Groups want BTS system enforced

The star

BY LOH FOON FONG

KUALA LUMPUR: Several consumer groups, housing associations and abandoned project committee heads want the Government to keep to its promise to implement the mandatory build-then-sell (BTS 10:90) system next year.

House Buyers Association vice-president Datuk Goh Seng Toh said the Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan had recently made a “U-turn” when he said he would propose to the Government to allow the system to co-exist with the sell-then-build system as reported in Utusan Online on Aug 26.

“This has drawn flak from the house-buying public and consumer associations, especially the victims of abandoned housing and of unlicensed developers,” said Goh at a press conference yesterday.

He said former Housing and Local Government Minister Tan Sri Chor Chee Heung had in February 2012 reiterated that the BTS 10:90 system would be made mandatory by next year and this was recorded in the Parliament Hansard in the Dewan Rakyat.

Under the BTS 10:90 system, house buyers fork out a 10% down payment for a house and make further payments only when the property is delivered to them while the current system requires buyers to pay up to 95% until the property is completed and the rest released at the end of the defect warranty period.

Victims Malaysia president Dr Mohamed Rafick Khan said the minister’s back-pedalling was a complete betrayal of public trust.

He said Abdul Rahman should have a dialogue with stakeholders.

Rafick said the last letter sent to him for a dialogue was in April but he never received a reply.

“Ministers may come and go but the decision made in Parliament remains. If the Government wants to change it, it should still continue with the decision while reviewing it,” he said.

“Families are badly hit due to abandoned housing projects,” he said.

As of yesterday, Rafick said 356 projects were delayed and they involved 71,172 houses and affected the lives of 49,641 people.

Meanwhile, the Consumers’ Association of Penang and Federation of Malaysian Consumers Association issued a statement calling on the ministry to make the BTS 10:90 system mandatory next year.

Don’t set ceiling when climbing corporate ladder, women told

the star

BY LOH FOON FONG

KUALA LUMPUR: Women must not set a glass ceiling for themselves when climbing the corporate ladder, said a corporate trainer.

Brandt International Sdn Bhd CEO Munirah Looi (pic) said that one main obstacle among capable women in the corporate world was their own mindset that stopped them from wanting to excel.

“They think there is a glass ceiling. That is the major obstacle for them moving up their career,” she said at a press conference yesterday to announce the Women Extraordinaire Forum 2014 that will be held from Oct 28 to 29.

It will be launched by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nancy Shukri.

Looi said “the battle can be won” if women refused to believe there was a glass ceiling and accept that they could realise their potential regardless of the barriers.

“If they can have that mindset shift, they can be successful,” Looi said, adding that the forum would discuss how women could break the glass ceiling.

Recently, Women, Fam­ily and Community Develop­ment Minister Datuk Seri Rohani Abdul Karim said that over 200 women were ready to sit as board members of public-listed companies but the vacancies were not immediately available.

She said the percentage of women sitting as board members of public-listed companies increased from 7.7% in 2012 to 8.6% last year.

The ministry hoped to achieve the target of having 30% women in decision-making positions in the corporate sector by 2016, she said.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced the Govern­ment’s 30% target in 2011.

Asked what was stopping women from moving to the top leadership, World Communication Network Resources corporate adviser and director Datuk Atikah Adom said they needed to be more visible.

“They must create visibility. They must have the knowledge and ability, communication skills and the (network) contacts,” she said, adding that they should also care for their appearance and not be unkempt.

Former Prime Minister and Perdana Leadership Foundation honorary president Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad will speak on Women Leading the Future at the forum on Oct 29.

Kids with mental and drug woes

The star

BY LOH FOON FONG

KUALA LUMPUR: Patients as young as 12 have been treated for both substance abuse and mental problems.

Cannabis is the most common substance first used and tried, followed by amphetamine-type stimulants.

In many cases, psychiatric symptoms only appear by the time the users reach their mid to late 20s.

This was revealed in the first and preliminary attempt at a clinical audit performed at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital psychiatric and mental health department from October to December last year for a dual-diagnosis registry.

Dual diagnosis describes patients with both psychotic disorders and problematic drug and/or alcohol use.

An odd job worker identified as AJ, 26, started sniffing glue with his neighbourhood friends at age nine.

At 12, he was introduced to cannabis by his friends. He “progressed” to smoking heroin at age 16 when he could not get the same “high” from cannabis.

He was also involved in crime, had been in and out of prison and drug rehabilitation centres.

AJ first developed psychosis at age 22. He was aggressive and had auditory hallucination and paranoia.

Kuala Lumpur Hospital’s psychiatrist and addiction specialist Dr Norliza Chemi expressed concern that the young were not aware that taking drugs could trigger mental illness.

In AJ’s case, it was likely that drug abuse triggered schizophrenia, she added.

Out of the 334 medical records available for the clinical audit, 54 (25%) males and 13 (6.8%) females received a dual diagnosis upon their discharge.

From the number, 30 were found to be schizophrenic while 23 had drug-induced psychotic disorder.

Dr Norliza said the challenges with treating patients with dual diagnosis were poor adherence to treatment; increased risk of aggression and suicide as well as worsening of prognosis.

She said integrated services that cater to both mental illness and drug problems were needed because current system only focused on one disease and rehabilitation centres were limited.

Task force to stop spread of extremism

BY LOH FOON FONG

KUALA LUMPUR: The Global Move­ment of Moderates and Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia have condemned the Islamic State or IS as an extremist group and are forming a task force to complement government efforts to curb the spread of extremist thought.

GMM CEO Datuk Saifuddin Ab­­dullah said: “What we need to do is to explain to the people what IS is.”

Instead of joining IS, Malaysians could offer humanitarian aid to the displaced people of Syria, Iraq and other countries, he added at a joint press conference with Abim vice-president Jufitri Joha after a roundtable discussion on Jihad in Syria.

Saifuddin urged Malaysian youths not to join IS in Syria and any other extremist groups.

International Union of Muslim Scholars member Ustaz Ahmad Fauwaz Fadzil said there was a need to return to basic Islamic teachings. “The principle of Islam is peace. ,” he said.

International Islamic University Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences lecturer Dr Maszlee Malik said Muslim scholars should redefine jihad and interpret it in more contemporary terms such as for eradication of poverty and for community work.