New Does profit surge for Ajinomoto reflect worrying health trend?

Sale of Ajinomoto in Malaysia is on the rise, as evidenced by the huge jump in its profits in the fourth quarter, even though MSG has been linked to health problems.

PETALING JAYA: While most companies in Malaysia posted moderate profit growth, or none, Ajinomoto (M) Bhd saw a major increase in its profit numbers.

It made 22 times more in the fourth quarter last year compared with the same period the previous year.

In last year’s financial report, the company had declared a profit of RM6.59 million for its fourth quarter period of January to March 2016. This number has increased to RM148.96 million for the same quarter this year.

Does this also mean that the company’s most popular product, Aji-No-Moto, which uses monosodium glutamate or MSG as its main ingredient, is being consumed at an alarmingly increasing rate by Malaysians?

It would appear so.

Despite reports concerning health issues on the use of MSG in food preparation, Ajinomoto said the product was well-accepted by Malaysians.

“Aji-No-Moto has a 90% market share in the country, according to statistics gathered on the use of the product in Malaysian homes, as well as at restaurants and other eateries,” a spokesperson for the company told FMT.

FMT visited a few food and beverage outlets around Selangor to gauge the use of the product.

Hangover Bar Damansara Perdana outlet manager James Cupa said it was normal for restaurants to use flavour enhancers.

“We use flavour enhancers to make our dishes more enticing in terms of taste,” he told FMT.

He said this was perfectly all right as the restaurant only used it in minimal quantities to give its dishes a “kick”.

“We don’t use it to replace our seasoning entirely,” Cupa added.

Another restaurateur, Rakesh Kumar, said his restaurant normally used MSG in preparing its Malay dishes.

Rakesh, who manages Mr Soul Bistro in Damansara Perdana, told FMT that MSG had become an accepted seasoning at Malaysian restaurants.

“We use it when we serve Malay dishes. It provides more flavour and we get good feedback from our customers,” he said.

The use of flavour enhancers was even more apparent at mamak eateries around town.

Abdullah Naina Mohamed, the manager at Faiz Restaurant in Puchong, said the outlet used the powdered version of MSG.

“We use it regularly in our dishes. It is normal for us. Our food will become sedap (delicious),” he said.

Abdullah added that his outlet had attracted many customers since it began using MSG in March.

“Profit since then has been high, and our outlet always has customers who come back to our restaurant.”

However, the Consumers Association of Penang cautioned that the product was considered toxic, describing it as a “slow poison”.

“MSG contributes to high sodium intake,” it said when contacted by FMT.

The association added that the health ministry had already warned that Malaysians consumed high levels of sodium, the main cause of hypertension and strokes.

Research has tied MSG to health problems such as strokes, brain injury and meningitis, but this does not seem to deter people from consuming food cooked with the flavour enhancer.

However, studies by Ajinomoto show that MSG is glutamate, the most frequently found amino acid in protein-rich food, and that it has no carcinogenic properties.

MSG is one of the oldest types of food seasoning in the world and was patented by Ajinomoto Japan in 1909. -FMT

PAKATAN TAKES ON THE RAJA-RAJA MELAYU

Even the PAS President, Abdul Hadi Awang, is not allowed to give a talk or deliver a sermon in a mosque in Selangor. In 2000, the Selangor government almost arrested Hadi when he gave a talk in a Selangor mosque and since the last 17 years Hadi has not given a talk in any mosque in Selangor.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Fahmi: PKR won’t lose sleep over Sivarasa ‘controversy’ (READ HERE)

Ramkarpal: DAP has always upheld principle of secularism (READ HERE)

The DAP-led Pakatan Harapan is pushing very hard to send the Raja-raja Melayu a message that their days are numbered and that there is a strong possibility the monarchy would be abolished in favour of a republic.

After the 2014 Constitutional Crisis regarding the post of the Selangor Menteri Besar where the DAP-led Pakatan Harapan told HRH the Sultan of Selangor that the politicians and not the Sultan decides on who should become the Menteri Besar, things are heating up again in this new round of Constitutional Crisis.

Ramkarpal insists that Malaysia is a secular country, which means the Raja-raja Melayu cannot be the head of Islam in their respective states

DAP’s MP for Bukit Gelugor, Ramkarpal Singh, said since Malaya was created his party has ‘jealously protected the interpretation of the Federal Constitution’, which is not possible since DAP was created in 1965 while Malaya gained independence eight years before that in 1957.

Anyway, Malaysia is not a secular country, as the DAP-led Pakatan Harapan keeps insisting, and nowhere in the Constitution does it say so. What it does say in the Constitution is that Malaysia is a Constitutional Monarchy with Islam as the religion of the Federation and the Raja-raja Melayu as the head of Islam in their respective states.

It is not that these DAP-led Pakatan Harapan leaders do not know this. They do know but they are hoping that Malaysians do not know this so they lie and hope Malaysians are stupid enough to swallow this lie.

The DAP-led Pakatan Harapan should not be delusional into thinking that the Raja-raja Melayu are not monitoring this new challenge to the monarchy. The DAP-led Pakatan Harapan can push the Raja-raja Melayu if they want to but it is not going to be like in the 1980s when the Raja-raja Melayu backed down and allowed Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to get away with it.

Since Pakatan Harapan was created in 2015, DAP had been pressuring Selangor Menteri Besar Azmin Ali to sack the three PAS Exco members from the Selangor State Assembly. Azmin tried playing Taichi as much as he could but finally HRH the Sultan had to step in and issue a press statement on 25th May 2017 (see below).

Kenyataan Khas D.Y.M.M. Sultan Selangor (READ HERE) 

Just a week ago HRH the Sultan put DAP in its place. The Sultan’s message to DAP is that His Highness, and not a bunch of Chinamen, decide on whether the three PAS Exco members should be retained or should be sacked.

But DAP was not about to let it go. So Ramkarpal came out with his statement on Malaysia being a secular country and not a Constitutional Monarchy with Islam as the religion of the Federation and the Raja-raja Melayu as head of Islam in their respective states. This is a direct challenge to the Raja-raja Melayu and to their powers and authority.

PKR said it is not going to lose any sleep just because HRH the Sultan of Selangor is upset with Sivarasa. In short, PKR is telling the Sultan to go screw himself. As far as PKR is concerned Sivarasa has every right to deliver a sermon to Muslims in a Selangor mosque.

Even Hadi cannot give a talk in a Selangor mosque and in 2000 he almost got arrested when he did 

Even the PAS President, Abdul Hadi Awang, is not allowed to give a talk or deliver a sermon in a mosque in Selangor. In 2000, the Selangor government almost arrested Hadi when he gave a talk in a Selangor mosque and since the last 17 years Hadi has not given a talk in any mosque in Selangor. And mind you, Hadi is the number two in the International Union of Muslim Scholars, which is based in Qatar with Yusuf al-Qaradawi as its President.

Yes, the number two to Yusuf al-Qaradawi, Abdul Hadi Awang, cannot give a talk in a Selangor mosque but PKR says Sivarasa can. That places Sivarasa far higher than Yusuf al-Qaradawi and Abdul Hadi Awang on the international Islamic stage.

By the way, the committee members of that Selangor mosque that invited Sivarasa to deliver his sermon are members of the DAP-led Pakatan Harapan. So that explains how and why it happened.

Pua wants Proton shareholders to guarantee RM1.5b soft loan

DAP lawmaker Tony Pua is of the opinion that the RM1.5 billion soft loan to Proton must be recalled unless the company's shareholders can jointly and severally guarantee the loan.

Pua said this was the only way to ensure that the government is "protected" and that Malaysians can be assured that Proton would not end up in their unwitting hands again.

"The only way [...] is to elicit a joint and several guarantee from both shareholders of Proton - DRB-Hicom and Geely (Automobile Holding Ltd). This will be nothing less than what any commercial bank would demand from Proton.

"We hope that the Ministry of Finance can provide an official undertaking to concerned Malaysians that such a shareholders guarantee for the RM1.5 billion soft loan, or whatever outstanding amounts, will be secured before Geely’s 49.9 percent acquisition of Proton can be officially completed," said Pua in a statement today.

Finance Minister II Johari Abdul Ghani yesterday had given assurance that the RM1.5 billion loan to Proton "will be fully secured".

Johari had said that the deal with Geely requires the redeemable convertible cumulative preference shares (RCCPS) of RM300 million to be redeemed immediately after completion and that the balance of RM1.2 billion will be secured with various assets.

He also said that the government was treating the deal as a "strictly private" one and that whatever was promised before Geely came in would be fulfilled.

Pua however pointed to the "confusion and contradiction" of Johari's remarks.

"First the second finance minister says that the terms of the RCCPS is no longer valid post-Geely acquisition. Then he says that whatever the government has promised and committed before Geely came in, it will fulfill them.

"So which is which? If the deal is now 'strictly private', then why does the government need to continue with the soft loan to Proton which has a tenure of up to 15 years?"

Pua also questioned the need to set a new repayment timetable for this.

"On the contrary, the government is proceeding to disburse the final instalment of RM250 million from the RCCPS to Proton.

"Even if we were to agree to continue to lend Proton the sum of RM1.5 billion, which we should not, what is this new 'security' for the loan Johari is talking about?"

Pointing out how Geely was acquiring 49.9 percent of Proton for only RM170 million, Pua wonders what were the assets left in Proton that were worth RM1.5 billion which could secure the borrowings from the government.

"Hence even if the RCCPS 'conversion to shares' terms are modified, ultimately the failure of Proton to produce the necessary assets valued at RM1.5 billion to repay the loan would still mean the government taking possession of Proton once again," he added.- Mkini

Tamil school told to cease DLP or face court action

A group representing the Parents Teachers Association of SJK(T) Vivekananda, Petaling Jaya, has threatened to take legal action unless the school cease its implementation of the dual language programme (DLP).

When contacted, Child Information Learning Development Centre (Child) spokesperson K Arumugam told Malaysiakini that they had raised their objections in a letter of demand which was received by the school's headmistress around noon today.

"If the school does not respond to the letter within seven days, it will be deemed that the response from the school is on the affirmative for the continuation of the DLP programme.

"This will suffice the pre-requisite for filing the judicial review," he said.

Arumugam said the applicants contend implementation of the DLP is ultra-vires to the spirit of the federal constitution and laws enacted therein.

Among others, he argued that implementation of the DLP at the school since earlier this year did not fulfill criterias set out under the Education Ministry's guidelines.

"These include consent from parents and Bahasa Malaysia language proficiency to be equal or higher than the national average for UPSR results in the preceding year.

"These are not complied with. The school's board of governors and parent teachers’ association are completely against the implementation of the DLP programme in the school," he stressed.

He said the school has been previously been served with a letter on March 31, stating that its implementation of DLP is defective and did not comply with the guidelines issued by the ministry of education.

"However, the school did not respond and continued with the programme," he added.

Prime minister Najib Abdul Razak had in October 2015 announced that 300 schools will be involved in the DLP pilot project which gives the option to teach science and mathematics in English.

Since then, deputy education minister P Kamalanathan had in January said more than 1,200 schools nationwide were using the programme after meeting the conditions set by the Education Ministry.

Critics had claimed that vernacular language education will suffer if English is used to teach science and mathematics, despite government's assurance that DLP is a voluntary programme for all qualified schools and students. -Mkini

MAS flight turns back after passenger tries to enter cockpit

Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Flight MH128 was forced to return to Melbourne Airport after a passenger attempted to enter the aircraft's cockpit.

MAS in a statement confirmed the incident involving a "disruptive passenger".

"MH128 departed Melbourne Airport at 11.11pm and was to arrive Kuala Lumpur at 5.28am on June 1 made a turn back to Melbourne after the operating captain was alerted by a cabin crew of a passenger attempting to enter the cockpit.

"MH128 safely landed in Melbourne Airport at 11.41pm. The aircraft is currently on the remote bay and waiting for security assistance to arrive at the aircraft," it said in a statement tonight.

MAS stressed that the safety and security are the airline's utmost priority.

Meanwhile, flight tracking service flightradar24 said the security incident caused flights into Melbourne Airport to be diverted.

Some of the affected flights were Qantas Freight Flight QF7395, Cobham Aviation Flight JTE7445 and Toll Aviation Flight VA9560.

According to the tracking website, Flight QF7395 and Flight JTE7445 were diverted to Avalon Airport in Melbourne while Flight VA9560 was diverted to Launceston Airport in Tasmania.

Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai in a Twitter posting acknowledged the incident.

"MAS Flight MH128 from Melbourne to KL has landed safely after being forced to turn back due to a disruptive passenger attempting to enter flight deck," he said.

According to Australia-based SBS World News, the passenger was holding an electronic device but it was not a bomb.

The passenger was reportedly tackled by 11 other passengers.

MAS in an updated statement said the aircraft was "at no point hijacked".

It added that the offending passenger was arrested after the aircraft landed.

"Following the incident on MH128, the disruptive passenger has been apprehended by airport security.

"Malaysia Airlines together with the Australian authorities will be investigating the incident.

"Passengers have safely disembarked the aircraft and will be screened by Australian authorities," it said.

MAS also apologised for the inconvenience arising from the incident.

"The affected passengers will be accommodated at hotels. They will be offered on the next available flight or on other carriers," it said.

Deputy Transport Minister Aziz Ab Kaprawi was quoted by The Star Online as saying that the disruptive passenger was drunk.

"Malaysia Airlines practises a high level of security and safety, so they turned back.

"The crew managed to handle the passenger and once they landed, they contacted airport security to have the passenger removed.

"I have no information yet as to whether the plane will be taking off again soon, but it is believed that the suspect is a Sri Lankan national and that he was drunk," he was quoted as saying.- Mkini

Graphic designer offers alternate layout for The Star's front page

Graphic designer Fahmi Reza has offered up an alternative layout for The Star's front page, which on Saturday sparked controversy.

The Star's May 27 front page, featuring a picture of Muslims praying under an unrelated article with the headline "Malaysian terrorist leader", public outcry for allegedly painting Muslims in negative light.

Using the same content, Fahmi made a layout with a bolder line separating the top story and the unrelated picture.

The picture was also given a separate headline, with the caption made more prominent on the right of the picture.

This was in contrast to the original layout, in which the lead story and headline were separated from the unrelated lead picture by a thinner line.

In the original layout, the caption for the lead picture is smaller and placed more obscurely below the picture.

"With the headline about terrorist and photo of terawih prayers distanced and separated by a line that is clearer, and a bigger photo caption, would there still be angry people asking the Home Ministry to take action?" Fahmi asked on Facebook.

The response to Fahmi's design appears to be largely positive

One Facebook user commented on how this comparable to the front pages of Utusan Malaysia and the New Straits Times (NST), both of which had similar content to The Star.

"Exactly my point about the difference between The Star and NST and Utusan layouts. There is horizontal eye movement on top of vertical that leads the eye movement away," former Centre of Independent Journalism programme director Siew Eng Chuah commented.

Utusan had on Saturday published a picture of terawih prayers on the left, and a separate article on two Malaysian militants killed in Marawi on the right.

The NST's front page that day had the terawih prayers picture on the top part of the newspaper, overlaid with the caption "Among the faithful", while its article on Malaysian militants was on the bottom half of the page and supplemented by a picture of a soldier.

Police today questioned five editors and one photographer from The Star under the Sedition Act 1948 and Section 298A of the Penal Code, which criminalises causing disharmony, or hatred on religious grounds.

Besides the police probe, the Home Ministry on May 29 issued a show-cause letter instructing the daily to explain why it should not have its publication license suspended, according to provisions under the Printing Presses and Publications Act. It has to reply by June 5.

The ministry also expressed grave disappointment over the front page.

The English daily has apologised over the matter, explaining that it is normal practice for the newspaper to print a picture of the first terawih prayers for the year, on the first day of Ramadan.

It said it was coincidental that the first day of Ramadan on Saturday was also the same day it ran the article on terrorism.

The daily also suspended its editor-in-chief Leanne Goh and executive editor Dorairaj Nadason pending an internal investigation.- Mkini

Raja Nong Chik offers help to residents 'mocked by Najib'

Former minister Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin said he wants to help the 34 residents who had opposed the redevelopment of their Kampung Kerinchi flats, and as a result were denied new apartment units.

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, who in February officiated the new apartment - Residensi Kerinchi, mocked the residents by claiming that they were "incited" by Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar to oppose the project and were now regretting their decision.

Nurul Izzah has criticised Najib for ridiculing the residents.

A total of 408 families of the former Kampung Kerinchi flats, valued at RM50,000, were granted a unit each at Residensi Kerinchi, valued at RM500,000, except for the 34 who had challenged the redevelopment in court.

Raja Nong Chik claimed some of the 34 residents have now turned to him for help.

"There have been a few who have come to see me and asked for help. But if possible, I'd like to help them as a group.

"If all the 34 families can band together, we will try to find them a Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) home, but not in Kerinchi.

"I will try my best, I still want to help them as I sympathise with them," he said.

He said this was among the many issues that he'd like to resolve in the constituency of Lembah Pantai.

Raja Nong Chik may have lost in Lembah Pantai during the last general election but the former minister still feels like an MP.

This, he said, was because requests for help from him continued to pour in even though PKR vice president Nurul Izzah is the official MP.

He likened the constituency to having two MPs, one for local affairs and the other for beyond Lembah Pantai.

"They (constituents) consider her as an MP for outside (of the constituency).

"It's like there are two MPs in Lembah Pantai. One is like a 'foreign minister' providing 'international' services and another is local - where they refer to Umno and BN including on matters of aid.

"We do what we can to help," he told Malaysiakini in an interview.

Raja Nong Chik, who is Lembah Pantai Umno chief, has continued to service the constituency despite narrowly losing the election with 29,161 votes to Nurul's 31,008 in 2013.

Having been appointed as a senator and later urban well-being and federal territories Minister in 2009, his continuity as minister had hinged on the contest.

However, Nurul came out on top, the second time she defeated a minister, having already emerged victorious against then Women, Family and Community Development Minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil in 2008.

However, Raja Nong Chik claimed the two-term elected representative was only a "touch and go" MP.

"People may call me bias (in my evaluation of Nurul Izzah). But I think it's best to just ask the voters here. To me, her method is only 'touch and go'.

"She comes, take pictures, makes it viral in Facebook but what has she done?" he said.

Raja Nong Chik claimed some of what she took credit for were the long-term efforts of BN.

Asked if he has ambitions to contest in the 14th general election, Raja Nong Chik merely laughed, stating that it was up to the top leadership to decide.

"It is in my character, I enjoy going to the ground and meeting people. I like it. It's not just about the election.

"I have done this even before I became a minister as well as after I lost in the general election.

"Interacting with Umno and jostling for position - that, I don't really enjoy doing," he said.- Mkini