Opinion Research Centre
FIVE men were sentenced to jail and canings today by a Selangor shariah court for attempting to have gay sex, reports and an activist said.
The court sentenced four of the men to six months in jail and six strokes of the cane as well as fines of RM4,800, Harian Metro reported.
GEORGE TOWN: The state assembly today heard that Penang Hill’s maximum capacity of 4,800 people at any one time has yet to be reached as the current number of visitors is barely half that.
State executive councillor Yeoh Soon Hin (PH-Paya Terubong) said during the peak hours, there only an average of 1,500 people were on the hill.
He was seeking to allay concerns over a cable car project to the top of the 833m-high hill, as announced in the 2020 federal budget.
Currently, the funicular railway running to the summit often malfunctions. Hence, the federal government’s plan to introduce the cable car connecting the Botanic Gardens at the base to the hilltop.
Giving his winding-up speech, Yeoh said a pre-feasibility study on the cable car was being carried out by the Penang government and would take six months to complete.
He said an open tender for this pre-feasibility study was called in June and negotiations for shortlisted bidders were held in October. The winner of the bid will be announced soon.
He said at present, work was under way to control peak hour human traffic and install an electronic system to display wait times for the funicular railway.
Yesterday, Yeoh announced that some 200 to 300 hotel rooms will be created on Penang Hill, by repurposing four colonial-era bungalows existing there.
Friends of Penang Hill, an informal group of activists had fought against the cable car idea in the late 1980s. The group’s protests were said to have cost former chief minister Lim Chong Eu his state seat in the 1990s. The project was then scrapped when his successor, Koh Tsu Koon, took over.
The group had argued that the hilltop does not have the carrying capacity to hold so many people once the cable car starts.
Penang in first place for medical tourism
Separately, Yeoh said Penang continues to be the medical tourism destination of choice, with a 61% share of the market in Malaysia, netting RM567.2 million last year, based on Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council data.
Kuala Lumpur and Selangor are in second and third place, he said. He said from January to June this year, the number of foreign patients had increased by 12.5% and income has increased by 15.5%.
“We are now getting patients from Chinese second and third-tier cities, and Middle Eastern countries, due to direct flights to Penang,” he said.
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 7 — Five Malaysian men were sentenced to jail and canings today by an Islamic court for attempting to have gay sex, reports and an activist said.
There have been growing concerns in the Muslim-majority country about the worsening climate for the homosexual community, and the verdicts follow the caning last year of two women for lesbian sex.
An Islamic court in Selangor state, outside Kuala Lumpur, sentenced four of the men to six months in jail and six strokes of the cane as well as fines of RM4,800, newspaper Harian Metro reported.
Another man was sentenced to seven months jail, six strokes of the cane and an RM4,900 fine, the paper said.
The group, who were caught in an apartment outside Kuala Lumpur in November last year, were reportedly convicted of attempting to have intercourse against the order of nature, a crime under Islamic laws.
Gay rights activist Numan Afifi, who attended the court hearing, told AFP the sentences would create a “culture of fear”, adding: “It’s a gross injustice and terrible for our country”.
Malaysia operates a dual-track legal system, with Islamic courts handling some matters for Muslim citizens.
AFP could not immediately contact court officials or the men’s lawyers.
Critics say there is growing pressure on the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in Malaysia.
As well as the caning of the two women last year under shariah law, the Islamic affairs minister has spoken out against homosexuals and ordered pictures of LGBT activists to be removed from a public exhibition.
Sodomy is a crime under Malaysia’s regular criminal code as well as under Islamic law, but it is rare for people to be found guilty of the crime. — AFP
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 7 — The Foreign Ministry has outlined three steps to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), said its minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah.
Saifudin said the first step was to actively participate in discussions at various international forums where Malaysia was already a member, and secondly to influence the decision-making process at various international forums where the country was not a member.
The third step is to discuss new issues to ensure that the country does not miss out on any issues that may be the policy or decision of the international community.
“For example at the United Nations (UN) summit, we are members of the security committee, so we have taken on certain topics and invited other countries to participate and discuss in related sessions,” he told reporters after speaking at the plenary session of the Malaysia Sustainable Development Goals Summit 2019, at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, today.
Even if the country is not a member of the international organisation’s committee, it will continue to collaborate actively with member countries or committees of the international organisation.
He cited the example of his ministry planning to engage in discussions on a number of issues including the Rohingya refugee issue with Vietnam and Indonesia which would be appointed as members of the security committee at the UN summit next year.
“Besides, we will always be prepared for issues that may be the policy or agreement of international organisations, for example the issue of governing internet that will become a reality, when we look at the issues between the United States and China regarding Huawei telecommunications company.
“We know it’s not just about market war but rather about internet control mechanism, so we don’t want to have any policy or decision from the international community on the issue,” he said.
Meanwhile, in his speech, Saifuddin stated that the basic elements of Malaysia’s foreign policy remains unchanged.
Malaysia would continue to pursue an independent, principled and pragmatic foreign policy, founded on the values of peace, humanity, justice, and equality, he said.
This inaugural summit themed Accelerating Progress on the SDGs: Whole of Nation Approach, aimed at contributing ideas and strategies to move the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development forward and strengthen partnerships through a nationwide approach to achieving SDGs. It was officially opened by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad yesterday and will end today. — Bernama
There will certain exemptions, however, says Bank Negara deputy governor Rasheed Ghaffour.
KUALA LUMPUR: Citizen Action Group on Enforced Disappearance (CAGED) spokesperson Rama Ramanathan shows no sign of regret for writing an article that has triggered an investigation by the police.
Speaking to reporters at Bukit Aman after his questioning today, he said the organisation would not be intimidated and that it believed only “a few bad apples” were giving the police a bad reputation.
Rama was asked to present himself to have a statement recorded at Bukit Aman today.
He was told that he would be investigated under Section 504 of the Penal Code and Section 233 of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission Act, which deal with “intentional insult” and “the improper use of network facilities”.
The investigation is related to an Oct 20 article on his blog citing witness accounts of how the sister of activist Jufazli Shi Ahmad might have prevented Jufazli from becoming the latest victim of enforced disappearance.
“The questioning was around the article, but I don’t think the issue is that particular article.
“I think the real focus is on all the things that I have been writing of late regarding the proposed Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) and enforced disappearances, but the article is just convenient for them to zero in on,” he said.
He said police did not tell him exactly what they were unhappy about with the article.
He said instead of telling him to change what they disagreed with, as others had done over his previous articles, the police had chosen “to use their power to intimidate, telling us that they have the power and they can call us in whenever they want”.
He said this was the sad state of the reality regarding Malaysian enforcement agencies currently, adding this was due to “systemic issues from within”.
Overall, commercial crime registered a slight increase when compared to last year, reveals Abdul Hamid Bador.
JAPANESE giant SoftBank Group said today it suffered an operating loss of US$6.4 billion (RM26.4 billion) in the second quarter, the worst in its history, as it took a hit from investments in start-ups, including WeWork and Uber.
The eye-watering results follow a turbulent period for the firm and led CEO Masayoshi Son to admit regret over errors as he faces criticism over his commitment to start-ups some said were overvalued and lacked clear profit models.
YOUTH and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman told the magistrates’ court in Kajang today that Umno Youth member Wan Muhammad Azri Wan Deris, better known as Papagomo, had grabbed him by his left shoulder and neck causing “soft tissue injury” before saying “Kau bodoh (you are stupid)” in his ears during an incident in February this year.
Recounting the incident that occurred during nomination day for the Semenyih by-election, Syed Saddiq, 26, said he and three of his officers – Mohd Aizad Roslan, 38; Acting Sgt Mohd Amin Bacho, 41; and, Ahmad Redzuan Mohamed Shafi, 29 – were walking back his car parked outside the nomination centre.
BANGKOK: The Bank of Thailand cut its benchmark interest rate for the second time in three months and said it will ease rules on outflows to curb a surging currency.
Five of the seven Monetary Policy Committee members voted to cut the key rate by a quarter-percentage point to 1.25%, the central bank said in a statement.
That matches a record low and was in line with the forecasts of 16 of the 26 economists in a Bloomberg survey.
Officials told reporters in Bangkok that the central bank is worried about the strength of the baht, which may continue to weigh on the economy.
The bank will ease rules on outflows and consider further steps to rein in the currency, they said.
The baht extended losses, falling as much as 0.7% to 30.399 per dollar, and was at 30.327 as of 3 pm in Bangkok.
Thai authorities are stepping up monetary and fiscal support to spur an economy that’s on course for its weakest growth in five years in 2019.
The baht has gained more than 8% against the dollar in the past year, the best performer in emerging markets, curbing exports and tourism in the trade-reliant nation.
Governor Veerathai Santiprabhob said the currency steps announced Wednesday would address the imbalance in capital flows to make it easier to take money out of the country.
These are some of the measures that will take effect on Nov 8:
The central bank will take further steps if needed, and will assess the impact of the relaxation of foreign-exchange rules every three months, said Deputy Governor Mathee Supapongse.
“We hope the rate cut and the easing of rules on capital outflows will join forces to help weaken the baht”, he told reporters.
Analysts said the measures may have a limited effect on the currency.
The baht’s slide “stands a greater chance of being reversed as the currency continues to have a strong backing of a large current surplus, while there are little incremental benefits for the economy” from a small adjustment in the interest rate, said Prakash Sakpal, an economist at ING Groep NV in Singapore.
With Thailand at risk of being added to a watchlist of potential currency manipulators in a forthcoming US report, policy makers have limited room to take more aggressive action to curb the currency.
The US on Oct 25 said it will suspend US$1.3 billion in trade benefits for the Asian nation, which some analysts interpreted as a warning shot.
“It’s hard to introduce tools that could be seen as manipulating the exchange rate and so, it’s hard to change the underlying trend,” said Masakatsu Fukaya, an emerging-market currency trader at Mizuho Bank Ltd in Tokyo.
“The rate cut is also not seen as entering into further easing cycle like Turkey, so the baht will face appreciation pressure again.”
Inflation remains subdued, slowing to a more than two-year low of 0.11% in October, well below the central bank’s 1%-4% annual target.
Finance Minister Uttama Savanayana said this week the central bank has proposed to narrow the band for next year for better monetary policy management.
