Newsgroups: bit.listserv.seasia-l
Date:         Fri, 11 Dec 1992 22:26:40 EST
From:         jit@SLIC.CELLBIO.DUKE.EDU
Subject:      Malaysia news Dec 12

The Strait Times, December 12 1992, Saturday

KL Attorney-General orders arrest of Johor Sultan's son

Kuala Lumpur -- Malaysia's AG yesterday ordered the arrest of the Johor
Sultan's younger son, Tengku abdul Majid Idris, for allegedly assaulting
a goal-keeper after a hockey match.

The order came as the government planned to strip the country's
hereditary rulers of their immunity from prosecution amid an outcry over
the alleged assault by the Prince's father, Sultan Mahmood Iskandar, on
a hockey coach in a related incident.

AG Tan Sri Abu Talib Othman ordered that police obtain a warrant for the
rrest of Tengku Majid from the Johor Baru Magistrate's Court.  The
warrant is expected to be obtained today.

"I hope the palace will cooperate in this matter so that we can all
respect the laws of the country in the interest of the nation," Tan Sri
Talib old reporters.

He said there was enough evidence to prosecute the Prince for the
alleged assault on Perak goalkeeper Mohamed Jaafar Selvaraja Veloo after
the final of the Malaysia GAmes hockey tournament in Johor Baru on July 10.

The AG said Tengku Majid would be charged under Section 323 of the Penal
Code.  The penalty for the offence is one year's jail or a fine not
exceeding M$2000, or both.

Tan Sri Abu Talib also ordered police to investigate hockey coach
Douglas Gomez's report that he was assaulted by the Sultan on Nov 30.
He said that in the Gomez case, the authority to investigate was based
on three major factors in the police report, namely:

* The action of the Sultan, as contained in the report made by Gomez,
was "wrong under the law";

* The existence of "sufficient evidence" to institute a prosecution; and

* "Elements of public interest".

The Sultan allegedly attacked Mr Gomez, coach of the Sultan Abu Bakar
College team, after he publicly criticised the Johor Education Dept for
ordering his team to pull out from a national schools competition in
Kuala Lumpur last month.

The pullout by the college was the third by a Johor team from
tournaments sponsored by the Malaysian Hockey Assoc.  after Tengku Majid
was suspended for five years by the MHA for the alleged assault on the
goalkeeper.

Tengku Majid is second in line to succeed to the Johor throne after
Tengku Ibrahim Ismail, the Crown Prince.

To a question on the immunity from prosecution enjoyed by rulers, Tan
Sri Abu Talib said the Johor Sultan was protected by Article 181 (2) of
the Federal Constitution, but the final decision depended on the outcome
of police investigations and the laws which applied to such cases.

Although the Sultan could not be prosecuted, anyone found to have
abetted him could be charged.

If necessary, the results of the police investigations could be used by
the government to obtain the necessary consent from the Rulers' Council
to amend the provisions of the Constitution relating to their immunity,
he added.

On Friday night, the UMNO Supreme Council decided to propose
constitutinoal amendments to end the legal immunity of the rulers.  The
ruling National Front coalition is scheduled to meet today to direct the
Cabinet to initiate the amendments.

Earlier yesterday, the government won unanimous support from Parliament
for a motion it tabled to criticise the Sultan for allegdly assaulting
Mr Gomez.  -- Bernama, AFP.
============================================================
Mahathir warns against all forms of extremism
Number of extremists 'fortunately small in Malaysia'

Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr mahathir Mohamad has said that
extremism of all forms should be avoided as it is coutrary to religious
beliefs.

The Star newspaper yesterday quoted him as saying that Malaysia was
lucky as the number of extremists was relatively small and the Muslim
population was made up of rational people.

Speaking at a news conference after opening a natinal course for Muslim
preachers in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, Dr Mahathir said it was also
wrong to lump fundamentalists and extremists together.

"Extremists are those who interpret Islam their way while
fundamentalists follow the fundamentals of Islam."

"I am a Muslim fundamentalist," he was quoted in The Star as saying.

He also said that Muslim preachers should concentrate on building a
society which was development- and action-oriented.

It was pointless to preach too much on prayers and religious rites
without emphasis on development, according to the PM.

"This will ultimately result in a weak Muslim society which could not
compete and fight effectively against developed non-Muslim countries,"
Dr Mahathir said.

He added that it was preachers also concentrated on the physical
well-being of Muslims to ensure that they would not be left out of the
international economy.

He said the weakness of Muslim countries was evident as they were
incapable of coming to the help of their brothers when they were
attacked by non-Muslims.

"Even the grouping of Islamic nations are unable to do anything as they
are too dependent on foreign nations.

"We can only sigh and blame the enemies of Islam, but the fact is we
only have ourselves to blame," he was quoted as saying.
============================================================
KL urges Kelantan not to build Lebir dam

Tumpat (Kelantan) -- The federal government has urged the Kelantan
government not to construct the multi-million dollar Lebir dam in
Kelantan because of the adverse impact it would have on the state.

Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Annuar Musa said here on Thrusday that
he requested mentri Besar Nik Aziz Nik Mat to reconsider an application
to the federal government to build the dam, as studies showed that its
construction woudl affect a large number of villages in the area.

[...]

Datuk Annuar said that if the federal government went ahead with the
construction of the dam, about 13000 ha of landed would be flooded.

"Our study also showed that the income from electricity generated by the
dam will not be able to cover the costs we have to bear for its
construction," he told reporters here.

Previous reports showed that the Lebir dam was part of a M$200 million
project which also included the construction of the Kemubu dam, also in
Kelantan.

Both the Lebir and Kemubu dams if constructed would affect an area of
56185ha, of which 33565ha would be "completely lost" to flooding.

The two areas will affect a large part of the South Kelantan Development
Authority (kasedar.)

[...]

============================================================
Prison staff held for allegedly trafficking in drugs.

Kuala Lumpur -- Police have detained nine Pudu Prison staff members for
alleged involvement in drug trafficking in the prison, according to
deputy city Criminal Investigation Dept Superintendent Yahya Ismail.

[...]
============================================================
2 petrol firms agree to relocate depots

Two petrol companies, whose depots can destroy an area a fire, have
agreed to relocate the facilities for the safety of the people,
according to The Star newspaper.

It quoted state capital municipal council pred\sident Datuk Haji Abu
Bakar Daud as saying on Friday that Shell would shift its depot to
Padang Lallang in Kuantan while Caltex would move as soon as it found a
suitable site.
[...]
============================================================
Cabinet studying future of Johor Military Force
Govt to decide if group shold be allowed to continue

Kuala Lumpur -- Deput PM Ghafar Baba said yesterday the federal
government was considering whether the Johor Military Force (JMF) should
be allowed to continue functioning.

He said the Cabinet discussed the issue in passing recently but no
decision had been made.

"We are studying whether the force should be allowed to continue," he
told reporters when asked to comment on a statement by Defence Minister
Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak on Thursday.

Datuk Najib had said that the force could be dissolved if the Johor
State Assembly revoked the law which provided for its formation.

The JMF was formed in 1886 to defend Johor and Singapore and provide
security for the palaces in Johor.  It is the only military force of its
kind in Malaysia.

Some of its official duties are to escort the Sultan of Johor and take
part in official and state ceremonies.

The JMF has 195 officers and men, although the maximum number provided
for is 327.

The holder of the highest administrative rank in the force is a major,
assisted by several captains and lieutenants.

Among those formerly in its ranks was former PM Tun Hussein Onn, who
rose to be a captain after joining the JMF as a cadet officer in 1941.

Another prominent past member was former defence chief General TAn Sri
Ibrahim Ismail, who also joined in 1941.

Mr Ghafar said that the Johor government had the right to disband the
JMF as it was providing the funds for the force.

"The state government is paying for it and I do not know the usefulness
of the force," he added.

The Johor government budgeted M$2.3 million last year to maintain the JMF.

According to the Johor Budget for last year, the allocation was an
increase of more the M$500,000 over the M$1.8 million in 1990.

The 1991 allocation included M$150,000 to put the JMF's 195 personnel in
uniform.

Asked if the though of the force should continue to exist, Mr Ghafar
said: "I do not want to make such a statement.  The Cabinet has not made
any decision on the matter and such matters need the decision of the
Cabinet."

Meanwhile, AG Tan Sri Abu Talib Othman said that he would study the
position and powers of the JMF under Johor Constitution. -- Bernama, NST.

============================================================
Selangor govt 'willing to amend law to withdraw Sultan's immunity'

Shah Alam -- The Selangor government is prepared to amend the State
Constitution so the that immunity from criminal prosecution granted to
the Sultan could be withdrawn.

Mentri Besar Tan Sri Muhammad Haji Muhamad Taib said yesterday here that
a special sitting of the State Legislative Assembly would be convened if
necessary.

The time had come for the Federal Constitution and State Constitution to
be amended to check misdeeds by the rulers who enjoyed immmunity from
prosecutoin and were above the law, he added.

"The amendments are necessary to preserve the position of the
constitutinal monarchy which has aroused the dissatisfaction of the
people because of the many criminal cases involving royalty," he told
reporters at his office here.

TAn Sri Muhammad said the institution of rulers should be able to accept
changes in keeping with the times when the people's thinking had
changed.

In Taiping, the Regent of Perak Raja Nazrin Shah reminded everyone to
respect the basic rights and freedom of the people as it was they who
would decide whether a system stayed or not.

"This is what is called democracy - the people's choice and people's
rights," he said yesterday.

Opening the Taiping High Court building in Taiping, he said it was a
misconception for any institution in Malaysia to think that it was
exempted from the law.

In Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) yesterday
proposed that the government introduce a "legal corrective mechanism" to
check the personal indescretions of the rulers.

MTUC president Zainal Rampak said the mechanism could also enhance the
image and status of the rulers as constitutional monarchs of their
respective states.

In Kota Baru, Kelantan Mentri Besar Nik Aziz Nik Mat said yesterday that
Kelantan supported the move by the federal government to end the
immunity against prosecution enjoyed by the rulers as such immunity did
not exist in Islam.  -- Bernama
============================================================
AG asks anti-graft agency to speed up investigations

Kuala Lumpur -- The Attorney-General said yesterday that he asked the
Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) to speed up its investigation into alleged
irregularities when Telekom Malaysia shares were allocated to maika
holdings, the investment arm of the Malaysian Indian Congress.

[...]
Mr Lim, the Democratic Action Party (DAP) secretary-general, alleged
that nine million of the 10 million shares allocated to Maika Holdings
were channelled to three companies closely linked to MIC president Datuk
Seri Samy Vellu.

The companies are Clear Way Sdn Bhd, Advanced Personal Computers Sdh Bhd
and SB Management Sdn Bhd.

During its probe, the ACA interviewed Datuk Samy Vellu, who is Minister
of Energy, Telecommunications and Posts, and his son Vell Paari, who
were both served with notices to declare their assets.

[...]

On Dec 6, Datuk Samy Vellu that the aca no case against him "as stated
by PM Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad".

But three days later, Dr Mahathir clarified that what he meant was the
government would not take nay further action until it received a report
from the ACA.

"Who said it was over ?" Datuk Abu Talib asked.  -- Bernama.
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