Malaysia Update

KLANG: The police must get tough with the Mat Rempit, Women, Fa mily and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shah rizat Abdul Jalil said.

She said the authorities had in the past taken the soft approach to help these youths by carrying out studies to understand them.


Fun time: Shahrizat playing with children of Tadika Perpaduan Taman Sri Menegun in Klang yesterday after attending a community function. — Bernama
Now the kid gloves must come off when and the Mat Rempit menace duly dealt with, Shahrizat said.

“There should not be any compromise in dealing with them. They say they become Mat Rempit because they are bored. Why break the law just because you are bored?” she said.

A government-instituted research revealed that 48% of the youths polled said they became Mat Rempit out of boredom.

Shahrizat also questioned the role of the youths’ family members in ensuring that their children did not resort to becoming Mat Rempit.

“Where are their parents? Parents should not wash their hands of the children and hope the authorities would deal with them,” she said.

Shahrizat, who slammed the violent actions of the Mat Rempit youths, said parents must play a pivotal role in making sure their children did resort to anti-social and unlawful activities.

“Do not take the law in your hands,” Shahrizat told a press conference after attending a community programme at Taman Sri Menegun here yesterday.

She added the Mat Rempit menace had evolved into a serious social ill as they were now involved in crimes such as robbery, rape and molestation.

They have even taken to harassing disabled people, said a visibly angry Shahrizat, referring to the case of a deaf-mute woman who was assaulted and robbed by Mat Rempit last week. The matter was highlighted in The Star yesterday.

In the incident, a group of Mat Rempit had surrounded the 23-year-old at a petrol kiosk and had slapped and kicked the victim before robbing her of her handbag. The presence of other patrons and kiosk employees did not deter the Mat Rempit.

On another matter, Shahrizat said her ministry was seriously re-examining the methods of dispensing aid to the needy.

She said some did not have bank accounts while there were also those who were not able to collect the money on their own and did not have anyone to help them.

THE move to liberalise the 27 services sub-sectors and the plan to do likewise for the financial services industry are set to boost the ringgit, possibly helping it to test the 3.56 level against the US dollar next week.

For the week just ended, the ringgit touched the 3.5800/5850 level against the US dollar from 3.6140/6190 last Friday, showing an increase of 1.6 per cent.

Dealers said that if the local currency managed to hit the 3.56 level, it may be able to hold the strong momentum in the near term.

"The good news boosted the market and spurred commercial demand, with expectation of more inflow funds coming into the country," a dealer said, adding that local bourse strong performance would continue to provide support.

The benchmark Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) was higher by 1.44 per cent, or 14.04 points, to close the day at 992.68 on Friday. In the morning the key index had opened 3.45 points higher at 982.09.

"The ringgit will continue to move in tandem with the Bursa Malaysia performance, which is expected to open higher next week," another dealer said.

During the week, the ringgit was mostly lower against the US dollar as the local unit came under pressure from the inflation data for March 2009 released on Wednesday which showed a rise of 3.5 per cent year-on-year.

The ringgit strengthened against the Singapore dollar at 2.4004/4060 from last Friday's 2.4055/4112 but was weaker against the Japanese yen at 3.6900/6963 from 3.6406/6467 previously.

The local currency moved up against the British pound at 5.2365/2449 from 5.3476/3568 last Friday but declined against the euro at 4.7424/7505 from 4.7253/7329 previously.

PETALING JAYA: The Health Ministry is fully prepared to deal with any spread of the swine flu and has placed its officers at all travel entry points in Malaysia to screen travellers suspected of the illness.

“Our machinery is ready to handle this outbreak,” said its minister, Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.

The officers, he said, would be at airports, sea ports and land entry points.

“Since the virus spreads from human to human, we are placed on high alert.”

Even if there was no direct flight from Mexico, passengers originating from there would also be screened, he said.

The ministry’s operations room in Putrajaya has started a 24-hour monitoring of the situation. The public can call 03-8881 0200/300 for enquiries.

He urged doctors to be on alert and has made it compulsory for them to notify the ministry of all influenza cases.

Liow said pork in the country was safe to be consumed, explaining that Malaysia did not import the meat from Mexico.

On Thursday, the World Health Organisation (WHO) reported 854 cases of severe atypical pneumonia that resulted in 59 deaths in Mexico.

The situation is now considered a public health emergency of international concern.

In the United States, at least 10 people have tested positive for the virus which causes symptoms such as fever, cough, body aches and breathing difficulties.

Since the SARS outbreak in 2003, the ministry had come up with strategic plans to battle any similar outbreak.

“We also keep in constant contact with WHO to find out the latest update,” Liow said.

According to WHO, there are now currently no directives on health, travel and trade sanctions that countries have to adhere to.



Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Ismail Merican said those returning from Latin American countries and found to have flu-like symptoms would be quarantined.

“So far, no cases have been reported to the ministry and there is no cause for panic,” he said.

“The public will be informed from time to time on updates about the outbreak,” he said.

Dr Ismail also said that he would discuss with the Veterinary Services Department today on precautionary measures that needed to be taken.

In KOTA KINABALU, Deputy Health Minister Datuk Rosnah Rashid Shirlin said that health authorities would keep a close watch on visitors arriving from Latin American countries.

Both immigration and customs officers at entry points would assist the ministry, she said, adding that her ministry would also advise Malaysians not to travel to the affected countries.

MEXICO CITY: Governments around the world rushed yesterday to check the spread of a new type of swine flu that has killed up to 81 people in Mexico and infected around a dozen in the United States.

Mexicans huddled inside their homes while US hospitals tracked patients with flu symptoms and other countries imposed health checks at airports as the World Health Organisation warned the virus had the potential to become a pandemic.

Announced on Friday, the outbreak has snowballed into a monster headache for the country, already grappling with a violent drug war and economic slowdown, and has quickly become one of the biggest global health scares in years.

In New Zealand, 10 pupils from an Auckland school that had just returned from Mexico were being treated for influenza symptoms in what health authorities said was a likely case of swine flu.

"We are monitoring minute by minute the evolution of this problem across the whole country," President Felipe Calderon said as health officials counted suspected infections in six states from the tropical south to the northern border.
The flu is spreading in the United States. Eleven cases were confirmed in California, Kansas and Texas, and eight schoolchildren in New York City caught a type A influenza virus that health officials say is likely to be the swine flu.

The new flu strain, a mixture of various swine, bird and human viruses, poses the biggest risk of a large-scale pandemic since avian flu surfaced in 1997, killing several hundred people.

A 1968 "Hong Kong" flu pandemic killed about one million people globally.

New flu strains can spread quickly because no one has natural immunity and a vaccine takes months to develop.

Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova said the swine flu had killed at least 20 and possibly as many as 81 people in Mexico, and more than 1,300 people were being tested for suspected infection.

Most of the dead were aged 25 to 45, a worrying sign because a hallmark of past pandemics has been high fatalities among healthy young adults.

In the crowded capital of 20 million people, museums were closed and public events scrapped, from concerts to a running race.

People hoarded bottled water and canned food, churchgoers were told to stay home and follow Sunday services on television and bewildered tourists were made to wear surgical face masks.

Trendy districts were quiet on Saturday night as authorities closed 70 per cent of nightclubs, along with stadiums and movie theatres. At least one open bar stationed medics at its doors to check clients' throats and take their temperatures.

All schools in the city, Mexico State and San Luis Potosi are to be closed until May 6 and some companies planned to have employees work from home.