Customs officer transferred to desk duty after allegations

news on 29.05.2007

JOHOR BARU: A Customs Dept supervisor implicated in the case where receipts were not issued for the payment of import duties has been transferred to desk duties and will no longer have dealings with the public.

State customs director Datuk Halimah Salleh said the transfer was effective Tuesday following the department's initial investigation.

"We want our officers to know that we do not condone such actions," she said, adding that the officer was only posted to the Second Link two months ago.

Recently Dr Muhammad Ghazie Ismail, the former senior vice-president of Multimedia Development Corporation, had told an Internet news portal that Customs staff at the Second Link in Johor had solicited a bribe from him for a Sony PSP portable videogame console he bought in Singapore.

Dr Muhammad Ghazie claimed he was told that he had to pay duty amounting to 30% of the purchase price.

He said he was told to pay RM50 and when he asked for a receipt, the staff said for one to be issued, he would have to pay RM100. (Duty amounted to RM244 or 30% of the purchase price.)
He asked if the duty could be waived as the videogame console was meant as a present for his son.

The staff took him to an officer who affirmed that for RM50, no receipt would be issued. He left with disgust.

Why this staff is not being fired and penalized in the court of law? Instead putting back this officer to another department?　Ｗhat you think our government is now? I think our government is a stupid government

Push for RM900 minimum wage ruling for private sector

PUTRAJAYA: The Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) will first use the soft approach in urging the Government to enforce a national minimum monthly wage of RM900 in the private sector.

If that fails, the congress will start holding pickets at strategic locations before calling for a one-day nationwide strike.

President Syed Shahrir Syed Mohamud said that the minimum wage scheme was needed to eradicate poverty in the country.

“Millions of private sector workers still earn RM400 to RM500 per month and can barely cope with the rising cost of living.

“We want the private sector to emulate the Government in terms of ensuring that workers' basic salaries are not below the poverty income level (of RM691 per month),” he said,

Syed Shahrir said that the MTUC's general council which met last week decided to send a memorandum to this effect to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on June 20.

The MTUC is also demanding that employers pay an additional RM300 as cost of living allowance (Cola) above the RM900 minimum wage for every private sector worker.

“The payment of Cola is not something new. It was introduced in the mid-70s when the cost of living escalated and caused hardship to the people due to high global crude oil prices then,” he said.

Similarly, the high fuel prices and increasing cost of goods and services over the past few years have posed tremendous hardship to the people, especially those in the lower income bracket, he said.

Syed Shahrir said that thousands of union leaders and workers from all over the country were expected to gather in Putrajaya to submit the memorandum to the Prime Minister.

He said that there would be protests at strategic locations if there was no positive feedback from the Government on the memorandum.

“We also plan a one-day nationwide strike if the Government continues to ignore our memorandum.”

Four pirates face billion-ringgit fine

PENANG: Four people, including two Indonesian women, caught with 60,000 pirated VCDs and DVDs are liable to face a whopping RM1.2bil fine under the Copyright Act 1987.

The pirated discs, worth RM360,000, were seized from them in raid in Batu Ferringhi on Monday.

State Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry enforcement chief M. Gunaselan said an offender could be fined up to RM20,000 and jailed five years for each infringed copy under the Act, if convicted.

“We will push for the maximum fine and jail when the four, aged between 25 and 36, are charged upon the completion of our investigations.

“This will help movie and music pirates to put a stop to their activities,” he said when contacted Tuesday.

Gunaselan said the some of the DVDs with the standard identification (SID) codes erased would be sent to the chemist department for forensic checks to determine the licensed manufacturers that produced the discs.

George Town OCPD Asst Comm Azam Abd Hamid said a commercial crime team arrested the two men and two women inside a house at 1.45pm in Batu Ferringhi.

“The team recovered a total of 37,716 DVDs and VCDs from the premises. They later raided another house nearby and recovered a further 21,785 DVDs.

“The discs were meant to be sold to tourists and locals in the Batu Feringghi tourist belt which is a popular area for pirated goods, such as bags and apparel,” he said.

ACP Azam said the discs and suspects were handed over to the ministry’s enforcement unit for further investigation, adding that their operations against these movie pirates were ongoing.

where is the people that bribe you and pay you millions in a year? Why don your department hand these guys instead? claiming billions from a poor lady? I think the Malaysia government got serious mental problem or maybe poor staff