MORE PICS – NBC Dramatic Rescue of Pilipino Lannie from Malaysia Underground Human Trafficking - Prostitution; RM200000 8-yr “Contract” for Release

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UPDATE: Aug 14 07;
Tuesday August 14, 2007; STAR
Doc shuts down business of supplying singers to hotels; By BERNARD SEE

Dr Ng: ‘I was questioned by Bukit Aman police over the allegation earlier this year and was cleared of any wrongdoing’

PENANG: Gynaecologist Dr Ng Kok Kwang, who was accused of being a human trafficker in an NBC documentary, shut down his business of supplying singers to local hotels early this year.

“It was too much of a headache so I decided to part ways with my partner in February. Moreover, we were not making any money from the business venture which started in April 2006. “Microphones worth RM6,000 and RM500 were stolen from us by some Filipinos we brought in to sing in hotels here,” he said yesterday. Dr Ng, 45, said one of them even framed him by telling Philippines Embassy officials in Kuala Lumpur that a group of them was forcibly held at a Sungai Dua apartment.

“These Filipinos were never held against their will. They were given the freedom to come and go as they please. A few of them were even given the apartment keys. “I was questioned by Bukit Aman police and Interpol over the allegation earlier this year and was cleared of any wrongdoing,” he said. Dr Ng said he and his partner have been more than fair to the Filipinos, adding that they were supposed to earn RM700 a month as stated in their contract but were paid RM1,000 instead. “Several of them were also given salary advances of up to RM1,000 to help them settle in,” he said. On the allegations by Lannie Erecito that she was held against her will, Dr Ng said she had wanted to leave after a month but he told her that she owed him and his partner US$1,200 (RM4,170).

“That amount was actually the expenses spent to bring her to Penang. She was provided with free food and board while she was here,” he said. Dr Ng said NBC’s Dateline, which was shown in the US on April 8 (Wrong Date, by Star, August 8 2007), had damaged his reputation and he was considering legal action. “The way the NBC correspondent Chris Hansen conducted his interview was quite unprofessional. He ‘waylaid’ me outside my clinic and had his crew film me from afar without my knowledge,” he said. Meanwhile, Deputy Information Minister Datuk Seri Chia Kwang Chye said NBC should give equal airtime to Dr Ng to tell his side of the story.

= = == = ==Sunday STAR; August 12, 2007; ‘I want apology from NBC’

PENANG: A gynaecologist here is demanding an apology from NBC over a documentary in which he was portrayed as a bad guy and has thus damaged his reputation. Dr Ng Kok Kwang, 45, said he wanted to clear his name as the documentary linked him to an alleged human trafficking case involving a Filipina, Lannie Erecito, 22. He said NBC's Dateline had affected his reputation and he demanded an apology, failing which legal action would be taken against the station. “I did not commit any wrongdoing and I was very cooperative and helpful to the police and the TV crew when they came to interview me late last year.
“I was shocked when my friends in the United States and patients here called me to tell me about the damaging report. “I watched the documentary and found that a lot of things that I told them had been censored, leaving only the damaging part,” he said in his clinic at Burmah Road here yesterday. The case came to light when Erecito 's uncle, Troop Edmonds, a former marine, and a friend, Jerry Howe – said to be a retired FBI agent – decided to mount a “rescue” operation by coming here sometime last year following a phone call from her.

Erecito is said to have returned home to the Philippines with the two men. However, The Star, quoting sources, reported yesterday that there was no evidence to show that the Filipino singer had been held against her will while she was in Penang.

Dr Ng, who has been a gynaecologist for 11 years, said he brought Erecito to Penang to sing at one of the hotels last October but she wanted to quit a month later. “I told her that she owed me and my business partner Kenny Kang about US$1,200 (RM4,100) for the expenses we spent to bring her to Penang. Lannie was among 16 Filipino singers whom we brought to Penang to sing at hotels.
“They were paid RM700 monthly as promised in the contract, provided free food, accommodation and transportation and equipment to practice. “Lannie agreed to pay and told me that she would call her auntie, who is Edmonds' wife, in the United States. However, she disappeared after that without paying us the money. “Sometime late last year, the police asked me to go to the police station where I met Lannie, her uncle, his friend and the TV crew,” he said. Dr Ng added that it was then that he knew about the allegation and gave his statement to the police, complete with proof like bills and tickets.

= = = == = ==UPDATE: 11th Aug 07

= = == from STAR, Saturday August 11, 2007;

No proof singer held against her will; By BERNARD SEE

PENANG: There was no evidence to show that the Filipino singer featured in a recent NBC documentary was held against her will while she worked here. Lannie Erecito, 22, who performed with a band at a hotel last year, was said to be having problems at work, and often skipped practice sessions. It is learnt that this led to her agent holding back her salary but she was still “free” to do as she pleased. Sources said had she been held against her will, she would not have been able to telephone her uncle, Troop Edmonds, in the United States. “She apparently had a Filipino boyfriend whom she preferred to be with rather than earning a proper salary. She must have been angry with her agent and made up the story of being held against her will,” the sources said.

According to NBC’s Dateline, Edmonds, a former marine, and a friend Jerry Howe, a retired FBI agent, decided to mount a “rescue” operation by coming here sometime last year. The sources said they met then state deputy CID chief Supt Razali Basri and told him they had information where Lannie was being “held”. A police team was immediately sent to raid an apartment in Sungai Dua here but no one was in.

The sources said that when the agent came to know about the two Americans looking for Lannie, he took her to the Georgetown police headquarters in Jalan Patani the next day and reunited her with them. The NBC documentary transcript stated that when asked by a police officer if she had been held captive, Lannie denied it, saying “everything” was fine. The sources said that had Lannie indicated in any way that she was being forcefully held, the police officer would have arrested her agent.

Lannie returned to the Philippines after the agent agreed to return her passport, they said. State police chief Deputy Comm Datuk Koh Hong Sun, when contacted last night, said he would order a thorough probe into the allegations highlighted by the documentary.= = == = == = =

ABOVE: Malaysiakini alert story (details H E R E by Subscription} of the Dramatic Rescue of the Filipino Lannie from the Clutches of Underground Human Trafficking Prostitution. A Doctor gynacologist is implicated in the Human Trafficking to "provide singers". BELOW: Lannie as seen in her passport

Lannie was a girl preyed on by human traffickers. But she had one thing going for her: two men who would stop at nothing to get her back
Following Transcript by NBC

This story aired on Aug. 8 07, under Dateline NBC

October 5, 2006.

"Troop" Edmonds (ABOVE, Uncle of Lannie) and his Philippine-born wife, Ravina, are at home in Oregon when they receive a panicked call from overseas.
Troop Edmonds: I’m sitting there. I'm trying to watch a football game. And all of a sudden my wife's cell phone rings. My wife gets really upset.
On the other end on the line is their 22-year-old Filipino niece, Lannie Ejercito…
Troop Edmonds: She was scared. Crying. And in total desperation.

Chris Hansen (ABOVE, NBC Correspondent): And what did she say?

Troop Edmonds:”Get me out of here!”
And then someone on the other end takes the phone away from Lannie.
Troop Edmonds: She said -- if you want your niece back, you have to send us $1,200 and we'll give you a bank account to send it to. And she hung up.
Chris Hansen: They wanted the money wired to this bank account. And did this strike you as a ransom demand?
Troop Edmonds: Yes.
It sounded like kidnappers. But all he knew for sure was that his niece was desperate.
Troop Edmonds: She wanted out of there. She didn't know what else to do so she called the only person on the planet that could possibly help her.
Troop and his wife had just finished putting Lannie through nursing school in the Philippines and thought, on balance, things were looking up.
Chris Hansen: How would you best describe her?
Troop Edmonds: Good-looking, you know. Got everything to live for. Lannie graduated, but then failed the national nursing exam, which meant her dream of coming to America to work as a nurse was on hold. Her desperation was palpable as the phone call continued. Lannie provided additional details which led her uncle to fear the worst.
Chris Hansen: What did you think Lannie had gotten herself into?
Troop Edmonds: I thought she was going to be ending up being raped and then put into a life of-- of prostitution.
In other words, he worried that his niece had fallen into the shadowy world of human trafficking, where many are lured by false promises to places thousands of miles from home and find themselves thrown into the sex trade. Troop Edmonds wasn't sure where Lannie was exactly or who she was with but it was clear she was in trouble.
Her family knew she'd been offered a job as a hotel singer in Malaysia -- 1500 miles away from her home in the Philippines.

ABOVE & BELOW: one of the "hotel" shown by NBC Video
Filipino singer had been held against her will while she was in Penang.
But when she got to Malaysia, her passport was taken and she was told to sign an 8-year "contract" meaning she would be in Malaysia, against her will, until she was 30.
Lannie had been trafficked.

Ambassador Lagon:(ABOVE) In essence, it's slavery.
Ambassador Mark Lagon says human trafficking is now one of the the fastest growing forms of international organized crime.
Ambassador Lagon: Analysts in the U.S. government estimate there are between 500,000 and 1.1 million people who are trafficked across borders from country to country.That's every year. Lagon, who leads U.S. efforts to combat human trafficking, says it's basically a bait and switch.
Ambassador Lagon: They're told,
"We can get you out of this awful economic situation you're in with better work, the conditions will be good, the pay will be good” and often times it turns out to be the most gross form of sexual exploitation.
And Filipinos like Lannie are a frequent target. There is no shortage of horror stories.
Anna: I work here as a prostitute. I lost my virginity here, and then I got sick. I want to go home. Please help me. Meet "Anna." Like Lannie, she was trafficked to Malaysia from the Philippines. Anna thought she was going to be a waitress, but when she arrived at this club in Malaysia she was told that “servicing customers” entailed going home with them. She was forced to sign an official-looking contract which spells out how much she owes her traffickers.
Anna: Air ticket, 500 ringgit. Cash advance, 1,600 ringgit.

ABOVE & BELOW: The tragic tale of ANNA, who was deceived and a Victim of the Human Traffickers

Experts call this "debt-bondage." Anna calls it a nightmare. On her first night in Malaysia, her virginity was sold for $80.
Anna: I can do nothing because my boss tells me I need -- I need to do that. If i did not do that, I cannot pay my debt. I will not -– I cannot go back to Philippines.
Locked inside an apartment above this club, she was forced to service a variety of customers, including Americans. Two months ago, the Philippine embassy in Malaysia rescued Anna. She is free now, but not well.
Anna: Maybe I have -- I'm afraid I have AIDS.
As for Lannie Ejercito, her uncle Troop Edmonds -- a decorated former Marine -- wasn't going to let that happen to his niece. His wife gave him his marching orders.

Troop Edmonds: She said, “You've got to get my niece. Get her. And don't come back without her.” That's my assignment.
= = == = =2
Troop Edmonds and his wife Ravina didn't know what was happening to their niece, Lannie Ejercito. But they knew she was in trouble. The pretty 22-year-old had taken what she thought was a legitimate job as a singer in Malaysia. But, in fact, she'd been lured in by human traffickers who were demanding a ransom to free her. She was being forced to sign an eight year contract.
Troop Edmonds: She was scared. She wanted out of there. She's stuck in a situation that she has no control over and she doesn't want to spend eight years of her life there.
As it began to dawn on them that Lannie could be in the hands of some pretty dangerous people, they tried redialing the number of the cell phone used to make the ransom call. Maybe they could get a fix on where she was. It didn't work.
Chris Hansen: You know she's in Malaysia.
Troop Edmonds: Uh-huh (affirm).
Chris Hansen: You've got a phone number that doesn't appear to be good.
Troop Edmonds: Right.
Chris Hansen: That's all you got.
Troop Edmonds: That's all I got. But then I call my friend Jerry up.

Jerry Howe, (ABOVE) who spent 26 years as an FBI special agent working everything from counterterrorism to organized crime to nearly 100 kidnappings? In fact, he worked the notorious Patty Hearst kidnapping case.
Jerry Howe: He said his niece had been kidnapped and he wanted to know if I could trace the phone number in any way.
Troop Edmonds: Jerry says, "Yup. No problem. When we going?" I go, "Oh no, not you, too." So he was going. Going to Asia, that is.
Whoever had Lannie probably never imagined what was headed their way as this pair of 60-somethings were about to launch an improbable rescue mission halfway across the globe.
Chris Hansen: Here you are, a retired agent. You've got your buddy Troop, and you guys just going to go over there and get her?
Jerry Howe: Basically. Everybody asks me for a plan. From having to write these scenarios for undercover operations for the FBI, they-- it's-- it's kind of like a waste of paper. It's a-- what you want to happen but never does.
Chris Hansen: So you guys were pretty much going to figure it out as you went along.
Jerry Howe: That's really the only way you can do it.
Having worked the Hearst case, Jerry was especially worried that Lannie's captors might brainwash her during the eight years she would be "under contract."
Chris Hansen: What does that say to you? Eight years?
Jerry Howe: They'll own her in eight years. I mean, psychologically she-- they-- they start immediately. So she is subservient to them. And after eight years, she'd be a robot.
A number of former CIA and FBI officials pitched in and supplied the pair with everything from handheld global positioning units to gyroscope-stabilized binoculars.
The plan -- to the extent there is one -- sounds pretty straightforward: zero in on Lannie's location, create a ruse to separate her from the traffickers, even kick in some doors if they have to. Whatever it takes to get her out of Malaysia as quickly as possible.
Chris Hansen: What did you think the chances were of actually finding Lannie and freeing her?
Troop Edmonds: Maybe ten percent.
Chris Hansen: Ten percent.
Troop Edmonds: Yes. There's a chance. It wasn't hopeful.
After all, the men were traveling 8,000 miles from home to a country of 27 million people in hopes of finding one girl.
Troop Edmonds: I was just worried about the flight home without Lannie. Then breaking my wife's heart. She told me not to come back without her.
Chris Hansen: What made you apprehensive about going on this trip?
Troop Edmonds: You're dealing with bad people. And they all usually have guns. And they all-- and they're bad. I mean, really bad.
Finally, the mission is launched and we're invited along.
Because the two Americans don't know where Lannie is being held, they start in her hometown of Cebu in the southern Philippines.
In her home in this squatters' village, Lannie's mother tells the searchers how it all started.

In early October 2006, she accompanied her daughter to this church (ABOVE), where Lannie and 15 others were told to gather for their trip to Malaysia.
They were met by a woman named Rachel Sabal. She had recruited Lannie and the others, promising them high-paying jobs as singers in Malaysia. For Lannie's rescuers, it's the first big lead.
Jerry Howe: Lannie's mother recognizing and knowing who Rachel was, was the key.
Jerry and Troop pass the name to police who check travel records and quickly discover that a 'Rachel Sabal' has recently returned to the Philippines. It's a lucky break -- she's still nearby.

Detective Jacob Macabali: She just arrived from Kuala Lumpur four days ago.
Jerry and Troop ride along as detectives go looking for Rachel.
Detective Jacob Macabali: Well if there is a written complaint we can go and just--
Troop Edmonds: --arrest Rachel.

When they do find her, Rachel (ABOVE)is defiant, insisting that Lannie and the others went to Malaysia of their own free will and are being treated well. But the cops aren't buying it.
Troop Edmonds: They sweet-talked her and her father into the police station. And then they bilked her for information. And she was getting confident. She was pretty confident-

So confident is Rachel that she's done nothing wrong that she provides police with a crude map (ABOVE) showing where she claims Lannie and the 15 other Filipinos are living. It’s 1500 miles away, in the Malaysian city of Penang.

By this time, it's clear Rachel is in some hot water. She's given a crash course in Filipino law.
Officer: ...the recruitment and transportation of persons by others using violence or threat of violence...
Rachel calls her sister, who we learn is in Malaysia keeping watch over Lannie and the others.
Jerry and Troop discover that the number Rachel has dialed is the same one Lannie's captors used to make the ransom call.
Troop Edmonds: They had a district attorney-type thing who came and was going to try to check out everybody's story. And he went in and had one talk with her and he told us, "Book her. She's the most blatant human trafficker I've ever seen."

Troop Edmonds: And then they threw her in the clink (ABOVE) and she fell apart at the seams.
Rachel: (crying and screaming at the same time)

While this is all going on, Rachel's cell phone rings -- and you won't believe who's on the other end. It's Lannie.
But it's like she's a different person than the one who called Oregon in a panic only weeks earlier. She tells her mother things are fine in Malaysia and that she wants to stay. Her uncle Troop doesn’t believe it, fearful that someone else is putting those words in her mouth.
Troop Edmonds: I just told her, Lannie, we are coming for you. And we're coming now And as quickly as they arrived, Troop and Jerry depart the Philippines for Malaysia, unsure of Lannie's precise location.
= = == = = 3

It's been three weeks since Lannie Ejercito fell prey to a human trafficking network stretching from the Philippines to Malaysia. She's managed to make two calls to her family. During the first call she was in a panic, but the second time she called she was peculiarly calm. Was someone controlling her?
Jerry Howe: I felt everything she said has been orchestrated. She's been told to say what they want her to say.
Retired FBI agent Jerry Howe and Lannie's uncle, Troop Edmonds, are in Asia trying to find and free Lannie.
Flying into Malaysia, the pair knew the clock was ticking.
The arrest of Lannie's recruiter provided important leads but may also have given those holding Lannie a heads up.
Troop Edmonds: I'm worried, we've wasted so much time. They know we're coming. They're going to just be splitting and taking Lannie. We'll never find her. I mean, how we going to find her?

ABOVE: Taking MAS Flight to Penang from Philippines

Armed with a crude map that Rachel the recruiter drew for police, Jerry and Troop canvass a neighborhood near the university in Penang.

Lannie's rescuers are pointed to an apartment (ABOVE) on the top floor.

Jerry Howe: There were lots of shoes (ABOVE) outside the door. But the shoes didn't look like shoes that students would wear. So I felt that we had the right place. But he can't proceed further without help from the authorities, and that's a bit of a crapshoot. Unlike the Philippines, Malaysia hasn't always been the most hospitable toward America or Americans.
Troop Edmonds: The Filipino police said, "Troop and Jerry, you be real careful. That's a Muslim country over there and, you know, and you're American. And, you know."
Chris Hansen: You might not be welcome there? Is that what they were saying?
Troop Edmonds: Yeah. That's what they told me. They said, "We don't even like to go there." After two days of conducting their own investigation, the two Americans roll the dice and approach the Malaysian police.
Troop Edmonds: We just walk up. And we say, well, we'd like to talk to the supervisor. Somebody in charge.
Chris Hansen: And they don't know you're coming.
Troop Edmonds: Oh, no.
Chris Hansen: You don't have an appointment.
Troop Edmonds: No, we--
Chris Hansen: You don't have a contact name.
Troop Edmonds: We don't. No contact name.
Chris Hansen: No phone number.
Troop Edmonds: No.
Chris Hansen: Nothing.
Troop Edmonds: Nothing.
Chris Hansen: You just show up.
Troop Edmonds: Just show up.
They're taken to see a top police official who doesn't quite know what to make of the men or their mission.
Troop Edmonds: Here's these two-- looks like a couple of middle-aged losers, you know. I mean, it's like Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon stumbling across Asia. And here's this incredible story about we're looking for a young Asian girl who was lured into this human trafficking thing. And we're asking for their help. Whether out of sheer curiosity or a sense of duty, the police agree to send a team to the apartment.

Malaysian policeman: (bangs on door) (ABOVE) Hello? Hello?
The window is open, and there are still shoes out front -- all of which suggests someone is inside. But no one answers, and the police move in.

The place is empty.(ABOVE) And it seems whoever was living there left in a hurry.
Is Rachel's map bogus? Or are Troop and Jerry just too late?
Troop Edmonds: When they weren't there when we cased the place our hearts sank a little bit. I mean, a nerve-- I wouldn't say a little bit. A lot.
But then in sweeping the apartment the Malaysian police find something.

Jerry Howe: That's her! A picture of Lannie. Lannie had left behind a scrapbook (ABOVE).
Jerry Howe: It just flashed by me [and] I knew it was her. This one. Well, we're at the right place. Right place, wrong time. It looked like it had something to do with that phone call Lannie placed days earlier.
Jerry Howe: When we were in the Philippines Troop was actually able to talk to Lannie for a few minutes. And Troop announced that we were coming, which I may not have done as an FBI agent, but I understand as an uncle saying, "We're coming to get you." I'm sure they moved them because of that. The scrapbook is a hopeful sign. Troop wonders if Lannie has left it behind as a deliberate clue that she'd been there.
Troop Edmonds: The good thing is, it was proof that this-- they actually were here. So we got something to go on. And the bad part of it is-- is, you know, she's gone.
Chris Hansen: What was your worst fear at that point?
Troop Edmonds: Well, it was a-- I mean how do you find somebody in a country like Malaysia? I mean my god. But it wasn't just could they find her but would they find her before she was victimized?

Every year, the U.S. State Department ranks countries on their efforts against human trafficking. In its most recent report, Malaysia is at the bottom -- alongside North Korea, Iran and Sudan. The State Department says that human trafficking and the sex trade it fuels are rampant here. Yet in all of 2006, not a single trafficker was prosecuted.

Despite its reputation as a conservative, predominantly Muslim nation, Malaysia has a thriving sex industry. We went out with our cameras and met girls from half a dozen countries working as prostitutes.

Madame (ABOVE): Bring the girls who can speak English for you...
In this upscale karaoke bar, the madame literally paraded the girls before us.

ABOVE & BELOW: Lisa, Nadia, Maria?

Madame: Lisa, Nadia.
It's a world "Anna" knows only too well. She came to Malaysia for a waitressing job only to be told she had to work as a prostitute. She went to Malaysian immigration authorities for help.

Anna: I want them to help me -- to rescue me -- so I can go back Philippines.
But instead, she says, a top immigration official called her traffickers and then passed along some words of advice.

Anna: “Go back to work.”

Anna says some of the Malaysian police and immigration officials were actually clients of the clubs where she worked and helped themselves to the girls. Malaysian officials are notorious for turning a blind eye to trafficking. So much so that when victims like Anna show up looking for help, they are often brought up on immigration charges.

Troop and Jerry know they need to find Lannie and find her fast.
Chris Hansen: At this point she had been missing for three weeks?
Troop Edmonds: Yeah. Three weeks, that's about right.
Chris Hansen: That's a long time?
Troop Edmonds: Oh, yeah. I mean they could have already gone through the initiations of the prostitution thing and all that. But, you know, you still want to get her back.
= = == = =4

They'd come 8,000 miles to rescue her and watched as police raided an apartment where she may have been held captive.
But they were too late. Neighbors say a fleet of taxis arrived a couple days earlier and took Lannie Ejercito and fifteen other young people away. Lannie's uncle Troop and his friend, retired FBI agent Jerry Howe, asked cabbies if they remembered seeing Lannie or the others.
Troop Edmonds: This person. Two pictures of this person.
Taxi driver: This person? No, no.
They were desperate, even willing to consult a local faith healer with a reputation for finding missing persons.

Then -- finally -- a break. Word that Lannie has surfaced in of all places a police station. (ABOVE & BELOW)

ABOVE: Who was this officer who greeted them? Not Ishmael or C/Insp. Mohd Ismail (BELOW)?

They race over to see her. And Troop and Lannie are reunited behind closed doors.
Lannie: I've been waiting for you.
Troop Edmonds: Oh, I know. Your mother ... your mother is so worried. (Lannie's crying) So worried.

Troop Edmonds: As soon as I walked in that door she jumped up and she gave me this really strong hug.(ABOVE) And she was squeezing me hard. And she just wouldn't let me go. I thought Lannie was just going to go with us and that was it. And-- turns out that wasn't it.
The reunion is short-lived. Jerry and Troop discover that Lannie was brought to the police station by Kenny Kang, one of the people who has been holding her captive. Kang, who reportedly has ties to Chinese organized crime, may have brought her in to convince police she is not being held against her will. In fact, she's been saying all is well--she's fine.
Jerry Howe: Lannie had already given them a statement saying that Kang wasn't doing anything wrong. But--
Chris Hansen: And what was your problem with that statement?
Jerry Howe: Well, he was there.

The Malaysian police were interviewing Lannie with Kenny Kang (ABOVE) sitting right next to her. Jerry Howe, who's conducted hundreds of interviews during his 26 years in the FBI, is shocked that the lead detective failed to separate the victim from the victimizer.

Jerry Howe: And when I suggested that, it's like the light bulb went off in his head.(ABOVE) "Oh, yeah, that's a good idea." (laughter) And they'll move-- they moved him away from her so she should could speak. But she was still terrified.
Kang is moved to an adjoining room where he proceeds to make himself at home.
Chris Hansen: Did it appear to you that Kenny Kang had a preexisting relationship with some of the police officers?
Jerry Howe: Boy, did I-- I got that impression. I just--
Chris Hansen: And what gave you that impression?
Jerry Howe: Well, he's laughing. He's making phone calls. He's joking with the police officer that he's with. And we can see all this through the glass in the offices there. I was-
Chris Hansen: He was treating this as a minor inconvenience?
Jerry Howe: Right. Minor inconvenience. And thought he was going to leave.

But now, with Kang out of earshot (ABOVE), Lannie makes clear where she stands. She wants out. But that's easier said than done.
Chris Hansen: Who had the passport?
Jerry Howe: Kang. And he isn't about to give it back. Now her uncle's blood was beginning to boil. He wasn't leaving without the passport, and he wasn't the slightest bit afraid of a showdown with Kang, a reputed mobster.
Troop Edmonds: Do you have ... do you have the passport? Do you have her passport.
Kenny Kang: Yes, why?
Troop Edmonds: We want it. Mister Kang has her passport. So we need to get that. Like now. You know what a passport is?
Kenny Kang: Yes.
Troop Edmonds: I'm sure you do. We want it.
Kenny Kang: I'll talk to..
Troop Edmonds: No you're talking to me.
Ishmael: The passport I will...
Troop Edmonds: ...get it. OK.
Ishmael: I will get it. Not you.
Troop Edmonds: OK.
Chris Hansen: You were mad.
Troop Edmonds: Oh, I was really mad. And then when I looked in his eyes I saw this horrible thing. It was like-- not a chance am I going to give you the passport. It's like, "She's my property. And she's leaving this police station with me."
Although there's no evidence money changed hands, Lannie's frustrated rescuers start to suspect the worst: that the police are in Kang's pocket.

ABOVE: The passport was returned via the Police

Troop Edmonds: He paid that other bastard off! That's why he wanted back in there. He did not want to hand over the passport. He paid off that other guy.
Jerry Howe: We need to get the passport and get out of here.
Chris Hansen: Was there a point when you started to think, "Maybe we're not going to get this resolved, even here at the police department?"
Jerry Howe: When the incident happened with the passport, I was very worried at that point that we were all going to (laughter) end up in jail. And--
Chris Hansen: The whole group?
Jerry Howe: The whole (laughter) group of us, yeah.
And just when it seemed things couldn't get any stranger, in walks a man who describes himself as Kenny Kang's business partner, a gynecologist named Ng Kok Kwang.

Ng: I'm Dr. Ng.
Edmonds: Dr. Ng? Dr. Ng, a doctor?
Ng: Yeah.
The doctor says he has a side business supplying singers to work at various hotels and he insists he's not engaged in human trafficking.
Dr. Ng: I'm a professional, ok? I do not want to do any illegal things in terms of this, because that's going to affect my business. I'm making…
Troop Edmonds: Wait a minute, wait a minute, what are you talking about?
Dr. Ng: No no no, I'm just telling you I do not know why this all happen, this all have happened. We have never kidnapped her, I just want to make it clear to you.
Dr. Ng: We never hold them as prisoners, please
Jerry Howe: If you have their passports, they're prisoners.
Dr. Ng: No no, it's not like that, if they want to come to us and tell us they want to go home, they go home.

That's what he claims. But then he pulls something straight out of the human trafficking playbook, arguing that before Lannie and the others can go free they must first reimburse him for the money he says he spent transporting, housing and training them.

Dr. Ng: According to the contract they have signed, they have to pay 200,000…
That translates to nearly $60,000 -- a sum so high it would take the average Filipino at least 20 years to pay it off. We asked to see that eight year contract Dr. Ng keeps talking about.

Dr. Ng: This is the contract we have with them. Oh, no, no. It's "P and C." Sorry. We can't give you a copy. It's private and confidential … If you want any document, I think I must discuss with my partner. I can't just release it like that all right?

Contract or no contract, Jerry and Troop make it clear they aren't about to give in.
Jerry Howe: Well, since you made a mistake and illegally recruited them, we'll just go, we'll just need to pick up her papers and leave and get out the police.
Dr. Ng: OK, OK, please, please, please, I have enough headache, too, OK. I do not want to…
Jerry Howe: You're busy, we're busy, we want to go home.
Finally, convinced Troop and Jerry mean business, Dr. Ng calls it a day. Lannie is free to leave with her passport. Also free to leave: Dr. Ng and his cohort Kenny Kang.
The police let them walk.
Chris Hansen: Now, you were out of the police station. But you were not out of the country.
Jerry Howe: That's true. And as much as I really wanted to go find the other girls, we felt that it was probably better to get her out before whatever organization Kang was associated with would come looking for us.
Chris Hansen: You weren't wasting any time?
Jerry Howe: No. No. Once we decided to go, we left in a hurry, yeah.
But they weren't home free. They still had to get out of Malaysia, steering clear of angry human traffickers and government officials who seemed to treat the traffickers with kid gloves.They wouldn't be safe until they reached the Philippines. But would they finally get the whole story from Lannie?

ABOVE & BELOW: The confrontation at the police station was genuine as both visitors were earing the official tags given by the guards

= = == = =5

Troop Edmonds and Jerry Howe succeed in freeing Lannie Ejercito and they return her to the Philippines for an emotional reunion with her family.
It was only when Lannie reached the Philippines that she confirmed the truth of her ordeal. She says her trafficker's promise of a singing job was an empty one.
Chris Hansen: They took your passport. They locked you in an apartment. You never got an audition?

Lannie (ABOVE, after arriving home): Yeah.
Chris Hansen: Were you a prisoner?
Lannie: Yeah, we were a prisoner
She said she only pretended everything was fine in front of the police and on the phone to her parents for one reason: self-preservation.
Lannie: I'm afraid they're going to do something bad at me. So have no choice then.
Chris Hansen: Where do you think you'd be today if your uncle and Jerry hadn't rescued you?
Lannie: That's a big problem. I really don't know.
Chris Hansen: Do you think you could have ended up in jail?
Lannie: Yeah.
Chris Hansen: Or still locked in that apartment?
Lannie: Yeah.
Although she was relieved to be rescued, she was scared for those she left behind: 15 other young trafficking victims.
As far as she knew, they were still in the hands of Dr Ng and Kenny Kang, who we last saw leaving the police station, apparently with no trafficking charges having been filed against them.
Chris Hansen: Dr. Ng? Chris Hansen, how are you? Sir?
And when we went back to Malaysia to ask him about what Lannie told us, there he was, still free and still practicing medicine.
Chris Hansen: What is a doctor -- a gynecologist -- doing getting involved in this sort of business?

Dr. Ng: Like I told you, it is an investment. I let my friend deal with all of that.
Chris Hansen: And your friend is who?
Dr. Ng: Mr. Kenny
Chris Hansen: Kenny Kang.
Dr. Ng: Yeah yeah
So what about those eight year contracts which Dr. Ng and Kenny Kang pressured Lannie and the others to sign? How could they possibly be on the level?
Chris Hansen: So, you became a doctor in eight years. Are you saying it takes eight years to become a singer?

Dr. Ng: The eight years is not the training part of it. What I am trying to tell you...we have calculated that in order to get back the investment money we put we have to have an eight years contract. Because we bring them in fresh.

Dr. Ng insists Lannie owes him money for training he admits she never received and for housing, which Lannie says amounted to being locked up for weeks on end.
Chris Hansen: We are being told that if these girls don't get jobs singing they are threatened with being booked. Booked. Sent out as a prostitute.
Dr. Ng: No.
Chris Hansen: No?
Dr. Ng: I have shown my agreement last time that no prostitution is involved.
Chris Hansen: You may put that in there to protect yourself but that is not what exactly we are being told doctor.
Dr. Ng: Ahhh, come on! If I want to get involved in illegal things I don't have to become a doctor all right? I am a gynecologist. I am a gynecologist, ok? I don't have to get involved in this kind of illegal thing to make money.

But Lannie isn't the only one accusing him of wrong-doing.
Earlier this year, Philippine officials staged a dramatic late-night operation in Malaysia and freed the 15 others who Dr. Ng and his partner, Kenny Kang, kept locked up for over three months. We sat down with some of them (BELOW).

Chris Hansen: So what happened after Lannie left the apartment?
Male voice: Kenny started threatening us.
Chris Hansen: Kenny started threatening you?
Male voice: Yeah.
Female voice: They said when we can't pass the audition, they will send us to prostitution.
Chris Hansen: To prostitution?
Female voice: Yeah.
Chris Hansen: Kenny Kang said this to you?
Male voice: Yes all of us.
Female voice: Yeah.
Chris Hansen: To all of you even the boys?
Male voice: Yeah.
Chris Hansen: So if you don't make the audition, and start bringing in some money as singers, you are going to go into prostitution.
Female voice: Yes.
Male voice: That's right.
Chris Hansen: How did that make you feel when he said "I'm going to put you in to prostitution"?
Female voice: I was scared.
Female voice: Of course, you're scared.
Chris Hansen: Do you think he meant it? Was he serious?
Male voice: Yeah, he's serious.
Female voice: He is.
Chris Hansen: At the end of the day, you didn't just rescue one girl.
Jerry Howe: No. We actually got, I think 15. Yeah. Total.
Chris Hansen: Now you've solved a lot of cases as an FBI agent, as a security consultant, in retirement?
Jerry Howe: Yeah.
Chris Hansen: Where does this case rank?
Jerry Howe: Oh, it's the best one. It really is. Yeah. It's-- I mean, there's a, you know, lots of criminals. Lots of victims. But this was really a, this was really a highlight. And to be able to do it without a badge was (laughter), that was really great.
Chris Hansen: The reality is it sort of played out like a buddy film in a way.
Troop Edmonds: Well, it did. That's what makes the thing such a great story. Is that finally there's a good ending and everybody is pretty much at peace with the whole thing.
Chris Hansen: Lannie, where do you think you'll be 10 years from now?
Lannie: Successful nurse. (laughter)
Chris Hansen: A successful nurse.
Lannie: Yes.
Lannie recently re-took her nursing exam and is determined to come to the U.S. to work.
Chris Hansen: Do you think you can do it?
Lannie: Yes. If I fail, then go again. Fail it, go again.
Chris Hansen: But you'll make it.
Lannie: I will make it.
Lannie says she was saved from an ordeal that could have ruined her life and her health. Anna, who you also met in our story, was not so lucky. Since her rescue, she's been diagnosed with human papillomavirus --a risk factor for cervical cancer. She will soon undergo a test for HIV/AIDS.
Just last month, the government of Malaysia (see Below) enacted a law designed to crack down on human trafficking. That said, President Bush will decide next month if Malaysia should be sanctioned for what U.S. officials call its poor record in combating human trafficking.

= = == == = = =Extra added

Go H E R E for Post ON (& Msia Anti Human Trafficking Bill)

MORE PICS- 38 Chinese Nationals Nabbed Massage Parlors in Raids in Medan Selera, Jalan Pasar, KL; 12 Muslims Masseurs in USJ Subang Jaya & 4 in Kinara

= = == = == = == = = =

Watch the Video Webcast (5 altogether) if you have the time for the "buffering, loading & playing" go H E R E

NB: ALL above images from NBC Video Clips, produced by film producer

The actors and actresses may not be the "real" persons, check with NBC if there is a disclaimer. And the Penang location "shots" can only be confirmed by those familiar and from Penang. The police station was reported to be the HQ in Burmah Road and believe it or not , a TV crew wase allowed inside to film the proceedings. So were there any studio "make-up" shots?

= == = = = = = = =Below New post to be transfer out

MORE PICS – 500 “No Merdeka - Malaysian Indians” Protest - Putra Jaya, Aug 12 07; Attempt-Fail Submit Memo to PM Abdullah on the Plight of Indians after 50 Years

ABOVE & BELOW: Malaysiakini had the breaking story on Aug 12 07 , details H E R E

= == = == == = == == = ==

ABOVE: “50 Years of Golden Jublie Independence Celebration – No Merdeka for Malaysian Indians – the huge banner unfurled says it all.

ABOVE & BELOW: The Prime Minister avoided the protesters by attending to his UMNO flock up north on the coming BN manifesto

Unfortunately the Prime Minister office was close and Datuk Seri Ahmad Badawi was on an official trip in Pulau Pinang. More than 500 protesters from NGOs and opposition parties had gathered at Putra Jaya on a glommy Sunday morning causing a traffic snarl in the morning as road blocks were set up to prevent buses entering the administrative capital.
The police and the Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) were in abundance to keep the protesters on leash. The protesters left peacefully after making the customary speeches with the supporters shouting hoarse their prepared slogans.
After 50 years what have they achieved and what is the future for them?

ABOVE: The crowd was prevented from going near Bdawi's Seri Perdana residence and BELOW: The other big banners
“Despite dozens of seminars and scores of learned papers, neither the community's leaders nor the MIC have come up with a systemic plan that the government might use to help the Tamil masses, leaving them rudderless and adrift.”

ABOVE & BELOW: Speakers after speakers highlighted thr plight of the Malaysian Indians and urged Badawi to do something quick

= = == Background- Plight of the Malaysian Indians January 25th, 2006

Only UMNO can solve Indian Problem;

In recent weeks there has been a lot of discussion on the plight of the Malaysian Indians. It was started by none other than the supreme leader of the MIC itself. The MIC has failed to uplift the position of the Indians who have and are continuing to lose whatever has been achieved since independence. The Indians alone must solve their problems. The have to change their mindset and struggle to improve their economic well being. Politics has become so communal in Malaysia such that each ethnic community has to take care of its own members. The Indian community is very divided by caste, religion and clans. It is now plagued with problems like unemployment, poverty, gansterism and alcoholism. If the present trend continues these will only become worse.

ABOVE: the police and FRU were at hand to control the peaceful crowd BELOW & BELOW

Can the Indian community by itself come out of the present situation without outside help? Theoretically they can as they have the talent and capabilities but in reality I feel they do not have the will to do so. They had and continue to depend too much on government aid which by itself is not a crime as they are all citizens in this country. They were doing well before as government servants at all levels. Most of them were loyal and possessed good work ethics. On the whole they were an asset to the government and nation. Over the years they were slowly but surely eliminated from the public sector and today sad to say they are denied even the lower category jobs. The Indians like the Malays are basically wage earners and are not business minded like the Chinese. They are contended to be employees and as such have done very well as professionals and administrators in public and private sectors. There are a large number of them successfully employed in the multinational institutions.

ABOVE: P Uthayakumar, one of the leagal advisers were angry that they were single out in the buses during road blocks. BELOW, he showed a letter written to the PM last week and acknowledged and now waiting for his reply as No 1 top civil servant. He want the special privileges and hope "all poor people must be helped"
Many of them who have migrated elsewhere are also doing very well. But in their own country they are in such a pitiful state. If the minority Indian community is allowed to further lose their economic possessions it will be a tragedy not just to them but to the country as a whole. UMNO must realize that if they neglect the Indian community, in future their well being will also be affected as these neglected people will resort to unfavorable activities and even terrorism. The more elite among them would migrate to greener pastures leaving behind those ”unwanted” and the illiterate. These people will become a liability to the nation.

ABOVE & BELOW: Placards stating despite voting for PM & BN government, the Insdians are left out, "no future"

It is important therefore that the UMNO government give some serious thought to the plight of Indians. Employ them and give them the opportunity to excel in the public sector. Tap their talents to improve the public service. UMNO need not fear or be suspicious of the Indians as they will definitely be loyal employees of the government and the nation for life. In the final situation, UMNO and not the MIC that can deliver the Malaysian Indians out of the doldrums.

Dr.Chris Anthony

= == = == from Asia Times, 2005
Malaysia's minority Indians drift; By Baradan Kuppusamy

KUALA LUMPUR - More then 150 years after arriving here to work British-owned rubber plantations, Malaysia's minority Indian community is drifting aimlessly and with little to call their own in their adopted land. Once again the plight of this minority community is being hotly debated, and once again there is deep division over what the causes are and what the remedies might be. The travel and tourism lines of Malaysia, "Truly Asia", are just that - intended to project the image of a contented, plural society living in prosperity while the reality is that there is simmering resentment particularly among Indians of Tamil origin. After 150 years of laboring in rubber and oil-palm plantations and in the Public Works Department, building every kind of infra-structure, Malaysian Indians own less then 2% of the national wealth, economists told a public forum on the future of Malaysian Indians last week. Malaysian Indians have yet to discover their inherent talents, find adequate expression for their culture or assert their identity despite forming about 8% of the population of 25 million people - the third largest group after native Malays who form the majority and the immigrant Chinese. In 2004, minority Indians accounted for a disproportionate 15% of juvenile delinquents, committed 40% of all violent crime and made up nearly 50% of all convicts in prisons - presenting the typical profile of a helpless underclass. Malays constitute nearly 60% of the population, while the economically dominant ethnic Chinese, who control business, make up 25%. The rest are mainly smaller indigenous groups. "We arrived here with a few cooking pots and pans, and three or four generations later most of us are still no better off," said A V Kathiah, a former trade unionist. "Some Indians don't even have that - they have become beggars. "We are marginalized and forgotten not just by the state but also by our own Indian leaders. We have no say on how policies are formulated and our future is really bleak." These arguments are familiar and have been heard, argued and written about for many decades. Despite the grievances, some Indians have done well and have on their own footing clambered up the education ladder out of poverty and today count as successful doctors, engineers and accountants - even businesspeople.

But experts say the majority of the Malaysian Indians are trapped in a life of quiet desperation. Last week, the government's top economic planner gave a briefing to 500 Indian intellectuals, arguing how the government takes the future of Indians into consideration when formulating policies. He asked for a show of hands of people who are happy with the measures taken by the government. "Not one of us raised our hands," said a university lecturer who attended the briefing. Mustapha Mohamad, who heads the government's Economic Planning Unit, then asked who was not satisfied. "All of us put our hands up," the lecturer told IPS.

"We told him in no uncertain terms that government has done little or nothing." The problem, however, is not just official neglect, experts say. While the Malay-dominated government openly favors native Malays and actively helps them get a head start in every way possible way - scholarships, business loans, employment, industrial training - the same government has refused minority Indian demands for an affirmative action policy that would give them a helping hand. "We're not asking for handouts," said Denison Jayasooria, executive director of the Social Strategic Foundation, a private think tank for ethnic Indian concerns. "There are government policies in place to help Indians, but implementation has been weak," Jayasooria said recently. "If this is not addressed, there will be a lot of discontent." Government authorities should recruit more Indians in the civil sector, ensure more places for them in public universities and increase business loans for Indians, he said. Outside an affirmative policy, the government has helped through a quota system under which Indians get 5% to 10% of university places, scholarships and some minimal employment in the civil service. A small elite within the community has used these resources to climb out of poverty, but for most there are no such doors to escape. Some experts also blame the deep division within the community along caste, class and ethnic lines. These are historical factors created by British colonialism that artificially created a structured Indian community with better off, upper-caste Malayalees (from Kerala) and Jaffna Tamils at the top and lower-caste Tamils, who form about 80% of the community, at the bottom.

While the Malayalees and Jaffna Tamils benefited from the close proximity to the British masters and exploited the modernizing economy to accumulate wealth and advance economically, the Tamil laboring masses remained trapped in rubber plantations, living a miserable existence enclosed by a green jungle impenetrable to any modern influence.

Also, like the Chinese who maintained or built new networks on the mainland, the Malayalees and Jaffna Tamils had networks to fall back on in their native lands and had options to move back or move on to other climes. In contrast, the Tamil laborers had turned their backs on the villages in India they came from, and the ignorance and apathy born out of poverty in the plantations resulted in many of them not getting citizenship even in Malaysia. This prevented them from getting jobs or accessing benefits. The plantation Tamils suffered a major blow when rubber and oil-palm plantations were converted to golf courses, housing and new township as the country experienced an economic boom in the 1990s. Many Tamils were uprooted and ended up as unskilled workers living in urban slums, an ideal breeding ground for crime, drugs and gangsterism.

"But those who move to urban centers sometimes have it worse, finding themselves in squalid, crime-ridden settlements and working as low-paid laborers because they lacked sufficient education and skills," said the social activist, S Arulchelvam. The arrival of several million foreign workers made Tamil labor irrelevant to the economy, further marginalizing the community and pushing some of its youths to a life of crime. Unlike other Indian ethnic groups, the Tamils could not fully exploit education as an escape tool. Tamil schools were neglected not only by the state but also by the community itself. Until lately education did not figure highly in the Tamil laborer's scheme of things. The Tamil-dominated Malaysian Indian Congress party (MIC) did try various schemes to give the Tamil masses a stake in the economy - from forming cooperatives to setting up a solely Indian-owned corporation. These schemes failed not just because of bad management but also due to pilfering by the very people entrusted with the hard-earned cash.

The MIC political leadership and vision is also stagnant, feudal and lacking in clout. Although a partner in government, the MIC, led by Samy Vellu since 1979, has not been able to pressure the government into improving the fortunes of the Tamil masses. "He [Samy Vellu] runs the party like a feudal zamindar [tax collector] and makes all the decisions and hangs on to power and will probably die in office," said an academic. Being a minority, the Indians lack the numerical strength to either exert any political influence or make a significant contribution to the national economy.

The plight of the Tamil masses stems first from their own apathy and by the effects of systematic exploitation by colonial capital and, now, neglect by independent Malaysia. Despite dozens of seminars and scores of learned papers, neither the community's leaders nor the MIC have come up with a systemic plan that the government might use to help the Tamil masses, leaving them rudderless and adrift. The neglect has given rise to a strong undercurrent of dissatisfaction and anger in the community - an anger that calls for urgent attention. (Inter Press Service
= == = = == = =
MALAYSIAN INDIANS - ALARMINGLY THE HIGHEST NUMBER BEING SHOT DEAD BY THE POLICE

It has been brought to our attention that the Malaysian Indians are alarmingly the highest number being shot dead by the Police. The glaring, brutal and ruthless examples are the six (6) people killed in Tumpat, Kelantan, the eight (8) month pregnant Lady together with four (4) others (who have no previous criminal records) who were shot dead in Sg Besi, the Malaysian Indian Mental Patient who was shot dead in Kluang, Johor and latest three (within a period of two weeks being Anthony Ponnusamy (24/08/2002) Letchumanan Moneandy (24/08/2002) And Mohanan Pillai (6/09/2002).

In the Tumpat, Kelantan incident the Police's excuse of mistaken identity is, insulting the intelligence of all Malaysian as there are almost no Indians residing in Tumpat and any Indian in town would be easily identified and known to any resident in Tumpat, let alone the Police. Furthermore, it has been reported that the said victims were shot at from all directions.

As for the eight (8) month Pregnant Lady shot dead by The Police, it is absurd that they cannot distinguish between an eight month Pregnant Lady and a Criminal and that the police shot her dead in self-defence. It has been brought to our attention that the said Pregnant Lady was also shot at as the police did not want any evidence/anyone left alive to testify as to the truth about the Police Shooting dead an Individual/s.

As for the Malaysian Indian Mental Patient, he was shot dead in full view of hundreds if not thousands of people. Can't the police distinguish between a Mental Patient and a Criminal? The front page colour photo in the local newspaper clearly suggest that the deceased is a Mental Patient. The Police are yet to explain what warranted/justified these citizens being shot dead by the Police let alone an .apology to the families and the country at large and neither has any tenable/valid reasons been offered for the same.

The police also totally disregarded the law in deliberately not wanting to hold an open Inquiry / Inquest as is required by the law except for the Tumpat case. One can only assume that the one and only reason for the same is that the police have something to hide. Alarmingly the highest number (proportionately) being shot dead by the Police are Malaysian Indians. It has been brought to our attention that the Malaysian Indians become easy preys/targets of being shot dead by the police for the following reasons:

1. They do not have Political Clout. For example in the case of shooting dead of the 8 month pregnant lady in Sg. Besi and the six in Tumpat Kelantan, M.I.C President Dato Seri S. Samy Vellu raised the same at the cabinet. He later said that the Prime Minister would look into it. After two (2) years, while the Prime Minister is still "looking into it" the shootings still go on.
2. They do not have Economic Clout.
3. They are socially suppressed and do not have the means to fight back legally.
4. They are ignorant of their Legal Services.
5., Because of Poverty they cannot afford Legal Rights.
6 The Political Parties including the BN, MIC, and the BA and other NGOs' in particular the supposed Human Rights NGOs do not care about the Malaysian Indian Plight as this cause may not be politically rewarding, not exciting, not glamorous, not a populist cause not appealing to the majority communities, would not attract international attention etc.
7. The Local Media including the Tamil Press gives less coverage to this Malaysian Indian plight also for the reason aforementioned in Item 6 hereinabove.
8. The Police take the Indians for granted also for the aforesaid reasons mentioned in Item 6 hereinabove.

Posted on 2003-06-18

= = == = == Paper no. 618 ; 28. 02. 2003

MALAYSIAN INDIANS: The third class race by C. S. Kuppuswamy

“A race of people is like an individual man: until it uses its own talent, takes pride in its history, expresses its own culture and affirm its own selfhood, it cannot fulfill itself” --- Malcom X

The third largest ethnic group in Malaysia after the Chinese and the Malays are the Malaysian Indians. Despite the fact that the Indians constitute about 8% of the country’s population of 22 million they own less than 2% of its national wealth. According to The Economist (22nd Feb 2003), “they make up 14% of its juvenile delinquents, 20% of its wife and child beaters and 41% of its beggars. They make up less than 5% of the successful university applicants.” The story of the Indians has been a case of progressive deterioration from the time Malaysia became independent in 1957.

The mass Indian (South Indian) immigration can be traced back to the early 20th century when the Britishers brought them to meet the labour force requirements in the colonial public services and in private plantations. While the bulk of the Tamils were employed in the plantations, the Sri Lankan Tamils and Malayalees were in supervisory or clerical positions. Of the North Indians, the Punjabis were in the police force, while the Gujaratis and Sindhis were in the business (mostly textiles). Despite the mass exodus of South Indians back to India after independence and after the racial riots of May 1969, the Tamils (South Indians) constitute about 80% of the total Indian community.

The Indians themselves are to some extent responsible for their present unenviable and ignominious status, and the policies of the Malaysian Government since independence had not been helpful either. Ignorance born out of poverty in the plantations resulted in many of them not getting citizenship which was offered in 1957 when Malaysia became independent. This prevented them from getting jobs.

A major setback for the Indian labour force was the steady closure of the rubber plantations giving way to tea and oil palm plantations. Their numbers started dwindling and they had competition from the illegal Indonesian immigrants. Unlike the Chinese who lay great emphasis on education, it was not given due importance by the Indian working class. The Tamil schools in the estates were often mere apologies and offered no opportunity for progress in higher education. The undue importance on Tamil education has also weakened the Indian community in competing with the indigenous Malays and the Chinese. One of the major reasons for the low percentage of Indian origin students in the tertiary institutions in the country is the lack of merit and as a result, even the quotas set for the Indians remain unutilised.

Despite their economic backwardness, the Indians were a peace loving people and were not involved in any racial riots either in May 1969 or later except for a few incidents of clashes on account of religious sentiments. However in March 2001, the ethnic clashes between Indians and Malays in a village in the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, brought into focus the plight of the Indian community in Malaysia. The incident has since been forgotten on the assumption that the clashes resulted on account of poor living conditions in the villages than the racial differences. There has been no introspection of this incident by the Government or by the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), the leading political party of the Indians.

The MIC, a constituent of the coalition government at the center since independence does not have much political clout and has not been able to do anything substantial to improve the lot of the Indians. Datuk Seri Samy Vellu is the President of the MIC since 1979. Charles Santiago, a Malaysian economic consultant, in an interview on 5 Feb. 2003 to Radio Australia (Asia Pacific) said “ He (Samy Vellu) is in, very much in control of the party, and the party’s run almost on feudal organisation where almost all the decisions are made by the President himself…. A lot of Indians are critical of MIC’s role in the coalition government … the Indian middle class dose not want to associate itself in the MIC and largely making the MIC a working class party." This in brief sums up the state of affairs of the leading Indian party and its leader in the coalition government.
On January 9, 2003, India celebrated the Parvasi Bhartiya Divas (Day of the Persons of the Indian origin and Non resident Indians), and ten eminent persons of Indian origin were given the Indian Diaspora award. Datuk Seri Samy Vellu was one among them. One wonders whether Government of India made any enquiry about Datuk Seri Samy Vellu's contributions to the Malaysian Indians. Referring to the grand mela organised by Government of India for the people of Indian origin, Dr. P. Ramasamy of Malaysia in a letter to the Far Eastern Economic Review (Feb., 27, 2003) said “like previous (Indian) governments it continues to betray the interest and welfare of million of Indians locked in poverty and misery overseas…. It wants to develop the links with the wealthy segments of the overseas Indian community while turning a blind eye at the less savory side of the diaspora.”

The Malaysian Government policies since independence have also been consistently to the detriment of the non-Malays in general though the Indian community seems to be most hard hit. The first major step was the introduction of work permits for the non-citizens when a majority of Indian workers had not obtained Malaysian citizenship. Subsequently in 1971 with its New Economic Policy, the Government championed the cause of the Malays by the policy of "Bhumiputras"(sons of the soil). The Bhumiputras were to have a major share in the public sector while the private sector remained secure with the Chinese.

The introduction of quotas for the different races in the educational institutions has also adversely affected the Indian community. The New Development Plan for the period 1991-2000 was also designed to achieve the socio-economic upliftment of the Bhumiputras and the MIC’s efforts to place the Indians in a separate ethnic grouping seems to have made no headway with the Malaysian Government. Being a minority, they do not have the numerical strength to exert any political influence nor do they make any significant contribution to the national economy. The ruling government’s apathy to the Indians is therefore understandable.

But what about the leaders like Samy Vellu and what has been their contribution towards the alleviation of poverty of the poor people of Indian origin? There has been none.
The following observations elucidate some of the reasons for the current state of the Indians and the bleak chances of their betterment:
*"Malaysians have failed to integrate in any meaningful fashion, even after almost forty years of independence.” – Edmund Terrence Gomez in the book “ Ethnic Futures – The state and identity politics in Asia”
* ‘Indians have little prospect of advancement, since Malaysia’s Chinese minority dominates business and Malays control the bureaucracy”- P.Ramasamy (The Economist 22nd February 2003).
* “Despite the country’s veneer of racial harmony and opportunity for all, many in the Indian community have limited access to housing , education and jobs. About 54% of Malaysian Indians work on plantations , or as urban labourers and their wages have not kept up with the times.” –Santha Oorjitham (Asiaweek January 26, 2001).
* “The Scope of government help (to the Indians) is also limited by the realities of the race politics in Malaysia, which effectively means the problems of the majority Malays will always come ahead of those of the Indians”. – Simon Elegant (FEER April 20, 2000).
* “Malaysia’s Indians are at the bottom of the country’s social and economic scale and their ebullient yet stubborn political leader Samy Vellu is not helping matters”. Simon Elegant (FEER April 20, 2000)

Conclusion.

The plight of the Malaysian Indians can be attributed in part to a dependency mindset nurtured on the plantations and this has to be overcome. There is a significant and emergent need for a change in the leadership of the Indian parties in power to take up the cause of the Indians to get them their due rights free from racial discrimination and have full access to jobs and education. As proposed in the Conference on the “The Malaysian Indian in the new millennium –rebuilding the Community” held at Kuala Lumpur in June 2002, problems such as the loss of self esteem within the community, external derision and the absence of unifying factors to forge a single identity have to be addressed by the leading cultural, social and political institutions and embark on an action plan. However the effort has to come from within the community and has to be sustained as such deliberations have been there in the past also with no major impact on the Government.

Till now the Indian Government has done very little in this regard. Since the Government of India has now embarked upon a programme for interacting with the Overseas Indians, especially with the affluent sections in the Western nations, it should also look after the interests of the under privileged Overseas Indians in countries like Malaysia. As part of the “Look East” policy interaction with Malaysia especially in the field of education will be beneficial to the Indian community. The High Commission of India in Kuala Lumpur used to award scholarships to the poorer sections of the Indian community in the late 80’s. The system , if continuing, can be augmented further to help the community. Setting up IIT type institutions and exchange programmes can also be considered. There is need to make a proper selection and not go by the recommendations of the big wigs.
As of now the problems faced by the Malaysian Indians are not being attended to by the Malaysian Government nor does the community have the economic or political clout to demand their redressal. One wonders whether the Indians belong to the third major race or to a third class race in the country. We are not aware what recommendations the High Power Committee of Government of India ( really high powered with extensive tours all over the world, five star hotels and lavish receptions etc) have made for the poorer sections of the Indian community abroad. Acceptance of the dual citizenship for a selected class is not going to be helpful either for this hapless lot.

MORE PICS & Video – 5 Mat Rempit Illegal Racing (Proton Putra) Cars Detained Under Road Transport Act Section 42 19/7; 5Years Jail & RM10,000 Fine

ABOVE: The Blue Proton Putra & BELOW: The Yellow one


ABOVE & BELOW: Engine heavily modified for racing?

August 10, Kuala Lumpur Traffic Police confirmed 5 Mat rempits in Illegal supped up Racing Cars (Proton Putra) were nabbed.- 3 in Dataran Merderka in an operation in the early hours of Friday morning. Two later surrendered in the Police headquarters in Jalan Bandar. All were between ages 20- 27

ABOVE & BELOW: The Mat Rempits Illegal Racers nabbed in KL in Early hours of Friday Morning, 10th Aug 07

According to Police Special Squad ASP Norhizam Banam, they will be conducting nightly checks to weed out these dangerous drivers in the Federal capital. They were detained under the Road Transport Act under Section 42 – 19/7 and when convicted is liable to a 5-year jail term and a fine not exceeding RM10,000

ABOVE & BELOW: another Proton Putra supped up for racing?

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Watch the Video Clip (1min) - The Detained Racing Cars at Jalan Bandar Traffic Hq

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MORE PICS – Lee Kuan Yew - Pioneer of Singapore; 1-1/2 Hr Q & A - Aug 06 07; 'My generation is forged... in the crucible struggle; 'I am what I am"

We look with awe this genius Harry Lee Kuan Yew who seems to accomplish so much in his life time on earth. But remember all of you possess genius minds, but you look to these individuals as your geniuses, who connect slightly more, momentarily, with some information. They offer this information to you as great revelations of fact. They are, through their most powerful and magnificently gigantic scopes, viewing just only a pinpoint of reality!

You do not incorporate a basic understanding of what and who you are. Therefore, how do you determine to understand what you have created within a universe? You do incorporate what you choose to call genius minds. You are all multidimensional creatures, and you study one dimension! Therefore, you base facts upon one dimension, and you express these as temporary truths. There are myriads of dimensions!

The multidimensional nature of the human psyche gives clues as to the abilities that lie within each individual. These are part of your racial heritage. They give notice of psychic bridges connecting the known and 'unknown' realities in which you dwell. There are springboards to lead you into other levels of understanding and initiate you in journeys in which it may seem that the familiar is left far behind.The known reality is even more precious, more "real," because you will find it illuminated both within and without by the rich fabric of an 'unknown' reality now seen emerging from the most intimate portions of daily life.

Your concepts of personhood are now limiting you personally and en masse, and yet your religions, metaphysics, histories, and even your sciences are hinged upon your ideas of who and what you are. Your psychologies do not explain your own reality to you. They cannot contain your experience. Your religions do not explain your greater reality, and your sciences leave you just as ignorant about the nature of the universe in which you dwell.

"These institutions and disciplines are composed of individuals, each restrained by limiting ideas about their own private reality; and so it is with private reality that we will begin and always return, period. These may appear esoteric or complicated, yet they are not beyond the reach of any person who is determined to understand the nature of the unknown elements of the self, and its greater world.

"The self is multidimensional when it is physically alive. It is a triumph of spiritual and psychological identity, ever choosing from a myriad of probable realities its own clear unassailable focus. When you don't realize this, then you project upon life after death all of the old misconceptions. You expect the dead to be little different from the living--if you believe in afterlife at all--but perhaps more at peace, more understanding, and, hopefully, wiser. "The fact is that in life you poise delicately and yet perfectly between realities, and after death you do the same= = == == = == == = =

ASKED HOW HE WANTS TO BE REMEMBERED, HE SAYS:
I am what I am

By Ng Tze Yong August 08, 2007
As the Minister Mentor left the stage last evening, he took two steps to the side to grasp the railing before making his way down. A small, perfectly natural move for an elder statesman. But for a 20-something like me, it served as a reminder that Mr Lee Kuan Yew turns 84 next month. For in our mind's eye, we still see MM as he appeared in the videos of his fiery rally speeches, in his younger days. When you actually see him in person, you are jolted by the passage of time. And once again we think of how important it is to hear from someone who can make the dry pages of history spring to life.

MM Lee's mind was as razor-sharp as ever, when he spoke yesterday at the first of a seminar series, Pioneers of Singapore: Inside Stories. For one-and-a-half hours, MM Lee took questions from the 300-strong audience - telling tales of old, linking them to current trends, and all the while peppering his remarks with dates, places and names. Once, he even reminded the moderator, who was about to move on to another question, that he had not yet answered the second part of the previous question.

It drew laughter, and quite a few nods, from the audience. The seminar series is organised jointly by the Economic Development Board (EDB) and The Straits Times. In explaining the idea behind the series, EDB Society president Lee Suan Hiang had said that there was a 'time window of opportunity' to capture the stories of the pioneering generation. Arguably the best question of the night also centred around the old and new guard.Someone remarked that for years he had been grooming scholars, meeting potential leaders at tea parties, and developing a new crop of ministers and civil servants. So why, with the exception of PM Lee, have we been unable to find enough talent to match the joint qualities of the pioneering team? How can we recreate such a team?

'My generation was forged... in the crucible of struggle,' said MM Lee. 'I will not say that the present team is inferior in ability. If you look at the successive teams, in fact, the standard has gone up. 'But what is missing is the combat experience, the actual fire.' The current team, he said, has been through 'a few scares', such as Sars and the Asian financial crisis, and 'did not lose their nerve'. But there is a 'vast difference' between a soldier who has seen real combat and one who hasn't.

The present team, MM Lee believes, is 'as best as you can get'. In a globalising economy abound with opportunities, someone else wanted to know, how to attract the best into government? If you were a young high-flying lawyer, he asked MM Lee, would you forsake everything to join the Government? His response: 'It depends on the kind of life I have had before I reached 30.' Someone from a humble background who made the grade through a scholarship, MM Lee said, would feel 'a certain moral obligation' to keep the systemgoing.

Someone from a more comfortable family background would hesitate. 'That is the problem we are facing,' he said. Several questions dealt with the usual issues: Foreign talent and retaining the Singapore identity, the failed merger with Malaysia, and Singapore'sunique brand of labour tripartism.
But there were also some unusual ones. 'What keeps you awake at night?' someone asked.

'These days, I don't stay awake at night. I leave that to the PM and his ministers.'
What is your BHAG, another wondered. (BHAG is slang for Big Hairy Audacious
Goal.) MM Lee's BHAG, it turned out, was that PM Lee would find a capable team to succeed him in time.

The last question of the night was: How do you want to be remembered?
'I am what I am' was MM Lee's reply. The seminar series comes on the wave of a recent interest in political memoir-writing. Memoirs are great. But storytelling, as yesterday's session showed, can be just as important.
There's a play showing at the National Library called Big Fool Lee. It tells the story of legendary radio broadcaster Mr Lei Dai Soh, a well-loved Cantonese storyteller on Rediffusion from the 1940s to 1980s. Mr Lei was said to stop traffic in Chinatown with his tales. Hearing MM Lee in person had a similar effect. The audience hung onto his
every word. MM Lee once famously said: 'Even from my sick bed, even if you are going to lower me into the grave and I feel something is going wrong, I will get up.'

His words still make even the inattentive among us get up.
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Profile

Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew has been one of Singapore's most iconic pioneers since independence.
Becoming Singapore's first Prime Minister in 1959, he remained in that capacity for 31 years to become the world's then longest-serving premier. After leading the People's Action Party (PAP) through eight General Elections, Lee stepped down on 28 November 1990, handing over the Prime Ministership to Mr Goh Chock Tong. But he continued to serve in Cabinet as Senior Minister for another 14 years. Since 2004, he has taken on the newly created role of Minister Mentor.
His biggest achievement is often cited as his stewardship in transforming Singapore from a small trading settlement into a world-class global city in three decades.
When Singapore was officially declared independent on 9 August 1965, Lee was overwhelmed with grief rather than joy. Singapore had just been ejected from the Malaysian Federation. The tiny island did not boast any natural resources and faced little odds of survival. In fact, Richard Hughes from the London Sunday Times made a gloomy prediction on 22 August 1965: 'Singapore's economy would collapse if the British bases - costing more than 100 million pounds sterling - were closed.' Indeed, just six years later, Britain withdrew totally from Singapore. The economy faltered, but did not collapse. Instead, by the 1970s, the economy was steaming ahead as an industrial powerhouse.
Lee and his team tackled problems like security, education, housing and unemployment head-on.
The economy was in bad shape. Lee was told that by the end of 1966, unemployment would exceed 14 per cent and this pointed to social unrest. The loss of the British military expenditure between 1968 and 1971 left a huge hole in the economy, costing some 20 per cent of GDP and ten thousands of jobs. Lee acted fast. In 1961, the EDB was established to attract foreign investment, offering attractive tax incentives and providing access to Singapore's highly skilled, disciplined and relatively low paid work force. The government also maintained tight control of the economy, regulating the allocation of land, labour and capital resources. Modern infrastructure and communications networks were improved and constructed. By 1990, the GDP had ballooned from US$970 million in 1965 to US$34.5 billion.

Housing was another big problem. Lee's solution was to set up the Housing and Development Board (HDB) in 1960, a statutory body which began a massive public housing construction programme to relieve the housing shortage. After an initial lack of response due to cost, Lee decided to come up with a savings plan which would allow Singaporeans to own their own homes. The Central Provident Fund (CPF) scheme then took off, and the number of Singaporeans who wanted to buy new HDB flats rose rapidly from about 3,000 in 1967 to 70,000 in 1996. Lee also suggested that HDB constantly improve the quality and vary the flat designs and landscaping of new towns to add distinctiveness and variety in the neighbourhoods. Today, HDB flats have become a quintessential part of Singapore living.
A further headache - national security. In 1965, Singapore had virtually no armed forces to defend itself. Domestically, racial tension simmered and riots were not unusual. With increasing unrest, Lee and then Defence Minister Goh Keng Swee started plans to build Singapore's own army from scratch. The original National Service Ordinance passed by the British was amended in 1967, and by 1971, Singapore had 17 national service battalions (16,000 men), with 14 battalions (11,000 men) in the reserves.

There were also schools for basic military training and officer cadets, the artillery, engineers, bomb disposal units and naval training. Things took off from there. By 1990, Military Technology, an international defence journal, said that the Singapore Armed Forces had grown into a "respected and professional force operating modern defence systems that was capable of defending the territorial integrity and independence of the state." Today, National Service has become a rite of passage for young men and even a means of unifying people from all backgrounds.
Good governance and clean administration was another source of concern for Lee. He knew he could not lead Singapore alone, so he made sure he appointed the right leaders to stand alongside him. Their education, capabilities and character were areas which he looked out for.

In order to draw people into taking up a political career, Lee also raised the incentives for people who wanted to join the government. More importantly, Lee introduced legislation that gave the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau greater power to conduct arrests, search, call up witnesses, and investigate bank accounts and income tax returns of suspected persons and their families. With Lee's support, CPIB was given the authority to investigate any officer or minister - a means of keeping the government transparent and corruption at bay.

To achieve First World Standards in a Third World region, Lee also set out to transform Singapore into a tropical garden city. He introduced an anti-spitting campaign in the 1960s and started planting trees at community events to instil a 'clean and green' movement in Singapore. Over subsequent decades, millions of trees, palms and shrubs were planted to beautify public spaces. Lee also started plans to clean up the Singapore River and Kallang Basin and bring fish back to the rivers. Proper underground sewage was also laid for the whole island, all part of Lee's plan for rigorous urban renewal.
On a global macro level, Lee also helped to further Singapore's international recognition by building diplomatic relationships with other countries. Although he continues to have foreign critics, Lee's close ties with other world leaders over the years has shaped him into a much sought-after international statesman.

= = == =Quotes ON POLITICS

'To straddle the middle ground and win elections, we have to be in charge of the political agenda. This can only be done by not being beaten in the argument by our critics. They complain that I come down too hard on their arguments. But wrong ideas have to be challenged before they influence public opinion and make for problems. Those who try to be clever at the expense of the government should not complain if my replies are as sharp as their criticisms.'
(On the opposition, From Third World to First, The Singapore Story: 1965-2000, Lee Kuan Yew. 2000)
'You know, the cure for all this talk is really a good dose of incompetent government. You get that alternative and you'll never put Singapore together again: Humpty Dumpty cannot be put together again...and your asset values will be in peril, your security will be at risk and our women will become maids in other people's countries, foreign workers.'
(Justifying pay hikes for Singapore ministers, The Straits Times, 5 April 2007)

ON THE ECONOMY

'On our island of 224 square miles were two million people. We inherited what was the capital of the British Empire in Southeast Asia, but dismembered from the hinterland which was the empire. The question was how to make a living? How to survive? This was not a theoretical problem in the economics of development. It was a matter of life and death for two million people. The realities of the world of 1965 had to be faced. The sole objective was survival. How this was to be achieved, by socialism or free enterprise, was a secondary matter. The answer turned out to be free enterprise, tempered with the socialist philosophy of equal opportunities for education, jobs, health, housing.'
(Speech at the 26th World Congress of the International Chamber of Commerce, October 5 1978)
'In fact, we were part of the process that disproved the theory of the development economics school, that this was exploitation. We were in no position to be fussy about high-minded principles. We had to make a living and this was a way to make a living.'
(On Singapore's strategy of attracting multinational investors, at a time when this was viewed as exploitative of the local economy. From Lee Kuan Yew: The Man & His Ideas, Han Fook Kwang, Warren Fernandez, Sumiko Tan. 1998)
'Political reform need not go hand in hand with economic liberalisation. I do not believe that if you are libertarian, full of diverse opinions, full of competing ideas in the market place, full of sound and fury, therefore you will succeed.'
(Quoted in The Straits Times, Aug 17 2004)
'Before you discuss your future, remember how we got here - the past. You have a role to play in transforming a dependent under-developed community to an independent industrial society. It depends upon how successfully we can mobilize internal and international capital and expertise, get people to learn the skills and crafts, and acquire the managerial and marketing know-how. Only then can we produce goods and services efficiently and competitively for international customers. So whilst throwing your eyes towards the far horizon, do not forget the harsh realities of today. Let us first negotiate and overcome these immediate hazards.'
(Speech at NTUC's seminar, November 16 1969)

'A faint hearted people would have given up long ago. We never gave in, never mind giving up. For that alone, we deserve to succeed. If we press on, in twenty years we shall build a great metropolis, worthy of a hardy, resilient and stout-hearted people.'
(National Day Speech, August 8 1972)

'Geography and history decided this for us. Whilst we have no vast hinterland to open up for plantations or mines, we have the location, the social and economic infrastructure, the discipline and skills to keep us competitive. Singapore has always had to face competition in a tough world.

Our young are ambitious and energetic. They must also acquire those qualities which enabled their parents to make Singapore what is it today - the grit and determination to stay the course, the strength and stamina to ride over rough patches.
We must take in our stride today's upsets, making adjustments as conditions change, whilst keeping our eyes on targets for next year, for the years after, working and planning into the next decade and beyond.'
(Speech at the 23rd World Assembly of the World Confederation of Organisations of the teaching profession, July 31 1974)
'In the early years any factory was welcome. For example, when I was in London in January 1968 to discuss the British withdrawal, Marcus Sieff, the chairman of Marks & Spencer's, met me at my London hotel. He had seen me on BBC television. He suggested that as Chinese had nimble fingers, Singapore could go into making fish-hooks and lures for trout fishing. This was high-value work because the feathers had to be skilfully attached to the hooks. There were other such products which did not require much capital but created many jobs. His retail network could help market the goods. I must have looked forlorn on television for him to have taken time to see me. I thanked him but nothing came of it. Not long after, a Norwegian manufacturer of fish-hooks, Mustad, set up a factory in Singapore, employing several hundred workers to make millions of fish-hooks of all shapes and sizes, though not with feathers for trout fishing.'
(Recounting in his memoirs the desperation of the early years to get investments into Singapore, From Third World to First, The Singapore Story: 1965-2000, 2000)

ON THE FUTURE
'If we maximise our opportunities in this golden period, in five years we will have a more vibrant cosmopolitan Singapore, not only clean, green and safe, but also a city, fun to work and live in for Singaporeans and for the many foreign professionals and their families.'

(Speech at Tanjong Pagar GRC Orchard Fiesta at Civic Plaza, Ngee Ann City Building, 7 July 2007)
'If you ask me, the future is really shining for us...We will survive; this is a red dot, which we can make redder and brighter.'
(On the economy, quoted in The Straits Times, November 5 2006)

MORE PICS & Video – Day 32 – Altantuya Murder Trial Resumes Sep 3 till Case ends; Zulkarnain admitted Destroying evidence; Slow to Correct Errors

Day 32 Trial
ABOVE: Malaysiakini headline story details H E R E on Day 32 Trial which will go into recess for 3 weeks and resumes on Sept 3 for a "trial-within-a-trial" until the Case ends. The prosecution witness was on the stand for 6 straight days - took the rap from Counsel and explained his errors and Sirul's counsel was unwell to have the Trial-within-a-trial at 4.30pm.
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'I made mistake in address' (from SUN, a very brief report as the usual team was not on)

SHAH ALAM (August 9, 2007): Prosecution witness ASP Zulkarnain Samsudin (ABOVE) admitted in the High Court he made a mistake in the address of an apartment owned by murder accused Cpl Sirul Azhar Umar, where jewellery belonging to Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu was discovered. Asked by DPP Tun Majid Tun Hamzah during re-examination how he discovered his mistake, Zulkarnain said he obtained the unit number 5-2-4 from either a bill or an envelope found in the unit. However, he remembered seeing the number on the door and corrected it to 5-3-7 on a search list on the same day.

Asked how a police report lodged by him on the discovery of a jacket and jewellery contained the wrong apartment number, he said he took back a pile of envelopes to his office and he relied on the information on them when he lodged a report on Nov 7. He realised his mistake when he handed over the jewellery and jacket to an investigating officer. He called the information technology department of Bukit Aman a few times to try and correct the mistake but the line was busy. There were only three lines for the whole of Malaysia to call the department. He said he could only correct his mistake in December.

"Apart from this, I was involved in other cases," he said, adding that he had also forgotten about it. Questions over the differing addresses were first raised on Friday, when the court and the prosecution had a version of a police report that was different from that of Sirul Azhar's defence counsel. The prosecution had Sirul Azhar's apartment number as 5-3-7 while the defence had the number as 5-2-4. To another question, Zulkarnain said the photographs taken at the apartment were spontaneous ones. He said he did not ask Sirul Azhar to hold the jacket or show the jewellery like it appeared in the police photograph.

ABOVE: Kamarul Hisham arriving well in the morning but insisted he was not feeling well (BELOW) when the judge wanted to carry out the Trial-within-a-trial at the end of the day.

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2007/08/10

Altantuya murder trial: Witness: I took a month to correct mistakes
By : V. Anbalagan and Rita Jong, NST
ASP Zulkarnain Samsudin says it slipped his mind as he had other cases to handle

SHAH ALAM: It took more than a month for a police officer to correct mistakes in a report he had lodged on the seizures he made while investigating the murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu. ASP Zulkarnain Samsudin, the 23rd prosecution witness, also admitted to trial judge Datuk Mohd Zaki Md Yasin that the delay was due to his oversight. The witness lodged the initial report about 7pm on Nov 7 last year after seizing Altantuya’s jewellery from Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar’s apartment in Kota Damansara. He also seized Sirul’s jacket. In that report, Zukarnain had stated that the seizure of the jacket and jewellery was at flat number "5-2-4". Zulkarnain admitted in court that the address was wrong as he had relied on the information from an utility bill or an envelope which he took from Sirul’s apartment. He said Sirul’s addrress should have been "5-3-7".

Zulkarnain said he spotted the mistake at 11.30pm on the same day when he handed over the seized items to investigating officer ASP Tonny Lunggan.
"I spotted the mistake after reading through the report again," he said when re-examined by deputy public prosecutor Tun Abd Majid Tun Hamzah.
DPP: What did you do?
Zulkarnain: I immediately contacted Bukit Aman’s IT division to make the correction but no one picked up the calls despite several attempts.
DPP: When did you finally rectify the matter?
Zulkarnain: On Dec 13, which was more than a month after the first report was made.
DPP: Why did you take so long?
Zulkarnain: I had other cases to handle. It just slipped my mind.
Mohd Zaki: So you totally forgot?
Zulkarnain: Yes.
The witness said he made two or three attempts to contact the IT personnel but could not reach them.
"The division had only three telephone lines which served the entire nation," he said.
Earlier, Zulkarnain was asked to explain how "5-2-4" still existed in the first report.
During cross-examination by Wong Kian Kheong, who is appearing for Abdul Razak Baginda, the witness admitted that he had thrown away the letters he took from Sirul’s apartment (to obtain the full address) on Nov 7.
Zulkarnain also said he did not record this in his investigation diary. He also said he could not remember if he threw away the utility bill or had handed it over to Tonny.

ABOVE: KK Wong (Abdul Razak's lawyer) and his assistant and BELOW: Leaving court

Wong: (ABOVE) Do you know that under Section 143 of the Criminal Procedure Code, whatever item seized should be referred to a magistrate before it is discarded?
Zulkarnain: No.
Sirul, 31 and Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri, 36, both members of the Special Action Squad, are charged with the murder of the Mongolian at Mukim Bukit Raja, Selangor, between 10pm on Oct 19 and 1am on Oct 20 last year. Razak, 47, a political analyst, is charged with abetting them.

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ABOVE & BELOW: The lawyers for Azilah

= = == = =Watch the Video Clip (1 min 42s) - Day 32 Trial

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see Next Post Go H E R E On

MORE PICS – Lee Kuan Yew -Pioneer of Singapore; 1-1/2 Q & A from 300 Audience- Aug 06 2007; 'My generation is forged... in the crucible struggle; 'I am what I am'

MORE PICS – Dr Mahathir repeats his “Malaysia is an Islamic State” at LID 2007; No Truth Within Pragmatism; Believes are based upon your Experiences

First Deputy Premier Datuk Najib Razak said it and PM Abdullah twisted it and DAP MP Karpal Singh rebutted it H E R E in Malaysiakini
Now Dr Mahathir says it again in Langkawi ”Malaysia is an Islamic State” – though not officially and neither secular but recognized by most. (see below)
others may argue:

One may raise the issue of the ‘Merdeka Agreement”/‘Social Contract’ and say that it was intended to be “secular” but the reality is whatever the expectations are on the ‘Social Contract’ may be, what the character of a state is – whether secular, Islamic or theocratic – is measured by and reflected in the land, its peoples (including majority peoples), predominant culture and its rulers, with all four indicia representing the cornerstones of a state……

More details from Jeffery, a commenter at Kit's Blog on August 6th, 2007 at 17: 09.06

Also see H E R E On

Secular/Islamic state contention just word-play or argument over labels? at the DAP public forum “An Islamic State after 50 years?” on 25th July 2007

What we are witnessing from these politicians is the philosophy of pragmatism in our truths, what we believe, are based upon your experiences; and as they hold to be efficient we hold them to be truthful but this view of efficiency is distorted. "There's only relative truth. Relative truth is for us, absolute truth is for God. So, let's not waste time to seek truth, because..."

There is no Truth Within Pragmatism; Truths are mere beliefs, but as you identify them as Truths, you do not see them as Beliefs and there is NO Absolute Truth
No Truth Within Pragmatism. In this philosophy, Truth is dependent upon experience. That there are truths that are unchanging but a pragmatist incorporates all of this philosophy, and creates their own truth relative to their experience; but NOT beyond. There are truths beyond physical experience; constants that are, within themselves, a priori,( accepted without being thought about or questioned. The existence of God is a priori for most people with a religious faith. In a court of law, a priori assumptions about guilt and innocence can be dangerous.) - to which a pragmatist does not subscribe.
We view efficiency as what may be easiest; we believe this to be expedient. But again what you incorporate within physical focus may not always be your easiest path, so to speak, but it may be your most efficient for your intent. You may incorporate action which needs some effort initially, for you have trained yourselves within one direction; but within your action, your effortlessness comes. Therefore, the pragmatist views the experiences as being true, if they are efficient, temporarily; but once another philosophy introduces itself and they are viewing this as efficient also, they are inclined to be discontinuing in one and moving to another, much as a leaf blowing through the wind. It incorporates effortlessness in allowing the wind to carry it, but it does not direct itself. In this same way, the pragmatist floats with what he views to be an efficient philosophy, on a temporary basis.

There are truths which are unchanging but pragmatists do not believe in unchanging truths. All things, to the pragmatist, are changing; even truths. There is no truth within pragmatism! They are very aware of this fact, which they also incorporate quite well! Facts are very much within their focus. If a fact is presented, it is accepted.

There is no absolute, everyone speaks from his or her own truth. The point is you speak from your own beliefs, your own expressed beliefs. There are truths and there is the definition of a truth. A truth is some expression, which is translatable in every area of consciousness in some manner. What is translatable in every area of consciousness, in some manner? Is it due to reality, tone or color but not YOUR associations? Is it translatable in every area of consciousness, unchangeable? . Truth contains no distortion

= = == == = = == = == = =Dr Mahathir repeats his views on Islamic State

Stop harping about whether Malaysia is an Islamic state, Mahathir says

By SEAN YOONG Associated Press Writer Aug 7, 2:11 AM EDT
LANGKAWI, Malaysia (AP) -- Malaysia is an Islamic state even though it is not officially called that, former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said Tuesday, stepping into a national debate over religion that has raised concern among the country's minority Chinese and Indians.

"Officially we are not an Islamic state, neither are we a secular state. But by definition, as recognized by most international societies, Malaysia is an Islamic state," Mahathir told reporters. But that doesn't mean non-Muslims are deprived of their rights, Mahathir said.

Concerns have mounted among the country's large Buddhist, Christian and Hindu minorities that their rights are becoming subordinate to Islam following a recent series of religious disputes that ended infavor of ethnic Malay Muslims, who comprise nearly 60 percent of Malaysia's 26 million people. Malaysia's Constitution does not clearly say whether the country is secular or theocratic, but states that Islam is the official

religion. It also guarantees freedom of worship for non-Muslims. Last month, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak upset minorities and civil rights groups by saying Malaysia is an Islamic state. On Saturday Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said Malaysia is not a theocratic state, but neither is it a secular state. Mahathir said too much talk about such issues could prove harmful for the multiracial country, in which Chinese comprise about 25 percent of the population and Indians 10 percent.

"I think it is not leading us anywhere except to create a lot of problems," he said. "People have never suffered in Malaysia. There may be cases of those people who want to convert and all that, but otherwise we have lived together - people of different races, different religions - without any problems. Why are we going to talk about this problem?"
Much of the debate over Malaysia's identity has been triggered by the reluctance of civil courts to make rulings in cases involving disputes between Muslims and non-Muslims. The courts have instead

referred the cases to Shariah courts, which govern the conduct and lives of Muslims. The Shariah courts have invariably ruled in favorof the Muslims.

The most controversial case was that of Lina Joy, a woman born to Muslim parents who failed to get the Federal Court to recognize her conversion to Christianity. The court rejected her appeal to have the "Islam" tag removed from her national identity card in May, saying that only the Shariah court could rule over that.
= = == == = == =and from
from anilnetto.com/

What does Najib mean by "Islamic state"?
posted on Tuesday, August 7th, 2007 at 3.03 pm

When Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak declared that Malaysia is an "Islamic state", he created quite a stir and quickly polarized public opinion between advocates of an Islamic state and those who believe Malaysia is a secular nation. Much of the debate now is constrained by knee-jerk reactions to the labels. So let's go behind the labels and look at the substance: what exactly does Najib mean by "Islamic state"? An academic friend of mine shared these thoughts with me:
"Does he (Najib) mean a state which:

- has a constitutional monarchy,
- espouses parliamentary democracy with an equal franchise for all regardless of religion,
- has a plural system of laws (although non-bumiputera customary law has been eliminated), with the civil law based upon the Constitutionas supreme and the final arbiter of our worldly affairs,
- has no restrictions on who, in principle, can be the prime minister of the federation or the chief minister of any state in the federation, not unlike, say, (Shmu'el) HaNagid (993-1056), the leader of Andalusia's Jews, who became, in 1037, vizier of the Muslimkingdom of Granada and commander in chief of its Islamic armedforces, second only to the king of Granada,
http://www.pen.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/1236/prmID/1404
- provides for equal rights for all citizens,
- upholds equality before the law,
- practises a single system of taxation for all,
- provides for the free practice of all religions without discrimination?

"OR, instead, does he mean a state in which:

- non-Muslims must cede all secular power to Muslims,
- non-Muslims are subject to discriminatory taxation,
- non-Muslims live and worship only by the secular grace of Muslims,
- non-Muslims cannot, in principle, hold any positions above a certain technical level,
- a non-plural system of laws, defined by someone's interpretation of sharia (see, Abdullah an-Na'im), is imposed upon all,
- the Constitution does not represent the supreme aw of the land,
- non-Muslims are not free to live where they choose,
- there is no concept of citizenship regardless of religion?
"It seems to me that if we can get a declaration of assent to the first set - that that is indeed what is meant by an Islamic state -then it would not quite matter what adjective is prefixed to our state. And if such a notion of an Islamic state gains wider assent, that would be a major positive contribution to the global battle."

= == = == = ==and Mahathir's Bakery - The loaf - a branch is coming to KL on Sept 20 07 at Jalan Bukit Bintang

STAR Nation; Sturday August 4, 2007

Dr Mahathir’s bakery to open second outlet in Kuala Lumpur

KUALA LUMPUR: The Loaf, the bakery cum bistro jointly owned by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, will open its second outlet at the Pavilion here on Sept 20. The former Prime Minister, who revealed this yesterday, said Loaf’s first outlet in Langkawi which opened last year had been “very well accepted.” “So much that my (Japanese) partner and I decided we should come to KL,'' he said during a Q&A session after delivering a keynote address on 'Driving Malaysia as a Franchising Hub' at the Putra World Trade Centre yesterday. Dr Mahathir had set up the bakery in Langkawi with Japanese businessman Jiro Suzuki. “I have been telling people to do things and advising people in business. Now let’s see if I can do what I have been telling other people. “I hope I succeed. I hope I encounter difficulties and find solutions to them. Then I can talk with greater authority,” he said.

He said if the business was successful here, he would consider franchising The Loaf. The Loaf is a Japanese-style gourmet bakery using Japanese baking techniques. It employs a famed Japanese baker. Dr Mahathir said that in going into business, one should always do it properly and not “cut corners.” “I believe one should produce a really good product,” he said, in conceding that some locals found the prices at the Loaf a bit expensive.

The Loaf is located
C9, Perdana Quay, Telaga Harbour Park
Pantai Kok, 07000 Langkawi; Tel 04/959-4866; Fax: 04/959-4803

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Tun Dr. Mahathir is pleased with the turnout of foreign leaders for LID

Monday, August 06, 2007 - 12:06 PM

Langkawi - Former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir is pleased with the turnout of foreign leaders for this year's Langkawi International Dialogue.

Tun Mahathir was met at the loaf, bakery and bistro co-owned by him at the picturesque Telaga Harbour in Langkawi. When asked to comment that some countries with better financial resources were pouring money into Africa foe development, he said Malaysia did not have that kind of money but the nation has other ways to assits within its capacity. un Mahathir also described this year's LID theme of "Poverty Eradiction Through Human Capital Development and Capacity Building," as appropriate. This year's dialogue will address issues confronting human development challenges, which are closely linked with peace and security and environmental challenges.

= = == = == =Watch Video Clip (1 min 8 s) - on his The Loaf Bakery & his comments on LID 2007


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MORE PICS & Video – Day 31 Altantuya Murder Trial; More errors & discrepancies Surfaced in Reports; Amendments - made under orders; Address Mix-up

Day 32 Trial
ABOVE: Malaysiakini headline story details H E R E on Day 32 Trial which will go into recess for 3 weeks and resumes on Sept 3 for a "trial-within-a-trial" until the Case ends. The prosecution witness was on the stand for 6 straight days and Sirul's counsel was unwell to have the Trial-within-a-trial at 4.30pm.
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'I made mistake in address' (from SUN, a very brief report as the usual team was not on)

SHAH ALAM (August 9, 2007): Prosecution witness ASP Zulkarnain Samsudin (ABOVE) admitted in the High Court he made a mistake in the address of an apartment owned by murder accused Cpl Sirul Azhar Umar, where jewellery belonging to Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu was discovered. Asked by DPP Tun Majid Tun Hamzah during re-examination how he discovered his mistake, Zulkarnain said he obtained the unit number 5-2-4 from either a bill or an envelope found in the unit. However, he remembered seeing the number on the door and corrected it to 5-3-7 on a search list on the same day.

Asked how a police report lodged by him on the discovery of a jacket and jewellery contained the wrong apartment number, he said he took back a pile of envelopes to his office and he relied on the information on them when he lodged a report on Nov 7. He realised his mistake when he handed over the jewellery and jacket to an investigating officer. He called the information technology department of Bukit Aman a few times to try and correct the mistake but the line was busy. There were only three lines for the whole of Malaysia to call the department. He said he could only correct his mistake in December.

"Apart from this, I was involved in other cases," he said, adding that he had also forgotten about it. Questions over the differing addresses were first raised on Friday, when the court and the prosecution had a version of a police report that was different from that of Sirul Azhar's defence counsel. The prosecution had Sirul Azhar's apartment number as 5-3-7 while the defence had the number as 5-2-4. To another question, Zulkarnain said the photographs taken at the apartment were spontaneous ones. He said he did not ask Sirul Azhar to hold the jacket or show the jewellery like it appeared in the police photograph.

ABOVE: Kamarul Hisham arriving well in the morning but insisted he was not feeling well (BELOW) when the judge wanted to carry out the Trial-within-a-trial at the end of the day.

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2007/08/10

Altantuya murder trial: Witness: I took a month to correct mistakes
By : V. Anbalagan and Rita Jong, NST
ASP Zulkarnain Samsudin says it slipped his mind as he had other cases to handle

SHAH ALAM: It took more than a month for a police officer to correct mistakes in a report he had lodged on the seizures he made while investigating the murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu. ASP Zulkarnain Samsudin, the 23rd prosecution witness, also admitted to trial judge Datuk Mohd Zaki Md Yasin that the delay was due to his oversight. The witness lodged the initial report about 7pm on Nov 7 last year after seizing Altantuya’s jewellery from Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar’s apartment in Kota Damansara. He also seized Sirul’s jacket. In that report, Zukarnain had stated that the seizure of the jacket and jewellery was at flat number "5-2-4". Zulkarnain admitted in court that the address was wrong as he had relied on the information from an utility bill or an envelope which he took from Sirul’s apartment. He said Sirul’s addrress should have been "5-3-7".

Zulkarnain said he spotted the mistake at 11.30pm on the same day when he handed over the seized items to investigating officer ASP Tonny Lunggan.
"I spotted the mistake after reading through the report again," he said when re-examined by deputy public prosecutor Tun Abd Majid Tun Hamzah.
DPP: What did you do?
Zulkarnain: I immediately contacted Bukit Aman’s IT division to make the correction but no one picked up the calls despite several attempts.
DPP: When did you finally rectify the matter?
Zulkarnain: On Dec 13, which was more than a month after the first report was made.
DPP: Why did you take so long?
Zulkarnain: I had other cases to handle. It just slipped my mind.
Mohd Zaki: So you totally forgot?
Zulkarnain: Yes.
The witness said he made two or three attempts to contact the IT personnel but could not reach them.
"The division had only three telephone lines which served the entire nation," he said.
Earlier, Zulkarnain was asked to explain how "5-2-4" still existed in the first report.
During cross-examination by Wong Kian Kheong, who is appearing for Abdul Razak Baginda, the witness admitted that he had thrown away the letters he took from Sirul’s apartment (to obtain the full address) on Nov 7.
Zulkarnain also said he did not record this in his investigation diary. He also said he could not remember if he threw away the utility bill or had handed it over to Tonny.

ABOVE: KK Wong (Abdul Razak lawyer) and his assistant and BELOW: Leaving court

Wong: (ABOVE) Do you know that under Section 143 of the Criminal Procedure Code, whatever item seized should be referred to a magistrate before it is discarded?
Zulkarnain: No.
Sirul, 31 and Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri, 36, both members of the Special Action Squad, are charged with the murder of the Mongolian at Mukim Bukit Raja, Selangor, between 10pm on Oct 19 and 1am on Oct 20 last year. Razak, 47, a political analyst, is charged with abetting them.

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ABOVE & BELOW: The lawyers for Azilah

= = == = == = == = = == = Below Day 31 Trial

ABOVE: Malaysiakini has an unusual headline for Day 31 Trail. With Details H E R E - "Dragged like a cow & handcuffed and chained". Other media also gave different emphasis on the Day 31 Trial, see below.

ABOVE: the 3rd accused Abdul Razak Baginda, arriving on Day 31 Trial and BELOW & BELOW: the Hooded ones Sirul and Azilah



Officer: I was directed to amend reports
R. Surenthira Kumar and Maria J. Dass, from SUN

SHAH ALAM (August 8, 2007): A police officer told the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder trial he was directed by his superior officer to amend the police reports he had filed before Cpl Sirul Azhar led them to his house where police recovered jewellery belonging to Altantuya. ASP Zulkarnain Samsudin (ABOVE) denied suggestions by Sirul Azhar's lawyer, Kamarul Hisham Kamaruddin, that the amendments were done to "beautify" the reports.

He said his superior, DSP Gan Tack Guan,(ABOVE) had reasoned that the amendments were necessary because the copies of the reports were not in "good condition". Zulkarnian was replying to Kamarul Hisham's questions during the continuation of his cross-examination.

ABOVE: Sirul Azhar's lawyer, Kamarul Hisham Kamaruddin, surprised everyone in courts when he produced a copy of the report filed by Zulkarnain which stated a different unit number from the flat owned by Sirul Azhar

"The previous reports were destroyed as they were not clear because of problems with the printer and photocopier," he said when asked about the discrepancies in the reports. Zulkarnain also told judge Datuk Mohd Zaki Md Yasin he lost count of the number of times he had signed the amended copies of the reports because Gan had told him to re-sign the copies on numerous occasions. Asked if he had signed the copies before the trial started, Zulkarnain admitted doing so. He said he "blindly" signed the amended copies without reading their contents.

"I did not check the details. I just signed the space where my signature was required," he said. The amendments included the insertion of Sirul Azhar's name on the report, and the addition of the words "something", "yang" and "ada" to the report which stated that Sirul Azhar had told Zulkarnain and Chief Insp Koh Fei Cheow he could take them to his house in Kota Damansara to show where he kept the jewellery. It also stated that Zulkarnain had cautioned Sirul Azhar before he made the revelation. Kamarul Hisham asked Zulkarnain about his visit to Sirul Azhar's flat and the recovery of the jewellery from the inner pocket of Sirul Azhar's black jacket.

He also caught the prosecution off guard when he produced a copy of the report filed by Zulkarnain which stated a different unit number from the flat owned by Sirul Azhar. "Can you explain why the report states the unit number as 5-2-4 whereas my client's unit number is 5-3-7?" he asked. DPP Tun Abdul Majid Tun Hamzah and Abdul Razak Abdullah Baginda's lawyer, Wong Kian Kheong, said they did not have a copy of the report referred to by Kamarul Hisham. Mohd Zaki then instructed that copies be made available to the others after lunch break. Zulkarnain said he obtained the unit number based on one of the utility bills which he recovered from Sirul Azhar's flat. Kamarul Hisham then pointed to the photograph taken by the police team headed by Zulkarnain which showed clearly the unit number as 5-3-7, but Zulkarnain was unable to offer an explanation. Zulkarnian was also quizzed about his report which stated that the jewellery was seized from Sirul Azhar's wardrobe, and not his jacket as claimed.

Photos of Sirul Azhar pointing to the jewellery placed in his jacket after it was recovered were also shown to Zulkarnain who admitted instructing Sirul Azhar to pose for the shots to be taken.

Zulkarnain denied an earlier suggestion by Kamarul Hisham that he had offered to help Sirul Azhar if he cooperated with them by providing information during the investigations.

ABOVE: Glum faced, ASP Zulkarnain Samsudin (ABOVE) leaving court after being questioned throughly by Sirul Azhar's lawyer, Kamarul Hisham Kamaruddin. (BELOW) The evidence carted to court on Day 31 Trial

= = = = =Bernama’s Account
August 08, 2007 21:16 PM

Two Versions Of Police Reports With Varying House Address
SHAH ALAM, Aug 8 (Bernama) -- The defence in the murder trial of Altantuya Shaariibuu raised questions on whether the jewellery belonging to the Mongolian woman was found at the flat of the accused Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar or another house since there were two versions of the police reports with varying addresses. The police reports were lodged by ASP Zulkarnain Samsudin, 34, from the Major Crime Department, D9 at the Kuala Lumpur Police Contingent Headquarters on the finding of the jewellery at Sirul Azhar's house after he and his team returned from inspecting Sirul Azhar's flat at no 5-3-7, at Jalan Camar, 4/1 Gugusan Semarak, Section 4, Kota Damansara, Selangor on Nov 7 last year.

Counsel Kamarul Hisham Kamaruddin, who represented Sirul Azhar, produced to the court a copy of a version of the police report with Zulkarnain's signature on it which stated the address of the house where the police went to inspect was 5-2-4. More shocking was when the prosecution and lawyers representing the other accused, Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Abdul Razak Abdullah Baginda, did not have the copy of the report with the 5-2-4 address. High Court judge Datuk Mohd Zaki Md Yasin then ordered that they be given copies of the report.

When questioned by Kamarul Hisham, Zulkarnain, who is the 23rd prosecution witness, denied that he and his team went to another house instead of the house at the address 5-3-7. However, Zulkarnain, admitted that after returning from inspecting Sirul Azhar's house he did lodge a report on the finding of the jewellery and wrote in the report the address of the house where the inspection was conducted as 5-2-4. Zulkarnain then clarified to the court that he had made a mistake in the police report by writing the address 5-2-4 based on a bill or letter (he could not remember which one) which he had taken from Sirul Azhar's house.

Kamarul: This is your report with the address 5-2-4?
Zulkarnain: True.
Kamarul: Referring to the report. What caused you to make that mistake 5-2-4?
Zulkarnain: At the house of the second accused (Sirul Azhar), I had taken several handphone bills, water or electricity bills or letters from the house. One of the bills that I took stated 5-2-4. I can't remember the bill or letter.
Kamarul: You did not check what other bills stated?
Zulkarnain: Other bills I can't remember.
Kamarul: You just picked the one that happened to be 5-2-4?
Zulkarnain: True.
Sirul Azhar, 36, and Azilah, 31, both from the Bukit Aman police Special Action Unit, are charged with murdering Altantuya, 28, at a location between Lot 12843 and Lot 16735, Mukim Bukit Raja, near Shah Alam, between 10pm on Oct 19 and 1am on Oct 20 last year, while Abdul Razak, 47, a political analyst, is charged with abetting the two. All three face the death sentence if convicted.
During the 31st day of hearing today, the defence also questioned Zulkarnain's testimony which said that Sirul Azhar was the one who disclosed and showed to the police where the jewellery belonging to Altantuya were kept.

At the last hearing, the court was told that the jewellery were found in the inside pocket of a black jacket belonging to Sirul Azhar in a cupboard in a bedroom of Sirul Azhar's two-bedroom flat.
Kamarul contended that Zulkarnain had made a proposal to Sirul Azhar that the police would help him (Sirul Azhar) if he (Sirul Azhar) agreed to follow the police and show as well as identify the jewellery belonging to Altantuya. However, Zulkarnain disagreed with Kamarul.
Zulkarnain also denied that he had asked Sirul Azhar to pose for the photographer by holding the black jacket and show the jewellery based on their previous agreement.

Zulkarnain also disagreed with Kamarul Hisham when it was put to him (Zulkarnain) that he had ordered Sirul Azhar to sit at a dining table (ABOVE)at his (Sirul Azhar) flat while he and five other policemen entered Sirul Azhar's bedroom and closed the door for 10 to 15 minutes.

The witness also disagreed when put by Kamarul Hisham that a few minutes later, three policemen came out of Sirul Azhar's bedroom carrying a bag whose contents were unknown. Zulkarnain denied that he then directed Sirul Azhar to go into the bedroom. During the hearing on Friday (Aug 3) the defence had raised questions on the presence of two separate police reports by Zulkarnain which contained several differences, including the spelling of his (Zulkarnain) name and date of birth.

However, Zulkarnain had clarified to the court that there were two reports because he had amended several words after checking it for the second time on the same day.

Meanwhile outside the court, a 51-year-old woman, dressed in a black coat like a lawyer and seen at the court almost everyday during the Altantuya's trial, had lodged two police reports to refute a report lodged by a court policeman alleging that she had disrupted court proceedings. In her report, the woman, who is from Sarawak, stated her occupation as a freelance security consultant and that she had obtained the court's permission to place a chair at the public gallery for her to sit as she had only recovered from an accident. The report by Lance Corporal Zulkifli Abdul Rahman stated that the woman had directed policemen on duty at the court to place a chair for her at the public gallery and that the chair should not be removed by anyone, including the lawyers and members of the press.

= == = == = == == == = = =Watch the Video Clip 51 sec - Day 31 Trial

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see also next post H E R E On

MORE PICS – Dr Mahathir repeats his “Malaysia is an Islamic State” at LID (Lankawi International Dialogue) 2007; No Truth Within Pragmatism by Politicians; Believes, are based upon your xperiences

and Pics & Video of his Bakery - The Loaf in Langkawi

RM7b Aluminum Smelter – Study-Built Deal - Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd CMS + Australian Rio Tinto; On-Stream by 2011; 2 Smelters NO Undersea Cable?

ABOVE: Malaysiakini has an unusual headline for Day 31 Trail. With Details H E R E - "Dragged like a cow & handcuffed and chained". Other media also gave different emphasis on the Day 31 Trial

ABOVE: the 3rd accused Abdul Razak Baginda, arriving on Day 31 Trial and BELOW & BELOW: the Hooded ones Sirul and Azilah

UPDATE: Day 31 Trial – 8^th Aug 2007

Officer: I was directed to amend reports
R. Surenthira Kumar and Maria J. Dass, from SUN

SHAH ALAM (August 8, 2007): A police officer told the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder trial he was directed by his superior officer to amend the police reports he had filed before Cpl Sirul Azhar led them to his house where police recovered jewellery belonging to Altantuya. ASP Zulkarnain Samsudin (ABOVE) denied suggestions by Sirul Azhar's lawyer, Kamarul Hisham Kamaruddin, that the amendments were done to "beautify" the reports.

He said his superior, DSP Gan Tack Guan,(ABOVE) had reasoned that the amendments were necessary because the copies of the reports were not in "good condition". Zulkarnian was replying to Kamarul Hisham's questions during the continuation of his cross-examination.

ABOVE: Sirul Azhar's lawyer, Kamarul Hisham Kamaruddin, surprised everyone in courts when he produced a copy of the report filed by Zulkarnain which stated a different unit number from the flat owned by Sirul Azhar

"The previous reports were destroyed as they were not clear because of problems with the printer and photocopier," he said when asked about the discrepancies in the reports. Zulkarnain also told judge Datuk Mohd Zaki Md Yasin he lost count of the number of times he had signed the amended copies of the reports because Gan had told him to re-sign the copies on numerous occasions. Asked if he had signed the copies before the trial started, Zulkarnain admitted doing so. He said he "blindly" signed the amended copies without reading their contents.

"I did not check the details. I just signed the space where my signature was required," he said. The amendments included the insertion of Sirul Azhar's name on the report, and the addition of the words "something", "yang" and "ada" to the report which stated that Sirul Azhar had told Zulkarnain and Chief Insp Koh Fei Cheow he could take them to his house in Kota Damansara to show where he kept the jewellery. It also stated that Zulkarnain had cautioned Sirul Azhar before he made the revelation. Kamarul Hisham asked Zulkarnain about his visit to Sirul Azhar's flat and the recovery of the jewellery from the inner pocket of Sirul Azhar's black jacket.

He also caught the prosecution off guard when he produced a copy of the report filed by Zulkarnain which stated a different unit number from the flat owned by Sirul Azhar. "Can you explain why the report states the unit number as 5-2-4 whereas my client's unit number is 5-3-7?" he asked. DPP Tun Abdul Majid Tun Hamzah and Abdul Razak Abdullah Baginda's lawyer, Wong Kian Kheong, said they did not have a copy of the report referred to by Kamarul Hisham. Mohd Zaki then instructed that copies be made available to the others after lunch break. Zulkarnain said he obtained the unit number based on one of the utility bills which he recovered from Sirul Azhar's flat. Kamarul Hisham then pointed to the photograph taken by the police team headed by Zulkarnain which showed clearly the unit number as 5-3-7, but Zulkarnain was unable to offer an explanation. Zulkarnian was also quizzed about his report which stated that the jewellery was seized from Sirul Azhar's wardrobe, and not his jacket as claimed.

Photos of Sirul Azhar pointing to the jewellery placed in his jacket after it was recovered were also shown to Zulkarnain who admitted instructing Sirul Azhar to pose for the shots to be taken.

Zulkarnain denied an earlier suggestion by Kamarul Hisham that he had offered to help Sirul Azhar if he cooperated with them by providing information during the investigations.

ABOVE: Glum faced, ASP Zulkarnain Samsudin (ABOVE) leaving court after being questioned throughly by Sirul Azhar's lawyer, Kamarul Hisham Kamaruddin. (BELOW) The evidence carted to court on Day 31 Trial

= = = = =Bernama’s Account

August 08, 2007 21:16 PM

Two Versions Of Police Reports With Varying House Address
SHAH ALAM, Aug 8 (Bernama) -- The defence in the murder trial of Altantuya Shaariibuu raised questions on whether the jewellery belonging to the Mongolian woman was found at the flat of the accused Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar or another house since there were two versions of the police reports with varying addresses. The police reports were lodged by ASP Zulkarnain Samsudin, 34, from the Major Crime Department, D9 at the Kuala Lumpur Police Contingent Headquarters on the finding of the jewellery at Sirul Azhar's house after he and his team returned from inspecting Sirul Azhar's flat at no 5-3-7, at Jalan Camar, 4/1 Gugusan Semarak, Section 4, Kota Damansara, Selangor on Nov 7 last year.

Counsel Kamarul Hisham Kamaruddin, who represented Sirul Azhar, produced to the court a copy of a version of the police report with Zulkarnain's signature on it which stated the address of the house where the police went to inspect was 5-2-4. More shocking was when the prosecution and lawyers representing the other accused, Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Abdul Razak Abdullah Baginda, did not have the copy of the report with the 5-2-4 address. High Court judge Datuk Mohd Zaki Md Yasin then ordered that they be given copies of the report.

When questioned by Kamarul Hisham, Zulkarnain, who is the 23rd prosecution witness, denied that he and his team went to another house instead of the house at the address 5-3-7. However, Zulkarnain, admitted that after returning from inspecting Sirul Azhar's house he did lodge a report on the finding of the jewellery and wrote in the report the address of the house where the inspection was conducted as 5-2-4. Zulkarnain then clarified to the court that he had made a mistake in the police report by writing the address 5-2-4 based on a bill or letter (he could not remember which one) which he had taken from Sirul Azhar's house.

Kamarul: This is your report with the address 5-2-4?
Zulkarnain: True.
Kamarul: Referring to the report. What caused you to make that mistake 5-2-4?
Zulkarnain: At the house of the second accused (Sirul Azhar), I had taken several handphone bills, water or electricity bills or letters from the house. One of the bills that I took stated 5-2-4. I can't remember the bill or letter.
Kamarul: You did not check what other bills stated?
Zulkarnain: Other bills I can't remember.
Kamarul: You just picked the one that happened to be 5-2-4?
Zulkarnain: True.
Sirul Azhar, 36, and Azilah, 31, both from the Bukit Aman police Special Action Unit, are charged with murdering Altantuya, 28, at a location between Lot 12843 and Lot 16735, Mukim Bukit Raja, near Shah Alam, between 10pm on Oct 19 and 1am on Oct 20 last year, while Abdul Razak, 47, a political analyst, is charged with abetting the two. All three face the death sentence if convicted.
During the 31st day of hearing today, the defence also questioned Zulkarnain's testimony which said that Sirul Azhar was the one who disclosed and showed to the police where the jewellery belonging to Altantuya were kept.

At the last hearing, the court was told that the jewellery were found in the inside pocket of a black jacket belonging to Sirul Azhar in a cupboard in a bedroom of Sirul Azhar's two-bedroom flat.
Kamarul contended that Zulkarnain had made a proposal to Sirul Azhar that the police would help him (Sirul Azhar) if he (Sirul Azhar) agreed to follow the police and show as well as identify the jewellery belonging to Altantuya. However, Zulkarnain disagreed with Kamarul.
Zulkarnain also denied that he had asked Sirul Azhar to pose for the photographer by holding the black jacket and show the jewellery based on their previous agreement.

Zulkarnain also disagreed with Kamarul Hisham when it was put to him (Zulkarnain) that he had ordered Sirul Azhar to sit at a dining table (ABOVE)at his (Sirul Azhar) flat while he and five other policemen entered Sirul Azhar's bedroom and closed the door for 10 to 15 minutes.

The witness also disagreed when put by Kamarul Hisham that a few minutes later, three policemen came out of Sirul Azhar's bedroom carrying a bag whose contents were unknown. Zulkarnain denied that he then directed Sirul Azhar to go into the bedroom. During the hearing on Friday (Aug 3) the defence had raised questions on the presence of two separate police reports by Zulkarnain which contained several differences, including the spelling of his (Zulkarnain) name and date of birth.

However, Zulkarnain had clarified to the court that there were two reports because he had amended several words after checking it for the second time on the same day.

Meanwhile outside the court, a 51-year-old woman, dressed in a black coat like a lawyer and seen at the court almost everyday during the Altantuya's trial, had lodged two police reports to refute a report lodged by a court policeman alleging that she had disrupted court proceedings. In her report, the woman, who is from Sarawak, stated her occupation as a freelance security consultant and that she had obtained the court's permission to place a chair at the public gallery for her to sit as she had only recovered from an accident. The report by Lance Corporal Zulkifli Abdul Rahman stated that the woman had directed policemen on duty at the court to place a chair for her at the public gallery and that the chair should not be removed by anyone, including the lawyers and members of the press.

= == = == = == == == = = =Watch the Video Clip 51 sec - Day 31 Trial

= == = == = = == = == = == = = =

ABOVE: Malaysiakini had the early story yesterday from Langkawi, details H E R E by subscription.
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RM7b Aluminum Smelter – Study-Built Deal -Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd CMS –Australian Rio Tinto in Bintulu.; On-Stream by 2011; 2 Smelters NO Undersea Cable?

Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto on Tuesday sign an agreement with Conglomerate Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd (CMS) to study-build what is perhaps one of the worlds largest Aluminum Smelter. The cost of the project was not disclosed but industry sources indicated the cost would be around US2 Billion (escalating to US5b) using power from the Bakun Dam.

ABOVE: A "greenfield" Aluminium smelter - no pollution?

The study will take 12-18 months covering technical, operational, environmental to social economic analysis of the smelter. The smelter would be known as the SAC – Sarawak Aluminium Company and situated in Similajau – the eastern part of Sarawak and would be operational by 20010.
It will have an initial production capacity of 550,000 tones per year rising to1.5 million tones. The smelter will be powered by the 2,400-megawatt Bakun hydroelectric
dam due to be completed by 2010.
Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud boasted " another proposal from a Malaysian-Chinese consortium to build an aluminium smelter in the state remained on the table. "after we have some experience with Rio Tinto.

So with two smelters , the undersea cable to Peninsular is scuttled?

= = == == = = == =

August 07, 2007 18:13 PM

CMS, Rio Tinto's Proposed Aluminium Smelter Aims For Full Production By 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 7 (Bernama) -- Conglomerate Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd (CMS) and global Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto Tuesday signed an agreement for the proposed development of a US$2 billion (RM7 billion) aluminium smelter in Sarawak. The plant in Similajau, Bintulu division is expected to go into full production by the end of 2011.

Rio Tinto Aluminium Limited Chief executive Oscar Groeneveld said today the smelter would have an initial production capacity of 550,000 tonnes per year and the capacity to expand to 1.5 million tonnes, with its raw materials to be sourced from its Australian Yarwun alumina refinery in Gladstone, Queensland. "At the first stage, when it is expected to commence operation by the fourth quarter of 2010, about 900 megawatts of electricity will be utilised from the Bakun dam while we are looking at establishing joint partnership with Sime Darby Bhd (Bakun's owner), to use its energy in the long term should there be opportunities to expand in subsequent stages," he told reporters after the signing of the agreement today.

The agreement between CMS, represented by its group chairman Tan Sri Syed Anwar Jamalullail, group managing director Datuk Richard Curtis and deputy group managing director Syed Ahmad Alwee Alsree, and Rio Tinto, represented by Groeneveld, Smelting (Australia) managing director Sandeep Biswas and Smelter Project Development general manager Matt Liddy, was witnessed by Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud and Australian High Commissioner Penny Williams.

ABOVE: The deal signed witnessed by Australian High Commissioner Penny Williams (Back Left) and Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud (Back, 2nd Right)

Following the agreement - detailing feasibility studies on the design, engineering, construction, commissioning and operation of an aluminium smelter - the project will be known as Sarawak Aluminium Company (Salco), with CMS taking 40 percent stake and Rio Tinto 60 percent initially. Groeneveld said over the next 12 to 18 months, Salco would be examining the technical, environmental, operational, social and economic aspects of the proposed smelter, which would be on an industrial site of eight sq km to incorporate downstream activities. Given that the smelter would be a Malaysian project, he said, locals would be given priority in terms of employment with about 1,300 jobs per year to the country's gross domestic product (GDP) at current metal prices, he said.
Meanwhile, Curtis said CMS would raise funding for the project from its own equities and the international capital market.
Earlier, Taib said the development of the smelter project was timely as it would be the catalyst for the next phase of Sarawak's economy based on energy intensive industries under the Central Development Corridor, which is expected to be implemented by next year. Under the Ninth Malaysia Plan, the Sarawak government has earmarked Sarawak's central region, stretching from Tanjung Manis in Mukah to Similajau to set up energy intensive industries to take advantage of the ample energy resources, including oil and natural coal deposits and hydro power from river systems.
Taib was happy to note that Salco was committed to providing industrial training of locals in overseas smelters and educational institutions besides conducting in-depth community and environmental assessments for the host communities in the state.

ABOVE & BELOW: The final handshake- acknowledgment of the deal between
CMS group chairman Tan Sri Syed Anwar Jamalullail (Left)and Rio Tinto CEO Groeneveld

= = = ===from Reuters
Tuesday August 7, 1:48 PM
Malaysia's Sarawak sees room for 2 aluminium smelters
KUCHING, Malaysia, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Malaysia's Sarawak state on Borneo island has room for two aluminum smelters, with the second plant likely to go ahead around 2013 as more power supply becomes available, Sarawak's chief minister said on Tuesday.

Global miner Rio Tinto Ltd/Plc on Tuesday agreed to a feasibility study of setting up the first aluminum smelter in Sarawak, to be powered by the huge 2,400-megawatt Bakun hydroelectric dam. Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud said another proposal from a Malaysian-Chinese consortium to build an aluminium smelter in the state remained on the table. "After we have some experience with Rio Tinto, we will be dealing with them," he told Reuters, refering to the proposal by Malaysian tycoon Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary and a Chinese partner. Taib said additional power supply could come on-stream by 2013.

Rio Tinto Aluminium Chief Executive Oscar Groeneveld said his firm was made to understand that the Malaysian government has nominated local conglomerate Sime Darby as the owner of the Bakun power generation. "We now have to enter into those discussions with the state and federal governments," he told reporters when asked when power supply talks would begin.

== == = = ==from Bloomberg via Biznews
Rio Tinto Says Malaysian Smelter May Cost $5 Billion Eventually
Updated : 07-08-2007 Media : Bloomberg; Story By : Stephanie Phang

Aug. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Rio Tinto Group, the world's third- largest mining
company, said an aluminum smelter it plans to build in Malaysia with local construction firm Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd. may eventually cost $5 billion. The smelter, to be located in Sarawak state, would have initial capacity of 550,000 tons a year and cost $2 billion, Rio Tinto Aluminium Chief Executive Oscar Groeneveld said in a telephone interview from Kuching, Sarawak today.The project may be expanded to 1.5 million tons in time, he said. The smelter, which may start output from 2010, would need 900 megawatts of Electricity initially, he added.

= = == = =

other Post H E R E ON

MORE PICS – Lee Kuan Yew –“I am What I am” (turning 84); 1-1/2 Hrs Q & A from 300 Audience- Aug 06 2007; 'My generation was forged... in the crucible of struggle;

MORE PICS & Video – Proton Dream – Egypt CKD plant – to Boast Exports, Cut Cost, Prop up Sales, Cut loses? DAP: Why MV Agusta Sold for only ONE Euro?

ABOVE & BELOW: Get a subscription and be the first to know, Malaysiakini has the story on the same day as the news break. From Langkawi LID - its top stories are H E RE and H E R E

ABOVE & BELOW: Cast your eyes, look left and right around the empty spaces of Kuala Lumpur and you find the Proton Car Stockpile - you name it, every make and model from its assembly plants in Shah Alam and Rawang
A drowning Proton will clutch at any straw to see some light out of its dark tunnel and keep afloat with its assets. A CKD plant in Egypt with no economy of scale is another disaster in the making if they ever venture into such an area with a small market of 3000 cars in South Africa sold last year. But what to do? Its top brass must be seen to rub shoulders in LID dialogue session entitled "Poverty Eradication Through Human Capital and Capacity Building" between head of states and private sector chiefs.
ABOVE & BELOW: Perdana, Waja or Wira, you find them parked under the Sun to absorb the sunshine to give them a better shine?

Yes Proton is the leader amongst the Africa pack and it must find ways and means to reduce its Car Stockpile – you name it there got it – Only Proton models of all makes in its stockpile - accumulate and maintain a supply of for future use. It has tried every trick in its book to boast Exports, Cut Cost, Prop up Sales, Cut loses without much successes. Proton lost 591 million ringgit ($170.9 million) in its fiscal year ending March 31, compared with a 47 million ringgit profit the previous year. The state-controlled firm has yet to report financial results for its first quarter to June 30.
Proton's shares were down 0.9 percent at 5.50 ringgit at 0358 GMT.(Aug 06 07)

ABOVE & BELOW: Satria, Savvy , Gen 2 or maybe the New Gen3, they will roll out and be parked under the Sun as Stockpiles waiting for the Mederka 50th anniversary Sale?

= == = == = == =
August 06, 2007 16:41 PM
Proton Mulls CKD Plant In Egypt Next Year
By Umi Hani Sharani

LANGKAWI, Aug 6 (Bernama) -- National car maker Proton is exploring the possibility of setting up a completely knocked down (CKD) plant in Egypt next year, marking its intention of making inroads into the African market, its managing director, Datuk Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir, said today. "From Egypt, we are (hoping) to use it as a base to enter the African continent and even Middle East," he told reporters on the sidelines of the 8th Langkawi International Dialogue (LID). "We are now evaluating the plan but have not made any decision. But today and tomorrow we'll find out more about the interest in these countries." Although Egypt itself is a big country, Syed Zainal said it can serve as another platform for Proton to increase its presence in Saudi Arabia and enter Sudan.

"Looking at traditional markets in Middle East, the Gen-2 and Savvy have been widely received. Hopefully with the new car that we are launching this month, we'd like to make further moves into these countries," he added.

Syed Zainal, who participated in the LID dialogue session entitled "Poverty Eradication Through Human Capital and Capacity Building" between head of states and private sector chiefs, said Proton will be meeting the officials and leaders of the various African countries at LID to gauge their interest in the national cars. "It is preliminary to say (about these ventures) right now. We are now trying to explore, and have more discussions today and tomorrow," he added. Syed Zainal said Proton is already present in South Africa, "so obviously it is somewhere we want to expand, hopefully, in the next year or next financial year," Proton sold over 3,000 cars last year in South Africa alone. "Being here (LID) is a good opportunity for us to talk to some of the African countries, Sudan in particular, and perhaps with the discussion today, it may lead to further things for Proton," he added. He said that Proton also hopes to export its cars from South Africa to other parts of the continent. "But we have to be mindful that the markets are very small and to go one by one may not be the right way. But through South Africa, we'll get more volume and better economies of scale," he added.

= = == = =and the Unexplained sale of MV Agusta
Proton must explain

Updated: 07:16PM Mon, 06 Aug 2007, from SUN

PETALING JAYA (Aug 6, 2007): DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng (ABOVE)says Proton must explain why it sold MV Agusta for only one euro last year when BMW can buy Husqvarna Motorcycles, a unit of MV Agusta, for an undisclosed sum this year. He said in a statement today Proton Holdings Bhd (Proton) acquired MV Agusta for 70 million euros (US$96.7 million) in 2004 and sold early last year for a token sum of one euro. Public interest requires a full accounting from Proton on how BMW can pay an undisclosed sum for one of the many units of MV Agusta, while Proton sold off the entire MV Agusta for only one euro, he said. Proton's 57.57% stake in MV Agusta was disposed of to GEVI SpA, a special purpose vehicle, for one euro.

The important question is why Proton could dispose off MV Agusta lastyear for one euro and made losses of RM500 million in a short space of a year whereas one year later BMW can pay cash to buy a unit of MV Agusta for an undisclosed sum, Lim said. "Something is very wrong that Proton can lose money where others can find profits. Such unchecked bleeding can be seen in Proton's failure to meet its key performance indicators (KPIs) for the fiscal year ended March 31 (FY07) as revenue dropped 37% to RM4.9 billion from RM7.8 billion in FY06," he said.

Proton incurred a net loss of RM591.4 million against a profit of RM 46.7 million previously. Its cash in hand fell 34% to RM461 million. What is more worrying is that sales fell 40% from 183,824 units to 110,358 units last year, a drop in market share to 32% from more than 60% in 2000. How can Proton expect to survive with such poor sales when its overseas market is a loss-making operation? As Khazanah Malaysia, the Malaysian government's investment arm, holds about 42.74% of Proton and Malaysian investors are the majority shareholders, public interest requires an answer in the interests of good corporate governance and social responsibility._____

Published August 6, 2007, from Business Times

VW-Proton tie-up talks back on track: report
Volkswagen to examine some of Proton's assets this month

(KUALA LUMPUR) Top European carmaker Volkswagen is to examine 'certain assets' of Malaysia's ailing Proton this month, a financial newspaper reported yesterday, indicating talks on a possible tie-up are on track. The Malaysian government is currently in discussions with Germany's Volkswagen about a possible strategic alliance that would help save Malaysia's national carmaker.

The road ahead? A financial paper reports that VW will invest a few hundred million ringgit into Proton to jump-start the venture 'Volkswagen is expected to conduct a due diligence on certain assets of Proton Holdings Bhd sometime this month,' The Edge financial newspaper said, citing industry sources. 'It is understood that Proton's senior management has been informed of the exercise and has been instructed to facilitate and accommodate the due diligence as best as it can.'
Proton needs foreign technical expertise to stem a sharp decline in market share and to cut losses. Previous reports have said Volkswagen may have agreed to pay cash for

a 51 per cent equity in a new company that will own key Proton assets. The Edge said VW would invest 'a few hundred million ringgit' to jump-start the venture. Proton and Volkswagen met for a third time in Germany recently, after talks in Thailand and the US. State investment arm Khazanah Nasional is the controlling shareholder in Proton, with a 42.74 per cent stake. State pension fund EPF and national oil firm Petronas own 12.07 per cent and 8.84 per cent respectively. Khazanah's managing director Azman Mokhtar has set the end of this year as the 'overall deadline' to clinch a deal. Proton last year lost its status as Malaysia's biggest-selling carmaker to homegrown rival Perodua and recently reported larger-than- expected net losses of RM591.36 million (S$261.6 million) for the year to March 2007.

= = = =Watch the Video Clip (40 sec) from the Horses Mouth - Proton CEO Datuk Syed Zainal Abidin Syed + the Proton Stockpiles (inserted Video Clip)

= == = ==

= = =

= == = = == = = ==Background , a year ago and slide continues

August 29, 2006 22:26 PM
Proton Reports RM58.6 Million First-quarter Loss

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 29 (Bernama) -- Proton Holdings Bhd announced Tuesday that its after-tax loss rose to RM58.649 million in the first quarter ended June 30, 2006, from RM12.661 million in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Its pre-tax loss increased to RM95.536 million from RM7.361 million as revenue dropped to RM1.418 billion from RM2.054 billion previously. In a statement, Proton attributed the loss to a decline in total car sales in the country and the lack of a fresh line-up of car models as the company transitioned to several new models starting in 2007.

Proton's car sales for the first quarter stood at 32,200 units, compared to 44,367 units for the corresponding period last year. The drop in auto purchases was proportionate to industry trends, where sales across the board declined by five percent in the first half of the year against a year earlier, the national car maker said. "While overall industry sales have dipped, Proton has been affected mainly by the lack of new car models. The bulk of our models have been in the market for several years now while the market is seeking something more fresh and exciting," said managing director Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir. The Proton Saga was first introduced in 1985 while the Wira was launched in 1993, the Perdana in 1995. Proton's Waja was launched in 2000 and the Gen.2 Campro was rolled out in 2004.

The national car maker's latest models are the Savvy, available since last year, and the Satria Neo which was launched middle of this year. Proton's sales were further affected by loan terms, interest rates and lower used car values which required a higher cash top-up to switch to a new car, Syed Zainal Abidin said. Expectations among consumers that car prices would fall further also fuelled the decline, according to him. Syed Zainal Abidin said while cost-cutting measures and better implementation of component sourcing were bearing fruit, promotional and marketing costs have risen.
"These expenses were recorded in the first quarter though the results of this promotion will only be visible in the upcoming quarter," he explained. As an early indication, Proton's car sales in July rose 21 percent from the previous month, the company said. Registration of Proton cars with the Road Transport Department in July stood at 10,018 compared to 8,328 recorded in June, while total industry volume increased by five percent. Proton said its latest model, Satria Neo, has been well-received. Since its launch in June, 2,750 vehicles were sold with 4,000 orders in hand, surpassing Proton's expectations for the niche three-door hatchback.

"This is again evidence that the market wants new cars. Because the development of new cars takes up to two years, Proton can only address this issue around next year," Syed Zainal Abidin said. He said the first-quarter losses were balanced by several initiatives which were implemented since the beginning of this year. These included cost-cutting measures, reduction in operational expenses and streamlining the procurement of components where Proton now sources raw material in bulk for local vendors, he added. Its consolidation and renegotiation with component vendors as well as the implementation of electronic bidding and procurement systems, were also constantly being reviewed, Syed Zainal Abidin said.

To improve the next quarter's performance, he said that Proton would continue to focus on improving operational efficiencies, while simultaneously accelerating its implementation. At the same time, Proton would continue to strengthen its performance in the domestic market while promoting export growth, he added. "Proton's continuous efforts to improve quality have resulted in better customer satisfaction. Warranty claims for Proton's latest additions of Savvy and Satria Neo have been kept minimal at an average of 0.5 percent," Syed Zainal Abidin said. "Our other key focus is to enhance cost competitiveness, more effective use of resources, and to introduce a bigger variety of new models over the next year or two," he said.

PM Abdullah Allows Hostile Muslim Extremists Dictate & Limit Free Speech; Excuse - they jeopardizes national security; His New twist on “non-secular"

PM Abdullah Allows Hostile extremists Dictate Freedom to Discuss; Stern Warning Excuse- Extremists jeopardizes national security; His new twist to “non-secular “ State

ABOVE: Courtesy from Jeffooi

First it was the cancellation of “An evening with Raja Petra” and now the postponement of the venue for “Religious Forum on Water” from the National Mosque to NUBE Building as reported in Malaysiakini H E R E . This forum is in response to the United Nations' General Comment No. 15. The event will raise awareness among Malaysians to conserve water and respect and protect the human rights to water as a key responsibility.

The cancellation & postponement is obvious for "security" reason and the denial of police permit. The bloggers took heed of the advice and the meeting “has been canceled due to advice from the security agency that it may not be wise to continue with the event” And this is now confirmed by none other than the PM of Malaysia when he lambasted the organizers on abusing freedom as “it could lead to undesired developments by inviting extremists who could jeopardise national security” (see below report) and from the horses mouth in the Video Clip.

Now who are these so called “extremists”? Are they not the same ones (see pics of them below) who disrupted the “Article 11 Forum” in Johor Bahru on 22^nd July 2006? Why no action was taken against them? We can see the same pattern and is used effectively to disrupt such meetings on the grounds they perceive as “threats to meddling with Islam”. Intimidation and threats like this Muslim mob is condoned by Malaysian police against non-Muslims who seek to exercise their constitutional right to speak. And it “allows hostile segments of the Muslim community to use free speech to dictate the limits of free speech.” (see bottom article). Things have not changed from a year ago – the same “stern warning” is again issued by the PM and the same perceived fears on national security threats.

We must organize our reality according to our strength and not to our fears. Actually, there is nothing within you to fear. All consciousness has within it the deep abiding impetus to use its abilities fully, to expand its capacities, to venture joy­fully beyond the seeming barriers of its own experience. The very consciousnesses within the smallest molecules cry out against any ideas of limitation. They yearn toward new forms and experiences. Even atoms, then, constantly seek to join in new organizations of structure and meaning. They do this "instinctively." Man has been endowed, and has endowed himself, with a conscious mind to direct the nature, shape and form of his creations. All deep aspirations and unconscious motivations, all unspoken drives, rise up for the approval or disapproval of the conscious mind, and await its direction.

Only when it abdicates its functions does it allow itself to become swayed by "negative fearful" experience. Only when it refuses responsibility does it finally find itself at the seeming mercy of events over which it appears to have no control

= = == = == = = = == another twist from PM abdullah
Malaysia Not A Secular Or Theocratic State, Says Abdullah
August 04, 2007 21:31 PM

BUKIT MERTAJAM, Aug 4 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi today emphasised that Malaysia is not a secular nor a theocratic state but a country that practises parliamentary democracy. He said the government in this country practised elements of government that reflected the composition of its population which was made up of various races and religion.

"We are not a secular state. We are also not a theocratic state like Iran and Pakistan which PAS wants us to be, but we are a government that is based on parliamentary democracy," he told reporters after launching a programme with the people at the Tuanku Bainun Teaching Institute, here. He said the existing government was a responsible one whether to the people or country and administered together by leaders from all races and religions under the Barisan Nasional coalition. "We (the government) consist of leaders from the various religions -- Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and Christianity -- and everyone is involved in discussions to reach a consensus on national development policies," he said. The Prime Minister said the formula adopted had been proven to be capable of driving the country towards development for the past 50 which has been tested for the past 50 years and has already succeeded today," he said. Abdullah said he failed to see how such a government could not continue to progress in future, that is up to its 100th independence anniversary.
= == = == ===
August 04, 2007 18:33 PM
Abdullah Warns People Against Abusing Freedom Of Expression

BUKIT MERTAJAM, Aug 4 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi today issued a stern warning against those who exploit the freedom of expression and abuse it to cause unrest. He said if the freedom was abused, it could lead to undesired developments by inviting extremists who could jeopardise national security and the government would not tolerate any form of violence. "I have given much freedom and everyone can express their opinion, they can talk about many things but they should be wise in handling the freedom... if this is not appreciated, everything (freedom) will be lost," he said when launching the People-Friendly Programme in conjunction with the 50th Merdeka anniversary organised by the State Umno Liaison Body.

If this freedom was lost, it would take a very long time to repair the damage done, he said. The Prime Minister said many quarters, especially the mass media, frequently pointed out that he had given much freedom to the people to express their opinion. He said, however, the government was always careful and governed the country with wisdom to avoid any undesired developments. He said the government had never marginalised any minority group or religion whether in the peninsula or in Sabah and Sarawak. Abdullah said the Malaysian government was unique as it had representatives from the various races and religions. He said that the government's success in giving priority to solidarity had resulted in Malaysians sometimes forgetting their racial and religious differences and sat on a common platform feeling very safe and confident.

"We give attention to every group and implement what is best... (we) don't marginalise any group and this is our practice... our country is multi-ethnic and there is religious diversity... this is a unique practice and an ideal government," he said. Citing an example, he said if the government did not give priority to the views of all the groups, then (MIC president) Datuk Seri S.Samy Vellu would always lose (in expressing his opinion) but the government always considered the views of all races.

Abdullah said the country's leadership was the outcome of a consensus of all races and the wishes of every ethnic group and that was why the country continued to enjoy peace and prosperity. He said the country was enjoying peace and prosperity because the people had made the right decision in continuing to vote for the Barisan Nasional ever since the coalition was known as the Alliance. He said besides the people's support, the BN government also had a long-term plan to develop the country to fulfil the goal of national independence. He said BN was the heir to the country's independence fighters who had wanted the country to continue to progress and to be free of imperialists. "We don't want to be merely a developed nation by 2020 but we want to continue to develop the country to achieve excellence, glory and distinction," Abdullah added.

= = = =Watch video Clips (two combined 1m 45s) - PM Abdullah on the Secular State and the Warning on Abuse of Freedom + Insert Bakti Gala Dinner at Sunway Lagoon Theme Park

= = == = == = = ==


== = == = == == = == =

Stand up; speak up
Saturday, 04 August 2007
Senior Cabinet Minister Bernard Dompok must be complimented for his conviction and commitment to truth. In a rare show of courage - not common among the ranks of Cabinet Ministers to speak up when a gag order is in place - Dompok has chosen to remain true to his conscience by speaking up to remind absent-minded ministers of the terms under which Sabah and Sarawak became part of the enlarged entity that exists today as Malaysia. He is absolutely correct in stating that "Malaysia was not meant to
be an Islamic state" when the Malaysia Agreement was signed way back in
1963, i.e. 44 years ago. This was crystal clear otherwise the people of these two
states would not have supported the referendum to join Malaysia. The Malaysia Agreement indeed re-affirmed the nature and character of the nation that came into being in 1957 following the social contract that gave birth to the Federal Constitution. It was also absolutely clear then that this nation was not meant to be an Islamic state.

The Deputy Prime Minister cannot ignore the facts of history and existing historical documents and judicial pronouncements to claim that ours is an Islamic state. The founding fathers who negotiated the social contract and the people of this country who were present then knew exactly what was agreed upon. Malaya came into being on terms mutually negotiated and agreed upon by the founding fathers, which were determined to forge a nation based on mutual respect for our differences, trust and a common destiny. It was this arrangement that has somewhat preserved our unity thus far. Any
deviation from this sacred arrangement is bound to have repercussions that would
disrupt our harmony and unity.

Najib was only a kid then - barely four years old. He could not have understood what transpired then nor appreciate what pledges were undertaken solemnly in the common struggle for nationhood. The Prime Minister, who was old enough then, would appreciate the process that made it possible to proclaim this nation as a sovereign state and a common abode for all its citizens. He should ask his classmates as to what they understood Malaya was meant to be when we attained our independence. He should ask those people from that generation to solemnly state whether it was even remotely suggested that Malaya was meant to be an Islamic state.
We are very concerned that our national unity is still very fragile and under threat - even after nearly 50 years of independence. We are disturbed when politicians bent on testing their popularity go overboard in touching on issues that are sensitive and without basis.
All concerned citizens must speak up and stand up for the things that we believe in. We must make a concerted effort to sideline the minority vocal extremists who are hell-bent on disturbing our peace and destroying the harmony that bind us as a people and as a nation. The vast majority of us who are moderate, tolerant, broad-minded, peace-loving and responsible citizens must take a strong stand against those who are threatening
our democratic way of life by denying our rights and freedom and destroying the institutions that represent the rule of law. We hope that more and more concerned and conscientious citizens will be part of this effort to defend what is right and just.

P Ramakrishnan; President, Aliran

= == = = = == == = Background on history of the Article 11 Forums

Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Article 11: Stop the forums

By SHAHANAAZ HABIB and IZATUN SHARI; The Star
Article 11 forums to discuss inter-faith issues must stop immediately because they are deemed to cause tension in our multi-religious society, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said. The Prime Minister said the Umno supreme council had expressed its utmost concern over inter-faith issues that were being debated by Article 11, an umbrella body of 13 non-governmental organisations, through forums on Article 11 of the Federal Constitution. “If the discussions are not kept in check or contained, they are bound to raise tension in our multi-religious society. Religious issues are even more sensitive than ethnic issues,” he told reporters after chairing the Umno supreme council meeting here yesterday.

Abdullah, who is the party president, said the Government had made the decision to urge all parties concerned to end discussions on the formation of the inter-faith commission (IFC). “If possible such discussions should not be carried out at all.

It has passed the stage where it is worrying all of us. The Government will monitor the situation and developments,” said Abdullah, who is also the Internal Security Minister.On the Article 11 forum to discuss constitutional protection for all Malaysians which was held in Johor last Saturday, he said: “Those who continue with the activities are those who want the interfaith commission (IFC) to be formed. “The Government has made the decision to put a stop to the discussions on the IFC. Why must they hold more such activities?” He also called on the media to carry out its responsibility not to stir up anger and tension among the masses. On May 14, an Article 11 forum was jointly organised with Aliran in Penang following the concerns raised by the cases of Nyonya Tahir, M. Moorthy and S. Shamala where conversion to Islam by one party led to difficulties for their non-Muslim family members. The group had also held similar forums in Petaling Jaya, Malacca and Johor.

[…]
= = == = =
Malaysia Islamists protest religious-freedom forum"
(Reuters, July 22, 2006)

ABOVE & BELOW: in Johore Bahru, Jul 22 2006. "hostile segments of the Muslim community to use free speech to dictate the limits of free speech".

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - A Malaysian forum on freedom of religion drew an angry protest by Muslims on Saturday, revealing a sharp divide in this mainly Muslim nation over the issue of renouncing Islam. Malaysia's constitution enshrines freedom of religion but Muslims cannot officially renounce Islam. Those who convert to another faith can be jailed by a local Islamic court.

ABOVE & BELOW: "hostile segments of the Muslim community to use free speech to dictate the limits of free speech"

About 300 protesters, including members of opposition Islamist party PAS, rallied in the southern city of Johor Baru, local news Web site Malaysiakini said. Surrounded by riot police, they gathered outside a hotel where a group known as Article 11, named after the constitutional provision on freedom of religion, held the latest in a series of forums on the issue, Malaysiakini said.

ABOVE & BELOW: "hostile segments of the Muslim community to use free speech to dictate the limits of free speech"
"Cancel it! Cancel it! Allahu akhbar! (God is great)," protesters chanted. "Down with the infidels! Don't meddle with Islam!" The forum went ahead, Malaysiakini said, but in May a similar forum had been disrupted in the northwest state of Penang after a noisy protest by Islamists. Malaysia is a relatively modern and relaxed Muslim country but its treatment of those who have given up the Muslim faith has ignited a heated debate. Malaysia is a secular state and about 40 percent of its population is non-Muslim.
Non-Muslims were enraged when a Hindu woman failed in January in the civil High Court to have her dead husband's body released to her for cremation.

The court said it had no jurisdiction, noting that a Sharia court had deemed the dead man to be Muslim, and he was buried against his widow's wishes by state Islamic officials.

= == = == = =
Aug 4, 2006
In Malaysia, 'too sensitive' for debate
By Ioannis Gatsiounis

KUALA LUMPUR - At a time when rage and intolerance are eating away at the Islamic world, Malaysia has stood out as a source of hope. Its Muslims have co-existed peacefully with the 40% non-Muslim population. There has been no major incident of violence committed in the name of Islam on Malaysian soil. It's no wonder Muslim and Western leaders hold Malaysia in high esteem. Next month their hat-tipping is set to continue, when Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi delivers a keynote address at the sixth Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Finland. The European Union wants Abdullah to share his thoughts on Malaysia's success in the areas of race relations and inter-faith issues.
If the past is any indication, Abdullah will claim tolerance and unity as enduring traits of the Malaysian people. He will swear by Islam Hadhari (Civilizational Islam), a political and ideological interpretation of the faith that stresses moderation and technological and economic competitiveness.
But back home a very different reality is unfolding on Abdullah's watch, one that raises questions about his commitment to Islam Hadhari and may have far-reaching implications for this "model Islamic democracy".
Hardline Muslims have grown more vocal in recent months, demonstrating at forums held by a coalition of non-governmental organizations, known as Article 11, that wants the government to put its weight behind the Malaysian constitution, which guarantees equality and freedom of worship, as the supreme law of the land. Article 11 is concerned that sharia (Islamic law) courts have recently taken primacy over civil courts in a number of controversial decisions. The hardliners are also opposed to efforts to establish an Inter-Faith Commission to enhance understanding among Malaysia's various faiths.
The latest protest came on July 22 in the state of Johor Bahru. As Article 11 gathered in an upper-floor hotel ballroom, some 300 Muslims scowled from behind a police line at the hotel entrance, brandishing signs that read, "Don't touch Muslim sensitivities," "Destroy anti-Muslims," and "We are ready to sacrifice ourselves for Islam." In May hardliners threatening to storm an Article 11 venue succeeded in bringing the forum to an abrupt end.

And now Abdullah has seen enough - not from the hardliners, though, as one might expect, but from Article 11. "Do not force the government to take action," he warned the coalition. He accused Article 11 of playing up religious issues and threatening to shatter Malaysia's fragile social balance by highlighting "sensitive" issues. (It is an article of faith in Malaysia that "sensitive" issues should not be discussed openly.)
And yet it is these same issues - race, religion and the affirmative-action program benefiting the majority Malays - that are dearest to most Malaysians' hearts that are discussed passionately, albeit behind closed doors, within one's own racial community. Abdullah has issued a stern warning to the media to stop reporting on issues related to religious matters. And he has not ruled out using the Internal Security Act, which allows for indefinite detention without trial, against Article 11 members should they continue with their activities. Abdullah's position appears to be rooted in the kind of irresolute behavior that has characterized a number of his decisions since he came to power three years ago. For instance, he declared an all-out war on graft that has fizzled because, many suspect, he fears confronting the old guard in his ruling party, the United Malays National Organization (UMNO).

But it also follows another worrying trend of the Badawi era, and that is to give Islam a peculiar prominence in Malaysia's political and social landscape. Malaysia's Muslim-dominated leadership has long given Islam priority in Malaysia. The constitution recognizes Islam as Malaysia's official religion. It is illegal to debate the affirmative-action program benefiting the majority ethnic group, the Malays (who by law are born into Islam).
Abdullah's predecessor, Mahathir Mohamad, labeled Malaysia "an Islamic state". And all of Malaysia's five prime ministers have promoted Islamic values in one form or another. The Badawi era, however, has witnessed a growing number of politicians, religious administrators, authorities and activists making their own rules, their own pronouncements and judgments on things that are beyond their purview.

Last year an angry mob attacked a commune run by a Malay apostate. Muslim moral police have more aggressively targeted Malays for "deviant" behavior, going so far in some states as to try to establish "snoop squads". And sharia courts are said to be over-stepping their bounds in making rulings involving non-Muslims.
Abdullah has been less than resolute in handling Malaysia's creeping fundamentalism, which is not to suggest the former Islamic scholar is promoting an intolerant strain of Islam. To be fair, Malaysia is a tricky place to govern. It requires deftly balancing the needs of the majority Muslim Malays with those of the Indian and Chinese minorities to prevent social unrest. And yet Abdullah knows that maintaining political control will require first and foremost placating the Malays.
But by caving in to hardline sensitivities over inter-faith dialogue and the supremacy of the constitution, Abdullah, inadvertently or otherwise, appears to be going beyond merely accommodating the Malay community to the point of empowering its fringes. And the dangers this may engender should not be underestimated - this being an era in which a growing number of Muslims around the world are resorting to intolerance to advance their causes and feeling inspired by the results (violent protests against the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed is but one example).

Abdullah's stance against Article 11 could be read as in keeping with Mahathir's belief that greater freedom of expression will stoke inter-ethnic tensions. But Abdullah's position is less encompassing. It is a lopsidedly selective application: it is to allow hostile segments of the Muslim community to use free speech to dictate the limits of free speech. This double standard was on full display two weeks ago, when Abdullah's powerful son-in-law Khairy Jamaluddin rallied members of UMNO in a protest outside the US Embassy in Kuala Lumpur. Traffic stalled as the angry mob chanted, "Destroy Israel, down with Israel," and burned Israeli and US flags. Racial and religious sensitivities run deep in Malaysia, and all of Malaysia's communities have inherited legitimate grievances over the years. But those sensitivities may be catching up with the country. Experts note that the Malays, Indians and Chinese have been drifting apart.
A recent survey found that the majority of Malaysians do not trust one another and seek refuge in their own ethnic community - contradicting Malaysia's elaborately crafted outward display as a paradise of multiculturalism. Abdullah will no doubt tear a page from that book when he travels to Europe for the ASEM meeting, while back home a new chapter is being written.

Ioannis Gatsiounis, a New York native, has worked as a freelance foreign correspondent and previously co-hosted a weekly political/cultural radio call-in show in the US.

MORE PICS – Remanded 6 Indian Youths (12–19 ages) – Gang-Rape 30-Yr Woman; ALL in Lorry Forced victim & Friend in Scooter & Abducted her Pasir Gudang

ABOVE- The gang of Six who Gang-raped 30 year Woman after Abducting her on Scooter

Monday August 6, 2007; STAR

12-year-old and five teens held over abduction and rape

ABOVE & BELOW: The faceless rapist

JOHOR BARU: A 12-year-old school dropout has been remanded for the abduction and gang rape of a 30-year-old factory worker. He and five other teenagers, aged between 16 and 19, were remanded until Aug 10 by magistrate Salawati Djambari at the Johor Baru (South) police district headquarters yesterday.

ABOVE & BELOW: Being lead into Magistrate Court for remand

Acting state CID chief Asst Comm Che Yussof Che Ngah said the victim had been sent for a medical check-up. On Friday, the victim and her 24 year-old-friend were riding a scooter in Taman Nusa Damai, Pasir Gudang, when a lorry with the six suspects in it overtook them and forced the scooter off the road. Both women fell and the suspects bundled the victim into the lorry before driving off, leaving her friend behind.

ABOVE & BELOW: Another two of the rapists

The victim was taken to a secluded area in Pasir Gudang, where she was gang-raped. The victim’s friend alerted the police, who combed the nearby housing estates and located three of the suspects and the victim in the lorry in Taman Nusa Damai after eight hours.

The suspects fled but were soon arrested along with the others by the police around Kota Masai after a series of raids.

MORE PICS – Man Murdered & Set on Fire in Proton Wira Car - Punchak Alam, Shah Alam - Sunday Morning; 2 men remanded as Suspects; Man identity unknown

UPDATE: AUG 10 07, 8.40pm

Friday August 10, 2007
Two suspects in murder case released; they were just punters
By DHARMENDER SINGH

SHAH ALAM: Police have released the two suspects arrested in connection with the murder of a man, whose charred remains were found in burning car here on Sunday, after finding out that they were not involved in the crime. The two men were arrested after they were spotted leaving the area where the car had been set on fire. Investigations revealed that they had been nothing more than punters trying to get a look at the number of the burning car. Shah Alam OCPD Asst Comm Noor Azam Jamaludin said the two suspects were released after their remand order expired as police investigations revealed that it was unlikely that the two were responsible for the death of the victim, believed to be S. Umapathy, 29. “The two suspects were just there to look for ‘nombor ekor’. They were also drunk at the time and could not offer much information on the case,” he said.
Police are, however, still investigating the case to determine the motive for the murder. Umapathy, a human resource manager with a fitness centre, was reported missing by his family on Saturday and police found his burning car at about 2am the following day. Umapathy is said to have left his house in Taman Bayu Perdana in Klang at about 7pm on Friday to go to a temple in Rantau, Negri Sembilan, but he never returned home. His brother, Gopalakrishnan, when contacted said the family was still hoping that the body that had been found in the car was not that of Umapathy. He said the body had been burnt beyond recognition and the only way to know for certain if it was Umapathy was through DNA testing. “The tests have been conducted but the results will only be known in about two weeks so all we can do for now is wait,” he said.= = == = == =

UPDATE: AUG 08 07, 8.40

NST Online » Local News; 2007/08/08
‘Manager murdered, not involved in accident’

KLANG: Police believe that human resources manager S. Umapathy, who is believed to have been murdered and burned in his car, was not involved in an accident although he had told this to his mother. This is based on the lack of any damage to his car. Police believe Umapathy was not in Seremban when he made telephone calls to his nephew and mother as he had just returned to Petaling Jaya. He is believed to have been heading home at that time. Police hope to find the answers in the next few days as the four suspects in custody may shed more light on the case. In the incident, the 29-year-old human resource manager of a popular fitness centre, went missing last Saturday. His family later lodged a missing person’s report at the Klang district police headquarters.

However, police found his Proton Wira ablaze about 2am on Sunday at Puncak Alam in Shah Alam and the charred remains of a man inside. His family members said he left his house in Taman Bayu Perdana about 7pm on Friday saying he was going to a temple in Rantau, Negri Sembilan. Umapathy’s older brother, S. Gopalakrishnan, said a nephew who accompanied the former said they had returned at 2.30am.

However, Umapathy never returned home and later made phone calls to his nephew and mother asking for a total of RM3,500 to be deposited into his bank account. He had said that he was involved in an accident with a Mercedes Benz in Seremban and the other party was demanding money to settle it. The money was banked in and the last contact the family had with him was about 1pm when he said everything was settled and that he would be returning home later at night. Attempts by family members to contact him after that failed as his phone kept going to voice mail. A blood sample was taken yesterday for a DNA test to identify the remains. Police are also looking for two men seen leaving the scene in a Mitsubishi Storm pick-up truck.

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The charred remains of the man found burnt in his car at Punchak Alam has been identified as logistic manager S. Umapathy,29. Selangor Police has said so far 4 men have been arrested in connection with the case. The police confirmed on Monday he was killed elsewhere before he was dumped in his car towed to the site and set on fire.

The third and fourth suspect was arrested on Sunday evening. The first two suspects were nabbed near the crime scene two hours after the police were alerted at a.30 am. Selangor CPO Khalid Abu Bakar (ABOVE) disclosed that Uma Subramnian who works for a company in Klang knew the suspects well
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Monday August 6, 2007(updated version )
Four held over murder

PETALING JAYA: Four men have been arrested in connection with the murder of a man whose charred remains were found inside a Proton Wira in Puncak Alam, Shah Alam, on Sunday. The four, including a relative and a friend of the victim, were picked up at various locations in Selangor shortly after police found the remains near where Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibbu was allegedly murdered. State chief police officer Deputy Comm Datulk Khalid Abu Bakar said the men, aged between 28 and 40, were believed to be involved in the case. The victim was said to be a 29-year-old human resource manager from Klang who worked for a fitness centre in Kuala Lumpur.

Police have taken a sample from the charred remains for DNA testing. Meanwhile, a man believed to be a relative of the deceased, when met at the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital mortuary in Klang, said the Proton Wira in which the body was found belonged to his brother. “The last we heard from my brother was at about 10am on Saturday when he called and asked us for some money, after saying that he was involved in an accident,” said the man who wished to be known only as Gopal.

Gopal said his brother went to Seremban with a relative for prayers and was due back on Saturday. On Sunday, Fire and Rescue Department personnel made a gruesome finding after receiving a call about a car on fire at 2am. After putting out the fire, they found the charred remains inside the car. ACP Noor Azam said urged those with information on the incident to contact investigation officer ASP Nazri at 03-5510 2222.
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ABOVE: Punchak Alam, the same place where the Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu was murdered and BELOW: The burnt out shell of the car

Police have remanded two men to assist in the investigation of man found burnt in his Proton Wira Car in Punchak Alam, Shah Alam.
ABOVE & BELOW: a closer views of the bunt car, a Proton Wira


Police said they received a call at about 2 am from a motor cyclist who heard an explosion when passing by the area. A search at the Road transport department revealed that the car belongs to a man residing in Pandamarn, Kelang.
ABOVE & BELOW: The interior of the car was reduced to a metallic shell

His body was found in the front passenger seat. Police believed he was murdered elsewhere and set on fire. His identity could not be established as all his documents were burnt out

ABOVE & BELOW: The structures suffered a complete burnt out ; but fo scrap it would get a better price is sold to a "potong" - cut dealer

= = == = == = ==and from STAR, Monday August 6, 2007

Burnt body found near Altantuya site(1st version)
SHAH ALAM: Fire and Rescue Department personnel made a gruesome find after receiving a call about a car on fire at Jalan Empangan Tasik Subang in Puncak Alam here early yesterday. After putting out the fire, they found the charred remains of what is believed to be a man inside the Proton Wira. Shah Alam District police Chief Asst Comm Noor Azam Jamaludin said police received a call about a burning car at 2am and immediately notified the Fire and Rescue Department.

“We found the body in the car and believe the man was set on fire. We have yet to identify him because all his personal documents were also burnt,” he said. Police have detained two men near the scene. ACP Noor Azam said a search at the Road Transport Department showed that the Wira belonged to a man from Pandamaran in Klang. The spot, where the burnt car was found, was about 50m from the entrance of a road leading to a secondary jungle where Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu was allegedly murdered.

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MORE PICS – Road Bully Killed by 4WD Driven in Self Defense; Killing another human being while protecting your own body from death is a Violation

In this incident, we can learn some important and useful lessons. Is the killing of the man justified? In self defense?

Killing another human being is a violation. Killing while even protecting your own body from death at the hands of another through immediate contact is a violation. Whether or not any justifications seem apparent, the violation exists. An outright lie may or may not be a violation. A sex act may or may not be a violation. Not going to church, temple or mosque is NOT a violation. Having normal aggressive thought is not a violation. Doing violence to you body is a violation. Doing violence to the spirit of another is a violation – but again because you are conscious beings, the interpretations are all yours. Swearing is not a violation. If you believe that it is, then in your mind it becomes one.

Because you believe physical self-defense is the only way to counter such a situation then you will say,
“If I am attacked by another person, are you telling me that I cannot aggressively counter his obvious intent to destroy me?”
Not al all. You could counter such attack in several ways that do NOT - involve killing. In the first place you would not be in such a hypothetical situation to begin with unless violent thoughts of your own, faced or unfaced, had attracted it to you. But once it is a fact, and according to the circumstances, many methods could be used.

Because you consider aggression synonymous with violence, you may not understand that aggressive-forceful active, mental or spoken commands for peace could save your life in such a case. Usually there are a variety actions, not involving killing, that would suffice. As long as you believe violence must be met with violence you court it and its consequences. On individual terms, your body and mind become the battleground, as does the physical body of the earth in mass terms. Your material form is alive through natural aggression, the poised, forceful and directed action that is the carrier for creativity.

But why is there so much hatred and violence that when you kill someone, you believe that you kill him forever to settle an old score? Murder is, therefore, a crime and must be dealt with - because you have created it. There is never any justification for violence. There is no justification for hatred. There is no justification for murder. Those who indulge in violence for whatever reason are themselves changed, and the purity of their purpose adultered. Remember, hate creates destruction on earth and until the lessons are learned, destruction follows destruction. It is not that you must be taught not to destroy, for destruction does not actually exist. It is that you must be trained to create responsibly.

Death does not exist in those terms. In the dawn of physical existence, men knew that death was merely a change of form - a transformation from one way of being into another. A death is just a night to your soul. What you call death is rather your choice to focus in other dimensions and realities. No God created the crime of murder, and no God created sorrow or pain....again, because you believe that you can kill someone and end his consciousness forever, then murder exists within your reality and must be dealt with; but their errors and mistakes, luckily enough, are not real and do not affect reality, for those killed still live on.

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ABOVE: The large crowd waiting for action; they would not leave until the body is removed!

Man killed by 4WD during fight over near accident
Road repairer kills road bully

Saturday August 4, 2007; STAR

KUALA LUMPUR: A road repairer allegedly drove a four-wheel drive into a man, killing him during a fight over some road works at Jalan Ipoh here. Another man was injured after the vehicle also mowed into him in the 5am incident yesterday. The dead man has been identified as Law Kian Hong, 34, of Sentul Pasar, while the injured was Yap Lei Shin, 33.

ABOVE & BELOW: the dead man lying in front of two land "Datuks" (in Red - the Guardians of the area") after being moved down by a 4WD in self defense

The police have classified the case as murder.

ABOVE: Asst Comm Kumaran explaining to the Forensic head on the incident

Sentul OCPD Asst Comm K. Kumaran (ABOVE) said they recovered a parang and an iron baton at the scene. He said five workers have been detained in connection with the case. The workers had closed off one lane to carry out their job and a speeding Honda allegedly nearly crashed into a parked vehicle there.

“The workers claimed the driver and passengers of the Honda, armed with a parang and an iron baton, came out and abused them. “The men then smashed the windscreen of the parked vehicle,” ACP Kumaran said, adding that the workers then ran for cover.

ABOVE: one of the weapon recovered by police and BELOW: the crime scene

“A worker who was in a 4WD drove into two of the men. Three others got back into the Honda and sped off.”

ABOVE: The forensic police "wasting" his time, looking for tyre marks on the crushed body?