PICS of 6.2 QUAKE NEAR JOGYAKARTA, OVER 3000 DEAD; M’SIA SMART TEAM (total 306) FOR RESCUE & MEDICAL AID PLUS 1 TON SUPPLIES

People fleeing for safety in fear of a tsunami

Injured people being given medical help on the street



Massive damages to Buildings

Another ruined building

Rubbles are everywhere for collapsed structures
Rescuers are hunting for survivors of a powerful earthquake that struck Indonesia on Saturday, killing at least 3,000 people AND THE FIGURE IS STEADILY RISING AS MORE BODIES ARE UNCOVERED.. The epicenter of the 6.2-magnitude temblor was near the erupting Mount Merapi and scientists say the quake could affect volcanic activity.
Extensive damages to buildings in the quake areas. Airport is closed and telecomminication is out and so is the electricity supplies to the immediate affected areas.

An earthquake shook the area around Indonesia's ancient royal city of Yogyakarta on Saturday .government and hospital officials said earlier that many people remained buried or trapped under the rubble of collapsed buildings, while more deaths might be going unreported by families keeping and burying the bodies themselves.

Yogyakarta is on Indonesia's main island of Java and near Mount Merapi, a volcano that has been on top alert for a major eruption this month. A vulcanologist in Yogyakarta said the quake was not caused by the volcano, but Merapi's activity increased after the shock.

KUALA LUMPUR: May 27 06: Meanwhile the DPM Najib announced that Malaysia is sending a search and rescue team – the smart team comprising of 56 search personal and 5 doctors & paramedics (from KL Hospital & Army) to the disaster area for immediate aid. This is in direct response to the call for help by the Indonesian authorities. The team is leaving at 11 pm on a RMAF Hercules plane to Jogyakarta. One ton of medical supplies and rescue equipment would be flown over.

In view of the seriousness of the situation, the DPM announced a further smart team of 250 personnel would be send over tomorrow (28th May 06) morning. En Rosli Sakimin, the Malaysian Educational Attaché in Indonesia reported so far that no Malaysia students are injured.

The Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono appealed “I call on all regional officials to bring out their resources in order to priorities the evacuation of the injured and the handling of the bodies.”

The following is a more detailed account from channenewsasia

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/210648/1/.html

More than 2,700 dead, thousands injured in Indonesia quake
Posted: 27 May 2006 1803 hrs

YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia : A powerful earthquake rocked Indonesia's main island
of Java on Saturday, killing more than 2,700 people, injuring thousands more
and causing mass destruction.

Thousands of families fled their homes in panic after the 6.2 magnitude
quake struck early in the morning, many running for higher ground amid false
rumours of a tsunami like the one that devastated the country in December
2004.

Many could not escape in time and were buried under the rubble of collapsed
buildings or struck by flying rocks and debris as the quake devastated towns
and villages across the south of the island.

Hospitals in the densely-populated ancient city of Yogyakarta, located in
the shadow of the simmering Mount Merapi volcano, were overflowing with
casualties. Hundreds lay injured outside awaiting medical attention.

An official at the social affairs ministry's disaster relief center told AFP
at least 2,727 fatalities had been reported in Yogyakarta and Central Java
provinces.

Emergency rescue and medical crews rushed to the worst-hit areas as
officials said the death toll may rise.

Aid agencies were sending tents and food to the area to help those left
homeless, while an appeal for blood donors was launched.

The quake struck just before 6:00 am local time around 40 kilometres (25
miles) south of the city, rattling a region that had been on edge for weeks
amid fears the lava-spewing Mount Merapi would erupt.

One of the worst hit areas was the Bantul district south of Yogyakarta which
was flattened.

"There is only one house remaining standing here, that of the head of the
hamlet, but even that is not safe anymore as the walls are cracked," said
Ngadiyo, 63, crouching in front of the rubble of his house in central
Bantul.

"I have never gone through an earthquake this strong during my entire life,"
said his elder brother, Jodi Riwono, 46, who was trapped unconscious under
rubble before being rescued by a grandson.

"I thank God that I am allowed more time to live," he said.

Purkasih, an elderly women, pleaded with passers-by to help look for her
older sister Duljiah, who was trapped in a collapsed kitchen.

"Elder sister, elder sister," Purkasih wept as a dozen young men, some with
open wounds, dug at the rubble. Seven hours after the quake they pulled out
her body.

"Even us, healthy men, could not see if we could run, because of the dust
raised by the falling houses," said Bakit, 18, a high school student, the
left side of his face badly bruised and swollen.

"I was thrown by the quake and could only crawl out as everything was
falling around me," he said.

Heru Nugroho, spokesman for the state-run Sardjito hospital in Yogyakarta,
around 400 kilometres (250 miles) east of the capital Jakarta, told AFP
1,500 victims were being treated at the hospital, many of them in the
hallways.

People of all ages with broken arms and legs and bruised faces lay out on
tiled floors covered in blood waiting for attention. Bodies were covered
with bedsheets.

The quake also forced the closure of Adisucipto airport in Yogyakarta,
Detikcom news portal said. The airport was badly damaged, with the roof of
an airport section collapsing and at least one person trapped, Metro TV
reported.

Flights have been diverted to the nearby city of Solo.

Meteorologists said the quake measured 5.9 on the Richter scale, but both US
and Hong Kong monitors registered it at 6.2. Seismologists said the quake
would not increase the likelihood of an eruption at Merapi.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ordered Health Minister Siti Fadillah
Supari and Social Affairs Minister Bachtiar Chamsyah to travel to Yogyakarta
immediately to oversee rescue efforts.

"The president is deeply concerned," presidential spokesman Andi Malarangeng
told a press conference.

Malarangeng said that the president also ordered military chief Air Marshal
Djoko Suyanto to send in troops to help evacuate victims.

Yudhoyono himself was to visit the region on Sunday, he said.

Yogyakarta province police chief Bambang Hari Sampurnojati told local radio
that the earthquake was reportedly followed by tidal waves, striking panic
in a nation that was the worst hit by the 2004 Indian ocean tsunami.

"We panicked when we heard that there was a tsunami. We were ready to flee,"
Yogyakarta resident Clemon Cilik told the state Antara news agency.

More than 20,000 residents living near Mount Merapi, which has been spewing
heat clouds and on top alert for a major eruption, are already staying in
emergency shelters after being evacuated from the slopes.

Damage was hampering the rescue effort, Sampurnojati said, with electricity
at the police headquarters in the city cut due to a blackout following the
quake.

"Electricity is out and communication is difficult," he told ElShinta.

Indonesia sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", where the meeting of
continental plates causes high volcanic and seismic activity.

An official at the meteorological office said the quake was not related to
the volcano, which has been rumbling in recent weeks. - AFP /dt
____

MALSYSIA’S 40 RICHEST – HOW DID THEY MANIFEST THEIR WEALTH TO BE RICH? BY THE LAW OF ATTRACTION AND THEIR BELIEFS?

For those wealthy people I salute you if you achieved your fortunes by economic means; through production and trade. You deserved the wealth and you create them using the Law of Attraction (albeit often unconsciously) to effortlessly bring into your lives whatever you envision. This could be wealth, successful businesses, or satisfying relationships. Or, it could simply be wisdom, peace of mind, and a sense of purpose

And those are the scabs of society who gained their fortunes by political pull, by having government grant those favors and franchises at the expense of their fellow-men

You create your own reality. You form your experience according to your thoughts, emotions, and beliefs. Whatever you focus on in your mind will be materialized in your life. If you want to change your reality, you must first change the thoughts and emotions that you focus upon.

If you are poor you may feel quite self-righteous in your financial condition, looking with scorn upon those who are wealthy, telling yourself that “money is wrong and evil” and so reinforcing the condition of poverty.

You must then believe that it is “not a sin to be rich” and there is “no limitation to self”
The Universal Law of Attraction - Energy Attracts Like Energy
As you begin to understand that everything in creation is based on a system of Energy - and when you learn some very basic things about how this Energy behaves - you will begin to unleash a creative force in your life that will seem miraculous.
Ours is a Universe of magnetic Energy. To the extent that you learn to match your personal energetic "vibration" with what you truly desire PAST the money, you will manifest those things in your life, without worrying about how you're going to get the money to obtain it.
To understand the Law of Attraction on a practical level, you need to have a basic understanding of the building blocks of our Universe. Specifically, you need to know that at our most basic physical level, we are 99% empty space. We are in fact, pure Energy. And this Energy has a specific characteristic that if we understand it fully, we can use this characteristic to create a life beyond our wildest dreams.

That is that Energy attracts like Energy. We are talking about non-tangible things here, and that some of this is beyond the scope of what you've thought about before, thus this all might seem very far out.

All Energy vibrates. Everything has a specific and unique frequency. You need to understand that EVERYTHING is Energy, including your thoughts, dreams, and passions. When two vibrations are in resonance, they attract each other.
This manifests in subtle ways in our lives every day. We'll be thinking about someone and they will call. You'll think about something you want, and suddenly you obtain it through completely unexpected means. How does this happen?

But how can I BE wealthy if I'm NOT wealthy?" you ask. Logical question, but it's based on the false assumption that you don't have wealth. You HAVE wealth. You're simply not aware of it. You have constructed a physical reality that prevents you from experiencing wealth.
Our beliefs are a very powerful Energy system in our lives. Our beliefs allow or disallow certain experiences in our lives, including wealth. They make up who we are. We "BE" in the world according to our beliefs. If we are being is "someone who is trying to get wealthy by repeating affirmations", then THAT is what our reality will be. We will just be TRYING to get wealthy.
We have to make the decision that we ARE wealthy, contrary to any external physical evidence. That evidence is an illusion based on the belief systems that have guided who we have been being up to that point.
Wealth is a decision. If you aren't currently experiencing wealth, you first need to realize that abundance is everywhere...in fact it's all there is. Poverty and lack are the illusions. You can shift your consciousness to Wealth - BE Wealth - by simply making the decision, THEN your thoughts, speech, and action will allow you to experience the wealth that is yours!
This is indeed a complex subject which challenges our core belief systems. But it is those very belief systems that keep a person in a state of lack.

Everything in the Universe is composed of Energy, including you and me. Even our thoughts are Energy. Through Energy, everything in the universe is connected.

The Universe creates without effort, and in abundance. Just look around you. Trees, rocks, air, planets, etc. all were created without stress and effort. The Force you choose to believe initiated the relative process doesn't matter. They are all there and were created effortlessly.
You ARE a part of the Universe and through the power of thought, have the same creative power that manifests everything you see. The only thing that limits your potential is your own belief system!
The Universe WANTS to provide those things we want most. It is only our own limiting belief systems that stop fulfillment from occurring.
If you are God fearing, you might ask “Why doesn't God answer my prayers?". What you'll generally hear next is the response which goes something like, "God DOES answer your prayers” Sometimes he just says 'No'".
If your prayer goes something like: "Dear God. I'm in trouble. I have no money. I can't pay any of the bills. I need money!" – stating ALL your beliefs.
Then THAT is what will be real for you. You WILL be in trouble. You WILL have no money! You WON'T be able to pay the bills and you WILL NEED MONEY.
The Universe feeds back to you what you give it - and in fact, amplify it!
True power is in the imagination which dares to speculate upon that which is not yet. The imagination, backed by great expectations, can bring about almost any reality within the range of probabilities
As a first step, if you WANT to be RICH, you dwell upon it consciously for a while; you consciously imagine it coming to the forefront of probabilities, closer to your actuality. Then you drop it like a pebble into a basket, forget about it as much as possible for a fortnight, and do this in a certain rhythm repeatedly. It takes time and effort for sure to be rich!
And more time like the top 5 above, all of them are elderly. But can they take their wealth along?

UNYIELDING BELIEFS MOST INSIDOUS - CAUSING ALL CONFLICTS BETWEEN RELIGIONS, NATIONS AND PEOPLE

Many of your TRUTHS — all of your TRUTHS — are mere BELIEFS
The belief systems that are strongest to us individually, we would call that a truth. You express it each day within your focuses. You associate with it continuously. Many of your automatic responses are associated within yourselves as truth.
This particular belief system may be one of the most insidious and one of the most difficult to identify and to notice. All of those automatic responses that you do not notice and you identify them as merely truth. Therefore, they are entirely unquestioned but they are mere beliefs.
Many individuals may express to themselves and to other individuals that they do not incorporate religious beliefs. This is entirely incorrect. They may even express to themselves that they do not incorporate any expression of religious beliefs, and they do. All of us express some religious beliefs, for all of us express some beliefs within every belief system — not all of them, but some.
You all incorporate many beliefs that you do not notice, that you do not pay attention to, that you do not question, for you assume that it is a TRUTH and there is no other manner in which it may be PERCEIVED. This generates tremendous conflict, for it is a tremendous lack of acceptance.
What we are witnessing now within our world are individuals who express their truths and their differences in their truths, and there is NO BENDING. For you do not question your own truths, and therefore they must be absolute and all other individuals must accept them, for your truth is THE truth and another individual’s truth is WRONG, and it is QUESTIONED.

This unyielding stance has produced or given birth to many things, such as hatred, discrimination and conflicts between religions, between nations, between neighbors and between people

We must be aware of what your truths are and recognizing that they are NOT truths but just beliefs. It is important that you pay attention to what you do and you pay attention to your emotional communications and to your translations of thoughts, but within our world most individuals do not.
We must initiate a shift in consciousness now and move our attention to how we project energy outwardly in interaction with other individuals and how that offers a contribution within our world in what manner you choose to be generating that energy and how it is affecting of other individuals.

Dr M EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW – 3rd INSTALLMENT – NO RECONCILLATION WITH ANUAR & HISTORY –‘SHOULD FORGET ME’

The headings in the 3rd and final installment published by Malaysiakini, 25th May 2006

Subscribe to read the full account in Malaysiakini. Please support Malaysiakini by subscribing for as low as RM10 for 20 days / RM15 per month to RM150 per year.
Details at http://www.malaysiakini.com/register/manage4me/
Some excerpts are:-
. “ reconciliation (with Anwar), it may be interpreted …that actually nothing happened. .. have to make a decision. Even if he is a friend, or my own relative, it doesn't make any difference”
. “.. they have short memories… forget, they are getting old., why not answer what I said rather than try to make me out to be a demon?” on not consulting the cabinet on the half bridge.
. “when we surrender our right as an independent nation …. I am entitled to make criticisms, and now (they should) answer the points..”
. “ ..most of these people were against me. I brought them back... Is that called splitting the party?” on being accused of undermining the party and government.
. “.- why did you sell Agusta for two dollars? .. like to know…give APs to two persons… Why? No explanation.”
. “if you're a member, .. party goes wrong, you have a right to criticize”
. “Perwaja was a good project,…, the management did not know how to run it."
. “Eric Chia, had done very well with UEM. Chosen on his record… not a bad man when I started with him”
. “.. gravy train is no more now,.. removed before the train left the station” on achieving objectives of his Vision 2020”

He was also asked to comment on the overstaying of Abdul Taib Mahmud (26 years) and the all powerful Chief Minister post. His parting shot was “They should forget me” when asked how history should remember him.


The following update is from sun2surf

Dr M to Nazri: WHERE DID I GO WRONG? by Llew-Ann Phang Updated: 05:46PM Thu, 25 May 2006

PETALING JAYA: In a show of obvious displeasure, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has asked how Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz's criticisms of him have addressed any of his objections to the calling off of the half-bridge project.

In the third and final installment of a 45-minute exclusive interview with Malaysiakini posted today (May 25, 2006), Mahathir said: "I think I am entitled to make criticisms and now, (they should) answer the points that I have raised."

"Don't just say 'well, he is a devil, therefore I shouldn't (answer)'. What is it that Nazri said on all (my) points? Tell me, on what points have I been wrong?" he demanded.

Nazri, who is Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, had openly criticised the former premier for raising objections to the current leadership's decision to abort the roject.

Nazri had said the decision to build the bridge that was supposed to link Malaysia with Singapore was Mahathir's alone and the Cabinet was not consulted during his leadership.

"Well, I suppose they have short memories. People forget, they are getting old. They've probably forgotten," Mahathir said.

The interview which took six years to secure was conducted on May 16, 2006, at the Petronas Twin Towers and ran in three parts beginning Tuesday (May 23, 2006).

He also talked about Umno and the failed steel company Perwaja, and said that Malaysian history "should forget me".

On a lighter note, Mahathir said he was writing a book on his secret to good health, adding: "I will want to make some money out of it, advising you on how to look young."

Below is another earlier update on the interview from sun2surf
Dr M: I’m disappointed with some decisions ...
Maria J. Dass and R. Manirajan Updated: 03:18PM Wed, 24 May 2006
PETALING JAYA: Former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who once called Malaysiakini a "traitor" to the country, has criticised the country’s current leadership in an exclusive interview that was granted to the online news daily after a six-year wait.
Mahathir, who led the nation for 22 years, told Malaysiakini in a 45-minute interview with four editors and one reporter in his Petronas Twin Towers office on May 16, 2006, that he is disappointed with some decisions by his handpicked successor who took office three years ago.
He, however, refused to rate Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s performance, citing possible negative effects. Proton and the half-bridge project - both mooted during his tenure - topped the list of Mahathir’s disappointments with the current administration.
The full interview will run in parts over three days until Thursday (May 25, 2006) at www.malaysiakini.com/news Malaysiakini editor-in-chief Steven Gan said Dr Mahathir began the interview by declaring his dislike of the online daily.
"There are some questions which I will not answer... I never liked Malaysiakini.com. It was very critical of me before," he said.
Gan described the meeting as "not a warm one"."I presume he agreed to it grudgingly or maybe he was advised to do so," he said.
"We have been pursuing him for an interview since Malaysiakini’s inception in November 1999. We have no idea why he finally agreed," Gan said.
The interview which was scheduled for March was postponed three times. "We wish we had more time to talk and question him on the 22 years of his leadership which he has to account for," Gan said. The relationship between Malaysiakini and Mahathir was always a strained one that contained moments of animosity.
Mahathir branded Malaysiakini a "traitor" to the country in 2001, and in the earlier years, its reporters were often banned from government press conferences.
In January 2003 Malaysiakini’s office was raided by the police and its computers confiscated following a report by Umno Youth against a letter published by Malaysiakini which they alleged questioned the special rights and privileges of Bumiputras to the detriment of other races.
In Kuala Lumpur, Mahathir admitted he was against Malaysiakini six years ago but the online news website still wanted to interview him."Six years ago, they write a lot about me. They were not for me and now they want to talk about me and I don’t know what they have written, I have not seen ... maybe it is something not nice or maybe nice but I have given my views," he told reporters at the Malaysian Business Corporate Governance Award 2005 today (May 23, 2006). In the past, he said he had given interviews to people who did not like him, such as the Far Eastern Economic Review, Time magazine and The Economist , and they wrote "a lot of nasty things" about him instead.

ARE WE TRAPPED IN THE MATERIALTIC LIFESTYLE?

Trapped in the Lope of Life?

Linear thinking dominates our existence and the many influences stereotyping a great deal of people following like sheep the materialistic lifestyle.

What we cannot see, smell, hear, taste, feel, or measure seems amorphous, unreal. The limitations of life perceived this way offer a safety net a very comfortable zone. With it comes assurance that we know what we are about.

Unless the inner self has a hitchhiker sneaking through your back door and sharply steers a new direction in one’s life to explore those unlimited dimensions of existence, one is trapped in the loop.

You can be more and more curious about all those other unlimited dimensions of existence. The world can be linear and goal-oriented but it can also be expansive and associative. To explore the world in this fashion augments the experience of life.

To echo the words of Tibet’s Great Yogi, Milarepa 1024AD

All worldly pursuits end in sorrow;
Acquisitions end in dispersion;
Buildings in destruction;
Meetings in separation;
Births in death.

Knowing this, one should from the very first, renounce acquisition and heaping up, building, meeting; and be faithful to the commands of an eminent guru; set about realizing the Truth (which has no birth or death).

That alone is the best path in life and most religious people have followed it.

Dr MAHATHIR’S EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW - 2nd INSTALLMENT - LAY OFF BUSINESS WITH GOVERNMENT FOR PM’s SONS

In the 2nd installment published by Malaysiakini, datelined 24th May 2006, a wide ranging topics were asked but the answers were not that "new".

Once again subscribe to read the full account in Malaysiakini
Please support Malaysiakini by subscribing for as low as RM10 for 20 days / RM15 per month to RM150 per year.
Details at http://www.malaysiakini.com/register/manage4me/

Some excerpts are:-
. “children and wives of prime ministers should not conduct any business with the government, …..they can do business”
. “getting Malay participation, bumiputera participation. They abused everything that we gave them, except for a few”
. “ KLIA…PUTRAJA …when you want to build something, don't build for the present. Build for the future”
. “keep money under your pillow, it's not going to grow… going to shrink…… purchasing power goes down…. you spend money, every dollar that changes hand, somebody makes money”
. “.. Class F contractors .. 40,000 of them. .. can you look over their shoulder all the time?”
. “'I'm doing this, no criticism is allowed,' that is taking away press freedom”
. “At least we have laws. The US has no laws… detain people without any laws”
. “Make just casual accusations against people based on hearsay, we cannot act”

The following is an account available from
http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=14205

PETALING JAYA: Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has admitted that bumiputras abused the privileges given to them under hisadministration.
In the second part of his interview with online news portal Malaysiakini,Mahathir remained confident of decisions he made during his 22-year administration, and said the only problem he encountered was getting bumiputra participation.
"They abused everything that we gave them, except for a few. A few have done well. But those who did well were immediately labelled as my cronies," he said in the interview in his Petronas Twin Towers office on May 16, 2006.
Asked whether the abuse was a result of a lack of measures to keep people accountable, Mahathir said: "We try as much as possible but we cannot be looking over everyone's shoulder. How can you look over their shoulder all the time?"
Mahathir stressed that as a matter of principle, when he was prime minister, he did not allow his children or his wife to be involved in business with the government.
"The children can do business, but not with the government. This is a general principle," he said.
Asked if he would advise current prime minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to follow suit, he said: "That is entirely up to him. I don't advise (him), but this is a general principle I'm talking about. So, I follow the general principle."
Mahathir revealed that some of his relatives were not on talking terms with him because he refused to help them but "that is my problem."
He said when he was the premier, people asked him to nominate his son as a parliamentary candidate but he declined because he did not want to give the
impression that he was creating a dynasty.
Asked if he thought cronyism has stopped with the new administration,Mahathir said: "Well, you can make your own judgment."

THERE IS NO MERIT IIN SELF-SACRIFICE

There is no such thing as SELF-SACRIFICE, and there is NO SUCH ROAD and do not advocate it to anyone. Many people make a great show out of helping others, for example encouraging them to lean upon them. They might believe this to be a quite holy, virtuous enterprise. Instead they are keeping other people from recognizing and using their own innate strengths and abilities.

There is no merit in self-sacrifice. For one thing it is impossible. The self grows and develops and cannot be annihilated. You must not expect to be “perfect” – a state of fulfillment beyond which there is no further growth, and no such state exists.

Self-sacrifice usually means throwing the “burden” of yourself upon someone else and making it their responsibility.

Even a mother telling her child, “I gave up my life for you” is speaking nonsense. In basic terms such a mother believes, no matter what she says, that she did not have much to give up and the “giving up” gave her a life that she wanted.

Similarly a child who says, “I gave up my life for my parents and devoted my life to their care” means “I was afraid to live my own life, and afraid to let them live theirs. And is so ‘giving up’ my life I gain the life I wanted.”

Love does not demand sacrifice. You do not help your children by keeping them chain to you, but you do not help your parents either by encouraging their sense of helplessness.

The natural force of love is everywhere within you, and the normal methods of communication are always meant to bring you in contact with fellow creatures.

You must love yourself before you love another. When you love others, you grant them the innate freedom and do not cravenly insist they attend you. There is no basic difference between the love of a child for a parent or vice versa, a wife for a husband, a brother for a sister. There are only various expressions and characteristics of love, and all love affirms.

There are many errors frequently committed in the name of love.

At the WORLD’ SECOND TALLEST BUILDING, Malaysiakini (a Web Newspaper) talks to DR MAHATHIR after a 6-YEAR WAIT

Dr Mathathir Mohamad interviewed by Malaysiakini journalists once labelled by him as 'traitors'.
At his cozy highest 86th floor office in Petronas twin tower, the former prime minister Dr Mathathir Mohaded (still an advisor to Petronas) granted his reluctant but exclusive interview to Malaysiakini (a web based newspaper) on 16th May 06. The half hour interview was stretched to 45 mins. And he flatly refused to answer some of the 19 questions faxed over.
The headlines in http://www.malaysiakini.com/ are
(Note: You need a subscription to read all of the following)

Some comments are:-
1. No comment on his successor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's performance.
2. Perwaja was not a mistake even though there were RM10 billion loss
3. On Anwar Ibrahim, being a homosexual, he was convinced.
However, the following account is available from
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/060523/3/2kycg.html

Mahathir muzzled? Malaysian ex-PM vents on the Web
Tuesday May 23, 5:04 PM
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad never the warmest friend of a free press, has suddenly found a use for it now that he is out of power.
In an irony that escaped no one in Malaysia's pro-government mainstream media, Mahathir turned to a small independent Web site, Malaysiakini.com, to criticise the government on Tuesday.
"He's been complaining about being isolated from the mainstream media," Malaysiakini.com boss Premesh Chandran told Reuters, explaining that the major dailies that once hung on Mahathir's every word now didn't have much time for him.
That might be because he recently accused the administration of his successor, Abdullah Ahmad Badawai, of selling out sovereignty and lacking "guts" over its recent decision to scrap a project to build a bridge to neighbouring Singapore.
Mahathir's extraordinary attack last month was reported in the mainstream media, but not at any length and not on the front pages that used to be reserved for him when he ran the country.
The 80-year-old told Malaysiakini.com, which was born out of frustration at press curbs under his rule in the late 1990s, that he felt he should be free to air "constructive" criticism.
NO LONGER FRONT PAGE
"When you do something that is so obviously wrong, like surrendering your sovereign right to another nation, I merely comment on that," Mahathir said.
"That cannot be published?" he wondered aloud.
Not in Mahathir's day, certainly, said a senior newspaper editor who declined to be named.
"The problem is that they (past leaders) get used to it after so many years -- being on the front pages. They find it difficult being on page 10 or when people rebut them," he said.
He felt Malaysian newspapers, such as English-language dailies the New Straits Times and the Star, had actually become more open to publishing criticism of the government since Mahathir handed power to the mild-mannered Abdullah in late 2003.
But, the editor admitted, "I think there's a long way for us to go in the press in Malaysia, for the government to relax a lot more and to let us do more things."
Mahathir made no explosive new revelations to Malaysiakini.com but he expanded on his central claim that in talks with Singapore over the bridge, Abdullah's government had been willing to lift a ban on the sale of sand to Singapore.
Mahathir had banned sand sales because they would enable Malaysia's island neighbour to reclaim large tracts of land from the thin strip of sea separating them -- something he opposed because he felt it would impinge on Malaysian sovereignty.
Mahathir no longer dictates government policy but he remains influential in the main ruling party and has loyal supporters in powerful positions in government, business and society generally.
So the irony of turning to an opposition-friendly Web site, staffed by 24 journalists in a tiny newsroom overlooking a 7-11 convenience store, was not lost on him.
"I never liked Malaysiakini.com. It was very critical of me before," he told the Malaysiakini.com editor at the start of the May 16 interview, which the Web site published on Tuesday.
But despite being criticised by Reporters Without Borders for using "a subtle mix of censorship, harassment and imprisonment to keep a grip on the news" during his 22-year reign, Mahathir kept his promise as prime minister not to censor the Internet.
"He stuck by his word. I think we have to give him that much," said Malaysiakini.com chief executive Chandran.

MALAYSIA GUINNESS WORLD RECORD – Longest Delay in Completion of a Building – 9 years

The MATRADE BUILDING is a GUINNESS WORLD RECORD for the LONGEST DELAY – 9 YEARS in the Completion of a building.

The Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade) building at Jalan Duta here, which was supposed to have been completed NINE YEARS AGO, is ready and will be handed over to the International Trade and Industry Ministry (MITI) on 23rd May 2006 i.e. TODAY
The Matrade building project started in 1994 and was expected to be completed in 1997 but due to M A S S I V E delays and the appointment of new contractors, its initial cost of RM167 million has leapt to RM287.5 million, with about RM64.8 million spent on repair works. This should be another GUINNESS WORLD RECORD for the HIGHEST Cost over run.

The original contractor, Perangsang International Sdn Bhd (PISB), had its contract terminated in March last year due to failure to complete the project. PISB was told to pay liquidated assertion damages (LAD) or late delivery charges of RM41,750 per day for 2,276 days from the termination date.
According to the Bernama report, Works Minister Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu was quoted as saying that legal action was being taken against PISB to pay the RM95 million owed in LAD and RM64.8 million as cost for the additional repair works.

"I was told PISB is a dead company but we are going after the company's
directors," he said, adding that the legal process might take longer than
expected.

PISD is a limited company and is already bankrupt and the directors will follow suit. This legal action is an exercise in futility, might as well save the legal fees. So the rakyat will have to bear all the extra cost. What a shame!
Update: 25 May 06
See SUN'S report Matrade building 'MONUMENT OF SHAME'
and Bustiness Times Rafidah wants PROBE on Matrade building delay

CURIOSITY WITHOUT POWER OF DISCERNMENT CAUSES MISERY, DISATISFACTION, PREJUDICE & DISCRIMINATION

Curiosity is a Natural State of Mind
How many can understand the brain, a physical organ, taking up space exists in time whereas the mind takes up no space does not have its basic existence in time?
Curiosity is a natural state of mind. Most of us have many questions, and it doesn't matter how many answers we get, we still have more questions. When we were young, we asked our parents many questions and many were never answered.
And as we grew up, we asked our teachers, friends and various wise people many questions pertaining to important issues as well, some of which were also never answered.
It seems that we can never get enough answers, but that’s the way the mind is. We always feel curious with our inquiring mind collecting a lot of good and bad information and data each day, possesses it and makes it become its own.
But the inquisitive nature of the mind without the power of discernment can cause most of the misery, dissatisfaction; prejudice and discrimination among us and with various subjects in life when due to our limited understanding are unable grasp the answer that is beyond it.
So the saying “Curiosity killed the cat” is also very true. Apparently cats are curious animals that like to investigate, but their curiosity can take them places where they might get hurt.
And it is the same with children, like cats, are curious and like to test to find out what is dangerous. For example the kid might stick his finger into the electrical outlet and get a huge shock.
For the adults, bombarded with so much info and beliefs and with the mindsets will have a lot of trouble struggling between different ideals, groups or systems of thought.
So what is the solution? The sages and masters have all along recommended meditation - to clear your mind from all the rubbish and prejudices accumulated to see the “light at the end of the tunnel” - to seek "enlightenment".

So after we’re enlightened we see things differently; all our answers appear naturally, or we don't have any more questions. That's the best way because no question is a good question! When we’re enlightened, we rise above this position of bad and good, of the discriminating nature of the mind.

7-YEAR OLD KIDNAPED BOY IN SUBANG JAYA FOUND DEAD IN SITIAWAN, PERAK

The boy kidnapped at his home in Subang Jaya, a suburb in Selangor, Malaysia was found dead in a traveling bag floating in the Sitiawan river (in the northern state of Perak).


The remains of the boy, Ho Ping in a body bag being transported
Police sources said the boy was kidnapped on May 18 by a man believed to be a relative. On Saturday, a man was detained in the Klang valley and a Chinese National was detained in the island state of Penang.

The jobless 28-year old remanded man, uncle of the boy
With the discovery of the body, the 28 year man was remanded together with the woman until May 26. The man is the uncle of the dead boy and used to live with the family in Subang Jaya together with his girl friend. Initially the man pretended and showed his concern and went around looking for the boy in the neighborhood.

The Chinese national, girfriend of the remanded man
The boy’s father (an organic vegetable farmer) make a missing person report last Thursday and on the next day lodged another report after receiving a call from the woman demanding a ransom of Malaysian 500,000 Ringgit (approx.US$134,000.00). The case has been classified under Section 3 of the Kidnapping Act as well as murder. However, no ransom was paid.

On Sunday, with the information gleaned from the detained persons, the Police found the remains of the boy stuffed in the bag and is now with the University of Malaya medical centre for a post mortem.
see STAR update May 23 06 Murder may have been planned
and also Family had hunch close relative involved
See update from MM dated 27 May 06: Kidnap-cum-murder of Ho Ping: Remand order extended