Mara officers under investigation BorneoPost Online | Borneo , Malaysia, Sarawak Daily News » Sabah - New 2 Borneo |
- Mara officers under investigation
- Toddler is hero of workers’ quarters fire
- 869 logs with unpaid royalty seized during sawmill raid
- Pregnant woman hurt after assault
- Housebreakers make off with substantial haul
- Clerk loses handbag to snatcher
| Mara officers under investigation Posted: 01 May 2014 01:46 AM PDT by Geryl Ogilvy Ruekeith. Posted on May 1, 2014, Thursday KUCHING: Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara) is conducting a probe on claims that its officers had posed Islamic-based questions to non-Muslim candidates during a recent scholarship interview here. State Mara deputy director Mariam Mohtar said the concerned officers, from its headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, are currently being investigated. The probe would also look into how the interview with straight-As student Nigel Unchat Jeremaiah was carried out. She clarified that Mara had a module on the questions as well as "strict guidelines" on how the interview should be conducted. Non-Muslim students who attended Mara's scholarship interview should not have been quizzed on Islamic matters. Mariam herself took part in the interview held on Saturday, April 26, at the Maktab Rendah Sains Mara at Semariang near here. However, she was interviewing another group. "Yes, there are questions on Islam but they are strictly to be directed at Muslims. As for non-Muslims, they would be asked 'civic questions'. These are basically general knowledge questions, like their opinion on the breakdown in a family. "These questions are basically to assess their general knowledge and level of thinking. This is a group interview and we know who are Muslims and who are non-Muslims. If the student is a Muslim, he could probably get a question on his religion," she told the media when contacted Wednesday. According to Nigel, candidates were asked to name the prophets of Islam, precepts of Islamic prayers (rukun solat), their understanding on the 'adat menziarah jenazah' (visiting graves) and opinions on the Hudud law among others. He claimed that the interviewer threw the questions to the whole group, with it being an "open question-and-answer" session. The former SMK Batu Lintang student was applying for the Indigenous People's Trust Council (Mara) scholarship to pursue a Mechanical Engineering programme at Kolej Mara Seremban, Negeri Sembilan. About 30 students went for the interview that Saturday and 10 were non-Muslims. Successful candidates in obtaining a Mara scholarship would know their results on May 8. Meanwhile, Mara headquarters in Kuala Lumpur has assured non-Muslim candidates that their overall evaluation would not be affected if they were unable or did not answer Islamic-based questions. For its 2014 Mara's Excellent Student Scheme selection, candidates are evaluated based on merit and performance through two main components, namely psychometric tests and open group interviews which will evaluate the personality and IQ, capacity, capability and character of the individual. The group open question-and-answer component also involved sessions such as Case Study, Business Game and 360 degree assessment. "Throughout this values assessment process, candidates would be tested on various topics including current issues, social, economics, religious and moral. "Religious and moral-based questions are in general form where Muslim candidates would be tested on their Islamic knowledge while the non-Muslims would be asked on civic-related matters, ethics, patriotism and good values," Mara said in a statement issued Wednesday. Each year, some 13,000 applications were received and screened through a specified selection module.   |
| Toddler is hero of workers’ quarters fire Posted: 30 Apr 2014 12:58 PM PDT by Yunus Yussop, reporters@theborneopost.com. Posted on May 1, 2014, Thursday BINTULU: Asrol Muazam Abdullah may only be two but he is already a hero. The cherubic-faced boy is too young to realise that he managed to save three lives including his own on Monday during a fire that destroyed two workers' quarters at a plywood factory. In the incident around 8am, Asrol alerted his grandmother, who was asleep at the time of the danger. "At that time my mother, who was resting at home, initially didn't understand what was said by my son, but eventually realised that our house was on fire," said Nor Fadila Perji, 23. Her mother then rushed both Asrol and his elder brother Alif Zaquan Firdaus to safety. "My mother and my two sons could not save anything except their lives," she said adding that the total loss was estimated at RM40,000. "I am thankful my mother and two sons could escape even though all identification documents were destroyed in the fire. Actually all our stuff had been packed as we were to move out because I've got a new job at the factory in Kemena Industrial Estate," she said. Nor Fadila said the fire, which destroyed the quarters within 15 minutes, was probably due to a short-circuit. The family is now staying with relatives in Sungai Plan and have received immediate relief assistance from the Welfare Department and Bintulu Parliamentary Constituency Service Centre. Yesterday, Nor Fadila and her family received aid from the Malaysian Red Crescent (MRC) Bintulu chapter. MRC Bintulu deputy chairman Soo Yii Chiong together with secretary Lai Chee Hua and treasurer |
| 869 logs with unpaid royalty seized during sawmill raid Posted: 30 Apr 2014 12:57 PM PDT KUCHING: Officials from the state Forest Department confiscated 869 illegal logs during a sting at a sawmill here recently, marking another successful operation in its bid to curb timber smuggling activities. Led by its director Sapuan Ahmad, the operation involving 15 enforcement officers, conducted checks at three sawmills in Demak Laut, Sejingkat and Bintawa industrial areas. In an operation in Sibu recently, the department managed to seize a total of 787 illegal logs worth RM140,000 from two factories at Rantau Panjang and Jalan Lanang. "The department will not compromise on this matter, serious actions will be taken if any sawmill operators are found to be conspiring in the running of illegal logging activities. "We will continue to carry out our surveillance ops from time to time in order to eradicate the smuggling of timber logs to sawmills throughout the state," Sapuan warned sawmill operators in a statement received here yesterday. He said the state Forest Department would continue to monitor the activities of all sawmills statewide through various investigative work. All information would be thoroughly analysed to ensure that their operations were carried out more effectively. Sapuan said among actions to be taken included slapping high compounds to those found guilty. The department would not hesitate to suspend the licence of any sawmills found to be processing timber logs without royalty being evaluated through the proper process and procedures. "Drastic action has to be taken to ensure the conservation of the Sarawak forest for the benefit of future generations. This also ensures that there is no leakage to the government's revenue," he said. During the recent operation here, Sapuan even took it upon himself to mark and tag the seized logs. He said the department encouraged the giving of information from the public to curb illegal logging activities in the state. |
| Pregnant woman hurt after assault Posted: 30 Apr 2014 12:56 PM PDT KUCHING: A pregnant woman suffered light injuries after she was allegedly attacked by the father of her unborn child and his ex-wife at a coffee shop at Mile 4 here yesterday. The 27-year-old victim from Tabuan Dusun, who is seven months into her pregnancy, was having breakfast at a coffee shop when the pair showed up and started assaulting her until she fell to the ground. According to her, she had been involved in a relationship with the man following his divorce over a year ago, and subsequently became pregnant. However, the man recently informed her that he was ending their relationship as he and his wife had agreed to reconcile, and that he would not be taking responsibility for their baby. She explained that she was having breakfast alone when the couple, who are also her co-workers at a shopping mall, arrived and began punching and kicking her without saying a word. Following the unprovoked attack, the mother-to-be made her way to Sarawak General Hospital for a check-up before lodging a police report over the incident. We encourage commenting on our stories to give readers a chance to express their opinions; please refrain from vulgar language, insidious, seditious or slanderous remarks. While the comments here reflect the views of the readers, they are not necessarily that of Borneo Post Online. Borneo Post Online reserves the right not to publish or to remove comments that are offensive or volatile. Please read the Commenting Rules. |
| Housebreakers make off with substantial haul Posted: 30 Apr 2014 12:55 PM PDT KUCHING: A family from Jalan Kempas lost thousands of ringgit worth of items after burglars broke into their house while they were out on Tuesday night. The break-in was discovered when the family arrived home around midnight and saw the front door and security grille had been forcibly opened. Among the items reported stolen included two televisions, several hundred ringgit, a few pairs of branded jeans, various electronic devices, a mobile phone and two gas cylinders. A police report has been lodged and the case is being investigated. In an unrelated incident, two security guards at a building in Jalan Were lodged a police report after a window at their guard house was smashed by a motorcyclist early yesterday. The incident happened around 2.30am when a man riding a Yamaha Ego bike stopped next to the guard house and struck its window with a hard object before speeding off. The guards, who were not injured, were only able to note the bike's colour but not its licence plate number as the incident happened in a matter of seconds. Police are investigating. We encourage commenting on our stories to give readers a chance to express their opinions; please refrain from vulgar language, insidious, seditious or slanderous remarks. While the comments here reflect the views of the readers, they are not necessarily that of Borneo Post Online. Borneo Post Online reserves the right not to publish or to remove comments that are offensive or volatile. Please read the Commenting Rules. |
| Clerk loses handbag to snatcher Posted: 30 Apr 2014 12:54 PM PDT MIRI: A clerk, in her 30s, lost her handbag to an unidentified man in front of her daughter's school in Krokop here about 1pm yesterday. The victim's handbag contained an IPad, handphone and more than RM200 cash. Loss was estimated at more than RM5,000. It is learnt that the victim was walking to her car after sending a lunch box to her daughter when the man suddenly snatched her handbag from behind before fleeing the scene on a motorcycle. Police are investigating. We encourage commenting on our stories to give readers a chance to express their opinions; please refrain from vulgar language, insidious, seditious or slanderous remarks. While the comments here reflect the views of the readers, they are not necessarily that of Borneo Post Online. Borneo Post Online reserves the right not to publish or to remove comments that are offensive or volatile. Please read the Commenting Rules. |
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