Thesun 2008-12-05 Page06 Apostasy Appeal Put Off

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theSun

| FRIDAY DECEMBER 5 2008

news without borders

Jobs to be reserved for locals: Subramaniam RAWANG: The government is taking several measures, including reserving certain jobs for locals, to ensure more employment opportunities during the global financial crisis, Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr. S. Subramaniam said yesterday. He said the ministry is also considering making it mandatory for employers to register job vacancies in their companies with the ministry’s manpower department. “For a start, we are considering reserving certain categories of jobs in the various industries for locals with the right skills,” he told reporters after launching

Perodua’s training centre in Sungai Choh near here. Subramaniam said the ministry is holding discussions with the industries concerned and had requested them to submit the list of jobs that could be reserved for locals to the manpower department. “If the employers wish to engage or employ foreigners to those posts which are reserved for locals, they will be asked to state their reasons,” he said. Subramaniam said the companies would be allowed to recruit foreigners only when the ministry is satisfied with their reasons. – Bernama

Apostasy appeal put off by Opalyn Mok [email protected]

GEORGE TOWN: The Penang Islamic Religious Council’s appeal against the Syariah High Court’s decision allowing Tan Ean Huang (pix) to renounce Islam last May will be heard in January next year. The Penang Syariah Court of Appeal, presided by state Syariah chief judge Datuk Md Yusup Che Teh, Syariah chief justice/Malaysian Syariah judiciary director Datuk Ibrahim Lembut and Federal Territories Syariah chief justice Datuk Muhammad Asri Abdullah, yesterday fixed Jan 6 and 7 for the hearing to allow Tan to obtain new appeal records filed by the council. Lawyer Ahmad Munawir Abdul Aziz, who appeared for the council, told

the court earlier that they had filed a new appeal record that was not furnished during the trial. He said an additional appeal record would be filed and applied for time for Tan to scrutinise the records. The court allowed the application and also allowed both parties to submit written arguments on the appeal records. Tan, whose Muslim name is Siti Fatimah Tan Abdullah, 39, originally converted to Islam in July 1998 to marry an Iranian but her husband left her a few months after their marriage. She then filed an application to renounce Islam in May 2006. After the case was dragged for two years, Syariah court judge Othman Ibrahim allowed her application in a landmark decision on May 8 this year.

‘More housewives get HIV than sex workers’ by Karen Arukesamy [email protected]

KUALA LUMPUR: With an average of 12 Malaysians testing positive for HIV each day, Malaysia has one of the fastest growing AIDS epidemics in the East Asia and Pacific region. What is more worrying is that the trend is gaining a feminine face, mainly through heterosexual transmission. A new report released by the Health Ministry and United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) yesterday revealed that the trend of new HIV infections amongst women rose drastically to 16% in 2007 from 1.2% of total new cases in 1990. “The proportion of women reported with HIV has increased dramatically in the last decade. In 1990, only one in every 86 new HIV infections was amongst women and girls,” Sultanah Bahiyah Foundation chairperson Datuk Seri Tunku Puteri Safinaz said at the launch of the Women and Girls Confronting HIV and AIDS in Malaysia 2008 report. However, she said, as of December 2007, it was one in six new infections. “Shockingly, surveys show that in 2006 more housewives tested HIV-positive than sex workers,” Tunku Puteri Safinaz said, adding that there are thousands of children living in homes shadowed by HIV. The results are a cause for concern as the vulnerability of women and children to HIV are directly linked. She said for families affected by HIV and AIDS, the disease itself does not have so much impact as it can be kept under control for many years with effective treatment. “The biggest impact comes from stigma. Mothers whose families are

affected by HIV and AIDS are most frightened by the reactions from friends, extended family, colleagues and their communities,” she said, citing the case of a shopkeeper in Kedah who refused to allow a woman with HIV to enter his shop. She said fear of AIDS could hurt the patients more than the disease. Stigma can cause a person to be ostracised by friends and family. It can even cause a HIV-positive husband to disallow his wife to be tested, she said. “Stigma can cause a woman to be so ashamed that she does not seek treatment – meaning an early death and young innocent child left without a mother.” Tunku Puteri Safinaz said it can also cause the children to be shunned by their teachers and friends because they are infected. Unicef representative in Malaysia Youssouf Oomar said empowering and encouraging women to be leaders in any HIV response must be the strategy of the future. “Malaysia must ensure that gender equality and empowerment of women go hand-in-hand with HIV and AIDS prevention and care programmes,” he said. “We need to get more women involved and get them to work together to get their voices heard.” He said the level of awareness amongst housewives in Malaysia is not enough to create consciousness. “The fact that there are more housewives infected with HIV than sex workers is a serious cause of concern. There should be more serious education in learning institutions where students can bring home the knowledge,” he said.

Trio charged with submitting false statements to Bursa KUALA LUMPUR: Satang Jaya Holdings Bhd managing director and two directors pleaded not guilty in the sessions court here yesterday to four counts of submitting false statements to Bursa Malaysia Securities Bhd. Datuk Jamaluddin Hassan, 48, Hakim Sukirman, 49, and Gan Chin Sam, 50, were alleged to have committed the offences in the company’s quarterly reports between Feb 28 and Nov 30, 2007. The charge under section 122B(b)(bb) of the Securities Industry Act 1983 carries a maximum jail term of 10 years or fine of RM3

million or both if convicted. Judge S.M. Komathy Suppiah fixed April 13 for remention and allowed Jamaluddin bail of RM250,000. Jamaluddin was told to surrender his passport to the court. The judge allowed Hakim bail of RM200,000 with two sureties and RM300,000 bail with one surety for Gan. Both were ordered to report to the Securities Commission every month. Jamaluddin and Hakim were represented by Atan Mustaffa Yusof while Ng Aik Guan Francis acted for Gan. – Bernama