Senyum Kambing

sumber:http://www.utusan.com.my/utusan/info.asp

ANWAR SESUMPAH HINA BATIK MALAYSIA!!!

ANWAR SESUMPAH HINA BATIK MALAYSIA!!!

Anwar Ibrahim dan Sesumpah sangat sinonim dan tidak dapat dipisahkan lagi. Seperti yang telah dilakukannya di Semenanjung Malaysia dan Sabah serta Sarawak.

Terdahulu Anwar dalam setiap kempen politiknya di Semenanjung memberikan jaminan kepada orang Melayu bahawa Perdana Menteri akan tetap disandang orang Melayu dan calonnya pastinya Anwar sendiri. Demikian pula dengan kaum Cina yang dijanjikan jawatan Timbalan Perdana Menteri. Jawatan itu tidak tertakluk kepada orang Melayu sahaja. Bagi orang India pula, Anwar menjanjikan langit dan bumi kepada mereka bagi meningkatkan taraf hidup mereka.

Di Sarawak dan Sabah sedikit berbeza tetapi banyak persamaan. Semasa Pilihan Raya Kecil N.29 Batang Air, Anwar yang berkempen di rumah-rumah panjang telah berjanji akan melantik kaum Iban sebagai Ketua Menteri Sarawak. Apabila berada di kawasan Melayu, Cina dan Orang Ulu mereka juga dijanjikan jawatan Ketua Menteri. Andai ini berlaku maka Sarawak akan mempunyai 4 orang Ketua Menteri. Jika begitu pastinya Sarawak akan huru-hara.

Melihat kepada sistem pentadbiran Pulau Pinang yang ketika ini kacau bilau semenjak Pakatan Pembangkang menguasai negeri itu pada Pilihan Raya Umum Ke-12 lalu. Menteri Besarnya, Lim Guan Eng yang berasal dari Melaka dan memerintah Pulau Pinang telah mewujudkan 2 jawatan Timbalan Ketua Menteri.

Terbaru, sikap jelek Anwar Ibrahim ini sekali lagi telah berjaya dihidu oleh rakyat Malaysia walaupun ianya berlaku di luar negara. Walaupun perkara atau kejadian ini nampak kecil namun ia memberi persepsi yang tidak baik kepada industri negara. Sewaktu Festival Salihara Ketiga di Jakarta, Anwar telah dan secara terang-terangan menghina dan memperlekehkan batik Malaysia.

Bersempena dengan Festival Salihara Ketiga itu, Anwar telah diminta untuk memberikan ucapannya dengan tajuknya Kebebasan dan Musuh-Musuhnya. Pada ketika hubungan Malaysia – Indonesia sedikit tegang, Anwar bijak dengan mengeksploitasikan hubungan ini demi meraih sokongan politik Indonesia. Tujuannya mudah sahaja, iaitu hendak menyelamatkan diri daripada perbicaraan kes liwat dan kedua membantu menjayakan hasratnya untuk menjadi Perdana Menteri.

Untuk itu, Anwar tanpa segan silu mengungkapkan kata-kata hina terhadap batik Malaysia, “Mahu pakai batik Indonesia dikatakan saya anti-nasional. Mahu pakai batik Malaysia, orang Indonesia bilang jelek. Sebab ciri keseniannya itu cukup rendah dan saya setuju. Tetapi saya tidak mahu sebut di Malaysia. jadi akhirnya saya memilih batik Afrika.’’

Kata-kata sinis Anwar itu terhadap batik Malaysia telah mendapat tepukan gemuruh dan sorakan daripada hadirin yang kebanyakan rakyat Indonesia dan pengunjung luar negara. Tindakan Anwar yang merendah-rendahkan batik Malaysia bukan sahaja menyebabkan tanggapan masyarakat luar negara berbeza malah secara langsung ‘membunuh’ industri batik Malaysia yang mengeksport perniagaan tersebut. Apakah maknanya kepada pereka, pengusaha batik dan puluhan ribu orang yang bekerja dalam industri tersebut termasuk di luar bandar?

Dicatat oleh WIRA KENYALANG™ di 00:14:00

MARDI majukan padi bukit

by Nick Fletcher. Posted on February 14, 2011, Monday

Projek mengguna pakai teknologi baru mulai menampakkan kejayaan: Fadillah

TUAI HASIL: Fadillah (tiga kanan) bersama salah seorang peserta projek, Bonnie Mbuh Udal (kanan) dan isteri, menuai hasil padi bukit di Tebedu.

TEBEDU: Pakej teknologi yang disyorkan dalam Projek Meningkatkan Potensi Hasil Padi Bukit diyakini mampu membawa hasil padi bukit menjadi entiti khusus kepada masyarakat di Sarawak.

Berbanding kaedah tanaman tradisional, pakej teknologi tersebut bukan sahaja dapat meningkatkan potensi hasil padi bukit negeri ini, malah membantu meningkatkan pendapatan para petani.

Timbalan Menteri Sains, Teknologi dan Inovasi (MOSTI) Datuk Fadillah Yusof berkata pelaksanaan projek yang bermula September 2009 dan dijangka berakhir pada Ogos 2011 kini telah menampakkan hasil yang memberangsangkan.

Menurut beliau, musim pertama projek adalah melibatkan seramai 31 peserta iaitu 27 orang dari Kampung Gahat Tebedu dan empat orang dari Kampung Sepadah Bau.

Sehubungan itu, katanya kajian bagi musim pertama itu telah menunjukkan purata hasil yang diperolehi bagi kedua-dua kawasan adalah meningkat.

“Projek di Kampung Gahat memperolehi hasil purata sebanyak 916 kg/ha berbanding hasil petak kawalan sebanyak 737 kg/ ha.

“Sementara di Kampung Sepadah telah berjaya memperoleh hasil sebanyak 2,021 kg/ha berbanding 1,419 kg/ha untuk petak kawalan,” katanya dalam sidang media di sini semalam.

Terdahulu, Fadillah yang juga Ahli Parlimen Petra Jaya melawat tapak projek di Kampung Gahat, di sini bagi meninjau perkembangan serta potensi hasil padi bukit menggunakan teknologi penanaman oleh Institut Penyelidikan dan Kemajuan Pertanian Malaysia (MARDI).

Selepas itu, beliau menyempurnakan majlis penyampaian sijil kepada para peserta projek dari Kampung Gahat, sebelum merasmikan mesin pelerai padi yang disumbangkan oleh MARDI.

Pelaksanaan Projek Meningkatkan Potensi Hasil Padi Bukit yang direalisasikan oleh MARDI adalah dibiayai dengan dana sebanyak RM1.3 juta di bawah dana TechnoFund MOSTI.

Pakej teknologi yang diperkenalkan dan digunakan dalam projek tersebut adalah melibatkan penapakan tanaman, pengurusan pembajaan, pengurusan rumpai, pengurusan penyakit dan perosak serta mekanisme penanaman dan penuaian.

Susulan peningkatan hasil daripada projek berkenaan, Fadillah berkata hasil kajian dan penyelidikan tersebut akan diaplikasikan kepada para petani yang terlibat dalam penanaman padi bukit di seluruh negeri.

“Hasil kajian dan penyelidikan yang diperolehi daripada projek ini nanti akan kami sampaikan kepada para petani di seluruh Sarawak, iaitu seramai lebih 80,000 orang, selain menumpukan kawasan-kawasan yang sesuai,” katanya.

Sementara itu, katanya projek terbabit turut mengatasi pemusnahan alam sekitar oleh kaedah tradisional iaitu tebang dan bakar, selain penanaman berpindah-randah.

“Dengan mengamalkan teknologi yang diperkenalkan, petak padi bukit adalah lebih tersusun dan tidak berpindah-randah dan ini akan mengurangkan masalah pencemaran udara akibat pembakaran terbuka, selain kemusnahan alam sekitar,” katanya.

Hadir sama ialah Timbalan Ketua Pengarah (Penyelidikan) MARDI Datuk Dr Sharif Haron, Ketua Projek Meningkatkan Potensi Hasil Padi Bukit Dr Sariam Othman dan Ketua Pegawai Operasi Beras Corporation Sdn Bhd Sarawak Mohd Kamaluddin Mohd Effendie.

(sumber: http://www.theborneopost.com/?p=93297)

Bible Study

Re-introduction of Bible study proper and good’

by Churchill Edward. Posted on February 14, 2011, Monday

KUCHING: Schools have to make special arrangement for students who wish to study Bible knowledge, now that the government has allowed them to take the subject after regular school hours.

Other arrangements include qualified teachers who must be focused and able to manage a big group of students.

Sarawak Teachers Union president William Ghani Bina said this when lauding the government’s move to ‘re-introduce’ the subject in secondary schools throughout Malaysia yesterday.

“The move is proper and good. Since more and more social ills keep cropping up, the move is welcomed. If all students are taught their respective religion in schools, I hope this could calm them down and also help to discipline them,” said Ghani, who is a Christian himself.

“Now that the government has decided on the matter, the school authority should make proper arrangement to ensure that the subject is being taught in schools successfully. There must also be sufficient number of qualified teachers. I am sure the number of students will be big (if they are taking the lesson inside halls). So teachers must be focused so that they can manage them well,” he said.

Ghani believed the move is part of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Tun Razak 1Malaysia’s campaign.

“It is the 1Malaysia move where we accept Islam as the country’s official religion but we also can have other religions being practised by others peacefully. This is wonderful because we will be able to teach our children to realise that, apart from our own religion, there are others who practise theirs,” he said.

Malaysia is a country where various religions exist in harmony. Bible Knowledge used to be a subject being taught for public examination in most schools in Sarawak previously. As years went by, the subject received little or no attention at all, especially in schools in urban areas. After Najib took over the Malaysia premiership, he wanted more sense of religious harmony among Malaysians.

Last Saturday in Penampang, Sabah, Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Tan Sri Bernard Dompok said Bible Knowledge could now be taught to Christian students in government and mission secondary schools throughout the country but only after regular school hours.

Dompok, who chaired the Technical Committee for Sabah and Sarawak Bumiputeras, said the landmark decision was reached at the first meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Sabah and Sarawak Bumiputeras, chaired by Najib on Feb 7.

“We believe this decision will go a long way towards a full realisation of the 1Malysia concept,” he told reporters in Penampang.

He said he hoped that the decision would enable students concerned to sit for Bible Knowledge as elective subject examination at Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) level.

The cabinet committee meeting had also agreed to several other resolutions submitted by the Federation of Christian Mission Schools Malaysia last year, Dompok said then.

When contacted yesterday, Land Development Minister Dao Sri Dr James Masing also welcomed the federal government’s move to enhance the teaching of Bible Study throughout Malaysia.

“It is a positive development and in line with the 1Malyasia concept where we are to respect each other’s faith or belief,” he said.

The move is good for the people who want to study and master the Bible, he added.

“It is also a good move because it means people can do what they want to do,” he explained.

Masing also shared with Ghani the concern that there should be enough number of qualified teachers otherwise the Bible principles would be compromised.

“There must be qualified teachers as we do not want them to teach different things later on. There should also be enough number of teachers to teach Bible knowledge,” said Masing who is Parti Rakyat Sarawak president cum Baleh assemblyman.

Malaysians, he said, should be grateful as the Prime Minister (Najib) is ensuring that all citizens would be moving in the right direction.

(sumber: http://www.theborneopost.com/?p=93393)

Pulang atau lari

Pulang atau lari

Oleh MOHD. ASRON MUSTAPHA
mohdasron.mustapha@utusan.com.my

KUALA LUMPUR 13 Feb. – Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim mendakwa beliau mempunyai dua pilihan sama ada mahu menetap di Washington atau kembali ke tanah air bagi menghadapi perbicaraan kes liwat.

Kenyataan tersebut hadir ketika pelbagai pihak kini mendedahkan ketua pembangkang itu sedang merancang melarikan diri ke luar negara bagi mengelak perbicaraan kes liwat kerana bimbang beliau akan dipenjara.

Anwar berkata demikian semasa berucap pada forum The Future of Democracy in the Islamic World, anjuran sebuah badan pemikir Amerika Syarikat, New America Foundation yang berpangkalan di Washington DC, Amerika Syarikat, Khamis lalu.

“Saya boleh pilih untuk tinggal di sini (Washington) dan tidak kembali ke Malaysia, tetapi pilihan telah dibuat. Satu kaki saya di Parlimen dan satu kaki lagi di penjara. Saya harus balik ke Malaysia esok dan perlu muncul di mahkamah pada 14 Februari.

“Muncul di mahkamah hanya sebagai satu syarat, sebab semua keputusan telah dirancang. Sekali anda didakwa, anda pasti akan dipenjarakan,” katanya seperti dipetik daripada laman blog http://www.anwaraidc.com. hari ini.

Dakwaan mengenai perancangan Anwar itu mula didedahkan sebuah blog, http://gerakan-anti-pkr.blogspot.com selepas ketua pembangkang tersebut berjaya menangguhkan kesnya sebanyak 50 kali.

Pendedahan itu kemudian disahut Pertubuhan Pribumi Perkasa Malaysia (Perkasa) dengan laporan polis dan pada masa sama, badan tersebut mendesak supaya pihak berkuasa menahan pasport Anwar dengan segera.

Turut menyokong desakan itu ialah Ummi Hafilda Ali yang mahu kerajaan bertindak tegas dengan menghalang Anwar daripada bebas untuk keluar dan masuk negara ini kerana ia boleh memberi imej buruk kepada negara.

Ummi Hafilda menambah, kerajaan tidak perlu berlembut dan memberi ruang kepada ketua pembangkang itu untuk berbuat demikian kerana sikapnya yang suka menyebarkan fitnah demi meraih simpati negara lain.

(sumber:http://www.utusan.com.my/utusan/info.asp?)

(sumber gambar: http://theunspinners.blogspot.com/2010/11/goncang-lebih-baik-anwar-lari-ke-luar.html)

Tattoo

Tattoo quests

by Marilyn Tan. Posted on February 13, 2011, Sunday

PEOPLE have practised the art of tattooing since the dawn of time to enhance their looks and to serve as a symbol of spirituality, ranks, talismans and amulets.

LAST IBAN TATTOO ARTIST: Maung and his ‘magical’ tattoos. — Photos by Dr Lars Krutak)

In his quests to research and document these body arts, American cultural anthropologist, photographer and writer, Dr Lars Krutak, has travelled the world for more than 15 years, meeting indigenous peoples to learn more about their unique tattoos and the magical beliefs behind them as well as to document the vanishing traditions of tribal tattooing.

Fascinated by tattoos ever since he was a graduate student, he has studied the 2,000-year-old tradition of St Lawrence Island Yupiget tattoo among the last generation of practitioners for his Master’s thesis at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks.

Krutak was in Kuching recently to make a presentation at the Gathering of the Tribes 2011 – a Tribal and Tattoo Expo on various tattooing traditions from countries such as Thailand, the Philippines and Malaysia.

He also travelled to the outskirts of Sarawak with a small film crew, to interview Maung, the last Iban tattoo artist in Skrang, Sri Aman Division.

“When we arrived there, we learned Maung was really ill — and dying of cancer,” Krutak said of his trip that included two Iban tattoo artists.

“Surrounded by his female relatives, he had refused food for the past two weeks as he was ready to travel to the ‘longhouse’ of his ancestors — ultimately.”

Lying on his deathbed, Muang gave Krutak an incredible three-hour interview on the magical tattoos he created for ‘every man’ in Skrang.

According to Muang, of these men, 55 were Iban Rangers who fought heavily-armed Japanese soldiers during World War II with only mandau swords, blowguns and spears.

He said his tattoos protected him and the Rangers from harm.

“The Japanese bullets just went around and through me and I was never wounded.”

As related to Krutak, Muang credited this feat to his tattoos, saying his ‘protector spirit’ had led him to a meteorite in the jungle and he would later dip the object into every tattooing pigment he created to invoke magical powers for the tattoos.

Remarkably, of the 55 Rangers from the Skrang River who fought in the war, all but one returned home alive, Krutak recalled Muang telling him.

On his observations of the traditional tattoos of Sarawak, Krutak said the local body arts were one of the most beautiful in the world.

“The motifs and meanings of Sarawak tattoos are incredible and the elements and meanings are all connected.

“What I’ve learnt is that if you know how to read the tattoos, you can tell what they are about,” he said, adding that the tattoos also served as identification marks for the wearer.

Krutak suggested the traditional tattoos in Sarawak be preserved to perpetuate their values and true meanings.

“Maybe the indigenous people could do a research on local tattoos or start a foundation to preserve the history behind them. In the long run, I believe this will inspire the younger generation to document them as well.”

Today, Krutak works in the Department of Anthropology at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of National History in Washington, DC.

In his continued effort to understand how tattoos and other forms of body modifications ‘make’ the people who wear them, he has acquired many traditional tattoos, including hand-tapped works from the Ibans, Kalinga of the Philippines and Mentawai of Indonesia; hand-poked art from Theravada Buddhist monks in Thailand and hand-pricked designs from the Kayabi of the Brazilian Amazon.

He also wears about 1,000 razor and knife-cut scars across his body which he received from other groups like the Kaningara of Papua New Guinea, the Betamarribe of Benin, the Mamar of Ethiopia and the Makonde of Mozambique.

Krutak’s books include the Tattooing Arts of Tribal Women, and the large format coffee table book Kalinga Tattoo: Ancient and Modern Expressions of the Tribal, focusing on the Kalinga people of northern Philippines.

sumber: http://www.theborneopost.com/?p=93186

Mukah gears up to become SCORE Hq

by Gaing Kunding. Posted on February 14, 2011, Monday

MUKAH: Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud said yesterday that Mukah town would become the headquarters of the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE) with the completion of the Regional Corridor Development Authority (RECODA) building here soon.

MEMENTO: Taib (third right) receives a memento from Yeo as Ragad (fourth right), Fatimah (fourth left), Dr Muhammed Leo (right), Kang (second right) and others look on.

Speaking at a Chinese New Year celebration organised by the Mukah Chinese Chamber of Commerce (MCCC) at Kingwood Resort Mukah here, Taib said the chief executive officer (CEO) of RECODA would stay and work in Mukah once the RECODA building was completed.

He said the development would effectively transform Mukah town to become the administrative and operational capital of SCORE.

“This will not only facilitate better co-ordination and working relationship between the CEO and Mukah Resident, but would also enable them (CEO and Resident) to engage with the local people on any new economic and infrastructure development as well as economic spin-offs and job opportunities created by investments worth billions of ringgit in Mukah, Tanjung Manis and Samalaju in Bintulu Division. Taib stressed that Mukah, Tanjung Manis and Samalaju were poised to become the centres of development under SCORE.

Taib said, among others, a company has set up a food processing laboratory using biotechnology (chemical free) in Tanjung Manis Halal Hub costing about RM2 billion while in Samalaju nine big factories with modern facilities costing several billions of ringgit would be set up, with the first one constructed by Tokoyama to produce polysilicon recently.

The chief minister also said the government was in the process of designing a new master plan for Mukah, Tanjung Manis and Samalaju to accommodate the ever increasing population, adding that it would be implemented by next year.

Taib also pledged to give financial assistance to outstanding students from poor background to enable them to enter university and other higher learning institutions.

“Therefore, it is very important for the people to remain united at all times in order to enjoy the fruits of development together because any quarrel or conflict will only destroy the people’s livelihood,” he said.

In his speech, Mukah Member of Parliament Dato Sri Dr Muhammed Leo Toyad said the people of Mukah and Balingian strongly supported Taib as the chief minister and Balingian assemblyman.

Meanwhile, in his welcoming speech, MCCC chairman Yeo Tiong Ing said the Chinese community in Mukah fully supported Taib’s leadership to bring greater economic and infrastructural development to Mukah and the surrounding areas.

Dr Muhammed Leo and Yeo are joint-organising chairman of the celebration which was also attended by Taib’s wife Puan Sri Ragad Waleed Alkurdi Taib, Minister in the Chief Minister’s Department Datin Fatimah Abdullah and her husband Datu Dr Adi Badiozaman Tuah, Jemoreng assemblyman Abu Seman Jahwie, Mukah Resident Saudi Narani and Kapitan Kang Boon Eong.

sumber: http://www.theborneopost.com/?p=93240

CM to keep Pelagus rep

Posted on February 14, 2011, Monday

KUCHING: Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud said he planned to keep Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister’s Office Larry Sng around for some time.

FOR PROSPERITY: (from left) Hanifah, Jabu, Chan, Taib, Ragad, Catherine and Empiang tossing the ‘yee sang’ during the Chinese New Year Open House yesterday. – Photo by Jonathan Bullet

The state Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman said Sng is useful to the government and loyal to the BN.

“I can still keep him because he’s a very useful fellow. He works very well, and his loyalty to BN is unquestionable,” he told reporters yesterday.

Taib was met at the Chinese New Year Open House organised by Kuching City South Council (MBKS) and CATS FM at Dewan Masyarakat in Padungan here.

He was responding to a query on whether the BN has decided on Sng’s status as he is still partyless after being sacked by Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) a few years ago. Sng was said to have applied to join BN as a direct member and direct candidate in the coming state election. Talks are rife that his application was rejected during last Friday’s BN supreme council meeting in Kuala Lumpur.

According to a BN leader who did not want to be named, the Pelagus assemblyman is in a unique position where his former party PRS does not want him but the state government still does.

Yesterday, Taib was accompanied by his wife Puan Sri Ragad Waleed Alkurdi Taib, Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Alfred Jabu Numpang and wife Datin Patinggi Dato Sri Empiang Jabu.

Also present were event chairperson and CATS FM executive director Datin Hanifah Taib Alsree, MBKS mayor James Chan and wife Catherine Sng.

On the issue that Mayor James Chan might be aiming to be a politician, Taib said that would be up to Chan.
But when pressed further he said: “I don’t know but so far he doesn’t show any interest in politics.”
On another matter, Taib spoke on how smaller local governments need to focus on social and cultural leadership because they are the ones nearest to the ground.

“Society is always in a flux in the presence of rapid change. We have to provide people with an avenue to find out how they can participate and serve society in the way they think they are best at according to their talent and leadership patterns,” he said.

He encouraged budding leaders to step up and serve the city.

“Kuching has a lot of clever, professional people with leadership qualities that can get other people to come together. And they want to serve.”

Taib pointed out that Kuching is growing fast and yet most neighbours don’t even know each other. He urged people to be imaginative and create opportunities for neighbours to make friends.

In his speech, MBKS mayor James Chan said that the event was organised to bring companies and non-governmental organisations to work with the council and hold an open house for the people of Kuching.

“Through this unique open house, we hope to strengthen the neighourhood spirit, tolerance amongst people in our multi-racial and cultural society as well as foster and strengthen bonds amongst family members and friends,” he said.

sumber http://www.theborneopost.com/?attachment_id=93230