selangor times sept 23-25, 2011 / issue 41

24
community SEPTEMBER 23 — 25, 2011/ ISSUE 41 Alam Flora surrenders solid waste contract POOR RESPONSE TO FREE BICYCLE PARKING p 2 p 16 SERVICE CENTRES: HELPING THE PUBLIC p 12 & 13 • Turn To page 6 Chinese firms keen on river rehab project By Gan Pei Ling SHAH ALAM: Chinese compa- nies keen on the RM10 billion Klang River Rehabilitation project are scheduled to make a second visit to Selangor next month. e delegations, which include representatives from China State Construction Engineering Corp, will discuss potential partnerships with the state. Teresa Kok said the delegation had visited Selangor last month to survey the Klang River and study the feasibility of the project. “ey’re preparing a proposal and will return to Selangor next month to discuss details of a joint venture with us,” said the executive councillor for investment, industry and trade. China State Construction Engi- neering Corp, one of the largest companies in China, was responsi- ble for the construction of the 2008 Olympic facilities in Beijing apart from rehabilitating the Su- Zhou Creek in Shanghai. Kok said the Performance Man- agement and Delivery Unit (Pe- mandu) under the Prime Minis- ter’s Department had also met the Chinese delegation during their August visit. She said Pemandu has agreed to work with Selangor to clean up the Klang River, particularly its source in Ampang. She added that around 100 fami- lies living near the river source in Ampang were dumping domestic waste and polluting the river. Consequently, Pemandu allo- cated RM3 million to relocate the families. Kok said 80km of the Klang Riv- er is in Selangor while the remaining 40km is in Kuala Lumpur. She said Putrajaya had set aside RM1 billion for river beautifica- tion and RM3 billion for river cleaning jobs for the 40km Kuala Lumpur stretch under its “River of Life” project. However, no federal funds were allocated to Selangor to rehabilitate its 80km stretch of Klang River. His Majesty the Yang di-pertuan agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal abidin and raja permaisuri agong Tuanku nur Zahirah accompanied by Menteri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim on their visit to the Sultan abdul aziz royal gallery in Klang on Wednesday.

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Page 1: Selangor Times Sept 23-25, 2011 / Issue 41

community September 23 — 25, 2011/ issue 41

Alam Flora surrenders solid waste contract

Poor resPonse to free bicycle Parking

p 2 p 16

service centres: HelPing tHe Public

p 12 & 13

• Turn To page 6

Chinese firms keen on river rehab projectBy gan Pei ling

sHaH alaM: Chinese compa-nies keen on the RM10 billion Klang River Rehabilitation project are scheduled to make a second visit to Selangor next month.

The delegations, which include representatives from China State Construction Engineering Corp, will discuss potential partnerships with the state.

Teresa Kok said the delegation had visited Selangor last month to survey the Klang River and study the feasibility of the project.

“They’re preparing a proposal and will return to Selangor next month to discuss details of a joint venture with us,” said the executive councillor for investment, industry and trade.

China State Construction Engi-neering Corp, one of the largest companies in China, was responsi-ble for the construction of the 2008 Olympic facilities in Beijing apart from rehabilitating the Su-Zhou Creek in Shanghai.

Kok said the Performance Man-agement and Delivery Unit (Pe-mandu) under the Prime Minis-ter’s Department had also met the Chinese delegation during their August visit.

She said Pemandu has agreed to work with Selangor to clean up the Klang River, particularly its source

Menteri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim informing nursery operators and Yayasan Selangor officials that the state government will not hand out ToL for green Lane.

in Ampang.She added that around 100 fami-

lies living near the river source in Ampang were dumping domestic waste and polluting the river.

Consequently, Pemandu allo-cated RM3 million to relocate the

families.Kok said 80km of the Klang Riv-

er is in Selangor while the remaining 40km is in Kuala Lumpur.

She said Putrajaya had set aside RM1 billion for river beautifica-tion and RM3 billion for river

cleaning jobs for the 40km Kuala Lumpur stretch under its “River of Life” project.

However, no federal funds were allocated to Selangor to rehabilitate its 80km stretch of Klang River.

His Majesty the Yang di-pertuan agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal abidin and raja permaisuri agong Tuanku nur Zahirah accompanied by Menteri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim on their visit to the Sultan abdul aziz royal gallery in Klang on Wednesday.

Page 2: Selangor Times Sept 23-25, 2011 / Issue 41

phone (603) 5510 4566fax (603) 5523 1188

email [email protected]

EDITORIALCHIEF EDITOR KL Chan

COMMUNITY EDITOR Neville SpykermanWRITERS Tang Hui Koon, Chong Loo Wah, Gan Pei Ling,

Basil Foo, Alvin Yap, Gho Chee Yuan, Brenda Ch’ngCOPY EDITORS Nick Choo, James Ang

DESIGNERS Jimmy C. S. Lim, Chin Man YenADVERTISING Timothy Loh, Ivan Looi, Tony KeeADVISORS Faekah Husin, Arfa’eza Abdul Aziz

2 September 23 — 25, 2011

news

Alam Flora surrenders solid waste contract in Selangor

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Contact Timothy Loh 019-267 4488,Ivan Looi 014-936 6698

By Selangor Times team

KLANG: Alam Flora Sdn Bhd’s sud-den decision to end their solid waste contract in Selangor is expected to cause a stink, but the state already has plans to minimise the problem.

The solid waste management concessionaire had originally agreed to hand over garbage collection ser-vices to local authorities next January, but said last week that they would end their contract on Oct 15.

Local governments have only been given a month’s notice to prepare to take over garbage collection services.

“There might be some disruption in services, but I appeal to the public to be patient during this transition period. The local councils have set up urgent response teams and will re-spond to public complaints immedi-ately,” executive councillor in charge

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of local government affairs Ronnie Liu told Selangor Times.

Liu said the sudden move to ter-minate the contract on such short notice could be politically motivated.

“Some parties may be hoping to turn this into an election issue. If local councils fail to perform, if there are major glitches in garbage collection during the transition period, the people would blame the state,” he said.

However, Liu said the state had instructed local governments to

proceed to take over the garbage col-lection services as the move will ulti-mately benefit ratepayers’ pockets.

“Local governments used to pay Alam Flora RM400 million annually for public cleaning and garbage col-lection services. Now we can save RM100 million every year,” said the Pandamaran assemblyperson.

He explained that the savings would come from cuts in sub-con-tractors’ profits via open tender, and from the RM40 million annual management fees paid to Alam Flora.

Councils scramble to take over

He added that the savings would be used by local councils to buy ma-chinery and employ staff to take over garbage and cleaning duties handled by Alam Flora’s internal staff.

As for outsourced garbage collec-tion jobs, Liu said local councils would retain current sub-contractors until the local authorities complete the open tender process to appoint new sub-contractors.

Only the Hulu Selangor District Council will not be affected by this debacle as it has always handled its

own public cleaning and garbage collection duties.

The remaining 11 local authorities took over public cleaning duties from Alam Flora on Aug 1.

“These services used to be handled by local councils before it was priva-tised 14 years ago.

“The local councils are experi-enced, so I’m confident they will be able to pick up the slack soon,” said Liu, who urged the public to report to their respective local councils if their garbage is not collected.

SHAH ALAM: Local councils are already preparing to take over garbage collection services from Alam Flora Sdn Bhd.

Selangor Times spoke to seven local authorities and found that while some are still waiting for the state directive, others have already purchased machinery and begun the open tender process to appoint new sub-contractors.

The local authorities have also set up backup teams to respond to public complaints on garbage collection promptly.

Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) is retaining its existing solid waste contractors temporarily and increasing the number of “standby” contractors, who will re-place current ones if they are found to be underperforming.

Councillor Latheefa Koya said the

city council is also auditing these contractors to ensure they have proper equipment such as trash compactors to collect garbage more efficiently.

Latheefa, who also chairs the Health and Sanitation board, said MBPJ will monitor its contractors to ensure a smooth transition and minimal inconvenience to the pub-lic.

Shah Alam City Council (MBSA) councillor Kamarulzaman Sanusi said areas where garbage collection is handled by Alam Flora’s internal staff

council is expected to save at least RM2 million once it takes back garbage collection duties.

Klang Municipal Council (MPK) has already purchased 18 additional garbage trucks in preparation to handle solid waste removal on its own, said councillor Yeo Boon Lye. The councillors received a briefing yesterday on the matter.

Councillor Lim Lip Suan said 40 contracts are currently handled by outsourced contractors, while 18 are managed by Alam Flora staff.

Lim said MPK is likely to retain the existing 40 outsourced contractors

temporarily, while the local council takes over the garbage collection duties for the remaining 18.

Members of the pub-lic can contact MPK’s Jabatan Perkhidmatan Persekitaran at 03-33726781 / 4820 to re-port problems on gar-bage collection.

A m p a n g J a y a Municipa l Counci l (MPAJ) public relation officer Norhayati Ahmad said the council is waiting

for the state’s directive on the matter.She said MPAJ is considering

retaining existing contractors to ensure garbage collection is not disrupted despite the change.

Kajang Municipal Council (MPKj) had instructed present contractors to temporarily take care of the 20% of areas that are handled by Alam Flora.

Councillor Ng Tien Chee said MPKj will start the open tender process and appoint new contractors within three months.

“We’ll also reduce the number of contracts to 67 instead of 102 so that one contractor can take care of one zone each,” said Ng.

Selayang Municipal Council (MPS) public relations director Mohamad Zin Masoad is confident that MPS will be able to manage the transition in garbage collection, as only 5-10% of the municipality’s solid waste removal is managed by Alam Flora’s internal staff, while the rest are by sub-contractors.

He added that the open-tender process to appoint sub-contractors had been conducted by MPS over the years, and Alam Flora only had to monitor the sub-contractors’ work.

Morning

Friday Saturday Sunday

afternoon

night

Selangor WeaTHer

Source: Malaysian meteorological department

may face some glitches.Another councillor, Tan

Ah Kow @ Tan Sie Wai, said the city council has already begun its open tender process to appoint 170 new garbage collection contractors.

He said the tender process is divided into three phases,

and the first phase will see 50 jobs being given to the most competitive contractors.

Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ) foresees no trouble in getting contractors as the local council already has a list of contractors to work with.

Councillors revealed that MPSJ is identifying contractors that are underperforming and have warned them to improve or risk being terminated.

Councillor Loka Ng said the local

Lim Lip Suan, Latheefa Koya and Loka Ng

Page 3: Selangor Times Sept 23-25, 2011 / Issue 41

SELANGOR TIMES ⁄ September 23 – 25, 2011 ⁄ 3

Page 4: Selangor Times Sept 23-25, 2011 / Issue 41

4 SEPTEMBER 23 — 25, 2011

News

EvEntsAnnual Dogathon

The Students’ Society of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (Veternak) and Zoologico Club University Putra Malaysia (UPM) will hold their 15th annual Dogathon on Oct 2. The aim is to raise funds for a welfare project called “Pro-Kasih” to raise awareness of neglected animals. The event will be held at Bukit Ekspo UPM from 6.30am-2pm. Activities include a 2.5 kilometre dog and master run, catch-and-fetch and hide-and-seek for owners and dogs. For details, call 013-3792124 (Nur Afiqah) or 012-3205065 (Ms Lee) or email [email protected] or [email protected] or visit www.vet.upm.edu/~dogathon.

Art exhibition

The Malaysian Institute of Art (MIA) will organise an illustration diploma show from Sept 28-Oct 19 at the MIA Art Gallery, 294-299, Jalan Bandar 11, Taman Melawati, Kuala Lumpur. The gallery is open from Monday to Friday from 11am-5pm and Saturday from 11am-1pm except on Sundays and public holidays. For details, call 03-41088100 (MIA) or visit www.mia.edu.my.

Wilde and Shaw on film

Kuala Lumpur performing Arts Centre (KLPAC) will hold free screenings of Oscar Wilde and George Bernard Shaw’s films at Indicine KLPAC. Wilde’s “An Ideal Husband” will be shown on Sunday (Sept 25) while Shaw’s “Major Barbara” will be on Oct 2, both at 3pm.

Study smart seminar

Brahma Kumar is Ma lays ia w i l l organise a “Study Smart Seminar” on Sunday (Sept 25) for PMR, SPM and STPM students at 10, Lorong Maarof, Bangsar Park, Kuala Lumpur. Call 012-9243959 (Agnita) or 016-3012302 (Sherly) to register and confirm seats. Admission is free. For details, visit www.bkwsu.org/my.

Heart talk

A public forum on cardiac emergencies will be held tomorrow (Sept 24) in conjunction with World Heart Day. The talk will be held on the 7th floor of Tropicana Medical Centre’s auditorium in Kota Damansara from 10.30am-1.30pm. Call 03-62871106 or 018-2116789 for registration. Lunch will be provided and admis sion is free. Details at tropicanamedicalcentre.com.

Buddhism course

The Subang Jaya Buddhist Association will conduct an intermediate course on Buddhism every Friday, starting from today (Sept 23) to Oct 21. The course will cover Buddhist views on contemporary issues and Buddhist living. Each session is from 8.30pm to 10pm. Contact 03-5634 8181 (Lily) for details.

Gathering of Georgians

The Old Georgians Association of St George’s Institute (Selangor branch) will hold their annual dinner and dance at Lake Club, Kuala Lumpur, on Oct 8 at 7.30pm. Call 012-2087819 (Fabian Pereira) or 016-3682633 (Hardeep Singh) before Oct 4 for details.

By Alvin Yap SHAH AlAm: Selangorku, a three-year socioeconomic programme aimed at ad-dressing the concerns of the people, was launched by the state on Sept 16.

The Selangorku slogan and its Action Plan and Three-Year Vision policy seek to address five key points garnered from public feedback and meetings with Selangor residents.

“The Selangorku agenda is created from a process of consultation and receiving feed-back from communities and private indus-tries held at 12 local government areas re-cently,” said Tan Sri Kahlid Ibrahim during the launch event at Dataran Kemerdekaan on Malaysia Day.

The policy will see a return of local elec-tions in Petaling Jaya, and a lowering of the crime rate through the installation of RM3 million worth of closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras.

The Menteri Besar also said local councils and new villages will receive larger alloca-tions to maintain and improve infrastructure under its jurisdiction.

Khalid also unveiled state plans to imple-ment a minimum wage of RM1,500 for staff at state subsidiaries effective Jan 1, 2012.

He also said Selangor is committed to providing affordable homes to the people and will build 11,000 units of 850-1000 sq

1. Minimum wageThe policy aims for a monthly minimum

wage floor of RM1,500 to be implemented at state subsidiaries beginning Jan 1, 2012.

According to Menteri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim, poverty still exists as workers receive wages that are below levels that can sustain “decent living” standards for a family of four.

“The amount does not reflect the highly industrialised and advanced economy in Selangor,” he said.

The policy proposal is also aimed at con-vincing Putrajaya to formulate and pass its own minimum wage legislation in the near future.

2. Local electionsThe policy will see a return of the “third

vote”, through a local government election that is planned for Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) for 2012.

The MBPJ polls will serve as a testing

ground for more local government elections in the state.

Presently, the state is finalising and finetun-ing the running of local government elections in order to hold MBPJ local elections by 2012.

“Any level of government must be account-able to the people they serve, and local govern-ments must be elected in, and responsible to ratepayers,” Khalid said.

3. SecurityLocal governments will have increased

capacity to combat the crime rate by installing CCTVs in hotspots.

The state will allocate RM3 million to-wards the purchase of CCTVs for its 12 local governments.

Additionally, it will also consider stream-ing the CCTV feed to the public via the in-ternet so that residents can participate in monitoring the areas.

4. InfrastructureThe state has allocated RM5 million for

the maintenance and construction of new roads in new villages, while traditional vil-lages will receive RM4 million for mainte-nance.

This is on top of RM1 million already al-located to state constituencies for the main-tenance of rods, drains and bridges under local council supervision.

5. Housing The state will prioritise the construction of

affordable homes priced around RM100,000 (for families earning between RM2,500 and RM5,000).

The houses will have an area of between 850 and 1,000 sq ft, and 11,000 units will be built each year in areas such as Bangi, Ulu Selangor, Gombak, Kota Kemuning, Hulu Langat, Subang Jaya and Shah Alam.

SHAH AlAm: Selangor’s Freedom of Informa-tion (FOI) Enactment is likely to come into force next year, executive councillor Elizabeth Wong told Selangor Times.

Wong said the FOI Enactment has been gazet-ted as law after the bill was passed in the state assembly on April 1.

“The cost of its implementation will be in-cluded in the state’s budget [to be announced] in early November,” Wong said.

She said the cost would include expenses to train civil servants to handle public requests for information.

The FOI Enactment allows the public to access information from state departments and local councils, as well as all state-owned and state-

controlled bodies.Civil servants who are found intentionally giving

false or misleading information to the public can be subjected to a maximum of RM50,000 fine or five-year imprisonment under the FOI Enactment.

Media watchdog The Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) has described Selangor’s FOI as a “breakthrough” amid an entrenched culture of secrecy among government bodies backed by the Official Secrets Act.

Penang also tabled its FOI Enactment last November but the bill has yet to be passed.

Currently, over 90 countries worldwide, in-cluding Thailand, Indonesia and India, have an FOI law to protect and uphold citizens’ right to information.

Selangor’s Malaysia Day gift to the people

Sunshine law to be carried out next year

Five key points of Selangorku

ft houses yearly.Khalid said the policy is a reflection of its

Merakyatkan Ekonomi Selangor and Hasil Negeri Untuk Rakyat programmes.

“As such, we must share the proceeds the state is receiving with the people. Selangor’s revenue is for the people,” he said in front of high-level civil service officials and elected representatives during his Malaysia Day speech.

He further said Selangor contributes 20% to the national economy and registered sur-plus revenue of RM1.1 billion as of June 2011.

The figure, he added, is at its 28-year high-est level.

However, Khalid said there is income dis-parity among Selangor’s citizens. He added that nationwide, 40% of Malaysians are get-ting poorer or are living in poverty.

Khalid said the state administration is run-ning Selangor “in trust” as a mandate from its residents.

“The state is constantly striving to admin-ister Selangor with trust and responsibility,” he concluded.

Wong

Khalid (file pic)

Page 5: Selangor Times Sept 23-25, 2011 / Issue 41

SELANGOR TIMES ⁄ September 23 – 25, 2011 ⁄ 5

HIS MAJESTY THE YANG DI-PERTUAN AGONGAL-WATHIQU BILLAH TUANKU MIZAN ZAINAL ABIDIN IBNIALMARHUM SULTAN MAHMUD AL-MUKTAFI BILLAH SHAH

AND

HER MAJESTY THE RAJA PERMAISURI AGONGTUANKU NUR ZAHIRAH

On Their Majesties’ Official Visitto

The State Of Selangor Darul Ehsanon

21 - 23 September 2011

With Utmost Sincerity From

THE GOVERNMENT AND PEOPLE OF THESTATE OF SELANGOR DARUL EHSAN

Page 6: Selangor Times Sept 23-25, 2011 / Issue 41

6 September 23 — 25, 2011

news

Attracting private investors from China, Hong Kong to finance project

Therefore, Selangor is banking on attracting private investors from China, Hong Kong and Malaysia to finance the RM10 billion rehabili-tation project that is expected to transform the Klang River into a thriving property hub.

Chris Hong, managing direc-tor of Hong Kong-based Far East Consortium International, had expressed interest in developing a sustainable business model for the river rehabilitation project. Hong had been part of the visiting Chi-nese delegation in August,

Meanwhile, environmental scien-tist Prof Dr Li Fengting, who was also part of the visiting delegation in August, said Klang River is not as polluted as the SuZhou Creek in Shanghai before it was rehabilitated.

“The SuZhou Creek used to be black and its stench was unbearable

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[in the 1970s and 1980s],” said Li, associate dean of College of Envi-ronmental Science and Engineering from Tong Ji University.

He added that it took China 20 years to clean up the 53km-long Su-Zhou Creek, but it should take only around 10 to 15 years to clean up

the 120km-long Klang River with current technology.

The Klang River rehabilitation project is part of Selangor’s econom-ic stimulus package, while the feder-al-led River of Life project is an Entry Point Project under the Greater Kuala Lumpur/Klang Valley Plan.

rubbish that has piled up along the Klang riverbank.

Wrecks outside police stations an eyesoreBy Basil Foo

PUCHONG: Car wrecks left in plain sight outside police stations have caused a stir among residents and business owners who allege a drop in business and property prices.

“Members of the public have complained that these cars are tak-ing up parking space besides being an eyesore,” said Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo.

He said car owners near the Bukit Puchong police station are forced to double-park on the street as a result of the wrecks.

At a press conference on Wednes-day, Gobind told reporters that the vehicles that were impounded by the police for investigation should have been kept in a storage area.

“Efforts should be taken to find storage places for these items. They should not be left out in public to be a burden to the people,” he added.

He said the Puchong Jaya and Putra Heights police stations also

had many vehicles left in parking lots and along road curbs.

He welcomed increased police presence in Puchong, but felt there should be better planning to provide sufficient space for police storage in new townships.

“I will be bringing up this issue in Parliament the next time it con-venes,” Gobind said.

When contacted, Serdang dis-trict police chief Superintendant Abdul Razak Elias said the wrecks will be moved as soon as possible.

The Puchong Jaya police station falls under the Serdang district.

Subang Jaya district police chief Assistant Commissioner Zainal Rashid Abu Bakar, when contacted, said the complaint of car wrecks is an old issue.

“This issue was raised last year. We have since moved the wrecks and are keeping them in the Subang Jaya police headquarters,” he said.

He added that the cars outside of the Bukit Puchong and Putra Heights police stations now belong to police officers.

Shock-and-awe tactics to tackle errant motorists

By Alvin Yap

SUBANG JAYA: The New Pantai Expressway (NPE) from the PJS 5 toll to SS15 here will be closed to traffic on Oct 2 for the qualifying leg of the Adidas King of the Road Run.

The closure will commence at 3am on race day for the run, which will start outside Sunway Pyramid Shopping Mall.

There will be full closure along the Bangsar-Subang side from 3am to 10.30am.

Traffic from Subang-Bangsar will be fully closed from 5am to 10.30am.

The Adidas King of the Road 2011 is held in Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and Philip-pines, with each country hosting a qualifying leg.

The winners of the Men’s Closed and Women’s Closed 16.8km category will win an all-expense

paid trip to the Philippines to compete with top marathon runners from Southeast Asia in the finals on Oct 23.

Runners are reminded to reach the venue early on race day, preferably before 5am to avoid traffic jams and parking problems.

The run is expected to attract more than 7,000 participants.

The route will take runners from the shopping mall to SS14, Subang, near the Jengka intersection at SS15 before making a U-turn near Metropolitan College.

Competitors will then run along the NPE heading towards PJS and U-turn at the PJS 5 toll before heading back towards Sunway Pyramid for the finishing line.

Co-sponsors Tiger Airways and Sennheiser will present prizes to the winners. Prizes include cash, Adidas cash vouchers and medals.

By Brenda Ch’ng

SUBANG JAYA: Shamming double-parked vehicle owners by announcing their car registration number via loudspeaker is the latest tactic being used by the council to reduce congestion on roads here.

Going by an online video posting on Facebook by Teoh T Hoong on Sept 19, the strategy by the Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ) seems to be working.

The video shows shocked vehicle owners scram-bling out of shops in USJ Taipan to move their ve-hicles as the team drove up to announce that tow trucks would soon follow if they didn’t move their cars immediately.

The footage was captured from inside a new Proton Inspira, equipped with loudspeakers, acquired by MPSJ to carry out the “shock and awe” campaign

against errant motorists in busy commercial areas. “This is a pilot project to test if this method is more

effective than issuing summonses,” said MPSJ public relations senior assistant director Azfarizal Abd Rashid.

He said double-parkers will only be warned once by the patrol unit before summonses are issued and tow-truck operators notified.

Cars will be towed away almost immediately.Apart from USJ10, the team patrols other busy

commercial areas in USJ9, SS16, SS16, SS17, Puchong Jaya, and Pekan Sri Kembangan.

“There is no fixed time for their rounds. The patrol unit will visit random commercial areas so residents won’t know when they are coming,” Azfarizal said.

To date, MPSJ has already issued 82,992 sum-monses to traffic offenders.

Sections of NPE to close for run

gobind gesturing to several wrecks outside the puchong Jaya police station on Jalan Kenari 12.

Screenshot from the video.

Page 7: Selangor Times Sept 23-25, 2011 / Issue 41

SELANGOR TIMES ⁄ September 23 – 25, 2011 ⁄ 7

Page 8: Selangor Times Sept 23-25, 2011 / Issue 41

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By Basil Foo

SABAK BER-NAM: Sekinchan’s lush paddy fields and quaint fishing villages will be promoted in a guidebook produced by local lawmaker Ng Suee Lim.

The Sekinchan as-semblyperson said the guidebook to draw tourists will be re-leased in November.

“It will direct tour-ists on places to eat, stay and travel to,” Ng told Selangor Times.

GPS codes will be featured alongside the places of interest in the g uidebook to make it easier for tourists to find the locations.

The guidebook will cater to an increasing number of tourists who make their way to the village every week.

“There is currently a high number of foreign tourists in Sekinchan. Every week-end, there will be more than 30 buses com-ing here,” Ng said.

He attributes the influx partly to a televi-sion series called The Seeds of Life, which was shot in Sekinchan and is shown locally and in Singapore.

Sekinchan’s vast paddy fields, which boast modern planting methods resulting in one of the highest productivity per acre rates in the country, are also an attraction.

Ng said many newlyweds are taking wed-ding photos amidst the paddy fields.

“The seafood here is also popular as it is cooked fresh from the sea and is also very cheap,” he added.

To make the most out of the tourist turnout, Ng’s office has come up with a mascot for Sekinchan, and has even begun selling a line of t-shirts with 16 different designs.

The shirts and other Sekinchan merchan-dise can be found at the Lau Tong Hai souvenir shop on the main road.

Those interested can also visit the Se-KinChan page on Facebook and browse the photo gallery for more t-shirt designs.

Sekinchan to be touted as tourism spot

Ng (right) with a Sekinchan t-shirt design aimed at promoting the village as a tourist destination.

KLANG: Do not be tricked into giving donations to people who claim to work for welfare organisations as these might possibly be scams.

“These people use children, old people and the disabled to gain money and sym-pathy from the public,” said Klang Mu-nicipal Council (MPK) secretary Ikhsan Mukri in a statement recently.

MPK together with the Social Welfare Department ( JKM) conducted a joint anti-beggar operation last Tuesday follow-ing complaints from residents.

According to residents and surveillance

done by MPK officers, these beggars are seen almost every day, especially in the evenings.

During the operation, six beggars ac-companied by people who were blind or disabled as well as foreigners were arrested by JKM.

“This anti-beggar operation will take place more frequently to stop these un-ethical acts of using children and disabled people to earn money,” said Ikhsan.

He urged the public to be on the look-out for such scams and to alert the council immediately if they witness them.

Avoid and report scams, public urged

MPK and JKM officers conducting checks during the anti-beggar operation.

Page 9: Selangor Times Sept 23-25, 2011 / Issue 41

9september 23 — 25, 2011

news

By Brenda Ch’ng

SUBANG JAYA: Some 2,000 residents lighted up USJ 1 with lanterns during the Malaysia Day-cum-Lantern Festival celebrations at the sports centre here last Friday.

The event, organised by the office of Subang Jaya assemblyperson Hannah Yeoh, was aimed at bringing children of all races and ages together.

“It is wonderful to see our young leaders of tomorrow play harmoniously as one, regardless of race and age,” said Yeoh.

The children even performed multicultural perfor-mances to entertain the crowd, said Yeoh.

Among the performances were dances from the Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ) Children Creativity and Community Centre (3C), and Fo Guang Malaysia’s 24 Seasons Drum troupe.

Another highlight was a solo Indian classical dance by a student at SJK(C) Chee Wen.

Residents were also entertained by lantern riddle games and a float procession around USJ 1 decorated with Ma-laysian flags and lanterns.

Following that were three trishaw rides, specially deco-rated in line with Malaysia Day, Lantern Festival and Hari Raya themes.

“That was one of the main attractions that night, as there was a long line of children queuing up for the ride,” said event director Loka Ng Sai Kai.

Ng, who is an MPSJ councillor, said the celebration helped foster closer relations between residents and en-hanced patriotism among the people.

Children were also seen carrying lanterns made from discarded tin cans of various sizes, which were fitted with rollers. These allowed the lanterns to be rolled on the ground without fear of getting burnt.

The main highlight of the event was a 45cm-diameter mooncake that weighed more than 10kg.

It was jointly cut by Yeoh, Ng, Puchong MP Gobind Singh, Kelana Jaya MP Loh Gwo Burne and organising chairperson Ng Chai Hing (pic).

Meanwhile, each resident was given a goodie bag filled with mooncakes, paper lanterns, a box of candles and a bottle of water.

Multiracial crowd attend joint celebration

Children admiring the lanterns.

Page 10: Selangor Times Sept 23-25, 2011 / Issue 41

10 SEPTEMBER 23 — 25, 2011

NEWS

By Alvin Yap

SUBANG JAYA: A vernacular Tamil school that stands to lose part of its land to Light Rail Transit (LRT) concessionaire Syarikat Prasarana Negara Bhd is turning to the state for help.

SJK (T) Castlefield, which was established as an estate school in 1928 but relocated to the present site in 1988, will lose a portion of its field to accommodate the LRT tracks.

“According to plans submitted to the Subang Jaya Munici-pal Council (MPSJ) and to the school board, one of the pillars for the tracks will be inside our school compound,” said school Governor P Nagamuthu during a press conference on Tuesday.

Nagamuthu claimed that Prasarana had ignored the school board’s repeated requests for meetings with MPSJ engineers, technical department staff and councillors.

He said the Department of Environment (DOE) had al-ready classified the existing noise pollution level at the 478-stu-dent school as “unhealthy”.

“The report came out in 2006, when the concessionaire Lingkaran Trans Kota Holdings Bhd (Litrak) conducted a noise study of the Damansara-Puchong Highway (LDP),” said Nagamuthu.

Students have complained of distrac-tion due to the noise level from vehicles on the LDP, and there are concerns that this will get worse if the LRT track en-croaches upon school land.

The school board had contingency plans to relocate and has been eyeing a 2.4-hectare land nearby at Persiaran In-dera, Pusat Bandar Puchong.

Nagamuthu said it is suitable for relo-cation as it can serve the Tamil popula-tion in the area.

However, a Chinese vernacular school,  SJK (C) Kheng Chee, also wants to construct a new school there and have sent consulting engineers to conduct soil testing at the site.

This has raised the ire of Nagamuthu and his fellow board members, who said they should be given priority over SJK Kheng Chee.

“We have to contend with noise pollution at this existing location, and we have asked the state government since 2008 about the land at Persiaran Indera,” said Nagamuthu.

State executive councillor Teresa Kok said the dispute be-tween SJK Castlefield and Prasarana would be addressed in an upcoming State Economic Action Council (MTES) meeting.

“We will have a meeting with MPSJ, the school board com-mittee, and also Prasarana,” said Kok.

The Kinrara assemblyperson also promised the school board that Selangor would meet with officials from the Ministry of Education over the Persiaran Indera land.

Kok said there qre other pieces of land the state could hand over to SJK Kheng Chee to build its school premises.

Tamil school seeks state intervention

Nagamuthu pointing to LRT plans while Kok (right) looks on.

By Brenda Ch’ng

SUBANG JAYA: Addressing the concerns of residents living in over 30 low-cost flats in Puchong is an uphill task for local councillor Norhesmi Ismail.

“I receive complaints from residents almost every day, and I’m determined to find solutions to their problems to put them out of their misery,” she said.

The 39-year-old said the problems raised are uncollected rubbish, financial difficulties, the absence of joint-manage-ment bodies ( JMB), and disagreements among residents.

“Some flats are so disorderly that the residents can’t even work together to form a JMB to oversee maintenance, rub-bish collection and other repairs,” said Norhesmi.

The three-term councillor is on a mission to make sure all low-cost flats have a JMB formed, to foster closer ties among residents.

Recently, Norhesmi organised a Kacau Dodol event for low-cost flat residents to help create togetherness and end feuding among the people.

The event, which lasted for about seven hours, was joined by more than 150 residents, who were seen taking turns stir-

ring the pot of dodol mixture.“I was surprised to see youths trying their best to make the

best dodol mixture of the evening. Some even danced to enter-tain the elderly while awaiting their turn to stir,” said Norhesmi.

Due to its success, she is planning to organise a bigger Kacau Dodol event next year, in the hopes that more resi-dents will come.

Meanwhile, the JMB matter has been brought to the attention of Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ) president Datuk Asmawi Kasbi.

He has proposed for a JMB committee to be formed to help assist the council’s Commissioner of Building (CoB) department and also to oversee all JMB matters.

This was approved in the council’s monthly full board meeting last month.

“I was overjoyed when it was approved as I can finally address all the problems directly in the committee,” Norhes-mi said.

Norhesmi also wants to rid her area of all illegal banners, including Ah Long stickers.

Once every two months for two hours, 20 residents ac-companied by police officers and MPSJ enforcement officers

go around ripping off all illegal advertising on the streets.

Equipped with sickles, torch-lights, luminous vests and other tools sponsored by MPSJ, resi-dents tear down at least 500 il-legal banners, buntings and stickers a night.

“We started this project in January. By now, we’ve taken down thousands of illegal advertisements,” she said.

In the future, she is hoping to engage councillors and resi-dents in other areas to organise a bigger-scale clean-up event.

Next year, she wants to push the council to build a multi-purpose hall for residents of Puchong Permai.

“I hope the council will include this proposal in their budget next year, as residents have been complaining about the lack of multipurpose halls in the area,” she said.

Currently, the only available hall is in Puchong Indah, but is not available for rent or use as activities are held there every night.

Consequently, residents at Puchong Permai have nowhere else to hold their own activities or play sports.

KLANG: Families can now enjoy upgraded facilities recently completed at the 13-year-old Taman Rakyat here last month.

“This four-month project, which started in May, cost the Klang Municipal Council (MPK) about RM198,327,” said the council’s Park and Recreational Department director, Muhammad Hijjaz Sanusi.

Among the upgrades were 70 additional park benches, 30 rubbish bins, 10 picnic tables and chairs, and five new fitness station units.

Existing facilities were also refurbished, including the replacement of stair railings, broken concrete floors, old interlocking pavements, and reflexology platforms.

He said improvements at the 81-acre park were made so that more people would be encouraged to exercise and use the facilities.

Hijjaz urged the public to maintain the cleanliness of the park and to report cases of vandalism.

Taman Rakyat won Selangor’s Best Landscape Award for 2002.

Know Your Councillor: Norhesmi Ismail

Facelift for Taman Rakyat

Newly added bins and picnic tables.

Page 11: Selangor Times Sept 23-25, 2011 / Issue 41

11september 23 — 25, 2011

views

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9237•Intake Layout 18x26 (Selangor Times).indd 1 6/09/11 1:33 PM

Did you hear a collective groan last week, emitting from the likes of Pantai Dalam, Serdang and Bangi? It’s back

to the semester grind for students at Universiti Malaya, Universiti Putra, Universiti Kebangsa-an, and Malaysia’s public universities and their now synchronised calendars.

I’m sure there was concerted laughter, too, zesty chatter, and some sighs of anticipation for the year ahead. Academic staff for the next ten months will have to juggle research, teach-ing, and filling out the cancerously growing heap of paperwork. The cycle repeats. We probably groaned the most.

For me, opening week was a big question mark. The course I am teaching, for the first time, is foremost about asking questions.

Well, it’s called research methodology and the textbook introduction would ex-plain that at the end of the course students are supposed to know how to write a re-search proposal, do a literature review, state a hypothesis, get data, interpret findings, cite references properly and reach some conclu-sion. Nothing wrong with that answer, but had I rushed to feed it to my students, I would have perpetrated our national fetish for having the “right answer”.

And that answer is found in the handouts, or the downloadable Powerpoint slides, which can be memorised and recited on demand.

The more I teach, the more I am convinced

that the fundamental problem with our educa-tion system is we have lost the art of asking good questions. Students are barely interested, not encouraged and often not permitted, to enquire openly and critically.

I asked my students: Which is better, to give the right answer, or to ask a good ques-tion? That’s a leading question, I admit, and maybe caused all who bothered to put up their hands to rank questioning skills above answer-ing skills. (Perhaps the others were waiting for me to give the right answer?) But some replies were illuminating.

One student put things in sequential per-spective. Questions come before answers, so to get good answers we must ask good ques-tions. Good point.

Another student, referring to exams, said what’s the point of having the right answer when it does not even answer the question?

That seems nonsensical – how can the right answer essentially be wrong? But he made an astute observation about student habits and teaching modes. Having uploaded notes, past-year questions and model answers in their brains, students offload all that stuff at the

slightest trigger, whether or not it’s relevant. The fear of writing something the teacher did not say is greater than the risk of not answer-ing the question.

Many students obviously can think for themselves and know the importance of ask-ing questions, but are not given the chance. Teaching the techniques of research is ulti-mately futile unless we also inculcate enquir-ing minds. I hope my class can make a small contribution.

A related and not small matter concerns the cheers resonating from Angkasapuri on the night of Sept 15. If you didn’t hear it then, you’ve read about it or been told by now.

Yes, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak delivered his big Malaysia Day eve speech from public broadcasting headquar-ters, promising ISA abolition and replace-ment, cancellation of decades-old emer-gency declarations, and partial review of repressive laws like the Printing Presses and Publications Act.

He did so in the usual manner of giving all the “right answers”, such that questioning these moves shows ungratefulness or an un-patriotic spirit.

The national ruling party expresses a new-found desire for our “dynamic democracy” to be “on par with other democracies in the world”. Many of us have held that desire for long, and some have sacrificed enormously for

the cause. We should be grateful to the patri-ots who have fought against the ISA and ob-noxious laws and those who have been de-tained without trial.

Just one question then, a soft, clarifying one: What motivated this promise to repeal the ISA? Najib answered at his Aidilfitri open house on Sept 18, it is “not due to pressure from any quarter”.

Excuse me, I cannot resist one more: I thought the basic thing about democracy is that government responds to (positive) pres-sure from the rakyat and our representatives or organisations. Now the government de-clares Malaysia will democratise but not in any way respond to public demands. Huh?

No wonder the flood of questions. To sample a few that are out there:· What exactly will replace the ISA?· So the need to annually renew PPPA licence will go, but government will retain power to revoke licences. Will such power be discretionary or restricted to very specific and extraordinary circumstances? Can revoked licences be challenged in court?· Where is the freedom of information act?· And let me add, what about the archaic Statistics Act, which constricts research?

It looks like the Prime Minister’s “right answers” are not answering the good, im-portant and burning questions about our nation’s future. 

The right answers or the right questions?

wit pleasureLee Hwok Aun

Page 12: Selangor Times Sept 23-25, 2011 / Issue 41

12 September 23 — 25, 2011InsIght

• Handling public complaints, rangingfrom localcouncil issues likepotholesandblockeddrainstostatematterslikelandaffairs.

• Givingwelfareaid,adviceandmonetaryhelp to the less fortunate, disabled, illandold.

• He lp ing wi th prob lems betweengovernmentagenciesandratepayers.

• Assisting with registration for stateprogrammes.

State programmesSelangor Children Heritage Fund / Tabung Warisah Anak Selangor (Tawas):Tawas,launched in August 2008, is a trust fundsetupbythegovernmentforallSelangorbabiesbornaftertheyear2008.ThistrustfundworthRM1,500canbeclaimedbythechildwhenhe/sheturns18.

Golden Age Friendly Scheme / Skim Mesra Usia Emas (SMUE): This schemeisagrantforfamiliesoftheelderly,wherethestategivesthemRM2,500tohelpwithfuneralexpenses.Requirementsforapplication:

• Selangorcitizensaged60andabove,or

• Seniorslivinginthestateforatleast15years.

Toapply,bringapplicant’sMykad,documentedproof which shows one has been livinghere for 15 years or more (if not born inSelangor),photocopyofcaretakers’Mykadandphotocopyofbeneficiaries’Mykad. Grant for University Students / Hadiah Anak Masuk Universiti: This grant ofRM1,000isgiventoallSelangorstudentswho have been accepted to further theirstudiesinauniversity.

Requirementsforapplication:• Onlyopentofamiliesearninglessthen

RM1,500amonth;• ApplicantmustbeborninSelangor;• Applicanthasbeenofferedaplaceinthe

university;• The courses offered are full-time and

mustonlybeeitheradiplomaordegreecourse;

• Applicant must be registered in thecourse.

Urban Microcredit programmes for the poor / Program Mikrokredit Miskin Bandar (Mimbar):LaunchedinMarchthisyearwithanallocationofRM20million.Itwasinitiatedtohelplow-incomeresidentsincrease their income by managing theirown small businesses. Mimbar givessuccessful applicants a small loan of up

toRM5,000(withoutinterest),tostarttheirown businesses like food stalls, flowershopsetc.Theloancanthenbepaidbackwhentheirbusinesstakesoff,afterayear.Requirementsforapplication:• MustbeSelangorresidentagedbetween

21and60,whohasbeenlivinghereformorethen10years;

• OwnsassetslessthenRM50,000;

• Must also attend training courses byMimbaronhowtostartbusinesses.

Mammogram: All women aged 35 andabove can benefit from the mammogramprogramme initiated by the state. Thisprogrammeisaimedatcreatingawarenessonthedangersofbreastcancer,especiallyforwomenaged40andabove.Thestatetargetstogivefreebreastcancerscreeningtoonemillionwomen.

Services offered

ByBrenda Ch’ng

A man in his mid-fifties was recently denied a full reimbursement from a bank, despite showing proof that the automated teller ma-

chine (ATM) had failed to dispense his withdrawal of RM3,000.

He made countless calls to the bank, wrote letters demanding a refund, and even viewed recorded foot-age on the bank’s closed-circuit television (CCTV).

The months of pleading to the bank, which fell on deaf ears, resulted in Chong Kim Seng turning to his assemblyperson for help. 

“I didn’t know where else to go, so I decided to go to the politician’s service centre, hoping they can help me,” said Chong.

The 55-year-old said he made the right decision

operative,” said Lau.Now, he can easily tackle issues

and tries his best to find a direct solution by referring the complaints directly to the respective officers in government agencies.

Malay villagesMeru assemblyperson Dr Abd

Rani Osman sees a different set of complaints and issues at his service centre in Pekan Meru.

“My area is made up of six Malay villages, and the complaints we get are mostly about natural disasters l ike floods, fire and destroyed homes,” said Abd Rani.

When there are no natural dis-asters, villagers tend to criticise the road and drain conditions and rubbish collection services.

“It’s really busy during the day, but villagers don’t complain a lot. All they want is welfare aid. Re-cently the latest demand is to be part of the Selangor government’s

Service centres: Helping the public

initiative, Jom Shopping,” he said.Due to the need for welfare aid,

Abd Rani initiated an outreach programme to cater to terminally ill patients who are bedridden and in need of medical help.

He visits about 20 houses twice a week to supply the needy with medical necessities, and offers to assist with the medical bills for three months. 

These are paid for with his yearly state allocation of RM500,000, which is divided equally for welfare expenses, donations to organisa-tions and places of worship, dia-logue sessions, and festivals.

“I’m thankful for the help and friendly service I got from the cen-tre when I went to them with my financial problems,” said villager Nor Ziani M Razali.

She went to the service centre to obtain financial aid for her son, who has been diagnosed with a congeni-tal heart defect or hole in the heart.

in seeking help and support from the service centre as the bank is now taking his case more seriously.

Chong’s dilemma was attended to immediately, following a letter written by the assemblyperson to expedite the case.

“This was one of the easier cases to handle. We get numerous com-plaints a day, some easy, some tough, some so ridiculous that even we cannot help,” said Kampung Tungku assemblyperson Lau Weng San.

The complaints that Lau has turned down involve settling Ah Long debts, or moderating family rivalries over inheritance – and even a resident who had asked him to perform an exorcism.

“In my three years of running the centre, the most memorable case was when a resident came and told me he was possessed and wanted me to extricate the ghost.

“How can I do that? The ghost even entered his body and spoke to me in a weird language which I couldn’t understand,” said Lau.

A perturbed Lau directed the resident to a spiritual leader before sending him home.

Lau’s service centre also sees daily complaints about resident disputes with other government agencies, developer issues, local council mat-ters and welfare cases.

According to Lau, his service centre receives about a hundred complaints, 30% about local coun-cil issues, and the other 60% about land, welfare and miscellaneous matters.

“Handling complaints is so much easier now compared to when I just started three years ago. I did not know anyone in the government agencies and people weren’t as co-

Lau attending to Chong’s ATM fraud complaint.

Abd Rani attending to complainants at his service centre.

Bahrom Basiron (Abd Rani’s PA) handing out an Anak Masuk University form to 21-year-old Khai’zarul Aqmar.

Abd Rani (left) and Lau

Page 13: Selangor Times Sept 23-25, 2011 / Issue 41

“It is the first time I’m coming here, and I think it is effective; [the] response is much quicker than wel-fare departments,” she said.

Nor Ziani was given some finan-cial aid, and her case has also been forwarded to the welfare depart-ment and Lembaga Zakat.

Also stationed at the service cen-tre to solve problems is one of the six village heads, Thaifor Noor, who helps Abd Rani tend to council-related issues.

“I get infrastructure complaints from at least two villagers a day. Nothing major, just minor com-plaints about drains, roads and landscape issues,” said Thaifor.

He gets a daily repetition of com-plaints about uncut grass around the village, which are about three feet high, and uncollected rubbish.

“Villagers do not know where to lodge their complaints, so they come to me, and I liaise with the councillor and attempt to solve the problems immediately,” he said.

Infrastructure and welfareRawang assemblyperson Gan Pei

Nei tends to many complaints on infrastructure, land and neighbour-hood security issues.

“The complaints we receive vary from time to time. Sometimes there will me many infrastructure issues, and other times mainly welfare

Service centres: Helping the public

cases,” said Gan.Recently, Gan has been tending

to many welfare cases where poor families come into the service centre asking for monetary assistance due to inflation.

Apart from running an orderly service centre with four staff, Gan wants to improve services to the public.

The first-term assemblyperson also encourages the public to pro-vide feedback about the quality of services at her centre and other government agencies.

With the collected data, Gan and her staff will feed the information to the respective government agencies and let them know how they can improve their services.

Rawang Kampung Tungku Meru

Cost of RM15,200 RM25,000 RM24,000 operation per year

2008-2010: Two centres, one in SungaiNumber of Only one Way, the other in Only one service Kampung Tungku; centres 2011: One centre in Kampung Tungku

Four: one chief of staff who Two: one in charge of Three: for welfare schemes, manages her schedule, state welfare schemes to help handle complaints, Number of process fund allocation and complaints, and and his political aide staff claims and follows up on his political aide land matters; one in charge of state schemes and welfare cases; one to manage public complaints and documenta- tion; and one to deal with Islamic and Malay issues

Number of 80 100 30 complaints per month

Operation Monday-Friday 10am-6pm Monday-Friday 9am-5pm Monday-Friday 9.30am-5pm hours Wednesday 10am-8pm

Funds managed and RM350,000 for welfare 50% spent on the divided equally for welfare, aid, donations to disabled, seniors, How state’s donations to local places of worship, and gotong-royong, and RM500,000 non-governmental non-governmental welfare cases; allocation is organisations (NGO), organisational (NGO); 50% on other projects spent religious bodies, residential RM150,000 for and events associations and festivals, events, and other office events dialogue sessions

Household neccessities given by the state to be handed out to the poor.

Gan

Lau’s service centre.

Thaifor Noor, who helps out at Abd Rani’s centre.

Page 14: Selangor Times Sept 23-25, 2011 / Issue 41

14 SEPTEMBER 23 — 25, 2011

VIEWS

Lord Bobo, what is your view of the Prime Minister’s “gift to the nation” in his

big announcement on the eve of Malaysia Day? Fear No More, via email

Firstly, the very notion of these being “gifts” to the rakyat is an affront to all of us. The In-ternal Security Act (ISA) and Emergency Ordinance (EO) are laws that curtail the liberty of citizens and strike fear into our souls, rendering many of us afraid and worried at speaking up.

How does putting a yoke on each of us, abusing it, and then purportedly removing it amount to a gift? The way it was all set up made Lord Bobo very uneasy: widespread hoopla about a “big announcement”, live telecast with a live studio audience of people dressed in bad batik, the strange grin-smirk on the PM’s face, and the stiff flag-waving and patriotic ditty at the end. One almost expected the PM to take this “Malaysia Day gift” thing all the way and don a red suit and white beard, taking flight in a Proton sleigh pulled by tiny mousedeer.

Secondly, the Barisan Nasional government has never hesitated to use these laws whenever it suited their political purpose. The ISA has been used to detain more than 10,000 people, and there are currently 37 individuals held in its evil grip. In fact, the EO was just used against six members of Parti Sosialis Malaysia in July 2011 for reasons (or more ac-curately, lame excuses) that kept changing.

Now, three months later, the PM announces that it will be repealed. Where is the government white paper on this? What is the rationale for its repeal after years of BN claiming that the ISA is necessary to maintain the political stability in Ma-laysia? How serious is the PM when he says, “Don’t anyone try to claim credit, saying that my announcement (on the ISA) is due to their efforts. It is not due to their struggle but a deci-sion made by BN after listening to the desires of the rakyat”?

So is this about creating a more mature Malaysia or just to make BN look good for the forthcoming general election?

Thirdly, these laws are merely the tools of oppression – not oppression itself. Though the repeal of those laws are laudable, they do nothing to arrest the more immediate problems of racism, religious imperialism, corruption or the brain drain that is ravaging this country. They do not address the political, economic and social mismanagement of Malaysia.

In the same announcement, the PM mentioned that two

new laws will be created to replace those repealed, offering no further details. If these laws are as oppressive as the laws that they are replacing, then the change is obviously pointless.

Finally, that was merely an announcement. The proof of the pudding is in the tasting. All the rakyat have received so

far is the announcement of the pudding. And yet, although there is nothing to taste, there’s already the smell of sourness in the air.

And who can blame us for such pessimism, if all that we have tasted from the BN kitchen for decades is sour pudding?

Why are we afraid to tell Bosses they suck when we resign from a job? Won’t the truth be good for those who are

still working there? C4, via email

You sound positively explosive, and His Supreme Eminenceness must presume you’re fed up with the unforgiving corporate world. Bosses are Lions that have fought their way up the top of the food chain, and when you’re at the top, it’s easy to plunge down to a messy career death.

Some power-hungry Philistine might push you. Or you may even trip over your own tail because your head’s grown so big you can’t see what’s on the ground anymore. As such, these Lions have no reason to say “good morning” (because every morning is a potential last morning there), but plenty of reasons to be defensive about everything (“What are you staring at? You think I’m wearing a toupee, don’t you?”).

While most bosses are highly strung, they’ve no excuse for being evil. And if evil Lions are affecting your job performance with tactics that could automatically turn on Darth Vader’s light sabre, common sense dictates that you should confront them. That’s assuming your common sense is still intact after all those months or years of abuse.

The core reason employees resist the urge to “sock it to their Bosses” is this: deep down in their prefrontal lobe, they rightly know causing physical injury equals lawsuits.

Asians, especially, also shy away from verbal confrontation because (i) “What if he calls every other Boss in the industry and has me blacklisted?”; and (ii) “What if she hops around the industry and ends up in the office I next move to?”

These fears are valid, yet His Justiceship advises that you stick to the side of right. Why? While they can snatch away your promotion, leave, and even Facebooking privileges, they shouldn’t be able to sodomise your integrity.

Of course, there’s a way of telling someone bad news. “You’re

a retarded, diseased jellyfish and you need a good mouthwash” is not it. Try phrasing your complaint without emotion or judgment. Show him or her how your problems are ulti-mately going to be their problems – e.g “Sir/Madam, your inertia in decision-making and incessant verbal assault on my character is sinking my self-esteem to an all-new low, stalling my output, as a result, in a manner unfavourable to my EQ and your KPI.”

You may think that these overpowering-yet-vague words may not compute with your Boss if you work for a

cardboard box manufacturer, but you’ll be sur-prised – they get fed this jargon and manage-

ment speak at all those fancy expensive seminars that their management “consult-ants” line up for them.

Many bosses don’t get enough of the Truth Treatment and continue their daily

rampage thinking they’re God’s gift to Para-digm-Shifting Leadership. Telling your Bosses their shortfalls is giving them a chance to change. And you should be doing

it for yourself, not other people, because many of these “other people” feel they’re paid to stomach

crap, which is not only untrue but a clear sign of psychological devastation.

However, if the only things your Boss has to offer after your honest session is a finger and a fart, you then know you’re better off somewhere else. And you’ll be fine even if Hitler the Sequel has made some calls around town about you because you’ll have recorded his glorious meltdown on your smartphone.

Have a question for Lord Bobo? Call on His Supreme Eminence-ness by emailing ask [email protected], stating your full name, and a pseudonym (if you want), or tweeting your ques-tions by mentioning @LoyarBurok and using the hashtag #asklordbobo. What the hell are you waiting for? Hear This, and Tremblingly Obey (although trembling is optional if you are somewhere very warm)! Liberavi Animam Meam! I Have Freed My Spirit!

Santa Najib’s ISA gift, and sucky Bosses

Ask Lord Bobo is a weekly column by LoyarBurok (www.loyarburok.com) where all your profound, ab-struse, erudite, hermetic, recondite, sagacious, and other thesaurus-described queries are answered!

community

May 20 — 22, 2011/ issue 25

TI-M head disputes Christian state claim

Wesak Day: a time for giving p 4 p 15

may 13: recollections & reconciliation p 12 & 13

• Turn To page 2

Facelift for old flats

By William Tan Petaling Jaya: Dilapidat-ed low-cost flats throughout Sel-angor may get a new lease of life if a pilot programme to rehabilitate such homes is successful.The ambitious and first-of-its-

kind project is being carried out by the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) in collaboration with Veri-tas Design Group, a private com-pany, and Rumah Air Panas, a community-based charity.The single block at the  Taman

Maju Jaya apartments here, which houses 59 families, will be the first to undergo the transformation, which includes renovations and re-furbishments while keeping the physical aspects intact."All works are based on the deci-

sions made by the residents," said social activist Wong Hay Cheong.

Wong, who mooted the idea, pointed out that many of the resi-dents were forced to move into the flats when squatter settlements were demolished, but the buildings and facilities were hardly adequate.

“The entry of Veritas Design Group, which has contributed RM100,000 and the skills [of their architects], means that is going to change,” said Wong.As many as 50,000 families were

relocated to low-cost flats between 2000 and 2008 under former Men-teri Besar Dr Khir Toyo's Zero Squatter policy which has been crit-icised for creating high-rise ghettos.

Wong said the private firm is car-rying out the project as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme, having spent the last two years laying the groundwork for the project.The company has been liaising

with the families regularly to get feedback on their needs and help them decide on practical solutions.

Their architects, using the latest technologies and techniques, will remodel the building on a tight budget, which is estimated to be less than RM500,000.“It is very challenging; almost

everything needs to be redone. The wiring is horrible, the roof is leaking, and the septic tank emits an awful stench,” said Veritas Design Group

architect Iskandar Razak.Iskandar added that it was very difficult to obtain commitments from various parties at the start of the project, with funding still a seri-ous issue.

The success of the project rests on sponsorships for the various compo-nents, such as the supply of metal parts, and the company hopes to

obtain what they need from  their business contacts.“Despite it all, this is a very im-

portant project for us as we believe that a city should not be inhabited by the wealthy only, but by every strata of society. In a way, we are re-juvenating the city,” said Iskandar.

If the pilot is successful, the com-

LB_246391_Sun_m14.ai 1 5/12/11 9:56 PM

Keeping abandoned babies safe: Faizah Mohd Tahir (left) demonstrating the use of the baby hatch as local celebrity Datin Sofia Jane looks on.

• STory on page 10

Where to get your Where to get your LRT Stations (Distribution by hand) – MorningAmpang – Sentul TimurAmpangCahayaCempaka Pandan IndahPandan JayaSentul TimurSentul

Kelana Jaya – Terminal PutraKelana JayaTaman BahagiaTaman ParamountAsia JayaTaman JayaUniversitiSri Rampai Wangsa MajuTaman Melati

Sri Petaling – Sentul TimurTaman MelatiSri Petaling Bukit Jalil

Bandar Tasik SelatanSalak Selatan

Shopping Malls (From Saturday noon)1 UTAMA Tropicana Mall Sunway Pyramid The CurveIOI MallPlaza Damas Ikano Power CentreEmpire Subang MetroPointCentro Mall, KlangBangsar Shopping Complex

Hypermarkets (From Saturday noon)

Tesco (Puchong, Kajang, Mutiara Damansara, Rawang, Bukit Tinggi, Setia Alam, Ampang, Extra Shah Alam, Kepong)

Giant (Puchong, Kajang, Bandar Kinrara, Klang, Pandamaran, Bandar Selayang, Kota Damansara, Taman Setiawangsa, Putra Heights, Taman Connaught, Kelana Jaya, Bukit Antarabangsa, Subang Jaya, Bukit Tinggi, Setia Alam, Kota Kemuning)

Carrefour (Bukit Rimau, Subang Jaya, Wangsa Maju, Sri Petaling, Kepong, Puchong, Ampang, Jalan Peel, Jalan Kapar, Bandar Tun Hussein Onn, S23 Shah Alam)

Jusco (Bukit Tinggi, Tmn Maluri, Wangsa Maju, Bandar Baru Klang, Mahkota Cheras)

Commuter Stations (Distribution by hand) – Morning

Sentul – Port KlangPort Klang Bukit Badak Shah Alam Subang JayaJalan TemplerPetaling

Rawang – SerembanKuala Kubu BaruSungai BulohKepong Sentral Kepong

Morning Wet Markets (Saturday morning)Jalan SS2/62 Taman Medan Jalan 17/27SS15 Subang Jaya Taman Kuchai Lama Taman OUG Pasar Taman Megah Pasar Jalan OthmanPasar Jalan 17/2Pasar Sek 14

Pasar Seri Setia SS9A/1Pasar Kg ChempakaTaman Tun Dr Ismail

HospitalForrest Medical Centre

CollegesHelp InstituteCollege Bandar Utama (KBU)Universiti Kebangsan Malaysia

Page 15: Selangor Times Sept 23-25, 2011 / Issue 41

15September 23 — 25, 2011

News

Forest walkway for the disabled

Shopping with the seniorsSUBANG JAYA: Some 186 se-nior citizens were treated to a RM100 shopping spree at Giant Kelana Jaya last Saturday, thanks to the state’s Jom Shopping programme.

“This is a great programme which should be initiated through-out the country. Prices are going up, and subsidies is what we seniors need right now,” said resident SK Kulasingam.

The 80-year-old, who went shopping with his wife, said the one-off RM100 voucher could help many seniors offset at least a few months of shopping.

Kulasingam added that hyper-markets like Giant are a good choice for household necessities due to discount specials and pro-motional prices.

Joining him on the shopping spree was 66-year-old Chia KF, who brought with him a list of things to buy.

“There is quite a lot that can be bought with RM100. This shop-ping can last me for at least a month,” he said.

Chia, who spends RM45 on household necessities weekly, said this shopping programme is also a good platform for seniors to socialise with old and new friends.

However, he thinks it would be better if they are not bound to shop at just one specific hypermarket on the day.

“The vouchers should be made valid for at least a week, so we can shop in other Giant outlets during the weekday ourselves,” said Chia.

The shopping programme was held here as Kelana Jaya Giant is the closest to Subang, Subang assem-blyperson Hannah Yeoh explained.

“We were assigned to shop at this hypermarket by the state as there aren’t any other closer ones nearby,” she said.

By Gan Pei Ling

KOTA DAMANSARA: Environ-mental group the Friends of Kota Damansara (FOKD) is raising funds to build a disabled-friendly walkway into the Kota Damansara Commu-nity Forest Reserve.

Its chairperson, Jeffrey Phang, said FOKD aims to raise between RM50,000 and RM60,000 to build the 1km pathway so that people with disabilities can enjoy nature as well.

“Now they can only see the forest from the outside but cannot enter as there is no proper pathway [for people in wheelchairs],” Phang told the press during a Malaysia Day celebration at the community forest on Sunday.

He said the pathway would also benefit senior citizens by making the forest more accessible to them.

Phang said FOKD hopes to start building the pathway early next year.

The news was well received by Petaling Jaya city councillor T An-

thony, who is also the chairperson of the city council’s Technical Team on Disability.

He said people with disabilities rarely receive invitations to visit places such as forest reserves due to the lack of disabled-friendly facilities.

“People with disabilities also want [and should have] the oppor-tunity to appreciate the forest,” said Anthony at the same event.

The gathering at the Kota Dam-ansara Community Forest Reserve was attended by around 80 youths and people with disabilities from Public Housing Project flats in Kota Damansara.

According to Phang, the Kota Damansara Community Forest Reserve is the first urban forest to be managed by the community in close cooperation with the Selangor Forestry Department and Petaling Jaya city council (MBPJ).

He said the community forest is a frequent venue for green events, and also serves as a research area for local institutions such as Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and Univers-iti Putra Malaysia.

Those interested to contribute to the walkway fund can contact Phang at [email protected].

Phang (right) and other volunteers at the herbal garden in front of the Kota Damansara Community Forest Reserve.

Day out for Puchong residentsSUBANG JAYA: A hundred seniors took part in the state’s Jom Shopping programme at Giant Seri Kembangan with Gobind Singh Deo recently.

“The participants each received RM100 vouchers and were taken to the hypermarket to shop for food es-sentials by staff and volunteers from the Puchong MP’s Seri Serdang ser-vice centre.

“The programme is one of the state initiatives that aims to assist the low-income group, and also citizens in their

golden years,” said Gobind.The participants are registered with

the Skim Mesra Usia Emas (SMUE) initiative.

The Puchong MP added that Selan-gor was on the right track with its social responsiblity and welfare programmes such as the Urban Poor Microcredit Scheme, and the setting up of a people’s dialysis centre for the poor.

“The state is investing its revenue by giving back to ratepayers with these social programmes,” he said.

Yeoh, who was  helping seniors load their trolleys with their pur-chases, said seniors were happy that the state was giving something back to the residents.

“The response for this event has been overwhelming. My office is now always packed with seniors who wants to be registered for Skim Mesra Usia Emas (SMUE),” said Yeoh.

This shopping programme will be organised once every month for 200 senior citizens registered under the SMUE state scheme.

The scheme also entitles seniors to receive RM2,500, which will be given to beneficiaries for funeral expenses in the future.

All Selangor citizens aged 60 and above are entitled for the scheme, while those born in other states will have to prove that they have been living here for at least 15 years.

For enquiries, call Yeoh’s service centre at 03-56312768 on Mon-days, Wednesdays and Fridays from 1pm to 7pm, and Thursdays from 8pm to 10pm.

Gobind with participants and volunteers at Giant Seri Kembangan.

Kulasingam and his wife.

Chia: Seniors should have the option of shopping at other outlets.

Page 16: Selangor Times Sept 23-25, 2011 / Issue 41

16 September 23 — 25, 2011

News

Council holds successful youth dance competition

Film fest to highlight local issues

By Basil Foo

SHAH ALAM: Annual film fes-tival Komas Freedom Film Fest (FFF) aims to open the minds of Malaysians to current issues affect-ing their country this October.

“This will be a chance for Ma-laysians to watch rarely seen films and increase their knowledge on Malaysian issues,” said FFF director Anna Har.

The screenings will feature 20 local and international films touch-ing on issues of human rights, the environment, women’s rights, inter-religious relations and elections.

Har, in a press conference on Tuesday, said the first stop of the film festival will be at the Wisma Bentley auditorium in Mutiara Damansara on Oct 1 and 2.

“There will also be discussion segments for those who just watched the films to reflect on and express what they just saw,” she added.

Also at the press conference was state executive councillor Rodziah Ismail, who was one of the discus-sion panelists for last year’s FFF.

She said those attending the festival would not only be enter-tained by the films, but will be en-couraged to share their points of view on current issues.

“There was a discussion last year on a film portraying the cow-head incident in Shah Alam which gar-nered different viewpoints,” she said.

According to Rodziah, this is the second year the state government has supported and promoted the eight-year-long film festival, which has seen an increasing turnout.

FFF assistant coordinator Yow Chong Lee said a local film to look

By Alvin Yap

SUBANG JAYA: Individual and group dancers flaunted their moves to win a competition organised by the Subang Jaya Municipal Coun-cil’s (MPSJ) Local Youth Initiator (PeBt) programme here recently.

“We organised the Dance It competition so that youths can participate and express themselves in dance,” said co-organiser Vivian Kuan.

She said this during the opening speech of the event at Sunway Pyra-mid shopping mall, which drew the afternoon crowd.

Dance duo Zhin Crew won the top prize of RM3,000 for their hip-

hop performance.“It was a great performance, you

guys are energetic in your dance,” said judge Michael Xavier Voon, who was the choreographer on the dance reality show So You Think You Can Dance (Malaysia).

Freshype, which came in second place and won RM2,000 cash, re-ceived praise for their modern dance.

“I like your dance, it had very well-executed moves,” said profes-sional dancer and So You Think You Can Dance judge Judimar Hernan-dez to the dance duo.

Her fellow judge, Amanda Tay of dance academy Urban Groove, said the group portrayed great show-manship.

Third place went to five-member dance group Swaggerrific, while the all-girl group Chique De luxe won the Crowd Favourite category with their cabaret dance style.

Kuan said the teams that partici-pated in the finalists line-up were from the Subang Jaya area, and had been selected from a long list of hopefuls.

The PeBt programme is a Selan-gor-government initiative to spur leadership and organisational skills among youths in their respective local government zones.

MPSJ Councillor Rajiv Rishya-karan said the council will organise more cultural and dance competi-tions to promote the performing arts.

forward to is Huruf J, which is about the challenges faced by di-vorcees in Malaysia.

Another film, Lot, umah am, is about the indigenous Orang Seletar who have called the Straits of Johor their home for generations.

Yow said a film called Senyap…Tersentak, which is about eight demands for free and fair elections,

has also been endorsed by an elec-tions coalition.

Those wishing to catch these films, and others of international acclaim, may make their reserva-tions for free tickets at freedom-filmfest.komas.org.

Screentimes and synopses for the 20 films can also be found on the website.

(From left) Yow, Rodziah and Har at the press conference in the state secretariat on Tuesday.

Kuan and her fellow PeBt organising chair Jason Wong, Rishyakaran and winner Zhin Crew.

Poor response to free bicycle parking

Motorcycles in the free bicycle parking lots at an LRT station in Petaling Jaya.

By Alvin Yap and Gan Pei Ling

PETALING JAYA: There were virtually no takers for free  bicycle parking lots at Light Rail Transport (LRT) stations built in conjunction with World Car-Free Day yesterday.

Banners and signs have been put up by Syarikat Prasarana Negara Berhad (Prasarana) to encourage the public to leave cars at home and cycle to the LRT stations.

But a visit by Selangor Times to some of the stations showed that the message has, for now, gone unheed-ed, as motorists prefer to drive to the station or directly to work.

To date, Prasarana has provid-ed  bicycle parking facilities at 17 LRT stations along the Kelana Jaya-Ampang line.

At the Kelana Jaya station, the parking lot with individual stands specifically built for cyclists to chain their bicycles remained empty.

Other stations – Taman Bahagia, Taman Jaya and Paramount – saw only motorcycles but no bicycles parked at the mixed bicycle and motorcycle parking lots.

According to public feedback on the poor response, commuters said travel time is reduced when using private transport. Other respondents said the LRT coverage is not exten-sive enough for them to consider using on daily basis.

The move to provide the free bi-cycle parking lots was announced by Prasarana  on Tuesday to encour-age members of the public to cycle instead of drive to the stations.

“This will reduce the use of motor vehicles and environmental pollu-tion,” said Prasarana president Tan Sri Ismail Adam at a press conference.

He added that members of the public with a foldable bike can bring them aboard the LRT from 9am to 4.30pm and from 7pm onwards.

However, foldable bikes are not allowed on board during peak hours to avoid adding to the congestion.

The stations providing bicycle

parking spaces are Kelana Jaya, Ta-man Bahagia, Taman Paramount, Asia Jaya, Taman Jaya, Universiti, Abdullah Hukum, Kampung Baru, Damai, Dato’ Keramat, Jelatek, Se-tiawangsa, Wangsa Maju, Taman Melati and Gombak station on the Kelana Jaya Line; and Salak Selatan and Sentul Timur station on the Ampang Line.

In a bid to boost public transport usage, Prasarana also distributed some 150,000 free coupons for the public to use the LRT, Monorail and RapidKL buses.

Prasarana Group Director of Rail Khairani Mohamed said the com-pany will also introduce price cuts to LRT and Monorail fees from January to September next year.

In addition, Prasarana will be or-ganising a year-long “Spot the Stick-er” contest. Owners whose cars are spotted with the contest sticker stand to win a Rapidpass worth RM100.

Khairani further said 1,200 ad-ditional car parking spaces will be provided at Gombak station on the Kelana Jaya Line near the end of 2011.

On the Ampang Line, another 1,100 parking spaces will be added to the Ampang station, the upgrade of which is expected to be com-pleted by 2012.

Another 10,300 parking spaces will be provided at the LRT exten-sion along Kelana Jaya Line and Ampang Line.

Six of 13 new stations along the 17km-long Kelana Jaya Line exten-sion, and six out of 12 new stations along the 17.7km-long Ampang Line extension will have park-and-ride facilities.

However, with the increasing number of cars on the road, Khairani said Prasarana is encouraging the public to turn to cycling to the sta-tion as it is more eco-friendly and will help reduce carbon emission.

World Car-Free Day is aimed at promoting the use and improvement of mass transit, cycling and walking to workplaces and shopping centres.

Page 17: Selangor Times Sept 23-25, 2011 / Issue 41

17September 23 — 25, 2011

Media

Food and retail hub in Bukit Kemuning

Première Hotel’s first anniversary deals

Andaman Group to hold fundraising concertsSUBANG JAYA: Andaman Group will be organising two charity concerts this year to raise f u n d s a n d a w a r e n e s s f o r SMJK(C) Sam Tet and Yayasan Pendidikan John Moh as part of its corporate social responsibility to the community.

As an alumnus, Datuk Patrick Teoh, who is also executive chair-person of Andaman Group, is extending a helping hand by contributing toward these causes.

All funds gathered from the two concerts will be shared equal-ly between the two beneficiaries.

The funds will be used for school maintenance, school ac-tivities, upgrading of educational facilities, as well as helping under-privileged students in need.

SMJK (C) Sam Tet is an all-boys’ national school located in Ipoh, Perak, and was built in 1934.

Yayasan Pendidikan John Moh is a private foundation formed by the alumni of Sam Tet in 1995. The foundation was formed in recognition of Rev Brother John Moh’s tireless efforts towards bet-tering the school and its educa-tion standards.

The charity concert in KL will

be held on Oct 14 at Bentley Music Auditorium in Mutiara Damansara at 8.30pm.

The two -hour concert is themed The Jazzy Sounds of Te-resa Teng, and will be led by pia-nist and music director Tay Cher Siang, who will be aided by famed guitarist Roger Wang and Winnie Ho, a distinguished vocalist.

The next concert, themed In the Mood for Love, will be held at The Syuen Hotel, Ipoh on Nov 25 at 8pm, led by vocalists Lydia Chew and Z Yan.

Ticket prices for The Jazzy Sounds of Teresa Teng are RM138 and RM188, while ticket prices for In the Mood for Love are RM118 and RM168.

For more details, call 012-2083790 or go to www.airasi-aredtix.com.

Andaman Property Manage-ment Sdn Bhd is a privately owned company specialising in property development. Projects include Cova Square, Cova Villa and Cova Suites in Kota Daman-sara, as well as Casa Subang Ser-vice Apartments in Subang Jaya.

KLANG: Première Hotel, the newest business-class hotel in Bandar Bukit Tinggi, will celebrate its first an-niversary on Oct 1.

D“In opening the hotel on Oct 10, 2010, we sought to raise the bar in standards of comfort and service for both Malaysians and international guests and help propel the tourism sector,” said WCT subsidiary BBT Hotel Sdn Bhd director Eddie Tan.

“We have had an eventful year and are very grateful to the media, local community, guests, all associates, many of whom are from the original opening team.

“We will continue to implement our core mission – to remain one of the preferred hotels in Klang in each segment that we serve for our associates, guests and owners,” said Tan.

Since its opening, Première has gained reputation as one of the most popular spots for wedding banquets and corporate events in Klang.

To celebrate its first anniversary, Première is offering the Birthday Anniversary pack filled with special offers and discounts on accommodation and food and drinks.

From Oct 1 to 31, one guest will get the chance to

stay for just RM1 for the first night. One room will be given out for RM1 each day for the month of October.

Guests can also enjoy a night stay in the Executive Floor accommodation for RM230 per room per night, and pay only RM1 for daily buffet breakfast, internet and mini bar for one person.

It is valid for booking from Oct 1 to 31, with hotel stay from Oct 10 to 31. Terms and conditions apply.

Prices are subject to 10% service charge and prevail-ing government taxes.

In honour of the special occasion, guests dining in the hotel’s restaurants with a minimum spending of RM100 in a single receipt will also stand a chance to win a host of prizes throughout October.

Featured items include a hotel stay and dining vouch-ers.

The 18-storey, four-star business hotel has 250 guest rooms. Recreational amenities include a fitness centre equipped with high-tech work-out equipment, and an outdoor swimming pool and a spa, all located on Level 1.

For more details about Première Hotel’s birthday celebrations, visit www.premiere-hotels.com.

The grand ballroom.

SHAH ALAM: Due for completion in 2013, upcoming retail and commercial development Tigaman Square will offer retail lots, office suites and recreational facilities.

”This will act as a regional mall to cater to the surround-ing community of about half a million people within a 5km radius,” said Sunhor Property Bhd general manager Albert Kuay.

The 2.8-hectare development, located in Bukit Kemun-ing, aims to be a commercial centre to nurture businesses and shape social lives through its many facilities.

Tigaman Square will consist of four six-level blocks connected via sky bridges.

Kuay said the connectivity will cut down the walking distance for patrons, who can then spend more time in places that they need to be.

“Anybody from Block A can travel horizontally to Block D rather than having to go down to the ground floor, walk over to another block, and go up again,” he said.

Some 416 retail units such as food and beverage outlets, bou-tiques, bistros and specialty stores will be located on the first three floors of the blocks.

The ground floor will have 224 open-air parking bays, with an ad-ditional 764 covered parking bays on the third and fourth floors for tenants and patrons alike.

A wide expanse of landscaped open space on the rooftops of the blocks will see a restaurant, gymna-sium, and roof gardens, adding to the variety of services available.

“The fifth floor on Block B will

have clubhouse facilities like a kara-oke and spa,” Kuay said.

Patrons of the 44 semi-furnished office suites on Block C and D will be serviced by a food court conve-niently located on the second floor of Block B.

Kuay said Block C and D have

already acquired an occupancy rate of about 60%, while Block A has just opened for sale and Block B will be used by Sunhor themselves.

“Typical office suite units at 1,197 square feet are going for RM375 per square foot. Prices for normal retail lots range from

RM573 to RM647 per square foot,” he said.

Tigaman Square will provide ease of movement for shoppers and those seeking quick meals with its eight lifts and 19 escalators.

The Square is also aiming to be an irresistible people-magnet and a

future food and beverage heartland with its alfresco dining concept on the first floor.

Travelling is expected to be a breeze as the Square is located less than half an hour from Subang Jaya, Petaling Jaya, Port Klang, and Shah Alam town via various highways.

Father and daughter looking at a model of Tigaman Square at the Tigaman Sales Gallery in Bukit Kemuning.

Sunhor Group group managing director CT Lim (third right) digging ‘gold soil’ during the Tigaman Square groundbreaking ceremony on Sept 10. Looking on are Malaysian Retailer-Chains Association (MRCA) deputy president Datuk Nelson Kwok TT, MRCA president Datuk Tay Sim Kim, and LBS Bina Group Bhd executive director Datuk Daniel Lim Hock Sing.

Page 18: Selangor Times Sept 23-25, 2011 / Issue 41

18 september 23 — 25, 2011

media

By Brenda Ch’ng

SHAH ALAM: University Selangor (Uni-sel), which takes pride in providing affordable tertiary education, is offering 2,000 places for its current intake, which ends on Sept 28.

“Though we are a private university, we have the lowest fees compared with other institutes. Even so, we strive to provide top-quality education and facilities for the stu-dents,” said Unisel’s acting vice-chancellor, Professor Dr Anuar Ahmad.

Each of the university’s campuses in Bestari Jaya, Kuala Selangor and Shah Alam will ac-commodate 1,000 students when courses commence in October.

Among courses offered for this intake are Foundation programmes for Management, Information Technology, English as a Second Language and Science.

Diploma courses include Electric and Elec-tronic Engineering, Mekatronics and Me-chanical Engineering, Information Technol-ogy, Aquaculture, Biotechnology, Biomedi-cine, Business and Mass Communications.

Bachelor degree courses available are En-gineering, Applied Mathematical Science and Statistics, Computer Science, Biomedicine, Business and Mass Communications.

Those interested in Art and Design and

Diploma in Photography can also enrol in courses during December’s intake.

“Unisel has over 40 doctorate-level lectur-ers, hired to provide quality education. Stu-dents are without a doubt getting the best quality education there is,” said Anuar.

He also pointed out that Unisel has the most doctorate lecturers compared with other universities in Malaysia.

Unisel has produced outstanding students who have won a number of competitions and awards.

Among them is the engineering club, which emerged in first place in the CubPrix AAM Malaysia Petronas competition last March for producing the best motorbike en-

gine, which was also used to win the race. Unisel also conducts several exchange

programmes to Fatih University in Turkey annually. This year, 80 communications stu-dents gained valuable experience and knowl-edge in Turkey.

“We are now looking to expanding the student exchange programme to include other faculties like nursing,” said Anuar.

He said plans are already being drawn up to allow nursing students to study in Turkey next year.

Anuar added that students with financial

difficulties can apply for a loan from Yayasan Selangor, for foundation, degree and diploma programmes.

“Yayasan Selangor has agreed to offer a full loan for Foundation students, which can be paid back after they start working. Students should take advantage of this,” he said.

In addition, the media group Karangkraf is also offering full scholarships to students, which can be applied for directly to them.

Inquiries can be addressed to Unisel’s Shah Alam campus at 03-55223435 / 3436 / 3573 / 3575 or email [email protected].

Uni places still available at Unisel

Dr Anuar

Communications building of Unisel.

SHAH ALAM: Kumpulan Perang-sang Selangor Bhd is set to organise job training courses for Selangor graduates next month as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). 

The state-linked company will hold a series of courses to assist some 1,500 Selangor graduates secure em-ployment in the job market or start their own businesses.

“The main objective of the pro-gramme is to increase the knowledge, self worth and confidence of our graduates to secure jobs or to become entrepreneurs,” said Perangsang’s

chief executive officer during a brief-ing to Members of Parliament, state lawmakers and representatives from public institutes of higher learning.

Raja Idris Raja Kamarudin said the programmme, called Rangsangan Kerjaya Untuk Siswazah Selangor, aims to reduce the unemployment rate among graduates in the state.

He said the courses include job placement in companies, where par-ticipants will receive on-job training during their internship period.

Participants who successfully fol-low and complete the course will be recommended for full-time employ-ment at the companies.

For the entrepreneurial training course, there will be incentives for participants to start their own busi-nesses upon completion.

The training programme is open to all graduate- and diploma-level hold-ers in Selangor.

Training is slated to start in Octo-ber and will take between two weeks and two months to complete, depend-ing on the course.

Those interested should contact Perangsang Selangor’s CSR Imple-mentation Unit at Plaza Perangsang here, or call 03-55103999 extension 244 or 260.

Alternatively they can attend the official launch of the programme, which will be officiated by Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim at the SACC Con-vention Centre here on Sept 30.

Job training, placement for grads

By Alvin Yap

PETALING JAYA: Carrefour Malaysia re-cently launched an Apple iPhone interactive game that allows players to redeem virtual points for real gifts at their stores nationwide.

“This is a natural progression of retailing,” said Carrefour marketing and communications director Ngai Yuen Low at the launch here recently.

She said the WHOlah game is highly addic-tive and challenges players with a test on how well they know their Facebook friends.

The game links to players’ Facebook pages and flashes their friends’ profile pictures. Players have to match the correct names in under 60 seconds.

Players gain points that can be redeemed for

prizes at customer service counters if they cor-rectly guess the names.

Ngai said participants can redeem the prizes by showing the accumulated scores on the iP-hone screen to Carrefour staff at the redemption counters.

“It’s not difficult, but not that easy also, as some of our friends may change their Facebook profile pictures 20 times a day,” Ngai said.

During the launch, some 40 participants played the game as part of the launch event.

Malaysian supermodels Amber Chia and Chermaine Poo graced the event and also par-ticipated in the interactive game on their i-Phones.

The game application is free and can be down-loaded from http://bit.ly/wholah.

Virtual points for real gifts at Carrefour

(From left) Ngai, with models Poo and Chia.

Raja Idris

Page 19: Selangor Times Sept 23-25, 2011 / Issue 41

19SEPTEMBER 23 — 25, 2011

FOOD

By Basil Foo

The allure of exotic and spicy food drew us to try a Mexican joint in USJ Taipan one Monday night.

Upon entering Las Carretas, staff ushered us to our seats and waited patiently while we read the menus – a wel-come change from the usual bustle of restaurant dining.

We attributed the thoughtful service to the lack of customers: there were still several occupied tables, with one birthday celebration serenad-ed by staff with maracas.

Las Carretas looks to cater to groups of families and parties with large joinable tables and loops of old cartoons playing on television sets.

The restaurant’s smoking and non-smoking sections are divided into the first and ground floors of the shop lot.

As soon as we plopped ourselves into our seats surrounded by an-tique car number plates, guitars, and cacti, a bowl of nachos with salsa on the side appeared on our table.

We munched on the complimentary appetiser while perusing the menus, which were informative with descriptions of dishes, while a waiter was on hand to interpret Mexican words for us.

We started our dinner proper with Benji’s Skins (RM12.50), which was two pieces of po-tato skin stuffed with South American lamb stew and gratinated with cheese.

The browned and melted cheese complemented the potato skins in a salty mix, while the lamb stew provided the dish with some substance. But the portion seemed too small for more than two diners as the potato skins were basically two halves of a single potato.

Spoilt for choice with a multitude of Mexican tortilla dishes like tacos, burritos, and enchiladas, we settled on the quesadillas (RM24.90).

The large baked and folded flour tortilla stuffed with Monterey Jack cheese, onions, bell peppers, and jalapenos was topped with salsa, sour cream and guacamole.

Perhaps the heat of the jalapenos had dissipated when cooking – or our Malaysian palates had been dulled by con-suming too much spicy food too often – but the famed chili dish, however, failed to impress.

Billed as one of several vegetarian options available, the guacamole and sour cream lent a smidgeon of flavour to the healthy-tasting, pancake-like dish.

Customers were given options to add minced chicken, beef or sautéed mushrooms, priced at between RM3 and RM4.

We also ordered the Chili Con Carne (RM20.90), hoping to try the restaurant’s take on the Mexican rice dish.

It turned out to be the night’s hit, with minced beef and kidney beans producing a miasma of earthy flavours resembling a thick satay sauce.

We would recommend this to diners hankering for some-thing more filling and wanting to try something other than the standard tortilla dishes.

The other item on our list was Costilla de Cordero (RM29.90) – New Zealand lamb loin chops served with chimmi-churri dip, a South American sauce used to marinate meats.

We settled for a medium-done chop, which turned out

slightly chewy at parts where streaks of lamb fat outweighed the meat.

However, lamb lovers would be delighted with the heady taste of the meat, which, with its perfect combo of savoury and juicy, tempt-ed one to dive in sans cutleries.

While our bill for the night came up higher than most other places we have been to, the Mexican cuisine was well worth a try and pos-sibly a second visit to taste the other offerings on the menu.

Mexican fare at Las Carretas

Complimentary nachos with salsa.

Benji’s Skins.

Costilla de Cordero.

The ground floor dining area.

Decor at Las Carretas.

Diners being serenaded by staff.

Quesadillas. Chili Con Carne.

A shelf full of knick knacks.

Page 20: Selangor Times Sept 23-25, 2011 / Issue 41

20 september 23 — 25, 2011

travel

It usually takes a lot to frighten me, but my return from Pulau Ketam (see last issue for the hair-raising details of our trip there!) left me with shaky legs. What should have

been an easy departure from the island of floating houses on stilts turned out to be a nightmare.

We had learnt from the “boat conductress” earlier upon our arrival that she would return with the boat at 6pm and that we should not be late. As it turned out, we were not the only ones trying to escape from the island. At 5:30pm, there were at least 250 to 300 people waiting for the ferry. The number of mainlanders trying to make their way home before the sun set was a ludicrous sight.

Like before, no one was controlling the crowd. We had assumed that since Crab Island was a popular local island destination, there would be some jetty officials or authorities to put matters in order. But no – the situation turned out to be every man (and woman and child) for himself.

Some stood close to the edge of the water. Others even stood on the cement steps as the waves lapped at their feet. It would have been a frightening scene had it not also been funny.

Private boats and local ferries eventually showed up to pick up passengers. Some of the returnees howled in merriment at their approach, and the crowd surged forward. It was a miracle that nobody was accidentally pushed into the water. I truly feared for the children. Parents, too, pushed their way to the front of the jetty, where there was a glaring absence of any barrier to prevent an accident.

The boats docked in very close quarters to each other. At one point, three wooden vessels were docked unsteadily side by side while the waves rocked them gently with mere inches between them.

Our aim of returning to Port Klang on the official ferry was dashed by the pressing crowd. Moments later, we saw from a distance the same green private ferry that had brought us to the island. Some passengers who had taken the same boat ride with us spotted the “karaoke woman”, who still holding on to that hailer with a broken horn. We began shouting, laughing and waving at her. She must have felt like a celebrity: in most likelihood she had never been so popular.

As the green ferry slid gently to our side of the jetty, we realised that the edge of the ferry platform and the jetty floor

were not level. In fact, the gap was about 12 inches, and the boat was rocking rather turbulently because of its running engine. But none of us really cared. We just wanted to get off the island.

Two men who were part of the ferry crew came to pull passengers down into the boat. Fortunately, they had strong hands – but it was nevertheless a ridiculous sight. Less-than-agile middle-aged women struggled to plant their feet firmly on the floor of the vessel. When it was my turn, I wasn’t even sure I could make it, but what little courage I had left helped me to get on the boat – just barely.

At least one woman froze at the edge. From her expression, it was obvious that her bravery had taken flight. She yelled amid the commotion and quickly retrieved her child from the boat. She decided she had had enough and would take her chances

with other more stable boats.Within 15 minutes, the green ferry was jam-packed. Some

brave young lads forged their way to the bow, in front of the captain’s cabin. They wanted to feel the surging winds as the ferry headed back to the mainland.

I was quite relieved that the entire boarding procedure, under such precarious circumstances, did not result in a single tragedy. It was a touch-and-go situation – we literally touched the boat and went.

Thankfully, it was a rather leisurely cruise back to Port Klang. The superfast ferry with its powerful engines overtook us again, but I didn’t care. I was weatherbeaten, had a full belly, and fell asleep on the journey. Our escape from Crab Island was truly something to write about – so here I am, fill-ing you in with all the sorry details.

If you thought making a visit to Pulau Ketam allows for excel-lent adventure, think again: the real action takes place during the return journey. LIN ZHENYUAN lives – just barely – to tell the tale

Escape from Crab Island

The railway track at Port Klang where the commuter train takes passengers back to the city.

A boat pulls up near the Pulau Ketam jetty as people wait for their turn to leave the island.

One last look at the seafront view on Pulau Ketam near the jetty.

Pulau Ketam – island of floating wooden houses.

Passengers disembarking at the Port Klang jetty after a 60-minute journey from Pulau Ketam.

Page 21: Selangor Times Sept 23-25, 2011 / Issue 41

SELANGOR TIMES ⁄ september 23 – 25, 2011 ⁄ 21

1. LOCAL ELECTIONSLocal government should be fully responsible to the people.

Should local government fail to uphold public trust, therakyat should have the right to elect new leadership.

The first local elections are planned to be in MBPJ in 2012.

2. HOUSINGThe State prioritises adequate housing at reasonableprices for the people of Selangor.

140 housing projects were abandoned under theprevious government. Since the current stategovernment took over, 23 projects have beencompleted involving 9179 homes.

Under the Estate Workers Housing Scheme, RM2million has been allocated to build a hostel for estateworkers’ children.

The State Government is committed to developaffordable homes (850 - 1000 sq ft) priced aroundRM100,000 for families earning between RM2,500 &RM5,000. A total of 11,000 units will be built each yearin areas like Bangi, Ulu Selangor, Gombak, KotaKemuning, Hulu Langat, Subang and Shah Alam.

3. SECURITYThe State Government will facilitate collaboration withresidents and the private sector to finance privatesecurity. The pilot project will be held in Subang Jaya.

The State Government will continue to offer auxilliarypolice to assist the police to provide safety of thepeople in Selangor

A total of RM 3 million has been allocated for theinstallation of CCTVs.

4. MINIMUM WAGEPeople who work are entitled to wages which aresufficient and appropriate to the increasing cost ofdaily needs.

In accordance with the Pakatan Rakyat policy onminimum wage, the state will implement a minimumwage of RM 1,500 for all state subsidiaries effectiveJanuary 1, 2012.

5. INFRASTRUCTUREFunctioning and well maintained infrastructure is abasic right of all.

A total of RM1 million was allocated to the each stateconstituency for the maintenance of roads, drains, andbridges under local council supervision.

RM5 million has been allocated for the developmentand improvement of streets in new villages whileanother RM 4 million has been allocated formaintenance of roads in traditional villages.

Agenda Selangorku Was officiated by the Dato’ Menteri Besar, YAB TanSri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim on Sept 16, 2011, in conjunction with thestate’s National Day n Malaysia Day Celebration.

Page 22: Selangor Times Sept 23-25, 2011 / Issue 41

22 September 23 — 25, 2011

Gallery

Executive councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah (centre with green lantern) at a Lantern Festival celebration at Pusat Perdagangan Seri Kembangan on Sept 10.

Executive councillor and Sri Andalas assemblyperson Dr Xavier Jayakumar handing out 500 packets of duit raya to children during a Hari Raya open house at Taman Teluk Menegon in Klang on Sunday. Food galore at state executive councillor Iskandar Samad’s open house last Sunday.

Children performing a dance

during a Lantern Festival celebration

attended by 2,000 residents in USJ 1

last Friday.

Subang Jaya assemblyperson Hannah Yeoh helping a senior citizen with his purchases at Giant Kelang Jaya last Saturday, during a shopping expedition organised as part of the state’s Jom Shopping programme.

Youths and people with disabilities were invited to attend a Malaysia Day gathering at the Kota Damansara Community Forest Reserve last Sunday. Among those present were Friends of Kota Damansara chair Jeffrey Phang (seated in green) and local councillor T Anthony (seated in red).

Page 23: Selangor Times Sept 23-25, 2011 / Issue 41

23September 23 — 25, 2011

CultureEditor’s PickShort+Sweet Musical 2011 Musical; Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre; Sept 28-Oct 1; 03-40479000, www.klpac.org; RM28

Compiled by Nick ChooSend your events to: [email protected]

Just a Dream – The Green Play

Theatre; 15-24 Sept; Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre; www.klpac.org, 03-40479000; RM63/RM38

Presented by Singapore Repertory Theatre’s The Little Company in association with Adventure Theatre Washington DC. When it comes to the environment, young Walter is far from enlightened. He’s a litterbug who believes sorting trash is a big waste of time. But one night, Walter dreams about a very different future. Filled with humour and fantasy, Walter’s dream is a wake-up call for him – and all of us – about what we need to do to protect and preserve the future of our planet. This original eco-play uses magical stage effects and lush soundscapes to create a theatrical version of Chris Van Allsburg’s beautiful illustrations, author of The Polar Express and

Jumanji. All production materials (costumes, props and sets) will be made of earth-friendly and recycled materials. Recommended for four- to 10-year-olds.

The Children’s Theatre

Theatre; 26-30 Sept; The Actors Studio @ Lot 10; www.theactorsstudio.com.my, 03-2142 2009; RM10Double bill of Little Red Riding Hood and Jack & The Beanstalk – an interactive theatre experience to give children an introduction to the performing arts. Featuring colourful visuals, energetic action and lots of pantomime. Directed by Sham Sunder Binwani.

Much Ado About Nothing

Theatre; 22-25 Sept; The Actors Studio @ Lot 10; www.theactorsstudio.com.my, 03-2142 2009; RM23/RM13

The Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre’s T4YP 2011 ensemble presents its last performance for the season, paying tribute to the Bard. “Benedick and Beatrice, and Claudio and Hero are deeply in love. Beatrice and Benedick are deeply in denial. All is well. Then Claudio humiliates Hero. Hero has a fainting attack and pretends to die. And Beatrice and Benedick join forces with a vengeance.” Christopher Ling directs Shakespeare’s sharp, smart comedy about men and women and what it takes to make love happen.

In Perfect Harmony

Theatre/Music; 6-23 Oct; Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre; www.klpac.org, 03-40479000, www.damaorchestra.com; RM93-RM303

Set against the backdrop of a radio broadcasting station, this musical concert production pays homage to the multitude of popular music that tugged at our heart strings in the last four decades. It’s a showcase of fabulous songs and dances. Exquisite vocals. Great music. Superb fun and entertainment all the way. Featuring Chang Fang Chyi, Tria Aziz and Tan Soo Suan, with special guest appearances by Zainal Abidin (6-9 Oct), Sean Ghazi (12-16 Oct), David Arumugam (19-23 Oct) and The Seasons 4 (12, 16, 19, 23 Oct). Presented by Dama Orchestra.

CALeNDAr

SHORT + Sweet Theatre was founded at the Newtown Theatre in Sydney, Australia in January 2002 by Mark Cleary, beginning with the first ever Short + Sweet Theatre festival. Now into its 10th year, it is touted as the biggest festival of ten-minute theatre in the world, held annually in Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra, Auckland, Singapore, and, of course, Kuala Lumpur.

Here, the festival is hosted by the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre, and this year’s event kicks off next week with Short + Sweet Musical, now into its second year following its successful inaugural run in 2010. This will be followed by Short + Sweet Dance and Short + Sweet Theatre, which run from Oct 5-16 and Oct 19-30 respectively.

Short + Sweet Musical will feature ten musicals – written, composed and performed by local artistes and performers – that each run for ten minutes or less. Participants stand a chance to win prizes in a host of categories – Best Libretto, Best Composition, Best Lead Actor (Male), Best Lead Actor (Female), Best Supporting Actor (Male), Best Supporting Actor (Female), Best Overall Production, Audience’s Choice, and a new category, Best Glitz and Glamour – as well as the People’s Choice award, which allows audiences to vote for their favourite musical.

Here’s the line-up for this year’s event:1) Remember Me – Music by Jun Ishida, lyrics

by Catherine Ooi; directed by Nicole Allison Ng: “If I’m out of sight, does that mean I’m out of mind? If I pay the price, will I get a second chance? How long will you remember me – a day, a year, or until I’m free?”

2) A Taste of Love – Music and lyrics by Aaron Lo; directed by Eugene Ng: “In the pursuit of their usual (not to mention morbid) gastronomical choice, one widowed woman and her daughter discover that there is nothing quite like the taste of love.”

3) Late: As Usual-Lah – MJ music re-arranged by Joanna Marie Gough, lyrics by Andre Dynesh D’Cruz & Joanna Marie Gough; directed by Kathleen Kang: “Revolves around the reasons Malaysians are always late, using MJ music to groove towards the momentum.”

4) My Prince Will Come – Music by Fatihah Yaacob, lyrics by Terence Toh; directed by BB Ostella Adam: “A lovely princess, a brave hero, an evil villain. But, just because you’re a fairytale character, it doesn’t mean that you have to act like one!”

5) (I Guess) I Do – Music and lyrics by Sergio Camacho; directed by Melinya Sarah DeRich: “Sorry, I am the Worst Man to write a synopsis… it is about a wedding, a groom, a bride, oh, yes, and about me. I think he loves her (who wouldn’t!). Well, I guess, I also do… (Signed: the Best Man).”

6) Meanwhile… – Music by Hana Mazlan, lyrics by Jit Yang & Banun Atina; directed by Jit Yang & Banun Atina.

7) The Moment After – Music by Kamahlaan Thiagarajan, lyrics by Jude James; directed by Jude James.

8) Oriental Takeout – Music by Clarence Chua, lyrics by Freddy Tan; directed by Kimmy Khiew: “In the path of looking for love and companionship, a Sheldon Cooper-like genius (a.k.a SuperGeek) has decided to call in an Oriental escort. Hmmm…”

9) Tweet About It! – Music by Bahar Royaee & Natasha Ejaz, lyrics by Natasha Ejaz; directed by Natasha Ejaz. “A paranoid girlfriend finds questionable comments on her boyfriend’s Facebook wall, wrecking havoc in the realm of her imagination. Watch modern relationships unfold their many nuances in 10 insane minutes.”

10) Float N’Sync: The Rise N’Fall of the Bad Streak Boys – Music and lyrics by Nick Choo; directed by Nicole-Ann Thomas; choreography by Judimar Hernandez. “They’re the quintessential boy band with a smash track record – until one of them decides to put them all in jeopardy by taking a big, bold step…”

By Basil Foo

SHAH ALAM: Two dancers from the Aswara Dance Company managed a clean sweep at the Selangor Young Talents Awards Ceremony 2011.

Mohd Yunus Ismail and Norbaizura Abdul Ghani raked in all three awards in their category, including Category winner, Special Jury award and Grant awards.

They came away with cash prizes amounting to RM3,000 for Category winner, and RM5,000 for the Special Jury Award.

Their talent was further recognised as a grant of up to RM20,000 was awarded for their production activi-

ties, education, and other related costs.The awards ceremony was judged by a panel of artists,

curators and activists, including Eddin Khoo, Hishamuddin Rais, Leng Poh Gee, and Uthayasuria.

The awards were divided into four sections – Visual Arts, Creative Writing, Music (Vocal), and Performing Arts, which includes Dance, Theatre, and Music.

The Selangor Youth Talents Awards were initiated in 2010 with the aim of recognising young talented Malaysians from across the country and those practicing their art overseas.

This year’s ceremony was held at the Shah Alam City Council (MBSA) hall on Sept 17.

Aswara dancers win big at Young Talent awards

Menteri Besar Tan Sri Khalid

Ibrahim presenting the mock cheques to the winners.

Page 24: Selangor Times Sept 23-25, 2011 / Issue 41

Published by Selangor State Government and printed by Dasar Cetak (M) Sdn Bhd No. 7, Persiaran Selangor, Seksyen 15, 40000, Shah Alam, Selangor Darul Ehsan.

Perbadanan Kemajuan Negeri Selangor

KENYATAAN TENDER TERBUKACADANGAN PEMBANGUNAN KOMPLEKS PEJABAT 4 - 8 TINGKAT BERSERTA 1 TINGKAT

TEMPAT LETAK KERETA SUB-BESMEN YANG MENGANDUNGI :

i) BLOK A - 8 TINGKAT RUANG PEJABAT BERSERTA RUANG PAMERAN DI ARAS TANAH, AUDITORIUM DAN RUANG LEGAR DI ARAS 2, DEWAN BANKUASI DAN RUANG LEGAR DI ARAS 4 DAN SURAU DI ARAS 7.ii) BLOK B - 8 TINGKAT RUANG PEJABAT BERSERTA RUANG KOMERSIAL DI ARAS TANAHiii) BLOK C - 6 TINGKAT RUANG PEJABAT BERSERTA RUANG KOMERSIAL DI ARAS TANAHiv) BLOK D - 4 TINGKAT RUANG PEJABAT BERSERTA RUANG KOMERSIAL DI ARAS TANAH, GIMNASIUM DI ARAS 2 DAN SURAU DI ARAS 1v) 1 UNIT PENCAWANG ELEKTRIK DAN RUMAH SAMPAH DI ARAS TANAH

DI ATAS PT 43, PRECINCT 8.8 JALAN INDAH, SEKSYEN 14, 40000 SHAH ALAM, DAERAH PETALING, SELANGOR DARUL EHSAN UNTUK TETUAN PERBADANAN KEMAJUAN NEGERI SELANGOR.

- KERJA-KERJA BANGUNAN DAN KERJA-KERJA INFRASTRUKTUR

Tender adalah dipelawa dan terbuka kepada Kontraktor-kontraktor yang berdaftar dengan Pusat Khidmat Kontraktor (PKK) dan Lembaga Pembangunan Industri Pembinaan Malaysia (LPIPM/CIDB) dalam kelas dan gred pendaftaran yang berkaitan serta masih dibenarkan membuat tawaran pada masa ini bagi kerja-kerja berikut:-

No. KontrakPKNS/IP/SA/KON-

9/2011

RM3,000.00 BAHAGIAN PEROLEHAN, TINGKAT 7, MENARA HPAIC,

SEKSYEN 13, SHAH ALAM

Pada :15 September 2011

Hingga29 September 2011

PKK :Kelas AKepala I

Sub Kepala 1

Kepala IISub Kepala 2b

Kepala IIISub Kepala 3, 4

CIDB : Gred G7

Berkumpul Di :

BILIK GERAKAN,TINGKAT 9,

MENARA HPAIC, SEKSYEN 13, SHAH ALAM

Pada :15 September 2011(Selepas Taklimat)

06 Oktober 2011

Jam 12.00 Tengahari

Taklimat akan diadakan pada 15 September 2011 jam 10.30 pagi bertempat di BILIK GERAKAN, TINGKAT 9, MENARA HPAIC, LAMAN SERI BUSINESS PARK, NO. 7, PERSIARAN SUKAN, SEKSYEN 13, 40100 SHAH ALAM. Kehadiran adalah DIWAJIBKAN.

Naskah meja tawaran boleh disemak di Bahagian Perolehan, Perbadanan Kemajuan Negeri Selangor pada waktu pejabat bermula 15 September 2011. Bayaran Dokumen Tawaran hendaklah dibuat dalam bentuk Draf Bank atau Kiriman Wang di atas nama Perbadanan Kemajuan Negeri Selangor (bayaran ini tidak akan dikembalikan).

Kontraktor dikehendaki membawa Sijil Pendaftaran Asal Pusat Khidmat Kontraktor (PKK) dan Lembaga Pembangunan Industri Pembinaan Malaysia (CIDB) dan satu salinan bagi kedua-dua Sijil tersebut semasa membeli dokumen tender.

Dokumen Tawaran Tender yang telah lengkap diisi hendaklah dimasukkan ke dalam sampul surat bermeteri dan dimasukkan ke dalam Peti Tender di alamat:-

BAHAGIAN PEROLEHANPERBADANAN KEMAJUAN NEGERI SELANGORTINGKAT 7, MENARA HPAIC LAMAN SERI BUSINESS PARKNO. 7, PERSIARAN SUKAN SEKSYEN 1340100 SHAH ALAM, SELANGOR DARUL EHSAN

BUTIR-BUTIRTAWARAN

HARGA DOKUMENTAWARAN

TEMPAT DAN TARIKHDOKUMEN DIJUAL

SYARATPENDAFTARAN

TARIKH DAN TEMPATLAWATAN TAPAK

TARIKH TENDERDITUTUP