4000 chemicals in cigarettes

ACCORDING to http://www.quit-smoking-stop.com/
harmful-chemicals-in-cigarettes.html, tobacco smoke contains over 4,000 different chemicals.

“At least 43 are known carcinogens (cause cancer in humans),” it adds, quoting the Health Education Authority (UK) - Lifesaver, as the source.

The following are among the carcinogens in tobacco smoke:

Benzene (petrol additive)

A colourless cyclic hydrocarbon obtained from coal and petroleum, used as a solvent in fuel and in chemical manufacture - and contained in cigarette smoke. It is a known carcinogen and is associated with leukaemia.

Formaldehyde (embalming fluid)

A colourless liquid, highly poisonous, used to preserve dead bodies - also found in cigarette smoke. Known to cause cancer, respiratory, skin and gastrointestinal problems.

Ammonia (toilet cleaner)

Used as a flavouring; frees nicotine from tobacco turning it into a gas; found in dry cleaning fluids.

Acetone (nail polish remover)

Fragrant volatile liquid ketone; used as a solvent, for example, nail polish remover – found in cigarette smoke.

Tar

Particulate matter drawn into lungs when you inhale on a lighted cigarette. Once inhaled, smoke condenses and about 70% of the tar in the smoke is deposited in the smoker’s lungs.

Nicotine (insecticide/addictive drug)

One of the most addictive substances known to man; a powerful and fast-acting medical and non-medical poison. This is the chemical that causes addiction.

Carbon Monoxide (car exhaust fumes)

An odourless, tasteless and poisonous gas, rapidly fatal in large amounts – it’s the same gas that comes out of car exhausts and is the main gas in cigarette smoke, formed when the cigarette is lit.

Others you may recognise are :

Arsenic (rat poison),

Arsenic finds its way into cigarette smoke through some of the pesticides that are used in tobacco farming.

Cadmium

Cadmium is a toxic heavy metal that is used in batteries. Smokers typically have twice as much cadmium in their bodies as non-smokers.

Hydrogen Cyanide (gas chamber poison)

Hydrogen cyanide was used to kill people in the gas chambers in Nazi Germany during World War II.

See http://www.quit-smoking-stop.com/harmful-chemicals-in-cigarettes.html and

http://quitsmoking.about.com/
od/chemicalsinsmoke/a/chemicalshub.htm for more details.

Kick the habit

IT has been estimated that over one billion people worldwide smoke and one out of every five deaths is caused by tobacco.
(See http://health.learninginfo.org/cigarette-smoking-facts.htm.)

Also, according to http://www.who.int/tobacco/
wntd/2009/picture_warnings/en/index.html, tobacco is the leading preventable cause of death.

“More than five million people die from the effects of tobacco every year - more than from HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined.

“It is the only legal consumer product that kills, when used exactly as the manufacturer intends. Up to half of all smokers will die from a tobacco-related disease. Second-hand smoke harms everyone who is exposed to it,” it adds.

According to http://www.euro.who.int/tobaccofree/database/20090209_3, it is estimated that up to a billion people could die from tobacco use during the 21st century.

A World Health Organisation (WHO) study reveals further alarming data. It shows that people are starting to smoke at a much younger age, with the majority of smokers in affluent countries picking up the habit in their teens!

“Tobacco companies spend tens of millions of dollars every year turning new users into addicts and keeping current users from quitting. Through advertising and promotional campaigns, including the use of carefully crafted package designs, the tobacco industry continues to divert attention from the deadly effects of its products,” says the WHO.

It is statistics such as this that has led to initiatives like the World No Tobacco Day, which is held every year on May 31, to encourage smokers to kick the habit.

The theme for the World No Tobacco Day 2009 is “Tobacco Health Warnings”, with an emphasis on picture warnings, which have been shown to be effective at making people aware of the health risks of tobacco use and convincing them to quit.

“Nicotine is a highly addictive substance. Warning people about its true risks can go a long way towards reducing tobacco addiction. Requiring warnings on tobacco packages is a simple, cheap and effective strategy that can vastly reduce tobacco use and save lives,” say the WHO. (See http://www.who.int/tobacco/
wntd/2009/picture_warnings/en/index.html.)

According to http://health.learninginfo.org/cigarette-smoking-facts.htm, nicotine and tobacco are some of the most potent carcinogens and responsible for the majority of all cancers of the lung, larynx, trachea, oesophagus and bronchus.

“Smoking tobacco is also known to produce cancer in the pancreas, kidney, bladder, and the cervix. Because tobacco reduces blood flow, nicotine addiction has been proven to cause impotency.

“If you smoke, the risk of respiratory illnesses is high, leading to pulmonary diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and pneumonia,

“If you don’t want to quit smoking after reading these shocking figures, you really need to get your head examined. You know in your heart, what’s the right thing to do. Make a firm decision to quit today, and stick to it!” the site adds.

But how does one go about quitting smoking?

Four steps

According to the American Cancer Society quitting smoking is not easy.

“There is no one right way to quit, but there are some key elements in quitting with success.

These four factors are the key – making the decision to quit, setting a quit date and choosing a quit plan, dealing with withdrawal, and staying quit.

“But most smokers find that the bigger challenge is the mental part of quitting. If you have been smoking for any length of time, smoking has become linked with nearly everything you do – waking up in the morning, eating, reading, watching TV, and drinking coffee, for example.

“It will take time to ‘un-link’ smoking from these activities. Ride out the desire to smoke. It will go away, but do not fool yourself into thinking you can have just one cigarette – or even one puff,” says the ACS website at http://www.cancer.org/docroot/PED/content/
PED_10_13X_Guide_for_Quitting_Smoking.asp?sitearea=PED#How_to_quit

Another way of “encouraging” yourself to quit is to look at the benefits of doing so - both health wise and financially.

According to the site, merely 20 minutes after quitting, your heart rate and blood pressure will drop.

Also:

> 12 hours after quitting – the carbon monoxide level in your blood drops to normal.

> Two weeks to three months after quitting – your circulation improves and your lung function increases.

> One to nine months after quitting – coughing and shortness of breath decrease; cilia (tiny hair-like structures that move mucus out of the lungs) regain normal function in the lungs, increasing the ability to handle mucus, clean the lungs, and reduce the risk of infection.

> One year after quitting – the excess risk of coronary heart disease is half that of a smoker’s.

> Five to 15 years after quitting – your stroke risk is reduced to that of a non-smoker.

> 10 years after quitting – the lung cancer death rate is about half that of a continuing smoker’s.

> 15 years after quitting – the risk of coronary heart disease is the same as a non-smoker’s.

So, what are you waiting for? Give it a try and take the first step today to kick the smoking habit.

What next after the rescue?

CHILD abuse is often committed by family members or people entrusted with caring for the child. This makes the recovery process a complicated one, especially after the child has been rescued by welfare officers and taken away from home.

To give our readers a notion about the rehabilitation of an abused child, The Star New Media is bringing together child protectors and social workers for a forum tomorrow (June 1).

Issues to be discussed include measures to be taken in the rehabilitation process between the victim and the perpetrator, and what the community can do to help.

If you wish to know more about preventing child abuse, join us at the forum at Studio V, 1Utama Shopping Mall, beginning 2pm.

Delays in loan repayments blamed for harsher collection methods

KUALA LUMPUR: The economic crunch is making it more difficult for moneylenders to collect loan repayments, so many are resorting to harsher methods.

According to an unlicensed moneylender who declined to be named, borrowers sometimes leave them with little choice in recovering their money.

“We give them reasonable time to repay their debt but some simply refuse to pay. They keep giving excuses and avoiding us, so we try to embarrass or scare them,” he said.

In the past, many would spray red paint on the debtors’ house or put up a banner with their identity card number outside when they don’t repay loans.

“But this has proven to be ineffective, so some have resorted to violence and will usually hire gangsters to do that. They are the ones who sometimes go too far and even cause death,” he said.

Asked whether some loan sharks would kill those who renege on their loan agreements, he declined to answer.

The country was rocked last week by the news of yet another case of violent treatment by loan sharks on their loan defaulters.

On Wednesday, police rescued three men who had been chained like dogs in a prison-like cell at an unoccupied shoplot in Seri Kembangan for about two months.

They were beaten daily and fed only water and bread while the loan sharks waited for their families to repay their debt.

Vick, who claims to be a legal moneylender, believes that part of the problem is that borrowers take unnecessary risks to get loans faster or borrow a larger sum.

“We try to lend only what people can afford to pay back because we don’t want to lose money. Our interest rates range from 10% to 30% a month. Some are so desperate for a loan that they agree to a 30% interest rate,” he said, adding that many loan sharks now demand collateral before forking out the money.

“Borrowers would pledge their household stuff, car or future salary but there are some who even offer their wives and daughters,” he said.

A former credit card “refinancer” who only wants to be known as Madam Hong agreed.

“There are many Ah Longs out there who are not gangsters or have no links to the gangsters. Moneylending is an old trade, and many know that Ah Longs’ interest rates are higher than the banks, so if they still want to borrow money from a loan shark, they know the risks,” she said.

69 residents to be evacuated

PETALING JAYA: Residents from 12 houses in Jalan 14/15 behind the collapsed Jaya Supermarket building will be evacuated for their own safety.

The 69 people affected would have to live elsewhere for at least a week while the Public Works Institute of Malaysia (Ikram) assesses the stability of the 10-storey office block at the other end of the collapsed building, Petaling Jaya mayor Datuk Mohamad Roslan Sakiman said yesterday.

The Petaling Jaya City Council had offered Dewan MPPJ in Kelana Jaya as a temporary shelter but the residents declined, so the contractors decided to put them up in a hotel, he said.

Shifting house: Su Do Kin Meng (left) helping his mother pack some belongings while awaiting further instructions on the evacuation plan.

However, the residents were unhappy about the RM150 per day per house offer as it was inadequate.

One of the evacuees Ong Pek Kim, who has been living in the area for over 45 years, said the evacuation order should have been issued sooner.

“The authorities only called us now when they should have told us about the dangers from the moment the building first collapsed,” she said.

Civil engineer Dr Arham Abdullah, who is a senior lecturer at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia’s Civil Engi-neering Faculty, said the residents should be evacuated to create a buffer zone for further demolition work.

He said the buffer zone should extend to a radius of twice the height of the building, according to British standards.

“My initial observation is that excessive loads on the top floor had caused the support columns to fail and resulted in the building collapse,” he said, adding that there were five heavy machines on the building when it collapsed.

Dr Arham also urged the Govern-ment to enforce stricter guidelines on demolition work.

The procedure for demolition work in developed countries requires contractors to consult professionals but this is not practised in Malaysia.

“Here, we only need to obtain approvals from the local authorities and the Department of Occupational Safety and Health,” he said.

Petaling Jaya OCPD Asst Comm Arjunaidi Mohamed said police were seeking professional opinion on the stability of the remaining building.

Demolition experts to prevent repeat disaster

PETALING JAYA: The Petaling Jaya City Council will restructure its Building Control Department by bringing in demolition experts following the Jaya Supermarket building tragedy in Section 14 here.

Mayor Datuk Mohamad Roslan Sakiman said the catastrophe was a hard lesson for all and that future demolition work has to be scrutinised more thoroughly, especially once the Selangor government’s urban renewal projects take off.

He said urban renewal under the state’s economic stimulus package would involve demolishing old buildings including factories in Section 13 and Old Town, which were as old as the 35-year-old Jaya Supermarket building.

“They must be handled with care,” he said yesterday after launching the Residents Represen-tatives Council for Zone 4 and councillors service centre at the MBPJ Community Hall in SS7.

“In addition to getting experts, we will also work with the state to formulate safety guidelines for future demolition work,” said Mohamad Roslan. The demolish-and-rebuild project at Jaya Supermarket was approved in 2007.

Mohamad Roslan said the council approved the demolition based on a consultant’s report and recommendations as it did not have experts in the field. The consultant was appointed by the developer.

He said the council’s monitoring had so far found that the developer and contractor, who are said to have handled several demolition projects in Kuala Lumpur and Johor, had met the safety requirements set by the relevant bodies before starting demolition work.

He added that the council would distribute flyers to nearby communities whenever a demolition was to take place.

US-based National Instruments to invest US$80 million (Updated)

National Instruments, a global leader in test, control and embedded design hardware and software for engineers and scientists, today announced its first investment in Malaysia to establish an integrated manufacturing, R&D and operations facility, which will include a supply chain management hub, IT development and financial services centre in Malaysia.

The company will be investing about USD80 million in the first and second phases to manufacture and service test, measurement and automation hardware and software products. This major announcement was made at a media conference, held at the Malaysian Industrial Development Authority (MIDA).

"We are happy to welcome National Instruments to Malaysia and pleased that the company has chosen to invest in our country. Malaysia offers a resource-rich, competitive environment that is ideal for higher value-add companies, and we look forward to a successful collaboration with National Instruments", said Minister of International Trade and Industry (MITI), Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

The facility will be located on a 6.8-hectare site in Penang and employ about 1,500 people, NI president and chief executive officer, Dr James Truchard, said here on Monday. The plant will be the Group's first in Asean and NI's third major global centre, after the US and Hungry.

"Our goal in Malaysia is to be a major centre in manufacturing as well as R&D globally by 2015 when the plant is running at full capacity," Truchard said. Malaysia was chosen to be a major hub in R&D and operations for NI due to the country's pull factors, which among others include, its competitive business environment and highly skilled workforce.

The close proximity to Asian markets will also enable the company to respond to customer demand in the region and provide better access to software and hardware services such as product calibration.

NI chief financial officer and senior vice president of manufacturing and information technology (IT) operations, Alex Devern, said Penang was selected because of its availability of electrical and electronics resources.

"We anticipate that by 2015, the site in Penang will be capable of generating 40 percent of global revenue amounting to nearly US$650 million per annum", said Devern.

Truchard said the close proximity of the new facility to the Asian market would also make it possible for the company to respond more quickly to customer demand in the region. He also said that despite the current difficult economic conditions, NI would continue to invest in R&D to enhance its technological edge.

Tan Sri Muhyiddin also added, "The setting-up of National Instruments' integrated operations will contribute towards Malaysia's move up the value chain in the manufacturing sector. As the leader in computer-based measurement and automation hardware with long-term track record of growth and profitability, National Instruments' projects in Malaysia will lead to technology transfer and the acquisition of skills among Malaysians."

Headquartered in Austin, Texas, N1 has more than 5,000 employees and direct operations in nearly 40 countries. Founded in 1976, the company develops and manufactures software and hardware products that engineers and scientists use for test, control and embedded design applications.

With record revenue of US$740 million in 2007, NI has a strong financial track record, being consistently profitable since 1990.

Adapted from BERNAMA, Business Times and MIDA's Media Release, 3 and 4 November 2008

A (H1N1): 14 cases investigated

PUTRAJAYA: The Health Ministry's National Crisis Preparedness and Response Centre (CPRC) has received notification of 14 cases of influenza A (H1N1) admitted to the isolation wards at three hospitals for investigation as at 8am Friday.

Director-General of Health Tan Sri Dr Mohd Ismail Merican said that 10 of the cases were tested negative while four others were awaiting results.

"So far, a total of 310 cases had been admitted to the isolation wards for investigation where 304 were tested negative and two were confirmed positive for H1N1.

"The two positive cases were those reported on May 15 and 16," he said in a statement here.

He said seven people who were being quarantined at home were also in good health.

Two of them were reported to have been in contact with the H1N1 patient in Taiwan on May 24 and were quarantined until Sunday while five others reported to be in contact with a patient in Singapore on May 26 were quarantined until Tuesday, he said.

Dr Mohd Ismail said Malaysia had been declared free from local transmission of H1N1 and the public as well as the foreign tourists need not worry about the pandemic.

He said that according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the number of countries which have officially reported cases of H1N1 infection remained at 50.

However, in just 24 hours, 101 new cases were reported worldwide, making a total of 14,772 laboratory confirmed cases.

The increase occurred in four countries Australia with 80 cases, Mainland China (two), Hong Kong (three), Japan (four) and South Korea (12). The death toll remained at 96.

He said that within the last 24 hours too, a total of 22,620 individuals arriving from the four countries had been screened at air, sea and land entry points. "Only one suspected case was found at the airport and has been referred to the hospital for further examination," he added.

So far, he said, the cumulative passengers screened at the entry points numbered 244,315, with 196,992 people (80.6 per cent) screened at the airports, 13,488 (5.5) at ports and 33,835 (13.8) at land entry points.

"Of the total passengers, 56 suspected cases of H1N1 were referred to the hospital for investigation," he added. - Bernama

US-based National Instrument commits US$80m in Penang

GEORGE TOWN: US-based National Instruments (NI) has committed to invest US$80 million in next few years in Penang as it expands its operations.

NI vice president of manufacturing Rob Porterfield said on May 29 the investment would create up to 1,500 jobs in Penang.

The multinational corporation had signed a RM36 million (US$10 million) deal with the Penang Development Corporation to acquire a 17-acre site in Batu Maung for its research and development and operations.

Also present at the signing ceremony were Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, his deputy P. Ramasamy, PDC general manager Datuk Rosli Jaafar and NI vice president and general counsel David G Hugley.

NI has more than 5,000 employees in 40 countries and sells off the shelf software such as NI LabVIEW and modular cost effective hardware to more than 30,000 companies worldwide.

Porterfield said NI was recruiting senior engineers and other personnel for key R & D positions for its R & D operations which starts this year-end.

"We are looking for experienced engineers to fill these positions as section managers as well as digital, analog, mechanical and software technical leads to work on a line of embedded controllers.

"Once hired, they will travel to our headquarters in Austin, Texas to receive extensive on the job training for a year," he added.

Porterfield said there was a slight delay in starting its manufacturing operations due to the current global economic situation.

He added Penang offered exceptionally skilled workforce comprising engineers, scientists and this was a key factor to select Malaysia and Penang in particular for the new R&D plant.

"We will invest up to 16 per cent of our revenue in R & D and Penang will play a key role for NI in the years to come," he added.

He also said 50% of the proposed 1,500 workforce would be for manufacturing and the rest for its R & D, product development, shared services, IT and finance positions.

Jaya Supermarket Collapse: 3 dead, search on for 4 (Update 2)

PETALING JAYA: Another body was recovered from the rubble of the collapsed Jaya Supermarket building early Friday morning taking the death toll to three.

The body - believed to be that of an Indonesian worker - was recovered at 3.30am on Friday.

Rescue personnel are trying to get to four more workers trapped under the debris of the collapsed Jaya Supermarket and located by search dogs and a scope.

Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha said the trapped workers were near the three bodies pulled from the rubble earlier.

He told reporters after visiting the site that rescuers were being hampered by the large amount of debris.

"I would like to get an explanation from the contractor involved in the demolition on the methods the company has used.

"I am going to put a working paper on this incident. A task force will also be formed to probe the collapse involving the local council, police and the Fire and Rescue Department," he said.

On Thursday, the building collapsed at 5pm while demolition work was going on, killing three Indonesian workers.

Two other workers were pulled out alive.

Bernama reported Deputy Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Lajim Ukim as saying that initial investigation indicated that overloading caused by heavy machines used in demolishing the former Jaya Supermarket building may have triggered the collapse.

He said eight heavy demolition tractors were in the building when the incident occurred.

"The investigation does not discount that more heavy machines were in the building," he told reporters when met at the site here Thursday night.

Jaya Supermarket collapses

PETALING JAYA: One of the city’s earliest landmarks, Jaya Supermarket, collapsed while demolition work was going on, killing two Indonesian workers.

Two bodies were recovered at 6.44pm and 10.25pm and another worker was feared dead.

Once an icon: The old Jaya Supermarket building that was once a landmark in Petaling Jaya is now a rubble after it collapsed at about 5pm Thursday. — GLENN GUAN / The Star

Two other workers were pulled out alive at about 5.45pm and 6pm, while four more are still trapped beneath a tangle of steel and rubble after the building collapsed at about 5pm yesterday.

The five-storey portion of the building collapsed right to the basement, where the car park was located. A 10-storey office block at the other end of the building was not affected.

Selangor Fire and Rescue Department director Soiman Jahid said 50 firemen rushed to the scene after receiving a distress call at 5.08pm.

The number of rescue personnel was later increased to about 150 with the police, Civil Defence Department and Petaling Jaya City Council joining in.

The two injured victims, Suriono, 31, and Salleh, 45, were sent to the University Malaya Medical Centre.

Petaling Jaya OCPD Asst Comm Arjunaidi Mohamed said only one body had been identified, that of 28-year-old Maskor.

“The search-and-rescue operation will continue until all workers are accounted for,” he told reporters at the site.

The workers were part of the more than 80 crew who were demolishing the building.

The 35-year-old Jaya Shopping Centre, which housed a supermarket and many outlets, was closed on Feb 6, 2008. The new owners of the building planned to demolish and rebuild it on the site.

Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim, urged the public not to go near the area as it would hamper search-and-rescue efforts.

Works Minister Datuk Shaziman Abu Mansor said the Public Works Department is ready to offer assistance in equipment and manpower to help with the search and rescue.

“We are also willing to help investigate why the building collapsed,” he said,

When asked if the overloading of machinery on the upper level of the building was the cause of the collapse, he said it could be one possibility but could not say anything until the investigation is completed.

A worker, Andi, who was on the fifth floor of the building, was taking a break with nine others when the incident happened.

“I was sitting when I heard a loud sound. Then, the floor started tilting and we just ran for our lives. We rushed to the other end of the building. We are so lucky to be alive,” said the 30-year-old who had been working on the construction site for 20 days.

Rojak seller Faizal Md Yusof, who operates from a van just opposite the building, saw the building shake and collapse.

“I saw six cranes falling down along with the building. I just left my van and ran for my life,” he said.

Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha said the Fire and Rescue Department would work together with the police to probe into the cause of the collapse.

When met at the emergency ward of the hospital, rescued worker, Salleh told Bernama he was trapped in the rubble for more than an hour.

Suffering from a fractured right leg and arm, the father of four, who started work at the project just three days ago, said he was working on the ground floor of a four-storey building when the structure collapsed.

Raffles KL to open doors in 2011

KUALA LUMPUR: The luxury hotel brand Raffles will have its first hotel in Malaysia - the Raffles Kuala Lumpur - which is expected to open its doors in 2011.

The Raffles Kuala Lumpur will be at Pavilion Kuala Lumpur, along Jalan Bukit Bintang. Featuring 200 rooms and suites, each with a minimum of 50 sq m (about 538 sq ft), it will offer the most spacious rooms in the city.

Raffles Hotels & Resorts' signed an agreement on May 28 with Harmoni Perkasa Sdn Bhd, a unit of Urusharta Cemerlang Sdn Bhd, which owns Pavilion Kuala Lumpur.

"The name Raffles is associated with exceptional standards of service, hospitality and cuisine. We look forward to working with Raffles Hotels and Resorts to bring a luxurious lifestyle experience to Kuala Lumpur," said Harmoni Perkasa chairman Tan Sri Zainol Mahmood.

Owned by Fairmont Raffles Hotel International, Raffles Hotels & Resorts is expected to expand from seven Raffles hotels now to 23 hotels worldwide by 2012.

Chris Cahill, COO of Fairmont Raffles Hotel International said the group had always wanted to extend the Raffles portfolio to Kuala Lumpur.

"Now we have an ideal strategic partner and an unrivalled location," he adds. The group also owns Fairmont and Swissotel brands of hotels and resorts.

Raffles Hotels & Resorts' public relations and communications manager Vivian Koh said Raffles Kuala Lumpur will offer six restaurants and bars including a specialty restaurant, an all-day dining restaurant, a lobby lounge, a lobby bar, a pool bar and a Cafe Stelle located at the Couture Pavilion precinct. The cafe which will be a showcase of Raffles' service prior to the opening of the hotel, opened its doors today.

The Raffles Amrita Spa, a signature component of Raffles hotels and resorts worldwide, will feature 10 treatment rooms and an extensive range of massage and wellness treatments.

Singapore records first A (H1N1) flu case

SINGAPORE: Singapore’s health ministry has confirmed the country’s first influenza A (H1N1) case, a 22-year-old local woman who picked up the virus after visiting New York.

The ministry said in a statement Wednesday that the woman was in New York from May 14 to 24, and reported developing a cough on her flight back to Singapore earlier this week.

The ministry says it has quarantined people with whom the woman has been in close contact and is searching for passengers who were on the same flight from New York.-AP

Study confirms mothers-in-law are the chief cause of divorces

KUALA LUMPUR: Every married person knows it, but a local study has confirmed it – mothers-in-law are the chief cause of divorces, especially in the Indian community.

Data in the Malaysia Community and Family Study 2004 by the National Population and Family Development Board (LPPKN) revealed that “meddlesome in-laws” is the number one reason why Indian couples get divorced.

It is also among the top three factors for divorce among the Malays and Chinese. The other two factors are incompatibility (42.3%) and infidelity (12%).

“Interference by in-laws is the main reason for Indians to divorce. It is the top-ranked reason at 30%,” said LPPKN director-general Datuk Aminah Abdul Rahman when presenting a paper on Malaysia’s family profile and its effects at Institut Kefahaman Islam Malaysia yesterday.

Infidelity is the marriage breaker among the Malays and Indians but it is tolerated among the Chinese.

“Among Malays, the second most common reason is infidelity and refusal to put up with polygamy,” she said.

“Among the Indians, infidelity is the second highest ranked reason for divorce at 25%,” she said.

However, the Chinese considered infidelity as the least crucial reason for a divorce.

Cheating was at the bottom along with health and gambling addiction at 4.2%.

Surprisingly, abuse is not a reason for divorce among the Malays and Chinese, but is a reason among Indians at 5%.

“Another overall reason which ranked high among the three races at 11.5% is ‘not being responsible’,” she said.

Although it is common perception that the family institution is quite fragile and divorces are rampant, data shows otherwise - only 0.7% of the population was divorced in 2000.

The data shows that divorce is more likely to happen to those under 25 and above 40.

Meanwhile, Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil said that more Malaysian women were choosing to marry later in life and it could cause a reduction in fertility rate and an ageing society.

“The National Family Policy and its action plan will address this issue of late marriages,” she said.

The policy would be presented to the Cabinet soon.

Telling your wife she's not pretty may soon be an offence

KOTA KINABALU: A husband telling his wife that she is no longer pretty in an attempt to humiliate her can be classified as an emotional violence offence if amendments are made to the Domestic Violence Act (DVA)1994.

The plan is to amend the DVA for the inclusion of a clause on emotional violence against women.

Currently, they are only protected only against physical abuse, Women's Development Department director-general Datuk Dr Noorul Ainur Mohd Nur said.

She said on Wednesday that the aim for proposing the amendment was to safeguard women both physically and emotionally.

Dr Noorul said emotional violence was a form of abuse that would deeply scar a woman and lower their self-esteem, dignity and self-confidence.

“It could be a case where her husband tells his wife she is ugly or humiliates her until she feels emotionally pressured,” she told reporters at the end of a seminar on how to curb violence against women at Wisma Wanita here.

She added they were in the process of bringing the proposed amendments to Parliament.

State Community development and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Azizah Mohd Dun closed the seminar organised by Sabah Women’s Affairs Department.

Azizah, in her speech, said that there was a need for the law to protect emotional violence against women.

Azizah said there were a total of 99 cases of violence against women in Sabah in the first quarter of 2009 compared to 220 cases during the same period last year which was reported to the police.

No local infection of H1N1 virus, says ministry

PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia is free of local transmission of influenza A (H1N1) virus as there had been no contagion among those who had been in contact with the two infected patients, said Director-General of Health Tan Sri Dr Mohd Ismail Merican.

He said all 222 people who had been placed under home quarantine for being in contact with the two infected patients would be freed yesterday if they show no symptoms of the disease.

The one-week incubation period started on May 13, the date the duo entered the country, he told reporters here yesterday.

He said those placed under home quarantine were family members of the two patients, passengers of Malaysia Airlines flight MH091 and AirAsia flight AK5358 on May 13, and medical personnel who tested them.

Dr Mohd Ismail said the Health Ministry failed to locate 39 more passengers of both flights and although the quarantine period was over, they should avail themselves for testing.

Both patients, who were isolated at the Sungai Buloh Hospital and Penang Hospital, are reported to be in stable condition and will be discharged today and Friday respectively if they show no symptoms of the disease.

Dr Mohd Ismail advised the public not to be unduly worried as the flu originated from abroad and was not a local infection.

“However, I advise the public to take a serious view of the disease and get accurate and the latest information from the ministry’s website (www.moh.gov.my) or the media,” he said.

Until yesterday, 156 cases, including 22 on Tuesday, had been referred to various hospitals for testing. All were tested negative except for the two infected cases.

Meanwhile, two American citizens, who were placed under quarantine in Sabah for being in contact with an infected Hong Kong citizen on Cathay Pacific flight CX831 from the US to Hong Kong, are reported to be in good health, said Dr Mohd Ismail.

He said so far 121,185 passengers had been screened at airports, border checkpoints, and ports and jetties.

Asked whether the ministry will step up monitoring for Malaysian students returning from the US for summer break, he said they would go through the normal process as it would not want to create a panic situation. — Bernama

Najib: I don’t craze for power

PUTRAJAYA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said he does not craze for power although he needs power to serve the people and country.

“I don’t craze for power for the sake of power but I need power to serve the people and ensure successful nationbuilding.

“But there are some people who cannot wait to be in power,” he said at a function in his honour at
the Finance Ministry yesterday.

“Power is only a means to an end and the end is about serving the people and nation,” he said.

Najib said to reach where he is now, he did not “take an express bus” but a “normal bus which journeyed 33 years in his political career”.

Najib said the experience prepared him to take on such a heavy responsibility, and this is why he needed everyone’s cooperation to carry out the responsibility entrusted to him.

The prime minister said one of the people’s yardsticks was how the government managed the economy, adding that the people would accept the existing government if it could carry out its duties well.

“The public will like us, businessmen will like us, smallholders will like us and this will translate into greater support for us,” he said. — Bernama

Foreign workers get RM4b windfall this year

KUALA LUMPUR: The 2.2 million foreign workers in the country would enjoy a RM4 billion windfall this year as they need not pay the levy which would be borne by their employers.

From April, it was compulsory for employers to pay the RM1,800 annual levy per worker for both new workers and those who renewed their visas, the Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) executive director Shamsuddin Bardan said yesterday.

“Although it was excellent news for the workers, it was great strain for the companies because they had to fork out a huge sum for the levy which would invariably add to the cost of their business,” he told Bernama.

“We would therefore seek the government’s consideration to revert to the old system, where the levy was paid by the workers and then deducted monthly from their wages,” he said.

“If this was not possible, then we would appeal to the government to defer this decision until the economy improves,” he added.

According to Shamsuddin, the economy had shown signs of improvement, but it was too early to be optimistic.

“This is particularly worrying with the global pandemic of the Influenza A(H1N1) and the meningitis and leptospirosis outbreak locally which could affect the economy and wipe out whatever little gain,” he said.

He explained that the H1N1 would affect the airline industry, tourism, hotels and allied services and also retail trade.

However, Shamsuddin welcomed the government’s move to defer the doubling of levy for the foreign workers from RM1,800 to RM3,600.

“If this was implemented as proposed, then the companies would have to come up with RM8 billion thus pushing many small companies out of business,” he said. — Bernama

Shad Faruqi’s article on Perak crisis becoming a “hydra-headed monster”

Professor Shad Faruqi’s latest Star weekly column “Reflecting on the Law” on “Put interest of the nation first” and how the Perak crisis has become a “hydra-headed monster” should be compulsory reading for the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his Cabinet.

Shad Faruqi has made many points which I had tried in the past three -and-a-half months to communicate to the Prime Minister and the Barisan Nasional leaders but to no avail.

For instance, Shad Faruqi started his article thus:

“THE Perak political crisis can be likened to a malignant cancer that is voraciously spreading to the lymph nodes of our other institutions – the Sultanate, the judiciary, the federal executive, the civil service, the police, the law officers of the Crown, the court registry, the Anti-Corruption Com­­mission and the Election Commission.

The longer we wait, the farther the affliction will spread. It is time, therefore, to stop this madness, this divisiveness, this polarisation.”

One consistent point I had made for over three months is that the constitutional and political impasse has precipitated a new crisis of confidence in credibility, legitimacy and integrity of all the key national institutions of the country, whether the police, election commission, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency, the civil service, the judiciary or the monarchy and impaired Malaysia’s international image and competitiveness to face up to the world’s worst economic crisis in a century.

In March, I had invoked the imagery of “Nero playing the fiddle while Rome burns” to deplore Najib’s failure to act boldly to end the protracted political and constitutional crisis in the face of the world economic crisis.

Shad Faruqi is now invoking the same imagery when he said:

The country as a whole is more important than the fate of Barisan or Pakatan in Perak.

In Rome, Nero played the fiddle while the city burned. We should not allow that to happen to us.

Perak politicians have no right to paralyse the rest of the country or to distract us from the many urgent and daunting tasks staring us in the face.

Najib should take heed and he should take responsibility for the unethical, undemocratic, illegal and unconstitutional power grab he had orchestrated in early February by agreeing to dissolve the Perak state assembly to return the mandate to Perakians to elect the government of their choice.

In February 20, I had called for the swift and democratic resolution of the Perak crisis to avoid months of stand-off and stalemate in the Perak political and constitutional crisis – in a manner which could be accepted by all Perakians without poisoning the Malaysian body politic for years and decades so that national energies could be mobilized to face the looming economic crisis.

If my proposal for a snap Perak state elections to held within 30 days had been acted upon by Najib, the Perak political and constitutional crisis would be behind the state and nation for more than two months!

As Shaq Faruqi has perceptively pointed out, the courts cannot supply any satisfactory solutions to the Perak political and constitutional crisis.

Najib should not drag his feet any longer but rise to the occasion to agree to the dissolution of the Perak State Assembly so that the crisis could be behind all Perakians and Malaysians within 30 days.

Courtesy of Lim Kit Siang

Selangor govt finds former MB Khir Toyo guilty

SHAH ALAM: Selangor’s Select Committee on Competence, Accountability and Transparency (Selcat) has found former mentri besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Khir Toyo guilty of not attending its inquiry in March into the disbursement of state agency funds.

The committee, under the Selangor State Legislative Assembly, has also found him guilty of three charges of making disparaging remarks and negative statements on Selcat’s legitimacy, in the media and on his blog.

He was slapped with an earlier one-year suspension for his failure to attend the inquiry, and six months each for the three consecutive charges.

All his allowances and privileges as an assemblyman would also be suspended.

However, Selcat chairman Teng Chang Khim said these were only recommendations made by Selcat.

“These recommendations would be brought to the next State Assembly sitting in July for debate. Everybody involved, including Dr Mohd Khir, will be allowed to debate on the recommendations,” he said.

In the eight-day Selcat inquiry in March, witnesses had testified that millions of ringgit from the state’s business arm were squandered by Balkis, a charity headed by Dr Mohd Khir’s wife Datin Zaharah Kechik while he was in office.

Nobel Prize winner Krugman: US 'depressed economy' could last 5 years

SEOUL The United States may emerge from recession in a technical sense as early as this summer, though a likely worsening in labor conditions means a "depressed economy" could last as long as five more years, Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman said Tuesday.

"I think it's quite possible that industrial production in the United States and perhaps in the world as a whole will bottom out sometime in the next few months, that GDP growth in the United States will be positive in the second half of the year and maybe a little bit later than that in Europe," Krugman told participants at a global financial conference organized by a South Korean media group.

Krugman said that he would not be surprised if the U.S. recession, which began in December 2007, ended in August or September this year.

Deteriorating labor markets, however, were likely to continue on into 2011, meaning "the period of a depressed economy" could last until 2013 or 2014, he said.

Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman delivers a speech at the Seoul Global Financial Conference in Seoul Tuesday where he said the United States may emerge from recession in a technical sense as early as this summer, though a likely worsening in labor conditions means a "depressed economy" could last as long as five more years - AP

Krugman, who teaches at Princeton University, won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences last year for his analysis of how economies of scale can affect international trade patterns.

He also writes columns for The New York Times.

The U.S. economy, the world's largest, contracted a worse-than-expected 6.1 percent on an annualized basis in the first quarter.

Americans increased purchases of cars, furniture and appliances, but businesses cut back spending and exports had their biggest drop in 40 years.

The U.S. unemployment rate hit 8.9 percent in April and many economists expect it to reach 10 percent by year's end.

Krugman said that while economic indicators from around the world are improving, they suggest that the pace of economic decline has only slowed.

"I share the optimism that the worst of this may be over," he said, also noting a stabilization in financial markets.

"What's really hard, however, is to say when does this go beyond stabilization to an actual recovery."

A general definition of recession is two straight quarters of economic contraction, although broader measures are also taken into account.

Krugman said, however, that defining the beginning and end of recessions is tricky.

He noted that in the United States they are officially dated by the National Bureau of Economic Research, which he said generally declares "that the end of a recession is when some major economic indicators begin improving. When it's no longer a case where everything is falling."

Krugman said that the last two U.S. recessions officially ended when industrial production turned up even though unemployment continued to worsen "long after the official end of the recession."

As an example, he cited the one in 2001, which ended after eight months in November, though the unemployment rate didn't bottom out until June of 2003. - AP

Korean scientists make H1N1 flu virus vaccine

Korean veterinary scientists said yesterday that they have succeeded in developing a human vaccine against the A(H1N1) influenza virus that has alarmed the world.

They say the vaccine against the virus, which was initially called swine flu, is the first in the world and it should be available to humans in four months. A research team led by Suh Sang-hee, professor of veterinary science at Chungnam National University, said that through genetic recombination of genes extracted from the standard H1N1 virus they have developed a vaccine that is non-infective and can be mass produced.

The breakthrough came only 11 days after the team received samples of the virus from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and began research, according to the university. It generally takes around three months for a vaccine to be developed.

Suh is an established figure in international influenza research, having produced a vaccine against the highly pathogenic avian flu strain last October. He was the first in the world to identify the human cause of the avian flu influenza, which claimed six lives in Hong Kong in 1997. Also, he is the only scientist in Korea who has won official approval from the U.S. CDC, enabling him to obtain highly virulent flu virus samples for research whenever necessary. He said he is willing to provide the vaccine to Korean and world health authorities as well as pharmaceutical firms free of charge. The U.S. CDC has already made such a request.

“Although the new strain of influenza is wreaking havoc on human health across the globe, mass production and injection of the vaccine could minimize its impact,” he said in a media interview. “We need to launch mass production of the vaccine before it becomes too late.”

Since the vaccine appears not to be harmful to human health, it will go through a simple safety test before being commercialized by pharmaceutical firms, Suh added. Jun Byung-yool, a senior official of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a press briefing that he “has no words to say at this moment, since the center hasn’t verified the research outcome.”

Meanwhile, the disease control center said yesterday it had identified a 22-year-old Vietnamese female as a presumed victim of A(H1N1) on Sunday. She is currently being tested after being isolated in a facility at Incheon International Airport.

After departing from Seattle in the United States, she was transferring to a flight to Vietnam via Incheon. Quarantine control at the airport detected that she had a fever. The center said it will track 73 Koreans and 28 foreigners who took the same flight with her.


By Seo Ji-eun [spring@joongang.co.kr]