ex-MIED CEO Chitrakala freed

/* September 13th, 2011 by poobalan | View blog reactions No comments »
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This is an interesting case indeed! After the case was initiated last year (around May), we get this result. The accused has provided proof that the money was returned (among others), and the prosecution says go no other evidence to offer. So, case closed, accused free.

What do you make of it?

For me, it seems that (i) the money was taken wrongfully, and returning it deemed the case irrelevant, (ii) some sort of deal was arranged with the parties involved and all this was just a misunderstanding or attempt to get back at certain quarters, or (iii) the prosecution had a very weak case and returning the money broke their case.

Whatever it is, seems very weird.

Former chief executive officer of Maju Institute for Education Development (MIED), P. Chithirakala, has been acquitted and discharged of three charges of cheating involving RM4mil.

Sessions Judge Che Mohamad Zulkifly Jusoh reached the decision after allowing DPP Kevin Morais’ application to withdraw the case against Chithirakala, 40.

Morais said the accused had submitted three letters of representation to the Attorney-General stating several material facts.

“Among the facts was that the accused had returned the RM4mil, which formed the basis of the three charges against her, to MIED Capital Sdn Bhd.

“After considering the representation, the Attorney-General agreed to withdraw all charges against the accused,” he added.

“In relation to this, the prosecution offers no evidence against the accused on the charges,” he said.

On May 11 last year, Chithirakala pleaded not guilty to cheating former MIC secretary-general Tan Sri M.Mahalingam , who was a director and signatory of MIED Sdn Bhd (the educational arm of MIC), by deceiving him into signing two cheques worth RM4 million in total. BERNAMA.

source: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/9/13/nation/20110913194213&sec=nation

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former Tanah Merah Estate workers to get land and house

/* September 13th, 2011 by poobalan | View blog reactions No comments »
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After waiting for 20 over years, hopefully their dream will come true. If we can provide so much for the proposed refugees from Australia, surely we can do at least equally or better for our own citizens.

 

For the 150 former Tanah Merah Estate workers and their families, news that the state government is to acquire land to build houses promised to them two decades ago is definitely a cause for celebration.

Many of the former workers, who are now renting houses in low-cost schemes outside the estate, had almost given up hope that the pledge made to them years ago would be honoured.

M. Mariamah, 72, a rubber tapper, is looking forward to moving into one of the houses the state plans to build on the 6ha site in Tanah Merah near here.

“After years of waiting and hoping, the homes promised to us will finally be built.

“Many of us were born there and it is where we raised our children, too … but once we retired, there was no choice but to leave the estate,” she said at her son’s house in Taman Jimah Jaya.

MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek said Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan gave him the good news during a meeting at the MB’s office in Wisma Negeri in Seremban last week.

Dr Chua said the pledge to help the estate workers own houses had been made by a former Barisan Nasional representative, but could not be fulfilled due to several factors.

It was learnt that the state government would spend some RM2.7mil to acquire the land from Sime Darby.

R. Govindasamy, 55, said he was glad the long wait was over.

“Almost 80% of the residents of the low-cost houses in Taman Jimah Jaya were former Tanah Merah Estate workers.

“Many of us could not afford to buy our own homes and had no choice but to rent low-cost houses nearby,” he said.

G. Malliga, 52, who was a general worker at the estate, said she had been renting a three-bedroom low-cost home for RM200 a month since leaving her job due to health problems.

Port Dickson local council member Datuk King C.F. Lim, who met with some of the former estate workers and their families yesterday to share the good news, said he was grateful to Dr Chua and Mohamad for making good on the promise.

source: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/9/13/nation/9463330&sec=nation

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Malaysian Indian vote swing will cause PR politician casualties

/* September 11th, 2011 by poobalan | View blog reactions No comments »
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I think this is quite clear as in some of the constituencies, Malaysian Indian voters account for between 10 to 30% of the voters.

Some Pakatan big names may lose their seats if Indian votes were to swing back to the BN in the upcoming general election, said political analyst Ong Kian Ming.

The political casualties of such a swing in the Indian votes may include MPs Nurul Izzah Anwar of Lembah Pantai and Dzulkefly Ahmad of Kuala Selangor, as well as state reps Khalid Ibrahim (Ijok) and PKR information director Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad (Seri Setia).

“BN can win as many as nine parliament seats with a 30 percent (Indian vote) swing to the ruling coalition,” said Ong at a forum in Petaling Jaya today.

He said this may also cause 14 state seats revert to the BN.

Ong said he had identified nine parliamentary and 14 state seats where Indians form the tipping point that can decide the winning vote, including the Pakatan seats mentioned earlier.

He further explained that his study of voting pattern data has shown that Indian support peaked at 80 percent in 2004 with the feel good effect when former PM Abdullah Badawi first took office. 

However the support level dropped to 50 percent in 2008, following the political tsunami.

This, he said, was mainly caused by dissatisfaction with the way the government is handling Indian issues.

Ong (left) was addressing a forum organised by the Malaysian Indian Business Association (Miba), aimed at gathering politicians across the divide, academia, civil society and businesspersons to give their views on ‘the battle to win the hearts and minds for the Indian vote’.

BN wooing Indians

Ong said the 30 percent swing in Indian votes mentioned is based on BN possibly restoring its pre-2008 80 percent support from the minority community.

This, he said, could be the end result of concerted efforts that the federal government has been mounting to match Pakatan’s efforts, and an increased focus on addressing Indian issues.

Ong said the results of the by-election in Hulu Selangor last year supports his hypothesis, where a marked increase of nine percent in Indian votes helped BN regain the seat.

He said such a scenario may replicate in the next GE and cause Pakatan to lose in the critical seats he had mentioned.

The Indian community that numbers nearly 2 million is a minority in Malaysia’s 27 million population.

As explained, they have a potential to be crucial kingmakers in mixed seats as well as a majority in some seats.

As such the battle to win the hearts and minds of the Indians is crucial for both BN and Pakatan in their battle for Putrajaya, which has been the subject of political campaigns, policy decisions, allocation hand-outs as well as forums such as these.

source: http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/175481

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Forum on remove class

/* September 11th, 2011 by poobalan | View blog reactions No comments »
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Perhaps it would be good to have remove class at primary school level itself. What’s the point of having UPSR assessment at Year 6 when students are still allowed to proceed to higher level? It will only encourage more dropouts, in my opinion.

HAVING a transition year between primary and secondary education for students from vernacular schools is crucial in developing and enhancing their language and communication skills.

The relevance of such a transitional period when vernacular school students are placed in a special class known as the “remove class” was the topic discussed at forum organised by the Educational Welfare and Research Foundation (EWRF).

Participants at the forum were unanimous in their view that the remove class be retained in schools but they wanted a revamp based on research and facts.

The participants who included a panel of educationists, NGO representatives, teachers in vernacular and national schools, as well as students who had themselves been through the remove class system, discussed and shared their concerns at individual roundtable meetings before presenting their findings.

EWRF president Datuk A Yogesvaran said: “There is something wrong with the current system today.

“Most of those who are placed in remove classes are already weak students, and because of the perception of remove class and the stigma attached, it is almost as if remove class is a punishment for the weak students, rather than an avenue to help them move from one teaching medium to another.”

He added that while the remove class was initially set up as a transition period for a student to switch learning from his or her mother tongue to Bahasa Malaysia, society was now facing a secondary issue — of illiterate students being placed in remove classes.

“Some students cannot even read and write after completing primary school, and it is not possible to teach them everything within a year. Remove class was not set up for this purpose,” he said, adding that something had to be done even from a primary school level.

There was also a comparison made between Tamil and Chinese vernacular schools.

SMJK Chong Hwa, Jalan Gombak principal Chai Chit Chuin, who was also a representative from Plan of Action for Malaysia, said that many Chinese schools put in their own resources to ensure that students get the most out of their primary school education.

“Parents also put in a lot of effort and are generous with financial assistance,” he said, emphasising that it was important to have dedicated and passionate teachers in remove classes.

Other suggestions brought up at the forum include having bilingual teachers teach in remove classes, and to reward dedicated teachers in remove classes since they faced bigger “challenges.”

The foundation’s research unit head Shanthi Periasamy said that feedback from the forum would be compiled and presented to the Education Ministry for further action to improve the system.

source: http://thestar.com.my/education/story.asp?file=/2011/9/11/education/9348087&sec=education

 

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SJKT Effingham land issue crops up again

/* September 9th, 2011 by poobalan | View blog reactions No comments »
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This issue was first raised in September 2008, and 3 years down the lane, it pops up. Interestingly, this time its being raised by a member from the offending party itself.

From what I understand, the land taken by MIC has been developed as a commercial plot, so I’m not sure how this will turnout. Maybe like the Bakun dam case – “the land under question is already under water, so how to return it back” answer given by the court. Delay long enough and your case becomes invalid.

Anyway, this guy says got “solid proof” but didn’t show it. Hope the proof can stay “solid” after this.

 

A local MIC leader today asked the party to return a piece of land that he said was originally alienated for a Tamil school.

V Thiagarajan, who heads the Taman Mujur MIC branch, said party president G Palanivel should “do the right thing” by ensuring that the Effingham Tamil School get back the three acres of prime land.

The school is located in Bandar Utama, Damansara. The accusation about the land grab first surfaced in 2009, with former students and residents of the area claiming that the developer of Bandar Utama had set aside six acres for the school in 1999.

They said the late K Sivalingam, an MIC leader and an executive councillor in the then BN-led state government, decided that only three acres should be given to the school and the rest to the party.

There was also an allegation of mismanagement of RM300,000 in developer contributions to the school. MIC was accused of trying to channel the money to its Maju Institute of Education Development (MIED) although the developer disagreed.

MIC has claimed that there was an error in the description of the proprietor in the land title and that the party is the rightful owner of the three acres.

Currently, the school has 600 pupils, but the number is expected to increase steadily.

Thiagarajan told FMT he had “solid evidence” that all six acres belonged to the school.

“I plead with Palanivel to use his veto power to give back the land to the school,” he said.

“I have all the evidence to show clearly that the land MIC claims as its own should be part of school.”

source: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/2011/09/08/give-back-school%E2%80%99s-land-mic-told/

 

 

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