Posts Tagged ‘Crime’

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I support alcohol sale control

November 28th, 2008
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Regardless of the manner in which the “rule/guideline/bylaw” (I think many people are still unsure on what to call it) has been proposed by PAS representatives, I fully support the restriction the sale of alcohol. Convenience stores and shops in petrol station should not be selling alcohol. So do mini-markets or grocery shops.

It was initially proposed by Pas councillor in Klang, Mohd Termizi, but has been retracted. The proposal was as follows:

Mohd Termizi had suggested that alcohol be sold discreetly; signboards prohibiting Muslims from purchasing alcohol be prominently displayed; only non-Muslims be allowed to manage shops selling alcohol; a special counter be allocated for non-halal products; and a ban on the sale of alcohol at 24-hour convenience stores, sundry shops, mini markets, pharmacies, restaurants and petrol station kiosks.

I think that to complement the sales control, state government should also start a massive campaign blitz at all areas – colleges, universities, factories, temples, mosques, churches, shopping centres, bus stations, etc.

Alcohol-related crime and damages are on increase in UK. I read a report saying the those damages run into billions! We also seem to read in papers nowadays on crimes committed by people high on alcohol. The Selangor state government (PAS included) should provide facts and figures – do some research on countries. Don’t talk in terms of religion, but in terms of economic costs, health, crime rates. The old strategy of simply banning this and that won’t work.

The DAP, PKR, and PAS people must continue this debate. Discuss what to do next. Argue maturely. I definitely don’t want to hear the old mantra of “behind closed doors” that doesn’t seem to respect the people’s intelligence. While at the moment the MB of Selangor and Pakatan Rakyat leader both said that there are  some strategies to enforce current rules, I think its time a committee is set up to study the menace of alcohol.

For me, I support the restricted sale because I understand the damage of alcohol, and at the same time respect the idea that people may WANT to damage their health by consuming alcohol.  But in that process of killing themselves slowly, they should not endanger others. Thus one way to curb this is to limit the locations of sales. This will allow for better enforcement of the rules – no to those under 18, and no to Muslims.

Another angle is to involve NGOs and religious bodies to join the campaign to support under “religious” banner.  Secondly, focus should be on the suburban areas, rural areas, foreign workers hostels, sales of samsu etc.

You know something? My friend’s car was hit by another car from behind near Avon (Federal Highway) last Wednesday. The speeding car was occupied  by 3 very drunk Malay girls. My friends car was damaged, but luckily no one was injured. The parent of one of the girls called him next day to apologise and “kaotim” the problem. No police report in order to avoid unnecessary questions.

Alcohol is no more a non-Muslim problem. Its affecting all, even the foreign workers.

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160k duit kopi

November 26th, 2008
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I was surprised to hear that Immigration Department is back to normal. Just talk to the agents and runners who deal with the officers. From what I heard, one guy even received Rm160k cash! People are desperate for money and willing to do anything to get some cash. Since the systems are computerised, those with access can do wonders provided there are “incentives”.

*NOTE that the above is heard from conversation. There is not documented proof whatsoever.  The persons mentioned will obviously deny any such information. I only hope that ACA continuously monitor the officers involved in processing and approval of permits.

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Armed robbers but barely into their teens

November 26th, 2008
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I know Kapar is well-known for criminal activities and gangsterism, but this is terrible. The young ones also following the footsteps of hooligans and criminals. Using penknife to rob a house??? Now we not only have to worry about hardcore robbers, foreigner robbers, and burglars, but kids who are robbers!

They may be only aged 10 to 12, but the three boys are already armed robbers. What is more shocking is that, after being released on bail, the trio — two of whom are brothers — were overheard bragging about their exploits to their friends.

The transformation from petty criminals to armed robbery came when they threatened a 10-year-old boy, alone at home, with a penknife and took the jewellery belonging to their victim’s mother.

The boys were caught when they sold a pair of large oil lamps worth RM4,000 to a scrap metal dealer, who has also been arrested.

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Tamil School heads threatened not to apply funds

November 25th, 2008
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I’m still waiting for news from some of the HMs in Selangor but this seems to be true. Malaysiakini reports in detail while as usual nothing in the papers (except Makkal Osai).

I wonder how long before the protector of Tamil Schools reply to this latest news. What will the reply of  Pala nivel, Dr S Subramaniam, Saravanan, Devamany, etc will be? Who is involved in issuing orders to education department officer to call the HMs? By right, the Tamil schools are under the care of Tamil School controller. Perhaps can start with him. His details are below:

Penyelia Sekolah Tamil (DGA32)
Encik Vallikkannan a/l Ramasamy
03-5518 6518
rvallikkannan@yahoo.com.my

The information above is available in public domain and is not invasion of privacy. The website of Selangor Education Department has the contact info.

Out of 79 schools, only 11 registered. I wonder about the statistics for the Chinese schools. Did the state departments threaten the Chinese school heads as well?

Below is excerpt of Charles Santiago’s statement:

I however strongly denounce the act of the fear mongers who have ill-advised school principals against accepting the funds. The state education department should know better than to issue verbal instructions to principals asking them not to attend the function at the Petaling Jaya Civic Center..

Currently there are only 11 Tamil schools registered with the state government for financial aid, to be used to improve facilities and infrastructure. I encourage more schools to come forward for the future of the school children..

The government and state education department must not try to force a political issue out of the initiative by the Selangor state government . Instead they could try to genuinely reach out to help the Tamil and Chinese schools which are in dire need of funding.

Let’s see what the PTA representatives said to Malaysiakini:

Two PTA representatives interviewed later revealed that their principals had received instructions not to attend the event.

Kinrara school PTA president Michael Tamil (left) said the headmaster had received verbal instructions.

“He told me that he had received such instructions…I don’t see the rationale for this,” he said.

S Sugumaran of the Persiaran Raja Muda Musa school said the principal had received a phone call from the state education department, which issued similar ‘advice’.

“But the headmaster encouraged me to attend instead…she actually wanted to come but it would have been hard for her because she would have been easily identified (by the authorities),” he added.

Xavier had this to say:

Addressing participants at the event, state exco member Dr Xavier Jayakumar – who handles the health, plantation workers, poverty and caring government portfolio – said he had sent two letters to the education department director, seeking consent for the principals to attend the event.

Instead, he claimed, the department had warned them against doing so.

“I have learnt that (the officials) had made numerous phone calls to the principals,” said Jayakumar.

However, he said it was a positive sign that many others had shown up despite the directive.

“Even though we faced some hurdles before the event, I thank you all for coming today…because this is about our children’s priority, rather than that of politicians,” he said, drawing cheers from the crowd.

I’m appaled to even read about this. If this story is true, then those responsible should be hauled up and sacked. The Education Minister should initiate an investigation so that his name is not implicated. But, most importantly, the affected HMs must come forward to name the criminals. They can do it via the PTA representatives. Or the police can subpeona phone records to trace who made the calls to the schools or the HMs’ handphones. (Hmmm… watching police series/movies makes us think better!)

Better still, Selangor government should just call PTAs instead of HMs or just visit the schools to hand over the allocations. No need for some function which puts the HMs in difficult position.

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Not automatic citizenship if father is Malaysian?

November 19th, 2008
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I’m am surprised to read in today’s Star Metro section about the plight of Teresa Ratnam. Read the full story at the end of this post. Its clearly stated that if the parent is a citizen, the children is automatically citizens also. But in this case, the children have been deprived. Teresa is stateless but her husband Lawrence is Malaysian! Anak sendiri pun tak dapat kerakyatan??? UNLESS Lawrence and Teresa is hiding some facts, this is a crime by those officers in the relevant department. They should report to Deputy Minister Murugiah of BPA immediately, take legal action against the departments, and reveal the name of the officers who misled them. 10 years of suffering, how is the government going to compensate the children? Free medical treatment? Scholarship for education until university? Free low cost housing?

We have so many children from Indonesians and Bangladeshi mix marriages getting citizenship, but not for two Malaysians, one of which is stateless.

AS it is late now (11.45pm), I’ll suggest to the persons below tomorrow to do the above.

THE story of Teresa Ratnam is a story of suffering, right from the time when she was an infant.

The 40-year-old mother of three from Jinjang Selatan Tambahan in Kuala Lumpur was abandoned at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital at the tender age of four when her parents sent her there for treatment.

Teresa cannot recall anything from her past except the names of the couple who adopted her and took care of her until both of them died, after which she had to fend for herself.

She discovered the agony of not having a birth certificate, and was declared stateless. Without a citizenship, she was unable to get an education, let alone a job.

She survived by working as a maid until she met a kind and loving man who married her and gave her the security and protection that she needed.

In a quandary: Lawrence (right) with his wife Teresa and three children at their home in Jinjang Selatan Tambahan.

They have three lovely children – Daniel Christie, 12, Nelson Christie, 10, and Patricia Christie, five.

Teresa’s trouble begun when she and her husband G. Lawrence, 44, discovered that despite Lawrence being a Malaysian citizen, the authorities have denied citizenship to their three children as she is considered stateless.

Although Teresa was abandoned by her own parents, that did not stop her for being a loving and caring mother. It was simply heart-renting to see this woman sobbing and begging for mercy on behalf of her three children.

Don’t let my children suffer because of me. Please have mercy, Teresa sobbed as she pleaded for help to get citizenship for her children.

I don’t want my children to suffer. They are innocent and should not have to go through what I went through in life, she said.

My wife is a victim of circumstances. Due to no fault of hers she is unable to prove her citizenship, but I am a Malaysian citizen and my children were all born here, yet the government is denying them their basic right, Lawrence said.

He said he had spent 10 years of his life running from one government department to another trying to get his children’s citizenship problem resolved.

In some places they have treated me very unkindly by pushing me from one officer to another, making me run around from Putrajaya to Kuala Lumpur and all over the place, he said.

According to Lawrence, he has been to the National Registration Department, the Welfare Department, the Kuala Lumpur Hospital and the Public Complaints Bureau of the Prime Minister’s Department countless times yet no one was able to help him.

He said some officers even gave him wrong information which caused him to waste more time.

Lawrence is now desperate as his youngest child Patricia has been diagnosed to be suffering from a rare disease called Pierre Robin Syndrome, a congenital condition of facial abnormalities in humans, and she also has a heart problem and requires surgery as soon as possible.

We need an OKU (disabled person identification card) from the National Registration Department to enable her to get free treatment from the National Heart Institute because I cannot afford it, Lawrence said.

But to get the card, she needs her citizenship, and it is an urgent matter, he said.

Their eldest son Daniel passed his UPSR exams with five A’s and one B and will be going to Form 1 next year. But Teresa and Lawrence are worried that Daniel may not be able to go to Form 1 as he is not qualified to get the MyKad as he doesn’t have citizenship status.

We did not have problems when he entered primary school but now the school is saying there may be problems with him enrolling into secondary level, Lawrence said.

The family is seeking help from the Government to solve their problem and is hoping that Teresa’s natural parents or any other family member can come forward and produce documentation to prove that she was born in Malaysia.

According to the Federal Constitution, children born in Malaysia, with at least one parent holding citizenship is deemed qualified to be citizens.

It is strange that in this case, where the children’s father is a Malaysian citizen and they were born in Malaysia, they are still being deprived of their citizenship.

The Jinjang Selatan Tambahan Tamil Youth Club, the Jinjang Selatan MIC branch and Komuniti Bestari Jinjang Selatan are trying to help the family apply for citizenship for the children.

Those who can help can call Selvakumar at 012-615 6011 or R. Krishna Moorthy at 017-226 4952.

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