LONE

Saturday, November 27, 2004

Jelapang Death Toll Increases

i had only blogged regarding the 'Killer Jelapang Toll Plaza' not too ong ago. By early September 2004, there have been numerous accidents near or at this 'killer toll plaza', and there had been a total of 5 fatalities. Yesterday another vehicle, a southbound container lorry had crashed into a closed lane at the toll plaza. The reason was brake failure according to the polis. The driver was fortunate to escape unhurt. Today there was another accident at this ill-fated spot. This time, the driver of the express bus was not so fortunate, he was killed when he jumped out of the bus. Apparently he had lost control while going down the killer slope and had experienced brake failure.
There have been calls made by many for the toll plaza to be relocated. There have also equally been much talk talk about shifting the toll plaza by Samy Vellu and his chappies from the Malaysian Highway Authority (MHA) and Plus Expressways Sdn Bhd but while they are having their talk talk sessions and deciding on which plan to put into action, the death bells have kept on tolling away. Recently the Perak MB boldly declared that :: The Jelapang Toll Plaza Will Have To Go. And he spoke about this RM260 million project to relocate the toll plaza. He also mentioned the amount is half of the annual bajet of the state of Perak. An amount which obviously the state gomen can not afford to foot.
According to the plan submitted by Works MINIster, two 5km-long side roads are to be built parallel to the existing toll-free stretch from the Ipoh Selatan toll plaza to the Jelapang toll plaza and the latter is to be dismantled to ease congestion faced by south-bound travellers passing through it. This grand plan of his will definitely take a long period of time to finance and implement and complete. In the meanwhile, can't the plaza be temporarily relocated to the Dataran Sungei Perak area? A relocation which will be less costly and require a shorter time to implement. Is the Work MINIster waiting for a major disaster involving more deaths to occur before he gets down to work? Does make you wonder why the Work MINIstry and gomen is so keen on the RM260 million alternative and not the cheaper one?

| ¶ 11/27/2004 01:16:00 AM

Thursday, November 25, 2004

Spotlights, Drum Rolls for AI

Lately for those who stay clear of the local Malaysian media and only concentrate on the alternative media and foreign press, one cannot be faulted thinking that the prodigal son has returned and that AI [one Anwar Ibrahim, former Malaysian deputy PM, still Datuk Seri or not, convicted and jailed for corrupt practices and freed on appeal of sodomy charges] is a raising star in the Malaysian political scene. Just look at how much he is in the news. Dropped by for the current PM's openhouse on Raya and it is reported worldwide with spekulasi ranging from 'Did they talk politics', 'Is he rejoining UMNO?', 'Has he gone nuts', 'Are they ganging up against Najib?' and so on.
On the local front he has been very active, meeting the locals in Datuk Keramat, Shah Alam, Ipoh, at his 'open house' to hear their views and vice versa
Since coming back after his treatment in Munich he has given his views among others on the following matters ::

Internationally, AI is also making some waves after his recent release, the foreign media has many reports to file about him ::

'Arrogant' Thai PM warned over Muslim Unrest
Oxford's Fellowship for Anwar
Anwar to Meet Nelson Mandela
Manila Bulletin::The Ongoing Saga of Anwar Ibrahim
Asia Times::Anwar the Malaysian Chameleon
Aljazeera::Anwar on Roadshow against 'oppressive' law

For someone who in the past 6 years or so has been considered irrelevant, he is obviously having the spotlights on him. Of course don't expect our local self-muzzled media to report on happenings involving him. The wait for the 'master voice' to give the go ahead is still awaited. In the meanwhile, 'irrelevant' AI will ensure that he remains in the spotlights and do a little reinventing, here and there. But whether there will eventually be 'drum rolls' for him will depend very much on the 'final, real, packaged' AI that we will finally get to see. In the meanwhile, we may get to see a glimpse here, a glimpse there, of the 'real' AI he may chose to reveal; but eventually they may not necessarily be that 'real' after all.

| ¶ 11/25/2004 12:59:00 PM

Wednesday, November 17, 2004

Nothing 2Do?

Once in a while i get into the nothing-to-do mode, then i happened to come across this and for the past 30 minutes, i have been watching it again and again.

Do join me if you are in the same mode. Don't bother to scroll up, just click here and be entertained by Xiao Xiao and Heineken again. Great eh?

| ¶ 11/17/2004 01:03:00 AM

Tuesday, November 16, 2004

Unwed Mums::40% are Undergrads

In late Oct, a UUM student was reported giving birth in her dormitory room. She hid the baby and initially refused to acknowledge that she had given birth, instead she told her medical attendants that she was having heay menses. Fortunately for the newborn, it was eventually found. The 2.5kg baby was reported to have managed to survive as she was sustained by the nutrients from the placenta attached to her body. After the initial furore, mention was made to see how this poor girl should be punished, criminal charges and varsity expulsion were mentioned. Did i detect 'apparent delight' by some unforgiving souls that she may not be there when the new varsity term opens. There was a more compassionate response from a medical undergrad that there was no need to add insult to injury.
Now it takes at least two to make a baby as everyone would acknowledged. But nowhere in the furore was mention made of taking action against the putative father of the baby. Shouldn't he be also be punished, if that was indeed the manner to deal with such cases. Fortunately, the poor girl has understanding parents who are willing to stand by her and they have offered to take care of the baby. Our Women, Family and Community Development MINIster has also been sympathetic and have offered counselling for the girl by officers from her MINIstry.

The New Paper, that paper with headlines like :: Poker in the Park, We left Hubbies, babies for Romance....., Here's Looking at you, Babe!, etc. Recently came out with this report :: Unwed & Pregnant, 40% are Undergrads. The undergrads the paper talked about were Malaysian ones. The New Paper started off by saying ::

THEY turn up like abandoned kittens at the doors of women's-shelter homes.
Frightened, confused, pregnant... and unmarried.
But these are no wayward girls. They are bright, young, educated undergraduates, at the brink of a promising life and career.

The New Paper goes on to claim ::

Pusat Kebahagiaan Wanita dan Remaja (Kewaja), a women's and youth's shelter in Kuala Lumpur, for example, sees about 80 to 100 unwed mothers a year.
Of that, almost 40 per cent are undergraduates, says Kewaja director Yahya Mohamed Yusof.

The New Paper spoke also to Puan Rosmawati Zainal, director of the Raudhatus Sakinah Welfare Home, Puan Rosmawati said :: 'There are probably more out there that go unreported. There are clinics which do illegal abortions quietly.' 'We're seeing more undergraduates. They are not stupid. I see them as victims of manipulation. They fall in love easily and are easily influenced or pressured.

Kewaja Director said :: 'Some of these girls lead a double life. At home, they are obedient, pious girls and they wear the tudung (headscarf). 'But, away from their parents, in school, they go wild, they hang out with bad company and boys.'
a social worker with Women's Aid Organisation (WAO) said many of the girls come from sheltered backgrounds.

A social worker with WAO has this to say :: 'They come from small towns and when they go to the big city to study, it's like culture shock. They're suddenly exposed to so much freedom and all kinds of influences.'

It looks like the MINIster and her officers certainly are going to have plenty on their hands dealing with these unwed mothers. As have been noted before our local varsities have more woman than man undergrads in them, this is said to be an unusual phenomena in a developing country. To add on to the problems a lot of the women folk in the varsities are not prepared for the sweet talking 'wolves' and 'predators' to be found in the bigger cities where these varsities are located, so they easily fall prey to them. Coupled with the absence of pre-varsity counselling, lack of adequate sex education and absence of parental control, these young and presumably naive girls fall under the influence of their more urban male counterparts. As prevention is always better than cure. before the problem get worse the MINIster9s) concerned must take steps to nip it in the bud.

Steps and actions the gomen can take may include the following ::

Introduce more comprehensive sex education earlier on in schools
Parental guidance to be given, religious and moral guidance where appropriate
On enrolment into varsities, all undergrads to be given talks to prepare them for life in the varsity. Right and wrong actions to be spelt out.
Undergraduates to be guided on how to deal with 'predators'
Provide more counsellors in schools and varsities to nip problems early
Consider building more varsities in non-urban settings.
Provide guidance and counselling in cases which are after the fact instead of taking punitive actions and stoppage of education.

| ¶ 11/16/2004 05:00:00 PM

Monday, November 15, 2004

Former DPMs Meet

When Anwar Ibrahim return home after his treatment in Munich and ummrah in Saudi, he had expressed his desire to meet up with the PM. Among other stuff, he had wanted to meet the PM in appreciation of the PM's move in upholding independence of the judiciary and the former DPM also said :: "I will try to meet the prime minister as a committed citizen to the development of reforms in this country." This was reported by BERNAMA under the headline :: "Anwar To Meet Abdullah Monday" on 31st Oct. Malaysiakini had also reported that the former DPM would support any positive steps taken by Pak Lah to combat corruption and poverty. Subsequently, BERNAMA reported the PM had said that "Anwar Has Yet To Request For Meeting". When asked whether he was willing to meet Anwar, the PM said: "He has yet to make contact, has not yet to request (for such a meeting), so I'll just wait for that..." M'kini said that "Pak Lah fences over Anwar meeting", saying that Pak Lah was non-committal about a request for a meeting by freed politician Anwar, but the possibility of talks with the ex-convict was not entirely ruled out.
Malaysiakini on 3rd Nov reported that Anwar has sent his request for a meeting and an answer was awaited. Many thought that such a meeting would take place before the month of Syawal but Saturday, the last day of fasting came and went.
Now today, the two former DPMs have finally met, though the meeting wasn't a private one. This meeting has been reported by the AUSTRALIAN under the heading :: "Freed dissident, PM in surprise visit" and by the Philippine Daily Enquirer using the headline :: "Malaysia's Anwar meets premier for first time in 6 years". The two former DPMs met for the first time in six years at a banquet in Penang hosted by the PM to mark the Eid al-Fitr. Anwar, had gone to a community hall in Penang where Abdullah was hosting the event. The half-hour meeting was purely a matter of courtesy and no political talks occurred, Anwar's aide Azmin Ali said. Nevertheless some will view the chance meeting as a sign of improving relations between Anwar and the gomen.
As at this time of posting, BERNAMA has yet to report on this meeting of the two former DPMs. Probably like the M'kini reporters, BERNAMA reporters may have also taken long leave for the DeepaRaya celebrations. On the other hand they may be waiting for you know what to be given for many says that the Malaysian media is gomen controlled, no go, no report lah. If M'kini had been online, this item would have been breaking news.
Did the two of them just chit chat about the weather and the horrible driving habits and attitudes of Malaysian drivers or did they also discuss setting a date for a private meeting? This must be on the minds of many during this holiday season too.

| ¶ 11/15/2004 04:50:00 PM

Wednesday, November 10, 2004

Crackdown on Traffic Offenders

When i first came to hear of the call by our one year old PM that the lesen of drivers involved in accidents would be suspended and detained at the polis district station concerned for 2 weeks regardless of whether the drivers were in the right or wrong; i was amazed that such an idea would emanate from our one year old PM. The NST called this the toughest proposal yet to be announced by the PM to deal with deaths due to road accidents. The NST mentioned that the lesen would be suspended regardless of who is at fault! The STAR when reporting on the proposal appears to say that only the lesen of "Motorists who cause road accidents will have their driving licences seized and held for two weeks by traffic police in the district where the accident happened." i had therefore refrained from making any comments, for the one which came straight to minda was what a stupid idea aka aksi. So a couple of days went by. The NST reported "mixed reactions to the proposals. Some shot down the idea, while the usual mindaless ones were quick to jump on the bandwagon and said what a great idea it is and give their undivided support. eg The executive director of Program Motorcamp Malaysia, supported the move wholeheartedly, saying he hoped the proposal would take effect ASAP. The JPJ Director-General Datuk Emran Kader, was also among those supporting the proposal. i waited for wiser counsel.
National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye struck a chord when he showed concern over possible negative consequences. The Tan Sri said ::

"For the person in the right, it could be unfair." "It could also discourage people from lodging a police report if their licences are to be taken by the police."

And he hit it closed to the heart when he quoted this example ::

If an accident were to happen in Taiping, the licence would have to be surrendered in Taiping, regardless of where the motorist lived. [this was according to the proposal of the year old PM]

See, i was once booked for shooting the lights while in KL, imagine having to leave my lesen there for two weeks and having to travel back to collect it a fortnight later. But then again, just thinking of it might have stopped me in my tracks and made me not shoot the lights the next time. But why did i shoot the lights on that occasion, there was this guy tailgating me. He probably got away without a ticket.
The DAP Sec-Gen echoed what the Tan Sri said, when he said ::

"Retaining the driving licences of those who are wrong is acceptable but not the innocent party, as the law should punish the guilty and not the innocent."

Of course the statistik regarding total traffic accidents and fatal accidents are alarming, but to suspend all drivers involved in accidents sound very drastic an action. Last year, 868 accidents and 17 deaths were recorded daily, while the figures up to September this year had hardly changed, with 866 accidents and 17 deaths daily. The main cause of accidents, i believe is the horrible, arrogant, aggressive, terrible, inconsiderate, kiasu attitudes of some of the drivers on our highways and byways and expressways. And attitudes are mighty difficult to change, unless someone has a magically formula to whoosh away our bad road habits and attitudes of our drivers and bright back good driving and road courtesy. Changing their attitudes only during the festival rushes is not good enough, it has to be the all the time.
Of course today, we find some common sense prevailing and that stup_d proposal appears to have been forgotten. So what do we find in its place. Oh yes, the 4-pronged attack plan to reduce road accidents ::

POLICE setting up watchtowers at regular intervals along major roads and highways to enable them to make their presence felt and for surveillance;
ISSUING summonses and implementing the Kejara demerit system strictly;
REVOKING the permits of commercial vehicles whose drivers are involved in accidents and committing offences; and
HAVING police patrol cars travel at the speed limit and summoning vehicles which overtake them.

The Kejara demerit system has actually been around for some time now, obviously it has not been implemented or enforced strictly. The system probably ended up as an avenue for some kopi drinking. The enforcers need to be looked at as to why the system is not working. Building watchtowers will probably produce some immediate effects for a period of time but it won't come cheap and will be a drain on the manpower of the JPJ, the polis and the Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board. Imagine stationing these personnel from each of the department at watchtowers every 20km of our highways and federal roads! Wouldn't just cardboard cutouts of the polis or JPJ officers do. i believe that this was tried out and proved cost effective in Britain and Australia or was it somewhere else. By the way, Britain, with its 5.6 annual road deaths per 100,000 inhabitants [2000 figures] makes it one of the nations with low road accident fatalities. In Poland, similar use was made of dummy police cars made of wood and cardboard.
The 4th prong of having polis patrol cars travelling at the speed limit and leading other cars on our highways and federal roads sounds too impractical. How many of such patrol cars can be around at any one time? And if one should go off chasing after a private car which has gone above the speed limit will it end up with all the following cars playing follow the leader. Many Malaysian drivers are known to take advantage of the speeding ambulans and cars of the speeding VIPs or Royalties and follow in their wake.
Our Transport MINIster has advised motorcyclists to take the bus home for balik kampung during the festive season, he says that a university study on road safety showed that taking the bus during the balik kampung period was 30 times safer than riding motorcycles. Travelling in cars was 17 times safer and trains 325 times safer! But according to a PIAM report, one in four buses are likely to get involved in an accident each year. Taxi on the other hand has a 12.2% accident rate. So take your pick.
i for one will be looking forward to seeing this 4-pronged attack plan work and the resultant reduction in accidents and fatalities.
In the meanwhile, do discard all those aggression, horrible kiasu thoughts, calmdown and please don't drink [In Slovakia and the Czech Republic, the blood alcohol limit for driving is zero!] before you start driving next and do drive carefully. Click here for some road safety tips.
And to all of you celebrating Deepavali and HariRaya Puasa, Selamat & Happy & Prosperous DeepaRaya & Safe Driving to you all!

| ¶ 11/10/2004 04:36:00 PM

Coming Soon::PLKN Bhg 2

The 2nd season of the PLKN will begin soon. The 2nd year of the PLKN will see another batch of some 84,000 selected youths involved. 28,000 of these youths willl begin their programme on 13th Dec 2004.
There were plenty of teething problems last year, with transportation mishaps, fights in tthe camps, food of poor quality and in some camps, insufficient in amounts, even an alleged rape case [trial still in progress], a couple of accidental deaths and other minor fracas. Damages to universiti kampuses and public instituisi of higher learning went into the million of ringgit.
Recently it was revealed that literally thousands of weapons and dangerous tools were seized from the 41 PLKN camps nationwide. These were left over by trainees of year 2003/04.
The discovery of these weapons and tools indicated that the year 2003/04 trainees were indeed an ill-disciplined lot. Among the offensive weapons were Rambo knives, steel chains, hammers, scissors and tweezers. These offensive weapons were used to damage windows, campbeds, toilet bowls, washbasins and furniture. Of course the taxpayers ended up footing the bills for these damaged items. One of the main aims of the PLKN was to instil discipline into these trainees, instead the camps may have provided training grounds for the trainees to hone their skills at fighting and extortion.
PLKN deputy director-general Omar Abd Rahman is quoted as having said that they found about 16,000 trainees from the year 2003/04 programme had brought the offensive items to the camps and the kampuses. Now this is certainly a shocking figure as it meant that almost 20% of the trainees entered the camps bringing along weapons! With the new session starting soon, the authorities concerned must be extra vigilant to ensure that such a thing is a thing of the past or no parents would feel that thir children are safe in these camps.
The PLKN deputy director said for the new session, two safety and discipline manuals, which outline strict punishment for offenders, will be issued to trainees. More important is to ensure that steps are taken to ensure safety and that any punishment meted out is carried out fairly.
It looks like things will be slightly different for the trainees in this new session. Last year those selected and wanted exemption on medical grounds had to get a medical examination and report on their own to prove their medical conditions, this session trainees will receive medical examinations, inclusive of a pregnancy test for the ladies, before they start their training.
Lets hope that there will be less problems for the trainees this time around. The PLKN had plenty of feedback and time to rectify the teething problems encountered last session.

| ¶ 11/10/2004 12:32:00 PM

Saturday, November 06, 2004

Sex Change Registry?

As a response to the recent decision not to allow the transsexual applicant to register a change of gender, the gomen may be taking the first step to study whether the the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1957 should be amended. BERNAMA reports that the Home MINIstry would be conducting a thorough study to determine whether the re-registration of the gender status of a person who had undergone sex change through an operation was necessary.
Justice Singham had this to say when he made his recent decision ::

"At the same time, although transsexual cannot be left in legal limbo, the remedy is elsewhere. Perhaps there is need for consideration whether it should be legislative measures regarding scientific and societal development...in future, it will have far reaching ramifications in matters of employment, pension and others."

. Of course there are many more aspects which would be affected by a person's reassigned legal sex.

The ball appears now to be at the feet of the gomen. But to expect this to be thrashed out soon would be expecting too much of the gomen. Even Japan has just approved a new law that enables transsexual people to change their legal sexes and this law has only just become effective this year. Among Asean countries, Singapore is in the forefront of sex reassignment surgery and has a law allowing change of legal sex and recently has also recently recognized the right of transsexuals to marry in their reassigned sex.

One can find a fairly good account of the legal aspects of transsexualism by clicking here, laws regarding change of legal sex varies from country to country. Are we ready for this? For those curious or interested in the knowing SRS or sexual reassignment surgery, try clicking here. There is even a handbook on the topic of sex change :: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Sex Change [but was afraid to ask].

| ¶ 11/06/2004 10:19:00 AM

Friday, November 05, 2004

A Tale of Two Transexuals

BERNAMA reports that a 33-year-old woman, who underwent sex change two years ago, failed in her attempt to be legally recognised as a male when the High Court here dismissed her application in a landmark decision. In dismissing the application, the Justice concerned said it was not for the court to decide as transsexuals did not exist in Malaysian law jurisdiction and the remedy lies elsewhere. Pray where?
The Justice further added ::

"At the same time, although transsexual cannot be left in legal limbo, the remedy is elsewhere. Perhaps there is need for consideration whether it should be legislative measures regarding scientific and societal development...in future, it will have far reaching ramifications in matters of employment, pension and others," he said.

He said the issue of transsexual also might raise serious human rights issues but the court felt it was up to Parliament to deal with the matter as it required changes to the law.

The Justice also fired a shot in the direction of the NRD Director-General, who had also recently tried to pass the buck regarding request of change of MyKad gender listing to the courts.

The applicant who claims being born with both male and female sexual organs [a hermaphrodite::a child of the Sun and Moon], had filed the application with the High Court here last year after failed attempts to alter her/his birth certificate and identity card at the NRD. Upon recommendations by a consultant psychiatrist, who found the applicant to be mentally a male although physically a female, a 'gender reassignment' operation was carried out. The applicant presently carries a MyKad stating the gender as male but the number is that of a female. This show that the NRD is not never wrong, there are many males carrying cards with even numbers and vice versa. Gender assignment at birth is also a hazard in a few cases, it looks like iin this country you can only be male or female, a category called 'gender indeterminate presently' should be created especially for those with ambiguous genitalia at birth. At the present, it looks like the remedy for the position Ms/Mr Wong is in cannot be found with the NRD or Courts and lies with Parliament. Whether Wong is a He or She has far reaching consequences and a remedy need to be found, will Parlaiment rise to the occasion?

The story regarding the 2nd transsexual has a better ending. It is about the triumph Denmark’s Mianne Bagger. She made history on Wednesday when she became the first transsexual to qualify for the Ladies European Tour (LET). Bagger, who was born a male but underwent sex change surgery in 1995, carded a fourth-round 77 at Riva dei Tessali Golf Club in Taranto to join 35 other players with full exemption for next year’s tour.

| ¶ 11/05/2004 11:40:00 AM

All d'News Menu

Alternative News & NGOs

BrainTeasers & Educational

Games Simplex