SKYSCRAPERS and lampposts in Kuala Lumpur are still festooned with flags left over from independence day festivities at the end of August. 
Hi ! Some time ago I came across a pro-abortion article in a seemingly innocent English Workbook for Form 2 students. I doubt that we have exhausted all topics for sample articles; this is most assuredly an attempt to desensitize young people (as young as 14 years old !! ) to the horrors of abortion. I want to highlight 2 sentences:
1. "Her dad took her to the clinic the next day to have her abortion done."
2. "The abortion went like clockwork and without any difficulties and Mary came out of the clinic as healthy as before."
Three pairs of so-called 'cloned' voters, which a newspaper tracked down and claimed are bona fide voters, have had each duplicate name removed from the electoral roll. 
I am a medical student from Russia as well. Best part is, I or rather we, did not choose to come here. We are all scholars sent here by either JPA or MARA. If you were to Google "Moscow Medical Academy" it is ranked by UNESCO as the second best medical university in the world.. Do not be fooled by this because I was one who was fooled as well. Only after I landed in Moscow did I know that the "2nd best in the world" is specifically granted to the Russian medium of this medical school. We, Malaysians, are doing the English medium and I must say it's an utter shame that the government actually spent millions of tax payers money to send us all here to study medicine. The teaching facilities or methods of the English medium here is way below par, way below that of a third world country even. Some classrooms here even resemble the ones we have in our 'kampungs' in rural areas such as those in Sabah and Sarawak (thank you so much for sending us here all the way to Moscow to experience this!). For your information, this so-called Moscow Medical Academy does not even have a campus to begin with. Classes are scattered all over Moscow. We students are forced to travel everyday via Metro, or by foot, or bus to attend classes. Also, there are times when we would have travelled so far to attend classes, and upon arrival at school, only to be told that classed are cancelled. The Malaysian government could have spent the money more wisely to educate us in Malaysia, Singapore or India. We get paid almost USD700 per month, which I believe is a huge amount of taxpayers money. However, I doubt we will bring back much knowledge to be able to help the patients back home. While there are some of us who save and spend the money wisely due to the high cost of living here! , there are a huge majority of private and sponsored students who come here just to enjoy. Frequent parties, weekend getaways, world tours, and shopping sprees are common among students here. The lifestyle of many Malaysians change tremendously once they came here. They behave even worse than the "Mat Sallehs" here.. Malaysiancgirls here, for instance, would walk around ever so skimpily leaving nothing to the imagination (even during winter!). Whatever happened to the Malaysian culture? Many here have even lost their virginity at the tender age of 18 or 19 simply because a guy or girl can walk in ever so easily into the rooms of the opposite sex. Many Malaysian medical students behave as though they have no self dignity. However, they potray the best behaviour once they land in Malaysia as though they are the best Malaysian angels. Sadly, we all know their true colours when they are here in Moscow. Hypocrites! These Malaysians are surely to be huge dissapointments to their families as well to the nation. Exams and studies are the least priority for the many who are here. I wonder why did some people choose to study medicine in the very first place. Let me also give u an insight of the education system here. You want to know why the majority of Russian grads are so incompetent and useless? Well, first and foremost, we can get away with cheating ever so easily during exams. You may ask how. Many students here aren't bothered about being honest for themselves. Many just merely do the bare minimum of studying and copied their friend's answers or directly from the books during the exams. These students fail to realise that they are only cheating themselves. The one who helps with the cheating is also going to lose out in the end once he/she is out of medic school and into the work world. Another method which works really well for the girls is simply to shed some crocodile tears during exams and instantly the lecturer would grant her a mere pass. How is this fair to students like me who slog day and night, muggi! ng and s tudying extremely hard with the simple intention of graduating as a competent doctor? After all, these cheaters would be graduating with a MD certificate and would turn out to be the bad apples in the healthcare system in Malaysia. Thus, leading senior doctors to generalise and say that all Russian grads are incompetent. Does anyone have any idea how frustrating this is? Many students who sit for exams earlier would simply snap a photo of the different sets of questions and answers to be distributed to the rest of the students who have yet to sit for their exams. How is this helping anyone? Can you even call this an exam? Does it fit the definition of an exam? So, can you imagine what kind of doctors we're producing here? A bunch of cheaters, liars, and irresponsible future doctors! No wonder countries like the UK refuse to accept Russian medical grads for their postgraduate courses. Simply because we have never even sat for a proper exam per say throughout our six years of study here. Look at the UK universities/colleges. Do they even allow any student of theirs to bring in PDAs, camera handphones, bags, and books into the exam venue? Do they allow any exam candidate to communicate with another candidate once the question paper has been distributed? Do students know the exact questions and answers prior to the exams? Hell no! These only happen in Russia. So, wake up people. To those of you who are planning to send your offsprings to Russia for a medical degree, please, I'm begging you, think again. You're not only going to lose your money, but also perhaps the good name and dignity of your family. This is merely an opinion of mine and not directed to insult, degrade or humiliate anyone. I believe there is nothing wrong in sharing my opinion.
The power tussle In Umno has become so clear that established political pundits have no qualms in predicting Prime Minister Najib Razak's imminent ouster as party president.
Kawan-kawan sekalian, sepertimana yang anda tahu bagaimana saya serta kawan-kawan saya, siang malam, pagi petang kami berusaha mempertahankan kerajaan serta PM. Bukan setakat mempertahankan PM, malah terpaksa mempertahankan juga isteri PM daripada fitnah-fitnah yang dilemparkan termasuklah isu cincin 24 juta , tapi kami tidak pernah pun dijemput seperti namewee untuk berjumpa PM.
Tapi si bangsat tersebut sudah melakukan bermacam-macam dajal dan sial serta menghina kaum serta agama , tiba-tiba mendapat layanan istimewa untuk berjumpa PM. Mana pergi namewee ketika Rosmah difitnah beli cincin 24 juta. Kenapa dia tak buat lagu yang mengatakan tuduhan itu fitnah ?
Kawan-kawan semua, saya dah lama menyimpan impian untuk berjumpa PM bagi memberitahu beberapa perkara termasuk idea-idea, tapi tak kesampaian. Saya terfikir , si! apalah s aya ini untuk berjumpa pemimpin tertinggi negara. Kalau ada pertemuan dengan PM pun di majlis-majlis besar yang melibatkan ramai orang. Maka sudah tentulah sukar untuk kita bercakap di majlis-majlis seperti itu.
Tapi anak haram itu senang-senang sahaja dapat jumpa PM. Siapa yang tak berasap beb ?
1. Melalui Maybank/maybank2u.com , sila jelaskan pembayaran sebanyak RM20 (RM15 harga buku,RM5 caj POS) ke akaun 1550 1493 8842 di atas nama EDY NOOR REDUAN.
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Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak today said that the government is looking at implementing the goods and services tax, "probably after the next general election".Sepawi is one of Asias richest men, thanks to the patronage of Taib, andhis business interests includehis role as Executive Chairman of thetimber and plantation giant Ta Ann Bhd, of which he is also a major shareholder.
He is also a Director ofone of Sarawaks othermost controversial companies, Grand Perfect Sdn Bhd, which runs South East Asias largest Acacia Plantation project.
Grand Perfect Sdn Bhd has been blamed for grabbing land from native people and breaking down villages as it drives to exploit a half million hectareconcession handed to it in 2002 by the Chief Minister and Land Resources Minister, Sepawis cousin,Abdul Taib Mahmud.
Rh Sendok was destroyed by Grand Perfect Sdn Bhd, despite desperate protests by local people
CLICK HERE FOR VIDEOOF THE DESTRUCTION OF RUMAH SENDOK
Legal denials by Ta Ann
However, last week a lawyer representing Ta Ann sent a furious letter to the leader of Sarawaks PKR opposition party, the lawyer Baru Bian,demanding retractions and apology over remarks allegedly made to a Tasmanian newspaper.It citeda recent article in Tasmanias Mercury newspaper which had stated that Ta Ann owns one third of the controversial plantation company Grand Perfect.
The lawyer declared thiswas untrue. Your statement in the said newspaper report was both factually wrong and misleading, thunderedZaid Ibrahim & Co, Kuching, on behalfof Ta Ann.
As a result, Ta Ann aredemandinga grovelling apology from Mr Bian to be placed in aweekend edition of the Mercury within two weeks, saying the following:
I wish to tender my unreserved apology to Ta Ann for making a gross error in my statement and for any embarrassment, damage to their! reputat ion and credibility caused. It has now been brought to my attention that Grand Perfect is not a subsidiary of Ta Ann and that Ta Ann do not own any shares in Grand Perfect
With legaladvisers like these, who needs critics?
The folly of such an arrogant demand from a company whose Executive Chairmanis up to his neck in accusations of patronage and nepotism has immediately become clear.
In the first place any reading of the offending article makes plain that the statement about the 30% shareholding is madeby theAustralian Mercury reporter, not Baru Bian, so it is to theMercurynewspaperthat Ta Ann should be addressing any complaints.
Sarawaks PKR leader Baru Bian speaking in Tasmania. He expressed shock and surprised that the Australian Government had subsidised Ta Ann to log in the State
However, it is the tone of the letters referrences to Grand Perfect that ismost damning. Why is thelawyer implying that a mistakenassociation with the company could cause Ta Ann embarrassment or damage to reputation or loss of credibility?
Is Grand Perfect a company of such a low reputation asto invite such problems? Surely tocomply with makingsuch an apologywouldindeed invite genuine grounds for legal complaint, but from Grand Perfect not Ta Ann!
Grand Perfects business connections with the State of Sarawak
KTSs Henry Lau plants one of the Acacia saplings at the inauguration of the controversial venture
The disparaging remarks towards Grand Perfect are even more confu! sing giv en that companysclose dealings withState of Sarawak and alsoits widely reported connections with Ta Ann.
Indeed Grand Perfect Sdn Bhdreceived considerable publicity back in 2003, when it was set upasa conglomerate,commissioned by the State of Sarawakto plant half a million hectares of acacia in the Bintulu regionin return for a hefty RM180 million investment.
At that time there was no attempt to hide the three companies involved in the joint venture, which was sponsored by the State Government run by Abdul Taib Mahmud. The companies were three of his key crony logging concerns, Samling, KTS and Ta Ann.
Samling is run by the Yaw family, KTS is run by the Lau family and Ta Ann is run by Hamid Sepawi. All three of thesetimber tycoonshave received numerous massive logging and plantation licences over the years,as a personal gift from the Chief Minister without any scrutiny or proper open tendering.
How the venture was reported by the Borneo Bulletin in May 2003
So why is Ta Ann denying the association now and with such force? Why has it not demanded similar apologies over the years from all theother publicationswhich have reported on Sarawaks largest plantation scheme, mentioning Ta Anns supposed involvement?
Land Grabs
It may be that Ta Ann, as a publicly listed company now trying to do business in Australia, is trying to dissassociate itself notonly from the stain of cronyism and nepotism that attaches to Sarawaks Chief Minister having handed such a vast state project to a company run by his own cousin, but also from theoutcry over the land grab cases caused by the controversial project.
Grand Perfect Sdn Bhd has developed a bad name as a land grabber
Grand Perfect Sdn Bhd is a dirty name in much of Bintulu these days. Under its guise, three of thestates most corrupted loggingcompanies haveappeared toride roughshod over the local people and their landrights.
There have been blockades against the company by local people, which have been dispersed by the police amid complaints about numerous infringements on land and also the pollution of the rivers on which these people depend for food and water.
As the growing body of critics of these grand plantations have pointed out,such schemes have made only the rich men richer, but they have made the poor even poorer, taking their lands andoffering nothing in return.
Indeed, Grand Perfect is one of the many companies now being sued by Baru Bian himself in over 300 land rights cases on behalf of native people, who have been totally let down by the Sultan of Sarawak in favour of his money-making cronies.
So who doesown Grand Perfect?
For these reasons it appears Ta Ann no longer wishes to acknowledge any association with Grand Perfect andhas threatened to sue Baru Bian for implying that it owns a 1/3rd of the company..
Three main shareholders are Samling, KTS and. Gasijaya!
So SarawakReport has conducted a company search into this private company to find out if Ta Anns claims are true, that it has nothing to do with Grand Perfect. And we discoveredthat the third company currently involved in the ownership is indeed no longer Ta Ann, if ever it was.
So why the assumption for so ma! ny years that Ta Ann, a public company run by Hamid Sepawi, was the lucky recipient of all that public money to start Sarawaks biggest plantation venture?
When we investigated the ownership of the third company Gasijaya SdnBhd the mystery was immediately solved!
The 90% owner of Gasijaya Sdn Bhd is Taibs cousin Hamid Sepawe!
The owner of Gasijaya, which in turn owns a third of Grand Perfect, which was handed such an enormous RM 180 million plantation project by the State of Sarawak, is none other than Hamed Sepawi himself!
Remember, Sepawi is a Director of both Grand Perfect and Ta Ann. We can now see he is alsoa massive shareholder in both companies!
So, now we have the truth. It would have been bad enough for Taib to havehanded this massive plantation project to Ta Ann as a public company managed by his cousin, also a major shareholder.But the Chief Minister did even worse than that.He has allowed the publicly funded project to go straight toa private company owned by hisown cousin!
How stupid of Sepawi to have allowed his company lawyers at Ta Ann to make such a fuss about the association with Grand Perfect Sdn Bhd that we decided to investigate who had really been handed the project.
Sarawak Report challengesthe Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission to investigateconsider this particular example of nepotism and power abuse. Or, for them, is it just another case ofbusiness as usualunder BN inMalaysia?- Sarawak Report
Mahatma Gandhi, Indias Father of the Nation, believed in a world without violence. He never used a sword, never fired a gun, never lived by the bullet. Gandhi never killed.
Later in life, dressed in a mere loin cloth, he frustrated the might of the British gun and pulled the sun down over a whopping empire.
In stark contrast, James Bond the fictional character that Ian Fleming, British author, journalist and naval intelligence officer, created did just about everything that Gandhi was opposed to.
Bond loved guns, dressed to kill, raced in fancy cars, cavorted with a bevy of beauties in various stages of undress and pumped bullets into the opponent with a devil-may-care attitude. He had the licence of course.
Bond was first created in the 1953 Casino Royale, with the British spy, famously nicknamed 007, living on in 11 more novels and nine short stories. The novels have sold 100 million copies globally, and have been celebrated in many movies.
Right from David Niven to Sean Connery to Roger Moore to Pierce Brosnan to Daniel Craig have all been Bond on the screen, directed by a string of men.
What is more, long after Fleming died in 1964, James Bond has remained immortal, the 007 finding new authors to keep alive the Ian legacy.
Ironical as it may sound, it is this James Bond who will meet Gandhi and that too at Sabarmati, where lies the Mahatmas renowned ashram.
Shooting in India
On the banks of the Sabarmati, just outside Ahmedabad in the Western Indian State of Gujarat, British actor Daniel Craig will play Bond in a film, titled for now as Bond 23.
Craig will jump from one train to another in the Sabarmati railway yard, and get into a swanky sports car to chase the villain in! a viole nt do-or-die game.
And standing probably as a helpless witness to 007s nail-biting adventures will be the Gandhi ashram, where once the Apostle of Peace preached non-violence and ahimsa, urging his countrymen to protest peacefully, never to lift a finger even when the hoofs of British horses rose menacingly.
The British lost this war that they had hoped their canons would help win.
But no such ways with Bond. A bullet for a bullet is his motto and this will be on full display by the Sabarmati.
After initial hesitation, New Delhi permitted the movie shoot that will also happen in Hyderabad, Bangalore, Mumbai and Goa.
Weve also finalised Goa and Mumbai as the shooting locations, confirms Pravesh Sahni, line producer of the film. Most of Bonds sequences in India will be shot around trains. But exact spots are yet to be fixed.
Sources, however, reveal that the Sabarmati railway yard, the scenic Dudhsagar waterfalls and a stretch on the Mumbai-Konkan railway line are among the preferred places.
Sahni adds: Things are moving in a positive direction and I must say that the Railway Ministry has been very helpful. They are also keen that the Bond movie is shot in India.
Earlier, the Indian Railway Ministry was not exactly forthcoming with permissions, because they meant laborious re-working of train schedules. They also involved stopping passenger trains for about eight hours a day for a week.
The Bond production team was pushed then into thinking up of an alternative locale, and South Africa seemed favourable. But then things have now been sorted out with Indian Railways.
Guns and roses
The line production company in India, Take One, is now scouting around for locations close to a l! arge wat er body or sea, since there is one crucial scene which shows Bond jumping into it from the top of a train.
Shooting spots in Mumbai are yet to be finalised. But Chhatrapati Shivaji Rail Terminus, Crawford Market, Mohammad Ali Road and some parts of south Mumbai are in the running for 007s sexy and smoky adventures.
The director of the US$150 million movie, Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Cabaret and Oliver), made a secret visit to Mumbai recently along with production designer Terry Bamber for the films recce.
The movie will open towards the end of 2012 and as Gandhis Sabarmati comes alive on the screen with Bonds footfalls, car chases and gadgets display, the secret agents gun may well run out of fire as it clashes with the Fathers peace petals!
Gautaman Bhaskaran is a Chennai-India based author, columnist and film critic, and can be contacted at gautamanbhaskaran@yahoo.in. He is an FMT columnist.
Nazir may now be in the shadow of his famous dad and elder brother, but he is no slouch. No one can say is he a self-made banker as he never had to rise from the ranks, but still, his knowledge of the financial world and his management vision is envied by many top professional bankers in the country and few would begrudge his many titles and awards.
In 2006, Nazir was named one of Asias 50 most influential figures of the past decade by FinanceAsia. He was also named Best Top Executive in Malaysia by Asiamoney for two consecutive years, in 2009 and 2010. He had joined the corporate advisory unit of the Commerce International Merchant Bankers Berhad in 1999, and is currently the managing director and chief executive of CIMB Group, one of the largest financial services providers in Malaysia.
Nazirs influence on the Malaysian economic landscape cannot be ignored, whether on its own or in connection to his brother. Upon assuming the premiership, Najibs first move was to increase the service charge for credit card holders. This prompted many of his critics to accuse him of benefiting his younger brother and other banking fat cats on whom the corruption-tainted PM was seen eager to cozy up to. And it is safe to say that Nazir would surely be one of Najibs unofficial advisers when it comes to money matters in Malaysia.
MAS-AirAsia
In the past weeks, Umno blogs have been heavy with criticism over the recent share swap between MAS and Air-Asia. But it was truly an Umno family affair, with the disgruntlement only about who got more and who got less out of the deal. Even the person who brokered the swap was family it was none other than Nazir Razak.
His group acted as adviser to the highly controversial deal a month ago, when Khazanah Holdings Bhd traded of 20.5% of Malaysia Airlines shares for 10% of! AirAsia and agreed to buy another 10% AirAsia Xs shares for an undetermined price. Given that AirAsia is hugely in debt while the long-established MAS has many fixed assets, it was seen as an uneven deal and MAS staff are protesting it. However, in the BN-controlled media, the process is smartly described as a collaborative agreement.
The MAS and AirAsia swap raised eyebrows because it does not make much business sense for a large Government-Linked-Company like MAS to allow smaller AirAsia to take on the lead role and lions share of the goodies. In its crudest terms, the share swap between MAS and AirAsia was a company take-over, with AirAsia assuming the commanding voice in what is in principle a national asset.
While AirAsia is also Malaysian and its chief Tony Fernandes well-thought of, such generosity from the federal government or to be precise the Finance ministry, of which Najib is in charge, is certainly questionable. Yet, Najib allowed this to happen, ignoring the fact that taxpayers have pumped in billions upon billions through the years to save the ailing MAS. Not only that, he even commanded all other GLCs to stop legal action against former chairman Tajudin Ramli, who is well-known to be a crony of ex-premier Mahathir Mohamad and former finance minister Daim Zainuddin.
As for Nazir, how much did he gain from brokering this deal? The information is obviously confidential, but it paved the way for the next collaborative agreement Sime Darby acquiring a 30% stake in E&O for RM766 million.
Sime-E&O
The Sime Darby- E&O deal already reeks of impropriety when one considers the fact that E&O chairman, Azizan Abdul Rahman, is the husband of Zarinah Anwar, the head of financial industry regulator Security Commission.
Azizan also has ties to Umno-linked businessman Kalimullah Hassan, who has stakes in ECM Libra. And four months ahead of the Sime-E&O deal, ECM Libra had increased its shares to 5.35% or 41.41 million shares after mopping ! up an ad ditional 3.4 million shares in May.
This has of course not gone unnoticed by the financial media. Even the Umno factions are baying for blood. Did Azizan tell Kalimullah of the impending move by Sime Darby to buy into E&O? In Umno circles, Kalimullah the former head of the NST group is a staunch supporter of former premier Abdullah Badawi and his son-in-law Khairy Jamaluddin.
Yes, Umno politics is complex. It is a huge web of deceit with flitting loyalties and the recent slew of giant deals are seen to be nothing less than the Umno elite and their cronies cashing out. And more are on the way.
As for Nazir Razak, how was he involved and what did he gain from this second deal? It was Umno blogger Big Dog who first revealed that Nazirs CIMB was also the adviser to the Sime-E&O transaction. Big Dog also happens to be among those bloggers believed to be loyal to the Mahathir faction in Umno and his tidbit was seized upon by his colleagues to highlight Nazirs role in the deal.
But frankly, as an investment banker, Nazir may only be doing what he is supposed to which is to look out for fat-cat deals to broker. It is what he is extremely highly-paid to do by CIMB shareholders. Whether these deals were unprincipled and if CIMB should have advised or turned down such questionable transactions are different issues altogether, although if later proven, then surely they would have to pay the legal price.
Chaos as Umno does a Titanic
The point is, two huge and politically-laced deals were rushed through ahead of a looming 13th general election. This is cause for alarm bells to ring loud and clear. Taxpayers, minority shareholders and the general public must sit up and take notice and demand answers.
The Umno elite who have taken brutal advantage of the power they held through the decades to enrich themse! lves are cashing out. This is really the Last Grab, so to speak. And it is telling that the factions within Umno are also taking the opportunity to use these deals to take pot-shots at each other.
When the MAS-AirAsia was unveiled, the grousing came mostly from those aligned to the Badawi camp. The Tajudin connection to Daim and Mahathir and the enormous disadvantage to MAS were pointed out. Now in another deal that benefits the Badawi camp allegedly through the Kalimullah connection, bloggers on the other side are busy highlighting the shady aspects of this transaction, all in the name of being cruel to be kind and nation before faction!
So, Nazir may be disliked for his curt ways but he is not the real target. For the Sime-E&O, which incidentally also involves tycoons with links to Daim and Mahathir, the targets are Badawi and Najib.
Scandal-tainted Najib is already on his way out, but it does not matter if he is helped along the way with a few more body-blows and it would be perfect if his smart-alec banker brother got slapped as well. Also to ensure that Mahathirs choice gets a free path to the throne, which is the Umno presidency, all efforts must also be made to nip in the bud any pretensions from the Badawi camp to try and revive the sunken fortunes of overambitious son-in-law Khairy Jamaluddin.
In the coming days, revelations of more Najib misdeeds and those of his clan, Badawis family and even the Mahathir faction which includes Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin will surface. Anwar and Pakatan can take a break now, their political enemies are already on auto-pilot. Like the Titanic, pirate-ship Umno is sinking. The warlord-ism and infighting will get really intense in this last lap.- Malaysia Chronicle
