KUALA LUMPUR, April 1 — Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today he would choose to return to the past instead of the future if given the opportunity in order to change the fate of the country and its people.

In a livestream, broadcasted through Instagram and Facebook, Dr Mahathir was asked by an audience whether he would choose to return to the past or to the future if he owned a time machine.

“I would like to return to the past because if during that time I am able to do certain things, maybe I could change the fate of my people and my country but if I went to the future, I do not know what will happen,” Dr Mahathir said.

On another question about what were his greatest moments as Prime Minister, Dr Mahathir said it was being chosen to be PM unexpectedly.

“Well, I never expected to be PM. So in 1981 when I was chosen as PM, I could hardly believe it.

“In fact for a long time, I would ask myself this question whether I am the prime minister. I am from nowhere but suddenly this thing was conferred with me.

“So that was something that is unexpected and therefore to me it is great,” he said.

PETALING JAYA: Majlis Peguam menggesa mahkamah menggunakan budi bicara dengan bijak dalam menentukan ikat jamin dan syarat lain terhadap individu didakwa melanggar perintah kawalan pergerakan (PKP).

Presidennya, Salim Bashir berkata, mahkamah perlu mengambil kira jenis dan tahap keseriusan kesalahan apabila menimbangkan isu sedemikian.

“Mahkamah juga patut mengambil kira fakta jarang berlaku sebagai bukti yang rakyat kini berdepan PKP serta bergelut dengan pandemik Covid-19,” katanya kepada FMT.

Beliau mengulas laporan seorang doktor berusia 61 tahun di Pulau Pinang diarahkan membayar ikat jamin RM13,000 bagi 2 pertuduhan berkaitan PKP.

Pakar kardiologi, Dr Ong Hean Teik turut diperintah menyerahkan pasportnya kepada mahkamah dan melaporkan diri di balai polis sebulan sekali.

Ong didapati melanggar PKP dengan berjoging di taman 2 minggu lalu. Beliau didakwa menghalang tugas seorang penguat kuasa majlis bandaraya dan melanggar undang-undang kawalan penyakit, kesalahan yang menyebabkan beliau dipenjara atau didenda.

Beliau mengaku tidak bersalah di Mahkamah Majistret George Town semalam.

Salim yang menggesa mahkamah tidak mengenakan ikat jamin keterlaluan, berkata ikat jamin hanya untuk menjamin kehadiran tertuduh di mahkamah.

“Ikat jamin lebih tinggi dan syarat tambahan hanya boleh dipertimbangkan, jika ada kemungkinan tertuduh mengganggu saksi dan bukti.”

Katanya, ikat jamin keterlaluan boleh dilihat sebagai satu bentuk hukuman dan beliau mengingatkan mahkamah berhubung prinsip seseorang itu tidak bersalah sehingga dibuktikan bersalah.

SYDNEY: An Australian drag queen has shifted her performances from stage to personal screens during the Covid-19 lockdown in Sydney to ensure she’s not all dressed up with nowhere to go.

Penny Tration – born Daniel Floyd – is a professional artist who has appeared on radio and TV shows.

She has also entertained at shopping malls and corporate functions and, when not in drag, worked for an airline for 12 years, that only recently let her go as the global virus outbreak grounded flights.

Like many fellow Australians, Tration is in 14 days of mandatory self-isolation as she was on an overseas holiday.

That hasn’t stopped her from attracting a global audience by live streaming her show, “Tration in Isolation”, via Facebook every Friday and Saturday night

“I’m grounded because of the coronavirus. My airline has stopped all international flights from the 30th of this month (March),” Tration told Reuters via webcam.

“Now, with the airline not flying, we’re all on stand down. No pay. No prospect of when we will go back,” she said, adding that some viewers sent her donations at the end of the show.

During the largely unrehearsed show, Tration sings, dances and mixes herself cocktails while answering questions from viewers as they write in.

Even when isolation ends in a few days, Tration says she is not venturing outside anywhere too soon.

“I’m not going out until this virus is under control and I know that my actions can’t impact anyone else. I think, if other people knew this, when this was all kicking off, they would have done the same,” she said.

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IPOH, March 31 — Seven state executive council (exco) members took their oaths of office in front of Sultan of Perak Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah at Istana Kinta here today, just a day after Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu announced that the appointments would only be made after the movement control order (MCO) is over.

The Pakatan Nasional (PN) comprises three Umno assemblymen, two Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) assemblymen and two PAS assemblymen.

The Umno assemblymen are its state chairman Datuk Saarani Mohamad (Kota Tampan), Datuk Shahrul Zaman Yahya (Rungkup) and Datuk Dr Wan Norashikin Wan Noordin (Kampung Gajah).

The PAS assemblymen are its state commissioner Razman Zakaria (Gunung Semanggol) and state liaison secretary Mohd Akmal Kamaruddin (Selama).

Meanwhile, newcomers from Bersatu Datuk Nolee Ashilin Mohamed Radzi (Tualang Sekah) and Datuk Abdul Yunus Jamhari (Kuala Kurau) were also appointed as exco.

Earlier this month, Yunus, a former PKR assemblyman, and Nolee, who was previously Independent, joined Bersatu.

Ahmad Faizal when met outside the palace told reporters that another three exco members will appointed after the MCO is withdrawn.

“We haven’t decided the portfolio for the exco members yet. Today, the Sultan has decreed to appoint seven state assemblymen to field the exco line-up,” he said.

The mentri besar said that he will meet the newly appointed exco members today in order to form a strong team for the people.

“I will release a statement soon on the exco appointment and another statement on the exco portfolios will also be released soon,” he added

Yesterday, Ahmad Faizal said the appointment of exco will only take place after the MCO period ends.

 He stressed that the state government is fully functional as the administrative work is carried out by the respective department chiefs.

He also pointed out that there is no time limit to appoint state executive councillors according to the law.

COMMENTARY, March 31 ― Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has shown his mettle as a leader as he rallies the nation against an invisible enemy ― Covid-19 ― while at the same time having to deal with his political enemies and a volatile economic situation.

Emerging from the political battle that brought down the nearly two-year-old Pakatan Harapan (PH) government, he wasted no time in working to contain the deadly coronavirus while offering the people new hope.

The absence of a trustworthy opposition made Muhyiddin acceptable to Malaysians at large and at this present moment, he has thus far managed to handle the Covid-19 crisis with wisdom.

He took about a week from March 2, the day he was sworn in as prime minister, to settle down and pick his Cabinet who are now working with him as a team to stop the Covid-19 pandemic.

It is no easy task for a man whose leadership capabilities has not been tested at this level but Muhyiddin seems to have taken the challenge in his stride.

Just three weeks ago, the opposition was in a “killing mode” with claims that this was an illegitimate, backdoor government and threats of votes of no-confidence.

Together with Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pas, Muhyiddin managed to weather all that and brought things under control, a feat even the PH government may not have managed so well, according to people on the ground.

Muhyiddin is not fighting one battle alone, he has also to fight his position in the party where he is being challenged by the son of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed, his chairman who won the party chairmanship uncontested.

Dr Mahathir had also questioned Muhyiddin’s legality as prime minister ― a position Dr Mahathir himself resigned from, a move which brought down the PH government.

Since he took over, Muhyiddin has not had a single day of peace but he seems to be cool when he appeared twice on TV to address Malaysians about measures needed to contain the pandemic.

In a way, the movement control order (MCO) the country is now under has given Muhyiddin a real political break as all political activities have now stopped.

While he has been getting quite a lot of praise on the ground for his swift actions to help alleviate the suffering of the B40, his stimulus package was not well received by the business community.

He has to address this matter fast or the country may not be able to turn over fast enough to recover from the effects of the shutdown as well as the world economic downturn.

PETALING JAYA: Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia (KKM) berkata pihaknya mengalu-alukan sukarelawan kesihatan dan perubatan dalam menangani wabak Covid-19 di negara ini.

Ketua Pengarah Kesihatan Dr Noor Hisham berkata sehingga kini seramai 157 sukarelawan menyertai dan ditugaskan sebagai sukarelawan yang ditempatkan secara berperingkat untuk membantu pasukan bantuan kesihatan dan perubatan Covid-19.

“Sejumlah 1,008 orang lagi bakal menyertai pasukan perubatan di hospital, iaitu mereka yang terdiri daripada pelbagai profession perubatan.

KKM juga menyeru lebih ramai sukarelawan dapat tampil menyertai pasukan bantuan kesihatan dan perubatan COVID-19 dengan mengisi borang di laman sesawang Facebook KKM.

Sehingga kini, Malaysia mencatatkan 2,470 kes positif Covid-19 dengan 388 pesakit sembuh sepenuhnya.

Manakala jumlah kematian meningkat kepada 35 kes apabila seorang wanita tempatan berusia 57 tahun yang pernah mengunjungi Indonesia meninggal dunia petang semalam.

PETALING JAYA: The health ministry today called for more volunteers to aid frontliners in the struggle to contain the Covid-19 outbreak.

Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the ministry welcomed the service of health and medical volunteers in fighting the deadly virus.

He said 157 people had been assigned so far, while 1,008 others from various medical professions are set to join the hospital teams soon.

“Taking the current situation into account, the health ministry calls on more volunteers to step forward and join the Covid-19 health and medical aid teams,” Noor Hisham in a Facebook post.

Those who are interested can fill up the online registration form posted on the health ministry’s Facebook page.

The Covid-19 pandemic has infected 2,470 people and caused a national shutdown of public activities in Malaysia, with 35 deaths recorded so far.

The pandemic has led to the total lockdown of seven villages in Sungai Lui, in the Hulu Langat district and Simpang Renggam, Johor.

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