Petronas royalties to stay

Dewan Rakyat: Oil royalty to states stays at 5pc
By : Reports by V. Vasudevan, B. Suresh Ram, Eileen Ng, R.S. Kamini, Ili Liyana Mokhtar and Joseph Sipalan
NST, Wednesday 14 May 2008



THE five per cent royalty going to Sabah, Sarawak and Terengganu on oil and gas extracted by Petronas will not be reviewed. Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Senator Datuk Amirsham A. Aziz, said financial considerations prevented the government from acceding to their requests for an increase in royalty.

This was because any increase in royalty to the states would eat into the 10 per cent royalty the government received from Petronas.

He was replying to a supplementary question from Alexander Nanta Linggi (BN-Kapit) on whether the federal government would look into increasing its royalty from 10 per cent to 20 per cent.

To another supplementary question from Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail (PKR-Permatang Pauh), Amirsham said the formula involving royalty on oil and gas saw the government receiving 10 per cent, of which five per cent was given to the three states.

To the original question from Dr Wan Azizah, Amirsham said that between 2004 and last year, Petronas paid a total of RM26.839 billion in royalty to the federal government, Sabah, Sarawak and Terengganu.

The Federal Government received RM13.4 billion, Terengganu (RM7.3 billion), Sabah (RM1.2 billion) and Sarawak (RM4.8 billion).

Amirsham said that based on current oil extraction methods, crude oil and oil condensates were expected to last 22 years while gas reserves would last 39 years.

"Even though there are many years for the reserve period (oil and gas) to expire, the fact is that the country also imports oil and gas to meet some local energy needs.

"Thus, the country is expected to be a net energy importer by 2014," Amirsham said.

To another question, Amirsham said oil production in Terengganu, Sabah and Sarawak for the financial year ending March 31, last year, stood at 241.3 million barrels of crude oil.

Gas production was 2,081.4 billion square feet, he added.

He said crude oil and gas products exported by the subsidiaries of Petronas were sold at current world prices whereas the price for domestic sale of gas-based products for the electrical and non-electrical sector was fixed by the government.

A terrible crime and a terrible shame on our law enforcers

Woman left for dead after robbery (NST, Saturday, May 10, 2008)

Lee Hui Fun lying on the ground bleeding after she was stabbed several times in the back. — NST picture by Afendi Mohamed

KUALA LUMPUR: A woman was stabbed at least four times in the back and left for dead by robbers in a senseless attack yesterday morning.

Lee Hui Fun was found unconscious in Jalan Maktab, near the police college in Cheras, by policemen on patrol duty.

It is believed that the 33-year-old victim, a clerk from Taman Kencana, Cheras was attacked while she was walking to work.

The victim's handbag, containing her identification documents, was taken in the robbery.

Police have still not been able to interview Lee, who is said to be still in a state of shock.
She was warded at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Hospital where her condition was reported to be stable.

Lee was found unconscious about 9.40am.

Policemen and several passers-by gave her first aid before sending her to the hospital.

What is one or two deaths - NS to stay!

NST Online, Friday May 9, 2008

National service to stay despite trainee's death
By : June Ramli

The National Service programme will not be scrapped despite another death among the 18 year old trainees. National Service Training Department director-general Datuk Abdul Hadi Awang Kecil reiterated that the training programme will not be scrapped “just because of one or two deaths.

“It is our policy that the NS camps go on. What we are doing now is to rectify the problem,” he told the New Straits Times.

He was commenting on calls by bloggers for the scrapping of the programme following the death of 18 year-old Too Hui Min on Wednesday. She was the 16th NS trainee to have died during training since the programme was incorporated four years ago.

Abdul Hadi said the department’s officials will be meeting Health Ministry officials on June 3 to decide on a technical committee to make it compulsory for all trainees to undergo health check-ups before entering the three-month programme.

Several departments have to streamline the processes before the health check-ups can be done.
In Too’s case, Abdul Hadi said the trainee had a colon problem.

“She might have been suffering from it for a long time and did not know about it until her death, ” he said.

He said the department was doing its best to ensure that the facilities in the camp are safe, by getting the Ministry of Health and the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to certify the campus premises.

The NS programme is a brainchild of the National Service Training Council chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye. Participants, aged 18 years old, go through a three-month programme likened like a summer camp.

Motion to debate NS trainee's death

NST Online, Friday May 9, 2008

MP puts notice on motion to debate NS trainee's death
By : Brenda Lim

Batu Gajah MP Fong Po Kuan is putting in a notice for an emergency motion for the Parliament to debate the death of 18-year-old NS trainee Too Hui Min next week.

She said one death among National Service trainees is too many, said

"I hope this will be debated as there has been too many incidents of deaths among NS trainees," she told reporters after paying a courtesy call on Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin at his office here yesterday.

She said Too's death on Wednesday and previous cases of fatalities showed that the NS training programme was riddled with weaknesses to the extent that parents cannot be reassured on basic issues such as the safety and health.

Fong called on Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to stop the NS training programme, observing that some 110,000 are expected to undergo the programme this year.

She said she never supported the programme since it was first mooted in 2003.

"In just 90 days, you cannot achieve the three objectives of the NS training programme - racial unity, patriotism and character building," she said.

On her meeting with Nizar yesterday, she said she presented a memorandum listing several problems faced by her constituents, including food hawkers being told by the Kinta Barat district council that they could not renew their licences without purchasing a grease interceptor from a certain company.

"The grease interceptor is expensive and not very effective," she said, adding that traders were informed that they could only buy from a Selangor-based company.

She also highlighted the plight of the Perak Chinese Women Association, a non-profit body for single mothers, children and the elderly, which received pledges of up to RM140,000 for a new building on Jan 27, but had yet to receive payment from the former state government (RM30,000), Barisan Nasional (RM50,000), the Association for Wives of Perak Elected Representatives or Baiduri (RM20,000), former deputy state speaker Datuk Yik Phooi Hong and former state executive councillor Datuk Tan Chin Meng (RM20,000).

Other problems include squatters appealing for lower premiums, a temple requesting for more burial ground, and calls for repairs for the leaking roof of the Menglembu wholesale market.

Too Hui Min - latest NS statistic

The Star, Friday May 9, 2008

Family wants to know why girl not sent to hospital earlier

By DHARMENDER SINGH

KUALA SELANGOR: National service (NS) trainee Too Hui Min (pic) had complained of constipation for three days before she died and her family wants to know why camp officials did not take her to the hospital earlier.

Her mother, Chin Kwee Choo, 52, said she was told by the Geo Kosmo National Service Training Camp staff in Kuala Kubu Baru that her daughter had complained of constipation for several days.

“But they said she only started to complain of pain when she went to the shooting range in Banting on Wednesday morning,” she said, adding that even then the camp authorities should have taken her to the hospital at once.

She said someone from the camp called her four times on Wednesday, with the first call at 8pm, to say that Hui Min was being taken to hospital, followed by another call at 9pm to say she was having problems urinating.

At 10pm Chin was told that her daughter would be warded and the final call, just before 11pm, was to tell her of Hui Min's death.

NS Training Department director-general Datuk Abdul Hadi Awang Kechil said Hui Min died on Wednesday at 10.45pm at the Slim River Hospital in Perak.

The teenager and 177 other trainees had chicken rice for lunch while training at the shooting range in Jugra Banting, Selangor. They arrived at the range at 1.45pm.

Shocking news: Hui Min’s sister Hui Wen (left) and cousin Ching Ya Shi grieving over the sudden death of the trainee in Kuala Selangor yesterday.

“We are in a state of disbelief because she was an active and healthy 18-year-old,“ the distraught mother said. She has two other children.

Chin said Hui Min, who scored 7As in her SPM examination last year, was to enter Form Six at SMK Bukit Kuda in Klang on Monday.

“She was to come home today (yesterday) and apply to be exempted from the rest of the training to attend school but instead we are bringing her body back. My daughter is gone.”

She said the last time they spoke to Hui Min was when she called home on Monday. Soon after her body arrived at the family home in Taman Bayu here at about 3.15pm, seven of Hui Min's fellow trainees who shared the same hostel with her arrived to pay their respects.

NS Training Council member Joseph Wang, who visited the family, said an internal investigation would be conducted to find out what led to Hui Min's illness.

Hui Min’s body will be cremated at the Fairy Park cemetery at noon today. The hearse will leave the house at 11am.

Antara Tuan dan Hamba

The Star, Friday May 9, 2008

Tee Keat: Drop the "Ketuanan"

KUALA LUMPUR: The phrase, ketuanan Melayu (Malay supremacy), should not be brought up any more as it creates the impression that one race is the master while the others are slaves, MCA vice-president Datuk Ong Tee Keat said.

Ong said the phrase had nothing to do with the Federal Constitution and was not something that needed to be said any more considering the special position the Malays already have.

“For other races, ketuanan (superiority) implies the word kehambaan (slavery). The root word of ketuanan is tuan (master), and that does not give it a good meaning.

“In Malaysia, we have lived together for so long and the relationship is not the same as between a master and a slave,” he said, after launching the 6th Golden Bull Award 2008 for Malaysia’s 100 outstanding small-medium enterprises (SMEs).

Ong said Malaysians had to move forward with more respect for each other and deal with more important issues.

When asked if he was afraid of any backlash, Ong said:

“What backlash? I’m speaking the truth.”

About the Golden Bull Award, Ong said it was to recognise the contribution of SMEs to the country and that as Transport Minister, he would ensure efficient transportation services so that SMEs could flourish.

Nanyang Press Holdings Berhad executive chairman, Datuk Paul Leong, said the awards ceremony would be held in conjunction with the Global SMEs Trade Fair 2008 that would be held in Hanoi, Vietnam in November.

Information Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek said Malaysians should not to be overly sensitive about the term ketuanan Melayu but view it positively from the angle of history and the Constitution.

He said it did not mean that Malays were the masters and non-Malays slaves.

“Let’s not politicise this until it reaches the level of a new polemics,” he told Bernama at the Parliament lobby.

He said all quarters should refer to history as the country had once been ruled by Malay Sultans and Rajas (Kings), who were the masters of the Malay lands but were willing to give up their powers to the people under the constitutional monarchy system.

According to the constitution, Ahmad Shabery said the Malay sultans and rajas were symbols of Malay supremacy in this country.

Ahmad Shabery added that Article 182 of the Federal Constitution also touched on the immunity of the Sultans and Rajas, which was an interpretation of the Malay supremacy term.

Jeff Ooi says: Mahathir is 70% good man!!

The Star, Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Off the blogs

Full name: Ooi Chuan Aun (DAP)
Age: 52
Marital status: Married
Children: Three
Constituency: Jelutong, Penang
Education: BA (Hons) USM; MBA (RMIT)
Profession: Blogger; politician; Chief of Staff to Penang CM
Contact: jeffooi.screenshots@gmail.com

JELUTONG MP Ooi Chuan Aun has plenty on his plate these days as an elected representative as well as Chief of Staff to Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.

But a number of people who are familiar with him since the days before his foray into politics want him to continue the role he played then – as Jeff Ooi the blogger.

Last month, Ooi himself declared on his blog Screenshots (http://www.jeffooi.com) that he wanted to reclaim his life as a blogger. Now that “the dust has settled,” as he put it, he has resumed posting on his blog.

By the way, Ooi’s readers may be interested to know that the blogger published his first book i-Witness in February – a compilation of his articles between 2002 and 2007.

Ooi, whose family is based in Selangor, is the founder of USJ.com.my which is a grassroots-managed community portal for Malaysia’s K-generation, and LensaMalaysia.com – a portal for the Community of Practice (CoP) in digital photography.

Before becoming a full-time politician, he was an e-business consultant for vertical industries, Open Source advocate, and a columnist in Malaysian Business.

He has been invited to speak at prestigious learning institutions around the world including the Harvard Law School and National University of Singapore.

In June 2005, Paris-based Reporters Without Boundaries (RSF) voted Screenshots the “Freedom Blog Asia”, out of 60 blogs worldwide.

A shutterbug, Ooi keeps a travel log with pictures ranging from the colourful Thaipusam celebration in Malaysia to the skyscrapers of Hong Kong to the breathtaking scenery of Tunisia.

In the last general election, Ooi took an unorthodox approach to campaigning when he played his electric guitar at a ceramah at Han Chiang High School in Penang. In the pouring rain, too.

How much time do you spend on the computer?

About eight hours daily. I am Malaysia’s first blogger elected into Parliament.

We know that you play the guitar.

I used to be in a band actually. I sing and play the Humbucker (rock/electric guitar). I have been into music since my high school days – ah, those were the “James Dean-rebellious years”.

What type of music do you listen to?

Classic and hard rock. Country and western – I like to end the day with some easy listening music while driving home. And Japanese enka – this is actually a form of classical Japanese folk songs sung in simple rhymes and I just love the facial expressions of the performers. I like bands like the Eagles and Scorpion.

Name a favourite song.

My favourite song? It’s got to be Hotel California by the Eagles – the unplugged version.

Are you into movies?

Yes! I have a large collection of World War II DVDs. I enjoy war movies because they deal a lot with strategies that can be applied to business management. I can’t stand science fiction but I like Star Trek. I also love the Indiana Jones series and can’t wait for the next instalment, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Favourite actor?

Jack Nicholson. He only had five scenes in A Few Good Men but he was brilliant – the way he expressed himself was excellent. I must have watched it 10 times just to hear his diction. He was also fabulous in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and I believe he won an Oscar for his performance.

Favourite actresses?

Grace Kelly and Audrey Hepburne. They had such poise and charm. You don’t see that anymore these days.

What do you read? What was the last thing you read?

I read management books that deal with strategies, like the Blue Ocean Strategy. The last book I read was Avoiding the Resource Curse by Prof Jeffrey Sachs. I also like reading anecdotes. I actually have my own compilation which I sometimes use in my speeches.

Are you into English Premier League football?

No, I only watch football once every four years – the Fifa World Cup.

If not football, what’s your game?

I’m not really a sports fan, but the one sport I really don’t like is golf!

What do you play?

I used to play badminton but had to stop because of work.

Coffee or tea?

(Laughs) Wow, you weren’t kidding when you said these are “light” questions. Coffee. Latte.

Got a nickname? How did it come about?

Jeff, I suppose. My Filipino band leader gave it to me many, many years ago because he couldn’t remember my Chinese name.

What’s your drink?

Whisky for social drinks. But I like red wine. Not so much the fruity wines, though. I prefer wine with a woody taste. Beer is not for me because it just fills the belly.

What languages do you speak?

English, Mandarin, Bahasa Malaysia and Bahasa Indonesia.

Do you smoke?

No, I inhale.

What is the gadget you can’t do without?

My mobile phone; wireless and PC; and GPS gadgets – in that order. I am not really into the PDA or Blackberry – I don’t like the little Blackberry keyboard pads.

What’s your favourite food?

Sashimi.

You have a weakness for ...

The latest mobile phones and cameras! Photography is one of my hobbies.

Do you have a dog/cat?

No, my wife simply forbids it! She says when we are travelling, there will be no one to care for the pet. She is also a hygiene freak and wouldn’t tolerate ticks and animal hair around the house. Besides, she believes it’s quite inhumane to confine animals.

What car do you drive and how long have you had it?

Proton Wira – it’s my old faithful. I have been driving her around for the past seven years.

What is your contribution to environmental conservation?

I don’t contribute much individually but I do write about the subject a lot on my blog. I feel very strongly about preservation of heritage buildings and old steam engine locomotives. (Smiles)

Name an idol (dead or alive) whom you look up to and why.

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. He is 70% a good man. He has fired the imagination of Malaysians to excel.