Author Archive

PM shocked to hear 40000 indians without birth cert

January 21st, 2008
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According to Toyo, there are 40,000 Indians without birth cert. Now, the issue was discussed in UMNO supreme council (wonder why?) and yet another committee (anyone keeping track of the number of committees now?) WILL be set up to handle this problem.

As I mentioned earlier, is this proof of sole representative of the Indian community’s failure?

More shockingly, Toyo said that PM was shocked to hear about this. Yet another proof of failure from the sole party that represents Indians?

Special unit to handle plight of Indians without birth cert

source

SHAH ALAM: A special committee under the Home Affairs Ministry will be set up to handle the plight of 40,000 Indian children nationwide who do not have a birth certificate. Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohamad Khir Toyo said the decision to set up the committee was made after he highlighted the matter to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi during the Umno Supreme Council last week.

He said many Indian-based non-governmental organisations (NGOs) had approached him to help raise the plight of the children.  “These children are unable to attend school, register for programmes or get jobs as adults.

“The Prime Minister was shocked when I informed him and immediately asked for a special committee to be formed under the Home Ministry,” he said during an Indian cultural show organised by the Barisan Nasional Volunteers Association here on Saturday night.

Dr Khir said the state government was working closely with several NGOs to get the parents to register their children. He added that the birth certificate should be issued quickly if all the requirements were met. He said the requirements included information on the hospital of birth and supporting facts from grandparents or close relatives.

“We have to be careful. We have to safeguard against foreigners who might use the chance to register for citizenship,” he said. 

Helping Indian kids without birth certs


source

SHAH ALAM: The state government is stepping up efforts to gather information on Indian children without birth certificates.

It is learnt that there are about 40,000 Indian children without birth certificates in the state, many because their fathers cannot be traced.

Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohamad Khir Toyo said the services of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) were being enlisted to compile the number of affected children and their place of birth.

“We have to verify if they are Malaysians to sieve out foreigners claiming to be locals,” he said at a meeting with 15 Indian NGOs here.

 

He believed the problem could be overcome with the mother’s identification documents or the child’s hospital birth records.

Dr Khir said he had raised the children’s dilemma at a recent Umno supreme council meeting.  He said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi instructed Home Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Radzi Sheikh Ahmad to form a task force to address the problem immediately.

son claims dead father is a convert

January 21st, 2008
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Have you ever noticed that these kind of dubious conversion cases seem to happen to people who bed-ridden, terminally ill, unable to communicate properly and so on?

Eldest son claims dead father was a Muslim

source

SEREMBAN: Police yesterday took away the remains of a 74-year-old man from a Chinese funeral parlour near here after his eldest son claimed that the deceased was a Muslim.

Abdul Rahman Gan Abdullah, 47, who had embraced Islam several years ago, lodged a report at the Seremban 2 police station claiming that his father, Gan Eng Gor, had converted to Islam on July 3 last year and had taken the name Amir Gan Abdullah.

When met at the funeral parlour, one of Eng Gor’s eight other children, Hock Sin, said the family was shocked to hear of this.  “When my father died this morning in Klang, I called to inform Abdul Rahman as he was the eldest. The entire family is shocked at his claim.

“We have been practising Buddhists all our lives. How is it that none of us, including my mother who has been looking after my sick father for the past two years, has no knowledge of this?” asked Hock Sin.

Temiang assemblyman Datuk Tiger Lee Yuen Fong and Rahang asemblyman Datuk Yip Chee Kiong, who were at the funeral parlour, appealed to all parties to remain calm and allow the authorities to assess the situation.

They also spoke with Eng Gor’s widow, Chua Chun, 65.

Hock Sin said it was not possible for his father to have embraced Islam as he had been bedridden for the past two years after suffering a stroke. “He could not talk, so how was it possible that he converted?”

State Islamic Affairs assistant director Mohd Yusof Tahir, who arrived at the funeral parlour later, produced copies of a certificate and a card from the department which stated that Eng Gor had embraced Islam on July 3 last year. Abdul Rahman was not present.  Speaking to reporters later, Mohd Yusof said the matter would be heard before the Syariah Court today.

Lee told reporters that the MCA would help appoint a counsel for the aggrieved family. Eng Gor’s remains are being kept at the Tuanku Jaafar Hospital mortuary.

Coconuts for Thaipusam

January 21st, 2008
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 Even though many people call for less coconuts breaking and to use the money for other purposes, the demand keeps increasing!

Supplier orders more coconuts for Thaipusam celebration

source 

PENANG: Instead of the usual 70,000 coconuts, wholesaler Joel Jeyachandran is ordering an extra 15,000 in view of the anticipated increase in demand due to the large crowd expected here this Thaipusam.

“I do not want to disappoint last-minute customers,” said the 23-year-old owner of a coconut wholesale and retail shop in Jalan Datuk Keramat here.

“The orders started to come in a month ago and for the past few days, I have even received midnight calls from my customers asking me if I have sufficient supply,” he added.

Penang Hindu Endowment Board commissioner Datuk K. Kumaraendran announced on Jan 14 that between 800,000 and one million devotees were expected to converge on the island for the three-day celebration starting tomorrow.

Joel reassured the public that there would be no shortage of coconuts this year and the price of his coconuts would remain at 80 sen each.

“While some of the smaller shops might increase the price to RM1 and RM1.10 during the celebration, we are maintaining our price,” he said.

His shop is now stocked with about 50,000 coconuts and the remainder should arrive before Tuesday.

“The coconuts are offerings to the deity and we make sure they are top quality,” said Joel.

He added that any extra coconuts could be kept for Jan 24, when the silver chariot bearing Lord Murugan returns from the Nattukotai Chettiar Temple on Waterfall Road.

“From my experience, some devotees might decide at the last minute that they want to break more coconuts on that day, so the extra will come in handy,” he said.

Joel said some of his relatives and friends had offered to help him with the coconut sales during the festival.

“It is an extra busy time, with Thaipusam falling so near Chinese New Year when there is a high demand for our santan (coconut milk) to make cookies and other delicacies,” he added.

Back To School 2008 @ Bkt Darah and Bukit Rotan

January 18th, 2008
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After about 3 weeks of preparing for Back to School 2008, the organisers descended on SJKT Bukit Darah and SJKT Ladang Sungai Buloh, Bukit Rotan for the handing over of bags and uniform to the students. The trip to Bukit Darah was on 6th January while Bukit Rotan trip took place on 1oth January.

The project expanded from 76 students to 92 students including the kids from the single parent families that UMIC is helping.

Photos from the trip to the two schools are available at the moment, while photos from the visit to SJKT Ladang Bradwall, Siliau, Seremban haven’t reached me yet.

More details of the project is at the website.

 

Photos from SJKT Bukit Darah

Photos from SJKT Bukit Rotan

View from KL Tower

January 15th, 2008
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Since the International Ponggal Festival was at KL Tower (or Menara KL) , I decided to visit it as well. Cost me RM10 (RM20 for non-MyKad holders). Parking is RM2.65/hour. The staff were friendly and all smiles. There are lots of stall selling knick-knacks and souvenirs located in the tower itself. Few cafes and restaurants as well, among them D’Tandoor.

The lift took 58 seconds to reach the observatory level (TH01).

There were about 30 other visitors at that time. Mostly foreigners. I went around the whole observatory twice. Took me about 20 minutes. The weather was quite hazy, so I couldn’t see clearly beyond few kilometres.

The viewing deck had fixed standing binoculars and maps so that we can identify the landmarks.

I took some shots but not very clear due to the weather.

There were also some traditional malay musical performance (Gamelan) which runs on schedule.

There’s also a 103-years old tree just next to the tower.

The official website is www.menarakl.com.my

 

View the photos at Picasa.