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Samsu in form of Father Christmas

December 19th, 2008
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This is why the menace of samsu must be curbed, AT ALL COSTS! Its a well-known strategy to market alcohol in more colorful packaging, just like any carbonated or fizzy drinks. Many types of alcohol-laced drinks are being made available. Our children are in real danger of falling into this trap – be it at local sundry shops or hypermarkets.

When will the government act? We must pressure the authorities. All the NGOs must protest. All parents send letter of protest to their MP and ADUN.  Not only in Selangor, but in Perak, Johor, Kedah, Negeri Sembilan etc.

The Christian leaders must condemn use of Father Christmas’ name in such a destructive and evil product.

Remember, alcohol abuse is not an Indian community problem, but it affects all Malaysians!

KLANG: Father Christmas is all the rage here. Only, it’s not the jolly old fellow in red, but a potent alcoholic brew that is wreaking havoc with the lives of teenagers.

To lure youngsters, samsu or distilled spirits with brand names like Avatar and Ben 10 (both cartoon characters), Young Gun and Father Christmas are being marketed here.

The drinks, costing between RM1.50 and RM3 for a 150ml bottle, are fast becoming a hit with teenagers.

Malaysia Consumer Advisory Association field officer V. Jeyakumar said the liquor was gaining popularity among teenagers because the cost was within their weekly allowance and it was easily available at sundry shops.

“Schoolchildren are easy targets. Getting hold of a samsu bottle is almost like going to the shop and buying some fizzy drink, as no question is asked,” he said.

Jeyakumar said the association wanted the Selangor government to ban the sale of samsu because of its negative effects on teenagers.

He added the association was concerned because the drink, long associated with plantation workers, had evolved into a fashionable drink in urban areas.

Jeyakumar added the alcohol content in a 150ml bottle ranged from 18% to 51%.

He added that with such high alcohol levels, teenagers were at risk of illnesses such as blindness, cirrhosis of the liver, stomach cancer and kidney failure by their mid-20s.

He claimed there were close to 90 brands of samsu available, adding there was a shop near the Yayasan Selangor hostel where secondary school students in Klang sold the brew.

Last week, the Malaysian Crime Prevention Association had urged the Consumer Affairs and Domestic Trade Ministry to conduct strict enforcement on the sale of samsu as teenagers were drinking it.

Selangor state health, plantation workers, poverty and caring government committee chairman Dr A. Xavier Jayakumar agreed that samsu was a scourge but a blanket ban was not possible.

“We will get the local councils and health department to close down sundry shops and medical halls that sell samsu to teenagers,” he said.

Jayakumar said the matter would be discussed at the state executive council meeting.

Tell me, which sane parent won’t support such a ban? Even a drunkard would want his child to grow without alcohol influence.

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Let them wait till 31st Dec!!!

December 18th, 2008
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Deputy Home Minister Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh, in an interview with Reuters yesterday, said the government was “still reviewing” The Herald’s licence and was following “due process”.

“Until Dec 31, we are not going to announce anything. There is plenty of time. Let them wait.”

Now, I hope this is yet another “miscommunication” or “misquote” by the press. But if not, it shows the arrogance and high-handedness of the deputy minister.  Imagine the publishers having to wait UNTIL THE LAST DAY before finding out if they will get permit for following year or not. If there are paid employees working under the publishers, can they find another job if the Herald is closed down on the very last day? To add salt to wound, Herald made their application for permit renewal way back in JULY! That’s 6 months of inefficiency for you.

I get the impression that the ministry (or at least the deputy minister) is purposely making life hard for the Herald, possibly due to the court case on usage of the word “Allah” made by the Herald against the ministry. So, is this a case of intimidation, perversion of justice, and/or gross negligence?

Read the NST report yourself:

Catholic weekly The Herald may have to stop publication as its publishing permit, which expires at the end of the month, has still not been renewed.

The weekly, recently the subject of controversy over the use of the word ‘Allah’ in its content, needs to have the permit renewed by Dec 31 to continue operations next year.

Its editor, Father Lawrence Andrew, said the paper’s licence was usually renewed three months before the deadline.

However, this year, the Home Ministry has yet to renew the permit although The Herald applied for a renewal earlier than it usually does.

“We expected difficulties, so we applied in July. There should be no reason for the delay,” said Lawrence.

“The government said it was still reviewing our licence. But we are now at the tail-end of the year. I must let people know what is going on.”

On the paper’s use of the word “Allah”, he said: “The issue is in the courts.”

Deputy Home Minister Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh, in an interview with Reuters yesterday, said the government was “still reviewing” The Herald’s licence and was following “due process”.

“Until Dec 31, we are not going to announce anything. There is plenty of time. Let them wait.”

However, Lawrence is optimistic about the publication’s chances of operating again although warning letters from the ministry don’t bode well for the future.

“In their letters, they say that what we write can be a threat to national security. But issues like the economic and food crises are also ethical things which affect families and faith.”

Asked if The Herald would “tone down” if its licence was renewed, he said: “We are not being adamant or stubborn, but when there is a food or economic crisis, how can we tone down?

“We wrote about the fuel prices and asked people to pray that it would go down. And it did. What’s wrong with that?”

Asked whether it was The Herald’s editorial slant that was the problem, Lawrence said he was not sure.

“Our paper is only sold in churches. We don’t sell it to vendors or Muslims. They cannot prevent us from educating our people and expanding their faith.”

He said if The Herald’s publishing permit was not renewed, he would leave the matter to Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur Tan Sri Murphy Pakiam to decide.

The Herald has a readership of about 14,000 nationwide.

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marriage course for malaysians

December 17th, 2008
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I see the non-existence of compulsory marriage course for non-privileged malaysians as a form of discrimination. Why should it be provided for certain segment of the society only? Isn’t a happy family vital for practically everything that our leaders want our country to achieve? From economic progress to national unity, a strong and stable family is critical, yet we can’t even seem to have a fair provision in providing marriage courses.

Now, PPP’s Deputy Minister Murugiah says that a memorandum will be submitted (by whom under what capacity?) to provide compulsory marriage course for non-malays. Can this be also included in the Cabinet Committee for Indian Community?

A MEMORANDUM will be submitted to the Government urging it to make it compulsory for non-Muslims to attend marriage courses before their wedding, said Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Senator T. Murugiah.

He was reported in the Malaysia Nanban as saying that the number of divorces among the Indian community had risen tremendously.

The Government could give approval to a marriage after the bride and groom present their certificate of attendance at the marriage course, he said.

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31000 found!

December 17th, 2008
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In just FOUR months, the Welfare Department have managed to locate 31,000 potential cases that need welfare assistance! Makes one wonder what they have been doing before this? Did this 31,000 cases fall from the sky overnight?

Welfare Department officers have searched and managed to locate 31,000 potential cases needing livelihood assistance.

The search since September was in response to a call by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi for active measures to ensure the underprivileged are not left in dire need.

“Of the 31,000 cases, some 17,000 are in need of our help,” Women, Family and Com­munity Deve­lopment Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen told reporters at the ministry’s Qua­lity Day 2008 celebration at Institut Sosial Malay­sia yesterday.

She added that the ministry was currently providing various kinds of assistance to 160,000 needy folks. “Our services can be improved. There are still too many complaints from the public published in the media about the quality of our delivery, especially delays in attending to needy cases,” she said.

Dr Ng added that the ministry provided services to eight target groups — women, family, children, old folks, the handicapped, the abject poor, natural disaster victims and non-governmental organisations.

For next year, she said, the ministry had been allocated some RM933.2mil and 55% of the money would go to the target groups.

“I stress on the need for officers disbursing the financial assistance to be accountable and work with a sense of integrity,” she said.

For families or individuals receiving assistance, Dr Ng said that while relief was offered, it was always the ministry’s intention to wean them off government aid.

The ministry, she added, encouraged productive welfare, where aid recipients are given skills training leading to independent living.

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The Seven Proposals

December 17th, 2008
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After the final round table discussion on medium of instruction for Science and Maths today, we hear the Deputy Minister saying that seven proposals were put forward after the fourth round table, while stressing that nothing is finalised:

1. Stick to Mathematics and Science in English

– this is an acceptable solution, which I prefer.

2. revert to Bahasa Malaysia.

– this will be the alternative, but something that may not benefit in the long run.

3. let the primary schools teach in mother tongue and secondary in English.

– this is not an good idea as students and teachers will be burdened with unnecessary translation work.

4. let the primary schools decide for themselves

– this is a potential disaster in waiting. There will be logistics nightmare, and possible change of heart by the schools on their whims and fancies.

5. Mathematics and Science be taught in Bahasa Malaysia and mother tongue for Years One to Three and in English from Year Four onwards.

– another no-no. Better just stick to one language, not mix and create rojak culture.

6. a combination of mother tongue in the first three years and a choice of that (mother tongue) and English from Standard Four to Six and full use of English at the secondary level

– somehow acceptable, but still something that burdens students and teachers, and hard to monitor. This seems to be a proposal that is set to appease all stakeholders.

7. the two subjects would not be taught in the Years One to Three and instead be integrated into other subjects.

– A solution that aims to push the problem under the carpet in the expense of the students. So, what will happen to the students when the enter Year Four? What language would they use?

The analysis of UPSR results for the group that studied the subjects in English for six years showed that:

Overall, the trend has been positive. Pupils have actually done marginally better in many instances. More pupils in both urban and rural schools scored A, B and Cs in the two subjects.

Even their performance in the English language has shown a rather big improvement of 4.4% while the performance in Bahasa remained stable, said director-general of education Datuk Alimuddin Mohd Dom who presented the analysis.

Another encouraging sign was that the number of pupils opting to answer the two subjects in English had increased significantly, reflecting greater confidence in using the language.

In Tamil vernacular schools (SJKT), 62.76% of pupils answered in English for Science and 89.11% for Science.

The scenario was completely different in Chinese national-type schools (SJKC) though. Only 2.86% answered in English for Science and 1.29% for Maths.

Looks like the Tamil schools can easily adapt, but the Chinese school students are not so.

Personally, I believe its good to teach the subjects in English to maintain continuity in higher levels. The students still learn about language and culture in their vernacular environment. So, its not much of a threat. However, it will be an icing on the cake if a subject like “Tamil/Chinese/Malay in Science and Maths” is introduced as a chapter (or few chapters) in language class so that students are exposed to the terms in their mother tongue.

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