Week That Was: June 19 - June 25, 2006
SMART SCHOOL AUDIT: (June 17) The Government has appointed a group of auditors to find out the results of the billions of ringgit spent to increase information and communication technology knowledge in students and teachers.
UMNO BACKS PM: (June 19) Members of the Umno supreme council have unanimously declared their support for current Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak. It also dispelled any notion that the party had split into factions following former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s outburst and criticism of the Government.
SUFFICIENT 9MP FUNDS: (June 18) The Government has sufficient funds to implement projects allocated under the Ninth Malaysia Plan (9MP), said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in response to a question on whether lack of funds might prompt the Government to cancel or postpone projects.
FIGHTER JET CRASH LANDS: (June 23) A two-seater Hawk 108 fighter jet was forced to make an emergency landing after training at the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) base when its front wheel failed to function. Its co-pilot Kapt Mahadhir Mohamad Saad ejected to safety but pilot Lt Kol Tan Hui Hock was trapped in his seat, which failed to eject during the mishap at 10.45am. He was rushed to the Tengku Ampuan Afzan Hospital and treated for third degree burns.
CIVIL OR SYARIAH? (June 20) The Court of Appeal will decide whether the civil or Syariah courts have the jurisdiction to determine the religious status of an individual. Court of Appeal judges Justices Mokhtar Sidin, Denis Ong and Abdul Aziz Mohamad ordered parties involved in the appeal of Sjn M. Moorthy’s widow M. Kaliammal to hand in written submissions to the court on this issue for them to make a decision.
FIREARMS TRAINING OPTIONAL: (June 21) All national service trainees can choose not to fire the M16 assault rifle if they are apprehensive about the use of live bullets. Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak clarified that the firearms’ practical training, which involved target practice, would be on a voluntary basis. “Trainees or parents who have doubts about safety, or those who feel that their children are under pressure, can apply for exemption from practical training,” he said.
RESTHOUSE PROJECT HALTED: (June 21) Sabah is ordering the cancellation of a RM4.35mil Federal Government-funded tourism project on Mount Kinabalu that has scarred an area near the peak of the 4,095m mountain. Chief Minister Datuk Musa Aman said the Federal Development Office here had been told to stop work completely and clean up the site at Layang Layang, which is at an altitude of 2,727m, and return it to its original condition.
RUDE MALAYSIANS: (June 21) A Reader’s Digest survey rated Kuala Lumpur as the third-worst city in terms of courteousness. Three tests were conducted – whether shopkeepers said “thank you” after a small purchase, dropping papers to see if anyone helped to pick them up and holding a door open for others. Kuala Lumpur had an aggregate score of 37%, rating it the third-worst out of 35 cities, followed by Bucharest and Mumbai respectively.
SMOOTH ENTRY: (June 23) Malaysia and Singapore have resolved the long-standing problem over the use of passports by Malaysians who commute daily to the republic. Home Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Radzi Sheikh Ahmad said the Singaporean authorities had agreed that Malaysian workers only need to show their international passport with their work permit or green card issued by Singapore when passing through the immigration checkpoint, and passports will not be stamped by either Malaysian or Singaporean Immigration authorities. Singapore will continue to accept Malaysian restricted passports until Oct 31.
MIC POLLS: (June 24) Today is the day of reckoning for the 60 candidates contesting for the deputy president, three vice-presidents and 23 seats in the central working committee in the MIC party polls, after 20 days of hectic campaigning across the country. All eyes will be on the contest for the deputy president’s post, where incumbent Datuk S. Subramaniam is being challenged by vice-president Datuk G. Palanivel, who is also Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister.
MISSILE FUELED: (June 18) North Korea is believed to have completed fuelling a missile capable of reaching Alaska, raising the probability of an imminent test launch. The United States plans to join Japan in a sharp response if the test goes ahead. Washington has warned Pyongyang against the launch in a message passed to North Korean diplomats at the United Nations. North Korea later said it wanted to talk to the US to ease tensions over Pyongyang’s possible plans to test-launch a long-range missile.
AID FOR PALESTINIANS: (June 17) International Middle East mediating powers agreed on an aid scheme for Palestinians that bypasses the Hamas-led government. A group known as the Quartet comprising the United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia said in a statement they endorsed an EU proposal for a temporary mechanism that includes aid for the health sector and utilities.
VATICAN-SINO TALKS: (June 18) Vatican officials have visited Beijing for closed-door talks on normalising ties despite strains over the installation of two bishops in China without Rome’s approval. According to the church’s top clergyman in Hong Kong, Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, “The talks are about … the whole relationship between the Holy See and Chinese government, about the millions of faithful. It’s a big issue and should not be so narrowly connected to the few persecuted priests.”
JAPAN’S TROOPS WITHDRAW: (June 19) Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi announced on Tuesday that Japan will withdraw its troops from Iraq, ending the Japanese military’s riskiest and most ambitious overseas mission since World War Two.
PRO-WHALING VOTE: (June 18) Japan and other whaling nations got the International Whaling Commission to criticise a global whaling ban for the first time in more than two decades, but the declaration does not immediately threaten the 1986 moratorium on commercial whaling.
SADDAM’S HUNGER: (June 22) Saddam Hussein ended a brief hunger strike after missing just one meal in his US-run prison, a US military spokesman said. The former Iraqi leader had refused lunch on Thursday in protest at the killing of one of his lawyers by gunmen, but the spokesman said he ate his evening meal.
TERROR PLOT HALTED: (June 22) The FBI arrested seven people in the past two days suspected of planning attacks on FBI offices and a federal building in Miami and the Sears Tower in Chicago, a law enforcement source said. The source, elaborating on a statement on the operation from Florida authorities, said the suspects had thought they were dealing with the international al-Qaeda group but had been infiltrated by a US government informant.
