AFP - 10/27/2009
Malaysian girl dead, two missing after bridge collapse
One child died and two others are missing after a bridge collapsed at a campsite in northern Malaysia, sending a group of students plunging into the river below, police said Tuesday.
Nineteen of the youngsters were rescued from the fast-flowing river after the accident Monday evening in Perak state, where they had been among 298 children on a camping trip.
"From reports from the teachers on the scene we believe that there were 22 children on the bridge when it collapsed," said Kampar police chief Aziz Salleh.
"Nineteen of these students have been rescued," he told AFP. "We have found one Indian girl drowned and another two are still missing, so we are carrying out search and rescue operations to find the two students."
Salleh said that most of the survivors were quickly hauled out of the river by their teachers. Some 300 rescuers were at the scene, scouring the riverbanks for any sign of the missing pair.
The camp was part of the government's "One Malaysia" scheme, aimed at fostering integration among the multicultural nation's ethnic groups, through activities like traditional cooking, cultural education and games.
State television showed dozens of parents at the campsite waiting for news of their children, as investigators examined the supports of the 50 metre walking bridge, which appeared to have been torn out of the ground.
Deputy premier Muhyiddin Yassin visited the site and spoke with distressed parents, promising the government would probe the cause of the collapse of the newly installed bridge.
"What has occurred should not have happened and we want a full investigation into what happened and those responsible to be held accountable," he said.
Witnesses said the children were walking across the narrow bridge to attend a dinner when the accident occurred.
One survivor, 12-year-old K. Mathivanan, said the children were playing and jumping on the bridge before it began swaying, and then suddenly gave way.
"Suddenly we were thrown into the river and I managed to grab a rope hanging off the collapsed bridge. The river currents were very strong but I managed to pull myself to safety," he told state news agency Bernama.
Mohammad Safri Abdul Rafar, a teacher who was nearby, said he was alerted by the screams of students coming from the river.
"I jumped over the fence and dived into the river and managed to rescue three or four students. The current was very strong and I almost drowned and was forced to return to the bank," he told Bernama.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Which Contact Points Contain The Most Germs?
Which contact points contain the most germs?
In a recent poll conducted by Lifebuoy, 42% of participants voted that public toilets contain the most germs, second was money at 34%, followed by doorknobs at a surprising 14% and finally public transportation at 11%.
The poll which was published on CloveTWO.com and Kosmo had more than 1,300 participants.
You would be surprised to find out the amount of germs that we come into contact with every day, especially as germs are found in the most unlikely places.
Why are these places considered to be highly contaminated with germs? It is because these places and items aren't sterilised or cleaned; instead they are left out in the open where they accumulate more germs.
Consider the public toilet – while there are cleaners paid to ensure cleanliness, do they take the proper measures to ensure the toilets are sterile? When it comes to money there are not many ways to keep it clean, however some have been known to iron their notes! As there is no way to keep money clean, people should cultivate the habit of washing their hands properly after dealing with money.
Why is it that people do not observe proper hygiene techniques although they are aware that germs are easily transferable?
The result of the poll shows that the general public do know how dirty money is and yet we still see coffeeshop and restaurant cashiers carrying babies or children while collecting money. Can you imagine the amount of germs being transferred from the cashier to the baby?
Before we go any further, let's understand the basics about germs – in layman's terms, germs are tiny organisms that live in our body and cause various diseases. There are four types of germs: Bacteria, virus, fungus and protozoa.
Bacteria consist of tiny one-cell creatures that suck the nutrients from the body, and can easily reproduce regardless whether they are inside or outside our bodies. Bacteria cause the common cough, flu and fever.
Viruses, on the other hand, need to be inside a living cell in order to grow and reproduce. They are prone to spread and cause viruses like chicken pox and measles.
Take note that you can easily get infected with a virus as they can be contracted by touching doorknobs and handle bars. Fungi are multi-celled and survive on nutrition from living organisms. They are found in damp and warm environments.
While they are not life-threatening they can be dangerous and cause health problems like athlete's foot and gout. Protozoa are one-celled organisms that love moisture and spread through water, multiplying by the dozens as they spread. They cause diarrhoea, nausea and stomach pains.
Consider a smaller perspective from within the vicinity of your own home. For example, the handle on your refrigerator – imagine the numerous times we open and close the refrigerator door without washing our hands.
And how about the staircase railing that everyone touches without washing their hands? These are common places where germs hide.
From the poll it is obvious that many people think doorknobs are the least germ-contaminated area, however studies have shown that doorknobs are in fact another place which is highly infested with germs.
In this case, the general perception about doorknobs seems to be wrong. Why is this so? Perhaps it is because we take doorknobs and other items for granted.
When cleaning public toilets or even our homes most of the times we use a wash cloth to get to the hard to reach areas, a mop to remove germs from the floors and a vacuum cleaner to remove the dust. These items are used to help clean but are these items clean enough? How often are these items sterilised? Are they germ free or germ infested? These are some of the points we need to assess for ourselves.
Some of us are under the impression that throwing a wash cloth and mop into a pail of hot water is enough to eliminate germs.
While heat does help, it is better to use antibacterial soap and detergents as well. While we would like to live in a germ-free environment it isn't possible. Instead of obsessing over having a germ-free environment, focus on the proper techniques and solutions to reduce the chances of contracting germs. For example, one should think about taking showers with antibacterial soap like Lifebuoy after certain activities and also washing hands with soap more frequently especially after handling money.
There are several antibacterial soaps which ensure quality, such as Lifebuoy hand soap and Lifebuoy body wash. Lifebuoy centres on being the hygiene advocate to ensure that the public obtain quality on their way to a healthier lifestyle.
Now that you are more aware of the germs around you, there's no reason to panic. Just make sure you practise good hygiene like washing your hands with antibacterial soap after using the toilet, before and after meals and of course taking a shower with antibacterial soap after coming home from work, the outdoors and so on. You can still live a healthy life.
this article is brought to you by Lifebuoy
this article appeared in The Star on 6 April 2009
In a recent poll conducted by Lifebuoy, 42% of participants voted that public toilets contain the most germs, second was money at 34%, followed by doorknobs at a surprising 14% and finally public transportation at 11%.
The poll which was published on CloveTWO.com and Kosmo had more than 1,300 participants.
You would be surprised to find out the amount of germs that we come into contact with every day, especially as germs are found in the most unlikely places.
Why are these places considered to be highly contaminated with germs? It is because these places and items aren't sterilised or cleaned; instead they are left out in the open where they accumulate more germs.
Consider the public toilet – while there are cleaners paid to ensure cleanliness, do they take the proper measures to ensure the toilets are sterile? When it comes to money there are not many ways to keep it clean, however some have been known to iron their notes! As there is no way to keep money clean, people should cultivate the habit of washing their hands properly after dealing with money.
Why is it that people do not observe proper hygiene techniques although they are aware that germs are easily transferable?
The result of the poll shows that the general public do know how dirty money is and yet we still see coffeeshop and restaurant cashiers carrying babies or children while collecting money. Can you imagine the amount of germs being transferred from the cashier to the baby?
Before we go any further, let's understand the basics about germs – in layman's terms, germs are tiny organisms that live in our body and cause various diseases. There are four types of germs: Bacteria, virus, fungus and protozoa.
Bacteria consist of tiny one-cell creatures that suck the nutrients from the body, and can easily reproduce regardless whether they are inside or outside our bodies. Bacteria cause the common cough, flu and fever.
Viruses, on the other hand, need to be inside a living cell in order to grow and reproduce. They are prone to spread and cause viruses like chicken pox and measles.
Take note that you can easily get infected with a virus as they can be contracted by touching doorknobs and handle bars. Fungi are multi-celled and survive on nutrition from living organisms. They are found in damp and warm environments.
While they are not life-threatening they can be dangerous and cause health problems like athlete's foot and gout. Protozoa are one-celled organisms that love moisture and spread through water, multiplying by the dozens as they spread. They cause diarrhoea, nausea and stomach pains.
Consider a smaller perspective from within the vicinity of your own home. For example, the handle on your refrigerator – imagine the numerous times we open and close the refrigerator door without washing our hands.
And how about the staircase railing that everyone touches without washing their hands? These are common places where germs hide.
From the poll it is obvious that many people think doorknobs are the least germ-contaminated area, however studies have shown that doorknobs are in fact another place which is highly infested with germs.
In this case, the general perception about doorknobs seems to be wrong. Why is this so? Perhaps it is because we take doorknobs and other items for granted.
When cleaning public toilets or even our homes most of the times we use a wash cloth to get to the hard to reach areas, a mop to remove germs from the floors and a vacuum cleaner to remove the dust. These items are used to help clean but are these items clean enough? How often are these items sterilised? Are they germ free or germ infested? These are some of the points we need to assess for ourselves.
Some of us are under the impression that throwing a wash cloth and mop into a pail of hot water is enough to eliminate germs.
While heat does help, it is better to use antibacterial soap and detergents as well. While we would like to live in a germ-free environment it isn't possible. Instead of obsessing over having a germ-free environment, focus on the proper techniques and solutions to reduce the chances of contracting germs. For example, one should think about taking showers with antibacterial soap like Lifebuoy after certain activities and also washing hands with soap more frequently especially after handling money.
There are several antibacterial soaps which ensure quality, such as Lifebuoy hand soap and Lifebuoy body wash. Lifebuoy centres on being the hygiene advocate to ensure that the public obtain quality on their way to a healthier lifestyle.
Now that you are more aware of the germs around you, there's no reason to panic. Just make sure you practise good hygiene like washing your hands with antibacterial soap after using the toilet, before and after meals and of course taking a shower with antibacterial soap after coming home from work, the outdoors and so on. You can still live a healthy life.
this article is brought to you by Lifebuoy
this article appeared in The Star on 6 April 2009
Climate Change Protest In Australia
AFP - 10/24/2009
Australians kick off world climate change protest
Climate activists gathered on the steps of Sydney's iconic Opera House Saturday and along the city's beaches to kick off an international day of protest about global warming.
Along the famous sands of Bondi Beach and across the span of the Harbour Bridge protesters gathered with placards bearing the logo 350 to call for a cut in carbon emissions to 350 parts per million (ppm), organisers said.
Thousands of people gathered on the steps of the Opera House for an outdoor concert and formed a giant 350 with their bodies, one of more than 200 events to be staged across the continent, said spokeswoman Blair Palese.
Church bells at the city's largest cathedral sounded 350 times, while groups ranging from scuba divers to Frisbee players gathered to stage events Australia-wide.
Similar stunts were planned at some 4,000 locations in more than 170 countries across the globe, including the Eiffel Tower, Times Square and the Himalayas, said Palese.
The protest marks 50 days until world leaders meet in Copenhagen to thrash out a new climate change treaty.
"Our global emissions are now perilously high, at 387 ppm," Palese said.
"The majority of expert scientists now say this has to come down to 350 ppm to avoid dangerous climate change. 350.org is calling for our political leaders make this their target."
Australia has committed to cutting greenhouse gas emissions by up to 25 percent by 2020 compared to 2000 levels if an "ambitious" target is agreed in Copenhagen.
Australians kick off world climate change protest
Climate activists gathered on the steps of Sydney's iconic Opera House Saturday and along the city's beaches to kick off an international day of protest about global warming.
Along the famous sands of Bondi Beach and across the span of the Harbour Bridge protesters gathered with placards bearing the logo 350 to call for a cut in carbon emissions to 350 parts per million (ppm), organisers said.
Thousands of people gathered on the steps of the Opera House for an outdoor concert and formed a giant 350 with their bodies, one of more than 200 events to be staged across the continent, said spokeswoman Blair Palese.
Church bells at the city's largest cathedral sounded 350 times, while groups ranging from scuba divers to Frisbee players gathered to stage events Australia-wide.
Similar stunts were planned at some 4,000 locations in more than 170 countries across the globe, including the Eiffel Tower, Times Square and the Himalayas, said Palese.
The protest marks 50 days until world leaders meet in Copenhagen to thrash out a new climate change treaty.
"Our global emissions are now perilously high, at 387 ppm," Palese said.
"The majority of expert scientists now say this has to come down to 350 ppm to avoid dangerous climate change. 350.org is calling for our political leaders make this their target."
Australia has committed to cutting greenhouse gas emissions by up to 25 percent by 2020 compared to 2000 levels if an "ambitious" target is agreed in Copenhagen.
Iban Leader Detained Over Anti-Logging Blockade
AFP - 10/24/2009
Malaysian native leader detained over anti-logging blockade
Malaysian police said Saturday they had arrested a native leader who set up roadblocks in Borneo to stop a logging firm from encroaching on their ancestral land.
Ondie Jugah, 55, from the Iban indigenous group, was among a group of 10 people who have mounted a blockade since early this week in the interior of eastern Sarawak state, on Borneo island.
Police said Ondie was detained late Friday after he refused to remove the blockade, following complaints filed by the logging company.
"We directed him to open up the road but he refused, so we have to take him back to facilitate investigation," a senior police official from the local Kapit district, who did not want to be named, told AFP.
Police said Ondie was expected to be released later Saturday after questioning.
Ondie's son, Anthony, urged the police to release his father, saying they were merely protecting their home.
"They (the logging company) want to destroy our land and did not want to compensate us," the 29-year-old told AFP.
Nicholas Mujah, secretary general of indigenous rights group Sarawak Dayak Iban Association, condemned the arrest as a form of "harassment" of the vulnerable group and demanded the authorities respect native land rights.
The native Iban people are the largest indigenous group in Sarawak, making up almost half of the state's two million population. Other indigenous groups include Kenyah, Kayan and about 10,000 Penan people.
The Penan, some of whom are nomadic hunter-gatherers, have complained that their way of life is under threat from extensive logging of their traditional hunting grounds, as well as the spread of palm oil and timber plantations.
Malaysian native leader detained over anti-logging blockade
Malaysian police said Saturday they had arrested a native leader who set up roadblocks in Borneo to stop a logging firm from encroaching on their ancestral land.
Ondie Jugah, 55, from the Iban indigenous group, was among a group of 10 people who have mounted a blockade since early this week in the interior of eastern Sarawak state, on Borneo island.
Police said Ondie was detained late Friday after he refused to remove the blockade, following complaints filed by the logging company.
"We directed him to open up the road but he refused, so we have to take him back to facilitate investigation," a senior police official from the local Kapit district, who did not want to be named, told AFP.
Police said Ondie was expected to be released later Saturday after questioning.
Ondie's son, Anthony, urged the police to release his father, saying they were merely protecting their home.
"They (the logging company) want to destroy our land and did not want to compensate us," the 29-year-old told AFP.
Nicholas Mujah, secretary general of indigenous rights group Sarawak Dayak Iban Association, condemned the arrest as a form of "harassment" of the vulnerable group and demanded the authorities respect native land rights.
The native Iban people are the largest indigenous group in Sarawak, making up almost half of the state's two million population. Other indigenous groups include Kenyah, Kayan and about 10,000 Penan people.
The Penan, some of whom are nomadic hunter-gatherers, have complained that their way of life is under threat from extensive logging of their traditional hunting grounds, as well as the spread of palm oil and timber plantations.
Asian Nations Look To "Lead World"
AFP - 10/24/2009
Asian nations look to 'lead world'
Asian nations discussed plans at a major summit Saturday to "lead the world" by boosting economic and political cooperation and possibly forming an EU-style community.
The prime ministers of regional giants China and India also looked to foster unity on the sidelines of the summit in Thailand after months of trading barbs over long-standing territorial issues.
But nuclear-armed North Korea and military-ruled Myanmar were also set to top the agenda in the royal beach resort of Hua Hin, underscoring the challenges still facing the region.
The summit groups the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) with regional partners China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand.
Japan's new Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said a proposed East Asian community involving all 16 countries should aspire to take a leading role as the region makes an early rebound from the global economic crisis.
"It would be meaningful for us to have the aspiration that East Asia is going to lead the world and with the various countries with different regimes cooperating with each other towards that perspective," Hatoyama, who took office last month, told the Bangkok Post newspaper.
He described Japan's alliance with the United States as the cornerstone of its foreign policy, but said the region should "try to reduce as much as possible the gaps, the disparities that exist amongst the Asian countries".
China would "doubtless" grow further, particularly economically, "but I do not necessarily regard that as a threat," Hatoyama said.
Officials said separately that East Asian nations would carry out a feasibility study for a huge free trade zone covering ASEAN, China, Japan and South Korea and a larger group involving India, Australia and New Zealand.
Increased integration has been a recurring theme of the meetings in Thailand, as the rapidly changing region seeks to capitalise on the fact that it has recovered more quickly from the recession than the West.
ASEAN leaders have been discussing plans to create their own political and economic community by 2015.
But cross-border spats have continued to dog the summit, with host nation Thailand dragged into a war of words with Cambodia and India and China seeking to resolve their differences.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh held "productive" talks on the sidelines of the summit Saturday but did not discuss their spat over territorial issues, officials said.
"We have reached important consensus on promoting bilateral ties," Wen was quoted as saying by the Chinese state news agency Xinhua as the talks opened.
Beijing has voiced its opposition to a recent visit by Singh to Arunachal Pradesh, an Indian border state at the core of the dispute, and to a planned visit there next month by the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader.
Arunachal Pradesh and the Dalai Lama were not discussed at Saturday's meeting, an Indian delegation official said. The two nations fought a border war in 1962.
Human rights issues have also marred the summit. A widely criticised rights body officially launched by ASEAN on Friday was due to have its first ever meeting on Saturday.
The bloc was caught up in a row on Friday when leaders barred several activists from meeting them as previously arranged.
Meanwhile Thailand and Cambodia remained at loggerheads over the fate of fugitive former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra, after Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen bizarrely offered him a job as his economic adviser.
Around 18,000 troops and dozens of armoured vehicles have been deployed in Hua Hin after it was twice postponed by anti-government protests, with another 18,000 on standby or on duty in Bangkok.
The leaders are expected to sign a host of agreements this weekend on economic and other issues including climate change, disaster management, communications and food security in the rapidly changing region.
Asian nations look to 'lead world'
Asian nations discussed plans at a major summit Saturday to "lead the world" by boosting economic and political cooperation and possibly forming an EU-style community.
The prime ministers of regional giants China and India also looked to foster unity on the sidelines of the summit in Thailand after months of trading barbs over long-standing territorial issues.
But nuclear-armed North Korea and military-ruled Myanmar were also set to top the agenda in the royal beach resort of Hua Hin, underscoring the challenges still facing the region.
The summit groups the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) with regional partners China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand.
Japan's new Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said a proposed East Asian community involving all 16 countries should aspire to take a leading role as the region makes an early rebound from the global economic crisis.
"It would be meaningful for us to have the aspiration that East Asia is going to lead the world and with the various countries with different regimes cooperating with each other towards that perspective," Hatoyama, who took office last month, told the Bangkok Post newspaper.
He described Japan's alliance with the United States as the cornerstone of its foreign policy, but said the region should "try to reduce as much as possible the gaps, the disparities that exist amongst the Asian countries".
China would "doubtless" grow further, particularly economically, "but I do not necessarily regard that as a threat," Hatoyama said.
Officials said separately that East Asian nations would carry out a feasibility study for a huge free trade zone covering ASEAN, China, Japan and South Korea and a larger group involving India, Australia and New Zealand.
Increased integration has been a recurring theme of the meetings in Thailand, as the rapidly changing region seeks to capitalise on the fact that it has recovered more quickly from the recession than the West.
ASEAN leaders have been discussing plans to create their own political and economic community by 2015.
But cross-border spats have continued to dog the summit, with host nation Thailand dragged into a war of words with Cambodia and India and China seeking to resolve their differences.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh held "productive" talks on the sidelines of the summit Saturday but did not discuss their spat over territorial issues, officials said.
"We have reached important consensus on promoting bilateral ties," Wen was quoted as saying by the Chinese state news agency Xinhua as the talks opened.
Beijing has voiced its opposition to a recent visit by Singh to Arunachal Pradesh, an Indian border state at the core of the dispute, and to a planned visit there next month by the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader.
Arunachal Pradesh and the Dalai Lama were not discussed at Saturday's meeting, an Indian delegation official said. The two nations fought a border war in 1962.
Human rights issues have also marred the summit. A widely criticised rights body officially launched by ASEAN on Friday was due to have its first ever meeting on Saturday.
The bloc was caught up in a row on Friday when leaders barred several activists from meeting them as previously arranged.
Meanwhile Thailand and Cambodia remained at loggerheads over the fate of fugitive former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra, after Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen bizarrely offered him a job as his economic adviser.
Around 18,000 troops and dozens of armoured vehicles have been deployed in Hua Hin after it was twice postponed by anti-government protests, with another 18,000 on standby or on duty in Bangkok.
The leaders are expected to sign a host of agreements this weekend on economic and other issues including climate change, disaster management, communications and food security in the rapidly changing region.
Full Foreign Ownership Allowed
Full foreign ownership allowed
By Adeline Paul Raj
The Business Times
2009/10/24
MALAYSIA will allow corporate finance and financial planning companies to be fully foreign-owned as part of plans to liberalise the stock market further and attract more investments.
Previously, such companies were required to have at least 30 per cent local shareholding.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, in announcing the plans to further ease stock market rules in the federal budget yesterday, also said that commission-sharing arrangements between stockbrokers and remisiers would be fully liberalised in 2011.
Until then, there will be flexible brokerage sharing at a minimum rate of 40 per cent for remisiers.
Bursa Malaysia Bhd said this move would balance the risk-return ratio for remisiers.
"This market-based commission incentive model will motivate the remisiers towards galvanising more interest by investors in the stock market as an investment option. We also hope (it) will see more new blood entering the industry," its chief executive officer Datuk Yusli Mohamed Yusoff said.
Meanwhile, Najib also said that all public-listed companies would be required to offer e-dividends to shareholders. This is seen as a more efficient payment system.
Stockbroking companies will also provide e-payment options for clients to receive and make payments.
By Adeline Paul Raj
The Business Times
2009/10/24
MALAYSIA will allow corporate finance and financial planning companies to be fully foreign-owned as part of plans to liberalise the stock market further and attract more investments.
Previously, such companies were required to have at least 30 per cent local shareholding.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, in announcing the plans to further ease stock market rules in the federal budget yesterday, also said that commission-sharing arrangements between stockbrokers and remisiers would be fully liberalised in 2011.
Until then, there will be flexible brokerage sharing at a minimum rate of 40 per cent for remisiers.
Bursa Malaysia Bhd said this move would balance the risk-return ratio for remisiers.
"This market-based commission incentive model will motivate the remisiers towards galvanising more interest by investors in the stock market as an investment option. We also hope (it) will see more new blood entering the industry," its chief executive officer Datuk Yusli Mohamed Yusoff said.
Meanwhile, Najib also said that all public-listed companies would be required to offer e-dividends to shareholders. This is seen as a more efficient payment system.
Stockbroking companies will also provide e-payment options for clients to receive and make payments.
Scholarships For 30 Best Students
Saturday October 24, 2009
Best students will get to further education at top varsities
THIRTY of the country’s creme de la creme students will be awarded National Scholarships strictly based on merit, which will allow them to further their education in world-renowned universities.
Those who get National Higher Education Fund Corporation loans will also see the loans being converted to scholarships beginning next year — if they graduate with first class honours.
All university students will be offered a netbook package of RM50 per month for two years, including free broadband service.
Rapt attention: Universiti Malaysia Perlis students watching the live telecast of Budget 2010 in Kangar yesterday. — Bernama
There are goodies for schoolchildren. A complimentary student discount card will be given by Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad for long-distance services. Pre-school education — to receive RM48mil — will be incorporated into the mainstream national education system, aimed at increasing children’s participation from 67% to 87% by 2012.
The Permata Programme will get RM100mil to expand and implement five programmes, including early childcare and education for children under five, training those talented in performing arts and guiding exceptionally intelligent students. It will also have a programme to train youths aged between 18 and 25 years to discourage them from getting involved in social ills.
Twenty high performance schools will be identified next year to produce excellent students, focusing, among others, on academic excellence, overall students’ achievements and curriculum activities.
To enhance the skills of the local workforce, RM2bil will be put aside to upgrade polytechnics and community colleges, provide a RM1.3bil loan fund for 32,000 students, and to build and maintain equipment at various industrial training and skills institutes.
The Sijil Kemahiran Malaysia at level four and above will also be accredited as being equivalent to the academic stream, making the holders eligible for employment in the public sector and salaries equivalent to diploma holders.
Additionally, RM32mil will be used for special modules, student screening and training programmes to increase literacy and numeracy to 100% among Year One pupils.
The Government will also ensure that schools are managed and administered professionally by principals and head teachers.
For excellence schools, it will introduce the New Deal package, whereby rewards in the form of monetary and non-monetary incentives and autonomy in administration will be accorded.
In tertiary education, public higher education institutions will be granted greater autonomy. The Government will also consider relaxing rules and regulations, which has hindered these institutions from generating their own income and thus reducing their financial dependence.
The Star
Best students will get to further education at top varsities
THIRTY of the country’s creme de la creme students will be awarded National Scholarships strictly based on merit, which will allow them to further their education in world-renowned universities.
Those who get National Higher Education Fund Corporation loans will also see the loans being converted to scholarships beginning next year — if they graduate with first class honours.
All university students will be offered a netbook package of RM50 per month for two years, including free broadband service.
Rapt attention: Universiti Malaysia Perlis students watching the live telecast of Budget 2010 in Kangar yesterday. — Bernama
There are goodies for schoolchildren. A complimentary student discount card will be given by Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad for long-distance services. Pre-school education — to receive RM48mil — will be incorporated into the mainstream national education system, aimed at increasing children’s participation from 67% to 87% by 2012.
The Permata Programme will get RM100mil to expand and implement five programmes, including early childcare and education for children under five, training those talented in performing arts and guiding exceptionally intelligent students. It will also have a programme to train youths aged between 18 and 25 years to discourage them from getting involved in social ills.
Twenty high performance schools will be identified next year to produce excellent students, focusing, among others, on academic excellence, overall students’ achievements and curriculum activities.
To enhance the skills of the local workforce, RM2bil will be put aside to upgrade polytechnics and community colleges, provide a RM1.3bil loan fund for 32,000 students, and to build and maintain equipment at various industrial training and skills institutes.
The Sijil Kemahiran Malaysia at level four and above will also be accredited as being equivalent to the academic stream, making the holders eligible for employment in the public sector and salaries equivalent to diploma holders.
Additionally, RM32mil will be used for special modules, student screening and training programmes to increase literacy and numeracy to 100% among Year One pupils.
The Government will also ensure that schools are managed and administered professionally by principals and head teachers.
For excellence schools, it will introduce the New Deal package, whereby rewards in the form of monetary and non-monetary incentives and autonomy in administration will be accorded.
In tertiary education, public higher education institutions will be granted greater autonomy. The Government will also consider relaxing rules and regulations, which has hindered these institutions from generating their own income and thus reducing their financial dependence.
The Star
Insurance Penetration Spurred
Saturday October 24, 2009
Scheme to spur insurance penetration
PETALING JAYA: The move to set up a micro insurance scheme as proposed in Budget 2010 will expedite the penetration rate of insurance in the country, according to the Life Insurance Association of Malaysia (Liam).
President Md Adnan Md Zain said it would improve the penetration rate of the life insurance sector, which was currently at 41%.
“This rate was considered low compared with other advanced markets, and there was strong potential for the life insurance industry to develop. A micro insurance scheme with premiums as low as RM20 per month will provide financial protection to many small businesses.
“It is important to realise that insurance plans are not only for the high-income earners, but is affordable to a large majority. In this connection, Liam will work closely with the authorities to introduce this insurance product as quickly as possible,” Adnan said.
He said the Liam was also supportive of the additional RM1,000 tax relief that had been granted for annuity premiums offered by insurance companies.
“This incentive is most apt to support the development of retirement schemes by life insurance companies because by the year 2020, Malaysia would have close to 10% of its population above 60 years. Thus, it is important that Malaysians start their financial planning early to continue to enjoy a comfortable lifestyle in their golden years,” Adnan said.
General Insurance Association of Malaysia (PIAM) executive director C.F. Lim said the move by the Government to restructure motor insurance cover for third-party liabilities was positive for sustainable and affordable third-party motor insurance.
PIAM views the restructuring as a necessary development towards ultimate deregulation and liberalisation of the motor and fire insurance sectors which are currently operated under strict tariff regimes.
“This proposed mandatory insurance scheme will also ensure that victims of road accidents and their dependants will receive reasonable and adequate compensation in an efficient and expeditious manner. We look forward to working closely with the relevant government agencies and authorities to develop and implement the proposed third-party scheme as soon as possible,” Lim said.
The Star
Scheme to spur insurance penetration
PETALING JAYA: The move to set up a micro insurance scheme as proposed in Budget 2010 will expedite the penetration rate of insurance in the country, according to the Life Insurance Association of Malaysia (Liam).
President Md Adnan Md Zain said it would improve the penetration rate of the life insurance sector, which was currently at 41%.
“This rate was considered low compared with other advanced markets, and there was strong potential for the life insurance industry to develop. A micro insurance scheme with premiums as low as RM20 per month will provide financial protection to many small businesses.
“It is important to realise that insurance plans are not only for the high-income earners, but is affordable to a large majority. In this connection, Liam will work closely with the authorities to introduce this insurance product as quickly as possible,” Adnan said.
He said the Liam was also supportive of the additional RM1,000 tax relief that had been granted for annuity premiums offered by insurance companies.
“This incentive is most apt to support the development of retirement schemes by life insurance companies because by the year 2020, Malaysia would have close to 10% of its population above 60 years. Thus, it is important that Malaysians start their financial planning early to continue to enjoy a comfortable lifestyle in their golden years,” Adnan said.
General Insurance Association of Malaysia (PIAM) executive director C.F. Lim said the move by the Government to restructure motor insurance cover for third-party liabilities was positive for sustainable and affordable third-party motor insurance.
PIAM views the restructuring as a necessary development towards ultimate deregulation and liberalisation of the motor and fire insurance sectors which are currently operated under strict tariff regimes.
“This proposed mandatory insurance scheme will also ensure that victims of road accidents and their dependants will receive reasonable and adequate compensation in an efficient and expeditious manner. We look forward to working closely with the relevant government agencies and authorities to develop and implement the proposed third-party scheme as soon as possible,” Lim said.
The Star
Maximum Tax Rate Brought Down, More Relief For Middle Income Group
Maximum tax rate brought down, and more relief for middle income group
BUDGET 2010 will see a personal income tax cut of one percentage point and increase in tax relief.
This should bring cheer to the middle income group, who have often complained about not receiving much good news in past Budgets.
The reduction in personal income tax by one percentage point to 26% will ensure that the individual income tax remains competitive.
To improve the well-being of the rakyat, the Government will raise personal relief from RM8,000 to RM9,000. This means that each taxpayer will enjoy an increase of RM1,000 in disposable income from the 2010 year of assessment.
The cut in personal tax rate is for people earning above RM100,000 per annum.
“Given the amount of stress that the Government has been facing due to the economic crisis, it is heartening to note that it has still allowed for a 1% reduction of the top marginal tax rate for individuals from 27% to 26%,’’ said one tax expert.
The expert said the move to increase the personal relief would allow families with a household income of about RM24,000 a year to be free from income tax.
The biggest drop in personal income taxes, however, is for locals and foreigners who are working and staying in Iskandar Malaysia.
For those who apply and start work in Iskandar Malaysia before 2015, the Government has proposed the maximum tax rate of 15% compared with 26% for the rest of the country.
To be eligible for this tax treatment, they must be engaged in sectors such as green technology, biotechnology, education services, healthcare, creative industry, financial advisory and consultancy services as well as logistic services and tourism.
The innovative and radical tax incentive is seen as a boost to Iskandar Malaysia.
And to encourage people to start saving at a younger age, the Government has declared that the existing personal tax relief of RM6,000 for EPF contribution and life insurance premiums be increased to RM7,000 from January next year for people with annuity schemes.
The Star
BUDGET 2010 will see a personal income tax cut of one percentage point and increase in tax relief.
This should bring cheer to the middle income group, who have often complained about not receiving much good news in past Budgets.
The reduction in personal income tax by one percentage point to 26% will ensure that the individual income tax remains competitive.
To improve the well-being of the rakyat, the Government will raise personal relief from RM8,000 to RM9,000. This means that each taxpayer will enjoy an increase of RM1,000 in disposable income from the 2010 year of assessment.
The cut in personal tax rate is for people earning above RM100,000 per annum.
“Given the amount of stress that the Government has been facing due to the economic crisis, it is heartening to note that it has still allowed for a 1% reduction of the top marginal tax rate for individuals from 27% to 26%,’’ said one tax expert.
The expert said the move to increase the personal relief would allow families with a household income of about RM24,000 a year to be free from income tax.
The biggest drop in personal income taxes, however, is for locals and foreigners who are working and staying in Iskandar Malaysia.
For those who apply and start work in Iskandar Malaysia before 2015, the Government has proposed the maximum tax rate of 15% compared with 26% for the rest of the country.
To be eligible for this tax treatment, they must be engaged in sectors such as green technology, biotechnology, education services, healthcare, creative industry, financial advisory and consultancy services as well as logistic services and tourism.
The innovative and radical tax incentive is seen as a boost to Iskandar Malaysia.
And to encourage people to start saving at a younger age, the Government has declared that the existing personal tax relief of RM6,000 for EPF contribution and life insurance premiums be increased to RM7,000 from January next year for people with annuity schemes.
The Star
RM500 Tax Relief For Broadband Users
Broadband users relieved over RM500 tax relief
BROADBAND Internet users in Malaysia are relieved with the RM500 tax relief granted to them, but they want the Government to go one step further – and compel the service providers to improve the quality of service.
Random interviews revealed that most agreed that the tax relief would help boost the national broadband penetration rate.
But they feared that service quality might suffer with a sudden surge in subscribers.
“I am overjoyed that the Government is going to subsidise my broadband service,” said a housewife who asked to be identified only as Adelina.
“But if my Internet speed is going to stay put as it is now, I think the Government won’t be getting its money’s worth.
“It would be a waste of public funds,” she said.
A media relations executive, who wanted to be known as Belinda, wanted the Government to spend more to get Internet service providers (ISPs) to improve broadband speed.
“If broadband quality goes up markedly, people will be queing up to subscribe to the service,” she said.
“There would then be no need to dangle tax relief as a carrot, she added.
Actor Fish Fazil hoped that any increase in broadband service subscribers would spur ISPs to improve services and infrastructure.
“Broadband is becoming an essential utility now, like electricity and water,” he added.
The broadband tax relief incentive will be implemented from January 2010 to 2012. The current broadband penetration rate in Malaysian households is 26%, against 88% in Singapore and 95% in South Korea.
BROADBAND Internet users in Malaysia are relieved with the RM500 tax relief granted to them, but they want the Government to go one step further – and compel the service providers to improve the quality of service.
Random interviews revealed that most agreed that the tax relief would help boost the national broadband penetration rate.
But they feared that service quality might suffer with a sudden surge in subscribers.
“I am overjoyed that the Government is going to subsidise my broadband service,” said a housewife who asked to be identified only as Adelina.
“But if my Internet speed is going to stay put as it is now, I think the Government won’t be getting its money’s worth.
“It would be a waste of public funds,” she said.
A media relations executive, who wanted to be known as Belinda, wanted the Government to spend more to get Internet service providers (ISPs) to improve broadband speed.
“If broadband quality goes up markedly, people will be queing up to subscribe to the service,” she said.
“There would then be no need to dangle tax relief as a carrot, she added.
Actor Fish Fazil hoped that any increase in broadband service subscribers would spur ISPs to improve services and infrastructure.
“Broadband is becoming an essential utility now, like electricity and water,” he added.
The broadband tax relief incentive will be implemented from January 2010 to 2012. The current broadband penetration rate in Malaysian households is 26%, against 88% in Singapore and 95% in South Korea.
Eyes To The Skies For The "Galilean Nights"
Eyes to the skies for the 'Galilean Nights'
AFP - Friday, October 23, 2009
NASA image shows hot blue stars deep inside an elliptical galaxy. Astronomers around the world are gearing up for three days of intense sky-watching in honour of Galileo, whose observations 400 years ago revolutionised our understanding of the cosmos.
PARIS (AFP) - – Astronomers around the world are gearing up for three days of intense sky-watching in honour of Galileo, whose observations 400 years ago revolutionised our understanding of the cosmos.
The "Galilean Nights" promoted by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) aim at giving hundreds of thousands of people the thrill of looking through a space telescope for the first time.
More than 1,000 public events in over 70 countries are being staged on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, according to the website www.galileannights.org.
In October 1609 Galileo Galilei began observations with a two-lens telescope that eventually led him to discover the four main satellites of Jupiter and realise that Earth's Moon was pitted with craters and not a perfect sphere.
These and other discoveries led Galileo to conclude, like Nicolaus Copernicus, that Earth revolved around the Sun and not the other way around.
He was persecuted for heresy by the Vatican and forced to recant. The last ten years of his life were spent under house arrest.
AFP - Friday, October 23, 2009
NASA image shows hot blue stars deep inside an elliptical galaxy. Astronomers around the world are gearing up for three days of intense sky-watching in honour of Galileo, whose observations 400 years ago revolutionised our understanding of the cosmos.
PARIS (AFP) - – Astronomers around the world are gearing up for three days of intense sky-watching in honour of Galileo, whose observations 400 years ago revolutionised our understanding of the cosmos.
The "Galilean Nights" promoted by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) aim at giving hundreds of thousands of people the thrill of looking through a space telescope for the first time.
More than 1,000 public events in over 70 countries are being staged on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, according to the website www.galileannights.org.
In October 1609 Galileo Galilei began observations with a two-lens telescope that eventually led him to discover the four main satellites of Jupiter and realise that Earth's Moon was pitted with craters and not a perfect sphere.
These and other discoveries led Galileo to conclude, like Nicolaus Copernicus, that Earth revolved around the Sun and not the other way around.
He was persecuted for heresy by the Vatican and forced to recant. The last ten years of his life were spent under house arrest.
The "Blue" Rose
Why all the excitement about a 'blue' rose?
It has been called the agricultural holy grail, but should we be impressed?
Jane Perrone
The Guardian,
Thursday 22 October 2009
The Suntory blue rose Photograph: YOSHIKAZU TSUNO/AFP/Getty Images
When it comes to the hue of a rose, one person's blue is another's pallid purple. "Applause", the new rose unveiled by Japanese company Suntory this week is said to have "a bluish tinge reminiscent of the sky just after dawn". To my eye, it's just a wishy-washy mauve.
People have claimed the blue-rose title before, with boldly named varieties such as "Blue Moon" or "Rhapsody in Blue", but they're always a bit of a disappointment to those expecting sapphire shades; think lilac, magenta or lavender instead. You could cheat by putting white roses in dyed water to produce a vivid – but undoubtedly odd-looking – blue rose of the kind that graced so many 50s curtains.But a truly blue rose is the horticultural holy grail.
Growers have been breeding roses for thousands of years in search of new hues, but until now, blue petals have evaded them. And for good reason – roses lack delphinidin, a blue plant pigment common to pansies, petunias and (unsurprisingly) delphiniums. There are only a few properly blue flowers – the Himalayan blue poppy, the forget-me-not and the bluebell among them – but the appeal of a blue bloom is its rarity. No wonder, then, that in the Victorian language of flowers, blue roses signify achieving the impossible. In these days of genetic modification, the impossible is within grasp – scientists at Suntory simply added a gene that creates the necessary delphinidin.
Applause roses go on sale in Japan next month priced 2,000-3,000 yen (around £15) a stem. But I tend to agree with Rudyard Kipling, who wrote a poem in which his lover sent him on an impossible quest for blue roses, "Roses white and red are best."
It has been called the agricultural holy grail, but should we be impressed?
Jane Perrone
The Guardian,
Thursday 22 October 2009
The Suntory blue rose Photograph: YOSHIKAZU TSUNO/AFP/Getty Images
When it comes to the hue of a rose, one person's blue is another's pallid purple. "Applause", the new rose unveiled by Japanese company Suntory this week is said to have "a bluish tinge reminiscent of the sky just after dawn". To my eye, it's just a wishy-washy mauve.
People have claimed the blue-rose title before, with boldly named varieties such as "Blue Moon" or "Rhapsody in Blue", but they're always a bit of a disappointment to those expecting sapphire shades; think lilac, magenta or lavender instead. You could cheat by putting white roses in dyed water to produce a vivid – but undoubtedly odd-looking – blue rose of the kind that graced so many 50s curtains.But a truly blue rose is the horticultural holy grail.
Growers have been breeding roses for thousands of years in search of new hues, but until now, blue petals have evaded them. And for good reason – roses lack delphinidin, a blue plant pigment common to pansies, petunias and (unsurprisingly) delphiniums. There are only a few properly blue flowers – the Himalayan blue poppy, the forget-me-not and the bluebell among them – but the appeal of a blue bloom is its rarity. No wonder, then, that in the Victorian language of flowers, blue roses signify achieving the impossible. In these days of genetic modification, the impossible is within grasp – scientists at Suntory simply added a gene that creates the necessary delphinidin.
Applause roses go on sale in Japan next month priced 2,000-3,000 yen (around £15) a stem. But I tend to agree with Rudyard Kipling, who wrote a poem in which his lover sent him on an impossible quest for blue roses, "Roses white and red are best."
Budget 2010
Friday October 23, 2009
Budget 2010: "1Malaysia, Together We Prosper"
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has tabled Budget 2010 with the theme "1Malaysia, Together We Prosper". Totalling RM191.5 bil, he said it would be the foundation of a new economic model and precursor to the 10th Malaysia Plan.
These are the main highlights of the speech as per delivery.
* Time for country to move to an economy of innovations to face the challenges of the future
* GDP for 2009 expected to be -3%, better than previous projections of -4% to -5%
* Focus of Budget 2010 will be on well-being of the people
* Three strategies:
- driving the country towards a high-income economy,
- ensuring holistic and sustainable development,
- focusing on the well-being of the rakyat.
* Government to make it easier for skilled/qualified people to get permanent residence status. Visa to be granted for family within 14 days.
* CSR Fund of RM100mil to be set up to carry out social programmes.
* Tax breaks for registration of patents and copyrights.
* Big scale factory outlets to be set up to boost tourism besides having major events like KL Grand Prix Fest, National Water Festival, Malaysia International Golf Exhibition and Rain Forest Eco-Challenges
* Taxpayers will get tax relief on broadband subscription fee of up to RM500 from 2010 to 2012. Civil servants can apply for computer loans up to a maximum of RM5,000 from the govt once in every 5 years.
* RM6bil for agriculture sector for irrigation of paddy fields, fish production, fruit farming, livestock farming infrastructure, training
* RM2bil subsidy for farmers and fishermen including subsidies for fertilisers, incentives for padi yields and allowances for fishermen
* RM9bil to finance infrastructure projects including road and bridges projects and rail, sea ports and airports facilities
* RM1.5bil fund to promote green technology by providing soft loans to companies that supply and use green technology
* RM200mil Creative Industry Fund to finance film, drama, music productions, animation, advertisements through Bank Simpanan Nasional
* RM30bil to be allocated to enhance primary and secondary school education nationwide
* Rewards for students who excel in studies:
- 30 National Scholarships for the creme de la creme of students, stictly based on merit
- Conversion of PTPTN loans to scholarships for students who graduate with 1st class honours degree, beginning from 2010,
- Offer of netbook package, including free broadband service, to university students for RM50 per month for 2 years.
* The Permata programme, which emphasises on early childcare and education, including the gifted child programme, to get RM100mil
* Insurance industry to be improved to meet market demand.
* Govt to clamp down on the abuses committed by Ah Longs by enforcing Anti-Money Laundering and Anti Terrorism Financing Act 2001. Moneylenders Act 1951 to be also reviewed.
* Allow 100% foreign equity participation in corporate finance and financial planning companies compared with the present requirement of at least 30% local shareholding.
* To ensure rapid development of financial services, the existing tax incentives to be extended to 2015.
* Among steps to combat corruption is to set up 14 Special Corruption Sessions Courts and 4 Special Corruption Appeal High Courts.
* Tax of 5% to be imposed on gains from the disposal of real property from Jan 1, 2010. Existing tax exemption will be retained for gifts between parent-child, husband-wife, grandparent-grandchild.
* To promote prudent spending, a service charge of RM50 a year to be imposed on each principal credit card and charge card; and RM25 a year on each supplementary card, effective from Jan 1, 2010.
* To ensure that fuel subsidies only benefit targeted groups, Govt will implement a fuel subsidy management system in early 2010, which will utilise the MyKad.
* All ministries and govt departments are required to provide day care and education centres for children of civil servants.
* The maximum income tax rate for individuals to be reduced to 26% from assessment year 2010. Personal relief increased to RM9,000.
* Police force to get RM1bil to improve its services in govt's efforts to reduce crime. Major measures include to increase police presence, including mobile police stations in 50 crime hotspots.
* To promote house ownership, Govt will launch a scheme that enables EPF contributors to utilise current and future savings in Account 2.
* Employees' EPF contribution to be increased to 11% again, on a voluntary basis, effective immediately. However, from Jan 1, 2011 employees' EPF contribution will revert to 11%.
* Personal relief for EPF and life insurance schemes to be increased to RM7,000.
The Star
Budget 2010: "1Malaysia, Together We Prosper"
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has tabled Budget 2010 with the theme "1Malaysia, Together We Prosper". Totalling RM191.5 bil, he said it would be the foundation of a new economic model and precursor to the 10th Malaysia Plan.
These are the main highlights of the speech as per delivery.
* Time for country to move to an economy of innovations to face the challenges of the future
* GDP for 2009 expected to be -3%, better than previous projections of -4% to -5%
* Focus of Budget 2010 will be on well-being of the people
* Three strategies:
- driving the country towards a high-income economy,
- ensuring holistic and sustainable development,
- focusing on the well-being of the rakyat.
* Government to make it easier for skilled/qualified people to get permanent residence status. Visa to be granted for family within 14 days.
* CSR Fund of RM100mil to be set up to carry out social programmes.
* Tax breaks for registration of patents and copyrights.
* Big scale factory outlets to be set up to boost tourism besides having major events like KL Grand Prix Fest, National Water Festival, Malaysia International Golf Exhibition and Rain Forest Eco-Challenges
* Taxpayers will get tax relief on broadband subscription fee of up to RM500 from 2010 to 2012. Civil servants can apply for computer loans up to a maximum of RM5,000 from the govt once in every 5 years.
* RM6bil for agriculture sector for irrigation of paddy fields, fish production, fruit farming, livestock farming infrastructure, training
* RM2bil subsidy for farmers and fishermen including subsidies for fertilisers, incentives for padi yields and allowances for fishermen
* RM9bil to finance infrastructure projects including road and bridges projects and rail, sea ports and airports facilities
* RM1.5bil fund to promote green technology by providing soft loans to companies that supply and use green technology
* RM200mil Creative Industry Fund to finance film, drama, music productions, animation, advertisements through Bank Simpanan Nasional
* RM30bil to be allocated to enhance primary and secondary school education nationwide
* Rewards for students who excel in studies:
- 30 National Scholarships for the creme de la creme of students, stictly based on merit
- Conversion of PTPTN loans to scholarships for students who graduate with 1st class honours degree, beginning from 2010,
- Offer of netbook package, including free broadband service, to university students for RM50 per month for 2 years.
* The Permata programme, which emphasises on early childcare and education, including the gifted child programme, to get RM100mil
* Insurance industry to be improved to meet market demand.
* Govt to clamp down on the abuses committed by Ah Longs by enforcing Anti-Money Laundering and Anti Terrorism Financing Act 2001. Moneylenders Act 1951 to be also reviewed.
* Allow 100% foreign equity participation in corporate finance and financial planning companies compared with the present requirement of at least 30% local shareholding.
* To ensure rapid development of financial services, the existing tax incentives to be extended to 2015.
* Among steps to combat corruption is to set up 14 Special Corruption Sessions Courts and 4 Special Corruption Appeal High Courts.
* Tax of 5% to be imposed on gains from the disposal of real property from Jan 1, 2010. Existing tax exemption will be retained for gifts between parent-child, husband-wife, grandparent-grandchild.
* To promote prudent spending, a service charge of RM50 a year to be imposed on each principal credit card and charge card; and RM25 a year on each supplementary card, effective from Jan 1, 2010.
* To ensure that fuel subsidies only benefit targeted groups, Govt will implement a fuel subsidy management system in early 2010, which will utilise the MyKad.
* All ministries and govt departments are required to provide day care and education centres for children of civil servants.
* The maximum income tax rate for individuals to be reduced to 26% from assessment year 2010. Personal relief increased to RM9,000.
* Police force to get RM1bil to improve its services in govt's efforts to reduce crime. Major measures include to increase police presence, including mobile police stations in 50 crime hotspots.
* To promote house ownership, Govt will launch a scheme that enables EPF contributors to utilise current and future savings in Account 2.
* Employees' EPF contribution to be increased to 11% again, on a voluntary basis, effective immediately. However, from Jan 1, 2011 employees' EPF contribution will revert to 11%.
* Personal relief for EPF and life insurance schemes to be increased to RM7,000.
The Star
Friday, October 23, 2009
Malaysian Baby Born On Plane
Malaysian baby born on plane to have lifetime free flights
A baby boy who made a surprise arrival on board an AirAsia flight this week will be given free flights for life with the budget carrier, as will his mother, the airline said Friday.
AirAsia said 31-year-old passenger Liew Siaw Hsia went into labour on Wednesday's flight from the northern island of Penang to Kuching on Borneo island.
The aircraft made an emergency diversion to the Malaysian capital but the baby arrived just before landing, delivered by a doctor who was on board and who was assisted by the airline's flight attendants.
"The baby was safely delivered when flight AK 6506 was approaching Kuala Lumpur for landing at 2,000 feet," the airline said in a statement, adding that mother and baby were taken to a nearby hospital following touchdown.
"To celebrate this momentous occasion, we decided to present both mother and child with free flights for life," said AirAsia's director of operations Moses Devanayagam after visiting them in hospital.
AFP
A baby boy who made a surprise arrival on board an AirAsia flight this week will be given free flights for life with the budget carrier, as will his mother, the airline said Friday.
AirAsia said 31-year-old passenger Liew Siaw Hsia went into labour on Wednesday's flight from the northern island of Penang to Kuching on Borneo island.
The aircraft made an emergency diversion to the Malaysian capital but the baby arrived just before landing, delivered by a doctor who was on board and who was assisted by the airline's flight attendants.
"The baby was safely delivered when flight AK 6506 was approaching Kuala Lumpur for landing at 2,000 feet," the airline said in a statement, adding that mother and baby were taken to a nearby hospital following touchdown.
"To celebrate this momentous occasion, we decided to present both mother and child with free flights for life," said AirAsia's director of operations Moses Devanayagam after visiting them in hospital.
AFP
Malaysia Slashes Spending In 2010 Budget
AFP - 10/23/2009
Malaysia slashes spending in 2010 budget
Malaysia slashed government spending in the 2010 budget, moving to rein in a fiscal deficit swollen by stimulus measures aimed at pushing the economy out of recession.
Prime Minister Najib Razak said an extensive fuel subsidy system, extremely popular with the public but a drain on national coffers, would be revamped next year but did not give details of the cuts.
He said the economy would shrink by 3.0 percent this year, less than a 4.0-5.0 percent contraction tipped earlier, but that it could bounce back and post modest growth of 2.0-3.0 percent in 2010.
"Major indicators suggest the economy is on track to recovery," said Najib, who is also finance minister, adding that "Malaysia's economic fundamentals remain resilient, despite the more challenging environment in 2009."
But he said the downturn, which hit Malaysia's export-dependent economy hard, showed it needed to address its long-term competitiveness and shift to a new model "based on innovation, creativity and value-added activities".
"We are now at a critical juncture, either to remain trapped in a middle-income group or advance to a high-income economy," he said.
Najib said Malaysia needed to strengthen domestic demand, lose its reliance on cheap imported labour, and introduce liberalisation measures to enhance competitiveness.
The 2010 budget allocation totalled 191.5 billion ringgit (56.6 billion dollars), 11.2 percent lower than the revised allocation of 215.7 billion ringgit for 2009.
"This allocation reflects prudence in government spending and gives priority to value-for-money," said Najib, adding that the cuts would not harm public sector delivery.
Operating expenditure will be slashed by 13.7 percent to 138.3 billion ringgit in an unprecedentedly large cut, helping reduce the fiscal deficit from 7.4 percent this year to 5.6 percent next year -- much lower than expected.
Wan Suhaimi Saidie, an economist with Kenanga Investment Bank, was cautious about the ambitious move to rein in spending.
"It's a big surprise for me because, in spite of the economic recovery, the government is already consolidating its fiscal deficit by substantially cutting down the operating expenditure as well as reducing development spending."
"My view is that (the cut) will affect the efficiency of the government machinery. My view is that the maximum you can cut is 5.0 percent," he told AFP.
Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim applauded the move to cut costs but said he doubted whether it would be achieved, and that the budget did not address rampant corruption which was one of the causes of overspending.
"I have no qualms about the stated pronouncement on the attempt to ensure Malaysia becomes more competitive and reduces waste, but actions speak louder," he told AFP.
Najib said the government, which was hit with severe criticism over past cuts to petrol subsidies, would implement a "fuel subsidy management system" in early 2010 but gave no further details.
He also said the government is "at the final stage" of a study into implementing a long-considered goods and services tax (GST) to replace the current tax and services tax.
"The purpose of this study is to ensure that if the GST needs to be implemented to stabilise government finances, it will not burden the people," he said.
Average consumer price inflation is predicted at 1.0 percent this year, slower than the forecast of 1.5-2.0 percent by the central bank in March.
Exports are expected to shrink 19.2 percent in 2009, but could rebound to record 5.1 percent growth in 2010, it said.
Malaysia has announced two stimulus packages, the most recent in March billed as containing some 60 billion ringgit (17.7 billion dollars) in measures to pump-prime the economy.
Malaysia slashes spending in 2010 budget
Malaysia slashed government spending in the 2010 budget, moving to rein in a fiscal deficit swollen by stimulus measures aimed at pushing the economy out of recession.
Prime Minister Najib Razak said an extensive fuel subsidy system, extremely popular with the public but a drain on national coffers, would be revamped next year but did not give details of the cuts.
He said the economy would shrink by 3.0 percent this year, less than a 4.0-5.0 percent contraction tipped earlier, but that it could bounce back and post modest growth of 2.0-3.0 percent in 2010.
"Major indicators suggest the economy is on track to recovery," said Najib, who is also finance minister, adding that "Malaysia's economic fundamentals remain resilient, despite the more challenging environment in 2009."
But he said the downturn, which hit Malaysia's export-dependent economy hard, showed it needed to address its long-term competitiveness and shift to a new model "based on innovation, creativity and value-added activities".
"We are now at a critical juncture, either to remain trapped in a middle-income group or advance to a high-income economy," he said.
Najib said Malaysia needed to strengthen domestic demand, lose its reliance on cheap imported labour, and introduce liberalisation measures to enhance competitiveness.
The 2010 budget allocation totalled 191.5 billion ringgit (56.6 billion dollars), 11.2 percent lower than the revised allocation of 215.7 billion ringgit for 2009.
"This allocation reflects prudence in government spending and gives priority to value-for-money," said Najib, adding that the cuts would not harm public sector delivery.
Operating expenditure will be slashed by 13.7 percent to 138.3 billion ringgit in an unprecedentedly large cut, helping reduce the fiscal deficit from 7.4 percent this year to 5.6 percent next year -- much lower than expected.
Wan Suhaimi Saidie, an economist with Kenanga Investment Bank, was cautious about the ambitious move to rein in spending.
"It's a big surprise for me because, in spite of the economic recovery, the government is already consolidating its fiscal deficit by substantially cutting down the operating expenditure as well as reducing development spending."
"My view is that (the cut) will affect the efficiency of the government machinery. My view is that the maximum you can cut is 5.0 percent," he told AFP.
Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim applauded the move to cut costs but said he doubted whether it would be achieved, and that the budget did not address rampant corruption which was one of the causes of overspending.
"I have no qualms about the stated pronouncement on the attempt to ensure Malaysia becomes more competitive and reduces waste, but actions speak louder," he told AFP.
Najib said the government, which was hit with severe criticism over past cuts to petrol subsidies, would implement a "fuel subsidy management system" in early 2010 but gave no further details.
He also said the government is "at the final stage" of a study into implementing a long-considered goods and services tax (GST) to replace the current tax and services tax.
"The purpose of this study is to ensure that if the GST needs to be implemented to stabilise government finances, it will not burden the people," he said.
Average consumer price inflation is predicted at 1.0 percent this year, slower than the forecast of 1.5-2.0 percent by the central bank in March.
Exports are expected to shrink 19.2 percent in 2009, but could rebound to record 5.1 percent growth in 2010, it said.
Malaysia has announced two stimulus packages, the most recent in March billed as containing some 60 billion ringgit (17.7 billion dollars) in measures to pump-prime the economy.
Women Trafficked Into Australia Used As Prostitutes
Trafficked women 'used as prostitutes'
By Peter Veness, AAP
October 23, 2009, 6:10 pm
Almost all people trafficked into Australia are forced into the sex industry, a new report reveals.
Fully 95 per cent of trafficking victims were females made to work as prostitutes, and most came from Southeast Asia.
Australian Home Affairs Minister Brendan O'Connor responded to the report from the Australian Institute of Criminology by saying much was being done to combat people trafficking from Asia and the Pacific.
"Australia has adopted a whole-of-government response to people trafficking which includes a national policing strategy and specialist police investigation teams, enhanced visa arrangements, a victim support program and regional cooperation efforts," Mr O'Connor said in a statement.
The report said not enough was known about trafficking and more research was required.
"It is widely recognised in crime statistics that a significant number of incidents go unreported," the report said.
"Once a crime is reported to authorities, further legal and non-legal considerations result in fewer cases being investigated.
"This process of attrition also applies to trafficking cases, few of which are thought to reach the attention of authorities due to low rates of reporting and the hidden nature of this type of crime."
Between 2004 and 2008, 34 people were charged with trafficking offences but of them only seven were convicted.
"This is an era of unprecedented global migration and Australia's strong socio-economic position, with plentiful job opportunities in low-skilled sectors, means we remain a potential trafficking destination, but our strong border controls and law enforcement continue to mitigate that risk," Mr O'Connor said.
By Peter Veness, AAP
October 23, 2009, 6:10 pm
Almost all people trafficked into Australia are forced into the sex industry, a new report reveals.
Fully 95 per cent of trafficking victims were females made to work as prostitutes, and most came from Southeast Asia.
Australian Home Affairs Minister Brendan O'Connor responded to the report from the Australian Institute of Criminology by saying much was being done to combat people trafficking from Asia and the Pacific.
"Australia has adopted a whole-of-government response to people trafficking which includes a national policing strategy and specialist police investigation teams, enhanced visa arrangements, a victim support program and regional cooperation efforts," Mr O'Connor said in a statement.
The report said not enough was known about trafficking and more research was required.
"It is widely recognised in crime statistics that a significant number of incidents go unreported," the report said.
"Once a crime is reported to authorities, further legal and non-legal considerations result in fewer cases being investigated.
"This process of attrition also applies to trafficking cases, few of which are thought to reach the attention of authorities due to low rates of reporting and the hidden nature of this type of crime."
Between 2004 and 2008, 34 people were charged with trafficking offences but of them only seven were convicted.
"This is an era of unprecedented global migration and Australia's strong socio-economic position, with plentiful job opportunities in low-skilled sectors, means we remain a potential trafficking destination, but our strong border controls and law enforcement continue to mitigate that risk," Mr O'Connor said.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
RM42k For A Laptop?
Thursday October 22, 2009
RM42,320 for a laptop
KUALA LUMPUR: Who in their right mind would pay RM42,320 for a laptop?
RM42,320 = USD11,136.84 approx
Kolej Kemahiran Tinggi MARA Balik Pulau in Penang not only paid the price but bought two units of the same brand – Acer Aspire-5052ANWXMI, at a whopping price of RM84,640, said the Auditor-General’s Report.
In addition, the college purchased 450 units of computer CAD with network card at RM3.45mil for 12 labs. Each 19-inch monitor costs RM8,500 while a 17-inch monitor costs RM7,500.
“A check with local companies showed that the market price for the latest model is between RM5,350 to RM6,500 each. Worse still the computers, Precision 390 Dell, that were supplied are no longer in the market,” it said.
Also purchased were 15 laser printers, Hewlet Packard P3005X, at the price of RM7,722each when the market price was about RM5,000 per unit.
In reply, MARA said the equipment were purchased in a lump sump and there was no price breakdown for the laptops.
The price breakdown was only done after the equipment was supplied for the purpose assets record and it could not be used as a basis for reference.
“Nevertheless, MARA has created a task force and is conducting a price adjustment for all the equipment,” it said.
The report also stated that the college had paid between RM1,398 and RM2,945 for 204 teaching manuals.
“Checks found that the teaching manuals supplied were bound using comb binding. The teaching manuals obtained at a cost of RM358,476 is a waste because they were never used,” it said, adding that the supplier has been notified to provide the original version of the teaching manual in hard cover.
MARA also spent RM2.08mil buying computer software it didn’t need.
Audits also found many discrepancies in prices paid for the same equipment, including the same LCD projectors that costs RM3,500 and RM8,000 for two different laboratories.
“Swivel stools were also purchased at three different prices – RM340, RM350 and RM450per unit and they did not even meet the agreed specifications in the agreement.
“Other swivel chairs were bought for between RM810 to RM1,050 per unit when the college had bought the same chair previously at RM336 per unit,” it said.
The report also stated that the German-Malaysian Institute which was picked as the consultant, had proposed a ceiling price of RM84.5mil for the purchase of equipment for the college while the Economic Planing Unit (EPU) fixed the price at RM127.65mil.
“The reason for the higher price was to speed up the process of obtaining the supplies. In the end the agreed contract was fixed at RM112.42mil. MARA had submitted a letter to the Finance Ministry to say that the figure was reasonable.
“Audit found that the agreed price for the purchase of equipment is not reasonable. This is because the approach taken by MARA did not fufill the criteria set by the Finance Ministry, which is to negotiate for the lowest price possible.
By YENG AI CHUN
The Star
RM42,320 for a laptop
KUALA LUMPUR: Who in their right mind would pay RM42,320 for a laptop?
RM42,320 = USD11,136.84 approx
Kolej Kemahiran Tinggi MARA Balik Pulau in Penang not only paid the price but bought two units of the same brand – Acer Aspire-5052ANWXMI, at a whopping price of RM84,640, said the Auditor-General’s Report.
In addition, the college purchased 450 units of computer CAD with network card at RM3.45mil for 12 labs. Each 19-inch monitor costs RM8,500 while a 17-inch monitor costs RM7,500.
“A check with local companies showed that the market price for the latest model is between RM5,350 to RM6,500 each. Worse still the computers, Precision 390 Dell, that were supplied are no longer in the market,” it said.
Also purchased were 15 laser printers, Hewlet Packard P3005X, at the price of RM7,722each when the market price was about RM5,000 per unit.
In reply, MARA said the equipment were purchased in a lump sump and there was no price breakdown for the laptops.
The price breakdown was only done after the equipment was supplied for the purpose assets record and it could not be used as a basis for reference.
“Nevertheless, MARA has created a task force and is conducting a price adjustment for all the equipment,” it said.
The report also stated that the college had paid between RM1,398 and RM2,945 for 204 teaching manuals.
“Checks found that the teaching manuals supplied were bound using comb binding. The teaching manuals obtained at a cost of RM358,476 is a waste because they were never used,” it said, adding that the supplier has been notified to provide the original version of the teaching manual in hard cover.
MARA also spent RM2.08mil buying computer software it didn’t need.
Audits also found many discrepancies in prices paid for the same equipment, including the same LCD projectors that costs RM3,500 and RM8,000 for two different laboratories.
“Swivel stools were also purchased at three different prices – RM340, RM350 and RM450per unit and they did not even meet the agreed specifications in the agreement.
“Other swivel chairs were bought for between RM810 to RM1,050 per unit when the college had bought the same chair previously at RM336 per unit,” it said.
The report also stated that the German-Malaysian Institute which was picked as the consultant, had proposed a ceiling price of RM84.5mil for the purchase of equipment for the college while the Economic Planing Unit (EPU) fixed the price at RM127.65mil.
“The reason for the higher price was to speed up the process of obtaining the supplies. In the end the agreed contract was fixed at RM112.42mil. MARA had submitted a letter to the Finance Ministry to say that the figure was reasonable.
“Audit found that the agreed price for the purchase of equipment is not reasonable. This is because the approach taken by MARA did not fufill the criteria set by the Finance Ministry, which is to negotiate for the lowest price possible.
By YENG AI CHUN
The Star
Britain's Population To Reach 70million By 2033
Crowded Britain heading for 70m as migration causes population to rise faster than ever before
By Steve Doughty
22nd October 2009
Britain's population is rising at a speed unprecedented in history, official figures revealed yesterday.
It will pass the milestone of 70million - the point Immigration Minister Phil Woolas promised would never happen - in 20 years.
The Office for National Statistics said that by 2033 there will be ten million more people in the country than now. More than two thirds of the increase, seven million, will be either migrants or the children of migrants, its report said.
Crowded street
Crowded Britain: The Office of National Statistics predicts the population will reach 70million by 2033
This will put pressure on housing, transport, water and key public services.
According to the projections, the bulk of the population increase - 9.2million by 2033 - will be in England. Growth in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is likely to be less than a million.
England is already the third-most-crowded major country in the world and the most crowded country in Europe except for the island of Malta, according to British and UN figures.
Most immigrants gravitate to London and the South East, which is by far the most populous part of the country.
Chris Huhne, home affairs spokesman for the Liberal Democrats, yesterday warned that these areas are now at 'the limit of environmental sustainability'.
Over the next ten years, the ONS expects the population to rise by four million from its present 61.4million.
Despite claims by Labour ministers that population growth is slowing because immigration is on a downward trend, the ONS said that for the foreseeable future the population will grow by 180,000 a year because of higher numbers of immigrants over emigrants. Two years ago the state statisticians put the immigration gain at 190,000 a year.
The ONS forecast contradicts claims by Mr Woolas, who a year ago said: 'At some point we will be able to set a limit on migration. This Government isn't going to allow the population of this country to go up to 70million.
'There has to be a balance between the number of people coming in and the number of people leaving.'
Britain's population
In July this year, Home Secretary Alan Johnson told the Home Affairs Select Committee: 'I do not lie awake at night worrying about a population of 70million. I'm happy to live in a multicultural society where we not only welcome those coming to live and work in this country, but where we can go and live and work in other countries.'
Guy Goodwin, director of population statistics at the ONS, said: 'The additional numbers are the equivalent of taking the current population of Scotland, Wales and most of Northern Ireland and putting it into England.
'The population is projected to increase by 420,000 a year, which is the equivalent of adding the population of Bristol to the UK every year.
'Whereas it took 57 years for the population to get from 50million to 60million, it is projected to take 24 years to get from 60million to 70million.'
The population reached 50million in 1948 and 60million in 2005. If the ONS projections prove accurate, in 2033 there will be 465 people for every square kilometre in England, and 295 for every square kilometre in the UK.
Peter Madden of Forum for the Future, an environmental group launched by one-time Government adviser Sir Jonathon Porritt, warned: 'Population growth will put greater pressure on our public services and increase competition for housing.
'Protecting our environment and meeting climate change targets will become even harder. And unless it is handled properly, social cohesion will suffer. These projections are a wake-up call for politicians.' However, Mr Woolas insisted: 'The projections show that population growth is starting to slow down.
'The impacts of the radical reforms we have made to the immigration system over the last two years are working. Last year saw a 44 per cent fall in net migration and we expect that fall to be sustained and reflected in future projections.
'Our new flexible points-based system is giving us greater control on those coming to work or study from outside Europe, ensuring that only those that Britain need can come.'
Minsters' comments
Tory immigration spokesman Damian Green said: 'This shows how irresponsible Alan Johnson was when he said that he did not lie awake at night worrying about a population of 70million.
'The failure of Labour to control immigration has left us in this difficult position. A Conservative government would introduce a limit on the numbers allowed to come here to work, as well as other measures to fight illegal immigration.'
Labour MP Frank Field and Tory Nicholas Soames, leaders of the Cross-Party Group on Balanced Migration, said: 'We are on course for an unsustainable and unacceptable rise in population. If politicians want to rebuild trust and counter extremism, they must stop ignoring the public's deep concern about this.'
And the number of over-85s will double
The number of very old people in the country is expected to more than double over the next two-and-a-half decades, the ONS said.
It estimated that there will be 3.3million over-85s by 2033 compared with 1.3million last year.
The ranks of people aged over 100 will multiply, with seven time more centenarians, the projections said. There will, according to the estimates, be 80,000 people aged over 100 in 2033 against 11,000 in 2008.
Despite the rise in the state pension age, which will be equal for men and women at 66 by 2033, numbers of pensioners will go up sharply. There will be 15.6million by the mid-2030s, the ONS said, compared with 11.8 million now.
The increase will mean that everybody of working age will have more pensioners to support.
The ratio of working age people to pensioners, currently 3.2 workers for each pensioner, will drop to 2.8 workers for each pensioner in 2033.
But without the increase in the age at which people are expected to retire, there would have been only 2.2 workers available to support each pensioner.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1222049/Crowded-Britain-heading-70m-migration-causes-population-rise-faster-before.html?ITO=1490&referrer=yahoo#ixzz0Ud4OINOX
By Steve Doughty
22nd October 2009
Britain's population is rising at a speed unprecedented in history, official figures revealed yesterday.
It will pass the milestone of 70million - the point Immigration Minister Phil Woolas promised would never happen - in 20 years.
The Office for National Statistics said that by 2033 there will be ten million more people in the country than now. More than two thirds of the increase, seven million, will be either migrants or the children of migrants, its report said.
Crowded street
Crowded Britain: The Office of National Statistics predicts the population will reach 70million by 2033
This will put pressure on housing, transport, water and key public services.
According to the projections, the bulk of the population increase - 9.2million by 2033 - will be in England. Growth in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is likely to be less than a million.
England is already the third-most-crowded major country in the world and the most crowded country in Europe except for the island of Malta, according to British and UN figures.
Most immigrants gravitate to London and the South East, which is by far the most populous part of the country.
Chris Huhne, home affairs spokesman for the Liberal Democrats, yesterday warned that these areas are now at 'the limit of environmental sustainability'.
Over the next ten years, the ONS expects the population to rise by four million from its present 61.4million.
Despite claims by Labour ministers that population growth is slowing because immigration is on a downward trend, the ONS said that for the foreseeable future the population will grow by 180,000 a year because of higher numbers of immigrants over emigrants. Two years ago the state statisticians put the immigration gain at 190,000 a year.
The ONS forecast contradicts claims by Mr Woolas, who a year ago said: 'At some point we will be able to set a limit on migration. This Government isn't going to allow the population of this country to go up to 70million.
'There has to be a balance between the number of people coming in and the number of people leaving.'
Britain's population
In July this year, Home Secretary Alan Johnson told the Home Affairs Select Committee: 'I do not lie awake at night worrying about a population of 70million. I'm happy to live in a multicultural society where we not only welcome those coming to live and work in this country, but where we can go and live and work in other countries.'
Guy Goodwin, director of population statistics at the ONS, said: 'The additional numbers are the equivalent of taking the current population of Scotland, Wales and most of Northern Ireland and putting it into England.
'The population is projected to increase by 420,000 a year, which is the equivalent of adding the population of Bristol to the UK every year.
'Whereas it took 57 years for the population to get from 50million to 60million, it is projected to take 24 years to get from 60million to 70million.'
The population reached 50million in 1948 and 60million in 2005. If the ONS projections prove accurate, in 2033 there will be 465 people for every square kilometre in England, and 295 for every square kilometre in the UK.
Peter Madden of Forum for the Future, an environmental group launched by one-time Government adviser Sir Jonathon Porritt, warned: 'Population growth will put greater pressure on our public services and increase competition for housing.
'Protecting our environment and meeting climate change targets will become even harder. And unless it is handled properly, social cohesion will suffer. These projections are a wake-up call for politicians.' However, Mr Woolas insisted: 'The projections show that population growth is starting to slow down.
'The impacts of the radical reforms we have made to the immigration system over the last two years are working. Last year saw a 44 per cent fall in net migration and we expect that fall to be sustained and reflected in future projections.
'Our new flexible points-based system is giving us greater control on those coming to work or study from outside Europe, ensuring that only those that Britain need can come.'
Minsters' comments
Tory immigration spokesman Damian Green said: 'This shows how irresponsible Alan Johnson was when he said that he did not lie awake at night worrying about a population of 70million.
'The failure of Labour to control immigration has left us in this difficult position. A Conservative government would introduce a limit on the numbers allowed to come here to work, as well as other measures to fight illegal immigration.'
Labour MP Frank Field and Tory Nicholas Soames, leaders of the Cross-Party Group on Balanced Migration, said: 'We are on course for an unsustainable and unacceptable rise in population. If politicians want to rebuild trust and counter extremism, they must stop ignoring the public's deep concern about this.'
And the number of over-85s will double
The number of very old people in the country is expected to more than double over the next two-and-a-half decades, the ONS said.
It estimated that there will be 3.3million over-85s by 2033 compared with 1.3million last year.
The ranks of people aged over 100 will multiply, with seven time more centenarians, the projections said. There will, according to the estimates, be 80,000 people aged over 100 in 2033 against 11,000 in 2008.
Despite the rise in the state pension age, which will be equal for men and women at 66 by 2033, numbers of pensioners will go up sharply. There will be 15.6million by the mid-2030s, the ONS said, compared with 11.8 million now.
The increase will mean that everybody of working age will have more pensioners to support.
The ratio of working age people to pensioners, currently 3.2 workers for each pensioner, will drop to 2.8 workers for each pensioner in 2033.
But without the increase in the age at which people are expected to retire, there would have been only 2.2 workers available to support each pensioner.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1222049/Crowded-Britain-heading-70m-migration-causes-population-rise-faster-before.html?ITO=1490&referrer=yahoo#ixzz0Ud4OINOX
The Muslim Does Not Fall Into Backbiting
The Muslim Does Not Fall Into Backbiting
From Ibn ‘Umar (radhiyallah hu ‘anhu) who said that Allah’s Messenger, Muhammad pbuh said:
“Whoever intercedes and prevents one of the punishments prescribed by Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, then he has opposed Allah regarding His orders. Whoever dies with a debt due on him then it will not be (repaid) by dinars and dirhams but rather by good and bad deeds. Whoever disputes for something which he knows is false then he remains in Allah’s anger until he desists. Whoever accuses a believer of something that is untrue then Allah will make him dwell in the pus flowing from the inhabitants of the Fire and he will not leave until he retracts from what he said”
(Hadith reported by Ahmad, Abu Daud, Ibn Majjah and al-Hakim)
So the lethal plague of backbiting destroys one’s good deeds, destroys brotherhood and destroys one’s reward. So the true Muslim does not backbite, nor does he allow backbiting to take place in his presence. So let those people fear Allah, those whose bodies do not develop and those whose spirit is not fed except upon spreading rumours and inventing lies against the servants of Allah claiming that this is for the benefit of dakwah .
How strange ! What benefit to the dakwah will be achieved through slandering, backbiting and mentioning the bad manners of others? Do you think O you who backbites the people, that you are far removed from defect? O you who can only see the deficiencies of others, do you think that you are free from any mistakes? “…..rather you are full of deficiencies and the people have tongues” ! Also from those things which must be known is that: The Muslim Does Not Pry Into The Matters that do not Concern Him.
From Ibn ‘Umar (radhiyallah hu ‘anhu) who said that Allah’s Messenger, Muhammad pbuh said:
“Whoever intercedes and prevents one of the punishments prescribed by Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, then he has opposed Allah regarding His orders. Whoever dies with a debt due on him then it will not be (repaid) by dinars and dirhams but rather by good and bad deeds. Whoever disputes for something which he knows is false then he remains in Allah’s anger until he desists. Whoever accuses a believer of something that is untrue then Allah will make him dwell in the pus flowing from the inhabitants of the Fire and he will not leave until he retracts from what he said”
(Hadith reported by Ahmad, Abu Daud, Ibn Majjah and al-Hakim)
So the lethal plague of backbiting destroys one’s good deeds, destroys brotherhood and destroys one’s reward. So the true Muslim does not backbite, nor does he allow backbiting to take place in his presence. So let those people fear Allah, those whose bodies do not develop and those whose spirit is not fed except upon spreading rumours and inventing lies against the servants of Allah claiming that this is for the benefit of dakwah .
How strange ! What benefit to the dakwah will be achieved through slandering, backbiting and mentioning the bad manners of others? Do you think O you who backbites the people, that you are far removed from defect? O you who can only see the deficiencies of others, do you think that you are free from any mistakes? “…..rather you are full of deficiencies and the people have tongues” ! Also from those things which must be known is that: The Muslim Does Not Pry Into The Matters that do not Concern Him.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
The Dating Game
Blakeley Kiri,
Forbes Global 10/06/09
The Dating Game
Attention eligible bachelors: Sabina Ptacin would like to meet you. She's the owner of two successful companies and is energetic and sociable.
She looks a bit like the actress Kate Winslet, with green eyes and sandy blonde hair. There's only one problem: She spends so much time working, she breaks more dates than she keeps. "I'm not going to marry either one of my jobs," admits Ptacin, who nevertheless often puts in 100-hour workweeks.
Loretta Talbot, a senior project manager at Wyeth, the pharmaceutical giant, wants a relationship too. She has a zest for life and enjoys photography and sailing. But it's not a sure thing that a man will call for a second date once he finds out how much real estate she owns.
Finding one's soul mate is never easy. But for women who are pursuing influential careers--women like Ptacin, Talbot, even Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor--the course of true love can be especially tricky. It's not just a matter of trying to find the time to date when you're working around the clock. Women face far more complex hurdles. Unlike their male counterparts, who generally become more desirable in the romance arena as they achieve higher career status, powerful women are often handicapped by their success.
And antiquated social mores still dictate that no matter how commanding a woman is at work, she should let her date choose the wine in a dimly lit restaurant.
"Successful men are viewed as highly desirable for women, but successful women are viewed as really scary by men," says Patricia Cook, who runs a boutique executive recruiting firm and has worked with hundreds of senior level executive men and women. "A man needs to be confident and secure in himself in order to be with a woman who earns more than he does."
Time Is Not On Her Side
A compatible partner can be hard to find, especially when time is hard to come by. Justice Sotomayor married her high school sweetheart just before starting Yale Law School in 1976, but they divorced seven years later. She subsequently acknowledged the difficulty she faced as a young ambitious lawyer who often had to cancel dates because of late nights at the office or sudden business trips. "He begins thinking, 'Gee, maybe she's not that interested,''' she has said. She had hopes of remarrying in her mid-40s, but that fiancé broke off the relationship and ended up marrying a younger woman. At 55, Sotomayor remains single.
The experience is shared by younger women like Ptacin, who turned 31 this year and spent the last half of her 20s co-founding a public relations firm, Red Branch, and a community for women entrepreneurs, Collective-E. She put off romance to focus on her personal and professional growth. Now both of her New York companies are humming along, and she's ready to pursue a relationship.
But her seven-days-a-week workday begins at 7 a.m., and the e-mailing and problem-solving can go on until as late as 10 p.m., not to mention the evenings she's out at business events or traveling to visit clients in Toronto, Washington and other cities.
As an entrepreneur, Ptacin has to "triage" her daily commitments by order of importance. Her businesses usually take precedence, especially when she suspects a prospective suitor isn't going to turn out to be Mr. Right. "You don't have the luxury of dating someone who might not be a good fit for you and just seeing what happens," she explains. "There's no time to date just for fun."
Not surprisingly, she adds, "I end up canceling dates a lot." Once, when Ptacin had rescheduled a get-together for the fourth time via text message, the man picked up the phone and "really went off on me," she says. "He asked if we were ever going to go out or if he should just move on." She let him move on.
Since the '70s women's work hours have increased steadily, especially for those in managerial, professional or technical occupations. According to a study published in 2004 by Harvard University Press, 17% of women in those fields worked 50 hours or more each week, compared with 8% of women in other occupations.
When there are only so many hours in a day, something has to give, says Ann Smith, a Wernersville, Pa., marriage and relationship therapist. "It's hard to be great at two things at the same time," she says. "You can't put 120% into the office and give the same amount of focus to your romantic life."
Forbes Global 10/06/09
The Dating Game
Attention eligible bachelors: Sabina Ptacin would like to meet you. She's the owner of two successful companies and is energetic and sociable.
She looks a bit like the actress Kate Winslet, with green eyes and sandy blonde hair. There's only one problem: She spends so much time working, she breaks more dates than she keeps. "I'm not going to marry either one of my jobs," admits Ptacin, who nevertheless often puts in 100-hour workweeks.
Loretta Talbot, a senior project manager at Wyeth, the pharmaceutical giant, wants a relationship too. She has a zest for life and enjoys photography and sailing. But it's not a sure thing that a man will call for a second date once he finds out how much real estate she owns.
Finding one's soul mate is never easy. But for women who are pursuing influential careers--women like Ptacin, Talbot, even Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor--the course of true love can be especially tricky. It's not just a matter of trying to find the time to date when you're working around the clock. Women face far more complex hurdles. Unlike their male counterparts, who generally become more desirable in the romance arena as they achieve higher career status, powerful women are often handicapped by their success.
And antiquated social mores still dictate that no matter how commanding a woman is at work, she should let her date choose the wine in a dimly lit restaurant.
"Successful men are viewed as highly desirable for women, but successful women are viewed as really scary by men," says Patricia Cook, who runs a boutique executive recruiting firm and has worked with hundreds of senior level executive men and women. "A man needs to be confident and secure in himself in order to be with a woman who earns more than he does."
Time Is Not On Her Side
A compatible partner can be hard to find, especially when time is hard to come by. Justice Sotomayor married her high school sweetheart just before starting Yale Law School in 1976, but they divorced seven years later. She subsequently acknowledged the difficulty she faced as a young ambitious lawyer who often had to cancel dates because of late nights at the office or sudden business trips. "He begins thinking, 'Gee, maybe she's not that interested,''' she has said. She had hopes of remarrying in her mid-40s, but that fiancé broke off the relationship and ended up marrying a younger woman. At 55, Sotomayor remains single.
The experience is shared by younger women like Ptacin, who turned 31 this year and spent the last half of her 20s co-founding a public relations firm, Red Branch, and a community for women entrepreneurs, Collective-E. She put off romance to focus on her personal and professional growth. Now both of her New York companies are humming along, and she's ready to pursue a relationship.
But her seven-days-a-week workday begins at 7 a.m., and the e-mailing and problem-solving can go on until as late as 10 p.m., not to mention the evenings she's out at business events or traveling to visit clients in Toronto, Washington and other cities.
As an entrepreneur, Ptacin has to "triage" her daily commitments by order of importance. Her businesses usually take precedence, especially when she suspects a prospective suitor isn't going to turn out to be Mr. Right. "You don't have the luxury of dating someone who might not be a good fit for you and just seeing what happens," she explains. "There's no time to date just for fun."
Not surprisingly, she adds, "I end up canceling dates a lot." Once, when Ptacin had rescheduled a get-together for the fourth time via text message, the man picked up the phone and "really went off on me," she says. "He asked if we were ever going to go out or if he should just move on." She let him move on.
Since the '70s women's work hours have increased steadily, especially for those in managerial, professional or technical occupations. According to a study published in 2004 by Harvard University Press, 17% of women in those fields worked 50 hours or more each week, compared with 8% of women in other occupations.
When there are only so many hours in a day, something has to give, says Ann Smith, a Wernersville, Pa., marriage and relationship therapist. "It's hard to be great at two things at the same time," she says. "You can't put 120% into the office and give the same amount of focus to your romantic life."
Rosmah Among Keynote Speakers At Dubai Leadership Forum
October 21, 2009
Rosmah Among Keynote Speakers At Dubai Leadership Forum
By Muin Abdul Majid
DUBAI, Oct 21 (Bernama)
Malaysia's commitment and experience in promoting the role of women in its nation-building will be highlighted by Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor at the upcoming Women in Leadership Forum here.
Malaysian consul-general in Dubai Syed Mohamad Hasrin Tengku Hussin said the wife of Malaysia's Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak was not alien to the efforts in promoting the role of women in society including in leadership.
Rosmah is one of the keynote speakers at the event that its organisers say will gather some 300 women leaders from the political and business arena from all over the world.
"Her presence and the strong showing of the Malaysian delegation at the conference manifests the excellent and close bilateral relations between Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)," Syed Mohamad Hasrin said ahead of the Oct 25-27 forum.
She will be accompanied by Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, Deputy Human Resources Minister Datuk Maznah Mazlan as well as wives of several ministers and state leaders, and other government officials.
Rosmah is involved in numerous establishments and organisations in Malaysia that champion women, children, healthcare, education and other causes.
Among others, she is chancellor of Universiti Industri Selangor, president of Association of Wives of Ministers and Deputy Ministers (Bakti) and chairman of Permata Negara, an initiative for early childhood care and education.
Rosmah will take the opportunity of her presence in Dubai to meet members of the Malaysian community at a Hari Raya and Deepavali gathering prior to the conference.
Elaborating, Syed Mohamad Hasrin said women were regarded as an important issue in Malaysia that resulted in the creation of a dedicated ministry in 2001 to continue the emphasis on women given by the Malaysian government since independence.
With women constituting 13.9 million or 49.1 per cent of Malaysia's 27 million people, the consul-general said they were an important asset for the country.
"Thus, investment in women makes perfect economic sense," he said.
The forum will be opened by Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein, wife of UAE vice-president, prime minister and ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, at the Burj Al Arab hotel on Sunday.
Conference sessions and interactive workshops will take place on Monday and Tuesday at the Atlantis hotel.
The invited speakers will touch on issues such as women in science and technology, micro-credit financing, corporate philanthropy as well as the power of the media.
"By gathering regional and international leaders from the political, academic and business sectors, our objective is to inspire women to exercise their leadership skills and supporting women entrepreneurship," explained Sophie Le Ray, chief executive of naseba, the organiser of the forum.
She said naseba aimed to set an annual rendezvous for business women to network, share experiences and facilitate deal opportunities among peers.
BERNAMA
Rosmah Among Keynote Speakers At Dubai Leadership Forum
By Muin Abdul Majid
DUBAI, Oct 21 (Bernama)
Malaysia's commitment and experience in promoting the role of women in its nation-building will be highlighted by Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor at the upcoming Women in Leadership Forum here.
Malaysian consul-general in Dubai Syed Mohamad Hasrin Tengku Hussin said the wife of Malaysia's Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak was not alien to the efforts in promoting the role of women in society including in leadership.
Rosmah is one of the keynote speakers at the event that its organisers say will gather some 300 women leaders from the political and business arena from all over the world.
"Her presence and the strong showing of the Malaysian delegation at the conference manifests the excellent and close bilateral relations between Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)," Syed Mohamad Hasrin said ahead of the Oct 25-27 forum.
She will be accompanied by Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, Deputy Human Resources Minister Datuk Maznah Mazlan as well as wives of several ministers and state leaders, and other government officials.
Rosmah is involved in numerous establishments and organisations in Malaysia that champion women, children, healthcare, education and other causes.
Among others, she is chancellor of Universiti Industri Selangor, president of Association of Wives of Ministers and Deputy Ministers (Bakti) and chairman of Permata Negara, an initiative for early childhood care and education.
Rosmah will take the opportunity of her presence in Dubai to meet members of the Malaysian community at a Hari Raya and Deepavali gathering prior to the conference.
Elaborating, Syed Mohamad Hasrin said women were regarded as an important issue in Malaysia that resulted in the creation of a dedicated ministry in 2001 to continue the emphasis on women given by the Malaysian government since independence.
With women constituting 13.9 million or 49.1 per cent of Malaysia's 27 million people, the consul-general said they were an important asset for the country.
"Thus, investment in women makes perfect economic sense," he said.
The forum will be opened by Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein, wife of UAE vice-president, prime minister and ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, at the Burj Al Arab hotel on Sunday.
Conference sessions and interactive workshops will take place on Monday and Tuesday at the Atlantis hotel.
The invited speakers will touch on issues such as women in science and technology, micro-credit financing, corporate philanthropy as well as the power of the media.
"By gathering regional and international leaders from the political, academic and business sectors, our objective is to inspire women to exercise their leadership skills and supporting women entrepreneurship," explained Sophie Le Ray, chief executive of naseba, the organiser of the forum.
She said naseba aimed to set an annual rendezvous for business women to network, share experiences and facilitate deal opportunities among peers.
BERNAMA
Why Positive Thinking May Be Overrated
Ruiz Rebecca,
Forbes.com 10/20/09
Why Positive Thinking May Be Overrated
Try smiling while being laid-off. Or conjuring positive thoughts after receiving a cancer diagnosis. Or finding the bright side of a Wall Street meltdown.
Do you consider such scenarios not only perverse but also unmoored from the human experience of life's disappointments and tragedies? So does author Barbara Ehrenreich, who rails against them in her new book Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking has Undermined America.
In it, Ehrenreich targets hucksters who exhort the discontented and downtrodden to believe just a little more in their own abilities as a means of winning the love and riches they lack. Among the guilty in the $11 billion self-help industry, she says, are religious figures who encourage tithing as a way to reap even greater rewards, motivational speakers who ask their audiences to repeat meaningless affirmations and, yes, definitely the author of The Secret, the best-selling book (16 million copies sold) that tries to teach readers how to control outcomes by thinking hard, and positively, about them.
There's no doubt that these gurus lack scientific evidence to support claims that happy thoughts can cure cancer or lead to great wealth--false promises that Ehrenreich lays bare. But while positive thinking alone cannot move people closer to happiness, there is evidence that people who experience true positive emotions do lead longer, healthier lives.
So while pop positive thinking may be a hollow exercise, there are trustworthy researchers whose work has given us clues about how to best pursue happiness. Unsurprisingly, the key is not the visualization of positive outcomes, but rather lies with hard work--specifically, setting goals and cultivating resilience.
No Quick Fix If Barbara Ehrenreich is skeptical of simplistic positive thinking for one reason, it might be that its practitioners often promise immediate results but ask followers to use techniques that require constant repetition.
"If you have to listen to [their advice] again and again, then is it working?" she asks. "Why do you have to keep doing it?"
Ehrenreich may be right to criticize. A study published in Psychological Science earlier this summer found that repeating a self-affirming mantra is not only ineffective, but may actually leave someone with low self-esteem feeling worse.
In the study, participants repeated the phrase, "I am a lovable person" multiple times during a period of several minutes. But instead of feeling more confident immediately afterward, they felt worse. Perhaps they didn't genuinely believe the mantra or picked the wrong quality to reaffirm, but the study indicates that feeling positive about life is more complicated than just willing that emotion into existence.
That complex process is something that Sonja Lyubomirsky, a Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Riverside, has spent the past 20 years trying to understand. Lyubomirsky, who has not read Ehrenreich's book, says that while she has "critiqued and parodied" pop positive thinking programs like that of The Secret, there is some merit to adopting a more optimistic outlook on life.
"Positive thinking has a role to play in a good life as long as it's not empty," she says. "If you want to apply to medical school and be a doctor, I would speculate that practicing optimism about that goal might motivate you to try harder."
The Pursuit of Happiness That's the hard part of achieving happiness through a sunnier disposition: Wishing for a certain outcome only works as a motivating factor. Lyubomirsky argues that happiness can beget success--it's not necessarily the other way around--because those with a more positive outlook lead their lives with palpable security, cultivating friendships, building skills and relaxing at the end of a hard day. With those additional resources, they are free to seek goals--and thereby success--that others simply cannot.
Of course, each person cultivates happiness in his or her own distinct way. Such journeys are the subject of a new PBS documentary series, This Emotional Life, which will begin airing in early 2010. Hosted by Harvard psychologist and author Daniel Gilbert, the series aims to convince viewers that happiness can be achieved through coping skills that teach people to be more resilient.
Lyubomirsky has studied various methods to, as Gilbert puts it, regain perspective. They include nurturing social relationships, being physically active, meditating and, of course, setting goals.
"A negative emotion is a signal to go back to the baseline," says Gilbert. "It's important to learn how to control what [one] thinks about the world. But you don't get control by staring into the mirror and saying, 'I'm good, I'm good.'"
Ehrenreich, naturally, is reluctant to share her own strategies for achieving happiness, but does admit to frequent trips to the gym. She adds that trying to effect political change is another path to contentment--a seemingly odd choice given all the disappointments and headaches that come with politics.
For that, she only has a few words of advice, ones that are easily applicable to anything else: "Don't be a baby - keep trying."
Forbes.com 10/20/09
Why Positive Thinking May Be Overrated
Try smiling while being laid-off. Or conjuring positive thoughts after receiving a cancer diagnosis. Or finding the bright side of a Wall Street meltdown.
Do you consider such scenarios not only perverse but also unmoored from the human experience of life's disappointments and tragedies? So does author Barbara Ehrenreich, who rails against them in her new book Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking has Undermined America.
In it, Ehrenreich targets hucksters who exhort the discontented and downtrodden to believe just a little more in their own abilities as a means of winning the love and riches they lack. Among the guilty in the $11 billion self-help industry, she says, are religious figures who encourage tithing as a way to reap even greater rewards, motivational speakers who ask their audiences to repeat meaningless affirmations and, yes, definitely the author of The Secret, the best-selling book (16 million copies sold) that tries to teach readers how to control outcomes by thinking hard, and positively, about them.
There's no doubt that these gurus lack scientific evidence to support claims that happy thoughts can cure cancer or lead to great wealth--false promises that Ehrenreich lays bare. But while positive thinking alone cannot move people closer to happiness, there is evidence that people who experience true positive emotions do lead longer, healthier lives.
So while pop positive thinking may be a hollow exercise, there are trustworthy researchers whose work has given us clues about how to best pursue happiness. Unsurprisingly, the key is not the visualization of positive outcomes, but rather lies with hard work--specifically, setting goals and cultivating resilience.
No Quick Fix If Barbara Ehrenreich is skeptical of simplistic positive thinking for one reason, it might be that its practitioners often promise immediate results but ask followers to use techniques that require constant repetition.
"If you have to listen to [their advice] again and again, then is it working?" she asks. "Why do you have to keep doing it?"
Ehrenreich may be right to criticize. A study published in Psychological Science earlier this summer found that repeating a self-affirming mantra is not only ineffective, but may actually leave someone with low self-esteem feeling worse.
In the study, participants repeated the phrase, "I am a lovable person" multiple times during a period of several minutes. But instead of feeling more confident immediately afterward, they felt worse. Perhaps they didn't genuinely believe the mantra or picked the wrong quality to reaffirm, but the study indicates that feeling positive about life is more complicated than just willing that emotion into existence.
That complex process is something that Sonja Lyubomirsky, a Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Riverside, has spent the past 20 years trying to understand. Lyubomirsky, who has not read Ehrenreich's book, says that while she has "critiqued and parodied" pop positive thinking programs like that of The Secret, there is some merit to adopting a more optimistic outlook on life.
"Positive thinking has a role to play in a good life as long as it's not empty," she says. "If you want to apply to medical school and be a doctor, I would speculate that practicing optimism about that goal might motivate you to try harder."
The Pursuit of Happiness That's the hard part of achieving happiness through a sunnier disposition: Wishing for a certain outcome only works as a motivating factor. Lyubomirsky argues that happiness can beget success--it's not necessarily the other way around--because those with a more positive outlook lead their lives with palpable security, cultivating friendships, building skills and relaxing at the end of a hard day. With those additional resources, they are free to seek goals--and thereby success--that others simply cannot.
Of course, each person cultivates happiness in his or her own distinct way. Such journeys are the subject of a new PBS documentary series, This Emotional Life, which will begin airing in early 2010. Hosted by Harvard psychologist and author Daniel Gilbert, the series aims to convince viewers that happiness can be achieved through coping skills that teach people to be more resilient.
Lyubomirsky has studied various methods to, as Gilbert puts it, regain perspective. They include nurturing social relationships, being physically active, meditating and, of course, setting goals.
"A negative emotion is a signal to go back to the baseline," says Gilbert. "It's important to learn how to control what [one] thinks about the world. But you don't get control by staring into the mirror and saying, 'I'm good, I'm good.'"
Ehrenreich, naturally, is reluctant to share her own strategies for achieving happiness, but does admit to frequent trips to the gym. She adds that trying to effect political change is another path to contentment--a seemingly odd choice given all the disappointments and headaches that come with politics.
For that, she only has a few words of advice, ones that are easily applicable to anything else: "Don't be a baby - keep trying."
Hardness Is The Way To Happiness
AFP - 10/20/2009
Hardness is the way to happiness: sex survey
Men's confidence in their erections varies widely across Europe with Spanish men most worried and Germans the happiest, a survey for the makers of Viagra has shown.
The study of 12 European countries commissioned by drugs giant Pfizer revealed on Monday that 95 percent of adults believe a man's sexual confidence is the essential ingredient for a good sex life.
And 84 percent of men surveyed believe the most important element of a man's sexual confidence is his ability to please his partner sexually, while almost three quarters of women questioned agreed.
However, more than a third of women believe their partner would like to experience harder erections in order to improve their sex lives.
Spanish men were the most concerned about their erections, with 83 percent saying they would like to be harder in order to improve their sex lives, while Turkish men were second on 80 percent and Italians third on 76 percent.
German men are the most comfortable, with just 40 percent saying they wished they had harder erections.
"These survey results confirm previous research which shows that the hardness of a man's erection is intrinsically linked to confidence in his ability to please his partner sexually," said Dr John Dean, Sexual Physician at the independently owned non-profit London Clinic.
"Men need to feel confident about sex in order to enjoy their sexual experience, but to feel sexually confident, men also need to know that they can both satisfy their partner's sexual needs and get a hard erection."
The survey of 8,576 men and women also showed that 90 percent of respondents believe a lack of sexual confidence can have a negative impact on a man's overall self-confidence.
The findings confirmed that erection problems increase with age.
Ian Banks, a doctor and consultant for the independent British-based Men's Health Forum, said: "Erection problems can affect men of all ages and are more common than people realise. This survey shows that 70 percent of European men between the ages of 25 to 64 years are experiencing hard erections, this decreases to just one in two for men aged between 55 and 64.
"As a result, these men may be missing out on being sexually confident and the ability to please their partner, and are also at risk of depression, anxiety and low self-esteem."
The survey was conducted in April and May. Herewith the percentage of men who would like to experience harder erections in order to improve their sex life:
Spain: 83 percent
Turkey: 80 percent
Italy: 76 percent
Britain: 62 percent
France: 57 percent
Belgium: 50 percent
Sweden: 47 percent
Romania, Denmark: 46 percent
Netherlands: 42 percent
Finland: 41 percent
Germany: 40 percent
Hardness is the way to happiness: sex survey
Men's confidence in their erections varies widely across Europe with Spanish men most worried and Germans the happiest, a survey for the makers of Viagra has shown.
The study of 12 European countries commissioned by drugs giant Pfizer revealed on Monday that 95 percent of adults believe a man's sexual confidence is the essential ingredient for a good sex life.
And 84 percent of men surveyed believe the most important element of a man's sexual confidence is his ability to please his partner sexually, while almost three quarters of women questioned agreed.
However, more than a third of women believe their partner would like to experience harder erections in order to improve their sex lives.
Spanish men were the most concerned about their erections, with 83 percent saying they would like to be harder in order to improve their sex lives, while Turkish men were second on 80 percent and Italians third on 76 percent.
German men are the most comfortable, with just 40 percent saying they wished they had harder erections.
"These survey results confirm previous research which shows that the hardness of a man's erection is intrinsically linked to confidence in his ability to please his partner sexually," said Dr John Dean, Sexual Physician at the independently owned non-profit London Clinic.
"Men need to feel confident about sex in order to enjoy their sexual experience, but to feel sexually confident, men also need to know that they can both satisfy their partner's sexual needs and get a hard erection."
The survey of 8,576 men and women also showed that 90 percent of respondents believe a lack of sexual confidence can have a negative impact on a man's overall self-confidence.
The findings confirmed that erection problems increase with age.
Ian Banks, a doctor and consultant for the independent British-based Men's Health Forum, said: "Erection problems can affect men of all ages and are more common than people realise. This survey shows that 70 percent of European men between the ages of 25 to 64 years are experiencing hard erections, this decreases to just one in two for men aged between 55 and 64.
"As a result, these men may be missing out on being sexually confident and the ability to please their partner, and are also at risk of depression, anxiety and low self-esteem."
The survey was conducted in April and May. Herewith the percentage of men who would like to experience harder erections in order to improve their sex life:
Spain: 83 percent
Turkey: 80 percent
Italy: 76 percent
Britain: 62 percent
France: 57 percent
Belgium: 50 percent
Sweden: 47 percent
Romania, Denmark: 46 percent
Netherlands: 42 percent
Finland: 41 percent
Germany: 40 percent
Asia Demand For Ivory, Sharks' Fin Scrutinised
AFP - 10/21/2009
Asia demand for ivory, sharks' fins set for scrutiny
Asian demand for bluefin tuna, sharks' fins and ivory will come under scrutiny when 175 member states of the UN wildlife trade agency meet to consider trade restrictions, according to documents seen by AFP.
Proposals to restrict or ban international trade in those three products are due to be studied when the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) holds its next triennial meeting in Qatar next year.
Monaco has tabled a ban for trade in tuna, while the European Union and the United States have proposed limits on the global trade of several shark species, the documents showed.
Meanwhile, Tanzania and Zambia are asking for a trade embargo on ivory to be lifted, allowing them to sell controlled quantities of elephants' tusks.
The consumption of sharks' fins -- a Chinese culinary delicacy -- is expected to be among key issues on the table at the Qatar meeting, officials said.
The United States and Palau had put in proposals to restrict international trade in white tip sharks and hammerhead sharks, while the European Union has proposed protecting porbeagle sharks, also known as Lamna nasus.
White tips and hammerheads have been "over-exploited" for their fins, said Washington in its submission.
Likewise, the EU warned: "Unsustainable target fisheries for Lamna nasus in parts of its range have been driven by international trade demand for its high value meat."
For environmental group Oceana, the moves marked a "realistic first step" in the promotion of sustainable trade in sharks.
"This could be the turning point for sharks. If countries join together now we can promote the sustainable trade of sharks worldwide," Courtney Sakai, Oceana senior campaign director told AFP.
Oceana also pointed to Monaco's request for a ban in bluefin tuna trade.
"This is the last chance for fisheries managers to show they are competent to manage these magnificent and valuable fish. If they fail, Asia may see its supply cut off, perhaps for years," said Michael Hirshfield, Oceanas chief scientist.
According to the proposal put to CITES, bluefin tuna stocks are so fragile that the species should be classified as being at threat of extinction.
Monaco argued that tuna spawning stock in the Mediterranean has declined by more than 74 percent between 1957 to 2007, the bulk of it in the last decade.
Tuna stock in the west Atlantic has also plunged by 83 percent between 1970 to 2007, it added.
Meanwhile, some African states want a trade ban on ivory -- used in East Asian traditional handicraft -- to be lifted.
Tanzania argued in its proposal that its elephant population has "considerably increased" from 55,000 in 1989 to 136,753 in 2006, and said that a one-time sale of its ivory stocks could fund anti-poaching activities.
"In recent years, the government treasury allocated less money to anti-poaching activities mainly due to the economic crisis which is also affecting Tanzania.
"The adoption of this proposal would therefore be crucial for improving financial support to the Wildlife Protection Fund to further control poaching and other illegal activities in the country," it added.
Last November, a one-off auction of stockpiled ivory in four southern African countries raised 15,4 million dollars (12 million euros) for elephant conservation.
The sale of 102 tonnes of government-owned ivory stocks in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe fetched an average of 157 dollars per kilogramme.
Chinese buyers bought the bulk of the tusks, which fetched the highest price per kilogramme in Botswana.
Asia demand for ivory, sharks' fins set for scrutiny
Asian demand for bluefin tuna, sharks' fins and ivory will come under scrutiny when 175 member states of the UN wildlife trade agency meet to consider trade restrictions, according to documents seen by AFP.
Proposals to restrict or ban international trade in those three products are due to be studied when the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) holds its next triennial meeting in Qatar next year.
Monaco has tabled a ban for trade in tuna, while the European Union and the United States have proposed limits on the global trade of several shark species, the documents showed.
Meanwhile, Tanzania and Zambia are asking for a trade embargo on ivory to be lifted, allowing them to sell controlled quantities of elephants' tusks.
The consumption of sharks' fins -- a Chinese culinary delicacy -- is expected to be among key issues on the table at the Qatar meeting, officials said.
The United States and Palau had put in proposals to restrict international trade in white tip sharks and hammerhead sharks, while the European Union has proposed protecting porbeagle sharks, also known as Lamna nasus.
White tips and hammerheads have been "over-exploited" for their fins, said Washington in its submission.
Likewise, the EU warned: "Unsustainable target fisheries for Lamna nasus in parts of its range have been driven by international trade demand for its high value meat."
For environmental group Oceana, the moves marked a "realistic first step" in the promotion of sustainable trade in sharks.
"This could be the turning point for sharks. If countries join together now we can promote the sustainable trade of sharks worldwide," Courtney Sakai, Oceana senior campaign director told AFP.
Oceana also pointed to Monaco's request for a ban in bluefin tuna trade.
"This is the last chance for fisheries managers to show they are competent to manage these magnificent and valuable fish. If they fail, Asia may see its supply cut off, perhaps for years," said Michael Hirshfield, Oceanas chief scientist.
According to the proposal put to CITES, bluefin tuna stocks are so fragile that the species should be classified as being at threat of extinction.
Monaco argued that tuna spawning stock in the Mediterranean has declined by more than 74 percent between 1957 to 2007, the bulk of it in the last decade.
Tuna stock in the west Atlantic has also plunged by 83 percent between 1970 to 2007, it added.
Meanwhile, some African states want a trade ban on ivory -- used in East Asian traditional handicraft -- to be lifted.
Tanzania argued in its proposal that its elephant population has "considerably increased" from 55,000 in 1989 to 136,753 in 2006, and said that a one-time sale of its ivory stocks could fund anti-poaching activities.
"In recent years, the government treasury allocated less money to anti-poaching activities mainly due to the economic crisis which is also affecting Tanzania.
"The adoption of this proposal would therefore be crucial for improving financial support to the Wildlife Protection Fund to further control poaching and other illegal activities in the country," it added.
Last November, a one-off auction of stockpiled ivory in four southern African countries raised 15,4 million dollars (12 million euros) for elephant conservation.
The sale of 102 tonnes of government-owned ivory stocks in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe fetched an average of 157 dollars per kilogramme.
Chinese buyers bought the bulk of the tusks, which fetched the highest price per kilogramme in Botswana.
Singapore Man Killed Child Over Cigarettes
Singapore man kills child over cigarettes: court
AFP - Tuesday, October 20, 2009
SINGAPORE (AFP) - – A Singaporean man has gone on trial charged with murdering his 23-month-old daughter in a fit of rage after he caught her playing with his cigarettes, court officials said Tuesday.
Sallehan Allaudin, 26, is accused of fatally beating his daughter Nikie in January ahead of her second birthday, causing her to die of a ruptured vein. If convicted, he could face death by hanging.
The High Court was told Monday that Sallehan, who had just returned home with his wife with a present for Nikie, went berserk after seeing the toddler had torn up and scattered his cigarettes, the Straits Times reported Tuesday.
Sallehan has pleaded not guilty to the charge.
His wife, Rozanah Mohamed Yusoff, 24, used a mannequin to show the court how Sallehan allegedly kicked and stomped on their daughter in the kitchen, the newspaper said.
The couple, who have two younger daughters, called for an ambulance when Nikie started bleeding from the nose, but she died of her injuries, according to the report.
"I did not go into the kitchen to stop my husband as I thought that was the way he wanted to discipline Nikie," the wife was quoted as saying by the newspaper.
AFP - Tuesday, October 20, 2009
SINGAPORE (AFP) - – A Singaporean man has gone on trial charged with murdering his 23-month-old daughter in a fit of rage after he caught her playing with his cigarettes, court officials said Tuesday.
Sallehan Allaudin, 26, is accused of fatally beating his daughter Nikie in January ahead of her second birthday, causing her to die of a ruptured vein. If convicted, he could face death by hanging.
The High Court was told Monday that Sallehan, who had just returned home with his wife with a present for Nikie, went berserk after seeing the toddler had torn up and scattered his cigarettes, the Straits Times reported Tuesday.
Sallehan has pleaded not guilty to the charge.
His wife, Rozanah Mohamed Yusoff, 24, used a mannequin to show the court how Sallehan allegedly kicked and stomped on their daughter in the kitchen, the newspaper said.
The couple, who have two younger daughters, called for an ambulance when Nikie started bleeding from the nose, but she died of her injuries, according to the report.
"I did not go into the kitchen to stop my husband as I thought that was the way he wanted to discipline Nikie," the wife was quoted as saying by the newspaper.
PR Failings Helped Isa Win In Bagan Pinang
PR failings helped Isa win Bagan Pinang, concedes Anwar
Wednesday, 21 October 2009
(Bernama) - Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) advisor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today admitted to weaknesses in the Pakatan Rakyat coalition during the recent Bagan Pinang by-election in Negri Sembilan.
“Although the post-mortem at PAS-level (regarding Bagan Pinang) is not yet complete, our election directors have given their analysis on the by-election.
“We admit there were weakness and shortcomings in Pakatan Rakyat which will be improved and we will increase efforts to approach the people to give explanations,” he told a news conference after the Pakatan Rakyat’s supreme council meeting at his office in Parliament, here today.
In the Bagan Pinang by-election on Oct 11, Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate and former Negri Sembilan mentri besar Tan Sri Mohd Isa Samad won the seat with a majority of 5,435 votes, after garnering 8,013 votes compared to PAS candidate Zulkefly Omar who only obtained 2,578 votes.
The meeting today also discussed the issue between PKR leaders Datuk Zaid Ibrahim and PKR vice-president Mohamed Azmin Ali, with Anwar saying that there was no friction between the two leaders.
“We did discuss about Zaid Ibrahim (former Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department) and Mohamed Azmin Ali, but there are no problems between them,” he said, referring to the two individuals who were also present at the meeting.
Zaid had recently announced that he was taking six months leave effective last Friday after Anwar supposedly didn’t allow him to take part in the party’s programmes in Sabah.
Media reports also alleged that Zaid’s hopes to go to the state were not approved by Mohamed Azmin, who is also Sabah PKR chairman.
However, last Sunday, Zaid denied that he was taking leave from the party, but instead resting from PKR’s Political Bureau activities.
Regarding suggestions to register Pakatan Rakyat as a valid party, DAP Advisor and Ipoh Timur Member of Parliament Lim Kit Siang, who was also present, said they were still reviewing the matter.
“We are still discussing it and in principle we want to be registered. The Registrar of Societies (ROS) said according to current laws, we need seven parties to allow us to become a coalition and this is being studied,” he said.
BERNAMA
Wednesday, 21 October 2009
(Bernama) - Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) advisor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today admitted to weaknesses in the Pakatan Rakyat coalition during the recent Bagan Pinang by-election in Negri Sembilan.
“Although the post-mortem at PAS-level (regarding Bagan Pinang) is not yet complete, our election directors have given their analysis on the by-election.
“We admit there were weakness and shortcomings in Pakatan Rakyat which will be improved and we will increase efforts to approach the people to give explanations,” he told a news conference after the Pakatan Rakyat’s supreme council meeting at his office in Parliament, here today.
In the Bagan Pinang by-election on Oct 11, Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate and former Negri Sembilan mentri besar Tan Sri Mohd Isa Samad won the seat with a majority of 5,435 votes, after garnering 8,013 votes compared to PAS candidate Zulkefly Omar who only obtained 2,578 votes.
The meeting today also discussed the issue between PKR leaders Datuk Zaid Ibrahim and PKR vice-president Mohamed Azmin Ali, with Anwar saying that there was no friction between the two leaders.
“We did discuss about Zaid Ibrahim (former Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department) and Mohamed Azmin Ali, but there are no problems between them,” he said, referring to the two individuals who were also present at the meeting.
Zaid had recently announced that he was taking six months leave effective last Friday after Anwar supposedly didn’t allow him to take part in the party’s programmes in Sabah.
Media reports also alleged that Zaid’s hopes to go to the state were not approved by Mohamed Azmin, who is also Sabah PKR chairman.
However, last Sunday, Zaid denied that he was taking leave from the party, but instead resting from PKR’s Political Bureau activities.
Regarding suggestions to register Pakatan Rakyat as a valid party, DAP Advisor and Ipoh Timur Member of Parliament Lim Kit Siang, who was also present, said they were still reviewing the matter.
“We are still discussing it and in principle we want to be registered. The Registrar of Societies (ROS) said according to current laws, we need seven parties to allow us to become a coalition and this is being studied,” he said.
BERNAMA
Web Surfing Boosts Older People's Brain Function
Tuesday October 20, 2009
Web surfing boosts older people’s brain function
LOS ANGELES: Web surfing boosts the brain function of middle-aged and seniors with little Internet experience, say scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), according to China's Xinhua news agency.
"We found that, for older people with minimal experience, performing Internet searches for even a relatively short period of time can change brain activity patterns and enhance function," said study author Dr. Gary Small, Professor of Psychiatry at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA.
Dr Small and his team selected 24 volunteers between the ages of 55 and 78. Half of the participants had Internet experience, while the other half had very little experience.
After Internet training, participants with minimal online experience displayed brain activation patterns very similar to those seen in the group of experienced Internet users after just a short period of time.
"The results suggest that searching online may be a simple form of brain exercise that might be employed to enhance cognition in older adults," said Teena D. Moody, the study's first author and a senior research associate at UCLA.
According to Moody, when performing an Internet search, the ability to hold important information in working memory and to extract the important points from competing graphics and words is essential.
Dr. Small said the new findings suggest that it may take only days for those with minimal experience to match the activity levels of those with years of experience.
The findings were presented Oct. 19 at the 2009 meeting of the Society for Neuroscience.
BERNAMA
Web surfing boosts older people’s brain function
LOS ANGELES: Web surfing boosts the brain function of middle-aged and seniors with little Internet experience, say scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), according to China's Xinhua news agency.
"We found that, for older people with minimal experience, performing Internet searches for even a relatively short period of time can change brain activity patterns and enhance function," said study author Dr. Gary Small, Professor of Psychiatry at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA.
Dr Small and his team selected 24 volunteers between the ages of 55 and 78. Half of the participants had Internet experience, while the other half had very little experience.
After Internet training, participants with minimal online experience displayed brain activation patterns very similar to those seen in the group of experienced Internet users after just a short period of time.
"The results suggest that searching online may be a simple form of brain exercise that might be employed to enhance cognition in older adults," said Teena D. Moody, the study's first author and a senior research associate at UCLA.
According to Moody, when performing an Internet search, the ability to hold important information in working memory and to extract the important points from competing graphics and words is essential.
Dr. Small said the new findings suggest that it may take only days for those with minimal experience to match the activity levels of those with years of experience.
The findings were presented Oct. 19 at the 2009 meeting of the Society for Neuroscience.
BERNAMA
Fruit Juice May Upset Stomach In Some
Fruit juice 'may upset stomach in some'
By Danny Rose
AAP - October 21, 2009
Fruit juice is broadly good for your health but an Australian study has shown that for many people it can upset their stomach.
An Adelaide-based study has identified a high rate of people known as "fructose malabsorbers" - that is their body has difficulty processing the natural sugar contained in the juice.
Professor Ross Butler said these people can experience some unpleasant side-effects if they drink too much of a high fructose-content juice, such as apple juice.
"It may be abdominal pain, it may be bloating, it may be flatulence, it may be diarrhoea ... in this case you'd think it would be more like diarrhoea symptoms," said Prof Butler, who is chair of pediatric research at the University of South Australia's Sansom Institute.
"What we don't have at the moment is a really good way of gauging an individual's threshold for it."
The study, involving the city's Women's and Children's Hospital, took in 1,000 children and adults who had visited their GP to report digestive problems.
It found 80 per cent of the children aged under one tested positive for fructose malabsorption.
Fructose was the cause of intestinal woes for 40 per cent of those aged one to six years.
Prof Butler said the reducing incidence suggested you could grow out of it, but for many the problem was life-long.
Just over 30 per cent of teenagers and adults in the study were found to also have a problem digesting fructose.
Prof Butler said the strength of the finding indicated that fructose malabsorption could be a major contributor to irritable bowel syndrome, a problem which affects one in five Australians.
It was not yet known if the rising use of fructose as a natural alternative to ordinary sugar in food products could trigger the same digestive problems, he said.
Prof Butler also said the message for parents was not to avoid giving juice to their children, but instead to opt for a low fructose content juice if they encountered a problem.
Juice also contains glucose - sugar in a form the body is much more familiar with and much less likely to cause a problem.
"Different fruit juices could resolve the problem and different juices could trigger it," he said.
"Apple juice is something like two to one (fructose to glucose) while grape juice is closer to (being equal)."
University of South Australia PhD candidate Hilary Jones will present the research at a summit for gastroenterologists in Sydney this week.
By Danny Rose
AAP - October 21, 2009
Fruit juice is broadly good for your health but an Australian study has shown that for many people it can upset their stomach.
An Adelaide-based study has identified a high rate of people known as "fructose malabsorbers" - that is their body has difficulty processing the natural sugar contained in the juice.
Professor Ross Butler said these people can experience some unpleasant side-effects if they drink too much of a high fructose-content juice, such as apple juice.
"It may be abdominal pain, it may be bloating, it may be flatulence, it may be diarrhoea ... in this case you'd think it would be more like diarrhoea symptoms," said Prof Butler, who is chair of pediatric research at the University of South Australia's Sansom Institute.
"What we don't have at the moment is a really good way of gauging an individual's threshold for it."
The study, involving the city's Women's and Children's Hospital, took in 1,000 children and adults who had visited their GP to report digestive problems.
It found 80 per cent of the children aged under one tested positive for fructose malabsorption.
Fructose was the cause of intestinal woes for 40 per cent of those aged one to six years.
Prof Butler said the reducing incidence suggested you could grow out of it, but for many the problem was life-long.
Just over 30 per cent of teenagers and adults in the study were found to also have a problem digesting fructose.
Prof Butler said the strength of the finding indicated that fructose malabsorption could be a major contributor to irritable bowel syndrome, a problem which affects one in five Australians.
It was not yet known if the rising use of fructose as a natural alternative to ordinary sugar in food products could trigger the same digestive problems, he said.
Prof Butler also said the message for parents was not to avoid giving juice to their children, but instead to opt for a low fructose content juice if they encountered a problem.
Juice also contains glucose - sugar in a form the body is much more familiar with and much less likely to cause a problem.
"Different fruit juices could resolve the problem and different juices could trigger it," he said.
"Apple juice is something like two to one (fructose to glucose) while grape juice is closer to (being equal)."
University of South Australia PhD candidate Hilary Jones will present the research at a summit for gastroenterologists in Sydney this week.
Fake Anti-Virus Software Traps Millions
Fake anti-virus software traps millions
Yahoo!7
October 20, 2009, 11:52 am
Up to 43 million people could have given their bank details to cyber criminals after being duped by fake anti-virus software online, a web security firm has found.
Figures published by Symantec suggest 93 per cent of the people scammed downloaded the rogue programs by choice after being tricked into believing it was legitimate.
The company estimated that some cyber criminals are earning millions of dollars a year from the ruse.
Web users fall prey to the scam when they click on links, pop-ups or flashing adverts warning them their computer is infected.
The fake program then appears to run a virus check which tells the user their PC is infected and asks them to pay for it to be cleaned up.
But downloading the software can give criminals access to bank details and computer files.
Symantec found 250 rogue programs were downloaded 43 million times in the 12 months to July 2009.
Yahoo!7
October 20, 2009, 11:52 am
Up to 43 million people could have given their bank details to cyber criminals after being duped by fake anti-virus software online, a web security firm has found.
Figures published by Symantec suggest 93 per cent of the people scammed downloaded the rogue programs by choice after being tricked into believing it was legitimate.
The company estimated that some cyber criminals are earning millions of dollars a year from the ruse.
Web users fall prey to the scam when they click on links, pop-ups or flashing adverts warning them their computer is infected.
The fake program then appears to run a virus check which tells the user their PC is infected and asks them to pay for it to be cleaned up.
But downloading the software can give criminals access to bank details and computer files.
Symantec found 250 rogue programs were downloaded 43 million times in the 12 months to July 2009.
Woman Convicted Of Smoking In Car With Child
Conviction for smoking in car with child
AAP - October 20, 2009
A NSW woman has been convicted of smoking in a car containing a three-year-old child - in what is believed to be one of the first successes with such a prosecution under new state laws.
Since July 1, motorists in NSW have faced a $250 on-the-spot fine for smoking with a child under 16 in the car, mirroring similar laws in South Australia and Tasmania.
Alison Therese Manning, 31, was convicted of the smoking offence on Monday in Coffs Harbour Local Court, on the NSW mid-north coast, but avoided a fine or sentence.
Police conducting random breath tests stopped Manning on Harbour Drive in Coffs Harbour on August 6 and in the process caught her smoking in front of a friend's young daughter.
She was later found to be driving while disqualified.
While Manning avoided a fine for smoking in the car but was fined $100 for the driving offence.
Magistrate Judith Fleming also fined her a further $300 for two driving offences committed on September 5 when she was again caught driving while disqualified and driving an unregistered vehicle.
The magistrate disqualified Manning from driving for three months.
AAP - October 20, 2009
A NSW woman has been convicted of smoking in a car containing a three-year-old child - in what is believed to be one of the first successes with such a prosecution under new state laws.
Since July 1, motorists in NSW have faced a $250 on-the-spot fine for smoking with a child under 16 in the car, mirroring similar laws in South Australia and Tasmania.
Alison Therese Manning, 31, was convicted of the smoking offence on Monday in Coffs Harbour Local Court, on the NSW mid-north coast, but avoided a fine or sentence.
Police conducting random breath tests stopped Manning on Harbour Drive in Coffs Harbour on August 6 and in the process caught her smoking in front of a friend's young daughter.
She was later found to be driving while disqualified.
While Manning avoided a fine for smoking in the car but was fined $100 for the driving offence.
Magistrate Judith Fleming also fined her a further $300 for two driving offences committed on September 5 when she was again caught driving while disqualified and driving an unregistered vehicle.
The magistrate disqualified Manning from driving for three months.
Former Nurse's Aid In US Becomes Uganda King
AP - Former nurse's aide in US becomes Ugandan king
Charles Wesley Mumbere during an interview at his house in Kasese, Sunday, Oct AP –
Charles Wesley Mumbere during an interview at his house in Kasese, Sunday, Oct 18, 2009 hours before …
By TOM MALITI, Associated Press
Writer Tom Maliti, Associated Press Writer – Mon Oct 19, 2009
KASESE, Uganda – For years, Charles Wesley Mumbere worked as a nurse's aide in Maryland and Pennsylvania, caring for the elderly and sick. No one there suspected that he had inherited a royal title in his African homeland when he was just 13.
On Monday, after years of political upheaval and financial struggle, Mumbere, 56, was finally crowned king of his people to the sound of drumbeats and thousands of cheering supporters wearing cloth printed with his portraits.
At a public rally later in the day, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni officially recognized the 300,000-strong Rwenzururu Kingdom. Museveni restored the traditional kingdoms his predecessor banned in 1967, but has been adamant that kings restrict themselves to cultural duties and keep out of politics.
"It is a great moment to know that finally the central government has understood the demands of the Bakonzo people who have been seeking very hard for recognition of their identity," Mumbere told The Associated Press in the whitewashed single-story building that serves as a palace.
The Rwenzururu parliament sits nearby, in a much larger structure made of reeds. It was here the traditional private rituals were held Sunday night and Monday morning to crown Mumbere king.
Thousands walked several miles (kilometers) to see Mumbere, dressed in flowing green robes and a colorful hat, be officially recognized.
Old men clutching canes shuffled up the hill beside women in colorful Ugandan dresses called "gomesi." Among them was Masereka Tadai, 43, proudly overseeing practice for a march that retired scouts and girl guides would perform before the king.
"Everyone is very happy because the president has accepted to come here and officially recognize the Rwenzururu Kingdom," Tadai said over a nearby drumbeat.
The new King of Uganda's Mountains of the Moon has undergone many transformations — from teenage leader of a rebel force to impoverished student to a nursing home assistant working two jobs in the U.S., where he lived for nearly 25 years.
Mumbere's royal roots only became public in Pennsylvania this July, when he granted an interview to The Patriot-News of Harrisburg as he was preparing to return to Uganda.
He inherited the title when his father, Isaya Mukirania Kibanzanga, died while leading a secessionist group in the Rwenzori Mountains, otherwise known as the Mountains of the Moon. The rebels were protesting the oppression of their Bakonzo ethnic group by their then-rulers, the Toro Kingdom.
The Bakonzo demanded to be recognized as a separate entity and named Kibanzanga, a former primary school teacher, as their king in 1963.
"It was very difficult growing up in the bush," remembered Mumbere, who was 9 years old when his father took the family into the mountains. Although he received military training, Mumbere did not fight.
"Our country has been independent (from the British) for 40-something years but in Rwenzururu you may not find running water, there are no hospitals," Mumbere said.
Shortly after Kibanzanga died, his son led the fighters down from the mountains to hand in their weapons. Mumbere went to the United States in 1984 on a Uganda government scholarship, attending a business school until Uganda's leadership changed and the stipend was stopped. He gained political asylum in 1987, trained as a nurse's aide and took a job in a suburban Washington nursing home to pay his bills, said The Patriot-News of Harrisburg in a July 2009 story.
In 1999, he moved to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania's capital, where he worked for at least two health care facilities.
He was "very loyal, a very hard worker, a very private person," said Johnna Marx, executive director of the Golden Living Center-Blue Ridge Mountain on the outskirts of Harrisburg.
Mumbere said he chose to train as a nurse's aide because the work, "was more reliable. Other jobs you can be laid off easily."
Living in the U.S., however, was "a very difficult experience," he said. "Sometimes you have two jobs. You go to college in the morning, between 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. Then you go prepare to go to work at 3 p.m. and then return at 11 p.m."
He is now a green card holder, and his son and daughter live in Harrisburg. But he never forgot the people he left behind. When the Ugandan government decided to reinstate the traditional kingdoms, Mumbere lobbied the Rwenzururu Kingdom to be among them.
After 10 years of negotiation, President Museveni announced in August the government would recognize the Rwenzururu Kingdom as Uganda's seventh kingdom. Government recognition does not grant any executive power but allows the monarchs to determine cultural and social issues affecting their people.
Charles Wesley Mumbere during an interview at his house in Kasese, Sunday, Oct AP –
Charles Wesley Mumbere during an interview at his house in Kasese, Sunday, Oct 18, 2009 hours before …
By TOM MALITI, Associated Press
Writer Tom Maliti, Associated Press Writer – Mon Oct 19, 2009
KASESE, Uganda – For years, Charles Wesley Mumbere worked as a nurse's aide in Maryland and Pennsylvania, caring for the elderly and sick. No one there suspected that he had inherited a royal title in his African homeland when he was just 13.
On Monday, after years of political upheaval and financial struggle, Mumbere, 56, was finally crowned king of his people to the sound of drumbeats and thousands of cheering supporters wearing cloth printed with his portraits.
At a public rally later in the day, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni officially recognized the 300,000-strong Rwenzururu Kingdom. Museveni restored the traditional kingdoms his predecessor banned in 1967, but has been adamant that kings restrict themselves to cultural duties and keep out of politics.
"It is a great moment to know that finally the central government has understood the demands of the Bakonzo people who have been seeking very hard for recognition of their identity," Mumbere told The Associated Press in the whitewashed single-story building that serves as a palace.
The Rwenzururu parliament sits nearby, in a much larger structure made of reeds. It was here the traditional private rituals were held Sunday night and Monday morning to crown Mumbere king.
Thousands walked several miles (kilometers) to see Mumbere, dressed in flowing green robes and a colorful hat, be officially recognized.
Old men clutching canes shuffled up the hill beside women in colorful Ugandan dresses called "gomesi." Among them was Masereka Tadai, 43, proudly overseeing practice for a march that retired scouts and girl guides would perform before the king.
"Everyone is very happy because the president has accepted to come here and officially recognize the Rwenzururu Kingdom," Tadai said over a nearby drumbeat.
The new King of Uganda's Mountains of the Moon has undergone many transformations — from teenage leader of a rebel force to impoverished student to a nursing home assistant working two jobs in the U.S., where he lived for nearly 25 years.
Mumbere's royal roots only became public in Pennsylvania this July, when he granted an interview to The Patriot-News of Harrisburg as he was preparing to return to Uganda.
He inherited the title when his father, Isaya Mukirania Kibanzanga, died while leading a secessionist group in the Rwenzori Mountains, otherwise known as the Mountains of the Moon. The rebels were protesting the oppression of their Bakonzo ethnic group by their then-rulers, the Toro Kingdom.
The Bakonzo demanded to be recognized as a separate entity and named Kibanzanga, a former primary school teacher, as their king in 1963.
"It was very difficult growing up in the bush," remembered Mumbere, who was 9 years old when his father took the family into the mountains. Although he received military training, Mumbere did not fight.
"Our country has been independent (from the British) for 40-something years but in Rwenzururu you may not find running water, there are no hospitals," Mumbere said.
Shortly after Kibanzanga died, his son led the fighters down from the mountains to hand in their weapons. Mumbere went to the United States in 1984 on a Uganda government scholarship, attending a business school until Uganda's leadership changed and the stipend was stopped. He gained political asylum in 1987, trained as a nurse's aide and took a job in a suburban Washington nursing home to pay his bills, said The Patriot-News of Harrisburg in a July 2009 story.
In 1999, he moved to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania's capital, where he worked for at least two health care facilities.
He was "very loyal, a very hard worker, a very private person," said Johnna Marx, executive director of the Golden Living Center-Blue Ridge Mountain on the outskirts of Harrisburg.
Mumbere said he chose to train as a nurse's aide because the work, "was more reliable. Other jobs you can be laid off easily."
Living in the U.S., however, was "a very difficult experience," he said. "Sometimes you have two jobs. You go to college in the morning, between 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. Then you go prepare to go to work at 3 p.m. and then return at 11 p.m."
He is now a green card holder, and his son and daughter live in Harrisburg. But he never forgot the people he left behind. When the Ugandan government decided to reinstate the traditional kingdoms, Mumbere lobbied the Rwenzururu Kingdom to be among them.
After 10 years of negotiation, President Museveni announced in August the government would recognize the Rwenzururu Kingdom as Uganda's seventh kingdom. Government recognition does not grant any executive power but allows the monarchs to determine cultural and social issues affecting their people.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Man Up Tree For 12 Hours As Crocs Circles
Man up tree for 12 hours as crocs circle
AAP - October 20, 2009
A man who climbed a tree to escape crocodiles spent up to 12 hours on an shaky branch while the creatures circled around him.
Stan Martell told police from Wyndham, in north-western Australia, how he had feared being taken by the crocodiles after his boat capsized in the Lynne River on Friday night.
He fell asleep to find his boat had become jammed under a mangrove tree trunk and filled with water, and had to climb the tree that had trapped him because of the danger of crocodiles.
He told ABC radio on Tuesday he had seen "two (crocs) right where I was. One was a big one, and one was about 10-foot".
"I crawled up as high as I could and just sat there like a koala bear all night," he said.
Mr Martell said he had spent the night worrying that the tree branch would break before he could climb down in the morning and activate his boat's EPIRB signal.
Sergeant John Kazandsis, of Wyndham police, said it was fortunate Mr Martell had not tried to get up on one of the mangrove banks in the area.
"If he'd gone up on one of those in the dark it would have been very risky," he told AAP.
"There are a lot of crocs in that area.
"He only saw a couple but there would have been plenty more under the water."
He said Mr Martell, who was found by searchers about 11.40am on Saturday, may not have been discovered without his EPIRB.
"He had a satellite phone but it wasn't functioning after his boat got submerged," Sgt Kazandsis said.
"If he didn't have the EPIRB he would have had to rely on someone reporting him missing or someone seeing him.
"There's not much chance of someone passing him where he was," he said.
AAP - October 20, 2009
A man who climbed a tree to escape crocodiles spent up to 12 hours on an shaky branch while the creatures circled around him.
Stan Martell told police from Wyndham, in north-western Australia, how he had feared being taken by the crocodiles after his boat capsized in the Lynne River on Friday night.
He fell asleep to find his boat had become jammed under a mangrove tree trunk and filled with water, and had to climb the tree that had trapped him because of the danger of crocodiles.
He told ABC radio on Tuesday he had seen "two (crocs) right where I was. One was a big one, and one was about 10-foot".
"I crawled up as high as I could and just sat there like a koala bear all night," he said.
Mr Martell said he had spent the night worrying that the tree branch would break before he could climb down in the morning and activate his boat's EPIRB signal.
Sergeant John Kazandsis, of Wyndham police, said it was fortunate Mr Martell had not tried to get up on one of the mangrove banks in the area.
"If he'd gone up on one of those in the dark it would have been very risky," he told AAP.
"There are a lot of crocs in that area.
"He only saw a couple but there would have been plenty more under the water."
He said Mr Martell, who was found by searchers about 11.40am on Saturday, may not have been discovered without his EPIRB.
"He had a satellite phone but it wasn't functioning after his boat got submerged," Sgt Kazandsis said.
"If he didn't have the EPIRB he would have had to rely on someone reporting him missing or someone seeing him.
"There's not much chance of someone passing him where he was," he said.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)