LONE

Friday, January 27, 2006

Rishitaran Gets His Heart Op Subsidy after all

On Wednesday, the Malay Mail highlighted the plight of baby Rishitaran who needed a heart operation. The father, a taxi driver, was unable to come up with the RM18K needed for the operation at IJN. Recently the Health MINIster was reported as saying that his MINIstry’s health fund has some RM18 million meant for critical illness which was still unused.

Excerpts from the MMail report ::

Maniam [said axi driver] went to the Ministry after reading in Malay and Tamil dailies that the Ministry’s health fund has some RM18 million meant for critical illnesses still unutilised.

The Puchong resident was quoted as saying: "While the officer concurred with what the Minister said, he insisted that I look for help from other sources."

However, the officer did not tell him where to seek help but maintained he was at the wrong place.

Maniam told the officer that he had spent more than RM110 at Putrajaya Hospital and about RM400 at IJN for his son’s X-rays and check-ups.

The officer rudely questioned his plan to take his son to IJN instead of a Government hospital.

Maniam explained that it was the choice of the doctors at Putrajaya Hospital.

On Thursday, the MINIster sets the record straight, this again made the front page of the Malay Mail. MINIster Chua is puzzled why his MINIstry’s approval to subsidise the cost of the heart surgery of a taxi driver’s son was not conveyed to him.

MINIsters are well known to come p with various explanations whenever there are cock-ups, it is uaually that they have been misquoted or misinterpreted, [remember 'no no' Noh Omar]. As for the recent cock-up by his MINIstry's officer regarding Rishitaran's op and not being aware that IJN is a gomen hospital, Dr Chua said there could have been a "breakdown in communication" as there were not many non-Malays who were conversant in Bahasa Malaysia. Is he trying to point a finger at another MINIster, the Education MINIster?

| ¶ 1/27/2006 10:37:00 AM

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

UMNO Overseas Club 'Porno' Video Report

BERNAMA carried a report regarding a UMNO Overseas Clubs Alumni Organisation lodgement of a police report against Seputeh Member of Parliament Teresa Kok. The polis report against MP Kok was reportedly for storing, distributing and disseminating pornographic material of a nude woman doing squats at the Parliament lobby on Nov 25 2005.

How many of those who have viewed the said video would have really considered it pornographic in content? Most if not all would have felt disgusted and sicken by the way a fellow human was being subjected to something which was improper, forbidden by Syariah principles and a violation of human rights. Did the video provoke the sexual desires or cause any sexual arousal of any of those who had viewed the video? That is what i am told pornography is supposed to do. Those who answer YES, might then consider the said video to be pornographic material. Now do we know those who are habouring such thoughts and are having their baser senses titillated by the said video?

That 'Noh Noh' claims as usual that he is 'no know' and denied any knowledge of the report lodged yesterday at the Sentul police station by a UMNO Overseas Clubs Alumni Organisation member, one Abd Razak Mohd Ghazali. But 'Noh Noh' Noh Omar is our deputy internal minister and also the chairperson of the UMNO Overseas Clubs Alumni Organisation. Malaysiakini wonders as 'Noh Noh' Noh Omar, as deputy internal minister, was involved at different stages of the Squatgate video saga is there a conflict of interest? Now how many would agree with UMNO Overseas Clubs Alumni Organisation that MP Kok has been storing, distributing and dissemianting pornographic material?

| ¶ 1/24/2006 06:47:00 PM

Nyonya Tahir Not A Muslim

Nyonya Tahir managed to get her last wish. Her family members were able to fulfill her desire to be buried according to Buddhist rites. Judge Mohd Shukor Sabudin of the Negeri Sembilan Syariah High Court decided that 89-year-old Nyonya Tahir, was a non-Muslim when she died last Thursday and allowed her family to bury her according to Buddhist rites.

An affidavit submitted by Nyonya's youngest son, Chiang Ah Fatt, 40 years old, as well as the evidence adduced by Ah Fatt and his elder sister, Chiang Kwang Ying, 43 years old were taken into consideration.

Ah Fatt's affidavit, among other things,

An investigation by the Alor Gajah Islamic Affairs Office in Melaka on May 7, 1986 on Nyonya and her husband, Chiang Meng showed that Nyonya who was born in 1918 in Alor Gajah, Melaka, and had been raised by her grandmother, who was a Malay married to a Chinese convert of Hailam descent had been raised as a Buddhist.

At the age of 18 years, in 1936, she married a Chinese man, Chiang Meng, and they had 13 children. Nyonya practised Buddhism and her husband never embraced Islam.

Nyonya had declared that she wanted to remain a Buddhist and that upon her death she wanted to be buried according to Buddhist rites.

According to Nyonya's daughther, Kwai Ying/Kwang Ying her mother did not follow the Muslim teaching and lived and prayed as a Buddhist and she also had a Chinese name, Wong Ah Kiew. Kwai Ying told the court they had approached the National Registration Department in 1986 to change Nyonya’s name to Chinese, but were not successful.

Nyonya Tahir’s children had waited in great anticipation for the Syariah High Court decision and when it came, it left them overjoyed at being able to fulfil their mother’s wishes.

| ¶ 1/24/2006 12:07:00 PM

Sunday, January 22, 2006

Another Body Tussle in store?

Even before the controversy following the death of Sargeant M. Moorthy @ Muhammad Abdullah has been settled it looks like Pak Lah has another case on his hands. Will he prove out?

An item in the NST tells of the death of an 89-year-old woman named Nyonya Tahir. She was born a Malay Muslim, she eventually married a Chinese man of the Buddhist faith, named Chiang Meng in 1936. Since her marriage, Nyonya lived according to the Buddhist faith. Together they had 13 children. Nyonya Tahir died of old age on 19th January. Her family wishes to perform her burial rites according to the Buddhist faith.

Upon her death, it was reported to the polis, the latter then referred the case to the Negri Sembilan Religious Affairs Department (JHEAINS). JHEAINS obtained a Syariah court order to postpone Nyonya's burial according to the Buddhist faith as JHEAINS' investigations revealed that Nyonya was a Malay and was from Simpang Ampat, Alor Gajah in Malacca. Nyonya's case will be heard in the Syariah high court on Monday. Meanwhile, Nyonya Tahir is in the Tampin Hospital mortuary while waiting for the Syariah court decision.

The latest regarding this death is that the children of Nyonya Tahir have produced a document from the Alor Gajah Islamic Religious Office and Mahkamah Kadi dated May 7, 1986 which stated that Nyonya had no intention of returning to the Muslim faith and had written a declaration that she wanted to live and be buried as a Chinese. Her children want to follow her wishes and want her to be buried according to Buddhist rites.

Nyonya's declaration, which bears the signature of Chong Yong Mok, a Commissioner for Oaths in Malacca, and carries Nyonya's right thumb print, has reportedly these things to say ::

Nyonya, who was born in 1918, said that since her mother's death, she had been raised by her grandmother, who was a Malay married to a Chinese convert.
She was raised from a tender age as a Chinese and in 1936, married a Chinese man, Chiang Meng, and had 13 children who were all registered and lived as Chinese.
She said her husband never followed the Muslim faith and after her marriage, she too lived as a Chinese.

Nyonya's case may not exactly be a replica of Sargeant M. Moorthy @ Muhammad Abdullah's, but another body tussle might ensue. She was born a Muslim Malay and had declared herself a Buddhist Chinese. Will Nyonya's children be able to fulfill her wishes? Will the Syariah court allow for this? Stay tuned.

Then there is the case of Che Rus who was born a Chinese and was subsequently brought up as a Muslim Malay. 47 year old Che Rus had no inkling that her biological parents were Chinese till some 13 years. She was involved in an accident then and suffered a life-threatening head-injury. Only then was her origins revealed by her sister. Since then, Che Rus has been searching for her biological parents and possible siblings. Che Rus parents are said to be from Kampar and had entrusted her in the care of a Malay couple named "Abdullah" and "Bedah" who were living in Malim Nawar. This couple moved to Teluk Intan later on and when the couple died, Che Rus, who was 2 year old then, was left in the care of their daughter, Roja. Che Rus's search for her parents is being help by MCA Ipoh public complaints bureau Chairman, Datuk Lee Kon Yin. Those who have information on Che Rus’s birth family members may call Datuk Lee at 05-2538455 or 012-5151178.

| ¶ 1/22/2006 01:48:00 AM

Saturday, January 21, 2006

Partial Withdrawal of Memorandum by the 9 Ministers

It looks like Act II of the sandiwara has begun. When last reported the PM said that he has yet to read the memo from the 9. But it appears that the others appear to know what was in the memo and they let go with their shots to fire at the 9. These guys like Nazri, Shafie Apdal, the DPM, Shahidan and others seem to know what is in the memo even before it is read by the PM.

Now even before the PM gets to read and digest it, TV 1 in its 7 pm news has reported that a portion of the 9 ministers have withdrawn the memo. This partial withdrawal has also been reported by BERNAMA as Some Cabinet Ministers Withdraw Memorandum, Says PM. The ministers involved in the partial withdrawal are reportedly :: MCA President (Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting), MIC President (Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu), Gerakan President (Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik), Minister of Transport (Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy) and Minister of Health (Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek). Excerpt from the BERNAMA report ::

"I met them Saturday morning including MCA President (Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting), MIC President (Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu) and Gerakan President (Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik).
"In the meeting, I said that they should withdraw the memorandum and they agreed," he said in his speech at the launch of Umno's new membership drive here.

At another press conference, Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik said 5 of the 9 ministers met with the PM this morning to explain their controversial memorandum to protect the religious rights of minority groups. When asked by reporters regarding Umno Youth’s call for the memorandum to be retracted, Datuk Seri Lim said ::

“You ask Umno Youth. I am not going to respond to anybody, I only listen to the advice of my PM, we now only listen to the advice to our PM because we have every respect for him.”

Now it looks like Act II, Part II has started with PPP Calls On Nine Ministers In Memo Uproar To Resign. The PPP President was sore that his party was not consulted on the memorandum despite it being one of the 13 parties in Barisan Nasional (BN) and among the five largest by membership. He said that the action of the 9 ministers was "totally irregular" and "unconventional" and they should resign after this "memo debacle". Find out what more the PPP President has to say here.

What will we witness in Act III of the "memo debacle"? The 9 ministers going on their knees with public apologies? The 9 ministers being sacked from their posts and their vacant posts being filled up by the PPP President and his merry men? Let's all be patient.

| ¶ 1/21/2006 08:08:00 PM

Time for Pak Lah to Prove Out

Our Pak Lah has mentioned many-a-times that he is a PM for all Malaysians and surely that would include all the Malaysian Muslims as well as all other Malaysians who profess other faiths or religions.

How he handles what has resulted from the recent demise of Sargeant M. Moorthy @ Muhammad Abdullah and the clamour for the protection of the rights of those Malaysians who are not muslims will show whether what all that he has been saying eversince becoming the PM for all Malaysians holds water.

The recent submission of a memo by 10 [or is it 9] of his non-Muslim ministers and his immediate response of saying that he has no time yet to study the said memo is telling. Without discussing further with these 10 or 9 ministers and getting feedback from his attorney-general he has unilaterally said that Article 121(1A) of the Federal Constitution will not be repealed. BUT having added that "provisions in the Article may be amended to resolve areas which cause difficulty to the people" is reassuring.

Over the next many days we can expect many to come out condemning the act of the 10 or 9 ministers. These people will use the opportunity to turn things around to suit their hidden agendas and make claims that the issues are sensitive and the very act of the ministers handing over the memo as a disrespectful act and so on and so forth. The real issues will then disappear from the horizon to be replaced by non-issues of the day. Malaysians should not fall for these "strawman" tactics.

Surely being the PM for all Malaysians, Pak Lah will eventually prove out.

| ¶ 1/21/2006 04:05:00 PM

Thursday, January 19, 2006

MyKad and the the 2 Behs

The SUN reports on the latest happening with MyKad :: Will the real Beh Chiew Soon please stand up?

It's a tale of lost MyKads and two Behs of the human variety.

One Mr Beh Chiew Soon is a cook from Taiping and is alive and kicking in PJ. He has lost his MyKad on 4 or 5 occasions [see he can't even remember well]. Presumably he has made polis reports regarding his losses. He even claims that he has paid a total of RM130 in fines.

Another Mr Beh Chiew Soon is in coma in the intensive care unit of UMMC. This Mr Beh while out on his motorbike met with an accident on the New Pantai Expressway on Jan 12.

Both Mr Behs possess MyKads having the same name, same home address, same kad numbers but different mugshots. Presumably they have the same birthdates and same citizenships. How come one may ask?

What's surprising is that we have here, the first Mr Beh, the cook, who in his presumably short life-time has lost his MyKad not once or twice but on 4 or 5 occasions. He obviously needs lessons on keeping his MyKad safe and sound. Probably he has been fined too little, there is a need for fines for lost MyKads to be increased for such habitual MyKad losers.

What's worrying is that our super-secured MyKads appear not to be super-secured as apparently there exist technology to replace the photos on them.

What i am wondering about right now is whether lost MyKads can be activated once they have been reported lost? Obviously the technology for such inactivations must be out there. But will this lead to more problems? Or are our MYKads already RFID tagged and GPS enabled? If so, someone out there may already be snooping on us!

| ¶ 1/19/2006 12:28:00 PM

Of ecm-Leap

If only i had made the wise decision to follow in the footsteps of that person who recently bought 3% of ecm-Lib [or should it be ecm-Leap] in the 2nd half of Dec. Te 3% shares were bought at an average of 71 sen and is said to have amounted to a total payment of RM9.2 million.

Today those shares are worth a terrific cool RM13.7 million as from 71 sen, the shares are now worth RM1.06! i am a sad one for not following that so fortunate and lucky one.

The latest news regarding a possible merger of ecm-Lib and Avenue should see the shares rocketing even higher. Alas i can only sit and watch but maybe, just maybe it might not be too late. Anyone willig me extend me a loan of say RM1 million? An analyst predicts that a merged ecm-Lib-Avenue entity may end up as one of the largest investment banks in Malaysia. MOF Inc is presently said to be the single largest shareholder of Avenue, having a 32% stake. And the fortunate and lucky one who recently bought 3% of ecm-Leap and is now probably worth a cool RM4.5 million more is the SIL of the MOF.

All these recent happenings [including the Halim-Anuar-Daim-Metramac web and ecm-Lib-Husam happenings,] has made another blogger wonder aloud ::

"So do you see, in these instances, any fundamental difference between the Mahathir-led Government of the past and the Pak Lah-led one of today?"

. Are we having a more truthful, transparent and accountable gomen? The truth is somewhere out there.

Meanwhile for an update check out the SUN here, here, here, here and here. Happy reading!

| ¶ 1/19/2006 10:04:00 AM

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

Going Public or Not?

According to BERNAMA :: Abdullah To Decide Whether To Make Public Nude Ear Squat Report ::

"We are set to meet the Prime Minister at 5pm. It is up to him whether he wants to make it public or not," he told reporters after presenting a copy of the report to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Syed Putra Jamalullail, at the Royal Malaysian Air Force base in Subang.

According to the STAR in its report :: King and PM get nude squat Report ::

"The Report has been handed to the Prime Minister. It is up to him to decide whether to make it public or not. Until then, it is a secret," he [Tun Dzaiddin] said at the office of the Prime Minister in Putrajaya.
The current report, which is 345 pages long has been kept under wraps and commission members have been warned against divulging its secrets.

Having having said that the Report is secret unless the PM says otherwise, the chairman is reported by the NST as having told the NST and shared with the NST some of the secret bits of the Report ::

Don’t permit nude squats
Police personnel to be enlightened about human rights principles.
Properly-conducted body searches were acceptable.
The commission has also prepared a detailed manual on body searches. The manual contains everything regarding body searches, including classification of types of body searches and the corresponding processes and procedures.
The commission also condemned the practice of "ketuk ketampi" (squats holding the ears).
"Ketuk ketampi is a form of punishment that dates back to schooldays. Here with lockup detainees, how can you punish somebody when you have not proved anything yet? You haven’t proved that the person has done wrong."
The commission has also repeated its previous recommendation for an IPCMC --independent complaints and misconduct commission to be set up to look into complaints against the police force.
Only 70 copies of the Report have been printed.

Now it appears for some reasons, best known to the chairman, he has decided to reveal some bits of the Report to the NST despite saying that the PM was the one to decide whether the Report should be made public. Since only 70 copies have been printed, it looks like not even all our MPs will receive a copy. So Mr Chairman why not reveal all to the public as you have pledged previously?

| ¶ 1/17/2006 10:25:00 AM

CoISOPAoRHBSCADP Report is Out but will the Public Know

The CoISOPAoRHBSCADP Report is out. For those not in the know, CoISOPAoRHBSCADP = "Commission of Inquiry into the Standard Operating Procedure, Approaches or Regulations in the Handling of Body Search in Connection with Arrest and Detention by the Police", it is the independent Commission tasked to specifically deal with "Squatgate". Its terms of reference ::

i. to ascertain whether the woman in the video clip doing ear squats in the nude was one of the five Chinese nationals detained by the police;
ii. to investigate the procedure in conducting a body search on the woman in the video clip;
iii. to ascertain whether there was impropriety in the conduct of body search on the woman; and
iv. to investigate the standard operating procedure and rules and regulations on the conduct of body search of police detainees and to recommend amendments or changes to the SOP or rules on such matters.

The Commission was chaired by Tun Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah, and its other members included former MCA deputy president Tan Sri Lim Ah Lek, former Bar Council president Kuthubul Zaman Bukhari, Wanita Umno legal bureau chief Datuk Kamilia Ibrahim and Datuk Hamzah Mohamed Rus, who served as the Commission secretary. All the five were members of the Royal Commission to Enhance the Operation and Management of the Royal Malaysian Police which made 125 recommendations to improve the RMP/PDRM. The most important of these recommendations was to have an IPCMC or Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission set up, till today the IPCMC is still awaiting to be born. Tun Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah was reported to have commented :: “My personal view is this: had the IPCMC been established, probably a lot of these things [Squatgate etc] would not have occurred.” So will the nation's top midwife ensure that the said IPCMC be delivered, the soonest the better.

Back to the CoISOPAoRHBSCADP Report, the Commission today has presented the Report to the King and in the evening a copy was given to the PM. On Wednesday, the Commission secretary will brief the cabinet members. No mention was made of when the public would be told. The Commission chairman appears to have back track on the report going public. A Malaysiakini report on 5th Dec, soon after the formation of the Commission, had him saying that the report would be made public ::

“I don’t want to be involved in something which they think is not worth implementing,” he said, pledging that the recommendations would be made public.

“I, for one, will recommend it. We don’t want it to be said there is a cover-up.”

According to BERNAMA, Tun Dzaiddin now says :: " Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi will decide whether to make public findings of the inquiry by the independent commission on the nude ear squat incident." He appears to have lost something over the past four weeks or so and forgotten his earlier pledge. As for what he was willing to tell the public now ::

"I can only tell you the first finding that everybody knows and the press has already covered everything that is whether the person in the nude scene in the video clip is one of the five Chinese national women and the rest of our recommendations are in the report."

Now what has the PM who claimed, recently in Bangkok, that "His Style Is Different From Mahathir", got to say? Will he allow the latest Report to go public? Will he be honouring his call for the Truth and more transparency and accountability?

Should the public be denied the Commission findings and recommendations? After all they have been paid for by the taxpayers. The gomen should not treat them as gomen private property. This incident has affected the nation's good name and its economy, not to mention other things, these should be reasons sufficient for the public to demand for the findings and recommendations to be made known to all and not just the gomen.

After the very first meeting of the Commission in early last December, its chairman Tun Dzaiddin reportedly told a news conference ::

"My hope is for the best... the truth."
"The truth will prevail. Justice must be seen to be done."

Let's see to it that the Commission has not just discovered the truth and that the truth will prevail and justice done but that the truth will be made public. Call up or e-mail the Opposition leader and your member of Parliament and the PM and demand that he/she ensure the Report is made public. Remind the Commission chairman of his pledge too.

| ¶ 1/17/2006 12:10:00 AM

Saturday, January 14, 2006

Students, Handphones and Schooling

Here comes another dumb idea from the gomen. Recent media reports said the Education MINIstry would allow students to use handphones and this great idea is expected to be enforced ASAP. According to the guidelines to be issued governing its usage, students would be allowed to use the handphones only before school begins, during recess and after school hours. Handphones are also only to be used outside the classrooms. Guidelines are only good when they can be enforced. So now are we going to have designated handphone usage enforcement officers in schools?

More later

| ¶ 1/14/2006 08:50:00 AM

Friday, January 13, 2006

CoISOPAoRHBSCADP Report Ready

The CoISOPAoRHBSCADP's secretary, Datuk Hamzah Md Rus, said the report of the "Commission of Inquiry into the Standard Operating Procedure, Approaches or Regulations in the Handling of Body Search in Connection with Arrest and Detention by the Police" is ready.

The report is in one volume and consists of 2 parts, the first part of the report contains a summary of the inquiry, its terms of reference, the recommendations and proposals and the second part contains notes from the inquiry and exhibits.

The Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Syed Putra Jamalullail and the PM will be seeing the report on Monday, 16th January.

When will the taxpayers get to see the report? That is if it is made public and that depends on the gomen. Will it contain more stuff than we already know or might have guessed?

| ¶ 1/13/2006 11:14:00 AM

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

So Many Red Faces

The widespread reporting by the media of the rare and timely Lebanese benefactor of MAKNA, Reportedly, a billionaire in the league of Billy Gates III and Buffet, this Dr Elie Youssef Najm or Dr Elli Youssef Najm or Dr Elie Yousef Najem was reported to have said at a press conference called by MAKNA's Datuk Farid and that he is pledging some RM1 billion to MAKNA. Dr Elie also had grand plans for a paediatric cancer treatment centre and a "My Last Wish" programme.
Despite saying "It’s too good to be true", Datuk Farid must have assured himself that everything was above board after telling himself this :: "We have done due diligence to ensure that the money is not "dirty money". Elie has ensured us that the money is "clean". With that the press went to town and all the major papers carried news about this billionaire Lebanese benefactor.
Soon after the telephones just couldn't stop ringing when the paper readers called in to present allegations that this Lebanese billionaire might not be what has been potrayed by the fawning press. So over the past two days we have the press falling over one another trying to paint a different picture of this Dr Elie. The STAR has even managed an exclusive. MCA Chong just had to tell the public about allegations of bouncing cheques. MCA Chong must have learned a lesson, the last time around when he received news about the "squatgate affair", he did not go public and things didn't turn out too rosy for him. Many alleged that he might have been doing some undercarpet sweeping. The lists of allegations against this self-claimed Canadian Lord which ranged from unpaid bills, bouncing cheques, phone sex deals, overstaying and so on have been filling the pages of the local papers.
The important point of verifying news before publishing appeared to have been overlooked and forgotten. The only excuse appears to be what Awang of Utusan is saying ::

Orang hairan kenapa akhbar tidak menyiasat terlebih dahulu latar belakang ahli perniagaan itu dan menerima bulat-bulat apa yang dia kata pada satu sidang akhbar.

Awang memang menaruh rasa sangsi. Habis kenapa siar juga? Jawapannya mudah sahaja - kerana Awang kenal Presiden Makna, Mohd. Farid Ariffin. Beliau seorang peguam dan pernah menjadi Timbalan Menteri.

Awang berpendapat tentu Farid telah melakukan apa yang perlu. Lagipun, Makna yang mengatur sidang akhbar itu.

Awang and the others obviously haven't heard of the Internet and search engines!!

Anyway, this blogger had suspicions raised when the press reports mentioned the various ailments afflicting this benevolent gentleman billionaire and thought that the Almighty must certainly be very rather unkind to have dished out so many serious ailments to this benevolent one. This blogger smelt something was not quite right and chose to labelled him as that R-A-T or rare and timely benefactor.

But despite all that we read of him in the papers, Dr Elie insists that his Cancer Centre Project will start in mid-February. As for all the reported allegations against him, the STAR reported :: "Najem blames woes on police", saying that he was a victim of trumped-up charges and the polis was to blame. And as for his Malaysian wife, she is saying :: "No matter what they say, we are inseparable". The last words from Dr Elie regarding his RM1 billion pledge to MAKNA are :: "If this harassment continues, then I'm sorry". Not too great partig words to our MAKNA's president.

| ¶ 1/10/2006 03:20:00 PM

Monday, January 09, 2006

MAKNA's Rare and Timely Benefactor

According to an NST report, MAKNA's President, Datuk Mohd Farid Ariffin while out jogging on Friday morning at 11am, was probably thinking about the substantial shortfall needed for a new MAKNA cancer hospital. Out of the blue, he received a call about an interested donor for MAKNA. And what a donor, the interested and interesting donor proved to be. He turned out to be Dr Elie Youssef Najm or Dr Elie Youssef Najem, reportedly a Lebanese multi-billionaire.
The Malay Mail in its report entitled :: Billionaire to set up cancer centre, described Lebanese Dr Elie Youssef Najem as a 45-year-old cancer-stricken billionaire possessing a list of companies in the country and overseas.
According to a STAR report, "Makna gets RM1b surprise", when Dr Elie first came to Malaysia to seek treatment for his illness, he faced difficulties and was surprise to find that some of the cancer treatment facilities in Malaysia were not up to date. He also had this to say regarding a facility he was in recently :: “Recently I went for radiology treatment at a hospital where paint was peeling of its walls.” These might have contributed to his decision to made his contribution to MAKNA for the setting up of the Farinnie Elie and Makna Children’s Cancer Treatment and Research Centre and Hospital for which he has pledged US$275 million (about RM1.07 billion). His decision to set up a facility for children with cancer may also be as a result of the pain he experienced after losing his daughter Elisa to throat cancer.
From the various media reports by NST, STAR and Malaysiakini, we know the following about Dr Elie who married 19 year old Malaysian, Farinnie Mohd Farid last October ::
NST ::

Elie, 45, said that he was from a wealthy family of doctors in Lebanon and had controlling interests in banking, construction, telecommunications, software, and oil and gas industries in Sweden, New Zealand, Canada, Dubai, Qatar and Malaysia. The businessman said that he was worth US$46 billion. By comparison, Microsoft’s Bill Gates is worth US$60 billion and Warren Buffet is said to be worth US$25.6 billion. [Check Forbes list, here].
He said he was recently diagnosed with brain cancer, and having settled down in Malaysia, now wished to do his part for cancer patients here.

STAR ::

Dr Elie is suffering from multiple scleroses, spinal cord cavity and brain tumour and has been seeking treatment here for the past year.
Dr Elie, who has businesses in telecommunications, banking and oil and gas in various countries, also said he wanted to start a project with Makna called “My Last Wish” programme.

Malaysiakini ::

Elie, 45, who claimed to be a medical professional from a wealthy, high-profile family of doctors in Lebanon, said in 1991 he discovered that he had inherited muscular dystrophy.
“I’m suffering from spinal cord cavity and have been getting treatment for brain cancer privately in Kuala Lumpur where doctors have said that I don’t have much time,” he said, without revealing details of his treatment or doctors.
“Cancer runs in my family. My grandmother died of it, two uncles and a brother are suffering from it.”
Elie, who married Malaysian Farinnie Mohd Farid last October, claims to be worth US$46 billion with controlling interests in banking, construction, telecommunications, software, and oil and gas industries in Sweden, New Zealand, Canada, Dubai, Qatar and Malaysia.
“I own 200 numbered companies in Canada alone. I’m not into drugs, alcohol or gambling. I’m into my wife who is now two months pregnant and palm oil and palm shortening industry here. It is a gold mine,” he said, with his camera-shy wife seated next to him.

Despite having so many rather serious illnesses as mentioned in the reports above and despite his cancer treatments, he appears to have plenty of hair stil and looks rather healthy in media pictures seen here, here and here.

Having pledged such a large sum of money to MAKNA, he assures that the money is clean and are profits from his diverse business interests. Anyway the MAKNA's president, a former deputy Finance Minister, had between his Friday meeting with Dr Elie and the hastily called press conference on Saturday, checked things out and despite saying that “It’s too good to be true”, also assures [according to the NST report] that "We have done due diligence to ensure that the money is not "dirty money". Elie has ensured us that the money is "clean".

And it looks like Dr Elie is not the only one rare and timely benefactor that MAKNA can expect, he also said that three of his business partners are planning to visit Malaysia within a fortnight to announce their respective contributions to MAKNA. It looks like this time around it's not only going to rain donations for MAKNA but it's gonna pour donations!!

| ¶ 1/09/2006 01:52:00 AM

Sunday, January 01, 2006

Happy New Year

To One and All
May we be blessed with a better world,
One with fewer hungry stomachs,
One with fewer wars and natural disasters,
One with fewer mentioned of races,
One with only One Race,
The Human Race.
Happy New Year,
One and All.

| ¶ 1/01/2006 12:29:00 AM

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