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Official dedication of memorial to James Logan

Anil Netto
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The James Logan memorial was officially dedicated on 20 October 2009 in front of the High Court building in Penang.


Photos by Anil and Logan family

Some Penang residents might know James Logan as a colonial-era lawyer (who took up the cause of the underdog against officialdom) and newspaper proprietor. Few, however, realise that he was also a brilliant geologist who coined the term Indonesia. James and his brother Abraham are buried at the same spot in the Protestant Cemetery nearby.

Among those involved in the dedication were “the doyen of the Penang Bar” Lim Kean Chye, High Court Judge John Louis O’Hara, representatives of the Penang Bar, the new Penang Heritage Trust president Khoo Salma Nasution and other heritage activists.

The last three photos in the slideshow above are of Abraham’s grandson, Robert A Logan (1900-1994), who was head of the English College in Johor Bahru.

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Twist, shake and laugh with the Aliran Singers

Anil Netto
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The Aliran Singers had a whole lot of fun with their musical spoofs of Malaysian politics at the Aliran dinner last night in front of some 600 diners at the Moral Uplifting Hall in Penang.


The Aliran Singers and Pete Teo entertain diners – Photos by Wartawan Rasmi Laman Reformasi and L Lai

Guest star Pete Teo of 15Malaysia fame added glitter to the event with his ballads and rock number.

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Second privatisation wave: Now that’s scary…

Anil Netto
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I was paying only casual attention while Najib droned on over the radio when tabling his Budget in Parliament yesterday.

But my ears pricked up when he mentioned a “second wave of privatisation”.

The Bernama headline says it all: ‘Companies Under MOF Inc And Other Viable Agencies To Be Privatise’ (sic).

Why only the viable agencies? Is this going to be more of “privatisation of profits and socialisation of losses” – at the expense of the Malaysian public?

The first thing that crossed my mind was: which cash cow is going to be handed over to which crony now? Don’t tell me they are going ahead with plans to privatise cash cow Plus Expressways Bhd, which is owned by Khazanah (24 per cent directly and 40 per cent indirectly).

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Sarawak’s “cure for cancer”

Anil Netto
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Don’t believe it?

Then what do you make of this report published in that oracle of truth, the Borneo Post?

State’s very own cure for cancer

A herbal compound for cancer treatment could soon be mass-produced by Sarawak. Ministry of Planning and Resource Management deputy permanent secretary Datu Len Talif Salleh said the state had so far raised 300,000 seedlings of the herbal plant that contains the needed ingredient.

Full report here.

Len adds that the ministry is currently working together with the Sarawak Biodiversity Centre and the private sector to develop the herbal planting sector into another major revenue source for the state.

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Pas EGM to weed out “problematic” leaders?

Anil Netto
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Nik Aziz now wants an EGM so that “problematic” Pas leaders, who have been largely blamed for the party’s Bagan Pinang setback, can be ousted.

It’s not a moment too soon. These problematic leaders have certainly damaged the party’s image.

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25 bungalows on Penang Turf Club site

Anil Netto
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The Penang Turf Club is to build 25 bungalows in a RM30 million project which it hopes will generate close to RM2 million annually in rental income.

The bungalows will be built on 5.6 acres of land on the fringe of the racecourse.

Presumably this is on the same land which the Koh administration scandalously rezoned from recreational land to new or mixed development land – which was eventually slated for Patrick Lim’s outrageous Penang Global City Centre project.

I just wonder what was stopping the Penang local government from re-zoning it back to recreational land use after the PGCC project failed to take off.

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Another public space lost?

Anil Netto
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Something is happening in front of the Dewan Sri Pinang on the quiet. Why is it that we seem to be losing many of our public spaces?

Dewan Sri
Palm trees are chopped down and fencing sprouts up instead: Another open space lost? – Photos by Anil

It so happens that this is the same area where the Abolish ISA candlelight vigils were held in September and October 2008. Perhaps the local government can tell us what is going on here.

Check out the photo below taken just over a year ago and compare and contrast.

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Mara college’s expensive laptops

Anil Netto
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Some might consider RM4,000 or RM5,000 for a laptop to be a bit pricey – but what do you think of RM42,320 for a laptop?

That’s what Kolej Kemahiran Tinggi Mara Balik Pulau in Penang reportedly paid for Acer laptops.

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It’s a boy!

Anil Netto
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It turns out that an earlier mid-air medical emergency caused the delay in departure of the Air Asia flight from Kuching to Penang last night.

The plane, on an earlier flight from Penang to Kuching, was forced to divert to KLIA after a woman on board went into labour, according to a passenger.

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Disgruntled Air Asia passenger

Anil Netto
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Just got a called from someone I know who was supposed to be on an Air Asia flight (AK605) from Kuching to Penang departing at 9.05pm.

Now the flight has been delayed to 10.45pm. And it’s not the first time this is happening to him.

By the time he reaches Penang it will be well past midnight – so the taxi fare to his home will now cost over RM100 instead of the usual RM65. And then there is the lost sleep.

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