77 PCT OF MALAYSIAN WOMEN LOWLY PAID

KUALA LUMPUR, April 23 (NNN-BERNAMA)-- Gender segregation has reared its ugly head in the Malaysian labour market, with about 77 per cent, or 2.7 million women, in under-valued and lowly paid occupations.

This was further reinforced as most men and a large population of women themselves support traditional division of labour and find differences in salaries justifiable. The National Seminar on Work, Income and Gender Equality which concluded here Wednesday, highlighted this.

The seminar also highlighted the issue of sexual harassment, which affected women in every workplace and at every level of employment, thus compromising women's safety and productivity.

The two-day seminar, organized by the Human Resources Ministry in collaboration with the International Labour Organization (ILO), was attended by participants from government, the private sector, trade unions and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

In order to rectify the situation, the seminar recommended a change in the mindset of society on stereotyping, and encouraging more men to be involved in sharing responsibilities through education.

It also recommended that the government introduce laws and regulations that encourage flexible working arrangements to accommodate women's roles and also make provision for a longer period of paid maternity leave.

The seminar noted that although there was a significant increase in the enrolment of women in institutions of higher learning in the country, the labour market, however, rated graduate women low in terms of remuneration.

It also noted there was a sizeable talent pool among women that remained untapped because of inadequate maternity leave, rigid and non-conducive regulations, adverse stereotying of women's role by society and lack of support from men in shouldering the responsibilities of caring for children and elderly.

The seminar recommended that the Employment Act 1955, be extended to include all working women. Currently, it does not cover domestic workers and those earning more than 1,500 Ringgit (one USD = about RM3.6) per month.

As a social responsibility, the seminar also recommended that the government devise strategies to encourage employers to cater for the disabled. It also wanted existing guidelines and employment contract for contract workers to be made more effective with a proper enforcement mechanism.

It also emphasized that the government should draw up strict regulations for recruiters and employers to avoid exploitation and abuse of maids. -- NNN-BERNAMA

Sex, a quarrel, then death

SHAH ALAM: A couple went to a temple in Sepang to pray.

After fulfilling their religious obligations, they had sex outside the compound and then fell asleep.

When they woke up several hours later, they got into a heated argument which turned deadly when the man went back into the temple, grabbed a parang and hacked the woman to death.

The High Court here yesterday heard how general worker S. Ganesan, 24, then hid P. Suganthy's body in some bushes behind the temple.

Ganesan then threw away the parang and fled.
Suganthy's body was later found by a passer-by.

The facts of the case were read out yesterday before judicial commissioner Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim. He sentenced Ganesan to 14 years' jail after he pleaded guilty to culpable homicide.

Ganesan admitted committing the offence at a temple in Kampung Lembah Paya Salak in Sepang between noon and 6.15pm on Aug 11, 2005.

He was initially charged with murder and had claimed trial after which nine prosecution witnesses had testified.

Ganesan subsequently changed his plea when the prosecution reduced the charge to manslaughter.

In sentencing him, Abang Iskandar said, based on the post-mortem report, Suganthy, a 22-year-old cleaner, had suffered 16 external body injuries and a cracked skull.

He said the only mitigating factor he could consider was that Ganesan was a young offender (he was 19 when the offence was committed) and that he had pleaded guilty.

He ordered him to serve the jail term from the date of his arrest on Aug 31, 2005.

In mitigation, counsel K. Viknesvaran pleaded for leniency as his client had repented.

He pointed out that Ganesan was from a poor family and had pleaded guilty to the offence.

Deputy public prosecutor Hana Hadinah S. Mohd Ghazali pressed for a heavy sentence to reflect the gravity of the offence.

Rose For Friend

Well, i receive this note in my email and i wish to share it with all my friends out there. Even if we never meet before and it just happen that you just pass by........you all are my friemds.

New Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities

Tan Sri Bernard Giluk Dompok has been appointed the Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities in the new Federal Cabinet announced on 9 April 2009. He takes over from Datuk Peter Chin Fah Kui who has been appointed as Minister of Energy, Green Technology and Water.

Tan Sri Bernard, 60, holds a BSc. (Land Administration [UK] FISM) which he obtained from the University of East London in 1978. The same year after graduating, he started his career as a valuer at the Sabah Lands & Survey Department. In 1980, he pursued his career as a private valuer until 1985.

Married with five children, the Sabah-born Minister commenced his political career in 1986 and among the positions he has held include being the Minister in the Finance, Agriculture & Fisheries as well as Tourism ministries in Sabah. Besides which, he had also held the post of Deputy Chief Minister and Chief Minister of his home state. At Federal level, he was first appointed a Minister in the Prime Minister's Department in 1994.

MTC congratulates Tan Sri Bernard on his appointment and looks forward to his guidance and leadership to further develop the downstream sector of the timber industry in Peninsular Malaysia. At the same time, MTC takes this opportunity to thank Datuk Peter Chin for the untiring efforts put in over the years to develop the timber industry, and wish him success in his new endeavour.

Landslide destroys half of road

KAPIT: Continuous heavy rainfall over the last few days has caused a massive landslide which destroyed half of Jalan Melekun.

Motorists are advised to exercise extra care when approaching Km1.8 of the road.

The Borneo Post, which was tipped off about it, visited the site in a four-wheel drive, taking about 40 minutes to reach the scene from Kapit town.

The journey in the rain covered Jalan Selirik, Jalan Lepong Baleh and Jalan Melekun.

According to information, the road collapsed as early as Tuesday evening after heavy rainfall, and worsened as more rain fell. Half of the tar-sealed surface disappeared as the ground gave way.

Earlier Kapit District Officer Simon Japut Tiok, accompanied by Public Works Department staff, visited the site to investigate the extent of damage to the road.

The authority condoned off the danger zone to warn motorists of the road closure.

The reporter who was at the scene was informed by a passer-by that the road completed two years ago experienced a massive landslide just above the Lepong Baleh communal longhouse.

Coincidentally another massive landslide had occurred that cut off the access road from Jalan Melekun to Nanga Bawai, affecting a primary school, SK Nanga Bawai, which has 30 teachers and 180 pupils.

Also affected were some 600 rural folks living in two longhouses beside the Baleh River - Rumah Nabau and Rumah Ulau.

The access road provided a convenient route to Kapit which is about 40 minutes by four-wheel drive along Jalan Melekun-Jalan Lepong Baleh-Jalan Selirik.

The landslide occurred two nights ago after continuous heavy rainfall had fallen over a few evenings. The soil on the steep slope gave way to running water and began to flow down to cover the access road.

It was a recurrence of a previous landslide that took place late last year when the same stretch of road was submerged in mud after heavy rain.

The road user appealed for assistance from the government agency to clear the mud so they could pass through.

Police officer caught with his pants down

BUTTERWORTH: The deputy chief of a police station who had his zipper down and a woman teacher were detained for indecent behaviour by religious department officers yesterday.

Penang Islamic Department officers detained them at the Bagan Ajam rest area on the Butterworth Outer Ring Road.

The police officer shouted abusive words at the religious department officers and refused to show his authority card after identifying himself as a policeman.

The department's operations unit chief, Khairul Azman Azizan, had to ask policemen who were accompanying them to help detain the police officer.

The police officer and his female companion, who is in her 40s, were taken to a police station.

They were released five hours later on bail.

Datuk Seri Najib Razak

Datuk Seri Najib Razak feeding 'pulut kuning' to his wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, at a ceremony celebrating his homecoming as the sixth Prime Minister in his Pekan parliamentary constituency.

Lottery winner dies while waiting to collect money

A MAN who was waiting to collect a RM20,000 prize money at a 4-Digit outlet died before he could see the money, reported Nanyang Siang Pau.

It is learnt that Luo Zhi Liang, 47, was asked to wait while the operator at the outlet in Miri, Sarawak, prepared the cheque for him at about 10am on Wednesday.

While waiting, Luo had intended to buy another number, but before he could complete writing the number down, he collapsed and died leaving only three numbers on the paper.

A Place Called Home

Iraqi children play next to their makeshift home in Baghdad's al-Dora slum today. One hundred and seventy homeless families live in al-Dora slum making their living with garbage recycling.

Dirty Old Man

The 56-year-old, who is receiving monthly assistance from the Welfare Department, has been filming his sexual exploits and selling the recordings.

But his career as a porn star has been cut short by police, who arrested him at his Bandar Putra home on Saturday. They had been watching him for a while after receiving a tip-off.

In the 4pm raid police seized a pen drive which contained video recordings of the man having sex with a woman believed to be a foreigner in her 20s.

Segamat district police chief Superintendent Abdul Majid Mohd Ali said the police believe the recordings on the pen drive were meant to be downloaded onto video compact discs (VCD) for distribution.

Putting Sarawak on forest management world map

The opening of Sarawak Rainforest and SFM (Sustainable Forest Management) Discovery Centre at Bukit Kana and SFM certification for Anap-Muput FMU (Forest Management Unit) on Thursday will put Sarawak on the world map for tropical forest management.

Malaysian Timber Certification Council chairman Datuk Dr Freezailah Che Yeom said the centre would become a special reference project in the state to be followed by others especially in Malaysia.

“About 370 million hectares of forests in the world are reported to be under sustainable management and certified, out of which tropical forests account for only about five per cent.

“And most of these areas are in Malaysia. About 56 per cent of Malaysia’s land area is forested compared with the global forest cover of only 30 per cent.

“Sarawak is therefore truly green with more than 60 per cent of its land under natural forests,” said Dr Freezailah during the official opening of the centre.

The centre is 20 kilometres from Sangan and accessible by road and river from Tatau.

Travelling between Bintulu Airport and Sangan is approximately one hour.

The centre has a built up area of 1,025 square metres including an exhibition area to showcase the local natural history, tree and timber products, wildlife and its management interpretation, community life and craft with classroom, library, conference room, surau, landscaped play area and facilities for full board and lodging for up to 50 people in a modern permanent building equipped with electricity and running water.

According to Dr Freezailah, the protected forests are under serious stage of being sustainably managed.

“Two FMUs in Sarawak, Selaan Linau and Anap-Muput have been certified for sustainability under the MTCS (Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme),” he added.

He said the statistics are most exemplary and should make Malaysians proud though much work still remains to be done.

“In Anap-Muput we can see all the positive elements that contribute to success in the implementation of SFM.

“Good community relations and meaningful involvement of members of the local community have been nurtured and developed by Zedtee management,” he said.

He congratulated Zedtee management for being able to improve the local people’s lives and their livelihood through their special efforts and activities.

“As somebody once said, forestry is not really about trees. Forestry is about people and how forests may be sustainably managed, utilised and developed to contribute to human welfare and human well-being.

“Equally here in Anap-Muput, we can see efforts on the ground to ensure biodiversity conservation and protection with the support of local communities,” he said.

The centre in Bukit Kana is beautifully situated in the green wonderland and Dr Freezailah believed that it could offer so much and symbolise the aspirations and the future of forestry in the state through SFM and certification.

The centre was previously known as Bukit Kana Field Station and represents the realisation of the key strategy of the Development Plan of the ITTO Project of Model Forest management Area in Sarawak to provide a permanent facility for training programmes for planning least damaging harvesting operations and skill training of forest operators.

NAJIB ADMINISTRATION 2009

The unexpected Umno leaders appointed to the Najib Administration today is Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir, made the Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry while his rival, Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin, did not get a posting. Dropped from the Cabinet are stalwarts Tan Sri Muhammad Muhammad Taib, Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar, Datuk Azalina Othman Said, Datuk Zulhasnan Rafique and Datuk Ong Ka Chuan and rookie minister Datuk Amirsham Aziz.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, in unveiling his new 28-Minister, 40 Deputy Ministers administration, confirmed Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as Deputy Prime Minister but he was unexpectedly moved to Education Ministry.

The three Umno vice-presidents were given key ministries - Datuk Seri Hishammudin Hussein as Home Minister, Datuk Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (Defence) and Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal (Rural Development).

Wanita Umno chief Datuk Seri Shahrizat Jalil made the expected return to the cabinet in her old Ministry, Women, Family and Community Development but the major surprise is Datuk Anifah Aman getting the Foreign Minister's post, a first for a Sabahan.

Najib retained the veteran Datuk Seri Rais Yatim, who went back to familiar territory as Minister of Information, Culture, Arts and Communications.

Batang Ai

Batang Ai by-election is seen as the fight between "the beginning of the end" and the "end of the beginning".

There are only 8,006 voters here, with the vast majority being Ibans (7,608), but this election is seen by BN as the end of the beginning of PKR's ambitions in Sarawak, which must call for a state election by next year.

However, PKR has told voters that a win for it would spell the beginning of the end for BN, and specifically Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud's reign.

With Ibans outnumbering the handful of Chinese voters (274), Malays (117) and others (seven), campaigners including those who are not Ibans used the "Rentap" language to woo the community.

Rentap was a feared Iban warrior who fought against James Brooke in the early days of Sarawak's history.

"The underlying cause is the same. In the old days, Rentap fought with spears and machetes against our enemy but now we have to use our brains to keep away the unwanted from ruining our future," said one BN campaigner.

Another from the opposing side said: "Our people have to start an uprising against tyranny and discrimination just like what Rentap did. If you don't fight, we will remain poor."

BN's Malcom Mussen Lamoh and PKR's Jawah Gerang are not only old friends but also share relatives in many of the longhouses.

Obviously, the candidates have not been trading insults but the parties they represent have been at each other's throat.

F1: Button wins abandoned Malaysian Grand Prix

Jenson Button won a chaotic Malaysian Grand Prix today for a second straight victory after the race was abandoned when a ferocious storm lashed the Sepang circuit.

Nick Heidfeld in his BMW Sauber came second, benefiting from pitting only once to Button’s four times in a race that became a lottery. Timo Glock in a Toyota was third.

It was finally halted after 32 laps as rain pelted down, lightning flashed around the circuit and visibility deteriorated, the first time since Brazil in 2003 that a race has been called off due to weather.

Formula One supremos must take some of the blame after pushing for a 5:00 pm start instead of its regular 3:00 pm slot to satisfy European television audiences.

With tropical Malaysia routinely getting wild storms, it was clear that if one hit during the 56-lap race they would have trouble finishing with daylight disappearing.
Toyota’s Jarno Trulli came fourth, Rubens Barrichello in the other Brawn was fifth and Mark Webber in the Red Bull was sixth.

World champion Lewis Hamilton picked valuable points by coming seventh with Nico Rosberg filling out the top eight.

However, the drivers and constructors only get half the usual number of points with the race halted at less than three-quarter distance.