Isnin, 13 Januari 2014

The Malaysian Insider :: Sports

0 ulasan 3:22 PTG Dicatat oleh blog2

Klik GAMBAR Dibawah Untuk Lebih Info

Sumber Asal Berita :-

The Malaysian Insider :: Sports

Man City midfielder Nasri out for eight weeks

Posted: 13 Jan 2014 07:21 AM PST

January 13, 2014

Manchester City's Samir Nasri (bottom) reacts as he is treated for an injury during their English Premier League match against Newcastle United at St James' Park in Newcastle, northern England, yesterday. - Reuters pic, January 13, 2014.Manchester City midfielder Samir Nasri expects to be out for around eight weeks after suffering a serious knee injury in yesterday's 2-0 Premier League win at Newcastle United.

The 26-year-old was carried off the pitch on a stretcher following a tackle by Newcastle defender Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa towards the end of the match at St James' Park.

"Thank you everyone for your kind words and overwhelming support, I suppose it's kind of good news that I will be out around eight weeks," the French international said on his official Twitter account today.

Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini told reporters after the match that he thought Nasri had hurt medial ligaments, and was angered Yanga-Mbiwa had not been sent off for the challenge.

Nasri had been in strong form for the 2011-12 Premier League champions, and will hope to recover in time to ensure a place in the French squad for the World Cup later in the year.

City top the Premier League by one point ahead of Chelsea, although Arsenal can reclaim top spot with victory at Aston Villa later today. - Reuters, January 13, 2014.

Football rule-making body given more room to experiment

Posted: 13 Jan 2014 07:05 AM PST

January 13, 2014

Football's rule-making body will have more freedom to experiment with proposed changes to rules of the game, such as sin bins, following the reforms which were finalised today, its members said.

However, the International Football Association Board (Ifab) will still maintain its cautious attitude to change, emphasising that the beauty of the sport lies in the simplicity of the rules.

"It will become a little bit more proactive rather than reactive and will have the opportunity to test and pilot different programmes," Jonathan Ford, the chief executive of the FA of Wales, told reporters.

"Historically we have not been very successful in doing that, now we all see a different phase where we will be able to go forth and experiment and see whether they work... and make our decisions."

Ford said that one such suggestion which could be tried was the use of sin bins, where offending players would immediately have to a period out of the game.

"There are many ideas that we have, we just haven't been in a position to been able to pilot them over the course of a year and bring those results back," he said.

Scottish FA general secretary Stewart Regan pointed to a recent experiment with sin bins in Dutch youth football.

"We don't have a control mechanism, this new Ifab will allow pilots like the Dutch sin bin idea to be initiated... and the results fed back for the Ifab to consider," he said.

The Ifab was founded 127 years ago and remains the guardian of the laws of the game. Four of the eight votes are held by the British national associations, its original founders, with the other belonging to soccer's governing body FIFA.

Under the reforms, two new advisory panels, one representing players and coaches and the other representing referees, will provide suggestions to the eight-man board.

The changes followed criticism that the board was too conservative, British-dominated and lacked transparency.

"This gives 209 associations around the world the opportunity to feed in ideas, we've seen a lot of innovation in football in recent times, but clearly we didn't have a formal consultation process," said Alex Horne, secretary general of the English FA.

"We're widening the consultation through players, managers (and) key individuals who have an interest and expertise in the game.

"This will make us a stronger unit, representing football even better than we have in the past."

"We shouldn't underestimate the simplicity of the laws," he added. "One of the beauties of the game is that the laws are so simple and that's why 127 years of history says the conservative nature of a small body is vital.

"There is so much innovation in and around football and that's a good thing but we need to be very, very careful before we bring that into the laws of the game."

Ifab members added that they would not automatically reject suggestions for the use of video replays to make decisions during matches.

"I think we've got to be open to any suggestions, we're not going to just block certain things but it's got to be well-thought through," said Ford.

"Forty-five minutes of free flowing football is what the sport is all about," added Horne. "If the ball has stayed in play and it's moved on two minutes (before a replay), that can be confusing."

FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke warned that video replays could also provide the excuse that sponsors needed to show commercials during matches.

"It will not take long for commercial partners to want a two-minute break," he said. "I wonder if it be nice to watch a football match with three commercial breaks? - Reuters, January 13, 2014.

Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

The Malaysian Insider :: Features

0 ulasan 2:45 PTG Dicatat oleh blog2

Klik GAMBAR Dibawah Untuk Lebih Info

Sumber Asal Berita :-

The Malaysian Insider :: Features

Female tailor cuts a dash on Savile Row

Posted: 12 Jan 2014 10:19 PM PST

January 13, 2014

Emily Squires has skills to match any of London's finest male tailors. – AFP/Relaxnews, January 13, 2014. In a basement workshop on Savile Row, it is hard to miss Emily Squires among the dozen middle-aged male tailors bent over closely packed benches, sewing and pressing bespoke suits and coats for the international elite.

Wearing a fashionable grey jumpsuit and Dr Marten boots, the 29-year-old coat maker at Henry Poole and Co is the poster girl of a new generation breathing fresh energy into the traditional craft.

Two of her coats were displayed at men's fashion week in London this week as part of a showcase of garments from Savile Row, the London street which has long been a by-word for menswear but now faces an uncertain future.

Last year Squires won the Golden Shears, the Oscars of Britain's tailoring world, for a blue-velvet frock coat and checked jodhpurs.

She is still basking in the success, although most of her commissions are far more conservative – orders for a $3,300 (RM11,000) suit jacket and a smoking jacket are among those piled up on a shelf above her bench.

"Every job you get is different. You never know what you're going to get when you get the parcel out," she tells AFP.

Squires pulls down a bundle of pieces of cloth cut to the customer's exact specifications in the shop upstairs, and a ticket describing what he wants.

"It's a two-button, he's having an out-breast pocket, flaps on his pockets, side slips and not vents," she reads.

"This is quite a light cloth, a 10oz or 11oz. It's a navy hopsack flannel – this will come up really nicely with all the pressing and steaming, you can get a really nice shape."

Squires is one of a handful of new recruits working at Henry Poole, which was established in 1806, and among a growing number of women training on Savile Row.

Of the estimated 30 coat making diplomas handed out by the trade association Savile Row Bespoke over the last four years, at least 20 have gone to women.

It's an encouraging sign of an industry renewing itself – even if at Henry Poole, some of the veterans are working on equipment that looks at least as old as they are.

But the contrast between the trade and the crazy creativity of fashion week is stark.

The fourth edition of London Collections: Men attracted big names such as Burberry and Tom Ford and international buyers and press from 37 countries.

The collections were typically eclectic, ranging from sharp suits to polo necks and t-shirts, brightly coloured sportswear and even men's platform heels.

Organisers claim the event builds on London's "unrivalled" men's fashion heritage.

But while the mass menswear market is booming in Britain – market analysts Mintel suggest growth of 12 percent in the past five years – the future of the top end is less clear.

"The higher end of the market has been sustained by foreign demand, particularly from China and the Far East," said Richard Perks, director of retail research at Mintel.

"It's a huge export earner, it's great for marketing Britain. But it is a very rarified market."

Asian investors move in

There was a time when a customer would need a recommendation even to get in the door of a Savile Row tailor, but many firms have branched out into ready-to-wear and have collaborated with high-street brands.

Gieves & Hawkes and Hardy Amies both showed ready to wear collections this week, although Henry Poole continues to only make bespoke garments.

"We're still quite a traditional tailor and that's what people want from us," Squires says.

The process of making a garment from scratch, which can take up to three months, is "a special thing – it's an experience. I think they still want that", she says.

She adds optimistically: "The fashion thing – we just have to sit alongside it. There's space for both."

Paul Frearson, a tailor with 50 years of experience who trained Squires, worries about the future, however, particularly as Savile Row tailors battle rising rents.

"I've always been really optimistic, but I'm beginning to wonder whether or not we can sustain what we're doing," he said.

Frearson noted the recent takeovers of Gieves & Hawkes, Hardy Amies and Kilgour by Hong Kong private investment company Fung Capital.

"These traditional companies are now under the same umbrella – but we want individuality," he told AFP.

He hopes the future lies in people like Squires and another ex-apprentice, Rory Duffy, who has now set up on his own in New York.

"What we want is people like Emily to start up business, to continue the bespoke," he said. – AFP/Relaxnews, January 13, 2014.

High-rise urban farming: agriculture reaches for the skies

Posted: 12 Jan 2014 09:20 PM PST

January 13, 2014

Gotham Greens greenhouse, Whole Foods Brooklyn. - AFP pic, January 13, 2014.Will supermarkets soon be growing their own produce on the roof? It might sound unusual, but it could be the future of the food commerce industry as the urban farming trend goes high-rise and spreads to metropolises all over the world.

One of the latest companies to test out the concept is global chain Whole Foods, which opened its first Brooklyn location Third and 3rd last month, featuring a 1860 square metre greenhouse on the roof.

Designed, built and operated by urban agricultural specialist Gotham Greens, the project is thought to be the first commercial-sized greenhouse integrated into a supermarket.

The greenhouse will produce over 200 tonnes of fresh produce, including leafy greens and tomatoes, per year, and recirculating irrigation systems will capture water for re-use. It is the second New York construction by Gotham Greens, following a 1400 square metre rooftop greenhouse built by the company in 2010.

"This project takes the discussion from food miles to food footsteps," said Viraj Puri, Gotham Greens Co-Founder. "Our greenhouse will provide Whole Foods Market shoppers with access to the freshest, most delicious leafy greens, herbs and tomatoes, year-round that will be grown right above the store's produce department."

Whole Foods isn't the first retailer to try out the idea; in 2012 the Rouses Market in New Orleans unveiled 'Roots on the Rooftop' - an aeroponic urban farm which grows herbs such as basil, parsley and cilantro to sell downstairs in the grocery store's main building. The 'tower garden' is a soil-free zone, with water pumped through pillars to grow the plants.

"Aeroponics makes sense for the space," said Rouses Culinary Director Louis 'Jack' Treuting at the time. "It is lighter than soil-based operations, and the towers recycle water and liquid nutrients through their own reservoirs, so they're sustainable."

Urban agribusinesses are becoming a truly global concept, as demonstrated by the success of the Sky Greens project in Singapore, a series of nine-meter high towers which produce fresh produce to be sold in local supermarkets. In a country which imports almost 95 percent of its fresh fruit and vegetables, the concept is revolutionary, and since the project became operational in 2012 the produce has been flying off the shelves despite costing around 10 percent more than the imported equivalents.

A quirky twist on the trend can be seen in Japan, in the form of the nine storey-high corporate Pasona Group office in downtown Tokyo, which acts as a sort of vertical garden and produces food which is directly served to its employees in the staff canteen. Constructed in 2010, the building's double skin green façade reduces energy use and is also draped in foliage from strategically planted orange trees, while over 200 species of plants, vegetables and rice are grown in meeting rooms and offices throughout the building.

Meanwhile Gotham Greens is planning a third rooftop greenhouse in the Queens area of the city, slated to start crop production in 2014. The concept of high-rise urban farming is a slow grower, but it might just take off. – AFP/Relaxnews, January 13, 2014.

Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz

0 ulasan 2:38 PTG Dicatat oleh blog2

Klik GAMBAR Dibawah Untuk Lebih Info

Sumber Asal Berita :-

The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz

Filipina caregiver is surprise star of Israel’s X-Factor

Posted: 13 Jan 2014 03:47 AM PST

January 13, 2014

Rose Fostanes, 47, a Filipina caregiver, performs during a rehearsal for Israel's X-Factor talent show in Tel Aviv, yesterday. - Reuters pic, January 13, 2014.Once part of a faceless crowd of foreign workers who clean homes and tend to Israel's sick and elderly, a Filipina caregiver has shot to stardom on a popular TV singing contest.

Rose Fostanes, 47, surprised viewers of Israel's X-Factor talent show and swept its judges off their feet with soulful renditions of pop songs by the likes of Lady Gaga and Christina Aguilera. And she has rocked her way to tomorrow's live final.

Fostanes hopes her popularity on the show will shine a spotlight on Israel's low-paid foreign workers, who include about 20,000 Filipinos.

For many Israelis, the word "Filipino" has become synonymous with caregiver, and Fostanes's appearance and success on X-Factor could help break the stereotype.

"I think I will be a leader for them because of what I did and I think also they will be proud of me," she told Reuters yesterday. "Everybody in the world will know that Filipinos, even working as a cleaner... can also share their talents."

Fostanes, who came to Israel four years ago, has been working for about 20 years across the Middle East. She had always wanted to be a professional singer and the X-Factor gave her a shot at her dream.

At first she thought Israelis would not vote for a foreign worker, and that she would be an underdog in the competition, where viewers and a panel of four Israeli musicians determine at different stages which contender moves up and which gets dropped.

"I feel that everybody is looking at me like I was an alien," she said on one of the early audition episodes of the show. "A Filipina working here, cleaning houses."

Then Fostanes – who cares for an ailing woman in Tel Aviv – got on the stage and sang Lady Gaga's "You and I", winning a standing ovation from her competitors. To her surprise, the votes, cast via text messages and the show's website, kept on coming and catapulted her to celebrity status.

"I get from them a lot of good compliments, especially when I'm on the street, when I'm on the bus. I get from them love, from all the Israeli people who saw my videos and saw me on the television," Fostanes said.

Fostanes has been compared to the Scottish singer Susan Boyle, 52, who shot to fame in 2009 after appearing on the TV show "Britain's Got Talent" and performing a powerful rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream" from the musical "Les Miserables".

Boyle's giddy rise from unknown to multi-million-selling recording artist has been made into a musical.

"My dream is to win this competition, but I have to go back to my work as a caregiver," Fostanes said before getting up on the arena stage to rehearse one of the numbers she was due to sing at the finals, Frank Sinatra's "My Way". - Reuters, January 13, 2014.

Filipina caregiver is surprise star of Israel’s X-Factor

Posted: 13 Jan 2014 03:47 AM PST

January 13, 2014

Fostanes hopes her popularity on the show will shine a spotlight on Israel's low-paid foreign workers, who include about 20,000 Filipinos.

For many Israelis, the word "Filipino" has become synonymous with caregiver, and Fostanes's appearance and success on X-Factor could help break the stereotype.

"I feel that everybody is looking at me like I was an alien," she said on one of the early audition episodes of the show. "A Filipina working here, cleaning houses."

Boyle's giddy rise from unknown to multi-million-selling recording artist has been made into a musical.

Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

The Malaysian Insider :: Books

0 ulasan 12:05 PTG Dicatat oleh blog2

Klik GAMBAR Dibawah Untuk Lebih Info

Sumber Asal Berita :-

The Malaysian Insider :: Books

Obsolete Czech phone booths find new life as mini libraries

Posted: 13 Jan 2014 04:48 AM PST

January 13, 2014

A mini library made from a former phone booth is seen in Ikem hospital on January 9, 2014 in Prague. - AFP/Relaxnews pic, January 13, 2014.Two Czechs have breathed new life into telephone booths made obsolete in the cell phone age, converting them into mini libraries with the first installed at a Prague hospital last Thursday.

On the shelves of the red booth, patients of the Ikem hospital will find a plethora of genres, including works by US crime writer John Grisham, Czech and Russian titles and biographer Andrew Morton's "Diana: Her True Story".

Library mastermind Monika Serbusova, 27, said she and a friend drew inspiration from a similar project in Britain.

They won backing from a local phone operator, then built the libraries with the help of colleagues and friends, painting the booths and installing wooden shelves.

"My cousin who studies at a technical school told us how to mount the booth, my grandma brought us a bagful of books from a scrap yard," Serbusova told AFP.

She said they intend to set up other libraries at a shopping centre and elsewhere. They currently have 700 books, but the selection will grow as people have promised to donate large collections.

"The plan is to install nine booths in Prague and then see how successful the project is," Lucie Jungmannova, a spokeswoman for phone operator Telefonica Czech Republic, told AFP.

She said the company runs over 13,000 booths across the country, down by half from 10 years ago as people increasingly use mobile phones.

Peeking into the new hospital library, Ikem radiologist Radomira Hnutova called it "a wonderful idea".

"Patients can borrow a book and bring it back when they come for the next scan," she said.

But Alena Ulcova, selling flowers down the corridor, voiced concern over the city's high theft levels.

"I only hope people won't steal them. It would be nice if some of the books stayed on the shelves," she told AFP. - AFP/Relaxnews, January 13, 2014.

Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion

0 ulasan 3:45 PG Dicatat oleh blog2

Klik GAMBAR Dibawah Untuk Lebih Info

Sumber Asal Berita :-

The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion

Pakatan/Pas/Anwar must show resolve

Posted: 12 Jan 2014 11:55 PM PST

January 13, 2014

Datuk Zaid Ibrahim founded Malaysia's largest law partnership before focusing on politics. He was a minister in the Abdullah administration, was in Umno, PKR and last in KITA as its president.

This is somewhat belated, but I hope it's still not too late for me to offer my congratulations to Selangor state assemblymen Yeo Bee Yin and Lau Weng San. Both made a sensible and courageous suggestion to resolve the Allah issue in relation to the Selangor Islamic Religious Department's (Jais) recent actions in confiscating Bibles from the Bible Society of Malaysia.

They suggested repealing the Selangor Non-Islamic Religions (Control of Propagation Among Muslims) Enactment 1988, but for this they were unfairly and harshly criticised by their own Pakatan colleagues, including no less a personality than their leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for "jumping the gun", as he put it.

Aside from these two young lawmakers, no one else has had the guts to show Selangor and the rest of the country a way to resolve the issue. I am disappointed that Anwar has once again failed to show leadership when it was urgently required.

If the Barisan Nasional's head honcho is unwilling to offer a solution, then the people expect the leader of the opposition to show he is made of sterner stuff. It's disappointing that both Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Anwar are the only choices we have!

Everyone has concluded that it would be suicidal for Pakatan to take the lead in this issue. Commentators have argued that Pas/Anwar would be "destroyed" if they attempted to repeal the Enactment. Pas, they say, would not be willing to repeal the Enactment for fear of a Muslim backlash. One senior academic even theorised that the opposition coalition would not survive this issue. How wrong can they be?

Pakatan can only lead the country if it is brave enough to offer solutions to the difficult religious and ethnic issues that Umno seems adept at creating. Pakatan can only be stronger if they can take on Umno on these issues by presenting comprehensive solutions and not shying away as they are prone to do. It's time Pakatan showed their resolve and conviction by presenting to the country ways of resolving the Allah issue in a practical manner. It's time they show they are made differently from Umno.

After all, three years ago Pakatan had already made a decision on this matter. They decided it was best to allow the use of the word "Allah" for prayers and in the Bible, provided the word was not abused, for example, to deceive Muslims. In other words, the hard decision has already been made. If Pakatan really believes in its own decision and is willing to hold to it, then it's only logical that it supports the repeal of the Enactment.

The "mischief" that the Enactment sought to address is the forced conversion of Muslims. Banning 35 words, including "Allah", cannot possibly achieve that purpose, especially when the ban would entail infringing on the rights of Christians and Sikhs in the country, as well as on schoolchildren singing the state anthem. If such an impractical piece of legislation is allowed to remain in the statute book, then one must not complain if Jais or other enforcement agencies go on acting in the manner that they have.

If the issue is the vulnerability of Muslims being "unknowingly "converted into Christianity (which the likes of Perak Mufti Tan Sri Harussani Zakaria, Malay rights leader Datuk Hasan Mohamed Ali Hassan and Perkasa have strenuously alluded to), then a new law to address the issue of conversion needs to be enacted. That's all there is to it. Pakatan, especially Pas, have enough Muslim scholars and intellectuals who can explain to Muslims that the Enactment, the brainchild of Umno, is ill-suited to address this "mischief". Further, the Enactment is ultra vires the Constitution in my view. People like former Perak Mufti Datuk Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin and other genuine Muslim scholars would have no difficulty countering any Umno propaganda that says the Enactment protects Muslims.

Equally, the good people in the National Unity Consultative Council should have done more than just expressed their unhappiness with the conduct of Jais. They should have endorsed the two assemblymen's suggestion and asked the PM to pass legislation allowing for the use of the word. Otherwise, Jais would be duty bound to continue with their actions, and in no time we will have another controversy to deal with. When will we have time to deal with the real issues affecting the country?

It seems to me that Pakatan always recoils under pressure when presented with Umno's religious propaganda. I can't fathom why. Islam is not an illogical or insensible religion. The liberating force of Muslim ethics and morality is universally known, and there is an adequate body of work from religious scholars – past and present – that can be used to defend the principles of the Constitution.

Anyone reading the writings of Dr Asri and other progressive writers would realise that Islam's teachings are much wider and deeper in meaning than those dished out by the ethno-religious department of Umno. But unless Pas and Anwar are prepared to climb the mountain of faith and present the pristine Islam to the Muslims of this country, then we have no hope for democracy and the rule of law.

They must believe that divine law requires a rational application and a study of things in society. They must believe that divine law in no way contradicts with philosophy or universal human values. That's why in Islamic history a mufti had to be someone steeped in comparative religion, so he could advise the Caliphs about conflicts of laws and cultures within the Islamic empire. Peace was always a paramount consideration in Islamic societies.

How is Pakatan going to move forward and present the country with new policies and new, highly-qualified muftis that can ensure peace and harmony if they continuously tie themselves to the ghosts created by Umno? Let Pakatan declare the Islamic principles they wish to offer to our institutions for a better country, and still live within the context of laws and demands of the Federal Constitution. Pakatan must offer a "thinking" policy statement, so that ignorance can be slowly dealt with.

Umno thrives on the ignorance and fear of Muslims, so Pakatan and Pas must do the opposite to liberate them. They must not be easily scared about possibly losing votes in doing so. If this is the case, then they are being unduly opportunistic and are clearly prepared to sacrifice their principles for political victory. What then are they fighting for?

Pakatan as a coalition that earns votes will no longer suffice. Pakatan's strategy of withholding on the sensitive issues and dealing with them later, when power comes their way, will not work. The people are only interested in real change. Muslims also surely want a country that is not Islamic in terms of slogans and cosmetic change, but a country that is truly just and fair for all God's creations.

Pakatan must do justice to Islam. It need not be fearful of presenting a new Islamic agenda for the country. Try to get Dr Asri to join in, if not as a member then as a contributor to the cause. There are many others. As Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. – January 13, 2014.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.

ISA atau Mahathir?

Posted: 12 Jan 2014 04:57 PM PST

January 13, 2014

Penulis adalah seorang jurutera semikonduktor, wartawan freelance, penerbit dan editor buku motivasi yang suka mengikuti perkembangan politik Malaysia

Minggu lalu, ada kumpulan yang rancak berkempen untuk mengembalikan Akta Keselamatan Dalam Negeri (ISA), akta yang menggerunkan ramai yang tidak bersetuju dengan kerajaan, terutamanya aktivis, pelajar dan pembangkang.

ISA, dalam ingatan rakyat biasa, secara umumnya dilihat sebagai alat kerajaan menutup mulut dan memberikan amaran kepada pembangkang.

Di zaman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, akta ISA yang paling digeruni. Ramai ahli politik pembangkang pernah merasainya ketika Operasi Lalang pada akhir 1980-an.

Di tengah-tengah kemelut isu harga barang naik, kemelut perkataan Allah dan isu bughah, Dr Mahathir mencadangkan untuk menghidupkan semula ISA.

Cadangan itu serta-merta dipersetujui oleh Ketua Polis Negara, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar.

Beliau berhujah bahawa ISA tersebut dapat menjadikan negara lebih aman damai tapi beliau tidak menghurai "Bagaimana?"

Persoalannya ialah siapa yang salah pada pandangan polis? Mereka yang mencetuskan ketegangan atau mereka yang ditindas tetapi berani melawan kebatilan kerajaan yang menyebabkan kerajaan tegang dan memberikan reaksi yang mencetuskan ketegangan?

Apakah polis boleh bertindak secara bebas walaupun ia berlawan dengan hasrat dan arahan pembayar gaji mereka?

Sejarah hitam ISA yang paling dekat dengan minda rakyat ialah ISA yang dikuatkuasakan oleh Menteri Dalam Negeri pada 2008, Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar ke atas Teresa Kok, Raja Petra Kamaruddin dan seorang wartawan Sin Chew, Tan Hoon Cheng.

Ketika itu, alasan yang digunakan oleh KDN untuk menggunakan ISA ke atas Kok dan Tan adalah untuk "memberikan perlindungan" kepada mereka. Raja Petra pula ditahan kerana artikelnya yang didakwa menghina Islam dan Nabi Muhammad.

Bayangkan sekiranya ISA digunakan dalam isu harga barang naik, kemelut Allah dan isu bughah, siapakah yang bakal di-ISA-kan atas alasan diberi perlindungan jika alasan 2008 menjadi sandaran dan rujukan kepada siapa yang perlu ditahan?

Orang yang paling diharapkan untuk menyokong usaha menghidupkan kembali ISA ialah Menteri Dalam Negeri, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, tetapi, kali ini, beliau mengejutkan ramai pihak apabila bermain watak good cop.

Beliau berkata, tidak mungkin mewujudkan semula ISA dan hanya sekadar berkata kerajaan boleh meminda akta sedia ada atau menggubal akta baharu yang bersesuaian jika perkara itu dirasakan perlu.

Sejurus selepas Zahid membuat pendirian, tiba-tiba wujud pula idea untuk membawa Dr Mahathir kembali ke Kabinet. Idea itu diutarakan oleh Tan Sri Zainuddin Maidin.

Katanya, langkah tersebut perlu diambil untuk membolehkan Dr Mahathir "membantu dan memberikan sokongan moral kepada perdana menteri untuk mengukuhkan undang-undang negara dan mengembalikan keyakinan rakyat sebelum membawa semula ISA".

Zainuddin turut berkata, pengalaman Mahathir dapat membantu BN dalam menangani isu perkauman, agama dan ekonomi yang meruncing.

Mungkin Zainuddin terlupa, sebenarnya Dr Mahathir sudah memberikan inputnya dari luar seperti biasa, cuma nasihatnya masuk telinga kanan keluar telinga kiri.

Daripada segi ekonomi, Dr Mahathir menyarankan kerajaan berjimat sebelum menaikkan harga barang. Namun begitu, apakah perkara ini difahami Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, Zahid dan juga Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri yang berpesta kenduri mewah untuk hari lahir dan perkahwinan anak masing-masing di hotel lima bintang tatkala rakyat disuruh berjimat?

Daripada sudut agama dan perkauman, Dr Mahathir mencadangkan kerajaan untuk mengembalikan ISA untuk menangani ektremis minoriti. Apakah kemungkinan Najib akan dengar dan menampar dirinya sendiri kerana yang memansuhkan ISA ialah beliau sendiri sebagai satu langkah transformasi melonjakkan imej politiknya di peringkat antarabangsa?

Oleh itu, kempen mengembalikan ISA atau membawa Dr Mahathir kembali ke kerajaan, tujuannya sama cuma berlainan botol.

Yang berbeza hanyalah success rate untuk ISA dikembalikan apabila Dr Mahathir kembali ke kerajaan akan menjadi jauh lebih tinggi. – 13 Januari, 2014.

* Ini adalah pendapat peribadi penulis dan tidak semestinya mewakili pandangan The Malaysian Insider.

Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

The Malaysian Insider :: Bahasa

0 ulasan 3:08 PG Dicatat oleh blog2

Klik GAMBAR Dibawah Untuk Lebih Info

Sumber Asal Berita :-

The Malaysian Insider :: Bahasa

Adun minta MB Terengganu bertaubat, dakwa banjir kerana rakyat pilih Pakatan

Posted: 13 Jan 2014 02:20 AM PST

January 13, 2014

Adun Chukai Hanafiah Mat meminta Menteri Besar Terengganu, Datuk Seri Ahmad Said (gambar) bertaubat kerana mengeluarkan ucapan angkuh di majlis penyampaian bantuan banjir oleh Perdana Menteri semalam.

Katanya, dalam ucapan Menteri Besar semalam beliau berkata, "Kerana BN kalah kepada pembangkanglah di DUN Chukai, Kemaman dapat bala banjir", lapor laman FMT hari ini.

Hanafiah bertanya kenapa ketika PAS menang tiga kerusi (Air Putih, Chukai dan Kijal) dan Parlimen Kemaman (PKR) pada tahun 1999, Kemaman tidak banjir?

Sehubungan dengan itu, Hanafiah meminta Ahmad bertaubat kerana seolah-olah beliau tidak percaya bala banjir diturunkan Allah.

Kemaman dilanda banjir besar baru-baru ini di mana 80% dari tanahnya telah ditenggelami air.

Ia disifatkan sebagai kejadian pertama dalam sejarah daerah itu.

Manakala Adun Batu Burok, Dr Syed Azman Ahmad Nawawi dalam kenyataannya kepada The Malaysian Insider, meminta kerajaan mengisytiharkan darurat di daerah itu bagi membolehkan kerja-kerja bantuan dibuat namun ditolak oleh kerajaan.

PAS dan unit-unit di bawahnya telah memberikan bantuan penuh kepada mangsa banjir ketika pemimpin Umno sibuk dengan Perhimpunan Agung Umno di Kuala Lumpur.

Ahmad yang pulang ke Kemaman selepas itu kesal dengan apa yang terjadi, namun komen beliau bahawa ia berpunca dari kemenangan calon PAS di Chukai dalam Pilihan Raya Umum ke-13 sangat dikesali.

Sikap Ahmad yang berlagak seperti "Robin Hood" menyekat sebuah lori pembawa roti ketika banjir bagi mengambil roti itu untuk mangsa banjir menjadi berita di Terengganu.

Semalam Datuk Seri Najib Razak menyampaikan bantuan kepada 19,205 mangsa banjir di negeri ini yang disifatkan sebagai bantuan luar biasa di majlis yang berlangsung di sini.

Bantuan banjir ini mencatatkan sejarah apabila produk berupa televisyen, peti sejuk, dapur, tilam dan bantal bernilai RM5,000 disumbangkan kepada setiap keluarga mangsa banjir di Terengganu.

Antara produk yang diterima mereka adalah peti sejuk yang disumbangkan Umno, televisyen sumbangan Suruhanjaya Komunikasi dan Multimedia serta bantal dan tilam sumbangan Kelab Putera 1Malaysia.

Selain itu, kesemua 19,205 keluarga yang terlibat dengan banjir di Terengganu turut menerima bantuan wang tunai RM500 daripada kerajaan pusat dan RM1,500 daripada kerajaan negeri.

Najib seterusnya melahirkan rasa terharu dengan jumlah kehadiran yang begitu ramai sehingga mencecah hampir 20,000 orang pada majlis itu dalam keadaan cuaca mendung dan hujan renyai.

Yang turut hadir Menteri Komunikasi dan Multimedia, Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek; Ketua Wanita UMNO, Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil dan Presiden Kelab Putera 1Malaysia, Datuk Seri Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim.

Mengulas majlis penyampaian tersebut, Hanafiah berkata ramai penerima kecewa kerana terlalu lama beratur untuk mengambil kupon sampai ke petang sehingga mereka tidak dapat menghantar anak mereka ke sekolah dan terpaksa ponteng kerja.

"Malah yang lebih mengecewakan mereka pada bulan April, tiga bulan dari sekarang baru mereka dapat menunaikan kupon itu untuk mengambil peti ais, televisyen dan tilam yang dijanjikan itu," kata mereka.

Beliau berkata kalau dah tahu bulan April baru dapat ambil barang tersebut, kenapa buat majlis sekarang.

"Buatlah pada bulan Mac, sekurang-kurangnya tidak lama mereka menunggu barang yang dijanjikan," katanya lagi. – 13 Januari, 2014.

NSTP diperintah bayar ganti rugi RM200,000 kepada Kayveas

Posted: 13 Jan 2014 02:04 AM PST

January 13, 2014

Mahkamah Tinggi Kuala Lumpur hari ini memerintahkan The New Straits Times Press (M) Sdn Bhd (NSTP) membayar ganti rugi RM200,000 kepada presiden Parti Progresif Penduduk Malaysia (PPP) Datuk M. Kayveas (gambar) dalam kes saman fitnah berhubung dakwaan berlaku penyelewengan dalam laporan kewangan parti itu.

Hakim Siti Khadijah S. Hassan Badjenid juga memerintahkan NSTP membayar kos sebanyak RM5,000 kepada Kayveas.

Dalam keputusannya Siti Khadijah berkata berdasarkan keterangan saksi dalam kes itu mahkamah mendapati Kayveas telah berjaya membuktikan kesnya terhadap NSTP.

Sehubungan itu beliau berkata mahkamah membenarkan tuntutan Kayveas terhadap NSTP.

Pada 2009, Kayveas memfailkan saman terhadap bekas anggota majlis tertinggi parti itu, N. A. Shanmuganathan dan NSTP dan menamakan mereka sebagai defendan pertama dan kedua.

Bagaimanapun Kayveas berjaya memperoleh penghakiman terhadap Shanmuganathan.

Dalam pernyataan tuntutannya, Kayveas mendakwa wartawan NSTP telah menghadiri satu persidangan akhbar pada 22 Jun, 2009 oleh Shanmuganathan di Putrajaya dan NSTP telah mencetak dan menerbitkan artikel yang memfitnahnya dalam akhbar New Straits Times pada keesokannya.

Beliau berkata akibat penerbitan artikel itu, beliau terpaksa menanggung malu dan kesedihan dan reputasi dan nama baiknya sebagai individu dan presiden PPP telah terjejas.

NSTP dalam pernyataan pembelaannya berkata artikel itu disiarkan atas kapasiti perlindungan bersyarat kerana ia mempunyai tanggungjawab untuk menerbitkan artikel itu untuk pengetahuan orang awam. – Bernama, 13 Januari, 2014.

Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

Isnin, 13 Januari 2014