Selasa, 4 Februari 2014

The Malaysian Insider :: Food

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The Malaysian Insider :: Food


French flipping over burgers, shows study

Posted: 04 Feb 2014 09:04 PM PST

February 05, 2014

Nearly one in every two sandwiches sold in France last year was a burger, up from one in nine in 2000. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, February 5, 2014.Nearly one in every two sandwiches sold in France last year was a burger, up from one in nine in 2000. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, February 5, 2014.The hamburger may be a quintessentially American food, but it is fast winning over the French who increasingly choose a beef patty wedged into a bun over a baguette sandwich.

Research by the Gira marketing and consulting firm found that nearly one of every two sandwiches sold in the country last year was a burger, up from one in nine in 2000.

Although the French are famously proud of the their cuisine, Gira found that burgers are making inroads into traditional restaurants.

Gira's director Bernard Boutboul said the firm found "75% of traditional French restaurants offer at least one hamburger on their menu" and that a third of said burgers were beating out steak or fish dishes.

While fast food chains such as McDonald's dominate the market, Gira found that restaurants accounted for a quarter of the 970 million burgers sold in the country last year. – AFP, February 5, 2014.

Weekend splurging and weight loss can go hand in hand

Posted: 04 Feb 2014 07:25 PM PST

February 05, 2014

A new study has found that weight gain and weight loss depend on weekday eating habits. – AFP/Relaxnews pic, February 5, 2014.A new study has found that weight gain and weight loss depend on weekday eating habits. – AFP/Relaxnews pic, February 5, 2014.Feeling guilty for tucking into a pizza pie or pint of ice-cream over the weekend? As long as you resume a sensible eating and exercise plan over the workweek, new research shows successful weight loss can be achieved even after splurging on the weekends.

It's a bit of good news when it comes to the battle of the bulge, as the findings absolve dieters from feeling guilty and remorseful following an indulgent weekend. The study also pokes holes in regimes that are overly restrictive.

For their research, published out of Cornell University, scientists looked at weight loss and weight gain cycles among 80 adults, ranging in age from 25 to 62 years.

Participants were asked to weigh themselves after waking up over a period spanning 15 to 330 days in order to tease out weight fluctuation patterns and corresponding days of the week.

Interestingly, researchers observed that individuals who lost weight over the period of the study were more likely to splurge over the weekend, as weight variability fluctuated markedly between the weekend and weekdays.

Weight losers reached their maximum weekly weight in 59% of cases on Sunday and Monday, and the week's minimum weight in 60% of cases on Friday or Saturday.

In other words, though they may have indulged in a burger and brownie on the weekend, come Monday they resumed a less caloric diet.

Individuals who gained weight, meanwhile, showed no discernible minimum and maximum weight fluctuations over the week.

Overall, researchers note that successful weight control is more achievable if diets aren't excessively restrictive, but allow for short-term splurges.

The caveat? Resuming a healthy diet for the rest of the week.

The findings were published in the journal Obesity Facts. – AFP/Relaxnews, February 5, 2014.

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The Malaysian Insider :: Sports

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The Malaysian Insider :: Sports


Ibrahimovic double sends PSG into League Cup final

Posted: 04 Feb 2014 02:41 PM PST

February 05, 2014

Paris Saint Germain's Zlatan Ibrahimovic celebrates with team mates after scoring against FC Nantes during their French League Cup semi-finals match at the Beaujoire stadium in Nantes, yesterday. – Reuters pic, February 5, 2014.Paris Saint Germain's Zlatan Ibrahimovic celebrates with team mates after scoring against FC Nantes during their French League Cup semi-finals match at the Beaujoire stadium in Nantes, yesterday. – Reuters pic, February 5, 2014.Zlatan Ibrahimovic struck a last-minute winner to put Paris St Germain in the French League Cup final with a 2-1 win at Nantes yesterday having opened the scoring as they boosted their hopes of a maiden domestic double.

The Sweden striker netted after five minutes with a splendid 25-metre strike and sent the Paris club through to the April 19 showpiece match at the Stade de France with a last-gasp header after Olivier Veigneau had equalised in the 81st.

Ligue 1 leaders PSG, who are five points clear of second-placed Monaco, will face the winners of today's second semi-final between Olympique Lyon and second-division Troyes.

It will the fifth League Cup final appearance for PSG, who have won the trophy three times.

"As soon as we conceded the goal, my team said to itself that we could not afford playing extra time and we went for the game," PSG coach Laurent Blanc told broadcaster France 2.

The visitors, who had thrashed Nantes 5-0 at home in the league two weeks ago, went ahead when the inspired Ibrahimovic struck a half-volley into the net after the ball had been mistakenly kicked into his path by Nantes goalkeeper Remy Riou.

PSG pushed for a second but Riou made amends for his error by parrying efforts from Thiago Silva and Ezequiel Lavezzi.

Nantes, who barely touched the ball in the first half but saw Marco Verratti save a Papy Djiloboji header on his goal line, staged a fightback after the break.

The hosts were rewarded when Veigneau fired the ball home from a low cross by substitute Georges-Kevin Nkoudou.

However, their hopes of reaching the final were dashed nine minutes later when the magical Ibrahimovic powered home a header following a superb cross from Brazilian Lucas Moura. – Reuters, February 5, 2014.

Giant-killing Blades punish Fulham in FA Cup

Posted: 04 Feb 2014 02:37 PM PST

February 05, 2014

Fulham's Josh Passley (left) challenges Sheffield United's Ryan Flynn during their English FA Cup match at Craven Cottage in London, yesterday. – Reuters pic, February 5, 2014. Fulham's Josh Passley (left) challenges Sheffield United's Ryan Flynn during their English FA Cup match at Craven Cottage in London, yesterday. – Reuters pic, February 5, 2014. Third-tier Sheffield United scored in the last minute of extra time to dump sorry Premier League strugglers Fulham out of the FA Cup with a 1-0 victory yesterday.

The fourth-round replay at a rain-soaked Craven Cottage was almost completely devoid of goalmouth incident and looked destined for penalties until Shaun Miller snatched a dramatic winner in the 120th minute.

Miller's close-range header, from Harry Maguire's knock-down, gave United a second successive victory against top-flight opposition after a previous success against Aston Villa in the third round.

It was the latest indignity in a desperate recent run for Fulham, who have slipped to the foot of the Premier League table after a run of four consecutive league defeats.

United are themselves second from bottom in League One after a sequence of one win in seven games, but Nigel Clough's side can now look forward to a home tie with either Preston North End or Nottingham Forest in round five. – AFP, February 5, 2014.

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The Malaysian Insider :: Features

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The Malaysian Insider :: Features


Happy birthday, Facebook!

Posted: 03 Feb 2014 10:25 PM PST

February 04, 2014

Ten years on Facebook is still the world's biggest and most popular social network, and despite claims from many commentators and teenagers that its time has now come and the site is about to wane, nothing could be further from the truth.

Facebook currently boasts 1.23 billion monthly active users, 60% of whom visit daily – that's actually a 16% jump year-on-year and, more importantly, it is making serious money. Its profits for 2013 were $1.5 billion (RM5.02 billion).

But as well as attracting a user base equal to a quarter of the world's population (and growing), over the past decade Facebook has managed to ingrain itself in popular culture and modern language in a way that no other tech company, with the notable exception of Google, had before managed.

To 'friend' and to 'unfriend' are now verbs, as is to 'unlike', and to 'poke' now means to tell someone else you exist.

However, some of the doomsayers preaching Facebook's demise do have a point. Facebook's launch was pre-mobile internet. Facebook predates YouTube, Twitter, the iPhone, the Android operating system, tablets and Google Glass. And new social sites such as Pinterest or Tumblr or Instagram that have sprung up in its wake have been focused on delivering one element of what Facebook was already offering, and usually offering it optimised for mobile devices.

One of the reasons Snapchat has overtaken Facebook as a site for sharing photos (350 million a day and counting) is because it enables its users to do so privately on a network where they're not 'friends' with their parents.

However, one of the most startling statistics when Facebook announced its quarterly results in January was its number of mobile users – 945 million active monthly users and growing, fast.

The key to Facebook's survival and its fight to remain socially relevant is to not simply focus on mobile, but to break down the many features it offers – sharing images, messaging, checking in, sharing stories, etc, into separate, mobile apps, while the website remains an umbrella destination – and that is exactly what Facebook is doing.

To celebrate its 10th birthday it launched Paper, a news curation and sharing app that will give Flipboard a real run for its money and that went live on February 3 in the US. It is one of many apps that are set to come over the next three years.

"Connecting everyone means giving the power to share different kinds of content with different groups of people," said Mark Zuckerberg of the decision to focus on mobile during his conference call. "This is something we focused on by launching separate mobile apps beyond the main Facebook app – Messenger and Instagram are great examples of this."

And by different groups of people he is referring to the fact that the younger generation are being turned off by Facebook because it is full of their extended family – uncles, aunts and parents. But then again, of course it is: today's parents were last decade's early-adopter teens and young adults.

Zuckerberg knows this better than anyone and understands that the key to making Facebook truly global is to fragment it and package it up for different types and ages of consumers. As he explained during the recent earnings call: "If you think about the overall space of sharing and communication, there's not just one thing that people are doing. People want to have the ability to share any kind of content with any audience. There are going to be a lot of different apps that exist, and Facebook has always had the mission of helping people share any kind of content with any audience, but historically we've done that through a single app."

And, when Facebook or its app is second best to another service, pull out the checkbook. Just like it did with Instagram and attempted to do with Snapchat. But whatever the future holds, one thing's pretty certain: that it will be a future in which Facebook continues to exist. After all only one third of the world's adult population has internet access.

"We're looking forward to our next decade and to helping connect the rest of the world... It's been an amazing journey so far but what's ahead is even more exciting," said Zuckerberg.

Facebook by the numbers
1.23 billion active monthly users
750 million active daily users
6 billion – number of 'likes' on an average day in December 2013
25 million – number of small and medium sized businesses with an active Facebook page or profile
200 million more users access Facebook daily via mobile than via desktop. – AFP/Relaxnews, February 4, 2014.

Crumbling Athens housing complex comes to life in crisis

Posted: 03 Feb 2014 07:36 PM PST

February 04, 2014

The Prosfygika apartment complex is now home to drug addicts and refugees. – Reuters pic, February 4, 2014.The Prosfygika apartment complex is now home to drug addicts and refugees. – Reuters pic, February 4, 2014.It has been shelled, threatened with demolition and became such an eyesore that it was covered by a massive sheet during the 2004 Athens Olympics, but a historic 1930s housing complex built for Greeks fleeing Turkey is a hive of activity again.

As Greece's six-year economic slump has increased the number of homeless to 20,000 in Athens alone, non-governmental organisations estimate, the "Prosfygika" complex has become a haven for squatters and drug addicts as well as immigrants from Iran and elsewhere trying to cross into northern Europe through Greece's porous borders.

Flat-roofed and boxy, typical of the German Bauhaus school of design, the complex of eight housing blocks was considered architecturally ahead of its time when it was built in the 1930s to house some of the 1.5 million Greeks who were displaced by a 1923 population exchange with Turkey after World War 1.

Today, their descendants are struggling to cope with their new neighbours, reflecting broader social tensions in Greece, especially between locals and immigrants that have intensified during recent years of economic hardship that forced Greece to require two international bailouts.

"Here, people come and go," said 76-year-old pensioner Yannis Chiotakis, one of about 30 remaining descendants of the blocks' original inhabitants, gesturing to a group of drug addicts roaming the streets.

"But I can't tolerate this. I pay for electricity, for water, for all these taxes and next door there's someone who's living for free?" he said, referring to squatters.

The complex is mostly state owned and its crumbling exterior has attracted critics who say the buildings do not belong on one of Athens' busiest streets, between the capital's police headquarters and the top court.

But a 2008 decision declaring them a protected site means they cannot be torn down. Preparing food from a soup kitchen over a donated stove in her cramped one-bedroom apartment, Emine Kilic, a Turkish mother of 10, said the family began squatting in Prosfygika two years ago when her husband lost his job as a construction worker.

"We had no choice. This is home now," she said.

A few buildings down, a Greek couple driven from their Athens home because they could not afford rent during the recession are also squatting.

Nearby, two Iranian migrants play cards and sip tea, their cigarette smoke filling the room they share with about a dozen other Iranians, all waiting to leave Greece for north European countries such as Norway, where they hope to find work.

In 2001, the state bought all but 51 apartments in the complex whose owners refused to sell. But various renovation plans fell through over the years, including tearing down the complex to build a park or converting it into guest houses for a cancer hospital.

One woman who was born and has lived her entire life in the complex recalls years of fights to save it from being torn down until Greece's top administrative court finally declared it protected property in 2008.

"There were rallies, hunger strikes, sit-ins," said 76-year-old Chrysoula Charizanou, a former seamstress who raised her three children in a one-bedroom apartment here.

Development plans

Charizanou's parents used up their life savings to buy the tiny apartment and she laments that the complex has been left to ruin by a cash-strapped state which has dithered over what to do with it.

Without central heating, she spends evenings in thick sweaters huddled over a tiny wood-stove heater in her apartment, the outside walls of which bear shell marks from when the complex was caught in crossfire during Greece's civil war in the 1940s.

Outside, the wide, dusty dirt roads between each block, one of the few open spaces in central Athens, are jammed with parked cars and often flood with sewage from broken pipes.

"My kids tell me: 'Leave, come stay with us'. But I love this place," Charizanou said, flicking through piles of black-and-white photographs from the 1960s, when neighbours held dance parties on the roof. "I was born here and I will die here. Maybe by then something will change."

Charizanou and the remaining residents who own apartments in the complex have formed a committee and often press the local authorities to kick out the squatters and remove the graffiti that covers the outside of all the buildings. But they have been told there is no money to spare.

An official at the state company which owns most of the property said only that a plan to develop the property would be finalised this year.

That is creating uncertainty for the long-time residents who were born and grew up here and are determined to stay on living in Prosfygika no matter what.

Pulling up his trousers to show a scar from a bullet wound suffered as a child during the civil war, Chiotakis, the pensioner, said he had even convinced his daughter to rent the flat next door.

"I've no intention of going anywhere," he said. – Reuters, February 4, 2014.

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The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz

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The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz


HK brothers plead not guilty to ‘Transformers’ director extortion

Posted: 03 Feb 2014 11:38 PM PST

February 04, 2014

Two brothers charged with trying to extort nearly $13,000 (RM43,413) from Hollywood director Michael Bay (pic) while he was shooting the latest "Transformers" film in Hong Kong have pleaded not guilty, local media reported today.

Bay was attacked by a man wielding an air conditioning unit and demanding $12,900 compensation for filming in the city's Quarry Bay district on the first day of location shooting in October.

Brothers Mak Chi-shing, 27, and Mak Chi-hang, 28, who operate an air conditioner shop, each pleaded not guilty to charges of blackmail and assaulting a police officer at the district court today, the South China Morning Post reported.

The court could not immediately be reached for comment.

Police had arrested two men surnamed Mak, aged 27 and 28, after the attack on the "Armageddon" director while he was filming "Transformers: Age of Extinction" in the southern Chinese city.

Bay had recounted details of the incident at the time in a statement on his website.

"Every vendor where we shot got paid a fair price for our inconvenience, but he wanted four times that amount," he said, adding that he told the man and his friends to "forget it".

"He didn't like that answer. So an hour later he came by my crew as we were shooting, carrying a long air conditioner unit. He walked right up to me and tried to smack my face.

"But I ducked, threw the air unit on the floor and pushed him away. That's when the security jumped on him. But it took seven big guys to subdue him. It was like a Zombie in Brad Pitt's movie 'World War Z' – he lifted seven guys up and tried to bite them," Bay said.

The director faced a second extortion attempt within a week of filming in the city, with police arresting a 35-year-old male on suspicion of intimidating a member of Bay's film crew.

The fourth instalment of the Transformers franchise starring Mark Wahlberg and Nicola Peltz is scheduled to hit theatres in June.

Hong Kong's striking Victoria Harbour is believed to be among the film's locations, along with the city's dense and bustling streets.

The court case is expected to go on for three days. – AFP, February 4, 2014.

Heroin found in Hoffman’s apartment, says official

Posted: 03 Feb 2014 05:09 PM PST

February 04, 2014

A copy of a New York Times Magazine with a photo of movie actor Philip Seymour Hoffman on the cover is pictured as part of a makeshift memorial in front of his apartment building in New York, yesterday. - Reuters pic, February 4, 2014.A copy of a New York Times Magazine with a photo of movie actor Philip Seymour Hoffman on the cover is pictured as part of a makeshift memorial in front of his apartment building in New York, yesterday. - Reuters pic, February 4, 2014.Investigators confirmed yesterday that heroin was found in the New York apartment of Oscar-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, who died of a suspected drugs overdose.

The sudden death of the 46-year-old father of three young children, hailed by many as the finest character actor of his generation, has shocked Hollywood and devastated his family.

Police said he was found on the bathroom floor in his Manhattan apartment, a syringe in his arm, wearing shorts and a T-shirt.

According to US media at least 50 envelopes of heroin littered the $10,000 (RM33,465) a month apartment in plush Greenwich Village, but there has been no official confirmation of the amount of drugs.

"Preliminary tests have indicated that the drugs were heroin," a law enforcement official told AFP, without confirming the quantity found.

Hoffman was last seen on Saturday and the alarm was reportedly raised by his estranged girlfriend Mimi O'Donnell when he failed to show at a playground to see his children on Sunday.

She was also quoted by US media as saying he was high when she last saw him on Saturday afternoon and spoke to him that evening.

Police say his death seems to have been the result of an overdose but refused to release further details.

New York pathologists have begun the autopsy, but a spokeswoman for the New York City chief medical examiner's office said no further update was expected yesterday.

In a career spanning more than 20 years and 50 films, Hoffman mesmerised filmgoers with his portrayal of some of the most repellent and yet electrifying characters of the silver screen.

He won a best actor Oscar for his performance as Truman Capote in the 2005 film "Capote" and was nominated for three further Academy Awards as a supporting actor in 2008, 2009 and 2013.

Broadway announced that it would dim its lights for one minute at 7.45pm tomorrow in memory of the celebrated actor.

Charlotte St Martin, executive director of the Broadway League, described Hoffman as a "true artist who loved theatre".

But for all his talent, Hoffman struggled with addiction.

Celebrity website TMZ reported that Hoffman admitted in May to falling off the wagon more than a year previously, after two decades of sobriety, starting with prescription pills and escalating to snorting heroin.

At the time he said the heroin binge had "lasted a week or so" and that he checked himself into a rehab center for 10 days, crediting "a great group of friends and family" for helping him.

But in August he dropped out of shooting the spy thriller "Child 44" for "undisclosed reasons", sparking rumours about his health.

The last time he was seen at an official event was at the Sundance Film Festival in the US state of Utah in mid-January, where some witnesses described him as pale and dishevelled.

Since his death, it has emerged that he was recently living apart from O'Donnell and their children. The rented apartment in Greenwich Village where he died was close to the family home.

Talking about his addiction to drugs and alcohol, he told the CBS show "60 minutes" in 2006: "I was 22 and I got panicked in my life."

His family has released a brief statement asking for privacy to mourn their "tragic and sudden loss".

Tributes have poured in from fellow actors – as well as from the US Secretary of State.

"Hard to believe Philip Seymour Hoffman's gone," the top US diplomat John Kerry tweeted, calling him an "incredible actor (who) really became Capote."

"He was a giant talent," said Tom Hanks, who starred with Hoffman in "Charlie Wilson's War".

He had been cast in the final two films of blockbuster franchise "Hunger Games", and industry publication Variety said the movies would be released in November 2014 and 2015 as planned. – AFP, February 4, 2014.

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The Malaysian Insider :: Bahasa

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Melaka cadang bangunkan pelabuhan antarabangsa berkapasiti tinggi, kata Idris Haron

Posted: 04 Feb 2014 02:42 AM PST

February 04, 2014

Kerajaan Negeri Melaka kini mengkaji cadangan untuk membangunkan sebuah pelabuhan antarabangsa berkapasiti tinggi dalam usaha menggalakkan aktiviti ekonomi berprestasi tinggi di negeri itu, kata Ketua Menteri Datuk Seri Idris Haron (gambar).

Beliau berkata pada masa ini kajian dilakukan ke atas pelabuhan Tanjung Bruas dan Kuala Linggi untuk melihat pelabuhan mana yang lebih sesuai dibangun semula atau dinaik taraf kepada sebuah pelabuhan antarabangsa berkapasiti tinggi.

Katanya, kajian itu termasuk kawasan pelabuhan yang lebih sesuai untuk dilakukan projek mendalamkan dasar sedalam 15 meter bagi memberikan laluan sesuai kepada kapal dagang bersaiz besar berlabuh, selain kos dan masa yang diperlukan untuk membangunkan pelabuhan itu.

"Pelabuhan ini sesuai dibangunkan di Melaka daripada segi lokasi strategik kita di tengah-tengah laluan perdagangan Selat Melaka dan juga perkembangan pesat aktiviti perindustrian bertaraf antarabangsa di negeri ini," katanya pada sidang akhbar di pejabatnya di Seri Negeri, Melaka hari ini.

Terdahulu, beliau menerima kunjungan daripada anggota Institut Logistik dan Pengangkutan Berkanun (CILT) Malaysia diketuai presidennya Datuk Abd Razak Abd Malek.

Pada masa ini, pelabuhan Tanjung Bruas dan Kuala Linggi mengendalikan kira-kira 900 kapal setiap tahun, manakala pelabuhan berkapasiti tinggi di negara ini seperti Pelabuhan Pasir Gudang mengendalikan kira-kira 8,000 kapal dan Pelabuhan Klang sebanyak 15,000 kapal setiap tahun.

Idris berkata pembangunan pelabuhan itu memudahkan pemain industri di negeri ini mengeksport produk mereka ke luar negara selain menjadi pemangkin pembangunan infrastruktur pengangkutan lebih maju di negeri ini.

"Saya percaya pelabuhan ini akan membangun menjadi antara pelabuhan maju di Malaysia kerana sejarah telah membuktikan Melaka pernah menjadi pelabuhan terpenting dan terbesar di rantau ini pada masa dahulu," katanya.

Bagaimanapun, beliau menegaskan tujuan pelabuhan itu dibangunkan bukan untuk bersaing dengan pelabuhan berprestasi tinggi lain di negara ini, sebaliknya membangun bersama sebagai satu nilai tambah kepada sektor perdagangan antarabangsa di negara ini.

Sementara itu, Idris mengumumkan CILT akan mengadakan persidangan berkenaan pengangkutan antarabangsa di sini selama tujuh hari bermula 1 Jun, yang disertai antara 450 hingga 500 peserta daripada 58 negara anggota CILT antaranya United Kingdom dan Ireland. - Bernama, 4 Februari, 2014.

Tindakan Teresa Kok timbulkan kemarahan semua pihak, kata Ahmad Shabery

Posted: 04 Feb 2014 01:53 AM PST

February 04, 2014

Tindakan anggota Parlimen Seputeh Teresa Kok menimbulkan kemarahan orang ramai kerana bersikap "kiasu" dan memburukkan imej negara dengan mendakwa semua perkara yang dilakukan kerajaan tidak betul.

Menteri Komunikasi dan Multimedia Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek (gambar) berkata lakonan Teresa dalam klip video bertajuk "Onederful Malaysia" sempena Tahun Baharu Cina disebarkan menerusi YouTube baru-baru itu sudah pasti menyebabkan semua orang marah kelak.

"Teresa mempunyai cita rasa yang kurang baik, adakah ini harus dijadikan contoh baik seorang pemimpin DAP? Bila kita mula memaki-hamun orang lain dan mencari kelemahan orang lain dan memburuk-burukkan negara, ia akan mengundang orang lain membuat perkara yang sama kelak," katanya pada sidang akhbar selepas mengadakan lawatan ke Measat Satelite Systems Sdn Bhd di Cyberjaya hari ini.

Turut hadir Pengarah Measat Satellite Systems Sdn Bhd (Measat) Tun Hanif Omar, Ketua Pegawai Operasi Measat, Paul Brown-Kenyon dan Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif Suruhanjaya Komunikasi dan Multimedia (SKMM), Datuk Mohamad Sharil Tarmizi.

Pada majlis yang sama, Ahmad Shabery turut melancarkan buku bertajuk "Communications Satellite Fundamentals - From Design to Launch and Operation" hasil tulisan Naib Presiden Kanan Measat (Bahagian Pembangunan Sistem Angkasa Lepas) Dr Ali R.Ebadi.

Buku berkenaan diterbitkan sebagai sebahagian daripada tanggungjawab sosial korporat (CSR) Measat dalam membantu negara melahirkan lebih ramai pakar dalam teknologi pada masa depan dari kalangan rakyat Malaysia.

Sehubungan itu, beliau mahu semua pihak menghentikan perkara itu (memburuk-burukkan pemimpin negara dan imej negara) menerusi YouTube dan saluran media sosial yang lain kerana ia boleh menjejaskan keamanan khususnya perpaduan kaum pada masa depan.

Ditanya apakah tindakan yang akan diambil terhadap perbuatan memburuk-burukkan agama Kristian di Facebook dan di platform media sosial yang lain, Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif SKMM Datuk Mohamad Sharil Tarmizi berkata SKMM sedang meneliti perkara itu dan akan bekerjasama dengan polis.

Tindakan yang sewajarnya akan dikenakan kepada individu yang didapati menyebarkan maklumat atau berita yang mampu mengganggu keselamatan negara iaitu mempermainkan isu-isu agama, kata Mohamad Sharil.

Mengenai Measat, Ahmad Shabery berkata beliau kagum dengan program pelaburan Measat dalam menambah baik keupayaan Malaysia dalam sektor satelit berteknologi tinggi.

"Measat yang merupakan satu-satunya pengendali satelit komersial berlesen di Malaysia, mempunyai peranan yang penting dalam menyokong infrastruktur teknologi maklumat dan komunikasi (ICT) untuk pelanggan komersial dan juga projek-projek kerajaan, contohnya membangunkan dan meluaskan rangkaian ICT ke kawasan pedalaman di seluruh negara.

"Pada zaman sekarang, infrastruktur ICT adalah antara penyumbang terbesar dalam pembangunan sosial dan ekonomi, itu sebabnya kerajaan telah melakukan pelaburan dalam ICT bagi menjadikan Malaysia sebuah negara maju pada masa depan," kata Ahmad Shabery.

Sementara itu, Hanif berkata Measat dijadual melancarkan satelit terbaharunya, Measat-3b di European Spaceport, French Guinea, Mei ini.

"Projek yang menelan belanja kira-kira RM1.25 bilion (US$370 juta) ini apabila mula beroperasi kelak akan digunakan untuk menyalurkan perkhidmatan data dan video di Malaysia, Indonesia, India dan Australia," katanya.

Hanif berkata Measat juga turut menyokong dan menyumbang dalam program jalur lebar kerajaan di seluruh negara menerusi penggunaan satelit Measat-5, satelit yang canggih itu mampu menyediakan kapasiti jalur lebar satelit sebanyak 3g bytes.

Measat-5 digunakan pelbagai pengendali telekomunikasi di Malaysia dalam menyokong beberapa projek ICT kerajaan, antaranya pusat jalur lebar komuniti, perpustakaan jalur lebar komuniti dan kampung tanpa wayar, kata Hanif. - Bernama, 4 Februari, 2014.

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The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion

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The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion


Sejambak bunga untuk gereja

Posted: 03 Feb 2014 03:00 PM PST

February 04, 2014

Shukur mempunyai lebih 30 tahun pengalaman sebagai wartawan dan bekerja dengan pelbagai media. Beliau kini pencen tetapi menjadi pemerhati politik yang tegar.

Setelah udara politik Malaysia dicemari isu perkauman dan ketegangan agama yang dicetuskan oleh pihak pelampau kaum dan agama, kini terlihat cahaya keharmonian kaum yang diserlahkan oleh sekumpulan rakyat prihatin.

Ia bagai sebuah cahaya di hujung terowong yang gelap-gelita, memberi harapan bahawa di negara yang indah ini masih ada pihak yang berfikiran rasional, yang menepati tuntutan Al-Quran, yang masih berusaha untuk mengekalkan kedamaian dan keharmonian kaum.

Ini berlaku apabila sebuah kumpulan yang berlainan agama, baru-baru ini menyerahkan buah limau mandarin, cenderahati dan sejambak bunga kepada sebuah gereja di Kajang dengan harapan hubungan antara agama dapat dipulihkan di negara ini.

Ally Hazran Hashim, 46, dan rakannya yang terdiri daripada umat Islam dan penganut bukan Islam menyerahkan barangan itu dalam perhimpunan gereja di pagi minggu lalu dalam suasana yang sangat harmonis, penuh dengan senyum dan harapan.

Jauh dari curiga dan dendam.

Pada pendapat saya, walaupun ini sebuah langkah kecil – yang tidak dirakam oleh kamera TV dan akhbar – tetapi mempunyai makna yang penting bahawa masih wujud rakyat Malaysia yang terus mahu membina keharmonian antara kaum dan agama di negara tercinta ini.

Ini usaha murni yang menepati kehendak Islam seperti yang diajar oleh Nabi Muhammad.

Malah Al-Quran menegaskan dengan jelas perlunya umat Islam sebagai umat yang adil kerana Islam adalah agama yang seimbang, seperti yang ditegaskan Allah dalam firmanNya:

"Dan demikianlah pula kami menjadikan kamu (umat Islam) umat yang adil dan pilihan, agar kamu menjadi saksi atas (perbuatan manusia) dan agar Rasul (Muhamad) menjadi saksi atas perbuatan kamu." (Surah Al-Baqarah 143).

Ayat ini dengan tegas menghantar isyarat yang jelas bahawa umat Islam dituntut menjadi umat yang seimbang, adil, penyelesai masalah dan memimpin manusia ke arah kehidupan yang harmunis dan menolak sengketa.

Oleh itu, pada pendapat saya, usaha kumpulan kecil yang dipimpin oleh Ally Hazran Hashim ini menepati tuntutan Islam yang mahukan kedamaian dan keharmonian, pada ketika pihak tertentu sedang 'bermain api' perkauman dan agama yang sangat bahaya.

"Saya mempraktikkan apa yang agama ajarkan. Islam agama keamanan. Saya percaya jika sesuatu dilakukan dengan niat yang baik, ramai akan menyedarinya. Kami membina kasih sayang," katanya.

Beliau berharap usaha kecil itu akan menyedarkan umat Islam dan agama lain untuk melakukan perkara sama. "Bukan saja sebagai tanda hormat kepada gereja, tetapi di rumah ibadat lain seperti di masjid," katanya kepada The Malaysian Insider hari ini.

Pada pendapat saya, masih ramai umat Islam dan bukan Islam yang menaruh harapan untuk melihat sebuah masyarakat yang makmur, harmonis dan bertolak ansur di negara ini.

Oleh sebab itu, demonstrasi yang mengingatkan kembali rusuhan kaum Peristiwa Berdarah 13 Mei, dan perbuatan lain yang boleh menimbulkan ketegangan kaum dan agama tidak mendapat sambutan dari rakyat pelbagai kaum.

Mereka berusaha melupakan peristiwa hitam 45 tahun lalu itu.

Lebih-lebih lagi kalangan generasi baru yang sama sekali tidak ada hubungan dengan peristiwa tersebut.

Oleh itu mereka yang masih mengelus-ngelus pemikiran perkauman dan fahaman agama yang sempit dilihat benar-benar sudah ketinggalan zaman dan tentunya sukar untuk menyesuaikan diri dengan suasana masa kini.

Jumlah mereka beransur kecil dan terus kecil, dimamah usia dan sebagainya.

Mereka yang masih hidup akan melihat dengan penuh kecewa akan perkembangan terkini.

Sementara itu, dalam perkembangan politik selanjutnya di negara ini, iaitu menjelang Pilihan Raya Kecil Dun Kajang, kita akan melihat corak dan bentuk kempen parti politik yang akan bertanding.

Adakah kempen itu akan membangkitkan isu perkauman dan agama yang sempit?

Jika masih berlaku kempen yang menjurus kepada perkauman dan fahaman agama yang sempit, maka parti politik itu tidak wajar disokong, kerana ia merbahaya dan tidak menggambarkan aspirasi rakyat masa kini.

Dalam hal ini, saya percaya PAS/Pakatan Rakyat yang akan turut berkempen, tidak akan melayan kempen perkauman dan fahaman agama yang sempit.

Ini kerana, pertamanya, mematuhi larangan Islam terhadap sikap perkauman, dan PAS memang bukan sebuah parti perkauman.

Kedua, beberapa pemimpin PAS sendiri seperti Datuk Dr Mujahid Yusuf Rawa, Dr Dzulkifly Ahmad, Khalid Samad, Nizar Jamaludin dan lain-lain diketahui telah membina hubungan baik dengan pihak gereja.

Mereka ini sering saja mengadakan dialog dengan pihak gereja di pelbagai tempat di negara ini untuk memberikan kefahaman Islam dan saling pengertian kepada penganut Kristian.

Usaha membina persahabatan dan saling pengertian dengan kalangan bukan Islam sudah sejak lama dilakukan oleh PAS.

Saya masih ingat, ucapan bekas presiden PAS, Almarhum Ustaz Fadhil Mohd Noor berkata: "Hubungan sesama umat Islam berdasarkan persaudaraan Islam, yang sama-sama menyembah Allah dan mengimani Rasul-Nya. Tetapi hubungan kita dengan kalangan bukan Islam ialah berasaskan hubungan kemanusiaan."

Ini adalah asas pengertian yang menjadi paksi PAS dalam membina hubungan dengan kalangan bukan Islam dan atas asas ini, pendukung PAS terus-menerus memberikan kefahaman Islam kepada bukan Islam.

Oleh sebab itu, saya yakin kunjungan Ally Hazran Hashim, 46, dan rakannya yang terdiri daripada kalangan umat Islam dan penganut bukan Islam serta menyerahkan buah limau Mandarin, cenderahati dan sejambak bunga kepada sebuah gereja di Kajang baru-baru ini sangat bermakna dan menyumbang kepada hubungan kemanusiaan yang sangat bererti dalam memulihkan semangat keharmonian kaum dan agama.

Saya percaya, tahun-tahun akan datang akan terus berkurangan mereka yang berfahaman perkauman dan agama yang sempit, justeru rakyat semakin terdidik dan bersikap terbuka.

Oleh itu, saya yakin, akan lebih banyak lagi interaksi antara kalangan umat Islam dengan kalangan bukan Islam.

Maka usaha murni Ally Hazran Hashim dan kawan-kawannya hendaknya berterusan dilakukan oleh pelbagai pihak.

Di sini kita boleh membina sebuah harapan, apabila melihat cahaya di hujung terowong. – Februari 4, 2014.

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

Sejambak bunga untuk gereja

Posted: 03 Feb 2014 03:00 PM PST

February 04, 2014

Shukur mempunyai lebih 30 tahun pengalaman sebagai wartawan dan bekerja dengan pelbagai media. Beliau kini pencen tetapi menjadi pemerhati politik yang tegar.

Setelah udara politik Malaysia dicemari isu perkauman dan ketegangan agama yang dicetuskan oleh pihak pelampau kaum dan agama, kini terlihat cahaya keharmonian kaum yang diserlahkan oleh sekumpulan rakyat prihatin.

Ia bagai sebuah cahaya di hujung terowong yang gelap-gelita, memberi harapan bahawa di negara yang indah ini masih ada pihak yang berfikiran rasional, yang menepati tuntutan Al-Quran, yang masih berusaha untuk mengekalkan kedamaian dan keharmonian kaum.

Ini berlaku apabila sebuah kumpulan yang berlainan agama, baru-baru ini menyerahkan buah limau mandarin, cenderahati dan sejambak bunga kepada sebuah gereja di Kajang dengan harapan hubungan antara agama dapat dipulihkan di negara ini.

Ally Hazran Hashim, 46, dan rakannya yang terdiri daripada umat Islam dan penganut bukan Islam menyerahkan barangan itu dalam perhimpunan gereja di pagi minggu lalu dalam suasana yang sangat harmonis, penuh dengan senyum dan harapan.

Jauh dari curiga dan dendam.

Pada pendapat saya, walaupun ini sebuah langkah kecil – yang tidak dirakam oleh kamera TV dan akhbar – tetapi mempunyai makna yang penting bahawa masih wujud rakyat Malaysia yang terus mahu membina keharmonian antara kaum dan agama di negara tercinta ini.

Ini usaha murni yang menepati kehendak Islam seperti yang diajar oleh Nabi Muhammad.

Malah Al-Quran menegaskan dengan jelas perlunya umat Islam sebagai umat yang adil kerana Islam adalah agama yang seimbang, seperti yang ditegaskan Allah dalam firmanNya:

"Dan demikianlah pula kami menjadikan kamu (umat Islam) umat yang adil dan pilihan, agar kamu menjadi saksi atas (perbuatan manusia) dan agar Rasul (Muhamad) menjadi saksi atas perbuatan kamu." (Surah Al-Baqarah 143).

Ayat ini dengan tegas menghantar isyarat yang jelas bahawa umat Islam dituntut menjadi umat yang seimbang, adil, penyelesai masalah dan memimpin manusia ke arah kehidupan yang harmunis dan menolak sengketa.

Oleh itu, pada pendapat saya, usaha kumpulan kecil yang dipimpin oleh Ally Hazran Hashim ini menepati tuntutan Islam yang mahukan kedamaian dan keharmonian, pada ketika pihak tertentu sedang 'bermain api' perkauman dan agama yang sangat bahaya.

"Saya mempraktikkan apa yang agama ajarkan. Islam agama keamanan. Saya percaya jika sesuatu dilakukan dengan niat yang baik, ramai akan menyedarinya. Kami membina kasih sayang," katanya.

Beliau berharap usaha kecil itu akan menyedarkan umat Islam dan agama lain untuk melakukan perkara sama. "Bukan saja sebagai tanda hormat kepada gereja, tetapi di rumah ibadat lain seperti di masjid," katanya kepada The Malaysian Insider hari ini.

Pada pendapat saya, masih ramai umat Islam dan bukan Islam yang menaruh harapan untuk melihat sebuah masyarakat yang makmur, harmonis dan bertolak ansur di negara ini.

Oleh sebab itu, demonstrasi yang mengingatkan kembali rusuhan kaum Peristiwa Berdarah 13 Mei, dan perbuatan lain yang boleh menimbulkan ketegangan kaum dan agama tidak mendapat sambutan dari rakyat pelbagai kaum.

Mereka berusaha melupakan peristiwa hitam 45 tahun lalu itu.

Lebih-lebih lagi kalangan generasi baru yang sama sekali tidak ada hubungan dengan peristiwa tersebut.

Oleh itu mereka yang masih mengelus-ngelus pemikiran perkauman dan fahaman agama yang sempit dilihat benar-benar sudah ketinggalan zaman dan tentunya sukar untuk menyesuaikan diri dengan suasana masa kini.

Jumlah mereka beransur kecil dan terus kecil, dimamah usia dan sebagainya.

Mereka yang masih hidup akan melihat dengan penuh kecewa akan perkembangan terkini.

Sementara itu, dalam perkembangan politik selanjutnya di negara ini, iaitu menjelang Pilihan Raya Kecil Dun Kajang, kita akan melihat corak dan bentuk kempen parti politik yang akan bertanding.

Adakah kempen itu akan membangkitkan isu perkauman dan agama yang sempit?

Jika masih berlaku kempen yang menjurus kepada perkauman dan fahaman agama yang sempit, maka parti politik itu tidak wajar disokong, kerana ia merbahaya dan tidak menggambarkan aspirasi rakyat masa kini.

Dalam hal ini, saya percaya PAS/Pakatan Rakyat yang akan turut berkempen, tidak akan melayan kempen perkauman dan fahaman agama yang sempit.

Ini kerana, pertamanya, mematuhi larangan Islam terhadap sikap perkauman, dan PAS memang bukan sebuah parti perkauman.

Kedua, beberapa pemimpin PAS sendiri seperti Datuk Dr Mujahid Yusuf Rawa, Dr Dzulkifly Ahmad, Khalid Samad, Nizar Jamaludin dan lain-lain diketahui telah membina hubungan baik dengan pihak gereja.

Mereka ini sering saja mengadakan dialog dengan pihak gereja di pelbagai tempat di negara ini untuk memberikan kefahaman Islam dan saling pengertian kepada penganut Kristian.

Usaha membina persahabatan dan saling pengertian dengan kalangan bukan Islam sudah sejak lama dilakukan oleh PAS.

Saya masih ingat, ucapan bekas presiden PAS, Almarhum Ustaz Fadhil Mohd Noor berkata: "Hubungan sesama umat Islam berdasarkan persaudaraan Islam, yang sama-sama menyembah Allah dan mengimani Rasul-Nya. Tetapi hubungan kita dengan kalangan bukan Islam ialah berasaskan hubungan kemanusiaan."

Ini adalah asas pengertian yang menjadi paksi PAS dalam membina hubungan dengan kalangan bukan Islam dan atas asas ini, pendukung PAS terus-menerus memberikan kefahaman Islam kepada bukan Islam.

Oleh sebab itu, saya yakin kunjungan Ally Hazran Hashim, 46, dan rakannya yang terdiri daripada kalangan umat Islam dan penganut bukan Islam serta menyerahkan buah limau Mandarin, cenderahati dan sejambak bunga kepada sebuah gereja di Kajang baru-baru ini sangat bermakna dan menyumbang kepada hubungan kemanusiaan yang sangat bererti dalam memulihkan semangat keharmonian kaum dan agama.

Saya percaya, tahun-tahun akan datang akan terus berkurangan mereka yang berfahaman perkauman dan agama yang sempit, justeru rakyat semakin terdidik dan bersikap terbuka.

Oleh itu, saya yakin, akan lebih banyak lagi interaksi antara kalangan umat Islam dengan kalangan bukan Islam.

Maka usaha murni Ally Hazran Hashim dan kawan-kawannya hendaknya berterusan dilakukan oleh pelbagai pihak.

Di sini kita boleh membina sebuah harapan, apabila melihat cahaya di hujung terowong. – Februari 4, 2014.

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

Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com
 

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