Airsoft guns are fast gaining popularity in Malaysia, especially among those who enjoy tactical wargames.
Airsoft weapons are new generation BB (bird bullet) guns, a type of air-powered gun designed to shoot projectiles.
The AEG (airsoft electric gun) and accessories are sold together with other military-like gears and tactical equipment that come complete with holsters and military-like outfits including boots.
They can be easily bought online although Malaysia and many other countries, including Britain have imposed tight controls over the sales of such “toy guns” that look like the real weapons.
A check on the Internet showed that there is a My Gear Centre Facebook page and at least one blogsite Airgun AirRifles Malaysia Sport Club offering such guns for sale.
Also, there is an Airsoft Malaysia website that promotes tactical combat games with participants using airsoft rifles or pistols.
Ballistic seizure: Perak Customs director Datuk Mohd Nasir Said (second from left) showing off one of the air rifles bought by the student and seized at the Ipoh post office.
He's just 15 and still a schoolboy, but with a liking for guns. He ordered five air rifles complete with ammunition online.
But they didn't get past the post office. The secondary school student was arrested after the Ipoh post office found the five air rifles with the brass pellets that he had ordered without an import permit.
The Perak Customs Department seized the rifles worth RM2,045 with unpaid duty of RM879 on Saturday.
The post office detected the weapons after scanning the parcels, which came from a foreign country, said Perak Customs director Datuk Mohd Nasir Said.
“The boy described the contents of the parcels as toys to fool the authorities. He admitted that the parcels belonged to him when he was arrested at his home the same day,” Mohd Nasir added. He was released on bail under Section 116 of the Customs Act 1967 with investigations ongoing.
The operator of popular website www.jiwang.org (JWG), who allegedly reaped hundreds of thousands of ringgit since 1997 by offering illegally downloaded and uploaded Malay songs, was detained by an enforcement team from the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry in Kelantan recently.
The ministry's enforcement director Mohd Roslan Mahayudin said the 35-year-old man was arrested after the team raided his house in Kubang Kerian, Kota Baru, on June 11.
According to Roslan the operator had gained money from advertising services and contributions from JWG members. "He admitted earning as much as RM10,000 per month in 2006 but his earnings have now dropped to RM1,500 after competitors used the same modus operandi," Roslan told reporters in Putrajaya today.
The enforcement team also seized information and communication technology (ICT) equipment worth RM30,000. The the man has been released on police bail.
Perak Customs Department director Ab Hamid Salleh (right) showing the firecrackers and fireworks seized in Penang and Taiping yesterday.
The raids were carried out at separate locations in Penang and Taiping on July 5 and 17 respectively.
State Customs director Ab Hamid Salleh said all the seized goods, worth RM777,595.50, including unpaid duties of RM306,325.50, were believed to be for the upcoming Hari Raya Aidilfitri.
He said a team from the Pengkalan Hulu enforcement branch found banned firecrackers and fireworks in a container at the North Butterworth Container Port in Penang on July 5.
"The container was then brought to Pengkalan Hulu and checks found that the firecrackers and fireworks of various types were packed in 1,190 boxes," he said at Wisma Kastam here yesterday.
The massive legalisation and amnesty exercise for illegal immigrants, codenamed “6P”, will commence with a two-week registration drive beginning July 11.
The massive legalisation and amnesty exercise for illegal immigrants, codenamed “6P”, will commence with a two-week registration drive beginning July 11.
During this period, illegal foreign workers and their employers will be spared legal prosecution if they participate in the drive.
Announcing this, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin described the 6P programme as a “total package solution”.
“The Government has embarked on this amnesty initiative so that we will have the latest and updated list on foreign workers in the country,” he said.
“The move will also allow us to reduce the number of illegal workers,” Muhyiddin said after chairing the Cabinet committee meeting on foreign and illegal workers here yesterday.
Indonesian plumber Yadi has been plying his trade in Malaysia since 2003, part of a two million-strong migrant labour force that forms the backbone of Kuala Lumpur’s plantations and construction industries.
But now, the 30-year old wants to go home as wages rise and job opportunities open up in Jakarta, a growing trend among Indonesian workers that analysts say could produce a labour crunch and slower economic growth for Malaysia.
“I have heard a lot from friends and relatives about jobs opening up in my home country, and if I can as easily earn just slightly less in a city like Jakarta compared to what I make now, I will go back,” said Yadi, who earns RM90 ringgita day as a plumber’s assistant.
From minding babies to erecting skyscrapers, Malaysia’s economy has been supported over the last three decades by a foreign workforce drawn mainly from Indonesia, the Philippines, Bangladesh and Nepal as an industrialisation drive created a wealth of low-paying jobs shunned by locals.
French climber Alain Robert, sometimes known as 'Spiderman', has scaled the 88 story Tower Two of the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The 47 year old Frenchman has climbed many of the tallest buildings around the globe, all of them without any safety equipment.
This was the third attempt by Robert in scaling the Petronas building following two failed attempts in which he was arrested prior to reaching the top. He began his climb before dawn reaching the top of the 452 meter tower at around 07:30 local time. As he stood on top one of the two pillars helicopters flew around the skyscraper as Robert raised his arms in victory.
Robert was reported to have been detained by Malaysia police as he went back into the building on the 88th floor. Kuala Lumpur police chief Muhammad Sabtu Osman said he could be charged with criminal trespass. "He climbed the building without a permit from the management," he told the AFP news agency.
He has climbed more than 70 buildings and suffered several serious falls over the years. Amongst the buildings climbed are the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and the Taipei 101 in Taiwan. He has been arrested countless times, fined and even jailed. In 2007, after scaling the 88-storey Jin Mao Building in Shanghai, he was arrested and jailed for 5 days before being expelled from China
Before today's feat Robert told reporters, "Climbing the Petronas all the way to the top is one of my dreams."
A French climber nicknamed "Spiderman" has been fined £352 for climbing Malaysia's iconic 88-storey Petronas Towers.
Alain Robert was held in custody overnight before pleading guilty to criminal trespass in a Kuala Lumpur court.
was arrested immediately after he had scaled Tower 2 and unfurled a Malaysian flag at the 1,483ft pinnacle on the country's national day.
The 47-year-old took just over two hours to reach the top after setting off in darkness before dawn to avoid the building's security.
Magistrate Siti Shakirah Mohtaruddin let him off with a fine of RM2,000 in place of two months behind bars, over-ruling the public prosecutor's push for a harsher punishment to deter others from following in the freelancing Frenchman's footsteps.
“Taking into consideration this is the first time offending and no previous conviction, no custodial sentence is imposed,” she ruled.
