Soi Lek queried on MCA asset management

THE sTAR

BY LOH FOON FONG 

FOONFONG@THESTAR.COM.MY

Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek

KUALA LUMPUR: Some MCA division chairmen want to know how the party’s assets are being managed under the leadership of party president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek, said Wangsa Maju division chairman Datuk Yew Teong Look.

Yew said he and 22 other division chairmen want Dr Chua to give details on the RM107mil in party assets accumulated since he became party president.

“We are very concerned over the party assets,” Yew told a press conference here yesterday.

In Batu Pahat last Sunday, Dr Chua disclosed party assets grew by RM107mil since he became president in March 2010.

He said the party had appointed tax and financial advisers to re-organise its assets to become more tax efficient.

Dr Chua said the advisers had recommended that Star Publications (M) Bhd shares and Wisma MCA be transferred and registered under the party.

The president was the trustee for Star Publications prior to the transfer.

The transfer, he explained, had enabled the party to save money because the dividends from Star Publications shares and rental from Wisma MCA would be tax free since MCA was a political party and entitled to tax exemption.

Dr Chua said the party saved RM700,000 in tax yearly from Wisma MCA’s rental income, while MCA’s stake in Star Publications had gone up from 41% to 42.4% in the last three years.

He said the party also bought Menara Multi Purpose and registered it under the party, and its rental income was also tax free.

Dr Chua said the party could only sell its assets if it obtained approval from two-thirds of the central committee.

Fomca: Food prices up by a fair bit

BY LOH FOON FONG 

FOONFONG@THESTAR.COM.MY

Extra care: Volunteers from the Civil Defence Department showing how a person with spinal injury is rescued. The demonstration was held during the 2013 Consumerism Month celebration at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi.

BANGI: Food prices have increased by “a fair bit” following the hike of diesel and RON95 petrol prices, a survey by the Federation of Malaysian Consumers’ Association (Fomca) showed.

For instance, the price of prepared wantan mee had gone up by 50 sen to 60 sen, said Fomca president Datuk Marimuthu Nadason.

He added, however, that the fuel price hike had not led to any increase in controlled-price items.

“Our initial findings showed the rise in food prices is hefty.

“The percentage of the increase in prepared food prices is more than the percentage of the increase in diesel and petrol,” he told reporters at the presentation of prizes of the 2013 Consumerism Contest in conjunction with the 2013 National Consumer Month yesterday.

Marimuthu said Fomca was still compiling data on the survey and would reveal more details next week.

The Government recently announced a 20sen reduction in the subsidy for diesel and RON95 petrol per litre, bringing the consumer price of diesel to RM2 and RON95 petrol to RM2.10 per litre since early this month.

“Eatery outlets need not increase the prices of prepared food as they are already making a profit,” said Marimuthu, adding that the (fuel price) increase only translated to a negligible additional RM5.40 of petrol used per week.

“There is no reason for any increase because they (food outlet operators) can afford to absorb the cost.

“They are taking advantage of the fuel hike,” he said.

Ministry: Little to show BPA is safe

The Star

BY LOH FOON FONG 

foonfong@thestar.com.my

PETALING JAYA: There is not enough scientific evidence to prove that Bisphenol A (BPA) is safe for vulnerable groups and this was the reason why Malaysia banned the use of the compound in feeding bottles, the Health Ministry says.

BPA is a compound that has been present in many hard plastic bottles and metal-based food and beverage cans since the 1960s.

According to health director-general, Datuk Seri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, the decision, implemented on March 1 last year, was done as a precautionary measure, in line with actions taken by other countries such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the European Union.

He said this in response to a letter to The Star from the Malaysian Plastics Manufacturers Association stating that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had delisted, but not banned baby bottles and infant feeding cups from their regulation in July last year because this range of products (containing BPA) are already discontinued.

Standardised toxicity tests have thus far supported the safety of current low levels of human exposure to BPA. However, following more recent studies using novel approaches to detect the subtler effects of exposure, the National Toxicology Program at the National Institutes of Health and FDA have some concerns about the potential effects of BPA on foetuses, infants and young children.

FDA’s National Center for Toxicological Research, together with the National Toxicology Programme, is now carrying out detailed studies to clarify key uncertainties about the risks of BPA. In the interim, FDA agrees with reasonable steps to reduce exposure to BPA such as the industry’s decision to stop producing BPA-containing baby bottles.

Dr Noor Hisham said the ministry had monitored the levels of BPA and other related substances in plastic food containers and found that the migration of BPA and other chemicals to food was relatively low, and did not pose a risk to health.

The Food Regulations 1985 prohibits the use of harmful packages in contact with food, with Regulation 27A prohibiting the use of feeding bottles containing BPA.

“It is the responsibility of the food manufacturers to ensure that packages used for food comply with the regulations,” said Dr Noor Hisham, who added that the ministry would continue to monitor plastic food containers in the market.

More than two-thirds of end-stage kidney failure can be avoided

The Star

Many new kidney patients are also diabetic

BY LOH FOON FONG 

FOONFONG@THESTAR.COM.MY

PETALING JAYA: Almost 60% of over 5,800 new kidney patients who require dialysis or kidney transplants last year have diabetes.

The 20th Malaysian Dialysis and Transplant Registry 2012 said 11% suffered from hypertension, which is another non-communicable disease (NCD).

It said all the 5,829 new patients were diagnosed with end-stage kidney failure (ESRF) and more than three-quarters of the cases were lifestyle-related, which could be avoided or delayed if the patients had adopted healthier habits.

Health director-general Datuk Seri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the percentage of diabetic cases rose from 20% in 1993 to 26% in 2003 before reaching a high of 58% last year.

“The rise is not only notable and serious but should cause an alarm,” he told The Star via e-mail.

Dr Noor Hisham said there could be cases of undiagnosed or untreated hypertension, which could have contributed to chronic kidney disease among the 25% of “unknown causes” of ESRF.

“Malaysia continues to be among the highest in the world in the percentage of patients with diabetes among dialysis patients.

“The costly socio-economic and challenging clinical factors, imposed by the needs of ESRF patients with diabetes, would force the health system to find practical ways to reduce the scourge,” he said.

Dr Noor Hisham said these cases put a strain on the health budget as well as on the need for highly-trained nurses, technicians and kidney specialists to manage them.

National Kidney Foundation chairman Datuk Dr Zaki Morad Mohd Zaher said NCDs had become a significant cause of ESRF in the last 15 years.

“It takes 20 years for diabetes to destroy the kidneys. There is ample time for efforts to be taken to stop or delay the progression,” he said.