By CHELSEA L.Y. NG and CECIL FUNG

SHAH ALAM: Abdul Razak Baginda and C/Insp Azilah Hadri planned the murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu before the police officer carried it out with his subordinate Kpl Sirul Azhar Umar, the High Court here was told.

The prosecution, in kick-starting the much-awaited murder trial yesterday, said it would prove this as well as all events leading to it through direct evidence and circumstantial evidence.

In his opening statement, DPP Tun Abdul Majid Tun Hamzah said the prosecution would produce evidence to show that Abdul Razak, 47, had known the deceased since 2004, and frequently met her and gave her money during the course of their relationship.

'Mrs Razak Baginda' Mazlinda Makhzan accompanying her husband political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda into the Shah Alam High Court for the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder trial Monday. She and her family members wore white T-shirts which spelled out their relationship with Abdul Razak in a major show of support for him. - AZHAR MAHFOF / The Star

Despite ending their relationship in August 2005, the political analyst continued to give money to the Mongolian translator whenever she asked for it until early 2006 when he started declining her demands.

As a result, the Mongolian beauty hired a private investigator to track down Abdul Razak and came to Malaysia several times to demand money from him.

On arriving in Kuala Lumpur on Oct 8 last year, the 28-year-old Altantuya tried in vain to meet Abdul Razak who refused to see her.

In desperation, she left several notes for Abdul Razak, including a threat that his daughter would be in danger if he did not give her money.

The political analyst then hired a private investigator to trail Altantuya and also watch his house to prevent her from harassing him but despite all his efforts, the harassment and threats continued.

Tun Abdul Majid said that upon confiding in a senior police officer friend about his problems, Abdul Razak was advised to lodge a police report in view of the serious threats.

However, the political analyst did not do so and in turn, asked his friend to keep whatever he told him a secret. Abdul Razak then met C/Insp Azilah at his office at the Bangunan Lembaga Getah Asli on the morning of Oct 18 after his friend gave him his number.

Tun Abdul Majid said the evidence would show that C/Insp Azilah, 31, and Abdul Razak planned Altantuya’s murder together and a few hours after their meeting, the officer, together with Kpl Sirul Azhar, 36, went to Hotel Malaya where Altantuya had been staying.

He said a note seized from C/Insp Azilah’s office, which had the deceased’s name written on it in addition to her address and phone number as well as the name of Abdul Razak’s private investigator, would be tendered as part of the evidence.

In addition, the prosecution would also produce evidence to show that Altantuya had gone to Abdul Razak’s house on the evening of Oct 19 last year and the political analyst, on learning that she was there, asked the private investigator to “entertain her until his men arrived.”

Subsequently, Abdul Razak contacted C/Insp Azilah, who later came to his house in a car with Kpl Sirul Azhar to take Altantuya away.

The two policemen were the last people seen with the deceased.

According to the opening statement, Altantuya might not have been shot dead before she was blown up with explosives, as widely believed.

Tun Abdul Majid said evidence would be adduced to show that the deceased’s cause of death was “probable blast-related injuries”, which means she may have died the cruel death of being blown up alive.

Altantuya, in a police report lodged some eight hours before her disappearance, had stated that if anything were to happen to her, the police should look for someone named “Razak Baginda.”

Apart from that, the prosecution would also rely on a confession made by Kpl Sirul Azhar to his superior, and also on some items belonging to the deceased found in his house for this case.

In addition, a pair of bloodstained slippers was also found in the corporal’s car, and a DNA test concluded that it was the deceased’s blood.

Tun Abdul Majid said that it was C/Insp Azilah who led police to the crime scene.

The two policemen are charged with jointly murdering Altantuya between 10pm on Oct 19 and 1am on Oct 20, 2006 at Lots 12843 and 16735 in Mukim Bukit Raja, Shah Alam.

Abdul Razak, who is accused of abetting them, had his charge amended yesterday to having committed the offence between 9.54am on Oct 18 and 9.45pm on Oct 19 in 2006 in the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur.

In the original charge, he was accused of committing the offence between 9.54am and 11.05am on Oct 18 at Level 10, Bangunan Getah Asli, 148, Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur.

________________________

Me : Now that is surely nice. Apart of actually being there for the case, these people are uncovering the unopened truth, one at a time. The only thing is that we for sure do not know whether it is the truth, or just merely another true lies, like the one happened to Anwar Ibrahim.

Hey, I'm no supporter of Anwar Ibrahim, but he did got trapped in the true lies. Murder under influence, harassment. Now that is nice. Perhaps they are trying to cover up the real story behind the murder. Perhaps they are trying to cover up the story of these middlemen stuffs, as per told in the alternative medias.

Really, is there any way anyone could be blown up just like that, without having any signs of resistance? That is totally weird. Unless you are tied up or something, you will surely object to being blown up into pieces. I wondered, then, how will the defence turn in during their show?

Seludup manusia: Malaysia sangkal dakwaan Washington

KUALA LUMPUR 13 Jun – Kerajaan hari ini mengkritik langkah Washington yang menyenaraikan Malaysia sebagai antara negara yang terlibat dalam penyeludupan manusia dan menyangkal dakwaan bahawa kerajaan tidak melakukan tindakan sewajarnya untuk mengatasi masalah tersebut.

Menteri Luar, Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar yang menyangkal dakwaan tersebut menyatakan ia merupakan maklumat yang salah.

“Keseluruhan situasi dalam laporan tersebut membuat pra penilaian tanpa memahami keadaan sebenar di dalam negara.

“Mereka mempunyai hak untuk bercakap mengenai Malaysia tetapi dalam apa sahaja perkara yang tidak memberikan cerita yang betul, kami mempunyai hak untuk menyangkal dan laporan tersebut adalah berdasarkan kepada beberapa tanggapan yang tidak benar dan tidak sah,” katanya.

Negara ini telah disenaraihitamkan oleh Washington bersama beberapa buah negara lain seperti Myanmar, Cuba, Iran, Korea Utara dan Sudan kerana didakwa tidak melakukan tindakan sewajarnya bagi menangani masalah itu.

Malaysia yang merupakan antara rakan perdagangan penting Amerika Syarikat (AS) bersama enam negara lain termasuk sekutu Arab AS iaitu Bahrain, Kuwait dan Oman disenarai hitam oleh Jabatan Negara AS dalam laporan tahunan “Trafficking in Persons Report”.

Kuala Lumpur dipetik sebagai “gagal menunjukkan tindakan yang memuaskan” dalam beberapa perkara seperti hukuman terhadap pesalah, penyediaan perlindungan yang mencukupi dan perkhidmatan sosial yang sewajarnya kepada mangsa, serta melindungi pekerja asing daripada perhambaan secara paksa, kata laporan itu.

Menurut laporan tersebut, mangsa penyeludupan seks di Malaysia kebanyakannya adalah wanita dan gadis yang berasal dari Indonesia, Thailand, Filipina, Kemboja, Myanmar dan China.

Syed Hamid mengakui bahawa undang-undang Malaysia pada masa ini tidak mempunyai perbezaan antara penyeludupan manusia dan pendatang tanpa izin ke negara ini.

Bagaimanapun katanya, Parlimen akan meluluskan undang- undang anti penyeludupan yang akan mengenakan hukuman penjara selama 20 tahun terhadap pesalah selain daripada turut dikenakan denda.

“Dengan undang-undang baru, saya percaya kita menuju kepada arah yang betul,” kata Syed Hamid.

Sementara itu, Suruhanjaya Hak Asasi Manusia Malaysia (Suhakam) turut mengkritik perkara tersebut sebagai tidak adil kepada negara ini tetapi turut melahirkan kebimbangan terhadap isu tersebut.

“Saya setuju lebih banyak perkara mesti dilakukan tetapi meletakkan Malaysia dalam senarai tersebut adalah perkara yang tidak adil dilakukan oleh AS,” kata Pesuruhjaya Suhakam, N. Siva Subramaniam.

– AFP (Source : Utusan Malaysia)

_____________________________

Me : When I heard the news at Malaysia Hari Ini early in the morning, I was shocked too. I mean, what is their right to publicly do such things, which could easily tarnish the relationship between US and Malaysia, especially as we are trying to sell our Proton shares to Volkswagen AG. This would hurt our economy is a sense, since US is (if the source I received is still relevant) 2nd to Singapore as Malaysia's economy factor.

But nevertheless I would like to keep silent first, knowing that it would be better if I let the officials speak first. Besides, office-time is a big thing to do. I'm no manager who sits in the office, but a system tester who test PC systems. That's hard, right? So, I just kept silent and browse through previous articles in Malaysia Today, Malaysia Kini, The Star, Utusan, NST, BHarian, name it. And something caught my eyes.

If the report is true, then that would surely be a direct proof of human trafficking in Sabah, as per said by Raja Petra Kamarudin. PRK, with Deep Throat as his source, said about the Sabah officials bringing in Indonesians to vote for them, giving them a huge win all over the state, if not all over Malaysia. I forgot the link, but you can always search for it at Malaysia-Today.

Also, this could also proof that RPK's writing on illegal workers brought in by the officials is also true. Read here.

Some retailers unhappy over price controls

By SIM LEOI LEOI

PUTRAJAYA: Some retailers have expressed unhappiness over the Government’s move to reduce the prices of goods, which have been on the rise after a pay increase for civil servants was announced.

Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Shafie Apdal said these retailers had also complained that the Government was only helping hypermarket chains with its campaign to get consumers to buy cheaper goods.

“We are not helping the hypermarkets but the 26 million consumers in the country.

“There are certain retailers who are forced to sell their goods at a higher price due to their location at rural places but we should exercise our rights as consumers by avoiding those who are taking advantage of the situation.

“Many of these retailers claim the goods are being supplied to them at a higher price than previously. If this is the case, they should inform the ministry of it and we will help them get in contact with better suppliers,” he told reporters after a dialogue with industry players and non-governmental organisations here on Friday.

Shafie said he had also asked Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin for agricultural production and output of fish and other seafood to be increased, so as to ensure prices remained stable.

Six hypermarket chains had recently pledged to reduce the prices of goods sold on their premises, with one even promising cuts on some 2,300 types of goods.

Shafie had also been quoted as saying that Malaysia was trying to woo other hypermarkets such as the American Wal-Mart and Metro AG from Germany to set up stores in the country.

There has been a ban on new foreign hypermarkets since 2002.

Shafie said the ministry was concerned that the recent approval in pay increase for civil servants would lead to similar demands by staff in the private sector, which would then lead to inflationary pressure on the prices of goods.

He also said it was time for Malaysian consumers to change their buying habits as some of the recent “shortages” were due to them going on a spree.

“It’s ridiculous for a country which produces palm oil to be short of cooking oil. Consumers were panicking and buying more cooking oil packs than they usually did because of rumours of such shortages,” he said.

Shafie said between May 21 and last Thursday, the ministry’s enforcement officers had conducted checks on 64,008 premises and received 107 complaints against errant traders.

“We have also confiscated goods totalling some RM95,038 and compounded RM136,230 in fines against errant traders,” he said.

[Source: The Star Malaysia Online]

________________________________

Me : Will this be another drama unfolded, one piece at a time? Before this, Pak Dollah stated about the 'naik gaji' and COLA for gov't staffs. After that, Dato' Shafie Apdal (if I am correct, or was it Pak Dollah himself) saying that there won't be any goods' price increment. Then, a shallow voice came from the Gang2 Kedai Mamak (actually I forgot their real association name, someone could help me with that) about price-increment-gonna-be-soon at their stalls. The gov't then said this is not allowed, and the Gang2 Kedai Mamak rep. agreed and tried to compromise. The gov't then started looking for stalls selling Iced Milo at RM1.80 and other stuff with outstandingly increasing prices. Then came the retailers unhappy about the price control. Finally, perhaps, it would be like this : Due to the unhappiness of the retailers and stall-keepers, the government decided to raise up the prices of goods in Malaysia, but not to worry, the price is still control.

Yeah. That might be a logical ending in soap-opera-based country like Malaysia. There's just too much dramas in the TVs that the government is making their own drama, the only thing differs that their dramas affected our lives.

This must come to end. The 'naik gaji' thing is not a really relevant thing to do. Why did I say this? First of all, only the government staffs will enjoy this. This would come to a greater unbalance and rift between the races in Malaysia, especially the Malay-Chinese-India trio. Everyone knows that the government staffs comprises of mainly Malays. There are of course other races too, but to be compared with Bumi staffs, there would still be quite a large gap.

Secondly, price controlling could be bad for small shops. Hey, not only that they needed to fight with hypermarkets such as Tesco and Carrefour (and perhaps coming soon hyppies in Malaysia such as Walmart). This would of course give an advantage to the hypermarkets if the prices is kept low. Maybe the government would say that with lower prices, the customers would have a better choice in choosing between small sundry shops and hypermarkets. Still, customers will tend to go to hypermarket for their well-known establishment around the world. Thus, a price increase is perhaps needed by the shop owners to cover up their losses.

The next thing in mind is the fear of western globalisation. As per said in the previous paragraph, there would be a big advantage for the hypermarkets if the prices are controlled. Thus, what will happen to small sundry shops at the corner lots? Most of them will eventually cease to exist, as the earnings from their regular customers are just not good enough to keep them on the market. This will eventually leads up to great domination of hypermarkets, capitalisation at our own border. Instead of nurturing young entreprenuers, we will end up to producing workers for western entreprenuers. Yes, we still have Giant and so on, but the numbers are not as much as small sundry shops.

Sometimes it is not just about the customers. Yes, commonly customers are always right, but are they if their action ends up only in giving a big economic boom to outsiders, and throwing over a 'You sell your stuff too high la! Cut down price la!' round object to the shop owners without knowing that the round object is actually a hand grenade, which will eventually 'kills' the shop owners.

Don't Go For Outdated Voting Procedures, Says Chia

PENANG, June 4 (Bernama) -- The current voting system is fair and efficient, and the Election Commission (EC) should opt for up-to-date technology rather than outdated methods if it wants to improve it further, Deputy Information Minister Datuk Seri Chia Kwang Chye said.

"We welcome any move to enhance the system but it doesn't mean that the EC should go for outdated procedures," he told a news conference on the Bukit Bendera family day carnival here Monday.

He was commenting on EC's plan to introduce the use of indelible ink and possibly transparent ballot boxes at the next general election to prevent cheating.

EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman said on Friday that the use of indelible ink had been agreed to in principle.

On the 4.6 million eligible Malaysians who have yet to register as voters, Chia said the ministry, through Radio and Television Malaysia, would cooperate with the EC in organising a voter registration campaign.

On the carnival, he said it would take place at the Youth Park here Sunday. Among others, visitors will be able to register as voters at the EC counter and undergo health checks.

-- BERNAMA

Me : Now this is really weird. Indelible ink, though it might look outdated, have yet been the best solution to cleanse the image of corruption in Malaysia. Everytime during the GEs, there will be some special places where for no reason, there's tonnes of ballot papers which came by post that weren't expected by anyone. And that thing changed the election result dramatically, and the election is valid, for as long as no hard evidence is found giving a clue that the election was already rigged, hacked, corrupted.

If we are going for better election technology, that is always fine. Why not we use the India technique, where they used EVM (Electronic Voting Machine) to replace booth voting ?

Zam Regrets Some Media Still Using Bahasa Melayu

LANGKAWI, Jun 4 (Bernama) -- Information Minister Datuk Seri Zainuddin Maidin is disappointed that some print and electronic media are still using the term Bahasa Melayu instead of Bahasa Malaysia.

He said Bahasa Melayu should no longer be used to refer to the national language after the Cabinet made its decision on the matter in April.

"The Cabinet had made its decision and I had informed the media through Bernama (Malaysian National News Agency) on this. But unfortunately, some media choose to ignore the instruction.

"I also believe that Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka should play an important role in ensuring that the term Bahasa Malaysia be used by everyone," he told Bernama here, Monday.

He said there should be no excuse for any quarters not to use the term Bahasa Malaysia as the language to unite all Malaysians.

"The Indonesians too do not use Bahasa Melayu to refer to the Malay language but use Bahasa Indonesia instead.

"Bahasa Malaysia is for all and not just the Malays, but I regret that there are Malays who are still narrow-minded that they refuse to use the term.

"This has caused prejudice among certain quarters towards Bahasa Malaysia, hence foiling efforts to turn Bahasa Malaysia into a dynamic language," he added.

Zainuddin said there were also those who were more interested in trivial matters instead of focusing on pragmatic approaches for the development of Bahasa Malaysia.

"It is hoped that Bahasa Malaysia is used by all citizens of this country and people from outside too so as to bring it to a higher level," he said.

-- BERNAMA

Me : I wonder what is actually wrong in defining it as Bahasa Malaysia or Bahasa Melayu. To me, it is still the same. The reason is simple, Bahasa Malaysia is because the language is the official language of Malaysia, and Bahasa Melayu goes for the mother tongue for Malays. So what is there to be rambled about? Defining it as Bahasa Malaysia or Bahasa Melayu won't give a difference to this racist problem. If not, then why is English Language called as such? It is because it sourced from the Englishmen, the Britons.

If we are to built a real harmony in this multi-racial country, the very first thing to do is to avoid bringing such cases to court. Yep, the court power in high, but the effects are high too. For instance, the Lina Joy case. The Muslims won't agree if Lina Joy's appeal was allowed. The liberalists will stand by Lina Joy if she lost her appeal (and yep, they did that). Thus, the government created an open wound automatically by bringing such cases to court. Would not it be better if someone in the government just tell Miss Lina Joy that apostasy isn't allowed in this country, so please travel to another country, and change nationality and then change the religion status. Would not that be easier?

That is , of course, just a beginning. There is still much needed if we were to build a harmonic multi-racial country. Not by this Bahasa Malaysia and Bahasa Melayu. Please, stop becoming a laughing stock.

Karaoke 50 jam tanpa henti

Kementerian Pelancongan Malaysia menganjurkan Majlis Citrarasa 2007 mulai 8 Jun ini di Tasik Titiwangsa Kuala Lumpur.

Berbagai aktiviti diaturkan termasuk persembahan kesenian, pertunjukan bunga api dan persembahan artis popular. Menganggarkan lebih 100,000 orang akan mengunjungi majlis itu, pihak penganjur turut menyediakan gerai-gerai jualan makanan.

Menurut Ketua Unit Acara Kementerian Pelancongan Malaysia, Datin Zaiton Mohd. Ali, “Kami juga merancangkan aktiviti berkaraoke selama 50 jam sepanjang tiga hari tanpa henti. Ia akan bermula pada 8 Jun pukul 3 petang dan berakhir pada 10 Jun.

“Kalau program ini berjaya dilaksanakan, ia akan dicatatkan dalam Malaysia Book of Records sebagai program karaoke terlama,” kata Zaiton.

Untuk itu, katanya pihak penganjur mengalu-alukan penyertaan orang ramai. Mereka yang berminat menjayakan program tersebut boleh hubungi Romli Bidin di talian 017-3101288.

Selain itu, pertandingan karaoke yang menjanjikan hadiah lumayan juga diadakan pada majlis yang sama. Untuk menyertainya, khalayak boleh hubungi Inet di talian 019-2484545.

Sementara itu, bagi pengunjung yang ingin menyaksikan penampilan artis popular, satu persembahan nyanyian akan diadakan pada 9 Jun pukul 8 malam di tempat yang sama.

Gandingan penyanyi-penyanyi lama dan baru pada malam itu dijangka akan dapat mencipta kenangan indah kepada pengunjung Majlis Citrarasa 2007.

Kumpulan Ruffedge misalnya akan mempersembahkan lagu-lagu popularnya seperti Lemas, Da Bomb, Bila Rindu dan Secebis Kepercayaan. Sementara Sasi The Don dengan lagunya Hey General, Anbe, Giving Thanks To Jah dan Suatu Impian, Aspalela Abdullah (Pengodaan, Ibunda Tercinta, Joget Memujuk dan Bunga Hati), Amylea AF3 (Joget Sayang, Andai, If I Ain’t Got You dan Ku Berserah).

Selain itu Farhan AF3 juga akan diundang menyampaikan lagu Still got The Blues, Route 66, Aku Saja Yang Tahu dan Dia, Kelvin Lau (Shanghai Beach, Sonata Musim Salju, Kau Ilhamku dan Pencinta Wanita), J.Sham (Suratku Untukmu, Resam Dunia, Ku Akan Pulang dan Di Pinggir Kali) dan L.Ramlee (Ayahku Kahwin Lagi, Dara Pujaan, Siapa Bilang Aku Tak Sayang dan Joget Baju Kurung).

Persembahan artis pada malam itu akan diacarakan oleh pelakon kacak, Fahrin Ahmad.

[Source : Utusan Malaysia Online]

Me : Now this is really stupid. As we are going for Vision 2020, I really can't stand it to see something as funny as this. We are in the middle of so-called globalisation, and yet we are still being kiddies in the eyes of the world. Before this we have already made stupid world records such as longest Keropok Lekor and so on. This is just lame.

We want ourselves to be known as intellectual, and we are known for our good education system. Still, even with such systems, we are not producing first-class mentality, but we are producing these kind of mentality.

I do understand that we need fun and enjoyment, but there must be a limit to these things. It is not about being an ill-socialized geek who had no fun at all, but there must be an end to all this. As we are pursuing other nations to invest in our country with WPI and so on, we are becoming a laughing stock for them as well with these things.

Or yet, is this another signal of so-called globalisation? This is the very reason why some critical-minded Easterners rejects globalisation. They are afraid that with globalisation, we are not becoming global, but we are surrendering our thoughts, minds and actions to the Westerns and agree that their agenda is correct. Booming economy is a thing, but a collapse in our morality is also a thing. This certainly does not go with Malaysian culture. This activity, known in Malaysia as 'karok' should remain as a past time hobby if it was to pass by unnoticed, no more than that.

Proton : Aftermath

Talk to other firms, Proton told

KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has asked Proton Holdings Bhd to start talks with other carmakers on a partnership because Volkswagen AG is not interested.

“I have made the decision that since Volkswagen is not interested in the proposal that Proton wants in terms of the equity participation but they want cooperation in some other form, Proton can begin to talk to others,” the Prime Minister told reporters after chairing the Umno supreme council meeting last night.

Besides the German carmaker, US-based General Motors Corp had in the past expressed interest along with French PSA Peugeot SA to work with Proton.

When both the car manufacturers pulled out, Volkswagen became the forerunner.

However, the March 31 deadline to announce the strategic foreign partner of Proton passed without any development.

The Government’s investment arm, Khazanah Nasional Bhd, is offering its 38% equity in Proton for sale to save the carmaker from further losses.

Local automotive companies who have been eyeing a stake in Proton include Naza Group, Mofaz Group and DRB-Hicom Bhd.

Abdullah also called on Proton to do whatever necessary to turn around the national car industry.

It was announced yesterday that Proton’s net loss was RM591.4mil for the year ending March 31.

On whether there was a need to revamp the top management of Proton, Abdullah replied: “They have to do whatever is necessary.”

[Source : The Star Malaysia Online]

ME : Whatever is necessary :

1) Bring up all the CEOs of GLC to together help PROTON. Where's KJ this time? He said about Jihad Ekonomi ?

2) Cut their pays, including the top figures.

3) Make surveys of what people would go for their car, and let them have it for a real cheap price ? (Hey, Americans did this when they created their muscle cars)

But then again, I wonder who would eventually 'help' the company, economically. Well, Volkswagen is not going to do it, for sure. Surely people wouldn't want Naza to buyout Proton. So, perhaps Proton will go to Temasek Group ? Nope, we aren't so sure about that, but still that is a potential. Nobody knows.