GROUP TO EXPOSE WHO ANWAR REALLY IS


KUALA LUMPUR: A former Parti Keadilan Rakyat top leader and once a close associate of opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has formed a non-governmental organisation (NGO) to expose to the public who Anwar really is and to counter his slander against the government.

Former PKR Youth deputy chief Muhammad Zahid Md Arip, who is heading the "Tolak Individu Bernama Anwar Ibrahim" (Reject Individual Named Anwar Ibrahim), or Tibai, said it would organise campaigns to get the people to reject Anwar and his associates in the coming general election.

"We will go down to the constituencies won by PKR and to be contested by the party in carrying out our agenda to make people realise who Anwar really is," he said at the formation of Tibai at Kelab Sultan Sulaiman, here, yesterday.

Zahid said Tibai would use various means, including ceramah and peaceful assemblies, to expose the real Anwar to the public.

"Since PKR's establishment, 28 of its of top leaders have left the party, thus I can conclude that something is not right in PKR," said Zahid, hoping that people would not be influenced by slanders hurled at the government by Anwar and his friends in the opposition group.

"We've seen in his ceramah that Anwar has run out of ideas and his speeches lacked substance, except running down the government under the leadership of Datuk Seri Najib Razak."

Zahid said Tibai would be launched at Kelab Sultan Sulaiman in Kampung Baru by Perkasa president Datuk Ibrahim Ali on Sunday.

Tibai is also a northern Malay colloquial word for hit, beat or smash. 


-Bernama

PTPTN: SCHEME HAS BENEFITED THOUSANDS

A letter by: B.J. Fernandez, Shah Alam

IT cannot be denied that the Higher Education Loan Fund (PTPTN) is a scheme that has benefited thousands of graduates.

It has been reported that more than RM48 billion has been disbursed. More than 220,000 students benefited from the loans last year alone.

I can attest to the fact that if not for PTPTN, two of my colleagues would not have obtained a tertiary education.

However, PTPTN has been more a boon to independent private educational institutes that have sprouted all over the country since its launch and a bane to students, burdened with loan repayments.

While it is compulsory for most reputable colleges or universities to require minimum five Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia or 0-Level credits with equivalent two to four Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia passes or equivalent A-Levels as entry requirements, it is the norm for independent colleges to admit students after they have passed foundation courses. They have thereby bypassed this basic requirement.

Furthermore, most of the degrees awarded are in-house. Lecturers are requested to be lenient in their marking so that students progress to the next year and duly pay their fees.

A case in point is unemployed nurses accorded in-house diplomas who later have to sit for the Nursing Board Exam.

The basis for this process is nothing but profiteering.

The first question asked by these private institutions of parents is how much money they have in the Employees Provident Fund and second, to recommend the virtues of PTPTN.

If you were to glance through advertisements in local media, you will notice almost every ad having a starburst that promotes the EPF and PTPTN schemes.

I have had graduates coming for interviews with a basic degree in business administration.

When asked why they opted for this course, the inevitable answer was, "Well, all my friends were taking this course and I heard it was easy to pass".

What about your parents? "Well, it was the cheapest course, so they were happy about it."

This illustrates parents who seem happy to abdicate their duties by passing the responsibility of undertaking their share of educating their children back to their children.

The first step would be to look at colleges that offer in-house diplomas and degrees and use foundation courses for entry. We have enough reputable public universities that can and should set the minimum standards to which these programmes must adhere.

A re-look is needed based on where the jobs are and to give priority to those seeking loans for such courses.

PTPTN has also received flak for the manner in which it is managed. Perhaps, it would be better for EPF to be assigned the role of sole disbursement and collection agency.

Loan defaults should be factored to banks, which have more avenues to go after defaulters.

Instead of using PTPTN as political fodder, it would be better to re-look objectives and realign PTPTN to be more effective, in line with national objectives.

Read more on PTPTN: Scheme has benefited thousands - Letters to the Editor - New Straits Times 

CLEAR THE AIR, TWO MUMS TOLD

Shamsidar Tahrin (left) and Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail have been asked to hold a joint press conference to explain matters.

KUALA LUMPUR: FORMER Parti Keadilan Rakyat Penang Wanita chief Aminah Abdullah has called for an explanation regarding the relationship between PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar and Farah Afifah Azmin as it is understood under hukum syarak (syariah law).

In her statement yesterday, Aminah said the women's mothers, PKR president Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and Shamsidar Tahrin, wife of PKR deputy president Azmin Ali, should hold a joint press conference to explain the matter.

"This will help clear the question persistently playing on the minds of many people," she said.

Aminah was referring to allegations made by Senator Datuk S. Nallakaruppan that Shamsidar once had an affair with opposition leader and Nurul Izzah's father, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Aminah said the matter needed to be answered as many people were now of the view "that PKR is a party of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transsexuals and free sex".

She said many within PKR were talking about this but were too scared to voice their opinion for fear of being sacked.

She added that PKR's political struggle was only a mask as its real struggle was over the sexual lust among its leaders.

Aminah said PKR was only promoting seksualiti merdeka (sexual independence).

Dr Wan Azizah and Azmin could not be reached for comment.

PM: SOLUTION IS TO REDUCE PETROL DEPENDENCY

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said the inevitable long-term solution to the escalating price of petrol was to reduce dependency on petrol.

He said that the government was working hard to improve the public transport system to provide a better alternative to private vehicle users.

"Transportation costs make up a considerable proportion of the rakyat's daily expenses, particularly for the urbanites.

"Therefore, the onus is on the government to slow down and manage the ever escalating fuel cost, without jeopardising other budgeted expenditures on development," he said in his blog www.1malaysia.com.my yesterday.

Read more: PM: Solution is to reduce petrol dependency - General - New Straits Times