KUALA LUMPUR 22 April - Agensi pengeksport peralatan pertahanan Rusia, Rosoboronexport bersedia membantu Malaysia mewujudkan pusat pelancaran roket ke angkasa lepas dan melaksanakan misi menghantar angkasawan kedua negara.
Timbalan Pengarah Perkhidmatan Persekutuan Tentera-Teknikal Rusia, Mikhail Petukhov berkata, kedua-dua misi itu boleh dibuat melalui program timbal balas jika pihaknya memperoleh kontrak penjualan peralatan pertahanan dengan Malaysia pada masa hadapan.
''Ini boleh dibuat jika Rosoboronexport dan Rusia secara amnya, memperolehi kontrak penjualan persenjataan dengan Malaysia.
''Ia bakal menjadi kenyataan sekiranya terdapat pula tanggungjawab pihak kami untuk melaksanakan program timbal balas seperti pembelian pesawat Sukhoi dengan penghantaran angkasawan pertama Malaysia dahulu," katanya.
Beliau menyatakan demikian pada sidang akhbar sempena Pameran dan Persidangan Perkhidmatan Pertahanan Asia (DSA) 2008 di sini hari ini.
Hadir sama Duta Rusia ke Malaysia, Alexander Karchava, Ketua Pengarah Rosoboronexport, Anatoly Isaikin dan Pengarah Projek Khas Rosoboronexport, Nikolai Dimiduk.
[More at http://www.utusan.com.my/utusan/info.asp?y=2008&dt=0423&pub=Utusan_Malaysia&sec=Muka_Hadapan&pg=mh_09.htm]
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Rusia sedia bantu bina pusat pelancaran roket - Utusan
PM: Up to Gerakan to decide on Lee - Malaysiakini.tv
Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said he would leave it to Gerakan to act against its former deputy secretary-general Lee Kah Choon, who has accepted a director's post in the Penang Development Corporation (PDC) and InvestPenang.
Gerakan, a component party in Barisan Nasional (BN), had been leading the Penang government up to the March 8 general election, when it fell into Pakatan Rakyat hands.
Malaysia to delay projects amid rising costs: PM - AFP
Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on Tuesday said infrastructure projects under its multi-billion-dollar five-year development plan may be delayed due to escalating costs.
Abdullah, who is also finance minister, said high on the casualty list was the construction of a vital second bridge linking the northern island of Penang to peninsular Malaysia.
"Several matters have delayed its construction. Firstly in getting the land for building the bridge," he was quoted as saying by Bernama news agency. "Secondly, there is a need to ensure that the given design is the most suitable and also the issue of (rising) cost."
Abdullah also said that several other projects under the 200 billion ringgit (65 billion dollars) development plan from 2006 to 2010 would be reviewed.
Lim Guan Eng, chief minister of opposition-led Penang, said he was "shocked" by the premier's announcement.
"Two weeks ago when I met the prime minister, he assured me that the second Penang bridge will continue," said Lim, who is also secretary-general of the Chinese-dominated Democratic Action Party.
[More at http://news.my.msn.com/regional/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1353645]
Govt Drops Plan For High Speed Bullet Train Project, Says EPU Chief - Bernama
PUTRAJAYA, April 22 (Bernama) -- The cost factor was the main reason the government decided not to go ahead with the high-speed bullet train link between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore proposed by YTL Corp Bhd.
"The letters on the decision were sent to parties such as YTL and the relevant agencies in early April," said Economic Planning Unit (EPU) director-general, Datuk Seri Dr Sulaiman Mahbob, told Bernama here Tuesday.
He said the government would have to bear a significant cost based on the financial model that was submitted by YTL.
"Based on the financial model submitted by YTL, the government has decided not to go ahead with the bullet train (project)," he said, without elaborating on the amount the government has to bear.
YTL has proposed the RM8 billion project which would take 90 minutes to travel between the two capitals from about seven-and-a-half hours now.
It was earlier reported that the government has allowed YTL to do a feasibility study and it (YTL) came back to say the project was feasible.
The plan for a high-speed train between the two cities, spanning about 300km, was proposed in late 1990s, but garnered strong interest last year after the government invited companies to come up with ideas for privately-funded projects.
[From http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v3/news_business.php?id=328446]
哈迪阿旺：支持反贪努力‧回教模式更胜港廉署 - Sin Chew Daily
（吉隆坡）回教党全力支持政府加强反贪污局的努力，通过改组使该局成为更独立的反贪委员会。
回教党主席拿督斯里哈迪阿旺发表文告说，超过1400年歷史的回教是反贪的最佳模范，而且回教模式更胜於其它现有模式包括香港的模式。
“回教已奠定维护社会及培育清廉领袖的基础。他们不只是推崇法律，也开始奠下上苍会监视及知道所做的一切的信仰。
反贪从廉洁领导开始
“回教也让社会及领袖知道，如果犯下贪污罪刑，將让世界走向末日，而做错的人將在永恆世界日（Hari Akhirat）里被审判。”
他表示，任何一项反贪努力都必须从廉洁领导开始；如果执政党有贪污病症的负担，並通过贪污方式获选，那么人民难以相信他们能够对抗贪污。
[More at http://www.sinchew.com.my/node/63004]
PAS: Islamic state agenda is still on - The Star
PETALING JAYA: Although PAS is focusing on Pakatan Rakyat’s agenda of establishing a welfare state and reinstating democracy and good governance, it is not discarding its agenda to set up an Islamic state.
PAS MP for Kuala Selangor Dr Dzulkifly Ahmad said the party did not want to harp on the issue of Islamic state because it was not part of the Pakatan Rakyat agenda.
“We are not pulling it (setting up of an Islamic state) back. It is still an issue that matters to us but we are allowing more time for the electorate to understand us better.
“The more important agenda now is reinstating democracy and good governance,” said the PAS reserach centre director after taking part in an intellectual discourse on a book entitled Who Needs an Islamic State? written by Dr Abdelwahab El-Effendi.
The discussion on the book was organised by the Muslim Professionals Forum here yesterday.
[More at http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/4/22/nation/21013579&sec=nation]
Dr Mahathir: I’m ready to be probed - The Star
By Izatun Shari
KUALA LUMPUR: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is prepared to be investigated by a full and formal public inquiry if Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim were to become the Prime Minister.
However, the former premier said he hoped that those who sit on the board of inquiry would be neutral, impartial and probably foreigners.
“He’s (Anwar’s) welcome to do that if he becomes the Prime Minister of Malaysia, but if he wins members of the ruling party to his side it is the present leader who should be blamed because he can’t even get the loyalty of his own members,” he said during a 30-minute interview on the BBC World News HARDtalk programme with Stephen Sackur.
He was asked to respond to Anwar’s statement that he would call for a full and public inquiry into Dr Mahathir’s misdeeds if Anwar were to become the Prime Minister.
Asked whether he was ready to express regret over what he did to Anwar now that he has retired for several years, Dr Mahathir said: “Why should I regret? He was arrested under the laws of the country. He was tried in the courts of the country. Sentenced by court. If he was not wrong, no matter what you think about our judiciary, I don’t think he would have been sent to prison.”
On Anwar saying that he would push politics that were not racially defined, Dr Mahathir said that it was opportunism for Anwar, who was now out of the government but never did anything when he was in the government.
[More at http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/4/22/nation/21018171&sec=nation]
Second space trip runs into funds snag - NST
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's fledgling space programme has run out of money and the country cannot afford to send a second angkasawan into space.
Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Dr Maximus Ongkili, who revealed this, said that based on the ministry's mid-term review, there was no budget to fund phase two of the angkasawan programme.
"There's zero money. The ministry will have to look for money if it wants to continue with the programme," said Ongkili, who added that he was still waiting for the cost-benefit analysis report.
He said that in principle, the government wanted to pursue the angkasawan programme, but subject to funds being available.
He added that the programme's successful first phase was facilitated by the fact that 70 per cent of the cost of training and sending the first angkasawan to space was offset by the purchase of the Sukhoi fighter jets from Russia.
"Also, the space programme is not just about sending Malaysians into space. It involves a broad spectrum of research in other sciences besides astronomy.
"So there are competing priorities and other social development needs. We have to ensure that the money spent is worth it."
[From http://www.nst.com.my/Tuesday/National/2220405/Article/index_html]
'Chin Peng's right based on 1989 pact' - NST
PUTRAJAYA: Chin Peng's right to return and live in Malaysia is based on the 1989 peace agreement signed by the government and the Communist Party of Malaya, the Court of Appeal was told yesterday.
Counsel Raja Aziz Addruse said Chin Peng's right to come back was also based on the fact that he was a Malaysian.
He said his client had also satisfied the terms of the agreement to live in Malaysia.
"It is wrong to compel Chin Peng to produce his birth and citizenship certificates just because he is a Malaysian."
Raja Aziz said Chin Peng was born in Sitiawan, Perak, in 1923 and his citizenship was never revoked.
He said Chin Peng had stated in his autobiography that the Special Branch in the then Malaya had seized his birth certificate during a raid.
[More at http://www.nst.com.my/Tuesday/National/2220329/Article/index_html]
Rafidah slams opposition over petrol promise - NST
IPOH: Umno Wanita chief Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz took a swipe at Pakatan Rakyat for remaining silent over its promise to reduce the price of petrol.
"There is not even a blip. The prices of things have gone up, how can they not say anything?" she asked, claiming that Pakatan Rakyat did nothing to fight inflation, despite heaping blame on the Barisan Nasional during the general election.
The opposition did not explain to the public that inflation was not up to political parties to tackle and that it was caused by market forces.
Speaking to Umno Wanita members during a visit here yesterday, Rafidah said the BN's role in Pakatan Rakyat-held states was not about screaming one's head off at the government of the day, but to keep it on its toes and ensuring that it fulfil all promises.
She shot down Puteri Umno chief Datuk Noraini Ahmad's idea of establishing a Puteri BN, proposing instead that the various wings set up by BN component parties organise joint activities and work together at the grassroots level.
"There is no need (for Puteri BN). Puteri Umno, Beliawanis MCA and Puteri MIC must work harder to cater to the needs and interests of the young," she said.
[More at http://www.nst.com.my/Tuesday/National/2220404/Article/index_html]
Pitfalls await Kah Choon - NST
By : Marc Lourdes
KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Lee Kah Choon has his feet on two boats that are going in opposite directions. Eventually, he is going to fall and hurt himself.
This is the opinion of Gerakan national adviser Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik.
He was commenting on the recent appointment of Lee, the former Gerakan deputy secretary-general, as director of Penang Development Corporation (PDC) and investPenang by the DAP-led state government.
"I pity Lee Kah Choon because he has to take on a huge and ominous task.
"He is going to be suspected by the DAP because he is a Gerakan member.
"At the same time, he is going to be suspected by Gerakan for promoting a DAP-led agenda in Penang. How is he going to work?
"But, if he thinks he is Superman and can overcome all this suspicion, best of luck to him."
[More at http://www.nst.com.my/Tuesday/National/2220239/Article/index_html]
