Mohammad Nizar Tiada Hak Mohon Bubar DUN -Zambry

KUALA LUMPUR, 8 Mac (Bernama) -- Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin tiada hak untuk memohon perkenan Sultan Perak Sultan Azlan Shah bagi membubarkan Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) Perak, kata Menteri Besar Perak Datuk Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir.

Menurut Zambry, Perkara 16(6) Undang-undang Tubuh Negeri Perak memperuntukkan bahawa hanya Menteri Besar yang mempunyai hak menghadap Sultan Perak untuk memohon perkenan baginda bagi membubarkan DUN.

Zambry berkata demikian dalam kenyataan satu muka surat yang difaks kepada Bernama di sini malam ini sebagai mengulas kenyataan Mohammad Nizar, bekas Menteri Besar, hari ini bahawa beliau akan memohon perkenan untuk menghadap Sultan Azlan Shah bagi menyembahkan tiga usul, termasuk memohon pembubaran DUN, yang diluluskan pada persidangan Dewan Undangan Negeri di bawah pokok di Ipoh Selasa lepas.

Mohammad Nizar yang juga Anggota Dewan Undangan Negeri (ADUN) Pasir Panjang dilaporkan berkata pihaknya akan mengemukakan surat dan dokumen berkaitan hasil persidangan berkenaan kepada Sultan Perak Selasa ini.

"Kenyataan yang dibuat oleh Mohammad Nizar adalah semata-mata untuk mengelirukan rakyat dan sebagai usaha mengganggu kestabilan politik negeri Perak serta sebagai tindakan menghina dan mencabar institusi raja dan kuasa Sultan Perak," kata Zambry.

Zambry juga mengingatkan bahawa pada 6 Feb lepas, beliau telah mengangkat sumpah sebagai Menteri Besar Perak ke-11 yang sah, dilantik dengan perkenan Sultan Perak.

"Mohammad Nizar perlu menerima hakikat yang nyata akan kuasa melantik seorang Menteri Besar adalah di bawah kuasa mutlak Sultan Perak seperti yang termaktub dalam perkara 18(2)(a) Undang-undang Tubuh Negeri Perak," katanya.

-- BERNAMA

Sleep Benefits: Power Napping for Increased Productivity, Stress Relif & Health

The Benefits of Sleep and The Power Nap

By Elizabeth Scott, M.S.,

Updated: July 7, 2008

Getting enough sleep is vital for health and productivity.

Why A Power Nap? Facts on Sleep:
While small children typically take naps in the afternoon, our culture generally frowns upon mid-day sleep; however, even in those who get enough sleep (but particularly in those who don’t), many people experience a natural increase in drowsiness in the afternoon, about 8 hours after waking. And research shows that you can make yourself more alert reduce stress and improve cognitive functioning with a nap. Mid-day sleep, or a ‘power nap’, means more patience, less stress, better reaction time, increased learning, more efficiency and better health. Here’s what you need to know about the benefits of sleep and how a power nap can help you!

How Much Sleep Do You Need? The body needs 7-8 hours of sleep per day; 6 hours or less triples your risk of a car accident. (Interestingly, too much sleep--more than 9 hours--can actuallybe harmful for your health; recent studies show that those who sleep more than 9 hours per day don’t live as long as their 8-hour-sleep counterparts!)

The Effects of Missed Sleep: Sleep is cumulative; if you lose sleep one day, you feel it the next. If you miss adequate sleep several days in a row, you build up a ‘sleep deficit’, which impairs the following:

• Reaction time
• Judgment
• Vision
• Information processing
• Short-term memory
• Performance
• Motivation
• Vigilance
• Patience

Fatigued people also experience more moodiness, aggressive behaviors, burnout¹ and more stress.

The Benefit of a Power Nap: Studies show that 20 minutes of sleep in the afternoon provides more rest than 20 minutes more sleep in the morning (though the last two hours of morning sleep have special benefits of their own). The body seems to be designed for this, as most people’s bodies naturally become more tired in the afternoon, about 8 hours after we wake up.

How Long Should I Sleep? When you sleep you pass through different stages of sleep, known together as a sleep cycle². These stages include light sleep, deep sleep (which is believed to be the stage in which the body repairs itself), and rapid-eye movement sleep, or REM sleep (during which the mind is repaired).

Many experts advise to keep the nap between 15 and 30 minutes, as sleeping longer gets you into deeper stages of sleep, from which it’s more difficult to awaken. Also, longer naps can make it more difficult to fall asleep at night, especially if your sleep deficit is relatively small. However, research has shown that a 1-hour nap has many more restorative effects than a 30-minute nap, including a much greater improvement in cognitive functioning. The key to taking a longer nap is to get a sense of how long your sleep cycles are, and try to awaken at the end of a sleep cycle. (It’s actually more the interruption of the sleep cycle that makes you groggy, rather than the deeper states of sleep.)

As there are pros and cons to each length of sleep, you may want to let your schedule decide: if you only have 15 minutes to spare, take them! But if you could work in an hour nap, you may do well to complete a whole sleep cycle, even if it means less sleep at night. If you only have 5 minutes to spare, just close your eyes; even a brief rest has the benefit of reducing stress and helping you relax a little, which can give you more energy to complete the tasks of your day.

Tips For a More Effective Nap If you want to obtain more sleep, and the health benefits that go with getting enough sleep, here are some tips for more effective napping and sleep at night:

• Avoid caffeine³ after 3pm. It’s a stimulant that can disrupt your sleep and stay in your system longer than you think; its half-life is four to six hours!
• If you don’t want to nap a long time, set an alarm⁴.
• If you don’t have time for a power nap, or don’t feel comfortable napping during the day, try meditation⁵; it gives your body a rest and produces slower brain waves similar to sleep.

A Load Of Rubbish

Feb 26th 2009

From The Economist print edition

What’s wrong with policies on waste, and how to get them right

AT POPE’S CREEK, on America’s Potomac river, there’s a pre-Columbian rubbish tip of oyster shells covering 30 acres, to an average depth of ten feet. Humanity has always produced waste in vast quantities; but more people, more consumption and the contribution emissions from rubbish make to climate change mean that disposing of the stuff is an increasingly contentious issue.

People feel that they have a natural right to throw away as much stuff as they like, just as those lucky native Americans chucked the shells from their plentiful oyster piles over their shoulders. They shouldn’t. Rubbish damages the environment and is expensive to dispose of. With household waste, just as with toxic chemicals, governments need to persuade people that they should be responsible for the muck they produce.

Umno Needs Psychological Warfare Team to Off Opposition Allegations

KUALA LUMPUR, March 4 (Bernama) -- The Barisan Nasional (BN), especially Umno, needs to form a psychological warfare team to deal with opposition allegations against the coalition or Umno.

Home Minister and Umno Supreme Council member Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar said besides this, the party's strategies, integrity and credibility also needed to be enhanced to draw public attention.

"Our problem is that we have allowed negative public perceptions about us to persist. When negative perceptions have taken root, it is difficult for us to get out of the situation," he said at a press conference at Angkasapuri, here, today.

Syed Hamid said having a psychological warfare team could make the party more mature and ward off negative public perceptions about it.

"When something happens or an issue arises, there must be quick action to remove or diffuse wrong perceptions against us.

"We are weak in information dissemination and propaganda, while the opposition is strong in mounting a propaganda," he said.

--

MB Perak Gets Restraining Order Against Sivakumar

Kuek Ser Kuang Keng | Mar 3, 09 7:13pm

The Ipoh High Court today restrained Perak state assembly speaker V Sivakumar from convening any unlawful meetings purporting to be state assemblies. Judicial commissioner Ridwan Ibrahim made the ruling in his chambers following an application by Barisan Nasional Menteri Besar Zambry Abd Kadir and his six exco members. The application was filed this morning and heard in chambers at 2.30pm. Ridwan made his decision under Section 44 of Specific Relief Act. Zambry and the exco members were represented by Firoz Hussein Ahmad Jamaluddin, Mohd Hafarizam Harun, Abu Bakar As Sidek, Cheng Mai, Badrulhishah Abdul Wahab, Faizul Hilmy Ahmad Zamri and Zaireen Zainal. Sivakumar was represented by the state's deputy Zulqarnain Hassan following a court ruling this morning that the speaker could not be represented by private lawyers. Talking to reporters after the hearing-in-chambers, Firoz said the judge had not elaborated his decision apart from allowing Zambry's application to prohibit Sivakumar from convening any meetings purported to be assembly sittings. He however said that this ruling was the "first and complete step that has been taken to restore constitution government in Perak". He described the current situation as "almost chaos". He said that their submissions was on the fact that the speaker does not have the power to call any assembly, even an emergency sitting such as the one held earlier today. The High Court order has no time limit and penalties would be decided later if and when the speaker holds the next meeting deemed illegal. To be served on speaker tomorrow Firoz also said that the Specific Relief Act allowed the court to grant an order to a public officer, in this case, the speaker. He said that they also quoted the federal constitution in matters relating to immunity enjoyed by the speaker. "However in this case the speaker does not enjoy any immunity because there is no proceeding in the assembly," he said. "The so-called assembly under the tree will still remain as an assembly under the tree," added Mohd Hafarizam. Firoz (photo) also noted that under Section 36(1) of the state constitution, only the sultan can summon for a meeting. When asked on what penalty Sivakumar would face if he disobeyed the court order, Firoz said he didn't want to speculate. He said there was no specific penalty in the Act. "We will see what the speaker does next," added Mohd Hafarizam. The lawyers also said that they will get the draft order later today and serve in on Sivakumar tomorrow. The hearing in chambers today started with a letter submitted by Sivakumar to Ridwan's secretary stating that he had not authorised the state legal advisor to act on his behalf. "I have not received any communications from the legal advisor's office nor have I given any instructions to him," Sivakumar said in the statement which was delivered by Ipoh Barat MP M Kulasegaran. On this, Mohd Hafarizam said that they were not aware on the contents of the letter. He also said that the judge need not make a ruling on the letter as "it was not before him". A case of conflict? Kulasegaran had earlier said that it was a conflict of interest that the legal advisor who acted for Zambry in a case last week represented Sivakumar in a case filed by Zambry today. "How can he act for both plaintiff and defendant? It's a clear case of conflict," said Kulasegaran. When asked to comment on this, the deputy state legal advisor Zulqarnain said that he was only "looking after the interest of the government". "Our duty as legal advisor is to advise the government," he said before walking away. However, he did not indicate which government he was representing. Ridwan will next hear an application by three BN-friendly independents - Behrang assemblyperson Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi, Changkat Jering assemblyperson Mohd Osman Mohd Jailu and Jelapang assemblyperson Hee Yit Foong - against Sivakumar for wrongly declaring their seats vacant using their undated resignation letters. This application will be heard on Thursday. On that day, the judge will also be fixing another date to hear Zambry's and the exco members' application against their suspension. The matter was adjourned this morning after the court ruled that the speaker could not be represented by private lawyers.Malaysiakini

P Ramlee deserves to be awarded a Tunship

KUALA LUMPUR, March 3 -- The Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage Ministry is supportive of a proposal that the late P Ramlee (Tan Sri) be awarded a Tunship for his big contribution to the arts.

Deputy Minister Teng Boon Soon said the award would be fitting for P Ramlee, a popular figure with multi-talented skills as an actor, comedian, musician, singer and songwriter.

"P Ramlee won seven awards at the Asian Film Festival in the 50s and 60s for best male actor, best photography, most versatile talent and three comedy awards," he said when winding up debate on the Yang di-Pertuan Agong's opening address in Dewan Rakyat here today.

Teng said royalties from P Ramlee's works depended on his contract with Shaw Brothers and that the ministry was studying its status.

Royalties for P Ramlee's songs were being managed by the Music Authors Copyright Protection Berhad (MACP) for distribution to his heirs.
Datuk Ibrahim Ali (INDEPENDENT-Pasir Mas) had proposed that P Ramlee be awarded a tunship for his contributions to the country.

The deputy minister said the families of artistes who died recently like Nasir P Ramlee, Yusni Jaafar and Ed Osmera were given assistance under the aid scheme for artistes.

On racial polarisation, he said the ministry was aware that despite spending lots of money on programmes, unity among the people was at a fragile stage due to the action of some people.
Teng said issues enshrined in the Constitution like racial privileges, new economic policy, monarchy institution and religion should be avoided.

"Malaysians must strive to strengthen unity. Religious organisations and non-governmental organisations (NGO) must also give input to the ministry," he said.

BERNAMA

MN: The creativity and multi talentness of P Ramlee is without any comparision. He is in a class of his own. He is one of Malaysia's National Treasure. As such it is only befitting that he should be awarded a Tunship .

Perak drama: Two suits filed

By Christina Koh

IPOH: Two lawsuits have been filed against State Assembly Speaker V. Sivakumar, who earlier Monday was also served with a notice of misconduct.

In the first suit, Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Dr Zambry Abd Kadir is seeking a court declaration that Sivakumar’s suspension of Dr Zambry and his six state executive council (exco) members was unconstitutional and ultra vires against the state Constitution.

Dr Zambry said they had the right to attend Assembly sittings. Sivakumar had called for an emergency sitting of the State Assembly on Tuesday, invoking Standing Orders 8 and 11 to vote on two motions.

The case will be heard Tuesday at the Ipoh High Court at 9am. The originating summons was filed at the High Court at 3:55pm Monday and served through Sivakumar’s staff at 5pm.

The other suit was filed by the three independents who had resigned from their parties -- two from PKR and one from DAP -- which saw the Pakatan Rakyat state government falling and Barisan Nasional taking over Perak.

The suit involved the status of their unsigned resignation letters which Sivakumar had used to declare their seats vacant. The Election Commission ruled that the letters were not valid and refused to call for by-elections in the three constituencies.

There were reports that supporters of both parties would convene Tuesday -- Barisan supporters to prevent the previous Pakatan Rakyat state government from convening the state assembly sitting, Pakatan supporters to stop them from doing so.

As of Monday, there was no sign there would be a mass gathering being planned for Tuesday. PAS Youth chief Salahuddin Ayub said supporters might turn up if there are police roadblocks.

Later Monday, police began setting up roadblocks along the main road leading to the state secretariat building, while Federal Reserve Unit personnel have been put on standby.

Former mentri besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin, who still maintains he is the legitimate mentri besar, said they would have the emergency sitting at a coffeeshop or the canteen at the state secretariat building if the doors to the Dewan were barred.

The State Secretary’s office issued a circular informing all staff to cancel all appointments scheduled at the premises Tuesday as the main entrance into the building would be closed.

The circular did not say why the doors would be barred. The State Assembly Hall is located within the State Secretariat building.

Perak CPO Deputy Comm Datuk Zulkifli Abdullah also warned members of the public not to gather outside the State Secretariat building on Tuesday.

“Those who do not heed our advice will be considered as taking part in an illegal gathering,” he said in a statement.

“We will take the necessary action against them,” he said, adding that only officials, employees and those with permits would be allowed into the building.

He said that according to the State Assembly Secretary, the emergency meeting of the Assembly called by Sivakumar is invalid because it had not received the consent of the Perak Ruler.

State secretary Abdullah Antong Sabri had earlier released a statement to say notices sent to state assemblymen of the sitting must be accompanied with the Sultan’s proclamation summoning the assembly.

On Monday morning, Perak executive councillor Mohd Zahir Abdul Khalid and two lawyers served a notice of misconduct to Sivakumar, referring him to the Rights and Privileges Committee.

The notice, handed to Sivakumar’s political secretary A. Wasu at the Speaker’s office at 11am, came with a report accusing him of abusing his power to commit contempt of the House by disloyalty to the Sultan of Perak, Sultan Azlan Shah.

Mohd Zahir told a press conference that the Speaker was referred to the committee for violating Article 47 of the state constitution following his suspension of Dr Zambry and his six exco members.

“The Article reads that an assemblyman taking oath must swear to preserve and defend the State Constitution and bear true allegiance to the Sultan of Perak.

“We feel that the Speaker is not following the constitution and has disobeyed the Sultan’s orders (titah).

“We have already informed all assemblymen, including the Speaker, that they must remain loyal to the Ruler. This is blatant disresgard of His Royal Highness,” Mohd Zahir said outside the Speaker’s office at the state secretariat.

Interestingly, Sivakumar heads the same Rights and Privileges Committee.

In KUALA LUMPUR, Bernama reported that Nizar’s judicial review application to challenge the legitimacy of Dr Zambry as Perak mentri besar will be heard before another High Court judge on Tuesday.

The case is fixed before High Court (Special Powers and Appellate) Court judge Lau Bee Lan, six days after Judicial Commissioner Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof recused himself from hearing the suit.

One of Nizar’s lawyers, Leong Cheok Keng, when contacted, confirmed the matter.

On Feb 25, Mohamad Ariff recused himself, in the interest of justice because prior to his appointment as judicial commissioner, he had represented PAS, PKR and even Barisan in several court cases, including election petitions.

In his application for a judicial review, Nizar is seeking an interpretation of the Perak state constitution on whether the mentri besar’s post can be vacated in a situation whereby:

* THE mentri besar had advised the ruler on the dissolution of the state legislative assembly; * THERE is no dissolution of the assembly; * THERE was no motion of confidence performed against him at the state legislative assembly; * THERE was no resignation made by him.

He said the writ is of quo warranto (by what warrant) on Zambry to show cause under which authority the Barisan-designated mentri besar can be the legitimate mentri besar.

He is also seeking a declaration that he is the legal mentri besar of Perak and an injunction to stop Zambry from carrying out the duties and functions of the mentri besar.

Nizar is also seeking punitive, aggravated and exemplary damages and costs.The Star

MN: It getting to be more clearer maybe towards the final endgame of thes chest moves. The Courts will settled once and for all the Sanctity of the Perak Constitution and the powers of the Sultan of Perak so that there is no ambiguity anymore. We are definitely coming to the final outcome of the confusion purposely created by the former Pakatan Rakyat which presently did not enjoyed majority in the Perak State Assembly and all it can to create havoc. Some how or other somebody is going to be checkmate.

Perak Emergency Assembly Meeting Illegal

KUALA LUMPUR, March 1 -- The move by the Perak state assembly speaker V. Sivakumar to call for an emergency assembly meeting on Tuesday "was illegal and could not be held without the Sultan of Perak's consent."

State assembly secretary Abdullah Antong said: "Standing Order 8(1) read with Article XXXVI(1) of the Perak state constitution says the Sultan's consent is needed for a state assembly meeting whether in normal or emergency situations."

He said this is in a press release to comment on Sivakumar's statement on Thursday that he would call for an emergency state assembly meeting to discuss two motion notices he received relating to the power transition crisis in the state government.

Abdullah said he had received instruction from Sivakumar to issue urgent notice for the Tuesday emergency assembly through a letter from Sivakumar dated Feb 25 which was accompanied by motion notices by state assemblyman for Teja and Titi Serong.

He said even though it was an emergency assembly meeting "in any situation I have to send a written notice accompanied by a proclamation calling for an assembly meeting to all assemblymen calling their attention to the proclamation.

"The proclamation for a state assembly meeting is made by the Sultan. This is based on Standing Order 1 that reads 'the State Assembly Secretary must read out the Proclamation of the Sultan of Perak to call a meeting..'

"Whereas Standing Order 10(1) says 'the State Assembly term is at a time and place as determined by the Sultan of Perak from time to time through gazetted proclamation," he said.

He said based on Standing Order 10(1) the absolute power was the Sultan of Perak's and could not be questioned.

"This is because Article XXXVI(1) of the Perak State Constitution gives clear powers to the Sultan of Perak to convene a state assembly meeting," he said.

He said Article XXXVI(1) provided "His Highness must from time to time convene the State Assembly and could not let six months pass from the last meeting in one sitting to the next meeting."

Abdullah said the provisions above were constitutional provisions that were the supreme laws in Perak and clearly showed that the power to call for a state assembly meeting rested with the Sultan of Perak.

Last Thursday, Sivakumar received two motions, the first from Titi Serong assemblyman Khalil Idham Lim Abdullah of Pas for the state assembly to support Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin as menteri besar and the second motion from Chang Lih Kang (PKR-Teja) calling for the state assembly to be dissolved to pave the way for a fresh state election.

Sivakumar had said the emergency assembly did not need earlier consent of the Sultan of Perak as only a 14-day notice was needed for normal assembly meetings and not for emergency meetings and that instructions had been given to Abdullah to send notices as soon as possible to all state assemblymen to attend the meeting.Bernama

MN: This Sivakumar fellow is really trying his luck. Even pushing the rules to the limit in PR favor. But sorry the game is over. Blame it on Anwar PR paramount leader who is the Master and Guru on frogs and crossovers .

More problems from opposition in Perak, says Umno Information Chief

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 23 -- The Barisan Nasional (BN) government in Perak can expect more trouble from the Opposition, said Umno Information chief Tan Sri Muhammad Muhamad Taib.

He said they would resort to all sorts of tricks to stop the BN government led by Menteri Besar Datuk Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir from bringing development and progress to the people in the state.

"The pressure from them is also to make Sultan Azlan Shah of Perak bow to the wishes of national Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim," he said in a statement here.

In the latest twist to the political turmoil in Perak, the state legislature's Speaker V Sivakumar suspended Zambry and his six executive councillors from attending the legislature's sittings for 18 and 12 months respectively.Bernama

MN : We need to expose the real agenda behind Anwar Ibrahim which is to undermine the position of the Malay Rulers whilst claiming at their recent party congress that PKR desire to strengthen the Rulers. What is happening in Perak clearly shows they are not doing what they say. They are undermining Sultan Azlan Shah. They are not walking the talk or in Malay "cakap tak serupa bikin" Thus Anwar is really a hypocrite who cannot be trusted to rule the country. He is not fit to do so. And see also the morality of his people like Khalid Ibrahim and Elizabeth Wong. All have character defects. Maybe Pas is more consistent than Pkr in this matter.

BarkingMagpie: Tian Chua and Sivakumar are not good breed for politician !

Below I reproduced an interesting posting by Pasquale:

"When I was a reporter or a journalist years ago a senior politician did a Tian Chua on me in public and he was caught by surprise when I told him "fuck you who the hell do you think you are, you do not have to be nasty and you do not have to answer my question".
Tian Chua threaten to smash a reporter's head for asking whether he and Elizabeth Wong were lovers. All he has to do is to say "no I am not" or even "none of your business", but he does not have to threaten to smash heads.

If I was a reporter at the lobby at that time asking him that question and got that kind of answer I would say "fuck you Tian Chua who do you think you are, you are just a two-bit opium smoker low breed wannabe politician elected by the people by default".

Unlike the politician of the yore, those mainly from the opposition are a low breed morons that cannot hold their cool. They have not gone through the apprenticeship scheme to be one.
How I wish I could say to Tian Chua and speaker V. Sivakumar that I would like to smash their heads too for being rude to the Malays and the Malay sultans, but then I am too much of a well brought up Malay to do that! "