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Peanuts for SMC Students!

June 13th, 2010
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Some token handout (RM15,000 x 50 = RM750,000) presented by PM Najib at SMC’s function earlier on Saturday.

At the launch, the prime minister presented 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) academic grants to 50 SMC students to further their studies in local universities.

The students had excelled in their Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) and Sijil Tinggi Pelajaran Malaysia (STPM) examinations under the guidance of the SMC. Each received RM15,000.

Why I say token? Well, read this:

Seventeen students pursuing medicine in Egypt need no longer worry about their finances, thanks to 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) which has offered RM5.1mil to sponsor their education.

Under the pilot programme, students from Sekolah Menengah Agama Negeri and Sekolah Menengah Agama Rakyat who excelled in their SPM and Sijil Tinggi Agama Malaysia will receive RM300,000 to cover their tuition fees and living expenses during their six-year course.

The scholarship comes from a partnership between the Government-owned strategic development company and the Islamic Development Department, which is responsible for selecting the scholars as well as monitoring and administering the scholarship.

It aims to increase the number of religious-educated professionals in the fields of science and technology.

The offer letter for the 1MDB scholarship was presented to the 17 lucky students by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who is chairman of the 1MDB board of advisers in a ceremony yesterday.

RM5.1 million for 17 students studying medicine in overseas against RM750,00o for 50 students to study locally. And the 5.1 million is pilot program!!!

Do you feel happy, sad, or angry?

You know, 80% of Malaysians support 1Malaysia concept.

Oh wait, this is the article on PM Najib’s speech to youths earlier Saturday at another program:

The quota system and special consideration will no longer be defended in a move to harness global champions.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the philosophy of merely defending the quota system and special consideration must change.

“We will give aid to youths who are willing to work hard to succeed until they become global champions.

“If they are determined, the government will assist them,’’ he said to the cheers of 15,000 youths participating in 1Malaysia rally organised by Barisan Nasional Youth at Stadium Bukit Jalil on Saturday.

Najib said the government would also provide assistance to all citizens in need, regardless of their ethnic background.

Najib also called on the youths not to be fearful in striding forward, as the government would help them overcome obstacles.

“Have no fear, the Barisan Nasional is here,’’ he said, adding the government aim to harness national, regional and global champions.

“Youths are idealistic. They want to do something to make the world a better place.

“They have idealism and energy. We can harness their latent talent to bring about great changes to the country,’’ he said, adding that the government’s approach was to accommodate youths.

Are you ROTFL or banging your head on the wall?

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The Walking Winners

June 8th, 2010
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From the Star:
IPOH: The women in K. Kamaladevi’s family must have the walking gene in them.

Kamaladevi, 49, won the first prize in the Women Veteran’s category of Ipoh Starwalk 2010 yesterday while two of her daughters — N. Vithiaa, 20, and N. Nithiyaa, 23 — came in second and third respectively in the Women’s category.

In fourth place was her 29-year-old niece M. Nalienaa.

We did it: (From left) Nithiyaa, Vithiaa, Nilamani, Kamaladevi, Nalienaa and Mashni smiling for the camera after the women in the family won in various categories in the Ipoh Starwalk Sunday.

Kamaladevi said her youngest daughter Mashni, 13, was third in the Girl’s category.

The nurse, who is from Penang, said she had been participating in Ipoh Starwalk since its inception in 2004.

“I’m proud to say that I have managed to get into the top three placing each time since the competition category was introduced in 2005,” she added.

Having experienced much satisfaction in participating in the event, Kamaladevi said she decided to get her entire family to join in this time.

Her husband, insurance agent S. Nilamani, 53, walked in the non-competition category.

”We decided to make it a family affair, starting off by visiting my in-laws in Batu Gajah where we stayed the night prior to the walk,” Kamaladevi said.

Ipoh Starwalk 2010 was jointly organised by Star Publications (M) Bhd and the Ipoh City Council with the co-operation of the Perak Government, the Perak Amateur Athletics Association and the Perak Education Department in conjunction with Ipoh city’s 22nd anniversary.

It attracted a record participation of 12,000 people, almost double the 6,500 who took part in the inaugural walk in 2004.

Of the number, 10,921 participants opted for the non-competition walk.

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MIC overhaul

June 8th, 2010
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Previously, it was rebranding and already two years of that. Have anyone seen or felt the outcome of the rebranding?  There was also mention of privilege cards. Anyone seen them?

The MIC website is still not up to mark in terms of content and presentation (I’m trying to be polite and nice here). No info on the new info center which will incorporate some sort of helpdesk so that makkal can reach them easily. You can forget about Putera or Puteri MIC’s websites because one runs on blogspot and the other can’t be found. Wanita MIC site was last updated in January (luckily this year) while Pemuda’s one is suspended (I even checked it today). You’d think that with 630,000 members, they can afford to get about 10-15 volunteers to man each wing’s website or even pay some company to run the sites properly.

Now there’s “overhaul” pulak.

Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu said changes are expected to take place in the next six months, including changing the mindset and attitude of MIC members.

The party president said: “There must be a complete overhaul of our party machinery, right from the branch chairmen, division and state leadership in dealing with the problems of the Indian community.”

Speaking at Selangor MIC’s annual convention yesterday, Samy Vellu said branch leaders who were performing badly and not up to the expectations of the community would be replaced.

Samy Vellu said the country’s political landscape had changed after the 2008 general election.

“The people have become bold and will not accept anything but results.

“The days of trying to win the people’s hearts and minds through sweet-talk, promises and political slogans are over. ” he said.

He said Indians who deserted Barisan Nasional were returning to the MIC, adding: “We should accommodate them as it will help us to reach out to the Indian community.”

I can hear the cynics laughing already. I wish MIC all the best in the overhaul campaign. Would the overhaul take a long time? Some members won’t want to burden the president to stay longer to oversee the overhaul.

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HRP, MIC and MCA on scholarship problems

June 4th, 2010
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MCA have met the DPM  and PSD people, and come out with some interesting analysis and report (so they say). Refer MCA website for the article below:

MCA President Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek today announced that a delegation comprising of himself and MCA Youth National Chairman cum Deputy Minister of Education Datuk Dr Ir Wee Ka Siong as well as other officers, had a discussion with the Director General of the Public Service Department (Ketua Pengarah Jabatan Perkhidmatan Awam [JPA]) this morning about the appeals for JPA scholarship that have been received by MCA.

Explaining that according the its Youth wing, there had been 1,304 appeals.  After a thorough check it has been discovered that all the 214 students who had managed to achieve A+ in all subjects have already received offers of scholarship from JPA, except for 2 cases which are under consideration.

The President then went on to stress that there was a difference in between the different grades of A, which are A+, A, and A-. “The problem arises when the media reports the mark as A. There is a difference between A+, A, and A-. For all those that have achieved A+ for all subjects, all have gotten JPA offers, except for 2 cases which are currently under consideration. After re-marking, we have found that these 2 qualify for JPA scholarships,” he said.

Soi Lek then said that out of the 1,304 cases that they have analyzed, 232 of them have gotten full A’s, meaning A+ and A’s, whereas another 857 have managed to achieve A+, A and A- for the 9 core subjects. He added that after discussion, MCA stated that the people who had gotten A and A+ should be considered for scholarships as well with priority given to them. Stressing that the analysis done does not follow any racial composition, he said that “We have received complaints form all races-Malays, Chinese, and Indians.”

Declaring that MCA is not a postman that merely receives complaints before forwarding them to the JPA, Soi Lek then proceeded to reveal a complicated chart, explaining that MCA Youth has had to analyze the names and the subjects of the complainants as well as to compare the results to the subjects taken to ensure that the appellants have attained the necessary results to enroll in their chosen courses as per the guidelines which have been set out.

Earlier, they mentioned they wanted to meet PSD and looks like they did.

MIC, in the mean time, has this to say:

Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak will resolve the controversy over the awarding of Public Service Department (PSD) scholarships, namely involving the overseas programme, and entry into matriculation programmes in local universities.

MIC vice-president Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam, who is also the Human Resource Minister, said he had raised the two issues at the weekly Cabinet meeting here yesterday, and the Prime Minister had agreed to look into them personally.

“The PM has given an undertaking to resolve the matter,” he said in a statement here.

It was reported that many SPM leavers with excellent grades complained that their applications to do the matriculation programme and to secure the PSD scholarship were rejected.

Many of them have since appealed against the decision.

Many parents of the affected students also took up the matter to the relevant government departments and to the various political parties, including the MIC.

Dr Subramaniam said he also spoke to Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin on the matriculation issue where many Indian students with good grades had their applications rejected.

He said a series of discussions were also held with the Education secretary-general on the intake of students to do matriculation courses.

“On the PSD scholarship, I have already held several meetings with the PSD and several more rounds of discussions will be held over the next few days,” Dr Subramaniam said.

He expressed confidence that the issues could be resolved through negotiations with the Govern ment.

“While I agree that there appears to be unhappiness and a sense of mistreatment amongst the affected students and their parents, it has to be understood that the entire process is not over yet,” said Dr Subra-maniam.

“The Government is still in the process of considering appeals from the students. Besides, the results for the PSD scholarship for local universities have also yet to be announced.” — Bernama

Pity the PM. He has bigger things to worry about, and yet also have to handle these problems. Makes us wonder what’s the point of have so many ministries and agencies if everything also need PM to solve. Whatever it is, looks like MIC also doing something, and everyone will live happily ever after soon. And wait for next year to repeat the drama 🙂

Oh, PSD also issued a statement after meeting MCA:

The Public Service Department (PSD) has delayed announcing the names of its scholarship recipients by a week after meeting the MCA over applications sent by top SPM scorers.

A PSD source confirmed that the announcement, orginally set for June 4, will now be made on June 11.

During the meeting, MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek and Deputy Education Minister Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong, who is the party’s Youth chief, brought up the case of 1,304 students to PSD director-general Tan Sri Ismail Adam.

The MCA Youth Education Bureau had put together the appeals over a week and those involved were students of all races.

“All cases should be treated equally and we should not have a fixation on the number of Malay, Chinese or Indian appeals,” said Dr Chua in a press conference at Wisma MCA yesterday. [oh oh..PERKASA alert!]

“The MCA treats all cases based on merit and I’m sure that the Government – under the concept of 1Malaysia – wants to take care of deserving students with good results.”

And finally, the story won’t be complete without some radical action. Well, trust HRP to help out in this area. They have sent a petition to PM Najib to ask for royal commission and threatened to torch 1Malaysia logo if the students are not helped. There’s also an online petition to demand equal rights for students. You can download petition form here.

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17 year old banished under emergency ordinance!

June 3rd, 2010
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Can only wonder in amazement at the things we can do. Malaysia Boleh 🙂 Can he be added to the Malaysian Book of Records?

The story below is from The Malaysian Insider. I’m curious to know how this boy can end up in this situation. I thought you go to juvenile court. There must be some logical explanation (well, maybe a perverse one is possible) from the authorities on why an “alleged” motorcycle thief can be banished under Emergency Ordinance which practically kills his future. Two year of banishment. Can he get an education and job after this? Or would he end up deeper in crime and later end up dead after “being in the wrong place at the wrong time”?

Until that logical explanation is put forth, this looks like blatant abuse of power and perversion of justice.

Teenager Jiegandran Panir Selvam has been grounded. Not by his parents, but by the home ministry.

Arrested at 17, he was taken by the police and locked up for 60 days under the Emergency Ordinance before being banished. He was then brought to this sleepy hollow and left to fend for himself for the next two years.

“I am a labourer,” Jiegandran told The Malaysian Insider in a low voice.

In his first interview, the boy who should be getting ready to sit for the SPM examination this year but was expelled for being absent for three months from school, related his daily routine since being thrown out of his home state by the authorities.

The Selangor-born has been pulling 10-hour shifts at an oil palm estate for the last two months to earn RM15 a day.

The bulk of his wages go towards food. The rest of it is spent on paying for the calls home to his family on his prepaid cellphone. He no longer keeps in touch with his schoolmates.

He works daily, from 8am to 7pm, before returning to the company quarters he currently shares with two Indonesian workmates.

Jiegandran has to be in the house by 8pm and remain there until 6am the next day, under the strict terms of the banishment order.

He washes his clothes while they take care of dinner, which is usually ready by 9pm.

His kitchen skills are limited to making instant noodles and frying eggs, so he pays his housemates for his share of the evening meal. Breakfast and lunch are provided for by the “tauke” at the plantation.

“We eat rice, curry, vegetables. Sometimes fish,” the thin boy described.

“It’s OK,” he shrugged, but added, it was nothing like his mother’s cooking.

His eyes darted to his mother sitting across the table from him at a Malay food stall in what passes for Linggi town — two rows of double-storey shophouses huddled around a T-junction.

Sumathy Ramasamy, 44, who works as a cook in a university near Broga, looked away.

The mother of three last visited her middle child two weeks ago and promised him a slap-up meal to make up for missing his birthday, but failed to keep her word.

Jiegandran turned 18 on May 22.

His employer gave him an extra RM20 for the occasion and offered to buy him a birthday cake. Jiegandran declined.

All in, the working life is alright, the boy said. No one bullies him at the estate even though he is the youngest there.

But Jiegandran misses home.

“Life here is hard. I want to go home,” said the boy who — before this — had never before spent a night away from his family in Semenyih.

Jiegandran who has no history of causing trouble in school, let alone a criminal record, is challenging the home ministry’s harsh order, which is normally served on suspected terrorists and hardcore gangsters, in court.

But precedent may be against him.

Another 17-year-old boy from Pahang, who two years ago had been detained under the Emergency Ordinance (EO), had also taken the home ministry to court, but lost.

“I remember it because he was sent to Simpang Renggam the day before the general election,” Suaram co-ordinator, E. Nalini, told The Malaysian Insider.

The Pahang boy is now spending time in a prison in Machap, Kelantan.

The human rights watchdog has been championing the fight against detentions without trials.

Nalini is also not sure how many children under 18 have been detained and claimed the ministry has been very secretive over the statistics.

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