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Tag: KL

  • Two 16-Years-Old Teenagers Charged With 23 Counts Of Murder For Horrific School Fire

    Two 16-Years-Old Teenagers Charged With 23 Counts Of Murder For Horrific School Fire

    A Malaysian court on Thursday charged two teenagers with 23 counts of murder for allegedly causing a fire that killed 21 students and two teachers at an Islamic school in Kuala Lumpur two weeks ago.

    The two 16-year-old suspects haven’t entered a plea in the blaze that engulfed the third-floor dormitory of the Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah School on Sept. 14, prosecutors said.

    The two boys and four other teenage suspects were also charged with drug-related offenses at the Kuala Lumpur Magistrate’s Court. A seventh suspect was released from custody without charge due to a lack of evidence against him.

    Thursday’s proceedings took place behind closed doors and only family members of the accused were allowed inside the courtroom.

    In Malaysia, a murder charge carries a death sentence, but in cases involving juveniles, the maximum penalty is life imprisonment.

    Magistrate Siti Radziah Kamaruddin set Nov. 28 for sentencing, while the court awaited reports from the state’s chemistry and welfare departments.

    Malaysian police earlier said that the seven boys had deliberately set fire at the school, which is classified as a “tahfiz” center where students learn to memorize the Quran.

    Thirty-six students and six teachers were staying at the school when the fire broke out. The victims, boys aged 16 years or younger, and two school staff members were trapped behind barred windows and a locked door, fire officials said. They said the school did not have a fire safety permit and occupational certificate.

    The father of one of the survivors, Sharifuddin Musa, said he wanted to see the court proceedings on Thursday, but was not allowed in by court officials.

    “I can forgive, but I am also sad about what had happened. Other family members and I can only hope for fair sentences being passed on these suspects,” he told reporters.

    The mother of 12-year-old Nik Mohd Ridzuan, who died in the blaze, also tried to enter the courtroom.

    “I just want to see the faces of those who are responsible for the incident,” she said.

    ‘I feel nothing at the moment’

    After hearing the murder charges read out, Mas Aliza Ali Bapoo, a cousin of three orphans who were killed in the fire – Muhammad Shafiq Haikal, 13, Muhammad Hafiz Iskandar, 11, and Muhammad Harris Ikhwan, 10 – said she felt numb.

    “I feel nothing at the moment. I feel empty,” she told reporters.

    Six of the seven suspects tested positive for drugs after their arrests on Sept. 15, police said.

    Investigators said the suspects had been involved in a “misunderstanding” with students at the school. The boys were allegedly caught on closed-circuit TV recordings loitering outside the school before the early morning fire started.

    The two murder suspects pleaded guilty to drug-related charges. Three others pled not guilty, while another suspect admitted guilt to the same drug charges.

    On Wednesday, Noor Rashid Ibrahim, the police deputy inspector-general, told reporters that not all suspects were directly involved in the alleged arson.

    The fire prompted calls for a nationwide investigation of tahfiz schools after Malaysian newspapers reported that more than 200 fires had been reported at private religious schools across the country during the past two years.

    The Star newspaper said there were 519 private tahfiz schools registered nationwide as of April, but many more are believed to be unregistered.

    Malaysia’s Fire and Rescue Department concluded two weeks ago that arson caused the fire. It said firefighters had found two cooking gas cylinders which were placed at the door of the school’s dormitory and prevented the victims from escaping.

    As the fire engulfed the dormitory, witnesses reported being awoken by cries for help. Firefighters said they found the charred bodies piled on top of each other, indicating that the victims tried to flee, but were trapped by metal window grills.

    “From our investigations, we believe it was due to taunting between the suspects and several of the tahfiz students a few days before the fire,” Kuala Lumpur Police Chief Amar Singh Ishar Singh told reporters.

     

    Source: http://www.benarnews.org

  • Fluff Bakery Tebar Sayap Ke Kuala Lumpur

    Fluff Bakery Tebar Sayap Ke Kuala Lumpur

    Fluff Bakery, kedai kek cawan atau ‘cupcake’ popular Singapura, sudahpun mula menebarkan sayapnya ke Kuala Lumpur. Ini apabila ia melancarkan kedai sementaranya yang pertama di ibu kota Malaysia itu.

    Kesemuanya, Fluff Bakery akan membuka empat kedai sementara itu di sana.

    Bagi kedai sementara yang pertama itu, ia dilancarkan lebih seminggu lalu (14 Jan) dalam satu acara privet. Ia dihadiri para penaja, rakan-rakan dan keluarga. Acara itu berjalan dengan lancar dengan hampir kesemua 450 kek cawan yang dibawa dari Singapura, disapu bersih!

    “Kami sebenarnya tidak percaya dapat respons yang begitu baik. Tetapi Alhamdullilah semuanya baik hingga kami risau jika bekalan kami bawa ke Kuala Lumpur tidak mencukupi,” ujar pemilik bersama Fluff Bakery Mohammad Ashraf Mohammad Alami, 35 tahun.

    RANCANG 4 KEDAI SEMENTARA DI KL

    Kedai sementara yang berlangsung hanya sehari itu adalah yang pertama daripada empat siri yang akan diadakan Fluff Bakery di merata Kuala Lumpur.

    Meskipun kedai sementara yang pertama itu diadakan secara privet, Fluff Bakery menyatakan tiga lagi kedai seumpamanya akan didedahkan kepada orang ramai pada masa yang terdekat.

    “Insyaallah, menjelang bulan Mei nanti kami akan menubuhkan kedai yang tetap di Kuala Lumpur,” kongsi Nursyazanna Syaira Md Suhimi, 29 tahun, pemilik bersama dan ketua pembuat kek Fluff Bakery.

    Pasangan suami isteri itu turut berkongsi kepada BERITAMediacorp bahawa impian untuk menembusi pasaran Kuala Lumpur atau Indonesia sudah lama terpendam sejak mereka bermula menapak di dunia perniagaan pada bulan November 2013.

    “Memang sudah lama kami impikan menembusi pasaran lain dan pada masa yang sama, menyasarkan menjadi antara yang utama di Asia Tenggara,” tambah Encik Ashraf kepada BERITAMediacorp.

    ISTERI JOVIAN MANDAGIE TAWAR BANTUAN

    Fluff Bakery menyatakan terdapat ramai pelanggan mereka di Singapura, juga datang dari negara jiran. Pelanggan-pelanggan itu juga memberi maklum balas yang positif terhadap kek cawan mereka.

    Namun penantian hendak menebarkan sayap ke Malaysia hanya berlaku apabila seorang lagi pasangan suami isteri yang juga pemilik kafe, Double A dari Malaysia, mempelawa Fluff Bakery untuk meneroka peluang di Malaysia.

    Kalau sudah rezeki, takkan ke mana. Mungkin itulah pepatah yang sesuai diberikan Fluff Bakery. Ini kerana sejurus selepas idea Double A itu, seorang lagi usahawan Cik Nina Ismail Sabri yang juga isteri kepada pereka fesyen terkenal Jovian Mandagie melahirkan hasrat yang sama kepada kedua-dua Encik Ashraf dan Cik Syaira.

    Menurut kedua-dua pemilik bersama itu, kedai sementara di Malaysia itu dibuat secara privet kerana mahu mendapatkan maklum balas terhadap produk-produk Fluff Bakery.

    Antara mereka yang hadir semasa pelancaran itu adalah pelakon Alvin Chong, usahawan fesyen, Vivy Yusof, dan penulis-penulis blog di Malaysia.

    KEDAI DI KL AKAN BERBEZA DARIPADA DI S’PURA

    Walaupun bimbang andainya langkah itu terhenti separuh jalan, Fluff Bakery berkongsi kepada BERITAMediacorp bahawa masanya sudah tepat bagi mereka berdepan dengan cabaran baru supaya ‘tidak rasa selesa’.

    “Di Singapura, kami sudah stabil. Dan kami berterima kasih kepada masyarakat kita yang sering menyokong perjalanan kami sejauh ini. Tetapi masanya sudah tiba untuk kami berdua ingin melihat berapa jauh ‘bayi kesayangan’ kami boleh pergi,” menurut Syaira dan Ashraf.

    Dengan bantuan daripada rakan-rakan niaga di Malaysia, Fluff Bakery berharap rancangannya dapat berjalan dengan lancar. Apatah lagi, pesaing-pesaing dalam industri makanan di Malaysia memang hebat.

    “Kami seronok dengan perjalanan kami sejauh ini dan tidak sabar untuk fasa seterusnya. Memang banyak cabaran yang akan kami hadapi. Yang utama sekali, kami tidak ada kelebihan dari segi pengikut kedai kami berbanding di Singapura,” ujar Encik Ashraf.

    Kedai tetap yang bakal diadakan nanti di Kuala Lumpur juga berbeza daripada kedainya di Singapura. Di Kuala Lumpur, Fluff Bakery akan mengetengahkan kedai di mana para pelanggan dapat membeli dan menjamu selera di kedai itu sendiri.

    “Isteri saya dan kakitangan kami akan menjalankan latihan untuk bakal pekerja kami di sana dan kami membuat kajian dan mendapatkan nasihat daripada rakan-rakan di sana mengenai selok-belok menjalankan perniagaan di Malaysia,” tambah Encik Ashraf kepada BERITAMediacorp.

    APA RAHSIA SEBENAR FLUFF BAKERY?

    Daripada sekadar mengambil tempahan, kepada ‘bersinggah di kedai orang’. Kemudian memiliki kedai sendiri dan akhirnya impian hampir menjadi kenyataan untuk membuka sebuah kedai tetap di Kuala Lumpur. Apakah sebenarnya rahsia Fluff Bakery?

    Encik Ashraf tersenyum dan mendedahkan bahawa resepi atau senjata rahsia Fluff Bakery adalah… isterinya, Cik Syaira.

    (Gambar-gambar: Instagram/Fluff Bakery/Nursyazanna Syaira)

    “Beliau bukan saja berbakat tetapi juga mempunyai minat yang mendalam apabila timbul perihal membuat kek ini. Beliau tidak penat menukar dan mencari resepi dan kepelbagaian bagi produk-produk kami demi para pelanggan,” kata Encik Ashraf.

    Cik Syaira pula berkongsi kepada BERITAMediacorp bahawa menjaga dan mempertahankan jenama Fluff Bakery itu juga antara perkara yang membuat Fluff Bakery berjaya.

    “Sudah tentu suami saya banyak tolong dalam isu pentadbiran. Kalau harapkan saya, dah pengsan jadinya!” seloroh Cik Syaira.

    Source: http://berita.mediacorp.sg

  • Political Consultant: Malaysia At Serious Risk Of Attack By ISIS

    Political Consultant: Malaysia At Serious Risk Of Attack By ISIS

    Malaysia is at serious risk of an attack by Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis) militants, a political consultant warns.

    In a report carried by CNBC, head of Alavan Business Advisory Alastair Newton said security warnings about the terrorist threat in Malaysia “should be taken seriously”.

    “It is far from clear where, outside its ‘heartland’, Isis will strike next. But strike it will. And one region which appears to be at serious risk is Southeast Asia,” Newton was quoted as saying on Tuesday.

    Newton was referring to warnings earlier this year by foreign governments that terrorists were planning attacks in and around Kuala Lumpur, following a series of explosions in Jakarta on January 14 which killed seven.

    Australia in February advised its citizens to exercise normal safety precautions across Malaysia, urging them to avoid all travel to the coastal resorts of eastern Sabah, including islands, dive sites and associated tourist facilities because of the high threat of kidnapping.

    New Zealand classified travel to the area as “high risk”, while the United Kingdom warned citizens against travel to coastal islands in Sabah, near the Philippines, citing high threats to foreigners of kidnapping and criminality.

    In Malaysia, meanwhile, authorities said the country would remain on high security alert after terrorism analysts said Isis was now spreading its operations beyond the Middle East and Europe to Asia.

    Security measures were increased in public areas, such as malls and tourist spots, while precautionary measures were said to be taken at border areas to prevent possible terrorist infiltration.

    Police have arrested 157 suspected militants, including 25 women since 2013. They were believed to be involved with various levels of militant activities.

    The latest was at the end of January, when seven people were picked up in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Pahang, Johor and Kedah for suspected links with Isis. Police seized a cache of bullets for various types of firearms, including those for the M16 assault rifle.

    The three-day operation was a follow-up to the earlier arrest of a man at an LRT station in Kuala Lumpur on January 15.

    The seven were said to be planning attacks at several popular spots in the Klang Valley as well as other states. Among those detained was a cell leader, a Sabahan, who works as an assistant manager of a hotel in Johor.

    Another suspect arrested in Johor was a 33-year-old factory store supervisor.

    One of the seven was also identified as the cell’s fund manager, whose task was to collect and channel funds to those wanting to go to Syria and for carrying out attacks.

    The man, aged 50, was arrested in Kedah and had worked as a cendol seller. He was assisted by another detainee, aged 26 from Terengganu, who was planning to join Isis in Syria.

    The counter-terrorism unit had also found out that one of those arrested had been in communication with Bahrun Naim, the Indonesian founding member of Khatibah Nusantara Muhammad, and whom Indonesian police said orchestrated the Jakarta attacks on January 14.

    Another one of those arrested had been in contact with Malaysian Isis recruiter, Muhammad Wanndy Mohamed Jedi, also known as Abu Hamzah.

     

    Source: www.themalaysianoutsider.com

  • KL’s $1 Billion Budget Air Terminal Is Sinking

    KL’s $1 Billion Budget Air Terminal Is Sinking

    Kuala Lumpur International Airport’s new budget passenger terminal is sinking, with cracks appearing in the taxiway and water forming pools that planes must drive through.

    The defects could cause flight delays, increase wear and tear on planes and pose potential safety risks, according to AirAsia Bhd., the new terminal’s biggest user. Though take offs and landings aren’t affected, the carrier has asked Malaysian authorities to fix the problems before passengers get hurt, Chief Executive Officer Aireen Omar said in an interview in Kuala Lumpur.

    “The airport is still sinking,” Aireen said. The operator, Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd., “has done some partial resurfacing, but what the airport actually needs is a permanent solution.”

    Complaints about the new terminal cap a bad run for Malaysia’s aviation industry, after two deadly accidents for the national carrier — the unsolved disappearance of Flight MH370 in March 2014 and the shooting down of another plane over Ukraine last July. Construction expenses for klia2, as the new terminal is known, ballooned from an initial estimate of about 1.7 billion ringgit ($446 million) to 4 billion ringgit.

    “Since MH370, a lot of shortcomings have been found” in Malaysia’s aviation infrastructure, said Shukor Yusof, founder of Singapore-based consultancy Endau Analytics. “The authorities haven’t done enough to address these shortcomings, not enough to put them on par with the First World.”

    Ponding

    The Transport Ministry has set up an independent audit committee, which will submit a report on ponding issues “in due course,” the ministry told Bloomberg. Malaysia Airports, which has used its own funds to rectify the situation, “will be responsible for the findings and proposed solutions,” the ministry said in an e-mail.

    AirAsia initially refused to move when klia2 opened in May 2014, citing concerns over flight operations and security. The carrier gave in after the government said it would stop immigration and customs services at the old budget terminal.

    The AirAsia group of airlines flew 15.2 million passengers through klia2 in its first year of operation, accounting for 87 percent of the terminal’s traffic, according to Malaysia Airports data. Tiger Airways Holdings Ltd., Cebu Air Inc. and Malindo Air declined to comment on their experience at the new terminal. An official from Lion Mentari Airlines PT didn’t respond to requests for feedback.

    Waterlogged Tarmac

    “If you go to the airport you can see ponding with your very own eyes,” said Mohshin Aziz, an analyst at Malayan Banking Bhd. in Kuala Lumpur. Still, he noted, “it’s more of an irritation rather than a safety hazard.”

    Last year, local media photographed Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai and airport officials walking through the terminal’s waterlogged tarmac during an inspection.

    Construction of klia2 started in 2009 after the growth of low-cost travel, particularly by Malaysia-based AirAsia, pushed passenger traffic beyond the existing budget terminal’s capacity. At 257,000 square meters, klia2 can handle 45 million passengers, with the potential to expand.

    Most full-service carriers, including Malaysia Airlines, use the main KLIA terminal, which began operations in 1998 about 50 kilometers (30 miles) from Kuala Lumpur after the government relocated the capital’s main airport from suburban Subang.

    Malaysia Airports said the depressions and ponding at klia2 were caused by differential soil settlement in the apron and taxiway, where some of the structure is built on piling and some stands on normal ground.

    Bangkok, Kansai

    The settling “has been anticipated from the start of construction,” Malaysia Airports said in an e-mailed response to questions. Stakeholders such as AirAsia are updated weekly on the progress of the maintenance and are “constantly engaged on operational issues.”

    The airport is addressing the issue by patching and resurfacing problem areas and injecting polyurethane under the ground. A concrete slab to be completed by next April will provide a more permanent solution, Malaysia Airports said.

    Klia2 isn’t the only Asian airfield to face difficulties getting off the ground.

    Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport, which opened in 2006 atop a reclaimed swamp, suffered from cracks at taxiways and runways and faulty baggage-scanning machines. Airports of Thailand Pcl was forced to close some taxiways for repair and reopen the old airport to alleviate congestion. The company’s president quit amid probes of the construction flaws, citing health reasons.

    In Japan, the government had to reinforce landfill under Osaka’s Kansai International Airport after it was found to be sinking. Opened in 1994, the facility took almost eight years and 1.43 trillion yen ($12 billion) to build on a manmade island.

    “It’s about time aggressive steps are taken to improve standards in Asia,” said Mark D. Martin, chief executive officer of Dubai-based aviation consulting firm Martin Consulting. It’s bad for the region “that we have to see such incidents and events that negatively affect the safe operation of an aircraft or airport.”

     

    Source: www.bloomberg.com

  • Malaysia Arrests Foreign ISIS Operative In KL

    Malaysia Arrests Foreign ISIS Operative In KL

    KUALA LUMPUR (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – A 31-year-old north African man was detained after operating for the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terror group in Malaysia for about a year.

    The man, who entered the country using a forged student visa in March last year, obtained the visa from a syndicate operating in the Klang Valley.

    Sources revealed that the suspect purchased the forged visa for RM5,500 (S$1,960).

    “This is a new modus operandi for ISIS members. Instead of heading back to their home countries, these fighters are going to a third country like Malaysia for multiple reasons,” a source told The Star yesterday.

    Among the reasons were to set up a base of operations, become the link man for other operatives and to recruit more members.

    “The authorities discovered that the suspect had rented an apartment in Gombak.

    “He was enrolled to study at a public university but failed to attend classes. Instead, he worked multiple jobs, including as a cook and a masseur,” a source said.

    The suspect is also a casanova, having romanced single mothers in a bid to obtain a spousal visa.

    “At least two single mothers have been seduced by him,” a source said.

    The man, who was picked up by the Bukit Aman Special Branch Counter Terrorism Division on June 9 here, is also on the Wanted List of a northern African security force.

    Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar said the suspect was previously detained in his home country for being involved in terror activities in 2007.

    “He was detained for two years. Then in 2013, the man went to Syria to join the ISIS,” he said in a statement yesterday.

    Tan Sri Khalid added that the man had managed to gain entry into Malaysia by using a forged student visa in March last year.

    “We believe he may have obtained the fake documents via a syndicate operating in the Klang Valley.

    “The student visa seems ‘complete’ with the name of the public university on the document.

    “We will investigate further to uncover the syndicate behind the forged documents.

    “Such documents in the hands of terrorists is simply dangerous for the country,” he said.

    He added that the suspect had been deported to his home country on Wednesday.

     

    Source: www.straitstimes.com