The future lies with the younger politicians and the acceptance of ‘new politics’, says Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar, who burst onto the political scene as ‘Puteri Reformasi’ a decade ago.
Trusting ‘the Other’
A friend of mine, Philip, a Chinese Malaysian, phoned earlier this week and shared with me a few anecdotes of his encounters with his fellow Malaysians, who happened to be Malay, during life-threatening situations.
When he was stricken with a severe bout of dengue fever some time ago, it was a Malay doctor, Dr Salleh, at a private hospital who went out of his way – beyond the call of duty – and stayed back after office hours to care for him. It was only after Dr Salleh was sure that Philip was out of danger that he returned home.
Philip also recalled the occasion when his son was suffering from an acute bout of meningitis. It was a female Malay doctor at Hospital UKM who recommended and performed a lumbar puncture procedure. “I entrusted my son, the joy of my life, to her professional care, and she did not let me down.”
Syabas slaps Selangor govt with RM339m claim
The Selangor state government has received a letter of demand for RM339 million for its refusal to allow a hike in water tariffs last year.
The compensation claim was contained in a letter from the lawyers of Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (Syabas), Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim revealed in a statement this evening. The letter gave the Selangor government 14 days to pay up.
Syabas is 70 per cent owned by Puncak Niaga Holdings Bhd, which is in turn 41 per cent controlled by Puncak Niaga executive chairman Rozali Ismail. According to Puncak Niaga’s Annual Report for 2008, directors’ earnings for the Puncak Niaga group totalled RM11.6 million for the year with the highest paid director earning more than RM5.7 million.
200 Felda settlers turn up at Suhakam
1530: Felda settlers, who have contributed much to the nation’s economy, pour into the Sukaham building to highlight their plight.
1415: Scores of Felda settlers have turned up at Suhakam to submit a memorandum listing out their problems and demands.
On Facebook now
For those of you into social networking, I have just set up a Facebook presence; so you can find me there now.
Check out the ‘gang’ already there.
Another Big Pharma scandal erupts
Barely has the dust settled on the Celebrex research fabrication fiasco before another Big Pharma scandal has erupted. This time it centres on the diabetes drug Avandia, manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline.
US Senators have published a damning report linking Avandia (rosiglitazone) to heart attacks and deaths while two drug safety reviewers have recommended that it be pulled from the market. “At a July 30, 2007, safety panel on Avandia, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) scientists presented an analysis estimating that Avandia use was associated with approximately 83,000 excess heart attacks since the drug came on the market.”
Even more shocking (actually not so shocking-lah), the Senate Finance Committee report suggested that GSK was aware of the cardiac risks associated with Avandia years before the evidence became public.
We need more pedestrian walkways like this
If only we could have more tree-lined pedestrian walkways like this all over Penang and indeed other urban centres in Malaysia. It is not impossible as this project clearly shows.
This spacious tree-lined pavement along the Esplanade is a good example of an accessible pedestrian walkway.
It is located opposite the Penang state assembly building and was upgraded recently as a commitment by the Penang Island Municipal Council (MPPP) to improve accessibility in the heritage area.
The improvements in the walkway were recommended by a UNDP-Government of Malaysia project on Accessible Public Transport. Some RM70,000 was spent by the MPPP in 2009 on enhancing the path. If more of the recommendations are implemented, Penang would have a very accessible pedestrian network around the heritage area.
Second Penang bridge: Foresight – or folly?
Spotted this letter in theSun today about the second Penang bridge (now in the preliminary stages of construction). It mirrors my thoughts exactly.
Penang’s roads are already congested during peak hours, Friday and Saturday evenings, and festive periods – and that is with three lanes of traffic along the newly widened Penang Bridge pouring into the island. What happens when the second bridge creates two or three additional lanes of vehicles flowing into the island?
No need for second link
I AM a resident of Penang Island and a regular user of the Penang Bridge. Every day the traffic report on the radio nearly always has the same good news for users of the bridge like me: “Clear on both lanes and at the entry and exit points both on the mainland and on the island.”
Ku Li says no 3-mile limit for offshore oil royalty
Refuting a government ad blitz, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah insists that oil-producing states are entitled to a 5 per cent payment on all oil extracted, whether onshore or offshore.
There is no such thing as a 3-nautical mile limit, he writes in his latest blog entry.
The Information Ministry’s full page advertisements in the major Malay newspapers had argued that Kelantan has no right to oil payments under the Petroleum Development Act because its oil resources fall outside the 3-nautical mile limit that delimits state versus federal jurisdictions.
Razaleigh counters:
The advertisement fails to point out that almost all the oil found in Malaysia is located more than 3 nautical miles offshore, and Petronas has nevertheless been making oil payments to the states. By the argument deployed in the advertisement, Terengganu, Sabah and Sarawak too are not entitled to the “cash payments” of 5% of profit oil (commonly and a little inaccurately referred to as “oil royalties”). Everything is at the arbitrary behest of the Federal Government.
Save the tigers
In this Year of the Tiger, let’s do something to save endangered tigers. The culprits in the video below are just the small fry: it’s the middlemen who make the most profits.
Read the full Channel 4 report here.