MCA: PAS like Taliban to control media

the star
BY LOH FOON FONG

PETALING JAYA: PAS is behaving like the Taliban who smashed television sets and forced Afghans to only listen to their propaganda, MCA Publicity Bureau chairman Senator Datuk Chai Kim Sen (pic) said in response to the party's move to restrict the media coverage of its muktamar.

It was reported that PAS would ban any media from covering its meeting for publishing “any news which should not have been reported and which causes a negative impact in the opinion of the PAS central committee."

Chai said the censorship that the PAS information and muktamar media committee had imposed on media reporting "only points to PAS’ fears of independent media reporting and that it does not want to improve on its weaknesses to benefit the rakyat, especially on hudud law."

He said for PAS to regard any news as “negative” was totally subjective and shows it could shift the goal post anytime according to its whims and fancy.

“For the avoidance of doubt and to prove its sincerity, then PAS should list down the types of articles it considers appropriate or offensive,” he said in a statement.

Chai said news reporting and commentaries were reported from different angles and it was the responsibility of the media to act as check-and-balance, at federal or state level.

Chai also asked if PAS wanted to prevent the media from reporting its deep internal chasm between the ultra-conservatives aligned to president Datuk Seri Hadi Awang and the so-called Erdogan group supposedly led by Mohamad Sabu.

On dress code for media workers, Chai wants PAS to explain how a striped or chequered long-sleeve office or t-shirt worn by male media workers should be regarded as offensive.

“Similarly, so long as modesty is practised, PAS should not assert subtle pressure by imposing its conservative values on non-Muslim women to don the headscarf,” he said.

Activist loses battle with cancer

The Star

PETALING JAYA: Orang asli activist Arom Asir (pic), who fought against communist terrorists in the 1970s, has died of cancer.

He was 67.

According to the Facebook page of the Centre for Orang Asli Concerns, the deputy chairman of the Kelantan Orang Asli Village Committee breathed his last at 4.30pm on Saturday in Kampung Pos Bihai, Gua Mu­­sang, Kelantan.

His funeral was held at the same place yesterday.

Fondly known as Pakcik Arom, he used to don the uniform of the Senoi Praaq, the “Fighting Aborigines” unit of the then Police Field Force, now called the General Operations Force. Senoi Praaq started as a special project under the British during the First Malayan Emergency (1948-1960), with the first batch trained by the British Special Air Services.

A Temiar, Arom was engaged by the Government to fight the Communist Party of Malaya during the Second Emergency (1976-1989).

In 2009, the father of six was among a group of orang asli rights activists who worked with the Orang Asli Peninsula Network and COAC to raise awareness of the Temiar in Kelantan, who were threatened by logging and land encroachment.

Arom's grandson Dendi Johari said his grandfather cared about the problems that the orang asli in this country faced. Arom was once detained in 2012 for creating a blockade against logging in Kuala Betis, Kelantan.

Orang asli laud improved healthcare plans

the star
BY LOH FOON FONG

PETALING JAYA: The orang asli are happy with the promise of more access to medical specialists, but they also wish to be trained in basic medical care to serve their communities.

Kelantan orang asli village committee youth chief Dendi Johari said better access to specialists, mobile clinics and flying doctors’ services under the 11th Malaysia Plan was welcome.

He said in addition to this, the orang asli should also be trained as nurses, medical assistants and even doctors.

“This can overcome the lack of medical personnel in remote areas,” he said.

Currently, orang asli in the interior areas have to travel as far as 400km for treatment.

Dendi said that during the 1970s, Dr J.M. Bolton, who set up the Gombak hospital for orang asli, had trained many in the community to treat minor ailments, identify certain diseases and refer serious cases to hospitals.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had announced on Thursday that health services in remote areas would be improved to ensure good quality healthcare for all.

Centre for Orang Asli Concerns co-ordinator Dr Colin Nicholas said the orang asli could not afford transport costs to health facilities.

He said the transport provided by the Orang Asli Development Department was erratic as it did not have enough vehicles.

“The responsibility to transport the orang asli to hospitals should be handed over to the Health Ministry,” he said.

Malaysian Medical Association president Dr Krishna Kumar commended the Government for its plans to enhance rural health but doubted if more specialists could be posted to rural areas as there was already a lack of specialists in urban government hospitals.

He said specialists did not want to go to rural areas because they faced difficulties sending their children to school.

“Unless there are good incentives to lure them, it will be a difficult move,” he said.

Medical Practitioners Coalition Association of Malaysia president Dr Peter Chan said while improving healthcare service was much needed, diseases like tuberculosis needed to be addressed urgently.

“The Government needs to monitor illegal immigrants in the country more,” he said.

Asked how the ministry was going to overcome the lack of specialists in the government service, Deputy Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Hilmi Yahya said they had increased the number of scholarships given out for the Master’s programme to 1,000 doctors between last year and this year.

11MP: Better medical services in rural, remote areas

the star
BY LOH FOON FONG

PETALING JAYA: Rural and remote areas will have better access to medical specialists under the 11th Malaysia Plan.

Under the Improving 'Wellbeing for All' focus area, support for underserved communities would be enhanced as part of the Government's efforts to achieve universal access to quality healthcare.

Measures will include the deployment of more specialists and skilled personnel, the establishment of additional healthcare facilities in the areas of greatest need, and the expansion of outreach programmes such as mobile healthcare teams, flying doctor services, and village health promoters will be expanded to remote areas.

Domiciliary healthcare programmes will be expanded to include care programmes for patients who require long-term nursing upon early discharge, such as stroke patients.

Healthcare personnel will train family members and caregivers to care for these patients. NGOs will also be encouraged to participate and provide support and services to the patients and their families.

The Government will also implement the hospital cluster concept in selected locations, where hospitals within the same geographical location will work as one unit, sharing resources such as assets, amenities, and human resource.

The Government will implement the eHealth strategy, which incorporates existing Information and Communications Technology (ICT) systems into one, system-wide model to enhance health data management, and support research, development and commercialisation (R&D&C) initiatives.

A new focus area on enhancing road safety and emergency services will also be introduced as road accident fatalities remain high and increased from 6,877 fatalities in 2011 to 6,915 in 2013.

Driver negligence has been identified as the main cause of road accidents followed by road conditions and vehicle safety.

The Government aims to reduce the road fatalities index from 2.9 per 10,000 registered vehicles in 2013 to 2.0

by 2020 through the wider implementation of the Automated Enforcement System (AES) and the review of the Road Traffic Offences System (Kejara), which imposes heavier penalties on errant drivers.

First orang asli house goes up

the star
BY LOH FOON FONG

Hard at work: Several orang asli volunteers constructing the first wooden house, with donations from Star Foundation and built by Insaf Malaysia, in Kampung Kuala Koh in Gua Musang, Kelantan.

 

GUA MUSANG: The first of 15 houses for the orang asli affected by the December floods was completed in four days.

The construction of the wooden house donated by Star Foundation in Aring 10 started last Tuesday and was completed by Friday.

Insaf Malaysia built the first house for the Batek tribe at Kampung Kuala Koh in Gua Musang, Kelantan.

“We built the house on higher ground as the orang asli do not want it at the foot of the hill,” said Insaf Malaysia president and founder Ishak Abdul Kadir.

The house with two rooms, a living area, dining corner and verandah, was one of two houses donated by Star Foundation. Another house will be built in two weeks’ time.

The foundation, a charitable arm of Star Publications (M) Bhd, has contributed RM50,000 for the houses, in addition to the eight homes built last year under The Star’sDo Good Volunteer programme, an initiative to promote volunteerism and raise awareness on worthy causes.

Ishak said when they first started to build these houses six years ago, the orang asli had expressed preference for wooden houses.

“They want the stilts three feet above ground so that their chickens and pets can be shaded from the sun and rain and the cooking area and toilet be placed away from the house,” he said.

Besides Star Foundation, the Ber­jaya Group also pledged two houses two months ago, while residents of Bukit Antarabangsa had given RM12,500.

Ishak said he wanted to build 15 houses for the Kuala Koh orang asli families and needed sponsors for another 11 houses.

Village head Hamdan, 50, said life was difficult for them as they had to move further into the jungle to look for food, wood and rattan without guarantee that they would end up with any after a week.

Three months after the flood, The Star had reported that the orang asli were still living in makeshift shelters.

Today, some five months after, many are still living in makeshift shelters although houses are gradually being built by the Government and NGOs.

Village committee member Ma­­mat, 40, said all 73 houses in their village were swept away by flood and only 15 families had remained.

Living in makeshift shelters for months had exposed many orang asli to environmental dangers.

Hanisah, 50, said the Taman Negara National Park had elephants, bears and wild boars but she chose not to think of the dangers as there was nothing she could do.

“The rain woke me up last. I could not sleep because the floor was completely wet,” she said.

Recipient of the house donated by Star Foundation Rahman Panjang, 38, said orang asli appreciated woo­den houses as they were cooler to live in.

Insaf still needs more sponsorship and volunteers to build another 11 houses under the project.

Contact insafmalaysia on Face­­book or ishakabdulkadir@gmail.com or call 03-4251 9444 for more information.

Stakeholders worry over greater scrutiny on online media

the star
BY LOH FOON FONG

PETALING JAYA: The online media and social network space is anticipated to come under more scrutiny following last month’s changes to the laws.

Centre for Independent Journalism director Sonia Randhawa said the Sedition Act had raised concerns that even online media would face greater scrutiny and the free space for discussion would be constricted.

She cited the addition of “religion” in the Act and the courts being empowered to stop someone from accessing an “electronic device” as examples of making reporting difficult.

The amendments to the Sedition Act were passed in the Dewan Rakyat on April 10.

In view of World Press Freedom Day which took place on May 3, the stakeholders were concerned about the tightening of laws.

Sonia said the Act did not address concerns over the state’s role in administrating legislation that claimed to be founded directly on religious texts.

The Act made it almost impossible for journalists to facilitate these conversations in a respectful and peaceful fashion, she said.

Penang Institute Fellow Dr Mustafa K. Anuar expressed concern that the Act would drive media practitioners to extreme self-censorship.

“Social media users will also come under intense surveillance by the authorities because the definition of ‘sedition’ itself is too vague,” he said.

University of Nottingham Malay-sia Campus media and communication studies associate dean Prof Zaharom Nain said the mainstream media was already tightly regulated through ownership and current laws.

“The net is now being cast further, or at least there is an attempt to do so, to bring online media to its knees,” he said.

He also said the amendments to the Act provided for harsher sentences – no fines but heavier prison sentences.

“In a democracy, you discuss and debate differences of opinion. You can’t talk about ‘moderation’ especially on the world stage, and then provide all these immoderate controls,” he said.

Expert: Two-year grace period to ban smoking too long

the star
BY LOH FOON FONG

PETALING JAYA: The proposed two-year grace period for eateries to ban smoking is too long, said a tobacco control consultant.

Universiti Putra Malaysia Tobacco Control’s Prof Dr Lekhraj Rampal said a six-month grace period should be adequate.

“More than that is too much. When dealing with harmful products, we don’t talk two years,” he said in response to the Malaysia-Singapore Coffee Shop Proprietors’ General Association president Ho Su Mong’s proposal to the Health Ministry.

On Saturday, The Star front-paged a report on the Health Ministry’s plan to ban smoking at parks and eateries nationwide, which would soon include open-air premises and those without air-conditioning.

The association proposed the setting aside of a 40% designated smoking area and a two-year grace period before the “no smoking” ruling was imposed.

It also called for shops with 10 tables or less to be exempted.

Dr Lekhraj said the 40% designated smoking area was not a good proposal because there was no assurance that the smoke would not travel to non-smokers.

“The total ban should not be delayed because smoking could cause cancer, heart problems and other medical issues.

“The association must ask itself if it is willing to pay for all the treatments,” he said. “Currently, the Government is paying for it and it involves taxpayers’ money.”

Dr Lekhraj said the ministry’s latest plan was much needed because “many non-smokers do not know how to tell off smokers when the smoke bothers them”.

Those who want to quit smoking were affected by the smoke too and sometimes postponed their plan, he said.

The Government should enforce the ban as Malaysia was a signatory to the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

“This has been talked about for some time now,” Dr Lekhraj said, adding that cigarettes sold at cashier counters should also be banned because it was a form of advertising and such an environment would not encourage people to quit smoking.