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Platini quizzed by Swiss court officials Posted: 19 Oct 2011 08:05 AM PDT Uefa President Michel Platini (right) and Uefa Communication Director Alexandre Fourtoy leave the office of Eric Cottier, Public Prosecutor of the Swiss Canton of Vaud in Renens near Lausanne on October 19, 2011. — Reuters pic RENANS (Switzerland), Oct 19 − Michel Platini was quizzed by Swiss court officials today over why Uefa has not yet implemented a ruling ordering Sion's reinstatement to the Europa League. Platini, the president of European football's governing body, spent around two hours at the prosecutor's office in the canton of Vaud. He was followed by general secretary Gianni Infantino. "The president is really happy to have answered questions from the prosecutor as a witness," Uefa spokesman Alexandre Fourtoy told reporters. "We will not further comment so that justice can gather all the information and draw its conclusion." Sion were kicked out of the Europa League by Uefa for fielding ineligible players in their playoff tie against Scottish side Celtic in August. They lost an appeal to Uefa against the decision but, defying Fifa and Uefa rules which ban clubs from taking their cases outside sporting tribunals, won an injunction in their favour at a Swiss court. Uefa has so failed to reinstate Sion and been ordered to pay 1,000 Swiss francs (RM3,470) for each day that the court order is not carried out. It has argued that its own statutes prevent it from overturning a decision made by its independent disciplinary tribunal. Monday, Uefa sent the court a document suggesting ways in which Sion could be integrated into Group I of the competition, where Celtic took Sion's place alongside Atletico Madrid, Rennes and Udinese. All of them would involve disruption to the tournament with extra fixtures for the clubs in the group as Celtic would keep their place in the tournament. One possibility would involve cancelling all the matches played so far in the group, which could seriously discredit the competition and inconvenience the other teams involved. Uefa wants the case to be taken to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and said it would reintegrate Sion if the Swiss club won the case there. It added that the other clubs in the group should be considered as interested parties. "Uefa has already organised a meeting with the four clubs involved Friday to discuss the various scenarios ... should FC Sion win the case on the merits at the CAS," said Uefa. — Reuters Full content generated by Get Full RSS.

Mourinho second-season syndrome kicking in at Real Posted: 19 Oct 2011 03:07 AM PDT Real Madrid's coach Jose Mourinho is seen before the start of their Champions League match against Olympique Lyon at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid on October 18, 2011. — Reuters pic MADRID, Oct 19 — Jose Mourinho has often said his teams do better in his second season in charge and Real Madrid's thrashing of Olympique Lyon in the Champions League provided further evidence to back his claim. Real were utterly dominant against an unambitious Lyon team at the Bernabeu yesterday, running out 4-0 winners with goals from Karim Benzema, Sami Khedira, Mesut Ozil and Sergio Ramos. Three wins from three games without conceding a goal left the Spaniards top of Group D, five points ahead of Ajax Amsterdam and Lyon, in their quest to improve on last season's semi-final appearance. Real are pursuing a record 10th European Cup, and Mourinho his third all with different clubs, and it seems to be coming together even without Cristiano Ronaldo getting on the scoresheet. The world's most expensive player notched an incredible 53 goals in all competitions last year but this season he has been a more creative influence and he provided yet another assist to set up the opening goal for Benzema. "Ronaldo seems fine to me. I'm delighted with him," former Porto, Chelsea and Inter Milan coach Mourinho told reporters. "It would be a problem if he didn't score and the team also didn't win. It happened against Levante and Racing Santander. He hasn't scored in the last few games but the team has so it's not a problem. "I also liked seeing him giving an intelligent and selfless performance tonight. He won the Golden Boot and the La Liga top scorer award last year and he wants to win things that are more important this season," Mourinho added. Growing maturity Real have turned the rapid counter-attack into an art form of late but sometimes struggle when teams defend deep and deny them space to run into. In dismantling Lyon, who set out to do just that, they showcased their growing ability to adapt against a team that have caused them plenty of heartache in recent European campaigns. "The game was more about control, more about possession and patience," Real midfielder Xabi Alonso said. "It was about creating chances with less haste and we achieved that. It´s a good sign because it proved we can do it and that we can win that way." Real have scored 21 goals and conceded three in their last five matches and could even afford to start with Gonzalo Higuain on the bench. The Argentina striker had scored three hat-tricks in the previous two weeks. "I like many things about my team but we have to improve. That said, we're having a positive run," Mourinho added. — Reuters Full content generated by Get Full RSS.

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Springsteen collection finds new home in New Jersey Posted: 19 Oct 2011 06:35 AM PDT Bruce Springsteen waves as he arrives on the red carpet to attend the screening of the film ''The Promise: The Making Of Darkness On The Edge Of Town'' at the Rome Film Festival on November 1, 2010. ─ Reuters pic NEW JERSEY, Oct 19 ─ New Jersey's Monmouth University will be the new home for an archive of local hero Bruce Springsteen's collection of memorabilia from a long career in rock music, the school has announced. Springsteen's "Special Collection," comprised of books, concert programs, magazine and newspaper articles and other printed memorabilia related to the rock legend and his E Street Band, whose hits include the 1984 smash "Born in the USA," will assume its new home as of November 1. "Monmouth University is the perfect location for this outstanding collection," university president Paul Gaffney said in a statement. "Students and faculty from Monmouth University, especially our music industry students, will benefit greatly from having access to these documents. I hope it will also serve as a valuable resource for members of the academic community," Gaffney added. The collection, formerly housed at the Asbury Park Public Library, contains nearly 15,000 documents from 44 countries chronicling New Jersey native Springsteen's career that began as far back as the late 1960s. Springsteen, 62, and his band released their debut album "Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ" in 1973, but it was two years later with the album "Born to Run" that the group hit the top 10 of US music charts and launched into stardom. The move of Springsteen's memorabilia caps a four-year search for a new site in New Jersey that allowed for public access and had room for expansion to include recordings, oral histories and film footage. Christopher Phillips, editor and publisher of Backstreets and president of the Friends of the Bruce Springsteen Special Collection, said that the partnership between Monmouth University and fans "offers a great opportunity." "At the university, the collection will be publicly accessible to all who have a serious interest in Bruce Springsteen's life and career," Phillips said, citing students, scholars and journalists. Viewing of the documents at the West Long Branch, NJ university will be available by appointment. Robert Santelli, executive director of the GRAMMY Museum in Los Angeles and a Monmouth alumnus, helped secure the collection for the school. ─ Reuters Full content generated by Get Full RSS.

McCartney ex-wife Heather Mills sued by hairdresser Posted: 18 Oct 2011 07:12 PM PDT Heather Mills, arrives at the High Court in London on March 17, 2008. — Reuters pic LOS ANGELES, Oct 19 — Paul McCartney's ex-wife Heather Mills has been sued by a Los Angeles hairdresser who claims the former reality TV show contestant failed to pay as much as US$80,000 (RM 249,378) as she pursued stardom in Hollywood. David Miramontes, who works under the name David Paul, claims in the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court yesterday that he worked for Mills starting in 2005 and quit in 2008 after she repeatedly failed to pay him, saying she had no money until her divorce from the former Beatle was finalised. Mills and McCartney ended their acrimonious marriage in 2008 and in December of that year, Mills began avoiding Miramontes. He prepared an invoice for US$80,000, but it has yet to be paid. Miramontes charged as much as US$5,000 per haircut for an out of office appointment, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit seeks payment plus punitive damages, court costs and attorney fees. Neither Mills, who resides in Great Britain and in New York, nor a representative for her could be reached late Tuesday. Mills and McCartney were married in 2002 in a lavish ceremony in Ireland, but four years later they separated, blaming intrusion into their private lives. In their bitter divorce settlement, Mills was awarded £24.3 million (RM119.22 million) by a judge. The former model, 43, performed on TV's "Dancing With the Stars" in 2007 despite having had her left leg amputated below her knee following a 1993 traffic accident. She was voted off the series in its sixth week. McCartney remarried earlier this month to American heiress Nancy Shevell at a London register office. — Reuters  Full content generated by Get Full RSS.

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Male breast cancer rare but can be aggressive, study finds Posted: 19 Oct 2011 06:05 AM PDT NEW YORK, Oct 19 — Men are diagnosed with breast cancer at less than 1 per cent the rate of women, but when they are the disease is often more advanced on average, and they are more likely to die from it, according to an international study. Researchers led by Mikael Hartman at the National University of Singapore combined cancer registries from Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Singapore and Geneva in Switzerland, with cases dating back to 1970. The data included about 460,000 women diagnosed with breast cancer, and about 2,700 men. Supporters of International Breast Cancer Day form a circle as pink balloons are released at the Plaza Jado in Bilbao, Spain, October 19, 2011. — Reuters pic Men were more likely to have the disease that had spread beyond the breast by the time they were diagnosed. In treatment, they had less surgery and radiation than women but similar rates of chemotherapy and hormone treatment. Over the entire time period, men had a 72 per cent chance of surviving breast cancer in the five years after a diagnosis, compared with 78 per cent in women. "Men who develop a breast lump delay seeing their doctor longer than a comparable woman with similar symptoms," Hartman said in an email to Reuters Health. "Male breast cancer is rare but men can develop the disease and should be aware that they should seek care if a breast lump develops." His team said in the Journal of Clinical Oncology that previous studies had shown that it typically took a few months from when men started getting symptoms until they were diagnosed with breast cancer. Men are most commonly in their 60s or 70s when diagnosed, according to the US National Cancer Institute. Radiation exposure and diseases that increase oestrogen levels, such as liver cirrhosis or the genetic disorder Klinefelter syndrome, are among the factors that raise a man's risk. "It's not surprising that men with breast cancer present with later stages," said Susan Dent, from the Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre in Canada, who was not involved in the study. "That's just because the awareness of the fact that breast cancer can occur in men is just not as acute. Men aren't as likely to think of it, and health care providers aren't as likely to think of men having breast cancer." Men should be particularly aware of breast cancer, and possibly consider getting screened for it, if they had a family history of the disease, including a predisposition to cancer caused by mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, which were well known to raise women's risk of breast and ovarian cancers, she said. Because of recommendations for regular mammograms in women starting in their 40s or at age 50, depending on the country, many cancers are caught in women before they have any symptoms. But the United States Preventive Services Task Force, a federally supported panel that sets guidelines for cancer screening, does not recommend regular breast cancer screening in men without symptoms. "In total, male breast cancer is still a rare event," said Dent. "Never would I recommend that all men routinely go out and get screened." — Reuters Full content generated by Get Full RSS.

Google helps track Nepal typhoid Posted: 19 Oct 2011 06:00 AM PDT A Nepalese farmer carries pails of water as he returns home in the village of Khokana, on the outskirts of Kathmandu on October 22, 2009. Researchers say they have used GPS signalling and the latest DNA sequencing techniques to plot the course of typhoid – and have discovered the source of outbreaks is usually communal water spouts. – AFP pic KATHMANDU, Oct 19 – Scientists announced on Monday they had combined cutting-edge gene sequencing technology with Google Earth to accurately map the spread of typhoid in Kathmandu for the first time. The Nepalese capital was described in a 2008 study as "a typhoid fever capital of the world", with thousands of cases a year reported, but outbreaks have been hard to chart in a city where streets are rarely given names. Researchers say they have used GPS signalling and the latest DNA sequencing techniques to plot the course of the disease – and have discovered the source of outbreaks is usually communal water spouts. The research, published in the journal Open Biology on Sunday, was carried out by scientists at the Vietnam-based Wellcome Trust Major Overseas Programme and the Oxford University Clinical Research units in Kathmandu and Ho Chi Minh City. "Until now, it has been extremely difficult to study how organisms such as the typhoid-causing bacteria evolve and spread at a local level," said Stephen Baker, a scientist with Oxford University's Vietnam unit. "Without this information, our ability to understand the transmission of these diseases has been significantly hampered. "Now, advances in technology have allowed us for the first time to create accurate geographical and genetic maps of the spread of typhoid and trace it back to its sources." Health workers visited typhoid patients' homes and used GPS technology to capture the exact location, which was then plotted onto Google Earth, which maps the Earth by superimposing images from satellites and aerial photography. They took blood samples from hospitalised patients to isolate the organism – which mutates as it spreads – and allow analysis of its genetic make-up to identify where the disease had started. The researchers found that people living near communal water spouts and those living at a lower elevation were at by far the greatest risk of contracting the disease. "Improvements in infrastructure are fundamental to the control and elimination of typhoid", said Baker. Recent advances in DNA sequencing have allowed scientists to accurately track the spread of some diseases by measuring mutations in the pathogen's DNA when the DNA replicates. – AFP Full content generated by Get Full RSS.

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Barnes wins Booker Prize he once named ‘posh bingo’ Posted: 19 Oct 2011 12:03 AM PDT The Man Booker Prize winner British author Julian Barnes holds his book 'Arthur and George' in this file picture, October 10, 2005. — Reuters pic LONDON, Oct 19 — English author and bookmakers' favourite Julian Barnes finally won the Man Booker Prize for fiction yesterday, despite once dismissing the coveted award as "posh bingo". The 65-year-old triumphed with "The Sense of an Ending", which at 150 pages was described by one review as a "novella". It was his fourth time on the Booker shortlist — Barnes was previously nominated for "Flaubert's Parrot" in 1984, "England, England" in 1998 and "Arthur and George" in 2005. Stella Rimington, a former British spy chief who chaired the panel of judges this year, told reporters, "We thought that it was a book which, though short, was incredibly concentrated, and crammed into this very short space a great deal of information you don't get out of a first reading. "It's one of these books, a very readable book, if I may use that word, but readable not only once but twice and even three times." Ion Trewin, administrator of the prize, said it was not the shortest work to win the Booker. That honour goes to Penelope Fitzgerald's "Offshore" which came in at 132 pages in 1979. Barnes, who has been critical of the prize in the past, said he was relieved to have won at the fourth attempt. In his acceptance speech at a glitzy awards ceremony in London's medieval Guildhall, he likened himself to Argentinean writer Jorge Luis Borges, considered one of the greatest authors never to have won the Nobel Prize in Literature. "Borges, when asked, as he continually was, why he had never won the Nobel Prize, always used to reply that 'In Sweden there was a small cottage industry solely devoted to not giving Borges the Nobel Prize'. "And at times over the last years, in occasional moments of mild paranoia, I wondered whether there wasn't perhaps some similar sister organisation operating over here. "So I am as much relieved as I am delighted to receive the 2011 Booker Prize." SALES BOOST EXPECTED Barnes received a check for £50,000 (RM 245,302), a flurry of media attention and, perhaps most importantly, a major boost in sales. "Writers it tends to drive mad with hope and lust and greed and expectation," he told reporters after receiving the award. "I was saying that the best way to stay sane is to treat it as if it's posh bingo. That is ... until you win it, when you realise that the judges are the wisest heads in literary Christendom." Rimington and her judges came under fire in recent weeks for stressing the importance of "readability" when judging the winner, a term interpreted by some as dumbing down one of English-language fiction's top accolades. Writers from the Commonwealth, Ireland and Zimbabwe are eligible. The sniping in the narrow world of British "literati" even led to a rival award being set up to champion what its backers said was a more high-brow approach to writing. Rimington defended her stance, arguing that entertainment and literary criticism were not mutually exclusive. "We were not talking about only readability as some of you seem to have thought," she told reporters. "We were talking about readability and quality. You can have more than one adjective when you are talking about books." Asked whether she had been bothered by the media debate in the run-up to the announcement, she replied: "I've had a long life in various different careers, and I've been through many crises of one kind or another (against) which this one pales, I must say." The Sense of an Ending, published by Random House, tells the story of Tony, a seemingly ordinary man who discovers that his memories are not as reliable as he thought. This year Barnes was up against Carol Birch for "Jamrach's Menagerie", Canadian authors Patrick deWitt and Esi Edugyan for "The Sisters Brothers" and "Half Blood Blues" respectively, and debut British novelists Stephen Kelman ("Pigeon English") and A.D. Miller ("Snowdrops"). — Reuters Full content generated by Get Full RSS.

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Apa saya bahas dalam Bajet 2012 Posted: 18 Oct 2011 06:38 PM PDT 19 OKT — Setelah satu hari menunggu giliran untuk berucap bahas bajet 2012, akhirnya sebelum rehat pukul 1 tghari , saya memulakan ucapan dan kemudian menyambongnya pukul 2.30. Kami diberi 20 minit  untuk berbahas. Terlalu banyak yang hendak diperkatakan tetapi malangnya masa tak cukup. Saya telah menyentuh beberapa tajuk besar antaranya tanggungjawab membuat keputusan terbaik, kritikan bajet secara menyeluroh, soal alam sekitar, keselamatan dan peranan agama. Saya memulakan ucapan dengan membaca ayat Quran dari Surah Hud ayat 88, yang membawa tema perlunya reformasi atau dalam istilah Al Quran Al Islah. Saya juga memetik kata- kata hikmah orang tua-tua memberi amaran kepada pemimpin-pemimpin: "Mengejar pangkat mau menjilat Mengejar harta mau melata Mengejar kedudukan mau melendan Mengejar pengaruh mau bergaduh Mengejar dunia mau menganiya" Saya menyatakan juga tentang kegagalan dasar kerajaan dalam menangani isu kesan alam sekitar. Saya membawa contoh Bukit Merah yang pernah dicadangkan untuk tapak loji nadir bumi yang akan dikendalikan oleh Mitsubishi dari Jepun. Usaha itu mendapat tentangan pada tahun 1982 sehingga 167,000 penduduk Pekan Papan dan sekeliling telah membantah kerana kesan alam sekitar yang membahayakan kesihatan penduduk, antaranya leukimia, keguguran, cacat kelahiran dan kanser paru- paru. Kejayaan menutup tapak itu adalah tanda kejayaan NGO menimbulkan kesedaran bahaya kesan alam sekitar dan ia juga menandakan sikap penduduk yg prihatin yang tidak rela dijadikan mangsa di atas nama pelaburan yang menguntungkan. Walaupun kini dalam pasca Bukit Merah masih ada berbaki 800,000 ton sisa radioaktif yg belum dihapuskan. Untuk menghapuskan sisa radioaktif itu menelan belanja US100juta. Malah kematian akibat kesan radioaktif ini juga tinggi iaitu 9 kes kematian kerana leukimia, selalunya kes leukimia hanya berlaku dalam kes terpencil. Tiba-tiba hari ini kita dikejutkan dengan kes yang sama akan dibuka di Gebeng, Pahang oleh syarikat Lynas Corp dari Australia. Bayangkan kalau Bukit Merah luasnya hanya 9 ekar, kini di Gebeng luasnya 100ekar iaitu seluas 140 padang bola! Apakah sikap kerajaan yg lebih melihat laba ekonomi dan keuntungan dari kesan jangkapanjang yang mengancam keselamatan dan kesihatan awam? Dasar kerajaan terperangkap antara mengaut keuntungan atau menyelematkan kesan alam sekitar dari radioaktif. Walaupun kerajaan memberi jaminan bahawa radioaktifnya rendah tetapi sebagaimana yang digambarkan oleh pencinta alam sekitar relatifnya radioaktif itu rendah tidak menafikan ianya bahaya cuma tahapnya sahaja rendah atau tinggi! Dalam menyentuh persoalaan Gebeng, ucapan saya dicelah oleh Ulu Selangor bertanyakan saya secara nakal apakah saya bertentangan pendapat dengan Hulu Langat dari Pas yang memberikan pandangan bahawa radioaktif di tapak Gebeng tidak bahaya. Semua sudah mengetahui bahwa Hulu Langat, Yb Dr Che Rosli adalah pakar nuklear yang dihormati. Saya mengatakan di sebalik saya memghormati pandangan Dr Che Rosli, kes Bukit Merah menjadi rujukan secara hidup kesan dari sisa radioaktif, ia tidak perlu untuk mana mana pakar untuk memberitahu kita apa yang berlaku di Bukit Merah. Saya sempat juga menyentuh isu keselamatan di mana saya mendedahkan surat yang saya terima secara misteri. Saya menerima dari orang lain surat itu yang meminta saya supaya mendedahkannya. Surat itu ialah dari PGA (Pasukan Gerak Am) Briged Tengah mengarahkan anggotanya dan keluarga mereka serta pesara polis supaya menandatangani memorendum membantah kenyataan Timbalan Presiden PAS Mat Sabu tentang peranan Mat Indera yang dikatakan seorang komunis. Saya menegaskan bahawa kalau betul surat arahan dari Pegawai Tinggi Polis dalam kes Mat Sabu, maka polis tidak profesional dan telah campurtangan dalam persoalan yang sifatnya politik! Adakah polis secara sengaja cuba menimbulkan kemarahan  terhadap Mat Sabu? Ataukah Polis menerima arahan dari pihak politik untuk merencanakan kebencian terhadap Mat Sabu? Saya minta Menteri Dalam Negeri memberikan penjelasan tentang surat ini. Saya diganggu dalam ucapan saya oleh Kulim-BandarBharu yang menuduh saya membuat fitnah! Saya kata saya cakap dalam parlimen dan bukan di kedai kopi! Saya bertanggunjawab atas soalan saya. Kerana diganggu, masa saya terjejas jadi isu peranan agama saya tak sempat nak perincikan. Saya mencadangkan hubungan antara agama mestilah memperbanyakkan dialog dan perbincangan secara bertamadun dan bukan dengan menimbulkan kemarahan atau isu yang sensitif. Saya mencadangkan juga akta zakat bagi memperkemaskan pengurusan dan kawal selia zakat bagi membantu pengukuhan umah. Malangnya masa tidak cukup dan saya terpaksa berhenti setelah diarahkan oleh Tuan Speaker. Selesai ucapan saya membuat sidang akhbar bersama rakan dari Kuala Kedah atas dua isu. Pertama sikap kami secara peribadi dalam perhimpunan sejuta umah di mana kami melihat ini eksploitasi Umno dan golongan desperate untuk menimbulkan kebencian antara agama dan bukan keharmonian antara agama. Kedua saya mendedahkan surat yang saya terima secara misteri yang memberi petunjuk bahawa Polis dari PGA terlibat mengarahkan secara resmi supaya anggotanya , keluarga dan pesara menandatangan kempen membantah Kenyataan Mat Sabu. jikalau ini berlaku ia sesuatu yang malang bagi Polis yang tercalar imej mereka kerana menjadi alat kepada pihak tertentu yang desperado untuk berpegang kepada kuasa mereka yang semakin terhakis. * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist. Full content generated by Get Full RSS.

Passionate Malaysians Down Under Posted: 18 Oct 2011 04:55 PM PDT OCT 19 — In May this year I received an invitation from the Malaysian Students Council – Victoria Chapter, Australia to speak at the Malaysian Aspiration Program 2011. I was excited as I have never had the opportunity to visit Australia before. After confirming my attendance, I contacted friends and supporters of Pakatan Rakyat there and thus arranged a semi-working, semi-holiday trip with my wife to Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney. As a politician, I have spoken to Malaysians in the US, UK and Singapore. I thought I've seen it all. Furthermore, I graduated from a British university and typically held the snobbish view that Malaysians in Australia have too much fun and were less interested in current affairs back home. I was proven wrong. From the Malaysian Aspiration Program where I sat in a forum with Umno's Dato' Zaki Zahid (one of the more rational voices in the party) and Bersih Australia's David Teoh to my lectures at the University of Melbourne, University of Sydney and the Australian National University as well as meeting Malaysians informally throughout my week-long trip, the Malaysians in Australia showed a greater level of passion and enthusiasm than Malaysians overseas that I've encountered before. There were even Australians, Singaporeans, Vietnamese who through mixing with Malaysians develop a passion for the country that was simply amazing. Each of them has their own story to tell. The older ones came ages ago – in the 1970s university fees were free for everyone and thus parents had to only fork out living costs. Some fell in love with the locals or for one reason or another postponed their decision to return to Malaysia. One PJ boy wanted to return only to be turned-off by a major private company in Malaysia that openly tempted him to return by getting involved in corrupt deals. Others needed to earn the higher wages here in order to support their family back home. As they keep postponing their return to Malaysia, they develop deeper roots in their adopted home, making it difficult for them to return when they eventually could. Thus the common refrain that Malaysians who choose not to return are unpatriotic is definitely false. We live in a global world after all, where people can easily move to different countries where they feel it is better for them and their families to eke a living. Definitely, home is where the heart is but everyone has different circumstances that lead them to where they end up in life. Yet after the historic changes from the 2008 elections, many found a reason to believe that change is possible in Malaysia. Finally there is a fledgling two-party (or more accurately, two-coalition) system that is emerging and a generation of multiracial Malaysians that is spearheading the struggle for a better Malaysia. Web 2.0 is allowing them to follow developments back home in real-time. Furthermore, while it is unlikely that the older Malaysians who have established themselves in Australia to return, we can still tempt the younger ones who are still idealistic to make a difference in Malaysia – the Reformasi and now, BERSIH Generation. Unfortunately, there are still those who turn them off by resorting to old politics. While the Malaysian Consul General in Melbourne Dr Mohd Rameez Yahya came to my talk at the university and politely introduced himself, another government official in Sydney pretended he was a self-employed Malaysian in Australia when I greeted him as a colleague of his took photos and notes of my programme. These tactics, that are reminiscent of the Cold War and authoritarian regimes were typical up to my time as a student overseas, are fortunately less potent today. In these days of Facebook and Twitter, Malaysians from different backgrounds showed their courage in standing up for change when thousands turned up across the world in support of BERSIH on 9 July. Surely, if the government is serious about transformation than they must stop these bullying tactics. As it happens, this might come from overzealous mid-ranking civil servants trying to impress his higher-ups or an insecure politician but it does not work and only make a mockery of Malaysia's democracy in this day and age. At the end of the day, the system is facing a more powerful force that unites these Malaysian citizens, former Malaysians and Malaysians at heart: the desire for a better Malaysia. They have achieved incredible things in Australia: some have become top businessmen, corporate executives, politicians, activists and academicians. Rather than turning them away, Malaysia should take advantage of this passion. Whether by physically returning to the country, investing in the Malaysian economy or simply sharing their expertise and experience back home, Malaysia stands to benefit enormously from the 100,000 Malaysians down under. In fact, I learned much from meeting this exceptional group of Malaysians. Their enthusiasm reminded me of the reason I got involved in politics, away from the rough realpolitik back home. As for the younger group – many of whom plan to return to Malaysia at one point or another – I tried to reach out to them by saying that each of them matter in making a difference in Malaysia. Change after all may seem part of a grand historical design but at the end of the day happens when enough people do whatever possible within their individual capacities to make it happen. * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist. Full content generated by Get Full RSS.

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Dakwaan atas anak Guan Eng tidak benar, kata pengetua Heng Ee Posted: 19 Oct 2011 02:10 AM PDT KUALA LUMPUR, 19 Okt ─ Pengetua SMK Heng Ee menegaskan dakwaan kononnya anak lelaki Lim Guan Eng pernah mengganggu seorang pelajar perempuan sekolah itu secara seksual tidak benar sama sekali. Goon Boon Poh berkata beliau terkejut apabila membaca dakwaan itu dalam akhbar dan mahu mengakhiri isu ini kerana ia boleh menjejaskan nama baik sekolah. "Dakwaan ini sama sekali tidak benar. Sangat mudah, ia tidak benar sama sekali," kata Goh kepada The Malaysian Insider. MENYUSUL LAGI Full content generated by Get Full RSS.

PAS Selangor larang ahlinya sertai Himpunan Sejuta Umat Posted: 19 Oct 2011 02:02 AM PDT KUALA LUMPUR, 19 Okt ─ PAS Selangor mengarahkan semua ahlinya tidak menyertai Himpunan Sejuta Umat (Himpun) yang akan diadakan Sabtu ini bagi membincangkan isu khusus murtad dan pemesongan akidah di kalangan Muslim. Ia memberi amaran akan mengenakan tindakan disiplin ke atas mana-mana ahli yang menyertai perhimpunan itu kerana ia melanggar keputusan kepimpinan parti malam tadi. Setiausaha PAS Selangor, Mohd Khairuddin Othman berkata arahan tersebut dikeluarkan susulan pendirian PAS pusat semalam bahawa parti itu tidak akan menyertai perhimpunan itu. "Presiden PAS telah menyatakan bahawa PAS tidak terlibat dalam Himpunan Sejuta Umat, oleh itu Pesuruhjaya PAS Selangor, Dr Abdul Rani Osman mengarahkan semua ahli PAS di Selangor, agar tidak terlibat dalam himpunan tersebut," kata beliau dalam satu kenyataan SMS petang ini. Menurut Khairuddin, arahan terebut dikeluarkan Pesuruhjaya PAS Selangor selaras dengan arahan yang diterima daripada Presiden PAS. Dalam kenyataan dikeluarkan tengah malam tadi, Presiden PAS Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang berkata biro politik memutuskan bahawa pihaknya mengambil pendirian untuk tidak terlibat dalam himpunan tersebut sebagai menghormati kehendak penganjur program yang tidak mahu melibatkan parti politik.Dalam pada itu Dr Rani mengesahkan kepada The Malaysian Insider bahawa beliau telah mengeluarkan arahan kepada pemimpin pelbagai peringkat selepas mesyuarat biro politik semalam. "PAS Selangor akan akur dan patuh kepada tindakan diambil kepimpinan pusat bahawa kita tidak wajar hadir perhimpunan itu sebagai parti politik. "Ini sebagai tindakan menghormati kehendak penganjur Himpun untuk menjadikannya majlis bukan politik," kata Adun Meru ini. "PAS adalah parti politik, bukan NGO. Kami tidak harus mengambil bahagian," katanya lagi. Dr Rani menjelaskan ahli parti itu boleh hadir atas kapasiti sebagai wakil NGO. Tambah beliau, jika mana-mana ahli didapati hadir dengan menggunakan logo atau kain rentang PAS dan mengisytiharkan diri mereka ahlinya, tindakan disiplin akan dikenakan. Full content generated by Get Full RSS.

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