Perlis PAS commissioner stable after collapsing at ceramah

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KANGAR, Sept 30 — Perlis PAS commissioner Mohd Shukri Ramli collapsed while speaking at an Umno-PAS Cooperation Premier Ceramah at Dewan 2020 and was rushed to the emergency unit of Tuanku Fauziah Hospital (HTF) here last night.

However, the Sanglang assemblyman was reported to be in stable condition.

The matter was announced by Perlis deputy commissioner Russele Eizan who said Mohd Shukri had undergone a CT scan.

In the incident at about 10pm, Mohd Shukri who was the first speaker was introducing the line-up of top leadership of Umno and PAS when he suddenly collapsed and fell unconscious.

He was later given respiratory assistance by a medical unit before a Civil Defence Force ambulance took him to HTF.

The ceramah was also attended by PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang, Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, PAS spiritual leader Datuk Hashim Jasin, Perlis Umno liaison committee chairman Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim and more than 2,000 supporters from the two parties. — Bernama

As communist China turns 70, a ‘Great Fracture’ emerges with US

SEVENTY years after the founding of communist China, once rosy predictions of coexistence with the United States have dissipated with expectations rising instead of a long-term, globe-spanning rivalry.

The United Nations General Assembly showcased the harsh new tone between the world’s two largest economies, with US President Donald Trump declaring from the rostrum that the age of tolerance for China’s “abuses” was over.

Taliban potong jari pengundi, rakyat Afghan tak patah semangat

Saifullah Safi menunjukkan kesan jari dipotong Taliban selepas dia mengundi dalam pilihan raya presiden Afghanistan lima tahun lalu. Afghanistan mengadakan pilihan raya 2019 semalam. (Gambar Reuters)

KABUL: Taliban memotong jari telunjuk kanan Safiullah Safi selepas dia mengundi dalam pilihan raya presiden pada 2014. Kejadian itu sama sekali tidak mematahkan semangat ahli perniagaan itu daripada mengundi sekali lagi semalam.

Semangat Saifullah dalam pilihan raya presiden Afghanistan kali ini mencetuskan kekaguman selepas gambar dia berusia 38 tahun itu dipamerkan menerusi Twitter, menunjukkan telunjuk kanannya yang dipotong Taoiban manakala jari kiri dengan dakwat kekal, menunjukkan dia telah mengundi.

Di sebalik ancaman serangan militan dan kelewatan di pusat mengundi, rakyat Afghanistan membuang undi dalam ujian utama akan keupayaan pemerintah didukung Barat untuk mempertahankan sistem demokrasi.

Taliban digulingkan pasukan diketuai Amerika Syarikat (AS) pada 2001. Tetapi pemberontakan Islam kini paling kuat sejak kekalahan Taliban, mengganggu pilihan raya demokrasi yang baru dan membawa hukuman yang mengerikan, sering kali hukuman mati terhadap mereka yang mengundi.

Semasa pilihan raya presiden 2014, pejuang Taliban telah memotong jari sekurang-kurangnya enam pengundi.

“Saya tahu ia pengalaman menyakitkan, tetapi ia hanya jari,” kata Saifullah melalui telefon. “Apabila datang masa depan anak dan negara saya, saya tidak akan duduk walaupun mereka memotong seluruh tangan saya.”

Saifullah berkata selepas mengundi pada 2014 dan sehari kemudian bergerak dari Kabul ke rumahnya di Khost, jarinya yang ditanda dengan dakwat kekal dipotong oleh Taliban.

“Taliban membawa saya keluar dari kereta dan membawa saya mahkamah yang ditubuhkan oleh mereka,” katanya.

“Mereka memotong jari saya, bertanya mengapa saya mengambil bahagian dalam pilihan raya walaupun ada amaran daripada mereka. Keluarga saya memberitahu saya supaya tidak mengundi kali ini, tetapi saya mengambil bahagian untuk memberikan undi kami.”

Gambaran tentang semangat dia disambut hangat oleh warga Afganistan di media sosial, di mana kebanyakannya takut akan kembali ke era Taliban dan berakhirnya demokrasi.

“Dia mengundi menyokong demokrasi dan mengatakan tidak kepada sistem Taliban,” kata Kabuli, seorang pengguna Twitter.

Di wilayah-wilayah Afghanistan dikuasai Taliban, lebih banyak berbanding sejak 2001, proses pengundian berjalan dalam ketakutan dan kadar keluar mengundi sangat rendah.
Pemberontak menutup banyak pusat pengundian yang berada di bawah kuasa mereka.

Young women aspire to be leaders, care for others

(From left) US ambassador to Malaysia Kamala Shirin Lakhdhir, Wyonna Viven Jeprinus, Evy Evienna Layah, Nurul Asyigin Ahmad Amran and Deputy Women, Community and Family Development Minister Hannah Yeoh.

KUALA LUMPUR: Evy Evienna Layah wore a lively face as she listened intently to Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister Hannah Yeoh speak passionately about becoming future leaders.

The 16-year-old Sarawakian was among three teenagers huddled around a small table listening to Yeoh and US Ambassador to Malaysia Kamala Shirin Lakhdhir at the National Women’s Empowerment Camp held at Brickfields Asia College 2 on Friday.

The camp was organised by the Fulbright English Teaching Assistant (ETA) programme.

Under the programme, recent American college graduates are sent as English teaching assistants in primary and secondary schools or universities overseas where English is not their first language.

Evy, who enjoyed the talk given by Yeoh, sees herself becoming a flight attendant in 10 years’ time.

After all, she loves travelling, although the cost of flying has hampered her passion.

“I’ve always wanted to be a flight attendant to explore the world outside of Malaysia and witness more amazing things, so this event is really good,” the SMK Riak student told FMT.

The talk had a bigger impact on Wyonna Viven Jeprinus, 16, who hails from Sabah.

Initially undecided over what to do with her life, Wyonna – who frequently asked Yeoh and Kamala questions – now aspires to hold a leadership position.

“I want to become a leader so that I can inspire our fellow women with my speeches, just like how Hannah Yeoh did today,” she said.

Meanwhile, Nurul Asyigin Ahmad Amran, 16, from SMK Padang Enggang in Kelantan, said she aspires to become a doctor.

“I want to help the society and people in need by doing volunteer work,” she said.

The 10-month camp, ending today, is aimed at empowering the young women by helping them improve their English.

Rachel Jacoby.

One of the teachers involved in the programme, Rachel Jacoby, from the United States, said they hope the participants will be confident and comfortable conversing in English.

“English isn’t just a boring subject you earn in schools, but it is crucial in our students’ everyday lives and their future,” she said.

Asked if she was happy with the programme’s results, Jacoby said that although there was room for improvement, “I am really happy with things that we’ve accomplished”.

Hiding in plain sight: Is Jho Low back in LA?


Malaysian police have said they have pinpointed Low's location and hope to bring him back by the end of the year. — Picture via Facebook
Malaysian police have said they have pinpointed Low’s location and hope to bring him back by the end of the year. — Picture via Facebook

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 29 — Fugitive financier Low Taek Jho could be hiding in plain sight among his Hollywood friends in Los Angeles, according to a new report by Page Six, the New York Post‘s entertainment news portal.

The report said there were rumours that Low, well-known for his close ties to Hollywood celebrities was seen “surrounded by people” last week at a private dinner party at a producer’s house in Hollywood Hills.

“I thought it was him. Could there be a guy that looks like him? Of course. But I thought it was him. People were convinced,” a source was quoted saying.

The news report added that back in 2009, Low was often mistaken for photographer Chance Yeh.

Malaysian police have said they have pinpointed Low’s location and hope to bring him back by the end of the year to help in the ongoing investigations into the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal.

Low or better known by his alias Jho Low, who has been identified by investigators from Malaysia and the United States as the main character in the 1MDB scandal.

Last December, Low was charged in absentia with five money-laundering charges for transferring US$1.03 billion (RM4.21 billion) into Good Star Ltd’s accounts between September 30, 2009, and October 25, 2011.

Historian finds proof Penang Prison is the oldest British-built jail in Malaya


The view of the entrance to the Penang Prison along Jalan Penjara. — Picture by Sayuti Zainudin
The view of the entrance to the Penang Prison along Jalan Penjara. — Picture by Sayuti Zainudin

GEORGE TOWN, Sept 29 — Sticking out like a sore thumb at the corner of Beach Street and Acheh Street is a four-storey shophouse that towers incongruously over the row of double-storey terrace shophouses.

While it is currently in use by a trading company, this building once housed criminals and debtors more than 200 years ago.

According to historian Marcus Langdon, the “Plan of George Town in 1803” by Sir George Leith indicated that “a large airy commodious building” was purchased for use as a jail at the south-west corner of Beach and Acheen Streets.

“The building was used as a jail for 10 years before they built a new one and moved the prisoners to the current Penang Prison which was constructed in 1813,” Langdon told Malay Mail.

A portion of the original building used as a jail in the inner city still remains today.

Records show that the upper storey of the building was in “ruinous condition” so it was recommended to be torn down.

But when wealthy Acehnese merchant Tengku Syed Hussain Al-Aidid bought the building in 1813, he added three more storeys.

Langdon said the ground floor portion of the building still carries the tell-tale signs of its past with small, high-set windows and thickened walls.

Penang Prison circa 1813

A picture of the Penang Prison dated 1910. — Picture courtesy of Marcus Langdon
A picture of the Penang Prison dated 1910. — Picture courtesy of Marcus Langdon

Though a plaque on the main wall of the current Penang Prison states it was built in 1849 under the governorship of Colonel William John Butterworth, records unearthed by Langdon show otherwise.

The Australian trawled through thousands of pages of council records kept by the East India Company to come up with proof that the prison was built way before 1849.

Records of one of the council proceedings show that on January 22, 1813 a contractor, Lowe Ammee, won a tender to convert newly-built artillery barracks outside of George Town into a jail.

“A report following completion of the work confirms that it was located on the site of today’s jail near the general hospital,” Langdon said.

Langdon said 1849 was the year that additional buildings adjoining the jail were constructed.

“It is, however, very clear that the original jail was not demolished, that an additional building was constructed… expanding the original jail,” he said.

The new section was likely to have been constructed between the old jail and Jalan Utama.

Langdon had looked closely at the jail walls and signs of the expansion can be seen where different sized bricks were used for the old and new buildings.

The new jail next to the hospital was completed within the same year it was contracted and prisoners from the jail on the corner of Beach and Acheen Streets were transferred there in October 1813.

“The preceding history of the Penang jail should lay to rest any doubts that it is the oldest British-built jail in Malaya,” Langdon said.

He said little is known about the history of the jail which is still located on the same site it was built back in 1813.

“Together with the nearby Penang hospital, the jail today forms part of a highly significant historic precinct with usage dating back over 200 years,” he said.

The Penang Road jail

A plaque commemorating the opening of the Penang Prison is seen next to the entrance. — Picture by Sayuti Zainudin
A plaque commemorating the opening of the Penang Prison is seen next to the entrance. — Picture by Sayuti Zainudin

Interestingly, before the construction of the 1813 jail at the barracks, there was an attempt to build a jail along Penang Road where the current Penang police headquarters is located.

The prison at the corner of Beach and Acheen Streets was found to be unfit for the purpose of confining debtors or those convicted of other crimes.

According to records, a jury was tasked with inspecting the premises and it found the premises to be ”in a state of such decay and the walls so slightly constructed, as renders it by no means a secure place of confinement.”

A committee was appointed and on January 28, 1809, recommended that a new jail be built at a site on Penang Road, just across from Chulia Street.

Civil engineer Captain Thomas Robertson was tasked with preparing plans to build a new jail at this site.

It had to be large enough to confine debtors, convicts and also a House of Correction for criminals of minor offences.

Just before the construction started in April 1809, fire destroyed the Golundauze Lines (barracks for sepoys who were trained to use heavy guns) further south along Penang Road, where the current Penang police headquarters is located.

It was then agreed that the jail be built on the Golundauze Lines site and Robertson soon started construction work.

The new jail on Penang Road was completed but it was found to be severely defective as there were serious cracks in the building and parts of it had sunk.

At that time, the jail was still not in use and another engineer, Major William Farquhar, who was in Penang on a brief visit, found the whole building to be defective and recommended that it be demolished.

Jail for debtors and minor offences

In those days, the jail was not only to imprison those convicted of crimes but also debtors — people who failed to pay up their debts.

“The hard-core criminal element was, however, a minority; by far the greatest number of prisoners were being held for non-payment of debt or petty offences,” Langdon noted.

Debtors were often separated from other criminals at that time and much attention was also given to the safety and health of the inmates when the British considered various sites for the construction of the jail.

There was a House of Correction that was usually located in old godowns and separate from the jail prior to 1849. It was usually meant for those who had committed minor offences.

The full history of the jails in Penang that started with a timber and attap shack built by Francis Light in late 1787 to the construction of the current jail in 1813 will be in Langdon’s third book on Penang’s history.

Langdon has written two others titled Penang: The Fourth Presidency of India, 1805-1830 Volume I and II.

He is now working on the third volume that will detail the history of the hospital, the aqueduct story of getting a water supply to George Town, the jetties before Swettenham Pier was built, the early newspapers in Penang, the formation of the legal system of Malaya that started in Penang and the final chapter, the history of the Penang jails.

“I hope to get it published around the end of the year,” he said.

Langdon has spent the past two decades researching the history of Penang through archives and records, a large portion of which are in Monash University in Australia.

His books tell the history of the first 50 years of Penang from 1786, concentrating on the presidency period between the years 1805 and 1830, pieced together from records of meetings, council proceedings and news he found for that period.

Langdon’s books are available at major bookstores or entrepotpublishing.com.

Greta Thunberg marches in Montreal for global climate protests

TEEN activist Greta Thunberg urged Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other world leaders yesterday to do more for the environment as she led half a million protesters in Montreal as part of a global wave of “climate strikes”.

The 16-year-old Swede met privately with Trudeau but later told a news conference with local indigenous leaders that he was “not doing enough” to curb greenhouse gases responsible for global warming.

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