The Star Online: Nation
The Star Online: Nation |
- One-stop recreational centre for senior citizens
- 7 million smartphone users vulnerable to cyber hackers
- Selangor Sultan wants position as head of state not to be twisted
| One-stop recreational centre for senior citizens Posted: 02 Dec 2012 05:33 AM PST KUALA LUMPUR: Working people who are concerned and worried about leaving their parents alone at home can now check out the one-stop recreational centre where senior citizens can enjoy quality time. The Age Unite To Organise Rest and Recreation or AUTORR Foundation Centre in Ampang, an elders-friendly facility, is equipped with many facilities and activities for senior citizens to socialise, adopt a hobby and learn new skills. AUTORR Foundation chairman Yap Swee Lin or fondly known as Lin Chua, 68, said the centre that can accommodate up to 100 senior citizens was open to pensioners, regardless of age. "Working people can send their elderly parents here from Monday to Friday from 9am to 4.30pm. "We don't allow senior citizens to stay overnight here because there is a tendency for their children to neglect them and change their contact details. Furthermore AUTORR Foundation Centre is not an old folks home," she said at the opening of the centre on Sunday. The centre has 40 toilets, located at every nook and corner of the facility to ensure senior citizens do not have to walk far, meditation centre and health and herbal centre for holistic treatment. Among the facilities available at AUTORR include walking path, cafe, reading room, physiotherapy sessions and chiropractic sessions while recreational activities include Tai chi, Qigong and meditation. The senior citizens can also join activities like floral arrangement, balloon sculpture, handicraft, singing and dancing classes. The centre is situated on a four-acre site donated by Lin Chua, who is the granddaughter of Yap Kwan Seng, a significant leader who played an important role during the early days of Kuala Lumpur. "We work closely with St John Ambulance Malaysia for any emergency. I am inspired to open this centre after seeing many retirees just sit in front of the television and doze off to past their time," she said. Lin Chua said besides activities for elderly parents the centre also offered classes for working people such as workshops on how to care for elderly parents and parenting skills. Social activist Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye when met at the opening ceremony on Sunday said the centre was very much needed as it provided an opportunity for senior citizens to enjoy recreation and learn. - Bernama |
| 7 million smartphone users vulnerable to cyber hackers Posted: 02 Dec 2012 04:48 AM PST KUALA LUMPUR: About seven million smartphone users nationwide are vulnerable to cyber hackers who can use them as a conduit to steal money. Bukit Aman Director of Commercial Crime Investigation Department, Datuk Syed Ismail Syed Azizan said lack of awareness of the risks of smartphone security makes users easy targets as victims. "Their modus operandi is to send short messaging service (SMS) known as Trojan to consumers who unknowingly will be charged when replying to the SMS. "Consumers only realise this after receiving high phone bills although they did not use the service," he told Bernama here recently. The activity involving smartphones was detected via applications such as "Type-On" that when downloaded cause consumers to bear the cost although the victims had uninstalled the application. Lookout Mobile Security was quoted by AFP as saying that worldwide users lost millions of dollars last year via malware and toll fraud that attack smartphone users for accessing applications from unofficial sources rather than trusted sources such as Apple or Google online shops. Syed Ismail said police statistics recorded from January to September this year show that losses incurred form cyber crime via SMS or phone call totalled RM21.8mil. The cyber hackers target users of internet banking or phone banking by hacking and abusing the network including purchases of goods online. Online purchases recorded the highest losses of RM14.5mil (1,298 cases) followed by SMS or phone call with RM3.4mil (412 cases), hacking with RM3.3mil (24 cases) and internet banking and phone banking with RM590,000 (74 cases). However, for abusing the network, there were no losses since it did not involve loss of property but extortion of victims such as using photographs and threatening words. It recorded 25 cases. Syed Ismail said apart from the 7 million smartphone users, Malaysia has 7.7 million mobile internet users adding police will refer to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) for further action. Based on reports received, consumers slapped with high phone bills only complained to the telecommunication companies (telcos) for explanation without taking further action. "In this regard, they can also channel their complaints to MCMC which can compound telcos for making unreasonable charges. This way, we can detect fraud by cyber criminals." He said the department strives to equip police with information communication technology (ICT) skills and information sharing between agencies within or outside the country. "In line with the development of cyber crime, improvement in terms of equipment and special technologies such as hardware and software that must always be updated to ensure effectiveness," he added. When contacted, MCMC declined to elaborate on the issue fearing that it would lead to the spread of such cases in Malaysia. - Bernama |
| Selangor Sultan wants position as head of state not to be twisted Posted: 02 Dec 2012 04:02 AM PST SHAH ALAM: The Sultan of Selangor, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah has urged that his position as the head of religion in the state not be twisted by certain quarters just to gain publicity. Sultan Sharafuddin said as head of religion in the state, he must ensure that Islam continued to be respected and placed at a high level in all affairs of the state. "During my installation as the Sultan of Selangor, I had pledged to protect the good name and sanctity of Islam. Sincerely, I hope to see the mosque institution contribute to progress and development in Selangor. "I am also responsible for ensuring that the lives of the Muslims, especially the Malays, be safeguarded," Sultan Sharafuddin said when opening a seminar on mosque management at the Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Mosque, here, Sunday. The Sultan therefore urged that his concern over the mosque institution not be misunderstood. He said mosques in the state must be fully used by Muslims to foster goodwill among them by organising beneficial activities. "Although the Muslim community in Selangor comprises various races with different ideologies and opinions, the one thing that unites us is Islam. "Therefore, we should make the mosque as the most suitable place to unite Muslims and generate sound thinking to develop our beloved state." The Sultan also urged mosque officials and committees to play an important role in protecting the name and image of the mosque institution. He said they should prevent negative phenomena at the mosques such as political activities, spread of deviant teachings, disunity among the congregation and delivering of talks by unauthorised individuals, as these could create animosity and disunity among Muslims. The Sultan also said that members of the mosque committees must also not abuse their power and position for personal gains as he had received complaints on the unethical conduct of some committee members. He also uged that action be taken against them by the relevant parties. - Bernama |
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