Rabu, 24 Oktober 2012

The Malaysian Insider :: Food

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The Malaysian Insider :: Food


Sial 2012: Dutch students win food innovation prize

Posted: 24 Oct 2012 06:02 PM PDT

France's 'Bread & Cook' mix. — AFP-Relaxnews pic

PARIS, Oct 25 — At Paris's SIAL food innovations marketplace, running through October 25, the top prize of a student innovation contest went to a Dutch team for a new type of product - a savoury nutritious bar made of fermented Lupin beans.

To participate in the Ecotrophelia Europe contest, the 15 finalist student teams had to create a new food product from the drawing board to the finished, packaged product.

The German team came in second with a product dubbed "Cruemel", which is a kit for making apple crumble using high-pressure pasteurization.

France earned Bronze honours for its "Bread & Cook" mix that helps consumers recycle dry bread instead of throwing it away, for yummy cakes and French toast. — AFP-Relaxnews


Little luxuries star at Paris food fair

Posted: 24 Oct 2012 05:00 PM PDT

Liquid salt bottles are on display on October 21, 2012 in Villepinte, north of Paris, during the International Food Fair (SIAL).

VILLEPINTE, France, Oct 25 — A teardrop of salt, a whisper of saffron, a drizzle of lobster: luxury in small doses was the keynote at a giant food industry fair outside Paris this week.

Out with mustard cubes and marshmallow fluff: simplicity and taste were the common thread among the 19 products to receive a special innovation prize, whittled from a shortlist of about 400 at this year's SIAL fair.

But simple need not mean predictable, with flavour coming in sprays, as tiny grains to roll on the tongue or as bite-sized mouthfuls.

"The global trends are 'pleasure, health, practicality'," summed up Xavier Terlet, analyst and consultant for the international food fair, which wraps up today.

"In times of crisis, with the focus back on basics and centred on the home, what works best are goodies for sharing. Not the nasty, cheapest option, but little, unassuming luxuries."

Examples could be a lobster oil, made by the last remaining canning plant on the Brittany island of Groix - which conjures up the luxurious flavour from grapeseed oil and crustacean carcasses.

"You can add it to a fish fillet, a seafood salad or even mashed potatoes," the company's Emmanuelle Bernhardt said.

Likewise, truffle-flavoured Cajun nuts offer a hint of black gold, at a fraction of the price.

Or saffron, one of the most expensive spices on the planet, offered as a liquid spray, by a Paris region company, Foodbiotic, which developed it over two years of research.

"It's ready to use, and easier than having to soak the filaments," said the firm's Maiten de Saint-Paul.

On the banks of Lake Maggiore in northern Italy, Acetificio Mengazzoli, a 19th-century vinegar manufacturer, landed on a way to bottle liquid salt.

How is it different from seawater?

"Basically, our water is clean," explained the firm's head of exports Marco Nodari, before the red, white and black vials filled with salts from Hawaii, the Mediterranean or the Atlantic.

"You can use very little water over vegetables and it's a quarter of the amount of salt you would normally use," he said, pointing at official advice for people to reduce their average intake of sodium.

Precision is often the watchword, like the crunchy black pearls of balsamic vinegar, made by a eastern French firm Coolkal, which promise to deliver the same, tiny dose with each bite.

Or the smooth round balls called "Wikicells", billed as edible food packaging and developed jointly by a French-American chemist, David Edwards, and the French industrial designer Francois Azambourg.

"As for an apple, we use the skin to deliver flavour, proteins, nutrients," packing the cherry-sized bites with yoghurt, cheese, or ice cream, he said.

"It can be a chocolate wrap, or coconut, green tea and mint, vanilla, granola," the sky is the limit, he said.

What all these food firms have in common is their insistence on the quality of their raw ingredients -- natural, free of artificial colourings - their ethical sourcing and sustainable production methods.

In that spirit, an assortment of nougat- or liquorice-flavoured "bonbon coulis" are made from pure fruit and sugar, as are a line of flavoured, spreadable honeys, from raspberry to hazelnut.

Though artificial "E" numbers may have been chased out of the game, there is still room for fun, like with an aerosol can of chocolate mousse, which drew some amused, if doubtful smiles.

But the bottom line, said Terlet, is that one in two food innovations fails in the market: "Fifty per cent of all investments in the agri-business are made at a loss." — AFP-Relaxnews


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The Malaysian Insider :: Sports

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Wiggins hints he may ride 2013 Tour in support of Froome

Posted: 24 Oct 2012 07:55 AM PDT

PARIS, Oct 24 – Tour de France champion Bradley Wiggins hinted he may not be the Team Sky leader at next year's race as the route appears to be better suited to team mate Chris Froome.

Asked if he would defend his title, Wiggins told reporters today at a packed Palais des Congres he would start the race, adding: "It was always about winning one Tour and then deal with what comes next.

"It's more than likely I'll ride in a supporting role for Chris. I just want to be in a successful team and if that's Chris (who is going to be the leader) then so be it.

"He'll have to grow some sideburns though," Wiggins added with a grin referring to his trademark look.

The 2013 route, with four mountain top finishes and 65 km of individual time trialing – instead of 101.4 in 2012 – is expected to suit Froome, a natural climber, better than Wiggins.

"It's going be decided within the team how we're going to best tackle the race," Froome told reporters.

Sky, however, are unlikely to find it easy, especially with the returns of Andy Schleck and Alberto Contador, who missed the 2012 race through injury and suspension respectively.

"Last year (the 2012 race) was controlled by Sky, they had the best climber in the race with Froome working for Wiggins so he was able to keep things calm," said American Tejay van Garderen who this year won the white jersey for the best Under-25 rider.

"I don't think they can keep it that calm with Andy and Contador attacking."

The first yellow jersey, however, may well be worn by Mark Cavendish as the opening stage in Corsica will be a flat one designed for sprinters.

"It is quite exciting, I've never had the chance before to go for the yellow jersey," the Briton said. – Reuters

Contador says Armstrong being ‘humiliated and lynched’

Posted: 24 Oct 2012 07:47 AM PDT

PARIS, Oct 24 – Spaniard Alberto Contador expressed support today for disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong saying the American was being "humiliated and lynched" by doping accusations which have led to the stripping of his seven Tour de France titles.

"It seems to me that at certain times and in certain places Lance is not being treated with any respect," Contador (picture), a double Tour champion who returned from a two-year doping ban in August, told reporters in Paris at the presentation of the 2013 edition of the race.

"He is being humiliated and lynched, in my opinion. He is being destroyed," the Saxo Bank-Tinkoff rider, who had a difficult relationship with Armstrong when they were team mates at Astana, was quoted as saying by Spanish media.

"Right now people are talking about Lance but there has not been any new test or anything," Contador added. "It's based exclusively on witness statements that could have existed in 2005.

"I respect each rider's decision but I would have liked it to happen a bit earlier."

Armstrong was stripped of his 1999-2005 Tour victories on Monday when the International Cycling Union (UCI) ratified the US Anti-Doping Agency's decision to erase his results from August, 1998.

Armstrong, who fought back from cancer to dominate the sport, has always denied doping and says he has never failed a drugs test.

"What there is (in terms of evidence) I don't know, what I do know is that if cycling is popular in the United States it's thanks to him," Contador said.

"If they know over there what the Tour is it's thanks to him, if there are top-level teams and races in his country it's thanks to him."

Contador said the current testing regime was adequate as a means of preventing illegal doping, Contador said.

"There is little that needs to be changed at the moment. The tests we have are as rigorous as possible, we have to be able to be located at all times," he said.

"There will be people who will have doubts, given everything that has come out, and I understand it.

"I say to them that they should believe completely that riders win races without help, also on the Tour." – Reuters

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The Malaysian Insider :: Features

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The Malaysian Insider :: Features


British lottery winners get a jacuzzi – and keep on working

Posted: 24 Oct 2012 08:58 AM PDT

A new study finds one in three lottery winners in Britain invest in a Jacuzzi. – Shutterstock.com

LONDON, Oct 24 – One in five lottery winners in Britain carry on working after they hit the jackpot and one third invest in a jacuzzi, according to a survey published on Monday.

The study of 3,000 winners who became instant millionaires showed only 59 per cent handed in their notice immediately after their life-changing windfalls, while 19 per cent carried on working.

Subsequently 31 per cent performed unpaid voluntary work.

Their favourite holiday destination was the United States and their car of choice was an Audi, but the survey also shows the wide-ranging impact that a big win had on their family and friends.

The National Lottery released the study to mark the creation of 3,000 millionaires since the game was introduced in Britain in 1994.

It showed that winners had shared their good fortune with their children, family and friends, creating an additional 3,780 millionaires.

One of the first purchases was a new house – they bought 7,958 – and a new car, with 17,190 being driven out of showrooms.

But winners have also started or supported 900 British-based businesses employing a total of 3,195 people.

Almost all of the new millionaires' spending remained in Britain, with just two per cent of the winnings being lavished abroad.

Their spending contributed almost £750 million ($1.2 billion) to the British economy and generated over £500 million in tax receipts.

Andy Logan, co-analyst and author of the report from forecasting consultancy Oxford Economics, said: "The effect of a win spreads much further and wider than we anticipated.

"Not only does it transform the lives of friends and family, but each win has a measurable effect on the UK economy, especially with so much of it being spent in the UK.

"The use of each win creates a ripple effect across this generation and very often the next." – AFP/Relaxnews

Creative drug pricing flourishes in hard-up Europe

Posted: 24 Oct 2012 03:14 AM PDT

'Special offer' on prescription medicines are all the rage in state-backed healthcare systems across Europe as governments struggle to balance the books. – Reuters pic

LONDON, Oct 24 – Fifty per cent off the first three months of cancer medicine. Buy a course of eye treatment and get extra injections free. A money-back guarantee if your erectile dysfunction pills don't work.

"Special offers" on prescription medicines are all the rage in state-backed healthcare systems across Europe as governments struggle to balance the books.

Such money-off and pay-for-performance schemes are being fuelled by both austerity budgets and competition from cheap generics, which are forcing drugmakers to be more inventive in showing that their expensive new medicines still offer value for money.

The complex schemes do nothing for transparency – something the European Union advocates in medicine pricing – but they often suit both governments and companies, with the latter keen to avoid commercially damaging cuts in list prices.

"Global companies do not want their list prices to drop because that will have a knock-on effect as different countries increasingly reference each other over drug prices," said Brian Godman, a researcher at Sweden's Karolinska Institute.

"The only way round that is for companies to enter into some form of arrangement with the authorities," according to Godman, who works with various health authorities across Europe researching drug pricing and reimbursement options.

Reference pricing is a growing headache for drugmakers because Greece and other indebted EU states are slashing the prices they pay for drugs, in some cases by more than a quarter, triggering a downward spiral internationally as other countries follow suit.

As a result, Europe's already fragmented pharmaceutical market is becoming increasingly opaque, although one thing is clear: the pressure on medicine prices across the continent is not going to end any time soon.

Drug companies are already hurting, with GlaxoSmithKline, for example, cutting its sales outlook for 2012 in July due to lower European prices.

NICE OR NASTY?

Many of today's complicated pricing arrangements have their origins in pioneering work by Britain's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), which was set up in 1999 to systematically assess the cost-effectiveness of new drugs.

Its refusal to accept some pricey products has angered patients, and the tough line has forced drugmakers to find novel ways to make medicines affordable – either by offering discounts or making payment conditional on measurable benefits.

It is an approach now being adopted from Spain to Poland, resulting in a patchwork of schemes that can cause frustration among doctors struggling to assess the true cost of treatments.

"It is spreading pretty quickly," said Patrick Flochel, global pharmaceuticals leader at Ernst & Young. "There is a big push everywhere with healthcare reforms."

Britain remains the leader, but Italy has emerged as the second biggest market for so-called risk-sharing schemes, which have been embraced enthusiastically by the Italian Medicines Agency. One reason for this is that drug spending in Italy is tied by law to total healthcare expenditure.

Cancer drugs are a major focus, reflecting the dilemma posed by costly new treatments that may help some patients but often only extend life by only a few months.

Cancer accounts for 15 of the 25 special schemes detailed on NICE's website whereby drugs companies can offer patients ways to access high-cost drugs. It also dominates in Italy, where arrangements typically call for provision of cancer drugs at a 50 per cent discount for the first two or three months.

For companies, getting the value proposition right in cancer is a delicate balancing act – and it can only get trickier.

Roche, the world's biggest cancer drugmaker, recently pushed into new territory with the US launch of Perjeta, a new breast cancer drug designed to be used with its existing product Herceptin. It is the first example of a costly targeted cancer combination therapy from a single company.

The result is a treatment that is effective but extremely expensive, with a typical 18-month course of Perjeta plus Herceptin costing approximately US$188,000 (RM575,585).

Despite that price tag, Perjeta is winning sales in the United States. Europe, however, where the drug has yet to be launched, is likely to prove a lot more challenging.

Roche – which already has German and Italian schemes that cap the maximum price per patient of Avastin, another cancer medicine – will have to weigh more novel pricing schemes as such new combinations hit the market.

"The 10,000-foot view is that we just follow the science and do what's right for patients, and then figure out a commercial model that can work," Hal Barron, head of global product development, said in a recent interview.

HEAD-TO-HEAD STUDIES

Others have cut different kinds of deals.

GlaxoSmithKline struck an agreement with NICE in 2010 offering Britain's health service a straight discount plus an additional rebate if its new kidney cancer drug Votrient failed to match Pfizer's Sutent in a head-to-head trial.

To GSK's relief, Votrient was as good as the Pfizer rival when results were finally reported at a conference last month.

Novartis, meanwhile, pays for extra treatment with its eye drug Lucentis if British patients need more than 14 injections, while in Denmark various schemes tie payments to results for several drugs, including erectile dysfunction pills.

Tying payments to clinical results is an enticing idea for payers, though these schemes are complex to administer.

"There are genuine risk-sharing schemes, where there is real payment according to performance, and then there are a whole host of schemes which are essentially price cuts," said Gary Johnson, managing director of consultancy Inpharmation. "It's fair to say the price-cut type scheme is probably dominant." – Reuters

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The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz

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The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz


Singer Bobby Brown arrested in LA for drunken driving, says police

Posted: 24 Oct 2012 08:29 AM PDT

LOS ANGELES, Oct 24 —Rhythm and blues star Bobby Brown, ex-husband of the late Whitney Houston, was arrested in Los Angeles and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, Los Angeles police said on Wednesday.

Brown was stopped by police at the intersection of Corbin Avenue and Ventura Boulevard, north of Topanga Canyon in Los Angeles, LAPD officer Rosario Herrera said.

Herrera could not immediately provide additional details of the arrest, which was Brown's second this year for drunken driving.

Celebrity online news service TMZ, citing law enforcement sources, said Brown was driving erratically, and when stopped, officers smelled alcohol on his breath. He failed a sobriety test, TMZ said.

In March, Brown was arrested on the same charge, pleaded no contest in April, and went to a treatment center for alcohol abuse over the summer.

In June, Brown married his manager, Alicia Etheridge, in Hawaii, four months after the Houston's death in a Los Angeles hotel room. — Reuters

Anita Bjoerk, star of Ingmar Bergman productions, dies

Posted: 24 Oct 2012 08:23 AM PDT

Anita Bjoerk rose to international fame in 1951 with her portrayal of "Miss Julie" in the eponymous film by Alf Sjoeberg. — All rights reserved.

STOCKHOLM, Oct 24 — Anita Bjoerk, who starred in several productions by Swedish director Ingmar Bergman, has died aged 89, Swedish Radio reported, citing the actress' son.

A theatre actress, Bjoerk spent much of her career with Sweden's Royal Dramatic Theatre, which she joined in the 1940s.

She rose to international fame in 1951 with her portrayal of "Miss Julie" in the eponymous film by Alf Sjoeberg, who won the Cannes Film Festival's Jury Prize.

She worked with Bergman on stage ("Madame de Sade", 1989), in films ("Secrets of women", 1952) and on television ("In the presence of a clown", 1997).

Anita Bjoerk was married to Swedish writer Stig Dagerman from 1953 until his death in 1954. — AFP-Relaxnews

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The Malaysian Insider :: Books

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The Malaysian Insider :: Books


Comedian condenses Bond novels into tweets

Posted: 23 Oct 2012 04:26 PM PDT

Can you condense a whole novel into a tweet? — AFP pic

LONDON, Oct 24 — In the build-up to the world premier of "Skyfall", the 23rd official outing for James Bond, British writer, comedian and author of the international bestselling Young James Bond novels Charlie Higson has taken on his own mission: to successfully condense each of Ian Fleming's 11 full-length Bond novels into 140-character tweets.

Higson managed to reduce "Casino Royale" to: "Bond burns SMERSH paymaster in casino who takes revenge with carpet beater to manhood. Double agent Vesper gives 007 TLC & walks into ocean."

Meanwhile, "From Russia With Love" becomes "007 lured to honey trap in Istanbul. Is killer Red the better agent? No. Murder on the Orient Express but 007 stabbed by Klebb's deadly shoe."

To make the challenge easier, Higgson sent an introductory tweet before each summary with the #BondTweets hashtag plus the name of the novel to follow.

So, if you think you're a Bond fan and have read all of the books, which novel is this?

"SPECTRE. NATO. Domino. Largo. Oh-oh, it's 007! Subs, scuba, spies & stolen nukes. Hi-tech plot but lo-tech end for Largo — harpoon in chest." — AFP-Relaxnews 


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The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion

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The ridiculous Malaysian obsession with Jews

Posted: 23 Oct 2012 04:43 PM PDT

OCT 24 ― Malaysians are a funny lot. In Selangor it's easier to find someone who knows more about Israel's political situation than that of Sabah or Sarawak's. Last I checked, Israel is much farther away than East Malaysia.

Just last year, I walked into a local bookstore at Great Eastern Mall to find a special display dedicated to Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf", his biographies and Henry Ford's "The International Jew".

Dear Adolf Hitler admirers, please look at yourself in the mirror. Is your hair the colour of gold? Your eyes as blue as the Barisan Nasional flag? Your skin, a prone-to-burning Caucasian white? If you can answer "Yes" to all those questions, feel free to continue your private "Heil, Mein Fuehrer" chants with the other White Power activists.

Otherwise, what is wrong with you people?

A local bookstore proudly displays Mein Kampf. — Pic courtesy of Twitter user @amc98

Adolf Hitler was many things but he was no paragon of virtue. He was, instead, one of the most rabid anti-Semites of all time.

Anyone who hero worships a person who champions genocide clearly needs his morals examined.

I've read Malay blogs extolling Hitler as someone who supposedly respected Islam; after all, he did conscript Muslim soldiers as his troops.

Would those bloggers still be Hitler fans if they knew that Hitler despised Arabs as much as he did any inferior race? He referred to Arabs as "lacquered half-apes who ought to be whipped." And before you start a mob to protest outside my house, Hitler said that. Not me.

Unscientific Malaysia had a good article about how Muslims admire Hitler more than he did them. One commenter missed the point of the whole article, saying instead: "I couldnt (sic) careless. He shoulda wiped those fags off the face of the planet. Pro-Muslims or not, the guy was one of the greatest men in all of history."

Again with the Hitler worship.

I suppose it's easier to blame the Jews, the Chinese, the West, rather than admit that we haven't gotten very far as a nation because we can't acknowledge our own mediocrity.

Japan didn't start out a centre of innovation. When the United States declared independence from the Crown, the rest of the world had no inkling it would become the economic superpower it is today.

All countries had to start somewhere, as do we. As a nation, Malaysia is a comparatively young one. We have potential but we have a long way to go before we could rank among world leaders in any respect.

But we're never going to move ahead if we spend our time standing on our little soapboxes yelling about how "the other" is bringing us down.

We seem to care a whole lot about Israel when Israel likely doesn't care about us. To them, we are but insignificant gnats.

There's nothing wrong with aspiring to greatness. But we're never going to get there by making excuses and creating bogeymen.

So quit blaming the Jews and take a little more responsibility for who we are and where we are as a nation.

* The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.

Melayu dalam politik nasional

Posted: 23 Oct 2012 04:34 PM PDT

24 OKT ― Rasional konsep Melayu.

Melayu adalah sinonim kepada penentuan masadepan politik tanahair malah ia adalah satu terma rujukan dalam kontrak sosial yang telah menelurkan kemerdekaan untuk negara ini.

Asas tertegaknya negara yang merdeka ini adalah dari persetujuan yang meletakkan Melayu sebagai syarat utamanya, apatah lagi Raja-Raja Melayu seolah mewakilkan kuasa politik kepada parti yang sanggup dan berjanji mempertahankan Melayu sebelum menerima kedudukannya sebagai Raja Berperlembagaan.

British pada satu pihak bersedia memberikan kemerdekaan dengan syarat kemerdekaan itu melibatkan isu penerimaan warganegara selain dari Melayu dalam negara yang merdeka nanti.

Untuk mengekalkan status Melayu tidak tergugat satu klausa mengiktirafi Melayu dalam perlembagaan dibentuk begitu rupa sebagai satu keistimewaan yang perlu dihormati. Maka lahirlah Islam, Melayu dan Raja-Raja sebagai sesuatu yang mengikat dari sudut perlembagaan dan manifestasi politiknya.

Dimensi politik

Seolah-olah merasa tidak cukup, Melayu itu dikukuhkan pula dengan pengukohan parti politik Melayu. Umno adalah parti yang menerima kemerdekaan dan atas kewajaran itu pengukuhan Melayu berperlembagaan tadi diterjemahkan dalam bentuk dasar dan amalan sehingga keretakan parti komponen dalam Perikatan adalah dirujuk kepada rasional pembelaan Melayu dengan teori ancaman sebagai temanya. Lahirnya Barisan Nasional kemudian adalah juga sebagai merasionalkan Melayu yang memungkinkan Perpaduan Nasional berlaku.

Begitu juga dengan kemelut politik lain seperti perpecahan Umno yang melahirkan Semangat 46 dan PKR, semuanya diwajarkan dengan tema Melayu dan tidak terkecuali perbalahan Umno Lwn PAS yang panjang sejarahnya turut berligar atas hujahan Melayu dan desakan kepada perpaduan.

Islam dan Melayu

Dari sudut perlembagaan, salah satu ciri yang mentakrifkan Melayu ialah beragama Islam. Ia seolah mengandaikan semua orang Melayu adalah Muslim walaupun tidak semestinya semua orang Islam adalah Melayu, kerana adanya Indian Muslim, Chinese Muslim dan lain-lain.

Pada satu sudut, penegasan Melayu itu mestilah Islam dalam Artikel 160 Perlembagaan Persekutuan adalah baik tetapi pada satu sudut yang lain ia menyempitkan pengertian Islam kerana apabila seseorang menerima Islam ia seolah-olah secara otomatik menjadi Melayu.

Dari perspektif kesejagatan Islam ia seolah-olah menghalang bangsa lain untuk masuk Islam kerana keadaan ini mentakrifkan dia sebagai Melayu sedangkan dia memilih Islam bukan menjadi Melayu.

Hubungan Melayu-Islam dari sudut perlembagaan ini meletakkan orang Melayu sebagai sinonim dengan Islam dan kerananya dari sudut politik perjuangan Melayu tidak boleh tidak meletakkan Islam sebagai agenda pembelaannya.

Namun demikian tanggapanya ini tercabar apabila sebuah parti Islam iaitu PAS membawa nuansa politik yang agak berbeza dengan menjadikan Islam sebagai teras dan sekaligus memberikan keselesaan untuk mensejagatkan perjuangannya dalam konteks kepelbagaian kaum di Malaysia ini.

Nampaknya pendekatan PAS ini memberikan kepadanya kelebihan malah cuba mentakrifkan semula erti hubungan Melayu-Islam dalam premis yang lebih luas. Umno pula yang sinonim dengan perjuangan Melayunya tersepit hari ini permainan politiknya sendiri apabila politik perkauman sudah tidak menjadi popular lagi dalam arus kesedaran politik baru yang muncul dengan kadar yang cepat.

Kebebasan Melayu

Melayu tidak mahu lagi dikongkong dengan worldview Melayu yang melihat dunia dari kacamata prejudis terhadap kaum lain. Selama beberapa dekad, doktrinasi politik "ancaman orang lain" menyegarkan talihayat parti yang berpaksikan perkauman.

Untuk parti yang bukan Melayu teori menuntut hak secara diplomasi pula melahirkan politik tawar-menawar yang asasnya ialah: "anda berikan saya undi kaum anda, saya akan berikan tuntutan anda".

Dua premis ini iaitu teori ancaman dan memberikan undi untuk tuntut hak, membentuk hubungan dalam Barisan Nasional yang mengabungkan parti berbagai kaum dalam kolusinya. Ia bukan gabungan kongsi cita-cita negara Bangsa tetapi hanyalah keperluan kepentingan kaum masing-masing.

Dengan kata lain BN adalah kolusi yang terus mempertahankan politik perkauman dari dalamnya walaupun dari luarnya ia menggambarkan kewujudan berbagai parti di dalamnya.

Orang Melayu sebenarnya menagihkan politik baru yang mahu keluar dari kepompong politik yang tabiatnya adalah perkauman dan menjadikan isu hubungan kaum dan agama sebagai senjata untuk terus kekal dalam persaingan politik.

Politik kaum lain

Istilah kaum lain digunapakai untuk menggambarkan bahawa politik Melayu sebenanya bergantung banyak kepada faktor kaum lain seperti Cina , India, Kadazan dan Iban bagi melaksanakan tujuan politik dan ekonomi.

Kaum lain khususnya Cina dan India amat mengetahui bahawa mereka akan mendapat hak mereka melalui persepakatan politik yang diatur strateginya oleh parti politik yang mewakili kaum-kaum ini.

Hakikatnya kaum lain tidak akan kisah manakah parti Melayu yang memerintah kerana akhirnya apa yang penting ialah segala tuntutan dan hak mereka dapat dilaksanakan.

Sebab itu dalam hal ini, politik berunding untuk mendapat hak menjadikan politik kaum lain khususnya Cina adalah politik yang lebih matang dan prihatin kepada segala keputusan politik yang dibuat.

Asakan politik baru

Asas politik baru telah mendefinisikan semula erti kuasa politik Melayu dan hubungannya dengan politik kaum lain. Asas ini mencabar status-quo politik ancaman dan rundingan hak dengan beberapa kerangka baru berfikir.

Kejayaan munculnya politik baru ini adalah merujuk kepada peningkatan kesedaran kepada isu-isu hak kewarganegaraan dan isu-isu hak berpartipitasi dalam politik serta kemunculan ide-ide kebebasan media yang dipelopori oleh media baru.

Asakan dari kemunculan baru ini telah mengancam realiti politik Malaysia yang diamalkan sejak beberapa lama oleh doktrinasi Umno/BN dan kerana itu doktrin lampau ini terpaksa menerima keadaan samada mahu mengekalkan identitinya atau berubah dengan asakan yang semakin meningkat dari politik baru.

Jika kerangka politik status quo kekal, ini bermakna Umno akan meningkatkan lagi politik ancamannya dengan cara menjadikan dirinya lebih rasis dalam nada politiknya. mungkin ia tidak datang dari Umno tetapi melalui proksinya Perkasa dan NGO Melayu yang lain.

Jika ini kekal MCA atau MIC sebagai mewakili politik kaum lain dalam BN akan meneruskan politik rundingan untuk mendapat habuan mereka asal saja mereka ikut rentak rasis Umno.

Senario baru

Tuntutan hak kini tidak lagi mengambil sentimen kaum tetapi ia berlaku melalui hak kewarganegaraan di mana isu perlembagaan dan perundangan menjadi paksi hujahan. Negara akan menyaksikan isu-isu yang dianggap "taboo" selama ini untuk dibincangkan mula dibahas secara terbuka dan berpaksikan hak perundangan.

Melayu dan Ketuanannya mula diolah dengan asas-asas substantif perundangan wa imma isu sensitif Islam sendiri sudah mula didedahkan untuk perbahasan umum. Senario baru ini menyebabkan satu kejutan budaya yang menuntut gaya pemikiran politik akamodatif dan objektif dalam menanganinya.

Akomodatif bermakna melanggani isu tanpa menggadaikan prinsip politik manakala objektif pula adalah perbahasan yang berpandukan keterbukaan ilmiyah dengan mengambil kira panduan agama dan budaya yang membentuk "software" masyarakat kita.

Politik Islam

Di sinilah politik Islam mampu muncul sebagai peneraju politik baru kerana politik nilai yang ada pada wacana Islam itu amat relefan sekali dengan kemunculan senario di atas.

Fundamental keterbukaan hubungan antara agama dan prinsip karamatul insan serta ketinggian prinsip moral sebenarnya membuka ruang yang amat luas ufuknya bagi politik Islam membentuk pandangan umum terhadap isu semasa.

Namun kejayaan politik Islam amat bergantung kepada tahap keluasan panduan Fiqh yang digunapakai. Disinilah persoalan asas yang membentuk fiqah itu sendiri perlu difahami antara lainnya ialah pemahaman Thawabit (tetap) dan Mutaghayirat (berubah-ubah).

Asas berubah-ubah adalah berpandukan kepada faktor zaman dan tempat serta keadaan yang dibahas oleh ulamak secara terperinci. Fiqh Al Maqasid (Tujuan Besar) yang membentuk objektiviti alasan serta Fiqh Siyasah (politik dan pengurusan) yang berasaskan keperluan maslahat semuanya harus diterokai dengan landasan pemikiran yang terbuka.

Parti Islam juga perlu keluar dari kejumudan berfikir dan kesempitan perancangannya. Politik Islam sekali-sekali tidak mungkin menjayakan agenda peneraju senario baru politik jika ia gagal membuat pengolahan baru kepada cara ia merasionalkan organisasinya dari sudut kepimpinan, cara membuat keputusan dan pengkaderan ahlinya.

Aspek ini perlu diberi nafas baru dari eksklusifiti kepada inklusifiti, dari tertutup kepada ketelusan dan dari ketaksoban kepada objektiviti. Bagaimana ini boleh tercapai jika parti Islam tidak berani mencabar dirinya sendiri untuk melakukan perubahan yang menyeluruh kepada bentuk organisasinya?

Apakah akan berlaku?

Amat menarik untuk melihat proses pengalihan politik Malaysia dengan Melayu sebagai temanya. Soalnya apabila terdirinya politik dan senario baru yang disebutkan di atas, apakah persoalan klasik seperti Ketuanan Melayu, Ancaman Kaum Lain dan Sekatan Kebebasan akan terus menghantui politik kita ataukah ia akan menjadi kisah lama yang telah berlalu apabila generasi baru akan bercakap tentang hak kewarganegaraan, persaingan sehat dan kebebasan yang bertanggungjawab.

Lebih penting ialah apakah kerangka politik baru yang akan meluncuri arus baru ini, dan parti politik hari ini harus berfikir dan membuat keputusan secara serius kepada persoalan: "apakah ia mampu memimpin arus ini?"

* The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.

Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

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Abdul Zaharin mohon maaf kepada Syed Abdul Rahman kerana memfitnah

Posted: 24 Oct 2012 02:45 AM PDT

KUALA LUMPUR, 24 Okt — Setiausaha Umno Bahagian Bandar Tun Razak Abdul Zaharin Mohd Yasin membuat permohonan maaf secara terbuka kepada Konsul Kehormat Mongolia di Malaysia Datuk Syed Abdul Rahman Alhabshi di Mahkamah Tinggi di sini kerana mengeluarkan kenyataan fitnah di laman Facebook.

Abdul Zaharin membacakan kenyataan permohonan maafnya semalam di hadapan Hakim Datuk Lau Bee Lan dengan disaksikan Syed Abdul Rahman dan peguam masing-masing.

Pada 20 Ogos 2010 Syed Abdul Rahman memfailkan saman fitnah berjumlah RM10 juta terhadap Abdul Zaharin dan memohon injuksi menghalang menerbitkan kata-kata fitnah tersebut.

Sementara itu, peguam Datuk Jahaberdeen Mohamed Yunoos yang mewakili Syed Abdul Rahman ketika dihubungi pemberita berkata Hakim Lau telah membatalkan saman tersebut susulan permohonan maaf itu. — Bernama
   

Felda lunaskan pinjaman peneroka dan warga kerja Felda beli saham FGVH, kata pengerusi Felda

Posted: 24 Oct 2012 02:42 AM PDT

Felda lunaskan pinjaman peneroka dan warga kerja Felda beli saham FGVH, kata pengerusi Felda

TROLAK, 24 Okt — Felda telah melunaskan sepenuhnya pembiayaan bank yang dipinjam oleh seramai 94,219 peneroka dan 1,890 warga kerjanya untuk membeli saham Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd (FGVH) pada 5 dan 8 Okt lepas.

Pengerusinya Tan Sri Mohd Isa Abdul Samad berkata langkah Felda mendahulukan bayaran balik pinjaman bank itu bertujuan untuk meringankan beban peneroka dan warga kerjanya dan mereka akan membayar semula kepada Felda secara ansuran tanpa faedah.

Beliau berkata pembayaran pinjaman peneroka berkenaan membabitkan sebanyak RM358 juta dan pinjaman warga kerja Felda membabitkan RM42.5 juta.

Katanya dengan langkah sedemikian, peneroka dan warga kerja Felda dapat melakukan urusniaga saham mereka tanpa sebarang masalah kerana bayaran balik pinjaman telah dilunaskan kepada pihak bank.

"...Kita (Felda) dahulukan supaya mereka tidak kena 'foreselling' atau jualan paksa dan sebagainya," katanya kepada pemberita selepas majlis Graduasi 2012 di Maktab Rendah Sains Mara di sini, hari ini.

Beliau berkata peralihan saham dilakukan secara automatik dan pembayaran balik kepada Felda boleh dilakukan menerusi potongan pendapatan bagi tempoh lima tahun iaitu kira-kira RM50 sebulan.

Berhubung saham FGV di Bursa Malaysia yang dilihat mengalami penurunan, beliau berkata perkara itu tidak menghilangkan keyakinan peneroka terhadap Felda.

"Penurunan seperti ini bersifat sementara apabila keadaan CPO (Minyak Sawit Mentah) baik, harga akan baik dan pastinya Felda Global punyai rancangan-rancangan tertentu yang tidak boleh dinyatakan sekarang," katanya.

Beliau berkata dalam perniagaan saham pastinya terdapat pihak tertentu yang membuat spekulasi bagi menimbulkan kekeliruan.

"Ada yang buat spekulasi dari segi perniagaan, yang lebih teruk buat spekulasi dari segi politik supaya makin ramai yang keliru dan makin berfaedah lah bagi mereka...tentunya yang menentang Felda akan buat spekulasi yang buruk untuk kurangkan keyakinan kepada Felda," tegasnya. — Bernama

Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com
 

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