» »Unlabelled » ‘I cut myself’ victim apologises BorneoPost Online | Borneo , Malaysia, Sarawak Daily News » Sabah - New 2 Borneo

07:37:00

‘I cut myself’ victim apologises BorneoPost Online | Borneo , Malaysia, Sarawak Daily News » Sabah - New 2 Borneo

‘I cut myself’ victim apologises

Posted: 22 Jan 2014 10:56 AM PST

by Amy Dangin. Posted on January 23, 2014, Thursday

KOTA KINABALU: A week after photos of the slashed wrist of a 20-year-old victim in a robbery attempt that allegedly happened at Suria Sabah went viral, the woman finally confessed that it was a made-up story that went wrong.

In a press conference held at the shopping mall here yesterday, the alleged victim who did not wish to be identified clarified that she had cut herself and that there had been no robbery attempt at the said shopping mall on the day the photos went viral.

She also claimed that the photos were uploaded to Facebook without her knowledge, much less her consent.

"I've made a huge mistake and I sincerely apologise to Suria Sabah, to the public, to the police, to my parents and everyone involved.

"Although those were actual photos of my injured wrist, I did not sustain the injury at Suria Sabah and there was no injury. I cut myself," she told reporters at the press conference.

Democratic Action Party (DAP) deputy chief secretary Junz Wong, who had been vocal about the issue since it went viral on January 6, also apologised for the way the incident had unfolded, and stressed that creating awareness on the increasing crime rate in the city was his focus when bringing the matter up, and not any personal attack against the shopping mall.

"First of all, we would like to apologise to Suria, although we have done so immediately after finding out about the status of the alleged incident. It was never my intention to be against Suria or anybody. It was just to create awareness that such an incident could happen in Kota Kinabalu.

"We have gone through the CCTV footage and conclude that the incident did not happen. We owe Suria and the public an apology," said Junz.

Junz claimed that he had received an unverified report from one of the DAP youth members who also happened to be a friend of the alleged victim, regarding the alleged incident, with photos of the slashed wound of the alleged victim's wrist, on the same day the incident was said to have happened.

He said despite his best efforts to clarify the matter, he and his team failed to get hold of the alleged victim to verify the story.

In their defence, Junz claimed that they had tried to reach the alleged victim for clarification on the same day they received the report, but failed. However, photos of the slashed wrist with photo caption stating that the wound was sustained in an attempted robbery at the Suria Sabah Shopping Mall at 7.10pm on January 6, had gone viral barely hours after it was uploaded.

He stated that he and his team managed to get hold of the alleged victim and her parents the next day, who then told them that the incident was a made-up story.

"Back then, everyone believed the story to be true, even myself, because we saw her personally and saw her bandaged injury. So we thought that it was the responsibility of everyone to cooperate with the police, and lodge a report so that everything could be investigated and verified, which the alleged victim finally agreed to and lodged a police report at 6pm on the day that we saw her and her parents."

"On our part, at that time we had our reasons to believe that, since it had been reported, the police would investigate and find out the truth," said Junz.

Print Friendly

To enable your comment to be published, please refrain from vulgar language, insidious, seditious or slanderous remarks. This includes vulgar user names.

Police after culprit behind fake CCTV footage

Posted: 22 Jan 2014 10:56 AM PST

by Elton Gomes. Posted on January 23, 2014, Thursday

KOTA KINABALU: The police are looking for the culprit who uploaded the close circuit television (CCTV) footage to the social media just hours after the recent drive-by shooting around the state capital and in Penampang.

State police commissioner Datuk Hamza Taib said the police would open an investigation paper pertaining to the fake CCTV footage that showed armed men walking into a building as the wanted suspect in the drive-by shooting.

Hamza said police would be working with the Malaysia Communication and Multimedia Commission to find the culprit who first uploaded the picture and claimed it was the footage recorded from one of the damaged premises in the city.

"We want to find the culprit who uploaded the picture and simply claiming that it was the footage and that the two men recorded in it were among the suspects to this case," he told reporters at the launching of a religious book entitled: 'Amalan Menyambut Kelahiran' by the Malaysia Police Association Welfare (Perkep) at the state police headquarters in Kepayan here yesterday.

Also present were Hamza's wife and Sabah Perkep chairman Datin Alauyah Mohamed, state deputy police commissioner P/DCP Datuk Abdul Malek Hj Harun and his wife Nor Ashekien Akasah, who is also Sabah Perkap deputy chairperson.

Meanwhile, Hamza said the police were still investigating whether criminal gangs were involved in the drive-by shooting which damaged more than 40 premises around the state capital on Jan 10.

He said the police were investigating the case from all angles and were not ruling out the possibility that criminal groups had planned the drive-by shooting.

"However, we are still investigating and thus far, no new arrests have been made apart from the three men under police detention," he said.

Hamza also said the police would not reveal too much about their latest interrogation with the three detained men as they did not want to disturb the ongoing investigations.

Police believed that a group of irresponsible individuals, believed to be teenagers, had caused unnecessary panic when they went around the state capital shooting at 46 premises with what was believed to be air guns loaded with marbles.

The group was said to have moved around the state capital and in three vehicles shooting at premises along their way with air guns loaded with marbles, in the city centre, Inanam, Luyang and Penampang between 11.45pm on January 10 until 6am on January 11.

Among the premises affected were banks, hotels, beauty salons, restaurants, offices, a petrol station, car showrooms and shopping malls with losses estimated around hundreds and thousands of ringgit.

No known casualty was however reported in the incident, which reportedly brought about some degree of panic and apprehension in the social media, Facebook and WhatsApp.

Print Friendly

To enable your comment to be published, please refrain from vulgar language, insidious, seditious or slanderous remarks. This includes vulgar user names.

No minimum wage appeal – FSI

Posted: 22 Jan 2014 10:55 AM PST

by Chok Sim Yee. Posted on January 23, 2014, Thursday

KOTA KINABALU: The Federation of Sabah Industries (FSI) will not submit any request to defer or withdraw the minimum wage policy for foreign workers as the government has its stance clear on not accepting appeals on the policy.

FSI president Datuk Seri Panglima Wong Khen Thau said he had not received any comment or appeal from members regarding the implementation of the foreign workers minimum wage policy which began in January.

He pointed out that employers had yet to pay wages to their employees this month, hence there had not been complaints yet.

"After this, there should be complaints or grievances," he said when contacted yesterday.

Wong said the government had made it clear that it would not defer or withdraw the minimum wage policy, so FSI did not submit any request for the minimum wage policy.

He said this when commenting on the Malaysian Textile Manufacturers Association's (MTMA) appeal to the government to withdraw the foreign workers minimum wage policy to ensure the survival of its members.

"We understand that the textile industry employs a lot of foreign workers and the competition is fierce, especially in Penang."

Wong said the foreign workers minimum wage would particularly impact on the plantation and furniture manufacturing industries.

In fact, Wong said many furniture manufacturing factories were reducing their number of foreign workers.

He said furniture manufacturers were more inclined towards keeping few skilled foreign workers and employ locals as much as possible.

Print Friendly

To enable your comment to be published, please refrain from vulgar language, insidious, seditious or slanderous remarks. This includes vulgar user names.

Parents urged to make full use of special school aid

Posted: 22 Jan 2014 09:23 AM PST

Posted on January 23, 2014, Thursday

TAWAU: Parents should make full use of the government's special school aid for their children and buy them school supplies instead of using the money for other purposes.

"The assistance hopefully helps to ease the financial burden of parents. It should be used for the children's education," Tawau Umno division vice-chief Nizam Datuk Abu Bakar Titingan said here yesterday.

He was speaking to reporters after the launching of the 2014 1Malaysia Early School Special Aid at Sekolah Kebangsaan Kinabutan Besar, here.

He said parents should also appreciate the various assistance channeled by the government towards their children's educational needs. — Bernama

Print Friendly

To enable your comment to be published, please refrain from vulgar language, insidious, seditious or slanderous remarks. This includes vulgar user names.

25 illegals nabbed in Lahad Datu

Posted: 21 Jan 2014 05:50 PM PST

LAHAD DATU: 25 illegal immigrants, nine men, ten women and six children, were apprehended during an integrated operation by enforcement officers from various agencies at the Singgahmata area here yesterday

District Immigration deputy enforcement officer, Ismail Useh, headed the operation comprising of personnel from the police, civil defence department, Eastern Sabah security command (Esscom), national registration department, and RELA.

Ismail said the operation, conducted by 152 personnel, were carried out for about an hour and 210 people were examined during the period.

"All illegal immigrants from Indonesia and the Philippines were subsequently detained for various offences, including not having any identification documents," he said.

Ismail added that the operation will be conducted from time to time to weed out the illegal immigrants and to combat criminal activities.

Print Friendly

To enable your comment to be published, please refrain from vulgar language, insidious, seditious or slanderous remarks. This includes vulgar user names.

17 women detained in Labuan

Posted: 21 Jan 2014 05:48 PM PST

LABUAN: The authorities, led by the Immigration Department, detained a total of 17 foreign women aged between 20 to 37 during an integrated 6P Operation (Second Phase) around Labuan town yesterday.

Labuan Immigration Department senior assistant deputy director Yusop Hj. Dulang said the operation started from 12.01am till 4am.

"During the operation, some 206 individuals, both men and women, were checked at several shop houses in town.

"We managed to arrest 16 Filipino women and an Indonesian woman for further investigation.

"All of them are suspected to be abusing their work permits and we are investigating them," he said, adding that the operation was done simultaneously, nationwide.

When asked if there was any human trafficking case on the island, operation chief Mohd. Akhair Mahamud said the case existed two years before.

"The offender had been charged in court with a two-year imprisonment under the human trafficking law after he was found guilty of the case," he said.

Meanwhile, Yusop asked for cooperation from the public by sharing information with the department regarding foreign workers who might be abusing their work permits.

Print Friendly

To enable your comment to be published, please refrain from vulgar language, insidious, seditious or slanderous remarks. This includes vulgar user names.