There were no reports of deaths or injuries.
A Negri Sembilan Fire and Rescue Department spokesman said the department received an emergency call at 8.17pm, and firefighters from the Seremban station were deployed.
The operations commander found that all four houses were almost destroyed.
He added that all four houses were occupied. - NST
The coalition’s secretary-general says the decision was reached at the supreme council meeting tonight.
Takiyuddin said the decision was made at tonight’s PN supreme council meeting under Clause 15 of the coalition’s constitution, which allows action to be taken against component parties.
“PN will take appropriate action through disciplinary proceedings. The coalition will draw up its charges against Bersatu.
“They will definitely be given sufficient time to respond,” he said at a press conference after the meeting held at PAS’s headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.
Bersatu did not attend the meeting, which was presided over by PN chairman Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar,
Takiyuddin said the action to be taken could range from a warning to suspension, and removal from the coalition, depending on the seriousness of the alleged offences.
He said PN would scrutinise several of Bersatu’s actions that allegedly went against the coalition’s interests before finalising its charges.
Separately, Takiyuddin said PN would use its logo in the Nov 14 Melaka election and was set to announce its candidates on Oct 29, though it had yet to finalise the candidates’ list or the number of seats it would contest. - FMT
The world No 11 pair overcome fourth ranked Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani for their first title this year.
Sze Fei-Izzuddin, ranked world No 5, won the first game comfortably, but succumbed to the powerful play by 11th ranked Wei Chong-Kai Wun, who eventually won 13-21, 21-15, 21-7 in a match lasting 44 minutes at the Arena Grand Paris.
Malaysia last won the men’s doubles title at the World Tour Super 750 championships in 2004 through Gan Teik Chai-Koo Kien Keat,
The two pairs have won two matches each in their four encounters to date.
It was also Wei Chong-Kai Wun’s first World Tour title this year, while Sze Fei-Izzuddin are hunting for their third title after winning the Indonesia Masters in January and Indonesia Open in June. - FMT
SOME analysts argue that the convenience of using a foreign-owned navigation app is no excuse for overlooking its potential harmful uses.
The Malaysian government is considering whether to ban Waze on the grounds of its Israeli ownership. Countries such as Iran and Iraq have banned the app, while others, including Saudi Arabia, have not done so. Malaysia may or may not eventually prohibit its use.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is concerned that the unwitting use of Waze could expose Malaysians and others in the country to Israeli surveillance, particularly regarding the movements of Palestinians in Malaysia.
The assassination of a Palestinian some time ago by suspected Israeli operatives comes to mind. However, it has yet to be established whether Waze was used to monitor the whereabouts of the Palestinian.
There is no question that Waze, being Israeli-owned, has the potential to be used for ulterior purposes that could run counter to Malaysia’s national interests.
As a sovereign nation, Malaysia has every right to take action against foreign agencies or navigation apps that might operate in ways contrary to its national interests.
Unfortunately, the government’s approach to replacing Waze with a local navigation app called TuJu raises more questions than answers. TuJu is operated through a joint venture between the government agency, the Malaysian Highway Authority (LLM), and a private company, Prosignal Consortium.
If the use of Waze posed a real or potential threat, why was the matter not brought to public attention earlier?
Why has concern about the Israeli threat emerged so suddenly, at the same time that the government is promoting TuJu as a replacement for Waze?
This raises an obvious question: Was the threat attributed to Waze being invoked to promote a Malaysian navigation app?
Why has Prosignal Consortium, which had reportedly remained dormant for some time, suddenly become active and been selected for a joint venture with LLM to develop a local navigation app?
I am not sure whether an open tender was conducted to select Prosignal Consortium for this joint venture. Perhaps Anwar, who has been so emphatic about stopping the use of Waze, should explain how the partnership between LLM and Prosignal Consortium came about.
If no open tender was conducted, the government has an obligation to explain the selection process. Such an arrangement would raise legitimate questions about transparency, accountability and objectivity in the use of public resources.
Ultimately, was the alleged foreign threat posed by Waze invoked to facilitate crony capitalism involving local companies? Or, alternatively, is the government attempting to conceal covert assistance to the Palestinians?
Given the oppression of the Palestinians under Zionist aggression, there is no need for the government to conceal any assistance rendered to the Palestinian cause, whether military or humanitarian.
The government should come clean and explain transparently why Waze has to go. National security concerns deserve serious consideration, but they should not become a pretext for opaque business arrangements or the preferential treatment of private companies.
Former DAP stalwart and Penang deputy chief minister II Prof Ramasamy Palanisamy is chairman of the United Rights of Malaysian Party (Urimai) interim council.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT
- Focus Malaysia.
THE phrase “to not take yourself too seriously” means to let go of an inflated ego, stop stressing over minor flaws or status and be able to laugh at your own expense or shortcomings.
That self-depreciating characteristic was very much on display when an Indian lady responded to a Malay woman’s enquiry about the Indian community’s fondness for stainless steel kitchen ware.
What was the reason? Were there secret health benefits? Or were there cultural reasons behind the choice for chrome-plated cutlery, wondered @beauteashe who, too, was thinking of switching from plastic to stainless steel ware.
Amid all the practical and pragmatic reasons proffered, one Threader’s response stood out simply with its hilarious take on why Indians here prefer non-glass wares.
According to Jirisha Rajendran (@iamjsha), the real motivation behind such sturdy utensils had to do with “Indian parenting styles”.
Accurate ‘missile’
Explaining “Indian moms have a unique way of disciplining their children” whereby they’d use whatever is on hand as projectiles, it was better that such items were NOT made of glass or easily-breakable materials.
It was surmised that by using stainless steel kitchen ware, the disciple-measure of a well-aimed missile is then “100% cost-effective and maybe only 5% damage to the kitchenware.”
The hilarious and “honest” retort itself has generated 24.9K Likes, 575 comments, 556 re-posts and 358 shares at the time of writing, an indication that many Malaysians still had a sense of humour.
This much was evident when a fellow Indian commenter confirmed the practice of aiming accurate headshots by disciplining elders at wayward children.
Explaining the science behind stainless steel wares as “anti-microbial, cleaner and silver balances the human body”, he nonetheless conceded that his grandmother targeting his uncle’s head with a flying silver plate had a “100% hit rate”.
This light-hearted observation drew loud guffaws from many commenters who obviously saw the funny side to this unique parenting style.
Chiming in were a couple of amateur stand-up comics who added their own punchlines. SJ
(@shmljffr) remarked that this was probably the reason behind “decorative dents on his stainless-steel cups” when he visited his Indian friend’s home.
Another comedian claimed that a former (presumably Indian) neighbour explained that it was “easier to wash the blood”.
This tactic was confirmed by a few commenters who had Indian neighbours. Tales of flying stainless-steel saucers at naughty children aplenty, they claim they too froze in fear at these fierce-but-always-smiling Indian aunties with an Olympian archer’s aim.
Apparently, one traumatised Indian individual was driven to pursue psychology in an attempt to understand such phenomena of throwing stainless steel plates at children. “This is Indian mother’s default setting” came the retort.
A Malay commenter recounted an anecdote involving an Indian family at a pharmacy. When the cashier tried to promote some glassware to the family, the patriarch remarked that glass was easy to break, hence they preferred stainless steel wares for ease to hurl at misbehaving kids.
“Sometimes, I, too, am the target,” he added for good measure whereby everyone in the pharmacy broke out in laughter.
At a time when race rhetoric is getting too toxic, it is indeed a breath of fresh air to see Malaysians laugh at themselves and not take themselves too seriously.
Not all stereotypes are grounds for 3R (race, religion and racial) huffing and puffing, perhaps just a well-aimed throw of a stainless-steel plate at one’s head. – Focus Malaysia
SELANGOR MCA Youth has called for the expansion of anti-narcotics K9 units at all border entry points.
“While the government has approved 17 recommendations to strengthen security at the country’s entry points, clear timelines and immediate action are necessary to strengthen Malaysia’s security rather than having to wait more than two years for long-term technological upgrades,” said Selangor MCA Youth chief Tan Jie Sen in a statement.
“MCA Youth proposes expanding specialised anti-narcotics K9 units to cover not only international airports but also domestic airports, private jet terminals, seaports, railway stations and land crossings connecting Malaysia with Singapore, Thailand, Brunei and Indonesia.”
Tan said this in reaction following revelation that bag scanners at Kuala Lumpur International Airport and other airports being ill equipped to detect illegal drugs.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail has revealed this in a Dewan Rakyat written reply to Batang Sadong MP Rodiyah Sapiee.
“Drug syndicates can exploit less scrutinised routes, rat lanes and enforcement efforts cannot afford to focus on major international terminals alone,” Saifuddin had pointed out.
Tan added that Malaysia had trained K9 dogs performing excellently in various agencies in the past.
Examples include Blake with Fire and Rescue Department assisting in the Batang Kali landslide. Another example is Denti and Frankie that were deployed to support earthquake search and rescue operations in Turkiye in 2023.
He also highlighted that the Australian Border Forces and Hong Kong Customs used dogs with detectors at entry points. In Hong Kong, the canine force detected narcotics and other contrabands.
In addition to the canine squad, the MCA leader wants the government to speed up the installation of “advanced scanners capable of identifying suspicious substances, strengthen intelligence-led and random baggage inspections and tighten security screening for airline crew and airport personnel.”
He added that a multi layered security system combining trained personnel, specialised detection dogs, modern equipment and intelligence-sharing across enforcement agencies is necessary to prevent drug syndicates from exploiting our borders. – Focus Malaysia
