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Sunday October 15, 2006

The week that was....

Compiled by K.S.USHA DEVI

PAY UP FIRST: (Oct 8) Pay up your traffic summons or be barred from renewing your vehicle insurance. This is the new proposal of the Internal Security Ministry who is working with Bank Negara, the police and Road Transport Department (JPJ), insurance companies and the relevant agencies to get the system in place. Meanwhile, the ministry is also in the process of formulating a system in which motorists with many summonses would have to pay increasingly higher insurance premiums.

SOCIAL OFFICERS NEEDED: (Oct 8) Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Sharizat Abdul Jalil said the Social Welfare Department is in need of 2,000 more officials to provide more welfare assistance to the needy. She also said there was a need to implement better and effective outreach programmes to help the poor, the elderly, abandoned children and single mothers.

MORALS STILL THERE: (Oct 9) The Malaysian Youth Index (MYI) 2006 survey found that misbehaviour among youths is not at a worrying stage despite the issue grabbing media headlines. According to the survey, data collected showed that most youths were not involved in unhealthy activities like drug abuse, gambling, liquor, loitering, illegal racing, premarital sex or vandalism.

ASLI DIRECTOR QUITS: (Oct 11) Dr Lim Teck Ghee, who headed the Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute (Asli)’s Centre for Public Policy Studies, resigned his post over the controversial studies on bumiputra equity ownership in Malaysian companies. Dr Lim said he could not agree with Asli president Mirzan Mahathir’s statement that a report on bumiputra corporate equity did not fairly reflect the true picture of the equity ownership by bumiputras in Malaysia.

SNAP THEM: (Oct 12) JPJ called on the public to report motorists who are breaking traffic rules. The department said people should take pictures of errant motorists and e-mail the images to JPJ. Reports could also be made via the JPJ website or at any JPJ office.

MAT REMPITS OUT: (Oct 13) Police are making concentrated efforts to stop the activities of Mat Rempits. Federal police traffic chief Senior Asst Comm (II) Nooryah Md Anvar said she had gone to the ground herself to get a first-hand look and was not pleased with what she saw. The police will soon conduct operations around the country to squash them once and for all, she said.

INTERACT VIRTUALLY: (Oct 13) A programme called e-integrasi, which is muhibbah themed and aimed at extending multi-cultural and multi-racial interaction from inside to outside the classroom, may be introduced in all schools next year. A brainchild of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, it involves interaction of pupils from different school through virtual education games. The software, designed by Yayasan Kemajuan Sosial Malaysia (YKS), features 50 Malaysian culture and unity-themed games.

FAREWELL, ILLEGALS: (Oct 13) Illegal immigrants were told to return home during this upcoming Deepavali and Hari Raya festivals. The authorities will launch a nationwide crackdown next year, and Home Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Radzi Sheikh Ahmad said Rela members would also be roped in for the operation because they arrested about 19,000 foreigners last year.

MORNING TRAVEL BEST: (Oct 13) The police advised motorists to leave in the morning for the balik kampung exodus this coming festive season. According to Federal police Traffic Chief Senior Asst Comm (II) Nooryah Md Anvar, this could help reduce road deaths. Statistics from previous Ops Sikap showed that most road accidents occurred between noon and 6pm. She also reminded people to keep to the reduced speed limits along the federal and state roads.

TUTU TURNS 75: (Oct 8) Desmond Tutu, the former archbishop of Cape Town who became the conscience of South Africa during apartheid, celebrated his 75th birthday on Saturday surrounded by the country’s new elite. In his speech, the Nobel peace prize-winner warned that South African poverty could lead to social unrest because of the new moral crisis in the shape of violent crime.

NUCLEAR SHOCKWAVE: (Oct 9) North Korea conducted its first underground nuclear test on Monday, defying warnings from the United Nations Security Council and opening its crippled economy to take the risks of fresh sanctions. Asian stocks also tumbled following the nuclear test. Pyongyang, however, stated that there was no leak or danger from its test.

HAZE BATTLE: (Oct 10) Indonesia said it was winning the battle of the haze by dousing out land-clearing fires on Borneo and Sumatra islands. But smoke from the blazes will continue to linger until heavy winds or rain, which are not expected for another three weeks, help to clear the air. The dry season haze is a recurrent problem for the South East Asian region, caused largely by slash-and-burn fires in Indonesia.

PLANE CRASH: (Oct 12) Baseball player Cory Lidle, of the New York Yankees, and his flight instructor were killed when their single engine plane slammed into a luxury 40-storey apartment building in Manhattan’s Upper East-Side. The accident scattered aircraft parts, headsets, engine propellers and debris all over the ground while the two bodies fell to the street. The incident brought back memories of the terrorist attacks of Sept 11, 2001.

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