Samy Vellu to apologise to Mahathir

KUALA LUMPUR: MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu said he will personally apologise to Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad over the ‘slipper garland’ insult by an MIC member during the recent party congress.

He said he would seek an appointment with the former prime minister to tender his apology over the incident.

“I will meet him personally to explain the whole episode and extend my apology,” Samy Vellu said in a statement yesterday.

The MIC chief said he and the MIC regretted the incident.

“I have always had the highest respect for Tun Dr Mahathir. He is a great leader and a statesman.”

He said Dr Mahathir had brought tremendous development to the country and had united the people.

“He will always be respected by us and all Malaysians,” Samy Vellu said.

Meanwhile, Dr Mahathir said he did not feel anything about the incident and added: “Nothing would have happened to me.”

Instead, he said he would have felt angry and saddened if such an insult had been made by Umno members.

“This is not the first time I have been insulted. People might have forgotten how Umno leaders had insulted me. Nazri (Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Abdul Aziz) and the previous mentri besar of Kedah wanted me expelled from Umno.

“However, then no one gave any reaction. No one dared to say anything,” he said.

On Sukumaran’s wish to apologise to him, Dr Mahathir said: “Apologise also okay, don’t want to apologise also don’t matter. It’s only when my own people hurl insults at me that I feel slighted.”

He said Sukumaran had now become a victim of his own action.

Royal brawl out in the open

KUALA LUMPUR: A brawl which allegedly erupted between two royal families last year has now blown up openly with one side demanding for a RM50mil compensation.

Tunku Nadzimuddin Tunku Mud­zaffar, a grandson of the late Yang di-Pertuan Besar Negri Sembilan, is publicly accusing Raja Muda of Johor Tunku Ismail Idris of putting a gun to his head and hitting him repeatedly for “unknown reasons” in the wee hours of Oct 25 last year.

He also voiced disappointment with the Criminal Investigations Depart­ment in Bukit Aman, the Dang Wangi police headquarters and the city police headquarters for what he described as “a serious lack of action.”

At a press conference yesterday, Tunku Nadzimuddin said he was at a club called Heritage Mansion with his then girlfriend and now wife Nur Azini Kamal, 32, to meet his friends on the night of Oct 24.

Royal row: Tunku Nadzimuddin showing pictures of himself taken after he was assaulted.

Tunku Nadzimuddin, 37, an institutional clients manager for MAAKL Mutual Bhd said it was a “time-out” for him because he had been undergoing treatment for Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

However, a scuffle broke out just after 1am and a bottle landed on one of his friends’ head.

Subsequently, he was contacted by a man who claimed to be Tunku Ismail.

Tunku Nadzimuddin said the other party wanted to apologise and asked him to go to the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Jalan Sultan Ismail.

As the group waited at the lobby, Tunku Nadzimuddin claimed that some of them were forced into a lift.

Once they were inside the lift, Tunku Nadzimuddin claimed that Tunku Ismail, who was armed with a gun, hit him on the head and face.

“He also held a gun in a threatening manner at my head. My friend who was also in the lift was assaulted until he lost consciousness,” he alleged.

The lift stopped on the 25th floor and they were forced into a room where his unconscious friend was left lying the floor. Tengku Nadzimuddin claimed that they were held captive for 45 minutes.

Asked whether he had insulted the Johor royalty previously, he said he had not done any such thing. Neither was he drunk at the time, he said.

台灣‧扁案3法官面對追殺‧特警持鎗貼身保護

（台灣‧台北）台北地方法院重判前總統陳水扁無期徒刑後，網絡上有人對扁案合議庭三位法官發出追殺令，台灣警方不敢大意，派特警持鎗保護三位法官蔡守訓、吳定亞、徐千惠。
台灣傳媒報導，警方已啟動維安機制，除了北院的法警全部停休外，還派出6名配備手鎗及衝鋒鎗的特勤人員，陪3人上下班，並在他們的住處設明崗暗哨警戒巡邏。

去年11月已發動追殺令

警方指出，陳水扁去年11月遭羈押後，網絡上即有人揚言要對蔡守訓發動追殺令，當時警方即曾詢問蔡等三位法官是否需保護，但他們以不想影響家人日常生活作息為由，婉拒偵防車接送上班的建議。

由於追殺說法一直延續至今，上週五（9月11日）一審宣判後，警方更擔心少數激情民眾會做出攻擊舉動，再度向三人提出提供保護的要求，三人亦表示接受。
明崗暗哨保護法官家人

警方表示，由於法院有法警戒護，目前僅派6名特勤人員，兩人一組對三人上下班途中進行保護，兩名特勤除配備短鎗，偵防車內並有一把MP5衝鋒鎗、一片防彈盾牌、無線電等，遇有危害情資，會視內容加強人員派遣及武器裝備，至於法官住家安全維護則交轄區派出所。

蔡守訓住處轄區派出所已主動將附近交通崗哨挪到蔡守訓住家巷口，另加派一名便衣刑警到蔡家樓下巡邏，一明崗一暗哨。徐千惠住家也比照相同規格，吳定亞因住在公家宿舍，原就有法警及轄區警察巡邏。

另外，三名法官老家也有警力加強對他們的父母、家人的保護。

Oct 11 date for Bagan Pinang

PUTRAJAYA: Polling day for the Bagan Pinang by-election is set for Oct 11 while nomination is on Oct 3, the Election Commission (EC) announced.

Its chairman Tan Sri Aziz Yusoff said both nomination and polling day would be on a weekend following “feedback” received by the EC. Oct 3 is a Saturday and Oct 11, a Sunday.

“The polling date is on a weekend not because the seat is a Barisan Nasional stronghold but to ensure better voter turnout.

“We have held several by-elections on weekdays where voter turnout was still good.

“The Manek Urai by-election was held on a weekday with 88% casting their votes,” he told a press conference here to announce the polling and nomination dates for the Bagan Pinang by-election yesterday.

This will be the ninth by-election after the March 8 general election in 2008.

The Bagan Pinang state seat in Negri Sembilan fell vacant after the death of the Barisan assemblyman Azman Mohammad Noor on Sept 4.

According to the EC records as of Sept 4, the Bagan Pinang constituency has 13,664 registered voters, including 4,604 postal voters, comprising 8,577 Malays (62.77%), 2,834 Indians (20.74%), 1,498 Chinese (10.96%) and 755 others (5.53%).

Those aged 21 to 39 made up 50.39% of the electorate and there are nine registered voters who are more than 100 years old – the oldest being 104.

Aziz also said that he would be calling representatives of political parties at the end of the month to inform them on the dos and don’ts during the by-election.

“We have repeatedly reminded political parties and their members and supporters of the things they are prohibited from doing during campaigning and on polling day, but there are those who still fail to heed the regulations.

“We allow the parties to go through an education period but don’t be surprised if we start taking action as sufficient reminders and warnings have been issued,” he said.

Aziz also dismissed claims that postal votes could be tampered with to help Barisan win an election, adding that when votes are cast and sealed by election officials, agents of candidates would be present during the process.

“Cheating cannot take place,” he said when commenting on claims Barisan had won the seat due to postal votes in the last election.

In the March 2008 general election, Ramli Ismail of PAS lost to Azman by a 2,333 vote-majority.

Azman polled 6,430 votes while Ramli secured 4,097. Of the 4,800 postal votes, 3,080 went to Barisan and 1,189 to PAS.

The remaining votes were either spoilt or the ballot papers were not returned.

One EGM, five motions

KUALA LUMPUR: There will be only one EGM with five resolutions to re solve the problems faced by the MCA.

This was the agreement reached by the two sides in the party after a five-hour meeting which they said was “conducted amicably”.

The EGM will be held by Oct 11 as the party secretary-general Datuk Wong Foon Meng had only received the requisition for the meeting on Friday. Under the party constitution, he has 30 days to call for the EGM upon receiving the notice.

Yesterday’s meeting also decided that the five proposed resolutions submitted by the supporters of sacked deputy president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek would be the only ones to be tabled at the EGM.

Party president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat, commenting on the decision in his blog, said he ordered his representatives to accept the other side’s resolutions because it was “imperative to have one EGM.”

“As the party president, I do not want to see the party further divided. It is my wish that MCA members close ranks as swiftly as possible and continue with its reform agenda in the run-up to the 13th general election,” Ong added.

Wong said the meeting also agreed that he would fix the date and issue a notice of the EGM on Wednesday.

He added that the meeting was conducted amicably and whatever decisions made were in the best interest of the party.

“President Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat has agreed to adopt in toto the five motions proposed by the requisitionists,’’ said Wong at a press conference held at Wisma MCA at 8.30 pm.

The proposed resolutions submitted by Dr Chua’s supporters are:

> That the members of the general assembly have no confidence in the leadership of president Ong;

> That the presidential council’s decision on Aug 26 in accepting the recommendation of the disciplinary board and the subsequent decision of the central committee (if any) to expel or suspend Dr Chua is annulled;

> Dr Chua be rightfully restored as deputy president of MCA;

> The appointment made by the central committee, including that of the deputy president of MCA, be revoked; and

> There shall be no disciplinary action taken against any or all of the requisitionists by the disciplinary board, the central committee or the presidential council.

Central delegates would vote on each of the proposed resolutions during the EGM, which Dr Chua would not be allowed to attend, Wong said.

“In the best interest of the party, our meeting also unanimously agreed that debates and speeches would be excluded during the EGM.

“Each side agreed to appoint one chief scrutineer and eight scrutineers,” he said.

The EGM would be chaired by speaker Datuk Yik Phooi Hong, while Hoo Seong Chang and Datuk Paduka Lee Pit Chern would be the deputy speakers.

Central committee member Datuk Seri Tan Chai Ho, who is leading Dr Chua’s faction, thanked Wong for conducting the fruitful meeting in a fair manner while Ong’s representative and another central committee member, Gan Ping Sieu, described the decisions as a win-win situation.

Gan said Ong was prepared to face the central delegates during the EGM in a bid to solve the matter through the internal means.

“The president respects the central delegates’ wishes and decided not to change the five proposed resolutions.

“The president believes that the central delegates will be rational in casting their vote with the party’s interest topmost in their minds,” Gan said.

Besides Gan, MCA Youth secretary-general Datuk Chai Kim Sen and Ong’s political secretary Simon Lim also represented the party president.

Tan came with central committee members Datuk Chong Itt Chew and Loh Seng Kok, who represented Dr Chua at the meeting.