Alang Bendahara
New Straits Times

KUALA LUMPUR: A motorcyclist went on a rampage and smashed the window of a car which had earlier grazed his motorcycle along the Federal Highway in front of the Angkasapuri complex yesterday.

Pictures showing the motorcyclist smashing the car’s rear window with his helmet and hurling abuse at the frightened motorist.

The irony is that he was in the wrong as he was supposed to use the motorcycle lane.

The man’s rage was captured by New Straits Times photographer Zulkarnain Ahmad Tajuddin, 42, who was heading for an assignment in Sungei Way.

In the 2.30pm incident, a Toyota Corolla had apparently grazed the motorcycle on the right-most lane of the highway.

The motorcyclist, believed to be in his 40s, blocked the car using his motorcycle and started to hurl abuse at the driver.
The terrified and lone driver locked the doors and was seen putting his palms together, asking for forgiveness.

It failed to pacify the motorcyclist, who took off his helmet before using it to smash the car’s rear window.

He then rode off towards Petaling Jaya.

The incident, which lasted for five minutes, caused a traffic jam on both sides of the highway.

Tham Choy Lin
Bernama

BEIJING, April 26 (Bernama) — The torch relay for the Beijing 2008 Olympics was unveiled Thursday night and ran immediately into a snag with Taiwan rejecting the route of what will be the longest journey of the Olympic flames in history.

The relay, a long-cherished tradition of the Olympics, is planned to kick off in April next year, across five continents with the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, among the 22 cities outside mainland China to be covered.

The route and the torch, designed like a rolled-up Chinese scroll with a lacquer red base, were unveiled at a fireworks-lit ceremony attended by International Olympic Committee board members and president Jacques Rogge.

The planned route will see Beijing receiving the sacred Olympic flames in Greece on March 31 for the start of the relay from Beijing through cities along the ancient Silk Road that served as a bridge between East and West.

Taiwan, which China regards as part of its territory, however rejected the proposed route. The torch was to enter Taiwan via Vietnam from Ho Chi Minh City and exit to Hong Kong which is a special administrative region of China.

Jiang Xiaoyu, vice-president of the Beijing Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (Bocog), told a news conference after the ceremony that the Taipei Olympic Committee had confirmed in writing at the end of last month to participate in the torch relay.

“To politicise the torch relay route goes against the spirit of the Olympics,” said Jiang, adding that Bocog would have further discussions with the Taipei Olympic Committee.

Ironically, the theme of the relay is “Journey of Harmony” accompanied by the slogan, “Light the Passion, Share the Dream” in sync with the 2008 Olympics slogan, “One World One Dream”.

The arrival of the torch for the opening of the Games aside, the highlight of the relay will be the attempt to carry the flames up Mount Everest, the highest peak in the world, in May.

For this, a lantern with the Olympic flames from the Greek city of Olympia will be kept aside and taken by a special team to scale Everest sometime in May on a date dependent on the weather.

By the time the flames arrive for the opening ceremony, scheduled Aug 8 next year, the torch would have journeyed 137,000km over 130 days.

Kuala Lumpur is among three cities in Southeast Asia in the route. The torch is expected to arrive in the Malaysian capital from Bangkok on April 21 before going to Jakarta.

Within mainland China, the torch will go through 113 cities in all 31 provinces and autonomous regions. Among the stops is Shaoshan, the hometown of the late leader Mao Zedong.

Charles Ramendran
The Sun

KUALA LUMPUR (April 25, 2007): The security firm that hired an 18-year-old guard who attempted to rape an accountancy student in Tunku Abdul Rahman College (TARC) last Saturday (April 21) should have its licence suspended.

KL Gerakan assistant secretary K. K. Supramaniam today urged the Internal Security Ministry to suspend the security firm’s licence for hiring such an “underaged” and inexperienced guard.

Supramaniam made the call in a press confrence in the Gerakan headquarters in Ulu Pudu where the 18-year-old victim related her ordeal which she described as being “in the jaws of death”.

“I was taking a sip from a cooler when I was hit in the head from behind. When I turned, he hit me again with the stone.

“He hit me repeatedly and dragged me back into the hall (where she had just completed her examination at 5.30pm). I was stripped and he started fondling my private parts. He then pulled down his pants and when he failed to make a penetration, he started to strangle me with a shirt.

“I thought I was dying as blood oozed from my head. He fled when the lights were switched on (by another guard on patrol). I picked myself up and ran but I bumped into a classmate (Ng Szeyi) who alerted the security,” she said.

The assailant, who continued to patrol the campus as if nothing had happened, was then nabbed by his colleagues and handed over to the police an hour after the attack.

“It’s such a painful and frightening experience. I am thankful to be (still) alive today but I do not know what kind of future I have. I am too terrified to return to campus,” said the first year accountancy student.

The victim’s father, a blacksmith from Jinjang, said: “I am very disappointed with TARC’s officials who had not made any effort to enquire about my daughter’s condition except for two telephone calls.

“It’s a shocking incident to happen in campus grounds. Worse still, the crime was committed by a security guard it hired. TARC needs to give some explanation for its breach in security,” he added.

TARC’s student affairs department could not be reached for comments.

The Star

KUALA LUMPUR: An 18-year-old Tunku Abdul Rahman College (Ktar) student has alleged that she was almost raped by the person who was supposed to protect her - a security guard.

The victim, who is from Jinjang, claimed at a press conference organised by Federal Territory Gerakan division here yesterday that the guard grabbed a rock and hit her on the head at least 20 times and then dragged her to a slope near the lecture hall last Saturday.

Bruised: The victim claims the guard undressed her after she fell to the ground.

She said, “It was 5.30pm and it was raining heavily. I was leaving the college after an examination and used the back entrance as it had a sheltered walkway leading to the main road.

“Near the exit, someone hit my head with a rock. When I turned around to defend myself, I saw that it was the security guard,” the girl said.

She said she tried to fight back but was overpowered by the guard who dragged her behind a lecture hall.

“He continued to hit me with the stone until I fell to the ground. He then started undressing me.

“After that he unzipped his pants and tried to rape me.

“I managed to push him away and ran for my life.”

Another security guard approached her and took the injured girl to the toilet to clean her wounds. She said the security guard then captured the suspect.

The girl said she called her parents who then took her to the Wangsa Maju police station where she lodged a report.

“I don’t want this to happen to anyone else especially my college mates. If I had brought an umbrella along, I would have used the front entrance and would have avoided him. Please carry a pepper spray, an umbrella or something for protection,” she said, explaining why she was relating her horrifying experience.

The victim’s father said he was unhappy that college officials had yet to visit his daughter. He said the college owed them an explanation.

“This is a very serious crime and my daughter could have been killed.”

In a statement, KTAR said that it had terminated the services of the security company that the suspect worked for and that it regretted what had happened to the victim.

“We will provide help and counselling to the student and her family,” it said.

City CID chief Senior Asst Comm II Ahmad Ibrahim said police are still investigating.

Since the beginning of 2007, we have witnessed 2 by-elections - Batu Talam state constituency of Pahang and Machap state constituency of Melaka. This Saturday, we will witness another by-election, for the Ijok state constituency of Selangor. And during the campaigning of all the three by-elections this year, the ruling government’s party made a lot of promises to bring development to folks at the respective constituencies. For the Ijok by-election, RM36 million worth of projects were implemented. Roads in the area were re-tarred, more street lights installed and etc.

Now, why are the people only get to enjoy all these goodies only when there is a by-election? Development projects shall be implemented to everyone, everywhere in the country, not only when there is a by-election. A lot of people now are hoping their elected representatives kick the bucket so that a by-election will be called so that they can enjoy development. Everyone in this country deserves development projects from the government, regardless whether their area is represented by a backbencher or opposition representative.

If roads in Ijok are re-tarred, how about roads in many other places? Let me highlight certain roads that urgently need repairs or better still, re-tarred. In Petaling Jaya, roads that urgently need to be fixed include Jalan Dato’ Abu Bakar (Section 16), roads in Section 17, roads in Section SS2, roads in Section 13, roads in Sea Park (Section 21), roads in Bandar Utama and roads in Tropicana.

Some roads in the country urgently require upgrading due to heavy traffic. Take for example, in Teluk Intan, the street Jalan Merbok from the traffic lights crossroad at Jalan Sultan Abdullah all the way to the SMK San Min is too narrow given the amount of traffic using it. This street serves housing areas like Taman Teluk Intan, Taman Sinar Jaya, Taman Impiana and the SMK San Min. Besides, many new housing developments along this road are currently taking place. When will the authorities upgrade this street?

These are just some examples of places that I am familiar. There are still many places that need to be looked into. I really hope the government will deliver their promises made during the general election and not to deliver them only when they need the votes in by-elections!