Karpal Singh dies in road accident

Malaysia has lost a great statesman, a true patriot, a fighter for the people.
Farewell, Tiger of Jelutong.
Rest in peace.

Bukit Gelugor MP Karpal Singh died in a car accident on the North-South Expressway this morning near Gua Tempurung, Kampar in Perak.

Kampar police chief Superintendent Ng Kong Soon confirmed that Karpal died in a road accident at KM306.1 of the North-South Expressway near Gua Tempurung at 12.40 am today.

Karpal, who would have turned 74 in June, was believed to be travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Penang to attend a court hearing scheduled for this morning. Continue reading: The MalaysianInsider


From Malasiakini:
Veteran opposition MP and lawyer Karpal Singh was killed in an accident near Gopeng in Perak this morning.

His long-time personal assistant Michael Cornelius Selvam Vellu, 39, was also killed.

Karpal's son Ram Karpal and the driver were also injured in the accident which occurred at 1.10am near 301.6km northbound marker along the the North-South Highway.

Malaysiakini learnt that Karpal and his son, who is also a lawyer, were heading north for a court case later today.

Photos taken at the scene of the accident - near Gua Tempurung
in Kampar - show the white Toyota Alphard badly damaged. Continue reading: Malaysiakini



Update on April 23:

The late YB Karpal Singh's family says "Thank you"..

Home with a View

A colleague and her husband just invested in an apartment in Penang. She said they intend to be living in Penang when they retire. I can imagine the kind of view they'd be enjoying since their apartment is facing the Andaman Sea.

Talk about Penang, I'm just so glad that Lim Guan Eng suggested a change of name of the IJM Promenade to Karpal Singh Drive to honour a deserving Malaysian, Karpal Singh, Tiger of Jelutong, who passed away in the early morning of April 17 in an auto accident. Persiaran Karpal Singh is the Malay equivalent. His funeral is today just as we speak.

And speaking of Penang and property with a view, if you are in the US and are looking for a home with a view, I just found a site for bal harbour real estate which may interest you. Check it out!

Pakatan Rakyat Rally at Dataran PJ - Live Updates

From The Star about the Pakatan rally held today at Dataran PJ..

PETALING JAYA: People are gathering in big numbers at Dataran PJ for Pakatan Rakyat's rally Saturday.

The rally is among several organised by the opposition to protest the results of the May 5 general election.

Police have warned that the rally is illegal as they have not received the 10-day notice as required by law under the Peaceful Assembly Act.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has said that those that do not adhere to the act will "pay a heavy price" for their offence.

The crowd, mostly clad in black, started to arrive as early as 4.00pm. The event proper started at 5.00pm with speeches from representatives of student groups and non-governmental organisations.

You can get live updates from The Star.. the latest being

7.00pm: The crowd has been at its best behaviour thus far, sitting down on the field to hear the speeches. Traders continue to do brisk business selling drinks and knick-knacks.

Penang deputy chief minister Rashid Hasnor tells the crowd to continue supporting Pakatan Rakyat in the next election.

Malaysia's New Cabinet

After the controversial win at the recently-held General Election, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced his new Cabinet line-up on Wednesday saying that it was a balanced Cabinet made up of ministers who were a mix of the experienced, technocrats and the young. He retained Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as his deputy. The new Cabinet will be sworn in at 3pm on Thursday.

The new line-up of Ministers and Deputy Ministers are:

Prime Minister: Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak

Deputy Prime Minister: Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin

1. Prime Minister's Department:

Ministers:
Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom
Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar (to be appointed senator)
Datuk Seri Idris Jala (to be appointed senator)
Tan Sri Joseph Kurup
Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim
Nancy Shukri
Datuk Joseph Entulu Belaun
Datuk Paul Low Seng Kuan (to be appointed senator)

Deputy Ministers:
Datuk Razali Ibrahim
P. Waythamoorthy (to be appointed senator)

2. Finance Ministry:
Minister I: Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak
Minister II: Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah
Deputy Minister: Datuk Ahmad Maslan

3. Education Ministry:
Minister I: Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin
Minister II Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh
Deputy Minister I: Datuk Mary Yap
Deputy Minister II: P. Kamalanathan

4. Home Affairs Ministry:
Minister: Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi
Deputy Minister: Datuk Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar

5. Communication and Multimedia Ministry:
Minister: Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek
Deputy Minister: Datuk Jailani Johari

6. International Trade and Industry Ministry:
Minister: Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed
Deputy Minister: Hamim Samuri

7. Natural Resources and Environment Ministry:
Minister: Datuk Seri G. Palanivel
Deputy Minister: Datuk James Dawos Mamit

8. Transport Ministry:
Minister: Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein (acting)
Deputy Minister: Datuk Aziz Kaprawi

9. Tourism and Culture Ministry:
Minister: Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz
Deputy Minister: Datuk Joseph Salang

10. Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Ministry:
Minister: Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob
Deputy Minister: Datuk Tajuddin Abdul Rahman

11. Defence Ministry:
Minister: Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein
Deputy Minister: Datuk Abdul Rahim Bakri

12. Works Ministry:
Minister: Datuk Fadillah Yusof
Deputy Minister: Datuk Rosnah Abdul Rashid Shirlin

13. Health Ministry:
Minister: Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam
Deputy Minister: Datuk Seri Dr Hilmi Yahaya

14. Youth and Sports Ministry:
Minister: Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar
Deputy Minister: Datuk M. Saravanan

15. Human Resources Ministry:
Minister: Datuk Richard Riot
Deputy Minister: Datuk Ismail Abdul Muttalib

16. Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry:
Minister: Datuk Hasan Malek
Deputy Minister: Datuk Ahmad Bashah Md Hanipah (to be appointed senator)

17. Women, Family and Community Development Ministry:
Minister: Datuk Rohani Abdul Karim
Deputy Minister: Datuk Azizah Mohd Dun

18. Foreign Affairs Ministry:
Minister: Datuk Seri Anifah Aman
Deputy Minister: Datuk Hamzah Zainuddin

19. Urban Well-being, Housing and Local Government Ministry:
Minister: Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahalan
Deputy Minister: Datuk Halimah Sadique

20. Plantation Industries and Commodities Ministry:
Minister: Datuk Seri Douglas Uggah Embas
Deputy Minister: Datuk Noriah Kasnon

21. Rural and Regional Development Ministry:
Minister: Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal
Deputy Minister: Datuk Alexander Nanta Linggi

22. Federal Territories Ministry:
Minister: Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor
Deputy Minister: Datuk Dr J. Loga Bala Mohan

23. Energy, Green Technology and Water Ministry:
Minister: Datuk Seri Maximus Ongkili
Deputy Minister: Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid

24. Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry:
Minister: Datuk Dr Ewon Ebin
Deputy Minister: Datuk Dr Abu Bakar Mohamad Diah

Number of Ministries: 24

Number of Ministers: 30

Number of Deputy Ministers: 27

Total: 57


Source: The Star..Malaysia’s new Cabinet

From The Malaysian Insider..

Anwar to be PM, even from jail

Interesting article today. Read on..

The Star reported that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim will be Prime Minister if Pakatan Rakyat forms the next government, says DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng. This was said in response to MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek’s question of who is going to be Prime Minister should Pakatan Rakyat win the general election.

“The answer is obvious. It is very clear that it will be Anwar as decided by all three parties,” Lim said after presenting RM100,000 to the Kong Hock Keong board of trustees chairman Datuk Lam Wu Chong for the restoration of the Goddess of Mercy temple on Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling.

When asked what would happen if Anwar were to be jailed, Lim said he would still be Prime Minister, citing Turkey as an example.

“Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan couldn’t contest because he was in jail.

“But when they won, they allowed him to contest and he became Prime Minister,” said Lim, who is also Penang chief minister.


Meanwhile in a separate article, Pahang DAP vice-chairman J. Simmathri has called on the Pahang government to issue permanent land titles to residents who had been living on TOL land for the past 40 years.

He said that about 70% of the TOL holders were vegetable farmers.

Also, Penang Deputy Chief Minister II Dr P. Ramasamy had said that new Tamil schools will be built if Pakatan Rakyat takes control of the government.

Currently, there are only 523 Tamil schools in this country compared with 1,500 Tamil schools in the early 1960s.

A peek into Malaysian politics

Dr M: Preserve Malay rights in IDR

JOHOR BARU: The New Economic Policy is still relevant as the rights of the Malays need to be preserved, especially in the Iskandar Development Region, said Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

The former prime minister expressed worries that Malays would not be able to compete in the region if it was totally opened up to foreigners.

“We are not asking for the rights of other races or even bear ill feelings against other races but only asking that our elected representatives save the Malays,” he said, reminding the Malays to also be proud of their fellow countrymen from other races who succeed such as Tan Sri Robert Kuok Hock Nien and Ananda Krishnan.

Dr Mahathir also warned that if the opportunities for the Chinese dwindled in the country, they would move to another country.

Source..The Star, Fri., March 30 '07