[UPDATED VERSION] Via The Star:

I’m all for this idea as my other half is in banking industry and it’s not like I have that much of banking activities. If there is any, I’d duly do so on weekdays.

However, I understand that most people will take their own sweet time to perform any banking  transactions on Saturday, to avoid long queue and unnecessary rush.

How about you? Are  you very much affected by the new five-days working week?

Related Link:
- The Star | Five-day banking week inconvenient for those working

DAP Socialist Youth (DAPSY) National Assistant Publicity Secretary Lau Weng San has lodged a police report against the Umno Overseas Club Alumni Organisation, claiming that Seputeh MP Teresa Kok’s good name had been tarnished and its police report has breached a number of laws.

"Kok has explained many times that she had never claimed the woman in the video clip was a Chinese tourist… therefore this police report has twisted the facts and it was made with bad intention." […]

"Kok was merely discharging her duty as the people’s representative. If she did not disclose the video clip to media, parliamentarians and ministers at the Parliament’s building, she would be seen as failing to discharge her duties."

Is Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi aware of this circus show? He might want to take a closer look at the main actor, and this, must be pretty interesting.

It won’t be long before we Malaysia is to be picked up again by international radar for the wrong reason.

Malaysia macam-macam ada? Damn it, how I wish that’s a hoax, but let’s face the fact and dream on!

(SOURCE: F1-Live.com, 24 January 2006)

Ferrari unveiled its new Formula One car for 2006, 248 F1 rather than the expected F2006, breaking with the tradition of recent years of naming the car by year and hoping to regain its supremacy in Formula One in what could be the last season for Michael Schumacher races for the Italian team.

It’s labeled 248 after the 2.4cc litre engine and 8-cylinder capacity required under new rules by FIA. The chassis is all new too - lighter, with improved weight distribution - as is its suspension, which features a complete rear redesign. The transmission and the differential are also new, built using composite materials especially designed to cope with the greater vibrations associated with a V8 engine.

Once again, we’d be able to experience the excitement and thrill of watching the opening grand prix of the new season in Bahrain on March 12.

Sit tight!

Can you spot the keyword or the keyword within the keyword? Enough said for the first keyword.

Via Malay Mail:

Gerakan deputy secretary general Lee Kah Choon
"We support these recommendations as they will improve the police force. The recommendations have to be implemented if we aspire to be a civil, transparent and open society."

MCA National Youth Chairman Liow Tiong Hai
"We welcome the report. We hope the recommendations will be implemented so that the police’s standard of operations will be more streamlined and transparent, and the public will know their rights in this matter."

Tenaganita director Irene Fernandez
"The human rights framework lacks strong political commitment in its implementation."

Amnesty International Malaysia executive director Josef Roy Benedict
"Apart from the IPCMC, which must be established immediately, internal police accountability must also improve."

MCA Public Services and Complaint Department Michael Chong
"The establishment of the IPCMC is needed immediately as it will set a good example to other departments and agencies. Whatever the case, the findings must be implemented immediately. Otherwise, the public will treat such commissions with indifference in future."

Former member of Royal Commission to Enhance the Operations and Management of the Royal Malaysian Police Lee Lam Thye
"I agree with the recommendation to set up the IPCMC as soon as possible."

Via The Sun:

Human Rights Commission Malaysia commissioner Prof Hamdan Adnan
"People now are more articulate and sensitive towards infringements of their rights, and this makes it even more important for the police to practise and maintain a human rights culture.

"There is an urgent need for the police force to implement the recommendations as its image has been tarnished."

Suaram executive director Yap Swee Beng
"It is also pointless for commissions to be set up to make recommendations if the government does not have the political will to ensure they are implemented."

Women’s Aid Organisation executive director Ivy Josiah
"Society and MPs must monitor the implementation of the recommendations, and everyone has a role to question the status of its implementation and hold the government accountable. Everyone has to keep a watchful eye, including the NGOs and the public."

Malaysian Bar Council president Yeo Yang Poh
"The recommendations are good but they should immediately be implemented to put in place checks and balances, and make the police more transparent and accountable."

So, what say you now?

Not enough of putting Malaysia on the verge of laughing stock among billions of international watchful eyes and the moment you think this saga will turn into silence mode, opps, someone did it again!

"Malaysia Truly Asia" wasn’t merely smeared, worse, this has evolved into something else - national low.

Yes, disgrace is the word and the fact is, we’re in serious deed of good PR to burnish the already burned reputation.

No?

(SOURCE: BBC, 23 January 2006)

Via BBC:

When he took office in 2003, Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi said reform of the force - which has been widely accused of corruption and inefficiency - was one of his priorities.

The scandal has already resulted in the sacking of two senior editors from a local Chinese language newspaper that mistakenly identified the woman in the video as a Chinese national.

However, the minister in charge of the police escaped with a reprimand when he told foreigners who did not like what they saw in the video to go home to their own countries.

Welcome Malaysia to a famous hotspot but for the wrong reason!

I’m not sure about you, but as a Malaysian, how not disappointed I am to read that?

The New Horizons mission has been launched to Pluto. It is the first time a spacecraft has been sent to an unexplored planet since the Voyager craft left for Jupiter and Saturn in the 1970s.

New Horizons’ trip to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt Objects will mean that all the Solar System’s planets have been visited.

According to National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the billions of kilometres New Horizons must cross to reach Pluto means it will not arrive until July 2015.

Click here for the launching video coverage.

Today is the day for the official release of special commission report on the police nude squat incident.

The Star SMS alert at 3:04pm.

The police force is still resistant to change and insensitive towards human rights and dignity, says report of the commision on nude squat incident.

The Star SMS alert at 3:24pm.

The special commision on the nude ear squat case issue has called for a code of practice on body searches to be part of the Criminal Procedure Code.

The Star SMS alert at 3:40pm.

The manner in which the woman was made to do nude squats is improper, against Syariah principles and a violation of human rights, says commision report.

Now, we know what are the problems, together with diverse and feasible solutions. Full stop.

The question is: WHEN? A BIG one.

Yes, you’re right, they are new kind of police, to cater for the internet generation!

What’s the functionality of "Internet Police"? Click here for more context.

One thing for sure, it’s not surprising afterall, but trust me, you won’t love this idea to take off here, in Malaysia.

The Star SMS alert at 5:23pm.

Non-Muslims ministers who met Abdullah this morning have agreed to retract memorandum they submitted last Wednesday following directive by the latter.

It’s only less than 48 hours after the PM’s press conference. Any clue?