Our literacy rate is almost 95%, not 55%

Malaysia’s literacy rate stands at 94.64 percent, National Library of Malaysia director-general Nafisah Ahmad says
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s literacy rate stands at 94.64 percent, National Library of Malaysia director-general Nafisah Ahmad said today, citing a new Unesco report.

The figure is stated in the ‘Adult and Youth Literacy: National Regional and Global Trends 1985-2015’ report, published by the Unesco Institute for Statistics (UIS), which classified literacy among the world’s population, aged 15 years and above.

“The standard of measurement set by the UIS is very high. We make reference to its report to avert confusion,” she said when asked to comment on recent media reports on Malaysia’s literacy rate being only 55 percent.

However, Nafisah said the National Library is focusing on improving reading habits among Malaysians, as it is still at an unsatisfactory level.

“On average, each Malaysian only reads 15 books in a year, based on an interim study the National Library conducted in 2014.

“Our focus now is on developing a Malaysian society with an improved reading habit,” she said.

Four men detained over assault of man in front of surau

The incident is believed to have started during Friday prayer when a motorist sounded the horn of his vehicle in front of the surau

JOHOR BAHRU: Four men were detained by the police early today for investigation into an assault on a man in front of a surau in Taman Austin Perdana here yesterday.

Johor Criminal Investigation Department head Kamarul Zaman Mamat said the suspects, aged between 21 and 55, were arrested at about 1am in front of the surau under Section 147 of the Penal Code for rioting.

The incident, which had been viralled on the social media, was believed to have started during Friday prayer when a motorist sounded the horn of his vehicle in front of the surau which was congested with traffic.

Kamarul Zaman advised the public to not viral the incident or make any comments that could worsen the situation.

The man was assaulted by members of the public after allegedly honking his car in the midst of Friday prayers at the surau.

The incident, which was recorded by passers by on mobile phones, went viral on Facebook, Youtube and WhatsApp application.

Based on the videos, the driver was seen being chased by the public before he attempted to reverse his car which almost hit the people nearby and other vehicles.

There was also a man seen assaulting the driver using a traffic cone.

A witness, Muhammad Akmal Bakar, 18, said he heard the continuous sound of honking car during the prayers.

“The sound, which lasted over two or three minutes, was very loud and (that had) interrupted the prayers,” said the Form Six student who was at the surau for Friday prayers for the first time.

Muhammad Akmal said he saw several people slamming their hands on the car and chasing after the vehicle.

“The car was moving forward and back twice with speed. there were other individuals slamming the car using helmets,” he said, adding that other congregation members were also seen trying to calm down the situation.

Meanwhile, Kamarul said the 28-year-old driver, who sustained injuries in his head and body, had lodged a police report at the Setia Indah Police Station here.

“The incident was due to traffic congestion and obstruction in front of the surau which made it difficult for the driver to move. As a result, the driver honked (his car) and this had caused anger among the congregation,” he said.

The case is being investigated under Section 147 of the Penal Code.

Bernama

Where Chin Peng failed, Zakir succeeded

Chin Peng was of no interest to the Malaysian government. It was Zakir whom Putrajaya could not resist calling a very wise man.
COMMENT

While there was nothing Chin Peng, the exiled guerilla leader of Malayan Communist Party, could do to convince Malaysia that he was a changed man and yearned to spend his remaining days back in his hometown in Sitiawan, there amazingly was little scandalous preacher Zakir Naik had to do to win Putrajaya’s heart and end up as a permanent resident of this country.

Till his very last breath, Chin Peng was viewed suspiciously by Putrajaya. This while history has it that it was the Malaysian government which offered Chin Peng the olive branch, promising him a safe passage home if his party called it truce and signed a peace accord in 1989.

Ironically, while the former communist head remained earnest, it was the Malaysian government that went on to betray the peace agreement.

Chin Peng’s many efforts to return home were rejected by the Malaysian court under the pretext that he failed to prove his citizenship. This despite Chin Peng claiming that the police seized his birth certificate during a raid in 1948.

Chin Peng never made it back to Sitiawan. He died in 2013 in Thailand, aged 88, spending decades living in obscurity.

Not only did the Malaysian government not honour the peace deal, it also played retributive, turning the tables on Chin Peng, accusing him of massacring some 10,000 Malaysians during his 12-year bloody campaign to establish a communist state in the country.

In fact, the government was determined never to allow Chin Peng back home, in any form.

Such was the hatred and lack of compassion from Putrajaya that even requests from Chin Peng’s family to bring back his remains for burial in Malaysia were to be dismissed.

“We will not allow him to be buried in Malaysia because of the black history he had created. Furthermore, Chin Peng is not a citizen of Malaysia.

“He did not want to be a Malaysian, so we don’t have any ties with him at all,” PM Najib had said.

While Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein quipped that Chin Peng ‘was no loss to the country’.

Supporting Zakir akin to backing terrorism

Then DAP national chairperson, the late Karpal Singh, however believed it was only humane that Chin Peng be ‘allowed” home, even after his death

“The government must be magnanimous after his death. They did not allow him to return during his lifetime,” Karpal bemoaned.

Still, Chin Peng was of no interest to the Malaysian government. It was Zakir whom Putrajaya could not resist calling a “very wise man”.

Having cheated Chin Peng of the chance to reunite with his family, Putrajaya instead found interest in Zakir Naik, a fugitive whose racially- inflammatory speeches have left many a nation troubled.

Despite Zakir’s home country India issuing a second arrest warrant and demanding that he return face questions over terror-related and money-laundering charges, Malaysia continues to double down on its reasons to offer Zakir refuge.

And unlike a repentant Chin Peng, the preacher took the cowardly way out, seeking shelter in Malaysia and refusing to return to India.

Putrajaya insists that Zakir is no threat to Malaysia’s peace and security. This outrageous claim could not be further from the truth, given that Zakir has unequivocally expressed his admiration for Osama bin Laden, leader of the militant group Al-Qaeda.

It is astonishing that the sincerity of Chin Peng, a former communist rebel who had called it quits and was willing to make peace with the Malaysian government, meant nothing to then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Has it not occurred to Putrajaya that by supporting Zakir, it is by all accounts supporting the terrorist outfit ISIS, the latter being an offshoot of Al-Qaeda?

Does it not perturb the Malaysian government that an insidious speaker like Zakir has no qualms radicalising young impressionable minds?

The Dhaka terrorists who hacked 20 people to death in cold blood in 2016 were ardent followers of Zakir.

So maybe it is no surprise that where Chin Peng failed, Zakir succeeded via “Islam” in also mesmerising prime ministe, gaining the premier’s full backing and earning permanent stay in Malaysia.

Will there be PAS-Umno pact come GE14?

Who PAS – UMNO and why now need to be engaged to be married , when already married and have kids already

Analysts believe there will be more informal political engagements between the two rivals rather than realising a formal election pact

JOHOR BARU: The days of war between PAS and Umno are history but analysts doubted that both parties can reach an election pact to face the coming general election.

Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani, an analyst at public policy consulting firm Bower Group Asia Malaysia, said that the current sentiment indicates the two parties’ cooperation at its clearest point.

“I think this the clearest sign yet of the unity between Umno and PAS.

“We will see more strategic cooperation between the two parties but it’ll come short of forming formal pact between the parties,” Asrul said in a WhatsApp reply to Berita Daily.

He was commenting on PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang’s statement yesterday in Marang, conceding that his presence at a government programme with Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek was the beginning of mature politics between the party and the BN government.

Asrul also doubted that both the Malay-based parties warm relations will last, especially if PAS’ strength wanes due to the relationship.

“I cannot foresee the warm relationship to continue if PAS loses a big number of their seats in the general election,” he added.

Geostrategist Prof Dr Azmi Hassan also agreed that the signs sent by these two parties were pointing towards a form of political unity but stressed that both PAS and Umno were working on the aspect of unity of the Malay community rather than forming a political pact.

“With that note I doubt there will be an election pact for the next general election because the animosity is too deep, especially on the side of PAS members.

“But these so called mature politics demonstrated by Umno and PAS will surely pave the way for better support amongst the Malay voters and this will result better performances for both parties compared to GE13 results,” said Azmi.

Win-win situation

Secretary of Political, Security and International Affairs Cluster, National Professors Council, Prof Dr Abdul Halim Sidek meanwhile said that, from political observation, both parties have collaborated with each other without any official announcement.

He believed that there will be a form of collaboration between PAS and Umno to enter GE14 that will ensure a win-win situation for the two parties.

Abdul Halim said that the form of collaboration will be either formal or informal pact but will not be announced to the people as both parties would want to keep the cards close to themselves.

He said that a formal pact would see Umno-BN not putting forth a candidate at Opposition’s stronghold constituencies and let PAS battle it out with the Pakatan Harapan alliance.

“If it’s an informal pact, both parties wouldn’t attack one another during the campaign and ceramah, and would rather focus on their own strength.

“We also would not see any character assassination between these two parties which often happened in the past,” said Abdul Halim when contacted by Berita Daily.

Hadi yesterday attended the “Rig to Reef” launching programme with Ahmad Shabery in Marang where he is the MP.

“Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be together in this programme which is most meaningful for everyone, for politicians to be able to return to mature politics.

“The cooperation today (between PAS and Umno) is mature politics, politics without any quarrel, politics that champion joint interests. In politics, one can have differing opinions but for any issue that involves joint interests, we must work together.

“In this aspect, I thank the government on behalf of the fishing community for implementing a project that is most important and integrated not only for the fishermen but also for the marine park that must be preserved in the best manner,” he was quoted as saying in Bernama.

Falklands' lawmaker underlines “visas are our business

Visas are a matter for the Falkland Islands Government to determine,” confirmed Member of Legislative Assembly Mike Summers this week.Reacting to a story in last Friday’s Penguin News the Argentine Foreign Minister Susana Malcorra claimed in the Argentine press it was not for the Islanders but the UK government to make decisions over visas.

Stanley is the financial centre of the Falkland Islands' economy.

 The Penguin News story had noted that some MLAs approved of the idea of issuing Argentine visitors with visas in order to control the size of groups of Argentines visiting at one time.

The argument is it might reduce incidents of distressing nationalist behavior by visitors.

Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)

British Overseas Territory

The Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) are a remote South Atlantic archipelago. With rugged terrain and cliff-lined coasts, its hundreds of islands and islets are home to sheep farms and abundant birdlife. The capital, Stanley, sits on East Falkland, the largest island. The town's Falkland Islands Museum has themed galleries devoted to maritime exploration, natural history, the 1982 Falklands War and other subjects.

Capital: Stanley

Population: 2,840 (2012)

Currency: Falkland Islands pound

Continent: South America

Official language: English

Colony of southern rockhopper penguins on Saunders Island

MLA Summers told Penguin News the Falklands visa regime was different from the UK regime: “However we would inevitably consult HMG for their view on any proposals“.

Speaking to the Argentine media, MLA Summers said that Falklands authorities want to prevent ”antisocial conducts“ given the growing number of complaints from Islanders regarding distressing and disrespectful attitudes from individual visiting Argentines.

Map of the Falkland Islands

MLA Summers described as ”aggressions“ graffiti in public places and buildings, exhibition of nationalistic banners and flags which threaten peace in the Falklands, and noisy disrespectful behavior which makes some people feel harassment and anguish. 

”It is the responsibility of the Falklands government to ensure that none of its citizens is improperly distressed or anguished by visitors behavior, and particularly to protect those who have suffered traumas associated with the invasion of the Falklands in 1982”. 

Ascension Island to become marine reserve

The government is to create a marine reserve almost as big as the UK in the Atlantic waters of Ascension Island.

Ascension Government House

Ascension Island
Island in Saint Helena
Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island in the equatorial waters of the South Atlantic Ocean, around 1,600 kilometres from the coast of Africa and 2,250 kilometres from the coast of Brazil, ... Wikipedia
Area: 33.98 mi²
Population: 806 (Feb 2016)
Part of: Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
Capital: Georgetown, Ascension Island
Currency: Saint Helena pound
Calling code: +247
Capital and largest settlement: Georgetown; 7°56′S 14°25′W / 7.933°S 14.417°W


The government is to create a marine reserve almost as big as the UK in the Atlantic waters of Ascension Island.


Just over half of the protected area will be closed to fishing. 
The fishery in the other half will be policed under a grant of £300,000 from the Louis Bacon Foundation, a charitable body.

It is the latest marine reserve to be declared around remote islands, which will increase marine conservation zones to about 2% of the ocean.

That remains a far cry from the 30% recommended by scientists to preserve species and expand fish stocks, but is much more than just a few years ago.

Governments have designated marine parks at Palau in the North Pacific, Easter Island and Pitcairn in the South Pacific, and New Zealand's Kermadec islands, in what has become a landmark year for ocean conservation. 

The latest reserve at Ascension Island is said to hold some of the largest marlin in the world, one of the largest populations of green turtles, big colonies of tropical seabirds and the island's own unique frigate bird. 

Conservation commitment

The reserve totals 234,291 sq km, slightly less than the size of the United Kingdom. It could be ready for formal designation as soon as 2017, once further data has been collected and analysed.

Georgetown seen here is the primary settlement on the island and comprises the post office, police station, court, government house and the island's supermarket. It also boasts the island's port: a small pier where supplies are off-loaded and a connection exists for a pipeline hose for fuel.


Dr Judith Brown, director of fisheries and marine conservation for Ascension Island government, said: "The economic benefit from the fishery has provided much-needed income for the island.

"This donation will help fund the enforcement to protect the closed area from illegal fishing."

The Great British Oceans Coalition, which includes the Blue Marine Foundation and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, has been campaigning since 2014 for the designation of all or part of Ascension's waters. 

Charles Clover, Blue Marine Foundation chairman, said: "Ascension has been at the frontiers of science since Charles Darwin went there in the 19th Century, so it is entirely appropriate that it is now at the centre of a great scientific effort to design the Atlantic's largest marine reserve." 

The island viewed from atop Green Mountain, looking south towards Two Boats Village and Georgetown

An accident of colonial history has left the UK and France with huge potential to safeguard marine life around remote oceanic islands.

The Conservative party promised in its 2015 manifesto to create a "blue belt" of protected ocean round the UK's Overseas Territories. 

The commitment was described by Tory MP Zac Goldsmith as "the biggest conservation commitment by any government ever, pledging to protect an area of ocean three-and-a-half times the size of Britain". 

Devil's Ashpit

BRING OUT THE CHAMPAGNE

 THIS DATA WILL TELL THE WORLD IF OIL PRICE GOES DOWN TO $42 OR LOWER

Two months ago, we were presented with a chance to witness oil price going down to US$42 a barrel, or lower. The more than 5% plunge on that Wednesday saw the price trading at its lowest for the year 2017 – from a high of US$52.92 to a low of US$50.05 – after the Energy Information Administration reported a ninth straight weekly rise in U.S. crude stockpiles.

Saudi Arabia, of course, wasn’t happy with the sudden price drop. They threw tons of “FUDs” to spook the market. In case you hadn’t a clue what the heck is “FUD”, that’s a gimmick word practiced by IBM salesmen. When those salesmen couldn’t convince the customers to buy, they confuse them with “FUD” – Fears, Uncertainties and Doubts. And it works awesomely well.

Saudi Arabia Oil Production - Oil on Currency 

After toying with output and exports, Saudi had thrown a third word – supply – into the debate with OPEC members and oil producers. Saudi has often communicated two different sets of output figures to the market: its pumped crude production – which it reports directly to OPEC, and a supply figure – usually leaked to journalists for whatever reasons.

For example, the kingdom told OPEC its production increased to 10.011 million bpd (barrels per day) in February from 9.748 million bpd in January. However, it later issued a statement saying its January supply was higher than output at 9.99 million bpd (meaning it drew oil from storage), while in February supply stood below output at 9.90 million bpd (meaning it moved oil into storage).

Apple $500 Billion - Saudi Arabia Oil Refinery

What this means is while the market was misled by Saudi into believing the kingdom was producing below its output target in January, it was actually supplying more crude, which it didn’t say publicly. Traders fear that Riyadh would pump more crude – secretly – behind everyone’s back, hence cheating the OPEC’s pledge to reduce a global glut.

But it doesn’t matter if Saudi, or OPEC for that matter, cheats. For the second time for the year 2017, the U.S. crude has broken below US$48 a barrel. The U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures and international benchmark Brent crude were both down more than 2%, before a slight recovery.

Crude Oil WTI Chart - 03May2017 - Testing 48 US Dollar

This round, not even the news of falling production in Russia and OPEC could push the oil price. Traders are more concern about rising output in the United States, Canada and Libya. John Kilduff, founding partner at energy hedge fund Again Capital, and the same person who predicted that the crude oil was heading to US$42 a barrel back in March, is still bearish.

Kilduff pointed to a Bloomberg report that the Libyan prime minister and a rival commander had agreed to set up a power-sharing council. Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj and rival Eastern commander Khalifa Haftar agreed to form a council in which they will be members along with the speaker of parliament Aguila Saleh.

Libya Prime Minister Fayez Al Sarraj with General Khalifa Haftar

Following peace talks in Abu Dhabi, elections will be held 6 months after completion of the deal, which also includes an agreement on dissolving militias and fighting terrorist groups. What this means is the end of turmoil that has devastated Libya since the 2011 uprising. On Monday, Libya’s National Oil Co said its production had risen above 760,000 bpd to its highest since December 2014.

In addition to Libyan output gains, U.S. crude output is at its highest since August 2015, while the Syncrude Canada oil sands project has started shipping crude from its Mildred Lake again after cutting production due to a fire in March. So, OPEC and Russia can cut their production all they want, but they’re fighting an uphill battle against the trio.

US Shale Drillers

If Libya, U.S. and Canada’s production could offset – and even overwhelm – OPEC and Russia’s cut, Saudi Arabia could be in trouble. Already, Roberto Friedlander, head of energy trading at Seaport Global Securities, has raised the possibility that Saudi may be ready to resume its battle for market share with other producers.

Like the same Wednesday back in March, today’s Energy Information Administration stockpiles data at 4:30 p.m. EDT will determine if the crude oil price skyrockets or drops like a rock. Analysts expect a decline of 2.2 million barrels of crude in storage – making it a fourth straight week of declines from a record high reached at the end of March.

U.S. Crude Oil Stockpiles

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