It was believed gruff and aloof police personnel tended to put people off rather than win them over. Handsome coppers, on the other hand, were thought to present a better image when deployed to frontline positions.

Most people reacted to this novel approach with some incredulity. For after all, a pretty face that turns heads may not necessarily cut it in the tough world of cops and robbers.

It would, of course, be ideal to have policemen and women with good looks that can complement other winning qualities such as a likeable nature, efficiency, commitment, firmness and fairness.

But the reality is that even the Steve McGarretts and Horatio Caines of law enforcement who do their job with the professionalism that befits their status as the elite in the business, do not always start as favourites in the good-looks stakes.

People who come close to having all the cognitive assets as law enforcers — with good looks to boot at the same time — are cast in the same mould as the Olivia Bensons of law enforcement. Unfortunately, such rare birds do not come a dozen a dime.

The rationale behind the ‘handsome cops’ idea would appear to have been prompted by the fact the police should be ready to innovate by giving their identity a makeover to keep up with the times.

Be that as it may, the clarion call now is for public security to be safeguarded through enforcing the law without fear or favour as crime is presently the country’s number one concern, according to a local university survey.

The nationwide study showed that crime has surpassed economic adversities as the main worry. One out of every three adult respondents said crime has become a national problem.

A similar survey in 2008 found that people at that time were most nervous about the state of the economy but this has been overtaken by concern over crime.

The brawling inside a police station in Petaling Jaya between two groups of scrap metal traders last Sunday is a stark reminder of the scant respect accorded the men in uniform these days.

And lately, during a break-in in Ipoh, robbers vented their anger on a poor couple by slashing them with parangs after failing to find any valuables in the house.

It was obvious the thugs would stop at nothing to get what they wanted — even cutting their destitude victims for coming up with empty drawers instead of the valuables and cash they were after.

The incident shows criminals are getting bolder in defying the law.

According to Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye, vice-chairman of Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation, criminals are even daring enough these days to rob diners and hold up weddings and even funerals.

A robbery by a group of parang-wielding men at a restaurant in Cheras just a few days ago is a case in point. The thugs made off with about RM4,000 from the cash register and about RM16,000 from the customers.

Lee said the criminals struck openly at the public eatery because they believed they could evade arrest because of poor policing.

“Such a shockingly brazen robbery is causing the public to lose confidence in law enforcement. There should be zero-tolerance for crime,” he stressed.

Malaysian police have long been battling a negative public perception of being lax in fighting crime. Frequent public grouses are the lack of good work ethics, professionalism and knowledge in handling complaints and crime reports as well as the feet-dragging in initiating follow-up action.

Furthermore, the assurance that crime reports can be lodged at any police stations should be followed through as there have been numerous complaints of the public being given the roundaround.

The police could implement the 4Ps — protective, proactive, performance-oriented and people-friendly — to change the negative public perception of the force.

Not all police personnel can or must be good looking. It’s well and good if they are. What is far more important is efficiency in fighting crime. It’s a job with a huge responsibility that includes, among others, a delicate balance between enforcing the law and maintaining public rapport.

“We have to walk a fine line – ensuring security while still being friendly to the public,” Bukit Aman management director Comm Datuk Mortadza Nazarene has said.

Generally, the police have shown a lot of improvement in the past three years. This much must be acknowledged. But there is always room for further improvement to transform the force into a well-oiled crime-busting unit.

Statistics from the State Health Department’s Communicable Disease Control Section revealed one death each had been recorded in Serian, Bintulu, Pakan, Mukah, Bau, Sibu and Lundu with two in Miri.

Bintulu Division has the most reported cases (30) followed by Miri (20), Kapit (19), Kuching (13), Samarahan (7), Sri Aman (3); Betong (1); Sarikei (6); Mukah (3), Sibu (6) and Limbang (4).

The nine dead were not timber camp workers as widely believed but possibly people, including housewives, who came into contact with water contaminated by rat urine.

In 2010, 36 suspected cases were reported in the state. Three turned out positive with two deaths reported. Of the suspected cases that year, 14 were from Bintulu with the rest from Sibu (eight), Miri (four), Kuching and Kapit (three each), Saratok and Sarikei (two each), and Sri Aman and Lubok Antu (one each).

The disease had also been detected previously at Junaco Park National Service camp and Tasik Taman Rekreasi, Jalan Permai Sibu where the source of infection was traced to two horses that used to graze in the area.

What was unusual about the case was that horses do not belong to the genus of rodents and are certainly not vermins commonly associated with leptospirosis. Most probably, the equines were infected after coming into contact with rat urine near the area.

Leptospirosis was classified as a notifiable disease on Dec 9, 2010, under the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988.

It is the one of bacterial infections to have been detected locally  apart from cocksakie and chikungunya.

Although commonly caused by rat urine, leptospirosis can also be transmitted by wild animals such as skunks, raccoons and other vermins or through contact with soil or water contaminated with the waste products of an infected animal.

There is as yet no specific cure for this disease. Good personal hygiene, a keen sense of environmental cleanliness and above all, awareness of the disease’s insidious nature is the best prevention.

Doctors advise drinking boiled water and eating properly cooked food to avoid infection. People down with fever, headache and vomiting should seek immediate medical attention.

According to state health director Datu Dr Zulkifli Jantan, the disease can also be contracted by wading in floodwaters contaminated with rat urine and coming into contact with animals infected by the leptospira bacteria.

People with small or open wounds can get infected as well if they wade in polluted waters during flooding. They should be adequately protected such as using suitable footwear (long boots) if they have to walk through floodwaters.

Leptospirosis is most commonly contracted in the tropics where plague-carrying rodents such as rats abound.

While domesticated cats may kill rats around human habitats, their role as a pest control measure in the wild is limited unless they have become feral but even then, semi-wild felines may have other meals (apart from rats) in mind.

The other option is the barn owl, a potent natural enemy of the rat. Apart from cleaning up areas with high leptospirosis risks, introducing barn owls to check the population of rats in the wild has merits.

These nocturnal birds have keen night vision to swoop on their prey in the dark. In fact, barn owls have been successfully used to control pests in several oil palm plantations around the country.

But to outwit the rat, the barn owl needs an ally in the form of public awareness of the harm rodent-borne diseases can cause health.

For ultimately, it is this awareness – coupled with adequate information on prevention, recognition of symptoms and treatment — that will help prevent harmful diseases such as cocksackie, chikungunya and leptospirosis from breaking out.

While leptospirosis does not pose a serious public health threat in the state at the moment, it does not mean we should let our guard down and be complacent.

To prevent any outbreak, the importance of maintaining a high standard of personal hygiene and keeping the environment clean, especially around drains and areas where livestock are reared, cannot be over-emphasised.

It’s through such conscientiousness that carriers of leptospirosis — a nasty disease of which public awareness should be raised — can be eliminated and with it, the disease itself.

The Old Text describes scapegoat as a goat that was cast out to the desert as part of the ceremonies of the Day of Atonement.

Since this goat was banished to atone for the wrong doings of the ancients, the expression scapegoat has over time evolved to mean a subject that is singled out to take the blame for the faults of others.

In modern usage, an individual, a group or even a country, subjected to deliberate negative treatment or blame, can be labelled a scapegoat.

And in the world today, herds of scapegoats can be found in the corral of finger-pointing.

When President John F Kennedy was assassinated, the shooter, Lee Harvey Oswald, was believed to have been set up to take the fall for the hit but he was killed (by Jack Ruby) so quickly in the aftermath that the truth behind the shooting died with him.

Shortly after his arrest, Oswald reportedly protested his innocence, saying: “I’m a patsy.”

Later, following an investigation, the (Earl) Warren Commission came out with a report, “confirming” Oswald killed Kennedy. Case closed.

But many still believe there is more than meets the eye to the killing, all pointing to a cover-up with Oswald taking the rap as the convenient scapegoat.

Has former Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini been made a scapegoat for the impatience of his big spending owners to dominate the European football scene? Many think so.

In 2012, Mancini guided City to their first English Premier League title in 44 years. Yet, after what appears will be a second-place finish in the League this season, he was unceremoniously dumped.

Bobby Manc – as Mancini is known to City fans – not only had key players leaving but was also under constant pressure from his impatient owners to produce instant success.

With all the internal problems he encountered, a second place finish in the EPL standings is certainly no disgrace.

As a football pundit noted, it is “completely delusional to expect a title every year playing in the most cut-throat of soccer leagues.”

But such reasoning – sound as it is – often cuts no ice with big-time football club owners who think they can buy immediate success with their billions.

For Mancini unfortunately, fulfilling the impossible dream of his success-hungry owners was too tall an order. He got the boot but in many people’s books, the Italian was scapegoated.

Another example of scapegoating could be gleaned from the recent 13th general election.

In a setting of aroused confirmatory bias, looking for a scapegoat on the part of the losers shouldn’t have come as any surprise – and who better to blame than the Election Commission (EC).

Confirmatory bias gains prominence when people gather or remember information selectively or interpret it in a biased way.

Emotive issues and deeply entrenched beliefs reinforce this bias. In this context, people prefer information sources (even if false) that affirm their existing attitudes. They also tend to interpret ambiguous evidence as supporting their existing position.

Take for example the so-called blackout that reportedly occurred during the counting of votes for the Bentong seat.

One of the opposition parties has publicly admitted there was blackout and condemned those using social networking sites to spread rumours. The Bentong police has also said there was no blackout during the counting process.

Yet today, there are still some groups bent on holding demonstrations over the make-believe blackout. Patently, it won’t do much good trying to placate people who continue to view events with confirmatory bias.

MCA president Datuk Seri Chua Soi Lek has also been made a scapegoat for his party’s poor showing in the election.

Suddenly, after the election, critics started crawling out of the woodwork to blame him for MCA’s debacle.

As many as 15 MCA veterans jointly demanded that Chua resigned immediately as party president.

But should he be held fully responsible for the party’s drubbing, considering the damage inflicted on MCA by past protracted internal conflict was already deeply rooted when he took over the helm?

Given such a situation, would it not be unjust to blame the resultant fractured structure and electoral failure of the party solely on Chua, especially since he has been party president for less than three years?

Some would argue each of the 15 MCA veterans calling for Chua’s head, might have contributed to the deeds that has led to the party’s plight today.

Another pertinent point is that when the party passed the resolution at its general assembly not to take up Cabinet positions after the election, it was done collectively. So why all the witch-hunt over a decision reached through consensus?

Scapegoating is taking the easy out of a very complex problem by shifting the blame to a second or third (and often innocent) party.

In essence, scapegoating which is still rampant today, is mostly about making baaaa-seless accusations.

At midweek in Kuching, three women had their belongings forcibly taken by snatchers riding a motorcycle.

In the first attack in front of Tun Jugah Shopping Mall at Jalan Padungan, the pillion rider grabbed the victim’s gold chain worth about RM600.

The second attack near the Sungai Maong Market followed a similar pattern except the victim’s gold chain which was taken, was worth much more — about RM3,000.

In the third attack, along Jalan Kampung Lintang, Petra Jaya, the victim lost her handbag containing about RM400, two moble phones and some personal documents.

More cases could, of course, have gone unreported.

Snatch thieves are hard to nab because their modus operandi is based on the element of surprise. They appear seemingly “from nowhere” to catch their victims completely off guard and are gone just as quickly as they have struck.

It pays to be streetwise while walking about the city nowadays. For instance, if you have bad vibes about a particular area, avoid it. But if you really have to go there, then make sure you have friends to accompany you. Don’t tempt fate by going to the area alone.

Another useful ‘anti-snatch’ tip is being sensible about the handbag you wish to carry in public.  Put aside branded handbags and opt for cheaper ones. This way, you can avoid injuries should your bag get snatched.

How so? As one criminologist explains, since the straps of a relatively low quality handbag snap more easily, the likelihood of the owner getting hurt is much less during an attack as the snatcher will use only minimal force to pull off the bag and flee.

Conversely, expensive handbags are made of tougher materials and, therefore, harder to tear and break. So in a tug-of-war with the snatcher, the owner could get seriously hurt.

While inferior quality handbags could help their owners aviod serious injuries during an attack, it does not mean designer handbags should be kept in the cupboard to collect cobwebs.

The wise thing to do when you go out with your Prada or Gucci is to take due care to not become targets of snatch thieves. Expensive handbags are tell-tale signs that their owners are rich – just what the criminals are looking for. Exercise care when you walk with these branded bags slung over your shoulders. Be smart – that’s bottomline.

Snatch thieves deserve no mercy. They are able-bodied people who can find jobs but choose a life of crime by preying on the innocent and the defenceless, especially women who account for over 70 per cent of victims, and the elderly.

There should be no qualms about putting these criminals who feather their nests with stolen properties, behind bars – and for a long time!

Even as we are trying to grapple with the malaise of snatch theft, it is no comfort to know there are hitmen killing people in our streets.

These assassins on motorcycles wear visor-attached helmets, making them hard to identify even in broad daylight. The question that goes a begging is where did they get their guns so easily from? One shudders to think that firearms could be so readily available in the country these days.

This disturbing trend is accentuated by the recent killing of a deputy director general of Customs in Putra Jaya and the spate of drive-by fatal shootings in both the state and the peninsula.

It’s perhaps time to consider banning helmets with visors. A stipulation for this was in place in the early 90’s but where is it now? Criminals are taking advantage of this lapse and threatening public security and safety.

As their faces are fully covered, their identity is difficult to establish even with CCTV cameras which, under such circumstances, are ineffective.

Police action to prevent crime can include deploying more personnel to the “black” areas. The presence of the police will give the public a feeling of security.

Fighting crime is, of course, no stroll in the park as the threats posed by criminals are as vast and varied as they are dangerous and condemnable.

Since the list of crimes is long, society at large need to join hands with law enforcement in putting criminals and like-minded elements out of commission.

With all parties concerned pulling their weight, there is every reason for the crime rate to be reduced even further.

However, with the scathing political squabbling, a worrying racial divide and the proliferation of partisan hate on the social media in the lead-up to the just-concluded 13th general election, what is important now is to make a serious and earnest endeavour to diffuse the destructive effects of polarisation in the country.

Although two candidates notorious for making remarks with serious racist undertones were defeated, let’s not pretend race-based politics does not exist.

Call it whatever you like – Chinese tsunami, urban tsunami, national tsunami or even triple whammy – the fact remains that under whatever name, a ruinous negativity such as polarisation in a multi-racial society like ours smells just as bad.

The truth of the matter is that at the end of the day, we all still have live together in the country we call home – Malaysia. And as such, it’s imperative that we are receptive to the need to put national harmony, stability and prosperity above all else by reconciling our differences after a bitterly-fought election and move on.

Reconciliation is the wisest course to take. Political leaders from both sides should not be so blinded by personal ambitions that they refuse to see and acknowledge the larger picture and interest of the country.

They owe it to the people to ensure the country continues on the path of peace, stability and progress and NOT taken down the road of perdiction.

Despite objections from some disgruntled quarters, the election results have been well-received on the whole. The DAP has declared its happiness and satisfaction with its huge gains while PAS has expressed similar sentiments, despite losing Kedah.

World leaders have also congratulated the Prime Minister on a hard fought but well-deserved electoral victory.

In this election, what the BN was looking to achieve was regaining the two-thirds majority in parliament that it lost in the 2008 polls. But it won 133 seats – 15 short of the required number.

However, nowadays, governing with the coveted two-third majority no longer gells with the realities of a modern democracy.

For instance in Britain, the Tories have to coalesce in a partnership with the Liberal Democrats to form the government while in Australia, Julia Gillard’s Labour government leads the country with only a very slim majority.

Even in strait-laced Singapore, the all powerful PAP government has been losing by-elections.

Of course, a two-thirds majority is a bonus – if you can get it that is.

The stark reality is that in the present globalised world, people are becoming increasingly aware not only of their rights but also the avowed obligation of the candidates they voted into power to protect such rights.

It is, thus, vital for governments of the day to realise that the onus is on them to provide good governance, stem out extremism, promote transparency and ensure that democracy and citizens’rights are safeguarded.

Elected representatives from both sides of the political divide could, of course, choose to ignore their sworn duty to uphold these sacred principles but with an increasingly discerning electorate quite capable of telling substance from superficiality, elected parliamentarians and assemblymen who break their election promises do so not only at their own peril but also that of their party.

In the Malaysian context, there is no denying the need to address the problems affecting the Chinese community – and for that matter, all the communities in the country.

A critical re-look at the root causes of the gripes – not just the symptoms – is, therefore, not only timely but mandatory as well.

The election is done and dusted. The time for inveigling and fibbing is over.

The successful candidates must now to get down to the brass tacts, roll up their sleeves to fulfill the promises spelt out in their party’s election manifestos.

Anything less will mean a betrayal of the voters’ trust and if this infraction translates into disaster for the present elected representatives in the next polls, they will have none but themselves to blame.

To move the country forward after a highly emotive election, the Prime Minister has called for national reconciliation. His commitment to harmonise race relations in the days ahead should be given all the support in order to move the country forward – and towards greater peace, harmony and unity.

Voters will elect members to parliament and state legislative assemblies nationwide – except Sarawak which will only be holding its parliamentary elections.

A total of 579 parliamentary candidates will be standing in 222 parliamentary seats while a total of 1,322 candidates will be vying for the 505 state seats.

This election is expected to be the closest in the country’s 56-year history.

As such, it is hardly surprising that the states holding their polls today have been festooned with election billboards, banners, buntings and flags, and saturated with nightly political rallies throughout the 15-day campaigning period.

In fact, even before the dissolution of parliament, both Barisan Nasional (BN) and the opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR) had released their election manifestos expounding on issues, including, among others, minimum wage, taxation, equitable opportunities and financial assistance to the poor – with a pledge to honour all the promises made if they won the election.

The fulfilment of election promises should, of course, be benchmarked against the maxim – action speaks louder than words.

What really counts is that the government after today must uphold their pledge to keep (NOT break) all the promises vis-à-vis their election manifesto.

Words must be backed up by deeds. And there can be no compromise on this. For with power comes great responsibility.

During the campaigning period, the rhetoric at some of the ceramahs had an air of entertainment about it while at others, it was laced with vituperations.

But even so, none of the verbal vitriol came within a whisker of the enmity spewed by the ‘hate’ postings on the Internet. It’s worrying to see how the social media has been contaminated by unfettered animus that exposes to the world the ugly side of Malaysian society during this particular polls.

On a more sober note, however, this election has seen some significant ‘firsts’ with the introduction of a number of new measures to improve the electoral process.

For the first time, indelible ink will be used to prevent double voting. While civil servants and military personnel were allowed to vote early in place of postal voting, the disabled can bring an assistant into the polling booth help them with the voting process.

Furthermore, Malaysians residing overseas can cast their ballots through postal voting.

However, those residing in Singapore, southern Thailand, Brunei or Kalimantan in Indonesia are not qualified to register as postal voters but must return to their constituency to vote.

Many third parties are in the fray this time around.

The Indian-based party Hindraft will be contesting in several seats in the peninsula.

East Malaysia-based third parties in the mix are Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP), a former BN partner, and the State Reform Party (STAR) from Sarawak.

They will go it alone after talks with PR on facing BN one-on-one fell through. The entry of these splinter parties has set the stage for multi-cornered fights in Sabah and Sarawak.

The first three days of official campaigning were marred by violence, resulting in  a total of 387 incidents being reported and no fewer than 15 people hauled up and investigated by the police.

Additionally, there had been many reports of vandalism where election posters, banners and flags were either splashed with paint or torn down. Damage to vehicles, used by party workers, had also been reported.

These incidents have been condemned by leaders from both sides

Hopefully, cool heads will prevail during voting today so that the people can exercise their rights of suffrage in a peaceful and incident-free atmosphere.

The outcome of the elections will be important. After all the fiery campaigning over the past two weeks, Malaysians will finally get to know who their government will be over the next five years.

It’s also important to remind ourselves that when we cast our votes today, we should do so with equanimity instead of emotions, reason rather than spite.

Our future is at stake here. So vote wisely.

Yes, every child should indeed be special. But children regarded as special – that is they have special needs – invariably also have special reasons to be identified as such.

They are the ones who might need extra attention because of what paediatricians call a medical, emotional or learning problem.

And this extra attention includes medication, therapy or extra help at home or in school – not the typical things normal chidren would need or may only need occasionally.

Mostly, it’s a matter of picking out the ability, limited though it may be, and needs of the special child and be generously forthcoming with the necessary support.

Children afflicted with illnesses such as epilepsy, diabetes or cerebral palsy are considered as having special needs as well. They might need medicine or other help as they go about their daily routine.

As for children with vision problems, Braille books are needed to help them read. Those who cannot hear or speak properly would have special needs as well.

Obviously, a child with hearing problems might need hearing aids but speech therapy is also important since saying words correctly can be difficult with impaired hearing.

Although special children can be spotted, usually most do not attract much attention and are left to their own devices. Moreover, a special child’s problem may not be easily recognisable except to people who know the child well.

For instance, a child could have a certain neurosis – anxiety for instance – but the condition may go unnoticed unless the child talks about it – which is rare because the cognitive processes of young children are not sharp enough yet for them to talk about these things. So it’s up to adults to notice the symptoms and take remedial action.

Some special children may have speech impediment, others may be visually impaired but in milder cases, their intellectual capacity may be unaffected. Take the case of Yap Fang Ling from Selangau in Sibu Division.

The 14-year-old girl is born blind but she is intellectually smart. She sat for her UPSR last year and passed with very high grades – 4A and 1B.

Despite her excellent UPSR results, she, at first, could not find a secondary school to continue her schooling at because there was none equipped with facilities for the visually impaired to be found in Sibu.

But the Education Department’s swift action on a request from well-wishes to set up a secondary school integration class for visually impaired in Sibu – after being informed of Fang Ling’s situation – gave the visually impaired lass a much-needed leg-up.

With the Education Department’s prompt intervention, Fang Ling is now able to carry on her secondary education at SMK Sungai Merah where a secondary school integration class has been set up for her and students like her.

Fang Ling is considered relatively fortunate in that she has only one form of disability – visual impairment. There children out there with more severe afflictions such as multiple disabilities which may include attention deficit, hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autistism.

These are more difficult cases to correct but in dealing with health problems – as with most other problems – the maxim prevention is better than cure can make a big difference.

To prevent a disability from becoming firmly entrenched, what is critical is catching the symptoms early. It is usually too late to seek correction after the affliction has reached an advanced stage.

As Dr Toh Teck Hock, paediatrician and head of Clinical Research Centre, Sibu Hospital, noted, the older special children are sent for therapy, the slimmer their chances of improvement because by a certain age, say six or seven upwards, they will have already developed behaviours usually too complicated for effective correction.

He stressed early intervention is an important preventive measure. And so nowadays, it’s common to see special children getting help at two years old or so rather than six or seven previously.

We should never give up on a child, especially a special child, but render every support where possible so that the child may get a second chance at life instead of facing the future under a cloud of constant neglect, marginalisation and even abandonment.

In this regard, education – not only for the child but also the parents – is paramount. With education, the chances of the special child making progress towards a normal life with his or her parents’ understanding and support would be so much brighter.

It’s certainly worth noting that everytime a special child shows improvement in coping with his or her situation, it’s one giant step forward.

Fire burn and cauldron bubble – that’s the scenario as the political landscape erupts with acerbic verbal sparrings amidst a fast climbing election temperature.

As polling fever takes hold, the rhetoric has pretty much taken on a definitive “us or them” tone.

For GE13, billed as the mother of all elections in the country’s nearly 60-year history, the battleline has been drawn for the supporters of the contending parties.

The exceptions are the fence-sitters. These are a different kettle of fish – still testing the water and waiting to be wooed before deciding which bait to bite.

With the candidates from both sides made public on Nomination Day yesterday, the battle for votes will begin in earnest.

The war of words can be expected to be acrid during the campaigning period for this parliamentary election in Sarawak just as it had been for past elections.

Just earlier this week, we heard the story of karaoke joints and pubs – how these entertainment outlets and social waterholes will disappear if PR wins.

The advertisement putting out this message in a newspaper came in for an almost immediate tongue-lashing with the party making the insertion accused of using “scare tactics” to frighten the voters and being “bankrupt of ideas.”

However, on closer examination, the advertisement is not as “bankrupt of ideas” as claimed. And one need not look far to see why.

Plain as day, it was prompted by the much-touted imposition of hudud law which forbids, among other things, the operations of karaoke joints and pubs.

With all the talks about shutting down this and that – and as one observer puts it tersely – this cannot, that cannot – it’s no wonder people are very wary of hudud law as its imposition will infringe on the rights of others.

This point should rightly be highlighted to show what such a law, which PAS vows to impose if it forms the government, can do to a society like ours that practises and upholds democratic values.

Belated but still a talking point is the hoo-ha over plagiarism after both sides announced their election manifestos.

BN was accused of allegedly copying some of the points from PR’s manifesto. However, as both sides are facing many common issues and if the ideas in their manifestoes appear somewhat similar as a result, then it should have come about by concidence, not design.

Even in mature democracies, there are always similar stands on some issues between the government and the opposition and as a political observer quite rightly pointed out, when the solutions to these issues are patently obvious, how can one side claim ownership of the ideas that both sides have articulated in their manifestos?

It was also a question of timing. In this election, PR happened to put out their manifesto first.

Had they done so after BN and their manifesto contained some ideas similar to BN’s, would it not then be said that they were also copying from BN’s manifesto?

The question of plagiarism should not have arisen at all. It only served to create confusion over a straightforward matter.

Lately, netizens have been asked not to spread lies to smear the candidates contesting in the general elections.

But the call has fallen mostly on deaf ears. In fact, one does not even have to be a candidate to become the victim of the hate-mongers.

A good example is Malaysian actress Datuk Seri Michelle Yeoh, who was targetted by cyber bullies for being invited to an upcoming dinner in Selangor, organised by a group of Selangor Chinese businessmen, and to be attended by BN leaders.

Shouldn’t Malaysians have the freedom to attend a public function if they choose to do so? Indeed, this basic right should be protected by all political parties that openly proclaim freedom for all Malaysians.

For GE13, it’s important for cool heads to prevail in the heat of campaigning, at the voting booths on polling day and after the outcome of election is known.

It is only in this way that the democractic process can be carried out smoothly and incident-free.

That’s what all peace-loving citizens want to see in this general election– and their call for law and order before, during and after voting should respected.

The contending parties are also locked in intense argy-bargy over the merits – and demerits – of the promises set out in their manifestos that they pledge to implement if they won the election to form the next government.

Quarters aligned to the opposition said BN’s manifesto pays little attention to the nation’s real problems, claiming the BN leadership lacks “vision, wisdom and capabilities” as reflected by the priority it is giving to the people’s immediate wants while sidestepping national issues.

According to them, “a true manifesto spells out the current real national issues and measures to tackle them” and that the pledges made during the hustings to deliver all the promises must be honoured.

On paper, all this sounds very well and good.

The opposition have also criticised the 1Malaysia People’s Aid (BR1M) cash vouchers as wasteful and a vote-buying tactic.

Despite the criticisms, economists think differently, concurring that BR1M is actually good for the economy as it increased spending and consumption.

Although PR did not include a BR1M-type initiative in their manifesto, a PKR strategist has reportedly promised PR will retain the cash distribution should they win the election – an ironic U-turn of PR’s stance on the issue.

PR have also pledged, among others, to abolish tolls, reduce oil prices, lower electricity and water charges and halt the rare earth plant in Kuantan.

Analysts said it will cost a lot to make these radical changes and the colossal expenditure involved will affect and even stunt the economic growth of the country.

On the BN side, a youth leader from one of the    component parties has said the ruling coalition’s manifesto is “committed to creating a resilient, dynamic and innovative economy.”

In contrast, he noted, PR made “vague promises” in their manifesto which contained populist policies aimed at winning votes.

“The amount they need to spend to fulfil their populist promises will top the nation’s revenue, forcing the people to pay more taxes,” he added.

Most political analysts are on the same page as to where PR will get the money needed to fulfil all the promises in their manifesto.

According to a political consultant, PR’s manifesto “is merely a political document designed to please voter groups such as housewives, undergraduates, civil servants, retired armed forces members, Felda settlers, orang asli and East Malaysians.”

He noted that the manifesto did not say how the promises made would be fulfilled or from where the funds would come to fulfil them.

“It does not explain how the nation is going to be able to afford some new subsidies, grants, freebies and payouts.

“The opposition coalition left details on revenue streams aside,” he added.

Another political analyst holds the view that PR’s manifesto “is precisely just that — an election manifesto – designed to inform the electorate of their broader position.”

He also pointed out that the opposition did not say how they would fund or implement their pledges.

Ultimately, what matters is that the most acclaimed of goals written into an election manifesto still have to be brought to fruition on the ground.

In G13, it is important to appraise the manifestos from both sides with equanimity instead of clouded emotions.

For example, which of the two sides has been over-zealous in dishing out the goodies?

Will it start welshing on its promises once elected to office because the promises it made are beyond its capacity to fulfill in the first place?

By the same token, which of the two sides is making a more sober and realistic offer in its manifesto to ensure that all the promises made can be fulfilled within the five-year term?

Our future is at stake here. So it is paramount to ensure we do not lose what we have achieved since independence by weighing the manifestos and the track records from both sides carefully and wisely before casting our votes.

It’s our bounden duty to do so as responsible citizens and voters.

Rajagopal was said to have done this following the national side’s 4-1 drubbing by Saudi Arabia in a friendly match on March 17.

Although the vast majority of Malaysians do not think Rajagopal’s observation was out of line, the touchy national football governing body views it as criticism of the national league – and FAM disciplinary committee was quick to take out the sledgehammer.

According to Article 88, only FAM president and general secretary are allowed to comment on the performance of the national soccer team in the media.

Soccer fans have been quite vocal in their reaction to the latest “Article 88” firestorm, going as far as to call for FAM president to step down.

Most feel FAM, while quick to criticise and punish, is “too sensitive” when it comes to facing criticisms.

A former high-ranking FAM council member said Rajagopal was just expressing an opinion and he saw no harm in that.

“FAM is sending out the wrong message by not providing the people in the system some latitude. The gag order on its officials should be rescinded,” he said.

Another former FAM council member noted that the first two presidents – Tunku Abdul Rahman and Tan Sri Hamzah Abu Samah – did not turn a deaf ear to criticisms.

He said their ability to deal with and accept differing views was the reason behind the glory years of Malaysian football (under their watch).

“This kind of draconian provision (Article 88) was never imposed under the Tunku and Hamzah. The rule should be rescinded immediately and the Sports Commissioner’s office should intervene,” the former council member suggested.

While believing that a coach “should bring up any grouse through the proper channel,” a top Malaysian National Cycling Federation official, however, agreed “if the coach had proposed something to rectify a problem and the association did nothing about, then it would be fair for the coach speak up.”

Former Sarawak coach Awang Mahyan who did not always see eye to eye with FAM when he was in charge of the Ngap Sayot team, also disagrees with the use of Article 88 as a muzzle.

According to him, the national football parent body should be more open-minded and without mincing his words, he asked: “Why do people get all worked up when someone tells the truth?”

The truth here is, of course, the dearth of local strikers in the country’s top football league and it does not take Alex, Jose or Roberto to back Rajagopal up on that score.

In recent times, Malaysian football has been moving backward mostly and the “shut up” policy of the game’s power-that-be is a damper rather than a catalyst.

The national team’s FIFA ranking has dipped to 164 out of 209 and instead of looking for scapegoats, steps should be taken to rectify the flaws, including the outdated Article 88, that impede the development of the game.

Not surprisingly, the infamous Article 88 has become the subject of contentious public debate.

In a national daily online poll, 91.74 per cent or 3,677 readers said the rule must go. Only 1.5 per cent or 60 readers felt the rule should be maintained while 6.76 per cent or 271 readers said it should be amended.

Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek is rightly concerned by the number of people censured under Article 88 since 2009.

“Of course, a law is a law and nothing much can be done. But my worry is too many people have been red carded under the Article,” he said.

For the record, other high-profile sports personalities punished under Article 88 are former national coach B Sathianathan, FAM deputy president Tan Sri Annuar Musa, Perlis FA president Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim and the latest, Johor FA president Tunku Mahkota Johor Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim.

The furore over Article 88 took a new twist when the High Court ruled on Friday that FAM’s 30-month suspension of its deputy president Tan Sri Annuar Musa was “correct and valid.”

Annuar, who allegedly breached Article 88 by making a negative remark on the national footbal team on Feb 12, 2012, said he accepted the court’s decision with an “open mind” but pointed out that the effort to right a wrong, particularly on Article 88, had not ended but only just started.

“Any effort to do so (right the wrong) will be done according to regulations,” he added.

Due to the latest development, it appears Article 88 will still be around for a while and whether or not it will be abolished – in the face of weighty public opinion against it – remains to be seen.

By then, students who flunk their SPM English paper will not receive a full certificate but are entitled to a re-sit the following year.

When first mooted, the proposal elicited strong support from many quarters. The firm endorsement, especially from parents, has given rise to lofty optimism that the proposal will be implemented according to schedule.

“I don’t see why this cannot be done by then (2016) since so many people are supportive of the proposal,” Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has said.

In fact, the show of strong support is proof of the keen anticipation that the proposal could be implemented even sooner.

To lay the groundwork, the Education Ministry has started training over 60,000 teachers in English proficiency this year in two waves under the Malaysia Education Blueprint.

The first will cover the period between 2013 and 2025 while the second will start in 2016 when the proposed ruling to make passing English compulsory in SPM will be implemented.

Muhyddin, who is also the Education Minister, has reaffirmed the government’s commitment to promoting the use of English in schools.

“Our target is for students to be bilingual — proficient in both Bahasa Malaysia and English,” he said.

The effectiveness of English as a communications tool is reflected by the very large number of people learning the language – about one billion throughout the world.

After Mandarin, English is the most widely spoken than any other language. It’s the native language of more than 350 million people worldwide as well.

Moreover, English is the lingua franca of diplomacy, business, science, technology, banking, computing, aviation, tourism and also the UN.

Spoken English is the norm in the best careers and the best universities. It’s also being used increasingly at job interviews. So like it or not, mastering the language pays high dividends in most sectors of the economy.

In terms of developing technology, English has been playing a prominent role in many areas, including medicine, engineering and, of course, education where use of the language is needed the most.

A major consideration for securing high-quality jobs nowadays is the ability to work in English. This comes essentially from acquiring a command of the language through the education system. It has been shown that multi-national companies generally employ graduates proficient in English.

Students who know English can access foreign websites through the Internet. The cornucopia of information flowing from the global system of interconnected computer network is mainly in English. Most of the softwares are also written in that language, hence making it virtually indispensible for worldwide communication.

To gain a competitive edge and excel in the era of globalisation, it is imperative for our students to acquire language skills.

Recognising the importance of such requirement, Public Health Assistant Minister Dr Jerip Susil said people who had knowledge of various languages, especially English, would find it easier to get jobs and work anywhere in the world.

Presenting 1Malaysia Book Vouchers at a college in Kuching at mid-week, he advised the students to improve their English not only through lessons in school but also by reading good books.

Dr Jerip urged them to cultivate the reading habit as it would help improve their English as well as broaden their knowledge, both of which are important not only for their schooling but also their future careers.

In an interview with a national tabloid lately, a former cabinet minister had called for a review of the education system.

“Make English compulsory in all national schools. Without English we cannot compete. We must insist on English as a second language,” he said.

According to him, it was not a mistake to change the medium of instruction from English to Bahasa Malaysia which is the language of the nation and of unity.

The mistake, he pointed out, was in the policies which were to promote Bahasa Malaysia but it had to be at the expense of English.

It’s fair to say the vast majority of Malaysians support the learning of English as a language that is universally recognised for its proven efficacy in the field of education, diplomacy and trade.

More crucially in the Malaysian context, the duality of fluency in the National Language and English will serve to propel the country towards an industrialised and high-income society by the year 2020 and beyond.

Richard III made this desparate plea in Act V, Scene IV of William Shakespeare’s eponymous play (Richard III) after the king fell from his horse in the Battle of Bosworth.

The battle ended with Richard’s death, effectively closing the Wars of the Roses and heralding the Tudor Dynasty with the ascension of Henry Tudor to be Henry VII. The last Tudor was Elizabeth I.

Interestingly, after being flung to the ground from his mount in the thick of battle, Richard’s first act in the moment of hopelessness was to put the horse before his kingdom.

Even in his dire situation, he had asked for a horse (my kingdom for a horse) instead of a sword and a shield to defend himself.

According to scholars, this shows the high regard in which the horse has been held by some cultures through the ages, especially in the western world.

Because horses had figured prominently in the history of civilised society as both work animals and pets, many cultures are putting the noble steel on a pedestal and would consider it repugnant to ever think of eating horsemeat.

So when the European horsemeat scandal broke, it turned the meat market topsy turvy not only in the Continent but also right across the Atlantic to the US.

The scam was exposed after traces of horsemeat were found in beef products. In its early test results for 2,501 beef products, the UK Food Standards Agency found 29 samples had horsemeat at levels of one per cent or above.

US burger makers reacted by dropping their European suppliers. Amid an uproar from consumers, European meat companies recalled their beef products found to contain horse DNA.

The scare also spread east with Hong Kong authorities ordering one of the territory’s biggest supermarket chains to remove all contaminated meat products.

Horses are revered in many European countries and the US. That’s why eating horsemeat for many people there is disgusting because it goes against the cultural grain.

Some even say it’s dangerous, claiming that most former thoroughbred racehorses, forming the bulk of horsemeat being consumed, ran on drugs without FDA approval.

As such, they argue, there is no way of knowing what is being ingested into the body system through the consumption of the meat.

Some cultures, however, consider horsemeat quite healthy to eat. The meat is said to be lean, finely textured, slightly sweet, protein-rich and tender.

Researchers say horsemeat is very low in fat and cholesterol and a good source of polyunsaturated fatty acids. Compared to beef, it has more iron and less fat. Horsemeat is reportedly also an important source of omega 3 and iron.

Furthermore, horses are said to be immune to mad cow disease (bovine spongiform encephalopathy. The BSE scare in recent years had kept occidental butchers busy selling horsemeat as minced meat, sausages, steaks and brochettes.

We are, of course, not trying to spark a frenzy for horsemeat in the local supermarkets with all this talk about the goodness of horsemeat although we won’t mind betting our bottom dollar there isn’t any to be had at these places, anyway.

Horsemeat is hard to come locally because of the negligible equine population here. Apart from the 40-odd ponies at the local turf club and a handful found in the other Divisions, the equine stock is alien to the state.

While most Americans cringe at the idea of eating horsemeat, especially after discovering Kentucky Derby winner and Horse of the Year Ferdinand was sold for slaughter overseas, horsemeat on the dinner table is said to be common in South America and European countries.

In France for instance, horsemeat has been eaten for some centuries. Historians say Napolean’s surgeon-in-chief, Baron Dominique-Jean Larry, had suggested during one of their campaigns that starving French troops cook and eat the meat of horses killed on the battlefields.

Meat products sold in Malaysia do not contain horsemeat, the Veterinary Services Department (VSD) has assured.

Malaysia does not import meat or meat products from EU countries and it’s also unlikely for our meat suppliers to mix their products with horsemeat since we import animal-based foods mostly outside the Euro zone.

“Even if local equine farms were to slaughter their horses, they must first inform us so that we know where the meat is going,” VSD director general Abdul Aziz said.

He pointed out that restaurants and eateries were not allowed to sell horsemeat without informing the department.

The most likely reason why people abhor eating horsemeat is that for centuries, horses have shared a close relationship with human owners.

To most people, horses are regarded as companions, not food. Yet, as one observer notes, there many others who consider horsemeat a delicacy – proof that one person’s pet can be someone else’s protein.

Out of 121 countries covered in the latest edition of the Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI), 86 have discriminatory inheritance practices or laws.

In some countries like Niger or Mali, over half of girls between 15 and 19 are married. This is a huge obstacle for women to get an education and contribute to their own well-being and their countries’ progress.

In Malaysia, the good news for women is that pro-women legislation is being given the attention it deserves by the government with the assurance that “there will not be a repeat of waiting at least seven years for a bill to be passed as what had happened with the Domestic Violence Act.”

For the record, the National Council of Women’s Organisation (NCWO) submitted a memorandum of the draft law on domestic violence in 1987 but it was only passed by parliament in 1994 and implemented in 1996.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had affirmed at the NCWO golden jubilee celebration in January that “for something good, it will not take seven years.”

He promised the government would fast track pro-women bills by expediting changes to legislation, regulations, practices and thinking that hindered the progress of women in the country.

Laws, policies, structures and administrative processes need to be reviewed and changed to keep discrimination against women at bay, especially when gender sensitivity is still lacking in three curcial areas – public, private and political sectors.

As is widely advocated, a law on sexual harassment is needed –  instead of just a code of conduct – to enable the judiciary to impose the minimum five years imprisonment for rapists.

Another important point is that children should be made aware of the law on statutory rape through education so that they will not succumb to this social ill out of ignorance or be victimised.

There is also a need to bridge the income gap between men and women, given that 60 per cent of the lowest income earners among women take home less than RM3,000 a month.

The prime minister has said the situation warrants a closer study, in particular, how women can improve and add value to their skills for the good of the organisation that employ them and in turn be as justly rewarded as men for their efforts.

Among women’s rights issues in the country yet to come under the microscope for modification, improvement or repeal and, more importantly, delivery, are marital rape which is still not a crime under the law; Malaysian women still being considered the property of their husbands, according to Section 498 of the Penal Code; women still liable to whipping under Syariah Law; under-representation of women in politics and decision-making positions; increase in street crimes involving women and marriages of under-age girls.

There are also calls to address two other women’s rights issues. First, the amendment to Article 15 of the Federal Consitution to allow women the same rights as men with regards to citizenship status of foreign spouses and secondly, the amendment to Schedule II of the Federal Constitution to allow women to confer citizenship status on their children even when the child is born outside Malaysia.

Two other rights issues women in the country have been fighting for are the enactment of the Gender Discrimination Act incorporating the Convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women into national law and a Sexual Harrassment Act.

Such matters have been discussed and debated along
the corridors of power but legislation has yet to be put in place to address them with a singular view to quashing the gender bias that is preventing women from contributing fully to the social and economic life of the country.

Violence against women takes many forms but none is acceptable.

While we are working to make the country safer and more equal – and despite the progress made – cases of domestic violence, sexual harassment, incest and rape are still quite rampant.

Between 2008 and 2012, the Women’s Development Department recorded 8,653 cases requiring guidance and counselling because of domestic violence.

The victims or their families are usually left to deal with such ordeals on their own – an obvious anomaly, considering the safety of all citizens is a moral duty of national importance.

Women should be empowered in the workplace so that they can become more independent and less likely to be subjected to abuse.

Issues of violence and discrimination against women in the country have frequently been highlighted in the media and since the government has given a firm undertaking on pro-women legislation, perhaps it’s time to start putting words into action.

Despite making the ultimate sacrifice to repel the intruders, it is sad to note that the gallantry displayed by our security forces in confronting an external threat has been belittled as mere drama by certain quarters who also view the hostile act against our country as a laughing matter.

These quarters have suddenly waxed military strategists, police chiefs and army generals – all with a self-opinionated version of how frontline action against the intruders should be conducted – from (as one observer noted) transport that should be used to bring our troops to the conflict areas to “the whens, hows and wheres of launching a counter-attack.”

Some even sarcastically suggested calling in Rambo to do what they think our police and army aren’t capable of – that is driving the Sulu intruders out of our country.

What a reprenhensible insult this is to our security forces who are fighting to shield the people (including those who ridicule them) from the perils of foreign aggression.

Those who mocked our security forces’ handling of the situation in Sabah should volunteer for frontline duty in the conflict zones. This is certainly more honourable than continually chastising the very people who are laying down their lives to protect them from the enemy.

It is easy to apportion blame after the fighting has erupted. For example, there are claims that the lives of the police officers killed by the intruders could be have been spared if the government had acted quickly to verify and defuse the situation.

Appraising a situation is, of course, easy after it has happened. It is always easy to say this should have been done instead of that in the aftermath. Why, even a fool can appear to offer wise counselling AFTER the event.

To all intents and purposes, the Sabah claim is archiac and antiquated. Sulu is no longer recognised as an independent kingdom. The sultanate will be better off regaining independence from the Philippines than claiming Sabah.

Historians point out that in a 1930 treaty, the US and Great Britain demarcated the islands in their “possession” off the northern-east coast of Sabah by drawing a clear-cut boundary to separate them.

The allocation of islands defined in these treaties was enshrined in Aricle 1 of the Philippine Constitution of 1935.

In fact, as early as 1885, a reciprocal accord was reached whereby Spain renounced all claims of sovereignty over the whole of Borneo in exchange for Great Britain’s recognition of Spanish sovereignity over the entire Sulu archipelago. This placed Sabah under the British sphere of influence.

Sabah (then British North Borneo) became a Crown Colony in 1946 and after gaining independence, joined Malaya, Singapore and Sarawak to form Malaysia in 1963.

Another salient point put forth by scholars is that the Sabah claim has no known international support while Malaysia is morally supported by Great Britain and the Commonealth of Nations in rejecting the claim.

Even the US has remained neutral while the other Asean countries also seem to tacitly acknowledge Malaysia’s right to the disputed territory.

It is also to be noted that Sabahans had agreed to the formation of Malaysia in a referendum held by the Cobbold Commission in 1962. This means Sabah is an integral and legitimate part of Malaysia and cannot be claimed by others.

Historians insist the question of claim by any party should not arise at all as the referendum on Sabah (and Sarawak) by the Cobbold Commission is similar to the Singapore Referendum on the formation of Malaysia in 1962.

The reality is that the Sulu sultanate has no solid basis to its claim of Sabah. The Siam government had also handed Kedah, Perlis, Kelantan and Terengganu over to the British but it cannot claim these states.

Sabahans have rallied to sign an online petition rejecting claims by the self-proclaimed Sultan of Sulu to their state.

The petition categorically states: “We appeal to the international community to acknowledge the people of Sabah’s right to self-determination, to endorse the state’s constitutional sovereignty of the Malaysian government as valid and the desire of Sabahans
to permanently reject the Sultanate of Sulu’s claim on our home.”

The petition will be handed to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and Philippine President Benigno Aquino III.

Malaysia has lost its brave sons in the fight against the intruders who violated our territorial sovereignty unprovoked.

This is truly a time to support our brave men who are risking their lives to keep us out of
harm’s way. To show that their sacrifice is not in vain, we must stand united in eliminating a subversive external threat in our midst.

And for goodness sake, stop exploiting the Sabah situation to score cheap political points.

In their smear campaigns, these groups have even claimed oil palm cultivation destroys rainforests and their wildlife habitats  and also lays to waste large swathes of otherwise productive agricultural land.

However, studies show oil palm is one of the most productive of all the oilseed crops with an enviable yield of more than 4.5 metric tons per hectare as against the miniscule 0.5 metric tons yield typical of its competitors such as soy, rapeseed and sunflower.

Such high productivity means less land is required for oil palm to produce the same amount of oil as the competing oil seeds. The oil palm tree is also sturdy, remaining productive for 20 to 30 years and harvestable annually without replanting whereas the other oil crops have to be replanted annually.

In Malaysia, an oil palm plantation — because it is highly productive — can be established on legitimate agricultural land without the need to clear forests indiscriminately. That is why Malaysia still has a forest cover close to 70 per cent despite planting oil palm for more than a century and being hitherto the world’s largest palm oil producer.

In stark contrast, the industrial west from where the self-styled paragons of conservation originate can hardly claim 20 per cent forest cover.

World Growth, a non-profit NGO, agrees that palm oil is highly sustainable in developing economies. Only 0.26 hectare of land is required to produce a tonne of palm oil whereas soybean, sunflower and rapeseed need 2.2 hectares, two hectares and 1.5 hectares, respectively, to produce the same quantity of oil.

What this means is that soybean requires eight times more  land to produce the same quantity of oil compared to palm oil.

Oil palm cultivation has also been blamed for the imminent extinction of the orangutan but such finger-pointing is as spiteful and as it is illogical since the primates’ population in the wild in Borneo alone is estimated between 45,000 and 69,000.

So how is it possible, even remotely, for the orangutan to become extinct within the next three or four years as claimed. The numbers just don’t add up, especially with on-going efforts to protect the big apes in conservation enclaves set up in both Malaysia and Indonesia.

The lobbyists have stooped to the chicanery of making ludicrous claims to advance their agenda but people are no longer easily fooled by their ulterior motives.

In a recent development regarding palm oil, the French Senate threw out a budget containing a proposal to increase tax on the commodity.

The reason for the rejection was that the proposal not only had no scientific basis but also contained an “inflammatory and baseless” tax on palm oil — up by 300 per cent from around 100 British pounds (RM397) to 400 British pounds (RM1,587).

Shorn of its selective perception, the proposal is tantamount to an unwarranted and unjustified attack against hundreds of thousands of small farmers across our country. Its rejection is, thus, wholly justified.

The French senator, Yves Daudigny, who tabled the proposal, claimed palm oil was “most rich in saturated fats and its harmful effect on health has already been established.”

Such frivolity does not stand up to well-founded research showing that palm oil, being a vegetable oil, is actually cholesterol-free
and good for heart health as it is rich in heart-friendly anti-oxidants.

The French senator is also ignorant of a proven fact — that the bulk of saturated fats consumed in France comes from animal sources such as meat, milk, cheese and butter – NOT palm oil. In fact, consumption of fats from animal sources amounts to 34.4 kg a year while palm oil consumption per capita in France is only 2kg.

Despite the scientifc proofs and solid stats, the lobby groups continue to discredit palm oil. Is it about the environment or plain economic jealousy?  Obviously, the latter.

The upside is the opportunity presented for Malaysia and France to work together in returning to a science-based discussion and countering public perception of palm oil, currently based on hyperbole instead of truth.

We should look forward to working with those of our enlightened overseas partners — through a government-sponsored joint task force — to check the lies being spread about palm oil.

And hopefully, the proposed inflammatory tax on the commodity will be consigned to the dross of history.

Some politicians think it gives them the licence to make all kinds of outlandish claims, whether it be promises they cannot keep, accusations they cannot prove or excuses they cannot justify.

A tiresome task as it is, it still falls on the rakyat to sieve through all the hoopla, noise and spam to extract the information necessary to help them make the best possible decision when the time comes to tick the ballot box.

In short, the rakyat have a duty to settle for nothing less than fact, truth and justice for their own good. Sadly, fact, truth and justice often don’t seem to be forthcoming from our politicians during the silly season.

It is expected for politicians on one side to point out the failings in their opponents at every opportunity but the situation becomes ridiculous when the flaws they so gleefully point out in the other are just as enthusiastically ignored when it comes from within their own party ranks.

Take for example Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s recent signing of Transparency International-Malaysia’s Election Integrity Pledge.

Bernama said the PM also made a public declaration to support integrity and be fully committed in curbing corruption in the country and during the 13th general election.

The prime minister had also given his commitment that as soon as the names of the BN candidates were announced at the nomination, he would ensure that all of them signed the pledge.

On Tuesday (Feb 26), The Borneo Post carried a report quoting two Sarawak BN politicians as saying the opposition’s refusal to sign the pledge proved they had failed to walk the talk in calling for transparency.

It should be noted that DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang claimed on a blog entry dated yesterday (Feb 26) that several Pakatan Rakyat leaders have already signed the pledge well before the PM.

In the same post, he stated his desire to sign the pledge as a meaningful exercise, and thus, proposed a 10-point addendum (http://bit.ly/13dZvG3), implying that he would sign the pledge if the points were incorporated into the pledge.

Political showmanship aside, the main thing Sarawakians will take away from this latest exchange is that politicians on both sides are not exactly tripping over themselves in a race to imprint their John Hancocks on the pledge, despite being audacious enough to claim a moral victory over those on the opposite side who have not done so.

It would be inherently more meaningful to the common folk if all leaders, regardless of political creed and colour, were to take the initiative to lead by example, instead of only doing something in the interests of the rakyat when it is politically expedient or they are forced into a corner to do so.

Why the need to wait until the PM has announced the candidate list or for the pledge to be amended before signing it? It would be a point in any politician’s favour to sign the pledge on their own free will and as soon as possible, regardless of whether they are candidates in the general election or not.

Feel free to milk as much goodwill and publicity from such as event as possible but please don’t indulge in the doublespeak which is so prominent during the silly season.

Of course, as the cynics will pounce on, just because someone has signed the integrity pledge doesn’t mean he or she intends to keep to the word and the spirit of the word. But that is a topic for another day.

While getting all politicians and leaders to sign the integrity pledge before the GE may not do much to improve Malaysia’s dismal score of 49 out of 100 on Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index results in 2012, it would be a good starting point to improve public perception over the integrity of those who claim to hold the moral high ground.

Starting with the 2020 Summer Games, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will delete wrestling from its list of core sports.

Later this year, the Committee will pick one of eight shortlisted sports — wrestling, baseball-softball, climbing, karate, roller sports, squash, wakeboarding and wushu – to add to the 2020 programme.

The IOC did not give any reasons for its action apart from saying it wants to remain relevant to sports fans of all generations.

Eliminating wrestling which has been in every modern Olympics since the inaugural 1896 Athens Games (except in 1900) is, therefore, a conspicuous IOC attempt to add to its TV audience younger viewers who, it feels, may consider wrestling an irrelevant sport in modern-day context.

And to give the Games a “young” appeal, the Olympic governing body had, in recent years, included emerging sports such as beach volleyball and BMX cycling.

The axing of Olympic wrestling is not altogether unexpected as it has been under threat for the past decade.

In 2002, an IOC-commissioned review of Olympic sports claimed wrestling had a “lack of global popularity” as well as “relatively low broadcast and press coverage.”

The problem arose from public confusion between wrestling’s two disciplines — Greco-Roman which forbids holds below the waist, and freestyle which allows them.

The review recommended dropping one of the disciplines from the 2008 Beijing Games but it did not happen.

In fact, as early as 2001, the IOC, under its new president Dr Jacques Rogge, had already started a process to limit the size, cost and complexity of the Games.

Initially, the IOC decided to have a maximum of 28 sports — roughly 10,500 athletes and 300 events. But to keep the Olympics fresh, the Committee finally agreed on 25 core sports and three slots for new or revived competitions.

In 2009, golf and rugby were approved for 2016 and 2020.

For the final slot, the IOC decided one of its 26 existing sports would have to compete against the new applicant sports. And for 2020, the axe has fallen on wrestling.

Athletes and fans of the longtime Olympic sport were dumpfounded by the IOC’s move.

Rulon Gardner, the American who upset Russian legend Aleksandr Karelin to win Greco-Roman gold in the 2000 Sydney Games, said he heard rumours one style of wrestling might be dropped but did not expect a “death penalty” for the enitre sport.

Buvaisar Saitiev, a three-time Russian gold medal winner, said it would be a shame if the Olympics excluded wrestling.

He said he could understand if officials wanted to change the rules, reduce the number of wrestling medals awarded or even pare the number of weight classes, but expelling the sport altogether is “completely wrong.”

In the 2012 London Games, 29 countries won medals in men’s and women’s wrestling.

The sport also produced one of the most enduring images of the Olympics when American gold medalist Jordan Burroughs and Iranian silver medalist Sadegh Goudarzi embraced each other on the rostrum.

To be accepted back into the fold, the task for the international wrestling federation now is to figure out how to improve its presentation to give wrestling a fresh feel.

Archery, for instance, has to make its competitions more appealing and viable in the modern Olympics by changing its scoring so competitions often come down to a final arrow.

Fencing is also staging matches under a spotlight while modern pentathlon has compressed its competition to a single day.

The IOC plans to hear presentations on all the eight shortlisted sports in May
before making a decision in September.

There is a case to be made for keeping wrestling in the Oylmpics. Apart from being one of the sports of the original Greek Olympics and also of the first modern Games, it is one of the world’s most diverse sports with nearly 200 nations from all continents participating in it.

As the IOC’s decision to drop wrestling is still tentative, hopefully, there will be a meaningful opportunity to
discuss the important role wrestling plays in the global sports landscape.

Lobbying to keep wrestling in the Olympics can be expected to be intense in the face of fierce competition from the other shortlisted sports bidding to get a slot in the 2020 Games.

There are pros and cons to the debate but the fact that wrestling is an “Olympic original” can neither be disputed nor denied.

Considering the sport’s universality as well as historic association with the Olympics, its exclusion will inevitably leave a blotch in the escutcheon of the Games. And that would be a damn shame.

It is ironic that those entrused with enforcing it often end up getting the bigger blame than those who deserve the stick but get away with only a slap on the wrist, if not scot-free altogether.

Indeed, nowadays, school disciplinarians have a most unenviable job. If they don’t teach students to respect authority, they get rapped for dumping the hoi polloi on society. But if they do, they are often criticised for behaving like bullies.

Respect for the teacher in the order of the bygone days has become more myth than reality. Time has changed and so has society but not always for the better for the noble profession in turning out responsible citizens through a strict disciplinary code.

However, with the will and wisdom, it should not be beyond the realm of possibility to bring back to the classroom the sort of discipline that had turned immorality into decency and school bullies into respected head prefects — and also laid the foundation to high office for many of our present-day leaders.

Some would say this is easier said than done and they may well be right. Teachers are now required to handle a vastly different generation of students and under very different circumstances as well.

In the age of high tech and so-called open society, teachers are facing greater pressure than their counterparts of yesteryear because they have to be exemplary not only in teaching but also dealing with all kinds of students – not forgetting parents as well. The mettle of teachers has never been so tested than now. Small wonder that given the choice, most people will bypass teaching for a nine-to-five office job. Less hassle and good for the bp!

As there are always two sides (teacher’s and student’s) to a case of punishment over indiscipline, it is important to view each side objectively, without prejudice and, most importantly, without fear. In an atmosphere free from undue tensions and threats, good sense is more likely to prevail in attempting to reach a mutually acceptable solution.

Generally, it’s a specific set of circumstances that triggers the seemingly strange behaviour of either a teacher or a student — the former usually involving meting out overdone punishment while the latter the commitment of an unusually serious offence.

Unless we face up to the root cause and not sweep it under the carpet, no matter how unpleasant the consequence, the problem can only fester and become even more serious later.

Expectations from teachers are high these days. Because of their strong influence in the intellectual and character development of the young, they are looked up to as role models.

However, it has to be admitted that under prevailing circumstances, teachers do not get to have a strong say in matters of indiscipline. They get over-ridden so often that they probably are only too happy to let sleeping dog lie. And don’t blame them if they succumb to apathy.

In any profession, there are bound to be black sheep. Teaching is no exception. Reports of power abuse or moral corruption, especially in cases of student molestation, can only harm the noble profession and all it stands for.

To instill a strong sense of discipline among the students, we can certainly learn from the mission schools of yore. The heads of these schools realised discipline is an indispensible part of learning and they prioritised this well-founded principle in their teaching system.

What’s even more remarkable is they were able to discipline the students with the full support of their parents. Ask any successful alumni of these mission schools and most will tell you the same story – that punishment in school and at home for misbehaving has made them better citizens of the country and also stood them in good stead in their journey through life.

A well-administered school inspires dedication among the teaching staff and discipline among the students. It is firm ground for productive learning and positive development of young minds and attitudes.

Any education that tends not to develop character or instill discipline is not, in the truest sense, education at all. This is as true of those who impart education as those who learn from education.

In the old days, the celebration was more spontaneous but now, due perhaps to change of lifestyle, the Spring Festival is increasingly regarded as a time to let down one’s hair.

It would, of course, be unthinkable if this time-honoured cultural festival were to be relegated to a mere off-day from work or a casual break from the humdrum of the office.

Such an attitude could spell the eventual disappearance of a venerated culture passed down the generations. That would be a great pity, considering culture is central to existence – without it, one could lose one’s identity.

The Chinese community in the state should make it a point to celebrate the New Year even on a small scale. Apart from fostering racial and religious understanding and respect, celebrating households will also be keeping their culture of sharing alive through the open house concept.

Gratifyingly, non-observance of the Lunar New Year on the part the Chinese community here is still the exception. Most families continue to celebrate with a lot of enthusiasm.

In fact, over the past fortnight, or even earlier, there had been a pell mell rush for New Year essentials – both gastronomic and sartorial.

Business has reportedly been briskier than the previous year. The roads were certainly busier and the traffic congestion denser (phew!) Shopping malls and food centres, salons and even tailor shops were getting steady streams of customers. And for the oomph in spending power, many said they have the BRIM 2.0 windfall to thank for.

Revellers want to roll out the red carpet and put on their New Year’s best to welcome a tradition-steeped festival with joyous celebration.

Over in the peninsula, a gangnum-style concert will be held in Penang to celebrate the Lunar New Year on the Second Day of the festive occasion. What seems rather bizarre is that people have been asked to wear red, yellow or green to the concert to reflect, of all things, their political leanings.

But are we not trivialising the Lunar New Year when even what we wear to a New Year musical concert has to mirror politics for the mere sake of spicing up the hustings in the face of an imminent general election – while those who goad you into doing so are not even bothered to visit your open house? Surely, we should not allow ourselves to be somebody’s fools here.

The Lunar New Year will be incomplete without letting off firecrackers, especially at midnight on New Year’s Eve and after dinner on the 15th Day (Chap Goh Mei), the last day of the celebration.

Of course, indiscriminate playing of firecrackers and fireworks is not to be encouraged. But if it’s done at specific times when people are made aware of it, then the din may still be tolerable. Otherwise, the sudden blasts of present-day firecrackers can be an ear-splitting nuisance and even dangerous.

Indeed, children have frequently been hurt playing ‘bomb-type’ firecrackers. They blew up a finger if they were lucky – or it could be more serious like scarring a pretty face or injuring an eye, and worse, setting a house on fire.

For public safety, banning firecrackers may be the right thing to do although some leeway should be considered during Chinese New Year, especially at midnight on the Eve, the early part of the 15th Night and during lion dance performances.

Controlled playing of firecrackers to celebrate these special New Year activities should be allowed as it adds to the joy of the season and revelers will certainly welcome such a consideration.

While Lunar New Year predictions are usually made with more than a little tongue in cheek, there are claims some of them have accurately foretold past economic world events and trends.

And speaking of economics, it’s customary to settle all outstanding debts before midnight on New Year’s Eve. Failure to do so is considered an ill omen.

For this New Year, there is still time to pay off outstanding debts — less than 24 hours to be precise! As the saying does, better late than never unless one’s prepared to defy tradition and risk living with the Sword of Damocles hanging over one’s head for the next 300 days or so.

All festive celebrations have their do’s and dont’s. The Lunar New Year is no exception. These taboos (or superstitions) can be taken at face value or as the Gospel truth. It’s up to the individual. But generally, there should an attached caveat that warns – Don’t take them all too seriously.

Gong Xi Fa Cai everybody.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai has said this is not a glorious title as we are outweighing our Asean neighbours and ranked number six in the whole of Asia – only behind some Middle Eastern countries.

Citing data from the National Health and Morbidity Surveys, he revealed that 15.1 per cent of Malaysians, aged 18 and above, were suffering from obesity as of 2011 – an increase from 14 per cent of the same demographic in 2006.

Over 2.6 million adults are also reportedly obese while over 477,000 children below 18 are overweight.

“We are increasingly becoming cough potatoes; we are not leading an active enough lifestyle to prevent obesity which is a precursor of many health problems,” Liow noted.

Over the past 10 years, the number of fat people in country has gone up more than twofold, resulting in more Malaysians contracting diseases such as hypertension, diabetes as well as kidney and heart problems.

According to statistics, 48 per cent of Malaysian men and 62 per cent of Malaysian women are fat. Malaysian Indians are the fattest at 63.4 per cent, followed by Malays (53.5 per cent), Chinese (50.8 per cent) and others (45.2 per cent).

Obesity should not only be seen as a medical problem but also a social problem. For instance, it is common for people to say, whenever they see their friends slightly overweight, that they (their friends) are looking healthier. They say this not to appear disrespectful but may not realise what they are trying to tell their friends.

A direct, albeit less tactful, approach such as saying I don’t think you are healthy is more helpful in jolting the obese into recognising the morbid state of their health than trying to be nice but untruthful.

Treat obesity as a social problem, then slowly people will look at it in a more serious manner and take action.

Oddly enough, there are societies that tend to look more kindly on obese males than females. Apparently, in such societies, discrimination against women, as bizaare as it may sound, is not confined only to the political and cultural spheres but also that of the anatomy.

A study, conducted among a group of university students, found that overweight women are far more likely to be convicted in a criminal trial than their slender counterparts.

But the conviction rate of men is not affected by their girths.

And, as the study uncovered, slim men are the worst offenders at judging women by their weight while there is no significant fat bias shown by women towards either sex.

The study also cited the perception that overweight women are more likely to belong to a lower socio-economic class than overweight men and, therefore, more likely to commit crimes.

Some say the history of stigmatisation of overweight women is to blame since being fat is still considered to be morally wrong in certain societies.

A team of psychologists also found that perception of female guilt by male – not female – jurors is proportionate to how fat the defendant is. In other words, you are literally more likely to get away with murder if you are a thin woman and a dude is behind the stand.

One argument has it that attractive defendants (usually not obese) are found guilty less often, claiming the halo-effect has an almost century-long canon of research behind it.

Another deeply embedded cultural stereotype is that “obese people are perceived as greedy and selfish.”

Such a pre-conceived notion usually cannot stand up to closer scrutiny. It sounds more like a generalisation and is, therefore, refutable.

While it would be irresponsible to gauge innocence or guilt by waistline size in a court of law, what is indisputably relevant though from the health angle is that a person’s fitness and wellness can easily crumble under the sheer weight of obesity.

It is for this reason that people should make it a point to exercise and stay within acceptable body weight in order to remain healthy.

Being obese or extremely fat does your health no favour. It applies to both genders, notwithstanding  judicial prejudice – perceived or otherwise – against fat women in societies yet to see the light.

Such harmonious inter-communal co-existence, built up through mutual understanding and tolerance, must be safeguarded at all costs.

This is especially crucial in the face of brazen attempts by extremists in our midst to spread fears, distrust and disunity through religious bigotry and “hate” speeches. We are familiar with the offensive remarks on race and religion made by pressure groups in the peninsula. And lately, the leader of one such group was at it again, uttering words that have no place in
a peaceful plural society like ours.

The leader in question had called on Muslims to “seize and burn copies of Bibles which contain the word Allah or other Arabic religious words.”

He said it was the only way to stop non-Muslims from “stirring the sensitivities and sentiments of the majority of population in the country,” adding that he was not trying to instigate communal tension but only “to show our anger against disrespect for our sensitivity.”

How could the leader concerned not be seen as fanning the flames of religious discord with the sort of fiery (and unwarranted) outbursts he was making. It would have more than sufficed to explain the issue in a civil and rational manner. There is absolutely no need to resort to fear-mongering and making threats.

Malaysians who cherish peace, harmony and tolerance, and oppose all forms of extremism that bode the country ill must reject the said leader’s inflammatory rhetorics which also run counter to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s 1Malaysia Concept and transformation programme. In fact, provocative utterances from all opportunistic quarters should be similarly repudiated.

Malaysia has been acknowledged as a moderate Muslim country where Islam goes hand-in-hand with democracy, development and inter-communual harmony.

This stand was reaffirmed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong when he declared open the national 1434H Maulidur Rasul celebration on Thursday. His Majesty called on Muslims to practise moderation and balance in their lives to foster unity among all Malaysians.

“I am confident that should we follow the practice of moderation, we would be able to foster unity and achieve success,” the King said.

The Prime Minister himself has advocated the formation of a global movement of the moderates from all faiths to work together to fight extremism. He had told world leaders at the UN General Assembly that such a movement will “save us from sinking into the abyss of despair and depravation.”

Adding his voice to the call for moderation, Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud has urged Muslims in Sarawak to be judicious and temperate in practising their religion, saying there is no place for extremism in the state with its multi-religious make-up.

Celebrating the state-level Maulidur Rasul in Betong, he stressed that moderation would create a conducive environment in every facet of life and allow the people to complement each other’s needs and accommodate differing views.

“In the end, what we get, in return, is unity through understanding which will not only satisfy both sides but also create a stronger bond,” he said.

Although Sarawak is, gratifyingly, free of racial and religious tension, there is a need to remain vigilant against any form of bigotry that might have been imported. The people must preserve the prevailing unity and political stability and also be wary of rumour-mongers out to create trouble.

Extremism is destructive and the antithesis of temperance and moderation which, in turn, is guided by the rule of reason. Most of the things provided for us by Nature are good but only so if we do not indulge in extremism or excesses.

Peace-loving Malaysians should reject extremism and embrace moderation which, in all things, is a masterpiece of human attainment. Our future will be jeopardised if we let our guard down and allow extremist elements to rare their ugly heads and gain a foothold in our state. This is something we must work together to prevent come what may.

There are lots of things, especially about ourselves, that we have been meaning to fix. As the saying goes – new year, new you.

But how do we go about embarking on this life-changing voyage? For many of us, it’s the time to think about making New Year resolutions.

Continuous failure to keep New Year resolutions has probably left many of us wiser. But if we go on the science, we are not alone.

In a recent study, it was found that about 90 per cent of the 5,000 people monitored failed to make good their resolutions.

The outcome was even gloomier in another study which showed only about 10 per cent of people were successful in achieving their resolutions (with nearly 30 per cent flunking out within the first week).

However, there is a silver lining. Many of the studies have also documented the steps taken by people who successfully achieved their New Year resolutions.

One goal at a time. According to a psychologist, the willpower of most people is so limited and easily taxed that if they do one thing, they find it hard to do everything else. So the solution is quite obvious – focus on one resolution at a time, and when it becomes a habit, work on something else.

Another study that looked directly at how people achieved their goals found that they all had one common strategy – breaking their resolutions into smaller steps.

This had a monitoring effect of letting them know exactly how they were doing as well as making the goals easier to achieve by allowing people to focus on one thing at a time.

The study also found that “simply visualising the end goal dooms people to failure.”

Many such ideas were frequently recommended by self-help experts but test results suggest they simply don’t work.

“If you are trying to lose weight, it’s not enough to stick a picture of a model on your fridge or fantasise about being slimmer. To achieve your goals, plan how you’ll get there,” the study noted.

Tell family and friends. Making New Year resolutions known to friends and family has two effects – first, they’re more likely to support you if they know what you’re trying to do (the carrot) and secondly, you’ll feel bad if the next time they ask you about your resolutions, you say you failed (the stick).

A psychology professor once tracked 270 businesspeople as they tried to achieve certain goals. He divided them into five groups and gave each a different method to use.

The professor found that those who shared their goals with a friend (through sending weekly updates) were over 30 per ceht more successful in accomplishing their goals.

Eating unhealthy food or sitting around watching TV is immediately rewarding whereas the reward from working out at the gym might not come until many months where you notice weight loss.

Most of us are aware of this but to stay motivated when changing behaviour, psychologists say we need to make sure that the new, healthy behaviours are rewarded regularly. Pick activities that are rewarding by themselves or add rewards.

Now, for motorists in Kuching, orderly parking is one New Year resolution they should make and try to fulfill.

The reason is that illegal parking in the state capital has reached nightmarish proportion.

One blatant incidence of indiscriminate parking that occurred at Kenyalang Park market earlier in the week is a good example.

Patrons were upset with vendors who converted the front drop-off zone at the market into a permanent parking space.

According to reports, to make matters worse, some of the vendors made this drop-off zone their free personal private parking.

Apart from causing traffic congestion, these vendors were also alleged not to have taken kindly to anyone trying to park at “their spots.”

And this despite the local council having provided ample parking lots at the lower ground floor of the market and negotiated with the parking contractor to provide vendors with special reduced price season parking.

This is just one of the many instances where the by-laws on parking had been deliberately breached. There must have been heaps of similar cases that have gone unreported.

Illegal parking has always been a headache, especially in Kuala Lumpur, but the problem has caught up in Kuching.  It is against the law everywhere to park illegally.

The authorities should act without fear or favour in napping the culprits. In fact, they should make this their number one New Year resolution. If they do – there is no reason why they should not – they can be assured of support from all law-abiding citizens.

This can be attributed to unsustainable management of water resources rather than the quantity of water available for domestic, industrial and agricultural uses.

As water is a non-renewable resource, efficient management of its quality has become increasing critical and is expected to take on even greater socio-economic significance as the population of the country continues to grow.

In Selangor, the supply of treated water is a worrying issue in the face of depleting reserves which have dropped to critical levels and are likely to get worse in the long run as demand increases.

For this reason, the federal government is standing by its decision to proceed with the Langat 2 treatment plant to forestall a highly potential water crisis in the opposition-controlled state. Although there is a federal-state stalemate over the project, there are indications that implementation may go ahead.

Prioritising Langat 2 is a far-sighted move. Partisan politics aside, taking proactive measures to prevent a water-related calamity is certainly better and wiser than gambling with adequacy of this vital live-sustaining commodity not only for Selangor but the whole country as well.

Sarawak, even with its many rivers and abundant rainfall, is not spare the problem of water shortage. Indeed, the state is facing mounting challenges in meeting the surge in demand for treated water in the cities as well as the rural areas.

Under the Federal government’s NKRA (national key result areas) programme, Sarawak has been allocated RM1.73 billion for 477 rural water projects. So far, 393 projects have been completed with the rest expected to be ready by August this year.

However, despite the huge amount of money already spent to ensure sufficient supply, demand continues to rise each year throughout the state. According to one estimate, meeting future demands for uninterrupted water supply statewide could cost more than RM16 billion. This does not include the costs of building new treatment plants and upgrading existing ones.

To avoid water shortages and all the attendant problems, not forgetting the colossal expenditure involved to keep the taps running, profligacy in useage should be eliminated. It is well to remember that if unnecessary wastage is not checked, water security in the state (and country) could become exponentially fraught.

As it is, a number of rural areas frequently run dry during prolonged drought, necessitating water relief. And apart from fire risks, the possibility of dry spells wreaking havoc on water supply in drought-prone areas needs constant monitoring.

Admittedly, where Sarawak is concerned, problems of water shortage have always been given the attention they deserve.

Keeping close tabs on the supply (and demand) situation is crucial to avoiding a water crisis.

How much water do we need for daily use?

According to a study by the Federation of Malaysian Consumers’ Association (Fomca), the average Malaysian needs only 80 litres a day, including three litres for drinking, to sustain a reasonable quality of life.

Its findings on wastage show almost 50 per cent of households rarely took action to fix leaks while 70 per cent did not have dual-flush systems which could reduce 30 to 60 per cent of water usage.

And worse, 70 per cent of those surveyed are not likely to reduce home water usage over the next two to three years.

Water has been deemed an inexhaustible resource but we know this is fallacious notion. In fact, a landmark UN Report has warned of an impending global water crisis due to surging population growth, climate change, reckless irrigation and chronic waste.

While water sufficiency can determine prosperity and stability, lack of access to it helps drive poverty and deprivation and breeds the potential for unrest and conflict.

Presently, there are no plans to raise our water tariffs despite escalating production costs but this does not mean water should be used in a wasteful manner.

Prudence must be exercised even when there is no shortage to avoid wastage and save costs. While households must use water responsibly, the water authorities too must be proactive in carrying repairs, especially plugging leaks so as not to needlessly drive water revenue down the drain.

While wastage can be prevented with efficient management, ultimately, it is  still prudent and responsible usage that is key to ensuring adequate supply.

The causes could be divorce, death of spouse, abandonment or unwanted pregnancy.

Generally, more single parent families are found in the higher poverty risk group than couple families.

This is a major social issue affecting single parents and their children not only in developing but also developed countries.

In contrast, children, raised by both parents, tend to be financially, educationally and emotionally better off growing up.

On average, single mothers have poorer health than couple mothers but the former are reluctant to come out in the open and seek help for fears of societal condemnation.

In most cultures, prejudices against single mothers are strong, impelling many of them to live a life of shame and guilt.

Most of these single mothers do not know what they can do to help themselves or where or who to turn to for help.

Some even had to cut short their children’s education, especially the eldest, so that they could work to help pay for the school fees and ancillary expenses of the younger siblings.

In Sarawak, the number of single mothers is on the rise. Benevolent bodies are increasingly seeking funding from government sources such as the Federal government’s Nadi Kasih project to help these women.

Even in Kuching, there are now more welfare aid applicants who are single mothers, some with many mouths to feed.

There are single mothers who are prepared to endure great hardships to give their children a chance at life. As their task is arduous, they need all the support they can get. Here, initiatives such as counselling and skills training to help single mothers is laundable.

Tuition sponsorships and housekeeping courses by some NGOs are also helpful in priming the children for the task of looking after the home while their mothers are at work.

Although noble, such endeavours will not be as far-reaching as intended without adequate funding. Hopefully, well-wishers will rise to the occasion and lend a hand.

While there are other ways to help single mothers, few can match the bizarre proposal from some politicians in the country.

At one time, an East coast state legislature heard that in an attempt to reduce the 45,000 single mothers in that state, the government there was contemplating giving incentives to married men who take single mothers as second or third wives.

The incentives were likened to a novel idea to help single mothers, divorcees or widows get a husband but would only be given to those men who let their first wives know of their intentions.

It was reportedly to help single mothers cope through “healthy polygameous marriages.”

The move is an over simplistic solution to a highly complex social and psychological problem. The sentimentality involved is fleeting and will disappear once the hard realities of life set in.

Not surprisingly, the idea originated from a state bent on implementating draconian laws to control the behaviour its residents, especially from the fair sex, hence placing severe limitations on the civil liberties of the women living there.

While it may be debatable to many, men too do suffer from domestic violence and sexual abuse. An NGO – Man Aid Force (Mafor) – was set up on Dec 14 last year specially to offer legal aid and moral support to these men.

Two sex abuse cases, received by Mafor, involved a 35-year-old man, allegedly tied up and whipped by his wife during sex and another man who claimed his 25-year-old wife had a kinky penchant for group orgy sessions with foreign workers sought out from the neighbourhood.

Mafor is also re-looking a police report against a 31-year-old doctor who was falsely accused of storing drugs by his estranged wife and had to spend a few days in a lock-up as a result. The wife allegedly lodged a report against the doctor to get custody of their children.

Mafor will also support men wrongly accused of harassment or unfairly implicated in such cases. Among those who had approached Mafor for help were women whose husbands had been victimised by business associates or colleagues.

So far, Mafor, set up to defend the innocent, has received 32 cases but only 15 merited further investigation. Such selective approach is in line with its aim to pursue only genuine cases.

Overall, there appears to be some balance in the protection against ill-treatment across the gender divide.

It seems like only yesterday that we stayed up late to welcome the year that is due to pass very soon.

An idealist once said time flies like an arrow. And a good arrow flies straight and true while a bad arrow does the opposite. What the idealist should have added (in a metaphorical sense) is that many parts of the world today are bleeding from the inflictions of a poison arrow.

Bitter proxy wars are still raging. Protracted political and civil strifes are tearing nations apart.

Economic meltdowns of the so-called developed world after years of unbridled splurging and plundering are wreaking global financial havoc.

Natural disasters linked to climate change and outbreak of diseases are continuing to plaque the world, and the gap between the haves and the have-nots is growing ever wider with each passing year.

Are all these signs pointing to the end of times? Nobody knows. Barely 10 days ago, many were scared out of their wits by Nostradamus and Mayan prophesies that the world would end on Dec 21 (2012) but the much-touted apocalypse did not even spark anything close to whimper!

We can only guess at when the Big One will eventually come. Not in our lifetime, most of us would hope!

Whatever the outcome, the human race must learn to share our poor little world instead of killing each other to hasten the onset of doomsday that has nothing to do with the Mayan Long Count Calendar or Planet X Nibiru but is starkly man-made.

Father Time ticks away relentlessly. With each passing year, we grey a little more. Longevity is a universal longing. People often say they do not care if they are dead until they are 90. And that’s exactly they way they feel until they are 89, according to a famous shrink.

Casting aside the obsession with longevity, life’s satchel does contain its share of pluses, one being the importance of family.

Without family, we are less than whole. Invariably, our family is our strongest pillar of support.

Although they have different (sometimes funny) ways of showing it, most parents will stand by their children in both good and bad times. For after all, what manner of man is he when his son or daughter asks for a loaf of bread, he gives him or her a piece of stone?

In return, we should repay our parents’ unconditional love for us by being there for them in their old age. For it can also be asked what manner of son and daughter are they that when their parents ask for shelter, they show them the door?

The young should be taught early in life about ethics, morals and right and wrong. Morality is important in all areas of society. It is critical that education young people receive imparts ethical values that provide lasting benefits.

New Year is also a time for reflection. How much have we given of ourselves to our family and the needy – and how much have we been blessed in return. For has it not been said that if we give, we shall receive?

The advent of the New Year is invariaby accompanied by the desire to make New Year resolutions. And why not with the prevailing sense and anticipation of renewal and rebirth?

Many of this year’s resolutions may not have made it past Jan 2 but will the coming year be any different? Experts say most of us do not have a clue how to make a reasonable resolution – which is why we usually fail to keep the ones we make.

We set high goals for ourselves and then wonder why we never attain them. So we either stop setting goals (never a good choice) or make resolutions that are ridiculously easy to keep – which amounts to nothing much, anyway.

As 2012 comes to a close, millions the world over will sing the song – Auld Lang Syne – to usher out the old year.

Auld Lang Syne has become an international song of departure and is sung by more people than any other tune. It is a concrete expression of love for mankind and an ideal of international brotherhood.

For anyone interested, the lyrics are:

Should auld acquaitance be forgot

And never brought to mind?

Should auld acquaintance be forgot

And auld lang syne?

For auld lang syne, my jo

For all auld lang syne

We’ll tak’ a cup o’ kindness yet

For auld lang syne.

While grappling with the reality that life is not unending, we should find some solace in the fact that nothing lives forever, not in the present life form we know.

Life begins, life ends. Seasons come, seasons go, so do the years – 2012, 2013 and counting.

Nor does anything last for eternity, except the word of Providence: The Sun, the Earth and the Universe will come to pass but my word will never pass away.

Meanwhile, au revior 2012 and bonjour 2013.

This may sound harsh but not all that far-fetched. Precedents of shooting rampages in the US are well-documented. The situation is aggravated by unfettered proliferation of firearms in the country.

According to FBI estimates, privately-owned firearms in the US amount to a mind-boggling 200 million.

Add these to those from the military, law enforement agencies and museums, there is probably one gun to one American. In total, 350,000,000 guns are floating around and within easy reach.

In the latest carnage at Sandy Hooks elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, a gunman brutally murdered 26 people, including 20 children between six and seven years old. The shooter had killed his mother at their home before breaking into the school to carry out the bloodbath.

The violence was the US’ second deadliest school shooting, surpassed only by the Virginia Tech massacre that claimed 33 lives in 2007. It re-ignited a nationwide (but not new) outcry for stricter gun control.

In the aftermath, President Barack Obama said “our hearts are broken today” and called for “meaningful action” to prevent similar shootings, saying: “As a country, we have been through this too many times. Surely, we cannot allow it to become routine.”

Indeed, there have been quite a number amok shootings in the US.

In Aurora, Colorado, this year, a gunman unloaded into a crowded suburban Denver theatre, killing 12 people and injuring 58 others.

A few years earlier, another gunman killed a Federal District judge and a nine-year-old girl and seriously wounded Arizona Congresswoman, Democratic Representative Gabrielle Giffords at a public function in Tucson, Arizona.

Back in 1999, two teenagers killed 15 people and injured 24 others in the Columbine High School massacre. They later committed suicide.

In the 2007 carnage at Virginia Tech, the gunman killed 32 people before killing himself while an army major also killed 13 people in a rampage at a Fort Hood, Texas in 2009.

These are some of the chilling examples of senseless killings of Americans by Americans that successive US administrations seem helpless to prevent.

The easy access to firearms could be a reason for the shooting sprees. Even after the Tucson and Newtown slayings, gun sales across the US soared in apparent panic buying to supposedly protect against gun violence that could potentially follow. Needless to say, the vested interests are laughing all the way to the bank. How pathetic!

Americans’ romance with guns traces back to the American Revolutionary War. The militia and frontier ethos that draw from the country’s early history is firmly entrenched in the American way of life and protected with religious fervour by the Second Amendment (on the right to bear arms).

The almighty National Rifle Association (NRA) is so powerful that even the White House can do little to rein it in despite the berserk shootings that have taken so many innocent American lives over the years.

Even in the face of the latest slaughter, pro-gun groups were saying had the teachers been armed, they could have taken out the gunman and saved lives. At best, this an over simplistic solution to a very complex problem.

But will giving teachers guns prevent school shootings? What if there are some sickos among the teaching staff? Being armed, will they not also use their guns on the children in their class? What then? Arm the children and start a classroom war?

The Sandy Hooks massacre has jolted most Americans to the realisation for stricter gun ownership. Fifty-two per cent (up from 30 per cent) of concerned citizens want Obama to show strong leadership in tackling gun control issues.

The president has responded by putting vice president Joe Bidin in charge of a task force to produce concrete proposals on the reform of firearm laws within weeks.

The task force will look at changing gun laws, improving access to mental healthcare and at what is described as the glorification of violence in American culture.

Some NRA-backed senators have now come out in favour of change but others, after lying low, are emerging to say the slaughtering of innocent children at Sandy Hooks has not changed their views and they will oppose any changes to existing gun laws – patently unperturbed by the over 80 fatal shootings a day (according to one count) across the country.

For any meaningful gun control to happen, what needs to change in America are its citizens. As one commentator aptly noted: “The blame lies not with those in power but with those who bestow that power.”

For after all, the American government, as Abraham Lincoln had proclaimed so long ago, is a government by the people, of the people and for the people.

Clearly, the move has to start from the ground for any significant change to take place. Otherwise, gun control in the US will be just a political football game, a fool’s errand and a lost cause.

Most researchers of ancient civilisations, however, do not think so. They say while the Mayans may, indeed, have made prophecies, they are not about the end of the world but rather about climate-change calamities like droughts, floods or disease outbreaks. Certainly not a planetary demise!

Experts who met recently in Mexico to discuss the implications of the Mayan Long Count Calendar (comprising 394-year periods called baktuns), estimated that the counting started in 3114 BC and will have run through 13 baktuns (5,125 years) around December 21 this year.

They explained that since 13 was a significant number for the Mayans, the end of the 13-baktuns cycle would mark a milestone — not an end.

Fears that the Calendar does point to the end have cropped up in recent times, triggering speculations the Mayans may have known of impending astronomical disasters that would coincide with 2012.

As we are told, these supposed full-blown destructions range from fiery solar storms that could neutralise power grids to a galactic alignment capable of reversing Earth’s magnetic field with dire catacylsmic consequences.

End-times panic has even spawned a fanatical doomsday group called preppers. These are people who prepare for catastrophies, including apocalyptic disasters.

Mexican archaeologist Alfredo Barrera said Mayan predictions were made “not in a fatalistic sense but rather about events that in their cyclical conception of history, could be repeated in the future.”

Only a couple of references to the 2012 date equivalency have been found carved in stone at Mayan sites and neither refers to an apocalypse, according to the experts who point out that such apocalyptic visions have been common for more than a millennium in the thinking of other cultures and are not exclusive to Mayan psyche.

The Mexico National Institute of Anthropology and History has also assured that although December 21 is mentioned, there is no apocalyptic prediction on that day in Mayan texts or the Calender.

In fact, TEOTWAWKI – acronym for The End Of The World As We Know It – has produced many false alarms such as the unfounded Killer Blob scare four years ago and the failure of CERN (European Organisation for Nuclear Research) scientists “to reduce the Earth to goo when they switched on their new particle smasher” in October.

According to an AFP report, experts are skeptical about another TEOTWAWKI moment or the Big One this December 21, noting that one thing all apocalyptic predictions have in common is they are false — they never happen!

But there are those who take TEOTWAWKI seriously — not in a mystical context, of course. The reason, according to the wire service report, is that today’s seven billion humans live in a complex and mainly urban society, dependent on long supply chains for food, power and water. One big bang and this fragile structure starts to crack.

The report also quoted an Oxford University astrophysicist as saying one thing many people may not have appreciated is that if there is a bad solar storm that knocks out several communications satellites, things like the GPS (the Global Positioning System) will go down.

“In the worst scenarios, many millions could die, economies could collapse and civilisations could retreat or die, even if the planet — and humans as a species — survived.”

In another twist to the end-of-the-world script, doomsters are insisting that NASA has been tracking Nibiru (also known as Planet X) and that the rogue cosmic object could already be seen with the naked eye from the southern hemisphere by 2009.

Fatalists argue that Earth’s axis is already tilting and daytime is changing under Planet X’s influence.  So is Nibiru an astronomical truth or baloney?

According to NASA, there is no evidence of Nibiru’s existence and so far, none of the identified objects pose any direct threat to Earth.

While many astrologers remain unconvinced, the scientific community at large believe Armageddon isn’t likely to happen on December 21.

Some even call Nibiru a hoax, saying it’s the ancient Akkadian name for the planet Jupiter and its prophesised bump into Earth six days hence is pure conjecture.

The most recent failed doomsday prediction came from the warning by preacher Harold Camping of a massive earthquake on May 21 last year but when it did not happen, he revised the end of the world to October 21 the same year!

More ominiously in 1997, thirty-nine members of the Heaven’s Gate cult in the US, convinced the world was coming to an end amidst a firestorm of rumours that aliens were arriving behind the comet Hale-Bopp, committed mass suicide.

Despite all the assurances, there is nothing to stop people — both believers and non-believers alike — from wondering whether 2012 will pass just like all the preceding years. What if it didn’t?

Then we would be missing a lot of interesting events next year, wouldn’t we? Like the 13thgeneral elections, for instance.

According to the crime index, 5,043 cases were reported between January and June this year against 5,702 for the same period in 2011 – a decrease of 659 cases.

Police commissioner Datuk Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani said while the statistics were encouraging, there was still room for improvement, pointing out that crime prevention could be taken up a few more notches with close cooperation from all parties concerned as well as police omnipresence at hotspots.

The rank and file should take the cue from the CP by doubling their crime-busting efforts to achieve the ultimate target of pushing the state’s crime rate further down a peg — from the second lowest to the lowest in the country.

While reduced crime rates are always reassuring, there is no denying that alarm bells are ringing loudly over the rampancy of a most invasive crime in the state — house-breaking.

The frequent occurrences of this despicable theft are not only giving people sleepless nights but also plenty of daytime angst.

In the past, house-breaking was committed mostly under the cover of night, rarely in broad daylight. Nowadays, the perpetrators can strike any time – day or night – and anywhere.

Earlier this week, thieves broke into a house at Mile 7, Kuching. And fortunately for the owner, his neighbours, disturbed by the noise next door, went out to check and their courageous intervention sent the thieves fleeing empty-handed. The gate and front door locks of the house were later found to be broken while a knife was recovered in the compound.

Another break-in left a hawker poorer by a few thousand ringgit. After closing his business for the day around midnight at the Taman Hui Sing hawker centre, the victim arrived home to find his gate and front door locks cut open and the rooms in the house ransacked. Properties, including a gold necklace, a laptop, a digital camera, a handphone charger, three passports and RM2,000, were taken.

Another family lost more than RM60,000 in cash and other belongings when their house at Jalan Song was burglarised. The houseowner said he was informed by police other break-ins had occurred in neighbouring
Tabuan Laru and Stutong the same day.

He also told of complaints by his neighbours that a group of youths would hang around a nearby park every weekend, drinking alcohol and making a lot noise till the next morning.

In Sibu at midweek, a company manager lost RM70,000 in a forced entry. His neighbour called him after noticing that the back door of his house was wide open. Among the items taken were laptops, branded pens, RM10,000 and jewellery.

At Lada Road the same day, another house was broken into with the loss of properties amounting to RM50,000. The owner, a 28-year-old woman, got home about 10 pm to find the house in a mess. Among the missing items were two branded watches, Singapore currency, two handphones, a laptop computer and jewellery.

Nowadays, house-breakers not only steal but also make off with the loot in the owner’s car.

A businessman from Batu Kawa, Kuching, was one such victim. Thieves broke into his house and, to add insult to injury, made their escape in his car. The businessman later located the car at a traffic light but it was a total wreck. Whoever was at the wheel apparently crashed the  vehicle into a tree.

In house-breaking cases, victims usually have no way of knowing the progress or outcome of the investigation. After making a police report, all they can do is hope for the best. Perhaps,  for this reason, most victims consider making a report a waste of time.

House-breakers are now becoming more brazen with their modus operandi, perhaps emboldened by the low solving rate of the crime. As a counter-measure, intensified police patrols are in order.

Crimes committed must be accounted for and the perpetrators put behind bars. Only in this way will the full force of the law be brought to bear on criminal elements and public confidence in law enforcement restored and enhanced.

A recent audit found most of the toilets could only achieve a one-star or two-star rating. From the data, it is quite clear that overall, public toilets in the country still have a long way to go before achieving a satisfactory level of cleanliness – that is a three-star or above rating.

A bright note is that since the audit, enforcement has been tightened to bring to book operators of dirty public toilets.

The local authorities have been instructed to conduct spot checks on premises twice a year in addition to their regular inspections.

This is not only to forestall the deterioration of public health and sanitation problems in the country but also the denting of the country’s image in the eyes of tourists.

For instance, if toilets in restaurants and other public places are dirty, tourists will form a poor opinion of the country’s public health and sanitation facilities.

And as a result of the adverse publicity spread through word of mouth, the tourism industry will suffer when travellers bypass Malaysia for other destinations in the region.

In many developed countries, a restaurant will lose its licence if it does not provide clean toilets. The same applies to eateries in shopping malls as well as other public food outlets. This is the kind of approach we should emulate in cleaning up our public toilets.

For after all, who would want to pay money for good food if they are forced to use filthy toilets? And that’s not the half of it. What is even more appalling is that some of the “paid” toilets are also poorly maintained and filthy.

In some countries, the problem is compounded by certain practices that allow the tap to run inside the toilet, making the place constantly wet and very inconvenient to use. One way around the situation is to install a hot air dehumidifier which not only dries up the air inside the toilet faster but also reduces the stench considerably.

In Sarawak, the authorities have declared war on dirty and smelly public toilets with the formation of a committee, headed by Environment and Public Health Minister Datuk William Mawan Ikom.

The committee, comprising members drawn from the local authorities, hotels, food outlets as well as academic and environmental institutions, is expected to meet soon to draw up guidelines on proper maintenance of public toilets.

Mawan noted at a ceremony to mark World Toilet Day that the conditions of public toilets in Sarawak were generally messy with wet floors and this had given tourists a bad impression of the state.

Indeed, if our public toilets are dirty, poorly lit and ventilated, they will not only pose a health hazard to users, the negative feedback from visitors will also hurt the local tourism industry.

The main difficulty in maintaining public toilets is humidity. When the toilet is inside an air-con building, it is less offensive. That is because the air-con drives the air drier, resulting in less humidity.

Bacteria thrives in humid conditions. The greater the humidity, the nastier the germs! But put an air drier inside the public toilet and the difference becomes evident immediately.

Of course, people cannot be forced to install five-star loos in their homes but what can be done though is to provide proper sanitation facilities for public use.

By next year, according to Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Chor Chee Heung, public toilets nationwide must be at least 85 per cent clean. The deadline is especially important with the advent of Visit Malaysia Year in 2014.

The Ministry will ensure the target is met, including the introduction next year of a Clean Toilets Action Plan aimed at replacing filthy public toilets with user-friendly ones.

While all the proposed remedies are to be welcomed, it must, however, be said when it comes to using public toilets, the sad truth is most people tend to let their ugly (filthy) side get the better of them. It is an attitude problem that should be kept in check with strict enforement of public health regulations.

The Housing and Local Government Ministry’s proposal to use building by-laws against building owners who neglect to keep their toilets clean should be made into law. It should keep callous operators and users of public toilets in line.

Ultimately, we don’t need luxury in our public toilets – just cleanliness will do.

For this once nomadic community who had just opted to live a settled life only in recent years and who still depend on hunting and gathering for a large part of their livelihood this windfall was a double edged sword.

If they had the prudence to save or invest the money they received it would have been a blessing.

Alas this has not been the case in Long Wat, as shortly after receiving the payment, the money was gone.

How and where to, nobody was quite sure, not even the Penans themselves.

Some used it to buy motorcycles, some opt for four-wheel drive vehicles even though they did not have driving licences while some bought karaoke sets.

Land Development Minister Tan Sri Dr James Masing said he heard of a group of them chartering a pub in Bintulu, an arduous seven-hour drive away, for RM12,000 to indulge in an wild night of drinking, just after the payout!

There is a strong feeling of Déjà vu in this situation if you were to hark back to the spending spree the people of Batang Ai indulged in after receiving their compensation in the 1980’s.

More recently the people displaced by the Bakun dam were also in a similar situation although they did not go quite as wild with their sudden wealth.

In fact the people affected by Bakun who were resettled in Asap must be commended for making a community effort to look after their own long term interest by setting up the Asap Koyan Development Community Committee.

The Penans have every right to spend the money anyway they deem fit. It is their money and their rights but surely the government should have learnt their lessons from Batang Ai and Bakun.

Without being condescending, the Penans are not in a position to manage large amount of money without supervision.

The Long Wat community’s situation is very worrying as they know what money could bring but lack the knowledge to manage it.

On my way to visit Long Wat last weekend I was shocked to see Penan children at Long Luar; possibly only seven or eight years old, riding their motorcycles in ‘cowboy-stunt’ style, swinging left and right before lying flat on the motorcycles and giving me a cheeky look.

They were so small their feet barely reached the clutch of their motorcycles and needless to say they did not wear any helmet.

The sight of these reckless young boys riding their motorcycles tugged at my heartstrings.

Did they know the danger they were courting I wondered.

However, there were even bigger shocks for me when I reached Long Wat.

One of the first people there I met was a girl who looked to me to be around 12 years old although she could be older.

She was carrying two babies one in front and the other on her back who I took to be her siblings but I was flabbergasted when I learnt that the two babies were hers.

When I asked about her age she said she did not know how old she was but despite the Penans’ generally small physical stature I was sure she must be in her early teens.

It is accepted that girls upon reaching puberty could be married in Penan communities and statutory rape is unheard of.

I went to Long Wat with Parti Rakyat Sarawak’s (PRS) nominated Hulu Rajang candidate Wilson Ugak who was bringing some relief for residents whose longhouse was burnt down recently.

The bulk of the relief was sago flour as the Penans’ staple food is sago starch made from flour they extract from wild sago in their area.

Long Wat was a scene of abject poverty and the settlement bordered on squalor.

Aside from some motorcycles and a car I did not see any impact of the compensation the people received.

An old lady took the empty box aside after all the sago packets were removed from it. She tried to untie the knots of the green nylon string which was used to wrap the box but failed.

When I told her that box was useless and broken, she told me she just wanted the string and I ended up helping her to untie them.

Later on, I also caught sight of a six or seven year-old kid who quickly brought an empty carton box back into her home before throwing me a shy but sweet smile.

I have read about the Penans who roam the forests, surviving only on hunting and gathering; I have interviewed the most successful Penan businessman Datuk Hassan Sui, who owns a concrete double-storey bangalow at Suai, a small town between Miri and Bintulu.

I had also interviewed a 26-year-old, pretty Masters graduate Penan lady, Azuriaty Atang who became the first Penan lecturer teaching management in Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas).

However, I was not quite prepared for my encounter with the Penan community of Long Wat.

The 62 families of Penans at Long Wat are different from the nomadic Penans, they are also different from the Penan community of Suai, who are a prosperous lot, thriving on palm oil cultivation.

The Penans of Long Wat are caught between their former nomadic lifestyle and the modern world.

They have stopped living off the bounty of the wild but have not learned to live in the modern world.

They are now at a dangerous crossroads in their journey from the jungles to the modern world.

They are way behind the other communities in the skills of modern living and there is no way back to the jungle for them.

It need not take a genius to figure out that education is their only way out of this predicament but the nearest school is 120km away in Asap.

The children of Long Wat only receive basic education from some Methodist missionaries and Kemas teachers.

Most of the older children including those roaming along the logging roads on motorcycles are either school dropouts or they just do not go to school.

With development pushing further into the interior, it is inevitable that they are forced to face both the blessings and curses of the modern world.

Urgent efforts must be made to prepare them to meet this cultural and social shock by the people on whose shoulders this responsibility rests.

The Penans of Long Wat have crossed their proverbial Rubicon in their social transformation and unless a helping hand is extended to them they will continue to wallow in backwaters of development.

But ostensibly, road bullies don’t pick on everyone or even anyone at random. They instinctively pick out and bully the weakest – which is typical pack animal behaviour.

Victims need to learn how to deal with their tormentors. Rather than protection from anyone else, what they need is education to stop being and acting like victims.

According to one study, more than half of all drivers have experienced a surge of road bullying at some point. And a lot of accidents happen each year because of aggressive driving.

Road bullies don’t see the victim as a person. They do what social scientists term as ‘thingify’ the victim – that is viewing their target as a ‘thing’ rather than a person.

According a prominent psychologist, the heavy metal of a car is a safe haven and road ragers don’t think about the consequences or even about other people on the road as real people with real families.

In addition, violent behaviour of road bullies may be due to other factors of his or her life – for instance, stress at home or with a family.

The psychologist says road bullies may also be inflamed by the absent-minded or stupid driving of those talking on cell phones, adding:

“This is quite common since verbal confrontations on the phone can lead to confrontations on the road. It works both ways.”

On the home front, just last year, a motorcyclist was fighting for his life at the Tengku Ampuan Afzan Hospital in Kuantan, Pahang, after one of two men in a car stabbed him in the abdomen for unintentionally grazing their car.

The victim was reportedly heading home when his motorcycle grazed the car at a traffic light junction.

An argument was said to have ensued before the two men in the car drove away. Later, the motorcyclist and the duo met again at another traffic light junction and this time, one of the car occupants reportedly alighted and stabbed the victim twice with a knife, critically injuring the him, before speeding off.

The suspect was later picked up near the crime scene and a knife and a machete were also seized from his car.

A former Miss Malaysia also had a terrifying road bully encounter in Kuala Lumpur.

She said although she was safe and thankful she managed to escape unhurt, she realised there were some things that she should not have done.

“Firstly, trust no one! As sad as this is to say, today I really believe it – I didn’t think clearly enough about what I should do in this situation.

“So I share this with you in hope(s) that you will think about what you would do in my situation and hopefully you will be better prepared than I was. Please drive safely, ladies, and beware of your surroundings,” she said.

In a recent case in Selangor, a doctor wrote a letter to a national daily, alleging that police let a road bully (a van driver) off scot-free after he had lodged a report against the latter for ramming into the back of his car. The van driver had also allegedly used abusive language.

Following the doctor’s report, police traced the van based on the vehicle’s number provided in the report. And search for the van driver is on-going.

The police say they are looking at road bullying as a serious offence and there will be no compromise on it.

Aggressive driving and road bullying are on the rise and according to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, it is one of the top concerns for many drivers today.

Road rage or bullying is defined as an aggressive or angry behaviour by a driver of an automobile or other motor vehicle. Such behaviour might include rude gestures, verbal insults, deliberately driving in an unsafe or threatening manner, or making threats.

Most common-law countries prohibit common assault, which could apply to road rage or bullying where the personal safety of the victim is seen to be threatened.

The common law regards assault as both a criminal and civil matter, leading to both public criminal penalties and private civil liabilities.

What is important though is to try and drive with composure even under trying conditions.

Another useful tip is to drive defensive. It’s pointless risking collision with a heavy vehicle even though we know it is being driven on the wrong side of the road.

The consequences are always dire and should best be avoided. Invariably, discretion is the better part of valour when motoring with rogue drivers in our midst.

Obama will push for higher taxes on the rich as a way out of a suffocating deficit and channel money for the programmes he promises Americans he will implement to improve their debt-ridden lives.

He will try to do a huge financial deficit-cutting deal with Congress in the months ahead before tackling immigration, tax reform and other bipartisan programmes. A fiscal cliff of expiring tax cuts and automatic budget cuts also looms on January 1, 2013.

Amidst the economic uncertainties, Obama has, at least, won the right to fight the fight on his terms. He won more convincingly than many had anticipated – 332 electoral college votes to Mitt Romney’s 206 and 50.5 per cent popular votes to his challenger’s 48 per cent.

The cloud over his healthcare law and Wall Street reforms has lifted. So has the unsavory prospect of him joining the ranks of one-term president with the legacy of his first term now safe and enshrined in history.

Notably, the rancour of the often bitter hustings had done little to alter the political structure of the preceding four years. After a multi-billion dollar election, the voters decided to retain all the players responsible for rendering Washington dysfunctional to the point of nearly sending the US into default for the first time ever. The formula remains the same – control of Congress to Republicans and control of Senate to Democrats.

While Obama may not have majority in the House of Representatives, he still has his ‘firewall’ in the Senate with Democrats likely to hang onto their narrow majority. But Republicans will be quick to exploit this slim margin by bottling up any major legislation with delaying tactics.

The stalemate of the past four years looks set to continue. And to break the protracted deadlock, political observers say the onus is on the president to find a compromise, not just demand it from the other side.

Obama achieved his second-term victory in the face of a battered economy that demoralised much of the American spirit. He won despite the unemployment rate being at its highest (7.9 per cent) for any incumbent since the Great Depression of the 1930’s. He sailed through even though Mitt Romney was thought to be the better choice to end the impasse in Washington.

The paradox was that Obama won even though most of the voters said they were not any better off now than they were four years ago. Playing a pivotal role in the president’s re-election was, of course, the race and minority factor. While nearly 60 per cent of white voters rooted for Romney, every non-white minority group gave Obama nearly 70 per cent or more of its vote.

The Obama tally included 73 per cent of Asian-American voters, 93 per cent of African-Americans and 71 per cent of Hispanics. The social coalition of the non-white minorities comprising African-Americans and Hispanic-Latinos, mostly from the low-income communities, was crucial to Obama’s victory.

Whites also made up a huge chunk of Obama voters but the majority of them was heavily with Romney, including white women who gave the GOP candidate 56 per cent of their vote against 42 per cent for Obama. Overall, fewer white people voted for Obama than in 2008.

Psephologists say voters supported Obama because they wanted the president they knew.

They were convinced Obama, not Romney, understood their woes of college costs, insurance bills and sleepless nights. Exit polls showed voters viewed Obama as the voice of the poor and the middle class and Romney as tilting towards the wealthy.

According to a New York Times analysis of the vote, the lower the income group, the greater the vote for Obama within it. The higher the income group, the greater Romney’s share of that vote. So class too was a vital factor.

The change in America’s demographic profile had also worked to Obama’s favour. In a 2011 count, for the first time ever, babies born in minority groups outnumbered white new-borns.

In future elections, both sides will have to seriously woo the minority groups, especially the youth and women voters, if they hope to win the White House. The writings on the wall are too glaring to ignore.

Overall, the election was lacklustre – fought for far too long in the shallow moments of negative ads and silly comments. The whole country seemingly endured it until the end and when the size of the crowds grew, the candidates reached for their most inspiring words.

Big money also did not seem to work. Romney and company spent over a billion dollars in their White House bid and still failed!

American politics is highly polarised. The seething antagonism and distrust between the two sides is fertile ground for divisiveness and discord.

It is interesting to see how such fierce political partisanship will resolve itself, given the fact that the US body politic is subjected to almost tyrannical rigidity of a two-party system.

In other words, they not only can cause problems behind the wheel but are likely to be just as irresponsible when it comes to parking their vehicles.

To most of them, parking regulations are a joke and they will continue to violate these regulations almost at will albeit knowing full well that parking at a restricted place or in an unauthorised manner is an offence that carries a penalty.

It is against the law virtually everywhere to park a vehicle in the middle of a highway or road. While parking on one or both sides of a road is commonly permitted, restrictions do apply to such parking, and may result in an offence being committed. Such offences are usually cited by a police officer in the form of a traffic ticket.

Illegal parking is fuelled not so much by a shortage of manpower to nab the culprits as by a gross lack of political will to enforce the law, and this, in turn, breeds inertia, emboldening people even more to park illegally because they know they can do so with impunity.

Illegal parking has always been a major problem to many roadusers, especially in Kuala Lumpur, but it’s not far wrong to say this malaise has caught on in Kuching — not wholly due to inadequate parking lots as equally responsible is the fallicious presumption on the part of errant motorists that parking anywhere and everywhere they fancy is their birthright.

Such pseudo paramountcy is especially evident along roads near day schools in and around the city. Vehicles waiting to pick the students up are parked on both sides of the road, near traffic lights, at roundabouts and along pedestrian walkways — in essence, almost anywhere.

Indiscriminate parking is also very noticeable at public eateries and malls where shoppers elect to park along the road, even those marked with a yellow line. It’s rather strange that while these people think nothing of splurging huge sums of money during shopping sprees, they will unshamedly scrooge when it comes to paying parking fees.

In some areas around the city, car parks are not fully utilised – obviously because a parking fee is being charged, even if it’s just 20 sen for half an hour!

So what most shoppers do for ‘free parking’ is to park along the yellow line by the roadside, cluttering up not only the traffic in the area as a result but also causing untold inconvenience to other shoppers trying to get into the parking lots of a mall or a public eating place.

The burning question is why isn’t law enforcement doing anything about it?

In some countries, a wheel clamp is placed on a vehicle for a parking violation. The tire spikes and panel prevent the vehicle being driven or the wheel being removed.

A wheel clamp, also known as wheel boot, is a device designed to prevent vehicles from being moved. In the most common form, it consists of a clamp that surrounds a vehicle’s wheel and is so designed to prevent removal of both the clamp and the wheel.

To crack down on unauthorised or illegal parking, in lieu of towing the offending vehicle, police or property owners who place the clamp may charge a high ‘release fee’ to remove the clamp.

It’s hardly surprising that wheel-clamping is notoriously unpopular with unauthorised parkers. Whereas a traffic warden or police officer has jurisdiction over public roads, in many countries, the law allows landowners to wheel-clamp vehicles parked on their property without permission.

We have, of course, not come to the stage where wheel-clamping is in order to lock down errant parkers. However, what has to be acknolwedged is that the problem of illegal parking here is becoming increasingly rampant and will continue to deteriorate if left to its own device.

Recently, the Automated Enforcement System (AES) was implemented to check deaths through road accidents in the country. Despite the petty quibbling, its introduction is a step in the right direction, considering at least 6,000 people die on our roads in a staggering 400,000 accidents every year.

Perhaps, a similar automated system could also be considered to rein unbridled illegal parking in the country. There is no longer any need for more education or awareness campaigns. If we don’t know, by now, that illegal parking is a brazen traffic offence — just like violating speed limits and running traffic lights — then surely, we have no business owning cars at all.

What causes people to park illegally has a lot to do with their poor attitude but crucially, more with the lack of enforcement by the authorities.

Recognising these drawbacks, steps should be taken to address the situation — if not through diligent human surveillance, then through reliable automation, preferrably the latter — before the problem becomes even worse.

An automated system will also serve to reduce graft among enforcement officers in one fell swoop. This is surely something for our cynical society to cheer about, as one observer rightly pointed out.

On that day, the Earth will, a priori, collide with a large planetary object hurling through space – with cataclysmic consequences. This rogue planet was discovered by the ancient Mesopotamians who named it Nibiru.

The ancient Mayans who also knew about the planet, associated it with the end of their Long Count calendar in December 2012.

According to the Mayans, in December this year, specifically on the 21st, Earth will be in exact alignment with the sun and the centre of the Milky Way galaxy – a cosmic event occurring once every 25,800 years.

The Mayans believed this could be catastrophic but researchers now suggest the date was simply marking the end of the Mayan calendar, not a prophecy of doom.

In fact, modern-day Mayans have accused the Guatemalan government and tour groups of perpetuating the myth for monetary gain.

“We are speaking out against deceit, lies and twisting of the truth and turning us into folklore-for-profit. They are not telling the truth about time cycles,” Felipe Gomez, leader of the Maya alliance – Oxlaljuj Ajpop – charged recently.

He urged Guatemala’s Tourism Institute to forego the “doomsday celebration” where as many as 90,000 people are expected to attend, saying it was “disrespectful” of Mayan culture.

According to Gomez, the new Maya time cycle simply means “there will be big changes on personal, family and community level so that there is harmony and balance between mankind and Nature.”

As for Nibiru (also known as Planet X), some end-times theorists insist NASA is tracking the rogue planet but the information is kept under wraps as part of a global conspiracy.

The ‘official’ silence, has, however, been broken by astrologers who claim, by 2009, Nibiru could already be seen with the naked eye from the southern hemisphere.

Earth’s axis, they argue, is already tilting and daytime is changing under the Planet X’s influence. So is Nibiru an Armageddon planet or an astronomical baloney?

According to NASA, there is no evidence of Nibiru’s existence. So far, none of the identified objects pose any direct threat to Earth.

Many astrologers are unconvinced, alluding to documented reports that Planet X was found in the outer ridges of the Solar System in 1983 by a NASA satellite.

One theory even holds that on one orbital movement round the sun and while passing the Earth, Niburu broke the ice shelf and caused the great Biblical flood.

But to the scientific community at large, Armageddon isn’t likely to happen in December 2012. Some even call Nibiru a hoax, saying it’s the ancient Akkadian name for the planet Jupiter. Its prophesised bump into Earth just under two months away is pure conjecture from the scientific perspective – hopefully.

In another doomsday prediction, March 19, 2011 was supposed to have portended ill for the world. Known as the day of the Super Moon, it was when the lunar sphere came as close as it ever had, or would, to Earth.

It is believed this phenomenon would trigger catastrophic storms, earthquakes and other natural disasters since the moon was only 221,556 miles away on that day and its gravity at such proximity would upset the seismic balance on Earth.

Astronomers have dismissed the Super Moon notion, explaining it’s actually a lunar perigee (when the moon appears bigger). If something bad had happened on March 19 last year, they argue, it certainly had nothing to do with the moon.

Scientists say extreme weathers during past Super Moons were just coincidences, given that almost all previous predictions of natural disasters or events never happened such as the false alarm that the sun would be pulled apart during a syzygy (planetary alignment).

However, super volcanoes – if a big one ever blows – could have dire consequences. That was what happened at Mount Toba in Sumatra, Indonesia, about 75,000 years ago.

So much ash was blown into the atmosphere that sunlight was blocked, resulting in an ice age that destroyed plants and populations.

The largest eruption in recorded history is Krakatoa, Indonesia, in 1883. The explosion could be heard around the world, caused a ‘volcanic winter’ and a drastic drop in global temperature. Thousands of people perished as a result.

If one of the prehistoric volcanoes were to erupt, such as the Yellowstone caldera in Wyoming, a disaster of epic proportions could be triggered, covering half the country in a layer of ash, killing livestock and threatening the lives of thousands.

Natural disasters – when they do occur – are humbling experiences. They expose the utter helplessness of humanity in the face of forces so powerful that they can, in one sweep, wipe whole towns and cities off the face of the Earth.

They have been variously described – sometimes, as a hum or low rumble, other times, as a whine, thump or even a melody.

The sounds, frequently recorded and posted online, are fuelling rumours and conspiracy theories.

One blogger wrote: “Either the world is ending, aliens are landing or everyone is getting hoaxed. Or, possibly, there’s an actual scientific explanation for the huge amount of YouTube videos capturing bizarre sounds being heard around the globe. Are we witnessing the beginning of a full-scale alien invasion?”

So, what are people actually hearing and recording?

Unfortunately, there’s no blanket answer to the mysterious sounds although many have been identified.

Media reports have it that the Canadian government was recently asked to investigate a low-frequency hum that has intermittently plagued citizens in Windsor, Ontario, for months.

One blogger said tongue-in-cheek: “If the conspiracy theorists are right, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper may soon get an unofficial visit from Men-in-Black-type agents warning him not to investigate.”

According to the Dominion Post, Wellingtonians in the New Zealand capital recently got in on the hum too with a low-frequency sound reported across Mt Victoria, Mt Cook and Te Aro. But what was causing it?

Urban legend tellers suggested the hum was caused by Mother Earth which is preparing to make ‘The Shift’ later this year or it could come from a transformer feeding electricity to the areas around Mt Victoria, Mt Cook and Te Aro.

Many are also pointing the finger at the Singapore Navy frigate Stalwart berthed in Wellington Harbour. The ship has since departed but a few complaints have continued.

Some pundits believe the hum is related to HAARP (High Frequency Active Auroral Research Programme), an ionospheric research programme being carried out by the US.

Often referred as the US military’s Pandora Box, HAARP is the subject of several conspiracy theories, and has been blamed for phenomena, including earthquakes, hurricanes and volcanic eruptions.

There are a few things to remember about these strange, ambient sounds. For one, there is virtually no place on Earth where noise pollution is not a problem. We live in a constant sea of background noise, most of it unnoticed until we start paying attention to all the sounds and focusing on them.

There are also the many industrial sources of noise and vibrations, including power plants and factories with large machines such as auto assembly plants and printing presses.

Another complaint is that the promise of green energy offered by large wind turbines comes at a cost – a low, rumbling, rhythmic whoosh or groan that travels through the air and earth, sometimes for miles.

Moreover, the planet itself generates a natural, constant hum though typically far below the threshold of human hearing but the audibility is augmented in instances of ocean waves crashing over continental shelves and creating vibrations that traverse the world.

Mysterious sounds are actually nothing new, the most famous of which being the Taos Hum, a low-frequency rumble heard by some residents in Taos, New Mexico, since the early 1990’s.

Not everyone hears it but the earwitnesses who do, variously describe it as sounding like a running refrigerator or a buzzing bee.

Researchers have been unable to pinpoint the source of the sound or even confirm the hearers are, indeed, perceiving a specific, identifiable sound.

On the face of it, locating a sound seems easy but in reality, it is not. Concrete, glass, and buildings can reflect, change and amplify sound waves from ordinary sources, hence complicating the process of tracing the origin of a sound.

A “midnight roar” was also reported recently in Malaysia – Kota Samarahan, not far from Kuching city, to be precise.

Something that sounded like a ‘sky roar’ was heard there from around 2am or 3am till dawn on two days – Jan 11 and 12.

Residents described it as a ‘loud hushing’ or ‘snoring’ sound.

The Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry offered a very simple explanation – the sound was created by an oil palm factory testing their boiler pressure.

Of course, it’s more exciting to think the mysterious roar is part of an alien landing than machinery at a local oil palm factory or sewage plant.

No one knows for sure what caused the hum or where it originated. Some point to the occult, the after world and flying saucers.

It seems about the only thing we can do now to unravel the secret behind these mysterious sounds is to speculate.

We certainly like to hope they have nothing to do with events that would ultimately lead the world on the road to perdiction.

To most old people, walking can be an ordeal – and crossing the road is even more difficult without help.

While it is already hard for most of the aged to get to the other side of a busy road that has no pedestrian crossing, what is even sadder is that motorists seldom stop for them.

Old people whose sense of judgement is impaired through ageing, are frequently run over on the road. They can no longer handle heavy traffic, and left to their own devices, are likely come to grief.

As one observer notes, it seems modern society is built by the young for the young – a dynamic creation that does not give much consideration to the old, sick, handicapped or disabled.

The infirm and frail elderly are usually tolerated as a liability or nuisance, and with self-esteem ripped away from them, they suffer in silence as they go through what is left of their twilight years.

This busy world is certainly not looking too kindly on old folks. Crossing the road is just one problem the elderly encounter, another is getting onto a bus. The old timer is usually the last to get on. And even if he manages, he very likely will have to stand. Rarely does anyone care give up his or her seat for an old man or woman.

In the old days, the family unit was strong. Today, it is breaking up as young men and women travel widely in search of greener pastures.

Normally, what this entails is neglect – with the elderly being left to fend for themselves, most times under very difficult circumstances.

The more fortunate ageing parents may have a child or two staying with them while the less lucky ones may have to live out their lives in an old folks’ home – or in their empty house after all the children have flown the roost and may only return to visit once in a blue moon.

Such a situation poses a very real problem for society and it is what the old dread most – being unwanted and uncared for while on borrowed time.

There are other problems old folks face but none can be as painfully heart-breaking as the indifference and neglect shown them by their own flesh and blood.

Most senior citizens end up in welfare homes because they are abandoned by their families – frequently at public hospitals which, in turn, have little choice but to turn them over to shelters run by the government or NGOs.

In most cases, family members refuse to take their elderly parents back. Invariably, these public hospitals have to hand the abandoned old folks to NGOs. Even so, shelters, run by benevolent societies, are mostly full these days.

According to the Social Welfare Department, between 2008 and 2011, the number of old folks, abandoned by their families, has steadily gone up one per cent each year. Welfare homes caring for the 60 and above, admitted 340 senior citizens last year compared to 248 in 2010.

Stats from the National Population and Family Development Board, an agency under the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry, showed that as at 2004 when the Fourth Malaysian Population and Family Survey was undertaken, over half a million elderly parents were not given financial support by their children.

It is, of course, unfair and incorrect to say all young people desert their parents in their old age. What is obviously a disturbing trend though is that a lot of sons and daughters are leaving their ageing parents to die at old folks’ homes. Why?

In trying to look for an answer, sociologists argue it is important for society to understand the needs of young people with changing times.

These experts explain that young couples nowadays need to work to support themselves and their own growing families. As such, most not only send their old parents to welfare homes but their own children to nurseries or playschools as well just to keep up with the rat race.

While it’s reasonable for young families to want their own space and privacy, there are some who simply do not want to look after the elderly due to what is generally referred to as the generation gap manifesting itself in the lack of understanding and tolerance for the changes in their parents’ behaviour which could be caused by insecurity and mental illnesses.

Whatever the reasons that may have caused the young to shirk their responsibility of caring for their elderly parents, they, nonetheless, still have the moral responsibility to support and cherish them.

After all, the young will themselves become parents and grow old one day – and quite naturally, also expect their own brood to look after them in the final phase of life.

Needless to say, it’s important to inculcate filial piety in children at a young age. Wholesome family values such as caring for the elderly spontaneously out of love should be continuously fostered to create a truly caring Malaysian society.

Just this week, road accidents claimed three more lives in the state – two in Kuching and one in Sarikei (more could have gone unreported).

In the first accident on Monday, the driver crashed his car into the rear of a lorry along Kuching-Serian Road and was killed instantaneously.

The following day, a man also died on the spot when the car he was driving jumped to the opposite lane of the Mile 3 flyover and hit a lorry. The victim was trying to avoid a van coming from the roundabout.

On the same day, a motorcyclist died in a head-on collision with a car in Sarikei. His pillion rider was seriously injured.

The situation over in the peninsula is more serious. Just last month, two persons perished in a 10-vehicle pile-up in Malacca. About 5km from the crash scene, a car rammed the back of a trailer and exploded, killing the driver.

And at mid-week, four family members and two friends died in a head-on collision between their car and an express bus while on their way from Kemaman to Kuala Terengganu.

There were also incidents of speeding being reported despite the numerous road safety campaigns and publicity programmes.

Reckless behaviour on the road beggars the question as to what is really wrong with Malaysian drivers?

Obviously, most of them think it is acceptable to break traffic laws they disagree with.

For example, fixing speed limits is usually based on a set of guidelines. While some speed limits along certain roads do seem unreasonable, it does not mean we can take the law into our hands by replacing them with our own rules.

What a sorry state of affairs it would be on our roads when the ugly Malaysian behind the wheel throws caution to the wind and causes accidents that needlessly kill people in the prime of their lives.

Nowadays, even driving in Kuching itself, especially during peak hours, can be a nightmare. Heaps of patience and tolerance are needed to prevent accidents and road rage among edgy motorists.

And where traffic flow is concerned, there is certainly plenty of room for improvement along Jalan Simpang Tiga, Tabuan Jaya, Jalan Tun Jugah and towards Jalan Song. With everyone rushing to the office or home from work, coupled with the on-going construction of the flyover and the proposal to turn some feeder roads into one-way streets in the area, it’s small wonder traffic is chronically chaotic.

Another common occurrence is lorries and buses being driven onto side roads or lanes that are too small for them. It pays to drive defensively if you happen to be on the same route as these heavy vehicles. A little patience and temperance goes a long way to ensuring you do not come to grief.

According to studies, the main causes of car accidents are reckless and negligent driving as well as alcohol. Statistically, teenagers cause the most car accidents. Inexperience, aggravated by irresponsible driving behaviour and a lack of respect for safety precautions, is the main cause for the high number of teenage car accidents.

One other reason is impaired judgement which can be caused by alcohol — or through lapse of concentration when their drivers talk endlessly with the passengers instead of keeping their eyes on the road at all times, or when music from the radio or CD player in the car is too loud.

This may result in either distracting the driver into reckless driving or causing side or rear end collisions. It may even cause pileups in highways and must, therefore, be avoided at all costs.

Car accidents can be very traumatic, sometimes affecting the person involved for the rest of his or her life. Other than physical injuries, mental pressure may also result.

It is sad that no matter how often people are advised against reckless driving, there are still errant motorists out there, and seemingly, no amount of summonses can dissuade them from endangering other drivers.

According to the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research, 414,412 accidents were reported in 2010 compared with 265,175 in 2001. There were 6,872 road deaths in 2010 compared with 5,849 in 2001.

Obviously, nothing much has been learnt from these unnecessary tragedies, hence all the more reason to mete out stiffer penalties for drivers who cause fatal accidents, including revoking their driving licences.

With the number of road deaths reaching alarming levels in the country, it is imperative to start making a conscientious effort NOW to avoid road accidents and learn to appreciate life.

Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud who led the walk around Friendship Park at Jalan Song, Kuching, called on both adults and children alike to stay active, especially through walking, saying this form of health-enhancing physical activity is within everybody’s means.

Expressing concern at the lack of exercise among the general public, he said walking was the best way to stay healthy and the result was stimulating the heart with a good activity.

Taib, who is patron and chairman of Sarawak Heart Foundation (SHF), also advised housing estate residents to use the parks in their areas for their walking exercise.

Indeed, heart diseases and strokes are the world’s leading killers, claiming 17.3 million lives each year although about 80 per cent of such deaths can be prevented through exercise and proper diet.

As a form of aerobic exercise, walking is one of the easiest ways to increase physical activity and improve health. Walking is suitable for most people and doing it on a regular basis can help eliminate body fat, maintain a healthy weight, improve fitness and reduce risk of developing conditions such as heart diseases, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis and some cancers.

To enhance cardiovascular fitness, researchers have found that a good brisk walk is enough to strengthen the heart. Some experts, however, feel that exercise must push the heart rate up to at least 55 per cent of its maximum to have any positive impact.

While it is generally believed that vigorous exercise is the only way to do this, the latest finding suggests this is not necessarily the case. In fact, a study of obese adults has found that moderate exercise can raise the heart beat to levels a doctor would recommend and one doesn’t have to jog or run to do it.

Rather than the old adage of ‘no pain, no gain’, it has been shown through research that if the pace feels right, it probably is. Tests have shown that when people self-selected a speed that was comfortable but brisk, their heart rate and level of exertion was in a safe range but high enough to improve their cardiovascular health.

It is sad but true that many people find trying to get fit a tall order.

According to Deputy Health Minister Datuk Rosnah Abdul Rashid Shirlin, about 75 per cent of Malaysia’s 27 million population do little or no exercise at all.

The National Health and Morbidity Study 2011 showed the prevalence of diabetes rising by 15.2 per cent in 2011 from 11.6 per cent in 2006, and hypertension in adults aged above 30, up by 32.7 per cent
in 2011 from 32.2 per cent in 2006.

Rosnah said these rising figures were a cause for concern and should be given attention by not only the ministry but also hospitals, health clinics and the community.

She pointed out that besides leading a healthy lifestyle with exercise and  proper diet, health screenings were also important to keep incidence of diseases at bay.

Wellness comes from a positive attitude towards exercise and physical activities that promote good health. Medical authorities have warned that a sedentary lifestyle portends a higher cardiovascular risk than one that is active.

The flipside though is that obsession with exercise that calls for running 15 miles (unless one is training to be a long distance runner) everyday will cause the risk to start rising again.

Clearly, exercising smart is the way to go and moderation and an informed approach are key to deriving optimum health benefits from exercise. Fitness gurus recommend a minimum 30 minutes of moderate activity (like walking) on at least five days of the week. This regime is well within the capability of most people.

Another plus for walking as an excellent exercise is that it provides the sort of activity that benefits health and, on top of that, it requires no special skills, equipment or access to a gym. People can also be encouraged to walk more and this increase can be maintained over the years.

It is heartening to note that the Chief Minister has pledged the state government’s continued support for events that promote healthy lifestyles to combat heart diseases. This should serve as a timely catalyst for living heathy through regular exercise, especially walking.

For health’s sake, working people should set aside some time to exercise and keep fit.
To do this, they not necessarily have to play sports or go to the gym — they simply need to get out of their cars and go for a walk.

Of course, it is important to realise that merely talking the walk will not benefit health in any significant way but walking the talk definitely will.

To the American public who expected quick fixes for their ailing economy but did not get them right away, his clarion call has turned out to be No, We Can’t.

Now, nearing the end of his first term with polling less two months away, Obama is making a case for the country to move forward – not backwards – by telling voters not let the GOP undo all the good his administration has done over the last four years.

When he entered the White House, Obama inherited an economic mess held over from the subprime crisis as well as eight years of war-mongering and unfettered fiscal adventurism by Wall Street under George W Bush. He was left with not only the GOP’s sick baby but also the bathwater.

The Republicans who are scapegoating Obama for Bush’s excesses, have vowed to oust the president by all possible means and their obsession with “take our country back” has found expression in the form a Mormon millionaire Mitt Romney whose party has an axe to grind with the president’s economy-recovery measures, his healthcare programme, ridiculing it as Obamacare, and of all things, his racial identity — the ultra right is still questioning the status of Obama’s birth certificate even as he is about to serve out his first term.

Ironically, the Republicans have yet to come up with any viable alternatives to aid, let alone hasten, US economic recovery aside from highly charged rhetoric aimed at arousing emotions rather than reason.

Of late, Romney’s propensity to shoot first and ask questions later has thrown his White House campaign out of kilter after a secretly recorded video showed him dismissing Obama’s supporters — almost half the country’s voters – for being too dependent on government.

The video from a closed-door fundraiser in Florida in May set off a storm of criticisms against Romney’s gaffe-plagued presidential bid. In the clip, he told donors 47 per cent of Americans will back Obama no matter what and “my job is not to worry about those people.”

Electorally, Romney was badly burnt for writing off a big segment of the American electorate. His blatancy drew a rebuke from Obama: “One of the things I’ve learnt as president is you represent the entire country. My expectation is if you want to be president, you’ve got to work for everybody, not just for some.”

Romney had also elevated his tendency for gaffes to the international stage when commenting on the 2012 London Olympics:  “I saw a few things that were disconcerting about London’s preparations. The stories about the private security firm not having enough people, supposed strike of immigration and customs officials — that obviously is not something which is encouraging.”

His remark provoked a sharp rejoinder from British Prime Minister David Cameron: “We are holding an Olympic Games in one of the busiest, most active, bustling cities anywhere in the world. Of course it’s easier if you hold an Olympic Games in the middle of nowhere.”

This was widely taken to refer to Utah, the sparsely populated western US state where Romney was chief executive of the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics in 2002.

While the Republican presidency nominee has often touted about his business record, he is conspicuously shy about revealing numbers and investments when it comes to his own money. After releasing two abridged years of tax returns, he said he will not be making further releases. This a sticky point that has the potential to haunt him every single day of his campaign.

The momentum has shifted towards Obama following a series of Romney’s goofs-up. The incumbent has edged ahead in polls in some of the most competitive states, including Iowa and Virginia and has forced his Republican opponent to step up efforts in Florida and Ohio without which he has little chance of becoming president.

Obama’s advantage did not come overnight. It built over several weeks in which Romney hit some bumps while the president made few errors and benefitted from previously unseen advantages in advertising strategy and fundraising.

Many people cannot envisage a peaceful world with another Republican in the Oval Office. It is said eight years is all you need to tolerate a bad president but eight years is also long enough for a bad president of the sole superpower to wreak havoc on the world.

Wayne Swan, Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer of Australia, has warned that “extreme” Tea Party elements of Romney’s Republican party had shown they were prepared to hold the US government hostage over budget matters.

“The biggest threat to the world’s biggest economy are the cranks and crazies that have taken over a part of the Republican party,” he said.

On the election itself, one columnist noted: “Never have American voters re-elected a president whose work they disapprove of as much as Obama’s. Not that Mitt Romney can take much comfort – they have never elected a challenger they view so negatively either.”

As the US election enters the final stretch, pollsters are predicting a close tussle.

Ultimately, it is for the American people to decide who they want to vote as their leader for the next four years in a presidential race seen by most pundits as between two candidates — one not-so-good and the other, bad, if not worse.

Are people asking this question merely trying to create something out of nothing? Surely, there must be a big iota of truth as to what they are asking, given the frequent incendiary public flare-ups among the proponents and opponents of the controversial Islamic law within the same party.

It is quite clear that the simmering hudud feud within the opposition has imploded after a top PKR leader openly backed the Kelantan government’s push for implementation of the Islamic law in that state. The endorsement caught DAP, a Pakatan component, by surprise.

Kelantan Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Nik Aziz Nik Mat has declared the state government will not budge from its position on hudud and setting up an Islamic state “with or without the support of its partners.”

By the same token, Terengganu PAS Youth has reportedly called on DAP chairman Karpal Singh to resign because it said the latter holds outdated views on hudud and has become ‘a liability’ to Pakatan.

The split over hudud in the loose opposition group widened even more when DAP Youth leapt to the defence of its party chairman by reportedly rebuking its PAS counterpart for interfering in DAP’s internal affairs and issuing statements against DAP leaders.

According to Karpal Singh, PAS bringing up the issue again runs counter to its resolve during the recent muktamar to push for a welfare state.

The DAP chairman, the most vocal in his party’s opposition to huhud even as his fellow party leaders at the federal level seem contented to adopt a wait-and-see attitude, stressed that PAS must understand the hudud objective is not in the coalition’s Buku Jingga common manifesto.

Responding to accusations that he was outdated and a liability to Pakatan, Karpal Singh retorted that “it is PAS that is outdated if it insists on implementing hudud.”

Far from abating, the heated war of words over hudud between the two factions in the same camp is still raging with no visible conclusion in sight.

Law experts said enforcing hudud in a multi-racial country will not be fair to both Muslims and non-Muslims in that “equality before the law could not be served if hudud and the current law co-exist.”

The burning question is that if hudud only applies to Muslims, under what authority is the distinction made? Since a criminal law must apply to everyone, it is the same for hudud. But, as the experts pointed out, that would be impossible because if you applied hudud to non-Muslims, it would violate their constitutional rights.

Pakatan’s inability to close the chapter on Islamic state and hudud even after the introduction of its Buku Jingga does seem to suggest that these two issues are much more serious within the opposition camp than they have been made out to be.

There are some who said hudud should apply to Kelantan since the Kelantanese want it. But on what basis is such reasoning reached? Is it based solely on the demographics of the state?

If so, as the experts contended, a precedent is being created towards the dictatorship of the majority, which could be applied to other states when the time comes, creating two set of laws in a country where different ethnic and religious groups live side by side in an urban environment.

Moreover, the argument that hudud is only for Muslims does not hold up because even within the Muslim community, there is no consensus on the context of its application.

At midweek, PRS president Tan Sri Dr James Jemut Masing challenged DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang and his son Lim Guan Eng, the party secretary-general and Penang Chief Minister, to state their stand on hudud.

Masing said both father and son must make a stand on this very important religious issue which would affect every Malaysian, pointing out that their ‘deafening silence’ means they consent to PAS’ agenda on hudud if Pakatan comes into power.

In response, State DAP chief Wong Ho Leng said hudud would never be implemented in the country even if Pakatan came into power after the next general election. He added that based on Buku Jingga (Orange Book), DAP, as a partner of Pakatan, would not allow hudud to be implemented.

Still, people would like to hear such outright rejection of hudud directly from the horse’s mouth rather from a third party. Otherwise who could be blamed for thinking that ‘silence means consent’ as Dr Masing has pointed out.