Maximum security for Malaysians

Malaysians Mohd Farik Amin @ Zubair and Mohd Nazir Lep @ Lillie, who have been listed among 14 key United States terror suspects, are now being held in Camp Delta at Guantanamo Bay.

Officials familiar with the high security block at the United States naval base believe that they are probably being kept in one of the seven detention camps at Camp Delta.

These are maximum-security camps that can house up to 800 detainees, including those in solitary confinement.

For new arrivals, who would include Mohd Farik from Selangor and Mohd Nazir, a Johorean, they would probably be held at the maximum security Camp Three.

“The 2m by 2.4m cells only have a squatting toilet, a metal sink and sleeping berth fixed to the walls. They would probably be allowed out of their cells three times a week but they cannot exercise with the other inmates,” said a source.

They have to wear orange uniforms and items such as toilet paper and shampoo will only be available on request. Cell lights are turned on 24 hours a day.

INTI College gets University status

INTI College Malaysia here has been upgraded to university status and renamed INTI International University College (INTI-UC).

INTI International Groups of Colleges president Tan Yew Sing made the announcement when officiating the College Day at the campus here on Saturday.

“The Higher Education Ministry has approved the upgrading of the status of this college and it is now a university college,” he said in his speech at INTI’s 20th anniversary celebrations.

INTI-UC president Dr Lee Fah Onn, said degrees would only be given out for new students.

“Those taking their degrees from foreign universities will have to continue with the current programmes.

“We are in the midst of applying for 15 new degree programmes and hope to get the approval before the next intake in January 2007,” he said.

The College Day saw thousands of students and staffs of INTI taking part in the food fiesta, sports, fun games and others programmes.

Tan said all collections from the day would be donated to the Leprosy Centre in Sungai Buloh, Selangor.

“This is in line with our theme for this year – 20 Years Celebrating Education and Humanity – that has shown INTI’s commitment in helping the less fortunate people in the society,” he added.

The INTI group has given out over RM50mil in scholarship since 1992.

Rangers make sighting of Sumatran rhino in Malaysia

Wildlife rangers have made a sighting of a Sumatran rhino deep in the jungles of Borneo, taking video and photos of a single male after a decade-long search, conservationists said Friday.

SOS Rhino, a Chicago-based wildlife foundation, hailed the recent sighting in Malaysia's Sabah state as a "major discovery'' that suggested a growing population of the Sumatran rhino was present in the wild.

The foundation said rangers from its expedition followed tracks that led them to the male rhino, but didn't say exactly when it took place.

"We have been tracking these animals here in Sabah for almost 10 years now and although we have seen tracks and signs of the rhino, this is the actual first sighting of a rhino in the wild,'' it said in a statement.

"We are excited about the photos and video clip as it also helps us determine the sex of the animal and its health condition in its natural habitat, something that was dependent on guess work before.''

The Sumatran rhino is the smallest and most endangered among five species of rhinos left in the world.

They have rapidly vanished in recent decades as their rain forest habitat has been lost to logging, plantations and other development and poachers hunted them for horns used in aphrodisiacs and traditional medicines.

Sabah is the last preserve of the Borneo Sumatran rhino, a subspecies of the Sumatran rhino, a bristly, snub-nosed, smaller version of the African variety.

The subspecies has already become extinct in other parts of Borneo because of poaching.

Borneo island is divided between Malaysia's Sabah and Sarawak states, Indonesia's Kalimantan province and the oil-rich sultanate of Brunei.

Fewer than 300 rhinos of the second subspecies, the western Sumatran rhino, are believed to be living on Indonesia's Sumatra island and mainland Malaysia.

Hopes for the Borneo subspecies were boosted after Malaysian government wildlife officials and World Wildlife Fund experts found evidence of at least 13 of them in May last year.

Rhino protection units have since launched patrols to deter poaching

McDonald’s wins damages from firm

A curry restaurant operator is feeling the heat for using the McDonald’s “Mc” trademark for its business.

The High Court has ordered McCurry Restaurant (KL) Sdn Bhd to immediately stop using the prefix for its business name in Jalan Ipoh here.

Justice Siti Mariah Ahmad also ordered that damages to be paid to McDonald’s Corporation to be assessed.

She ruled that “Mc” was distinctive of McDonald’s either singularly or used in conjunction with items of food and it could therefore claim goodwill and reputation in its business in reference to the prefix.

She added that the curry house by using the word McCurry and employing a signage which featured colours which were distinctive of McDonald’s was indulging in acts that could give rise to confusion and deception.

“The acts of the defendant was a deliberate attempt to get an unfair advantage to the detriment of the plaintiff,” she said in her verbal judgment yesterday.

“The plaintiff had suffered damage to their goodwill and reputation and an erosion to the singularity that they had enjoyed vis-a-vis the “Mc” trademark.

McDonald’s was represented by counsel Wong Sai Fong and S. Indran and McCurry by Sri Dev Nair.

McCurry’s counsel has indicated that his client would appeal against the decision.

In its statement of claim dated June 6, 2001, McDonald’s said it had created the prefix “Mc” as a source or trade identifier and trademark to enhance its business.

“The plaintiff has applied for and secured numerous trademark registrations of the prefix ‘Mc’ and also for ‘Mc’ with a suffix or suffixes in many countries around the world,” it said, adding that it had in the course of its trade always emphasised the distinctiveness of the prefix ‘Mc’ on its goods and services.

“The use of the prefix and its commercial presence can be felt in over 120 countries.”

In its defence, McCurry, which was formerly known as Restoran Penang Curry House (KL) Sdn Bhd, said it was not aware that McDonald’s was the proprietor and operator of the world-renowned chain of restaurants.

It denied it had used the prefix “Mc” to enhance its business.

Amber Chia: I already have a boyfriend

Model Amber Chia said vicious talk of her being a husband stealer has affected her acting career.

The Sabahan said she feared the public, fans and her sponsors might perceive her as the kind of woman who went after married men.

“This is the last comment I will make on this. I just want to get on with my life,” said Chia.

The bad publicity began with news reports in the Chinese press, and later in an English tabloid, on Chia’s alleged romantic interest in TV host Christien New, the husband of Lavin Seow (former Miss Malaysia runner-up).

Said Chia: “Everyone knows I am a busy person. Even my boyfriend of nine years complained about it and this led to our break-up. I don’t have time to go looking for new boyfriends.”

Chia is back with her boyfriend.

She spoke to The Star here yesterday, saying she wanted all talk on this issue to stop and to reassure her fans, supporters and clients that the rumours were not true. Present were her manager Adrian Wong and lawyer Rajan Navaratnam.

“I’ve been away for two months, first doing publicity tours for Guess throughout South-East Asia, and then filming in Kuching for the movie, Possessed,” she said.

“In fact, the first time I heard about it was when my boyfriend came all the way to Kuching from KL to show me the reports.

Her lawyer Rajan added: “We want to put on record that we are not out to antagonise any party and hope that everyone can get back to their normal lives; and Amber can just concentrate on her career.”

Chia who was asked if she was aware of New having been beaten up recently, said that question should be directed at New.

New would not comment when contacted.

“This matter has been played up too much and we (Seow and him) want this to stop. It’s no big deal. It’s been blown out of proportion. There’re more important things in life than this rumour,” he said.

Work on Penang’s new link to start in 2008

Construction of the planned 22.5km second Penang bridge linking Batu Maung on the island and Batu Kawan on the mainland is expected to begin in early 2008.

Works Ministry road planning director Md Amir Kassim said it was due to be opened to traffic by early 2011.

“The bridge will span 15km across the Southern Channel, with a 1.5km 'directional ramp' at the Bayan Lepas coastal highway and 6km of 'approach road' at Batu Kawan.

“Each side of the bridge carriageway, where a speed limit of 80km/hr will be imposed, will be 14.4m wide,” he told Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi during a site inspection at Batu Maung here yesterday.

He added that a total of RM419.5mil would be used to upgrade roads in the vicinity of the second bridge on the island.

Cabinet to discuss alleged misuse of tsunami fund

DATUK Seri Nazri Aziz said he will raise the issue regarding the alleged misuse of the Special Fund for tsunami aid at the next Cabinet meeting.

Referring to the matter, which was stated in the Auditor-General’s Report 2005 tabled in Parliament last week, the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department said it should not be ignored.

“I will raise the matter at the next Cabinet meeting,” he told reporters at the Parliament lobby.

“This is the first time I'm hearing about the misuse of the fund. The Government would not have known about it, if not for the Auditor-General’s Report.”

Earlier, Nazri told the House that the fund should only be for the tsunami disaster “and nothing else”.

Replying to a supplementary question by Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail (Keadilan – Permatang Pauh) he said the fund was also used to help fishermen whose boats were damaged in the calamity.

“But the fishermen would have to make a police report before applying for the fund,” he said.

He said that the Government was still studying the long-term assistance that could be given to tsunami victims.

He said a total of RM78.95mil was collected from the public and, as of May 31 last year, RM51.39mil had been spent while a further RM20mil was used to build houses for the victims in Kota Kuala Muda in Langkawi and Penang.

Quoting the Auditor-General’s Report, Dr Wan Azizah said a total of RM9.84mil to be used to buy fishing nets, outboard motors and boats was misused by the Kedah government.

“Of this amount, the State Development Office used RM701,222 to buy caps, shirts and lapel pins and erect billboards to welcome the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister during their visit to the state last year,” she alleged.

“A total of RM6.7mil was not returned to the Federal Government by the end of last year and RM9.83mil was also spent to build houses that were of low quality.”

Later at another press conference, Public Accounts Committee chairman Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad said the committee would investigate the issue.

“We will visit the sites and look at the houses,” he said.

Summonses alert via SMS

The short messaging service (SMS) can now keep you informed of traffic summonses against you.

DAPAT Vista (M) Sdn. Bhd, the mobile applications provider that helps the police with the Rakan COP programme, launched the Saman Alert service yesterday.

Subscribers to this service will receive an SMS informing them of their offence whenever the traffic police issue a summons.

“This system simplifies the process of paying summons and makes it easier for motorists to immediately contact the police if they feel there has been a mistake in the issuance of their traffic summons,” said DAPAT Vista executive vice president Azli Paat.

He said the service was especially useful to companies and businesses as they would be able to keep track of summonses issued against their company vehicles.

“This is a very important feature as it will help companies avoid a situation of unpaid summonses piling up,” he added.

To subscribe to the service type POLIS SAMAN [vehicle number] ON and send to 32728.

To unsubscribe, send the same message with the word OFF instead of ON.

Azli said the service was also available to motorists who frequently travel abroad.

“All they have to do is add their e-mail address after the word ON when they subscribe to the service,” he said.

Azli also said DAPAT Vista was also waiving the 50 sen charge levied on SMSes sent out from Rakan COP to Rakan COP members.

However, he stressed, the waiver only applied to those registered as Rakan COP members.

Azli said from now, Rakan COP members will only pay normal telco charges for SMS sent to the hotline.

Malaysia's astronauts: UKM doctor, army dental officer set for space

Dr Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, 34, of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and army dental officer Dr Faiz Khaleed, 36, have been picked as the two Malaysian astronaut candididates. The announcement was made by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

KL, Singapore keen on opening up budget air routes

Budget airlines such as AirAsia and Tiger Airways can expect the opening up of the air routes between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore soon.

Transport Minister Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy said although the two governments were yet to make a decision on this matter, both he and his Singaporean counterpart Raymond Lim had agreed that further liberalisation would be beneficial for the countries.

“We had very frank talks on the possible opening up of the air routes, over the past two weeks.

“I have set up a committee to look into the pros and cons of allowing budget airlines to fly the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore route and I understand that the report will be ready in a few days’ time.

“It will have to be submitted to the Cabinet and given to our Singaporean counterparts. We both believe that further liberalisation will benefit us in terms of more tourism and trade,” he said after an-hour meeting with Lim at his office on Monday.

Lim said the Singapore Government fully support the idea of opening up the air routes.

Exciting events lined up for Visit Malaysia Year 2007

Get ready to be impressed, Malaysians. Some heady events are coming your way in conjunction with Visit Malaysia Year 2007.

Among the events lined up are a six-storey-high space shuttle from Russia, a 100m-high ferris wheel to be located at the KLCC and an international fireworks competition.

Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor said these were only some of the events lined up to promote Malaysia as a tourist hotspot.

“The space shuttle – called Buran – will be flown into the country by a special aircraft and will be exhibited at the Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport in Subang.

“We won the right to exhibit the space shuttle after winning a bidding war with China and South Korea. The aerospace exhibition, to take place from June until Aug next year, will also commemorate the send-off of our first astronaut into space, which is scheduled at the same time,'' he told reporters after launching the Kemas kindergarten carnival here yesterday.

The 100m ferris wheel in KLCC, known as the “Eyes of Malaysia”, will allow rides for the whole year to the accompaniment of a light show.

Other events include the famous Edinburgh military tattoo show, and a floral and horticultural show and parade.

Last Friday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced that the ministry would receive a RM149mil allocation in conjunction with Visit Malaysia Year 2007.

Malaysia is hoping to attract some 20 million visitors.

Tengku Adnan said the ministry would also continue to give subsidies to inbound tour operators to hold promotions overseas as well as for the printing of pamphlets in various languages like Chinese and Russian.

“However, I also hope they will go all out to promote other tourist spots in the country.

“For instance, when I went to Semporna in Sabah recently, I found that there were more species of fish in its diving spots than there were at Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.

“Similarly, there are caves such as the Gua Tempurung in Perak and Gua Ikan in Kelantan that local tour operators have not been promoting,” he added.

Tengku Adnan said he also hoped that the income tax deduction given for local leave passage under the Budget would help spur domestic tourism.

Defence university will be opened to all races

Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia will be opened to all races.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said there would be no quota system, as the intake would be based on the number of applications.

“However, the bulk of the applicants must be from those who are interested to join the armed forces. We hope this new university will be able to attract more participation from the non-bumiputras.

“It is our hope that all officers in the armed forces will have at least first degree qualifications one day,” he told reporters after opening the Pekan Umno division delegates' meeting at the Sultan Ahmad Shah convention hall here yesterday.

Najib, who is also the Defence Minister, was asked about the announcement stating that the Malaysian Military Academy (Atma) would be upgraded to a university.

The project at the present site of Atma in Sungai Besi was estimated to cost about RM500mil.

“The university will specialise in certain fields similar to other universities,” he said, adding that relevant courses in the field of defence such as strategic studies would be incorporated into the curriculum.

Najib said the bulk of the lecturers would be scouted from locals and officers of the armed forces.

“We may also work out a co-operation deal with similar defence universities in foreign countries,” he said, adding that graduates of the present army colleges could also be absorbed into certain courses at the university.

Malaysia Airlines (MAS) increases fuel surcharge

Malaysia Airlines (MAS) will increase its fuel surcharge for most of its international routes by between US$2 and US$20 effective tomorrow.

However, surcharge for the route between Penang and Medan has been reduced by US$3.

The airline in a statement late last evening said fuel cost continued to remain the single largest expense item for all carriers.

“Malaysia Airlines will continue to monitor and take measures to mitigate the cost increase by streamlining and matching fuel surcharges with other airlines.”

The airline also said the new surcharge applied to flights it operated on a coach-sharing basis with other airlines.

The highest increase of US$20 is for the routes between Malaysia and the Americas.

MAS flies to New York and Los Angeles in the United States as well as Buenos Aires in Argentina.

The new one-way surcharge for these routes is US$87.

The other new surcharges are:

· Malaysia-Singapore: US$20 (increase of US$2);

· Malaysia-Brunei / Cambodia / Myanmar / Philippines / Thailand / Vietnam and Indonesia (except Penang-Medan): US$23.70 (US$2);

· Siem Reap-Phnom Penh: US$23.70 (US$2);

· Malaysia-India / Bangladesh: US$37 (US$5);

· Malaysia-Netherlands / Britain / France / Germany / Italy / Sweden / Switzerland / Austria: US$72 (US$5); and

· Malaysia-Turkey / Lebanon / Egypt / Qatar / United Arab Emirates / Saudi Arabia / South Africa / Mauritius: US$67 (US$10).

This is the fourth time this year the national carrier has increased its fuel surcharge.

From Aug 1, MAS had increased the fuel surcharge for domestic flights by RM5 for flights within the peninsula as well as Sabah and Sarawak.