Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Nasib Razak, Azilah, Sirul diketahui esok

KUALA LUMPUR 29 Okt. - Penganalisis politik, Abdul Razak Abdullah Baginda bersama dua anggota Unit Tindakan Khas (UTK) Bukit Aman akan mengetahui nasib masing-masing, Jumaat ini, sama ada mereka bakal dibebaskan ataupun diperintahkan membela diri atas tuduhan berkaitan pembunuhan wanita Mongolia, Altantuya Shaariibuu.

Seandainya Hakim Datuk Mohd. Zaki Md. Yasin memutuskan Abdul Razak, Cif Inspektor Azilah Hadri dan Koperal Sirul Azhar Umar perlu membela diri, maka semua akan berpeluang mendengar versi keterangan tertuduh.

Azilah, 32, dari Unit Selam Tempur manakala Sirul Azhar, 36, yang bertugas mengiring VVIP (orang kenamaan penting) di luar negara, didakwa membunuh Altantuya, 28, antara pukul 10 malam, 19 Oktober dan 1 pagi, 20 Oktober 2006, di antara Lot 12843 dan Lot 16735 Mukim Bukit Raja dekat sini.

Sementara Abdul Razak, 48, pula didakwa bersubahat dengan kedua-dua tertuduh dalam pembunuhan pada 18 Oktober 2006 di pejabatnya di Tingkat 10, Bangunan Lembaga Getah Asli Malaysia (LGAM), Jalan Ampang di Kuala Lumpur.

Namun andai kata mahkamah mendapati pihak pendakwaan gagal membuktikan kes maka tertuduh akan dilepaskan dan dibebaskan pada peringkat akhir kes pendakwaan tanpa perlu memberi keterangan pembelaan.

Penghakiman tersebut mungkin ringkas tetapi pastinya mencakupi lima hujahan yang terkandung dalam nota prosiding perbicaraan setebal 6,000 muka surat.

Sepanjang 151 hari prosiding perbicaraan seramai 84 orang saksi pendakwaan telah memberikan keterangan. 40 daripadanya ialah saksi polis.

Mengimbas prosiding terakhir pada 18 September lalu, Hakim Mohd. Zaki yang meneliti hujahan bertanya mengenai rekod transaksi telefon bimbit (CDR) yang dikemukakan.

Menurut hakim, berdasarkan pengiraan terdapat 17 transaksi yang menunjukkan perbualan antara Abdul Razak dengan seorang pegawai kanan polis berpangkat Deputi Supritendan Polis (DSP). Terlintas di fikiran hakim, apakah sebenarnya yang mereka bincangkan? Apakah pula tujuan DSP itu memperkenalkan Abdul Razak kepada Azilah.

Abdul Razak ialah Pengarah Eksekutif Pusat Penyelidikan Strategik Malaysia (MSRC) itu berkelulusan sarjana bidang kajian perang dari King's College, Universiti London. Dia banyak menulis mengenai isu-isu politik, pertahanan dan antarabangsa.

Azilah mula berkhidmat dalam UTK sejak 8 Januari 2003. Dia juga mempunyai kepakaran dalam body-guarding atau teknik mengawal orang kenamaan penting sama ada secara berjalan kaki mahupun berkenderaan.

Sirul Azhar yang mula berkhidmat dengan UTK sejak 23 Januari 1996 pula bertugas dalam Unit Komunikasi.


Harga TV LCD bakal jatuh?

Reader Heather Fisher writes: Are the prices of flat panel TV's going to go down anytime soon? When can we expect them to go down if they are?



I'm getting mixed messages on the TV pricing issue.

First, it's pretty clear that prices will continue to slip as the holidays approach: You can thank the global economic crisis and slow demand for that. But the harsh realities of the flat-panel business would seem to indicate that there's not much further for flat panel prices to fall. Why? Because in virtually all cases, LCD screens are already being sold to TV and computer companies at prices below cost, according to the latest research from DisplaySearch, which closely tracks this industry.

In some cases the discrepancy is extreme: Panel makers are selling bare 32-inch LCD TV panels for an estimated $223 to manufacturers, but those panels cost between $248 and $256 to build. In other words: For now, the panel makers are losing up to $33 on every panel they sell.

Prices for finished TVs vary widely of course, but name-brand 32-inch LCD TVs can be found at retail for under $600, with $599 being a pretty common price point. Add in labor and the additional materials that go into a finished TV, distribution costs, and markup from the retailer, and there really isn't a lot of fat left in television prices. (Very large TVs are the exception, so if you're looking for bargains, shop smaller.)

Now here's the curious flipside. According to a blog post on the very same topic at the New York Times, another researcher, also at DisplaySearch, says that prices are likely going to plummet in the next few weeks. According the post, this researchers says prices on 32-inch TVs could hit between $399 and $499.

That would be an enormous drop, and it almost sounds too good (for shoppers) to be true. Again, the reasons are all about trying to salvage sales in the fourth quarter... but the story also alludes to the fact that the biggest discounts will be in the bare-bones, off-brand, stripped-down TVs. You'll get good enough picture quality, but don't expect, say, 120Hz operation, multiple HDMI inputs, and so on.

The most likely outcome is that off-brand models will fall quite a bit, but name brand sets will have more modest price cuts. (I'm deeply skeptical that we'll see 32-inch LCDs hit $399 aside from the occasional Black Friday sale, but that's a gut reaction.) Is it worth it to wait a few weeks to save 50 bucks on the price of a TV? How willing you are to brave holiday crowds and fight over what could become hotly desired goodies may have to dictate your next move.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

8k beraya @ Rumah Terbuka DUN Bangi!

Berita bergambar di sekitar Rumah Terbuka Peringkat DUN Bangi sempena Hari Raya 2008

Keadaan sekitar jam 12.30 tengahari - Mengikut kiraan penganjur hampir 5k telah hadir ketika ini.


Pandangan dari sudut atas pentas stadium.


Hampir 700 orang kanak-kanak berbaris mengambil peluang untuk bersalam dengan YB dan yang penting sekali duit rayanya. (Gambar : Ini round ke 7 pemberian duit raya).


Petugas dari Unit Trafik Ibu
Polis Pejabat Daerah Kajang sedang berehat dan menikmati hidangan di rumah terbuka YB Dr Shafie.


Unit Rela juga hadir memberi bantuan kepada perjalanan Rumah Terbuka kali ini.


SU Kawasan, Hj Ahmad & isteri sedang melayan tetamu dari kalangan kaum Tionghua yang turut hadir.


Ketua Unit Amal Serdang yang juga diberi jolokan Ketua Polis Kawasan, Bro Agus Salim sedang menunjukan skill menebar Roti Canai teknik Hikmat Kopiah Senget Tidak Terbatas.


"Haaa macam ni caranya... sonang jo. Confirm sodap ni, lopeh ni jangan lupo kontek eden yo,"kata Agus kepada hadirin yang hadir di gerai beliau sambil tersenyum.


Keadaan & pemandangan di gerai-gerai rumah terbuka. Beratur panjang : Kesabaran anda amatlah dihargai.


Kaunter Pendaftaran Ahli PAS, Pemuda, Unit Amal & Pemilih yang diuruskan oleh DPPK Serdang. (Turut membuka kaunter adalah DMPK & Nisa').


Orang ramai berpusu-pusu menunggu giliran untuk mendaftar sebagai ahli PAS di hadapan kaunter.


Salah seorang AJK Unit Penambahan Ahli DPPK, Riduan sedang melayan tetamu. Turut kelihatan adalah naskah Harakah yang diedarkan secara percuma.


Macam kenal je. Lakonan yang bertajuk "Layan" (konon-konon sedang melayan ahli baru huhu).


Tarian Bluetooth oleh Yahya de Syabab. Kalau Ust Solah ada sekali mesti tarian ini nampak lebih sempurna & menarik. Hehe...


"Ni tak jual bang tapi kalau nak beli saya bagi harga lelong la RM10. Saya mark up sikit je la,"kata Engku merayu. Cube teka ini Engku yang mana satu?


Ketua Penerangan DPPK, Faizal Z sedang interframe Bro Harun yang sedang mengemas.


Ketua Pengarah, Hj Nik Pa sedang melakukan "Senaman Perut". Turut bersenam adalah SU Unit Amal Serdang, Bro Azman & Unit Media ADUN, Bro Amir (bersongkok).


KP DPPK, Bro Mazwan Johar sedang melayan tetamu.


Dato' Presiden, TG Hj Hadi turut hadir memeriahkan majlis. Turut kelihatan adalah KP DPPK & YB Dr Shafie.


SetPol TG, Dr Shamsuri sedang menuang air basuh tangan kepada Dato' Presiden.


KP dan 2 Exco DPPK mengambil kesempatan untuk bergambar dengan TG dan pimpinan yang hadir.


"Terima kasih, Assalamualaikum"


TAKBIR!

Friday, October 17, 2008

Think tank warns of recession risk in Malaysia

By EILEEN NG,Associated Press Writer AP - Friday, October 17

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - A private Malaysian think tank Thursday cut its 2009 economic growth forecast for the country to 3.4 percent and warned of a possible recession if the U.S. economy deteriorates.

The influential Malaysian Institute of Economic Research predicted the economy would expand 5.3 percent this year after a strong performance in the first six months.

But it expected growth to slide to 3.4 percent in 2009, down from its earlier forecast of 5 percent, due to the knock-on effects of a flagging global economy. This was sharply lower than the government's forecast of 5.4 percent.

Executive Director Mohamad Ariff warned that growth in 2009 may slump further if the U.S., one of Malaysia's top trading partners, goes into recession.

"There is a 40 percent chance that Malaysia will enter technical recession in 2009, meaning two quarters of negative growth and a 30 percent chance it could be a real recession lasting more than two quarters depending on what happens in the U.S.," he said.

The institute said the global credit crisis showed no signs of abating despite concerted interest rate cuts and massive liquidity injection by governments and central banks worldwide.

It said consumer and business confidence in Malaysia has dipped and warned conditions would worsen if the credit squeeze dries up funds for investment and household spending.

Ariff said there are heightened concerns that the current global economic slump could drag on until the end of 2010 or 2011.

Given the economic pressure and declining oil prices, he warned Malaysia's budget deficit may exceed 5 percent of gross domestic product this year and more than 4 percent in 2009.

The government raised development spending in August which it said will push the fiscal deficit to 4.8 percent of GDP this year and 3.6 percent in 2009, from 3.2 percent in 2007.

Finance Minister Najib Razak earlier this week said Malaysia can still grow 5 percent this year but the government may need to revise its 2009 forecast. He has said he would announce a "stabilization plan" on Monday to prop up the economy.

Najib, who is also deputy premier, is expected to take over from Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in March.

The quicker-than-expected transition follows the ruling coalition's poor election results in March and is aimed at thwarting opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim's threat to oust the government through parliamentary defections.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Why do men take second wives?

Why do men take second wives?

©The Star
A Writer's Life by Dina Zaman


Polygamy has nothing to do with culture or religion. Men, and women too, cheat because they can.

WHEN a male friend told me he planned on taking a second wife, all I could do was try not to choke on dinner. Are you serious, I asked. He said yes, he had fallen in love with a single mother, but it was not his fate to marry her.

Thinking it was perhaps due her compassion, her earnest desire to bring up her sprogs in a Godly way and that life was indeed a struggle, I choked on my dessert when my friend told me the first thing he noticed about her was that she owned a great set of jugs.

Now, my friend takes his religious obligations very seriously. His first wife wears the hijab. So to hear him admit that it was his paramour’s cleavage that caught his heart was quite shocking.

It was due to women like me, whose so-called Western, secular and feminist ideas of polygamy that pushed it underground. I then asked him, whether his equally-pious wife agreed to him taking on another wife, and he said no. She gave him an earful.

But our friend was on a roll. Now that his journey into polygamy was thwarted, it was all our fault. We modern Malay women, be they religious or not, were forcing men like him to marry in Thailand or Iran, where they practised nikah Muta’ah.

He was emulating the steps of our good Prophet Mohamed, he argued.

“You have got your Islamic history upside down! Nabi married war widows, and his first wife was older than he. Aishah was the youngest. And I don’t think our Prophet married any woman because she had great breasts!”

“You don’t understand.”

“Okay then. Why don’t you sell your car and take a camel to work then?”

I’m realistic. I know men who adore their wives and love them to bits, but they can still love their mistresses and other wives. Am I condoning affairs and polygamy? No. But this happens. It has nothing to do with Islam or being Malay, though polygamy is part of the culture.

We’re Asians. We have a long history of concubinage. There are good men who are faithful, and there are good men who have other wives. There are also bad men who are faithful and also bad men who are unfaithful.

Just like our politics, love in Malaysia is a circus. Weeee!

I’m not going to bore you with what polygamy in Islam is about, as it has been written before and talked about to death. Women’s rights activists have long fought for this “crime” to be illegal, but we face a tough fight. Sometimes it’s not the men who are itching for it, but yes, our gender, too.

In the 80s, when I was young and clueless, meeting mistresses and second or third wives would be sinful and against my principles.

These days? “Oh, you’re a mistress?” “Oh, you’re a hidden wife?” Yawn. Wear tudung or mini skirt, got. Educated or stupid, got. Some of our mothers are The Other Women, and are good mothers. So how?

Is this phenomenon particular to our culture? Oh no. Read the British newspapers. Mistressing is talked about to death in feminist columns.

But I thought after that dinner with my friend, I’d revisit the issue again. Some of the findings from my five-sen survey:


> Theoretically ... polygamy is OK. But must ikut hukum Allah lah. There are conditions.

> Ya, but… actually, kan, for career women like us, it does work. Nak jaga laki 24 jam … gue tak larat la. Biar bini nombor satu jaga. After all, in Islam, polygamous wives are taken care of legally. Better a Muslim second wife than a common law wife.

> But really. Think about it. Convenient, what. You see him once a week, makan once a week, have sex once a week...

> Sex once a week?! Baik tak yah jadi bini nombor dua macam tu! Chit. Once a week mana cukup?!


Why do men cheat? Again, just an observation dwelled upon by friends and myself. For a lot of polygamous men, they marry good women who fit their criteria of holiness, wifeliness and motherhood.

Intimacy between the men and their wives are perfunctory. It’s make-the-baby-cover-the-face sex. With their girlfriends and second wives, it’s Penthouse all the way, baby. It’s the soul thing.

At least this is what I got from talking to quite a number of married men. It’s not because of the first wives’ lack of trying; they want to have healthy intimate lives, but the bees in their husbands’s bonnets keep reminding the men of the Madonna-Whore syndrome.

Malaysia is not a place for single women desiring Hollywood-movie type of marriages and love. KL especially is a city for marriages and affairs. And it has nothing to do with money. There are rich men who cheat, and I know of a despatch boy who has two wives!

There are many single-again women like my friends and I, who still believe in marriage and love. But I can tell you, should we walk down that path again one day, we’re going down it with our eyes open and keep a part of our hearts to ourselves. Because you never know.

Perhaps my friend, an activist who makes a living entering and staying in war zones, is right.

“We have women like you, me, your mother, your aunt and friend who fight so hard for women and children and yet face a brick wall, simply because we ‘understand’ so much, and forgive all the time, which is why cheating, affairs and polygamy are rampant, to the detriment or contribution (depends how you look at it) of our well-being,” says my friend.

Another friend, Sharizal Sharaani, put it succinctly: “Men (and, yes, women too) cheat because they can. Full stop.”


The writer still believes in love and marriage and wants to move to Corfu.

Friday, October 3, 2008

Aidilfitri 1429H

Salam Aidilfitri buat semua bloggers....

Lebih kurang dua minggu juga lamanya menyepi di arena blogging ni. Sekarang tengah berehat menunggu flight ke KT (Ghanu kiter) dari KCH - KL di LCCT. Lagi 70 minit maka insyaAllah berangkat la gua.

Tahun lepas, tak balik raya. Gua beraya di Hospital Serdang je. Cerita dipendekkan, tahun lepas dapat cahayamata di ambang Aidilfitri. Raya hari sabtu, anakanda lahir pagi jumaat. Teringat lagi masa tu, lepas solat jumaat, terus bergegas ke pintu masjid tunggu Amil sebab nak bayar zakat fitrah. Takut panjang pula barisnya nanti. Sekali.... gua sorang je yg beratur. Imam 2 masjid siap tanya lagi, "Lewat bayar zakat fitrah?". Jawabku pendek, "Baru lahir pagi tadi". Jawab Imam tu, "Alhamdulillah".

Itu cerita tahun lepas. Tahun ni, selepas baling dadu, balik Sarawak la pulak. Tahun lepas buat kali pertama dalam masa 1 tahun gua tak pernah balik kampung langsung!

Tahun ni alhamdulillah lebih kurang 7 hari jugak bermusafir di kampung. Ni tengah dok tunggu flight ke rumah tok wan & tok ki anakandaku.

Tatkala tengah menunggu "belon" di LCCT ni, 1 perkara yang sentiasa menarik perhatianku tatkala musim balik raya, LCCT ka KLIA ka... pasti berbondong-bondong cik lalat terbang di merata tempat di area airport. Rasa rimas pulak dibuatnya. Terutama bilamana melihat Mat-mat & Mek-mek Salleh ada sekali. Rasa malu pulak nak mengaku, Inilah Airport kami yang canggih, mahal & bersih tu. Senyum ajelah dengan mereka.

Dalam flight tambang murah pula, kadang-kadang aku terfikir. Memandangkan semua dah boleh dijual beli. Tak mustahil satu hari nanti, nak masuk tandas pun kena BAYAR! Hehe....

Oklah... nanti gua sambung lagi. Nak prepare naik belon....

Adios!