Umno made profits by selling Malay kampungs

BAYAN BARU: Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng told a Malay crowd in Bayan Baru yesterday that it is Umno Penang leaders who bought and sold their land.

Lim said Umno had slandered the DAP and Penang government, by saying the party had purchased land in Balik Pulau, whatever the cost, to "chase out the Malays".

THE UNHAPPINESS IN SABAH AND SARAWAK

There are not really that many issues to resolve — immigration, crime, oil royalty, autonomy, federalisation, and the 18-/20-Point Agreements. On the side, of course, are the Bible and Allah issues, which is not a Sabah/Sarawak problem but being exploited by the opposition as if they are.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

The last Umno General Assembly can be said to have sent out mixed signals. Instead of replying to the many questions that people may have about what to expect in the run-up to the next general election expected in 2-3 years from now, it raised more questions than it answered. If people had followed the Umno general assembly with the hope of becoming enlightened, then they were disappointed because, instead, the reverse happened: they became more confused.

AirAsia planes in fresh incidents in Thailand and Philippines

A photo of AirAsia flight Z2272 which had overshot the runway at
Kalibo airport in Boracay island this evening. The photo is from
the Twitter account of Filipino journalist Jet Damazo-Santos.
 – Twitter pic, December 30, 2014. -

An AirAsia flight bound for northeast Thailand turned back to the capital Bangkok shortly after takeoff today when pilots detected an "irregularity" in the storage compartment, airline officials said.

Just hours later, another AirAsia jet – this time in the Philippines – skidded off the runway on arrival at a popular resort island, causing no injuries but shutting the small airport, the airline and police confirmed.

Bodies retrieved in QZ8501 search, full-on search tomorrow

 An Indonesian warship has recovered more than 40 bodies from the Java Sea today in the search for AirAsia flight QZ8501, a navy spokesman told AFP.

"Based on the navy radio, it has been reported that the warship Bung Tomo has retrieved 40 bodies and the number is growing. They are very busy now," Manahan Simorangkir said.

The number of bodies retrieved was corrected later this evening by Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) chief Bambang Soelistyo, who said that only three bodies had been recovered so far.

Sabah groups list 6-point action plan to tackle illegal immigrant problem

With no action forthcoming on foreigners with illegal citizenship in Sabah even after the release of an inquiry commission report, a group of political parties and non-governmental organisations in the state have put up a list of demands for the authorities to fulfil next year.

Among the demands is for a thorough clean up by the Election Commission of the state's electoral roll to weed out unqualified "voters", the group, made up of 21 non-governmental organisations and three political parties, said.

The parties are the Sabah State Reform Party (STAR), Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) and Parti Cinta Sabah (PCS).

Malaysia, an IS in the Making if the Malaysian Mess Not Resolved Soon - Dr. Jeffrey

Kota Kinabalu:  “Sabahans and Sarawakians need to unite and assert themselves to reclaim Sabah and Sarawak rights and to untangle themselves from the on-going “Malaysian Mess” which is getting messier with serious repercussions” said Datuk Dr. Jeffrey Kitingan, UBF Chairman in his keynote address on the 4th anniversary celebration of UBF held on Sunday in Keningau.

According to Dr. Jeffrey, while parts of Malaya are submerged in the raging floods, Malaysia is now submerged in a sea of Messes, comprising, Political, Economy, Corruption and Financial, Socio-cultural, Constitutional and Administrative, Lawlessness and Anarchy, Security and the pressing Borneo/Sabah Mess.

Najib told to sack half of his ministers

KUALA LUMPUR: The Federal Cabinet has proven to be a disaster, a popular blogger and Umno critic has declared.

In his latest blog entry, Shahbudin Husin notes that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has had to order holidaying ministers to return immediately to take part in handling the crisis brought on by heavy flooding in the East Coast.

They should have been sensitive enough to cut short their overseas vacation at the first sign of a crisis and without having to be told, he says.

AirAsia Flight QZ8501 with 162 on board goes missing on way to Singapore

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Airline CEO: Unknown if weather was an issue, but pilot asked to fly higher
• Plane went missing over heavily traveled shipping channel, officials say
• 162 people are on board missing flight, including 18 children
• Search operation halted for the night, but big ships won't return to shore

(CNN) -- An AirAsia passenger jet carrying 162 people lost contact with Indonesian air traffic control early Sunday, gripping Southeast Asia with a second missing plane crisis in less than a year.

The search operation for the missing AirAsia Flight QZ8501 has been halted for the night, but big ships won't return to shore and will leave their searchlights on, according to the Indonesian Transportation Ministry.

Before communication was lost, one of the pilots asked to fly at a higher altitude because of bad weather, officials said.

Right to greet all on Christmas Day, says assistant minister

Daud (front row, fourth right) taking a photo with Wilfred (front row, second right) and his family during Christmas open house.

KUCHING: Sending Christmas greetings to the Christian community is not wrong as long as it is not in conflict with Islamic law.

“We can still visit each other to enhance relationship among the multi-races,” said Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister’s Office (Islamic Affairs) Datuk Daud Abdul Rahman at the Christmas open house of PBB (Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu) Ranting Kampung Sagah secretary Wilfred Benjamin in Jalan Singai, Bau, on Thursday.

Non-Departing Foreigners Given ICs

Kota Kinabalu:    “Reading between the lines, the RCI Report infers that the 229,484 non-departing Indonesians between 1996 and 2000 were given ICs dubiously along with 11,741 Filipinos.   Although there were no figures given for Pakistanis, Indians and other nationalities, it would not be surprising if these non-departing foreigners were also issued ICs dubiously” said Datuk Dr. Jeffrey Kitingan, STAR Sabah Chief, commenting on the missing Indonesians and Filipinos that came into Sabah officially but with no records of their departure.