Are Singaporeans stealing our cars?

Twenty-two luxury cars that had been stolen in Malaysia over the past three years have been recovered in Singapore, reported The New Straits Times.

The vehicles, worth a total of RM3 million (S$1.24 million), had been found in a container by Singapore police and were taken back to Malaysia on Thursday, the report said.

It quoted a source as saying that a team from the Bukit Aman anti-vehicle theft unit, with the assistance of Interpol, travelled to Singapore on Feb 21 after being tipped off by the Singapore authorities.

"We believe the mastermind, who is still at large, is a Malaysian. The vehicles were kept in the Republic prior to being smuggled to African and Arab countries," the source said.

Most of the vehicles had been stolen in Selangor. Malaysian police said they included 12 Toyota Camrys, four Toyota Hiluxs, two Honda Accords, two BMWs, one Toyota Rush and one Toyota Fortuner - TodayOnline

Fake medical chits, fake insurance, fake cooking oil and now fake mobile phones

Several unscrupulous mobile phone dealers operating from a well-known shopping mall here have been cheating tourists by selling fake, dummy and second-hand phones by passing them off as genuine and new units.

The unsuspecting tourists, thinking that they had bought the units for a bargain, only realised they had been conned when the mobile phone did not function properly.

City police chief Deputy Comm Datuk Mohmad Salleh said police, along with the Federal Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Department, raided the shopping mall at around 1.30pm on Feb 25.

“We seized 114 mobile phones which we believe are fake,” he said at the Brickfields police headquarters yesterday, adding that the police also arrested 12 men aged between 27 and 30 in connection with the sale of the mobile phones.

He said that during the raid, a man had approached four policemen who were inspecting his shop and attempted to bribe them with RM1,500.

“The 27-year-old man was immediately arrested,” he said.

DCP Mohmad also said the 12 remaining suspects had been remanded to facilitate investigations - The Star

SPAD - no action, talks only

An English tourist was forced to pay RM450 for a taxi ride from KL Sentral to the Suria KLCC shopping centre. The tourist paid the fare before lodging a report against the driver.

SPAD chairman Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar said they were investigating and would take action against the taxi driver and the operator.

He said the taxi driver was believed to have threatened the tourist into paying the fee.

Bird nests may become just nests for birds

THE Malaysian bird's nest industry is facing another hurdle as China has banned its citizens from bringing the item back after visiting Malaysia, China Press reported.

Federation of Malaysia Bird's Nest Merchants Association deputy president Datuk Tok Teng Sai said this posed a great challenge to the bird's nest industry as China had already stopped its import from Malaysia due to high levels of nitrate found in them.

Erykah Badu banned over tattoos

Malaysian authorities scrapped a concert by American singer Erykah Badu on Tuesday after she angered Muslims with a photo in which she sports body art including the Arabic word for “Allah”.

Information Minister Rais Yatim said on Twitter that the concert was cancelled because it breached government guidelines on “religious sensitivities and cultural values” in the Muslim-majority country.

“The ‘Allah’ graphic on the singer’s body will surely cause controversy among Muslims,” Rais said.

In separate comments quoted by state news agency Bernama, he warned the concert -- scheduled for Wednesday -- would “lead to bigger problems” by threatening national security and tarnishing the government’s image.

The acclaimed soul artist had been scheduled to perform in the capital Kuala Lumpur - Al Arabiya

Gentlemen only game is not so gentleman after all

Police are investigating allegations by a 67-year-old man who claimed that he was almost hit by a golf ball during a game at a country club here.

The man, who requested anonymity, also alleged that the group of 20 odd golfers from South Korea was made up of several teaching professionals.

The retired government servant said he was playing with several friends at the club when they met the group on the green on Feb 16.

“We arrived on foot and played first while they came onto the course later.

“However, we noticed that they had not been playing according to the holes and overtook us.

“At one particular hole, I was about to tee off when a ball flew over my head,'' he said yesterday.

According to golf etiquette, a golfer should yell “fore” immediately under such circumstance to alert golfers in the flight ahead - The Star

Lizard king freed from jail

A Malaysian appeal court on Wednesday freed a wildlife trafficker known as the “lizard king” who had been caught trying to smuggle boa constrictors, overturning a lower court’s sentence.

Anson Wong was arrested in August 2010 at Kuala Lumpur airport as he tried to smuggle 95 of the endangered snakes to neighboring Indonesia.

The Malaysian, who is in his 50s, was sentenced to six months in jail later that year. Prosecutors appealed the verdict at the high court, but it extended the sentence to five years.

But Judge Low Hop Bing, sitting at the Court of Appeal in Putrajaya, the administrative capital south of Kuala Lumpur, overturned the sentence on Wednesday and ordered Wong’s immediate release

“The high court did not make any reference that the appellant had pleaded guilty in the lower court,” Low said.

“[It] also erroneously considered irrelevant factors like that the 95 snakes were kept in a small bag and were being tortured,” he added.

Low said the jail term was thus adjusted to 17-and-a-half months, which Wong had already served.

A noble punishment for not so noble students

A total of 28 male students from several secondary schools around Kota Bharu were arrested for skipping school and were ordered to read the Holy Quran as punishment.

Director of Education Department, Hussin Awang said, all the arrested students were taken to Telipot Mosque to be given counseling and ordered to read the Quran under the guidance of the Imam, Ahmad Yunus.

The boys, aged between 15 and 18 were arrested around the capital's shopping centers, housing estates and surau (small mosques).

"Some of the students were detainded while smoking," he told reporters here today.

Hussin said they were later released after their statements taken.

Ghosts kidnapped grandmother

A grandmother to 30 grandchildren who disappeared for almost 24 hours on Wednesday said she was kidnapped and her mind manipulated by three mysterious black ghostly figures.

Johara Ahmad, 83, claimed she was guarded by three ghostly genderless figures before she was found by her neighbors in the middle of rice fields,

You want China chicken, Kazakh chicken, Russia chicken. Why not try Uganda chicken? We have every kind of chicken.

A report released last week said that more than 600 Ugandan girls are currently trapped in Malaysian prostitution rings. Uganda's honorary consul in Kuala Lumpur said in the report that at least three Ugandans have been killed there in the last two years.

"I need to stop this, and it has to stop at the source," Hajah Noraihan, Uganda's top diplomat in Malaysia, said during a trip to Uganda last week. "The girls think there are green pastures (in Malaysia), but it is not a picnic."

A Malaysian Foreign Ministry official said the government is aware of the issue with Ugandan women, but declined to elaborate. Other officials familiar with the matter could not immediately be reached.

READ THE REST HERE

You do FOREX, we will send our religious police to arrest you UNLESS you are a bank

Part-time currency traders, beware: You might be violating Muslim law, at least in Malaysia.

An Islamic body last week warned Muslims that participating in individual spot foreign exchange trading through electronic platforms is in conflict with Islamic laws. The National Fatwa Council, which comes under the nation’s Department of Islamic Development (the main agency handling Islamic affairs at the federal level), said that a study by a committee found that such trading involves currency speculation, which is against Islamic laws. It is therefore “haram,” or forbidden, for Muslims, it said.

READ THE REST AT WSJ

Malaysians impeccable moral, no rape, no corruption, no sex before marriage, no beer and now no children sex book

Malaysian authorities on Tuesday ordered bookstores to stop selling a classic children's sex education book by a British author, local media reported on Wednesday.

Malaysia's Home Ministry ordered a temporary halt to the sales of Peter Mayle's illustrated book "Where Did I Come From?" to study if the content could harm the community's "moral." The educational book was first published in 1984 and describes the reproductive process from intercourse to birth.

"If the contents are found to have elements that could harm the moral of the community, we would ban it," the ministry's deputy secretary-general Datuk Abdul Rahim Mohd Radzi said, as quoted by the Malaysian Insider.

An idiot guide to winning a contract

He didn’t get contracts to manage security for gated communities in the neighbourhoods in USJ.

His solution?

Beat up rival companies security guards to intimidate them into leaving, in order for his security company to move in.

This was the game plan hatched by a 30-year-old security company supervisor, who was caught last Friday after bashing up no less than four security guards from rival companies.

READ THE REST AT MALAY MAIL

Son killed mum

A 60-year-old rubber tapper died after her son allegedly slashed her head with a parang at their house in Kampung Padang Buluh, Sidam Kiri near here.

The woman's body was found sprawled in a pool of blood in the kitchen by a relative.

She had just returned home from tapping rubber and was about to prepare lunch for herself and her son when the latter attacked her.

It is learnt that the suspect, aged 26, the youngest of six siblings, lived with the woman at the house.

Religious group logo seems similar to satan logo

Barely hours after the new group formed by former Selangor exco Dr Hasan Ali was launched, it has already landed on a debate surrounding its red-coloured logo.

  

Jati, the acronym for Jalur Tiga (three stripes), representing the three elements that Hasan lumped together as his struggle - Islam, Malays and Rulers - was launched today in an elaborate ceremony (right) at the Shah
Alam Convention Centre.

However, Harakahdaily has been alerted by several netizens who pointed out striking similarities between Jati's logo and another logo, titled "Satan's logo" as posted on a blog by a US-based art activist - Harakah

If you want the best sandwich in the world, come to Malaysia

A sandwich made with a dash of the humble kunyit (turmeric) by Malaysian chef Darren Chin was named the Best Sandwich in the World at the recent Delifrance Sandwich World Cup competition in France.

Darren's father David Chin, 60, said his son beat eight other participants in the sandwich-making competition.

“It is an achievement the sandwich is not a staple food here, but we can still make the best sandwich in the world,” he told The Star yesterday.

The Sandwich World Cup, which was organised by cafe-bakery chain Delifrance, took place on Feb 14 at the Paris School of Bakery and Pastry, and eight international entrants presented their sandwiches before a panel of international culinary experts.

Instead of serving food for his customer, he served kungfu

Using kung fu moves with a pair of chopsticks and a wooden chair, a chef here floored a customer at his restaurant two years ago.

Yesterday, a Sessions Court sentenced Abdul Rahman Teoh Abdullah, 47, to five years in jail for injuring P.M. Balakrishnan, 57.

The offence was committed at a restaurant in Jalan Melaka Raya 11 in Taman Melaka Raya here at about 4am on Jan 1, 2010.

Judge Hamri Thamri Mohammad Shaharuddin meted out the sentence after Abdul Rahman changed his plea to guilty, minutes after he claimed trial when the charge was read out to him yesterday.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Fairuz Syuhada Amran prosecuted while Abdul Rahman was not represented.

Based on the statement of facts, the accused had used kung fu moves, using chopsticks and a wooden chair, to assault Balakrishnan.

Mitigating that he was the sole breadwinner in his family, Abdul Rahman appealed to the court to reduce his sentence.

Fairuz Syuhada objected and asked the court not to be lenient as Abdul Rahman should not have injured his customer under any circumstance - The Star

Singaporeans no good when it comes to sex, compared to Malaysians

Malaysians are more satisfied in bed compared to their neighbours across the Causeway.

A Durex Sexual Well-Being Global Survey found that Malaysians were also doing well in making their partners happy, with 89% of men and 81% of women saying their partners were good at giving them sexual pleasure.

All was not well in Singapore, according to the survey, with only 54% of men and 62% of women saying their partners were giving them pleasurable sex.

“Singapore is amongst the countries in Asia having the second lowest scores in this area,” Durex said in a statement yesterday.

Nine out of 10 Malaysian women (89%) agreed that sex brought them emotionally closer to their partners.

“The pleasant surprise is that Malaysian men seem to be succeeding in getting in touch with their softer sides, as 88% of Malaysian women say they feel loved during sex,” said Durex.

Reckitt Benckiser Malaysia and Singapore marketing director Nikhilesh Kalra said sexual well-being was a balance of physical, emotional and sociological factors.

The survey, commissioned by Durex, was conducted to gain global consumer insights into sexual attitudes and behaviours.

It was conducted in 36 countries with a total of 29,003 people aged 18 and above between Sept 6 and Oct 3 last year.

The Malaysian results have a base of 506 participants: 241 men and 265 women - The Star

Don't park your motorcycle on the same spot. It might get stolen not once but twice

WHEN IAN ONG discovered his motorcycle missing from its parked spot at the motorcycle parking bay of a Kuala Lumpur shopping complex two years ago, he blamed it on his luck and got himself a new bike.

As a tenant of the shopping mall, he decided to continue parking his second motorcycle in the same parking lot.

However, his second motorcycle also went missing earlier this year!

“When my first motorcycle was stolen in May 2010, no one wanted to take responsibility for it. Thinking that the shopping mall parking lot would be safe, I decided to park my new motorcycle there.

“I paid all the daily parking fees required to park at the compound and placed trust in the security staff to look after my vehicle but in less than two years, my bike got stolen again on Jan 2 this year.

“My motorcycle’s safety chain was cut and was left lying on the floor of the parking lot,” he says.

THE MALAY MAIL

It happens in Papua New Guinea: A teacher is transferred within 24 hours and no packing allowed. No, not PNG, it happens right here under our nose in modern Malaysia

An engineer has been left fuming when his wife, a biology school teacher, was transferred within 24 hours without notice.

To rub salt to the wound, the transfer orders which K. Arasumani received on Jan 18 were backdated two days.

S. Saravanan, 43, claimed his wife, who has been teaching at SMK Anderson since 2010, received a letter of transfer to SMK Sg Pari that took immediate effect on Jan 16.

“My wife was shocked to receive the letter and to our knowledge, the transfer of a civil servant should follow procedures and not within 24 hours,” said Saravanan yesterday, questioning the state education department’s action over the transfer.

Saravanan said his wife was formerly a paramedic for 10 years but decided to take on the job as a teacher seven years ago.

“My wife is the head of the biology section and has not faced any disciplinary action by the school during her years of service,” he said.

READ THE REST AT MALAY MAIL

Don't bathe in the morning or a crocodile will eat you

Out for an early morning bath, a housewife did not suspect anything sinister lurking in the murky waters of Sungai Niah.

However, her quiet world was shattered when she was attacked by a crocodile at around 6.30am yesterday near her longhouse, some 120km south of Miri city.

Mili Nur, a resident of Rumah Nur in Niah sub-district, had her will to live to thank for when she managed to fend off the reptile which tried to drag her into the water.

Sitting on her hospital bed, she told The Star: “I was in the river bathing when I felt something in the water. My biggest fear came true when I realised that it was a crocodile.”

“It grabbed my leg. I kicked and struggled, and somehow, managed to pull my leg from its jaws.

“I was still screaming for help when all of a sudden, it disappeared. It looked like it was more than 3m,” said a visibly shaken Mili, 25.

Several villagers found her later and pulled her to safety.

THIS STORY ON THE STAR

Farmer saw a bear then shot it.......

A FARMER mistook his cousin for a bear and shot and killed him in Sabah, Harian Metro reported.

The 42-year-old farmer said he went on a hunting trip with Nuis Upil, 36, and two other friends at about 2pm in Ulu Sungai Mususur, Tambunan, on Wednesday.

The farmer aimed his bakakuk (home-made gun) at a rambutan tree and fired, causing Nuis to fall from the tree that he had been climbing.

The hunting party then started searching for the “animal” and was shocked to see Nuis lying in a pool of blood.

Keningau OCPD Deputy Supt Zahari Mohamed confirmed that the farmer and his friends were in custody to assist in investigations.

12 out 100 Malaysians are mentally unstable

Mental health is now a mind-bogging problem in the country, with more people believed to be experiencing some sorts of emotional stress and mental distress.

According to the 2011 National Health and Morbidity Survey, 12% of Malaysians aged between 18 and 60 are suffering from some forms of mental illness.

Mental health has also been recently discussed in the media with murders being committed by alleged mentally-ill patients, such as the one in Trengganu where a saleswoman was killed by an alleged mentally-deranged person.

Of the percentage affected by mental illness, depression made up 2%, psychosis 1%, worrying 1.8%, while the rest involved anxiety disorder, which is a chronic disease, and mild mental diseases.

READ THE REST

Student drowned her own unwanted baby

A 21-YEAR-OLD woman was arrested a day after the corpse of a baby girl was found in the toilet of a surau in Bachok, Kelantan.

The laboratory sciences student is believed to have drowned her child in a bucket of water soon after giving birth.

Cleaners made the gruesome discovery at about 10.40am on Tuesday while washing the toilet of the surau.

A post-mortem confirmed that the baby died of drowning, said state police chief Datuk Jalaluddin Abdul Rahman.

“Traces of milk were also found in the baby, probably from being breastfed.

“This proved that the baby died after being born,'' he said.

The student was picked up from her home at about 11.30pm on Wednesday night - The Star

You don't give me sex, I will rape our daughters

A 30-YEAR-OLD man threatened to rape his two young daughters when his wife refused to have sex with him at their home in Gombak, China Press reported.

The man woke his 31-year-old wife up at midnight on Feb 5 and asked to have sex with her in the living room.

However, the wife rejected him as she was tired and their daughters, aged five and six, were also in the living room.

The man then punched and kicked his wife and threatened her with a parang.

The wife quickly brought her two daughters to a bedroom. The man then left the house and his whereabouts are unknown, it reported.

The wife called her relatives for help and lodged a police report.

You want chicken rice or you want real chicken without rice?

A CHINESE restaurant at a nursery in Jenjarom, Selangor, offered special “dishes” in the form of sexual services to its “hungry” customers, reported Kosmo!

When police raided the restaurant, they found several customers having sex with women from China in a partitioned section of the premise.

It reported that customers paid from RM100 to RM200 per session.

“The women had misused their visas by overstaying and working as prostitutes in the restaurant. We believe the cashier, a Malaysian in her 20s, is the owner of the restaurant,” said DSP Izwan Abd Karim.

The 13 prostitutes aged from 21 to 50 are being detained at the Sg Jarom police station.

A lesson for all women: don't marry somebody younger than you

A Malaysian woman, who was forced to have an abortion, was taken to Pakistan to watch her husband marry another woman.

The 47-year-old businesswoman, who only wanted to be known as Hayati, said she also had to settle her husband’s RM120,000 debt.

Hayati said she married the 44-year-old Pakistani in 1997 after her first marriage failed.

She said she did not know that her husband was only interested in her property and to obtain permanent residence status.

In 2009, Hayati turned to the Syariah Court for help. She said her experience was a lesson for women who planned to marry foreigners.

He needed cash to feed his children and guess what would he do?

A desperate father who needed money to buy milk for his children resorted to kidnapping a 14-year-old boy, demanding RM2,000 in ransom.

The kidnapper later apologised to the boy’s family after releasing him unharmed at about 7pm on Monday at an undisclosed location.

He had earlier bundled the boy into his car at about 1pm before taking him “sightseeing” for six hours around the city centre, including to Kajang and Batu Caves.

It is learnt that the boy was forced into the suspect’s car shortly after taking his dog for a walk near his house in Semenyih.

Later, the suspect was said to have contacted the boy’s family, demanding thousands of ringgit as ransom for his release.

The family negotiated for a lesser amount before agreeing to bank into his account RM2,000.

After withdrawing the money, the suspect contacted the family to apologise, claiming that he needed the cash to feed his children.

The boy’s family then lodged a report. Police declined to comment on the case.

It is learnt that the case had been classified under Section 3 (1) of the Kidnapping Act 1961.

The offence carries the mandatory death penalty or life imprisonment and whipping, upon conviction.

What is the difference between a conman and an ah long man?

A restaurant worker borrowed money from an Ah Long only to find out he was a conman.

The 21-year-old victim, who wished to be only known as Tay, said that he found a flyer on the Ah Long in the mailbox of his house in Setapak on Jan 9.

“I called the company KLIP Financial Sdn Bhd, and told them that I wanted to borrow RM10,000 with a 24-month repayment period..

“The next day, I received a call from a man called Ah Wei and was asked to pay a fee of RM700 by banking it into an account under what he told me was a lawyer’s name, Lim Jar Leong,” he said at the MCA Public Services and Complaints Department here yesterday.

Tay added that on the same day he deposited another RM1,500 into the same account as legal fees and was told that his initial deposit would be returned together with the RM10,000¬ loan.

He said that the Ah Long promised to bank in the RM10,000 plus whatever he had already paid within a few days but he had not received anything till now.

What is the difference between a conman and an ah long man? Not much, I guess.

If you want to speak 4 languages without learning anything, get into an accident

MOST road accident victims would be marked with scars, but Noraini Ismail, 17, of Kampung Seri Medang here acquired the uncanny ability to speak in foreign languages following a road accident last month.

The SM Nasiruddin Shah student is now considering enrolling in a Chinese school as she can speak in Mandarin, Japanese, Korean and Bahasa Indonesia without ever learning any of the languages.

Her mother Mansena Daud, 48, said she was initially baffled when Noraini started speaking in Mandarin when she was warded at Universiti Sains Malaysia Hospital (HUSM) in Kubang Kerian last month.

"She received treatment in HUSM after being involved in an accident while on her way to school on Jan 13.

"She was riding pillion on a motorcycle, ridden by her elder brother, when a lorry crashed into them at a traffic light in Alur Lintang."

"I was worried at first, but now I am considering her request to enrol in a Chinese school to enable her to take full advantage of her newfound ability," she said at the family home yesterday.

However, Mansena said Noraini, the sixth of seven siblings, could only speak in the foreign languages from dawn to 6pm.

If you can't pass that English exam, why not ask djinns to help

DJINNS proficient in English are reportedly helping students of an institute of higher learning in the Klang Valley to get high scores in the subject.

These spirits are said to be housed in betel leaf charms that the students obtain from a bomoh at RM350 a piece.

Strange as it may sound, students who used to get poor results in their English paper testify they now get excellent scores with the help of the charm, Harian Metroreported.

“It does not matter if others believe in it or not. But for my friends and I, the results proved it is effective,” said a student who only wanted to be known as Azman, 22.

“It’s easy to use as it does not involve any chant or ritual. We just put it in our pockets when entering the examination hall.”

Another student Rashid, 23, said he used to get borderline passes before using the charm. He knew at least 10 others who used the charm.

A reporter from the paper went undercover as a student and sought thebomoh, who said at least 50 students had bought the charm from him.

The bomoh, in his 50s, said there was no side effect in using the charm and the mantras he used would take control of the folded betel leaf once it is kept in the trouser or shirt pocket of the student.

60 Muslims caught gambling by religious police

Religious police nabbed 60 Muslim customers at a computerised gambling outlet near Taboh Naning here early this morning.

According to a Bernama report, 41 computers and RM6,000 in cash were also seized in the raid.

Negeri Sembilan Islamic Religious Affairs Department operations unit chief Ahmad Zaki Hamzah said those detained were aged between 20 and 60.

"They were taken to the Rembau district police headquarters to have their statements taken. They were then released on bail and will have to return on a specified date to help in investigation," he said after the raid.

Ahmad Zaki said they would be charged under Section 79 (a) of the Negri Sembilan Syariah Criminal Enactment 2004 which carries a RM3,000 fine or two years jail or both.

Members of the Negeri Sembilan National Security Council and the police also took part in the operation which ended at 5am.