Pilihan raya umum 2007? -- MT UMNO tangguh pemilihan pucuk pimpinan parti
Oleh Aznan Bakar, Fauzi Jaafar dan Hamden Ramli
KUALA LUMPUR 28 Sept. – Pilihan raya umum dijangka diadakan akhir tahun depan atau awal 2008. Ramalan itu dibuat setelah Majlis Tertinggi (MT) UMNO hari ini melanjutkan tempoh pemilihan pucuk pimpinan parti itu kepada 18 bulan daripada September 2007, bagi memberi laluan pilihan raya umum ke-12 diadakan terlebih dahulu.
Pemilihan - tiga tahun sekali - UMNO yang lepas berlangsung pada 23 September 2004.
Undang-undang negara menetapkan pilihan raya umum diadakan dalam tempoh lima tahun kecuali jika Parlimen dibubarkan lebih awal. Pilihan raya lalu ialah pada 21 Mac 2004. Ini bermakna mandat kerajaan akan berakhir pada Mac 2009.
Sementara setelah pelanjutan 18 bulan itu, mandat anggota MT juga akan berakhir pada Mac 2009.
Who announced it?
Presiden UMNO, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi ketika mengumumkan perkara itu berkata, ia telah diputuskan oleh MT bagi memberi ruang kepada parti itu untuk memberi tumpuan kepada pilihan raya.
Katanya, dengan itu UMNO boleh memfokuskan kepada usaha-usaha meningkatkan pembangunan negara serta yang berkait rapat dengan kepentingan rakyat.
Tindakan tersebut juga katanya, merupakan satu prosedur dan juga dasar parti selama ini yang terbukti telah memberi kebaikan kepada ahli.
‘‘Prosedur dan dasar parti ini telah dilaksanakan sebanyak dua kali dan telah terbukti dapat memberi kebaikan kepada parti.
‘‘Ini juga untuk membolehkan parti menumpukan kepada hal-hal berkaitan dengan menjayakan pembangunan negara dan juga pembangunan projek-projek yang telah dilaksanakan demi kepentingan rakyat,’’ katanya.
Beliau berkata demikian pada sidang akhbar selepas mempengerusikan mesyuarat MT UMNO di sini.
Whodunnit?
Sebelum ini Pergerakan Pemuda UMNO telah mencadangkan supaya pemilihan pucuk pimpinan parti yang dijadualkan tahun depan ditunda sehingga selesai pilihan raya umum.
Cadangan itu dibangkitkan oleh Naib Ketua Pemuda UMNO, Khairy Jamaluddin kerana bimbang pemilihan yang dilakukan sebelum pilihan raya boleh mencetuskan perpecahan di antara pemimpin dan penyokong parti.
‘‘Kita bimbang kekuatan parti UMNO akan goyah kerana macam-macam boleh berlaku jika pertandingan dilakukan sebelum pilihan raya umum ekoran kekecewaan calon yang kalah boleh mempengaruhi pengikutnya,’’ kata Khairy.
Berdasarkan Perlembagaan UMNO, pemilihan parti boleh ditangguhkan selama 18 bulan.
Mengikut kelaziman pemilihan MT tidak diadakan tepat pada tempoh 18 bulan, dan pilihan raya umum juga tidak diadakan genap lima tahun.
Cakap tak boleh serupa bikin lah! Cakap senang saja. Action mau, malu tak apa.
[Source]
Sepupu, not seppuku for you, eh? Picture from JeffOoi.
Doctors fly high for first ever operation in zero gravity
BORDEAUX, France (AFP) - French doctors are carrying out the world's first ever operation on a human in zero-gravity, using a specially-adapted aircraft to simulate conditions in space.
The team of surgeons and anaesthetists took off from Bordeaux airport in southwest France on Wednesday for a three-hour journey to remove a benign tumour from the fore-arm of a volunteer.
The experiment is part of a programme -- on course for completion next year with backing from the European Space Agency (ESA) -- to develop techniques for performing robotic surgery aboard the International Space Station or a future Moon base.
"The operation will pose no risk to the patient.
Its aim is to prove the effectiveness of new surgical and anaesthetic techniques carried out in conditions of weightlessness," according to a statement from Bordeaux University Hospital, which provided the medical team.
"This phase is essential before we can move ahead with developing the next stage when we will operate with a robot remotely controlled from the ground by satellite," it said.
Cop who steals, too
KUALA LUMPUR: Police have detained a constable who has been with the force for two years on suspicion of commiting snatch theft.
The 25-year-old shocked the force with the double life he had been leading for the past one year. He is believed to be responsible for 40 snatch thefts in the city.
Confirming the arrest to Sin Chew Daily, city deputy CPO Datuk Ahmad Baharin Idrus said police are not taking the case lightly and are conducting a thorough investigation.
He said police have suspended the constable and have obtained an order to further remand him to facilitate investigation.
"Police will investigate the case from various angles, including whether others are involved. We will not let anyone off the hook," Ahmad Baharin said.
It is learnt that the constable went astray just a year after joining the force.
According to the report, the constable was picked up last Friday after a chase in an alley on Jalan Silang by a team from the anticrime unit of the city police headquarters.
Police realised the policeman's identity only when they found a police badge on him.
They were shocked that the suspect they had been tracking for months was one of their own.
It is learnt that once he is off-duty, the constable, who is with the city police headquarters, would prowl the Golden Triangle, Jalan Raja Laut and Jalan Silang on a motorcycle, looking for potential victims.
Agency makes breaking up easier
A German businessman has set up a "separation agency" - a service to inform unsuspecting spouses and lovers their partners no longer want them.
Bernd Dressler will deliver the bad news - for those too scared to do it themselves - for 20 euros (£13) by phone, or for 50 euros (£33) in person.
The efficiency and directness of Mr Dressler's manner has earned him the nickname The Terminator.
The 52-year-old compares his company to a dating agency but "in reverse".
'Only the messenger'
"We have had dating agencies for 30 years. If you want to have a new partnership then you have to quit your previous one.
"I think it's the same market - just in reverse," Mr Dressler told the BBC.
The message can be delivered in a "sympathetic or direct manner". Mr Dressler said that most of his clients do not want any further contact with their ex-partner.
The client is asked to provide three reasons why they want to terminate the relationship - these are then passed on by the agency to the former lover.
"The time is right for this service. Many clients are unhappy in their partnerships and they want to end it in a neutral way," Mr Dressler said.
The former insurance manager said he has been fortunate never to have witnessed any extreme emotional reactions.
"I am only the messenger," he said.
For many folk in this Kelantan town, the tanglung festival was something unheard of.
For office workers Suria Yusof, 22, and Syima Sidek, 18, it was a unique experience seeing the tanglung celebrations of the first time.
Set in 2027 where no human child has been born for 18 years and science is at a loss to explain why, Children of Men envisages a world that's fallen into anarchy and chaos as humankind faces the threat of its own extinction. This threat is made all the more real with the death of the world's youngest citizen. The discovery of a miraculously pregnant woman named Kee leads Theo Faron, a disillusioned ex-activist turned bureaucrat, to undertake a journey to ensure the safety of the woman - a journey where he will face his demons and try to restore faith in the future of humanity.
Baby miracle in war-torn Britain.
What? You have been shooting blanks all the time? Well, which man now isn't?
Hey, I'm sterile. So. Are. You. Neh-neh.
Wah, look, a baby. Never seen a baby for 18 years already!
Did I tell you that your character will be killed off 5 minutes later? Ha! Ha!
What? You- a terrorist?
View his profile here.
The Nazri exit mystery
Nazri is not one to run away from a good fight or an opportunity to disparage members of the Opposition, especially Kit Siang.
by Zainon Ahmad
QUITE a few MPs are still speculating on why Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz left the Dewan Rakyat on Monday without completing his 80-page roundup of the general debate on Budget 2007.
He did not leave in a huff and neither was there anger on his face. In fact he even smiled at a few BN backbenchers as he made his way out of the House, leaving almost everyone quite nonplussed by his behaviour.
In fact DAP MPs felt quite insulted by Nazri's turning his back on them after doggedly reading his speech at breakneck speed, seemingly oblivious to their requests for penjelasan (clarification) on his replies relating to, among other things, the tsunami fund, the leadership of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and the role of Umno Youth deputy leader Khairy Jamaludin.
Others, especially BN MPs, were quite annoyed because even though the minister said he would give his speech to those who wanted them much of the responses to the queries they made would not be recorded in the Hansard.
There was pandemonium and complete bedlam as everyone spoke at the same time Nazri reading his speech with DAP MPs shouting for penjelasan and making loud remarks that "he is out of control", BN backbenchers shouting back at the oppositionists to keluar and deputy speaker Datuk Lim Si Cheng shouting cukuplah, cukuplah as he strove to restore order.
When order returned, things started getting out of hand again when Nazri was arguing with Fong Po Kuan (DAP-Batu Gajah) over the use of such unparliamentary words such as kurang ajar and pekak. Lim then called for everyone's cooperation to maintain order in the House or he was going to limit the time for the minister's reply.
When Fong said it was fine with her, Nazri said "if you want me to stop, I'll stop. I'll stop. I'll stop now". The deputy speaker said Nazri should finish his speech and asked for the number of pages he had left.
When Nazri told him 60, Lim asked whether half an hour would be sufficient.Nazri: I can finish now.
Lim: Can you finish in half an hour? I leave it to you. Can you finish it in half an hour?
Nazri: Sekarang boleh habis.
Lim: It's up to you.
Nazri: Mr Speaker, since my speech is very long and since it will be distributed to those interested, I now end my rounding up. Thank you.
Lim: Sudah habis? Baik.
Why did Nazri do what he did? Was he hounded out of the Dewan by Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang and his band of 11 DAP men and women who were plainly quite irritated and angry with Nazri for ignoring their pleas for clarification? Surely not. Nazri is not one to run away from a good fight or an opportunity to disparage members of the Opposition, especially Kit Siang. In fact he is known to have emerged unscathed from the many verbal scrapes, in the Dewan Rakyat as well as outside.
Did he feel he was under pressure because he was pressed for time or was he peeved with deputy speaker Lim harassing him by asking him if he could finish in half an hour? All these were speculated upon by some MPs in the comfort of their Members Lounge. Yet some others offered even more bizarre and outrageous explanations for Nazri's behaviour that day.
They all agree that it could not be due to his being deluged with requests for clarification because others too, especially Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak who began his rounding up speech when the Dewan sat again after lunch, had to put up with countless requests for clarification. It was the normal thing.
Others agreed with Fong's assumption that Nazri had to cut short his delivery to give his colleagues from the PM's Department, Deputy Minister Datuk Abdul Rahman Suliman and parliamentary secretary Datuk Dr Mashitah Ibrahim, time to complete their rounding up by lunch time so that Najib could start his at 2.30.
In fact Fong said so to Najib even before he could start his speech. After the deputy prime minister refused to give in to her repeated requests for penjelasan, she shouted in her shrill voice and in English: "Is the whole parliament to suit the time of the deputy prime minister?"
She sat down only after the uproar died down and only after she managed to shout above the din that "hopefully what happened today would not be repeated".
Najib took about half an hour and was followed by Transport Minister Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy. Most ministers turned up to respond to the points raised about their ministries during the debate.
The 31 ministries managed to complete their responses by around midnight on Thursday the last day of the meeting. The Supply Bill 2007 or Budget 2007 will be scrutinised further at committee stage when the Dewan Rakyat, adjourning for Ramadan, reconvenes in November.
Among the thoughts that MPs returning to their constituencies will take with them will be Nazri's use of "your mentor" a euphemism for Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, whenever he was involved in an altercation with Karpal Singh (DAPBukit Gelugor). Another was linking the term dictatorship with the former PM.
This came about on Tuesday, when Nazri, explaining why Abdullah was being talked about as losing control, said it was because people could speak freely now.
"During the past administration, it was a bit of a dictatorship, people were not free," he said.
Deputy Internal Security Minister Datuk Johari Mohd Baharum said police submitted the investigation papers to the state prosecutor on July 18 but "there is no response to date".
Bang bang, I shot you down
Bang bang, you hit the ground
Bang bang, that awful sound
Bang bang, I used to shoot you down.
Yes, Minister! Our councils are truly unique
This is not a question of not having the courage or being afraid to hold municipal council elections. What is important is whether the present municipal administrative system is effective in serving the ratepayers well. Malaysia has a unique system unlike those in other countries and if the present system is doing well, we will continue to use it.
Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting on why there is no need for local council elections.
by R. Nadeswaran
YANG BERHORMAT, I totally agree with you we have a unique system where everything goes, as far as local authorities are concerned.
Comedy, said English writer, William Hazlitt, naturally wears itself out destroys the very food on which it lives; and by constantly and successfully exposing the follies and weaknesses of mankind to ridicule, in the end, leaves itself nothing worth laughing at.
Yang Berhormat, I totally agree with you and am having a good laugh we have a unique system where everything goes as far as local authorities are concerned. Yes, Minister! Our system is so unique that even a federal ministry does not have any say in the running of local authorities. As you said in Parliament on Tuesday, states have full authority to appoint local councillors as provided under Section 10 of the Local Government Act. In the process, bankrupts, people with criminal records et al have had the honour of being called "Honourable Councillors". Yes, Minister! Our unique system is about the only one in the world that provided councils and its officers immunity after their inefficiency and inaction caused the loss of 48 lives. Remember Highland Towers 13 years ago? Yes, Minister! The local authorities in Malaysia are unique because they can approve the construction and operations of a pub on a road divider. Don't believe me? On the next trip to Ipoh, drive along Jalan Sultan Abdul Jalil and have a pint or two on the house. Yes, Minister! People in Petaling Jaya are forced to spend a few nights with the dead while the hum is being created for their journey to heaven. Ask the residents of Jalan Gasing and they'll tell you that an illegal funeral parlour and casket shop has been operating behind their houses for 14 years, without a licence and only our unique system condones and encourages their existence. Yes, Minister! The unique system that you talked about has turned some local councils into extortionists. Petaling Jaya is an example. If you don't donate RM10,000 to the sports club, you don't get a licence for the billboards. If you donate more, you'd probably have a monopoly. Yes, Minister! Local councils publish a whole stack of brochures, guidelines and pamphlets. Only our unique system allows them to produce them with the cost borne by ratepayers, while all income from the sale ends up in someone else 's pockets.
The Petaling Jaya City Council's publication Guidelines for Home Renovations is sold at RM10 each, with the money going to the sports club. Yes, Minister! Our local councils are so powerful that they can create millionaires. If not for the public groundswell, a consortium would have milked RM600 million from the business sector in Subang Jaya on the pretext of providing pest control services. Only our unique system allows non-qualified people to undertake such a task. Would you employ a lifeguard and give him six months to learn how to swim? That's what the Subang Jaya and Sepang councils did.
Yes, Minister! Only our system allows, encourages and condones the creation of dynasties. In one local council, the father, daughter and son-inlaw are councillors. Yes, Minister! It is said that laughter is the best medicine. Despite all the scams and the shenanigans, we are unique in the sense that we can have a good laugh at the many statements and pronouncements made by all and sundry. Like Chinese philosopher Lao-Tzu said: As soon as you have made a thought, laugh at it.
And that's what we all ought to do when confronted with other people's uniqueness. Is there somebody unique out there who will say it from his or her heart instead of going round the mulberry bush in diplomatic tones? R. Nadeswaran is deputy editor (special reporting) at theSun. He can be reached at citizennades@thesundaily.com
Malaysia has a unique system unlike those in other countries and if the present system is doing well, we will continue to use it.
Man bites panda after zoo attack
A drunken Chinese tourist says he bit a panda who attacked him after he jumped into a zoo enclosure to "hug" the bear.
Zhang Xinyan, 35, had drunk four draught beers before deciding to enter the Beijing Zoo pen belonging to six-year-old male panda Gu Gu.
The startled Gu Gu bit both legs of his intruder, who responded by biting "the panda on its back", Mr Zhang was quoted by state media as saying.
Mr Zhang said he had not realised pandas could be violent.
He told the Beijing Morning Post that he had come to the Chinese capital "only to see the pandas".
"The seven-hour train ride was exhausting, and I drank bottles of beer when I arrived then had a nap," he added.
Punishment
The newspaper said Mr Zhang had a "sudden urge" to touch Gu Gu with his hand, so he jumped over the waist-high railing into the enclosure.
"When he got closer and was undiscovered, he reached out to hug it," the newspaper added.
Mr Zhang was bitten first on his right leg, and then on his left.
Newspaper photographs showed him lying on a hospital bed with blood-soaked bandages over his legs.
"I bit the panda on its back but its fur was too thick," Mr Zhang recalled.
He went on: "No one ever said they would bite people. I just wanted to touch it."
Zoo spokeswoman Ye Mingxia said the panda was unharmed and they were not considering punishing Mr Zhang yet.
"He's suffered quite a bit of a shock," she told the Associated Press by telephone.
Gu Gu, the panda. What a name for a panda. I wonder how do you call it in Mandarin when Gu Gu talks/cries/shouts? ;)
[Source]
"The majority of people had become suspicious of this administration, which is running the country through rampant corruption"
New animal In Da House.
