Kenneth Lee, the grandson of former Finance Minister Tun H.S. Lee, was granted clemency from his death row by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong last week (which simply means he is spared from death sentence).
Kenneth was found guilty in 2003 for murdering Linda Lee in August 2000. He was later sentenced to death in 2005 after an appeal by the prosecution. [Thestar]
I don’t know how many death row prisoners are granted clemency each year; I don’t know how the lucky people are chosen; and I am not sure if Kenneth Lee deserved the mercy.
I am just curious… if Kenneth Lee is not the grandson of HS Lee, would he be granted clemency? Or perhaps… if he is not from a rich family (money can do A LOT of things), would he be granted clemency?
It seems like something fishy is happening, but heck… I am not ready to go against the WISDOM of our Yang di-Pertuan Agong yet; I better stop pointing fingers now.
I felt sorry for Linda’s family though; they don’t deserve this.
Anwar Ibrahim released another section of the Lingam video (Part III - video below) which he obtained on last Friday (Jan 25). [Part I & Part II on Youtube]
The remains of a 74-year-old man whose widow and seven children had no knowledge of his conversion to Islam was released on Thursday (Jan 24) to the state Islamic religious council for burial following a Syariah Court ruling. [Thestar]
Gan Eng Gor, or Amir Gan Abdullah, was deemed to have converted to Islam last July, according to the state Islamic religious council and his eldest son, who is also a Muslim.
Gan’s other family members however denied this, stating that the deceased had suffered a severe stroke in 2006 and was immobilized, mentally unsound and could not speak.
The five-year old daughter of Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) chairperson P Waythamoorthy will lead hundreds of rose-bearing children - and their parents - on February 16 to petition at the Parliament building for the release of the group’s detained leaders. [Malaysiakini]
Hindraf supporters gathered at the Prime Minister’s office in Putrajaya on Jan 22
to state their plans on handling over the petition on Feb 16
I don’t feel good about this at all. I am against the use of ISA, but I am also against using children to fight for political or social causes.
I can understand the girl’s pledge to have her father home… but to fight for the rights of Indians? Am I supposed to believe that a 5-year-old girl could have such a mature thinking without being influenced or exploited by the adults?
Believe in what you want… I see this as a shameful exploitation.
Malaysian pop singer Faizal Tahir has apologised for causing offence by tearing off his shirt during a televised concert. Mr Tahir’s record label said he will undertake community service to make up for any offence caused. [BBC]
The former One in a Million contestants was performing at a concert in Bandar Utama to celebrate the birthday of 8TV. He took off his jacket, singlet and belt and threw them to the audience of about 8,000 people during the show, which was broadcast live on the TV channel.
I am not here to argue if the rule is stupid or not. Some people might say that Malaysians are being too conservative, which is true… but being conservative is not necessary a bad thing.
Besides, it’s not like the audiences or TV viewers are expecting the stripping act… if we are attending a Beyonce or Pussycat Dolls’ concert we might be ready for something fleshy; most people however would not have expected that on this 8TV concert, and it’s understandable that some people might take offense.
On side note, it’s useless for Faizal to apologise now. It was not a random act… he pre-planned the whole thing even before he was on stage (he admitted that); he was ready to break the rules.
Thing is, if he wants to apologise now, why doing it at the first place?
Perbadanan Tabung Pendidikan Tinggi Nasional Malaysia (PTPTN) has submitted the names of the 200,000 loan defaulters to the Immigration Department to stop them from leaving the country.
The move to ban loan defaulters from travelling abroad was taken after PTPTN’s previous measures to recover the loans including publishing their names, blacklisting them, taking them to court and imposing higher penalties brought little success.
This action should work against defaulters that want to travel (because of work or vacation), but I am not sure how many people are actually affected with this new rule… perhaps just 10-20% of the total numbers.
Frankly, PTPTN should up their ante to tackle this issue. Taking the loan defaulters to court should work well, and it should be enforced systematically… making sure that nobody would escape from the hook. The defaulters will start to take the matter (repaying loan) seriously if they know that they would be in deep trouble if they failed to do so.
PTPTN can also work with other agencies to snap the defaulters. This travel-barred is a good start; they should also cooperate with EPF, LHDN and private banks etc. to make life difficult for the loan defaulters… the defaulters could (and should) be barred from taking other loans (house, cars, credit cards) and having their EPF deducted as loan repayment.
Most of these people do have a job and can afford to repay the loan; if they are indeed unemployed or for some reason could not make the payment at the moment… they should apply for a postponement of repayment or other options depending on the circumstances.
There is no point trying to raise the conscience of the loan defaulters… they probably don’t care or else they would have started paying their loans at the first place. Stern actions would work much better.
The royal inquiry into the Lingam video clip has started on Monday (Jan 14). 17 witnesses are expected to be called to testify in the Royal Commission of Inquiry, including former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad (full list on Bernama).
Anti-Corruption Agency officials has told the royal commission on the VK Lingam tape that the room featured in the video clip was indeed the lawyer’s living room, as mentioned by businessman Loh Mui Fah during some earlier press interviews.
Loh has admitted that he was the person who talked to VK Lingam in the video, and that the video clip is authentic and was taken by his son in late December 2001. Loh however claimed that neither he nor his son knew how the video clip managed to get into public.
Everyday the Malaysian image to the world are tainted by works of con artists and the people holding office in our country are not doing anything to stop these people from operating. It is a sad day for higher education in Malaysia, and the lobbying to make Malaysia a centre of global educational excellence.
Just like setitik nila merosakkan susu sebelanga, these fraudsters are mockering the genuine degree holders and legitimate institutes of higher learning in our country.
Uncle Lim had wrote in his blog about these bogus universities not long ago. Now the BBC and other medias in the UK are carrying news and investigative reports on bogus universities, including the one Uncle Lim pointed out. These reports did mention the fraudster’s name, where he comes from (Malaysia). Anyone who reads these news may have second thoughts about education in Malaysia.
I for one, is truly ashamed.
Feel free to surf to the websites below. The one on BBC is particularly interesting as the investigation was carried out by a BBC reporter who went undercover. A 2 part video are included on the website.
These educationists have done their investigation long before BBC did theirs, as Uncle Lim had written his entry as well, but no one takes serious action on the fraudsters. It is ironic that rather than taking action, some people (artists, millionaires, attention seekers, and politicians) are glorifying these fake degree mills.
