H1N1-More Deaths

Three more deaths have been reported from the Influenza A (H1N1) virus, bringing the overall death toll to 62.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said there were delays in administering patients with anti-viral treatment in two of the three deaths.
“The ministry will check on why there was a delay,” he said yesterday.
The delay involved a three-year-old boy who was admitted on Aug 1 for fever, cough and dyspnea for five days where he received anti-viral treatment beginning Aug 3 but died last Friday due to severe pneumonia, he said.
The other case was a 50-year-old man warded on Aug 3 with cough, fever, dyspnea, vomitting and diarrohea, he said.
He had influenza-like symptoms since July 28 and anti-viral drugs were given on Aug 4 but he died last Friday due to septicemia and pneumonia, Liow said.
In the third case, a six-year-old Down Syndrome boy suffered from congenital heart problem despite being given anti-viral treatment on the same day he was admitted to hospital on Aug 9 for cough, fever and dyspnea.
He died on Aug 13 due to severe pneumonia with underlying problems and complications.
Speaking after launching a healthy lifestyle campaign here, Liow said there were 283 new cases of infection, bringing the tally up to 3,857 cases.
Thirty-three patients remained in the intensive care unit and out of the number, 16 had co-morbid conditions and chronic diseases while 213 were hospitalised in normal wards, he said.
He urged the public to practise social distancing when they have influenza-like symptoms.
The ministry could apply the Disease Control Act to fine those who knowingly infect others up to RM10,000 or jail up to two years, he said.
On private doctors recently saying that they were reluctant to stock up much anti-virals because the ministry’s guidelines were inconsistent, and that they would prescribe the drug on a case-to-case basis, Liow said the guidelines were clear.
On private doctors complaining about the high prices and the lack of stock of the drugs, he said the Government would talk to the supplier with the hope that they could reduce the price and make it available to everyone.

No more Indonesian Maid?

THE Indonesian government banned the country’s nationals from coming to work as maids in Malaysia with effect from Friday, just a day after its manpower minister announced the decision in Jakarta.
The sudden action has all the appearance of haste, while piling pressure on Malaysia to expedite changes in the terms of employment favouring maids.
Malaysia’s Human Resources Ministry had not even received the official letter to the effect when the entire country learned about it in the news.
Employers and maid agencies here will suffer losses through prior payments, such as deposits and fees. Such immediate and wilful disruptions of agreements also adversely affect sourcing agencies on the Indonesian side.
This is clearly bad form and bad business practice – it is unethical, sows ill will, and where contracts have been violated, unlawful as well. But Jakarta seems to have some reasons for its abrupt action.
When such policies exert a shock effect on the host country, it usually comes as a bargaining chip for the source country. But it could backfire.
There is also an undeclared rationale for this particular action coming at this point in time.
Indonesians go to the polls in 10 days to elect a new president. In the current campaigns, incum­bent Susilo Bambang Yudho­yono’s two challengers – his Vice-President Jusuf Kalla, and former president Megawati Sukarnoputri – are said to be closing in.
Political expediency would therefore seem to dictate events, at least for now.
Officially, the ban on Indonesian maids will stay until Malaysia is seen and said to have improved the work conditions for them.
The Indonesian manpower minister is scheduled to arrive here in early July to hold tough talks for those conditions. Indonesian voters will no doubt hear much about that heroic mission just days before the election.
Meanwhile, Malaysia should waste no time in sourcing for maids from other countries. Much has been heard about errant employers in Malaysia, but not quite enough about supposedly trained but still incompetent and dysfunctional maids from Indonesia.
In the interests of market competition, reducing needless dependence and much of everything else, diversifying the number of source countries is necessary and urgent.

SUPP pledges to help Barisan in polls

The Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) is ready to help Barisan Nasional retain the Batang Ai state seat, which fell vacant following the death of its assemblyman, Datuk Dublin Unting, on Tuesday.
A by-election will have to be called as the Sarawak State Assembly still has more than two years of its term to run.
SUPP president Tan Sri Dr George Chan, who is Deputy Chief Minister, said the party would do its best to assist the state Barisan election machinery.
“Wherever we can, we will definitely help,” he told reporters after receiving a RM20,000 donation from the Sarawak Association of Ministers’ and Assistant Ministers’ Wives (Sabati) for flood victims at his office here yesterday.
With the Opposition expected to focus on the issue of native customary rights (NCR) land in the predominantly Iban constituency, Dr Chan said the state government would have to make clear to the people its policy on developing NCR land.
“This has always been an issue. As the government, we should explain why certain things can be done (with NCR land) and why certain things cannot be done,” he said.
He said land was usually an emotional issue and hoped that the people would be objective and rational in approaching it.
“I hope no one will try to stir up emotions and make people unhappy,” he added.

Spirit of Unity...

Having 28 years living in this country, I must admit that we are fortunate that the country’s unity remains peacefully with religious tolerance, mutual understanding and respect among the various races.

We may have succeeded in effectively managing racial rifts over the decades but there is a dire need for long-term solutions to ensure real harmony.

One obvious obstacle towards this is our ineptitude to hold frank and open dialogues over religious issues without getting all riled up.

As such, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s final mission as Prime Minister before leaving office – to ease racial and religious tensions – should indeed be lauded and supported.

It is never too late for political players and policy makers to realise that the future of Malay­sia hinges on its continued religious and inter-racial harmony.

As the PM said at the Chris­tian Federation of Malaysia’s Christ­mas open housebefore, our children must be raised without any sense of prejudice.

Differences in religion should not be a hindrance to developing and maintaining friendships.

The sad reality is that a large segment of Malaysians, especially among the young, can only mingle within the comfort of their own race groups. They do not show any interest in or concern for other communities.

It is obvious that inexpedient educational policies and failures in promoting multi-racial interactions have contributed to the regretful situation.

But the mess can still be untangled to free the original spirit of unity.

The country, after all, was born and nurtured on such a foundation.

We have proven in the past that the core values inherent in our faiths, cultures and customs are enough to unite us as Malay­sians.

The coming new year offers hope for renewed focus on unity based on respect for multi-ethnicity and religious tolerance.

Focus on the economy please..

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year... This year 2009 should be a year for Malaysians to put aside political trivialities and focus on economic issues.

THE year will go down as a roller-coaster in history with extraordinary dramas that have altered the country’s political landscape.

It has left many of us in the country exhausted and dazed. With days before the year finally closes, it won’t be a surprise if there are more dramas waiting to unfold.

Asian stock markets rose modestly in thin trade today as shares in commodities producers and Japanese financials gained ground.

Sarikei has been greatly affected as we're commodities producers for rubber, black pepper, cocoa, etc..

As usual, more than ever before, political stability is of paramount importance to the survival of Malaysia and of course to Sarikei..one of the commodities producer's town..

With the elections of the major parties set to be concluded by the first quarter of 2009, let’s hope that we can finally see the end of communal heroes who are only good at playing to the gallery.

It’s time that political leaders focus on what matters most – enabling ordinary Malaysians to put food on the table for their families.

I picked this from AP news on business latest news and would like to share with the readers of my blog on our economic thin trade lately..

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 stock average edged higher by 7.65 points, or about 0.1 per cent to 8,747.17, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index added 0.7 per cent to 14,286.02.

Benchmarks in Singapore and Australia climbed more than 1 per cent, while those in Shanghai and South Korea traded flat. Markets in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines were closed.

With many investors away for the holiday and their books already closed for the year, trade across the region was quiet and marked by low volumes. The recent rash of government stimulus measures helped underpin sentiment despite worries that the first half of next year would see the global economy and company profits erode further.

“There’s this expectation and hope that governments could put a floor in for the economy and therefore lead to a better second half in 2009,” said Song Seng Wun, economist at CIMB-GK in Singapore.

Among the session’s best performers were energy companies after oil prices hovered near US$40 (RM140) a barrel as concerns about supply from the Middle East flared along with fighting between Israel and Gaza.

Australia’s Woodside Petroleum Ltd gained 5.7 per cent, top Japanese refiner Nippon Oil Corp jumped 6.5 per cent, and Chinese upstream producer CNOOC rose 3.8 per cent in Hong Kong trade.

Japanese financials were higher amid reports the country’s No. 2 non-life insurer, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group Holdings Inc, was in merger talks with two smaller rivals to create the country’s largest non-life insurer. Mitsui soared 8.3 per cent.

Light, sweet crude for February delivery rose US$1.65 to US$39.37 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by mid-afternoon in Singapore. The contract on Friday rose US$2.36 to settle at US$37.71.

The dollar weakened to 90.37 yen, down from 90.75. The euro traded higher at US$1.4244 from 1.4031.

On Friday in New York, Wall Street staged a modest advance after the government came to the aid of General Motors’ financing arm, but worries about dismal holiday spending capped gains.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 47.07, or 0.6 per cent, to 8,515.55, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 4.65, or 0.5 per cent, to 872.80.

US stock futures fell early today, pointing to a lower open on Wall Street. -news by AP

Authorities vs Swiftlet Farming

"Last week the enforcement officers from Forest Department and Sarawak Forestry Corporation took action against several illegal swiftlet farms in Mukah town district by removing the birds and nest giving reason that the birds should not be reared in shophouses (residential area) as their droppings were unhygienic and posed to health hazard. Besides that, the music plated on loudspeakers to attract the birds was a nuisance to others. There are 1,500 farmers who were operating illegally without the license in the state. Under the state’s Wildlife Protection Rules, swiftlet farming can only be done on agricultural land or in rural areas. The authorities have halted their operation to allow the farmers to dismantle the nests by Dec 31 " Source-The Star October 21.

Sarikei is one of the major player in swiftlet farming. Anyone who has been to our peaceful Sarikei? Every evening, the sky would be darkened with massive group of swiftlets and gradually settled down to bird houses which it varies from shophouses, abandon house or wooden house. Sarikei is offering variety of bird houses to this valuable swiftlets - their bird nests dubbed as White Gold, fetched RM 4000- RM 5000 per kg in the market.

Thus, when Forestry Department’s enforcement team took action in Mukah against the swiftlet farming, it raised lots of sentiment issues. Some are angry with the bird nests were taken and the young hatchlings dead. Nonetheless, some understand that people are concern on whether the bird nest ranching will cause avian flu (moreover with reoccurrence of EV17-Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak), and some worried that the birds’ droppings were unhygienic and posed to health problems. Needless to say, the ‘kiasu” attitude to attract the birds by paying louder music was irritating to local people here.

In this case, there are 2 major issues here, the actions took by the authorities and the swiftlet farming industry. And until the matter is settled, it is not right to say who is right or wrong. Peaceful discussion should lead to amicable solution. I’m sure that the swiftlet farming for its bird nests is a good business venture and its benefits are immeasurable. However there must be proper law and regulation, proper planning and mindset. It is not about blaming the authorities and trying to sympathise with the affected. It is about resolving the concerns of the community and in most cases the majority in the community. What is your say?

Step in crime against Penan Girls..

About three weeks ago, a media release by non-governmental organization Bruno Manser Foundation (BMF) brought to light a long-held concern of the sexual abuse of Penan women. The Swiss group charged that workers from two timber companies were preying on Penan women in the various settlements within the companies’ operation areas, and targeting female students who relied on the companies’ transportation service to get to school. Students from middle Baram are boarders in secondary schools in the interior towns of Long Lama dan Long San, which could take up to a week to travel on foot from their villages.

According the media report, a visit to several villages reveals that prevalence of sexual abuse since the advent of commercial logging. Village leaders who readily air their grouses of hardship brought by logging are hesitant to talk about the sexual exploitation by workers from nearby logging camps.

The following are the quotes uttered sadly from the vulnerable Penan elders:

“We complained to the camp manager. He assured us that they would take action against their men but we’re still suffering”

“They become bold after several drinks and will coax our boys to bring them to houses with young women or girls, or they bring along instant noodles and persuade the victims to cook them a meal on the pretext that they have not had dinner. They then hang around and wait for chance to strike after other occupants of the house turn in for the night”

“If we don’t send our children to school, we are blamed. But providing them transportation is beyond our ability. We are at the mercy of the timber companies. We have to beg them to ferry our children to the secondary schools which are far away”

In response to the issue of the sexual crimes against young Penan girls which has been in the news of late, readers like me are left infuriated. I couldn’t agree more with those calling the relevant ministries, NGO and the public to take immediate action. The situation has become intolerable and should not be allowed to be swept under the carpet any longer.

Horrifying that such incidents have been taken place since 1996 and far worse they claimed that their complaints to the authorities have taken on deaf ears.

The Penan community are helpless and now with their way of life taken away from them as their daughters, sisters and closest people are being sexually abused. They have feelings and they have the right to be safe from harm and be treated with dignity.

I hope the relevant ministries, NGO and the public will take appropriate action to protect the interests of this vulnerable people group in Sarawak.

Bear in mind, act now or be forever guilty in our moral blunder..