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Berjaya-owned Sun spotlights sports betting

Anil Netto
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12

Of late, the Berjaya-owned Sun newspaper has been highlighting the issue of sports betting and illegal betting syndicates. It’s news coverage, however, should be seen in the light of who owns the free tabloid.

On 15 June, the paper front-paged Mahathir’s dismissal of opposition protests on the issue with the headline “It’s all politics”.

The following day, the paper wheeled out ex-Magnum director and former Anwar ally S Nallukarupan with the headline “Anwar’s ploy”. Nalla lashed out at Anwar, saying “the issue has been manipulated by PKR for political mileage”. Keshwinder’s defection was sidelined to the left-hand column of the front-page.

Today’s Sun frontpages the arrests of 10 people for running illegal online betting on World Cup football matches.

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Leaning Arch: Now you can’t measure the tilt!

Anil Netto
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Talk about a cover up! Someone has just put up a barrier around the ‘Leaning Arch of Penang’ after the revelation yesterday that its tilt has worsened.

Notice that the fencing is not to protect the unsuspecting public from danger in case the arch collapses (it is too small for that). But it appears aimed at blocking Penang’s newest ‘tourist attraction’ from further public scrutiny.

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Leaning Arch of Penang: A poem

Anil Netto
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Blog reader, cheahst, was so ‘inspired’ by the ‘Arc of Folly’ (as he calls it)  in Penang that he immediately penned a poem.

what could be more beautiful or symbolic…
than a slowly tilting crumbling arch.
representing all the trespass, all the folly,
of governance in decline.

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Canadian property market receives lift

Anil Netto
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Hey, maybe I shouldn’t have gone into journalism.

Perhaps I should have gone into politics or property investment.

Then I would be interested in some of these exclusive properties displayed on the Sarawak Report website.

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Penang Botanic Garden arch leans further

Anil Netto
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Who needs the Leaning Tower of Pisa when we have the Leaning Arch of Penang!

To find out once and for all whether one of the two arches there is really leaning, ‘someone’ set up two plumb lines last night at the arch.

He found that not only is the arch tilting dangerously, it has worsened since the use of the theodolite in early May. It was then five inches off the vertical, but is now 15 inches.

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Bruised last year, Keshwinder ‘sees the light’

Anil Netto
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50

Another one bites the dust – or rather leaps across the political divide. This time from the DAP, showing that the party-hopping syndrome is not confined to the PKR.

In the video clip, at 6:07, a man in dark attire, with an audio device on his ear, steps forward to remove what looks like the prepared statement from the table in front of  Keshwinder. Another blog reader watching Bernama news over Astro at 6.00pm noticed that the three men-in-black with Keshvinder appeared to be ‘in control’ of the press conference. Mkini reported that they were ‘bodyguards’, one of whom revealed that they work for a ‘Hamidah’.

What makes Keshwinder Singh’s hopping over to Zambry all the more intriguing is that it was just over nine months ago that the Malim Nawar Adun suffered a hard knock on the head when he was among Pakatan reps who tried to attend a Perak State Assembly sitting on 2 September 2009.

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Going bananas in Zimbabwe

Anil Netto
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3

I cannot for the life of me imagine why any businessman would want to invest in Zimbabwe.

Look what happened to one such business venture, a Malaysian-Dutch firm Matanuska, which had its banana plantation seized by a retired army general-turned-Zimbabwe’s ambassador to Tanzania.

Perhaps Matanuska thought its interests would be protected by Zimbabwe’s Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (Bippa) with Malaysia. Under this agreement, the firm was reportedly offered land but not title to the land. Or maybe they thought Malaysia enjoyed a special relationship with Zimbabwe!

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Mahathir, radioactive waste and Papan

Anil Netto
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14

While Malaysia has big plans to go into nuclear energy, it is still grappling with radioactive waste from the Asian Rare Earth facility in Papan more than 20 years ago.

The Sunday Star carried an excellent write-up on Papan here. (Too bad it was not a cover story but instead appeared deep in its inside pages.) Aliran also carried a story here. In both pieces, Mahathir’s claims on the real situation there have been exposed. During his administration, folks were arrested under the ISA for standing up to protect their area from radioactive waste. It is only in recent years that action is being taken to reduce the danger. Now, the real story emerges. What has Mahathir got to say to those folks who were unjustly detained under the ISA and the rest of the Papan residents who were put at risk?

BN leaders with short memories are now talking about going into nuclear energy.

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Alert: Wild swing in Botanic arches poll result

Anil Netto
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UPDATE: Polling closed at 5.30pm sharp on 15 June 2010.
Just before it closed, it was 9,608 (about 66 per cent) saying No to the arches and 4,981 (about 34 per cent) saying Yes.

URGENT ALERT: The percentage of those saying No to the arches in Penang Botanic Garden has inexplicably plunged in a poll hosted on the Tourism Ministry’s website.


Caught in the act: See how the poll results appear to be manipulated

From 91 per cent who said ‘No’ to the arches a few days ago, it is now only 54 50 48 per saying ‘No’. That is an unbelievably sharp drop in the percentage opposing the arches in just a matter of days. When observed, in the space of an hour on a Sunday afternoon (today), over 200 more “Yes-es” were recorded in favour of the arches. And that’s just in an hour.

The poll may close anytime soon and then the government might use the final result to justify its decision on whether the arches should stay or go. So make sure you vote now before it’s too late.

Here’s your chance to tell the government whether those large arches at the Penang Botanic Garden – one of which is believed to be tilting – should be removed.


The Tourism Ministry is carrying out a poll on its website. But be careful, you are asked whether those arches should remain.

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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-06-13

Anil Netto
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  • Urgent alert: From 91% against the Botanic Garden arches a few days ago, it is now only 47% saying No. Vote now… http://fb.me/zlMr5WZD #
  • Urgent alert: From 91% against the Botanic Garden arches a few days ago, it is now only 47% saying No. Vote now http://bit.ly/a6Uqx0 #
  • Urgent: Wild swing in Tourism Ministry poll on Botanic Garden arches. Quick, have you voted? Pass the word around http://bit.ly/9TMPGa #
  • Yeah right! RT @tianchua: Donald Lim: Govt hasn't issued licence, Ascot only rcvd approval letter; he said this letter not same as licence. #
  • RT @limkitsiang: Great news ! Sedition charge agnst DAP National Chairman Karpal Singh dismissed by KL High Court… http://fb.me/yjdBVIeO #
  • RT @limkitsiang: Great news! Sedition charge agnst DAP National Chairman Karpal Singh dismissed by KL High Court – no defence called. #
  • Yes, that's going full-steam ahead for obvious reasons! RT @alleviatealex: @anilnetto it is still a HOT item for SCORE in Sarawak #
  • Btw, you don't hear much about economic 'corridors' these days, do you? Same fate as MSC? #
  • Grand 10MP ideas: So how much is the "leakage" for all this going to be? #
  • Aren't all universities supposed to be doing lots of research? RT @Khairykj: UTM announced as research university. #10MP #
  • Parks Dept officers have taken away the 2 caged monkeys at Dewan Sri Pinang. They are to be transferred to Malacca Zoo. #
  • Merdeka Centre says Najib's "approval rating" rose from 69% in April to 72% now. Someone forgot to tell Sibu voters. http://fb.me/AivCBiRb #
  • Roundtable on Indian scholarship distrbtn at Senators Lounge, Parliament disrupted earlier by xchange of words, ruckus between BN/PR reps. #
  • Like sports betting. 1st say already decided, now still mulling RT @mpoobalan: @anilnetto new p'ment cost Rm800 mil. Cabinet still mulling. #
  • RMM800m! gulp RT @TriciaYeoh: Oh but wait. Nazri says … preserve the current one as a heritage building. New one costs RM800 million. #
  • Can you do something about this? RT @Khairykj: Parliament .. extensive refurbishment couple of years back. doesn't require relocation. #
  • So how many million/billion will the new Parliament cost? And which company will get the job? #
  • Just who decides on these fancy schemes to relocate Parliament at a time like this? After sports betting, now this! #
  • Well said, Khairy! but will they listen? RT @Khairykj: disagrees w/ building a new Parliament in Putrajaya…Money can be better spent .. #
  • Saiful – The chronology (updated). Quite fascinating. http://bit.ly/9wkQ9K #
  • Another big construction job for the boys? I thought govt got no money? RT @TriciaYeoh: Parliament confirmed to be built in Putrajaya. #
  • Should Penang Botanic Garden arches be removed?: Vote now on poll on Tourism Ministry website http://bit.ly/a6Uqx0 #
  • RT @tianchua: Fin.Min. now say Vincent Tan has not recvd the greenlight to start sport betting. This morning, Home Ministr said othrwise. #
  • Renewed fears of double-dip recession; disappointing US jobs data released on Friday http://bit.ly/aIMLQP #
  • U know & I know who's benefited most. RT @Khairykj: @anilnetto Redistribution programs have to be overhauled. Proper means-test introduced. #
  • Ok why is our gini coefficient, debt so high? Where's all the $ gone? @Khairykj: @anilnetto Sure. I will gladly discuss income disparity. #
  • Let's talk about Gini coefficient and income disparity RT @Khairykj: @anilnetto This is about Facebook accounts lah. Out of topic. #
  • Yes, but who's getting all the wealth? RT @Khairykj: Per capita we're up there. #yo … RT @gen Fastest Growing Asian Countries … #
  • Heard that bright green hoarding put up all around Bambusetam in Penang Botanic Garden. No consultation. What's happening? #
  • Govt promoting nuclear energy RT @tianchua: PeterChin: Nuke is safe, 3Mile Island was old military tech … Nuke generator is cheaper. #
  • WHO scientists linked to vaccine makers. No wonder they declared H1N1 'pandemic'. What a scam! http://bit.ly/cu5C97 #
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