New Straits Times articles from December 2008, page 6

New Straits Times archives from December 2008

Media members enjoy a party.
December 25, 2008... Byline: Naveen Mathew Menon KUALA LUMPUR: You don't often get to see members of the media sit back and relax. But at the bash thrown by Philip Morris at Telawi Street Bistro in Bangsar recently, the usually harried newshounds trying to...

Star ratings for all fire stations.
December 25, 2008... KOTA BARU: State and district fire stations in the country will be given star rating from next year. Fire and Rescue Department director-general Datuk Hamzah Abu Bakar said this was one way to spur the officers and staff to give their...

Western Digital to meet state leaders.
December 25, 2008... KUCHING: Western Digital Media (M) Sdn Bhd vice-president Datuk Don Blake will meet state leaders to discuss the gradual winding down of its Sarawak plant and the fate of its 1,500 workers. Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr George Chan...

Kedah will not copy Perak.
December 25, 2008... ALOR STAR: The Pas-led state government will not emulate Perak's move in offering freehold titles for land in new and planned villages. Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Azizan Abdul Razak said the state had opted to extend the land leases in...

Perak to go on issuing freehold titles.
December 25, 2008... IPOH: Land offices in the state have been instructed to continue accepting land conversion applications from residents of planned and new villages. These offices have also been told to disregard orders from the Federal Government to the...

Cleared of drug charge.
December 25, 2008... KUALA LUMPUR: An Acehnese was acquitted by the High Court yesterday of drug trafficking without his defence being called. Judge Abdul Alim Abdullah ruled that the prosecution had failed to prove a prima facie case against M. Mahdi Abdul...

Woman's body found by roadside.
December 25, 2008... JOHOR BARU: A woman was found murdered by the roadside early yesterday. Nusajaya district police chief Superintendent Aziz Ahmad said the woman, found with deep cuts on her body, was believed to have been murdered elsewhere. "There...

Not at all bothered by paint.
December 25, 2008... Byline: Farah Naz Karim HOME Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar just shrugged his shoulders over the paint attack on his home in Kota Tinggi. Syed Hamid, who is in Teheran, Iran, to accompany Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah...

'Impak Maksima' to wow Singapore.
December 25, 2008... KUALA LUMPUR: Impak Maksima The Musical will be the second Malaysian theatre production to be shown at Singapore's Esplanade after Puteri Gunung Ledang The Musical. Director Ahmad Idham Ahmad Nazri said the musical would "heat up" the...

'Papaya Valley' to help farmers.
December 25, 2008... MARAN: The agriculture area in Lanchang has been recognised as a "Papaya Valley" following moves to export the fruit to help farmers. State Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Committee chairman Datuk Tan Mohd Aminuddin Ishak said an agency...

5.5 sen dividend for ASN investors.
December 25, 2008... KUALA LUMPUR: Amanah Saham Nasional Bhd (ASNB), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB), has declared an income distribution of 5.50 sen per unit for the Amanah Saham Nasional (ASN) scheme for the financial year ending Dec...

Cabinet unlikely to make decision before Jan 5.
December 25, 2008... Byline: Suganthi Suparmaniam KUALA LUMPUR: Science and Mathematics will continue to be taught in English in the new school term if there is no decision on the controversial policy before then. As the new term starts on Jan 5 and a...

Public can also help the police.
December 25, 2008... Byline: Mahaganapathy Dass COMPARED with previous years, there has been a significant rise in the crime index in Malaysia. The year 2005 saw 171,604 cases of crime, followed by 198,622 cases in 2006. Last year, there was an alarming rise...

A switch would be unwise.
December 25, 2008... Byline: Ananth M.J. I WAS one of the lucky students in 2003 involved in the switch to English for Science and Mathematics. After five years of high school education and now in college, I am very grateful that the decision to teach these...

RTD uncovers permit scam, 2 runners nabbed.
December 25, 2008... Byline: Fadhal A Ghani KUALA LUMPUR: At least one doctor is signing blank application forms for drivers to renew Public Service Vehicle (PSV) permits, without having to undergo any medical check-up. This came to light yesterday when...

Altantuya's father to challenge A-G's decision.
December 25, 2008... SHAH ALAM: In an unprecedented move, the father of murder victim Altantuya Shaariibuu has filed a judicial review leave application to challenge the decision of the attorney-general who failed to appeal against the acquittal of political...

Body in rubble that of maid.
December 25, 2008... KUALA LUMPUR: The body found under the rubble at the site of the Bukit Antarabangsa landslide on Tuesday has been identified as the Sri Lankan maid, Lourdes Mary. She was working for veterinarian Dr N. Yogeswari, who was killed in the...

Lim may take case to court.
December 25, 2008... GEORGE TOWN: The state government may take the Federal Government to court if the land title conversion issue is not resolved with the National Land Council. Despite objections from the Federal Government, Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng...

Samy Vellu axes Mahalingam.
December 25, 2008... Byline: V. Vasudevan KUALA LUMPUR: Veteran MIC member and three-term treasurer-general Tan Sri M. Mahalingam has been relieved of his post by party president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu. The MIC chief said this was part of the party's...

Repairs begin on guard posts.
December 25, 2008... Byline: Sharifah Mahsinah Abdullah RANTAU PANJANG: General Operations Force (GOF) members on duty along the Kelantan-Thailand border area can soon stop taking their baths in the Golok river. They will also no longer have their sleep...

Family tribute to a great teacher.
December 25, 2008... MERSING: While everyone is in the mood to celebrate Christmas, there is a grand old man here just waiting to celebrate his 100th birthday with his family, and that is teacher John Murray. Murray began his teaching career at St Michael...

Additional RM1.3b for pension benefit.
December 25, 2008... PUTRAJAYA: The government will spend an additional RM1.3 billion on remunerations, gratuities and other benefits for more than 500,000 retirees and dependants next year. This year, the pension benefit payout is estimated at RM7.6...

Take another look at pet shop trade.
December 25, 2008... Byline: S.M. Mohd Idris SAHABAT Alam Malaysia (SAM) welcomes the proposed amendment to the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. A review and increase of penalties are long overdue as the content of the current act is antiquated, limited...

Directors laud call to raise Hollywood movie ticket price.
December 25, 2008... Byline: Meor Shariman KUALA LUMPUR: Local film directors support the proposal by the Malaysian Film Producers' Association to hike the ticket price for Hollywood movies. They agreed it was one step towards promoting the development...

Malacca to gain from new airport.
December 25, 2008... SEREMBAN: Malacca will benefit from the setting up of a new low-cost carrier terminal (LCCT) in Labu, near here. Malacca Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam said the state government fully supported the new private terminal, which will...

Opening their hearts and wallets.
December 25, 2008... Byline: Naveen Mathew Menon KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysians got together to raise funds for the reconstruction of schools destroyed by Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar in May. At a charity dinner organised by the Ananda Marga Universal Relief...

Shoe vouchers for needy.
December 25, 2008... PETALING JAYA: The Kampung Tunku state assemblyman's office will distribute vouchers for school shoes to poor families in the Kampung Tunku zone until the end of January. The zone covers Sea Park, Taman Paramount, Sri Aman's low-cost houses,...

Actor's car broken into.
December 25, 2008... ALOR STAR: Actor and comedian Mazlan Ahmad, better known as "Lan Pet Pet", lost RM3,000 in valuables when thieves smashed his Proton Perdana's window in Taman Mawar here yesterday. Mazlan and his family were sleeping at his...

9 cars destroyed in fire.
December 25, 2008... Byline: Lee Shi-Ian PETALING JAYA: Police are baffled by a suspected arson case where nine cars were destroyed or damaged. They found a pair of handcuffs and two parang in one of the razed cars and two cars with false registration...

Polycarbonate bottles safe to use, says ministry.
December 25, 2008... KUALA LUMPUR: The Health Ministry will not issue a ban on plastic bottles made from polycarbonate, at least not for now. This is because the ministry had studies showing that the products were safe and not detrimental to health, Deputy...

PMR results on Tuesday.
December 25, 2008... KUALA LUMPUR: This year's Penilaian Menengah Rendah examination results will be announced on Tuesday, according to the Education Ministry. Candidates' results will be released in schools on the same day from 10am. About 472,000...

It's time we had harsher penalties.
December 25, 2008... Byline: Steffie Yin YOUR report "Year-old baby raped: Two held" (NST, Dec 23) has left me feeling appalled that an unspeakable crime has robbed a child of her chance to grow up as any normal girl. The monsters who committed this deed...

Hospital should consider patients' interests.
December 25, 2008... Byline: C. Nadarajah I AM one of those who go for periodic medical check-ups at Hospital Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia's Pusat Rawatan Primier at Bandar Tasik Selatan, Cheras. The consultations provided by the student doctors are very...

Drugs, gun seized from gang.
December 25, 2008... KULAIJAYA: A police anti-narcotics team yesterday nabbed a four-member gang of suspected drug traffickers and seized their stash, a gun and 20 bullets. The team from the Kulaijaya Narcotics Department first arrested two men in a house at...

We have got to improve our welcome.
December 25, 2008... Byline: Mariam Mokhtar THERE is something distinctly discomfiting in the way some of our government ministers show signs of panic over Malaysia's tourism industry ("Terengganu told to boost tourism" - NST, Dec 9). We are told that...

Intrigued by dispenser's action.
December 25, 2008... Byline: P. P. WHILE there is so much hype over the proposed takeover of the National Heart Institute by Sime Darby, let me relate a recent incident that took place at the University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) pharmacy. Last week, I...

Cathay Pacidifc offers surprise holidays.
December 25, 2008... KUALA LUMPUR: Cathay Pacific aims to offer their loyal customers the best deals with their "Getaway Surprise!" promotion. "Travellers should take this opportunity to experience Hong Kong's wonderful sights," said Katherine Lo, Cathay...

Malls teeming with shoppers.
December 25, 2008... Byline: Ili Liyana Mokhtar; Yong Huey Jiun KUALA LUMPUR: Despite the gloomy global economic situation, there are no signs of Malaysians reining in their Christmas spending as they swarmed shopping malls in the capital yesterday to do some...

Post mortem on Asean Championship tomorrow.
December 25, 2008... Byline: Christopher Raj THE sub-committee of the national team's management committee meets tomorrow to discuss Malaysia's performance in the Asean Championship. Comprising 10 members, the sub-committee is divided into two sections -...

'Don't fall prey to bigotry'.
December 25, 2008... KOTA KINABALU: Do not fall prey to efforts by some people to use religion and ethnic sentiments to jeopardise the country's unity and peace, Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman said. "It is disturbing to hear of ethnic and religious...

City Hall slashes budget, to focus on cleaning up KL.
December 25, 2008... Byline: Nuradzimmah Daim KUALA LUMPUR: It's back to basics for City Hall. This is what the people can expect from City Hall's budget for next year. Instead of the usual plans to develop and beautify the capital city, the city...

Alam Flora: Traders didn't want to use our services.
December 25, 2008... KUALA LUMPUR: Business operators at Jalan Segambut 1/57D are responsible for the disposal of their own waste, according to Alam Flora Sdn Bhd. The disposal of waste at the industrial-cum-commercial area does not fall under Alam Flora's...

50 families say no to mall, office project.
December 25, 2008... Byline: Dawn Chan KUALA LUMPUR: Residents in Jalan Matang 3 at Taman Sri Kuching are objecting to the shopping-cum-office project by Magna Prima Berhad in the area. They said the land had been a residential area for decades and was...

PM: Build bridges and reach out to one another.
December 25, 2008... PUTRAJAYA: All Malaysians must re-examine and reinforce the common ground that had kept them together all this while, said the prime minister in his Christmas message. Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said they must do this in the face...

Umno's Zahar joins Pas.
December 25, 2008... KUALA LUMPUR: Captain (R) Datuk Zahar Hashim, the Umno division leader who claimed there were irregularities in the government's RM2.3 billion Eurocopter deal (now on hold), has joined Pas, saying his former party had betrayed him. Zahar, a...

Economy, education issues the crux.
December 25, 2008... Byline: Zubaidah Abu Bakar THE public spat between Pas and the secular-socialist Democratic Action Party (DAP) over the proposed implementation of hudud and qisas laws does seem to have the potential to be hugely divisive. But given the...

Abdullah: Focus to ensure BN wins.
December 25, 2008... Byline: Farah Naz Karim UMNO president Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has warned party members to set aside their personal political interest and instead shift their focus to ensure a Barisan Nasional win in the Kuala Terengganu...

'Puteri needs leaders of substance'.
December 25, 2008... Byline: Heidi Foo ALTHOUGH Puteri Umno assistant secretary Bibi Sharliza Mohd Khalid failed to secure a nomination from the Rembau Puteri Umno division which she leads, the former Paroi state assemblyman remains confident of clinching...

Box-office blooper.
December 25, 2008... OTHER things being equal, when the price of product X increases while the price of product Y remains the same, consumers can be expected to switch their preference to the cheaper item. This makes economic sense. However, the proposal to raise...

Asean must do away with 'talk shop' image.
December 25, 2008... Byline: Amy Chew "WHAT are you covering?" asked a young Indonesian professional named Andi Silalahi. "Asean," I replied. "Asean? All it does is talk but Aung San Suu Kyi remains in detention," said 29-year-old Andi. Andi's...

Chinese leaders cherish a precious opportunity.
December 25, 2008... Byline: Frank Ching LAST week, for the first time since the Chinese civil war was fought almost six decades ago, passenger jets and freighters set off from Taiwan for mainland China while aircraft and ships departed the mainland bound...

They seek him here, they seek him there ...
December 25, 2008... Byline: Vijay Shanmugam I COULDN'T agree more with what M. Husairy Othman had to say about Nga Kor Ming, the Taiping member of parliament who is also the state assemblyman of Pantai Remis ("Fewer fans for these cousins in Perak DAP" -...

Shaw's horses working well.
December 25, 2008... BANG-IN-FORM trainer Patrick Shaw seems to have a strong hand over his runners, judging the way they worked yesterday at Kranji. His star performers were forward-looking newcomer Ultraman Gaia, Twice Regal, Zoid, Prinzio, Holtmail, Common's...

Kiko's Return in perfect shape.
December 25, 2008... Byline: Go-Ram PERAK Derby winner Kiko's Return drew attention to his winning chances in the RM1.35 million Yang Di-Pertua Negeri Gold Cup for Malaysia Group 1 horses over 2200m in Race 7 on Sunday with a two-round workout in Penang...

Amadeus Mozart in hat-trick bid.
December 25, 2008... AMADEUS Mozart can make it a back-to-back success when he takes on eight rivals in the S$95,000 (RM228, 000) Open Benchmark 97 event over 1200m (Race 8, 10.05pm) on the Polytrack at Kranji tomorrow. The five-year-old Irish gelding by...

Sports for all should be the priority.
December 25, 2008... Byline: K. Kandiah THE only way for Malaysia to regain a sporting culture is for a change in policy. The current emphasis, said Malaysian Association for Physical Education, Sports Science and Fitness (MAPESSF) president Datuk Dr Leonard...

Future remains fuzzy.
December 25, 2008... Byline: Arnaz M. Khairul THE status quo was maintained on the international front, but development for Malaysian motorsports on the local front in 2008 was, at best, a free-for-all. Fairuz Fauzy, Bryan Mehta, Nabil Jan Al-Jeffri,...

MAAU missing the main point.
December 25, 2008... Byline: Devinder Singh THE Malaysian Amateur Athletic Union (MAAU) will be holding it first board meeting following its elections two weeks ago on Monday with only one item on the agenda. At a time when there are so many pressing...

Sibling rivalry adds spice to script.
December 25, 2008... Byline: Ajitpal Singh FAMILY ties will come to the fore when Sapura play Ernst & Young in the MHL-TNB Cup final at the KLHA Stadium in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday. Sapura will have two pairs of brothers Keevan and Logan Raj and Jiwa...

Police won't ask for pay rise.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Lee Shi-Ian KUALA LUMPUR: The police will not seek a salary revision under the present economic climate and because they had a raise last year. Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan, who said this yesterday, instead...

Akim to field vice-president.
December 24, 2008... PASIR PUTIH: Angkatan Keadilan Insan Malaysia (Akim), a splinter party of Pas, has named its vice-president Harun Abdul Rahman Mohamad as its candidate for the Kuala Terengganu by-election. The businessman's candidacy was announced by...

Learning the importance of unity.
December 24, 2008... KUANTAN: Wong Poh Yee, 15, hardly speaks the national language as most of her friends and family converse in Mandarin and Cantonese. Due to her difficulty to communicate in other languages, she would only mix with her Chinese friends at...

Former Kesas boss to head PKNS from Feb 1.
December 24, 2008... Byline: V. Shankar Ganesh SHAH ALAM: Former Kesas Holdings Bhd general manager Othman Omar, 49, will be the general manager of Perbadanan Kemajuan Negeri Selangor (PKNS) from Feb 1. He will replace Datin Paduka Low Siew Moi, who was...

CAP call to ban plastic tumblers.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Audrey Dermawan GEORGE TOWN: The Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) is calling for an immediate ban on the use of plastic water bottles made from polycarbonate in schools. CAP claims polycarbonate bottles could have...

Three on MHF's list.
December 24, 2008... Byline: M. Hamzah Jamaludin The number of coaches vying to take charge of the national hockey team has been whittled down to a final three candidates. The aspirants hail from Europe, Australia and Asia. Malaysian Hockey...

Crunch time.
December 24, 2008... THIS year, more than 18,000 factory workers have been retrenched. Nearly 5,000 more are expected to join the ranks of the jobless in the first quarter of next year alone. So far, about 80 per cent of laid-off workers have been from the...

Elitist tag thrown at BN candidate.
December 24, 2008... KUALA LUMPUR: The Kuala Terengganu by-election is still some way off, but the BN candidate, Senator Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh, has already found himself having to deal with the oft-repeated complaint that he is elitist and not a man of...

Kok sues Khir, Utusan.
December 24, 2008... KUALA LUMPUR: Seputeh member of parliament Teresa Kok yesterday filed a RM30 million defamation suit against a former menteri besar and a Bahasa Malaysia daily over an article published in September. Kok named former Selangor Menteri...

Fatin scorches the lanes in Junior All-Stars.
December 24, 2008... FATIN Syazliana Nasution, a national youth bowler, currently leads the Girls' Open Masters qualifiers of the Milo World Junior All-Stars at Sunway Megalanes in Bandar Sunway. Fatin, 18, scorched the lanes with lines of 265, 227 and 246...

Mahfuz awarded RM120,000 in suit against daily.
December 24, 2008... KUALA LUMPUR: Pas information chief Mahfuz Omar was awarded RM120,000 in damages yesterday when he won his defamation suit against a Bahasa Malaysia daily and its former group editor-in-chief. High Court judicial commissioner Mohd Yazid...

Praise for speedy line restoration.
December 24, 2008... KUALA LUMPUR: The country's disaster-management system was given the thumbs up by a United Nations disaster management consultant. Anders P. Laukvik, a specialist in ICT infrastructure for disaster areas, said he was impressed with the...

Building a better and more humane future.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Karim Douglas Crow CIVILISATIONAL Islam, which mirrors Malaysia's Islam Hadhari concept, has the potential to contribute great value to international harmony and stability, writes KARIM DOUGLAS CROW. IN Tashkent last week,...

Nepal thrash Malaysia in final.
December 24, 2008... MALAYSIA crashed to a seven-wicket defeat to Nepal in the final of the Asian Women's Under-19 Championship in Chiangmai, Thailand yesterday. After the high of a two-run win over Hong Kong in Monday's semi-final, the national junior team...

Board to guide victims' families.
December 24, 2008... IPOH: National Population and Family Development Board (LPPKN) counsellors and information officers will be given special training to help counsel and disseminate information to married couples who are HIV carriers as well as families with...

'Education is the way, not compulsion'.
December 24, 2008... IPOH: Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin's proposals for HIV carriers do not amount to any official stand by the state government, according to state senior executive councillor Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham. It was just Nizar's opinions...

Now it's 'King' Obama calling the shots.
December 24, 2008... Byline: W. Scott Thompson THERE is one constant in protocol. The king doesn't move. In every capital of the world, the king has absolute preeminence. In Washington, a White House invitation, as much as in London to Buckingham Palace, is...

IJN won't leave out the poor, says Musa.
December 24, 2008... CYBERJAYA: The poor and needy would still have access to treatment if Sime Darby takes over the National Heart Institute (IJN), the company's chairman Tun Musa Hitam said yesterday. Speaking after attending the meeting of the 4th Eminent...

LTAM brands decision makers clueless.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Ajitpal Singh OLYMPIC sports tennis, canoe and kayaking have been thrown out from the 2010 Malaysia Games in Malacca, a move which does not augur well for their development. In fact, the Malaysia Games supreme council's decision...

Chong Wei has it easy.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Ajitpal Singh WORLD No 1 Lee Chong Wei should start 2009 with a title as he has been given an easy draw in the Jan 6-11 Malaysia Open in Kuala Lumpur. Chong Wei, who won the Super Series Masters in Kota Kinabalu on Sunday,...

Efforts to lure Jelena, Ana to KL.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Ajitpal Singh WORLD No 1 Jelena Jankovic of Serbia and a host of other big names are expected to compete in the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Tour Malaysia Open on Feb 23-March 1. A makeshift tennis stadium will be erected...

Police 'slow' to act on Angkasa case.
December 24, 2008... KUALA LUMPUR: The police have been urged to speed up its investigation on two senior board members of the National Cooperative Organisation of Malaysia for alleged impropriety. Angkasa president Royal Professor Ungku Abdul Aziz, who made...

The bane of being a young woman today.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Koh Lay Chin ALONG with several other December-born friends, I turned 30 recently. And it was okay to shout it out. We turned the big Three-Oh and the world did not end. On the contrary, it seemed a bright, bold and beautiful...

Bright chance for newcomers.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Sajahan Abdul Waheed AT every Umno polls, the big question has always been how to balance representation between those holding government posts and those who do not in the party's supreme council. Political observers believe...

Extend tests to everyone.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Adri Hemy Abdul Ghani I SUPPORT the Federal Government's decision to implement mandatory HIV screening for Muslim couples prior to marriage. However, I am disappointed with some of the comments from those who agree or...