6 œ theSun | WEDNESDAY AUGUST 26 2009

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Protest over Malay Mail’s
MIC story
PETALING JAYA: About 100 MIC members and
supporters protested outside The Malay Mail
office in Section 19 here yesterday over an
article which claimed the party’s leaders were
practising the caste system.
A full-page report on the
upcoming MIC elections and
the prevalence of the caste
system in the party’s choice
of candidates was published
in the paper on Monday.
It carried photos of MIC
leaders and stated which SNAP
caste they belonged to. TICKETS TO ANY DEST
Carrying banners, the
IN MALAYSIA
protesters led by MIC Youth
deputy chief V. Mugilan
gathered at about 11am
and demanded an apology.
Several representatives went
up to the third floor to convey
a memorandum which was
received by the paper’s senior
manager Valentina Leow.
“This is outrageous. It is a
highly sensitive subject that
has provoked Indians and can
cause disunity among them.
The writer has no proof of a Capture people, foo
caste system in the MIC. We cultures and anything
demand an apology or we will
take this up with the Home Min- showcases Malaysian
istry and lodge a police report.
We may also sue the paper,”
Mugilan said.
The group dispersed when
For more information
told the paper had issued an
apology in yesterday’s edition.
www.sun2surf.com/ma
Hearing of RM3m muta’ah
claim postponed again
KOTA BARU: The hearing of a RM3 million
muta’ah (compensation) claim by the former
second wife of Melor assemblyman Wan Ismail
Wan Jusoh, 54, in the Syariah High Court yes-
terday was postponed to Dec 3 after the judge
went on emergency leave.
Siti Aishah Chou Abdullah, 24, who arrived
in court with her family at 11am, was given a
notice of the postponement by an employee of
the court registrar. The hearing, which was to be
held on July 29, had been postponed to yester-
day after the air-conditioning broke down.
Siti Aishah and Wan Ismail married in Kuala
Lumpur on Nov 1, 2004 and divorced on Nov 18
last year. She had on Jan 4 applied to have Wan
Ismail pay muta’ah for her welfare and that of
their two children. – Bernama
AG vs Selangor: Govt told
to file reply affidavit
SHAH ALAM: The High plaintiff, also named the state secretary Act 2009 (Act 694).
Court has directed the as a defendant. “I strongly believe the circular
Selangor government to Senior federal counsel See Mee Chun dated July 28, 2009 had prevented MACC
file an affidavit in reply to appeared for the plaintiff while counsel officers from conducting their statutory
an application by the At- Fahda Nur Ahmad Kamar and Yusmadi duties provided for by parliament under
torney-General to declare Yusoff appeared for the defendants. Section 7, 11 (1), 30 (1)(a) and Section 30
AND WIN null and void a circular On Aug 20, Abdul Gani filed a pre- (3)(a) of Act 694.”
prohibiting state officials liminary suit in the High Court to declare He said that since the circular was an
INATION
from giving statements null and void the circular issued by state administrative directive, state govern-
!
to the Malaysian Anti- secretary Datuk Ramli Mahmud on July ment staff were bound by it and were
Corruption Commission 28. liable to disciplinary action in the event
(MACC) after office In his supporting affidavit, he claimed of non-compliance.
hours. that Ramli had issued the circular to all Mentri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid
Deputy Registrar officers and staff under the state’s admin- Ibrahim had said the circular titled
Mohd Hafizi Abdul istration who had received a directive Pekeliling Setiausaha Kerajaan Negeri
MALAYSIA
N HOSPITA Halim issued the direc- from the MACC to attend interviews to Selangor Bilangan 4 Tahun 2009 was
PH T LITY
tive in chambers when help in investigations. issued following a decision of the state
CONTEST the case came up for
management yesterday.
Abdul Gani said the circular prohibit-
ed state government staff from attending
executive council on July 22 to ensure
the safety of its staff following the death
He said the Selangor interviews by the MACC outside their of Teoh Beng Hock.
government has 14 days respective offices and directed that all Teoh, 30, political secretary to state
to file an affidavit and such interviews only be held from 8am exco Ean Yong Hian Wah, was on July
i s, fixed Sept 8 for further to 6.30pm. The circular also said the 16 found dead on Level 5 of Plaza Masa-
f d, t dition
d tra
case management. Selangor government would offer legal lam here which houses the office of the
els e tha t best
Other than the state services to staff during such interviews. Selangor MACC.
Ho spi tal ity.
government, Attorney- Abdul Gani said the circular contra- He had been called as a witness to
General Tan Sri Abdul vened Section 30 (1)(a) and Section 30 give a statement in investigations into the
Gani Patail, acting as (3)(a) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption alleged abuse of state funds. – Bernama
, go to
s.html
AG yet to decide on Al Islam
by Charles Ramendran at a Catholic church believed to be the St handed a memorandum to the Dang Wangi
newsdesk@thesundaily.com Anthony Church off Jalan Pudu. police who are investigating the case. It was
Muhd Ridhwan had written that his their second memorandum to the police,
KUALA LUMPUR: More than a month after investigations showed the so-called Ma- after Annou had sent one last week.
police concluded their investigations, the lay Muslims were actually Catholics from Stanley said the investigation officer in
Attorney General’s Chambers has yet to Sabah, Sarawak and the Philippines, and the case had met and told them that the
decide on whether or not to charge two not Malays. AG’s Chambers had three times requested
Japan reporters of an Islamic magazine who He also admitted to taking part in the additional information, which the police had
allegedly wrote an article offensive to Holy Communion, a sacred ritual where provided.
polls may Christians. Christians are fed the “body and blood” He said the church had initially wanted
trigger Police said they had submitted investi- of Jesus Christ in the form of a thin bread to convey a memorandum to the Home
historic gation papers on the article in Al Islam to referred to as the host and red wine by a Ministry, which they decided against after
the AG’s Chambers about a month ago and priest. The story also showed a picture of learning that Christians nationwide wanted
change were awaiting instructions. the host half eaten. to accompany them.
pg10 Yesterday, Kuala Lumpur police chief DCP On July 8, two parishioners of the “We did not want to turn it into a rally as
Datuk Mohd Sabtu Osman when contacted Cathedral of the Holy Spirit Church in Pen- the number of people who wanted to come
said police had not yet received any order ang, Joachim Francis Xavier and Sudhaga- along was overwhelming, so we chose to go
in regard to the matter. ran Stanley, lodged a report at the Patani to the police in a group of three. I hope the
Al Islam reporter Muhd Ridhwan Abdul police station urging an investigation on the authorities will act quickly as it is a serious
Jalil who wrote the article which was magazine and its reporters. matter. Otherwise, they may appear to be
published in the magazine’s June issue was Xavier and Stanley had also demanded practising double standards as they were
questioned by city police. that the half eaten host be returned to the quick to act in similar matters pertaining to
Muhd Ridhwan and a colleague had church. Islam,” he said.
apparently been investigating a claim alleg- When contacted yesterday, Stanley said Stanley said a memorandum would be
ing that Malay Muslims who had committed he, Xavier and counsel Annou Xavier who conveyed to the ministry, but declined to
apostasy were attending mass or prayers is overseeing the case had last Thursday provide a date.

Jiao Zong: Teacher shortage due Pheng leads race for

to recruitment irregularities
Press Digest
by Kong See Hoh
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
JIAO ZONG (United Chinese School Teach-
ers Association) president Ong Kow Yee has
refuted the Education Ministry’s claim that
Chinese primary schools are facing a short-
age of teachers because the Chinese are
reluctant to take up teaching.
Instead, he said irregularities in the rec-
ruitment of trainee teachers was the root
of the problem, the Chinese press reported
yesterday.
Speaking at a joint meeting of the Jiao
Zong executive committee and its affiliate
members in Miri, Sarawak on Monday, Ong
said the movement had put in a lot of effort
to encourage the Chinese to join the teach-
ing profession, including providing necessary
information and helping with applications.
He said its efforts over the years had paid
off as more young Chinese were applying
to become teachers, but that irregularities
in recruitment had led to many applicants
being rejected, including those with excellent
academic qualifications.
Ong said Jiao Zong had brought the
matter up with Deputy Education Minister
Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong but had yet to see
any improvement in the way in which the
ministry’s teacher training division conducts
recruitment exercises. He said that unless
the current bias in recruitment was rectified,
the shortage of teachers in Chinese primary
schools would never be overcome.
Ong said he was disappointed with the
ministry for not practicising the 1Malaysia
concept as espoused by Prime Minister Datuk
Seri Najib Abdul Razak.
For example, he said, this year, a number
of applicants who opted to join training to be
posted to Chinese primary schools had ended
up being groomed to teach the Chinese lan-
guage in national primary schools.
Ong said that as 12 of the applicants
are graduates in the Chinese language and
therefore more suited to teaching in Chinese
schools, the move was a waste of resources.
He appealed to Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri
Muhyiddin Yassin, who is the education min-
ister, to take a serious view of the problem.
Hua Zong’s top post
PAHANG Chinese Assembly Hall president Tan Sri
Pheng Yin Huah is leading a two-horse race for the Hua
Zong (Federation of Chinese Associations of Malaysia)
number one post, China Press reported yesterday.
The daily said steel tycoon Pheng had a 65%
chance of winning the Sept 27 contest against
Tan Yew Sing, president of the Kuala Lumpur and
Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall, based on the show
of support so far. Tan is the founder of Inti College,
now Inti University College.
The report said Pheng has the support of nine
states – Pahang, Sarawak, Sabah, Kedah, Perlis,
Perak, Terengganu, Kelantan and Malacca, while Tan
is backed by Selangor, Penang and Negri Sembilan.
Johor is said to be equally split in its support for
the two candidates.
A Hua Zong watcher who was not named told
the daily Pheng is a quiet doer who would spare no
effort in helping Hua Zong. He believed Pheng, who
has promised that Hua Zong will get a building for its
headquarters if he was elected, would make good
on the promise.
Pheng last contested the post in 2003 but lost to
current president Tan Sri Lim Gait Tong by a narrow
margin. In 2006, he allowed Lim to retain his posi-
tion uncontested. Lim is stepping down after having
served the maximum two terms.