LRT train hits woman who climbed onto tracks

A woman intruded onto the tracks of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) on the Sri Petaling route last night causing disruption to the service. — Picture by Saw Siow Feng

KUALA LUMPUR, March 28 — The experience and thorough training of train driver Roshada Shahida Abdul Rahim had helped to avoid a bigger tragedy when a woman, believed to be an Indonesian citizen, intruded onto the tracks of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) on the Sri Petaling route last night.

Roshada immediately reduced speed in compliance with the Standard Operation Procedure (SOP) as soon as the Operations Control Centre announced an intrusion on the tracks area at 9.04pm. At that moment, the train was heading towards Bandar Tun Razak

“However, the night was too dark for her to spot anyone on the tracks and the train hit the intruder.

“Rapid Rail will give full co-operation to the police in the investigation on this case,” Rapid Rail said in a media statement today on the incident of intrusion on its tracks which caused disruption of the LRT service along the Sri Petaling route.

The woman was believed to have entered the tracks area through a cut fence between the Bandar Tun Razak Station and Bandar Tasik Selatan Station.

The victim, who suffered a leg injury, was sent to the UKM Hospital in Cheras, here, for treatment.

The electrical supply had to be disconnected at 9.05pm to take out the intruder resulting in a 12 minutes delay in service. 

Capital punishment in Malaysia

Capital punishment in Malaysia

Capital punishment is a legal penalty in Malaysia that is currently suspended from being carried out. It is a mandatory punishment for murder, drug trafficking, treason, and waging war against Yang di-Pertuan Agong (the King). Recently the law was extended to include acts of terrorism. Any terrorists, and anyone who aids terrorists, financially or otherwise, is liable to face the death penalty. Since January 2003, the death penalty in Malaysia has been a mandatory punishment for rapists that cause death and child rapists. A 1961 law states that kidnapping carried a life sentence or a death sentence, preceded by a whipping.

In October 2018, the Malaysian governmentannounced that it would be tabling a bill to abolish the death penalty in Malaysia. In addition, the Government has also imposed a moratorium on all executions until the death penalty is abolished.

In March 2019, however, the government announced they had decided it will not abolish the death penalty.

Raub crash: Wife laments loss of husband a day before sister's wedding

Raub crash: Wife laments loss of husband a day before sister's wedding

Nor Asilah (centre) said she and her husband had just celebrated their first wedding anniversary on March 23, and welcomed their child, Maryam Medina, just over two months ago.-

BACHOK: The wife of Muhammad Faezuan Nor Izuddin, 27, one of the victims killed in a road crash in Raub, Pahang, is reeling over the fact her husband won’t be able to attend his sister’s wedding today.
Nor Asilah Arahim, 29, said matching clothes had been stitched for the whole family, and they were all pressed and ready for the event.
“I received the last message from my husband via WhatsApp at 1am (Thursday), and five hours later, I was shocked as a police officer came over to inform my husband had died in a road accident,” she said when met at her home in Jelawat here early today.

Faezuan was among five family members killed when the car in which they were travelling in from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Baru collided with an express bus in the opposite direction.

The other four were Nur Ilham Najwa Rahimi, 20, Mohd Sajury Abdullah, 63, Sobariah Haron, 64, and Uwais AlQurney Abdullah, 6.

Nor Asilah said she and her husband had just celebrated their first wedding anniversary on March 23, and welcomed their child, Maryam Medina, just over two months ago.

She said, however, her family had accepted the fate, and that the wedding of Faezuan’s sister would continue as planned despite the tragedy.

The remains of the victim arrived here from Raub at 1.10am today, and he was buried at the Kampung Kubang Chenok cemetery after funeral prayers at the Jelawat Mosque at 2.30 am. 

Nigeria's Naira More Likely to Follow Egypt’s Playbook Than Ghana’s

Nigeria's Naira More Likely to Follow Egypt’s Playbook Than Ghana’s

A gas station attendant displays a large bundle of naira banknotes 

Photographer: George Osodi/Bloomberg

For investors considering the fate of Nigeria’s naira after the central bank’s unexpected rate cut on Tuesday, Egypt may be a better guide than Ghana.

Both Egypt’s and Ghana’s central banks cut their main interest rates earlier this year, surprising most analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. But their currencies reacted differently. The Egyptian pound has since strengthened against the dollar and is one of the world’s best-performing units this year. Ghana’s cedi has tanked.

Nigeria’s naira has the potential to go the way of the Egyptian pound. Among the key factors are the steep rise in Brent oil prices this year to almost $70 a barrel and the $6 billion that has flowed into the Nigerian fixed-income market since last month’s general elections. Nigeria’s reserves, at $44 billion, are the highest since September, giving central bank Governor Godwin Emefiele plenty of firepower should he need to defend the currency.

Like Egypt, Nigeria’s yields remain attractive. The Abuja-based central bank has kept rates high for the past six months or so using short-term instruments known as open-market operations to rein in liquidity. Average yields on naira bonds of 14.4 percent are the fourth-highest among large emerging markets, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Ghana’s carry returns are juicy too. But it is battling perceptions that it won’t manage its finances properly after a four-year bailout with the International Monetary Fund ends next month.

Nigeria’s naira has the potential to go the way of the Egyptian pound. Among the key factors are the steep rise in Brent oil prices this year to almost $70 a barrel and the $6 billion that has flowed into the Nigerian fixed-income market since last month’s general elections. Nigeria’s reserves, at $44 billion, are the highest since September, giving central bank Governor Godwin Emefiele plenty of firepower should he need to defend the currency.

Like Egypt, Nigeria’s yields remain attractive. The Abuja-based central bank has kept rates high for the past six months or so using short-term instruments known as open-market operations to rein in liquidity. Average yields on naira bonds of 14.4 percent are the fourth-highest among large emerging markets, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Ghana’s carry returns are juicy too. But it is battling perceptions that it won’t manage its finances properly after a four-year bailout with the International Monetary Fund ends next month.

Shah Alam eatery listed on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants

Shah Alam eatery listed on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurant

The team at Dewakan. Teoh is fifth from right. (Photo from Facebook)

It is already known that Malaysian street food is increasingly getting the notice of gourmands and foodies the world over.

But it looks like local fine dining is also making waves in the international scene.

It was reported yesterday that Dewakan restaurant was placed 46th at Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2019 awards ceremony in Macau.

The Shah alam-based eatery has therefore become Malaysia’s first restaurant to make it to Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list.

According to a report by lifestyleasia.com, the awards are equivalent to the “Oscars of the food world”.

“It’s nice to be acknowledged for the work that’s being done by all in Malaysia, the farmers, the producers and other restaurants who are pushing it every day as well as our guests and the guys at the restaurant now and before,” said Chef Darren Teoh, who heads the kitchen team at Dewakan, told lifestyleasia.com. “It’s nice to represent that,” he added.

Meanwhile, restaurants in the continent that made the top five in the listing were Odette (Singapore), Gaggan (Thailand), Den (Japan), Sühring (Thailand), Florilège (Japan).

According to Dewakan’s website, the restaurant’s name was a combination of the Malay words Dewa (god) and Makan (to eat).

The highlights of the restaurant are its 17-course Kayangan menu and 9-course Nusantara menu.

Dewakan’s offerings include: Slow Cooked Red Snapper With A Broth Made From Temu, Kid Goat From Boden Farm With Petai-So, Roast Eggplant With Keluak & Candlenut Oil, Mango Curry, Black Banana Porridge, and Sweet Leaf Sorbet & Nam Nam.

“He takes a progressive ethos to dining using ‘funky’ and naturalised ingredients uncommonly found in Malaysian kitchens, working extensively with local farmers and producers,” wrote the lifestyle portal about Teoh.

The Malay Mail reported that the list was created by the people who came up with the World’s 50 Best Restaurants.

The list is based on an anonymous judging panel of 318 “industry experts” who have “personally dined” in the restaurants “within the last 18 months”.

And what are Teoh’s plans after getting such an accolade?

He hopes to relocate his restaurant from Shah Alam to the KL city centre, which will make the restaurant “far more accessible”

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Security at places of worship tightened, says IGP

Security at places of worship tightened, says IGP

Malaysians do not have to worry, I can give the assurance that police are always on high alert," he told reporters

KUALA LUMPUR: Police have tightened security at churches and temples in the country immediately after the Christchurch terror attack at two mosques last Friday.

Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun said he had instructed state and district police chiefs as well as ground officers to monitor houses of worship in case of any retaliation.

"Malaysians do not have to worry, I can give the assurance that police are always on high alert," he told reporters

after a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing ceremony between the police's Cooperative Limited, Retired Senior Police Officers’ Association (Respa) and the Malaysian Safety Industry Association at Bukit Aman, here, today.

On a separate issue, when asked if there was a possibility that militant members of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), Maute group and the Royal Sulu Force (RSF) were hiding in the Peninsular, Mohamad Fuzi said police were investigating the matter.

"Those arrested in the Mar 11 and Mar 12 operations are Filipinos, they were either escaping from the security forces of the Philippines or protecting militant members.

"We are investigating the matter as we do not allow foreign terrorist fighters to use Malaysia for their activities," he said.

Yesterday in a statement, Mohamad Fuzi said 12 Filipinos believed to be members of the outlawed ASG, Maute and RSF, and a Malaysian, were arrested in Semporna and Tambunan, Sabah last week.

He said some of the suspects fought along with the Maute group in the Marawi siege, in southern Philippines in 2017 and some were responsible for Sabah’s Lahad Datu and Semporna incursions in 2013.

Cred-net.com

Fintec Global buys Zouk Club KL

KUALA LUMPUR: Fintec Global Bhd has agreed to acquire a 75% equity interest in Zouk Club (KL) Sdn Bhd for RM28.95mil.

"The proposed acquisition will result in Fintec acquiring a well-established, profitable, self-sustaining entity that is ranked No.1 club in Malaysia and top 3 in Asia according to the magazine, DJ Mag," it said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia today.

The acquisition will also broaden up the group's F&B investments, as well as to provide avenues for the group to establish commercial deals that may be beneficial to its other investments.

The company said the purchase price was arrived at on willing-buyer willing-seller basis, after taking into account the goodwill value attached to the Zouk brand, its uninterrupted profit track record and the audited net assets of RM25.6mil as at Dec 31, 2017.

Cred-thestar

Malaysia to keep death penalty, but no longer mandatory

Malaysia to keep death penalty, but no longer mandatory

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has rowed back on an earlier plan to completely repeal the death penalty, saying that while the government will abolish mandatory capital punishment, it will leave it for courts to decide whether a person convicted of a serious crime will hang.

The mandatory death penalty for 11 criminal offences will be repealed, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohamed Hanipa Maidin told parliament on Wednesday (Mar 13).

These offences include committing acts of terrorism, murder and hostage-taking.

“We have made a decision. The government will only repeal the mandatory death penalty.

We will make the amendments,” said Mohamed Hanipa.

“This is in keeping with the 27th pledge in the Pakatan Harapan (election) manifesto.”

To a supplementary question on whether there are plans to set up a parliamentary select committee to discuss the repeal of the death penalty before tabling the amendment Bill, Mohamed Hanipa said he would forward the suggestion to the government.

Cred-channelnewsasia

Guan Eng: Malaysia Airlines will not be shut down

Guan Eng: Malaysia Airlines will not be shut down

Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng says the government will not shut down Malaysia Airlines Bhd.

KUALA LUMPUR: Lim Guan Eng has given his assurances that the government will not shut down Malaysia Airlines Bhd.

The finance minister said the statement by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad on the national carrier in Parliament had been misunderstood and misinterpreted.

“Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is not being fair to my prime minister. He (Dr Mahathir) spoke about the various options presented regarding Malaysia Airlines. He did not say he will close down Malaysia Airlines,” he said.

Lim was speaking to reporters after launching Bank Pembangunan Malaysia Bhd’s RM1 billion Sustainable Development Financing Fund.

In was reported yesterday that the government was looking into ways to resolve Malaysia Airlines’ financial conundrum with several options on the table, including shutting down the national carrier.

Dr Mahathir had said the matter was being discussed following heavy losses sustained by Malaysia Airlines since it was privatised in 2014.

He had been commenting on suggestions by several experts on the need to sell or shut down Malaysia Airlines.

In an immediate reaction, Najib had urged the government not to sell or shut down the airline.

The former prime minister said Malaysia Airlines was the country’s pride and joy and must continue to be the national carrier.

Lim, in defending his boss, further said: “The former PM issued a statement as if we going to close down Malaysia Airlines. So, I hope we can look at what the PM said properly... we are not going to close down Malaysia Airlines. We want to give this assurance to the employees.”

Lim said Najib should not be allowed “to create or cause unnecessary disruption and anxiety”.

“My prime minister never said it (that Malaysia Airlines would be shut down) but the former PM wants to create an alarm,” he said.

It was reported that half of Khazanah Nasional Bhd’s RM7.3 billion impairments registered last year were from sustaining Malaysia Airlines.

Meanwhile, on Bloomberg news reports on the Malaysian economy, stock market and growth, Lim said what happens in the stock market was beyond the government's control.

“It is beyond our control... it depends as market fluctuations are normal,” he said, adding that other statistics should also be taken into account when reporting.

The minister brushed aside the report and urged the media to look at other positive fundamentals of the Malaysian economy.

Asked how strong the Malaysian economic fundamentals were and if it was resilient, Lim said: “Our fundamentals are sound. 

Our growth rate, exports are up and trade surplus is RM120 billion and this very encouraging.”

Bloomberg had reported that the euphoria following Malaysia’s historic election last May had faded, leaving its stock market as the only one in Asia in the red this year.

The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI index has fallen more than one per cent so far in 2019, the only decliner in the region, while neighbouring Singapore has surged five per cent and Indonesia gained three per cent.

The Mummy Returns: Saudia flight to KL turns back after passenger realises she left baby at airport

The Mummy Returns: Saudia flight to KL turns back after passenger realises she left baby at airport

(Stock image for illustration purposes) On Sunday, a Saudia flight from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to Kuala Lumpur made a hasty U-turn shortly after take-off when a passenger noticed that her baby was missing

IF YOU feel like facepalming the next time you forget to bring along your toothbrush on a trip, take comfort in knowing that there is a traveller who is spectacularly more scatter-brained than you are, and who should probably stay at home.

On Sunday, a Saudia flight from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to Kuala Lumpur made a hasty U-turn shortly after take-off when a passenger noticed that her baby was missing – and suddenly realised that she had left it behind at the airport’s departure lounge, Gulf News reported.

How the Saudi woman managed to forget to bring along her baby is a mystery, but when informed of the missing human cargo, the captain of flight SV832 decided to return to the King Abdul Aziz International Airport.

His request to return, however, was greeted with utter bafflement by traffic controllers who were unsure of how to handle the unprecedented situation.

A one-minute video clip of the exchange between the captain and bemused ground control officials has gone viral on YouTube, and aptly captures the absurdity of the situation as everyone involved grappled to determine the protocol to follow.

According to the Daily Mail, the flight eventually landed safely and departed for Kuala Lumpur once again one hour later.

This epic incident of “forgetting” will not be soon forgotten by the Saudia flight crew, and, we hope, the absent-minded mother.

Cred-straittimes

Two dead after Chinese navy plane crashes

• No other injuries reported following accident on southern island of Hainan
• Military is currently intensifying training for pilots as it looks to strengthen capabilities
• 
  
  A Chinese navy plane crashed in Hainan province on Tuesday killing two crew members, the military said.
  A short statement said the crash happened during a training exercise over rural Ledong county in the southern island province.
  No one else was reported to have been injured after the plane hit the ground and the cause of the incident is being investigated.
• 
  
  Footage that purported to be taken from the crash site started circulating on social media after the accident.
  The mobile phone footage, which news portal 163.com said was taken in Hainan, showed smoke rising from piles of wreckage next to a damaged water tower as bystanders gathered at the site.
• 
  
  
• 
  

  The person who uploaded the footage said the plane had hit the water tower before crashing into the ground.
• 
  
  The PLA’s official statement did not specify the type plane that crashed, although unverified witness account online said it was a twin-seat Xian JH-7 “Flying Leopard”.
  The JH-7, which entered service with the navy and air force in the 1990s, has been involved in a number of fatal accidents over the years
• 
  
  The country’s worst military air accident in recent years happened in January 2018. At least 12 crew members died when a PLA Air Force plane, believed to be an electronic reconnaissance aircraft, crashed in Guizhou in the southwest of the country.
  Between 2016 and 2017, there were at least four accidents involving the navy’s J-15 “Flying Sharks”, one of them resulting in the death of the pilot.
  Military commentators have previously said that China’s drive to improve its combat readiness, which includes the building of new aircraft carriers and warplanes, has resulted in a serious shortage of qualified pilots.
  To fill the vacancies the Chinese military has started a major recruitment drive and intensive training programme for pilot pilots

• 
  
• Currently China has one aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, in service, which can carry a maximum of 24 J-15s as well as other aircraft.
  Meanwhile, the new home-grown carrier Type 001A will soon be commissioned, which is designed to accommodate to carry eight more fighters.
  In addition, construction is believed to have started on another carrier that will be able to carry heavier and more advanced warplanes.
  Chinese navy veteran warns training, not hardware is key to military preparedness
  According to figures from the end of 2016, there were only 25 pilots qualified to fly the J-15 while 12 others were in training.
  Most of the Chinese navy’s pilots have been redeployed from the air force, which is itself in need of more trained pilots.
  This year the navy for the first time began a nation-wide programme to scout out potential pilots.
  “Personnel quality is the key to everything,” he added.
• 
  
• Speaking on the sidelines of the ongoing legislative meeting in Beijing Feng Wei, a PLA pilot from the Western Theatre, said the military was currently intensifying its pilots’ training as increasing amounts of new equipment entered service.
• 
  
  
  
  
  Cred-southchinamorning