Wanita PBB perlu guna media sosial tangkis serangan pembangkang

Posted on April 28, 2012, Saturday

BERSATU: Fatimah (tengah) bersama ahli Pergerakan Wanita PBB yang hadir bengkel semalam melakukan simbolik bersatu dalam usaha memajukan pergerakan wanita parti itu.

KUCHING: Pergerakan Wa-nita Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) tidak harus ke-tinggalan dalam mempelajari atau memperlengkapkan diri dengan teknologi terkini termasuk media sosial.

Menteri Kebajikan, Wanita dan Pembangunan Keluarga Datuk Fatimah Abdullah berkata, Wanita PBB perlu sen-tiasa tahu tentang apa yang berlaku di sekitar mereka selain serangan terhadap Barisan Nasional (BN) melalui media sosial.

“Semasa pilihan raya khas-nya, pembangkang banyak menggunakan media sosial untuk membuat serangan terhadap BN namun bagi kita pula, kita agak lewat memasuki alam maya ini.

“Ia menyebabkan tiadanya usaha pada ketika itu untuk menangkis serangan pembangkang dan memperbetulkan keadaan sebenar,” katanya.

Beliau berkata demikian ketika berucap merasmikan penutupan Bengkel Asas Kewartawanan bersama Majlis Ter-tinggi Wanita PBB Sarawak anjuran bersama SMBizD Management dengan Perge-rakan Wanita PBB di ibu peja-bat PBB di sini, semalam.

Menurut Fatimah, media sosial kini lebih berpengaruh de-ngan menyaksikan kebanyakan penggunanya adalah generasi muda dan ia ditambah lagi kini lebih 12 juta pengguna rakyat Malaysia kini menggunakan laman Facebook.

Bagaimanapun, kata beliau, Wanita PBB yang terlibat bukan sahaja sekadar belajar untuk melengkapkan diri dengan kemahiran mewujudkan blog mereka sahaja.

“Namun Wanita PBB juga perlu memahami pengisian dalam media sosial itu sendiri dan ia termasuk bagaimana menarik lebih ramai pembaca, menepis apa yang dikata pembangkang dan menyerang balik apa yang tidak benar,” kata beliau.

Fatimah turut berharap wa-nita-wanita PBB akan terus memainkan peranan mereka dengan meraih undi melalui pendekatan dari rumah ke rumah seperti yang dilakukan sebelum ini.

“Ikuti perkembangan se-masa semasa dan dapatkan undi melalui pendekatan kita se-lama ini,” ujarnya.

Bengkel berkenaan semalam dihadiri kira-kira 36 orang peserta dan dihadiri Pengurus SMBizD Kas Alwi Sepawi.

Police fire tear gas, water cannons as demonstrators push into Dataran

@10:04:16 PM 28-04-2012

By Clara Chooi, Shazwan Mustafa Kamal, Lisa J. Ariffin and Mohd Farhan Darwis

April 28, 2012

Water cannon trucks are positioned between Bersih supporters and Dataran Merdeka, in Kuala Lumpur April 28, 2012. — Picture by Choo Choy May

KUALA LUMPUR, April 28 — Police opened fire with water cannons and tear gas on demonstrators who pushed through the barricades in front of Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) leading to Dataran Merdeka, resulting in chaos on the streets.

Some of the 15,000-strong crowd broke down the barriers and moved towards the historic square leading to police firing chemical-laced water and tear gas canisters.

PKR deputy president Azmin Ali tried to negotiate with police, who told the Gombak MP to calm the group down. But despite his advice they still broke through the barricades.

Police fired as far as the DBKL premises, which are across Jalan Parlimen, and the move broke up the crowd at Dataran who fled helter-skelter.

More than 30 were arrested and taken to be processed at the Royal Selangor Club, which is the closest they have gotten to the square so far.

“Police were forced to release tear gas when assembly participants tried to break through the barricade,” the force said on micro-blogging site Twitter.

Police are now headed down Jalan Tun Perak and Jalan Raja Laut, firing tear gas at protestors.

Both water cannons and tear gas have also been fired at Pasar Seni.

Orders are being given out for riot police to continue shooting water cannons and tear gas at the dispersing crowd.

Observers from law activists LoyarBurok say “tear gas was fired without warning deep and direct into the crowd.”

The crowd on Lebuh Pasar Besar also pushed down the barricades but about 30 policemen armed with batons, shields and gas masks blocked their path to Dataran Merdeka. 

Riot police then fired water cannons and tear gas after they refused to heed orders to disperse.

Bersih chief Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan and other opposition leaders including Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim were blocked by four police trucks near the Sogo shopping complex.

But the trucks have since turned around towards Dataran Merdeka and the group is now in front of the PAS headquarters on Jalan Raja Laut.

Although Ambiga left, the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders began an impromptu ceramah to close to 2,000 who remained in front of the PAS office despite tear gas filling surrounding streets.

At about 4.30pm, police finally dispersed the crowd but the opposition leaders have taken refuge inside the PAS headquarters.

Several hundred protestors had regrouped in front of the Coliseum and Sogo on Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, facing off riot police.

Najib seru rakyat terus beri mandat

by Reno Benjamin. Posted on April 28, 2012, Saturday

UNTUK KENANGAN: Tiga ketua kaum di Sibu yang diwakili Temenggung Datuk Wan Hamid Edruce (kiri), Pemanca Stanley Geramong (dua kanan) dan Temenggung Vincent Lau Lee Ming (kanan) bersama-sama menyampaikan cenderamata kepada Najib.

Sarawak terus membangun menerusi agenda transformasi nasional

SIBU: Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak berharap agar rakyat memberi mandat untuk beliau terus memimpin negara ke arah yang lebih baik dan sejahtera, untuk semua rakyat di seluruh pelosok negara ini.

“Jika diberi mandat, kita dapat buat lebih banyak lagi dalam masa lima tahun akan datang, termasuk kepada semua masyarakat dan komuniti di negeri-negeri penting seperti Sarawak.

“Sememangnya kita ingin melihat negeri Sarawak terus membangun dan berjaya lebih-lebih lagi dalam konteks pembaharuan agenda transformasi nasional yang kita sedang perjuangkan dengan bersungguh-sunguh,” ujarnya.

Berucap pada Majlis Makan Malam Pemimpin Bersama Rakyat di sini malam kelmarin, Perdana Menteri melahirkan keyakinan Sarawak mempunyai masa depan yang cukup cemerlang dengan adanya kerjasama erat antara kerajaan pusat dan kerajaan negeri.

“Kita mempunyai kesefahaman yang mantap yang membolehkan kita melaksanakan satu demi satu pembangunan dan pembaharuan di setiap pelosok negeri Sarawak,” katanya sambil merakamkan penghargaan kepada Ketua Menteri Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud serta kerajaan negeri.

Dalam mentransformasikan negara menuju sebuah negara yang maju dan berpendapatan tinggi, Perdana Menteri memberitahu ia memerlukan penglibatan semua 28 juta penduduk Malaysia.

Katanya, beliau mengimpikan sebuah negara Malaysia yang maju, makmur dan membangun, yang boleh dicapai sekiranya semua rakyat mempunyai impian dan wawasan yang sama.

“Semua itu bukan suatu yang mustahil kerana kita adalah kerajaan yang

deliver dan ini telah dibuktikan. Pihak pembangkang pula tidak dapat ‘deliver’ dan hanya pandai berjanji,” ujarnya sambil menambah pihak pembangkang juga tidak dapat menandingi pelbagai program transformasi yang dibuat oleh kerajaan Barisan Nasional (BN).

Menurut Perdana Menteri lagi, rakyat negara ini tidak harus mengambil risiko dan memberi peluang kepada pihak pembangkang untuk menguruskan negara memandangkan Malaysia sebuah negara yang kompleks dan tidak mudah untuk diuruskan.

Pihak pembangkang, katanya, tidak pernah membuktikan keupayaan mereka untuk menguruskan negara ini dan sejak pilihan raya umum empat tahun lepas, pihak pembangkang tidak pernah berjaya membentuk kabinet bayangan mereka.

“Jika mereka tidak dapat membentuk kabinet bayangan, bagaimana kita boleh beri kepercayaan kepada mereka untuk mentadbir negara ini. Sebaliknya hanya BN yang boleh ‘deliver’ serta membangun dan menyatukan negara ini,” jelas Najib.

Menyentuh mengenai konteks Sibu dan Sarawak, Najib berkata kerajaan akan terus menunaikan janji yang dibuat kepada penduduk negeri ini, termasuk kepada penduduk Sibu walaupun BN tewas pada pilihan raya kecil Parlimen Sibu pada 2010.

Katanya, kerajaan telah melaksanakan fasa pertama Rancangan Tebatan Banjir (RTB) Sibu dengan kos RM230 juta yang membantu mengurangkan masalah banjir di bandar ini, di samping keputusan bagi melaksanakan fasa kedua projek akan dibuat dalam masa terdekat.

Projek lain yang dilaksankan termasuk membina terminal baharu Lapangan Terbang Sibu (LTS) yang dijadual siap September ini dengan kos RM137 juta, pembinaan laluan berkembar dari persimpangan pekan Julau ke LTS dengan kos RM200 juta, Jalan Sibu-Tanjung Manis yang telah dibina dengan kos RM550 juta serta kerja-kerja mengorek dasar Sungai Seduan dan Pulau Kerto di Batang Rajang dengan kos RM15 juta.

Hadir sama pada majlis malam kelmarin ialah Timbalan Ketua Menteri Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Alfred Jabu, Speaker Dewan Undangan Negeri Datuk Amar Mohd Asfia Awang Nassar, menteri-menteri kabinet persekutuan dan negeri serta yang lain.

Tiada parti dapat bentuk pasukan sebaik BN: Taib

Posted on April 28, 2012, Saturday

SIBU: Ketua Menteri Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud berkata, tiada parti politik lain di negara ini yang boleh membentuk sebuah pasukan sebaik pasukan yang dibentuk oleh Barisan Nasional (BN).

Di bawah kepimpinan Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, katanya, BN telah membentuk sebuah pasukan yang amat baik dengan pemimpin yang boleh memberikan apa yang rakyat mahukan.

“Oleh itu, adalah adil bagi kita memberi mandat besar kepada Perdana Menteri pada Pilihan Raya Umum akan datang bagi memastikan kepimpinannya berterusan,” ujar Taib ketika berucap pada Majlis Makan Malam Pemimpin Bersama Rakyat, malam kelmarin.

Ketua Menteri turut memberitahu, rakyat juga harus memberi kepercayaan kepada BN bagi terus menjamin masa depan mereka.

“Kita harus bekerjasama dan menjadikan Malaysia sebuah negara berpendapatan tinggi menjelang tahun 2020 kerana ini akan menguntungkan semua rakyat,” jelasnya.

Dengan pelaksanaan Koridor Tenaga Diperbaharui Sarawak (SCORE) ,ujar Taib, Sibu kini mengorak langkah ke arah pembangunan yang lebih mantap.

“Sibu kini mahu menjadi pusat pendidikan cemerlang dan mahu memastikan universiti teknologi dibina di sini. Semua ini akan memberi impak yang besar kepada pembangunan Sibu,” katanya.

Menurut Taib lagi, rakyat negara ini amat bertuah kerana mempunyai seorang Perdana Menteri yang kerap melawat Sarawak sejak meneraju pucuk pimpinan negara.

“Beliau mahu luar bandar Sarawak terus membangun dan telah memperuntukkan sejumlah besar wang bagi menyambung bekalan air bersih, elektrik dan jalan ke kawasan luar bandar,” tambah beliau.

Sibu will not be left behind

by Peter Boon, reporters@theborneopost.com. Posted on April 27, 2012, Friday

OFFICIAL INVITATION: A letter of invitation from the Ministry of Higher Education for the establishment of University College of Technology Sarawak presented by Najib (third right) to Taib while Wong (second right) and others look on. — Photo by Othman Ishak

SIBU: PM: Fulfilment of election promises despite BN’s defeat shows government’s sincerity.

Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak assured people here that they would not be sidelined in development despite seeing the Sibu parliamentary seat falling to the opposition in the last by-election.

“We will continue to fulfill our promises, even for people of Sibu, even though we lost in the parliamentary by-election here.

“We will continue to fulfill our promises to the people of Sibu. And through the first phase of the flood mitigation project for Sibu – we made good that promise where RM230 million had been spent on five drainage systems and equipping pump stations in the town area.

“And this had mitigated the flooding in Sibu and I was told during heavy rain the situation was unlike before. That is because we fulfill our promises to you,” the prime minister said when addressing a crowd of about 2,000 people during ‘Majlis Makan Malam Pemimpin Bersama Rakyat’ at Kingwood Hotel here yesterday.

“And of course, there is a second phase of this project which we will decide to implement in the near future,” he added.

He disclosed that the public road system had been improved through the Sibu/Tanjung Manis Road which has eight bridges, including the longest river bridge in the country at Lebaan, spanning 1.4km.

The total project was completed at a cost of RM550 million, he said.

The upgrading of Sibu airport terminal costing RM137 million is scheduled for completion in September with a duly completed dual carriage way worth RM200 million serving the airport all the way from Durin bridge.

He added that the government had not forgotten the needs of the semi rural and rural people of the country.

“The dredging project at Seduan River, and similar projects at Pulau Kerto, and Batang Rajang costing RM15 million will benefit the people there,” he said.

He pointed out that the opposition could promise the moon, sun and even the galaxy but could not deliver their promises.

“The opposition cannot even form a shadow cabinet which shows that they cannot manage this vast and complex country.

“It is not easy to manage the length and breadth of this country and they have not shown the credibility to manage the country.

“You cannot trust them. Only BN can deliver and unite this country and bring it to the next level of development,” Najib said.

With the trust vested on him by Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud and the people, he promised to do his level best to bring the country forward.

Among those present were Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Alfred Jabu, Second Finance Minister and Minister of Local Government and Community Development Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Dato Sri Douglas Uggah Embas and other deputy and assistant ministers.

Chief Minister lauds Najib’s leadership

by Philip Wong, reporters@theborneopost.com. Posted on April 27, 2012, Friday

SIBU: Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud said there was no other political coalition in the country that can produce a better team than the BN team.

Under the leadership of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, he said BN had produced a good team with good leaders who produced good results to meet the needs of the people.

“It’s only fair that we give our Prime Minister a bigger mandate in the coming election to ensure that his leadership will continue to thrive,” he said at the meet-the-people dinner gathering held at Kingwood Hotel here last night.

The chief minister added that the people should put their trust in the BN team so that their future could be assured.

“We should work together and make Malaysia become a high income society by 2020 as it will benefit all of us,” he said.

With the implementation of Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE), Sibu could expect a different type of development.

“Sibu wanted to be the centre of educational excellence and we ensure that the University of Technology be sited in Sibu. All these will mean greater implications for the development of Sibu,’ he said.

As such, the chief minister said all eyes would be on Najib’s administration for greater support.

The chief minister said the people in Malaysia were fortunate to have a caring prime minister who had visited Sarawak many times since he took over office.

“He wants Sarawak to catch up on the rural development and has allocated big amount of money to ensure that the rural electricity, water supply and roads infrastructure were constantly upgraded.”

The development in the urban areas might be obvious but it was the development in the

rural areas, especially the construction of roads leading to Ba Kelalan and Ulu Baram that had benefited the rural people the most, he said.

Group lodges report against organisers of Bersih 3.0

Posted on April 27, 2012, Friday

 

OPPOSING THE PROTEST: Shariff Busrah (right), accompanied by a friend, showing the police report.

BAU: A local organisation called ‘Pertubuhan Kebajikan dan Pendidikan Nur Murni Daerah Bau’ yesterday lodged a police report against the organisers of the state-level Bersih 3.0 rally.

Its chief, Shariff Busrah, who lodged the report at the police station here said it was done to avert any unwanted incidents during the planned assembly to be held at Kuching Waterfront tomorrow.

“I, representing the members of this organisation, strongly oppose this street protest. I fear that the assembly may escalate into something bad and cause unnecessary problems,” he said.

According to him, the Bersih 3.0 must be masterminded by the opposition through non-governmental organisation (NGO).

“Therefore, we call for appropriate actions to be taken against those responsible in organising the rally,” he said.

The Bersih 3.0 rally in Kuching and other venues throughout the state is held in conjunction with the big rally to be held in Kuala Lumpur the same day. It is organised by election watchdog Bersih which is unhappy with the findings of the Parliamentary Select Committee on electoral reforms.

It was reported earlier that an estimated 3,000 people were expected to attend the gathering to be held simultaneously at three venues in Sarawak.

According to Bersih Sarawak steering committee coordinator Awang Ahmad Awang Ali, apart from the Old Court House near Kuching Waterfront, the other venues are Wisma Sanyan in Sibu and the space in front of Miri District Office.

“We are expecting over 1,000 people at each venue,” he said.

PKR Sarawak vice-chairman and Batu Lintang assemblyman See Chee How told a press conference at the party headquarters in Kuching yesterday that 25 lawyers would be joining the protest in Kuching.

See, who said he would be among those protesting in Kuching, said the lawyers would be at the scene to monitor the situation.