Sabtu, 21 September 2013

The Star Online: Metro: Sunday Metro

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Cambodian prince ends hunger strike over poll dispute
Rape and Manhood
Callgirl from China forced to work for pimp or risk being hurt

Cambodian prince ends hunger strike over poll dispute

Posted:

PHNOM PENH (AFP) - A Cambodian prince said Saturday he has ended a hunger strike over disputed polls after military police expelled him from a pagoda where he was holding the protest fearing it would snowball.

Prince Sisowath Thomico -- the cousin of King Norodom Sihamoni and a senior member of the opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP) -- said four hundred police in riot gear forced him to end his hunger strike in the capital Phnom Penh late Friday.

"There were about 20 people and eight monks with me... but the authorites were concerned that the hunger strike would become bigger, so they cracked down on it," he told AFP.

"I have ended it," he said, adding the police were not violent.

Cambodia has been locked in a political crisis since July elections returned strongman premier Hun Sen to power, despite widespread allegations by the opposition of voter fraud.

According to official results of the July election, the ruling Cambodian People's Party won 68 seats against 55 for the CNRP.

The CNRP has rejected the tally and has warned it will boycott the opening of parliament unless the irregularities are addressed.

Military police spokesman Kheng Tito confirmed authorities stepped in to end the prince's hunger strike, saying the protest had turned into an illegal rally.

He added the authorities feared protests could turn violent ahead of the opening of parliament on Monday and confirmed that police were deployed Saturday outside the royal palace in the centre of the capital as dozens of CNRP protesters gathered peacefully.

The deployment was "to ban any rally from the public," he said, ahead of the opening of the parliament.

Violent clashes erupted in Phnom Penh last Sunday on the fringes of a mass demonstration that drew an estimated 20,000 opposition supporters demanding a probe into the alleged voter fraud.

The poll results were Hun Sen's worst for 15 years but while experts agree they were a blow to the 61-year-old premier, they see no signs he will give up power soon. - AFP

Rape and Manhood

Posted:

Society's complicity can breed the sort of demons who can commit rape (and probably get away with it).

ISLAMABAD: The children were too young to know how dangerous it is to be a girl in Pakistan. If the five-year-old girl and her three-year-old cousin had been just a little bit older, they may have known that being alone and playing outside are lethal risks in this country of men.

They did not know; and so, as dusk crept in over their neighbourhood in Lahore, they remained engrossed in their games. By the time their families noticed they were missing, it would be too late.

What happened to the five-year-old between the time she was abducted and the next day, when she was found abandoned outside a hospital, is the stuff of the most grotesque nightmare.

Unconscious and bleeding, the child found lying on a strip of green lawn outside the hospital building had been raped. The doctors who examined her asserted that on the basis of their physical examination, she had probably been assaulted by several men for over an hour.

She was rushed to surgery because of haemorrhaging, and when she emerged her condition was listed as critical. The next day, television channels reported that she was deeply traumatised, crying and screaming even when members of her family approached her.

The utter cruelty of the case elicited expressions of outrage. In a country where debate on rape often hinges on the indictment of the victim long before it turns to the perpetrators, the fact that the victim was a child managed to force attention on the brutality of the crime itself.

The child had been too young to blame, too little to be accused of having provoked her attackers. The usual excuses – a lack of feminine modesty, culpable presence in the public space, a flawed character – could not be employed here, and so, finally, the ghastly fact of the crime was before the country.

So confronted, many grew angry; a group of female representatives from the Khyber legislature demanded that the perpetrators be hanged. Such cries for blood and vengeance were fervently repeated.

The aftermath of the case exposes once again the complete inability of law enforcement and judicial bodies to deal with rape investigations. Even with closed-circuit camera images, there was no solid identification of suspects.

A few suspects picked up by the police last Friday had already been released the next day. While DNA samples were collected from the child and sent to investigation labs, no report was available yet.

Amidst the legal and investigative morass surrounding the case are the questions of how such a dastardly act can occur and how the complicity of society can breed the sort of demons who can commit it (and probably get away with it).

Just a few days before the child was assaulted, the British medical journal Lancet published a new study on rape in the Asia-Pacific region. Completed in partnership with the United Nations, the study was unique in that it surveyed not rape victims but rather men who had committed the crime.

While the study did not specifically look at Pakistani men, its results provide some insight into Pakistan's situation regarding rape.

Not only were the results alarming (nearly one in four men, in the six countries studied, reported having forced a woman to have sexual relations), so were its findings regarding the causes.

The reasons the men listed for committing rape ranged widely from entitlement to entertainment to punishment and even boredom. Almost half of the men reported that they did not feel guilty. More than half had committed the crime for the first time as teenagers.

The results provide some very specific diagnosis on the Pakistani condition. Like men in Indonesia and Bangladesh, men in Pakistan are raised with a sense of sexual entitlement, which the study identified as the primary motivator for sexual violence.

Seen under the lens of such entitlement, females are considered objects for use, and not having the right to say "no".

In the case of grown women, this core belief is cleverly hidden in allegations of the women's own character, her presence in public spaces, and other such reasons.

In the case of children, the ugliness of such an assault cannot be disguised. As the study identifies, such behaviour towards women elicits no guilt from the men, and it starts early. All of this is only possible when society largely supports it; society is confused about whether rape is a crime and is unable to definitely get behind rape victims and condemn perpetrators.

The mistake made by the child at the centre of the recent Lahore tragedy was to play outside.

In the Pakistan where such things happen, legislatures past and present have failed to force the stringent application of the Women's Protection Act, 2006, and the Zina Ordinance continues to exist. In the Pakistan where such things happen, the Council of Islamic Ideology has cast doubt over the value of DNA as primary evidence across the board in rape cases.

When this cumulative picture of the country where the crime was committed is considered, the only thing different about the recent case is that she was victimised so early, subjected to a crime that is the fate of too many women.

She cannot speak today because she is too young, but if she was older and could speak and point to her victimisers, few in this country of men would believe her.

> The writer is an attorney teaching constitutional law and political philosophy. rafia.zakaria@gmail.com.

Callgirl from China forced to work for pimp or risk being hurt

Posted:

HE FORCED her to work here as a prostitute, earning about S$9,000 (RM22,751) from providing sexual services on about 150 occasions over 15 days.

And he made sure that the underage China girl did not see a cent of it.

Pimp Tang Huisheng took all the money and blew it as part of a S$19,000 (RM48,031) gambling spree at the Marina Bay Sands casino.

But such bravado was missing yesterday. The 37-year-old pleaded guilty to four out of seven vice-related charges, reversing an earlier intent to claim trial – to the surprise of prosecutors.

He had flown the 17-year-old here to work the streets of Geylang, where she serviced around 100 clients who paid about S$60 (RM151) a time.

Deputy public prosecutors Stella Tan Wei Ling and Elizabeth Chua told Community Court Judge Shaiffudin Saruwan the horrific tale of how the minor – who cannot be named – ended up leaving China to become a prostitute in Singapore.

Tang's sister lured the teenager to the city of Zhuhai where he drugged her with methamphetamine, or Ice, and had sex with her while she was in a stupor.

If she refused his demands for sex he would beat or threaten her.

When Tang told her he was going to take her to Singapore where he would be her pimp, she refused, knowing Tang had worked as a pimp for many years and had other girls working for him.

He locked her up for more than a week in a fifth-floor unit in Zhuhai. She tried to escape but hurt her waist and was caught by Tang and his sister, who then assaulted her and threatened to harm her family.

Tang's sister also threatened to splash acid on her face if she did not listen to them and tried to run away again.

Tang kept all her belongings, including her passport.

He and the minor flew to Singapore on May 16. Two days later he took her to Geylang to start work.

Tang would stand near her whenever she was soliciting, acting as her lookout and helping to find customers.

He used her earnings to pay for rent, other expenses and gambling, said Tan.

Tang will be back in court on Oct 2. He faces a jail term of up to five years and a fine of up to S$10,000 (RM25,279) on each of the Women's Charter offences.

For abetting the customer to have paid sex with the minor, he could be jailed for up to seven years and/or fined. — The Straits Times / Asia News Network

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Hong Kong battens down as powerful Typhoon Usagi nears
China sentences ousted politician Bo to life in jail
Sri Lanka's main Tamil party wins polls with landslide victory

Hong Kong battens down as powerful Typhoon Usagi nears

Posted:

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong was bracing on Sunday for this year's most powerful typhoon, with government meteorologists warning of severe flooding created by a double whammy of powerful winds and exceptionally high tides.

Typhoon Usagi, the strongest storm to hit the Western Pacific this year, is expected to hit the Asian financial centre late on Sunday and early on Monday.

The Hong King observatory posted a No. 3 signal warning of strong wind late on Saturday and was expected to raise the storm signal later on Sunday.

The storm posed a severe threat to the city, the observatory said.

China's National Meteorological Center issued its highest alert, warning that Usagi would bring gales and downpours to southern coastal areas, the official Xinhua news agency said.

More than 80,000 people had moved to safety in Fujian province and authorities had deployed at least 50,000 disaster-relief workers, it said.

Major Chinese airlines cancelled flights to cities in the southern provinces of Guangdong and Fujian while shipping was suspended between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan, Xinhua reported.

In Hong Kong, Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd, the city's main airline, and its unit Hong Kong Dragon Airlines Ltd, will cancel all flights into and out of the international airport from 6 p.m. (1000 GMT) on Sunday.

If a No. 8 storm signal remain in place after 7 a.m. on Monday (2300 GMT on Sunday), the Hong Kong stock exchange will be closed for at least part of the day.

Financial markets, schools, businesses and non-essential government services close when a No. 8 storm signal is hoisted, posing a major disruption to business in the former British colony.

Typhoon Usagi lashed the east and south coasts of Taiwan with heavy rain and wind on Saturday after slamming into the Philippines' northernmost islands where it cut communication and power lines and triggered landslides.

(Reporting By Anne Marie Roantree; Editing by Robert Birsel)

China sentences ousted politician Bo to life in jail

Posted:

JINAN, China (Reuters) - A Chinese court sentenced ousted senior politician Bo Xilai to life in jail on Sunday after finding him guilty on all counts following his dramatic five-day trial last month on charges of corruption, taking bribes and abuse of power.

Bo was a rising star in China's leadership circles when his career was stopped short last year by a murder scandal in which his wife, Gu Kailai, was convicted of poisoning a British businessman, Neil Heywood, who had been a family friend.

The court in the eastern city of Jinan, where Bo was tried, also ordered that all his personal assets be seized, and deprived him of his political rights for life too, according to a transcript released by the court's official microblog.

"Bo Xilai was a servant of the state, he abused his power, causing huge damage to the country and its people ... The circumstances were especially serious," the court said in its judgement.

Bo, 64, has 10 days to appeal from Monday, the court added.

State media said he was likely to appeal, in which case the supreme court in Shandong province, where Jinan is located, would have to hear the case within two months.

The court showed a picture of a handcuffed Bo, with clenched fists in an apparent show of defiance, flanked by two towering policemen who held him by his shoulders and forearms. Two more policemen stood by.

At the close of Bo's trial last month, prosecutors demanded a heavy sentence, saying his "whimsical" challenge to charges flew in the face of the evidence. State media, which speaks for the party, had already all but condemned him.

Hong Kong's South China Morning Post cited a source last week as saying Bo believes one day his name will be cleared.

"I will wait quietly in the prison," Bo said in a letter to his family last week, according to the newspaper.

FEISTY DEFENCE

Bo, who was Communist Party chief of the southwestern metropolis of Chongqing, mounted an unexpectedly feisty defence during his trial, denouncing testimony against him by his wife as the ravings of a mad woman.

He repeatedly said he was not guilty of any of the charges, though he admitted making some bad decisions and shaming his country by his handling of former Chongqing police chief, Wang Lijun, who first told Bo that Gu had probably murdered Heywood.

Wang fled to the U.S. consulate in the nearby city of Chengdu in February last year after confronting Bo with evidence that Gu was involved in the murder. Wang was also jailed last year for covering up the crime.

The state prosecutor had said Bo should not be shown leniency as he had recanted admissions of guilt ahead of his trial.

Senior party figures feared Bo could stage a political comeback one day if he was not dealt a harsh sentence, sources told Reuters after the trial.

A light sentence could have undermined President Xi Jinping's pledge to go after corrupt political heavyweights as harshly as those lower down the pecking order.

Bo cultivated a loyal following through his charisma and populist, quasi-Maoist policies, especially among those left out in the cold by China's anything-for-growth economic policies.

(Additional reporting by Benjamin Kang Lim and Adam Rose in BEIJING; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Ian Geoghegan)

Sri Lanka's main Tamil party wins polls with landslide victory

Posted:

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's main ethnic minority Tamil party secured a landslide victory in a provincial poll that has threatened to rekindle animosity between the government and Tamils, four years after the military crushed separatist rebels and ended a 26-year war.

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA), the former political proxy of the defeated Tamil Tiger rebels, won 30 seats in the 38-member provincial council in the former northern war zone, election officials said on Sunday.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa's ruling coalition won 7 seats, while a Muslim party won one.

It was the first provincial council election in the north in 25 years and was held after the government came under international pressure to restore democracy.

Defeat for the government, the most humiliating set-back for Rajapaksa since he assumed office in 2005, is largely symbolic.

But the TNA's victory shows that the defeat of the rebels in 2009 did nothing to dampen calls for autonomy among Tamils, who make up about 14 percent of Sri Lanka's 20 million people.

"This is a strong message to the international community to say that Tamils need a political solution," said a voter in the northern town of Jaffna, computer studies lecturer T. Sivaruban.

"It could be a separate state or power sharing within a united Sri Lanka," said Sivaruban, 33.

The TNA won more than 84 percent of the votes in Jaffna, once the heartland of the rebel movement, 81 percent in Kilinochchi, the de-facto capital of the separatists, and 78 percent in Mullaitivu, where thousands of civilians were said to have been killed in May 2009, when government forces moved in to defeat the rebels.

"It's a great vindication of the political stand we've taken and our people have stood up without bowing down to violence and intimidation," M. A. Sumanthiran, a TNA legislator, told Reuters. "Now the president has to bow down to this verdict."

A foreign observer said the election commission had done a very good job inside the polling centres, though it did not have any control over what went on outside, where some voters reported attacks and intimidation.

PRESSURE

The government has accused the TNA of renewing calls for a separate state through its push for the devolution of power. The TNA says it wants devolution in a united Sri Lanka, not a separate state.

Many voters have called for the return of land that they say the army has occupied. They are also calling for the withdrawal from the north of the army, which was accused of human rights abuses in the final stages of the war.

Some voters have also called for a separate state, for decades the goal of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, who launched their war in 1983 to end what Tamil activists saw as systematic discrimination by Sri Lanka's Sinhalese majority.

Election officials said they received "plenty" of complaints, including complaints of intimidation of voters during the polling, but turnout was about 68 percent.

The military has rejected any suggestion of involvement by the security forces in election-related violence of any sort.

Rajapaksa has a majority of more than two-thirds in the national parliament and controls the eight other provinces.

The president has faced international pressure to bring to book those accused of war crimes committed at the end of the war, and to boost reconciliation efforts.

His government has rejected accusations of rights abuses and Rajapaksa in July ordered an inquiry into mass disappearances, mostly of Tamils, at the end of the war.

(Editing by Robert Birsel)

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White House rounding up support for Yellen to take reins at Fed
News Corp revenue rises on subscriptions; advertising rev falls
US stocks needn't fret about a government shutdown

White House rounding up support for Yellen to take reins at Fed

Posted:

WASHINGTON:White House officials are mustering support among Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee to back Federal Reserve Vice Chair Janet Yellen, three sources said on Friday, laying the groundwork for her expected nomination to the Fed's top job.

Two Senate Democratic aides, who requested anonymity, said officials had encouraged senators to support Yellen and talk her up, hardening the sense that President Barack Obama has settled on her to replace Fed chief Ben Bernanke when his term ends in January.

A third source familiar with the calls said the White House had reached out to some of the 20 Democratic senators who had signed a letter to Obama in July urging him to appoint Yellen, who would be the first woman to hold the job if confirmed by the Senate.

This source said the White House had not communicated that Obama had made a decision on who to nominate, but wanted to make sure any negative reports about Yellen did not go unanswered.

The outreach to Capitol Hill indicates a serious effort to make sure her confirmation would run smoothly. A White House official said earlier this week that Yellen was the leading candidate.

The third source said the calls were mostly at the staff level, although some senators may have been contacted directly.

Obama, who leaves on a week-long tour of Asia on Oct. 6, is expected to announce his decision in the coming weeks.

Yellen, who is seen as one of the most dovish Fed officials, is likely to enjoy solid backing from Democrats, but could draw some fire from Republicans worried that the central bank's aggressive efforts to spur stronger economic growth could fuel inflation or asset bubbles.

Democrats control the Senate 54-46, but any nomination is likely to need to secure 60 votes to overcome procedural hurdles. Republicans have not indicated whether they might seek to block a Yellen nomination.

Yellen became the front runner after former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers withdrew from the race on Sunday in the face of opposition from liberal Democrats.

Obama was felt to favor his selection. But Summers' record of advocacy for financial deregulation, as well as remarks in the past deemed as sexist, sparked a backlash among some Democrats on the banking panel that would need to decide whether to send any nomination to the full Senate for approval.

Obama said last month that Summers and Yellen were both being considered for the job, the most powerful economic office in the nation, as was former Fed vice chair Donald Kohn.

One of the senate aides said Kohn's name had not come up in the conversations with the White House. - Reuters

News Corp revenue rises on subscriptions; advertising rev falls

Posted:

NEW YORK: News Corp, the publishing company controlled by Rupert Murdoch, reported on Friday that annual revenue grew 2.7 percent to almost $8.9 billion on a rise in circulation and subscription revenue.

Net income for the fiscal year ending June 30 was $506 million, or 87 cents per share, compared with a loss of $2.1 billion, or $3.58 per share, in the previous year.

News Corp split from the entertainment properties controlled by Murdoch at the end of June. Its businesses include newspapers The Wall Street Journal and The Times of London, book publisher HarperCollins, education company Amplify, and pay-TV and digital stakes in Australia.

The movie studio, TV and cable holdings are now part of 21st Century Fox.

Advertising revenue, which makes up half of total revenue, fell almost 9 percent to $4.3 billion.

The News Corp split occurred as newspapers, one of its major assets, have experienced challenges across the globe as advertisers have shifted more of their dollars away from print and toward digital.

For the fiscal fourth quarter ending June, News Corp reported a 10 percent rise in revenue to $2.3 billion and a loss of $1.1 billion due to a $1.4 billion impairment charge.

In May, the company said it would write down the value of its Australian and U.S. publishing assets by up to $1.4 billion and take a charge for the quarter ending June 30. - Reuters

US stocks needn't fret about a government shutdown

Posted:

NEW YORK: Investors may be tempted to shy away from stocks in the next week or two as the latest version of the fiscal follies plays out in Washington.

It's understandable. The prospect of a government shutdown or, worse, default on the federal debt, rekindles memories of 2011 when Washington's infighting prompted the loss of the United States' triple-A credit rating and was a primary driver behind the stock market's last full-on correction.

The sense from Wall Street analysts this time, however, is that the current drama is likely to feature more bluster than bravado and contains overblown threats.

"Looking back at the pattern that has emerged since the debt ceiling fiasco back in 2011, the Republican leadership got the message that if there is a government shutdown, most likely their party is going to get blamed," said Brian Jacobsen, chief portfolio strategist at Wells Fargo Funds Management in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin.

"They're going to be very sensitive to that public sentiment as we get closer to a midterm election year" in 2014, Jacobsen said.

"In spite of all the brinkmanship being talked about ... there will be a deal and then we will move on," said Stephen Massocca, managing director at Wedbush Equity Management in San Francisco.

This autumn's standoff comes with two separate but related deadlines.

First, failure to come up with a budget deal by the end of the month risks a federal government shutdown starting Oct. 1. Then, by mid-October lawmakers must vote to raise the federal debt ceiling to prevent a default.

The posturing has been under way for weeks. In the latest move, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed legislation on Friday to fund federal agencies through mid-December but also inserted a provision killing President Barack Obama's landmark healthcare overhaul.

Democrats, who control the Senate, have said they will strip out that provision when the bill comes before the Senate, most likely next week.

Wall Street players are sanguine about events unfolding in Washington.

EMPTY THREAT

"Uncertainty will probably rise ahead of these events, but we think this is likely to be short-lived and probably less severe than some other recent episodes," said a Goldman Sachs research note.

In fact, the current episode could prove to be an empty threat, like the so-called "fiscal cliff," last December. After weeks of dire predictions of big tax hikes and draconian spending cuts if no deal was reached, lawmakers came to a last-minute accord, and the market kicked into high gear for 2013. The S&P 500 is up more than 22 percent year to date on a total return basis, including re-invested dividends.

"While we could get a pullback on worries about the debt ceiling and the continuing resolution, my guess is it will go the same way as the fiscal cliff went - a bunch of sound and fury signifying nothing," said Jeffrey Saut, chief investment strategist at Raymond James Financial in St. Petersburg, Florida.

"If the market pulls back on (Washington) worries, I think it's a buy," said Saut.

As the budget battle heats up, the lack of angst among investors was reflected in a fall in the CBOE Volatility Index , Wall Street's favorite measure of fear. It ticked down to 13.12 on Friday and has posted three straight weeks of losses for a total drop in that period of 23 percent.

Next week on Wall Street, the widely followed Dow Jones industrial average will open Monday with three new components as Goldman Sachs, Visa and Nike replace Bank of America, Hewlett-Packard and Alcoa.

ANOTHER TAPER TANTRUM

Even though the market has a low chance of disruption from the fiscal fighting, there might still be a bearish signal from Washington.

"Fiscal retrenchment" in Washington was one of the reasons cited this week by the Federal Reserve for not reducing its stimulus program of $85 billion a month in bond purchases. The policy has kept downward pressure on interest rates and has helped lift the S&P 500 this year.

The reduced likelihood of a political impasse over the budget could then open the door for the Fed to begin tapering as early as late October when it holds its next policy-setting meeting.

That possibility was raised by St. Louis Fed President James Bullard on Friday, noting that the decision still depends on data about the economy. He also said the Fed has maneuvering room as along as inflation is low.

"One of the things that pushed the Fed into the precautionary side was the fiscal issues. They realized what sort of effect that could have on the economy and decided not to taper," said Wells Fargo's Jacobsen.

"It is entirely possible that on Oct. 30 we could see a slight tapering because we'll have passed some of the chaos in (Washington) D.C. if there is a resolution of the budget issues," he said. - Reuters

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Government mulls merger proposal
Move to ensure bumis have assets
Cops tracking down Twitter user over threat

Government mulls merger proposal

Posted:

TANJUNG MALIM: The Government is prepared to consider the proposal to merge the 27 Malaysian Teacher Training Institutions (IPGM) into an education university, says Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

The Deputy Prime Minister however said the proposal must consider various aspects such as the duration of study, the subjects and skills to be taught and the form of education to be adopted.

"The status of the IPGM is also similar to that of a university. It's just that those trained there will become primary school teachers.

"Whether the IPGM will be moved, renamed or placed as a large university, this is a suggestion that we can study," he said at a dialogue session during a special meeting with the staff of Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) at the Sultan Azlan Shah Campus, Proton City, here yesterday.

Muhyiddin, who is also the Education Minister, said this when replying to a suggestion by a UPSI alumni that the existing 27 IPGM in the country should be placed under the management of the proposed university.

Also present were Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir and UPSI vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dr Zakaria Kasa.

Previously, the National Union of Peninsular Malaysia College Trained Teachers (KKGLMSM) had also called on the Education Ministry to raise the status of IPGM to that of a university.

On July 13, 2005, the Cabinet gave approval to the upgrade of the status of 27 Teacher Training Colleges in Malaysia to that of Teachers Training Institute (IPG), which could confer the Bachelor of Education degrees compared with only producing diploma or certificate level graduates.

Responding to another question concerning the placement of teachers, Muhyiddin said that only graduates in education who were truly qualified would be placed at primary and secondary schools nationwide.

He said graduates who had completed their studies at public institutions of higher learning and IPGM needed to apply for the posts of Grade DG41 to the Teaching Services Commission.

"We no longer implement the automatic placement procedure for teachers after completing their education. Beginning 2012, all graduates in education must submit their applications to the Teaching Service Commission (SPP).

"They (the graduates) must undergo a SPP screening process and interview. It is important to understand this," he added. — Bernama

Move to ensure bumis have assets

Posted:

KUALA LUMPUR: The Government will build more affordable housing to ensure the bumiputra do not lag behind in non-financial assets, said the Prime Minister.

Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said this would be implemented under the third focus of the Bumiputra Economic Empowerment measures.

"The affordable housing will be increased through Syarikat Perumahan Rakyat 1Malaysia (PR1MA), Syarikat Perumahan Negara Berhad and state governments nationwide," he said.

Last Saturday, Najib announced new measures and strategies to strengthen the bumiputra's economy under the Bumiputra Economic Council, to be established and chaired by him soon.

That council will replace the Bumiputra Agenda Action Council in implementing the five main strategies of the empowerment measures.

One of the strategies is to handle the issue of bumiputra who still lagged behind in ownership of non-financial assets such as homes, industrial premises and commercial complexes. — Bernama

Cops tracking down Twitter user over threat

Posted:

GEORGE TOWN: Police are working with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission to track down the Twitter user who issued a death threat to Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.

Penang police chief Senior Deputy Comm Datuk Abdul Rahim Hanafi said they had recorded statements from four individuals and were tracing the user.

He added that police were investigating the case under Section 507 of the Penal Code for criminal intimidation.

It was reported that Lim had, on Sept 12, received the death threat on his Twitter account. He then lodged a report at the Patani Road police station.

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Suu Kyi arrives for four-day visit

Posted:

MYANMAR opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi arrived in Singapore to begin what will be a four-day visit to the Republic.

This is the first time the Nobel peace laureate has visited Singapore.

She later met Second Minister for Foreign Affairs Grace Fu at the MFA building.

Suu Kyi also received briefings from several government agencies.

Her weekend schedule includes two speaking engagements and a meeting with some 5,000 Myanmar citizens based in Singapore.

On Monday, Suu Kyi has lined up back-to-back bilateral meetings. — The Straits Times / Asia News Network

Teen serviced 100 clients, court told

Posted:

A CHINA girl who was forced into prostitution by her pimp had serviced about 100 clients on about 150 occasions here, a Community Court heard.

The 17-year-old Chinese national would receive about S$60 (RM152) each time for her sexual services and her pimp would collect all her prostitution earnings.

Between May 18 and June 1 – the day of her arrest – Tang Huisheng, 37, collected a total of about S$9,000 (RM22,811) from the minor.

He used the money to pay for rental and other expenses, as well as for gambling.

Tang, who is not represented, pleaded guilty to four charges – bringing the minor here for prostitution, living on her earnings, harbouring her, and aiding Nordin Mohammed Noor to have paid sex with the minor for S$100 (RM253).

Two other charges will be considered when he is sentenced.

The court heard that Tang and the minor flew here on May 16. She began working as a prostitute in Geylang two days later.

While the minor was soliciting for customers, Tang would be standing near her to render assistance.

He also acted as a look-out and helped her to look for customers.

After Tang saw the minor being arrested, he made his way to Marina Bay Sands casino where he lost S$18,300 (RM46,382) within four days.

He also brought forward his return flight to Guangzhou, China, from June 10 to 5 but was arrested on June 5.

Deputy Public Prosecutors Stella Tan Wei Ling and Elizabeth Chua will give their submission on sentencing on Oct 2.

Tang is in custody as he could not raise the S$15,000 (RM38,018) bail offered. His bail was doubled yesterday after his conviction.

A total of 24 men have been charged with commercial sex with the minor, 13 of whom have each been sentenced to between 11 and 12 weeks.

Two had their sentencing postponed after pleading guilty. — The Straits Times / Asia News Network

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The Star Online: Lifestyle: Health

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The Star Online: Lifestyle: Health

Vitamin B supplements may reduce risk of stroke

Posted:

Taking supplements containing vitamin B may help cut your risk of stroke, a new study suggests.

Taking vitamin B supplements may help fend off your risk of stroke, a new study published Wednesday claims.

Previous studies regarding vitamin B have yielded conflicting results, with some suggesting that the vitamin can protect again stroke and heart attack, while others have shown that it can actually increase the risk.

Previous research has also shown that vitamin B3 may help boost recovery in patients who have suffered a stroke.

In the latest study, researchers at Zhengzhou University in China analysed 14 clinical trials involving nearly 55,000 subjects. Findings, published online in the journal Neurology, found that there was a 7% lower risk of stroke among those patients who took vitamin B supplements.

However, the findings showed that vitamin B supplementation didn't have much impact on reducing the risk of heart attack.

The Telegraph in the UK also reports that they found that folic acid, which is also known as vitamin B9, could reduce the benefits of taking of vitamin B supplements.

Still, the researchers advise that you talk to your doctor before taking any supplements. - AFP Relaxnews

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The Star Online: Metro: South & East

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The Star Online: Metro: South & East

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