KINABALU : A patient suffering intermediate stage nasopharyngeal carcinoma (cancer of the nose) is feeling hopeless after having been turned away by at least four government hospitals in the country, including Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH).



Lau King Ngiuk, 71, and members of the family were informed by QEH doctors on Dec. 19 that she could not be treated with radiotherapy because the computer facility for radiotherapy planning was out of order.



However, QEH referred the patient to Hospital Kuala Lumpur for treatment with the reason that the hospital's one and only treatment planning system had broken down. She was recommended to undergo concurrent chemoradiotherapy.



But Lau's hopes were dashed when a doctor who was trying to make an appointment with Hospital Kuala Lumpur's (HKL) Oncology Department for her treatment informed the family on December 20 that there was no place for her at HKL, the reason being that three of the radiotherapy treatment machines were not functioning.



Lau, a mother of seven grown-up daughters, was dealt a third blow when the same doctor called up a second time, saying University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) in Petaling Jaya could also not accept her because it was full house.



Daily Express learnt that UMMC was also facing problems with the radiotherapy treatment machine. The last straw came when the Sarawak General Hospital in Kuching also declined to take her in for treatment.



Ngu Pei Lang, one of the daughters, confirmed this, saying the doctor personally conveyed the message to her through three phone-calls on the same day (Dec 20).



"I am very sad. I feel there is no hope for me. The cancer has now affected my lymph node, and I can't hear clearly in my left ear.



Why am I treated in this manner?



"How can the Government do this to me? It is as if Malaysians in Sabah are not humans," Lau said during a press conference at her residence at Taman Ramai, here, Saturday.



Luyang Assemblywoman, Melanie Chia Chui Ket, was also present.



Earlier, Lau suspected something was amiss when there was bleeding each time she brushed her teeth. At the end of November this year, tumour tissue was biopsied from her nasopharynx, and by Dec. 3, she was diagnosed to have nasopharyngeal carcinoma, according to the Histopathology Report issued by QEH's Department of Pathology.



She also had a computerised tomography (CT) Scan at QEH on December 10 to confirm the diagnosis.



Lau, who wept throughout the press conference when relating her story, said "I am not just speaking for myself. I am voicing out the disappointment and frustration of all other cancer patients who had to be turned away. I don't mind going to the private hospital in Kuala Lumpur for treatment as long as the Government pays for the cost," she said.



Saying families should not accept the loss of loved ones as fate particularly in such circumstances, she hoped her children would continue the "fight" for better health services if she was no longer around.



"But then, do we have to wait for the worst to happen before things are put right?" she asked.



Chia praised Lau for her courage in standing up for her rights.



"Since the patient is in the intermediate stage and is very treatable (as told to the family by the doctors treating her), her case must be treated with urgency without further delay. Much time has been wasted."



Given the backlog of treatment and understandably long waiting-list as a result of the breakdown, she stressed that the State Health Department must act immediately to send affected patients to hospitals outside Sabah, including private medical centres, for the necessary treatment.



"How long more do you want them to wait? Are you going to ask them for come back in three months' time or six months' time?



By that time, you may not see them again.



Chia said it is incredible that Sabah, a one-time richest State, has only one radiotherapy treatment machine, and one computer facility for radiotherapy planning versus a population of 3.28 million.



"Since the aging machine and computer facility have malfunctioned on and off in recent years, last year and this year, and with the billions of allocation for Sabah from the Federal Government, why has the State Health Department not secured new machines to replace the near-condemned machine and computer facility?



"Why do we have to come to a critical stage where cancer patients are left in the lurch all because of poor planning, lack of foresight and absence of monitoring in the corridors of power?



Don't Sabahans deserve better health services as promised?" she asked. (DE)



ORIGINAL ARTICLE / Artikel Asal

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Karpal Singh ticks off two party leaders who accepted Datukships

(The Star) - DAP chairman Karpal Singh (pix) has chided two party leaders, Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham and Datuk Teng Chang Khim, for accepting Datukships from state rulers, which is against the party's long-standing principle.



He said that according to the principle agreed upon by party members since the mid 1990s, DAP state assemblymen and Members of Parliament were not to accept Datukships during their tenure in office.



“From now on, the party will take action against members who don't follow this ruling,” he said, adding that the form of punishment would be decided by the party's disciplinary board after a hearing.



Ngeh, who is also Perak DAP chairman, was conferred the title in 2008 while Teng, who is the Selangor state assembly speaker, accepted a Datukship in 2010.



ORIGINAL ARTICLE / Artikel Asal

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PMR Result 2012 Sabah

A total of 922 students achieved straight As in the Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) examination but there was a slight dip in overall passes - no thanks to poorer performance in two subjects this year.

State Education Director Datuk Dr Muhiddin Yusin said there was a slight drop in the Arab language, which recorded a 14.6 per cent decline, and Chinese language which dropped by 4.6 per cent.

"We do not know the reason for the drop but we will conduct a thorough study in schools throughout the State," he said, adding that if the passes for these subjects could be increased then perhaps the overall passes could exceed 65 per cent.

He said this during a media conference after announcing the PMR results at the Hamzah Al-Fansuri Hall of SMK Agama Tun Ahmadshah here, on Wednesday.

This year a total of 37,607 candidates sat for the PMR examination compared to 37,714 last year resulting in 922 students scoring straight As compared to 1,025 last year.

Twenty-six candidates obtained Es in all subjects compared to 16 candidates last year. The results showed an average grade of 3.01 compared to 3.03 last year, while the overall passes was 62.04 per cent compared to 63.06 per cent last year, showing a slight drop by 1.02 per cent.

Overall results showed an improvement in eight subjects, namely Bahasa Malaysia (0.7 per cent), History (0.6 per cent), Geography (4.6 per cent), Islamic Studies (0.0 per cent), Mathematics (0.7 per cent), Science (0.7 per cent), Living Skills (1.0 per cent) and Home Economics (0.9 per cent).

A total of six subjects showed a decrease in passes, namely English (1.9 per cent), Agriculture (1.0 per cent), Commerce and Entrepreneurship (0.9 per cent), Arab language (14.6 per cent), Chinese language (4.6 per cent) and KadazanDusun Language (0.1 per cent).

Meanwhile, SM Sains Lahad Datu was named the top school Statewide with 100 per cent passes scoring 1.08 School Average Grade, followed by SM Sains Sabah (100 per cent), SMKA Tun Ahmadshah (95.41 per cent), SM Islamiah Tawau (92.86 per cent), SM St Michael Penampang (98.93 per cent), SMKA Kota Kinabalu (77.53 per cent), SMKA Tun Datu Mustapha (78.46 per cent), SMKA Mohd Ali in Ranau (65.88 per cent), SM St Francis Convent (M) (93.82 per cent), SM Sung Siew Sandakan (88.89 per cent) , SMKA Sandakan (74.07 per cent), SMKA Limauan (82.22 per cent) and SM All Saints Kota Kinabalu (90.85).

Meanwhile, top five schools in the city were SM Sains Sabah with 100 per cent passes scoring average grade 1.14, followed by SMKA Tun Ahmadshah with 95.41 passes average grade 1.62, SMKA Kota Kinabalu with 77.53 passes average grade 1.78, SM St Francis Convent (M) 93.82 passes with average grade 93.82 and SM All Saints with 90.85 per cent with average grade 2.2.

On another note, Muhiddin thanked all those who gave full cooperation and support to the State's education achievement.

"We find that in some schools, there are parents who are committed in giving their full support through their individual effort or through the Parent Teachers Association which has made it easier for us to get assistance not only in terms of study materials but also in terms of support towards the educational programmes conducted in their respective schools," he said.

Sources: Daily Express / JPN

Link: RSS Syndication

READ MORE - PMR Result 2012 Sabah

Dr Mahathir Mohamad, former PM is richer than Brunei's Sultan

Mahathir is the richest man off the record in the world.



Maybe you have read this before. Just in case you have forgotten about it just before the elections....



Malaysia has squandered an estimated RM100 billion on financial scandals under the 22-year rule of Dr Mahathir Mohamad, according to a new book about the former prime minister.



According to Barry Wain, author of the soon-to-be launched ‘Malaysian Maverick: Mahathir Mohamad in Turbulent Times’, direct financial losses amounted to about RM50 billion.



This doubled once the invisible costs, such as unrecorded write-offs, were taken into account. The RM100 billion total loss was equivalent to US$40 billion at then prevailing exchange rates.



Barry, who is a former editor of the Asian Wall Street Journal, says most of the scams, which included a government attempt to manipulate the international tin price and gambling by Bank Negara on global currency markets, occurred in the 1980s.



‘Malaysian Maverick’ is the first independent, full-length study of Mahathir, who retired in 2003 after more than two decades as premier. The book will be published globally next week by Palgrave Macmillan.



Wain writes that the Mahathir administration, which took office in 1981 with the slogan, “clean, efficient, trustworthy”, was almost immediately embroiled in financial scandals that “exploded with startling regularity”.



By the early 1990s, he says, cynics remarked that it had been “a good decade for bad behaviour, or a bad decade for good behaviour”.



Secret military deal with US



The book also reveals that:



Mahathir, despite his nationalistic rants, signed a secret security agreement with the United States in 1984 that gave the Americans access to a jungle warfare training school in Johor and allowed them to set up a small-ship repair facility at Lumut and a plant in Kuala Lumpur to repair C-130 Hercules transport aircraft.

Mahathir used a secret fund of his ruling Umno to turn the party into a vast conglomerate with investments that spanned almost the entire economy.

Mahathir’s Umno financed its new Putra World Trade Centre headquarters in Kuala Lumpur partly with taxpayers money, by forcing state-owned banks to write off at least RM140 million in interest on Umno loans.

Wain, who is now a writer-in-residence at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore, however credits Mahathir with engineering the country’s economic transformation, deepening industrialisation and expanding Malaysia’s middle class.



But Mahathir had undermined state institutions, permitted the spread of corruption and failed to provide for Malaysia’s future leadership, he says.



Related Article:



Do you know that:



Last year, Petronas gained a total pre-tax profit of RM86.8 billion and so far, it has earned about RM600 billion. As the surge of international oil prices, it’s profits will as well substantially grow. But the government has reduced fuel subsidies by a wide margin, turning Malaysia into one of the world’s most expensive oil price oil-producing countries. It makes the people wonder where the huge profit of Petronas has gone?



Former Work Minister Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu said in the Parliament last year that the government has compensated a total of RM38.5 billion to 20 highway companies. Also, as the government has stopped building the Scenic Bridge in Johor, it has to compensate RM300 million construction cost to the bridge contractor. Isn’t the spending of such huge amount a waste?



Former Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim revealed that the Central Bank has lost RM30 billion in foreign exchange trading in the 1990s. Who was the manipulator behind it? (Second Finance Minister was in charge of Bank Negara’s Forex trading at that time)



Malaysia Airlines was said to have suffered losses every year. But why to spend RM1.55 million to buy three paintings to decorate its chairman’s office? And why to spend RM7,525 per day to recruit a foreign senior general manager?



Proton Holdings bought a 57.75% stake in MV Agusta for €70 million but sold it at €1 (RM4.50) a year later, causing Proton to lose €75.99 million (RM 348 million)?



Other excesses and wastages:



1. The Bank Bumiputra twin scandals in the early 1980s saw US$1 billion (RM3.2 billion in 2008 ringgit)



2. The Maminco attempt to corner the world tin market in the 1980s is believed to have cost some US$500 million. (RM1.6 billion)



3. Betting in foreign exchange futures cost Bank Negara Malaysia RM30 billion in the 1990s.



4. Perwaja Steel resulted in losses of US$800 million (RM2.56 billion). Eric Chia, was charged with corruption for allegedly steering US$20 million (RM64 million) to a Hong Kong-based company



5. Use of RM10 billion public funds in the Valuecap Sdn. Bhd. operation to shore up the stock market



6. Banking scandal of RM700 million losses in Bank Islam



7. The sale of M.V. Agusta by Proton for one Euro making a loss of €75.99 million (RM 348 million)



8. Wang Ehsan from oil royalty on Terengganu RM7.4 billion from 2004 – 2007



9. For the past 10 years since Philharmonic Orchestra was established, this orchestra has swallowed a total of RM500 million



10. In Advisors Fees, Mahathir was paid RM180,000, Shahrizat Abdul Jalil (women and social development affairs) RM404,726 and Abdul Hamid Othman (religious) RM549,675 per annum



11. The government has spent a total of RM3.2 billion in teaching Maths and Science in English over the past five years. Out of the amount, the government paid a whopping RM2.21 billion for the purchase of information and computer technology (ICT) equipments which it is unable to give a breakdown.



12. The commission paid for purchase of jets and submarines to two private companies Perimeker Sdn Bhd and IMT Defence Sdn Bhd amounted to RM910 million.



13. RM300 million to compensate Gerbang Perdana for the RM1.1 billion “Crooked Scenic Half-Bridge”



14. RM1.3 billion have been wasted building the white elephant Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) facilities on cancellation of the Malaysia-Singapore scenic bridge



15. RM 100 million on renovation of Parliament building and leaks



16. National Astronaut Programme – RM 40 million



17. National Service Training Programme – yearly an estimate of RM 500 million



18. Eye on Malaysia – RM 30 million and another RM5.7 million of free ticket



19. RM 4.63 billion, ’soft-loan’ to PKFZ



20. RM 2.4 million on indelible ink



21. Samy announced in September 2006 that the government paid compensation amounting to RM 38.5 billion to the highway companies. RM 380 million windfalls for 9 toll concessionaires earned solely from the toll hike in 2008 alone.



22. RM32 million timber export kickbacks involving companies connected to Sarawak Chief Minister and his family.



Bailouts -

23. Two bailouts of Malaysia Airline System RM7.9 billion



24. Putra transport system, which cost RM4.486 billion



25. STAR-LRT bailout costing RM3.256 billion



26. National Sewerage System costing RM192.54 million



27. Seremban-Port *CENSORED* Highway costing RM142 million



28. Kuching Prison costing RM135 million



29. Kajian Makanan dan Gunaan Orang Islam costing RM8.3 million.



30. Le Tour de Langkawi costing RM 3.5 Million



31. Wholesale distribution of tens of millions of shares in Bursa Malaysia under guise of NEP to cronies, children and relatives of BN leaders and Ministers worth billions of ringgits.



32. APs scandal had been going on year-after-year going back for more than three decades, involving a total mind-boggling sum of tens of billions of ringgits



33. Alienation of tens of thousands of hectares of commercial lands and forestry concessions to children and relatives of BN leaders and Ministers worth tens of billions of ringgits



34. Travel around Malaysia and see for yourself how many white elephants like majestic arches, roads paved with fanciful bricks, designer lamp posts, clock towers, Municipal Council buildings that looks more like Istanas, extravagant places of worship, refurbishment of residences of VIPs, abandoned or under-utilised government sports complexes and buildings, etc! Combined they could easily amount to the hundreds of billions of ringgits!



35. Wastages and forward trading of Petronas oil in the 1990s based on the low price of oil then. Since the accounts of Petronas are for the eyes of Prime Minister only, we have absolutely no idea of the amount. Whatever amount, you bet it is COLLOSSAL!



In Time Asia magazine issue on March 15 2004, South East Asian economist at Morgan Stanley in Singapore Daniel Lian, figures “that the country may have lost as much as U$$100 billion (RM320 billion) since the early 1980s to corruption.” Mind you, this is only corruption and it does not include wastages!



All the rakyat’s hard earned money down the drain and they have the audacity to raise fuel prices and asking the people to change their lifestyles.



by Joshua







ORIGINAL ARTICLE / Artikel Asal

READ MORE - Dr Mahathir Mohamad, former PM is richer than Brunei's Sultan

SAPP janjikan pemilihan tanah kepada penduduk

BONGAWAN, Disember 20, 2012: Meskipun dalam keadaan hujan dan jalanraya berlumpur, penduduk Kg. Talantang, Ulu Kimanis dalam kawasan Bongawan masih gagah menghadiri program Bangunan Untuk Sabah anjuran pergerakan Pemuda SAPP.



Kehadiran Datuk Seri Panglima Yong Teck Lee, Presiden SAPP dan juga Datuk Hj Mohd Noor Mansur penasihat parti diiringi oleh konvoi 150 buah motorsikal memang sesuatu situasi diluar jangkaan. Apatah lagi lebih seribu orang hadir ke perjumpaan itu.



Menurut Ketua Pemuda CLC Bongawan, padang tapak program tersebut telah dibaik pulih hasil usaha En. Jamil William dan penduduk kampung Telantang. Padang tersebut dibiarkan tanpa diselenggara oleh BN lebih 17 tahun.



Presiden SAPP di dalam ucapannya menyatakan pendirian parti berhubung pemilikan tanah di kg. Talantang.



Menurut beliau kerajaan SAPP akan memberikan hak-hak pemilikan tanah kepada penduduk kampung apabila membentuk kerajaan kelak. 500 penduduk di dalam Daerah mengundi Kuala Pus kawasan Bongawan belum mempunyai geran tanah dan mereka telah menunggu lebih dari 20 tahun.



Yong berkata melalui reformasi tanah, semua impian penduduk bakal menjadi kenyataan. Menurutnya lagi sebuah kerajaan berotonomi sahaja yang mampu membantu rakyat mendapatkan hak mereka.



Kad pengenalan Sabah pula katanya merupakan langkah terbaik dan agenda utama SAPP bagi membenteras pendatang asing tanpa izin yang melonjakkan kepadatan penduduk Sabah pada masa sekarang dan menjadi ancaman besar kepada Sabah.



Sementara itu Datuk Hj Mohd Noor Mansur berkata keadaan Sabah hari ini begitu tenat dengan pemimpin BN berlumba-lumba mengutip keuntungan peribadi. Beliau melahirkan rasa terkejut kerana setelah 50 tahun kemerdekaan beliau merasa terkejut melihat jalanraya ulu Kimanis dan menuju ke Kampung Telantang seolah-olah masih di zaman kolonial. Jalanraya becak dan berlumpur menunjukkan janji BN tidak pernah ditepati. Apatah lagi kawasan berkenaan diwakili oleh seorang Menteri Persekutuan.



Turut menyampaikan ucapan dimajlis tersebut ialah Datuk Eric Majimbun Timbalan Presiden SAPP, Edward Dagul Ketua Pemuda dan Jaafar Ismail Pengerusi CLC Bongawan. Sementara itu beberapa Ahli Majlis tertinggi turut serta Jamain Sarudin Setiausaha Penganjur Parti, Aloysius Danim Siap (AMT) dan Malek Mohed (AMT) serta Thomas Chong (Pengerusi CLC Membakut).



ORIGINAL ARTICLE / Artikel Asal

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KKIA runway unsafe

Work has stopped following dispute with Transport Ministry over money



KOTA KINABALU: Global Upline Sdn Bhd (GUSB), the contractor for the Kota Kinabalu International Airport's (KKIA) runway expansion and resurfacing of the existing runway announced it had stopped work effective last Monday, following a financial dispute with the Ministry of Transport (MoT).



"In the interest of safety to aircraft operation and passengers alike, we would like to inform the public that the runway is not safe for landing, take-off and other operations since it has been certified non-complete by MoT," claimed GUSB Chief Adviser, Tan Sri Ting Pek Khing.



He said it was a common fact that the New Extended Runway and Resurfaced Existing Runway had been in use since April 2012 and by May 1, 2012, while the airport operates on a 24-hour basis.



He said the MoT had promised during a meeting in January 2012 that it would issue the Certificate of Practical Completion (CPC) and release 50 per cent of Banker's Guarantee if GUSB could complete Section-1 Works by April 30, 2012.



Ting said that by April 30, 2012, GUSB had practically completed Section-1 Works.



"This was achieved because GUSB had used his best financial endeavours and utilised his utmost available resources. MoT however reneged on their promise and refused to issue the CPC and subsequently release 50 per cent of the Banker's Guarantee.



"Instead, MoT issued a Certificate of Non-Completion (CNC) and imposed Liquidated Damages (LAD) claim despite the completed works having been in use ever since April 5, 2012, inter alia the new Runway Extension, Resurfaced Existing Runway, New Taxiway 'K', New Southern Taxiway 'C', New Taxiway 'E', New Taxiway 'D' and Resurfaced Taxiway 'A'," he said.



Currently, the total runway length available in KKIA is 3,000 metres and a seven-kilometre HT cable was completed and all three pump stations operated on automation.



"We have written several letters since June 2012, including to the Prime Minister asking and demanding MoT and/or Project Management Consultant (PMC) to reply and resolve the issue pertaining to the CPC and other issues affecting the completion of KKIA," he said.



But, neither MoT nor the PMC had replied or took action on issues brought to their attention until recently, on Dec 10, 2012 when instead MoT issued a notice for GUSB to complete the KKIA project within 14 days, failing which the GUSB contract would be terminated.



"It is unrealistic and impossible to complete construction works worth RM50 million within two weeks.



"At this juncture, GUSB challenged MoT's Secretary General to complete the works within three weeks after a new contractor is appointed.



Failing which, the Secretary General should undertake total responsibility on its consequences."



Ting also said that the Minister of Transport had not been on the ground to see the actual facts on site. "Hence, he does not use eyes, but uses his ears to see and relies on them to make decision(s)," he said.



The MoT was not keen to see GUSB complete the project at KKIA and intended to appoint others instead by intentionally and purposely fabricating motives to cause willful damage and injured GUSB's financial position, he claimed.



Apart from refusing to issue the CPC, and refusing to release 50 per cent of the Banker's Guarantee and imposong the LAD claim for the KKIA project, he said the Ministry also refused to pay RM113 million contractual claim for Kuching International Airport and retained RM21 million for the Labuan Airport, both projects done by GUSB.



"All of it was done in bad faith to disqualify GUSB. GUSB was left with no choice but to commence legal proceedings to recover our money for the Kuching International Airport project and Labuan Airport project," he said.



According to Ting, GUSB would undertake to complete KKIA within six months if the MoT kept its promise to issue the CPC and release 50 per cent of the Banker's Guarantee.



"When completed, it is GUSB's assurance that it will be well within the allocated Contract Sum without any additional claim or cost extra taxpayer's money to the government.



"We have RM100 million worth of machinery at the project site.



The balance contract amount is RM37 million and the Banker's Guarantee is RM36 million.



"We completed KKIA Terminal 2 building in record time (completed in six months compared to the scheduled 18 months).



We also completed two fly-overs and roadworks in Kota Kinabalu despite not receiving prompt payment from the government.



"GUSB has repeatedly brought this matter to MoT but without avail.



GUSB now broadcasts the matter to the public and leaves it to the good judgement of the public," he said.



ORIGINAL ARTICLE / Artikel Asal

READ MORE - KKIA runway unsafe

Can tablets replace a personal computer?

Can tablets replace a personal computer? Based on current trends, it’s not likely but the force it generated will certainly continue and make evolve stronger.

It’s reported that the evolution is underway include Microsoft overhauling Windows to synch the world’s most widely used computer operating system with tablets and smartphones as well as desktops and laptops.

Microsoft is even selling its own Surface tablet based on the Windows 8 software released in October.

“I don’t think the PC is going away,” said analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group in Silicon Valley.

“What is clear is we are going through some turmoil; the market is resetting itself around new products.”

While people opt for tablets instead of laptops for computing on the move, they will yearn for bigger screens and more processing power when they settle down for “real work,” according to analysts.

“Your tablet can do so much that fewer people need laptops, but when you get to your desktop you want something that contrasts significantly from your tablet,” Gillett said.

“I think we will ultimately see the reinvention of PCs.”

Gillett described a future in which people go seamlessly from working on mobile devices to desktop stations where tablets can be docked and augmented with sensors, processors, bigger screens and more. He refers to the concept as “frames” for computing.

The analyst contends that the limping economy is among factors behind a temporary lull in PC purchases destined to end as people “go through this illusion they will do it all on a tablet and realize they can’t.”

“Tablets will substitute for some, even many, laptops but because a tablet can’t do as much as a laptop it will eventually stimulate PC sales,” Gillett reasoned.

“What ultimately happens here is that the laptop and desktop get rethought and re-invented for a tablet world.”

The market for tablets and smartphones is red-hot, leaving the PC as an afterthought for many. Microsoft, the biggest tech firm in 2009 because of its dominant Windows operating system for PCs, has fallen behind Apple and is struggling to remain a major force amid gains by Google and Amazon.

Onetime giants like Hewlett-Packard and Dell are struggling amid sluggish demand as sales of tablet computers and other devices surge.

However, Enderle pointed out, China-based Lenovo is thriving by selling the gamut of computing devices.

“Lenovo is showing success in all categories, supporting the notion that while the market has more products it is all still personal computing,” Enderle said.

“Before we were buying a laptop or desktop computer,” he continued. “Now, we are increasingly carrying many products.”

Research firm IDC projects global PC sales this year of 367 million, up just a fraction of a percent from 2011 which marking the second consecutive year of growth below two percent. ABI Research predicts tablet computers will overtake notebook PCs by 2016.

Roger Kay of Endpoint Technologies Associates said that the PC “still is pretty relevant” but “not the centre of the computing universe.”

“I think people are going to choose a pantheon of devices, and all of these are connected through the cloud... so the user is now the centre of the tech universe.”

More than 32 million tablets were shipped worldwide in the third quarter of 2012, a 75 per cent increase from the same period a year earlier, according to Futuresource Consulting.

Futuresource projected that global tablet shipments this year would hit 137 million units and nearly triple during the coming five years.

“We’re seeing significant industry growth across all key world territories, with the majority of tablet market activity still originating from consumer purchases,” said Simon Bryant of Futuresource.

Part of the success of tablets was attributed to the average price dropping below US$400 (RM1,200), due in large part to competition between device makers using free Android operating software from Google.

Link: RSS Syndication

READ MORE - Can tablets replace a personal computer?

Paper trails prove Musa-Chia link

Rafizi says his team will meet again with the ICAC tomorrow to hand over documented proofs.



PETALING JAYA: PKR said today it has paper trails showing alleged corrupt money transfers between Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman and several timber concessionaires including businessman Michael Chia.



Its director of strategy, Rafizi Ramli, revealed the documents to the press today showing fund transfers between 2005 and 2008 from supposed logging firms to overseas accounts linked to Chia.



Rafizi will lead a second team to meet with Hong Kong’s graft-busters tomorrow.



The documents included copies of telegraphic transfer credit receipts indicating payment of hundreds of thousands of US dollars to Chia’s HSBC account in Singapore, which the PKR whistleblower said would likely be payments from timber kickbacks.



The money transfers were described as “deposit for concession”.



Rafizi pointed out that Sabah timber laws expressly state that any matter related to logging activity was the sole jurisdiction of the state government, led by its chief minister.



“These transaction slips all show the transfer of money to Chia’s accounts from these firms linked to Sabah timber concessions, apart from further transfers made to purchase luxury items for Chia’s wife or cars, or transfers to Musa’s son,” he said.



The papers were said to have been provided by Chia’s own partners in Hong Kong due to a possible fall-out, he added.



“These are documents that only they would have access to as they are from these British Virgin Island (BIV) offshore accounts. We cannot access them on our own.



“I trust that they are genuine and this is what we will surrender to the ICAC tomorrow,” he said at the party’s headquarters here.



He claimed the partners are ready to testify and meet with the island state’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) should it open another probe on Musa and Chia.



Recently, the government claimed Musa had been cleared of any wrongdoing by the ICAC after it found insufficient evidence to link him to the RM40 million “donation” money to Sabah Umno.



The letter by ICAC dated December last year was used by Umno to deflect accusations that the money belongs to the long-serving Sabah chief minister Musa’s alleged link with Chia first exploded in the media following an April article by whistleblower site Sarawak Report, which claimed that the latter was caught trying to leave the Hong Kong International Airport with the RM40 million in Singapore currency.



At the time, Chia had allegedly told the authorities that the money was meant for Musa, kicking off a probe on the series of fund transfers from Malaysia to Hong Kong that was then believed to be the possible laundering of monies generated from illegal logging activities in Sabah.



Following a first meeting with Rafizi, the ICAC was said to have agreed to reopen the investigations if the PKR leader could provide fresh evidence.



Rafizi said the evidence he has should fulfil the ICAC’s request for more information to reopen the case.



Syed Jaymal Zahiid

ORIGINAL ARTICLE / Artikel Asal

READ MORE - Paper trails prove Musa-Chia link

Kes Norikoh, SAPP Bukan Ambil Kesempatan

Saudara Pengarang,



Rahsia di sebalik pergerakan "In Remembrance And Justice For Adik Norikoh" di Pekan Kota Marudu pada Ahad lalu, adalah satu anjuran simbolik daripada SAPP CLC N.5 Tandek, khusus untuk memperingati pemergian Norikoh yang ke 14 hari. Kami tiada niat langsung untuk membuat "Demonstrasi atau Tunjuk Perasaan."



Tujuan kami adalah ikhlas.



Mesej yang sebenar kami ingin sampaikan adalah soal kesedaran dan keselamatan khusus buat seluruh rakyat Kota Marudu dan khasnya rakyat di Sabah, di mana setiap ibu/bapa terutama sekali kepada mereka yang mempunyai anak 'sumandak' supaya jangan sesekali ikut orang yang tidak dikenali.



Nah, akibatnya, inilah yang telah berlaku terhadap adik Norikoh sehingga kematiannya tiada seorang pun yang sanggup bertanggungjawab.

Seperti mana yang terpapar di Baner, "Kami Simpati Dan Akan Membela Diatas Pemergian Mu Adik Norikoh" adalah sangat jelas dan ikhlas, bahawa kami akan kotakan setiap ungkapan kami, jika sekiranya kes ini tidak ada kesudahannya kelak.

Ini bukan soal politik, tetapi soal maruah anak orang Sabah yang harus dibela. Walaupun, ada segelintir rakyat Tandek menafikan keikhlasan saya dalam memperjuangkan hak-hak orang kita/Sabah dan menuduh saya mengambil kesempatan mengageh-agehkan risalah parti semasa anjuran tersebut adalah tidak benar.



Tetapi anda silap kerana itu adalah anjuran SAPP bukan siapa-siapa.



Sebagai bukti, lihat saja permulaan dalam gambar bagaimana saya dan rakan-rakan mula bergerak. Bayangkan, hanya ada 13 orang sahaja yang benar-benar berjuang dan komited dengan penuh dedikasi bersama saya pada hari itu.



SAPP CLC Tandek 5 orang sahaja iaitu John Charles Mikat, Pathlyn Mikat (Ketua Mudanita), Angeline Mikat, Jenny Missin (Ketua Wanita) dan Damit Kundahal (AJK CLC). SAPP Pusat 5 Orang juga iaitu Willfred Gaban, Clement, Denny dan dua orang lagi. Kami turut disertai dua orang sukarelawan.



Apapun, semoga Tuhan akan menyebelahi kepada pihak yang benar. Kerja kami pun sudah selesai. Selepas tu SAPP CLC Tandek mulalah membahagi-bahagikan risalah parti! Salahkah kami berbuat demikian?



Salam Hormat,



JOHN CHARLES MITAH MIKAT

ORIGINAL ARTICLE / Artikel Asal

READ MORE - Kes Norikoh, SAPP Bukan Ambil Kesempatan

Pegawai SPR Mempunyai Hak Untuk Sertai Parti Politik?

"Seseorang pegawai SPR yang menyertai parti politik perlulah tidak mencampur-aduk antara tugasannya dengan ideologi politik dan berpendapat ia adalah menyalahi etika kod kerja seorang penjawat awam, "kata pengerusinnyaTan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof.

Dalam pada itu, kata Abdul Aziz, pegawai-pegawai Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya (SPR) juga mempunyai hak demokrasi untuk menyertai parti politik tetapi mereka tidak boleh memihak semasa menjalankan tugas, kata pengerusinya Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof.

Kenyataan pengerusi SPR itu bertujuan menjawab tuduhan PAS terdapat pegawai kanan SPR cawangan negeri Sabah mempunyai jawatan penting di peringkat pemuda Umno bahagian Kinabatangan.

Sikap memihak SPR terus dipersoalkan oleh pembangkang dan aktivis Malaysia sejak beberapa tahun kebelakangan ini.

“Tidak salah untuk mana-mana pegawai SPR menyertai parti politik. Tidak kisahlah sama ada menyertai PAS, PKR ataupun Umno.

“Itu hak demokrasi,” kata Abdul Aziz kepada The Malaysian Insider apabila dihubungi berkenaan isu tersebut.

• Walaubagaimanapun, Abdul Aziz menegaskan pegawai SPR tersebut haruslah tidak bersikap memihak atau menyalahgunakan kuasa semasa menjalankan tugas.


• Beliau juga menegaskan SPR mengalu-alukan jika terdapat kebenaran ke atas tuduhan oleh PR jika pegawai itu menyalahguna kuasa dan menggesa mereka membuat aduan serta memberi bukti untuk mengukuhkan dakwaan tersebut.


• “Jika ada bukti yang mengatakan pegawai itu bersalah, sila kemukakan bukti. Kalau boleh berikan nama, jawatan dan gambar kalau ada.


• “Kami akan siasat tanpa memilih siapapun pegawai tersebut,” kata Abdul Aziz.

Sumber: The Malaysian Insider

ORIGINAL ARTICLE / Artikel Asal

READ MORE - Pegawai SPR Mempunyai Hak Untuk Sertai Parti Politik?

Pakistanis scourge in Sabah

The recent murder of a teenager has brought the Pakistani scourge in Sabah into focus and its increasing threat to local native women and small businesses.



PENAMPANG: Racism is rife in Sabah and though chauvinism or xenophobia, if you will, has always existed here, it however seems to be gathering steam of late.



A mixture of politics, crime and other social problems related to demographic changes along with discussions and comments on the Internet has flushed out into the open simmering discontent between the Sabahans and the newcomers.



The first to bear the brunt of discrimination and bigotry were the Filipino refugees streaming across the border from civil-war-torn Southern Philippines and Indonesians. Now the focus is on Pakistani traders.



The unexplained death of Norikoh Saliwa, a 16-year-old student in Kota Marudu recently, and the subsequent detention a shop manager of Pakistani origin has however stirred anger against immigrants in general and Pakistanis in particular.



Turn any corner in Sabah – even in the most unlikely and remote places in its poor northern reaches or the scrappy east coast of the state - one is bound to see a trader from the sub-continent happily attending to a small grocery store, clothing outlet or selling electrical items and cell phones.

Ask and many will cheerfully admit that they are from Peshawar or some area in the North-West Frontier Province, in northwestern Pakistan near the Khyber Pass on the border with Afghanistan.



They are quiet, polite, speak Malay fairly fluently and keep to themselves. Talk about cricket or any of the stars of the game and they become amiably animated.



All admit that they come from a hardscrabble background in their home country.



Sabah has been good to them and they have become wealthy beyond their dreams.



But questions are now being raised about how these immigrants from an impoverished background have had the funds to start businesses in the state.



Who has given them the money and the licences to operate? Do they have a benefactor at state and federal level?



Some of the shoplots they rent in strategic areas are not cheap. Rentals can be between RM2,500 to RM4,000, the wage of a middle income office worker.



Then there is the cost of the goods in the shop that can range from between RM25,000 to over RM100,000.



Where is that stake or seed money coming from?



Many say they have obtained loans but decline to reveal from who but, insist they can make ends meet and even turn a profit despite the interest on the loans.



With an eye on elections around the corner and growing voter dissatisfaction over immigration, politicians have thrown caution to the winds and joined in the free-for-all immigrant-bashing.



The Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP), a local opposition group, is hoping to resurrect its fortunes on a Sabah-for-Sabahans agenda expressed on Sunday its “grave concern over the increase in the number of Pakistani traders in the district over the years”.



Party information chief Chong Pit Fah warned that their increasing presence in the district, if left unchecked, could pose a serious threat to the socio-economic well-being of the local residents.



“The business of the local tuck shop operators have been badly affected since these Pakistani traders started to come in to Penampang district in the last few years to set up their tuck shops in almost every nook and corner of the district right up to the Putatan sub district,” he said.



Speaking to reporters after lodging a police report at the district police station here Sunday, Chong who is also SAPP Kepayan chief, claimed that a recent random survey carried out by its Kepayan youth wing found that there were more than 20 tuck shops operated by the Pakistanis in the district.



The survey, he said, was prompted by public concern over the increasing number of Pakistani traders in the district, following the alleged murder of Saliwa.



“SAPP felt compelled to lodge a police report today, to urge the police as well as the Immigration Department to conduct a thorough check on these Pakistani traders who are operating the tuck shops in Penampang district.



“We strongly believed they could be abusing their social visit pass, or even having secured their stay and permit to do business through such dubious means like marriages of convenience with the rural native women, some of whom are single mothers,” he said.



Chong claimed to have received numerous reports that many of the Pakistanis coming to the state are targeting rural young native girls for marriages of convenience so that they could secure a longer stay in Sabah as well as to apply for trading licences.



According to sources, the preferred entry point into Sabah for Pakistan nationals and others is an indirect flight from Kuala Lumpur via Labuan.



“The major concern among the native community in Sabah now is that some of these Pakistani traders had returned to their wife and children back in Pakistan for good thus leaving behind their native wife and children here,” Chong said.



He further claimed that the district of Kota Marudu has a largish population of Pakistani nationals and has been dubbed ‘mini Karachi’.



Chong who was a former deputy chairman of the Penampang district council speculated that the increasing number of Pakistanis in the district could be a government-sanctioned tactic to alter the demographics of various ‘troublesome’ districts in the state in order to produce a favourable outcome for the Barisan Nasional government in any election.



He said there seemed no other justifications for the relevant authorities to allow such a huge number of Pakistani nationals to continue to come into Sabah.



“We know for a fact that the Filipino and the Indonesian workers are here because they are needed by the plantation and construction industries.



“But as for the Pakistanis … what have they contributed to Sabah? To help increase the population of Sabah and to ensure a perpetual rule by the Barisan Nasional?” he asked.



Making the report with Chong at the police station, were several SAPP district leaders.



Queville To

ORIGINAL ARTICLE / Artikel Asal

READ MORE - Pakistanis scourge in Sabah

DAP Janji Tiada Rusuhan Jika Tewas Dalam PRU 13: BN Bagaimana?

Mantan PM, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad memberikan amaran bulan lepas pembangkang Pakatan Rakyat (PR) mungkin akan menganjurkan demonstrasi jalanan sekiranya tewas dalam pilihan raya umum (PRU) yang bakal menjelang sebelum April tahun depan.

Tetapi pemimpin PR menolak pandangan amaran tersebut dengan berkata mereka tetap menyokong proses demokrasi yang termaktub dibawah Perlembagaan Persekutuan, termasuk pilihan raya.

Menyentuh isu yang sama, DAP berjanji tidak mewujudkan kekecohan sekiranya mereka gagal menubuhkan kerajaan pada pilhan umum ke-13 nanti, sambil mencabar parti lain untuk membuat perjanjian yang sama.

“Kami telah kata kami akan hormat pilihan orang dalam pilihan raya depan ini; jika kami tidak dipilih atau terpilih sebagai kerajaan oleh rakyat, kami tidak akan buat kekecohan,” kata ketua Wanita DAP, Chong Eng semasa Kongres Kebangsaan Wanita dan Pemuda Sosialis (DAPSY) disini hari ini.

Beliau turut menggesa pengerusi Barisan Nasional (BN) dan perdana menteri Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Razak untuk “membuat komitmen sama jika BN tewas dalam pilihan raya, (dengan janji) mereka juga akan memberikan laluan kepada Pakatan untuk memerintah secara aman”

.



Sumber: The Malaysian Insider

ORIGINAL ARTICLE / Artikel Asal

READ MORE - DAP Janji Tiada Rusuhan Jika Tewas Dalam PRU 13: BN Bagaimana?

PENUTUPAN SUNGAI TEMPASUK MEMBAWA MALAPETAKA KEPADA TANAH KUBURAN BATU GADUNG.

Isu penutupan sungai Tempasuk ini menjadi bahan bualan ramai bagi penduduk kampung-kampung yang terjejas dalam fenomena penutupan aliran sungai Tempasuk ini. bukan sahaja setakat bualan ramai, malah, tindakan BANTAHAN telah pun di ajukan kepada JPS Kota Belud dan wakil rakyat. usaha penduduk kampung dan semua JKKK serta ketua kampung yang terlibat telah menurunkan tandatangan untuk membantah dan meminta pihak berkenaan membuka kembali aliran sungai ini, namun JPS memberikan respon negatif dengan tidak melakukan tindakan susulan seperti dalam bantahan tersebut. begitu juga, bantahan di buat dan diajukan kepada wakil rakyat namun respon tetap sama, hanya menjanjikan retorik kata namun sehingga sekarang sungai Tempasuk menjadi igauan buruk penduduk kampung labuan, wakap, sembirai, lebak moyuh, lingkoudon, taun gusi, jawi-jawi, payas-payas, peladok, merabau, tamau, kota bungan, tawadakan dan sama waktu dengan nya.

Bantahan ini sebenarnya tidak mendapat perhatian khusus daripada pihak berwajib apatah lagi kepada wakil rakyat Dun Tempasuk dan Ahli parlimen Kota Belud. semua nya hanya melahirkan simpulan kata menjanjikan tindakan susulan namun sehingga kini harapan menjadi retorik bicara politik wakil rakyat. Matlamat penutupan sungai tempasuk ini kononnya memberikan impak positif kepada kampung sekitar sungai Tempsuk namun sebaliknya telah berlaku. antara KESAN yang wujud setelah penutupan sungai Tempasuk sejak 4 tahun yang lalu adalah:

1. Mengelakkan banjir berlaku di kawasan persawahan tanaman padi kampung jawi-jawi termasuk kampung taun gusi labuan dan sekitarnnya

2. Mengelakan runtuhan tebing sungai sepanjang aliran sungai tempasuk. Setelah penutupan lain pula berlaku.

3. Mengakibatkan air masin dari laut mengalir masuk sehingga ke kampung payas-payas. ini mengakibatkan petani sawah padi huma mengalami kerugian dan tidak dapat mengerjakan sawah padi seperti sebelumnya.

4. Menyelamat banjir berlaku di jawi-jawi, taun gusi, merabau dan sekitarnya!. Tetapi penutupan ini mengakibatkan kawasan kampung yang belum pernah mengalami bencana banjir pula sebaliknya telah berlaku banjir seperti kg lebak moyuh, lingkudon dan sebagainya.

5. sungai Kuala tempasuk semakin cetek dan mengakibatkan penduduk bekerja sebagai nelayan tidak dapat turun ke laut menangkap ikan.

6. Berlakunya hakisan di kuala tempasuk mengakibatkan kuburan di batu gadung hanyut ke laut.

7. Bertambahnya bilangan buaya di sungai kerana aliran sungai tidak sempurna.

8. Bertambahnya bilangan rumpai dan katong yang terlalu banyak sehingga menyusahkan nelayan .

saya menyeru kepada pihak JPS Kota Belud dan wakil rakyat yang ada untuk memberikan perhatian khusus kepada isu ini kerna ini melibatkan kepentingan awam. penutupan ini bukan menyelesaikan banyak perkara akan tetapi lebih banyak menimbulkan masalah dan kesan negatif. saya sempat meluangkan masa bersama-sama penduduk Tamau, Kota bungan, pintasan, tawadakan, merabau dan peladok untuk turut membantu dalam gotong-royong pengorekan pasir di sepanjang tanah perkuburan Batu Gadung antara mendapat kesan buruk akibat penutupan sungai Tempasuk ini. Tahap HAKISAN yang begitu kritikal sepanjang perkuburan ini telah berlaku, dan saya di fahamkan, Datuk Musbah dan Datuk Rahman juga telah pernah melawat perkuburan ini, namun seperti yang saya katakan, kata-kata seorang politikus jarang sekali tertunai walaupun melibatkan kepentingan awam.!

saya sertakan gambar-gambar kesan penutupan sungai Tempasuk kepada tanah perkuburan Batu Gadung.

jalan terHAKIS teruk

Kesan HAKISAN sepanjang perkuburan Batu Gadung

Persisir pantai membentuk kuala dan mengakibatkan Hakisan yang teruk berlaku.

Katong yang bertimbun sepanjang persisir pantai perkuburan Batu Gadung.

Link: RSS Syndication

READ MORE - PENUTUPAN SUNGAI TEMPASUK MEMBAWA MALAPETAKA KEPADA TANAH KUBURAN BATU GADUNG.

Yong - Palm oil downturn could cripple Sabah

LAHAD DATU: The plunge in palm oil demand and prices is threatening to cripple Sabah which boasts of having the largest area of oil palm plantations.



According to the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) in 2009, Sabah was already a leading state in terms of acreage with oil palm cultivation taking up at 1.36 million hectares out of the national total of 4.69 million hectares (ha).



But what was a lucrative revenue generator then may now push the state and its farmers into dire straits.



Former Sabah Chief Minister Yong Teck Lee warned that the economic repercussions from the shake-up in the state’s mono-culture agriculture industry could be worse than the impact of the 1997 financial disaster if commodity remains at current rates long-term.



The market has seen demand for the commodity fall along with prices to less than half their previous high of up to RM800 per tonne and farmers in the state are struggling to sell their produce.



Yong said indications that the state’s golden crop was losing its lustre could be seen in the panicky scramble by smallholders to get their produce to the market first as supply has outstripped demand and collection centres had set a limit on purchase.



An industry source said that growers are racing against each other to get to the palm oil fruit collection centres first to ensure they can sell their produce as some are already being turned away as supply had outstripped demand.



Yong said the government could not afford to ignore the issue given that it had invested so heavily in the industry.



He said that while the 1997 financial crisis which quickly spread to Malaysia had bankrupted many, Sabah’s economy was cushioned from its effects by its agriculture-based economy.



“The crisis had little effect on Sabah, particularly in the east coast, because the palm oil industry was still going strong at that time. It is palm oil that saved Sabah during the financial crisis,” he said.



“Now businesses (that have grown up around oil palm) are facing problems, so what are we going to do if the industry collapses?”



Dire implications



Yong who is the president of the opposition Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP), said the party’s economic unit had monitored the industry in the east coast and is concerned with the spin-off effects.



The implications for businesses on both the east and west coast of the state with less palm oil money going around are dire, he said.



Yong noted how years ago companies were leery of investing in setting up bio-diesel plants in the Lahad Datu POIC due to the high price of oil palm at that time.



“Now the oil palm price has gone down drastically, if the BN government is sincere in helping the palm oil operators they should buy all the oil palm fruits and initiate the bio-diesel production.



“This can be the win-win solution for both parties,” he said.



The price of palm oil fruits is now trading at RM360-RM380 per metric ton from a previous high of between RM700-RM800.

Making things worse, collection centre operators have limited their take according to commodity prices per day since about two months ago.



“If we are late (to the closest centre) we have to find another centre to sell it off and bear the additional cost for extra miles. If we fail to sell then we had no choice but to bear the losses which include labour charge, fertiliser and transportation,” planter Alan Kia told FMT.



In Tungku, Silabukan oil palm estate smallholder Leksun Injil said the downturn had placed smallholder at the mercy of buyers and the prices offered the last two months was RM290 per metric ton.



“Normally when the factories silo is full the collection centre operators will impose limit or even stop collection of palm oil fruits as the factories have no place to store the processed oil,” he said.



Intake dropped by 50%



The same, he said, occurred in 2000 when factory operators said their silos were full forcing smallholders to burn their unwanted produce in the estate to prevent the fruits from growing.



Planters here reckon that the intake by collection centres is down by as much as 50%.



Yong said that the BN state government under Musa Aman appeared unwillingly to address the issue and are instead involved in property deals and buying out prime land around the state.



“The Sabah Railways will be relocated in Kimanis soon, but the existing 53 acres of land belonging to Sabah Railways had changed hands.

“The State Library will be relocated to Suria Building, while the KK central market too will be relocated to another location, all this golden prime lands will soon change hands,” he said.



The state government’s budget is currently boosted by over a billion ringgit derived solely from oil palm industry.



Yong made his remarks to about a hundred supporters during the party roadshow here this week.



Thomas Pi

ORIGINAL ARTICLE / Artikel Asal

READ MORE - Yong - Palm oil downturn could cripple Sabah

SAPP buoyant about pact with Pakatan

SAPP and Jeffrey Kitingan-led STAR are expected to discuss 'anytime now' on how they can cooperate and put up one-to-one fights with BN.



KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) president Yong Teck Lee is optimistic about the ongoing negotiations on seat distribution and election preparations between his party and the Pakatan Rakyat coalition.



Yong said talks to work out a deal with local opposition parties that are not under Pakatan’s umbrella grouping had picked up momentum over the past month as general election looms.



He said he welcomed recent statements by PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim and deputy president Azmin Ali, which “clearly indicated that they had agreed with SAPP including the principle of burden sharing” (of difficult seats) in the 13th general election”.



The local opposition party has been asserting its legitimacy as a Sabah party vis-a-vis ‘peninsula-based’ opposition party branches in the state in demanding a greater share of seats.



Yong and party leaders have been pushing SAPP’s struggle for Sabah’s autonomy to claim entitlement to a majority of the 60 state seats. Such a deal would make them kingmakers in the next government of Sabah if they win in the coming election.



The SAPP leader, a former state chief minister under the Barisan Nasional’s unconventional but now revoked leadership rotation that granted the chief ministership to each of the three majority communities in the state, noted that SAPP would also be entering talks with the State Reform Party (STAR) Sabah “to fine-tune a couple of matters”.



STAR Sabah, spearheaded by maverick politician Jeffrey Kitingan, and SAPP are expected to discuss any time now how they can cooperate without stepping on each other’s toes to put up local candidates acceptable by both parties for one-on-one fights against BN candidates.



Yong said today was the last day for Parliament to be dissolved, if the government wanted to have the polls before Christmas.



“If not, it could be most probably in March next year, or possibly end of January in order for polling to be held one week before Chinese New Year on Feb 10,” he said.



Queville To

ORIGINAL ARTICLE / Artikel Asal

READ MORE - SAPP buoyant about pact with Pakatan

Samsung Galaxy - the ironic milestone of the East

After seven months dominating the market, the Samsung Galaxy SIII is still the UK’s most popular phone. The scenario had shown the global outstanding performance of the flagship company from South Korea.

The ironic milestone indicates the Korean’s rise and the breakthrough of the western-dominated technology. Although it’s still too early to conclude the irresistible end of the western monopoly advance technology, but it indicated the arrival of the new era.

Ironically, Korea is nowhere near closing its technology with American company, but Samsung’s rise will ultimately emerge as one the world’s predominant player.

The relatively low affordable price and heavy advertisement marketing strategy has kept Samsung at the top of the of UK smartphones.

It’s been reported that despite a marketing blitz, Apple’s iPhone 5 cannot compete with Samsung’s flagship smartphone — or with its own iPhone 4S.

Using data gathered through live searches, pre-orders and monthly sales, the uSwitch.com mobile tracker produces a monthly top 10 of UK smart phones in terms of sales, not shipments.

Its latest results, published this week, reveal that after seven months, the Samsung Galaxy SIII is still the UK’s most popular phone and that after only one month; the iPhone 5 has fallen from second place in the charts to third, overtaken by the iPhone 4S, the handset it was meant to replace.

As well as bad news for Apple, the chart also brings good news for Google. Its LG Nexus 4 handset has gone straight in as the fifth most popular phone in the country after its November roll-out.

However, it’s Samsung that dominates the charts, holding five of the top 10 positions including seventh place for its phablet, the Galaxy Note II, which is meant to be a niche device.

Of the iPhone 4S claiming second place, ahead of its replacement, Ernest Doku, telecoms expert at uSwitch.com, put the handset’s popularity down to the fact that, now that it has been usurped as Apple’s flagship device, UK network operators are offering it as a free smartphone on competitively priced monthly contracts.

Link: RSS Syndication

READ MORE - Samsung Galaxy - the ironic milestone of the East