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KDN says it never prohibited Bahasa in Herald…

Anil Netto
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10

… but the latest Herald edition just out this weekend comes without the usual eight-page Malay supplement. And that’s thanks to a Home Ministry (KDN) letter at the end of last year, prohibiting the paper from publishing in Malay until the court decides if it can use the term “Allah”.

A subsequent KDN letter reversed the ban – but still left a couple of conditions intact – after the Archbishop had sent a letter to the Home Ministry, giving it seven days to think about the ban.

Wonder if all this back-tracking has anything to do with the by-election in Kuala Terengganu.

The Malay supplement is expected to resume next week – but will the Church drop the use of the term “Allah” pending a court decision on the matter, as the KDN would like?

This report from The Star today:

Govt not against ‘Herald’ publishing in BM

PETALING JAYA: The Home Ministry has never prohibited the use of Bahasa Malaysia in the Roman Catholic Church’s publication Herald.

“The Ministry is only against the use of the word ‘Allah’ to refer to God.

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The 4 Nov raid on Gaza

Anil Netto
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23

This is one aspect of the current situation in Gaza, Palestine, that was not adequately covered by much of the mainstream media. It helps explain why the ceasefire, which had held for four and a half months, unravelled. The death toll in Gaza now stands at 771, including 189 children and 58 women.

US-MIDEAST: Media Eyeless in Gaza at Key Moment

By Jim Lobe and Ali Gharib

WASHINGTON, Jan 7 (IPS) – Consumed by coverage of the Nov. 4 presidential election, U.S. mainstream media ignored a key Israeli military attack on a Hamas target that some Palestinians claim marked the effective end of the ceasefire between the two sides and set the stage for the current round of bloodletting.

While the major U.S. news wire Associated Press (AP) reported that the attack, in which six members of Hamas’s military wing were killed by Israeli ground forces, threatened the ceasefire, its report was carried by only a handful of small newspapers around the country.

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Mysterious mass fish deaths along Rajang River

Anil Netto
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0

How did these fish die along a stretch of the Rajang River?

The NREB should check on the siltation levels in the river. Have the levels increased after heavy rains or storms? Was there a  sudden mud-flow which could have covered the fish gills with mud and silt or stirred up other sedimentation? If so, what caused the heavier siltation or mud flow?

The Borneo Post Online – http://www.theborneopost.com –

NREB investigating cause of dead fish
Posted By rajlira On 6th January 2009 @ 10:00 In Local

KUCHING: The Natural Resources and Environmental Board (NREB) yesterday began investi-gating the cause behind the huge number of dead fish floating in the Rajang River between Long Murum in Upper Belaga and Kapit.

NREB Controller Dr Penguang Manggil said in a phone interview the investigation was expected to take “a few days”.

He stressed it was still too early to determine the cause of the problem. “At the moment, we can’t pinpoint (the cause) and nobody can tell what exactly is the cause until an investigation is carried out.”

Penguang explained that the investigation would include taking water samples from the river for analysis.

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Anti-war candlelight vigils on Sat night

Anil Netto
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“Last night I had the strangest dream”

Candle light vigils in solidarity with victims of war in the Middle East and elsewhere will be held in major cities on Saturday night, 10 January. It is being organised by the Anti-War Coalition/Gabungan Anti-Perang (GAP)

Penang
Time: 8.30pm
Venue: In front of Dewan Sri Pinang
Contact persons: Chon Kai 019-5669518; Kris 016-3337678

Other vigils are expected to be held in JB, Ipoh and KL.

George Town: Heritage conservation for whom?

Anil Netto
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15

Himanshu Bhatt, writing in theSun, worries that George Town’s traditional residents are being forced out by boutique hotels, pubs and restaurants. Whatever happened to the Heritage Master Plan, which stresses the importance of preserving the living culture and traditional trades of the historical city, he wonders.

All brick and no soul

by Himanshu Bhatt

IN NOVEMBER 1999, I was covering the general elections as a reporter for theSun, when I watched Lim Kit Siang campaign vigorously on a small lorry parked in the compound of the 19th century Khoo Kongsi – the grandest Chinese clan enclave in the country.

Surveying the audience before him, the DAP secretary-general exhorted the enclave’s residents on the ills of the impending Rent Control Act repeal, which was threatening to displace them from their inner-city homes in George Town.

If Lim were to visit the Khoo Kongsi today, he would find that none of the residents he had preached to that night are still around. They were all told to leave once the repeal was made effective.

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Govt lifts ban on Herald’s Malay supplement, but…

Anil Netto
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13

The government has reversed its short-lived ban on the Herald’s Malay language supplement – but the weekly Catholic tabloid will still not be able to use the term “Allah” pending a court decision on the matter.

The decision was verbally conveyed by the Home Ministry to the Catholic Church today and a letter is expected to reach the Church tomorrow.

But three other conditions are likely to remain:

  • a ban on the use of three other terms that are also used in Islam;
  • a ban on the sale of the paper outside church premises (which is unnecessary as the paper is only sold or distributed in churches across the country); and
  • a requirement that the front page should indicate that the paper is for non-Muslims only (which is again redundant as the paper is sold only in churches, and the masthead already indicates that it is a Catholic weekly.
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A RM38 billion bridge from Malacca to Sumatra?

Anil Netto
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40

It’s the silly season again.

The takeover of IJN (thankfully aborted).

The proposed Sime Darby-Air Asia airport in Negri Sembilan.

Not to be left out, the Malacca government has suggested a fanciful RM38 billion 52km bridge from Malacca to Sumatra.

The bridge proposal is of course a resurrection of the old Mahathir administration’s ‘brainwave’ of a Malaysia-Sumatra bridge, which was fortunately scrapped with the onset of the East Asian financial crisis in 1997.

If I remember correctly, the estimated cost mentioned back then was RM60 billion?

These guys don’t know the meaning of sustainable transport and global warming, much less ‘opportunity cost’.  At least Najib is smart enough to say the ferry service is sufficient. He says a feasibility study is needed first to evaluate this “bright” idea.

Says blog reader Ganesh:

Look at this brilliant idea. Only BN can think of it. The people here are suffering … and we want to spend RM38 billion on a bridge? With RM38 billion, we can lift every poor person in Malaysia to middle-class level.

This report from the NST:

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Aborted IJN takeover a victory for People Power

Anil Netto
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13

Sime Darby’s decision to call off its takeover of the government-owned National Heart Institute (IJN) is a stunning victory for People Power.

The rakyat have spoken. Ordinary people, through their vocal opposition to the proposal, have defeated a plan put forward by the largest oil palm plantation firm in the world, which is also one of Malaysia’s most powerful conglomerates.

In a poll on this blog of over 800 respondents, 96 per cent of you were against the takeover, reflecting widespread public opposition to the move.

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Petrol price down; electricity tariffs still the same

Anil Netto
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23

The crude oil price is now close to US$50 per barrel. The price of natural gas has plunged since July 2008. Coal, which at one time was US$192/tonne, is now hovering around US$80/tonne.

Earlier when the prices were soaring, Tenaga Nasional hiked its electricity tariffs on 1 July 2008.

The electricity tariff hike was to cover the gas price increase and to partially offset the rise in coal prices, which had also gone up 170% since 2007, said the TNB chief back then.

Now that fuel prices have fallen, blog reader Desmond is wondering why TNB hasn’t reduced its rates.

When the fuel price went up, Tenaga said their cost had gone up and it hiked the electricity tariff.

Now petrol and gas prices have dropped and even fuel oil and transport costs, shipping charges for coal delivery, and the price of coal itself has gone down in the world markets but why is the Tenaga electricity tariff still so high when it should have gone down as well?

Something is not right here.

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High-rise hotels in world heritage zone to proceed

Anil Netto
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15

Sigh…. good luck to George Town and its heritage conservation. Looks as if the state government has already made up its mind to give the green light to the four projects. Why am I not surprised.

The state government says these hotels are needed to stave off the recession. But it forgets that tourism is a major revenue earner for Penang, and visitors don’t come to George Town to check out its boutique hotels. Rather, they are drawn to the historical character of the place. Once that is gone, George Town becomes just like any other city in this region.

This excerpt from a Business Times report:

Penang hotel projects on, Unesco guidelines awaited
By Marina Emmanuel
marinae@nstp.com.my

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng yesterday said the state authorities and affected developers are awaiting guidelines from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) on whether any changes should be made to the project plans.

“The developers fully understand that legally, the projects can still proceed, although Unesco needs to state if any modifications are needed. Penang needs these projects (investments) to offset the oncoming economic recession,” he told a press conference at his office in George Town.

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