Controversial rare earth ore arrives in Kuantan port

KUANTAN PORT : More than 100 containers suspected to contain rare earth ore have arrived in Kuantan port near midnight yesterday under unusually heavy police presence.

Stop Lynas Coalition chairperson Andansura Rabu, who was at the port, told Malaysiakini that a large number of police and Lynas employees were at the dock last night.

According to him, some 102 containers arrived at Kuantan port at about 11pm, which he suspected contain raw material for the controversial Lynas rare earth plant in Gebeng.

Prelude to the Post-Lee Kuan Yew Era

Event: Saturday 24 Nov 2012  time: 2-4pm 

at the Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall

Book launch

Speakers at Singapore Forum: Tan Wah Piow, Dr G Raman & Dr Wong Chin Huat

Tan Wah Piow, the author of Smokescreens & Mirrors, will be in Kuala Lumpur to launch the book on the 24^th November. 

Smokescreens & Mirrors is not only a powerful rebuttal of the Singapore government’s allegations against him in 1987 as the “Mastermind of a Marxist Plot” to overthrow the PAP, it is, in the words of one Singaporean reviewer:

Smokescreens, however, is not simply a historical analysis of the political machinations that took place in 1987. It closes in the present with a call to action: Tan pushes for a

Pairin: Jeffrey doesn’t love me anymore

It is now an open secret that the KadazanDusuns
in Keningau and even Tambunan are clamouring
for change, but Joseph Pairin Kitingan
refuses to acknowledge the shift

By Calvin Kabaron

PENAMPANG: Embattled Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) president Joseph Pairin Kitingan has increased his attacks on his brother Jeffrey. He sees Jeffrey as the man who will send him into retirement.

Speaking to reporters at the end of recently-concluded PBS congress here, Pairin accused the younger Kitingan of not loving him and of breaking the unity within the KadazanDusunMurut communities.

He also said Jeffrey was uncooperative and hurled half a dozen more accusations against his younger brother.

Sabah RCI comes under fire

Restricting the Sabah RCI hearing to a predetermined
number of witnesses will result in investigations
falling far short of public expectations.

By Joseph Bingkasan

KOTA KINABALU: The Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into the fraudulent issuance of citizenship to illegal immigrants has hardly got off the ground but has already run into controversy.

Its move to call for testimony for witnesses at its “whim and fancy” will render its investigation far short of what the people of Sabah are expecting, an MP from Sabah said today.

“The commission must conduct an open hearing to give opportunities for the public who want to offer testimonies without restriction,” said Angkatan Perubahan Sabah (APS) president Wilfred Bumburing, the Tuaran MP.

Where’s the billions in forest royalties?

Despite the billions derived from logging,
oil and gas royalties, Sarawakian natives
have remained poor with minimal infrastructure.

By Joseph Tawie

KUCHING: Where has the RM14.4 billion in forest royalties derived from logging Sarawak’s rainforest since 1980 gone?

Posing this question in the current sitting of the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly, assemblyman See Chee How said the revenue seemed not to have filtered down to the masses, as the state was still grappling with poverty.

“What has happened to all the forest royalties that the state received from all the trees chopped down since 1980?

“The state government likes to claim that logging [and now oil palm] has brought development to the rural people. But, if so, why is there still so much poverty and deprivation in Sarawak?

‘Can you expect thieves to arrest themselves?’

A Sabah-based activist has accused Upko of pussyfooting
around the illegal immigrant issue.

KOTA KINABALU: The author of a book ‘Lest We Forget’ that chronicled the ‘acquisition’ of Sabah by Umno-linked authorities, who re-engineered the demographics of the state, is surprised that local leaders are now downplaying the facts.

Expressing his concern, Dr Chong Eng Leong said he was worried that even a hardline local Barisan Nasional coalition component was backing away from the controversial issue after years of championing it.

Chong is particularly incensed that state assembly representative Donald Mojuntin, the son of the late Peter Mojuntin who is lionised as a defender of Sabah’s rights, was now choosing to limit the fallout from a widely acknowledged illegal act.

TNB deal in Sabah raises eyebrows

Why is Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd paying a TNB subsidiary
RM18 million annually for routine services when it can
do the job itself?

TAWAU: The yearly payment of RM18 million to a subsidiary of national utility company Tenaga National Bhd for routine services of a power station in Sabah has come under the spotlight.

Sabah DAP chairman Jimmy Wong said state utility company, Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd, which is itself a subsidiary of TNB, must explain the rationale for the multi-million ringgit bill for maintenance checks by TNB Remaco on the Kubota Power Plant at Taman Millennium.

Wong said SESB should be able to handle the routine task without having to engage TNB Remaco for the job as has been done in the past.

“The RM18 million is only used to conduct routine operation and service. Any major breakdown is still paid by SESB.

Shafie’s wooing Yong back into BN

In a bid to unseat Musa Aman, Umno vice-president Shafie Apdal
is allegedly brokering deals with SAPP's Yong Teck Lee.

Umno vice-president Shafie Apdal is allegedly masterminding the return of former Sabah chief minister Yong Teck Lee into the Barisan Nasional and claiming he has the tacit approval of party president Najib Tun Razak to negotiate the return.

This is despite the fact that Sabah BN components distrust Yong, who is Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) president.

Yong, Shafie and Joseph Ambrose Lee were partners in crime at one time. They allegedly took over the RM30-billion timber wealth of Yayasan Sabah through a share-swap. The “swap” had allegedly taken place when Yong was chief minister and Shafie a directer in Yayasan Sabah.

Hands off Gaza! Stop the massacre!

The Socialist Party of Malaysia (PSM) condemns Israel for its latest brutal assault on the Palestinian people.

Israel has once again intensified its aggression against the Palestinian people of Gaza, by launching airstrikes since 14 Nov 2012. Israel has amassed troops on the border and threatened a ground invasion on the Gaza Strip. More than 100 Palestinians including at least 23 children have been killed since the new massacre called “Operation Pillar of Defense” began.

East Malaysia's oil will pay huge RM45bil PTPTN bad debt

With only about half of the money owed to it collected, one may think that it is time for the National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) to start tightening the screws.

However, according to its chief executive officer Agos Cholan, PTPTN still wants to do things "the nice way".

"We have the nice way and the harsh way. So far, we have been quite nice and moderate. We advertise in newspapers, on billboards and hold awareness campaigns to tell the people ‘pay back, lah', and so on.