Destroyed Leukaemia Community

temple patients mapping to solve

being seeking public OA land disputes
rebuilt p 2 donations p 16 p 12 & 13

community April 29 — May 1, 2011/ issue 22

Clean-up calvary: The Klang

Municipal Council has equipped
personnel from its Health
Department with motorcycles with
sidecars to clean hard-to-reach back
alleys. • Story on page 5

International ‘flavour’
for guidelines
By Alvin Yap and Gan Pei Ling

PETALING JAYA: Restaurant guidelines for

Petaling Jaya will now be issued in Myanmar, Bang-
ladesh and Nepal languages.
The Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) said the
measure was being taken due to the influx of foreign
workers from these countries.
“When you go to a restaurant to storage and serving of food. questions on the procedures. shutting down dirty restaurants. extra mile to print the comprehen-
here, you find many of the food The booklet also includes a flow- She pointed out that MBPJ will This is done so that operators will sive booklets, and would not spare
handlers are migrant workers,” said chart on the procedures involved in now strictly enforce the “three strike not be taken in by bogus or low- dirty eateries.
MBPJ assistant health director Dr revoking a restaurant’s licence.  rule” to shut down eateries found ranking MBPJ officers. MBPJ health officers said out of
V Chithradavi. Dr  Chithradavi said  food han- to have flouted cleanliness and Latheefa added that the guide- some 2,500 restaurants in the Petal-
The move to include the guide- dlers and restaurant owners can no sanitation three times within a year. lines, with latest amendments to the ing Jaya area, the department has
lines in foreign and vernacular longer use “I do not understand” as The booklet has received positive procedures, take into consideration closed or “sealed” 15 errant eateries
languages is to help workers better an excuse. feedback from eateries in Petaling feedback from restaurant operators. as of end of April.
understand the proper handling She said Mayor Datuk Roslan Jaya, according to Latheefa. “They (restaurant operators) Furthermore, 42 compounds
and storage of both raw as well as Sakiman had suggested the inclu- “We have good response from want more information on the vari- were issued by MBPJ during full-
cooked food. sion of the foreign languages to the respective restaurant associa- ous laws and regulations,” she said. scale health and sanitation opera-
The cleanliness and sanitary make the information readily avail- tions during a soft launch of the Latheefa said the booklet signals tions so far this year.
guidelines list 24 important criteria able to migrant workers. booklet,” she said. MBPJ’s seriousness in combating However, the council could not
for safe food handling, ranging City councillor Latheefa Koya It lists the departments and rank- food-borne illnesses. furnish details on the number of
from personal health and hygiene said the publication should clarify ing officers allowed to sign off on She said the council has gone the food poisoning cases.
2
news
April 29 — May 1, 2011
SHAH ALAM: One of the cata-
lysts of the 2008 political tsunami
will soon regain its prominence
following the rebuilding of the Sri
Maha Mariamman temple in
Padang Jawa.
The demolished temple is being
rebuilt near the Padang Jawa KTM
commuter station, which is about
500m from its original location.
Demolished just a few days be-
fore Deepavali in November 2007,
the new temple will be built in a
15,000 sq ft area.
Selangor state executive council-
lors, community leaders, and Indian
residents from the former Kampung
Rimba Jaya attended the laying of
the foundation stone ceremony last
Sunday.
The ceremony started at 9am
with prayers, followed by the laying
of the foundation stone in a 4ft-
deep hole, over which the main altar
of the temple will be built.
The temple was demolished by the
Shah Alam City Council after the
Rimba Jaya village was cleared for
development under Barisan Nasi-
onal’s zero-squatter programme.
However, the demolition drew
protests from the Hindu commu-
nity nationwide, which led to the
historic Hindraf rally in 2007 and
subsequent loss of support for the
BN.
Selangor state health, plantation
workers, poverty and caring govern-
ment standing committee chairper-
son Dr Xavier Jayakumar said the
land was donated by Ken Rimba
Jaya, the developer.
“ The state is contributing
RM300,000 to the [temple] build-
ing fund as the Pakatan Rakyat
wants to resolve an issue that has
caused much anguish to the Indian
community.
“The temple was the catalyst for
change, and we want to recognise its
significance,” he said at the ceremony.
Selangor WEATHER
Friday
Morning
Afternoon
Night
Source: Malaysian meteorological department
phone (603) 5510 4566
fax (603) 5523 1188
email editor@selangortimes.com
EDITORIAL
CHIEF EDITOR
COMMUNITY EDITOR
WRITERS Tang Hui Koon, Chong Loo Wah, Gan Pei Ling,
Basil Foo, Alvin Yap, Gho Chee Yuan, Brenda Ch’ng
COPY EDITORS Nick Choo, James Ang
DESIGNERS Jimmy C. S. Lim, Chin Man Yen
PHOTOGRAPHER
ADVERTISING
ADVISORS Faekah Husin, Arfa’eza Abdul Aziz
Destroyed
temple
being rebuilt
To place your Advert in
Contact Timothy Loh 019-2674488,
Ivan Looi 014-9366698, Dr Xavier (brown shirt) laying the foundation stone while Liu looks on.
or Vincent Boon 012-8902033
He acknowledged that there was Temple building committee
a delay in the rebuilding because of chairmperson N Thiagu said the
squabbles among devotees.
“But everything has been re-
solved and there should not be any
construction would be completed
in about a year, provided there was
enough funds. The temple is ex-
problem now,” he said. pected to cost about RM700,000.
Dr Xavier added that all the land “The state’s allocation has come
for places of worship in Selangor has in handy, and we urge all Indians to
been gazetted, and the state has help as this is undoubtedly one of
given out land titles to about 70 the most significant temples now.
temples since it took power. “We cried when the temple was
“We have done what could not demolished, and we are also crying
be achieved in 52 years,” he said. now. It’s tears of joy,” he said.
During the ceremony, Dr Xavier He said the temple would not
was honoured with garlands and just be a place of worship but a
also accorded the title of “temple monument for Malaysian Indians.
saviour”. State executive councilor Rod-
“We are prepared to do more for ziah Ismail, who was also present,
the Indian community. Last year, we said there was no issue that could
gave RM2.5 million to [Hindu] not be resolved.
temples,” he said. “Compromise and acceptance is
Among those at the ceremony the solution as Malaysians should
were state executive councillor Ron- recognise different religions and
nie Liu, Bukit Melawati assem- cultures. Using the Pakatan Rakyat
blyperson M Muthiah, Port Dick- approach, many issues can be re-
son assemblyperson M Ravi, and solved. I am glad the issue has finally
Senator M Ramakrishnan. has been resolved,” she said.
Saturday Sunday Schedule needed for road resurfacing
By Brenda Ch’ng
SUBANG JAYA: Priority to get
pothole-riddled roads resurfaced
with the municipality’s limited funds
resulted in a heated discussion at a
full board meeting of the Subang Jaya
Municipal Council (MPS J ) on
Wednesday.
All 24 councillors insisted that
MPK records RM10m surplus
By Basil Foo
K L A N G : The Klang Municipal
Council (MPK) has made history by
recording a RM10 million surplus in
their 2010 budget.
Among the departments which con-
tributed to the surplus was the Environ-
KL Chan ment Department, which benefited
Neville Spykerman from cost-cutting measures.
“Since taking over garbage manage-
ment from Alam Flora last year, MPK
has recorded savings. We managed to
save RM5 million in expenses,” said
Victor Chong Wan Mohd Sufian at Wednesday’s full
Timothy Loh, Ivan Looi board meeting.
The MPK Environment Department
director expects the council to save
another RM2.5 million after taking over
State to launch
anti-ISA campaign
SHAH ALAM: Selangor will
spend RM600,000 to put up bill-
boards in its soon-to-be-launched
anti-Internal Security Act (ISA)
campaign.
Menteri Besar Tan Sri Khalid
Ibrahim said “Save Malaysia: Abol-
ish ISA” billboards will be installed
in all 56 constituencies in the state
within the next two months.  Kelang) and M Manoharan (Kota
“This is consistent with Pakatan
Rakyat’s promise that it would
abolish the ISA within 100 days [if
the coalition comes into power at
the federal level],” said Khalid after
chairing the executive council
meeting on Wednesday.  Besides Saari and Manoharan,
Khalid said the funds would
come from Tabung Amanah Pen-
swastaan and be distributed by
Menteri Besar Incorporation.
MPSJ should have a “zero-tolerance
policy on potholes”.
The councillors also wanted all
complaints to be attended to imme-
diately.
“MPSJ should have a proper road
system to determine the age of the
road so it will be easier to prioritise
roads which need resurfacing,” said
Dr Loi Kheng Min.
public cleaning services this month.
Councillor Lim Lip Suan said the
council has also managed to increase its
revenue from the collection of assessment
fees and arrears for the past three years.
“In the past few years, Klang has had
a lot of mega housing developments
which have increased assessment fees by
several million,” he said.
However, Lim said the main reason
for the surplus was the savings from
garbage fees – from RM60 million in
2008 to the current RM40 million.
He added that the Environment
Department, which used to run deficits,
now has enough funds to lend to other
departments.
Lim congratulated the council for
wisely managing its finances.
He  added that  the installa-
tion and construction of the bill-
boards will be done through open
tender,  and  will b e adver-
tised in newspapers.
The state will also be organising
road shows and inviting former ISA
detainees and current assemblyper-
sons like Saari Sungib (Hulu
Alam Shah) to speak to the public.
Selangor’s state assembly had
passed a motion in March to cam-
paign against the half-a-century-
old law which allows for detention
without trial.
who were detained for years, Kinr-
ara assemblyperson Terasa Kok had
also been detained for seven days
under the ISA in 2008.
The councillor said residents
should be provided with schedules
to determine a definite time frame
for all roads that need to be resur-
faced.
Under MPSJ’s current policy,
roads used by heavy vehicles are
resurfaced every five years, city
roads every seven years, and resi-
dential roads every 10 years.
“But despite the policy, MPSJ
can’t do anything because they do
not have enough funds for road
resurfacing,” said R Rajiv.
The councillor pointed out that
patching up potholes was at best a
temporary but costly measure. 
Rajiv said the council’s limited
budget for roads would be better
spent on resurfacing roads accord-
ing to a definite schedule. 
However, MPSJ has only allo-
cated RM4 million for road repairs
this year.
“The funds will not be enough
to repair all roads under the mu-
nicipality’s jurisdiction. I think
more money should be budgeted
for roadworks,” said councillor
Edward Ling Sieak Meeng.
MPSJ deputy president Abdul-
lah Marjunid said he would look
into the suggestions.
SELANGOR TIMES ⁄ April 29 – MAY 1, 2011 ⁄ 3
4
news
April 29 — May 1, 2011

Events MB makes surprise visit

MIA batik workshop
to Sri Perantau flats
The Department of Extra-Mural Studies, Malaysian
Institute of Art (MIA), will hold a workshop for batik
lovers in May. The workshop, which consists of four
lessons, is open to everyone aged 13 and above.
Participants will be taught how to draft, draw, wax,
colour, and also get to know the various techniques
needed to create interesting designs with batik tools
and dyes. The workshop will be held at the MIA Art
Centre, Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur. For more
information, contact the centre at 03-21632337,
email mia.ems@gmail.com, or visit the website at
www.mia.edu.my.

Fundraiser for Japan

Another event to raise funds for victims of the Japan
quake will be held at the Saujana Kuala Lumpur
poolside on May 2 from 7am. This follows the
overwhelming response to the previous event on
April 17. The event will be held by Manasa Yoga
in collaboration with Saujana Kuala Lumpur. There
will be charity stalls and a scrumptious vegetarian
lunch sponsored by the hotel. Cheque and cash
donations can be handed to Manasa Yoga during or
before the event. For more information, call 012-337
5955 (Susan) or email susan@manasa-yoga.com.

Learning to coach
Corporate coach Acedemy is providing an
opportunity to learn about coaching and how it can
empower you to fulfill your goals. The academy is
committed to guiding individuals and organisations
to boost their performances in key areas. Start by
requesting a free copy of the Coaching Standards
Handbook, and by attending Malaysian Association
of Certified Coaches (MACC) monthly meetings. For
more information, contact 03-62054488 or log on to
www.corporate-coachacademy.com.
MPSJ strategic planning
A community consultation conference questionaire
will be held on the Subang Jaya Municipal Council
(MPSJ) website on May 3. This questionnaire is
targeted at interested groups like the disabled,
children, students, professionals, resident commu-
nities and associations, and developers. With this
questionaire, MPSJ aims to listen to feedback from
the targeted groups. The input will help draw up
strategic plans for 2010 to 2016. For details, contact
03-80264465 or 80267408 (Jabatan Perancangan
Korporat MPSJ), or visit their website at www.mpsj.
gov.my.
Blood donation
A blood donation campaign for the National Blood
Bank will be held on Sunday (May 1) from 8.30am
to 5.30pm at Kwan Inn Teng Temple at 1-3, Jalan
4/49E, Petaling Jaya. There will be free transport for
donors at Kota Raya Kuala Lumpur and Taman Jaya
LRT station in Petaling Jaya. For more information,
contact the centre at 03-77825108 or 77833323.
English-language session
The British Council will be having a free information
session on May 12 from 7.30pm to 8.30pm for the
internationally recognised Certificate of English
Language Teaching to Adults (Celta) awarded by
the University of Cambridge. The session is open
to all anyone who is interested in teaching English.
Celta will be the initial qualification for people with
little or no previous training. The session will be held
at the British Council, Ground Floor, West Block,
Wisma Selangor Dredging, 142C, Jalan Ampang,
Kuala Lumpur. For more information, contact the
council at 03-27237900 or email kualalumpur@
britishcouncil.org.my.
Photography contest
The Cyberjaya Photography Contest will be orga-
nised by Cyberview Sdn Bhd from now until June
15. The theme is “A Zest For Life in Cyberjaya”.
Cash prizes of RM3,500, RM2,000 and RM1,500
will be awarded. For more information, contact 03-
83156048 (Rozi) or email rozi@cyberview.com.my,
or visit www.cyberview.com.my or www.cyberjaya-
tv.com.
By Brenda Ch’ng
KLANG: Complaints of rampant
drug abuse, vandalism and gangsters
at the Sri Perantau flats here drew an
unexpected visit by Tan Sri Khalid
Ibrahim last Friday.
The Menteri Besar stopped over for
a site inspection of the 11 blocks of
flats after learning about the deplorable
conditions there from Selat Kelang
assemblyperson Dr Halimah Ali.
Khalid, who met residents,  prom-
ised that funds from the Klang Mu-
nicipal Council (MPK) and the Selan-
gor State Development Corporation
(PKNS) would be allocated to improve
the living conditions, including ameni-
ties at the flats.
“There will be free shuttle bus ser-
vice five times a day to take residents
from the flats to the Port Klang bus
station.
“Apart from that, we will be repair-
ing lifts and wiring, [replacing] drain
covers and providing more bins for
rubbish,” said Khalid.
The building facilities haven’t been
repaired for years because the Joint
Management Body ( JMB) was strug-
gling to collect maintenance fees from
residents.
“Every month I can only collect
about 40% of the monthly maintenance
PKNS to repaint low-cost flats
SHAH ALAM: The Selangor De-
velopment Corporation (PKNS) is
repainting its low-cost flats that are
more than 15 years old.
Executive councillor Iskandar
Abdul Samad said the state will
spend RM5.2 million to renovate
8,180 units of low-cost flats.
“This is to add value to PKNS
development schemes in addition to
creating a more cheerful and harmo-
nious environment at the apart-
ments,” said Iskandar in a statement
on Wednesday.
 He said PKNS should complete
money, and RM55 per family is only
enough to pay gardeners, electricity and
water bills,” said Ettiappan Raju.
The JMB chairperson was also hard-
pressed to repair damages due to daily
vandalism and had appealed for help
from the state.
“These problems have been going on
for at least 10 years, and drastic mea-
sures have to be taken now to ensure
this flat becomes a conducive environ-
ment for our next generation of chil-
dren to grow up in,” said Dr Halimah.
The state executive councillor for
education said it was upsetting to see
so many poor uneducated youths here
who have turned to drugs and violence
as a way to vent their problems.
She added that the addicts are the
hardest to reach out to because they
are elusive.
Similarly, she said it was hard for
authorities to nab the culprits respon-
sible for the thefts of drain covers and
wiring, and vandalising the lifts.
A  G enera si Idaman S elang or
(GeMS) centre was set up at the flats
by Dr Halimah last year to provide
long-term programmes to help the
community
“Youths and parents alike can come
to us for help instead of us blindly
reaching out,” said Mohd Ali Jinnah,
who helps run the centre.
the programme in stages within a
year.
  The state investment arm will
start with low-cost flats in Section 20
and Section 24 in Shah Alam.
Zone Units Blocks
Shah Alam 2,442 35
Kota Damansara 2,300 24
Bangi 1,942 47
Petaling Jaya 864 19
Ampang Ulu Klang 560 6
  8,108 131
Ali points them in the right direc-
tion by helping them to register for
state schemes and programmes such as
parenting, leadership and empower-
ment programmes.
The flat comprises 60% Malays and
40% Indians of poor backgrounds who
used to live in squatter homes before
being moved here by the government
10 years ago.
Reclaimed
halls now open
to the public
KLANG: Most public multipurpose
halls previously monopolised by politi-
cal parties here will soon be made avail-
able to the people.
The Klang Municipal Council
(MPK) is reclaiming the halls,
which will be up for public rental from
May 15.
“There are 37 hall operators who have
agreed to hand them over to us, but the
total number [of halls in Klang] is more
than that,” said Lim Lip Suan.
The MPK councillor said the halls
are rightly owned by the council and will
be rented out at RM10 per hour.
A six-month trial run will start from
the middle of next month to determine
if the rental price structure is feasible
after taking into account upkeep costs.
Lim added that posters and logos of
political parties will be removed from
the halls and replaced with MPK’s logo
as a standardised signage.
The council is also discussing ten-
ancy terms with those using halls that
have yet to be reclaimed.
“Once these halls are taken over,
those interested, [including political
parties,] can rent them from the coun-
cil,” said Robert Choo Teck Keong.
The MPK councillor said the move
would go a long way towards helping the
council regain control of their assets.
He added that the monopoly of halls
does not only affect the Klang munici-
pality, but the whole of Selangor as well.
 NEWS
APRIL 29 — MAY 1, 2011 5

Motorcycles with sidecars Traffic lights need

to clean up streets  better suppressors
By Brenda Ch’ng flected into traffic lights.
By Alvin Yap and Basil Foo litter like cigarette butts, plastic drink bottles and cans.
 Thunderstorms during
“They will go and actively search for litter,” the state ex- SUBANG JAYA: Sub- peak hours are affecting 31
KLANG: Clean Zones in the royal town will be patrolled ecutive councillor for local government said.
 ang Jaya Municipal Council traffic lights in the Subang-
by council staff on motorcycles on the lookout for littering.
 Liu said the teams will be on duty during daytimes, includ- (MPSJ) councillors have USJ area.
“We want to make sure the Clean Zones are clean,” said ing on weekends.
 called for better lightning According to Rajiv, the
Ronnie Liu at a press conference at the State Secretariat in The initiative is funded by MPK, with teams to also help suppressors to be fixed in worst-affected lights are lo-
Shah Alam on Tuesday.
 out during gotong-royong campaigns in the municipality, traffic lights. cated on Persiaran Kewaji-
He said the Klang Municipal Council (MPK) has Liu said. “The current suppressors pan, Persiaran Tujuan and
equipped 10 motorcycles with sidecars to do their rounds He said MPK was leaving no stone unturned in its bid to are not strong enough to Persiaran Jengka.  
in Pandamaran, Jalan Meru, Taman Sentosa, Jalan Beringin fight littering.
 withstand lightning strikes “I have already set up a
and Taman Gembira.
 “We are determined to carry it out, even if our budget is during thunderstorms,” said temporary-measure response
The teams, consisting of two MPK staff each, will pick up just enough. We will clean up Klang,” said Liu, who is also R Rajiv. team on standby every day
assemblyperson for Pandamaran.  
 The councillor said the when there is a thunder-
Liu said the move was inspired by extra current from lightning storm,” said Subang Jaya as-
the Chinese city of Xiamen, which flowing through the sup- semblyperson Hannah Yeoh.
was voted by residents and tourists pressors is causing them to She said one contractor
as the cleanest city in China.
 blow up, leading to malfunc- has been assigned for every
“Klang will be signing a Friendly tioning of traffic lights. traffic light in the area to re-
City agreement with Xiamen next He said with better sup- pair the lights immediately
month. [Therefore] it is important pressors, the extra current after complaints are made to
for Klang to rid the streets of litter,” could be diverted into the MPSJ.
Liu said. ground instead. Yeoh added that she is
T h e m o t o r c y c l e s , c o s ti n g Research by contractors working with the MPSJ
RM7,000 each, were chosen to and the engineering team at engineering department for
navigate small back alleys and MPSJ showed that lightning a permanent solution to the
jammed roads. that hits streetlights are de- problem. 
“They are smaller and more ma-
neuverable than lorries. A lorry will
be stationed along the main road and which has been operating for two weeks, has received en-
used as a drop-off point for the mo- couraging public feedback, especially from shopkeepers in
torcycles,” said Wan Mohd Sofian. the town centre.
The MPK Environment Depart- He added that the council would buy more motorcycles if
MPK personnel with their sidecar-equipped motorcycle. ment director said the initiative, the community is satisfied with its service.
6
NEWS
APRIL 29 — MAY 1, 2011

Disturb us,
say police
By Basil Foo
SERI KEMBANGAN: Residents and
shopkeepers here were told during a dialogue
session with the police on April 25 to “disturb”
the officers in blue and to “make use” of them.
“Disturb my men in blue. Call us for a
faster response time,” said Serdang police chief
Abdul Razak Elias.
Abdul Razak
The superintendent said even in the case of
break-ins where little or no valuables were
stolen, a police report could help determine
their crime index.
A more detailed index would then enable
them to consider putting more patrol cars on
the road or, in serious cases, calling the police
headquarters in Bukit Aman for assistance.
“Registering with Rakan Cop is the best
way for information to flow,” he said.
Abdul Razal further urged residents to
send in dates, times, locations, and descrip-
tions of suspicious activity.
Restaurant owners Chan Yen Huat, 47, and
Jeffrey Chooi, 58, complained about rampant
snatch theft in the area.
The duo own open-air restaurants in the
Seri Kembangan Commercial Centre, and
called for an increased police presence to curb
the menace.
“There have been people coming around
here asking for protection money,” said Wong
Chee Hem, a 30-year-old salesperson who also
works in the area.
Karrupayah L Karrupayah, a 35-year-old
Serdang police deputy chief Lam Chien Fei.
manager, claimed it was “frightening” living
in an area where there were reportedly many
drug addicts and dealers.
Addressing the crowd of about 70 resi-
dents and business operators after the
question session was Serdang police depu-
ty chief Lam Chien Fei.
“We will be stepping up our uniformed
police presence and increasing patrols in
the area,” said the deputy superintendent.
He then gave out his phone number to
residents, and said the standard response time
upon contacting the police is between five and
15 minutes.
Urging residents to call or SMS upon wit-
nessing a crime taking place, Lam also said he
noticed a lack of contact between the public
and the authorities.
“Residents associations or any religious
organisations are welcome to call us to give
talks about public safety and crime aware-
ness,” he added.
Also at the dialogue were Serdang Mem-
ber of Parliament Teo Nie Ching , Seri
Kembangan assemblyperson Ean Yong
Hian Wah, and Subang Jaya councillors Tai
Cheng Heng, Chong Hoon Ming, and Ng
Sze Han.

Residents learn more Deadline for shops to apply

about firefighting to use sidewalks
Volunteer Patrol Unit members learning the tricks of the trade.
PETALING JAYA: It was a fun-
filled morning as residents from
Taman Gasing Indah tried their
hand at operating fire hoses during
a workshop with firefighters last
Sunday (April 24).
About 50 residents met with per-
sonnel from the Petaling Jaya Fire and
Rescue Department to learn fire
prevention and hydrant maintenance
methods.
Firefighters also used the opportu-
nity to test hydrants around the
neighbourhood to ensure operational
readiness and strong water pressure.
Children were treated to a tour of
the fire trucks to view the sirens and
firefighting apparatus while having a
go at the fire hoses.
Rukun Tetangga chairperson Al-
fred Chuah also handed over a map
of the neighbourhood and the emer-
gency master key for all backlane gates
to the firefighters.
Twenty-five members of the Vol-
unteer Patrol Unit also pledged to
care for the hydrants in the neigh-
bourhood and to help firefighters
during emergencies.
Project coordinator Eric Chew
expressed hope the event would foster
more cooperation among the com-
munity and to showcase a shared re-
sponsibility between neighbours.
He added that Taman Gasing In-
dah was the first neighborhood in
Petaling Jaya to organise such an event
with the Fire Department.
By Basil Foo announced last month,
doesn’t include restau-
SERI KEMBANGAN: Shops under the Subang rants.
Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ) have until the end He  reminded restau-
of June to apply for permits to use five-foot ways and rant owners who have
public corridors to display their goods. applied for separate per-
“They can apply with the licensing committee to mits to set up tables out-
use the space in front of their shoplots,” said Pooi side their premises to pay
Weng Keong during a press conference on Tuesday the fees in two weeks or
(April 26). risk facing action.
The move is to regulate five-foot ways that are Approval has been
commonly used for commercial purposes, but granted to 86 restaurants
which pose an inconvenience to pedestrians. under MPSJ to set up Ean Yong
The MPSJ councillor said for walkways five feet tables on walkways and open spaces, but 40 have
in length, two feet could be used for display. For yet to pay for the permits.
corridors more than five feet long, one-third of the The permit allows restaurants to put tables out-
space could be used. side their premises at RM1 per table per day from
Open drains will also be allowed to be covered, 6pm to 12am.
and the additional space can be utilised by shop “If they want to put tables in car parks, we have
owners. to check on case-by-case basis,” he said.
However, owners who fail to apply for the per- Also at the press conference were Seri Kem-
mit, which costs RM100 every six months, could bangan assemblyperson Ean Yong Hian Wah, and
be fined up to a maximum of RM1,000. Subang Jaya councillors Chong Hoon Ming and
Pooi said permits would be subject to approval Loka Ng Sai Kai.
by the municipality’s technical task force, which are “The purpose of this policy is to help them to do
independent of the councillors. business. I hope this will be an example to other
Approval will take between two and four weeks. local councils in Selangor to follow MPSJ’s initia-
He pointed out that the new policy, which was tive,” said Ean Yong.
Contractor blamed for darkness
By Basil Foo ago,]” said Yew Boon Lye. RM80 each from the circuit
The Klang Municipal Council boxes of the streetlights.
KLANG: A local councillor has (MPK) member said this after He said streetlights at areas
hit out at the contractor of an the council’s full board meeting before and after the stretch,
overhead bridge leading towards on Wednesday (April 27). which are maintained by the
Jalan Jambatan Kota over non- Yew said the contractor re- MPK, also faced vandalism but
functioning streetlights. sponsible for the 300-metre could still function at night.
“The streetlights have not stretch did not take adequate MPK wants the problem to be
been working from last year measures to resolve the problem. resolved first before it takes over
when the project was completed, Vandals were blamed for steal- the management of the project
[which was about eight months ing electrical chokes worth from the contractor.
 SELANGOR TIMES ⁄ April 29 – MAY 1, 2011 ⁄ 7

No more excuses,
MBPJ tells departments
By Alvin Yap
PETALING JAYA: Petaling Jaya City
Council (MBPJ) mayor Datuk Roslan
Sakiman has warned his departments
that he will no longer tolerate excuses
that they lack contractors to attend to
public complaints.
“We have given contractors responsi-
bility to maintain the city council infra-
structure according to zones,” Roslan
said after a full board meeting on
Wednesday.
The mayor said contractors are organ-
ised according to Petaling Jaya North
and South demarcation zones in order
to speed up the response time to com-
plaints.
More importantly, he said, each con-
tractor maintains only one specific
public infrastructure – namely to replace
missing manholes, repair potholes, or
maintain traffic lights.
“MBPJ has enough contractors to
attend to complaints. I do not want to
hear of the council taking a week to re-
News
place a missing manhole cover or repair JUILNNYAKKEE
a traffic light,” he said.
To speed up the response time, Roslan 22001111 I TTA
said MBPJ’s public complaints depart-
ment should be given the power to hold
engineering units accountable for their
actions.
Councillors at the full board meeting
agreed to debate the matter at committee
level.
Earlier, Roslan saw red over council
me eting minutes which describe d
“chronic” failures of traffic lights in Kota
Damansara and the SS2/24 area, which
have led to massive traffic snarls.
“Repair or replace the traffic lights
before a four-way pile up happens,” he
told the departments.
MBPJ has solved some 3,328 cases out
of 5,322 complaints received from Janu-
ary to this month.
This month itself, MBPJ received 601
complaints and solved 212 cases.
Faulty traffic lights accounted for
most of the complaints made by ratepay-
ers, followed by reports of potholes.

Chernobyl:
Lessons for Malaysia
25 years later
According to the Health Ministry
in Kyiv, more than 2.32 million people,
including 452,000 children, have been
hospitalised in the Ukraine for illnesses
blamed on Chernobyl. A recent estimate
puts the number of cancer deaths from
Chernobyl at 27,000 and excess cancers
at 53,000 people.
The nuclear industry has been at pains
to stress that another Chernobyl can’t
happen again. While it is probably true
that an exact copy of the disaster is un-
likely to be repeated, this claim is mislead-
ing on two counts.
One, it is possible for an equal or
greater nuclear disaster to take place, as it
has in Fukushima.
Two, nuclear disasters like Chernobyl
leave a legacy of radiation pollution that
last thousands of years. In this sense, the
Chernobyl disaster is still ongoing.
Several governments have recently
pledged up to US$780 million (RM2.3
billion) for a new shelter to replace the
crumbling sarcophagus that presently
entombs Chernobyl.
Chernobyl is still so radioactive that
the new shelter cannot be built directly
over the existing one without endangering
workers. Instead, it is being constructed
offsite before being slid into place on rails.
Who could imagine that the pursuit of
electricity supply could have such terrible
consequences?
Today, Barisan Nasional under the
administration of Datuk Seri Najib
Razak is aggressively presenting nuclear
power as a cheap, safe and reliable elec-
tricity option. However, the reality
where this waste can be stored.
Responsible nuclear waste storage re-
quires deep repositories in geologically
stable bedrock, free of contact with water.
Finland requires the waste to be secure for
100,000 years and they are constructing
a 500m-deep waste facility at Onkalo will
be completed in 100 years’ time, by the
22nd century.
Malaysian experts have so far proposed
storing waste in old tin mines, in Sarawak,
and deep-sea disposal, all of which are
inadequately insulated from water and are
of questionable geological integrity.
By the time the two nuclear plants are
planned to come online in 2021, the cost
of solar power is expected to be highly
cost-competitive.
Malaysia’s new Renewable Energy Act
2011 has already made it possible to ac-
quire solar power at negative cost over the
long term. In 2011, Malaysia stands to be
the world’s No. 3 producer of solar cells.
Nuclear power comes at great cost to
the economy and our health. If an acci-
dent happens through human error, poor
construction, or natural disaster, the costs
will be far, far higher.
Why expose Malaysians to such a risk
when there are renewable energy alter-
natives that are safer and cheaper in the
long run?
A responsible government should re-
duce the problems its people face, not add
to them. Malaysia does not need nuclear
power. Every ringgit pledged towards
nuclear should go instead towards clean
and genuinely green energy alternatives.
Our future and our children’s future is
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shows it is anything but.
The expected cost of the two nuclear
plants proposed under the Economic
Transformation Programme (ETP) is
RM21.3 billion up to 2020. They have not
told us about the cost of safely and se-
curely disposing all the nuclear waste the
plant will generate. Nor have they told us
worth it. We cannot let Malaysia join For more information, call us at:
Chernobyl and Fukushima as by-words
Marketing | marketing@unisel.edu.my Admission | admission@unisel.edu.my
for nuclear disaster.
Elizabeth Wong
03 - 5522 3572/73/75 03 - 5522 3435/36
Chairperson of the Selangor Standing
Committee for Consumer Affairs, Tourism
For online aplications : www.unisel.edu.my
and Environment SHAH ALAM CITY CAMPUS (KPT/JPS/DFT/US/B06) BESTARI JAYA CAMPUS (KPT/JPS/DFT/US/B18)
Jalan Zirkon A 7/A, Section 7, 40000 Shah Alam, Selangor Darul Ehsan. Jalan Timur Tambahan, 45600 Bestari Jaya, Selangor Darul Ehsan.
8
NEWS
APRIL 29 — MAY 1, 2011
Residents urged to install
individual water meters
By Basil Foo
GOMBAK: Residents of Selayang
Height are being urged to switch
from bulk water meters to indi-
vidual meters for units with lower
usage to enjoy lower rates.
“Each apartment unit should
also have different tariffs as the
apartment blocks here differ from
low-cost to medium-low-cost,” said
Mohd Yaman Mohd Zin.
The Syabas Gombak general
manager said residents would have
to set up a Joint Management Body
( JMB) to get 100% approval for all
residents to switch meters.
He allayed worries about the
apartment devel-
First-ever Zero-Fire
Community
By William Tan
KUALA LUMPUR: Desa Park-
City, a residential development, is
the country’s first Zero-Fire Com-
munity to be recognised by the
Fire Prevention Council Malaysia
(Fipcom).
Last Saturday, Fipcom presented
with them a certificate marking
their first-year anniversary of hav-
ing received the recognition.
In order to obtain the recogni-
tion, the development has adopted
the Zero-Fire Community Pro-
gramme, which is a self-monitoring
fire safety and prevention pro-
gramme undertaken by the mem-
bers of the community itself.
“Zero-fire in this case does not
mean the lack of any fire incident,
but rather the community has been
put into a state of preparedness for
the event of one,” said Datuk Dr
Soh Chai Hock, national chairper-
son of Fipcom.
Soh believes such preparedness
is lacking in Malaysians, and claimed
that 97% of all structural fires in the
country occur as a direct result of
human carelessness.
To educate its residents, Desa
ParkCity has held seminars con-
ducted by Fipcom and other rele-
vant bodies.
One such programme was held
last Saturday to teach children what
to do in the event of a fire, such as
the classic stop, drop and roll should
their clothes catch on fire.
Security personnel play a huge
part in fire prevention. All of them
oper blocking the move, saying
residents have fulfilled most of
their payments.
“If there are no arrears, usually
the deposit [for the bulk meters]
will be released by the developer,”
he said.
He added that the water com-
pany could transfer arrears from
specific units as deficits into the
residents’ accounts once the indi-
vidual meters have been installed.
The switch to individual meters
was one of the issues raised during a
dialogue session between residents
and local authorities last Friday.
Rising crime was also hot on the
agenda.
“There have been almost month-
ly cases of motorcycle and car thefts
at our apartments,” said Shamsul
Bakri Padhil.
The 33-year-old travel
agent, a representative from
the Batai apartment block,
requested for the installa-
tion of close-circuit cameras
for better security.
He also asked for a bus stop to
Peter Cheah (second from left) receiving a certificate to recognise the
first-year anniversary of its Zero-Fire Community Programme from Fipcom
chairperson Datuk Dr Soh Chai Hock.
have specialised training in prepara-
tion for such an event, and, during
visits to neighbourhoods, advise
residents on possible fire hazards.
“We have a maximum response
time of 10 minutes. In the event of
a fire, we will immediately send out
two guards with fire extinguishers
while contacting relevant authori-
ties,” said S Baskaran, security
manager of Desa ParkCity.
They are so efficient that they
put out a fire two years ago long
before the fire trucks arrived.
The development also forbids
access by petroleum tankers or
similar vehicles carrying hazardous
materials to ensure maximum
safety.
Other points include ensuring
accessible roads and nearby fire hy-
be built on the main road outside
Selayang Height near the Gombak
Land Office to service the large
number of residents there.
“We also request Selayang Mu-
nicipal Council (MPS) for a field
for sports activities, and to widen
the entrance roads, Jalan SH 1/2
and 1/3,” he added.
A representative from the Jelu-
tong apartment block, Adnan Ah-
mad, echoed the request, saying,
“Some of the roads around Selayang
Height are like kampung dirt roads.”
The 39-year-old government
employee also pleaded for MPS to
intervene with irresponsible resi-
dents who bring their motorcycles
into apartment lifts and cause
breakdowns.
“We have confronted some of
them before, but they were stub-
born and we almost got into a fight,”
he said.
He also called for road bumps to
be installed in front of a surau and
playground for pedestrian safety,
and asked the council to look into
the cracked roof of his apartment.
drants are available for fire trucks.
Resident Pegg y Chong , who
attended the fire awareness event
for children last Saturday, said this
was the first time she has been in-
volved in such awareness activities.
She believes that the initiatives
are good, and also expressed high
confidence in the efficiency of the
security personnel.
“We are aiming to be the bench-
mark for other developers, and hope
to spread this concept to them,” said
Peter Cheah, director of project
management for Desa ParkCity.
Fipcom is a non-government
organisation that was founded in
2007, and has a national agenda to
raise awareness and educate the
public and organisations on fire
safety.
At the dialogue was an assembly
of various department heads from
MPS to tackle the various issues
raised by about 100 residents in
attendance.
“We will liaise with the police to
check if a camera at the apartment
main entrance can identify the
thieves who stole the vehicles,” said
Azmi Ismail.
The MPS enforcement and secu-
rity director added that the council
could not arrest residents who
brought their motorcycles into the
lifts, but could assist in chastising
them at their residences.
Spokespersons from the various
MPS departments explained that
Azmi
Ratepayers to
ensure contractors
perform
By Alvin Yap
SHAH ALAM: Cleaning
contractors engaged by munici-
palities will have to meet stan-
dards of ratepayers who now
have the power to sign off or
reject the work.
“This new initiative will em-
power residents to monitor and
approve the maintenance of
drains and grass-cutting work
carried out by contractors,” said
Ronnie Liu on Tuesday.
The executive councillor for
local government said residents
associations (RA) committee
members will “sign off ” if they
are satisfied with the work carried
out by contractors.
“However, the committee
member can also refuse to sign
off if the quality of work is not
satisfying,” Liu said, adding that
local councils could then take
action on the contractors.
Depending on the severity of
the complaints, among the ac-
tion the local councils may take
is to deduct the cleaning fees, or
not renew the annual contracts
when they expire.
As such, Liu explained, the
contracts will not be extended
automatically but based on
closely monitored performance
both by ratepayers and local
governments.
Selayang MP William Leong
the installation of road bumps
would be considered after delibera-
tion with the developers.
As for the road entrances and bus
stop, issues of land reclamation
around the apartments have yet to
be settled, pending checks with the
Public Works Department.
The allocation of a public field
would also have to depend on
checks by the council as almost all
land in Selayang Height has been
occupied.
“We will ask for the apartment’s
JMB to organise another dialogue
to explain further on these issues,”
said Selayang Member of Parliaent
William Leong, who was also at
the dialogue.
Also present was MPS deputy
president Mohd Jaid Ehsan.
This initiative comes in the
wake of the state’s move to hand
over cleaning services from Alam
Flora to local councils.
It removes the solid waste
management concessionaire’s role
as outsourcing subcontractors.
The move is expected to save
up to RM20 million annually on
commission fees, as announced
by Menteri Besar Tan Sri Khalid
Ibrahim recently.
It will still be responsible for
handling solid waste manage-
ment at all local governments in
the state.
Liu also allayed concerns that
local governments lacked re-
sources to manage the contrac-
tors, which could lead to areas
left uncleaned.
He pointed out that the state
has directed local governments
to set up its own cleanup crews.
“If the contractor does not
clean up an area properly, the local
‘Pack Up Teams’ will clean the
areas on ad-hoc basis,” Liu said.
He added that the “Pack Up
Teams” will respond to ratepay-
ers’ complaints, and that the
number of teams will be deter-
mined by the size of the local
government in charge.
“For example, Klang Munici-
pal Council, with an area of 573
square kilometers, will need
more teams,” said Liu.

By Basil Foo
PUCHONG: Labour shortages are af-
fecting production at Puchong Industrial
Park 5 (TPP5) here, and factory owners
are lamenting that they are being forced
to pick up the slack.
“The bosses themselves are lorry drivers
and office boys,” claimed Yu Keng Seng.
The Puchong Industrial Park Manage-
ment Committee chairperson explained
that the problem was caused by
their inability to hire sufficient
foreign workers.
Furthermore, some of the for-
eign workers they have often ab-
sconded.
Yu Keng also pointed out that
there are just not enough locals who
want to work in factories despite
government claims that there is suf-
ficient local workforce.
Teresa Kok said factories that are
shorthanded and want to hire for-
eign workers can contact the Selan-
gor State Investment Centre (SSIC)
for assistance.  Katholik principal Lee Kim Lai, Fernandez, and Datuk Roslan.
The state executive councillor
pointed out that SSIC is the one-
stop centre for industries that need
Indonesian workers, having signed
a memorandum of understanding
with a workers consortium in Indo-
nesia two months ago.
Kok, whose portfolio includes chase away immigrants, but we can’t during a gotong-royong to clean up of rubbish were cleared in two
trade and industry, agreed with fac- because there are not enough local the industrial park.
tory owners that there are labour workers,” she said.
shortages. The meeting between the factory unteers, money and trucks to clean ties would not be effective if waste
“There have been many calls to owners and Kok was held last Friday up their backyard. Some 20 tonnes from the factories was being
New tables and
benches for parks
SUBANG JAYA: Community parks
here are getting new tables and benches as
part of an initiative by the Subang Jaya
Municipal Council (MPSJ).
The latest park to obtain two sets of
tables with benches and four individual
benches was the community park in USJ
2/4P.
“We want these facilities to promote
community bonding, a place where resi-
dents can gather, relax and talk,” said Rajiv
Rishyakaran, the MPSJ councillor who is
championing the initiative.
The councillor said the idea first came
about when he saw some residents in USJ
9 sitting at makeshift tables and benches
made from fallen tree trunks, and a table
consisting of a glass slab sitting on bricks.
All the provided tables and benches are
the result of a direct consultation with
residents on the design and location where
they wish the facilities to be.
So far, USJ 3, 6, 9, 11, and 14 have re-
ceived similar facilities.
Rajiv said he intends for the initiative to
Puchong factories
facing labour shortages
(Front, from left) Bukit Gasing assemblyperson Edward Lee, SMJK
Factory owners  pitched in vol-
Residents
of USJ 2 are
pleased by
their new
benches and
tables. They
were joined
by Subang
Jaya assembly
person Hannah
Yeoh (sitting
second from
left).
spread throughout Subang Jaya, but at the
moment, they are operating on a slow-rota-
tion basis between areas.
He added that the public may request
for such facilities themselves, as the resi-
dents of USJ 2 have done.
“It did not take too long, maybe only a
few months,” said Vadiveru Arumugam,
deputy chairperson of the USJ2 and 6 resi-
dents association.
He said his main concern now is ensuring
that the public facilities are not vandalized
or misused.
George Wee, a 20-year resident of the
area, found the new tables and benches to
be a touching and warming act.
“It is such a convenience as we have so
few benches here. Normally we rest on
fallen trees trunks, and those are far and few
between,” he said.
MPSJ has put the cost of the tables and
benches in USJ 2 at RM11,000,under its
allocated funds to the Jawatankuasa Pen-
duduk ( JKP) Zon 3, which has RM80, 000
for similar projects.
Kok flagging
off lorries for a
gotong-royong
in Puchong
Industrial Park 5.
Looking on are
Industrial Park
Management
Committee
Puchong
chairperson
Yu Keng Seng,
MPSJ acting
president
Abdullah
Marjunid, and
councillor K
Arumugam.
hours using eight lorries.
Yu said gotong-royong activi-
Know Your
Councillor:
R Rajiv
By Brenda Ch’ng
SUBANG JAYA: Promoting online trans-
actions, including licence renewals and bill
payments, in his municipality is among R
Rajiv’s top priorities.
The two-term councillor of the Subang
Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ) said the
only online feature currently available on
the municipality’s website is the iResponz
for public complaints.
“The wait to make complaints and pay
all sorts of bills at MPSJ can take hours. I
think it is about time to introduce online
payments and complaints to the Subang Jaya
residents,” said Rajiv.
The 30-year-old businessperson became a
councillor because he wants to bring new
ideas to MPSJ.
One of his successful proposals was the
one-hour parking system in Taipan USJ,
launched in early January last year.  ment, Rajiv got the vendors their licences and
Under the system, office workers who park
the whole day are now forced to utilise mul-
tistorey parking bays, leaving public parking
in front of shoplots and banks available to
customers.  which is undeveloped at the moment, will
“Regulated time-parking system is some-
thing new to this country. Implementing it
was a worry at first, but the three-month trial
period proved otherwise,” said Rajiv.
Being the busiest business centre in USJ,
the system reduces double parking and opti-
mises the use of parking spaces.
As a resident in USJ himself, Rajiv’s bad
experiences with traffic congestion has led
him to fight for better traffic management
news
April 29 — May 1, 2011 9
dumped at the 17-year-old indus-
trial zone illegally. 
“It is unfair for the Subang Jaya
Municipal Council (MPSJ) to
bear the cost of maintenance,” he
said. 
He also asked contractors hired
by MPSJ to be more flexible as
there can sometimes be discrepan-
cies between residential and in-
dustrial waste.
MPSJ acting president Abdul-
lah Marjunid, who was also at the
gotong-royong , said the illegal
dumping has spoiled the image of
TPP5 and other factory lots in its
municipality. 
“In 2010, MPSJ collected over
326 tonnes of rubbish. To solve
this, we will give incentives to the
public to take pictures of illegal
dumping,” he said. 
He said a RM500 incentive has
been offered since last year to those
whose photos of illegal dumping
manage to assist authorities in nab-
bing the perpetrators.
in the council.
“I was surprised when I found out there
wasn’t a department in charge of overseeing
traffic and finding ways to solve congestion.
No wonder there are bad traffic jams around
Subang Jaya.” 
According to him, the department in
MPSJ supposedly in charge of traffic only
handles the maintenance of traffic lights.
This year, MPSJ finally appointed a traffic
engineer in charge of coming up with ideas to
improve traffic conditions in Subang Jaya.
Rajiv, who loves roadside food, also lob-
bied for the legalisation of 28 vendors in USJ
who were operating illegally. 
Working with MPSJ’s enforcement depart-
even relocated some of them to more suitable
sites that were not in the way of traffic.
His next plan is for an urban forest in
USJ 3C. The plot of recreational land,
be used as a non-commercial educational
farm for everyone. 
“We will be planting different types of
flowers, fruit trees, vegetables and forest trees,
which will help educate city children on the
various plant species.” 
According to Rajiv, the best thing about
being a councillor is that now he can improve
and implement new changes to make USJ a
more conducive place to live in.
10
News
April 29 — May 1, 2011

Minimum
wage vital for
single moms
By Brenda Ch’ng

KLANG: A minimum wage is Santiago with the participants.

needed now more than ever, due to
an increasing number of single
mothers who are struggling to cope
with higher costs of living.
“The majority of these single
mothers work either as factory
workers or housekeepers and are
terribly underpaid,” said Charles
Santiago.
The Klang MP pointed out that
many are paid as little as RM750 a
month. To make matter worse,
many are taken advantage of.  especially minimum wage. I hope we
He added that many use up their
wages long before they receive the
next pay cheque.
The state should do more to
support single mothers and to
ensure they get welfare they need,
Santiago said.
He also expressed hope that there
will be better financial security for
single-parent families.
There are about 26,000 single
mothers registered with the state,
but it is estimated that there  are
still thousands out there who re-
main hidden and are unaware of
their rights.
“I never knew that there were so
many benefits a women can fight for,
Santiago addressing the single mothers last Sunday. will get it to help lesson our burden,”
Furthermore, fathers who are be devised where the father’s wages said Sarawathy Ramalingam.
divorced or are no longer staying are automatically deducted every The 33-year-old from Kam-
with their wives should be made month and the money credited into pung Jawa, Klang was among 30
more accountable to financially sup- an account for their children.  women who attend a half-day
port their children. With these measures, single workshop on empowering women
Santiago said a mechanism must mothers will be able to better cope.  to fight for their rights at Santia-
go’s service centre.
Sarawathy said the workshop had
opened her eyes, especially on how
easily they are taken advantage of.
She also said more similar work-
shops should be held.
“It is hard to locate hidden single
mothers due to limited resources, but
I’ve been making the effort to iden-
tify and bring them for workshops to
educate them,” said Santiago.
He is working with non-govern-
mental organisations to reach out to
more single moms.
The workshop last Sunday was
held in collaboration with Em-
power Malaysia, an organisation
that champions human rights for
women.

Nazaruddin (in yellow shirt) receiving a fruit basket as a token of appreciation from Rukun Tetangga
Landscape workers from MBPJ pruning the plants and trees in the SS2B chairperson Lee Kwee Cheng. On Nazaruddin’s left is MBPJ councillor Tony Cheong. The
field. others are committee members from Rukun Tetangga SS2B.
By Gan Pei Ling

PETALING JAYA: The spirit of neigh-

bourliness is very much alive in SS2. Around
Spirit of gotong-royong in SS2
80 residents turned up for a gotong-royong help look after it. also helped to plant more trees in holes dug into fertiliser.
jointly organised by the city council and “You can see many people exercising here by the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) The gotong-royong is the third in SS2 this
Rukun Tetangga SS2B on Saturday morning. in the morning and evening. And some of prior to the event. year since it was earmarked for Selangor’s
The residents helped to clean up and plant the plants here are planted by the residents,” MBPJ workers also helped to trim the Clean Zone programme in January.
trees in a field with a basketball court in said Low. plants and trees in the field. The previous clean-up activities were held
SS2/34. Apart from cleaning up the field, residents However, there was a small hiccup during in SS2/60 and SS2/6.
Betty Lee, 60, said most of the gotong-royong as breakfast promised for Dr V Chithradavi, who is MBPJ assistant
the residents in this urban the residents arrived late. health director, said they have received very
neighbourhood know one Residents were invited to breakfast before good response from the public and the resi-
another well. the start of the gotong-royong at 8am, but dents associations, and Rukun Tetangga in
“We always jokingly de- their nasi lemak only arrived more than an SS2 have been very supportive.
scribe our neighbourhood as hour later. She added that the fourth gotong-royong
a kampung. Although we live Apart from the gotong-royong, residents would be held on May 8 in SS2/95, and state
in a city, everyone knows one also learnt how to compost their kitchen representative would visit SS2 in mid-May
another,” said Lee, who has waste like leftover vegetables, fruits and meat. to access the area’s cleanliness.
been living there with her Rukun Tetangga SS2B invited the Cen- MBPJ public complaints director Tengku
husband for 15 years. tre for Environment, Technology and De- Nazaruddin Zainudin, internal audit direc-
Her husband, Harry Low, velopment, Malaysia to hold a demonstra- tor Ainul Adnan Abdul Rahaman, and local
60, added that the field is Residents being shown how to compost their kitchen tion for the residents after the gotong- councillor Tony Cheong were also present at
well-utilised and residents waste. royong on how to turn their organic waste the event.
 VIEWS 11
APRIL 29 — MAY 1, 2011

Young and Sarawakian/

Malaysian became politically conscious tries helping each other out with
Youthology when she went over to the penin-
sula to further her studies after
rallies in their respective countries.
Tips on how to shield oneself from
Lee Lian Kong secondary school. tear gas, advice to mobilise youths
Now, armed with Facebook were among those exchanged
By Lee Lian Kong and the Internet, the communica- through Facebook messages. Soli-
tion barriers have certainly been darity prevailed here, not political

G
ood things come in pairs.
In my case, they came in threes. They
came in the form of three close friends
from St Joseph, Kuching, who flew across the
pond to pursue their A Levels. As fate would
have it, we ended up in the same college and
class. My best memories of college were with
them. They were the ones I went to for help in
Physics, bawled to when I had my first heart-
break and had regular mamak sessions with.
It didn’t matter that I was from the penin-
sula and they were from East Malaysia.
Politics rarely surfaced in our conversa-
tions. Sure, I teased them [a lot] about living
in tree houses and they shot back saying they
would one day lead Sarawak to independence
from Malaysia and leave us broke from lack of
revenue from Sarawak.
Our political differences ended there.
Then came the Sarawak state elections.
Things started shaking up a bit. A previously
politically apathetic friend starting taking
DAP’s Ubah doll (a hornbill bringing change
to Sarawak) everywhere. Another posted in
his Facebook status update that he was going
back to vote. My Facebook News Feed showed
a significant increase in the number of
Sarawak-related articles.
The young have always been politically
vocal. In the Malaysian context, and particu-
larly post-2008 political tsunami, young
Malaysians found their voice in the Internet,
blogs and alternative news portals. However,
Carol Y, 25, who is currently studying in the
US, remembers the media control in Kuching,
where she grew up politically unaware, “the
papers made certain of that”.
Wen Li (not her real name), 24, a Bintulu
girl now studying in the US, said she only
broken down. Young Sarawakians
certainly do not want to miss out
on all the action. There is even a
new independent radio station,
Radio Free Sarawak, to broadcast
more neutral political news to the
less connected, more rural areas.
Says Carol, “It is an incredible
initiative.” Courageous, too, as it
is able to reach places where the
Internet cannot reach, she adds.
The voice of these young
Sarawakians sing the tune of their
beloved state. “Most East Malay-
sians feel more devoted and loyal
to their states than the country,”
says Wen Li. Despite 48 years to-
gether, young Sarawakians call
Sarawak home, not Malaysia. Like
me and my three Kuching stooges,
we may be friends, but we may not
be fellow-citizens. When politics
is discussed, it is as if we are from
different countries.
Danny C, 31, thinks it is be-
cause of the lack of awareness of
East Malaysia in national politics.
“The common misconception is
that we are rich for our oil and
certain businesses such as timber,
bird’s nest and other typical tycoon-types ...
Hence I feel insulted each time they say I am
rich when the oil/timber money is used to build
the infrastructure in the west, but only if they
push the topic”
It is as if the South China Sea is our Berlin
Wall, dividing Malaysia into an East Malaysia
and another West Malaysia. As Wen Li puts
it, “Most East Malaysians have the impression
differences.
In Sarawak, the state elections
have revealed the youth movement
is gaining serious momentum.
Voter turnout increased signifi-
cantly, and the young generation’s
call for change of government is
overwhelming. Bridget Welsh, a
political analyst, estimated in her
article that there was a 16% in-
crease in young voter turnout, with
overwhelming level of support for
Pakatan.
Rural or urban, Chinese or Bid-
ayuh, the revolt was across the
board.
This gives me hope. They were
united by their love for their state.
They say it’s a shame that it takes
a war to inspire people to be politi-
cally creative, that maybe if we got
off our asses between wars and said
something, we can give the next one
a miss.
Aye to that! Let’s use these elec-
tions to be politically united. Those
living in tree top jokes can stay but
the corruption and the injustices
must go. It’s okay to still want to
source: sxc.hu remain young and Sarawakian but
that, one, West Malaysians do not care about I hope that one day, you will be just as proud
East Malaysia. Two, West Malaysians are com- calling yourself young and Malaysian.
ing to East Malaysia to get our resources, and Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some
three, West Malaysians in general are pretty catching up to do with my Sarawakian
ignorant about East Malaysia.” friends.
Misconceptions thrive on both sides. Our
differences are many and unresolved. But so Leelian finds the Ubah doll adorable
was the case in the Middle East revolutions. and kolo mee delicious. She welcomes all
That didn’t stop youths from different coun- feedback to leeliankong@gmail.com

Sarawak, show us the way political scientist Dr Wong
Kthxbai! Chin Huat, politician Sivarasa
Rasiah and many others is quite
Fahmi Fadzil baffling, and begs the question
of a truly sinister undertone to
By Fahmi Fadzil the order “Atas arahan pejabat
Ketua Menteri”, as in the case of
rather obsolete?
I was working in Kuching over
the course of the campaign period,
specifically in the Satok constitu-
ency. There, even a cursory trip to
the corner Burger Ramly stall gave
me a very, very strong reminder of
who live on the peninsula consider
the latter two entities as two of
fourteen states (although histori-
cally speaking Malaysia is a federa-
tion of Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak).
How then do we reconcile these
differing views of our Malaysia –
guess that some answers lie through
visiting and working in these “other”
Malaysias, to bring forth more
voices and narratives from East
Malaysia through publications and
other media, and not to limit such
endeavours only during political

T
he recent Sarawak state
elections were such a learning
experience for many
Malaysians. Irrespective of whether
we were active participants in the
political battles on the ground, or just
curious observers reading the news
on Twitter, it is clear that Sarawak
– and the rest of the country – can
never be the same again.
First and foremost on my mind
is the fact that Malaysians can be
denied entry into their own country
without having to be properly ex-
plained why they were actually de-
nied. The move against people like
political activists Steven Ng and
Haris Ibrahim, Bersih 2.0 chairper-
son Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan,
Datuk Ambiga.
I am then reminded that this
right of refusal of entry is one of the
items in the Eighteen Point Agree-
ment that Sarawak asked of Malaya
upon its entry into Malaysia. But
these days, when we observe migra-
tion patterns within Malaysia, there
appears to be more Sarawakians
living and working in West Malaysia
rather than the other way around
(the calls for the Election Commis-
sion to enable the thousands of
Sarawakians in the peninsula to vote
via postal voting is perhaps testa-
ment to this, although I concede
that more research needs to be made
on such migration patterns).
Doesn’t this render such a policy
the richness of Sarawakian culture
– the fact that I could not fully
understand the Bahasa being spo-
ken, and the fact that I was immedi-
ately identified as “Orang Semenan-
jung” truly made me feel an alien in
my own country.
This made me confront the ques-
tion of what made Malaysia the
country that it is, and what did we
really understand about this land ...
if any? Are we just a conglomeration
of disparate ethnic groupings, “unit-
ed” under one flag, one national
song, one national government? If
so, then the idea of Malaysia as held
by “West Malaysians” versus that of
Sabahans and Sarawakians might be
distinctly divergent, wherein those
ideologically, historically, politically
and practicably?
Then it became clear to me that
we must cease to project an idea
of Malaysia that is KL- or Klang
Valley-centric. But how is this to
be done?  acted out. And so, perhaps the re-
To be honest, I don’t have a
panacea, any cure-all that would
re-balance perceptions and help us
understand the realities of such
different polities (fact: Sarawak is
nearly as large as if not slightly
larger than Peninsular Malaysia),
and therefore build more meaning-
ful relationships not only between
state apparatuses but really be-
tween peoples.
Nonetheless, I would hazard a
campaigning periods.
At the end of the day, we must be
cognizant of the fact that any idea
– Malaysia notwithstanding – can-
not be supported by spirit or slogan
alone; it needs to be succesfully
sults of the recently concluded polls
might serve as a sign that new con-
siderations for Malaysia and its rela-
tions with its individual parts need
to be better thought through. 
But as always, it remains to be
seen if there will be any political will
for real change.
Yet as always, it is ordinary Ma-
laysians who will clamour, call and
truly force a change. And so, now,
Sarawakians, show us the way! 
 Insight
12 April 29 — May 1, 2011

Community Commun
By Gan Pei Ling

C
ommunity mapping – a powerful tool in resolv-

mappers and
ing land conflicts – became popular in Southeast
Asia, especially among indigenous communities,

Orang A
in the 1990s.
Community maps are produced by the indigenous

the challenges
Twenty-three-year-old Petrus (left) and Arok have been
working as community mappers since July 2010.
Three community mappers have been hired by the state to
survey the Orang Asli villages. None of them are professional
surveyors, but they were provided training by the state last year.  indigenous peoples’ customary 15-year legal
One of them is Petrus Abuh, 23, from Kampung Bukit Tampoi.
“One of our main challenges is dealing with suspicious
villagers,” Petrus told Selangor Times.
Frequently plagued by land woes, some Orang Asli have
became distrustful of and guarded towards strangers when
dealing with land matters.
Petrus said they have been scolded and even chased away
by villagers who were uninformed on the state’s community
mapping project.
To resolve the problem, an Orang Asli representative from the
Selangor Orang Asli Land Task Force always visits the villages
before Petrus and his two colleagues start mapping.
Petrus said the mapping process can be done in one to three
days, depending on the size of the village.
But prior to that, the team may take weeks to secure the
villagers’ trust and cooperation.
His colleague Rawi Akom, 30, said there sometimes arise
disputes on land boundaries between different villages.
“That takes time to sort out, too,” said the Temuan from
Kampung Bakok in Dengkil.
Rawi added that the team relies heavily on the elders as they
usually know the land boundaries better than the young.
After taking down the coordinates of the boundaries and village
houses using GPS, they have to key in the coordinates into two
separate types of software.
The first is for a raw map, while the second is for a more
detailed map.
In addition, Arok Hanong, 23, from Kampung Bukit Dama, said
the team has had to conquer steep hills with minimal equipment.
Therefore good stamina, patience and commitment are a must
communities themselves with modern technology such
as the Global Positioning System (GPS) and Geographic
Information System (GIS).
The maps can then be presented as evidence in Malay-
sian courts, except in Sarawak, where it has been banned
since 2001.
In Selangor, for instance, community maps were used
by the Orang Asli community in Bukit Tampoi in the
landmark Sagong Tasi case to illustrate their customary
land boundaries.
The Temuan had in 1996 sued the Selangor government,
the Malaysian Highway Authority (MHA) and construc-
tion firm United Engineers for taking their customary land
to construct a highway without appropriate compensation.
The Orang Asli won the 15-year legal battle after Sel-
angor withdrew its appeal in 2009. The Federal Court in
2010 ordered the MHA and United Engineers to pay the
26 Temuan families RM6.5 million for their lost land.
Indigenous areas in Selangor
However, Sagong Tasi was just one victory. Many other
Orang Asli villages in Selangor are still engaged in land
conflicts with corporations, state-linked companies, or the
state itself.
In an effort to resolve their
land woes, Selangor embarked The Orang
on a project to map out the Asli won the
land boundaries in mid-2010, battle after
starting with villages in Sepang
and Kuala Langat. Selangor
The community mapping withdrew its
project is the brainchild of the appeal in 2009.
Selangor Orang Asli Land Task The Federal Orang Asli depend on the forest such as collecting ga
Force established by the state in Court in
May 2009. 2010 ordered
Task force chief Elizabeth Status of customary land Land Area %
Wong said the state would be the MHA claimed by Orang Asli (ha)
gazetting their customary land and United Orang Asli Reserve 1,256 17
as Orang Asli Reserve, more Engineers
Application approved
commonly known as Abo- to pay the
but not yet gazetted 1,388 18
riginal Peoples’ Reserve before 26 Temuan
Independence. Application received
“This is so that the Orang families RM6.5 but no decision yet 3,926 52
Asli no longer have to live in million for their No application 914 12
fear and be called squatters on lost land.”
Individual land titles 60 1
their own lands,” said Wong,
who is also Selangor executive councillor for tourism, con- TOTAL 7,544 100
sumer affairs and the environment.
At the moment, only around 17% of the customary land Gathered and compiled by the Selangor
Orang Asli Land Task Force
claimed by the Temuan and Mahmeri in some 70 villages or  
settlements in Selangor is gazetted as Orang Asli Reserve. Chung Yi Fan, who is the policy coordinator on Orang
The remaining 83% has yet to be gazetted. Asli affairs, estimated that only a third of the indigenous

Orang Asli welcome mapping

for the job, he said.
Selangor is currently looking to train more community
mappers, preferably young Orang Asli, to speed up its pioneer
state-wide community mapping project.

As their land will finally be gazetted the villagers later that Mat said the villag-
when the community mapping project night to seek their coop- ers were never consult-
is completed, most of the Orang Asli eration in sur veying ed when the develop-
have lauded the Selangor government’s their village boundaries. ment projects were ap-
pioneer initiative. Mat Lujan, 46, told proved by the previous
However, most of them hope the Selangor Times he is glad state administration.
state will be able to expedite the process. that decade-old land “Most of the villag-
“We’ve been waiting for so many conflicts between devel- ers were against it when
years; it’s been more than 50 years since opers and three villages they found out about
Merdeka,” said Janin Koping, 49, from have finally been settled it,” said Mat, adding
Kampung Jendaram Hilir in Dengkil. thanks to the mapping that they wrote objec-
The village development and secu- project. tion letters to former
rity committee ( JKKK) member said In March, the state Menteri Besar Datuk
he heard about the community map- cancelled the alienation Seri Dr Khir Toyo.
ping project about half a year ago from of two plots of village Mat added that over
other villages. land for mixed develop- Janin Koping: Waited for the years, the three vil-
Selangor Times visited Kampung ment in 1999 and an- so many years. lages had written sev-
Jendaram Hilir with the community other for commercial eral times to the Orang
mappers on April 19. Many of the agriculture in 2006. Asli Development Department (for-
Arok (left) showing coordinates to Rawi, who records
villagers, who are mostly rubber tap- “Now the villagers can have peace of merly known as Orang Asli Affairs
them on a sheet to be keyed into software after they pers or farmers, were out working in mind,” said Mat, who is the JKKK chief Department) asking for their lands to
have finished surveying a village. their kebun. for Kampung Jambu, Kampung Ke- be gazetted as Orang Asli Reserve.
The project team would meet with lingsing and Kampung Bakok. But the department has yet to ap-
nity mapping to solve
Asli land disputes

aharu wood for their livelihood. Most Orang Asli also rear chickens and ducks in their villages.

villages in Selangor have portions of their customary land
gazetted.  Since the project began last July, 15 indigenous villages in
“The situation of Orang Asli land being gazetted as reserve
is very messy,” Chung told Selangor Times.
Citing the example of Kampung Sungai Buah in Sepang, he
said the village is known to be well organised, and their land was
gazetted as Orang Asli Reserve decades ago; yet a significant
portion was alienated for a golf resort in the early 1990s.
Chung added that substantial Orang Asli ancestral
land, including land already gazetted, has made way for
development projects since the 1990s. This includes Pu-
trajaya, Cyberjaya, and the location of the Kuala Lumpur
International Airport.
As a result, Orang Asli lands are fragmented in Sepang
and Kuala Langat. Furthermore, some settlements are
located right next to polluting factories, waste dumps or
sand-mining areas.
 Resolving long-standing conflicts
Kuala Langat and Sepang have been mapped.
Chung said the state has spent RM30,000 on the community
mapping project so far, and targets to complete the mapping
for another 15 high-priority villages by June.
“Our priority is not to survey all the villages within the
shortest time, but to map out those facing land conflicts first,”
said Chung.
He said based on the community maps, the state has been
conducting investigations of potential land fraud, as well as
negotiating with land offices and other stakeholders to resolve
land disputes.
Already, Selangor has saved 296 acres (119.8 hectares) of
indigenous customary land in Sepang thanks to its mapping
project.
Wong told the state
assembly in March that the state had cancelled the three devel-
opment projects encroaching on Orang Asli villages.
The previous state administrations had approved two plots
of the land for mixed development in 1999, and another for
commercial agriculture in 2006.
As a result, 100 families from three different villages –
Kampung Bukit Jambu, Kampung Kelingsing and Kampung
Bakok – were relieved of the fear of being evicted.
Indeed, community mapping has became a powerful tool
in resolving land conflicts involving indigenous communities
since it originally began in the 1960s in North America.
As Selangor’s pioneer community mapping project pro-
gresses, we can expect more long-standing land disputes
involving the Orang Asli to finally come to an amicable end.
Will other states follow suit?

g project
prove their application, and always
asked them to be “patient”.
Mat said they have now written di-
rectly to Menteri Besar Tan Sri Khalid
Ibrahim.
Many other Orang Asli villages in
Selangor are facing similar development
pressure. Some have their village
boundaries overlapped with forest re-
serve, or have land bought over by pri-
vate corporations.
Apart from the three villages above,
the state has selected 23 other priority
villages in their community mapping
project to help solve the land disputes.
Fifteen in Sepang and Kuala Langat
have been surveyed since July 2010,
and the remaining are due to be com-
pleted by June.

Mat Lujan: Decade-old

conflict with developers While some Orang Asli farmers continue to plant padi and potatoes, others have turned to
finally settled. cash crops like oil palm and rubber trees to increase their sources of income.
14
VIEWS
APRIL 29 — MAY 1, 2011
1Malaysia email and
squandered money
D I
ear Lord Bobo, what do you think of the proposed
“1Malaysia email”? @SSharmila1076, via Twitter
THE “1Malaysia email” project is simply one of the most dar-
ing, dynamic and doo-be-dodo government initiatives Malay-
sia has undertaken since the BioValley and E-Village initiatives.
The only problem is that it is 20 years too late.
The way it was announced, you’d be forgiven for thinking
that the people behind it thought they were actually inventing
email. A bit like how our country rebadged Mitsubishis and
made it look like we were designing and manufacturing cars
from scratch (oh hang on, we’re still doing that).
Amidst the hoopla, these free email folk seem to have
forgotten about the nineties and the noughties, and about
how free email is, like, so two decades ago. One wonders if
these guys have even heard of Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail,
or Rocketmail?
We imagine the group of people behind the idea – and it’s
always a group, one rich, bossy person with the idea, and ten
others going “brilliant idea Datuk!” – are like Brendan Fraser
from Encino Man. They have just awoken from the early 1990s
and probably connect to their pop.jaring.my email accounts
via a dialup connection.
Free email? Revolutionary! You’re a genius!
The email account is supposed to allow direct and secure
communication between citizen and government. That
would be great if only the average citizen did that regularly.
Do you really need another email to just deal with govern-
ment? You definitely need one if you are into email porn,
but the government?
Jokes aside, there are many mysteries with this deal. First it
was a government initiative, then after a backlash, it become a
private initiative. Tricubes Berhad, who are supposed to provide
this RM50 million project without government funds, is a
GN3 company. This 1Malaysia email has been said to be a
“lifeline” for the company.
Please note that this is different from a bailout, so don’t try
to be funny.
And guess what? If you want to connect to this fantastic
cutting-edge technology, you have to purchase a USB biomet-
ric device, which Tricubes will helpfully sell to you. Tricubes
are saying they will “sign up” 5.4 million users by year end. How
many of these users are civil servants who will be “signed up”
involuntarily is anyone’s guess.
Of course, the figures are all there to justify it – layers upon
layers of complex calculations of selective figures to show that
the project will increase Gross National Income of RM39 mil-
lion by 2015.
So, don’t be cynical. This is obviously a noble initiative by
a corporation who are not in any way looking to earn
money by providing a redundant service. This is necessary.
This is backed by statistics. Think of the GNI. Think of
Malaysia. And hey, in a few years time, someone will
have to pay for it to be upgraded for double the
cost.
s the Royal Commission of Inquiry effective in resolving
an issue, or it is only squandering taxpayers’ money?
(translated) @mediakomuniti, via Twitter
APRIL is the month that most of us have to file our tax re-
turns, so His Supreme Eminenceness was expecting an ag-
gravated taxpayer like yourself to couch questions along the
lines of “is such-and-such a waste of my tax ringgit?”
First, you must know what the RCI is, and isn’t. It cer-
tainly isn’t a Royal Circus of Inquiry, though to the average
Ali, Ah Chong and Muthu on the street, it may appear that
way with the daily news updates on the ongoing Teoh Beng
Hock RCI.
It doesn’t help when certain politicians demand that RCIs
be convened urgently for matters that should be left with the
gossip sections of trashy tabloids or salacious blogs (not the
blawg, obviously). Perhaps it’s a badge-of-honour thing to
have appeared in headline news “calling for an urgent RCI to
look into the matter”.
The RCI is supposed to be a public inquiry into matters of
great importance and controversy.
Those who sit in it are called “commissioners”, and are ap-
pointed by the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong.
It is also often said due to its inquisitorial nature, an RCI
has power greater than those of a court. However, these pow-
ers are restricted to the scope of the terms of reference.
For example, if the terms of reference of a particular RCI
was to, say, find a particular Banana-O-Mega watch, the com-
missioners would have the power to order for the confistica-
tion of all Banana-O-Mega watches (both authentic and those
special Petaling Street-only editions), in particular, those
found on the wrists of seductive-looking Asian females and
potbellied not-so-middle-aged-anymore men.
The findings of an RCI are published in volumes and vol-
umes of recommendations, which are not binding on any
government officials or implicated parties. Yes, you read that
right – not binding.
Translation: The implementation of the recommenda-
tions is discretionary.
Further translation: The general response to an RCI’s
findings is: “Interesting. Thanks. Further action ah?
See how lah!”
Translation in Malaysia courtesy of Lord
Ask Lord Bobo is a weekly column by LoyarBurok
(www.loyarburok.com) where all your profound,
abstruse, erudite, hermetic, recondite,
sagacious, and other thesaurus-described
queries are answered!
Bobo’s Kamus Dewan Banana-hasa: Figure out who a
positive implementation will affect, then the most
likely action plan will be to announce “we are looking
into it” and hope people forget, or just don’t bother do-
ing anything.
Is an RCI effective in resolving an issue? No, simply
because there is no follow-up action. The concept is
premised on the best intentions, but – sadly – without
proper, transparent, fair, and effective action, the RCI
might as well just be another tabloid or blog.
This will continue to be the case until the powers-
that-be can be compelled to take appropriate action
based on the findings of the RCI – which is where you,
dear reader, can play a role. Don’t be distracted by
media spin which tries to distract you from the main
issue with stories of witnesses crying, arguments, petty
insignificant exchanges, and other Chinese-drama-style
scenes. Focus on the issues.
When the RCI delivers its findings, find out what the
conclusions are. And then pressure the powers-that-be,
via your ADUN, MP, or the online and print media to
do something about it. After all, all this is done using
your tax ringgit which you could’ve used to buy yourself
a nice Banana-O-Mega watch.
Have a question for Lord Bobo? Call on His Su-
preme Eminenceness by emailing asklordbobo@lo-
yarburok.com, stating your full name, and a pseudo-
nym (if you want), or tweeting your questions by
mentioning @LoyarBurok and using the
hashtag #asklordbobo.
The first 100 questions published
will receive monkey-riffic LoyarBu-
rok merchandise courtesy of Selan-
gor Times. What are you waiting
for? Hear This, and Tremblingly Obey
(although trembling is optional if you
are somewhere very warm)! Liberavi Ani-
mam Meam! I Have Freed My Spirit!
Encino Man.
Monkey-riffic!
 NEWS 15
ARPIL 29 — MAY 1, 2011

Students walk for green values

By Brenda Ch’ng school teachers to convince me that this
walk was an extremely important and
KLANG: Chants of “Go green!” echoed good cause,” said Kiribanath Ganesh
along a 3.5km stretch as school students of all from Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan
ages took part in groundbreaking walk for Tengku Ampuan Rahimah.
Earth Day last Sunday morning. The 19-year-old student council
The Go Green walk began from the Giant president is an aspiring environmental-
Bukit Tinggi 1 car park and took a U-shaped ist who managed to gather about 400
route towards the nearby low-cost flats before students from his school in two days to
returning to the starting point. join the walk.
He said his school is
turning green with the
implementation of recy-
cling boxes around the
school compound to in-
still the habit in youths.
Sixteen-year-old Sub-
ashini Raman Methodist
Girl’s School jumped at
the chance to be the Students from Sekolah Rendah Kebangsaan Tamil Highland Bukit Tinggi.
school’s mascot by dress-
ing up as a tree.  SSBC chairperson Prem
“I love anything to do with Menon explained that it
saving the environment, and was to educate the peo-
I’m really excited that 500 of ple living in the low-cost
my other friends are here with flats to not litter the
me today in support of creat- streets with rubbish.
Matthias Gelber (third from left) next to Charles ing a healthier future,” said According to Prem,
Santiago flagging off the walk. Subashini. the low-cost flats are
Klang Member of Parlia- among the dirtiest unkept
A total of 3,600 participants from 15 ment Charles Santiago and Matthias Gelber buildings in the area, and
schools in Klang participated in the event from Germany flagged off the walk. Gelber he hoped the students
organised by the Sathya Sai Baba Centre was awarded Greenest Person on the Planet would help create aware-
(SSBC) Klang, with support from the Klang award in 2009, and came all to Malaysia to ness among the residents.
municipal council and the Public Works show his support for the event. He also said this will
Department. He received applause from the students be the first of many
Students came clad in matching green at- gathered an hour before the walk, who walks in Klang to create
tires with banners, mascots, and some even pledged to make full efforts to go green awareness on Earth Day,
with their school bands. every day. which was celebrated on Children aged six to eight from the Sathya Sai Baba
“All it took was a pamphlet from one of my When asked on the route of the event, April 22. Education in Human Values class.

MPS holds futsal tournament By Alvin Yap

 Ocik Babai and Redbob are from MSNS roped in the Football Asso-
MPS Zones 13 and 24 respectively . ciation of Selangor (FAS) to provide
GOMBAK: The Selayang Municipal “They will do MPS proud, and we technical support like refereeing and
Council (MPS) held its qualifiers of the hope they will bring back the trophy,” setting match fixtures.

Selangor Futsal Journey Challenge here said MPS communications officer Ma- Five local governments have yet to
on Saturday. zurah Mohamed after the prizegiving hold their qualifiers. They are Petaling
The event saw runners-up Ocik Babai ceremony.
 Jaya, Shah Alam, Subang Jaya, Ampang
and champion Redbob going to the fi- This is the third year the Selangor Jaya and Kajang.

nals in Teluk Pulai on May 28.
 Futsal Journey Challenge has been or- The age limit for each player to join a
Ocik Babai and Redbob beat 46 ganised. It is open to all zones of the 13 team is between 18 and 35.

other teams to earn a place to represent local governments.
 There is no limit as to how many
MPS in the futsal championship organ- The initiative is set up to encourage teams a zone may send. However, fund-
ised by the Selangor Sports Council youths in Selangor to participate in sports, ing is deducted from the zone’s yearly
(MSNS). 
 said MSNS corporate head Rohaya Yahya.
 allocation.

Poster of the Selayang Council Futsal qualifiers. Knockout-stage matches to see which team will represent MPS.
16
NewsApril 29 — May 1, 2011

Leukaemia
Hannah
Yeoh
presenting
the cheque
to Vinese

patients seeking
Lim’s
family.

public donations
By Brenda Ch’ng
SUBANG JAYA: Twelve-year-
old Nurul Izzatul Baariah, who is
suffering from leukaemia, is hoping
to get financial support from the
public to help pay her growing
medical bills.
Izzatul was diagnosed six months
ago with long-term cancer of the
blood/bone marrow.
Her treatment includes chemo-
therapy sessions, which require hos-
pitalisation of up to two weeks just
to finish one dose of medication.
“I’m now a housewife so I can be
there with my daughter every step
of the way. Each chemotherapy ses-
sion varies in length, so it is hard to
get a job,” said mother Norhaslinda
Sulaiman.  The parent-teacher association
She said caring for her daughter
goes beyond hospital visits and
chemotherapy sessions.
Izzatul suffers from the side ef-
fects of the medication, which in-
clude fluctuation of body tempera-
ture, blue hands, and uncontrollable
shivering which can last for up to
three days.
Her doctor at the Kuala Lumpur parents took loans from people close
Hospital has asked her to remain to them to pay her hospital bills.
indoors, away from sunlight and Vinese Lim, who has also under- Nik Nazmi
people due to her low immune gone chemotherapy, stopped treat- presenting
system. ment in 2009 but is still going for the cheque
to Nurul
Izzatul has a Central Venous monthly check-ups. Izzatul’s
Line (CVL) tube surgically in- “We spent more than RM100,000 family.
serted into one of the large veins and we are glad that she responded
leading to her heart. well to the treatment,” said Joanne
This CVL is used to take blood Ooi Bee Hoon.
samples, and serves as an intrave- The mother of four added that
nous line (IV ) for her chemo their financial burden is not over yet
medication to flow straight to her because they have loans to repay, as
heart. well as outstanding medical bills.
“The surgery already cost us a few To help ease their burden, state
thousand, and with her monthly assemblypersons Hannah Yeoh and
expenses of RM1,000, excluding Nik Nazmi have pledged to give
hospital bills, my husband’s salary is RM2,000 to each family from their
not enough for my other two kids allocated funds.
too,” Norhaslinda added. Yeoh presented the cheque to
Lim’s family and Nazmi presented
in Izzatul’s school, Sekolah Ke- the cheque to Izzatul’s family.
bangsaan Subang Jaya SS14, has Both families are accepting dona-
been helping by paying her hospital tions from the public, and cheques
bills. can be sent to the respective service
Another seven-year-old girl from centres.
the same school, who was diagnosed For Lim, call the Subang Jaya
with leukaemia at the age of two, is service centre at 03-56312768; and
currently in remission.  for Izzatul, call the Seri Setia service
When she was diagnosed, her centre at 03-78063660.

More greenery, better

mrt pr
reside oject:
disapp nts
ointed Greater
transp
p 8 with FOarency com
From

Where to get
I bill m
to gh unities

landscaping with new directive

p 4
ettos
p 12-13
commun
ity

March
18 — 20,
2011/
issue 16

Workers

War
reaDY
To
preparin HIT THe SKI
air balo g
on in the to launch a
sha
during s” character pe of “Sta
eS:
hot
By Alvin Yap sides as well as more flowers and shrubs on
road dividers,” said Liu, whose portfolio
the Dar r
Hot air putrajaya Inte th Vader
Ballon
Fiesta rnational
– Pictu
yesterda
re by Victo y.
r Chon
g

SHAH ALAM: Residents and owners of includes local government.  

LRT Stations (Distribution by
hand) – Morning
Ampang – Sentul Timur
new housing estates and commercial devel- Liu  added that developers must also
Empire opments can expect more trees and im- construct wider road dividers to accom-
Subang proved landscaping under fresh guidelines modate the planting of shrubs and flowers.
Amcorp Mall by the state. Plant nurseries in all 12 local authorities
Klang Centro
By Gan

Ampang
Pei Ling

MPSJ t Under the new rules, developers are are also being upgraded to provide more
su Ba
ng
films, liter jaYa:
dedicate ature and even There are

“mosquo unleash
Cahaya
eat dog d to the old sayin song s
swoop by”, but in an g of “dog

duty-bound to plant more trees and better varieties of flowers and trees. 
inno
cil, the “doga local municip vative
by a mos ” will soon be al coun-

Hypermar-
quit

Cempaka
replaced
In a pilo o.
taken soon t project to
Municip between the Sub be under-

ito eater landscape their developments to get ap- The Selangor Agricultural Develop-
al Council
versiti Sain ang Jaya
(MP

kets
Ban k Bhd s Malaysia andSJ), Uni-

Pandan Indah soon be , mosquito

used
CIM
larvae willB

”
The larv to combat
Mosquit ae of the Toxo deng ue.
species of oe, which prey rchynchites

Pandan Jaya (From Satur- proval from local councils. ment Corporation has also been roped in
be employe mosquit s on othe feed on
o larva r hum
threat.  d to redu e, will soon The loca an blood but
ce the deng
The pilo ue gether with l council is wornectar.
the univ king to- USM , which
“mosqui t project to project ersity on
a pilot fully sponsoredcost RM60,000,

day noon)
mosquit to release Toxorhy

Sentul Timur
mosquit to eater” to redurelease the

“Before handing over, the developer to assist local governments to plant and
oes is bein ce USJ 1 tooes at an abandon nchites coun If the trial by CIMB Ban is this
the MPSJ.  g carried Aedes is succ k. mon
mosquit th by monitoring
A Toxorhyn out by populat see if it can ed area in othe cil plans to appl essful, the loca o pop the Aed
ion of Aed reduce r areas with y the met l
up to 158 chites larv effec tively. es mosquit the in hod to doned area in ulation at the abanes
represen oes outHowever, Ada its municipality.

Tesco
ae can USJ 1.

Sentul
to 400 Later, -
dur ing
its life Aed es larveat with  MPtatives during Asked whe
ther that Toxo nan also 600 Toxo they will relea
tim e, said ae SJ a brie mosquit the rhyn poin

must make sure trees are planted and land- manage the flora, while the Selangor For-
  USM Unlike officials on Mar fing USM oes would distu release of the can only thrive chites mosquit ted the area rhynchites mos se around
Toxorhyn other mosquit ch 11.  said science officer rb ecosystem tion, so
the met
in areas
with oes fem , with quit
ales in each 100 males andoes in
chites mos oes, it Adanan s, vege
quitoes adult mosquitwould not as Toxo Che Rus in flats and apar hod cannot be ta- batch. 100

(Puchong,
do not tments. used The enti
oes is a natu rhynchite “This is six mon re trial will take
This proj ral s help only ths
ect betw specie. curb the one of the tool
spread of Adanan, to complete. around
een MP Ada s to

scaping has been carried out,” said  Ronnie estry Department will lead the move due
SJ and nan . dengue,” in who visit
He said said tionJanuary to iden ed Subang Jaya
they will s to cond tify suita

Kelana Jaya – Terminal Putra Kajang, Mutiara,

begin the area in USJ uct the ble loca-
trial 1 was chostrial, said the
en because
• Turn
To pag it

Liu during a press conference here on to their expertise.

e6

Kelana Jaya Bukit Tinggi, Setia Alam, Am-

Taman Bahagia pang, Extra Shah Alam, Kepong) Tuesday. Liu said the state is currently looking to
Taman Paramount Giant (Puchong, Kajang,
Asia Jaya Subang Jaya, Bukit Tinggi, Setia
The executive councillor said the new convert land in the Klang  Valley into a
Morning Wet Markets
Taman Jaya Alam, Kota Kumuning) (Saturday morning)
measures are being enforced with immediate nursery for trees.
Universiti Carrefour (Bukit Rimau) Jalan SS2/62 effect because the state feels that the local He pointed out that the state has been
Sri Rampai Jusco (Bukit Tinggi) Taman Medan council should be empowered with more successful in landscaping public areas, in-
Wangsa Maju Metro Point, Kajang Jalan 17/27 muscle to ensure better developments. cluding in Petaling Jaya and Shah Alam, as
GM Klang Taman Kuchai Lama
Sri Petaling – Sentul Timur “The state wants more trees along road- well as areas in Sunway.
Taman OUG
Taman Melati Commuter Stations Pasar Taman Megah
Sri Petaling (Distribution by hand) – Morning Pasar Jalan Othman
Bukit Jalil
Bandar Tasik Selatan
Salak Selatan
Sentul – Port Klang
Port Klang
Bukit Badak
Pasar Jalan 17/2
Pasar Sek 14
Pasar Seri Setia SS9A/1
MPS: Pay your overdue taxes
Shah Alam Pasar Kg Chempaka
Shopping Malls Subang Jaya Taman Tun Dr. Ismail SELAYANG: The Selayang Municipal million as of March out of the RM54.4 million
(From Saturday noon) Jalan Templer Council has reminded 65,050 ratepayers to they are supposed to receive.
1 UTAMA Petaling Hospital pay their overdue taxes or face action. He added that MPS has allocated RM29.8
Tropicana Mall Forrest Medical Centre
Sunway Pyramid Rawang – Seremban Its newly appointed president, Datuk million for development, administration and
The Curve Kuala Kubu Baru Colleges Zainal Abidin Aala, said they will issue warn- other expenditure.
IOI Mall Sungai Buloh Help Institute ing letters to those who failed to pay up by the The council had on April 16 auctioned off
IOI Business Park Kepong Sentral College Bandar Utama (KBU) deadline on April 15. the items they confiscated when recovering
Ikano Power Centre Kepong Universiti Kebangsan Malaysia Zainal said they have collected RM33.1 taxes.
 Media 17
April 29 — May 1, 2011

SHAH ALAM: Twenty business

partners and 11 employees of Sun-
way Pyramid were recognised for Top Sunway Pyramid
partners, employees lauded
their outstanding performance in
the shopping mall since the mall
opened in 1997 till the end of 2010.
In a recent dinner themed A
Celebration of Success, the shopping
mall celebrated the milestones
achieved throughout the past year.
Sunway Pyramid garnered a total
of eight awards in 2010, the most
awards achieved by the mall in a
single year.
Sunway Pyramid won the FI-
ABCI Malaysia Property Award for
Best Retail Development Project last
year, in addition to other major
awards such as the Malaysia Mega
Sale Carnival for Best Thematic and
Best Promotions and Events by the
Ministry of Tourism; Most Support- Top
ive Shopping Mall by the Malaysia- employees
Retailer Chains Association; Best of Sunway
Brands in Leisure – Shopping Mall Pyramid.
by The BrandLaureate; and the Ex-
cellent Child Contributor Award by most,” said Sunway Pyramid market- 20 business partners, but we had set On the other hand, the top 11 Group Exco Puan Sri Dr Susan
the Association of Professional ing director Phang Sau Lian. a strict judging criteria, and these are employees on the other hand, were Cheah, Federation of Chinese As-
Early Childhood Providers. The top 20 business partners those who have journeyed with the judged based on the Sunway Group’s sociation Malaysia honorary presi-
“We cannot deny that the shop- awarded were Poh Kong, A Cut mall since the beginning, have out- six core values. One of the recipients dent Tan Sri Ng Teck Fong, Malaysia
ping mall’s success is partly due to Above, eclipse, MAC, Starbucks, standing business records, excep- include a security guard who had Retailer-Chains Association vice-
our great business partners and MPH Bookstore, A-Look, Focus tional customer service, good finan- returne d a clutch b a g with president Datuk Garry Chua, Sun-
dedicated employees. Hence we Point, Esprit, Tomei, G NC, cial management, excellent sales re- RMB25,000 (RM12,000) to its way City Berhad managing director
decided to have a celebration to Fotokem, Sasa, The Manhattan Fish cords, beautiful window display, and rightful owner last August. (property investment) Datuk Nge-
show our appreciation and thank Market, Padini, Timberland, Nokia, superb compliance to operations Over 1,000 business partners and ow Voon Yean, and Suncity director
them, in addition to recognising Levi’s, Top Shop and PK Time. rules,” said Sunway Pyramid chief Sunway Pyramid employees at- of strategic and corporate develop-
those who had contributed the “It wasn’t easy for us to pick these executive officer HC Chan. tended the dinner, including Sunway ment Sarena Cheah.

The harmony of
Sunhor’s Tigaman Square
By Alvin Yap The development will showcase the state
and Shah Alam City Council’s (MBSA)
BUKIT KEMUNING: Sunhor Group’s emphasis on proper town planning to minimise
flagship development Tigaman Square will environmental impact.
become the focal point for the community here “The retail and office blocks are designed in
when it is ready by early 2013. the latest modern st yle with the best
It aims to become the social and business environmental and green features,” Lim said at
heart of Bukit Kemuning by offering the latest the site office at Bukit Kemuning.
in contemporary design in al fresco and open-air Tigaman is a connection of the Bahasa
dining and trendy offices. Malaysia words “tiga” and “aman”, meaning three
“It is going to be a new and completely and peace.
refreshing development for the area,” said Lim said it was a tribute to the Chinese
Sunhor Group’s board of directors during the ribbon-cutting ceremony. marketing manager Alex Lim at the event. philosophy of heaven, earth and man.
“We want to achieve harmony

Colgate-Palmolive recycles Issam (left)

presenting a
donation to
between man – at work and leisure
– with nature,” Lim explained.
Tigaman square will consist of
for a good cause Yap (right) last
Friday.
four blocks of six-storey retail and
office lots for a total retail space of
420,000 square feet, with 950,000
PETALING JAYA: Mother awareness and appreciation for the R ef ug e and Child square feet of built up space.
Earth had good reason to smile environment. Care Centre,” said Yap. It will also have close to 1,000
when Colgate-Palmolive Market- “We are committed to reducing On top of the recy- parking bays to accommodate office
ing Sdn Bhd (Colgate-Palmolive) our company’s environmental cling drive, Colgate- workers, shoppers and diners.
celebrated Earth Day 2011 with a impact, especially in regards to Palmolive employees Sunhor aims to make Tigaman
recycling-driven donation to the water, energy, and waste, not only received daily pop-up square a catalyst for the Bukit
Women’s Aid Org anisation because it is the right thing to do, reminders on their Kemuning area, Lim said.
(WAO) last Friday. but also because it makes good computers to remind them of the Company Performance were high- He pointed out that the area was
In the week leading up to Earth business sense,” Colgate-Palmolive week’s activities. lighted. untapped, offering a lot of potential
Day, Colgate-Palmolive employees m a n a g i n g d i r e c t o r I s s a m These included practical, envi- The company’s Global Sustain- for high growth.
pooled together old newspapers, Bachaalani said. ronment-friendly habits such as ability Strategies are renewed ev- Tigaman Square is accessible via
boxes, bottles and other recyclable WAO project executive Vivian switching off lights and equipment ery five years and adopted by op- the Klang-Shah Alam Expressway
items, which went towards a dona- Yap received the donation cheque when not in use, printing only erations worldwide. (LKSA) and other surrounding
tion of RM5,000 to WAO. from Isaam in a simple ceremony. when needed, carpooling to reduce “Our sustainability strateg y highways.
WAO is a non-governmental “I would like to thank Colgate- carbon emissions, avoiding the use was created to ensure that we grow Some 100 guests and well wishers
organisation committed in fight- Palmolive for choosing WAO as of plastic bags, and even eating our business consistently and re- attended the event, and were treated
ing violence against women. the recipient of this donation. more vegetables instead of meat. sponsibly in the years to come. to a selection of fine wines as well as
As part of its global initiative, “This year, WAO will need to The Earth Day celebration also “Meeting these key objectives a buffet lunch of local and Taiwanese
Colg ate-Palmolive Malaysia raise RM1.2 million to sustain its saw the unveiling of Colgate-Pal- will allow us to serve our consum- delicacies.
joined other offices around the efforts. Your contribution will molive’s 2011-2015 Global Sus- ers, customers and partners effi- A lion dance troupe ushered in
world in celebrating Earth Day, help with the expenses for staffing, tainability Strateg y, where the ciently and give future generations the event before the ribbon-cutting
held on April 22 every year. food, medical needs, rent, trans- importance of Respect for Our reasons to smile in the world they ceremony attended by Sunhor
Earth Day is aimed at inspiring port, utilities and upkeep of the Planet, Respect for People and live in,” said Isaam. Group’s board of directors.
18
TECHNOLOGY
APRIL 29 — MAY 1, 2011

For businesses on the go

Lenovo’s new range of laptops designed for SMBs
and enterprises
By Edwin Yapp

PC-maker Lenovo has introduced a new range of products

for the year, and the whole line is catered to small and medium
businesses (SMBs) as well as enterprises.
For those not so familiar with the brand, China-based
Lenovo was first incorporated in 1998 as Legend Computers,
and in a short time grew to become one of the largest players
in the business.
Its biggest coup came in 2005 when it acquired IBM’s PC
division, which marketed the famed IBM ThinkPad line of
products, for about US$1.75 billion.
At a recent media briefing, Khoo Hung Chuan, Malaysia
general manager for Lenovo noted that the new Think PCs
are built upon a platform of new Lenovo innovations that
respond to key business needs including video and voice call-
ing, smart PC features for power and performance manage-
ment, all-day battery life, enterprise management, and an in-
tuitive, and easy-to-use computing experience.
Sporting what the company calls the Lenovo Enhanced
Experience 2.0 for Windows 7, the proprietary feature touts
specialised optimisation procedures to deliver faster start-up
and shutdown times.
For example, with RapidBoot technology, Lenovo PCs
start up on average 20 seconds faster than a typical Windows
7 PC and offer 28% faster shutdown speeds, according to
Lenovo.
Edge E220s

X220
Khoo also says Think-branded PCs offer rich web confer-
encing and robust security features including a fingerprint
reader that can be used to power-on the PC, optional self-
encrypting hard drives, BIOS port lock settings, and a hard-
ware password manager for deploying security features across
a fleet of PCs.
For the SMBs
On display during the demonstration were two interesting
models specially designed for SMBs. The ThinkPad Edge
Edge E420s
E220s and E420s both feature metal accents that frame the
black, soft-matte exterior, complementing the infinity screen
inside for a TV-like appearance.
To power multitasking business activities and personal
entertainment, both notebooks come in choices of the second-
generation Intel Core i3, i5 and i7 processors.
The E220 measures less than one inch thick, weighs less
than 1.6kg, and sports a 12.5-inch screen; while the one-
inch-thick E420 comes with a 14-inch screen and weighs in
at 1.8kgs.
It also comes equipped with Dolby Home Theatre audio
and supports Lenovo’s enhanced video-conferencing tech-
nologies.
These include high-definition web camera, noise-cancelling
keyboard, software, high-performance microphones and
speakers, and an HDMI port to show presentations to clients
or to relax and watch on a PC monitor or flat-screen TV.
Classic T series
For the business road warrior, Lenovo’s ThinkPad T420 is
something you may want to consider.
Built upon a platform of advanced industry technologies,
including the performance and energy efficiency of the second-
generation Intel Core and Core vPro processors, the T420
notebook offers enterprise IT managers high reliability, easy
deployment and manageability.
The T420 incorporates self-aware and adaptive technolo-
gies to sense where power is needed most to ensure
priority components receive power for improved over-
all performance and battery life.
With its standard nine-cell battery, the T420 claims
to deliver up to 15 hours of battery life. For extreme
battery-life needs, the T420, with its standard nine-cell
battery and optional nine-cell slice battery, can provide
up to 30 hours of computing power.
The T420 also features NVIDIA Optimus auto-
matic graphic switching technology, which provides
33% better battery performance over previous discrete
graphics models.
For improved enterprise-class security, the T420
offers multiple layers of security throughout the hard-
ware, software and BIOS, with options including en-
crypted hard drives with remote management support,
a fingerprint reader with one-touch swipe for power on
and authentication, and Intel Anti-Theft Technology
– a notebook theft deterrence mechanism that disables the
notebook, preventing unauthorised data access.
Portability that counts
For those businesses looking at ultra portability as their key
feature, you can consider the ThinkPad X220 and X120e.
Equipped with second-generation IntelTM Core i7 proces-
sors, Lenovo claims that the 12.5-inch HD screen X220 runs
up to 75% faster than ultraportable competitors that use low-
powered CPUs, and it features smart PC technologies for
incredibly long battery life up to 24 hours.
Additionally, durability is improved with wider drain-holes
in the spill-resistant keyboard and a 50% improvement in
drop-test performance.
The X120e, on the other hand, comes equipped with the
integrated AMD Fusion E-Series APU, which gives users
faster graphics performance for faster web searches, page loads
and running business applications.
At the same time, the 11.6-inch screen, 1.4kg X120e claims
to give users up to 30% longer battery life, meets certifications
such as Energy Star 5.0 specifications, and carries an EPEAT
Gold rating for its environmental attributes.
All of Lenovo’s products will be available from authorised
dealers beginning April. The ThinkPad Edge E220s starts from
RM3,499, while the ThinkPad Edge E420s from RM3,299.
The ThinkPad T420 starts from RM4,199, and the Think-
Pad X220 will be available from RM4,199.
T420
 FICTION 19
APRIL 29 — MAY 1, 2011

Watching Anita
Fiction by Norman Yusoff his father’s eyes remained glued to the screen, The seats in the last few back
he was struggling to finish up the chewy dried rows seemed occupied. Though

F
OR Amran, the experience seemed
magical. He sat again in the darkened
hall, transfixed by the flickering images
before him. He witnessed the beam of light
being projected over his head onto the screen,
punctuated with the whirr of the movie
projector. All this added to his excitement.
Amran was only seven when his father took
him to the cinema to watch a Malay movie
called Anita Dunia Ajaib in the early 80s.
At his age, there were things that he
couldn’t fathom himself. For instance, while
watching Anita, he was curious as to why his
father sighed and shook his head from time
to time. Perhaps it was the atrocious acting by
the leading actress. Or it could be the prepos-
terous storyline: a woman gave birth to a baby
after only a month of pregnancy?
Amran and his father were seated some-
where in the middle of the seating rows. While
squid, while gulping down the rest of his
Coca-Cola.
Throughout, he could discern the continu-
ous crunching of kuaci. No wonder the hall’s
floor was strewn with an avalanche of sun-
flower seed hulls.
Behind him, there were two ladies who
had been eating from the beginning of the
movie. In the beginning, as Amran once wrig-
gled and glanced up quickly, he found that
they were munching on some prawn crackers,
accompanied earlier by the gentle crackling
of the snack wrappers being ripped open.
Towards the end, he surmised that it had been
the asam jeruk due to the pungent vinegary
smell that permeated the hall.
In the right corner of one of the few front
rows, there were a couple busy consoling and
pacifying their crying baby. When their baby’s
tantrum intensified, they would alternately
carry him out of the hall.
“Stupid parents!” the
two ladies behind him
murmured, while crunch-
ing their snacks noisily.
Sitting in the same row
with Amran and his fa-
ther was a middle-aged
man who fell asleep ;
though he was half-awake
at times, he looked pretty
much somnolent. Behind
the two ladies, there was
another man, perhaps in
his early thirties, falling
into deep slumber. Every-
one in the hall seemed
dragged to listen to his
snores.
jam-packed with romantic cou-
ples, things were a tad hushed
towards the back of the hall;
perhaps they were the sort of
serious audiences.
There were a young man and
his girlfriend who sat in front of
Amran. The man who seemed to
have a cold couldn’t stop sniffing
and sneezing. To Amran’s cha-
grin, when the man got up and
headed to the bathroom, his body figure
swiftly obstructed his view of the screen.
When the film was approaching its climax,
his father smirked and chuckled more fre-
quently. Amran still couldn’t quite grasp it;
perhaps his father found the sequence amus-
ing or something. In the sequence, Ana, a
housemaid, attempted to escape with her
employer’s newborn baby, Anita.
In the midst of the sequence, a small slide
with a handwritten inscription in Malay,
English and Chinese, was flashed up on the
screen, reminding the audience not to leave
his/her belongings once the show ends. Am-
ran knew that when the screen conjured up
such an inscription, it meant that the movie
was going to end very soon.
The scene shifted, showing the exterior of
an ominous cave. Ana, carrying the baby in
her arms, was besieged by armed policemen
who stood absolutely motionless. Her em-
ployer, Asmah, sobbing uncontrollably, pa-
thetically urged her husband and the police
to help get Anita back. Then the superim-
posed slide disappeared.
In the background, on a hill inside the cave,
emerged a man in futuristic “superhero” cos-
tume, replete with the cape and headgear that
were reminiscent of those characters that
Amran had seen in the movie Flash Gordon,
or the TV series Battlestar Galactica.
Then, the man generated a greenish laser-
like lightning that flashed across Ana’s body.
She was transformed from an eerie-looking
rustic damsel into a Wonder-Woman-like
figure. He grabbed and raised his cape over
his body, vanishing into the air; in the blink
of an eye, he reappeared next to Ana. In his
horrifyingly grating voice, he declared that
Anita was their baby and Ana his wife, while
claiming that they came from outer space
called the Fifth Dimension.
The man moved towards the camera and
suddenly walked out of the screen, appearing
before the audience. While addressing the
astonished audience, he advised that they
focused on the movie: “Wahai para penonton,
tolonglah beri sepenuh tumpuan dan perha-
tian pada filem ini yang sudah hampir selesai!” 
The entire hall morphed into sheer silence.
The man who had been snoring awoke from
his deep sleep, the baby stopped crying, and
all of the munching activities seemed to cease.
Amran and his father stared at each other
in stunned disbelief. Amran’s eyes bulged in
shock, his mouth agape.

A successful ‘MD’ at only 17

PKNS secretary Norita Sidek (second right) presenting the mock cheque to
Sekolah Agama Menengah Hulu Langat representatives.
By Brenda Ch’ng
SHAH ALAM: For 17-year-old Nu-
rul  Afiqah, the Young Entrepreneur Pro-
gramme has been a “profitable venture”.
The Form Five student, who founded Jagat
Kencana Sdn Bhd last year, attributed her
company’s success to the programme.
“I’ve learnt a lot from this, and it isn’t easy
at all when I have to be disciplined, with so
much responsibility to bear.” she said.
The “managing director”, together with her
team of five who were all 16 at the time, made
profits from selling food in their school com-
pound and in booths outside during a nine-
month period last year.
They were guided by two teachers chosen
by their principal at Sekolah Menengah Ke-
bangsaan Jalan Kebun, Shah Alam. of the programme.
The group won the Best Company 2010 “The knowledge and experience gained
award and walked away with  a trophy and [from this programme] will be invaluable for
RM1,000 cash. participants who can now face future global
Nurul said her success illustrated that girls challenges,” said Othman Omar.
can be successful at running companies, and The PKNS general manager gave away
future female contestants of the programme prizes to the winners at the ceremony.
should take heart.
Nurul, who is preparing for the Sijil Pela-
jaran Malaysia (SPM), was among  1,275
students aged between 14 and 16 who took
part in the programme from February to
October last year.
The students, from 51 schools, were re-
warded for completing the course at the closing
ceremony at the Shah Alam Convention
Centre on Wednesday.
Preference was given to semi-rural and rural
schools in all districts in Selangor.
The programme was started in 1998 by the
Ministry of Entrepreneur and Co-operative
Development (MECD)  to mould students
from rural schools into budding entrepreneurs.
In Selangor, it was administered by
MECD together with the Selangor Develop-
ment Corporation (PKNS) and the Selangor
Education Department.
Under the programme, participants at-
tended business courses and entrepreneur
camps, with trips to companies to learn about
business practices.
All companies, which were registered Nurul beat more than 1,000 other
under the Selangor State Development Cor- contestants to win the Young
poration (PKNS), were dissolved at the end Entrepreneur Programme award.
 20
Travel
April 29 — May 1, 2011

A
Mouth-watering
visit to a relative’s residence in Taman Danau
Desa can bring unexpected surprises. My rela-
tive, a retired engineer, was all pumped up about
treating us to lunch when we arrived.
So like all juniors with good manners, I did not want

fish-head noodles
to spoil his fun about playing the role of big spender.
We all graciously allowed him to lead us to the choice
spot for lunch.
After a few turns around the neighbourhood, we
ended up in a corner shop which had a big sign pro-
claiming “Woo Pin Fish Head Noodles”.
Like some not-so-well-travelled residents of Petaling
Jaya, the name was unfamiliar to
me. But it turned out that I was in There are some
the ignorant minority.
Woo Pin Restaurant was filled
fine places for
to its gills. It was about 1.30pm lunch outside
and there was hardly an empty
table. In our group were a couple Petaling Jaya.
of aunties who were well into their
70s and 80s.
LIN ZHENYUAN
We knew this place was suitable is escorted to a
for their lifestyle because it was
just fish-head noodles. Nothing restaurant that
too greasy or disagreeable with
their lunch preferences was sold on
is bursting at
the premises. its seams with
My relative disclosed that Woo
Pin has a rock-solid reputation and customers, and
it has been doing roaring business
for years.
lives to tell about it
My first impression of the place
confirmed its prestige and promi-
nence. The restaurant workers were
practically running as they at-
tended to the constant flow of
customers.
Curiosity got the better of me
because the size of the crowd was
clear testimony that the masses
could not be wrong about the qual-
ity of the cuisine.
Before long, each one of us had
our own bowl of fish-head noodles. head noodle restaurant is a bit of a so long. My friends of the
The bowl did look bigger than the task. However, I got lucky because unofficial club of gluttons
ordinary ones sold in other restau- a food bon vivant was kind enough usually clue me in on
rants. to share his “secret” with me. places like Woo Pin.
After a few mouthfuls, it was no A big problem for first-time Perhaps they uncon-
longer hearsay. Woo Pin did serve customers here is parking space. sciously neglected to add
great fish-head noodles. The only During lunchtime, it was like look- Woo Pin to my list of
minor drawback is that the deep- ing for gold nuggets on the cement “must-try” places. After Young and old eating with great gusto.
fried fish cutlets came with lots of pavement. The commercial area all, for those who live on
tiny bones. was packed with cars and other the other side of Damansara, Ta- head noodle is the major draw. Meanwhile, we took our time
I had been forewarned that din- vehicles when we got there. man Danau Desa would seem so Even if it is not your favourite dish, with our fish head and noodles. We
ers had to be careful that they did After circling the area for about far away. And if you don’t have the you will find little to quarrel with wouldn’t be passing by this place
not inadvertently swallow some of 15 minutes, I almost gave up trying right company, which simply at this restaurant. again that soon, so we took our
these irritating bones. But other to find a parking bay. Finally, I means good lunchtime partners, it The kitchen staff seemed to be time to enjoy the bowl of noodles
than that, the smooth-textured made a detour to some nearby might not be worth the trouble Myanmar nationals. Myanmar to its last drop of goodness.
noodles and the distinctively deli- apartment blocks and found a few making the trip to this far side of workers have already earned a fine The address of the restaurant is
cious soup was a culinary experi- parking spaces further up the road. Old Klang Road. reputation for being hardworking A37, Plaza Danau 2, Jalan 109F,
ence to remember and cherish. The price of the noodles, at be- Woo Pin Restaurant, like all and obedient. So it is not surpris- Taman Danau Desa. Phone nos:
There was a side-dish of fish tween RM7 and RM8.50 per bowl, Chinese eateries, is not immune to ingly that some of the busiest res- 012-2255365 or 012-3595518.
paste or what the Cantonese call are not exactly the cheapest in noise. The lunch crowd is as noisy taurants in the city have their share Business hours are from 7.30am
yu wat. The bowl of yu wat was town. Side orders will cost you as it gets in any place that does of Myanmar people as workers. to 10pm. The restaurant is closed
accompanied by vegetables. It was extra, but customers like me were great business. If you do not like Apparently, the original Woo on Mondays.
another epicurean experience. not worried because we were “spe- places that suffer from noise pollu- Pin Fish Head Noodle restaurant Try to go before noon, other-
Fish-head noodles, or yu tau cial” guests. tion, you may want to consider is in Cheras, but some people say wise you and your friends will be
mai, are quite common in Klang I was a bit surprised that Woo another option. the feng shui in Taman Danau searching high and low for tables
h Valley, but to find a really fine fish- Pin had escaped my attention for But Woo Pin’s excellent fish- Desa is unbeatable. and chairs inside the restaurant.

A kitchen worker preparing the bowls of fish- The size of the bowls is an indicator of what a customer The ingredients that go into making a tasty bowl of fish-
head noodles. can expect. head noodles.
 Travel 21
April 29 — May 1, 2011

Famous Woo Pin fish head noodles. The garnishing is what make the noodles extra special.

Safety first at Plaza Perangsang

By Basil Foo

SHAH ALAM: Plaza Perangsang is carrying out

measures to enable the building to obtain the
Occupational Safety and Health Assessment System
(Ohsas) certification next year.
“These programmes
should receive the com-
mitment of all staff for
the safety of their sur-
roundings,” said Raja
Idris Raja Kamarudin
at a press conference on
April 20.
The Selangor Per-
angsang Group chair-
person said the pro-
grammes would start
next month.
The measures will
involve the estimated
800 people who work Raja Idris
at the 24-floor plaza,
which houses offices
on the lower levels and
Quality Hotel on high-
er levels.
Included in the pro- Raja Idris unfurling a bunting to launch the Perangsang Plaza Health and Safety Programme on April 20. On the
grammes are safety right is Mohamad Johari.
awareness training ,
first-aid and CPR train-
ing, personal protective
equipment training ,
and fire drills.
“Although the pro-
grammes are in con-
junction with World
Day for Safety and
Health at Work on
April 28, [these] ac- Selvarajan
tivities should be car-
ried out regularly,” said
Raja Idris.
 Safety consultant Selvarajan Visvalingam, who
was hired by the group to establish and carry out
the programmes, said a proactive culture should be
started.
 “Anyone can react and give first aid after an ac-
cident happens, but what’s more important is to be
proactive to report any risk of accidents and to take
precautions,” he said.
Selangor Perangsang Group business development
general manager Mohamad Johari Kamsari was also
present at the launch. Raja Idris observing how a smoke detector works while Mohamad Johari looks on.
22
Gallery
April 29 — May 1, 2011

Residents from Taman Gasing Indah, including children, tried their hand at
operating fire hoses during a workshop with firefighters last Sunday.
Children were also treated to a tour of fire trucks to check out the sirens
and firefighting apparatus.
Menteri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim paying a surprise visit to Sri Perantau flats in Klang
last Friday, following complaints of rampant drug abuse, vandalism and gangsterism at the
residence. The Menteri Besar met with reisdents and promised that funds from the Klang
Municipal Council and the Selangor State Development Corporation (PKNS) would be
allocated to improve living conditions.

Subang Jaya assemblyperson Hannah Yeoh (centre) officiating the new tables and benches at the
community park in USJ 2 last Saturday. She is joined by Vadiveru Arumugam, deputy chairperson of the
USJ 2 and 6 residents association (on her left) and Subang Jaya Municipal councillor Rajiv Rishyakaran
(fifth from right).

Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) public complaints director

Tengku Nazaruddin Zainudin (left) and local councillor Tony
Cheong planting a damar minyak tree in a field in SS2 during a
gotong-royong exercise last Saturday morning.

During a workshop in Desa ParkCity, Kuala Lumpur conducted by the Fire Prevention Council Malay- Children from Sekolah Rendah Kebangsaan Tamil Highland Bukit
sia (Fipcom) last Saturday, children were taught the classic stop, drop and roll should their clothes Tinggi during an Earth Day walk last Sunday morning at Giant
catch on fire. Bukit Tinggi 1 in Klang.

Compiled by Nick Choo
INTERVIEW
Peter Ong is a multitalented singer-
dancer-actor who has recently
turned to producing. Comprising
the “P” in PAN Productions (the “A”
and “N” are for fellow producers
Alizakri Alias and Cabaret director
Nell Ng respectively), he has
travelled internationally performing
in operas and musical works. In
an email interview with Selangor
Times, he talks more about
Cabaret, in which he also plays the
character of the Emcee, and the
difference between being on stage
and working behind the scenes.
Why did PAN
decide on
producing Cabaret,
which is one of
the most well-
known musicals
in the world? How
much do you draw
on from other
stagings and the
movie?
[We chose it]
precisely because
it is one of the most
iconic musicals of
all time! Thoroughly
underrated and
overshadowed by its successor
Chicago, we thought it would be
nice to dust it off the shelf and
present it to the public.
Most Malaysians are probably
only familiar with the Liza Minelli/
Joel Grey/Bob Fosse movie,
which deviated somewhat from
the original [in that there were
characters created specifically for
the film]; so we are sticking pretty
faithfully to the original stage script,
while maintaining Sally Bowles as
American [as in the movie] and
Clifford Bradshaw as English.
Cabaret has morphed from
staging to restaging. It’s just
one of those works in constant
progress.
What are some of the
challenges of producing
a  show that is set in Berlin
during the time of the
Nazis? Were there wary
considerations that had to be
made in presenting it for a
Malaysian audience?
Although it’s set in the 1930s,
the implications are still current
and indeed universal. Berlin
in the 1930s was the capital
of liberalism and progressive
Cabaret Berlin, 1931 – the capital of divine decadence,
Musical theatre; liberal thought and cultural transformation, while
May 6-15; Kuala the shadow of the Nazis threatens to engulf all
Lumpur Performing of Europe. Cabaret is the iconic musical created
Arts Centre; by John Kander and Fred Ebb, which revolves
RM125/RM105/ around the seedy happenings of the Kit Kat Klub
RM85; 03-4047900; and its regulars.
www.klpac.org; Step inside the world of Sally Bowles, a cabaret
presented by PAN performer, as she embarks on a torrid love affair
Productions with Clifford Bradshaw, a young Englishman who
has come to Berlin to seek inspiration for his new
novel. Set amidst the political and social upheaval
of pre-Nazi Germany, this musical will allow you
to indulge yourself in the unbridled sensuality
of the club, revel among its morally ambiguous
inhabitants, and plunge into its glitz and glamour.
Cabaret debuted on stage since 1966 to over
3,000 performances in Broadway and in the West
End, and has been performed in Europe, Mexico,
Australia and Singapore. It was adapted for the big
screen in 1972 with an Oscar-winning performance
by Liza Minelli in the role of Sally Bowles.
Its Malaysian premiere features the talents
of Stephanie Van Driesen, Peter Davis, Trudy
Ganendra, Alizakri Alias, Aaron Khaled, Peter Ong,
Bernie Chan, Judimar Hernandez, Sabrina Hassan,
Suhaili Micheline, Hunny Madu, Davina Goh, Sarah
Loh, Alfred Choo and Paul Wong. Directed by Nell
Ng, with musical direction by Nish Tham.
thought of the world. show. It is presented as a window
Producing such to the past. We purposely chose
artists and thinkers to stage it in Pentas 2 in KLPac,
such as Marlene a small and intimate venue. We
Dietrich, Albert hope to recreate the ambience of a
cabaret of years gone by. No glitz
Einstein and Rudolf von Laban, it
and glamour of Hollywood, but the
swung to the far-right of extremism
raw sensuousness of the seedy
represented by the Nazis in
just 10 years. From celebrating yet vibrant cabaret scenes of the
period. The lessons are universal
tolerance and progressive thought,
and transcend time and culture.
it transformed into a regime of
conformity and racial superiority.
You are a stage performer
Much of the challenge in
yourself. What is the challenge
presenting it to Malaysian audiences
of going behind the scenes and
is that most Malaysians have
being a producer?
forgotten all about the Second World
War, consigning it to the archives of Being a performer is very different
history. It begun only 70 years ago from being a producer. For one,
– still pretty recent, and the ripples there is the complication of staying
from it are still felt even till today. We organised! It has been a steep
wanted to present it in Malaysia also learning curve for us, but we are
as a reminder of the consequences so grateful to be given the chance.
of our actions as a society. Hitler and We would like to shout a huge
the Nazis were voted into power. thank you to all our sponsors and
How did a nation that was at the supporters, especially Berjaya
forefront of liberalism fall into the Corporation, as well as AmPrivate
hands of such extremists? It is a Banking and Citta Mall for their
lesson we need to constantly remind unflinching support of local arts.
ourselves of. It is difficult being a producer
in Malaysia because of the
What makes this production lack of support. Without these
uniquely Malaysian? Are there corporations stepping in, there
any changes to the material, would be no show.
or deliberate “hints” that have Being a producer has definitely
been incorporated into show – improved my perspective as an
“winks” at the audience, as it artist and performer, with a greater
were, to indicate that this is a appreciation of what has to go on
local production? behind the scenes to bring a show to
We are not Malaysianising this fruition.
Culture 23
April 29 — May 1, 2011
CALENDAR
Caipifruta Go Graz, Austria!
Music; April 28-30; KLPac; RM40; 03-40479000; www.klpac.org
Join singers Tracy Wong, Lai Suk Yin, Aaron Teoh, Joel Wong and
jazz pianist Wei Zhong for a tongue-in-cheek, colourful evening of
musical exploration. Like the cocktail drink which inspired their name,
Caipifruta! aims to tantalise and relax your senses with splashes of
jazz, a dash of pop and even a slice of Broadway, all shaken together
with a twist of humour and a few surprises.
All proceeds from this concert go towards funding Caipifruta!’s
trip to represent Malaysia in the Jazz and Pop categories of the World
Youth Choir Championships in Graz, Austria. More information at
caipifrua.tumblr.com.
Love Journey 2
Music/Theatre; April 27-May 1; Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts
Centre; RM43/RM23; 03-40479000; www.klpac.org
Love Journey 2 features Joanna Bessey in an evening of  comedic
suspense, jazz, love and blues with the Michael Veerapen Trio, Junji
Delfino and Malik Taufiq. Having recovered from the blues of the
first Love Journey, Bessey’s Lily M La Rue is optimistic, in love and
pregnant! Just when she thinks she has finally found happiness, she
is faced with new (and growing) bumps in her road to love, including
her jazz singing rival, Bianca Devereaux.
“A journey back in time with music from the 1930s through to the
1950s in this unique performance marring the magical world of the
theatre and a snazzy jazz club, with classics like Give Me the Simple
Life, Cheek to Cheek, All Or Nothing At All, Lover Man and Is You Is
or Is You Ain’t My Baby.”
God of Carnage
Theatre; April 28-May 8;
PJ Live Arts @ Jaya One;
RM60; 03-79600439, www.
pjla.com.my
The second annual PJ
Laugh Festival at PJ Live Arts @ Jaya One opens with this 2009 Tony
Award-winning comedy play, which premiered in New York in 2009
with Hollywood bigwigs Jeff Daniels, Hope Davis, James Gandolfini
and Marcia Gay Harden. Malaysia’s version features Will Quah,
Maya Tan, Megat Sharizal and former Ms Malaysia World Lina Teoh,
directed by David Lim.
God of Carnage is a tale of two couples who meet to discuss the
misdemeanours of their sons. “The evening begins quite amicably
with the four parents intending to resolve the situation diplomatically.
However, as their hopes begin to splinter and disillusionment sets in,
the evening deteriorates from one of mild unease and discomfort into
a deluge of accusations, recriminations, jealousy and rage.”
The List
Operators For
Kids: More Fun
Than A Wii!
Theatre; May 5-22; PJ
Live Arts & Jaya One;
RM44-77; 03-79600439,
www.pjla.com.
Australians Matt Kelly
and Richard Higgins are veterans of children’s theatre, who devised
and first performed in The List Operators for Kids: More Fun
Than a Wii! in September 2009. It has received a prestigious Barry
Nomination for Best Show at the Melbourne International Comedy
Festival, played to thousands of children in Adelaide, Brisbane,
Canberra and Sydney, and received multiple five-star reviews at the
Edinburgh Fringe Festival. “The award-winning List Operators are
heading to Kuala Lumpur, fart machine in tow, with their raw, raucous
and ridiculously cool show … for anyone aged five to 500 million
(dinosaurs allowed).” Presented by Garner & Wife Theatre.
Sticks, Stones,
Broken Bones
Theatre; May 10-15; PJ
Live Arts & Jaya One;
RM60; 03-79600439,
www.pjla.com.my
A wordless, shadow
puppet comedy from
Montreal, Canada.
Monkeys in the jungle,
UFO abductions, brain
transplants and flying
Ninjas … don’t miss
Jeff Achtem’s amazingly playful vision of wonder and nonsense
as he transforms bits of junk into surreal shadow puppets. In each
scene, the audience is invited behind the visual trickery to witness
the making of these amazing puppet melodramas. Winner for Best
Puppetry in the Adelaide Fringe Festival 2011, and Spirit of the Fringe
and Best Newcomer in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2010. Suitable
for all ages. Presented by Garner & Wife Theatre.
Published by Selangor State Government and printed by Dasar Cetak (M) Sdn Bhd No. 7, Persiaran Selangor, Seksyen 15, 40000, Shah Alam, Selangor Darul Ehsan.