theSun | WEDNESDAY APRIL 1 2009 7

news without borders

Keen battle for

association posts
WITH nominations for the But despite the din it is
Selangor and Kuala Lumpur making, a group said to be
Dong Lian Hui (United Chi- Press Digest bent on toppling Yap is yet
nese School Committees by Kong See Hoh to congeal into a force.
Association) election just newsdesk@thesundaily.com It is without a leader to
slightly over a week away, say the least, according to
lobbying has intensified by both, incumbent Oriental Daily News.
president Dr Yap Sin Tian’s group and its rivals. Among the names being mentioned as the
At stake is not only Yap’s post in the Dong likely candidate to take on Yap are the head of
Lian Hui but also his position as head of Dong Confucius Private High School’s board of direc-
Zong, the umbrella body for the Dong Lian Hui tors, Sim Teck Ho, Kuala Lumpur and Selangor
from all 13 states. Chinese Assembly Hall president Datuk Bong
To be eligible to defend his Dong Zong post Hon Liong, and the president of the Malaysian
in June, Yap must get the endorsement of the Association of Graduates from Universities and
Selangor and Kuala Lumpur Dong Lian Hui. Colleges of China, Ting Chee Seng.
All indications are that the Dong Lian Hui, However, according to Nanyang Siang Pau,
which is not known to see keen jostling for posts, Bong has denied he is involved in the campaign
will see intense fights in its April 19 election, for to topple Yap.
which the nominations will be held on April 9. Sim has yet to make up his mind on offers for
Also, never before has the Chinese com- him to lead the rival group.
munity paid so much attention to the education Nevertheless, the incumbents are not taking
movement’s election of office-bearers. things lightly although they are confident that Yap
According to reports, about 500 of the total will retain his post.
624 delegates from 104 Chinese primary and “We are treading carefully. We are fighting for
secondary schools in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur every vote,” Yap’s deputy in Dong Zong, Zhou Sau
are expected to turn up for the balloting this year, Han, told Sin Chew Daily.
double the number for the previous election. Zhou said it is normal to have contests in the
This is a good indication that delegates want Dong Lian Hui election but it should be done in a
to exercise their voting rights following a series of fair and democratic manner.
incidents affecting Chinese education, notably the He did not agree that the fights will be
New Era College issue and the teaching of science between the so-called Yap faction and a rival
and mathematics in English, and an “awareness faction out to topple Yap.
campaign” by Chinese educationists to jolt school It is more of a fight between the incumbents
committees out of their complacency. and challengers, he said.

Gerakan hopes for cabinet post

GERAKAN vice-president Datuk Mah Siew Keong
has expressed the hope that Datuk Seri Najib
Abdul Razak would allocate a ministerial post
to the party when he reshuffles the cabinet on
assuming the premiership, China Press reported
yesterday.
He said if the party is given a portfolio, the best
person to take it up would be party president Tan
Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon.
For that to happen, Koh, who is not an MP, will
have to be appointed a senator.
At present, the party has yet to fill the sena-
tor’s post left vacant following the death of vice-
president Datuk Dr S. Vijayaratnam late last year.
“Gerakan is confident that if Koh is appointed
a minister, he would work closely with Najib to
face the challenges presented by the current
economic slowdown,” said Mah.

Consult us first: NUBE

KUALA LUMPUR: The National Union of Bank
Employees (NUBE) advised CIMB Bank employees
yesterday to consult the union first, before accept-
ing the no-pay leave offered by their employer.
NUBE secretary-general, J. Solomon, said this
was to ensure they would not lose out on the other
perks while on leave.
He said the offer was not a surprise to the
union as the bank had informed the union about
it earlier.
“The offer should not be interpreted as an
exercise to lay off workers, because it is purely
voluntary and the workers have the right to refuse
it,” he told Bernama.
CIMB Group chief executive Datuk Seri Nazir
Razak had said on Monday, the company was of-
fering its 36,000 staff extended unpaid leave under
the “Staff Rejuvenation Programme” from next
month as a cost-cutting measure because of the
economic situation.
He said the programme was not to lay off work-
ers, but to give them an option to take extended
unpaid leave of between one and six months.
Solomon believed that not only CIMB Bank but
all banks in Malaysia were well capitalised and
there was no danger of them facing any problem
during the economic downturn.
He praised Bank Negara for ensuring that the
banking sector was well regulated and that the
workers were in no danger of losing their jobs.
“After the 1997 financial crisis and the con-
solidation of banks in Malaysia, the banking sector
has become more resilient and is now in a strong
position to ride out the economic downturn,” he
said.
On the union’s proposal for a new collective
agreement, he said it had already been prepared
and submitted to the Association of Commercial
Banks. Under the proposal, the union, which rep-
resents 30,000 bank employees, is seeking a 30%
across-the-board increase in salary.
Solomon was confident the banks would accept
the proposal, as it was based on the performance
of the banks in the last three years, and not on
projected profits in the future.
The director-general of the Manpower Depart-
ment, Datuk Ismail Abdul Rahim, said his depart-
ment would seek clarification from the bank on
the offer. “My department has not yet received any
communication from the bank,” he said.

Suara Keamanan to replace Suara Keadilan

PETALING JAYA: A newsletter titled Suara Kea-
manan will be published this week to replace
Suara Keadilan, which was suspended for three
months from March 23 by the Home Ministry for
violating permit conditions.
In a press statement yesterday, the editorial
department of Suara Keamanan said Parti Keadi-
lan Rakyat has decided not to publish the news-
letter during the suspension period, although
there was an earlier report that the party would
defy the suspension order.
It said the Suara Keamanan is a non-series
publication that does not need a permit from
the ministry.
It is also stated that the readers can obtain the
newsletter from the same distributors and sellers
who sold Suara Keadilan.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar
had earlier said the order to suspend Suara
Keadilan and the PAS organ Harakah was taken
because they often published articles which
questioned the royalty and sensationalised news
that were defamatory and aimed at causing con-
fusion and disharmony in society.
He said Suara Keadilan was sold to the public
though it was meant for party members.