The worse 100 days

KUALA LUMPUR (AP): Malaysia's former leader Mahathir Mohamad on Friday gave a thumbs down to Prime Minister Najib Razak's first 100 days in office, saying there has been ``more negatives than positives'' under the new administration.

Since taking power April 3, Najib has implemented a wide range of economic reforms to woo foreign investors as the country faces its first recession in a decade.

Mahathir, who retired in 2003 but remains an influential political figure, slammed Najib's move to roll back an affirmative action program for ethnic Malay Muslims, including scrapping a requirement for Malays to own 30 percent equity in some sectors in the financial services industry.

Companies seeking to list on the stock exchange also no longer need to allot 30 percent shares for Malays.

Mahathir further criticized Najib for plans to scrap the use of English to teach math and science by 2012 in favor of the national Malay language, warning it would hurt the country's competitiveness. It reversed a policy started by Mahathir in 2003 amid concerns that poor English skills were hindering students' job opportunities.

Najib says the government remains committed to raise the level of English in schools by employing more English teachers and increasing the hours of teaching.

Mahathir also objected Najib's plans to build a third bridge to neighboring Singapore and said he hasn't taken concrete steps to fight corruption.

``I'm sorry to say this, there are more negatives than positives,'' he told reporters when asked to assess Najib's first 100 days. ``It doesn't mean that I don't support the government but I think the government is doing the wrong things.''

Mahathir, was Malaysia's longest-serving prime minister, in power between 1981 and 2003. He holds no government post but his views are widely respected.

Mahathir ran a fierce public campaign that helped pressure Najib's predecessor, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, to step down in March, four years before his term expired.

Despite Mahathir's assessment, the independent Merdeka Center research firm earlier this week said Najib's approval rating has risen from 45 percent in mid-May to 65 percent, according to a telephone survey of about 1,000 voters nationwide. The survey had a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

The center said the results indicate a rising number of Malaysians appreciate decisions made by Najib. Critics, however, said Najib's popularity rating was still the lowest of all Malaysia's prime ministers in their first 100 days.

Ol' Hell Rider of the County

An old hell rider was let loose in town early this morning leading police in a ten minute high-speed adrenaline chase around the city.

Police team from the Sekama police station spotted a suspicious-looking man riding a modified motorcycle and wearing a full-faced helmet at one in the morning while on patrol in Tabuan Jaya.

After being signalled by police to pull over to the side of the road for a routine inspection, the motorcyclist suddenly sped away from the scene.


A high-speed chase ensued through Tabuan Jaya, Tabuan Laru, Jalan Wan Alwi and Jalan Simpang Tiga giving the pursuing cops hard times to keep up with the speeding motorcyclist as he weaved his way in between cars and ran through traffic lights with little regard for safety.

Other police unit soon joined in the chase and managed to corner the suspect after he made a wrong turn into the Federal Complex carpark at Simpang Tiga.


The motorcyclist lost control of his bike and tumbled onto the road as police officers swarmed all over him and arrested him on the spot.


Suspecting the hell rider to be another delinquent youth as they removed his full-faced helmet, the police were surprised to find under the helmet a 50 something old grandpa.

When questioned as to why he risked his life to escape from the police, the 'old hell rider revealed that he was a grandfather but did not answer and merely flashed a partly toothless grin as he was led to the police station for further investigation.

Liquor Turns Man Cuckoo

A man still high on alcohol created a commotion when he stripped himself down and tried to swim across a river in Tabuan Foochow area this afternoon.

The unemployed Malay man, who is also a father of two children, began consuming alcoholic drinks at his house at Lorong Foochow around noon time after which half an hour later he began to behave strangely.

According to his wife Noraini, she was with the couple's two sons, aged five and six, in the house when her husband suddenly began behaving in a weird manner roughly half an hour after he started drinking.

"He began peeling off strips of wood from the wall of our house and swallowed them in front of me. I tried to stop him, but he bit my finger and stripped down to his underwear before diving into the river behind our house," said the wife, adding that her husband surfaced at the other end of the river and hid himself behind the nipah trunks lining the river bank.

In fear for his safety concerned villagers called in the police and rescue personnel.

Faced with no other option, rescuers paddled a small boat across the river and cornered the drunkard before subduing him.

He was then taken back across to safety, before being taken away by the police the man began behaving and sound like monkey while munching on a handful of branches and leaves.

The wife believed the husband might be possessed by an unknown spirit of the jungle.

Homes Burned Down

Sadly enough two families lost everything they got after fire gutted their homes at the Stutong Resettlement Scheme on Thursday night.

Ironically the fire was believed to have started about 8 o'clock in the kitchen area of the wooden house belonging to a fireman attached to the Tabuan Jaya fire station before spreading to the adjoining house owned by a former army personnel who is also related to the fireman's wife.
Before the fire started the fireman and his wife were attending a church service, leaving two of their three children at home alone, while the ex-army, his wife and their three sons had just finished having dinner.

According to the wife, she was was cleaning the dishes at the back of her house when she caught the smell of smoke coming from next door and looked up to see the kitchen area on fire.

She immediately shouted to her husband who was watching television together with his children in the living room.
The sight of their burning houses proved too much for the victims while relatives who wailed out loud and fainted on several occasions.

Fire fighters from Tabuan Jaya, Batu Lintang and Padungan fire stations arrived at the scene to douse the blaze but their efforts were hampered by low water pressure coupled with a non-functioning fire hydrant, located quite far from the burning houses.