Malaysia now exports 17,000 tonnes of durians to Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong, Australia, United States and China. (Facebook pic)
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia has been given the go-ahed to export frozen whole durians to China, the CNA news website reported.
It said this long-awaited announcement was made by China’s Customs Department on Thursday.
This comes 10 months after both countries signed a memorandum on the matter.
Earlier, China only allowed imports of frozen durian pulp. The vacuum-packed fruits have been exported since 2011.
Deputy Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Sim Tze Tzin said the export of whole frozen durians would widen the market for Malaysian durian growers and increase their profits.
He said Malaysia’s current durian exports only accounted for 5.8% of the durian production in the country.
He said Malaysia exports 17,000 tonnes of durians to Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong, Australia, United States and China.
China imports 300,000 tonnes of durian, mostly from Thailand, every year.
Sim said 67 farms, covering 464ha, had been selected to export frozen whole durians, mostly of the Musang King variety.
He hoped businessmen would venture into making ice cream, biscuits and cakes made from durian for export. -FMT
PETALING JAYA: The American-Kazakh couple who hosted Ivana Smit two years ago, on the day the Dutch model fell 14 floors and was found dead, intend to take legal action against her family for accusing them of causing her death.
Cryptocurrency trader Alex Johnson and Luna Almaz, who were the last persons to see Smit alive, told Dutch news portal AD.nl: “We are innocent, but have been under fire for a year and a half due to a smear campaign. Enough is enough.”
The couple, who are now based in Miami in the US, said there is no proof for the Smit family’s constant accusations that they were implicated in Smit’s untimely death.
In their first interview since they went underground 18 months ago following the international attention Smit’s death received, the couple said they would take the Smit family to court for defaming them unless they stop.
“The Smit family suffered an unimaginable loss with the death of Ivana. Proceedings against them are the last thing we want, but what choice do we have but to go to court if this continues? They want the whole world to attack us,” the couple said.
The Johnsons hosted Smit, then 18, at their 20th-floor unit at Capsquare Residence, off Jalan Dang Wangi, in Kuala Lumpur, on Dec 7, 2017.
Smit was found sprawled in the nude later that day on a 6th-floor balcony. She was pronounced dead.
The duo claimed to have had sex with Smit prior to her death but have maintained their innocence, saying the model died due to her own “youthful recklessness”.
The police first classified the case as sudden death, but it was reopened last year after pressure from Smit’s family, who claim there were elements of foul play.
The Kuala Lumpur Coroner’s Court this year ruled Smit’s death as a misadventure, which implies that the Dutch model died in an accident due to voluntary risk.
Coroner Mahyon Talib, in her written judgment, said no one was involved in Smit’s death.
Ivana Smit.
The couple have already reportedly pressed charges in Miami against a Dutch commercial TV channel programme maker, Thjis Zeeman, and his team after they confronted and filmed Almaz in Miami.
AD.nl quoted Almaz as saying she was secretly filmed in her apartment. “Now everyone knows where we live. We receive hate mail and death threats on a daily basis,” she said.
The Johnsons have also launched legal proceedings against a British private investigator that the Smit family hired to look into her death. Mark Williams-Thomas had said Smit’s death should have been handled as a murder.
Johnson and Almaz claimed Williams-Thomas “falsified evidence and pressured people” to give him the statements he wanted to hear so that he could allegedly use it for a TV documentary.
The AD.nl report quoted Smit’s uncle, Fred Agenjo Weinhold, as saying he was not intimidated by the Johnsons’ threat to sue.
“There is no conceivable scenario for us as a family to be silenced. This will only fuel our determination more,” he said.
The daily also said Williams-Thomas refused to respond when asked for comments while Zeeman said he was not aware of the charges the Johnsons had levelled against him.
Separately, the UK’s Daily Mail quoted the couple as saying that they had nothing to do with the death, adding that the duo had left behind their “party lifestyle” after a “witch hunt” that saw them questioned by the police in Malaysia.
They also denied drugging the Dutch model on the day that she died, or that they took drugs themselves.
There were traces of cocaine, cannabis, alcohol, polymethylmethacrylate, among others, in Smit’s system, the combined effect of which could have knocked her out, the inquest into her death heard.
Johnson added: “We had nothing to do with her passing. Ivana was our friend and we both had relationships with her. She came with us willingly that night.
“I wish I had more time to know her. I lost a friend,” he said.
“We have enjoyed the company of other women over the course of our marriage.
“I honestly don’t give a s*** what anybody thinks any more. We are numb to it… We have had a year and a half of this. We have lost everything and started over again. I don’t care any more.”
Johnson and Almaz claimed to have had occasional sexual intercourse with Smit in their 20th-floor condo unit. Almaz also said she had sex with Smit on the morning of her death. This was referred to in court as well.
The Johnsons said they travelled through Asia after leaving Malaysia shortly after Smit’s death in 2017 and finally ended up in Miami.
The couple were detained in a police cell and later at the Sungai Buloh prison. They were later released and cleared in the case. Three months later, they decided to leave Malaysia.
Smit’s family has since applied for a revision of the judgement in the inquest.
The coroner in Smit’s inquest had ruled that the bruises on Smit’s arms and the back of her neck, the presence of broken glass bottles in the 20th-floor unit, and the DNA of Johnson found under Smit’s fingernails, suggested the possibility of foul play.
Mahyon had said she was of the opinion that Smit died between 6.50am and 2pm on Dec 7, 2017, and that her injuries were consistent with a fall from a height.- FMT
Ferries plying between Langkawi and the Kedah and Perlis coasts are flouting safety rules, authorities say. (Facebook pic)
LANGKAWI: Passenger ferries plying between Langkawi and the Kedah and Perlis coasts have never conducted firefighting exercises, an operation by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) and the Langkawi Marine Department found.
MMEA Kedah/Perlis director Rozali Mohd Said said the shocking discovery was made during a surprise inspection of four ferries carrying 400 passengers here on Thursday.
He said the operation was carried out to ensure the ferries complied with safety procedures and maritime law, following several complaints and incidents such as a stranded ferry in Kuala Perlis and the fire on a Langkawi ferry.
“The inspections were carried out on ferries operating along the Langkawi-Kuala Kedah and Langkawi-Kuala Perlis route.
“In addition to not having firefighting exercises, there were other security aspects that the operators had not complied with such as a faulty public announcement system which meant announcements could not be made, and children’s safety jackets placed in a location that was hard to access,” he said in a statement here yesterday.
During the operation, the ferry operators were briefed on security at sea as well shown the proper use of safety jackets.- FMT
PETALING JAYA: A sociologist has called for frank discussions on the issue of maintaining the race quota in the university matriculation programme as well as on other matters that may bear on key provisions of the Federal Constitution.
“We need to take the position that all views can be put on the table,” said Denison Jayasooria, a principal research fellow at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s Institute of Ethnic Studies.
In open and frank discussions, he added, those who exhibit irrationality would lose.
“We can openly discuss even Article 153 on the special position and legitimate interests of Bumiputeras without trying to abolish it.”
Referring to the matriculation issue, he called for a review of the justification for a Bumiputera quota in the light of contemporary realities.
He suggested a single system of entry into public universities in the form of a unified course and examination.
He said he didn’t believe Malay students from national and special schools would not be able to compete in such an examination.
“The situation in the 1950s and 1960s was different,” he said. “Our educational institutions and provisions are very comprehensive currently.
“In this context too, the government should review its practice of sending students overseas for their first degrees. It should send them to local public universities as well as good private universities.”
Keeping the best students locally would improve the quality of local higher education, he added.
Putrajaya’s recent decision to maintain the quota of 90% for Bumiputera students in the matriculation programme has stirred up some debate.
Some observers have said parts of the debate were tilting towards racism.
FMT recently quoted antique book dealer Muhammad Nazreen Jaafar and academic Teo Kok Seong as saying that recent political speeches and writings that could be seen as communally charged revolved around the position of the Malay language and education.
Nazreen, a former researcher at a local think tank, said he had acquired a document produced internally by the Alliance, the precursor to Barisan Nasional, which described the political climate prior to the riots of May 13, 1969. He indicated that the current political debates were of a similar vein.
Teo, a colleague of Jayasooria’s at the Institute of Ethnic Studies, said some political parties appeared to be challenging the constitution and Malay rights, and he cited the debate over the matriculation quota. - FMT
A hostel warden was sentenced to 228 years in jail and 42 strokes of the rotan by the Kangar Sessions Court after he pleaded guilty to 25 counts of sodomy and gross indecency.
PETALING JAYA: A lawyer wants judges to be given guidelines on sentencing in view of the present wide disparity in imposing punishments.
A Srimurugan said such discrepancies may occur due to the lack of formal training for judges.
“It is high time the judiciary produced a guidebook to assist judges. They must consider the interests of the public and the accused before imposing a jail term and whipping,” he told FMT.
He said a long jail term would be illogical while whipping beyond 24 times is against the law.
The lawyer was responding to a report that a hostel warden was sentenced to 228 years’ in jail and 42 strokes of the rotan by the Sessions Court on Wednesday after he pleaded guilty to 25 counts of sodomy and gross indecency against five tahfiz school students in Kangar.
Sessions Court Judge Ainul Shahrin Mohamad handed down the sentence on Nawawi Anuar, 28.
A Srimurugan.
The court ordered that the sentences for 20 of the charges run consecutively and six others to run concurrently.
Deputy public prosecutor Noshuhada Mohd Yatim represented the state while Mohd Hapiz Rajali appeared for Nawawi.
Srimurugan said in 2008, a three-member Court of Appeal bench led by Suryadi Halim Omar requested trial judges to use established legal principles and logic before sentencing accused persons.
In the case of Tuan Mat Tuan Lonik v Public Prosecutor, the appellant was sentenced to 75 years’ jail and 50 strokes of the rotan by the trial judge after he pleaded guilty to five rape charges.
When the appeal came before the Court of Appeal, the accused was 48 years old.
Suryadi, who wrote the judgement, said if the accused were to serve the full 75 years, he would be 123 years of age when released.
“Knowing fully well that he will never serve the full term is not only bizarre but strains the intelligence of the court.
“Any illogical sentence may attract unnecessary scrutiny and negative comments from the public on how we awkwardly conduct ourselves,” he had said.
Suryadi said public opinion is like the sword of Damocles that hovers over the head of any trial judge, constantly intimidating the court to surrender to the unreasonable demands of the public.
Muhammad Rafique Rashid Ali.
In varying the sentence, the appellate court sentenced Tuan Mat to serve only 30 years in jail and the maximum 24 strokes of the rotan, as provided under the law.
Meanwhile, another lawyer, Muhammad Rafique Rashid Ali, said the counsel and deputy public prosecutors must assist the trial judges by giving quality submissions before the sentence is meted out.
“Any illogical or long jail sentence will be seen as imposing a natural life imprisonment term with the accused dying in prison,” he said.
In the Kangar case, the accused will spend 152 years in jail even after one-third remission for the total imprisonment term.
“Given that he is now 28 years of age, he will only be released when he is 180.”
Rafique hoped a High Court judge in the nearest jurisdiction would use his or her revisionary powers to impose a more appropriate sentence. - FMT
(Sinar Harian) – Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah Almarhum Sultan Ahmad Shah meminta peneroka Felda di negara ini bersabar berikutan ketidakstabilan harga komoditi yang berlaku pada masa kini.
Titahnya, baginda dapat merasai dan memahami kedudukan Felda yang berdepan situasi tersebut hingga menimbulkan keresahan kepada peneroka di negara ini.
“Harap peneroka di Felda bersabar dan bermuhasabah kerana turun naik harga kelapa sawit memang mengikut pusingan ekonomi dan ia bukan tertakluk kepada kelapa sawit sahaja malah yang lain-lain turut mengalami situasi sama.
“Kerajaan Pusat dan negeri sedang berusaha mencari alternatif dan juga sumber-sumber lain untuk meningkatkan hasil peneroka Felda.
“Jadi saya berharap peneroka memberikan kepercayaan kepada pengurusan baharu Felda serta kerajaan untuk mencari jalan keluar daripada masalah tersebut,” titah baginda pada Majlis Berbuka Puasa Bersama Rakyat Daerah Maran di Masjid Felda Jengka 5 di sini hari ini.
Dalam pada itu, baginda percaya dan yakin jika semua pihak mempunyai pemikiran yang positif, sabar dan seterusnya memberikan kepercayaan kepada pengurusan baharu Felda yang cuba menangani masalah yang timbul sebaik mungkin.
“Sempena Ramadan ini, rakyat juga perlu menyuburkan sifat sabar sehingga ke bulan-bulan lain,” titah baginda.
Hadir sama, Menteri Besar Pahang, Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail, Setiausaha Kerajaan Negeri, Datuk Seri Dr Sallehuddin Ishak, Mufti Pahang, Datuk Seri Dr Abdul Rahman Osman, Pengerusi Felda, Tan Sri Megat Zaharuddin Megat Mohd Nor dan barisan Exco Kerajaan Pahang.
Pada majlis itu, baginda berkenan menyampaikan sumbangan kepada 220 penerima asnaf dan golongan kurang berkemampuan dari daerah itu.
