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The Malaysian Insider :: Food

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Are almonds the perfect snack? Posted: 10 Oct 2013 09:45 PM PDT October 11, 2013 For those craving a between-meal nibble, a new US study suggests that a handful of almonds could fill you up and cut cravings throughout the day, all without piling on the pounds. Researchers from Purdue University looked at 137 subjects who were at risk for type 2 diabetes. Participants were divided into five groups - a control group who avoided all nuts and seeds, a group who ate 1.5 ounces/43 grams of almonds at breakfast, another who ate the same amount at lunch, and two snack groups, who snacked on 1.5 ounces of almonds in the morning or in the afternoon. Despite consuming approximately 250 additional calories per day from almonds, participants did not increase the total number of calories they ate and drank over the course of the day or gain weight over the four-week study, the researchers said. Still, it was the snack groups who reported the most pronounced reduction in hunger and desire to eat throughout the day. "This research suggests that almonds may be a good snack option, especially for those concerned about weight," says Dr. Richard Mattes, distinguished professor of nutrition science and the study's principal investigator. "In this study, participants compensated for the additional calories provided by the almonds so daily energy intake did not rise and reported reduced hunger levels and desire to eat at subsequent meals, particularly when almonds were consumed as a snack." Findings, announced Tuesday, are published in the October issue of the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Prior research suggests that almonds aren't the only nut for healthy snacking. In a study published last month in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, researchers from Yale University found that overweight adults can help protect themselves from diabetes and heart disease by eating a handful of walnuts a day. A longitudinal study out of Spain published this summer found that people who ate nuts tended to have a lower body mass index and a smaller waist, were less likely to smoke and were more likely to be physically active compared to those who never included nuts in their diets. – AFP/Relaxnews, October 11, 2013.

Fall harvest comes to JFK Airport in pop-up farmer’s market Posted: 10 Oct 2013 08:47 PM PDT October 11, 2013 After San Francisco, and Chicago, New York's JFK Airport is the latest hub to host a farmer's market in an effort to tout locally grown products. At the end of the month, low-cost airline JetBlue plans to set up a pop-up market that will feature farm-fresh produce from the fall harvest like pumpkins, apples and corn. In collaboration with non-profit outfit GrowNYC, farmers will turn JFK's Terminal 5 into an indoor market for busy travellers and passers-by, allowing visitors to buy local New York State produce as a gift or for dinner that night. Perhaps the best example of farm-to-table-airport dining can be found at Chicago O'Hare, which became the first airport in the world to install an aeroponic garden in 2011. Located on the mezzanine level of Terminal 3, the plants are suspended in 26 towers that house more than 1,100 plants. Garden produce such as Swiss chard, sweet basil, cilantro, dill, Bibb lettuce and green beans are harvested year-round and supply airport restaurants such as Tortas Frontera, Wolfgang Puck, and Wicker Park Sushi. Similarly, Napa Farms Market at the San Francisco Airport is an award-winning local retailer where visitors can buy fresh, sustainable products from local brands like Equator Coffee, Tyler Florence's Rotisserie, and Acme Bakery. Earlier this year, the concept won the 2013 Best New Food & Beverage Concept at an industry event in Las Vegas. The JetBlue pop-up market will be set up at JFK's Terminal 5 October 29-31. – AFP/Relaxnews, October 11, 2013.

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AFC warn Iraq over government interference Posted: 10 Oct 2013 08:23 AM PDT October 10, 2013 The Asian Football Confederation have warned the Iraq government to stay out of football matters after they withdrew the national team from the Gulf Cup in frustration at being stripped of the hosting rights. The heads of the eight Football Associations that normally compete in the regional event agreed on Tuesday to switch the tournament to the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah, citing incomplete infrastructure and a FIFA ban on Iraq hosting international matches because of security concerns. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki used his weekly televised speech on Wednesday to describe the snub as "prejudiced against the rights of the Iraqi people". The withdrawal of the team for the tournament, which is due to be held at the end of 2014 or in early 2015, comes after Bahrain stepped into host this year's edition after Iraq were originally selected. Iraq's Ministry of Youth and Sport said it was "extremely disappointed" at the latest switch, denouncing the decision as politically motivated but the AFC, led by Bahrain FA president Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, had little sympathy. "It's the right of the Iraq Football Association to decide on the interest of their team, fans and other stakeholders. The government should not interfere in the football affairs," the AFC said in a statement on Thursday. "Both FIFA and AFC do not tolerate any interference in football matters by the government or any other bodies and AFC would like to ask them to stay away in the interest of Iraqi football." Iraq, 2007 Asian champions, have paid a heavy penalty for government interference before with world governing body FIFA banning them in 2009 after the Iraqi Olympic Committee disbanded the FA and government forces seized control of the FA offices. - Reuters, October 10, 2013.

Germany’s Ozil loving the London life Posted: 10 Oct 2013 08:01 AM PDT October 10, 2013 Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil (pic) has said he is loving life in London as he prepares to help Germany secure their World Cup berth against Republic of Ireland in Friday's qualifier. Ozil joined the Gunners from Real Madrid for $69 million (RM220 million) in September and is enjoying life in the English capital — even if it means driving on the other side of the road, albeit with help from Germany teammate Per Mertesacker. "I am really happy at Arsenal and feel really well there," Ozil said in today's press conference in Cologne. "The coach trusts me and the team are fully behind me, which is really important for me. "I really like London, it's an interesting city and I have even got used to driving on the left. "I thought it would be much more difficult than it really is, but (Arsenal defender) Per Mertesacker gave me some 'driving lessons' and they helped me, so I can drive there." Ozil's Gunners initiation included the traditional singing in front of his teammates, something he admits embarrassed him. "I sang a Turkish song, which of course they didn't understand," he said. "I wouldn't want to do that again. I don't think my voice is very good." With a five-point lead in Group C, Germany need just one point against the Republic of Ireland in Cologne to secure their berth at the 2014 World Cup. "We are really well prepared and we'll give our all to win the game," said Ozil, who will make his 50th international appearance. "We know that the Irish always fight hard until the last minute and give their all. "But if we play our own game I am convinced we will win." English Ozil's former Real team-mate Sami Khedira says the Spanish giants are poorer without the German playmaker, who was sold to make way for the arrival of Welshman Gareth Bale for a world-record fee. "When you dispense with the quality of someone like Mesut Ozil, it would damage any team in the world," said Khedira. "But Mesut is happy and that's what's most important, I am happy for him." - AFP, October 10, 2013.

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Assange slams Wikileaks film as “geriatric snoozefest” Posted: 10 Oct 2013 01:03 AM PDT October 10, 2013 Wikileaks founder Julian Assange (pic) today renewed his attack on a film about the whistleblowing website, calling it a "geriatric snoozefest" as he released a letter written to its star Benedict Cumberbatch. The Australian hacker, who has been holed up at the Ecuadoran embassy in London after claiming asylum a year ago to avoid extradition to Sweden, has refused to meet the British actor. Cumberbatch stars as Assange in director Bill Condon's thriller The Fifth Estate, which won a long ovation at its world premiere during the Toronto Film Festival last month and is due for release in the United States next week. He requested a meeting to study his subject's manner, but Assange refused as "such an interaction might appear to legitimize a film intending to mislead the public with numerous inaccuracies". "I believe you are a good person, but I do not believe that this film is a good film," said Assange's letter to the actor, who revealed last month he considered quitting the movie after receiving it. "Feature films are the most powerful and insidious shapers of public perception, because they fly under the radar of conscious exclusion," said the letter. "This film is going to bury good people doing good work, at exactly the time that the state is coming down on their heads. It is going to smother the truthful version of events, at a time when the truth is most in demand. "As justification it will claim to be fiction, but it is not fiction. It is distorted truth about living people doing battle with titanic opponents. It is a work of political opportunism, influence, revenge and, above all, cowardice." In comments accompanying the release of the letter, he added: "The result is a geriatric snoozefest that only the US government could love". According to Assange, Cumberbatch's reply was "courteous and considered" with the actor admitting aspects of the script troubled him. The letter exchange took place in January. At the Toronto Film Festival, Cumberbatch, who has won rave reviews, said he wanted to see Assange carry on his work exposing secrets. "What I'd like to see is the man... able to carry on his work as founder of WikiLeaks. Beyond that, due process has to take place in whatever shape or forms that happens," he said. WikiLeaks enraged the United States in 2010 by publishing hundreds of thousands of classified documents on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as a huge cache of US diplomatic cables that embarrassed governments worldwide. Ecuador granted Assange asylum last year but Britain refuses to grant him safe passage out of the country, leaving him stuck inside the embassy. Britain says it is obliged to see him extradited to Sweden where he faces sex crime allegations that Assange denies and claims are politically motivated. – AFP, October 9, 2013.

Hanks bookends London Film Festival with latest releases Posted: 09 Oct 2013 11:24 PM PDT October 10, 2013 Hollywood star Tom Hanks (pic) opened the London Film Festival yesterday his new film Captain Phillips, based on the true story of a ship attacked by Somali pirates. The 57-year-old will also close the festival playing Walt Disney in new release Saving Mr Banks, which dramatises the making of the Wizard of Oz. Hanks is being talked about as an Oscar candidate for his depiction of Phillips, who was the captain on board container ship Maersk Alabama when it was hijacked 2009. Phillips was taken hostage with his crewmates, and it is Hanks' performance in the final minutes of the film, directed by Briton Paul Greengrass, which has critics raving. But the Forrest Gump star would not reveal how he was able to muster such powerful emotion. "It's a secret," he explained at a press conference. "It's like going to a Coca-Cola press conference and asking for their secret formula." "I'm a professional and I like to think of myself as a creative artist and you sort of take that on," said the double-Oscar winner. "As soon as you say yes to something you realise that a day is going to come where you have to be in a place that is both manufactured and yet very real to all your senses. And you prepare to get there as best you can, and when the time comes hopefully you achieve it." Hanks will end the festival on a much lighter note playing movie-mogul Disney. The biographical film, directed by American John Lee Hancock, portrays Disney's dogged efforts to convince Mary Poppins author Pamela Lyndon Travers to adapt the book for the big screen. In between the double dose of Tom Hanks, the festival, which runs until October 20, will present 232 feature-films and a procession of stars including Sandra Bullock, Judi Dench, Carey Mulligan, Colin Farrell, Ralph Fiennes, Kate Winslet and Emma Thompson. Another highlight will be the appearance of Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron, who will explain the process of making the multi-million euro film Gravity – starring Bullock and George Clooney – which is also tipped for Oscars honours. – AFP, October 10, 2013.

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New York art exhibit celebrates centennial of iconic 1913 show Posted: 09 Oct 2013 09:39 PM PDT October 10, 2013 A century after the controversial 1913 Armory Show in New York challenged America's perception of art, a new exhibition is celebrating the event with works from the original including masterpieces by Henri Matisse, Marcel Duchamp and Francis Picabia. The Armory Show at 100: Modern Art and Revolution opens at the New York Historical Society Museum & Library tomorrow and runs through February 23 next year. The exhibit recreates, on a smaller scale, the experience of the 1913 show that shocked New Yorkers and introduced them to the European avant garde. "We couldn't let the 100-year anniversary go by without doing something. The Armory Show was probably the most important art exhibition in America," Marilyn Satin Kushner, the co-curator of the exhibition, said in an interview. "This is a landmark time in terms of the history and in terms of the history of art in America." The exhibition includes 100 works from the original show by artists such as Duchamp, whose masterpiece Nude Descending a Staircase was mocked and compared at the time to an explosion in a shingle factory, and Matisse's Blue Nude, considered depraved for its distortion of the female form. Francis Picabia's Dances at the Spring was likened to a patchwork quilt. Using artefacts, historical documents and archival photographs and films, the exhibition puts the works in the context of 1913 New York. "It will introduce people to what was going on in New York in 1913 because one can't understand the Armory Show completely unless one understands that New York at that time period was the age of discovery, the age of freedom, the age of independence, the age of youth marching in the streets for women's rights," said Kushner. Threatened by the art The 1913 show, officially known as The International Exhibition of Modern Art, was organised by a small group of young American artists called the Association of Painters and Sculptors. They were looking to showcase their work, as well as that of other artists. It was considered a turning point because it introduced Americans, accustomed to classical art, to the European avant-garde. The show, which attracted thousands of visitors, shocked some viewers and sparked harsh criticism. "They were very threatened by the art," said Kushner. "There were people on both sides of the fence but the noisiest people didn't get it, didn't want to get it and couldn't understand it." The exhibition includes photos of the original show and a chart showing how it was organised so modern-day viewers can get an idea of what visitors saw 100 years ago. Many of the paintings and works on paper were by American artists, such John Sloan's Sunday, Women Drying Their Hair and Landscape with Figures by Maurice Prendergast. Other galleries feature Impressionist works, which were already accepted by Americans in 1913, including Pierre-Auguste Renoir's Algerian Girl, and paintings by the precursors to modernism, Paul Cezanne, Paul Gauguin and Vincent Van Gogh. But it was the avant-garde work, which is featured in the final galleries, that was thought to be the most scandalous. "They were befuddled by the Nude Descending and they were angered by the Blue Nude," said Kushner about viewers in 1913, adding the art was a threat to their ideals of traditionalism and beauty. – Reuters, October 10, 2013.

Aircraft noise linked to higher risk of heart disease and stroke Posted: 09 Oct 2013 05:25 PM PDT October 10, 2013 Exposure to high levels of aircraft noise near busy international airports has been linked to a higher risk of heart disease and strokes in two separate studies from Britain and the United States. Researchers in London studied noise and hospital admissions around London Heathrow airport, while a separate team analysed data on six million Americans living near 89 US airports. Both studies, published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) yesterday, found that people living with the highest levels of aircraft noise had increased risks of stroke, coronary heart disease and other cardiovascular diseases. In the Heathrow study, the risks were around 10% to 20% higher in areas with highest levels of aircraft noise compared with the areas with least noise. Stephen Stansfeld, a professor at Queen Mary University of London who was not part of either research team but provided a commentary on their findings, said the results suggested that "aircraft noise exposure is not just a cause of annoyance, sleep disturbance, and reduced quality of life" but may also increase sickness and death from heart disease. City and town planners "need to take this into account when extending airports in heavily populated areas or planning new airports", he said. Other experts said the studies raised important issues about aircraft noise and health, but did not establish a causal link. "Both of these studies are thorough and well-conducted. But, even taken together, they don't prove that aircraft noise actually causes heart disease and strokes," said Kevin McConway, a professor of applied statistics at Britain's Open University. The British research team set out to investigate the risks of stroke and heart disease in relation to aircraft noise among 3.6 million people living near Heathrow, one of the busiest airports in the world. They compared hospital admissions and death rates due to stroke and heart disease from 2001 to 2005 in 12 areas of London and nine further districts to the west of London. Levels of aircraft noise for each area were obtained from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), and factors that could have affected the results, such as age, sex, ethnicity, social deprivation, smoking, air pollution and road traffic noise were also taken into account. Their results showed increased risks of stroke, coronary heart disease, and cardiovascular disease – especially among the 2% of the study population exposed to the highest levels of daytime and night time aircraft noise. "The exact role that noise exposure may play in ill health is not well established," said Anna Hansell of Imperial College London, who led the British study. "However, it is plausible that it might be contributing, for example by raising blood pressure or by disturbing people's sleep." The researchers noted that discussions on possible expansion plans for London's airport capacity have been on and off the table for many decades, with demand for air travel expected to double in Britain to 300 million passengers per year by 2030. "Policy decisions need to take account of potential health related concerns, including possible effects of environmental noise on cardiovascular health," they wrote. In a second study also published in the BMJ, researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health and Boston University School of Public Health looked at data for more than 6 million Americans aged 65 or over living near 89 US airports in 2009. The research – the first to analyse a very large population across multiple airports – found that, on average, zip codes with 10 decibel (dB) higher aircraft noise had a 3.5% higher cardiovascular hospital admission rate. The results showed that people exposed to the highest noise levels – more than 55 dB – had the strongest link with hospitalisations for heart disease, and the link also remained after adjustment for socioeconomic status, demographic factors, air pollution and proximity to roads. Conway said that because of the kind of data used, the studies could only "suggest very strongly that we should find out much more about aircraft noise and circulatory disease". – Reuters, October 10, 2013.

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Read beyond samba and football, Brazil urges book fair Posted: 09 Oct 2013 06:50 PM PDT October 10, 2013 Samba, soccer and Carnival may provide poster images of Brazil but the Latin American giant has urged the global book world, gathered in Germany, to look beyond the stereotypes. With 70 writers and a lively line-up of events, Brazil has pulled out the stops at the Frankfurt Book Fair to shine a light on its literature and culture as guest-of-honour, while protests hit the headlines at home. Award-winning children's writer Ana Maria Machado said Brazil was not perceived, unlike some of its neighbours, as a "land of literature" but with stereotypes based more on "the culture of what is immediately, sensually appreciable: the body". "But it's a body whose intellect is usually forgotten," she bemoaned, "as if we didn't have one, in the celebration of our dances and our music, of football, capoeira and other sports, of sensuality, of bronzed skin on display on the beaches, of Carnival and of caipirinha". The literature is not only diverse but also reflects the country's problems, with society and politics playing a role, the author, who is also the president of the Brazilian Academy of Letters, told the opening ceremony late Tuesday. Brazil is gearing up to step into the global limelight, by hosting football's World Cup next year and South America's first Olympics two years later but has been hit by protests over the costs of the events. Angry demonstrators argue the money would be better spent on improving transport, education and health services for poor Brazilians, and thousands rallied this week to support teachers' calls for a pay rise. Writer Luiz Ruffato highlighted the prevalence of violent crime in Brazil, intolerance of gays, low-ranked schooling in a country that is the world's seventh biggest economy and that fewer than four books are, on average, read by Brazilians each year. Advances have been made, with the return of democracy and social advancement for millions, he acknowledged in a speech that won a standing ovation by some in the audience, but described the country as "paradoxical". "Sometimes Brazil appears to us like an exotic region with paradisiacal beaches, jungles, Carnival, capoeira and football, sometimes like a terrible place full of violence in the towns, child prostitution, disregard for human rights and nature," he said. But he said that, having grown up in a poor migrant family, he believed "perhaps naively" that literature can change lives and society. Brazil's best-known author internationally, Paulo Coelho, whose 1988 novel The Alchemist has previously received an award at the fair for being the world's most translated novel, has stayed away this year. He complained in an interview with Die Welt newspaper that he had never heard of about 50 of the 70 writers invited to represent Brazil in Frankfurt. "Presumably they're friends of friends of friends. Nepotism," he said. "What annoys me most is, that currently there is a new exciting literary scene in Brazil. But many of these young authors are not on the list. "People buy culture like they buy fridges" Brazil is seeking to promote the translation of its works into other languages, backed by a 900,000-euro (RM3.8-million) programme by the culture ministry for 2011-13. Since 2011, more than 300 translations a year have been done, 67 of them into German. Bruno Zolotar, marketing director of The Record Publishing Group, said the financial support made a big difference as translations were expensive and complicated by a scarcity of translators. Business has grown over the last decade as the economy has improved, albeit more slowly in the last two years, he said, pointing to a soaring interest in books, with the Rio book fair now the city's third most-attended event after New Year's Eve and Carnival. As salaries have improved, people "bought fridges, cars and now are buying culture, so books," he said. And while Brazilians love their football, fiction about a reality set outside of the country are currently particularly popular. "Most of the young people want to read books that are not exactly about our reality," Rio-based Zolotar said. "It's a kind of escapism." – AFP, October 10, 2013.

Small university shop at centre of India publishing row Posted: 09 Oct 2013 05:00 PM PDT October 10, 2013 An employee sorts photocopied material at the Rameshwari Photocopy Service shop, located on the Delhi University premises. – AFP pic, October 10, 2013.A cramped, one-room shop tucked away in Delhi University seems an unlikely battleground for a publishing war that, academics warn, threatens quality of and access to education in the world's second most populous nation. The busy shop, where photocopiers churn out papers for a steady stream of students for a small fee, is at the centre of a court battle brought by three venerable academic presses over the interpretation of India's copyright law. The lawsuit, filed by Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press and Taylor & Francis against Delhi University and the shop threatens production of course packs – de facto "textbooks" made of photocopied portions of various books. Course packs are common throughout much of the developing world – where most university students cannot afford to purchase new or even second-hand textbooks – and are seen as key to the spread of education there. Distinguished Indian academics have lined up to express dismay over the suit, including Nobel Prize winner and Harvard University professor Amartya Sen, warning that these packs could become expensive, or unavailable altogether, hitting students hard. "As an OUP (Oxford University Press) author I would like to urge my publisher to not draw on the full force of the law to make these course packs impossible to generate and use," Sen wrote in an open letter last September, a month after the case was filed in the Supreme Court. "Educational publishers have to balance various interests, and the cause (access to) of education must surely be a very important one," he wrote. Experts fear that the case could set a precedent that forces the closure of such shops in India. Universities that still want to provide packs to their students could instead be forced into potentially expensive licensing arrangements with publishers to reproduce the texts. Amita Baviskar, associate professor at the Institute of Economic Growth at Delhi University, who has campaigned against the suit, calls it "a case of big-name publishers bullying academics, students and a small shop to make more profit". "If the court rules in favour of the publishers, access to educational material will become more expensive and the quality of students' learning will suffer. Students will struggle without course packs," Baviskar said. Indian copyright law already allows students and academics to photocopy textbook excerpts freely for educational use, under a "fair dealing" provision, according to Baviskar. Publishers, however, argue that this provision, while allowing an individual to copy small numbers of pages for academic use, doesn't extend to a profit-making photocopying shop generating entire course packs. According to Sudhir Malhotra, president of the Federation of Indian Publishers, "a photocopying shop which copies excerpts from various books and then sells the resulting course pack for a profit... this is not fair use, this is commercial exploitation of private property". "It's not as if photocopiers are doing it for free. So why blame publishers for wanting their share?" Malhotra said. The practice of copying textbook excerpts is "typical of emerging economies", according to copyright experts like Jeremy de Beer, associate professor of law at the University of Ottawa in Canada. His published work on the issue includes a 2010 book on copyright law and access to education in eight developing nations, including South Africa, Senegal, Egypt and Kenya. "What I found was that most universities lack the resources to buy brand-new copies of academic books, so photocopying is integral to the education there," de Beer said in a phone interview. Most libraries de Beer visited housed only one copy of each textbook on the syllabus, making it necessary to photocopy whole books, he said. Licensing deals long resisted Publishers do not expect a massive boom in textbook sales even if the lawsuit succeeds, he said. Instead Indian universities are expected to be pushed into new copying arrangements with publishers. "As far as this case in India is concerned, publishers have an ulterior motive. They want to create a system whereby the university obtains a copying licence from the publisher in exchange for a flat fee per student," he said. So far, universities have been reluctant to sign licence deals, saying they can rely – through their small photocopy shops – on "fair use" legal provisions to photocopy material. The Supreme Court of Canada in 2004 ruled on a similar case filed by three legal publishers against the Law Society of Upper Canada. Its verdict supported the Law Society's right to photocopy library materials. The crucial issue, according to de Beer, is whether an Indian court will regard a privately-held photocopying shop in the same light as a not-for-profit library, and whether the court supports licensing deals. "If the court in Delhi supports licensing then publishers can use India as an example to drive a global trend," he said. "In the past, Indian courts have set precedents with important implications for other emerging economies," he said, citing landmark rulings on issues like pharmaceutical patents that helped expand access to cheap drugs in developing nations. "This case has the potential to create similar shock waves." Prem Vipin said his shop in Delhi University, with its six-odd photocopiers and mounds of papers, remains open as the court battle drags on. But he fears for the future, not just for his business but for the students too. "We face tough times. But it is the students who will suffer the most," he said. – AFP, October 10, 2013.

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Bajet 2014: Cuepacs minta bonus, kenaikan elaun tetap Posted: 10 Oct 2013 02:53 AM PDT October 10, 2013 Kongres Kesatuan Pekerja-Pekerja Dalam Perkhidmatan Awam (Cuepacs) meminta kerajaan memperuntuk pemberian bonus dua bulan dan menaikkan beberapa elaun tetap termasuk perumahan dan sara hidup kepada 1.4 juta penjawat awam dalam Bajet 2014. Presidennya Datuk Omar Osman (gambar) berkata kerajaan perlu memberi bonus dan kenaikan elaun itu berikutan peningkatan kos sara hidup terutamanya setelah subsidi petrol dikurangkan baru-baru ini. Menurutnya Cuepacs amat berharap imbuhan tetap perumahan dinaikkan mengikut gred setelah 15 tahun berada pada paras sama selain mengambil kira ketidakmampuan golongan rendah dan sederhana memiliki rumah berikutan harga semakin meningkat kini. Cuepacs turut memohon elaun sara hidup (Cola) antara kawasan bandar dan luar Bandar diselaraskan kepada RM300 kerana kos sara hidup di semua kawasan tidak banyak berbeza. Kongres itu juga mahukan kerajaan menurunkan kadar  faedah pinjaman perumahan untuk penjawat awam daripada 4% kepada 1% berikutan kenaikan harga rumah.    Sementara itu, Omar berkata Cuepacs menyambut baik kenyataan Timbalan Menteri Kewangan, Datuk Ahmad Maslan mengenai pelepasan cukai untuk golongan berpendapatan sederhana yang dijangka diumum dalam bajet kali ini. Bagaimanapun, Omar berharap kerajaan dapat memberikan lebih banyak mekanisme subsidi kepada golongan itu kerana mereka tidak layak menerima bantuan lain seperti Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia (BR1M)  yang dinikmati golongan berpendapatan rendah. "Sudah tentu ini berita gembira buat kita jika ia diumumkan. Namun, kita berharap lebih banyak bantuan atau subsidi lain diumum untuk penjawat awam," katanya. Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak dijadual membentangkan Bajet 2014 pada 25 Oktober ini. – Bernama, 10 Oktober, 2013.

Kajian halang naik pangkat pegawai perubatan enggan khidmat di pedalaman, kata Dr Hilmi Posted: 10 Oct 2013 02:15 AM PDT October 10, 2013 Insentif tambahan diberikan kepada pegawai dan kakitangan perubatan yang berkhidmat di kawasan pedalaman. Kementerian Kesihatan akan mengkaji dasar baharu menghalang kenaikan pangkat mana-mana pegawai dan kakitangan perubatan yang enggan berkhidmat di kawasan pedalaman. Timbalan Menteri Kesihatan, Datuk Seri Dr Hilmi Yahya berkata kaedah itu adalah untuk menggalakkan mereka berkhidmat di kawasan pedalaman seterusnya mengatasi masalah kekurangan doktor di kawasan pedalaman. "Ramai doktor enggan berkhidmat di kawasan luar bandar dan pedalaman serta pelbagai alasan diberi, contohnya doktor Semenanjung yang dihantar pergi ke Sabah dan Sarawak. "Sebenarnya mereka juga turut diberi insentif tambahan oleh KKM (Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia) iaitu elaun wilayah sebanyak 12.5 hingga 15% daripada gaji asas sebulan dan 'hardship allowance' (elaun sukar hidup) sebanyak RM500 hingga RM1,500 jika menerima 'attachment' (penempatan) itu ke kawasan pedalaman khususnya Sabah dan Sarawak," katanya. Dr Hilmi berkata demikian ketika menjawab soalan Senator Datuk Pau Chiong Ung yang ingin tahu tindakan KKM bagi mengatasi masalah kekurangan doktor di kawasan pedalaman. Sementara itu, Dr Hilmi berkata Malaysia akan mencapai nisbah pegawai perubatan kepada penduduk iaitu 1:434 menjelang tahun 2020 berikutan kadar pengeluaran graduan perubatan dari dalam dan luar negara. Beliau berkata buat masa sekarang, nisbah pegawai perubatan kepada penduduk di Malaysia ialah 1:758. "Kementerian mempunyai jumlah pegawai perubatan yang mencukupi memandangkan jumlah graduan perubatan yang semakin meningkat setiap tahun. Bagaimanapun, kementerian masih menghadapi kekurangan pegawai perubatan pakar," katanya. Sehingga 30 Jun ini, jumlah keseluruhan pegawai perubatan ialah 25,616 orang dan daripada jumlah itu, seramai 3,598 orang adalah pegawai perubatan pakar. Selain itu, Dr Hilmi berkata pelaksanaan moratorium yang ditetapkan oleh Jemaah Menteri berkuatkuasa mulai 1 Mei 2011 hingga 30 April 2016, dan sehubungan itu penubuhan program perubatan baharu tidak dibenarkan. "Pengiktirafan ke atas permohonan dari institusi baharu luar negara juga tidak dibuat, maka dijangkakan masalah lebihan bilangan doktor dalam negara akan dapat dielakkan," katanya. – Bernama, 10 Oktober, 2013.

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What’s up with Umno Posted: 09 Oct 2013 05:43 PM PDT October 10, 2013 Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad is the state assemblyman for Seri Setia and Deputy Speaker of the Selangor state assembly. He is also author of two books, Moving Forward: Malays for the 21st Century and Coming of Age: A Decade of Essays There's something about Umno's internal party election that seems to bring out the worst in its politicians and this year's edition is no different. First up, we have Home Minister-cum-Umno Macho Man par excellence Ahmad Zahid Hamidi's bizarre comments during a function in Malacca recently. Among other things, the Minister was said to have claimed that the bulk of gang members in Malaysia are Indian Malaysian and that most crime victims are Malay Malaysians. He also apparently endorsed the police's alleged practice of shoot-to-kill, but then praised the so-called Tiga Line group, which some claim are pro-Umno. Then we have former Malacca chief minister and PUNB chairman Mohd Ali Rustam, who was also recently appointed a senator. Mohd Ali was reported to have told a PUNB event that Chinese Malaysians were behind all the "illegal businesses" (like gambling and vice) in Malaysia. We can only assume that he is implying that the perceived wealth of Chinese Malaysians come from these activities. At the same time, Mohd Ali apparently also accused the DAP of basically having no goal in life but to oppress the Malays, as if Lim Guan Eng, Lim Kit Siang and Karpal Singh's every waking moment is spent thinking about how to ensure that "… the Malays will be living along the Gombak river". Both of these men are educated Malays who hold high public office. Both are running for the Umno vice-presidency. The post is seen as precursors to higher party and national office. Where to begin when leaders make such remarks as theirs? Ahmad Zahid ought to know that crime is colour-blind. His statement is unhelpful as it is offensive. Ahmad Zahid should know that there is no conflict between greater public security and civil liberties. Yes, we have to crack down on crime, but that doesn't give him or any other leaders a blank cheque to embark on racial profiling. It certainly will not make Malaysians – Malay or not – feel safer, if the Home Minister is seen to be endorsing an alleged criminal gang. Indeed, the Home Minister has delivered a blow to the cause of creating a safer and more secure Malaysia. The country needs effective and scientific crime-fighting strategies which are community and civil-liberties centred, rather than crude racial stereotypes. And let's face it: detention without trial is always abused politically. As for Mohd Ali – well, his statement is offensive to both Chinese and Malay Malaysians. It's offensive to the Chinese because, as noted, it implies that their wealth is mainly or only due to their involvement in vice activities. Even someone of limited intelligence would be able to tell you that not every Chinese Malaysian owns a casino or a massage parlour. Mohd Ali has basically insulted millions of hardworking and law-abiding citizens of this country. Yes, my Chinese Malaysian friends, this is how Umno really views you. Not that Malay Malaysians fare any better. In Mohd Ali and Umno's worldview, Malay Malaysians are eternally helpless, requiring perpetual protection – which can only be provided by their party. Never mind that many of the weaknesses and failures besetting the Malay community stems from Umno's policy failures, corruption and favouritism. Never mind that part of the reason why Malay Malaysian entrepreneurs are so unsuccessful stem from the overbearing interference of the government in the economy – which kills innovation, competition and enshrines the need for "know-who" rather than "know-how". I am sure both these gentlemen will claim that their comments were taken out of context. Or perhaps they will stand by them, claiming that they represent "the truth", which ironically only they seem to have a monopoly of. But the scary fact is that these men are running to become the second-tier leaders of Malaysia's ruling party and that one of them could sooner or later succeed to the very top echelons. Many will say, "Oh, but they're only saying this for the Umno elections. Surely they'll go back to the centre once they win, once Umno is secure and dominant again." Perhaps, but the very fact that such rhetoric could win them support in their parties in the first place is a sign that something is deeply wrong with Umno. It's a sign that Umno's values, its priorities and worldviews, are increasingly out of step with many Malaysians, to say nothing of the world at large. In fact, one doubts very much that either Ahmad Zahid or Mohd Ali truly believes in the things they reportedly said – but this cynicism, this willingness to damage the nation for the sake of their political careers – makes it all the more chilling. Many Malaysians will be discouraged or frightened by these statements. I urge them not to be. These are merely the dying gasps of a party that was once-noble but is now way past its expiry date. These are just the mutterings of a ruthless, unprincipled class of plutocrats in love with the sound of their own voices and addicted to power. Umno is living in the past and the statements of these two vice-presidential candidates of theirs prove it. Umno is the past. Race-based parties are the past. Malaysia needs a new vision and new leaders that can lead it forward to a multiracial future. – October 10, 2013. * This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.

Keberkatan daripada pemimpin berintegriti Posted: 09 Oct 2013 05:24 PM PDT October 10, 2013 Haji Subky Abdul Latif seorang penulis bebas dan tinggal di Kuala Lumpur. Seorang pendiam, dia gemar meneliti perangai manusia dan berita politik di Malaysia. Begitu ramai yang mengingatkan menjelang pemilihan pimpinan Umno di semua peringkat tidak lama lagi supaya memilih pemimpin berintegriti. Termasuk yang memberi ingatan itu ialah ahli fikir baru, Dr Asyraf Dasuki. Dia mengisi ruangan tetapnya di akhbar dengan perkara ini. Saya tidak bercadang untuk mengulas apa yang dikata dan apa elokkan pemimpin berintegriti kerana integriti itu wajib bagi sekalian yang bernama pemimpin. Cuma yang menarik ialah mengapa ia diingatkan menjelang pemilihan pimpinan Umno oleh penyokong dan peminat Umno. Sekalipun tujuan itu adalah umum dan bukan ditujukan pada Umno saja, bahkan ia relevan juga buat pemilihan PAS November nanti, malah DAP yang baru selesai pilihan pimpinannya juga perlukan orang yang berintegriti. Justeru ingatan itu dibuat menjelang pemilihan pemimpin Umno oleh pelanggan Umno pula tentulah  dituju khas kepada Umno sebagai pemegang monopoli kuasa yang berpanjangan dan mendakwa memperjuangkan masalah orang Melayu  di buminya dan kata Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Razak meliputi di persada antarabangsa. Adakah ia dibuat sebagai sekadar satu ingatan dan adakah sifat mulia itu sudah tiada atau sudah pupus bagi kumpulan politik Melayu yang berkuasa sejak sekian lama itu? Kalau ia memang berada di tangan orang berintegriti, maka tentu tidak banyak yang memikirkan isu integriti itu. Seperti orang banyak bercakap tentang kelemahan pelajaran dan ekonomi orang Melayu. Mengapa semuanya bercakap tentang hal itu, kerana masalah orang Melalyu menjelang kemerdekaan  dan selepas kemerdekaan memang begitu nasibnya. Seperti banyaknya yang bercakap rasuah mesti dikekang, ia kerana rasuah itu sudah jadi penyakit sosial yang amat teruk. Betul atau tidak, kita tidak tahu. Tetapi akhbar di New York kata dalam seminggu ini Malaysia negara nombor dua teruk rasuah dari sekitar 150 negara. Semua mahu rasuah diperangi kerana rasuah memang teruk. Bila ramai pula yang mengingatkan supaya carilah pimpinan yang integriti, adakah semua yang memimpin miskin integriti. Jika pemimpin semuanya bangsat integriti, maka bagaimana orang jadikan mereka pemimpin? Kata pepatah Inggeris, dalam negara orang buta, yang bermata satu jadi raja. Adakah Umno sedang dipimpin orang bermata satu? Orang  Badwi di padang pasir sebelum pemerintahan Khalifah Umar Abdul Aziz mendapati hasil tanaman mereka biasa saja. Tiba-tiba mereka dapati hasil tanaman lebih baik daripada biasa, maka mereka berkata, tentu pimpinan umat sudah bertukar kepada orang baik. Dan pemimpin di zaman baik itu ialah Khalifah Umar Abdul Aziz. Seorang saja pemimpin soleh sepertinya menjadikan semua orang jadi baik dan negara dan umat jadi makmur. Integriti patut dipastikan oleh 150,000 pemilih Umno itu bukan terhadap pemimpin nombor satu dan serangkai yang nombor duanya. Dua serangkai Najib-Muhyiddin itu tidak perlu dipilih lagi kerana mereka tidak dicabar. Ingatan yang mereka buat itu sebagaimana yang  semua sudah tahu ialah terhadap enam calon Naib yang hendak dipilih tiga, Pemuda, Wanita, Puteri, Ahli Majlis Tertinggi dan lain-lain di peringkat Bahagian dan akar umbi. Mereka sudah lepas peluang bagi menentukan Presiden dan Timbalan Presiden kerana dalam pemilihan yang terbuka itu tiada yang menawar diri. Itulah ruginya Umno sudah ketiadaan Haji Sulaiman Palestin.  Jika dia ada tentu Umno berpeluang memillih yang lebih berintegriti antaranya dengan Najib. Dengan banyaknya ingatan supaya mencari yang berintegriti itu adakah Najib sudah dikira ada integriti atau tidak? Adakah Shahrizat Jalil juga ada integriti atau tidak? – 10 Oktober, 2013. * Ini adalah pendapat peribadi penulis dan tidak semestinya mewakili pandangan The Malaysian Insider.

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