theSun | WEDNESDAY APRIL 29 2009
news without borders
Bakti will help secure grants for
non-profit bodies
BERNAMAPIX
KUALA LUMPUR: The Associa-
tion of Wives of Ministers and
Deputy Ministers (Bakti) will
help non-profit organisations
such as the Gurpuri Founda-
tion to secure grants from the
Social Welfare Department to
continue their efforts to help
the less fortunate.
Bakti president Datin Seri
Rosmah Mansor said yesterday
the association was working
towards obtaining at least a
meal grant from the department
to help the foundation to provide
assistance to Sikh orphanages.
The foundation could also ap-
ply for a larger grant for its expan-
sion, and Bakti would help with the
application process, she said at a Vaisakhi Day
celebration at the Gurpuri orphanage here.
Rosmah handed a cheque for RM20,000 from
Bakti to the foundation’s principal Sukhdaiv Singh.
The orphanage was also given 60 hampers.
KL maintains
global city ranking
by Giam Say Khoon
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
PETALING JAYA: Kuala Lumpur has man-
aged to maintain its 75th position in the 2009
quality of living global city rankings based on
a categorised point-scoring index covering
215 cities by Mercer, a global provider of con-
sulting, outsourcing and investment services.
Mercer’s Asia Pacific global mobility
leader Cathy Loose said the region was highly
diverse with recent political unrest and ter-
rorist attacks in some cities having negatively
impacted the quality of living.
She said in addition to providing an
appropriate hardship allowance, companies
needed to ensure they reviewed their expa-
triate strategies by implementing specific
safety measures such as ensuring expatriate
accommodation “is under surveillance and
providing effective channels of communica-
tion should evacuation be necessary”.
Singapore (26) is the top scoring Asian city
followed by Tokyo at 35.
Mercer’s Singapore global mobility leader
Derrick Kon said the city had gained impor-
tance as a financial centre and offered a wide
range of international and private schools to
cater to its expatriate community.
“Housing is also excellent in Singapore,
where high quality houses and apartments
are available for rent, and residents are able
School committees’ legal status
can’t be questioned: Wee
Press Digest
by Kong See Hoh
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
DEPUTY Education Minister Datuk Dr Wee Ka
Siong dismissed as “incorrect” talk that some
Chinese school committees are illegal for failing
to register with the ministry.
He said the ministry had long directed state
education departments to approve all applica-
tions for registration by school committees.
According to a report in Sin Chew Daily
yesterday, Wee said the position and legality
of Chinese school committees should not be
questioned as long as they have applied to be
registered.
He urged school committees to report to
him any state education officer who defied the
7
Rosmah talks to children at the
Gurpuri orphanage yesterday.
Rosmah said she was touched by the founda-
tion’s efforts in caring for the less fortunate and
helping make the children useful individuals.
Sukhdaiv Singh said Gurpuri being the only
Sikh orphanage in the country, needed to be
expanded. – Bernama
to choose from an excellent selection of appli-
ances and furniture,” he said.
As a city that boasts an airport with
excellent facilities and connections as well
as an efficient and extensive public transport
network, the republic has the highest score
worldwide (109.1) for its city infrastructure.
Beijing also moved up three places in
the rankings, from 116 to 113, largely due to
improvements to public transport facilities
following the Olympic Games last August.
Bangkok and Mumbai dropped in the
rankings (from 109 to 120 and from 142 to
148 respectively), mainly due to a decline in
stability and security.
The Mumbai terrorist attacks and the
protracted political turmoil in Thailand
throughout 2008 and this year, with frequent
and violent demonstrations and rallies, led to
a decline in the quality of living for expatri-
ates.
Vienna in Austria has overtaken Zurich
(Switzerland) to take the top spot as the
world’s city with the best quality of living,
while Geneva (Switzerland) is in third posi-
tion. Vancouver (Canada) and Auckland
(New Zealand ) are joint fourth.
War torn Baghdad (215) retained its posi-
tion at the bottom of the table although its in-
dex score has increased from 13.5 to 14.4 due
to slight improvements in its infrastructure
and steps taken to encourage investment.
ministry’s directive.
Wee said this at a function in Seremban
when asked by reporters to comment on the
Negri Sembilan Dong Lian Hui (state united
Chinese school committees association) presi-
dent Zhang Zhi Kai’s claim that some 60 Chinese
primary school committees in the state are not
legal as their applications for registration had
yet to be approved.
“Don’t regard yourselves (school commit-
tees) as illegal. If there are so many illegal
school committees in Negri Sembilan, do you
think the Education Ministry would have given
out RM1.954 million in grants to 41 schools in
the state in the past one year?” he asked.
Wee told school committees it was not im-
portant whether education departments replied
to them as no quarter could question their legal
status. “Any school committee which has been
told it is illegal can come and see me,” he said.