Thesun 2008-11-05 Page10 Nec Five Dept Heads Quit In Protest

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theSun

| WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 5 2008

news without borders

Five dept heads quit in protest FIVE department heads of the New Era College resigned on Monday in protest against Dong Zong (United Chinese School Committees Association)’s decision not to extend the contract of college head Dr Kua Kia Soong. Dong Zong, one of the stakeholders of the Dong Jia Zong Education Centre – a non-profit organisation that runs the college – voted 10-3 in an extraordinary general meeting on Sunday not to rehire Kua, whose contract expires on Dec 31. The five who quit are Chiam Yan Yuan (Academic), Chong Joon Kin (Education and Media Studies), Leong Seng Yee (Student Enrolment), Diong Chi Tzuoh (Public Relations and Student Affairs) and Soon Choon Mee (Drama and Visuals), having served the college for between five and 16 years. In a joint statement announcing their resignations, they said they were both saddened and angry at Dong Zong’s decision to ignore a proposal by its adviser Datuk Sim Mu Yu to “keep the status quo and retain Kua”, public comments, and an appeal by the college’s students and academic staff to extend Kua’s contract. They said they had also lost confidence in the board of directors of the college and would sink or

Press Digest by Kong See Hoh

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swim with Kua. Diong told China Press on Monday that apart from him and the four others who had quit, he foresaw a changing of the guard in all other departments within the next one to two years. He said those who leave would have their reasons for doing so, as would those who stayed. Diong also disclosed that some students who did not want to be caught in the deepening controversy over the college had applied to study elsewhere. He expected more students to leave by the middle of the month after having sat their examination, but did not say how many had done so. Dong Zong however said the resignations of the five would not affect the normal operations of the college. It said it viewed the latest development seriously but had yet to receive any resignation letter. Meanwhile, Kua urged the Chinese community to set up an independent audit committee to look into the college’s finances which he said was in an “uneasy state”.

Vietnamese workers in a dilemma TWENTY-THREE female Vietnamese workers are in dire straits after having walked out of a Malacca electronics factory because they were unable to cope with a new assignment. According to a report in the Chinese press yesterday, the migrant workers are squatting on the five-foot way of a shoplot near their former quarters in Sungai Buloh, surviving on handouts and wild shoots they collect from a nearby clearing. According to reports, they had started making the five-foot way their home three days ago after having returned from Malacca. Mandarin-speaking Nguong Shi Shieng, in her 30s, told local residents she and her counterparts had worked in Sungai Buloh for the past two years and were recently sent to work in Malacca. But because the new job required a knowledge of English, they had decided to return to Sungai Buloh, only to find that they could no longer use their former quarters. Contacted by the press, the workers’ agent said they had breached the terms of their contract by leaving the factory without permission and had been dismissed. The agent said he had appealed to the operator of the quarters to take in the workers while he makes arrangements to send them home.

From durian to health product GEORGE TOWN: A researcher from Universiti Sains Malaysia has come up with a product capable of absorbing heavy metal from the body. School of Industrial TechnolAzhar shows the product which he says can absorb heavy metal from the body.

IJN surgeons score two ‘firsts’ KUALA LUMPUR: Cardiothoraic surgeons at the National Heart Institute (IJN) have successfully performed Malaysia’s groundbreaking thoracic minimallyinvasive repair surgeries on two young patients, aged 18 and 24 years, with chest-wall deformity yesterday. In a statement, IJN said the surgeries marked the first in the nation in which surgeons corrected the deformity using techniques derived from a minimallyinvasive procedure to repair a common congenital chest wall deformity called pectus excavatum, or also known as

ogy lecturer Assoc Prof Azhar Mat Easa said yesterday the product, made using sections of the king of fruits, was the first to be produced in the country. “Our research, based on the concept ‘from waste to wealth’, w a s

funnel or sunken chest. The cardiothoracic team, led by IJN consultant cardiothoracic surgeon Dr Jeswant Dillon, was assisted by Dr Abdul Rais Sanusi, Dr Syed Mohd Adeeb Syed Jalaluddin, Dr Ahmadi Salleh and Prof Hyung Joo Park of Korea University Hospital. The two patients were recuperating well, according to the statement. – Bernama

Behave, judge tells lucky Singaporean PUTRAJAYA: Behave – this was the Federal Court’s advice yesterday to

aimed at finding a solution to pollution from heavy metals such as lead and mercury, especially to humans and aquatic life,” he said at a press conference. “The product has been tested and proven to be able to absorb heavy metals from the human body, which has been found to be the cause of fatal illnesses like kidney failure.” Azhar said it had taken him two years to come up with a durian section to serve the purpose. He said the durian section would go through a process which included crushing and mixing it with chemicals. “The product acts to ‘tie’ the heavy metals in the body, which would then be excreted.” “The product is now in powder form, and needs to be diluted with water, but we hope to make it a tablet for easier consumption,” Azhar said. He said the product – MDRP: Food Grade Biosorbent From Durian Skin – could also act as an anti-cancer agent, although its use for this purpose would require further study. – Bernama

a 56-year-old Singaporean, a habitual offender, who escaped the gallows after the charge under the Firearms Act preferred against him was substituted with one of causing grievous hurt. Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Richard Malanjum, who led a three-member panel, ordered Low Soo Song instead to serve 18 years in jail from the date of his arrest on Oct 13, 2001, for causing grievous hurt by firing a shot at a 12-year-old girl while committing robbery. He told Low, a second-hand goods dealer, he was lucky to escape the death sentence. – Bernama