Toll abolition in three states effective midnight

Toll collection at Batu Tiga and Sungai Rasau in Selangor, Bukit Kayu Hitam in Kedah and the Eastern Dispersal Link (EDL) in Johor will be abolished effective midnight.

The Works Ministry in a statement today said motorists at Sungai Rasau, Batu Tiga and Bukit Kayu Hitam toll plazas would enjoy the toll-free routes 20 years earlier than the stipulated period in the North-South Highway (PLUS) concession agreement.

“While for EDL, motorists at Sultan Iskandar Building, Johor Bahru will only need to pay the toll for PLus to the Johor Causeway,” said the statement.

Therefore, motorists are advised to follow the traffic control management and signboards that have been installed to ensure a smooth and safe journey.

The abolition of the toll collection was announced by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak when tabling the 2018 Budget, as one of the government’s efforts in reducing the living cost and improving the quality of life of the people.

- Bernama

Umno has no problem accepting Tun M's apology, says Shahidan

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Shahidan Kassim said Umno has no problem accepting Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s apology during the former prime minister’s involvement in politics.

“Alhamdulillah….if Tun admits that he has made a mistake, we can accept but when he has made severe accusations against the ruling government, it is not nice because all of us are not perfect.

“Similarly, when we want to criticise we must remember whether we had made any mistake or otherwise...I hope he returns to the beginning and be with the government so that we can become stronger and achieve much more things for the benefit of the people,” he said.

When opening the first general assembly of Bersatu in Shah Alam yesterday, Dr Mahathir had apologised for all the mistakes that he had committed.

Shahidan, who is also the chairperson of the Perlis Umno liaison body and a member of the Umno supreme council, said this when approached after handing out school paraphernalia under the ‘Felcra Berhad Back To School’ programme at the Tambun Tulang State Assemblyman’s service centre in Arau, Perlis today.

Felcra contributed 500 school bags to children of the B40 group in the Arau parliamentary constituency as part of its corporate social responsibility programme at the ceremony.

Earlier, Felcra Northern Region (Kedah and Perlis) general manager Wan Mokhtar Wan Muda said a total of 1,006 children of the B40 group including children of the staff of the agency received aid in the form of school uniforms, bags, stationery, shoes, stockings and exercise books.

In another development, Shahidan said that the opposition entering BN areas to give contributions and aid recently did not affect the ruling coalition at all, particularly Umno.

“Let it be...that is their right to give out a ‘sepak raga’ ball. a bag of rice and some aid. If they don’t come in, how can we fight and see who is stronger in helping and looking after the welfare of the people,” he said.

On Perlis, he said Umno had made long-term plans and was ready to face the 14th general election which is approaching.

- Bernama

Retailers bid their final farewell as sun sets on Ampang Park

With only a few hours left before they will have to say their final farewells, the retailers remaining at Ampang Park today rushed to clear off all that is left of their wares.

From the entrance steps all the way to the top floor, shopkeepers vied for the attention of the flurry of last day visitors, with cries of "Last day sale!" "All must go!" and "Come in and shop!"

Their cries had to compete with the booms and crashes of goods being moved and parts of the building’s structure being removed.

If visitors were unaware that today is indeed the last day for Kuala Lumpur's oldest shopping mall, signs on its doors spelled out "Clearance sale" "Major discounts" and "Finishing stock."

Some tenants are prepared to move into a new location, like Bacarat Silk store owner Muhammad Hafiz, who organised a going away feast for all who passed through his shop on the 44-year-old establishment's ground floor.

"I have been in business here for 10 years. When I started, I also held a small feast.

"I want to enter in a good way and exit in a good way. So today I held a 'farewell Ampang Park' feast," he said.

At close to 6pm, Muhammad (photo) was busy sweeping the floor, while his wife Hajar tended to a steady stream of customers selecting from their large collection of custom made shawls and scarves.

On one rack is a selection of 10 beaded baju kurungs, knocked down from RM1,800 to just RM100 for the store’s last sale before moving to the adjacent Intermark.

He said he had earlier served hundreds of packets of fried noodles and nasi lemak, but even that was "not enough" to feed all the visitors today.

The distinctive smell of durians also attracted more people to queue up outside his store.

"There’s roti jala with curry, Musang King durian curry," he said, adding that some customers came back for extra helpings.

Almost right on cue, a boy walked past and said "This durian is delicious!" as he gave Muhammad the thumbs up sign.

For others, however, the mood was less celebratory, with the demolition of Ampang Park marking the beginning of their end in business.

Love Lane music store owner PM Ong (photo) told Malaysiakini he was ready for retirement after 44 years in business at the same location.

"We are permanently closed to retire. We cannot survive in business anymore because the overhead is too high.

"Anyway, nowadays, everybody downloads their music, so hardly anyone buys CDs anymore," he said.

For the visitors, not only did they come for the final sales, many were also seen taking selfies and photographs of Ampang Park, whether inside the building or from higher vantage points along the nearby pedestrian bridge.

One man even parked his motorcycle on a kerb in the middle of the road just to take his last photograph.

The sun will set on Ampang Park for the last time, with the iconic building being demolished to make way for an underground walkway, as well as the five-storey Ampang Park MRT station that will serve the new MRT2 line.

- Mkini

Tamil film star Rajinikanth to enter politics

A big star of India’s Tamil-language movies, Rajinikanth, said on Sunday he is launching a political party, adding drama to a heated political scene in a state with a history of film stars becoming chief ministers.

Tamil Nadu, which accounts for the bulk of India’s automobile exports, has been in political limbo since the death of chief minister J Jayalalithaa in December 2016.

Jayalalithaa (photo) was a popular actress before joining politics.

Rajinikanth, called the “Superstar” by his fans, enters the political scene at a time Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party is looking to make inroads into the southern state that has been ruled by two south Indian parties for decades.

Over the past five decades, Tamil Nadu has chosen between the two Dravidian parties, both of which claim anti-caste social justice and secularism as their core ideology.

Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) did not win a seat in Tamil Nadu’s 2016 elections. The next state election is due in 2021.

“I’ll push for spiritual politics without caste or religious leanings,” Rajinikanth said. “If I come to power and am not able to deliver in three years, I’ll resign. Democracy is in a state of distress in the state.”

In Tamil cinema, Rajinikanth often plays larger-than-life characters that project him as a saviour of the masses. The actor, who has been in a few Hindi movies, has created a frenzy among fans ahead of every release.

But opponents say politics would be different.

Subramanian Swamy, a BJP leader, dismissed Rajinikanth’s plunge into politics as “media hype”.

Tamil Nadu, a state of more than 70 million people, is sometimes called the “Detroit of Asia”. It is home to factories of companies including BMW, Daimler, Hyundai, Ford, Nissan and Renault.

- Reuters

Media spun my words on 'Muslim-only cabinet', Hadi says

Speaking up for the first time after he was accused of calling for a Muslim-only cabinet, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang said he was only trying to explain that Islam is more flexible than other ideologies – but that his words had been deliberately misinterpreted by the media.

“In truth, they are afraid of Islam’s influence in capturing not the country, but the hearts of people.

“To me, Malaysians can accept all kinds of ideologies imported from the West, whether liberal capitalism, socialism, or even taking up arms to fight for communism.

“They are willing. So why can’t they accept Islam as an alternative – Islam that had once ruled a country with more flexibility,” he said in a speech at PAS headquarters today, where he launched the PAS Pilihanku 2.0 membership recruitment drive.

In the US, he said, the Democratic and Republican parties fill the cabinet with their own members when they become the ruling party, adding that the same also applies in European cabinets.

Moreover in the US, he said the ruling party would go as far as appointing its supporters to fill senior positions in the civil service.

In contrast, he said, Islam is open to appointing non-Muslims to use their expertise, including as state exco members, though only as policy implementers. He insisted that policymakers must still be Muslims.

Previously, New Straits Times quoted Hadi calling for a Muslim-only cabinet, which was based on the PAS president’s column in party organ Harakah Daily on Dec 22.

Several groups such as DAP, MCA, and the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST) had condemned Hadi over the matter, saying that a Muslim-only cabinet is unconstitutional and discriminatory.

Several PAS leaders came to Hadi’s defence, however, such as information chief Nasrudin Hassan, who said the Muslim-only rule is not absolute and applies to certain ministries.

Hadi’s press secretary Abdul Malik Razak had also urged the New Straits Times and its reporter who wrote the report to apologise.- Mkini

MCA: How can Dr M promise freedom when he restricted it?

MCA religious harmony bureau chief Ti Lian Ker branded Dr Mahathir Mohamad a hypocrite, after the former prime minister apologised for his past mistakes and pledged his commitment to freedom of speech.

"It is ironic for Mahathir to make such a bold claim and it is hypocrisy of the highest order, especially since it was during the latter’s tenure that the Internal Security Act was used against people, activists and politicians who had divergent opinions," he said in a statement today.

Ti (photo) also criticised Mahathir's defence that his predecessors had placed more people under detention compared to him.

"He (Mahathir) made claims that his predecessors made more arrests during their tenure, but those arrests were made at the height of the Communist insurgency, and were made to safeguard the nation, not to safeguard nor extend their political career.

"They never abused the ISA to lock up their political rivals, in or out of the party. They respected the spirit of the law," he said.

Mahathir made the apology during Bersatu's first annual general assembly in Shah Alam yesterday. Mahathir is the Bersatu and Pakatan Harapan chairperson.

During the AGM, Mahathir also committed to the opposition's cause for separation of powers and civil liberties.

Shortly after Mahathir's statement, Communications and Multimedia Minister Salleh Said Keruak described his speech as "unbelievable," adding that freedom of speech had improved after Mahathir's era, particularly under Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

This claim was disputed by PKR communications director Fahmi Fadzil (photo) in a statement today.

Fahmi said Salleh's statement was not grounded in facts, pointing out that Malaysia's rank in the World Press Freedom Index had fallen from 104th in 2003, when Mahathir stepped down, to 144th in 2017.

However, 14 additional countries have been included in the rankings since 2003.

"Under Najib, so many printed and online media were suspended and banned including The Edge's Financial Daily, Sarawak Report, The Malaysian Insider and Asia Sentinel.

"Most of these media were suppressed over reports concerning the misappropriation of funds from 1MDB," he said.

As such, Fahmi said it was apparent that freedom of speech had worsened under Najib.

- Bernama

Najib: Hadi, the better opposition

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, in a New Year's message today, slammed the federal opposition's conduct, and contrasted it to that of PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang, which he described as the "better way".

Najib noted that the opposition had a role to play, but said it was irresponsible of politicians to oppose for the sake of opposing, even when they secretly agree with the government on certain policies, such as the GST or the 1Malaysia concept.

"Opposition figures concede privately that they are in favour of this concept to promote national unity – as all patriotic Malaysians should be – but they have opposed it for deceitful, personal political ends. This is shameful.

"A better way has also been shown by PAS under the leadership of Abdul Hadi Awang.

"We are in different parties, but we surmount those divisions when it comes to matters of common interest, such as supporting the causes of the Rohingya and the Palestinians," he said in the message uploaded on his official blog.

Najib described this as "matured politics" which helps build the country instead of trying to burn it down.

Likewise, Najib also alluded to his visit to see imprisoned PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim when he underwent a shoulder surgery.

"We can have differences of opinion, of course, but we should still be decent and have decorum.

"That should be accepted and understood in a civilised society, for we do not believe in, and nor will we return to, the viciousness practised under a former leader," he said in an apparent reference to former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

In contrast, Najib accused the opposition of attempting to sabotage the Malaysian economy by making "wild and false" claims.

"Neither is it acceptable for a former leader to attempt to overthrow a democratically elected government in the hope that his ambitions for his son may be realised.

"In a democracy, all that should matter is the wishes of the people as expressed at the ballot box, not the selfish dynastic desires of one man," he said.

Mahathir is the chairperson of Pakatan Harapan, while PAS had decided to go its separate way, forming its own coalition known as Gagasan Sejahtera characterised by a friendlier approach to the government.

After contrasting the different opposition fronts, Najib said this was a choice that will be presented to Malaysians next year when the general election is held.

"A government that has continued to work for their betterment, with a clear direction and policies to move Malaysia forward in the short, medium and long-term – or parties who can only campaign negatively, hoping to cause public anger and unhappiness to win votes, because they have nothing to offer Malaysians but division and populist illusions that would damage the country.

"Electing the government is a serious business, and we are confident in the wisdom of the people," he said. - Mkini