‘Stop objecting to organ donations’

KUALA LUMPUR: Primary school teacher Mohd Nizam Abdol Manap had to wait 10 years for a kidney transplant but when the day finally came, his hopes were dashed.

The 31-year-old was told that the family members of the deceased donor had objected to the release of the organ.

A dejected Mohd Nizam said: “I wish that family members would not stop organs of the deceased from being donated as this could give kidney failure patients a chance at a better life.”

Mohd Nizam said that he was studying in Universiti Teknology Mara in Shah Alam when he had a fever for two weeks and was then admitted into the intensive care unit for eight days.

“I went into a coma for four days,” he said at the Taman Keramat Integrated Religious Primary School yesterday.

When he woke up, he was told that his kidneys had failed, apparently due to leptospirosis infection and hypertension, and he had to go for dialysis.

Ahmad Syahrani Shaharir, 37, suffered failure of both lungs in 2011 as a result of primary pulmonary hypertension (iPAH).

“Earlier this year, I was excited when I was told to get ready for a kidney transplant as they had found a suitable donor,” he said.

“However, I received news that the family had objected to the donation."

“If Malaysians have any humanity at all, they would be more far-sighted about this.”

The former bank clerk in Seremban said that prior to 2009, he was active in badminton, jogging and swimming but a slipped disc had left him bedridden for three months.

He was often tired since then and was diagnosed with iPAH two years ago.

“Doctors say that a patient like me could ‘go’ at any time,” he said, adding that it was hard for him to take care of his 15-month-old baby without feeling tired.

The theme for this year’s National Organ Donation Awareness Week 2013 is One Pledge A Million Hopes, Organ Donation Saves Lives, reflecting the hopes of the 17,000 patients with end-stage organ failure for transplants to help save their lives.

To be launched on Oct 5 at Laman 1 Malaysia Putra Jaya (near Millenium Monument), it is hoped that more than 5,000 participants will take part in a walkathon that carries the most creative organ donation message, among other activities.

PM: There was no secret IC project

KUALA LUMPUR: There was no secret project by the Government to grant citizenship status to foreigners in the country, says Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

In fact, he pointed out, citizenship was granted according to the country’s legal process and the Federal Constitution, and other countries, too, offered citizenship according to their respective terms.

“(Former Prime Minister) Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had replied clearly in the RCI (Royal Commission of Inquiry) that there was no secret project that we (the Government) had undertaken.

Whatever it is, those who became the country’s citizens did so according to the legal process of the country based on the Federal Constitution.

“But if one were to say that there was a secret project, that is not true,” he told reporters after opening the Middle Temple Conference 2013 here yesterday.

He was responding to Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s testimony at the RCI on illegal immigrants in Sabah that the Government under Najib’s leadership knew about the granting of citizenship.

Anwar claimed that there was a shadowy task force involved in issuing Malaysian identification documents to foreigners in Sabah.

He also said that he had no direct involvement in the task force when he was in the Government between 1982 and 1998.

“This group was operating outside the scope of legitimate structure,” said Anwar, the 210th witness to testify before the RCI.

He said he had learnt that this task force was set up in the early 1970s when Tun Razak Hussein was Prime Minister and Tun Datu Mustapha Harun was Sabah Chief Minister.

Responding to questions from conducting officer Manoj Kurup, he said the task force was set up in response to the influx of Filipinos fleeing the insurgency in the southern Philippines.

Anwar said the secretive group was not the federal special task force on Sabah illegal immigrants that was set up in the 1980s.

Anwar said he believed the secretive task force was never disbanded.

“It began under Tun Razak and continued under Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak,” he added.

Anwar said he was never involved or officially briefed about the secretive task force nor was he invited to sit in during the meetings of the National Security Council chaired by the Prime Minister.

“I would disagree to any suggestion that the Prime Minister was unaware of this operation. If it involved 5,000 documents, then perhaps yes. But we are talking about hundreds of thousands here,” he added.

When RCI chairman Tan Sri Steve Shim pointed out that the commission had heard evidence that Sabah’s population had grown during the 1990-1995 period coinciding with Umno’s expansion into the state, Anwar said any political party would do whatever was possible within the law to increase its influence.

Anwar, who was Umno vice-president at that time and eventually became party deputy president, said there was never any discussion at Umno supreme council meetings about a project to issue identity cards to foreigners in Sabah.

To another question from lawyer Alex Decena representing the Sabah Law, Anwar said enforcement agencies must be held accountable.

“They cannot allow operations like this to go on with impunity,” Anwar added.

Najib had insisted on the setting up of the RCI to resolve the illegal immigrant problem in Sabah and had on Sept 21 handed over appointment letters to the RCI chairman, who was former Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak, and other commission members.

Hong Kong couple jailed for 'inhumane' abuse of Indonesian maid

HONG KONG (AFP) - A Hong Kong couple were jailed Wednesday for a shocking string of attacks on their Indonesian domestic helper, including burning her with an iron and beating her with a bike chain.

Tai Chi-wai, 42, and his 41-year-old wife Catherine Au subjected their former maid Kartika Puspitasari to a two-year campaign of violence and humiliation, labelled "cruel" and "inhumane" by the trial judge.

The 30-year-old was also assaulted with clothes hangers and a paper cutter.

Protesters outside court Wednesday held a placard dubbing the couple "Mr and Mrs Evil" and called the city to "End the social exclusion of foreign domestic workers in Hong Kong!"

Hong Kong is home to nearly 300,000 maids from mainly southeast Asian countries, predominantly Indonesia and the Philippines with growing criticism from rights groups over their treatment.

Judge So Wai-tak, who described the attacks on Puspitasari as "repeated and continual", sentenced Tai, a salesman by profession, to three years and three months in prison for one count each of assault causing actual bodily harm and wounding.

Members of the Asian Migrants Coordinating Body hold a protest outside a court in Hong Kong on September 18, 2013

Au, a hospital assistant, was given five-and-a-half years for two charges of assault causing actual bodily harm and four counts of wounding, three of them with intent.

In a courtroom packed with rights activists, Indonesian migrant workers groups, reporters, and representatives from the city's Indonesian consulate, the judge described the couple as "breaching integrity" and committing a "serious offence".

But he found them not guilty of a charge of false imprisonment over the allegation that the couple left the maid without food or water after tying her to a chair and forcing her to wear a diaper while they went on five-day vacation.

Both the accused, who had denied all the charges and remained impassive in court, were jailed immediately after the verdict.

"Employers and employees in Hong Kong should resolve differences through patience and tolerance," So said, adding that the couple's actions may damage the city's image as a safe place to work.

"The sentence is too light. The couple did this together," Sring Atin, vice chairperson of Indonesian Migrant Workers Union, told AFP.

"I hope this is the last time it happens. But the guarantee comes from the government which has to reform its policies to better protect us," she said.

During the two year period when she was employed, Puspitasari said that she received no salary, was banned from talking to anyone and could not leave the couples' residence.

Puspitasari, who worked in Singapore for seven years before coming to Hong Kong, sought refuge at the Indonesian consulate in Hong Kong after fleeing her employers.

The defence had accused her of lying, citing a history of disputes over the her wages.

A union representing domestic workers held a protest in March to call for an end to a policy which requires foreign maids to live with their employers, saying the rule exposes them to assault and sexual harassment.

In the same month two Filipina maids lost their bid for permanent residency in Hong Kong after working in the city for more than 20 years.

Other categories of workers from foreign countries can gain permanent residency after seven years.

The standard wage for domestic workers is just under HK$4,000 ($515) a month for a six-day week.

Dec 5, 6 set for trial of sex bloggers Alvivi

KUALA LUMPUR: The Sessions Court here has set two days beginning Dec 5 for the trial of a case involving sex bloggers Alvin Tan Jye Yee and Vivian Lee May Ling, who were hit with three charges over their controversial Ramadan bak kut teh greeting on Facebook and pornographic pictures in their blog.

Judge Murtazadi Amran fixed the date in chambers Thursday after meeting lead counsel Chong Joo Tian and deputy public prosecutor Nur Hafiza Jemali.

Chong told reporters that the court fixed Dec 5 and 6 for trial.

He said he also informed the court that the High Court had set Oct 31 to hear the striking out application on the duo's seditious charges under Section 298A of the Penal Code.

The charge is for causing disharmony, disunity, or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will on grounds of religion.

On July 18, Tan, 25, and Lee, 24, claimed trial to charges under the Film Censorship Act, Sedition Act and Penal Code.

They were accused of displaying pornographic images on their blog between July 6 and 7.

For the second charge, they were accused of uploading content that had the possibility to stir hostility based on religion between those with different beliefs, at a restaurant in Jalan Dang Wangi here between July 11 and 12.

They also faced a charge of publishing a seditious photograph and comment "Selamat Berbuka Puasa (dengan bak kut teh...wangi, enak, menyelerakan)" which contained a halal logo and possibly seditious statements, at Kompleks Mutiara.

Teacher held for forcing boy to do oral sex

KUALA LUMPUR: A school teacher was arrested for allegedly molesting and forcing a 13-year-old student to perform oral sex on him.

The 35-year-old disciplinary teacher at a primary school in Bandar Baru Sentul was picked up from his home on Saturday, after the student’s parents lodged a police report.

City deputy CID chief Asst Comm Khairy Ahrasa said initial investigations showed that the teacher had been close to the student for about a year.

“He would ask the boy to follow him during his rounds and help him with his paperwork on a regular basis,” he told a press conference yesterday at city police headquarters.

The teacher-student relationship turned sexual when the teacher, who is married with two kids, started showing the student pornographic videos when they were alone.

This activity was repeated several times over the months before the traumatised student told his parents on Friday.

The parents immediately lodged a police report before the teacher was detained the next day.

The teacher is now under a one-week remand.

First task - Obama's visit

KUALA LUMPUR: United States Ambassador-designate to Malaysia Joseph Y. Yun has arrived and is down to some very serious business – preparing for President Barack Obama’s much-anticipated visit here.

Describing it as an exciting time for him to begin his latest diplomatic adventure, the Korean-American career diplomat says he is looking forward to the great challenge.

“The last time the President of the US visited Malaysia was about 46 years ago, so this is a historic visit,” he told reporters in his maiden press briefing at the US Embassy here.

Yun was nominated to be the US Ambassador to Malaysia by Obama on July 23, 2013 and was confirmed by the full Senate on Aug 1.

He was most recently the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs as well as Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs.

Yun’s overseas postings include that to South Korea, Thailand, France, Indonesia and Hong Kong.

President Obama will be visiting Malaysia for the Fourth Global Entrepreneurs Summit on Oct 11.

Married to Dr Melanie Billings-Yun who was also present at the press meet, Yun said the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPPA) Agreement would be another focus for him here.

He said the TPPA would help create job opportunities and enhance the economic well-being of Malaysia.

The TPPA involves 12 partners, and according to a study it is said that Vietnam and Malaysia are two of the nations which will benefit the most from it.

“We are looking to achieve a high standard agreement where the TPPA will be the blueprint for trade and investment,” he added.

Yun said Malaysia was geographically potent and a diplomatic entity to the United States as it played a huge role in Asean and United Nation’s peace-keeping missions.

“Malaysia, just like the US, has a multiracial, multiethnic society and I hope we will be able to maintain a strong relationship while working for the betterment of both nations,” he added.

Yun, who has a son, holds degrees from both the London School of Economics and University of Wales.

Only 85 taxi owners get loans to buy Exora

SHAH ALAM: Only 85 taxi owners under the 1Malaysia Taxi (TEKS1M) scheme have managed to get bank loans although 1,000 units of Proton Exora have been set aside under the scheme.

Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) chairman Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar said only 85 loan applications had been approved by Bank Simpanan Nasional.

Banks practise prudence in granting loans. For TEKS1M, the only authorised bank is Bank Simpanan Nasional.

“I hope all the loan processes can be settled. We will check with Bank Simpanan Nasional and see what the problems are,” he told reporters after witnessing the inspection process of the first batch of taxis under the scheme at Puspakom here.

Syed Hamid said he was happy with the stringent inspection conducted by Puspakom on the taxis.

Proton Edar CEO Hisham Othman said that Proton had received 907 bookings under the TEKS1M scheme, but can only process the applications of those who had approved loans.

“On our side, we are ready to deliver more than the 85 units (of Proton Exora taxis),” he said.

Under TEKS1M, taxi owners need not pay a downpayment for their new vehicles, and the loan interest is fixed at 2% for seven years. The downpayment is paid for via a grant from Yayasan Rakyat 1Malaysia and rebates from Proton.