HELP University awards honorary doctorate to Kim Jong-Un

HELP University Malaysia has awarded an honorary doctorate in Economics to North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-Un.

News of the conferment turned viral after a blog entry on Tuesday by ForeignPolicy.com detailing the award, started circulating on social media.

The blog quoted a Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) article that reported on a ceremony conveying the certificate.

The simple ceremony was held on Oct 3 in the DPR Korean (North Korean) embassy in Kuala Lumpur and was attended by 35 invitees including the HELP University president Datuk Dr Paul Chan and the North Korean ambassador to Malaysia, who received the honour on Kim's behalf.

It was also mentioned that Kim Jong Un was the first foreign head of state to receive the honorary degree from the university.

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Winners and losers in the Altantuya saga

Altantuya Shaariibuu, the former Mongolian model whose life was ended brutally in Malaysia, but no one faces justice for the crime. August 24, 2013.


The murder of Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu has had more twists and turns than a drive up Cameron Highlands, the latest being Friday's acquittal of policemen Azilah Hadri and Sirul Azhar Umar.

This has never been a simple criminal case, and today, The Malaysian Insider looks at those who have had their reputations hammered by the case and those who have been let off easy.



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ALTANTUYA MURDER CHARGE: Two ex-policemen acquitted by Court of Appeal

In this Feb 4, 2009 archive picture, Koperal Sirul Azhar Umar (second from right) and Chief Inspektor Azilah Hadri (left) being led out of Shah Alam High Court



Two former Bukit Aman Special Forces Unit officers today succeeded in their appeal against their conviction for the murder of Mongolian national Altantuyaa Shaariibuu seven years ago.

A three member bench led by Datuk Seri Mohamed Apandi Ali allowed the appeal in the Court of Appeal here this morning.

First appellant Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri's fiancee of seven years, Norazila Baharudin, 35, was in tears when she heard the verdict.

"For seven years, we have been through so much. It is not easy for one to stay in prison," she said when met outside the court today.

Smiling while wiping away tears, Norazila, who is an operation manager at a construction firm, said she is extremely grateful to the hard work and effort put in by her fiancee's counsel Datuk Hazman Ahmad.

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Pakatan MPs demand A-G explain after ex-cops walk from Altantuya murder

Surendran ( R )said that despite Altantuya’s death over six years ago, no one has been brought to book for the murder. Gobind ( L ) said the Attorney-General must explain why it failed to call material witnesses in support of its case.


The Attorney-General must explain how his prosecutors allowed two former police commandos to go free for the murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu after the Court of Appeal today reversed the 2009 conviction, Pakatan Rakyat lawmakers demanded.

The Court of Appeal overturned Azilah Hadri and Sirul Azhar Umar’s 2009 conviction of the high-profile murder of the Mongolian woman, reportedly ruling that there was a misdirection by the High Court judge in the trial then.

The DAP’s Gobind Singh Deo said Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail must now answer for the prosecution team’s failure to ensure a safe conviction.

“The A-G must explain why is it they failed to call material witnesses in support of their case in this prosecution,” Puchong MP said.

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Azilah, Sirul freed of Altantuya murder charge

Sirul Azhar's lawyer, Kamarul Hisham Kamaruddin, speaking to the media outside the court. The Malaysian Insider pic by Nazir Sufari, August 23, 2013.

Two former police commandos were freed today after the Court of Appeal allowed their appeal and overturned their conviction for the 2006 murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu (pic).

A three-member bench comprising judges Datuk Seri Mohamed Apandi Ali, Datuk Linton Albert and Datuk Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat made the unanimous decision to allow the appeal by former chief inspector Azilah Hadri and former corporal Sirul Azhar Umar.

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Ahmad Zahid defamation suit against Rafizi struck off by High Court

Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi withdrew his defamation suit against opposition lawmaker Rafizi Ramli (pic) after the latter made an open declaration in court that he was satisfied with Zahid's (pic) explanation that he played no role in Boustead Holdings Berhad's transactions to acquire shares in Astacanggih Sdn Bhd and development land parcels from Awan Megah Sdn Bhd.

Rafizi, in the presence of Ahmad Zahid in court today, also stated that he was therefore withdrawing the wrongful statements on the issue of the home minister's involvement, which he had made in his blog on December 29.

Astacanggih is owned by controversial carpet dealer Deepak Jaikishan while Awan Megah is linked to Umno politician Datuk Raja Ropiah Abdullah.

Previously, Astacanggih had sued Awan Megah for breach of contract, with Deepak claiming his company had in May 2007 entered into an agreement with Awan Megah to acquire government land that was awarded to them.

Awan Megah was awarded the land and a cash consideration in exchange for developing a defence education centre called Pusat Pengajian Pertahanan Nasional (Puspahanas) in Putrajaya.

The project is currently stalled.

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DAP gives Utusan Malaysia 48 hours to answer letter of demand

DAP national legal head Gobind Singh Deo (pic) has given Umno-controlled daily Utusan Malaysia 48 hours to respond to a letter of demand over two defamatory articles.

The two articles headlined "At last the drama has ended" and "Kit Siang manipulated CEC elections?", were dated August 17 and 18.

The first article quoted the Equity Report said to be written by a Father Augustus Chen, while the other report was that DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang had manipulated the party polls last December.

"The article quoting the Equity Report had no verification. Editor Zulkifli Jalil and reporter Kasthuri Jeevendran as well as Utusan Malaysia, have to answer all the allegations," Gobind said at the party's headquarters in Kuala Lumpur today.

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Pak Lah in ‘Awakening’ anger at Dr M

After years of “elegant silence”, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is now firing back at his number one critic and former boss Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, accusing his predecessor of leading the “unwarranted attacks” that led to his eventual ouster.

Although handpicked by Dr Mahathir to be his successor, Abdullah later came under relentless attack from the nation’s longest-serving prime minister and ultimately was forced to relinquish his presidency of Umno and position as prime minister to Datuk Seri Najib Razak in April 2009, after leading Barisan Nasional (BN) to its then-worst electoral showing in Election 2008.

“I didn’t like what Mahathir did. I gave Mahathir the opportunity to give me his views. I went to see him but he chose to be public in his attacks against me and my administration,” read an excerpt of his book Awakening reproduced by Malaysiakini today.

“Mahathir cannot deny that he contributed to the erosion of BN’s support in the 2008 general election through his open and unwarranted criticism and attacks.

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LKY doubt Pakatan can rule Malaysia - Time for Kuan Yew to ‘ride into the sunset’, says Karpal

Karpal Singh hit out at Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew today for doubting Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) ability to lead Malaysia, saying it was time for the elderly former prime minister to give up the reins of leadership and “quietly ride into the sunset”.

Commenting on Lee’s recently released book “One Man’s View of the World”, the DAP chairman and Bukit Gelugor MP said Lee had every right to give his views but the Singaporean politician should first look at his own party.

“His comment that Pakatan Rakyat (PR) will not effectively govern the country had it been successful in winning over federal power is without any basis,” the DAP national chairman said in a press conference here.

Karpal said even though PR has only 89 representatives in Parliament but they are of better quality than the Cabinet under Barisan Nasional.

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Najib Politic Dilemma in UMNO

He has been in the toxic world of politics from the age of 23; seen three deputy prime ministers being hounded out of office and watched from the sidelines as one prime minister was harassed and harried and forced to step down in 2009.

He has had a front-row seat as a serial offender schemed and plotted the end of Tun Musa Hitam, Tun Ghafar Baba, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and his biggest scalp, Tun Abdullah Badawi.

So, it is understandable for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to be nervous about the looming presence of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad (pic), to be uncomfortable about the former PM's caustic comments about him being indecisive, too accommodating to non-Malays and too weak to lead Umno and Barisan Nasional back to redemption five years down the road.

At a recent gathering before Dr Mahathir's fan club, the Kelab Chedet, the former prime minister was not quite charitable in his assessment of Najib. Also, during an overseas holiday with a prominent businessman, he noted that Najib had practically thrown everything at the voters but still could not deliver the BN gold standard of a two-thirds majority in Parliament.

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Racial policies enforced Malaysia’s brain drain, admit BN leaders

Senior Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders admitted today that race-based policies had contributed to Malaysia’s brain drain problem, which the country needs to plug if it is to join the ranks of high-income nations by 2020.

They were responding to former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew’s remarks in his new book that Malaysia’s acute loss of talent was due to Putrajaya’s insistence on promoting “one race” above all others.

MCA deputy president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said that the rise of “Ketuanan Melayu” or Malay supremacy had previously caused local talents to quit the country.

“I will say in the past the issue of Ketuanan Melayu in fact caused some migration of people from the country but we want to emphasise that Malaysia is a multiracial country and we preserve harmony and unity in this country.

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Nobody can tell me when to go, says Samy Vellu

Former MIC supremo Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu said no one had the right to tell him when he should have retired as party chief.

"Nobody can tell me when I (should have retired) can retire. That is my fundamental right," he said when met at the open house hosted by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and cabinet ministers today.

The media today reported excerpts from former prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's upcoming book, 'Awakening: The Abdullah Badawi Years in Malaysia', that Samy Vellu was asked to retire as MIC president, about a year before the 2008 General Election but he had flatly refused.

Asked to comment on his son, MIC strategic director Vell Paari's political future, Samy Vellu, who is also special envoy for infrastructure to India and South Asia, said: "My son does not consult me on anything involving politics. Our wave length is different."

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LKY: Impossible for Najib to win Chinese, Indian backing without losing Malay votes

If Malaysians counting on Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia concept to usher in a new era for race relations are being unrealistic, those counting on the opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR) to do the same are not very much less so, Lee Kuan Yew has written in his latest book.

The former Singapore prime minister said the 1Malaysia slogan had not lived up to the initial excitement it created, adding that the Malay ground had not moved with Najib’s ambitious plans to unite the different races in Malaysia.

“Prime Minister Najib proposed 1Malaysia because he wanted to win back some of the Chinese and Indian votes...But has the ground moved with him? Has there been thunderous applause from the Malays at 1Malaysia?,” Lee wrote in his book One Man’s View of the World, which was launched in the island republic last night.

Lee suggested that while Najib was ambitious in pushing for racial harmony, “but it appears political realities have conscribed his subsequent actions.”

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Karpal, Anwar to sue Umno man, Utusan, NST, TV3 over bribery claim

Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Karpal Singh said today they will sue Barisan Nasional (BN)’s Permatang Pauh candidate Dr Mazlan Ismail and three media outlets next week for defamation over corruption claims.

Karpal also denied Mazlan’s allegations that he was paid over RM50 million by Anwar as legal fees and to bribe judges and prosecutors.

“They’re ridiculous, frivolous, without any basis and made recklessly,” Karpal told reporters at the PKR headquarters here today, after lodging a police report jointly with Anwar on the matter.

“We intend to collate the necessary evidence to file actions against TV3, Utusan and New Straits Times, and of course, Mazlan himself,” added the DAP chairman.

Media Prima, which publishes the English daily New Straits Times, is owned by Umno. The ruling party also owns the Utusan Group that publishes Utusan Malaysia, a Malay-language daily. TV3 is a news network operated by Media Prima.

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Little chance of setting up new party if DAP de-registered, says RoS

If the Registrar of Societies (RoS) decides to de-register DAP, its members have been told not to harbour hopes of setting up a new party, The Star reported today.

RoS director-general Datuk Abdul Rahman Othman said they would not likely entertain requests for a new party.

“They can apply. But the right to approve is with the RoS. We did not even entertain 29 applications to set up new parties submitted over the last five years," he said.

Abdul Rahman was commenting on a plan by DAP members to set up a new party if DAP was de-registered, following complaints of election fraud in the party's central executive committee (CEC) election in December.

The director-general, when asked, said it was up to the party members to determine if the party should call for a fresh CEC election, adding that the party was now in limbo as the CEC was not recognised.

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NFCorp takes aim at news portals, MP over reports on buyout

The company responsible for the scandalised National Feedlot Centre (NFC) plans to sue news portals The Malaysian Insider and Free Malaysia Today along with lawmaker Rafizi Ramli over reports on its takeover by a Japanese-Malaysian venture.

On July 9, The Malaysian Insider reported the National Feedlot Corporation (NFCorp) operated by the spouse of Wanita Umno chief Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil will be taken over by Kirimitonas Agro Sdn Bhd but that the latter will not be assuming the former firm’s liabilities that included a RM250 million federal loan.

Yesterday, NFCorp chairman and Shahrizat’s husband Datuk Seri Dr Mohamad Salleh Ismail told a news conference that Kirimitonas Agro was putting the RM250 million debt in its books.


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Shafee’s appointment as lead prosecutor in Anwar sodomy appeal raises questions

An unprecedented move by the government to use Umno lawyer Datuk Seri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah as the lead prosecutor in the appeal against the acquittal of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in the sodomy case has raised eyebrows as this could lead to more charges of this being a politically-motivated case.

Shafee told the three-man Court of Appeal bench chaired by Datuk Ramly Ali that he was appointed by the Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail.

He is replacing former solicitor-general II Datuk Mohd Yusof Zainal Abiden who led the prosecution team in the trial stage.

Shafee, a former deputy public prosecutor before he went into private practice, told reporters that he received a letter from Abdul Gani on July 11 to lead the prosecution team.

"My appointment is in accordance with the Federal Constitution and the Criminal Procedure Code. The AG is the only person, and not even the prime minister, who can direct me on this," he said.

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Pas MP blames ‘indecent’ attire for sex crimes

Women can prevent sexual crimes by not wearing short pants and skimpy dresses.

This was the assessment by Pas’ Rantau Panjang member of parliament Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff, who said that indecent dressing had become a norm among young women here.

Addressing the Dewan Rakyat yesterday, she said this was not helped by the government’s insistence on bringing in international artistes, whom she claimed set a bad example.

“The government should consider enacting laws to prevent women from wearing indecent clothing to prevent sexual crimes.”

Siti Zailah took a swipe at women who wore short pants, labelling them indecent. She also believed that stewardesses’ uniforms were “too tight”.

Jonker Street must never be shut down, say traders

About 100 traders staged a walkabout in Jonker Street to protest the state government’s decision to shut down the famous weekend Jonker Walk.

Carrying placards written in Chinese, the group gathered at about 9pm on Sunday at a stage near the area.

They started chanting “Jonker Walk to stay forever” and “No shutting down of Jonker Walk” as they marched towards the arch near the Tamil Methodist Church for a group photograph before they continued to the Heritage Park.

One of the traders, Yeoh Kim Cheng, said the protest was to bring to the state government’s attention the predicament they faced, adding that “Jonker Street must not simply be shut down”

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Altantuya murder trial: DSP Musa should have testified

The failure to call Datuk Seri Najib Razak's aide-de-camp, Deputy Superintendent Musa Safri, constitutes a mistrial which led to the conviction of former police officers Sirul Azhar Umar and Azilah Hadri in the murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu in 2006.

Counsel Kamarul Hisham Kamaruddin, who is representing Sirul, said this was because Musa was the only person who could shed light on the numerous phone transactions between himself and Abdul Razak Baginda. Razak Baginda was then the political analyst to Najib, who was then the deputy prime minister.

In his affidavit, Razak Baginda had said there were more than 30 phone calls and text messages to Musa on Oct 19, 2006, to stop his then lover, Altantuya, from harassing his family.

Razak was initially charged with abetting in the murder of Altantuya but was later acquitted by the High Court without having his defence called.

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