Selangor Times April 5

community April 6 – 8, 2012/ issue 68

Bersih stands its ground

TalenTed auTisTic children

p 12 – 13 p 15

diabeTes, The global epidemic

p 2

Syabas warned

By Alvin Yap and Gan Pei Ling

shah alam: Selangor will terminate Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor’s (Syabas) contract if the company cannot meet water supply demands from consumers.

“The state has the right to terminate the concession agreement and take over Syabas if the company fails to fulfil its responsibilities,” warned Menteri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim on Wednesday.

He said 79 development projects in Selangor have stalled due to Syabas’ inability to provide water supply.

Khalid said the state was “very concerned” and had sent a warning letter to Syabas on March 29.

“We want to remind Syabas that it must fulfil its duty to provide treated water to consumers at all times (under the concession agreement).”

He added that the state is meeting with Syabas representatives today (Friday, April 6) to resolve the issue.

The Selangor Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association of Malaysia (Rehda) had informed Selangor Times that 20 of its members had been denied water connection since January.

Its chief, Ngiam Siew Siong, said the developers have paid Syabas their water contribution charge but still could not receive water.

As a result, projects have been delayed and purchasers victimised.

“The buyers want to move in but can’t,” he said.

The association is concerned that the problem would lead to a rise in abandoned projects.

REHDA is seeking a roundtable meeting with the state and Syabas to resolve the matter.

Apart from developers, two foreign-owned factories in Klang

A Samad Said (sixth from left) flanked by Hishamuddin Rais (left) and Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan (right) posing with Bersih 3.0 posters during their press conference at the KL & Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday. See also pages 2, 7 & 8

have also been denied water supply at their premises.

Sya b a s ha d inf orm e d th e S ing ap orean and Ta iwanese factories that it could not approve their application due to water shortage, according to a Selangor foreign direct investment report issued last year.

Meanwhile, Syabas corporate affairs executive director Abdul Halem Mat Som also confirmed the company had placed a moratorium on water connection requests from new factories.

“ We couldn’t approve the

applications due to water supply shortage,” said Abdul Halem.

He claimed that water treatment plants in Selangor were already operating at maximum capacity.

Syabas executive chairperson Tan Sri Rozali Ismail also reportedly said the water distributor had frozen planning approval for developments in Klang Valley since January.

“We can’t afford to overload the water treatment plants,” he told the press recently.

He attributed the treated water shortag e to the delay in the

construction of the Langat 2 water treatment plant which processes raw water to be channelled to the state from Pahang.

“If the Langat 2 water treatment plant is approved, Syabas can review the applications for these projects,” Rozali had reportedly said.

Selangor and Putrajaya are deadlock over the treatment plant which requires state land approval.

The state is unwilling to approve the construction until Putrajaya allows the state to restructure and streamline Selangor’s water services industry.

2 April 6 — 8, 2012

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EDITORIALCHIEF EDITOR KL Chan

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WRITERS Tang Hui Koon, Chong Loo Wah, Gan Pei Ling, Basil Foo, Alvin Yap, Gho Chee Yuan, Brenda Ch’ng

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By Gan Pei Ling

SHAH ALAM: The Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih 2.0) yesterday refuted the Election Commission’s (EC) claim that the election watchdog was too hasty in calling for an April 28 rally.

“The “If we were to wait, how long do we wait? The EC took two to three months to respond to the PSC’s (Parliamentary Select Committee) interim report.

“The general election may well be over if we were to wait for the EC to respond to the PSC’s full report, which is even lengthier than the interim report,” Bersih 2.0 steering commit-tee member Andrew Khoo told Selangor Times.

He added that the ruling government has only pledged to look into the PSC’s recommendations but did not commit to implement them.

“The 22 recommendations weren’t very strong to begin with, but even then, there was no commitment or timeline to put the reforms in place,” said the human rights lawyer.

Bersih 2.0 had announced on Wednesday that it would hold a sit-in rally at Dataran Merdeka and other cities worldwide one day after the PSC report was passed without debate in Parlia-ment.

The 84-member coalition had criticised the 79-page PSC report for failing to deal with discrepancies in the electoral roll and methods to tackle election offences.

“We’ve got evidence of electoral fraud being unearthed as

Bersih rebuts critics, says rally necessary

KUALA LUMPUR: Elections pressure group Bersih 2.0 maintains that its April 28 rally at Merdeka Square will proceed as planned despite government opposition.

Its chairperson, Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan, reportedly told The Malaysian Insider that other venues had not been considered and warned of a polls backlash if the government cracks down on the rally.

She said global criticism of the authority’s response towards the rally last year would resurface if the government again moves to forcefully impede rally-goers.

Last year’s Bersih 2.0 rally on July 9, which saw tear gas fired, over 1,000 arrested, and the death of an ex-soldier, was

widely criticised in the international press.Bersih, a coalition of 84 non-governmental organisations,

announced its third rally in six years for electoral reform on Wednesday.

Responding to the rally’s announcement, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz said the square was not gazetted for peaceful assemblies.

The Peaceful Assembly Act, which was passed in Parliament, gives the home minister freedom to gazette assembly areas at will.

The list of prohibited areas for assembling peacefully include petrol stations, hospitals, fire stations, airports, bridges, places of worship, and schools.

Bersih insists on Dataran

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late as last Friday. As long as we’ve a flawed list, we’ll have flawed (election) results,” said Khoo.

The election watchdog has continuously urged the EC to clean up the electoral roll. It was one of its eight key demands that sparked the Bersih 2.0 rally last July.

“The EC is still acting as if it’s a government department. If the commission is truly independent, it wouldn’t have to wait for the PSC report or the government to tell it what (reforms to implement),” Khoo said.

Bersih 2.0 has also demanded for the resignation of all election

commissioners during its rally announcement on Wednesday.Khoo said the April 28 rally is necessary to remind the govern-

ment that the people want an independent EC and a clean electoral roll before heading into the 13th general election.

Dismissing claims that Bersih 3.0 is an opposition rally, Khoo said Bersih 2.0 had invited all political parties to join the rally.

“Regardless of their political affiliation, we invite them to come to rally as citizens who support free and fair elections.”

Pakatan Rakyat and anti-Lynas coalition Himpunan Hijau have expressed support for the rally on Wednesday.

Views on the April 28 rally“Malaysians have shown they are able to have assemblies in a peaceful manner… Bersih 2.0 was a peaceful rally and there was indiscriminate use of non-lethal force by the police.” – Bar Council president Lim Chee Wee. (Mkini)

“All parties should work hard to facilitate and respect universal rights of the people to assemble and express their opinions peacefully on urgent public and national interest issues.” – Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) commissioner Muhammad Sha’ani Abdullah. (Mkini)

“If we look at it honestly, seven out of the eight Bersih demands are already in the recommendations of the PSC. The only one not included is minimum campaign period of 21 days.” – Rembau MP and Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin. (Mkini)

“Demonstrations are only used by people who have lost their minds.

Those who gather there that day will be people who have lost their minds.” – Kinabatangan MP and Umno supreme council member Bung Mokhtar Radin. (Mkini)

“They did not even say when they will have these th ings. Because, what we care about… all these things must be done b e f o r e t h e e l e c t i o n . ” – National literary icon Datuk A

Samad Said ((pic) Insider).

“Its suggestions should have been made to the PSC which was set up to discuss Bersih’s eight demands; not through holding yet another massive rally.” – Defence Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. In a Berita Harian report, Ahmad Zahid said calling for another rally despite having most of

its demands met meant that Bersih 3.0 was a front for Pakatan Rakyat. (Mkini)

“They should be patient... they say they are smart but they are close-minded... what they are doing is rushed, hasty and troublesome to people.” – Election Commission (EC) deputy chairperson Datuk Wira Wan Ahmad Wan Omar. (Insider)

“Out of the eight demands, only one has been addressed, which is the use of indelible ink. The other demands have been ignored, our main concern is especially the voter registration list.” – PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu. (Insider)

“If more people are aware, then we may get a higher voter turnout and minimise the impact of fraudulent voters.” – PKR vice-president Fuziah Salleh. She said the federal opposition, Pakatan Rakyat, had no problems backing the Bersih 3.0 rally to create more awareness of weaknesses in the electoral roll.

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SELANGOR TIMES ⁄ april 6 – 8, 2012 ⁄ 3

4 APRIL 6 — 8, 2012

NEWS

By Brenda Ch’ng

shah alam: Two motions to debate the recent Klang floods in Parliament were re-jected by the House this week.

Klang member of Parliament Charles San-tiago told Selangor Times that he first put in a written motion to debate the issue on Wednes-day but it was rejected on the grounds that Putrajaya already has a comprehensive plan to implement ongoing flood mitigation projects across the country.

Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia added that the debate could not go on because the federal government was already upgrading old drainage systems in flood-prone areas.

“I appealed again today (Thursday), but the decision was maintained,” said Santiago.

This, however, did not sit well with Santi-ago who said not enough was being done to prevent future floods from happening.

“If there is a plan to mitigate floods, why are there still flash floods happening in Klang,” said Santiago during a phone interview yes-terday.

Thousands of homes, offices and schools were affected by one of the worst flash floods in Klang last Friday, causing 10 schools to close.

“I hope the Speaker will allow this matter to be debated in Parliament as it affects the interests of thousands of people,” he said.

In the meantime, he is also pushing for the Federal government to approve a RM1 billion allocation to upgrade drains in Klang and to fund the state’s 50-year flood plain project.

According to him, the state Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID) and Selangor Public Works Department (PWD) had been requesting for the funds since 2010.

However, neither department had received any approvals for the funds.

“Without the funds they can’t do any up-grading or flood mitigation in Klang. So I hope approval of RM1 billion will be given soon,” said Santiago.

Plans and upgrades include the building of a new drainage system in Klang.

EvEntsJumble sale

Sisters in Islam, an organisation committed to promoting the rights of women, will be having their iumble sale on April 8 from 10am to 4pm at No 7, Jalan 6/10, 46000 Petaling Jaya. Proceeds will be used to finance their projects and activities. Items sold include clothes, shoes, accessories, bags and books. Those interested to donate items to sell can call 03-7785 6121 or 03-7784 2733.

Wesak Celebration

Chempaka Buddhist Lodge will be organising various events in conjunction with Wesak Day from April 8-May 6. Among the activities are blood donations, health care campaign, health talks, children colouring competition, calligraphy competition, chanting and Wesak floats procession. The main celebration will be on May 5. For more information, call 03-7880 3936.

Education Festival

Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahmah’s (UTAR) Centre for Extension Education will be organising a Lifelong Learning Festival from April 6-10, from 9am to 9.30pm. Highlights include public talks, education workshops, demonstrations and exhibitions. It will be held at the campus at PD Block, Level B1, 9, Jalan Bersatu 13/4, Petaling Jaya. For more details, call 03-7957 2818 or 016-223 3565 (Rodhiah, Joleena or Sakunthala) or visit www.facebook.com/UTARCEE or email [email protected].

German lesson

German classes for beginners are being organised by the YMCA of Kuala Lumpur every Saturday, starting April 7 from 2pm-5pm. Classes will be held at their premises, 95, Jalan Padang Belia, Brickfields (Opposite KL Sentral LRT station). For those interested in joining, call 03-2274 1439 or 012-298 5248.

Blood Donation

Impiana KLCC Hotel, Kuala Lumpur is organising a blook donation campaign on April 10 from 11am-4pm. Everyone is invited to donate blood at their premises located at 13, Jalan Pinang, 50450 Kuala Lumpur. Event will be held at the Melati Room. For more information, call 03-2147 1111 or email [email protected].

Free health Talk

A free health talk will be held from 10am-1pm on April 7 at the Tropicana Medical Centre auditorium. A panel of doctors will give tips on eating healthy and keeping one’s gut, heart and bones healthy. Those interested are encouraged to pre-register by calling 03-62871106 or email your full name and contact number to [email protected].

health screening

Tropicana Medical Centre will be offering a 10 per cent discount for all standard health screening packages for the whole month of April. This monthly special is open to all. Call the wellness centre at 03-6287 1084 for enquiries and appointments. Visit their website at www.tropicanamedicalcentre.com or www.facebook.com/TropicanaMedicalCentre to find out more.

Motion to discuss flood mitigation denied

By Alvin Yap

suBanG Jaya: Promises from Putra-jaya that a Tamil school here will not lose its land to a Light Rail Transit (LRT) project has provided little assurance to parents who pointed out that their children will still be exposed to pollution.

The Parent-Teacher Association (PIBG) of SJK Tamil Castlefield is adamant on moving to a 2.5ha site at Taman Wawasan that is also being eyed by a Chinese vernacular school.

“We have Department of Environment (DOE) data that air and noise pollution at our present site is above safe limits. We are next to the Puchong-Damansara Highway (LDP).

“We want to move to the proposed land at Persiaran Indera,” said Castlefield’s board member Awtar Singh during a press confer-ence yesterday.

However, SJK (C) Kheng Chee also wants to move to that area due to the lack of students at its current location in Karak, Pahang.

Late last year, committee members from the SJK (C) Kheng Chee development board sent consulting engineers to conduct soil test-

ing at the site.Castlefield’s board saw red over the move

as they claim they should have priority over the land due to the pollution at its present site at 11th Mile, Jalan Puchong.

Representatives from both schools have approached the education ministry over the issue.

Board members of the Tamil school have also said that the land at Persiaran Indera was more suitable as there was a huge Indian population around the area.

“The school would be able to serve the thousands of Indians staying here around the low and medium cost flats,” Awtar said, who is also committee member of Bandar Puchong Residents Association.

He pointed out that the Chinese vernacu-lar school should instead move into another plot of 2.4ha land also located at Taman Wawasan.

“Furthermore, the location has a sizeable Chinese population,” he claimed.

Castlefield had stood to lose part of its land, notably its cramped field, to accommodate a proposed LRT track under concessionaire Syarikat Prasarana Negara Bhd.

However, it seems that the school had re-ceived a reprieve when school governor P Nagamuthu yesterday received assurances from Deputy Education Minister Dr. Mohd Puad Zarkashi that the LRT track will be shifted away from Castlefield’s land.

The intervention comes on the heels of Mohd Puad’s site visit to the school recently.

Still, Awtar said the school committee is insisting on shifting to the land located at Persiaran Indera at Taman Wawasan 4 due to the unfavourable conditions the 478 students there are going through daily.

Awtar said Castlefield should be given priority over Kheng Chee as its present prem-ises were unfit for a school environment.

He said Castlefield’s board members will call for a meeting to discuss the latest turn of events.

He also pointed out that he and other com-mittee members would be happy to meet Deputy Education Minister Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong over the matter and to press their case to get the land. “We’re happy to debate him, if need be,” he added.

The school has been at the present location since1988.

Tamil school adamant on relocation

A w t a r ( t h i r d f r o m r i g h t ) and residents from Puchong hold ing up a map with the location of the proposed land highlighted in orange.

SELANGOR TIMES ⁄ April 6 – 8, 2012 ⁄ 5

6 april 6 — 8, 2012

NEWS

By Brenda Ch’ng

KLANG: Residents most affected by last week’s floods believe any long-term flood mitigation plans will only succeed if there’s a mindset change among their neighbours.

“More awareness should be created by the state and local council to educate the public on littering and illegal dumping in drains,” said Taman Chi Liung Residents’ Association chairman Ng Kian Leong.

Ng, 56, who has been living in the area for over three decades, said Klang residents must

share the collective blame instead of just point-ing fingers at the authorities.

He pointed out that Klang drains are clogged by garbage which is discarded by residents themselves and any drainage up-grades will be in vain without attitude change.

But he added the Klang Municipal Coun-cil (MPK) should do more.

“MPK should step up and ensure their garbage and cleaning contractors do a bet-ter job cleaning the drains.”

Echoing his sentiments was Taman Gem-bira Rukun Tetangga treasurer Saravanan

Palani, who wants the drains in his area both cleaned and upgraded.

“It’s time the drains were widened and deepened as the drainage system is too old and cannot cater to the growing population here anymore,” said Saravanan, 41.

He explained that the population in Taman Gembira increased from about 500 houses 15-years ago to 1,030 now.

Saravanan, who has been living in the area for 32 years, said he has never experienced a flood as bad as last Friday’s.

“Even when it rained for the whole day 20

years ago, our homes were not flooded. Now, it floods after only an hour of rain.”

About 20 to 30 houses in his area were badly hit by the flood, damaging items like kitchen appliances, sofas and cabinets.

Sharing his plight was Pandamaran Jaya village head Abu Bakar Shaari Husin, who is still drying and repairing his damaged belong-ings.

“Everything in my home is ruined. The sofas and beds are wet, and electrical appli-ances broken. Nothing much is left,” said Abu Bakar.

Lim pointing to the illegal dumpsite along Sg Sireh which has narrowed the water’s flow.

DID must buck up, says councillor KLANG: The Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID) is being urged to maintain rivers around Pan-damaran to avoid flash floods which hit the Royal Town last week.

“It’s DID’s job to ensure that the rivers are free of obstruction from debris. Dredge the rivers. Make sure the river banks are not eroded,” said Klang municipal councillor Lim Lip Suan during a site visit to the river bank along Sungai Aur at Jalan Banting-Pandamaran here.

Lim said the water flow was obstructed due to rub-bish being thrown into the river and also along its banks, which he claimed had caused soil erosion and narrowed the channel.

He said DID should carry out a major rehabilitation of the river which includes dredging the bottom to clear it of the rubbish blocking the flow of water.

He pointed out that the floodgates along Sungai Aur would be redundant as the water would not be able to flow downstream due to the debris.

“The river will just overflow,” he said at a press con-ference during the site visit last Wednesday.

Last week, Lim, at a full board meeting, said that two out of the three gates in Sungai Aur were unat-tended to while the third automatic barrier had broken down.

Thousands of homes and three schools were hit by flash floods last Tuesday as more than half of the eight water gates in the area failed to open in time to channel the rain water away. He also conducted a site visit at the monsoon drain near D’Haven condominium here at Jalan Mohd Yamin.

The flow of the water there, he claimed, is con-stricted when it joins up with Sungai Sireh.

He said illegal dumping along the river bank at Jalan

Residents must change attitude

By Gan Pei Ling

shAh ALAm: Flood control comes directly under Putrajaya’s purview and Selangor opposition members were told to stop pointing fingers at the state.

“It’s Putrajaya’s responsibility to allocate sufficient funds for the de-partment (to prevent floods). Don’t blame the state,” said state executive councillor Ronnie Liu.

The local government exco pointed out that the Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID) re-ports to the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry, not the state government.

Despite that, he said Selangor had disbursed over RM200 million to assist local governments to miti-gate floods during the past four years.

In addition, households affected by the flash floods are eligible to receive RM500 aid from the state. Muslims will receive an additional RM100 from their zakat.

He also announced the state will give MPK RM5 million for flood relief projects.

Menteri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim also said on Wednesday that the state had gazetted river re-serves and had not approved any development projects along river reserves since 2008.

Liu: Don’t blame the state

2 here had also narrowed the river’s flow.Lim said DID had promised to dredge the

affected rivers last year but ran out of funds and has since shelved the project.

“We hope that DID officers will give an explanation to Menteri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim during the state economic council meeting on Thursday.”

Higher Education Supplement

Selangor Times, a community newspaper with a distribution of 100,000 copies weekly, will be publishing a higher education supplement to help school leavers decide on the crucial question of their tertiary education.The supplement will be targeted especially at SPM, STPM, O-Level & A-Level students who will need to determine the best course for their future.

It will also be a platform for universities and colleges to get their message across on what they have to offer and at what cost.Our experienced editorial team will also be on hand to further promote what institutions of higher learning have to offer.

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7april 6 — 8, 2012

news

Bersih: EC has failed againRESPONSE FROM BERSIH 2.0 TO

THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE PARLIAMENTARY SELECT COMMIT-TEE ON ELECTORAL REFORM

The Parliamentary Select Committee on Elec-toral Reform has formulated 22 recommenda-tions to improve the electoral system in Malaysia.

Overall, Bersih 2.0 notes that many of the recommendations involve the Election Com-mission implementing the proposed reforms or undertaking further study into various mat-ters, and reporting back to a Parliamentary Select Committee to be established to monitor the implementation of the recommendations.

This has two obvious drawbacks. Firstly, it relies on the existing Election Commission carrying out these recommendations. Time and again, the commission has shown itself to be incapable or unwilling to initiate reforms of the electoral system. We question whether the existing commission has sufficient credibility to commit itself to undertaking the proposed recommendations.

Secondly, Bersih 2.0 believes that many of the recommendations made by the Parliamen-tary Select Committee can be immediately implemented. We do not see the need to provide for a lengthy implementation period. We reiterate that Bersih 2.0 has demanded that reforms should be implemented BEFORE the 13th General Election is held.

We note that while some recommendations do provide for a time-frame to report back, many others do not. The lack of a time-line merely prolongs the dissatisfaction and lack of confidence in the electoral system, and adds to the frustration of the rakyat.

Specifically, Bersih 2.0 would make their initial response to the 22 recommendations as follows:-

1. OVERSEAS VOTERSThe main proposal, namely to allow overseas

voters to vote, should be immediately imple-mented. The right to vote should be uncondi-tional, and any imposition of conditions would be unconstitutional.

Bersih 2.0, Tindak Malaysia and Malaysian Overseas Voter have submitted detailed propos-als as to how voting for overseas Malaysians may be carried out, and we do not see the need for further study on this matter as it will only serve to delay implementation. If the Election Com-mission is unable to handle the voting by Malay-sians living abroad, civil society organisations are prepared to do it on their behalf, so long as they are adequately resourced financially.

Provisions already exist to allow Malaysians living overseas to register as voters. Malaysian missions abroad should be immediately in-structed to receive such applications, and to comply with a standardised procedure that needs to be urgently clarified.

2. POSTAL VOTING FOR ELECTION COMMISSION STAFF AND THE MEDIA

The current categories of permissible postal voters in respect of those living within Malaysia – police/military personnel and their spouses, staff of the Election Commission - should be re-classified as advance voters. Advance voters should only be allowed to vote in the constitu-encies in which they are registered by the Elec-tion Commission and gazetted.

Bersih 2.0 and Tindak Malaysia have sug-gested that the category of advance voters should be extended to election candidates, election agents, polling agents, counting agents, booth observer and candidates’ nominees on the Election Commission enforcement teams.

Personnel on duty at polling stations should come from a mix of Election Commission staff and members of civil society/the public resi-dent in that constituency.

We do not agree that the media enjoy the right to be registered as postal or advance voters.

It is noted that the question of the integrity of the postal vote system has not been thor-oughly examined. The postal vote system has in the past created a great amount of suspicion. One would have thought that it is best for trans-parency that the categories of advance voters and postal voters be reduced, not increased.

3. DISTANCE VOTINGWe are in favour of distance voting. The

logistics relating to distance voting is not too difficult provided there exists the requisite political will.

Bersih 2.0 and Tindak Malaysia have already submitted proposals and logistical solutions to the issue of distance voting, via the Second Memorandum to the Parliamentary Select Committee, on March 21 2012. We do not see the need for further study. The provisions to permit distance voting can be implemented once the relevant regulations are amended. 4. PRE-REGISTRATION OF CITIZENS AS VOTERS ON REACHING THE AGE OF 20

We think this is not necessary. Focus instead should be placed on automatic registration of voters when they reach 21. Attention should also be paid to our proposal to reduce the qualifying age for voting to 18 years.

5. DATE OF DISSOLUTION OF PARLIAMENT

In a functioning democracy, provi-sion has to be made for circumstances in which the govern-ment of the day may lose a motion of no confidence. Intro-ducing provisions that Parliament can only be dissolved af-ter the completion of at least four years of a five-year term of of-fice may lead to an unpopular govern-ment being allowed to cling onto power.

6. CARETAK-E R G OV E R N -MENT

We wholly sup-port the concept of a caretaker govern-ment, but do not feel that this is within the ambit of the Election Commission. There must be political con-sensus on the aim of implementing the concept of a caretaker government – to achieve political neu-trality during the elec-tion campaign period, with no new spending commitments, no new projects an-nounced. There will also have to be politi-cal agreement on its composition

7. ENFORCE-MENT OF EXIST-ING REGULA-TIONS IN CON-NECTION WITH THE OFFENCE O F G I V I N G

FALSE INFORMATION IN REGISTRA-TION MATTERS

All the necessary information to be pro-vided during the registration of new voters or registration of a change of address should be based on the particulars contained in the MyKad or the relevant change of address noti-fication issued by the National Registration Department. There is no need for any addi-tional information.

We are more concerned about what has not been addressed by the Parliamentary Select Committee, which is more critical, namely the existence of false and duplicate identities within the database of the National Registra-tion Department. This raises questions about the integrity of the National Registration De-partment’s database, upon which the Election Commission relies.

8. EXTENDING THE CAMPAIGN PERIOD

We have called for a minimum campaign period of 21 days.

In determining the minimum campaign period, consideration must be given to the number of days required in order to allow an overseas voter to receive his/her ballot paper, mark it, and return it by post to the Returning Officer of his/her voting constituency before 5pm on election day. Any campaign period less

than the number of days required for this to be reasonably undertaken would make a mockery of the right of overseas voters to cast postal ballots. This should be one of the minimum criteria to determine the length of the campaign period.

A decision on the campaign period, which we would remind is something that is decided by the Election Commission, should also take into consideration the provision of sufficient time for election candidates to disseminate their election messages to the electorate and for the voter to consider the issues.

The argument of the costs associated with a prolonged election campaign period is a false one. The bulk of the labour costs of carrying out an election is not dependent on the length of the campaign period. Such costs would be incurred on polling day itself, however long or short the campaign period is. Other fixed costs would remain unchanged, and so are also not depend-ent on the length of the campaign period.

9. FREE AND EQUITABLE MEDIA ACCESS

There should be fair and equitable coverage of the election campaign of candidates and political parties, and no biased reporting.

10. ON-GOING MONITORING OF

• Turn To page 8

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8 april 6 — 8, 2012

news

Key issues not dealt with, fraud likely to go on

By Alvin Yap

KUALA LUMPUR: The Parliamentary Select Committee’s (PSC) rushed report on Electoral Reform has demonstrated a lack of political will by Putrajaya to address unfair electoral prac-tices, said the electoral watch-dog Tindak Malaysia.

They said the PSC was car-ried out in haste, its report passed parliamentary debate, while omitting findings which Pakatan Rakyat members of Parliament wanted to include.

“We are disappointed to learn that it was passed without debate and no opportunity giv-en to Pakatan Rakyat to attach a minority report.

“We cannot understand how such an im-portant report can be handled in such a cavalier manner,” said Tindak Malaysia chief Wong Piang Yow in a statement on Wednesday.

He was responding to the contents of the report submitted by the PSC on Electoral Reform to Parliament on Tuesday.

Wong pointed out that the group had ini-tially greeted the announcement of the PSC

last October with scepticism but still met the committee with the hope of pushing through reforms.

“We engaged by spending many months researching and submitting proposals on how to improve the transparency and integrity of the electoral process, in order to improve public con-fidence in the Election Commis-sion (EC).”

Wong said the proposed 22 recommendations by the PSC for the EC to adopt amounted

to 20 per cent of the electoral reforms that Tindak Malaysia is pushing for.

He added that PSC recommendations were non-substantive in nature and would not address

key issues that would make elections fairer.On Wednesday, the committee’s report

which was made public, said the EC must prioritise efforts to ensure the electoral roll is clean and free from manipulation.

The PSC’s recommendations come on the heels of repeated allegations by opposition lawmakers and civil society groups that the current electoral roll included the existence of duplicate voters along with a suspicious surge of new voters in numerous constituencies across the nation.

According to state and parliamentary law-makers in the state, Selangor registered one of the highest influx of voters since the previous general elections in March 2008.

In light of the complaints from civil society, Wong said the PSC had squandered its op-portunity to resolve three key issues in making elections clean and fair.

“Over the years, there had been hundreds of thousands of objections over suspicious vot-ers. Such large numbers cannot be attributed to clerical error alone,” Wong said on the issue

of cleaning up the electoral roll.He said the EC had failed to carry out rede-

lineation exercises in certain constituencies though it had agreed to it in the middle of last year.

“Based on the 2008 General Elections, Kapar has 17 times the number of voters in Putrajaya. By any standard, this is ridiculous.

“Although the EC had agreed, as early as May last year, to re-delineate the boundaries of constituencies to reflect the number of voters, such an exercise was never carried out,” he said.

Apart from the grouses which were not met, Tindak Malaysia also listed a host of de-mands which included the call for EC manage-ment to be sacked.

Among the demands is that the EC should exclude current or former civil servants, mem-bers of political parties or former staff of any establishment seen to be aligned with any po-litical party.

It also wants Putrajaya to establish auto-matic voter registration for any citizen reaching the age of 21.

Thumbs down to polls report

Wong

• from page 7

ambiga Sreenevasan: Bersih co-chairperson.

THE ELECTORAL ROLLCurrently the postal voter roll is separate from the principal

electoral roll. This should be unified so that duplication of elec-tors cannot arise.

The work done by Mimos in electronically examining the electoral roll has been too simplistic, resulting in minimal errors being identified. It appears that only a comparison of the 12-digit MyKad numbers was carried out. The testing of the data requires more thorough and detailed parameters.

11. INSPECTION OF THE ELECTORAL ROLL FOR ADDRESSES WITH MULTIPLE ELECTORS

We question why inspection should only begin for addresses that have more than 50 registered electors. Since this inspection is undertaken in order to identify addresses with multiple elec-tors, inspection could just as easily start for addresses with more than 11 electors. More work would have to be done, but as the intention is to identify addresses for further investigation, a lower number would generate more addresses for which electors may be verified.

12. OBJECTIONS TO VALIDATE ELECTORAL ROLL

The Chief Registrar already has adequate discretionary power under Regulation 25 of the Registration of Electors Regulations to cause the registration of suspicious electors to be investigated even after the electoral roll has been validated. There is no need to study the granting of additional powers.

13. STUDYING AUTOMATIC VOTER REGISTRA-TION

We have called for the automatic registration of electors upon their attaining the age of 21. There is no reason for any delay in implementing this. If the government is of the view that an amendment to the Federal Constitution is required in order to achieve this, this can be speedily accomplished if there is suffi-cient support for this proposal from all political parties repre-sented in Parliament.

14. UTILISATION OF AN ADDRESS OTHER THAN THE ADDRESS ON THE IDENTITY CARD TO DE-TERMINE A PERSON’S ELECTORAL CONSTITU-ENCY

This deals with the question of which constituency a person should vote in, in cases where a person does not reside at the address contained in his MyKad.

Bersih 2.0 and Tindak Malaysia have already proposed solu-tions to the Parliamentary Select Committee on this issue, namely the various alternatives of advance voting, distance voting and postal voting for overseas Malaysians. Instead of adopting the solutions offered, the Parliamentary Select Com-mittee appears to be skirting the issue.

15. STRENGHTENING THE POSITION OF THE ELECTION COMMISSION

Members of the Election Commission must enjoy public confidence, and must be able to ensure that elections are carried out in a free and fair manner. In the event that they cease to

enjoy public confidence, they should resign or be removed. 16. STRUCTURING AND STRENGTHENING OF

THE ELECTION COMMISSIONA detailed study of the human resource capacity and perfor-

mance of the Election Commission is needed before any recom-mendation of an increase in its staff numbers can be accepted.

17. WIDENING THE WORK OF THE ELECTION ACADEMY

Although the Election Academy has been in existence since 2007, there is no evidence of active voter education programmes carried out by the Election Commission. On the other hand, civil society organisations have been active and have taken the lead in voter education.

18. SEPARATION OF THE MAIN FUNCTIONS OF THE ELECTION COMMISSION

We concur with the recommendation that the three main functions of the Election Commission be separated and distrib-uted to three separate bodies.

19. DISTRIBUTION OF SEATS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FOR SABAH AND SARAWAK

This issue should be deferred until the Royal Commission of Inquiry has completed its investigations and delivered its find-ings into the systematic abuse of the granting of citizenship to foreigners, otherwise known as “Project IC”, in Sabah.

20. BALANCED ELECTORAL DELINEATIONEach electoral constituency should consist of approximately

the same number of population. There should no longer be any need for any rural weightage in this day and age. The principle of “one person one vote” should be upheld without exception.

21. PROVISION OF FUNDING TO POLITICAL PARTIES

Election funding to political parties should be provided based on the proportion of the popular vote obtained by each politi-cal party in the previous general election. Political parties should not be allowed to utilise any other funding for an election

campaign.22. NEW ELECTORAL SYSTEMWe agree that studies should be carried out on alternative

electoral systems.CONCLUDING REMARKS Bersih 2.0 is disappointed that the following key issues were

not with dealt with at all or were not dealt with in sufficient depth:-

(a) The instances of manipulation of the electroral roll by removing names, changing polling station boundaries, and other such obvious discrepancies. A thorough study ought to have been conducted into the processes of the Election Com-mission and the National Registration Department.

(b) No reference whatsoever is made in the report about foreigners being given citizenship for their vote in Peninsular Malaysia. Whilst the problem is acknowledged to exist in Sabah, there is no reference to Peninsular Malaysia, where the issue is also of relevance.

(c) Nothing is said in the Parliamentary Select Committee’s report about election offences and the enforcement of the Elec-tion Offences Act 1954 as it now stands. There ought to also have been a study into the types of such offences being commit-ted, and recommendations on how to prevent them. Although there is a suggestion that the Election Commission be given more powers to deal with such issues, the Parliamentary Select Committee does not seek to identify the problems and the clear infringements of the Act.

(d) There is no mention of how to stop dirty politics save for a reference to a code to be drawn up in relation to a care-taker government. (e) There is no reference to the inviting of international observers. Malaysia was recently invited to send election observers to observe the recently-concluded by-elec-tions in Myanmar. On a previous occasion, Malaysian observers were invited to observe the general elections in Thailand. If we subscribe to and endorse the principle of having international observers by our participation in such missions, then Malaysia’s reticence in inviting international observers is wholly inexplica-ble.

(f ) We are shocked at the manner in which the Parliamen-tary Select Committee’s report was received and adopted by the Dewan Rakyat on April 3 2012, without any debate. Further, we deplore the decision by the Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat not to permit the inclusion of a Minority Report together with the Parliamentary Select Committee’s report. The continued lack of respect of contrary views bodes ill for the development of a strong and vibrant parliamentary democracy in Malaysia. (g) Given thus, Bersih 2.0 is of the view that it is highly likely that the electoral fraud and other irregularities that are cur-rently being perpetrated in Malaysia, and which have been and continue to be the concern of decent, fair-minded and peace-loving Malaysians, will continue unabated. A golden opportu-nity to right the wrongs and do something good for the benefit of Malaysians now and in the future has sadly been missed.

9APRIL 6 — 8, 2012

NEWS

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shah alam: While describing Datuk Hasan Ali’s proselytisation videos as “very weak evidence”, the state will still form a committee to look into religious authorities’ ability to handle Muslim issues.

“The (video) allegations try to give the pic-ture that apostasy will be a major disaster if proselytisation is not handled properly.

“As such, Selangor will form a committee, which will be headed by state secretary Datuk Mohamad Khusrin Munawi to look into the Selangor Islamic Affairs Department’s ( Jais) ability tackle issues including apostasy,” said Menteri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim.

He pointed out that lawyers have also con-cluded that the videos did not support allega-tions of proselytisation taking place in Selangor.

“We’ve asked several syariah lawyers about these videos and they were unanimous that the ‘revelations’ were very weak and are insufficient as evidence for charges to be brought to court,” said Khalid on Wednesday.

The 16- and 42-minute videos were dis-closed to the press on Monday by the sacked former Selangor Pas commissioner, who is now president of Jalur Tiga.

The non-governmental organisation’s core principles are reported to be to glorify Islam, uphold the Malays, and champion the consti-tutional monarchy.

Hasan showed video clips of two men and a woman whom he claimed to be former apos-tates.

One of the men gave an account of his con-version while the other was seen being guided by Hasan in reciting verses of the Quran on returning to Islam. The woman did not give any testimony while all three had their faces blurred.

Apart from the videos, Hasan said he did not have additional evidence to support his allegations of proselytisation.

Meanwhile, the new committee will also draft the mechanisms and the processes to strengthen Jais’ role in finding holistic solu-tions.

The committee’s recommendations will be discussed with Selangor Islamic Religious Council (Mais) before it is brought to the Sultan of Selangor, said Khalid.

“Selangor welcomes efforts to defend Islam but will not allow any party to use this reason and negatively impact religious harmony in the state and the country.”

Besides Mohamad Khusrin, the other com-mittee members are Jais director Datuk Mar-zuki Husin, Jais enforcement director Mo-hamad Rais Rashid, Meru assemblyperson Dr Rani Osman and two officers from the state legal department and Mais.

Committee to streamline Jais

Know Your Councillor: Chang Kim Loongsubang jaya: An opportunity to share his knowledge on housing and plan-ning laws with both public and local govern-ments has inspired Chang Kim Loong (pic) to become a councillor again.

The 54-year-old, who was a two-term Subang Jaya councillor from 2008 to 2010, took a year off to help the government sort out new housing laws.

“Now that it’s all done, I’ve more time to become a councillor again and serve the people,” says the National House Buyers Association secretary-general.

Chang feels that his experience in hous-ing regulations will be beneficial to the council.

He is familiar with the new changes made to the housing developers’ act, strata title act, building and common property act and joint management body ( JMB) issues.

With the understanding of these laws, Chang wants to help the council’s commis-sioner of building (COB) solve housing and planning problems at MPSJ.

Chang feels the COB isn’t playing an effective role in addressing the woes of prop-erty owners, and he wants to guide them and make them understand the importance of solving the problems fast.

If they still can’t resolve matters, Chang will push for the council to dismiss the exist-ing staff and rehire new ones.

Chang recalls a Puchong resident who

has been living in his home for 15-years coming up to him with his temporary CF which expired in 2002.

“Records at the council showed that the developer didn’t pay MPSJ to get a permanent CF. So home owners were stuck with temporary CFs,” he says.

Together with the Building Depart-ment, they went through all files with temporary CFs, tracked down develop-ers and issued permanent titles to 5,000 owners.

Chang aims to pick up where he left off last time by chairing the abandoned project sub-committee and to work to-wards reducing such developments around MPSJ.

“So far, we’ve successfully revived 13 abandoned projects. There are six more left to be dealt with,” he says.

By Alvin Yap petaling jaya: Calls for a transit bus system to reduce public dependence on private vehicles were among proposals raised during a Town Hall meeting with SS3 residents on Wednesday.

“Traffic studies around Petaling Jaya have shown that the level of congestion has reached the limit of what the roads can sup-port in peak hours, said Professor Mo-hamed Rehan Karim during a briefing on the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) Special Draft Plan 2020 (RKK).

“We need to alleviate the problem of the number of cars on the road.”

The engineer, whose consulting com-pany was hired by the city council to carry out and assist in planning a public transport system for PJ, has advised MBPJ to roll out the transit bus system.

He pointed out that this would be a first step towards reducing single occupancy vehicles entering the city.

“The transit system consists of feeder buses that accommodate eight to twelve passengers. It is designed to serve smaller streets in the suburban areas,” said Mo-hamed Rehan.

The buses would then drop passengers off in terminals located strategically at vari-ous locations in the city.

“From these terminals, we have high speed transit buses that serve longer dis-tances within the city,” added Rehan, who is also a lecturer at the Centre of Transpor-tation Research at Universiti Malaya.

The system, which has served efficiently for almost 30 years in the Australian cities

Aussie transit system mooted for PJ

Rehan (left) and Ihsan Zainal at the briefing for the SS3 area.

of Perth and Melbourne, would encourage more people here to utilise public transport.

Rehan said MBPJ was looking into con-structing transit bus stations and parking grounds near the proposed Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit stations at Kota Daman-sara, Mutiara Damansara, PJU 5 and Petal-ing Jaya Selatan.

The “Park and Ride” system will enable visitors into Petaling Jaya to park their cars at these stations and use the transit buses to get into the city, thus significantly reducing traffic congestion.

Earlier, town planning consultant Ihsan Zainal Mokhtar revealed that the Sungai Way-Kelana Jaya area would be served by a bus terminal located at Taman Megah.

“The terminals will serve as drop-off and pick-up points for the feeder and long dis-tance express buses,” he said.

10 April 6 — 8, 2012

News

Klang Heritage Trail marathon run

By Brenda Ch’ng

KLANG: A 12km run through historical sites in Selangor’s Royal Town here is being organised by Centro Klang on July 1.

The Centro Klang 4th Klang Run 2012 is open to runners of all ages.

The theme for this year is “Klang Heritage Trail” and the route will take runners through Little India, The Royal Gallery, Klang Railway Station, Istana Alam Shah and Klang Power Sta-tion.

“We want to promote a healthy lifestyle through this run and hopefully more youths and young-er children will take part this year,” said Centro Peoperties Group Sdn Bhd managing director Teo Chui Ping.

She hopes children joining in the marathon will be motivated to live healthier lifestyles of exercise and a balanced diet.

Centro Klang is expecting to register 2,800 participants this year, from runners all over Malay-sia.

“The response last year was overwhelming as 2,500 people registered. We hope to have more participants this year,” said Teo during a press conference on Thursday.

In addition, the Centro Klang Run 2012 will also be introducing its first ever Kids Dash event dur-ing the marathon.

This category is only open to children aged four to nine years, who will have to run with an ac-companying parent.

All participants will receive a certificate of achievement, a Ree-bok T-shirt and goodie bags filled with cash vouchers and products from sponsors.

Meanwhile, the top 10 runners will receive a pewter trophy and other exciting prizes which will be announced at a later date.

“We want to award everyone with something so that no one will go back empty handed.

“Also, as a token of appreciation and memorabilia for participants,” Teo said.

This run is organised in col-laboration with Klang Pacers Athletic Club (KPAC) and main sponsors Magnum 4D Bhd, Ree-bok Malaysia and Munchy’s.

Also supporting the event are the Klang Municipal Council (MPK), Hospital Wanita Metro and Tourism Selangor.

Those interested are urged to register before April 29, to be eli-gible for the early-bird fee priced from RM25.

Forms can be obtained and submitted at Sports Station, Roy-al Sporting House, Reebok Out-lets, Centro Mall customer Service Counter or downloaded from the Centro website www.centro.com.my.

Alternatively, entries can also be faxed to 03-33432011, along with the payment bank slip or contact 03-33433011 (Centro Customer Service) 012-3233777 ( John) for more information.

(Sitting from left) Munchworld Marketing Sdn Bhd corporate communication manager Teo Shaw Ching, Klang Pacers Athletic Club rep-resentative John Heng, Teo, Magnum 4D Berhad central regional office senior officer (operations) Amy Loh and RSH (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd sales manager Bernard Tan together with all the other co-sponsors for the marathon run.

“The report also states that our younger generation is receiving a better education than students in the United

States, Britain and Germany.” – Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin. Muhyiddin, who is also education minister, was quoting a World Economic Forum (WEF) report. He said it ranked Malaysia 14th out 142 countries in quality of education. (Star)

“Surely such a tiny survey with such ‘surprising’ out-comes must be benchmarked against other credible

international studies before it is accepted at face value.” – DAP publicity chief Tony Pua. Pua said the WEF report Muhyiddin relied on was based on data from government-linked and government-owned institutions and involved just 87 local businessmen, suggesting the possibility of a biased outcome. (Insider)

“We don’t hate them for being black, but we hate them for the things they do.” – unnamed Venice Hill con-

dominium resident. She said local residents in the Cheras condominium faced problems with African residents in 2003 when the latter moved in. A riot of about 200 Africans broke out at the condominium on March 31. According to Bernama, the riot was triggered by Rela personnel who allegedly beat a Nigerian student to death after he was accused of molesting a local woman. (Mkini)

“The man claimed that he heard voices on his way home, urging him to go to the temple and break the

statues.” - Terengganu police chief Jamshah Mustapa. A 29-year-old man was detained by police for trespassing and breaking several statues at the Sri Maha Mariamman Sabai temple in Kemaman on Monday. (Mkini)

“Ballet dancers in Baghdad are al-lowed to wear ballet costumes on

stage. Are we to understand that the Malaysian public is less cosmopolitan, less morally resilient and less broad minded than the citizens of a Middle Eastern country that has been ripped to shreds by war and violence?” – MyDance Alliance president Bilqis Hijjas on the permit denial of a Singa-porean dance troupe for performing in the country. The Central Agency for the Application for Filming and Performance by Foreign Artists (Puspal) is believed to have denied the permit on the grounds of indecent costumes – ballet tutus. (Insider)

“If you ask me, the amendment says you can swim but don’t get

too wet.” – Deputy Higher Education minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah. He was talking about an amendment to the Universities and University Colleges Act (UUCA) which will be tabled next Mon-day. The amendment will allow university students to become members of political parties but party activities will not be al-lowed on campus. (Sun)

Quotable Quotes

11arpil 6 — 8, 2012

views

Rave isn’t really my scene but I will enjoy a good night out anytime.

Earlier last month I had to miss Laneway in Singapore because I was travelling the next day so when I heard that Future Mu-sic Festival was coming to our part of town, I was keen to check it out. I was looking forward to some chilling out and stripping down (not literally!) listening to some awesome music.

Future is a musical mash-up of electronic dance, hip-hop and rock featuring interna-tional acts such as Flo Rida, Tiny Tempah, the Chemical Brothers, Sneaky Sound System, alongside our very own local acts such as Twi-light Action Girl, Kyoto Protocol, DJs Blink and Goldfish among others.

The music festival came to our shore from Australia and kicked off its first Asian tour at the Sepang International Circuit on March 17.

Although Malaysia is a bit shy on hosting music festivals and concerts, we are not com-pletely alienated from the scene with our very own Rainforest World Music Festival, Rocka-way and Rock the World, among others.

Here is my Top 10 of why music festivals are such a great event to organise and given our year-round good weather, we should be organ-ising more. In no particular order:

1. Young people work hard, really we do. The 20 and 30-somethings slave away in the office 260 days a year, many even work over the weekends.

We aspire for the ideal life and we’re always trying to meet expectations – from our family, friends, superiors and even ourselves.

So a day’s worth of pure music ecstasy is just the right kind of catharsis for us young folks.

2. We spend most of our time in strict office attire or university dress code (if applicable) that really restrict self expression through fashion.

Music festivals allow us to break out and don our best fest dress. I enjoy people watching and observing how they dress – it’s a great venue for “Steal Her Look”!

It’s great for eye-candy too since some of the guys were walking around half naked. I can empathise, Malaysia is a hot country.

But some are adamant to make a fashion statement. I walked pass a dude wearing a bright red sequined jacket. Kudos to him for

being able to withstand the heat! We can dress as ridiculous as we like, or as

“comfortable” as we like, even if it means wear-ing just a bikini.

3. Usually we go to a club for a fun night out or to dance our stress away. But clubs are crowd-infested and cover charges are over the top.

Gone are the days when I was able to club hop, so we tend to just stick to one. There are not enough space to dance and often times we’re pushed to a corner, enough space to wiggle-wiggle and bump our heads.

So an outdoor party like Future is great because it’s outdoors, there’s ample space so you don’t keep bumping into other people. You can shuffle all you want without hijacking other people’s space.

And if you’re tired, you’re also free to just roll out a mat, lie down under the night’s sky and just enjoy the music.

4. We spend a lot of time indoors and in air-conditioned spaces – in the office, at home, in malls – that we couldn’t quite appreciate being outdoors for a change and break out a good sweat.

Just be sure to dress appropriately; I remem-ber at Laneway, girls were in high heels and then it rained, boy were they uncomfortable!

5. We’ve got great local talents and to be able to share the stage with other interna-tional acts really propels us onto the interna-tional arena.

But sometimes even our local artistes sound just like the international ones, which is a shame, so I appreciated Twilight Action Girl mixing local songs like Sharifah Aini’s Kudaku Lari Gagah Berani and Sudirman’s Chow Kit Road for a more local experience and taste.

6. Music festivals expose you to other lesser known acts and expand your music vocabulary. Unlike concerts where the spotlight is on one particular act, music festivals pull in many at one time.

You can opt to stage hop and check out different acts at the same time. Since my fa-miliarity with electronic dance music is lim-ited to the Chemical Brothers and Daft Punk, I’m as virgin as can be so I was nicely surprised to discover “new” artistes like Sneaky Sound System and Chase & Status whom I thor-oughly enjoyed.

I even found out that I’m quite into Drum & Bass!

7. If given the chance, we can really organ-ise an amazing event. Organisers are usually behind the curtains and overshadowed by the line-up that they bring in.

Except for a line or two in the media, they do not always get a pat on the back even if they have delivered such as amazing event.

Kudos to the co-organiser, Livescape Asia, for the most brilliant night of the first half of 2012.

8. Also let’s not forget about the small busi-nesses that pop up selling anything from mineral water, merchandise and light sticks.

Inside the venue, a mineral water costs RM4. Imagine the returns! There were also mini stalls selling food and snacks to hungry revellers.

9. There is a sense of mutual familiarity every time I go to music festivals.

Kuala Lumpur is small, so you can always count on bumping into other friends or ac-quaintances at these festivals.

Even if you were checking out the scene on your own, you can probably count on the fact that somewhere in the sea of people is another group of friends that you could probably tag along with.

10. These events remind us how interna-tional Malaysia is. We not only see locals but also expats and foreigners amongst the crowds.

Maybe they have travelled from abroad to catch Future, but they could also be from the expat community and international students that we’re gradually attracting to our shores. These pockets of communities who on normal occasions would not be mingling with locals are now sharing the same space, drawn to-gether based on shared interest in music.

As Malaysians, we’ve had our fair share of disappointments of cancelled concerts but what’s inspiring is that it does not stop us from moving on and putting more effort into or-ganising these events.

Looking at the Future turn-outs gave me hope that the support is there and if we really want to protect the entertainment industry from being robbed from us, we can.

Instead of griping about our conservatism, perhaps we should turn the attention on how beneficial these events can be.

It’s not just about having fun but it’s also about reputation and providing the avenue for the creative and entertainment industries to prosper.

Tripping Zero 3 Sharyn Shufiyan Raving about Rave

There have been two consistent arguments used

b y t h e B a r i s a n t o persuade the electorate to vote for them. The first and more popular claim is that we should vote for them because they have experience.

The experience argument is a risky one because it can so easily be used against you. I re-member Corey Aquino, to the roar of thousands of yellow clad Filipinos, saying “They say I have no experience. Yes, I have no experience. No experi-ence of corruption and no experience of stealing from the people.”

Experience is well and good but it is not the be all and end all.

It is a self-serving argu-ment because in a system like ours, who has the

most experience? Why, the Barisan of course. Fifty-four years of uninterrupted experience. If we use the experience argument, then the logical conclusion is

that Barisan will never ever be voted out. A rather odd democracy that will be.Furthermore, even at the very lowly level

of our place of work, far from the lofty heights of Parliament, we can see that the injection of fresh blood and new ideas may be the very thing that is needed.

I say this reluctantly as I have been working in the same place for 22 years and am now considered an old fogey with nothing to offer.

Besides, this idea that the Pakatan has no experience in governing is not that accu-rate anyway. They do. PAS has been in charge of Kelan-tan for decades, and since 2008, they have had Kedah

while DAP has been governing Penang and PKR Selangor.

The claim that Barisan should make is that their opponents can’t govern well, not that they have no experience in governing.

In many ways, Malaysians are enjoying the ability to make informed choices for the next election, more so than we have had before.

Our sources of information have grown and with a bit of discernment there is much we can learn. However when it comes to actual governance and bread and butter is-sues, I tend to shy away from the press.

Instead I speak to people. I live in Selangor and I have friends and family in Penang and Kedah. It is not difficult to ask people how their lives have changed, or not, under a Pakatan government.

The second argument that I have heard from the Barisan that if we do not vote for them there is a danger of a hung Parliament.

The idea behind this argument is that there will be chaotic scenes in Parliament with the majority hanging on a knife’s edge. King makers will appear and whoever forms the government won’t have the strength that comes from a solid mandate.

This too is not a very strong argument. It is very difficult for the Malaysian Parliament to be hung because there are only two major coalitions. It is unlikely that the seats will be so evenly distributed that it will be uncertain which group has the majority. It is also un-likely that there will be a situation where a king maker is required. We do not have a significant third political party.

In the UK, there are the Liberal Demo-crats apart from the mighty Labour and Conservative parties. And for years they have been rather the laughing stock of the British political world, but recently they have been the deciding factor in the elections as neither Labour nor the Conservatives had a strong enough majority and an alliance with the third party was necessary.

Where is the third party in Malaysia that could spoil a straight two-way fight? Ibrahim Ali and Zaid Ibrahim? I don’t think so.

The point here is that there are many reasons to use to choose our next govern-ment.

However, experience and the phony fear of a hung parliament should not be amongst them

Informed, not phony, reasons work better going the distanceAzmi ShArom

Corey Aquino

12 april 6 — 8, 2012InsIght

By Alvin Yap

Diabetes patient Lum Chee Keong was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes (T2D) almost 20 years ago after a

chance health screening that was required for employment at a multi-national company.

Lum remembers receiving a barrage of in-formation on diabetic self-care, which in-cluded diet and a lifestyle changes.

“Receiving the report from the medical doctor and the follow-up analysis changed my lifestyle and eating habits since that day in 1991.

“I was told to take the day off and was asked to attend a one-on-one talk on dia-betes,” says Lum, a father-of-three, adding

that he was essentially taught how to take control of his health and make lifestyle changes.

As a diabetic, the 52-year-old marketing manager has had to manage his diet and get regular exercise since the day he was con-firmed to suffer from the disease.

Part of the statistic of one in seven Ma-laysians suffering from diabetes, Lau’s cells do not absorb the glucose in the blood from digested food.

“A diabetic’s pancreas does not produce insulin – or not enough of it - a hormone that converts sugar in the blood so that cells can absorb the glucose,” says Universiti Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) endocri-nologist Professor Datuk Dr Ikram Shah

Ismail.The excess glucose ends up in the blood,

and is a passed out with the urine.Diabetic symptoms include polyuria

(frequent urination), polydipsia (increased thirst), polyphagia (increased hunger) and weight loss.

However, Dr Ikram Shah says that tell-tale signs such as increased thirst have been misread by many Malaysians as normal thirst due to the hot equatorial climate.

“The best way to determine if we have diabetes is to have our blood checked in a laboratory,” says the UMMC specialist and president of the Malaysian Diabetes Asso-ciation.

He points out that the vital blood screening test, which should be undertaken by every Malaysian once they touch 30 years of age, is the best way to test for blood glucose level.

A healthy person should have a normal blood glucose reading of 70 to 99 mg/dL (3.9 to 5.5 mmol/L).

Readings of 100 and 125 mg/dL (5.6 and 6.9 mmol/L) may mean impaired glucose tolerance.

“This may imply that the person has a pre-diabetes condition,” says Dr Ikram Shah, adding that a blood glucose level of 126 mg/dL (7.0 mmol/L) may mean that the person has diabetes.

He says the blood tests are important as they can warn individuals of impending onset diabetes.

The pre-condition leading to full blown diabetes can be arrested or delayed through proper nutrition and regular exercise, he adds.

This is important, as both forms of dia-betes – Type 1 and Type 2 - while treatable with medication, has no known cure.

“Once a person develops diabetes, it is irreversible,” warns Dr Ikram Shah.

According to health care statistics, dia-betes prevalence in Malaysia has almost doubled in the last decade.

“This is due to an increased overweight/obesity amongst the population,” says the

doctor, who is past vice-president of the Malaysian Association for the Study of Obesity.

Figures show that 1.8 million Malaysians were diagnosed with diabetes in 2010, a significant increase from 1.4 million in 2006.

In 2010, diabetes was responsible for more than 23,800 deaths in Malaysia.

As two in five Malaysians are obese or overweight – and there is clear correlation between obesity and diabetes - Dr Ikram Shah is at pains to encourage Malaysians to lead healthier lives and have a better diet consisting of less fat, oil, meat and sugar.

“Stop parking so near our destination. Walk the stairs to your apartment or office. Take walks, if you can run, at the parks,” he says.

He says diabetes is called the “game changer” disease, referring to the complete change in lifestyle required if one contracts the ailment.

A strict diet to keep the diabetic condi-tion under control means that a patient will have to forgo a lot of the food the person enjoyed prior to getting diabetes.

However, Dr Ikram Shah does not be-lieve that a diabetes patient should have a special “diabetic’s diet”.

“There’s no special or different diet for diabetics; rather it’s a sensible healthy diet consisting of a lot of vegetables and fruits that the person should eat,” he says.

The diet is aimed at keeping carbohy-drate and saturated fat levels low, while increasing dietary fibre intake.

Among the long-term dangers of not adequately keeping diabetes under control is the significant risk of developing life-threatening complications.

“Uncontrolled conditions can and will give rise to serious complications such as cardiovascular disease, retinal damage, chronic kidney failure, poor healing of wounds, gangrene on the feet which may lead to amputation, and also erectile dys-function,” he says.

The lifestyle diseaseDiabetes:

A nurse teaches a diabetic patient how to use a glucometer to measure blood

The Sau Seng Lum (SSL) Dialysis and Stroke Reha-bilitation Centre established its Diabetes Care Centre in March 2009 to provide care for diabetic patients.

“We established it to educate and equip patients with skills to better manage their lives as a diabetic,” says Dr Arlene Tan, the medical adviser at the centre which sees some 40 patients every week.

The consultant physician says that education and care are important for diabetes patients as having a di-agnosis of diabetes can have very profound effects.

She points out that new patients may become un-necessarily anxious, depressed and obsessive about their care and self-medical management.

“Advice and counselling by a qualified diabetes edu-cator is an essential part of therapy,” says Tan, who serves at the centre located in Puchong.

She adds that patients are taught how to inject insu-lin to control their blood sugar levels, as well as using a glucometer to measure the levels.

Patients are also given a list of exercises to carry out to maintain or lose weight.

Among the medical treatments available at SSL are wound dressing which entails wound management and removal of damaged tissue.

Dr Tan says that patients should never miss the consultations with doctors or nurses as regular screen-ing and tests have to be carried to ascertain if the disease is being effectively treated.

“For example, our tests at SSL include foot screening, eye screening, laboratory test and Electrocardiogram (ECG) test,” she says.

Dr Tan’s staff includes three visiting endocrinology specialist and a general physician, who together with two nurses play a major role in screening services while another nurse conducts diabetes education.

The centre was set up with a grant of RM300,000 which has bought state-of the art medical equipment to care for diabetic patients.

The lifestyle diseaseDiabetes:

Dr Ikram Shah points out that about 22 percent of the local population age 30 and above is afflicted with diabetes.

Where did the word diabetes, one of the most dreaded diseases in the world, come from?

Aretus the Cappadocian, a Greek physician in 200 AD, first noticed patients “passing water like a siphon”, and gave the ailment its name, diabetes, a Greek word for “a siphon”.

In 1675, English doctor Thomas Willis found that urine se-creted by diabetes sufferers contained glucose, and added the term mellitus. Mel is the Latin word for honey.

“Willis was correct. A person with diabetes has a condition in which the quantity of glucose in the blood is too elevated,” says the American Diabetes Association in its website on the history of the disease.

History aside, the global number of patients with diabetes mel-litus in the last 50 years has since exploded, and worldwide figures in 2003 estimated that 194 million people were afflicted by the epidemic.

In 2025, that number is expected to touch 333 million, or a 62 percent increase from 2003.

Regionally, the South East Asia population represents the sec-ond highest rise in diabetes cases, with 108 percent of the total citizenry getting diabetes from 2003 to 2025

In Malaysia, the local figure represents a runaway trend, accord-ing to Malaysian Diabetes Association president Professor Datuk Dr Ikram Shah Ismail.

“The statistics are terrible. Some 22 percent of the adult popu-lation is afflicted,” says the consultant endocrinologist.

The last 20 years have seen a doubling of diabetic patients in the country, he says.

In 1986, some 6.30 percent of the population age 30 and above had diabetes, but the number went up to 8.30 percent in 1996.

The figures are not slowing down, and the actual numbers in 2006 had exceeded what was forecast for 2020.

“Earlier, we projected that around 10 percent of the population would have diabetes in 2006, but it was closer to 14.90 percent, a figure that we projected for 2020,” says the lecturer and specialist at University Malaya Medical Centre.

Dr Ikram Shah says the steepest rise yet occurred from 2006-2009.

He points out that the medical community was shocked at the 2009 statistics - about 22 percent of the local population was af-flicted.

“That’s one in five [Malaysians] with diabetes. It’s simply gone off the charts, so to speak,” says the professor of medicine.

On the breakdown of cases according to ethnicity, Dr Ikram Shah sees every Malaysian at risk regardless of race.

This is because diabetes is a disease caused mostly by unhealthy lifestyle habits.

“Let’s face it, most of our food is readily available and cheap with eateries operating round the clock, not to mention meals that are full of fat, sugar and oil. Our unhealthy diet and sedentary life are the main cause of diabetes in Malaysia,” laments Dr Ikram Shah.

The global epidemic

A patient’s nervous system is being checked to assess for damage due to diabetes.

Dr Tan: Advice and counselling by a qualified diabetes educator is an essential part of therapy.

Quality and affordable care for diabetics

14 april 6 — 8, 2012

views

Dear Lord Bobo, looks like there will be a Bersih 3.0 on April 28. Aren’t all these public assemblies kinda boring already? Meh, via email

This question came in just as His Supreme Eminenceness’ minions were about to email the column for the week to those good-looking editorial folk at the Selangor Times.

Yes, apparently there will be a “sit down” public gathering on April 28 – the main event will be in Kuala Lumpur, but (as with Bersih 2.0) there will also be similar events elsewhere in the country, and around the world. The venue for the main gather-ing has yet to be confirmed. Bersih announced that it will take place at Dataran Merdeka, but the de facto ipso facto mucho facto law minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz says that Dataran Merdeka is not legally gazetted to host a public assembly. The irony that peaceful gatherings of citizens are not allowed in “Dataran Merdeka” (Inde-pendence Square) does not escape Lord Bobo.

As for public assemblies being boring, that’s ludi-crous. Get a grip on yourself, son. Lord Bobo is very pleased to note that there have been several well-or-ganised and peaceful public assemblies in 2012. Much credit is due to the police and organisers for proving that Malaysians can gather peacefully.

Of course, this has not stopped the anti-Bersih voices from (already) complaining about the massive “disruption of lives” that Bersih 3.0 will likely cause. Which is strange, because of course it is fairly obvious that the “disruption of lives” that is being complained about is basically the ability to go to their favourite shopping malls on a Saturday without having to con-tend with road-closures or massive traffic jams caused

by road-blocks – which obviously are put in place by the police, not Bersih.

Anyway, public assemblies for a good cause should always be welcome in any healthy democracy. If you have the time, you should check out what public gatherings are taking place each weekend – get out and be with other Malaysians, for a good cause, instead of window-shopping or hanging out in air-conditioned shopping malls every weekend.

Lord Bobo, I heard the Selangor State Secretary is trying to dissolve the DUN without the MB’s permission? Can ah? Gossip Girl, via email

No! What malicious gossipery is this? Lord Bobo is not

impressed. According to Constitution of the State of Selangor, Article 70(2), the Sultan of Selangor may prorogue or dissolve the Legislative Assembly, i.e. the Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN).

This may seem like he has the power to do so on his own accord, but this must be read with Article 55(1) of the Selangor Constitution, which basically provides that HRH in the exercise of his functions, shall act in accord-ance with the advice of the exco or any member acting under authority of the exco. Meaning, HRH cannot dissolve the DUN without a request from the Mentri Besar of Selangor.

Article 55(2)(b) provides that HRH has discretion, without the need to act on advice, to withhold consent to dissolve the DUN, but he cannot dissolve the DUN on his own accord.

Therefore, any attempt to create an instrument by which the DUN can be dissolved without a request by the MB would be unconstitutional. In fact, it would not just be unconstitutional, but it would brazenly fly in the face of our parliamentary democracy and the role of a constitutional monarch.

So, cannot lah.

Dissolving the Selangor DUN, and Bersih again?

Ask Lord Bobo is a weekly column by LoyarBurok

(www.loyarburok.com) where all your profound,

abstruse, erudite, hermetic, recondite, sagacious, and

other thaesaurus-described queries are answered!

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M

Y

CM

MY

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CMY

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FOE INFOGRAPHICS FINAL.pdf 1 3/19/12 5:40 PM

15April 6 — 8, 2012

news

Unveiling hidden talents in autistic children

MBPJ lights up back alleys with LED lights

By Basil Foo

PETALING JAYA: Founder of Malaysia’s first autistic children’s choir, Brian John Yim, believes early inter vention, especially through music, makes a difference in autistic children.

While many parents still remain clueless on how to handle their au-tistic child, he said even children with learning disabilities can be gifted.

Yim’s star student, 14-year-old Umar Hasfizal, who has been at-tending vocal training classes for two years, is a prime example of what the vocal coach meant.

Umar took a year to record an album with Yim, containing seven songs, which was launched at the Bentley Music auditorium on Mon-day night.

He also presented two of his

songs, I Give The Best Of Me and Abah, to an audience of about 100 who had gathered to mark the World Autism Awareness Day.

“We noticed he had signs of au-tism when he was three years old. It took Hospital Universiti Kebang-saan Malaysia (HUKM) six months to diagnose him as there were many

tests,” said Umar’s father, Hasfizal Mukhtar.

He then sent his son for early intervention programmes and an “inclusive programme” which trains autistic children to join schools with other children.

Umar’s singing talent was discov-ered when he was in Year Three. He then took part in singing competi-tions and reached second place in the Malaysian Special Idol.

He began training with Yim and joined the nation’s first autistic choir which performed in various events for local and foreign dignitaries.

“I had to train a lot and have both physical and mental endurance,” said Umar.

I Give The Best Of Me can be obtained through Umar’s website at umarhasfizal-cd.webs.com.

Also at the event was Dr Hasnah Toran, a senior lecturer in the Edu-

Hasfizal, Umar, and Yim.

By Brenda Ch’ng

PETALING JAYA: A programme by the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) to brighten up back alleys with light-emitting diode (LED) lights got a mixed reaction from ratepayers.

MBPJ has allocated RM100,000 to buy and install LED lights under the Light-Up the Alley Programme, while residents who opted to have the lamps installed in their backyards will pay for the electricity.

“Some residents in my area are concerned that the LED lights will encourage more crime and vandalism to happen,” said Section 21 Taman Aman Rukun Tetangga chairman G Rajendran.

While supporting the move and commending the council, he said some residents feared that drug addicts may dismantle the LED lights and sell them off.

Rajendran, 72, however, suggested that MBPJ look into adding security features to the lights, which will be mounted onto the wall, behind houses.

He proposed for the council emblem to be engraved to the lights to stop people from stealing and reselling them.

“It’ll be harder to resell if everyone knows the lights belong to MBPJ. It might stop them from stealing or vandalising it.”

Despite these fears, he will be encouraging residents in his area to install the lights which will be automati-cally switched on between 7pm and 7am daily.

“It’s a good move to raise civic consciousness among residents, but MBPJ should promote this more as not many are aware of the benefits of LED lights,” said Taman Gasing Indah Rukun Tetangga chairman Eric Chew.

Chew explained that many residents in his area had already installed their own conventional lights behind their homes.

The programme, intended to reduce burglaries and improve security, entitles home owners to a free installa-tion of Light-Emitting Diode (LED) to light up back lanes from 7pm to 7am.

This installation is open to landed property owners, houses with back alleys, houses with no illegal extensions and those who pay the assessment fees on time.

However SS2 South Residents’ Association chairman Lim Theng Kau said some lights installed by residents in

his area were not bright enough.“Some have smaller fluorescent lights installed while

some have the five-foot long glass tube. But LED lights will definitely be brighter,” said Lim, who put in his ap-plication for the free installation of LED lights.

“I want them to install the lights immediately. It’s not only energy saving but is bright enough to light up the whole street,” said Lim.

These LED lights are expected to last six times longer (50,000 hours) as compared to normal conventional lights which only last 8,000 hours.

“It’s not only environmentally friendly but shines 42 per cent brighter than other lights,” said MBPJ councillor and Green City Committee chairman Khairul Anuar Ahmad Zainudin.

He said during the launch of the programme that MBPJ will also be paying for the wiring and sensor instal-lation.

Home owners only have to pay for the electricity bill, which will only be about RM17.19 a year or RM1.43 a month based on the RM0.218 electricity tariff.

“Our only condition is that the lights are turned on for 12 hours every day and that lights installed cannot be relocated to other parts of the house,” he said.

MBPJ is targeting to install some 400 lights under the first phase.

“Each installation will cost between RM250 and RM300. If we receive more than 400 applications, we will allocate more money for this project in future,” said MBPJ mayor Datuk Roslan Sakiman.

He urged rates payers who are interested to apply immediately.

Tun Uda library impresses studentsSHAH ALAM: Fifty five students from low-cost flats visited the newly-furnished Raja Tun Uda Library during a study tour organised by Shah Alam Zone 18 Residents’ Representative Council last Saturday.

“This is to introduce the library to the students as not many are aware that it has been moved,” said councillor A Sivarajan.

He added that the students were impressed by the library’s facilities, which include a 6D cinema, computers and a fully-equipped gymnasium.

The students came from low-cost apartments around Shah Alam U4 and U5 in Kota Damansara.

Opened last July, the Raja Tun Uda Library houses a collection of 190,000 books, including 1,200 first-edition books personally purchased by Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah from London.

It is located next to the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Golf Club at Section 13.

Visitors can pay RM1 per hour to use the library’s computers or RM1 per day to connect their laptops to an electricity socket.

The library provides free WIFI coverage of six MB per second that ex-tends to the lakeside cafeteria.

It is open daily from 10am to 5pm.

Dr Hasnah.

(From left) MBPJ councillor Cynthia Gabriel, Khairul Anuar, Roslan, councillors Tiew Way Keng and Lee Suet Sen at the launch of the programme on Tuesday.

cation Faculty at Universiti Kebang-saan Malaysia (UKM), who gave a short talk on autism.

Long regarded as a taboo subject, she said many parents were unwill-ing to even admit that their children may be autistic, adding she has met many parents who have responded with disbelief.

“I have met mothers with five, six-year-old children. When told that their children are autistic, they say ‘How can that be? My son can read’,” she said.

Dr Hasnah, who heads the UKM Autism Study Laboratory, said such responses showed society’s lack of awareness of the condition, as autis-tic children vary mentally.

Some scales used to measure levels of autism are Communication, ranging from typical to mute, Social, ranging from sociable to cut off, and Imagination, ranging from typical to rigid in thinking.

“Child A may be a savant on the IQ scale while child B may score close to mental retardation,” she said.

She added that the same child A may be self injurious on the sensory scale, while child B may merely be slightly fidgety.

“It (autism) is hard to define. Dif-ferent children may be spread all over the different spectrums.”

While there may be no cure for this neurological disorder, Dr Has-nah stressed that early intervention and special education can improve

the life of children with autism.However, she admitted that the

country was failing at providing education opportunities for these special children.

“The government needs to spend now in early intervention or three decades later, when the parents of these autistic children are not around, we have to invest billions into welfare homes,” she said.

She cited the United States’ Child Development Agency (CDA) which was a good example for our local policymakers to try and emu-late.

She said parents in the US who contacted the CDA received a diag-nosis of their child’s neurological condition within seven days.

“If the agency does not respond or is late in providing the test results, the parents may sue the govern-ment,” she added.

On the number of autistic chil-dren in Malaysia, Dr Hasnah said a study by the education ministry in 2004, which found one in 600 chil-dren to be autistic, was conservative.

She said as there were about eight million school-going children in the country, she estimated there to be about 70,000 autistic children, or one in 110.

“Some autistic children even fall through the cracks as there are not enough psychiatrists to diagnose them. There are only 300 psychia-trists in a country of 28 million,” she addedy.

16 april 6 — 8, 2012

news

SHAH ALAM: A night-cycling programme, in con-junction with Earth Hour, saw 1,000 cyclists taking to the city streets last Saturday.

The programme, organised by the Shah Alam City Council (MBSA), was to educate society on their re-sponsibilities in protecting the environment.

The night began at the Shah Alam Independence Square where mayor Datuk Mohd Jaafar Mohd Atan turned off a symbolic light switch to mark the start of Earth Hour at 8.30pm.

The cyclists then took a 10km route around the city while about 100 children also joined the fun by cycling 2km around the square.

Building owners around the Shah Alam city centre also took part in the programme by switching off their lights for an hour from 8.30pm to 9.30pm.

An explanation of Earth Hour and a speech on the community’s role in making the world a more liveable place was made by World Wildlife Fund (WWF) repre-sentative Surin Suksuwan.

Attendees were also entertained by several acts on the Independence Square stage, among which were poetry readings, a presentation by the Shah Alam Drum Circle, and a contemporary dance with the message to “Love the Environment”.

Also present at the bike ride was state executive coun-cillor for youth and sports Dr Ahmad Yunus Hairi.

The city council has made environmental conserva-tion one of its main priorities and has supported the global Earth Hour movement by hosting activities in conjunction with it since 2007.

Cycling in the dark

Mohd Jaafar (fourth from right) and Ahmad Yunus (fifth from left) with participants at a night cycling programme in conjunction with Earth Hour at the Shah Alam Independence Square last Saturday.

SHAH ALAM: Sunway Group switched off the non-essential lights at most of its premises, including shopping malls, from 8.30pm to 9.30pm last Saturday in conjunction with Earth Hour.

Sunway University also host-ed a concert to raise funds for the Jeffrey Cheah Foundation.

“Lighting was minimal in the multipurpose hall. By observing this during the concert, we hoped to create more awareness for Earth Hour among our stu-dents,” said Sunway Education Group executive director Eliza-beth Lee.

Other Sunway subsidiaries that observed the one-hour ex-

ercise included Sunway Lagoon, Sunway Medical Centre, Sun-way Resort Hotel & Spa and its shopping malls Sunway Pyra-mid, Sunway Giza, Sunway Pu-tra Mall and Sunway Carnival in Penang.

Shoppers were invited to make their pledge for Earth Hour and “pot-a-plant” for the environment at WWF-Malaysia booths at the malls.

Sunway hotels in Penang and Tambun also switched off the non-essential lights in support of the event.

This is the fourth year the corporation has taken part in Earth Hour.

It’s lights off in Sunway

Sunway Lagoon before (left) and after the lights were switched off.

Children celebrating Earth Hour at Sunway Carnival in Penang last Saturday.

17April 6 — 8, 2012

news

Nameless birds charm judges

Dengue death toll rising

By Gan Pei Ling

AMPANG: Amateur Yee Kan Ming’s two nameless magpie robins beat 30 other more experienced birders to win the Ampang Magpie Robins Association’s inaugural contest last Sunday.

“This is the first time I’ve joined a competition,” said a pleasantly surprised Yee, whose magpies won first and third place.

The 52-year-old, who only devel-oped the hobby three years ago,

brought home two brand new bamboo cages.

Ng Ah Weng, 56, who has been in the sport for over 30 years, won second place.

Teratai assemblyperson Jenice Lee presented the cages to the two winners.

Association president Chan Chen Keong said the two judges scored the pet birds based on their voices, liveliness and the cage’s cleanliness.

“It adds to the points if the mag-pie jumps around or performs

somersaults while singing,” he said.The association was set up two

years ago and finally found a home last year at the field at Taman Bukit Teratai.

Previously the 30-odd members gathered at lakes or parks around Ampang and Cheras to trade sto-ries.

Magpie robins are well-known for their singing abilities and can be found in urban gardens as well as forests.

They can live six to seven years in captivity.

Yee’s (right) magpies won first and third place while Ng’s won second place.

By Basil Foo

KLANG: The recent wet season, which has drenched the state these past few months, has not only caused floods but also led to a wave of dengue infec-tions and deaths.

The flood-prone Klang municipal-ity has recorded a high of 724 cases in just three months this year compared to a total of 1,100 cases in 2011 and 1,400 cases in 2010.

“Klang posted the highest number of dengue cases reported nationwide,” said Klang Municipal Council (MPK) health department acting director Zulkifli Abbas during a talk on dengue at the council’s auditorium last Saturday.

The three deaths in Klang - one re-ported every month up to March - is also raising alarms.

Previously, there were only two dengue deaths in 2011 and another two in 2010.

The deceased this year are a 50-year-old woman in Taman Desawan, a 43-year-old woman in Port Klang and a 44-year-old man in Kampung Jawa.

“We used to get many reports of children below 12 dying from the dis-ease but now the highest affected age group is adults between 20 and 35,” said Zulkifli.

He said the spike was due to water-logged items in homes which were not cleaned regularly by residents.

The long holidays early in the year for Chinese New Year, Maulidul Rasul and Thaipusam also contributed to the breeding of mosquitoes.

“Those holidays made it easier for people to take the whole week off to balik kampung. So their homes and waterlogged compounds were left unattended,” he ex-plained.

He said the council was looking into ways to stem the tide of dengue including emulating the efforts of the police in patrolling homes left empty during the holi-days.

Residents who were leaving their homes for ex-tended periods of time were advised to empty their water tanks, overturn pails and not store water even if it is indoors.

“A common misconception is that mosquitoes only breed in stagnant dirty water. In fact, most of the time they breed in clean clear water like those found indoors,” he said.

Zulkifli added that by spending five minutes a week to empty and clean water storage containers, residents

were helping to eradicate up to 500 eggs in one go.

This is more effective than just killing the adult mosquitoes, which number far less, through fogging.

“As for fogging, the council pro-vides the service for free. We usually do it in the morning and evening when the mosquitoes are most ac-tive.”

He said residents have a choice if they want to accept fogging by other parties but told them to con-tact the police if they faced harass-ment by private fogging operators.

Selangor Health Department officer Nor’azam Ashar said those

with fevers lasting more than two days were urged to seek medical at-tention.

“Many cases were not treated quickly enough. Most of the time, patients was just prescribed Panadol for fever,” he said.

He described one of the symptoms of dengue fever to be a painful sensa-tion behind the eyeballs and the feeling that the eyes will “pop-out”.

He blamed the mentality of resi-dents for the rise in dengue cases.

“The Mawar, Cempaka, and Batu Nilam flats all have leaking roofs which haven’t been repaired due to ineffective Joint Management Bodies ( JMB),” he said.

JMBs are management councils made up of residents to collect fees from residents for the maintenance of their flats or apartments.

Nor’azam said businesses selling scrap materials were also one of the reasons for the increase in dengue cases as their merchandise tends to retain water.

“Some of the next steps we will try to employ are putting a bounty on aedes mosquito larvae, stepping up enforcement and increasing the fines.”

Currently, if a residential home is found to have larvae within their compound, the owners are fined RM500.

Klang MP Charles Santiago said residents should not just peg the responsibility to combat dengue on the shoulders of the MPK alone.

“Cleanliness has to start at home. This issue needs a joint responsibility from all sides, the MPK, the state government, village leaders, non-governmental organi-sations, and residents.”

He called for those who were already in the know to spread the prevention methods to their loved ones to protect them from the scourge of dengue.

Council raids suspected vice den

MPK enforcement officers confiscating furniture seized dur-ing the raid.

KLANG: Seven foreign masseuse from China and one from Thai-land were arrested during a raid on a massage parlour in Bukit Tinggi by Klang Municipal Council (MPK) enforcement officers on Sunday.

Council public complaints and communication department director Norfiza Mahfiz said the women were believed to be sex workers.

MPK enforcement department deputy diretor Shahrul Hazri Abd Majid led 20 officers in the operation which was jointly con-ducted with the council’s licensing department.

Norfiza added that apart from massage parlours, MPK was also mounting more operations against illegal cybercafes and stalls which were contributing to the poor image of the Royal town.

She said the council welcomed any information regarding illegal businesses especially massage parlours.

Nor’azam: Many cases not treated quickly enough.

Zulkifli: Highest number of cases nationwide.

18 april 6 — 8, 2012

news

SUBANG JAYA: Residents here are fuming over an un-fulfilled promise by Putrajaya to build a government clinic in the USJ area.

Subang Jaya assemblywoman Hannah Yeoh said RM8 mil-lion had already been allocated under the Ninth Malaysia Plan in 2008 but the project had stalled.

“At first the (Federal) government said they could not find a suitable piece of land, then the Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ) gazetted a plot of land for them to build it, but until now no action has been taken,” said Yeoh during a press conference last Friday.

The 0.72-acre vacant plot is situated at Jalan USJ 1/33 op-posite a row of shoplots.

MPSJ has already written to the Health Ministry to inform them that they have permission to use it to build the clinic.

If built, the clinic will provide Subang Jaya residents with much needed accessible healthcare as the nearest government clinics are in Kelana Jaya and Puchong.

“The government allocated RM2 billion for the Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia cash-aid for short-term vote buying, but we need more long-term solutions. It would mean much more to senior citizens to have permanent government facilities,” said Yeoh.

Yeoh said currently the Al-Falah Mosque in USJ9 has set up a small clinic to help the community address their health-care needs with the help of KPJ Healthcare. Residents are now relying on the mosque to get basic, affordable (RM5 per consultation) healthcare.

She added that Putrajaya had instead opted to build a 1Malaysia clinic, which will be staffed by medical assistants and nurses instead of qualified doctors, despite opposition from the residents of Subang Jaya.

“We, the residents of Subang Jaya, demand our clinic to be built as soon as possible,” said Yeoh.

She was accompanied by more than two dozen residents of USJ brandishing banners that read “Give us our government

clinic”.Subang Jaya

Senior Citizens Club president Yeong Teik Boon, 72, said many of the club’s 900 members have dif-ficulties going to government clin-ics as the nearest ones are in Kelana Jaya and Puchong.

“ Unless our children are tak-ing us, we will have to take two buses (from Sub-ang Jaya to Asia Jaya, then to Kela-na Jaya) to Kelana Jaya. It is a very long way for old people,” said Yeong, adding the club has met with health ministry officials along with other NGOs and Yeoh to address the problem.

He said the ministry had promised to take action but this remains an unfulfilled promise.

Yeong said Kelana Jaya’s former member of Parliament Loh Seng Kok of MCA personally told them that a clinic will be built to address their needs before the 2008 general election.

“I hope before the 13th general election, the BN govern-ment will build this clinic,” said Yeong.

Chairman of Subang Jaya Residents’ Association (SJRA) A.S. Gill said the government should not deny residents the

clinic. “I am very sad that politicians are politicising everything,

even our basic needs,” said Gill.Gill, 66, said he has worked with MCA previously to get

the clinic built because it was crucial to folks who cannot af-ford private medical care.

“This clinic is most needed by the needy, and we expect a full-fledged clinic, not a compromise,” said Gill, referring to the 1Malaysia clinic.

Also present at the press conference was MPSJ councillor Muzammil Hafiz who reiterated the the land was available.

“We urge the government to use this plot of land and give us the clinic,” he said.

USJ folk furious over ‘missing’ clinic

Residents of Subang Jaya are angry that a promised government clinic has yet to be built after four years.

SUBANG JAYA: Downright dirty and a couldn’t-care-less attitude are being blamed for the long-standing rat infestation at the SS15 Commercial Square here.

“If only people would change their attitude and take care of the community. Every morning I come here to buy news-papers and there are rats all over,” said May Leong, 74, during a campaign to eradicate the pest last Saturday.

The 20-year resident of the area said it was not uncommon

to see rats the size of small cats scavenging for food among rubbish which is dumped everywhere.

Leong pointed a finger at traders at the SS15 market for discarding food and rubbish in drains which are all clogged.

Resident Wan Yoke Ann said the attitude of the traders in the commercial area left much to be desired as they seemed comfortable with the rats running rampant.

“A restaurant owner even had the cheek to tell me there will be rats everywhere – without rats there will be no human beings,” said Wan.

SS15/2 Rukun Tetangga (RT) deputy chairperson Ahmad Nadzer Idris added that the business commu-nity, along with hawkers and traders, was “feeding the rats” by discarding rubbish in drains.

Soya bean drink seller Teh Ah Huat, who has been operating a mo-bile drink stall in SS15 for six years, claimed that the rats did not pose a serious problem to his business.

“There are quite many but they stay in the drains. If they see people, they will run away,” said the 50-year-old.

Store owner Datuk Samson Maman, who started his business here three decades ago, however, urged the

authorities to clamp down on traders who were contributing to the problem.

He said people who parked their cars overnight ran the risk of rats invading their vehicles and having wires chewed off.

A total of 31 rats, mostly dead or dying, were collected during the programme as a result of poi-son baiting carried out by the Subang Jaya Mu-

nicipal Council (MPSJ) the previous week.MPSJ health director Dr Roslan Mohd Hussin, who was

also present, said council officers had managed to catch 25 rats the day before.

The total of haul of 56 rats was a steep drop from the 176 caught during the previous exercise in December.

He warned that local businesses, especially food outlets, would be fined or shut down should the council find their premises to be unhygienic.

Also at the event was Subang Jaya assemblyperson Hannah Yeoh who said she would be inspecting the area again in three months.

Rats, they’re everywhere!

Gotcha... Residents caught 31 rats at the SS15 Commercial Square last Saturday.

KLANG: Teluk Gong fishermen whose livelihood was affected when their homes and boats sank into a 30 meter-long sinkhole near a jetty here on March 11 received aid from Klang member of Parlia-ment Charles Santiago recently.

Eight buildings and nine boats, which were on shore at the time, costing an estimated RM300,000, were lost when they sank rapidly into the fissure which appeared at 2.15pm.

“The houses and boats sank in half an hour. I will be monitoring the situation and addressing the residents’ needs as they crop up,” said Santiago.

He visited the Teluk Gong fishing village on March 23 to provide financial and material assistance to the 26 affected villagers.

The villagers received rice, cooking oil, sugar, flour and RM1,000 each.

Also present during the visit were Klang municipal councillors V Raju, M Nalan, Azmizam Zaman Huri and Ismail Arsat.

Aid for Teluk Gong fishermen

19April 6 — 8, 2012

Media

PKNS awards night lauds staff, partners

Khalid (centre) presenting the award for Best PKNS Staff 2011 to Ishak as Othman looks on.

SHAH ALAM: The Selangor State Develop-ment Corporation (PKNS) awards night here last week saw its staff, vendors and suppliers lauded for their work and services.

PKNS head of public relations Ishak Hashim carried home a trophy, RM2,000 and a certificate.

“I humbly accept this, knowing that there are people better than me who deserve the award,” said Ishak, who took over the group’s

corporate communications department in 2009.

He was recognised for his dedication to duty despite his father being critically ill.

Ishak was accompanying Menteri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim’s entourage while visiting a PKNS development in Bandar Baru Bangi in 2009 when he received news of his father’s passing.

Earlier, managing director Othman Omar

said the inaugural event was to celebrate the efforts of PKNS staff in carrying out their duty.

“We look for 10 core values in our staff, and we hone it for a new work culture,” he said.

The awards were broken into 19 categories, among them to celebrate the partnership be-tween suppliers, vendors and PKNS’ prop-erty market division.

The nominations for best staff from corpo-

rate departments were finalists from a pool of 900 workers from drivers to department heads in PKNS.

Khalid and state executive councillors Te-resa Kok and Iskandar Samad presented the awards together with Othman and other top management officers.

The event, dinner and entertainment held at PKNS Shah Alam Convention Centre here was attended by some 1,200 participants.

community

May 20 — 22, 2011/ issue 25

TI-M head disputes Christian state claim

Wesak Day: a time for giving p 4 p 15

may 13: recollections & reconciliation p 12 & 13

• Turn To page 2

Facelift for old flats

By William Tan Petaling Jaya: Dilapidat-ed low-cost flats throughout Sel-angor may get a new lease of life if a pilot programme to rehabilitate such homes is successful.The ambitious and first-of-its-

kind project is being carried out by the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) in collaboration with Veri-tas Design Group, a private com-pany, and Rumah Air Panas, a community-based charity.The single block at the Taman

Maju Jaya apartments here, which houses 59 families, will be the first to undergo the transformation, which includes renovations and re-furbishments while keeping the physical aspects intact."All works are based on the deci-

sions made by the residents," said social activist Wong Hay Cheong.

Wong, who mooted the idea, pointed out that many of the resi-dents were forced to move into the flats when squatter settlements were demolished, but the buildings and facilities were hardly adequate.

“The entry of Veritas Design Group, which has contributed RM100,000 and the skills [of their architects], means that is going to change,” said Wong.As many as 50,000 families were

relocated to low-cost flats between 2000 and 2008 under former Men-teri Besar Dr Khir Toyo's Zero Squatter policy which has been crit-icised for creating high-rise ghettos.

Wong said the private firm is car-rying out the project as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme, having spent the last two years laying the groundwork for the project.The company has been liaising

with the families regularly to get feedback on their needs and help them decide on practical solutions.

Their architects, using the latest technologies and techniques, will remodel the building on a tight budget, which is estimated to be less than RM500,000.“It is very challenging; almost

everything needs to be redone. The wiring is horrible, the roof is leaking, and the septic tank emits an awful stench,” said Veritas Design Group

architect Iskandar Razak.Iskandar added that it was very difficult to obtain commitments from various parties at the start of the project, with funding still a seri-ous issue.

The success of the project rests on sponsorships for the various compo-nents, such as the supply of metal parts, and the company hopes to

obtain what they need from their business contacts.“Despite it all, this is a very im-

portant project for us as we believe that a city should not be inhabited by the wealthy only, but by every strata of society. In a way, we are re-juvenating the city,” said Iskandar.

If the pilot is successful, the com-

LB_246391_Sun_m14.ai 1 5/12/11 9:56 PM

Keeping abandoned babies safe: Faizah Mohd Tahir (left) demonstrating the use of the baby hatch as local celebrity Datin Sofia Jane looks on.

• STory on page 10

Where to get your Where to get your LRT Stations (Distribution by hand) – MorningAmpang – Sentul TimurAmpangCahayaCempaka Pandan IndahPandan JayaSentul TimurSentul

Kelana Jaya – Terminal PutraKelana JayaTaman BahagiaTaman ParamountAsia JayaTaman JayaUniversitiSri Rampai Wangsa MajuTaman Melati

Sri Petaling – Sentul TimurTaman MelatiSri Petaling Bukit Jalil

Bandar Tasik SelatanSalak Selatan

Shopping Malls (From Saturday noon)1 UTAMA Tropicana Mall Sunway Pyramid The CurveIOI MallPlaza Damas Ikano Power CentreEmpire Subang MetroPointCentro Mall, KlangBangsar Shopping Complex

Hypermarkets (From Saturday noon)

Tesco (Puchong, Kajang, Mutiara Damansara, Rawang, Bukit Tinggi, Setia Alam, Ampang, Extra Shah Alam, Kepong)

Giant (Puchong, Kajang, Bandar Kinrara, Klang, Pandamaran, Bandar Selayang, Kota Damansara, Taman Setiawangsa, Putra Heights, Taman Connaught, Kelana Jaya, Bukit Antarabangsa, Subang Jaya, Bukit Tinggi, Setia Alam, Kota Kemuning)

Carrefour (Bukit Rimau, Subang Jaya, Wangsa Maju, Sri Petaling, Kepong, Puchong, Ampang, Jalan Peel, Jalan Kapar, Bandar Tun Hussein Onn, S23 Shah Alam)

Jusco (Bukit Tinggi, Tmn Maluri, Wangsa Maju, Bandar Baru Klang, Mahkota Cheras)

Commuter Stations (Distribution by hand) – Morning

Sentul – Port KlangPort Klang Bukit Badak Shah Alam Subang JayaJalan TemplerPetaling

Rawang – SerembanKuala Kubu BaruSungai BulohKepong Sentral Kepong

Morning Wet Markets (Saturday morning)Jalan SS2/62 Taman Medan Jalan 17/27SS15 Subang Jaya Taman Kuchai Lama Taman OUG Pasar Taman Megah Pasar Jalan OthmanPasar Jalan 17/2Pasar Sek 14

Pasar Seri Setia SS9A/1Pasar Kg ChempakaTaman Tun Dr Ismail

HospitalForrest Medical Centre

CollegesHelp InstituteCollege Bandar Utama (KBU)Universiti Kebangsan Malaysia

GH5 raises RM60,000 for welfare homesPETALING JAYA:As much as RM60,000 was raised for underprivileged children in the first-ever charity run and dinner by Gasing Hill 5 (GH5) last Sat-urday.

“ The money raised by the non-govern-ment organisation will be channelled to the Ti-Ratana Welfare Home, Rumah Kanak-Kanak Impian and Klang Ozanam Children’s Home.

“We want to do what we can to foster brotherhood among our members and the community,” said organising chairperson Cynthia De Alwis.

About 100 members of GH5 along with children from the welfare homes took part in the 4km charity run in the afternoon.

Subsequently, some 600 guests at-

tended the dance and a nine-course Chinese dinner at SJK(C) Yuk Chai convention hall in Taman Megah.

In conjunction with Earth Hour, the event and its participants turned off the lights and observed a minute of silence before resuming with the programme.

Participants were also encouraged to pack up any unfinished food so that it wouldn’t go to waste.

Although a charity organisation, GH5 has never conducted an event of such a scale, but managed to achieve the feat with its members’ hard work and dedica-tion.

“This is all thanks to sheer dedication, hard work, and we pulled through to-gether,” said De Alwis.

Guests enjoying themselves at the fundraising dinner.

20 april 6 — 8, 2012

food

By Brenda Ch’ng

Give yourself a night off counting c a l o r i e s a n d i n d u l g e i n Morganfield’s promotional lip-

smacking meaty dishes which promise red meat lovers a delectable dinner to remember.

Paired up with classical jazz and blues music resonating through the Europeanised American restaurant, diners can wind down from a stressful day while savouring the scrumptious range of new appetisers and entrees.

Located on the fourth floor of Pavilion Shopping Mall, this non-halal restaurant is tastefully decorated to resemble a bu-colic setting, with bare-brick walls, wine bottles and wooden planks lining the interior.

To match the aesthetically pleasing decor is their new crea-tive appetisers - Bacon Wrapped Meat Balls, Fried Potato Croquettes, Chili Cheese Nachos and Chili Cheese Fries.

From RM14.90 per serving, pa-trons now have the luxury of reliving their childhood hunger for fries with the Chili Cheese Fries and Nachos.

Baked with an abundance of stringy cheese, both nachos and fries are served with a side of Chili Con Carne, a lso known as chili with meat.

Stewed with bell pep-pers, diced meat, beans, tomatoes and spices, the Chili Con Carne acts as a perfect dip for the Mexican tortilla corn chips.

It’s recommended that you top the chip with a generous spoonful of the spicy stew and be surprised with what the crunch and mildly hot meat will do to your taste buds.

However, if chips and fries isn’t really your cup of tea, order up a serving of Fried Potato Croquettes or meatballs instead.

Boiled and mashed to a slight-ly choppy texture, the potatoes are then seasoned and mixed with bacon slices before being rolled into a ball, dipped in beer batter and fried to a crisp.

Thanks to the carbonation of the beer, the batter is fluffier and lighter, making the croquettes golden brown and crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.

To add more flavour, try the fried potatoes with a dip of the classic French garlic aioli sauce, normally made out of mustard, garlic, mayonnaise or egg yolks.

The taste isn’t that garlicky, but goes extremely well with the salt seasoned potato croquettes.

If you are a fan of this, you are sure to love the bacon wrapp e d meat-balls, served with Dijon mustard.

Next , d iners will get to choose f r o m t w o n e w meat inspired en-trees, both served with mashed red-skinned potatoes, buttered vegeta-bles and topped with mustard grain sauce.

First on the list is the chicken rou-lade, which is made up of minced meat

wrapped with boneless chicken thigh and enveloped

with bacon strips.The meat is best eaten with the mustard grain sauce which

is usually made out of white cream sauce, Dijon mustard, garlic and whole grain mustard.

With the combination of two types of mustard whisked together, it forms a thick yet fluff y white texture, giving off a “mus-tardy” taste.

This unique dish should be savoured as a whole, with-out separating the different layers of meat, as then the juices will be intact to add moisture to the tender meat.

The chicken roulade was un l ike any th ing we’ve ever tasted as the many fla-vours coming from the different meats was odd yet pleasant in our mouths.

For those who are less a d v e n t u r o u s , t r y o u t Morganfield’s convention-a l s h o u l d e r c h o p , charbroiled and drizzled

with mustard grain sauce as well.

Grilled to p er f e c t i o n , the meat was just the ideal tenderness, as it wasn’t too tough nor too soft.

A bite into the well sea-soned meat tasted like rosemary, mint and spring time.

It was definitely a hearty yet refreshing dish when compared to the others.

At RM32.90 for each dish, the huge serving of meat is definitely a good buy.

Before ending the journey of meats galore, do make space in your tummies for their special chocolate French Creme Brulee or also known as burnt cream.

Topped with a hard layer of caramel, the chocolate dessert comes served with a homemade chocolate chip cookie which tasted rich in butter.

The Creme Brulee, which is normally served with a rich custard base, is not too sweet, making it a suitable dessert for patrons cutting down on their sugar intake.

Promotions only last until April 30. For more informa-tion, visit their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/morganfieldsmalaysia or call them at 03-2141 3192.

Jazzy fare at Morganfield’sWrapped Meatballs.

Chicken Roulade.

Chili Cheese

Nachos.

Chili Cheese Fries.

Fried Potato Croquettes.

Chocolate Creme Brule.

21april 6 — 8, 2012

leisure

A bespectacled man sits twirling a pen with his fingers at a table near the escalator in MPH at the 1 Utama shopping mall. Few people at the outlet paid heed

to the short-haired Chinese wearing steel rimmed glasses sitting in front of a table filled with books with green-yellow covers.

Not many readers knew that Tan Twan Eng was nomi-nated for the Man Booker Prize 2007 for his debut novel The Gift of Rain.

On a Sunday, when families were out window-shopping or enjoying an outing at the shopping complex, Tan had arrived for an autograph-signing session at noon to promote his second novel, The Garden of Evening Mists. It was released barely two weeks ago.

Even though Tan, 40, is presently operating from Cape Town, South Africa, he returns home regularly. He left Kuala Lumpur 12 years ago when he was 27 years old.

Somehow, the mild, wet winters and dry, warm summers of Cape Town agree with him and Tan finds the home-away-from-home totally in congruence with his chosen lifestyle.

His early years were spent in Penang where he was born. Naturally, he comes from a Hokkien-speaking household but his family moved to Kuala Lumpur when he was six.

In his teenage years, his alma mater was the Catholic High School in Petaling Jaya. By the time, he was ready to enter the corporate world, he had already earned a law degree from the University of London.

Years of working as a lawyer in KL did not give Tan the satisfaction or the fulfillment he craved. At the dawn of the 21st century, Tan made a life-altering decision and jour-neyed to South Africa.

It was there that he decided to pursue a Masters in law or LLM. Ironically, his area of specialty was shipping law.

He took his time and a few years down the road, he added another sterling academic achievement to his resume.

By then, the inner calling to be a writer proved to be too strong in his heart and too loud in his head to be ignored. Finally, he succumbed to his heart’s desire and started lay-ing the groundwork for The Gift of Rain.

From gestation to birth, the literary journey took three years. It culminated in his agent sending him an urgent email one day with the word “congratulations”.

Tan’s climatic success with his debut novel The Gift of Rain had landed him a nomination for the Man Booker Prize Award. Although he didn’t win the u l t i m a t e prize, the joy o f h a v i n g made honour-able mention wa s a p r i z e beyond meas-ure.

The Gift of Rain has since won accolades f r o m T h e L o n d o n Times, BBC Radio to the US Philadel-phia Inquirer and Publish-ers Weekly.

Altogether there were no fewer than 16 compl imen-tary mentions from newspa-pers, journals and magazines across the world.

The Gift of Rain tells the story of a family in Penang caught up in the throes of Japanese occupation in war-torn Malaya. The main character is Philip Hutton, an offspring of a Chinese mother and an English father.

Just before the Japanese army invaded Malaya, Philip befriended a quiet and mysterious Japanese man, Endo. In truth, Endo was a spy assigned to gather geographical and tactical information to expedite the invasion led by Japanese Imperial Army General Tomoyuki Yamashita.

As an impressionable young man, Philip finds Endo a fascinating father figure who teaches the Japanese martial

arts aikido, its phi-losophy and the art of bushido.

By the time, the Japanese army gained total control of Ma-laya, Philip’s life and Endo’s true identity became inextricably intertwined.

Loyalty to his sen-sei and love for his family and friends were at dire odds and Philip was caught in the perfect political storm of Japanese brutality, British mil-itary impotence and Malayan subversion.

It is a tale woven into the tapestry of Japanese- occupie d Malaya and told in great colourful detail b y a m a n w h o shouldn’t have any inkling of those tragic

and miserable times since he was born in the early 1970s.But as a testament to his excellent writing skills and

powerful imagination, Tan has managed to capture the essence of a period in this country when a momentary lapse of good judgment by an innocent citizen would mean death

by bullet or by the merciless swing of a Japanese sword.When I told Tan how much I enjoyed reading The Gift

of Rain, he replied with a twinkle in his eye that his newly-released The Garden of Evening Mists was even better.

This book also took about three years to complete. It found its way into the book shops in February.

Currently, he is thinking of a third novel but like his first two novels, the blueprint is still in a hazy stage of construc-tion. Like some successful writers, he prefers to follow the flow of a particular story as it meanders along the rivers of his mind.

Tan has been back in Malaysia since November 2011. Before he returns to Cape Town, probably in April, he will be making numerous appearances to promote his new novel.

“I usually spend about four to five months on the road promoting a new book,” said Tan.

Work to this youthful former lawyer means a regime of nine-to-five, Monday-to-Friday writing, planning and do-ing research on his next project. Only weekends are re-laxation and recuperation.

Most writers lead ordinary or even boring lives, Tan said candidly. The reward understandably is when a book has been published to his and the editor’s satisfaction.

For the time being, Tan sees himself fully devoting all his time to writing. In fact, he vows to continue to plod along this route for the duration of his natural life.

He does not see marriage and family intruding in his personal charted course.

His total dedication to the pursuit of literary excellence comes with sacrifices that Tan is most willing to make. Perhaps that’s what separates the successful authors from the ordinary writers.

His debut novel has been a major success outside the shores of Malaysia. Whether his second book will enjoy the same level of success remains to be seen.

Tan Twan Eng is one of those rare individuals who pos-sess the kind of mindset that transforms ordinary indi-viduals into champions. He really doesn’t need luck. He makes his own.

Tan’s literary gift to MalaysiaTan Twan Eng is a rare Malaysian who has entered the hallowed halls of literary excellence. LIN ZHENYUAN speaks to the writer who found fame with The Gift of Rain.

The Gift of Rain and The Garden of Evening Mists each took three years to complete.

The author at his book promotion event in MPH at One Utama.

22 April 6 — 8, 2012

Gallery

One of the two judges observing and scoring the contesting magpie robins at the Ampang Magpie Robins Association’s inaugural contest in Taman Bukit Teratai last Sunday morning. Some 30 enthusiasts took part in the event.

Cempaka state lawmaker

Iskandar Samad distributing new bins to

residents at flats around Jalan 33,

Pandan Indah.

Selat Klang state lawmaker Dr Halimah Ali giving a donation to diabetes patient Rodiah Saad, 55, from Kampung Delek in the aftermath of flash floods in Klang last week.

Hulu Kelang assemblyperson Saari Sungib giving out schoolbags to 90 students of SRJK (T) Taman Melawati last Wednesday. Looking on is headmistress P Ponnammah. The state government allocated 1,000 schoolbags to each state community service centre to be given out to children between six and 12 years.

Selayang member of Parliament William Leong (standing, centre) with 102 beneficiaries of Selangor’s Welfare Scheme for the Elderly (SMUE) at the D’ Manggis Cafe in Kuang recently.

23april 6 — 8, 2012

culture

My Acoustic Affair

Music: April 7 (6pm); Bentley Music Auditorium, Mutiara Damansara; http://myacousticaffair.weebly.com/; RM55.

Get ready for ‘My Acoustic Affair’ on Saturday at the Bentley Music Auditorium, Mutiara Damansara from 6pm onwards. My Acoustic Affair is a platform for known and new generation artists or musicians who want to take their craft to the next level. The concert promises an acoustic show that will surely “get you off your seats”! Performing in the first series will be melodic metalcore band Massacre Conspiracy, singer songwriter Liyana Fizi, indie pop band Couple and upcoming local youtube sensation Iamneeta and soul funk band Friday King Road.Freestanding concert tickets are available now at any Rock Corner outlets and at Bentley Music Auditorium on event day.

Cameronian Arts Awards 2012

Awards: April 10 (4pm) & April 29 (8pm); www.kakiseni.com.

The annual Boh Cameronian Arts Awards 2012 is back in its ninth edition. Sponsored by Boh and organized by kakiseni.com, the annual affair celebrates the best in local arts with this year’s theme revolving around “The Roaring 20s”.

Corporal PunishmentPlay: April 11-15; Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre, KL; 03-40479000; www.klpac.org/; RM23-RM33.

A play on the theme of puns and wordplay, Corporal Punishment, is set in an abysmally serious world where pun-crafting and joke-cracking will earn you jail timeThe tale revolves around TL, who faces many difficulties in life due to the clash

between his propensity for humour and the (literally) serious world he lives in. He then comes across the legend of the Pundora’s box: a long-forgotten ancient relic which, according to the myth, would turn this otherwise boring world upside down. Corporal PUNishment sees TL embarking on an epic adventure with his companions, overcoming the odds that inevitably stand in their way. But, what awaits them inside the the box? Could it be the long forgotten sense of humour? Or could it be a global PUNdemic that will change the(ir) world forever? We don’t know either. We haven’t written that part of the script yet. The concept and story is by Freddy Tan and Uihua.

CalENDar

By Dominic Luk

It isn’t easy putting up a stage show or producing an entire film. So much work needs to be done. And if you think a lot of magic happens on stage,

wait till you find out what really happens backstage; it’s really a different “show” altogether.

So, when two enthusiastic young Malaysians, Nick Dorian and Sharon Lam, started working on a project to expose what happens behind the scenes of our local shows, I decided to meet up with them and find out what happens backstage in their online video show called….. The Backstage Life.

The Backstage Life makes their videos available to the public through their Youtube channel (youtube.com/candidproductionsmy). They have produced nine episodes. It’s a great way to learn about the people who bring us local shows, and to see what it’s like being part of this industry.

I started by asking the duo the s implest question: Why?

The project s t a r t e d i n November last year, with the i n t e n t i o n t o c rea te more a w a r e n e s s of the shows p r o d u c e d loca l ly. N ick a n d S h a r o n j u s t w a n t people all over the country to appreciate the local performing arts scene more by understanding how much work is put in, and the fun of producing a show.

According to Nick, countries like the US and in the UK have dedicated TV channels about stage shows in their countries, so why not start something like this in Malaysia, albeit on a smaller scale.

Sharon, who used to work for a magazine, realized that many people visiting Malaysia do ask about what’s showing and how they can find out more about the

shows. The Backstage Life aims to cater to help visitors as well as those living in our country to have a taste of what’s currently showing, and to meet the awesome people behind it all.

I was curious about how widespread The Backstage Life has become since their first episode. Both Nick and Sharon agree that they are not very popular yet, but hope that as the months pass and more episodes get released, they will eventually have a good following – and maybe even become an actual show on our local TV channels.

They added that it is difficult to reach out to more people for now apart from theatre practitioners and active theatre-goers, but were pleasantly amused when an unknown viewer contacted them to ask some questions about a show they featured in one of their episodes.

Since its inception, The Backstage Life has c o v e re d s h o w s l i k e M a l a y s i a n Girls, Boom, and Dead Man’s Cell Phone, and have even interviewed c e l e b r i t i e s l i k e Tony Eusoff. The show is very casual and fun, and Nick insists that it will remain like that for as long as he is alive.

H o s t e d b y S h a r o n a n d Nick, the show is entertaining with lots of humor, and more importantly, it’s never dull and

serious. In other words, they want their viewers to see them and the people they talk to as who they really are: people who do what they love and love what they do.

Nick and Sharon are encouraging Malaysians to join in the fun by watching the episodes and to support local talents.

Be sure to catch them on their online channel, and even drop them an e-mail at [email protected] if you feel like telling them what you think about The Backstage Life.

The Backstage Life

Published by Selangor State Government and printed by Dasar Cetak (M) Sdn Bhd No. 7, Persiaran Selangor, Seksyen 15, 40000, Shah Alam, Selangor Darul Ehsan.

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Selangor Times April 5

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