Thesun 2009-04-22 Page06 Raja Nazrin Slams Political Books With Destructive Themes

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theSun

| WEDNESDAY APRIL 22 2009

news without borders

Raja Nazrin slams political books with ‘destructive’ themes KUALA LUMPUR: The Raja Muda of Perak, Raja Dr Nazrin Shah, yesterday expressed concern over a trend among the country’s authors in writing political books that run down individuals. He said the popular trend of producing “destructive” political books for short-term political and commercial objectives chose themes that denigrated certain individuals, occurred on a seasonal basis and were closely linked to the timing of the activities of certain political organisations. “If this trend continues, I fear it will create an unhealthy writing culture, one which nurtures lies, one which is unethical and ready to ignore fact, and one that will have a negative influence on the development of people’s minds,” he said. Raja Nazrin spoke at the launch of Keberanian Menggapai Harapan – a translation of the book The Audacity of Hope by US President Barack Obama. The translation is the work of the National Institute of Translation. Raja Nazrin said he understood

the institute was implementing a project to translate premier Malaysian literary works from Malay into English – among these Hikayat Hang Tuah, Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa, Hikayat Raja Pasai, Tuhfat al-Nafis, the Malaka Laws and Laws of the Sea, and folk tales. “These premier works reflected the height of culture – an invaluable social capital of the race. They clearly showed that the Malays were a highly cultured race, a supreme civilisation with customs, good manners and values in daily life, a good relationship between rulers, ulama, dignitaries, leaders, traders and the people, and a system of government based on law,” he said. “It is written in these works how the greatness and pride of the race were destroyed by friction within the race, how the tussle for region and state among the race, the hatred, jealousy and lies, the greed and the struggle for power in the Malay world became the source of what facilitated the colonisation process.” On Obama, Raja Nazrin said it was

clear the US president made effective use of modern communication instruments to win the minds, hearts and emotions of US citizens in the race for the presidency. “Whether by design or accident, Barack Hussein Obama had crafted an infrastructure for a political path to get to the White House ... The political path that he chose had been accepted by the large majority of the American people.” He said Obama was a product of a premier education system in the US, spoke the language and practised the culture of the majority of Americans, chose to follow Christianity – the religion of a majority of Americans – although his grandfather Hussein Onyango Obama was a Muslim and his father, Barack Hussein Obama Sr, was born to a Muslim family. Raja Nazrin said Obama could be likened to a true American in all aspects with the qualities of an American who held to the principle of adapting to the environment. – Bernama

‘BN also to blame for poor MPPP rating’ pg 8

Maternity leave costs bosses RM1.57b a year KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian employers spend about RM1.57 billion annually to give their employees 60 days of maternity leave, a seminar on gender equality was told yesterday. A study by the Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) showed that maternity leave for each employee costs an average RM7,500 – RM3,000 in wages and RM4,500 in overtime allowances. In his paper on maternity protection, reconciling work and family responsibilities, MEF vice-president A. Ramadass said that under existing laws, employers bore this cost for up to five surviving children. The cost would escalate to RM2 billion if maternity leave was increased to 84 days, as is the practice in Singapore. However, Ramadass pointed out that in the city state, for the first two children of an employee, the first eight weeks’ leave is paid for by the employer and the remaining four weeks by the government. For the third and fourth child, the full 12 weeks is paid for by the government. The two-day seminar, organised by the Human Resources Ministry in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation, was attended by about 50 representatives of government agencies, trade unions and non-governmental organisations. Lactation consultant Nor Kamariah Mohamad Alwi told the seminar that mother’s milk is a unique nutritional source, providing incalculable immune protection. It also provides significant health benefits to the mother, leading to tremendous savings in food cost. She said the World Health Organisation recommended exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months, continued thereafter for up to two years with complementary foods. – Bernama

War of words as Speaker rejects motion to discuss Ali Rustam

Syariah court bars media from mutaah hearing

MALACCA: The Malacca state legislative assembly sitting yesterday turned into a shouting match when an attempt by the Opposition to call for an emergency motion aimed at debating a vote of no confidence against Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam was rejected by Speaker Datuk Othman Muhamad. Goh Leong San (DAP-Kesidang) had submitted a notice to Othman on Monday calling for an emergency motion to discuss Mohd Ali’s “tainted image”, “lack of integrity” and “the people’s loss of confidence in the chief minister”, during the three-day session. Othman, however, said he had decided to reject the motion as it did not fulfil the three criteria warranting a debate, having satisfied only the first – that of being a

KOTA BARU: The Syariah High Court here yesterday issued an injunction to bar the media from covering a mutaah hearing involving Melor assemblyman Wan Ismail Wan Jusoh and his exwife Siti Aishah Chou Abdullah. Judge Abdullah Man said the injunction also covered the dissemination and publishing of news on the proceedings. Both parties to the case were also barred from issuing statements to the media and publishing it for public view. Wan Ismail, 53, had sought the injunction under Section 239 of the Syariah Court Civil Procedure Enactment 2002 which deals

specific issue. “There is no great urgency to table the motion because it is not a natural disaster, nor of public interest as the case has been settled by Umno,” he said. Goh argued that he was entitled under the House rules to at least read out the contents of his emergency motion, saying it was based on the perception of Mohd Ali’s integrity and the loss of trust in his leadership. “This is because of his involvement in money politics in the recent Umno elections which has affected his credibility as a leader, resulting in the people losing confidence in him.” This caused several Barisan Nasional backbenchers to voice their dissatisfaction, drawing a response from opposition

assemblymen which resulted in a 20minute shouting match. Othman later reminded opposition assemblymen that he had made a ruling on the motion and asked that the House continue with the proceedings. On March 17, the Umno Disciplinary Board headed by Tengku Ahmad Rithaudeen found Mohd Ali guilty of breaching the party’s code of ethics and barred him from contesting the deputy president’s post in the Umno elections. Mohd Ali said that although he had denied any involvement in money politics, the board had nevertheless found him guilty and he accepted its decision. “This is an attempt by DAP to seek cheap publicity,” he said yesterday. – Bernama

with scandalous matter, among others. Wan Ismail was absent from court. Siti Aishah, 24, attended the hearing with their children, four-year-old Wan Ahmad Firdaus and Wan Nor Salwa, three, her brother Abdul Hakim Abdullah, 22, father Kian Ti, 62. Siti Aishah, formerly Wan Ismail’s second wife, is seeking RM3 million in mutaah (compensation) from her ex-husband. The case will be re-mentioned on July 29 and continue on Aug 25 as the defence had yet to furnish the court and the plaintiff’s counsel with a statement of defence. – Bernama

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