KUALA LUMPUR: MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu yesterday denied the party had sought a senatorship or a cabinet appointment for him.However, he said, there was grassroots dissatisfaction over MIC representation in the cabinet and this would be discussed at the party's central working committee meeting on Thursday.
Samy Vellu described an online news item which stated that the party wanted to pull out its representatives in the government because he had not been appointed a minister as "utter nonsense and very mischievous".
The news portal quoted unnamed sources as saying the MIC would discuss a move to withdraw the minister and two deputy ministers from the government as a protest over the lack of importance accorded to the Indian community in the cabinet. More
Samy Vellu: I didn't seek cabinet job
WET DAY
WET DAY...Songkran new year revellers in Sungai Golok having great fun dousing each other with water yesterday. However, Thais are aware that tourism in Thailand will be hit badly as stroops and demonstrators swapped gunfire and firebombs this week. Around 80 per cent of tourists have checked out and more are expected to leave after Songkran -NST Pix by Fathil Asri
Embassy: Stay away from Bangkok
BANGKOK: Malaysians have been advised to consider cancelling any plan to visit Bangkok, in view of the escalating tension between the government and supporters of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.The Malaysian embassy here said Malaysians should stay away from the Thai capital and five other provinces, which are under a state of emergency, unless absolutely necessary.
The advice comes as Thai Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban announced that police and soldiers, deployed to more than 50 areas, have been given the go-ahead to use force.
An embassy official advised Malaysian tourists in Bangkok to exercise caution and keep themselves abreast of the latest developments by following news updates on television and to contact the embassy, if necessary.
He said the embassy, at Sathorn Road, would set up a 24-hour operations room and hotline number to monitor the situation and provide advice to Malaysians in the country.
Protesters clash with soldiers at Bangkok junction
BANGKOK (AP) - Anti-government demonstrators had their first serious clash with security forces in Bangkok early Monday, as soldiers fired hundreds of rounds from automatic weapons to clear a major road junction of rock-throwing protesters. At least 49 people were hurt. The pre-dawn fighting occurred after a day of chaos in which the country's ousted prime minister called for a revolution after the government declared a state of emergency. Many streets in the capital were controlled Sunday night by the protesters, who had earlier commandeered public buses and swarmed triumphantly over military vehicles in unchecked defiance. More
ALTANTUYA MURDER TRIAL It's D-Day for Azilah and Sirul
KUALA LUMPUR: They were always in the background, the core of the security unit in charge of the safety of VVIPs.
But all that changed for Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar from the Special Action Squad three years ago.Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri (top) are charged with the murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu
They were thrust into the limelight, charged with the murder of Mongolian woman Altantuya Shaariibuu.
And even then, the two police commandos, were always in the background, this time with help from fellow officers who escorted them from the Sungai Buloh prison to the Shah Alam High Court.
Umno may give up four posts
KUALA LUMPUR: Umno will lead the way by giving up three or four ministerial posts in the new slimmer Cabinet to be unveiled at 3pm today. Party sources said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had spent the last five days juggling names and positions to take into consideration the requests and views from various Barisan Nasional component parties. “However, his biggest headache has been the Umno list. Najib will be breaking with convention with this new line-up. More Story
PM: No arbitrary use of ISA
PUTRAJAYA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said his administration would not use the Internal Security Act (ISA) arbitrarily but would give importance to human rights and civil liberties. He said the ISA was undergoing a review to ensure that it incorporates several provisions that upholds these principles. “Several provisions (of the ISA) will reflect our (the Government’s) intention to uphold civil liberties and establish checks and balance so that the ISA is not used arbitrarily or according to the whims of the authorities without regard for the fundamental rights and civil liberties of the people of Malaysia,” he told a group of journalists from Indo nesia yesterday at his office here. The journalists, who had arrived to attend the Malaysian Press Awards event of the Malaysian Press Institute in Kuala Lumpur on Monday night, were the first group of foreign journalists to interview Najib after his elevation as Prime Minister last Friday. Najib said his decision to release 13 ISA detainees recently was a government gesture that gave importance to the fundamental rights and civil liberties in a modern, mature and civilised society. At the interview, Najib was asked about his style of administration, Malaysia-Indo nesia bilateral relations, regional security, press freedom in Malaysia and the role of the two prime ministers before him, among other things. Touching on the philosophy behind the “One Malaysia. People First. Performance Now” concept, which he announced soon after becoming the Prime Minister, Najib said it was “the overarching philosophy” behind the administration he helmed. He explained that it emphasised what should be done from now to spur the nation towards realising the objectives and vision set by the two prime ministers before him, which were to enable the people achieve “excellence, glory and distinction” and realise Vision 2020 to become a developed nation. Najib also said he wanted to be the prime minister for all of the people and he would be fair, that he would not want to be seen as favouring any ethnic group. Touching on freedom in a democratic system, Najib said Malaysia was liberal and practised freedom with responsibility
