NFCorp loses mall lease in 'Cowgate' scandal! "COW" CONDO IN SINGAPORE

S’pore mall cancels lease to NFC-linked Farmhouse Supermarket

By TASHNY SUKUMARAN tashny@thestar.com.my

KUALA LUMPUR: A shopping mall in Singapore has cancelled the lease of its planned anchor tenant – Farmhouse Supermarkets – as the store, which is linked to Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, did not get its premises ready on time.

DAP national publicity chief Tony Pua said according to a report in a Singapore newspaper, the “concept supermarket” at Roches­ter Mall was owned by Datuk Seri Dr Mohamad Salleh Ismail, who is executive chairman of the Natio­nal Feedlot Corporation (NFCorp) and husband of the Women, Family and Community Development Minister.

“We must make sure the losses will be covered by the family and not the NFC, which is, essentially, taxpayers’ money,” Pua said at the Parliament lobby yesterday.

The Opposition has accused Shahrizat’s family of allegedly abusing a RM250mil federal loan given to NFCorp to fund personal business ventures.

PKR had earlier alleged that the rental for the supermarket – which would have occupied the entire second floor of the mall – would have cost RM22mil per month.

Mohamad Salleh had said the cattle-rearing firm was building up the market in Singapore.

Salleh pleaded not guilty on Monday to charges of criminal breach of trust and violating the Companies Act in relation to mismanaging federal funds given specifically to manage the NFC project.

This was after Shahrizat said on Sunday she would relinquish her cabinet post when her term as senator ends on April 8.

"COW" CONDO IN SINGAPORE

 

NGO secretly films NFC-linked S'pore condo

Aidila Razak 4:34PM Dec 29, 2011

Saying it will leave no stone unturned, PKR-linked NGO Jingga 13 made the trip down to Singapore to prove to Malaysians that the luxury condominium owned by cabinet minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil’s family is as luxurious as it was made out to be.
“We were shooed off when we tried to take a photograph from the front, so we tried going through the back and were berated by a security guard from another building, who said photographs are not allowed as it is private property,” said Jingga 13 leader Fariz Musa.

Braving the zealous security guards, it took seven of the Jingga 13 members three attempts to get into the compound of Orchard Scotts on Anthony Road. They finally succeeded by tailing residents when the guards were not looking.

What they found inside was something “worth the RM9.9 million paid by Shahrizat’s family”, Fariz told a press conference at PKR headquarters in Tropicana today.

The result was a two-minute, 20-second video clip that featured Fariz taking viewers on a tour of the common area, including the swimming pool, bathroom and toilet.

“This is just the common bathroom, and it already has a spa (a small pool, believed to be a jacuzzi). Imagine how it is like in the actual condominium units,” he told reporters during the screening of the video.
Earlier this month, PKR revealed that Shahrizat’s husband, Mohamad Salleh Ismail, and two of their children jointly own a RM9.9 million condominium unit in downtown Singapore.

The family of the women, family and community development minister are under fire for alleged misappropriation of a RM250 million government loan for their company, National Feedlot Corporation.

However, PKR could not produce proof that the condominium was paid with NFC funds, except for the fact that funds were transferred from NFC to the family’s Singapore-based companies.

Empty seats in Meatworks

The group members, who paid for the Dec 23 to 24 trip out of their own pockets, also visited an upmarket restaurant owned by the family, known as Meatworks, in ION Orchard Mall.

“We were there from after 11 in the morning to right before 1pm and there was no one else but us. The Japanese and Chinese restaurants next door had many customers.
“Without NFC’s assistance, Meatworks in Singapore would have gone belly up,” Fariz said of the restaurant that specialises in steak and has a branch in Kuala Lumpur.

Fariz, who decried the exchange rate between Singapore dollars and the ringgit, added that the group did not order anything because they were “afraid”.

“There was no halal sign, and liquor was sold at the premises,” he said, adding that they kept stalling the waiter by saying that they were still waiting for friends.

The group also shot a two-minute video of the restaurant, showing the empty seats and the hallway, which they claimed was also rented by Meatworks.

NFC a symbol of misappropriation

“We will blast out these videos on Facebook and other sites to show... the misappropriation and criminal breach of trust by Shahrizat’s family, including the land purchases, condominiums, Mercedes Benz cars and overseas trips,” he said.
Jingga 13 has lodged a report with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission on two plots of land in Putrajaya, allegedly bought by the family using NFC funds.

NFC had also purchased two luxury condominium units in Bangsar through its subsidiary, National Meat and Livestock Corporation, which it claims are investment ventures.

Also present at the press conference was Ampang MP Zuraida Kamaruddin, who said the NFC fiasco would be go down as a “landmark case” in Malaysian political history.

“We will continue to unearth evidence to turn this case into a symbol for the next general election, so people will realise how dirty the BN government is and how it misappropriates the rakyat’s money,” Zuraida said.

Related post:

NFCorp Boss Charged With CBT in 'Cowgate' scandal!

Malaysian big GLCs headed by foreigners, how dismay!

 GLC head the subject of row

By SIRA HABIBU sira@thestar.com.my

PETALING JAYA: The British citizenship of Raja Idris Raja Kamarudin (pic) who has headed two powerful Selangor government-linked corporations since April last year has become an issue of controversy.

Selangor Umno secretary Datuk Seri Mohd Zin Mohamed has questioned why and how Raja Idris, 58, was picked to be the chairman of Kumpulan Perangsang Selangor Bhd (KPSB), Kumpulan Hartanah Selangor Berhad (KHSB) and executive consultant and adviser of Kumpulan Darul Ehsan Berhad (KDEB).

KDEB is the investment arm of the Selangor Govern­ment while KPSB is a full-fledged water services provider. KHSB is an investment company with many land assets.

Mohd Zin said Raja Idris, the brother of fugitive blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin, was listed on the official website of KHSB as a British subject.

“Raja Idris is a British citizen. It raises a big question as to why he is selected to head several big GLCs. Can’t Khalid, who is from the corporate circle, find any local talent to run the show?” he asked.

In an immediate reaction, Raja Idris admitted that he was still a British citizen but said he assumed that his appointment was in line with the country’s initiative to bring back Malaysians from abroad.

“Well, I thought that was why Talent Corp was set up – to bring back Malaysians who have left Malaysia and have taken up other jobs and obtained new citizenship in other countries,” he said, adding that he was a non-executive director.

Mohd Zin said there was much unhappiness about how Selangor GLCs are being run, including the removal of senior officials.

He was referring to the sacking of two KHSB company secretaries in relation to the ongoing controversy over the “loss” of a 234ha piece of land in Gombak worth RM250mil belonging to a fully-owned subsidiary of KHSB. Two other officials have also been given show cause letters.

Malaysian Trades Union Congress president Mohd Khalid Atan said it would not be fair to others if the appointment was politically motivated, adding that “priority should be given to locals”.

“Why trust outsiders more than locals? This is an insult to locals,” he said.

MCA central committee member Loh Seng Kok urged Raja Idris to give up his British citizenship, asking whether it was wise for him to have access to so much information invol­ving state assets.

Related post:

Don't have experience to lead, appoint a British?

Google plans major revamp for search engine

The Web giant has been working on the "next generation of search" over the last couple of years and now it's ready to start rolling it out.

Google is about to embark on its biggest renovation in history. In order to keep up with increased competition and new technology, the Web giant is working to keep ahead of the pack by completely revamping its search function, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Google search executive Amit Singhal told The Wall Street Journal that the new Google search will look more like "how humans understand the world."

Changes are expected to roll out over the next few months, the Journal reports, but the full makeover to "next generation of search" will likely take years. A Google spokesperson told CNET that there is not a specific timeline and the company's philosophy is to launch things when they're ready.

The plan for the revamp isn't necessarily to swap out the current keyword-search system but rather to provide more relevant results. This process will work by using technology called "semantic search." With semantic searches, people's searches will be better matched with "entities"--or people, places and things--which the company has been building over the past two years, reports the Journal.

For example, the Journal reports that people who search for "Lake Tahoe" today get links to the lake's visitor bureau website and a map; whereas with the makeover, they will see key "attributes" about the lake, including location, altitude, average temperature and salt content.

Google is basically building an infrastructure layer or a knowledge graph that would underlie many aspects of Google, a spokesperson told CNET. The idea is to make more possibilities with search using these entities.

According to the Journal, this renovation most likely comes with changes to how the search engine actually works, including search engine optimization, advertising, and page-ranking results. Some 10 percent to 20 percent of all search queries could be directly impacted by the change, the Journal reports.

Over the past few months, Google has been making various changes to search, such as showing search results before a person finishes typing their query, adding Google+ to searches, adding concert dates to music queries, and saving searches across platforms with the new "recent" icon.

By Dara Kerr

Dara Kerr, a freelance journalist based in the Bay Area, is fascinated by robots, supercomputers and Internet memes. When not writing about technology and modernity, she likes to travel to far-off countries. She is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET.

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De-stressing with Jojo Struys

Mind power: Struys will walk participants through some of the de-stressing exercises at the fair.

By REVATHI MURUGAPPAN revathi@thestar.com.my

PETALING JAYA: If you're having sleepless nights of tossing and turning in bed, then head to the inaugural Star Health Fair 2012 next month to pick up de-stressing tips and techniques from TV host cum producer JoJo Struys.

She will be conducting two workshops daily, which are especially beneficial for insomniacs and highly-strung individuals.

“All of us have some type of stress, whether it's related to family, work or deadlines. I'll walk you through some exercises to squeeze the stress out of your body. They are simple and you can do it at any point of the day. You just need to find a quiet spot,” said Struys, 36, who is also an accredited Reiki master.

Struys, who studied units of psychology in varsity, has always been fascinated with wellness and the power of the mind.

“It's not always that you are what you eat but what is eating you is equally important.”

At the fair, Struys will also launch her inaugural guided relaxation CD entitled “Letting Go”, which contains her voice with soothing background music. If you sleep off while listening to the CD, then you are totally relaxed, which is a good sign.

“Come dressed in comfortable clothing because we'll be doing some basic stretching exercises. I'm hoping that you'll walk out of the workshop a much calmer and more positive person,” Struys said.

The fair, organised by The Star, will be held at the MidValley Exhibition Centre from April 6 to 8 from 10am to 7pm. Admission is free.

Living in sex-citing times

SO AUNTY, SO WHAT? By JUNE H. L. WONG  The Star/Asia News Network

It seems Malaysian women and men are meeting as near equals in ... the bedroom. Now how did that happen? 

WELL, enough has been said about the banning of a certain children’s sex education picture book. What I want to natter about is a recent report on the state of sex among Malaysians.

It’s simply awesome: the latest Durex Sexual Well-Being Global Survey found that a whopping 81% of Malaysian women enjoy great sex.

Not only that, nine out of 10 Malaysian women, or 89%, agreed that sex brought them emotionally closer to their partners, and 88% even said they felt loved during sex.

Now when did Malaysian men become such considerate and high-performing stallions in bed? And how?

Apparently, Durex interviewed 241 men and 265 women in Malaysia aged 18 and above. The news report did not provide details on the age breakdown so one can only make guesses how this blissful state has emerged.

Perhaps most of the male respondents were below 35 and raised by mothers who taught them to respect and love women. And to always put the women’s needs before their own.

They could also have been exposed to chick flicks and somehow figured out what women want, despite the neurotic, fickle and often ridiculous spins Hollywood puts on such female-centric films.

Or women themselves have decided they won’t be just passive lovers who must accept what their partners dish out to them in bed and are demanding more attention and action to reach sexual fulfilment.

If that’s what’s happening, then finally I can echo that old Virginia Slims cigarette ad: You’ve come a long way, baby! And add, you’re smoking hot!

What’s more, if both men (89% say they have great sex) and women are finding sexual satisfaction, then surely the old taboos and Victorian belief that sex is only for procreation and not for pleasure are fast being discarded.

Mind you, some of the stuff that’s going on these days makes you wonder if it is still circa 1900. But the truth is sexual liberation for women started on May 9, 1960, when the US Federal Drug Authority (FDA) approved the oral contraceptive – the Pill.

With that, women were finally in control over their reproductive health, and with the fear of unwanted pregnancies largely removed, new notions of sex and pleasure took off.

It must be said it was the baby boomers who led the sexual revolution and broke many of the taboos that cowed their mothers. And it is likely it is these baby boomer mums who have taught their sons and daughters well.

Boom-boom mums grew up in the more relaxed and easy-going 1970s and 80s, were well educated and went on to become a force to be reckoned with in the workforce.

Some quarters (a.k.a. men) may bemoan the breaking down of the old “father as breadwinner, mother as housewife” mould and say that’s the cause of the increase in divorces.

There’s probably some truth to it but others (a.k.a. women) see it as the crumbling of a very unfair power structure. Now, men are no longer lords and masters over their womenfolk and the modern marriage has become a partnership between equals.

So what if that makes some men who want to cling to the old ways unhappy? Why should women stay unhappy to make them happy?

By the same token, women don’t have to take anything they don’t like lying down any more. But really, what do men have to complain about? Almost 90% of them are getting their satisfaction. And you don’t get that if you are sleeping with planks.

The battle of the sexes is far from over but it sure gladdens my heart to know that in one battleground – the bedroom – there are only victors. The battleground is now a jolly playground.

We can still do more to teach young people about safe sex because despite enlightened parenting, Internet and MTV, misconceptions and misfires can happen.

I remember reading about a married couple who failed to conceive. When they finally consulted a doctor, they soon discovered the problem: the man was trying to make love to his wife’s navel!

Can’t be much fun there.

Human beings really only have two appetites grounded in physical desire: food and sex.

We Malaysians are already living in a food paradise. If the Durex survey is accurate, perhaps we aren’t too far from creating another nirvana for ourselves.

Like I said: Awwwwesome!

The writer is proud to be a baby boomer, the generation that may be a little long in the tooth now but still has plenty of bite.

Phison’s silicon wafer plan; Mandarin, Hokkien, the main lure

Pua: ‘The assembly of the finished flash memory products would be outsourced to small and medium enterprises in the country.’

Phison’s silicon wafer plan  
By DAVID TAN  davidtan@thestar.com.my

Its partner Silterra may produce essential components in Kulim

GEORGE TOWN: Phison Electronics Corp's partner Silterra Malaysia Sdn Bhd may undertake the production of silicon wafer in Kulim Hi-Tech Park for the flash memory chips to be developed and designed in Penang.

Phison chairman and chief executive officer Pua Khein-Seng told StarBiz that Silterra was now studying the feasibility of manufacturing the silicon wafer for the Phison's unit, which would be established in Penang in three to six months.

“The unit will undertake the development and design of flash memory applications and solution products. Our other partner, Index Diversified Sdn Bhd, will distribute and market them in the local and South-East Asia markets,” he said.

“The assembly of the finished flash memory products would be outsourced to small and medium enterprises in the country. We will decide on the volume of units to be produced six months later,” he added.

Pua also said that the investment of US$1mil to US$3mil would be for the salaries of engineers and purchasing the necessary equipment.

Also present were Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, Silterra chief executive officer Dr Kamarulzaman Mohamed Zin, and Silterra Sales and Marketing (L) Ltd, Taiwan Branch senior vice-president Lai Yit Loong.

Lai said the flash memory product, which could be in the form secure-digital and smart cards, would be used in tablets, ultrabooks.

“The flash memory products will also be targeted for use in mobile payment platform and in video recorders for automobiles,” he said.

Meanwhile, Lim said the importance of Phison's investment was that it would lead to talent and technology transfer to Penang.

“The Phison unit will likely be located on the island, and the state government will provide the necessary assistance for the group to establish its presence here,” Lim added.

Phison Electronics Corp was established in November 2000 at Hsinchu, Taiwan.

Starting with the world's first single-chip USB flash drive IC, Phison is now a market leader in NAND Flash controllers and applications including USB, SD, eMMC, PATA and SATA products.

In 2010, the company shipped over 500 million controllers worldwide and topped US$1bil in sales revenue.

Phison also offers system and OEM services for major retail brand names. Founded in November 1995 as Wafer Technology Malaysia Sdn Bhd and renamed as Silterra Malaysia Sdn Bhd in December 1999, the company offers complementary metalic oxide semiconductor design and a broad range of fabrication processes for integrated chips in advanced logic, mixed signal and radio frequency and high voltage applications.

The principal investor of Silterra is Khazanah Nasional Bhd.

  Mandarin; Hokkien, the main lure
 
By TAN SIN CHOW sctan@thestar.com.my

GEORGE TOWN: The Hokkien connection has once again put Penang in the limelight, albeit, this time on a positive note.

Taiwan-based Phison Engineering Corp has chosen to set up its first Malaysian branch in the state this year because the Hokkien dialect is widely used here.

According to its chairman and chief executive officer Pua Khein-Seng, who was raised in Sekinchan, Selangor, the Mandarin and Hokkien dialects were among the reasons for setting up their Malaysian unit in Penang.

Given a choice, the 38-year-old Malaysian said he would have chosen Kuala Lumpur as it was nearer to his hometown. “However, the move will not be viable as my working team from Taiwan only speaks Mandarin and Minnan (which is similar to Hokkien).

“I have a lot of engineers, some of them Malaysians, who do not have a strong command of English or Bahasa Malaysia as they have been based in Taiwan for far too long. They will not be able to survive in Kuala Lumpur.

“It is better for them to be here as the Chinese community here speaks Mandarin and Minnan,” he said during a question-and-answer session during his talk on “Driven to Success Road to Build a $1billion Company”.

Just last month, the Hokkien connection put Penang in the limelight when police busted a Taiwanese-led international Internet syndicate which had chosen the island as its base so that its members could blend in.

Pua said another plus point was the many well-trained engineers and industry players available here. “Here, materials are easily available from the semiconductor and electronics companies.”

Pua, who describes Malaysia as his motherland and Taiwan as his second home, is the inventor of the pen drive when he was only 27.

Phison was set up in November 2000 and within six months Pua had come up with the invention.

Related post:
 Taiwan's Phison IC design project, a 'brain gain' for Malaysia

WTO rules U.S. unfair subsidies for Boeing illegal

The U.S. is hailing a World Trade Organization ruling on illegal Boeing subsidies as a victory. (Roslan Rahman/AFP Reuters

The World Trade Organization has ruled that U.S. aircraft manufacturer Boeing received $3 billion to $4 billion in illegal subsidies in the form of federal research grants and local tax breaks, the top U.S. trade official said Monday.

But U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk called the decision "a tremendous victory" for the United States because he said a separate WTO panel ruled last year that European governments provided $18 billion in subsidized funding for Airbus.

"It is now clear that European subsidies to Airbus are far larger -- by multiples -- and far more distortive than anything that the United States does for Boeing," Kirk said in a statement.

"The United States is ready to address all of the WTO findings, and we expect Europe to do the same. Airbus is a mature, highly capable company with ready access to commercial financing. It doesn't need the launch aid that European governments are continuing to provide," he added.

The WTO appellate body ruling on Monday faulted the United States for research funded by NASA and the Department of Defense that benefited Boeing and for tax breaks granted by the state of Washington and city of Wichita, Kansas.

The United States will have six months to comply with the ruling, once it is formally adopted this month, Kirk said.  

Appellate body rules unfair US subsidies have damaged rival Airbus

GENEVA: The World Trade Organisation has ordered the United States to halt unfair subsidies and tax breaks to planemaker Boeing, judging them to have damaged European rival Airbus.

The WTO's appellate body said that it found that certain subsidies and tax breaks “caused, through their effects on Boeing's prices, serious prejudice in the form of significant lost sales” to Airbus in the market for civil aircraft with 100 to 200 seats, according to a summary of the 700-page ruling.

That segment is for the medium-haul Airbus A320 and Boeing 737, which are their top selling aircraft.

It also found that research and development subsidies skewed competition for larger aircraft of 200 to 300 seats, and that such subsidies for the 787 Dreamliner “caused serious prejudice to the interest of the European Communities.” The United States has six months to comply with the ruling.

An Airbus A380 behind a Boeing 787 plane’s vertical tail. The WTO confirms that Boeing has received illegal subsidies, a decision that is seen as a victory by both the US aircraft maker and Airbus

 

Even before the publication of the WTO ruling, both the European Union (EU) and United States claimed victory in the dispute.

The EU had launched the complaint, claiming the United States gave Boeing billions of dollars in illegal subsidies after Washington had disputed EU aid to European aircraft manufacturer Airbus.

In a ruling on March 31, 2011, the WTO partly upheld the EU complaint, but it was appealed.

The European Commission welcomed the WTO final ruling, saying it confirmed that billions of dollars in US subsidies to Boeing were illegal under WTO rules.

“The ruling vindicates the EU's long-held claims that Boeing has received massive US government hand-outs in the past and continues to do so,” said EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht.

The United States took the opposite stand, saying the WTO decision confirmed that Europe's unfair trade subsidies to Airbus have dwarfed US aid to Boeing.

“This decision is a tremendous victory for American manufacturers and workers - and demonstrates the Obama administration's commitment to ensuring a level playing field for Americans,” Ron Kirk, the US Trade Representative, said in a statement before the WTO appeals panel published its findings.

“It is now clear that European subsidies to Airbus are far larger - by multiples - and far more distortive than anything that the United States does for Boeing,” he said.

The United States highlighted that the WTO had found last May in a separate case that the EU gave Airbus US$18bil (13.7 billion euros) in subsidised funding that resulted in lost market share and sales for Boeing.

“In yesterday's findings, the comparable figures (for Boeing) were between US$3bil and US$4bil in subsidies, and lost sales (for Airbus) of just slightly more than 100 aircraft,” the statement said.

The European Commission said the WTO appeal ruling found that Boeing received between US$5bil and US$6bil of illegal subsidies between 1989 and 2006, and was estimated to have received US$3.1bil more since.

Airbus said the WTO ruling found the effects of the illegal funding were much larger.

“The report confirms the existence of illegal US subsidies to Boeing previously identified by the WTO as at least US$5.3bil' and extended by billions of US dollars as a result of yesterday's decision - resulting in an estimated loss of approximately US$45bil in sales for Airbus,” the company said in a statement. AFP

Aging Parents, Embattled Kids: Can You Find Pain Relief?

By Carolyn Rosenblatt, Forbes Contributor

This is a real situation.

Three brothers are engaged in pitched battle over their mother’s living situation.  Mom is severely demented and can’t care for herself independently. She had long term care insurance, but she has almost exhausted that benefit.  Her only remaining asset is her home.  She needs full time care.

The eldest brother, James, seized power over her finances from the middle brother, Paul.  He got mom to appoint him the power of attorney and the agent on the healthcare directive, and displaced Paul, who had always been on both documents . Mom wasn’t competent to sign anything when she did, but James didn’t seem to care.  That infuriated Paul.  Little brother Joe is somewhat passive, but sides with Paul.

The three never got along very well, even as kids. There was a lot of arguing and their communication did not improve as they grew up. They largely avoided one another. Until now.

James decided, without communicating with either of his brothers, to move mom to an assisted living facility that takes care of people with dementia.  She would have her own room. It would be in her neighborhood. Her house would be sold to pay for it.  A deposit was paid.

When Paul heard of this, he became enraged, told Joe and they both threatened to sue James.   In response, James found a lawyer and began guardianship proceedings.  There is no money in mom’s checking account to pay the lawyer, so James promised the attorney that she could get paid when the house was sold.  It’s a nice home.

Mom’s long time estate attorney suggested mediation.  She urged the siblings to stop upsetting their mom and each other by using a neutral person to help them try to reach some agreements.  This sounds like a good solution, doesn’t it?  They could meet with the mediator,  and see if they could figure out a way to be more civil to each other around the move for mom. They definitely needed help to work toward a less aggravating future for each other caring for their mom.

James refused to go to mediation.

The guardianship proceeds apace.  Thousands of dollars will be needlessly wasted on the litigation,  James against Paul and Joe.  The brothers will become ever more acrimonious and the story will not end well during mom’s final days.

As a mediator for families in conflict, I can only say that this story keeps repeating itself in different forms.  It’s frustrating for me, as I know that in most instances, mediation of family conflicts about elders can really help and it is quite often successful.  The hard thing to understand is why wouldn’t the Jameses of the world want to give it a try?  Is it the power they yield?  Is it control over their siblings via legal documents and court cases?

Certainly, the cost of mediation can’t be the reason to refuse it.  It is far, far less expensive than just about any court proceeding.  If siblings are scattered, as in James, Paul and Joe’s case, mediation can even be done over the phone. You can’t make anyone do it though. It’s voluntary.

A factor at play is James’s attorney’s motive in handling the guardianship proceedings. Lots of money is at stake if the litigation keeps going.  She can rake it in when that house sells.  If she agrees to go to mediation with Paul, and the siblings settle their differences, there goes her paycheck.  If you don’t think some lawyers want to keep conflict alive and churning for their own selfish sakes, think again.

What’s the takeaway here?

Mediation works.  Think about it if your family is in conflict over an aging parent.  Here’s an illustrative quick video http://agingparents.com/wp/about-carolyn-l-rosenblatt-r-n-attorney-at-law/ (scroll to bottom of the page).

It is a dignified way to resolve your differences without a court. No one judges you. You work it out as you choose, not how anyone else tells you to do it.

After my 27 years as a litigator, I can tell you firsthand that in so many instances, no one feels very satisfied when you’re done with litigation.

Some of us call ourselves “elder mediators”. We work in this arena of warring families and parents. It’s not therapy. It’s short term problem solving.  I encourage those who are feeling the heartbreak of scenes like the one above to find a mediator and get going.  There is hope, even when it seems impossible.  You can make it better.

Until next time,

AgingParents.com
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Taiwan's Phison IC design project, a 'brain gain' for Malaysia

By CECILIA KOK cecilia_kok@thestar.com.my

KUALA LUMPUR: Phison Engineering Corp will set up a branch in Malaysia, with operations targeted to begin in the next three to six months.

The Taiwan-listed company, which specialises in the design of integrated circuit (IC) for use in data storage devices, would base its Malaysian unit in the northern region.

It would operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary before becoming an “independent” company after three years.

“We choose the northern region in Malaysia because we find that there is some semblance of ecosystem there that can provide a better environment for our operations to thrive,” Phison chairman and CEO Pua Khein-Seng said.

“We also want to be close to our clients who are mostly based in the north for the sake of cost as well as operational efficiencies,” he said at a press conference in conjunction with the launch of his book, Driven to Success.

Pua, a Malaysian raised in Sekinchan, Selangor, founded Phison with four of his university friends in 2000. He left to study engineering in Taiwan in 1993 and lived there after graduation.

For a start, Phison will have Silterra Malaysia Sdn Bhd, a semiconductor wafer maker owned by Khazanah Nasional Bhd, as the main partner for its Malaysian unit.

On the initial capital outlay for Phison's project in Malaysia, Pua said it would range from US$1mil (RM3.03mil) to US$3mil.

He stressed that Phison was not a “manufacturing” operation that required high capital investment to set up operations and buy equipment. All it needed was the right amount of space and several engineers.

“Our Malaysian unit will have the full support of our team in Taiwan during the initial stage because we want to ensure 100% success of our venture in Malaysia,” Pua said.

StarBizWeek broke the news about Pua planning to set up a Phison branch in Malaysia last Saturday.

The report, quoting sources, also said Mida had drawn up a list of attractive incentives to entice Pua to set up the IC design house in Malaysia.

Mida CEO Datuk Noharuddin Nordin said the incentives were one of the attractions.

“But while we cannot disclose the details of the incentives we are giving Phison, we can tell you that whatever we give to Phison is nothing more than what we are giving to our other investors.”

“Historically, the E&E (electrical and electronics) sector has been a major contributor to Malaysia's gross domestic product growth,” he said.

“Under the Economic Transformation Programme, which includes E&E as the National Key Economic Areas, IC design has been identified as one of the key components that would accelerate the growth of the semiconductor cluster in Malaysia, with a target of 50 new IC design houses and five more Mature Technology Semiconductor Foundries to be established by 2020,” he said.

He added that the initiative was expected to generate an additional gross national income of RM7.4bil and create 8,500 highly skilled jobs for the industry.

Describing Pua's project in Malaysia as “brain gain” for Malaysia, Noharuddin said he hoped Phison's presence would help establish an ecosystem that would encourage overseas talent to return to the country.

Pua has a 2.55% stake Phison that has a market capitalisation of NT$47bil (RM4.8bil).

The company counts heavyweights such as Toshiba Corp, Kingston Technology, Vanguard Group Inc, Blackrock and Fidelity as its other shareholders.

IBM takes giant step to faster, quantum computers

IBM researchers presenting the results at this week’s American Physical Society meeting in Boston said that quantum computing “has the potential to deliver computational power that is unrivaled by any supercomputer today.” – Reuters File Photo

WASHINGTON: IBM researchers have taken a leap in computing by using quantum mechanics to harness the power of atoms and molecules, a move likely to lead to vast increases in speed and security of computers and other devices.

IBM researchers presenting the results at this week’s American Physical Society meeting in Boston said that quantum computing “has the potential to deliver computational power that is unrivaled by any supercomputer today.” The new type of computing uses information encoded into quantum bits or qubits, putting into use a theory that scientists have been discussing for decades.

“The special properties of qubits will allow quantum computers to work on millions of computations at once, while desktop PCs can typically handle minimal simultaneous computations,” an IBM statement said.

“For example, a single 250-qubit state contains more bits of information than there are atoms in the universe.” “The quantum computing work we are doing shows it is no longer just a brute force physics experiment,” said IBM scientist Matthias Steffen, manager of the research team that is working on applications for quantum computing systems.

“It’s time to start creating systems based on this science that will take computing to a new frontier.” Quantum computing expands on the most basic piece of information that a typical computer understands — a bit. While a normal bit can have only one of two values: “1” or “0,” qubits can hold a value of “1” or “0” as well as both values at the same time.

“Described as superposition, this is what allows quantum computers to perform millions of calculations at once,” IBM says.

A problem for scientists is that qubits have a short life of several billionths of a second, but IBM has succeeded in developing “three dimensional” superconducting qubits which retain their quantum states up to 100 microseconds – an improvement of two to four times prior records.

“Based on this progress, optimism about superconducting qubits and the possibilities for a future quantum computer are rapidly growing,” says IBM.

To harness the power of quantum computing, scientists have had to work to minimize errors in calculations caused by interference from factors such as heat, electromagnetic radiation, and materials defects.

The use of quantum computing “will have widespread implications foremost for the field of data encryption where quantum computers could factor very large numbers like those used to decode and encode sensitive information,” IBM said.

“Other potential applications for quantum computing may include searching databases of unstructured information, performing a range of optimization tasks and solving previously unsolvable mathematical problems.”

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Quantum strategy offers game-winning advantages, even without entanglement

By Lisa Zyga PhysOrg.com

Enlarge

Experimental and theoretical results both show that quantum gain - measured as the difference between the winning chances for classical and quantum players - is highest under maximum entanglement. Quantum gain remains even when entanglement disappears, and approaches zero along with the discord. Image credit: Zu, et al. ©2012 IOP Publishing Ltd and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft

(PhysOrg.com) -- Quantum correlations have well-known advantages in areas such as communication, computing, and cryptography, and recently physicists have discovered that they may help players competing in zero-sum games, as well. In a new study, researchers have found that a game player who uses an appropriate quantum strategy can greatly increase their chances of winning compared with using a classical strategy.

The researchers, Chong Zu from Tsingua University in Beijing, China, and coauthors, have published their study on how quantum mechanics can help game players in a recent issue of the New Journal of Physics.

In their study, the researchers focused on a two-player game called matching pennies. In the classical version of this game, each player puts down one penny as either heads or tails. If both pennies match, then Player 1 wins and takes both pennies. If one penny shows heads and the other shows tails, then Player 2 wins and takes both pennies. Since one player’s gain is always the other player’s loss, the game is a zero-sum game.

In the classical version of the game, neither player has any incentive to choose one side of the coin over the other, so players choose heads or tails with equal probability. The random nature of the players’ strategies results in a “mixed strategy Nash equilibrium,” a situation in which each player has only a 50% chance of winning, no matter what strategy they use.

But here, Zu and coauthors have found that a player who has the option of using a quantum strategy can increase his or her chances of winning from 50% to 94%. This quantum version of the game uses entangled photons as qubits instead of pennies. And instead of choosing between heads and tails, players use a polarizer and single-photon detector to implement their strategies. While the classical player can still choose only one of two states, the quantum player has more choices due to her ability to rotate a polarizer 360° before the single-photon detector. The researchers calculated that the quantum player can maximize his or her chances of winning by rotating the polarizer at a 45° angle.

“Each player can apply any operation to their qubit (or coin), and then measure it in computational basis,” Zu explained to PhysOrg.com. “For a classical player, the operation he can do is to flip the bit or just leave it unchanged. However, if a player has quantum power, he can apply arbitrary single-bit operations to his qubit. But the measurement part is the same for the quantum and classical players.”

The researchers found that the quantum advantage depends heavily on how correlated the original photons are, with a maximally entangled state providing the largest gain. The researchers were surprised to find that the quantum advantage doesn’t decrease to zero when entanglement disappears completely, since a different kind of quantum correlation – quantum discord – also provides an advantage. This finding may even be the most interesting part of the study.

“There is no wonder that quantum mechanics will lead to advantages in game theory, but the interesting part of our work is that we find out the quantum gain does not decrease to zero when entanglement disappears,” Zu said. “Instead, it links with another kind of quantum correlation described by discord for the qubit case, and the connection is demonstrated both theoretically and experimentally.”

He added that this finding could potentially be useful for making real-world strategies.

“Our work may help people to understand how quantum mechanics works in game theory (in some cases, entanglement is not necessary for a quantum player to achieve a positive gain),” he said. “It may also give a good example of people making strategies in a future quantum network.”

More information: C. Zu, et al. “Experimental demonstration of quantum gain in a zero-sum game.” New Journal of Physics, 14 (2012) 033002. DOI: 10.1088/1367-2630/14/3/033002

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NFCorp Boss Charged With CBT in 'Cowgate' scandal!

Day in court: Datuk Seri Dr Mohamad Salleh Ismail (above) leaving the courthouse after being charged. Also present were his wife Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil and their son Wan Shahinur Izmir Salleh (below).

By MAIZATUL NAZLINA and TERENCE TOH newsdesk@thestar.com.my

KUALA LUMPUR: The executive chairman of the National Feedlot Corporation Sdn Bhd has claimed trial at the Sessions Court here to two counts of committing breach of trust and two counts of violating the Companies Act 1965 involving RM49.7mil.

Datuk Seri Dr Mohamad Salleh Ismail, 64, arrived in court at 2.15pm accompanied by his wife Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, their eldest son Wan Shahinur Izmir and other family members.

The charges were read to Dr Mohamad Salleh at 2.27pm before judge S.M. Komathy Suppiah in a packed courtroom.

The proceedings yesterday marked a new chapter in the NFCorp controversy which arose after the Auditor-General's 2010 Report highlighted the failure of the National Feedlot Centre to achieve its target, and which grew with revelations that the company had used the government-funded soft loan for purposes not related to cattle breeding.



Dr Mohamad Salleh was charged with dishonestly misusing funds amounting to RM9,758,140 through four cheques to partly finance the purchase of two units of One Menerung Condominium in Block B here for the National Meat and Livestock Corporation Sdn Bhd, which he owns with one of his sons.



According to the charge, he committed the offence in his capacity as an NFCorp director entrusted with control over the company's assets.

He is said to have committed the offence at CIMB Islamic Bank Bhd in Jalan Burhanuddin Helmi, Taman Tun Dr Ismail, here between Dec 1 and 4, 2009.

Dr Mohamad Salleh was charged under Section 409 of the Penal Code which carries a jail term of up to 20 years, a fine and whipping.

He is also accused under Section 132(2)(a) of the Companies Act 1965 of committing the offence without approval from an annual general meeting of NFCorp to gain profit directly.

He is also accused of transferring NFCorp's funds of RM40mil through a cheque into the National Meat and Livestock Corporation's account at the same bank from May 6 to Nov 16, 2009.

For this, he faces charges of criminal breach of trust and violating the Companies Act.

Deputy Public Prosecutors Dzulkifli Ahmad, Awang Armadajaya Awang Mahmud and Azimul Azami prosecuted while the defence was led by Badrul Munir Bukhari.

Pleading for a lower bail, counsel Badrul Munir said Dr Mohamad Salleh had given his full cooperation to the police and prosecution, and his client was in court to clear his name. He applied to release the accused on a RM50,000 personal bond for each charge.

Dzulkifli said the prosecution had no objection to the application as they did not see why Dr Mohamad Salleh would flee the country. He, however, said the accused should surrender all his travel documents to the court.

Dzulkifli applied to the court under Section 165 of the Criminal Procedure Code for a single trial for all the charges.

Judge Komathy agreed to a single trial and set bail of RM500,000 with one surety for all four charges.
She also ordered Mohamad Salleh to surrender his passport pending mention of his case on April 13.

Wan Shahinur Izmir paid the bail.

Shahrizat was impassive in court and declined to speak to reporters after the proceedings.

Malaysian minister to step down in midst of 'Cowgate' scandal
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, right, is greeted by Malaysian Minister of Women, Family, and Community Development Shahrizat Abdul Jalil before a town hall event at the International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization on Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2010, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (EVAN VUCCI / AP)

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — A Malaysian minister said Sunday she will step down amid accusations that her family misused a 250 million ringgit ($83 million) government loan meant for a cattle project to purchase condominiums, vacations and a Mercedes. 

The scandal, dubbed "Cowgate,'' has greatly embarrassed Prime Minister Najib Razak ahead of general elections widely expected to be called by June. 

After months of resisting calls from critics to step down, Shahrizat Abdul Jalil said she will resign as minister of women, family and community on April 8 once her term as senator ends. 

Shahrizat said her decision had nothing to do with the cattle project run by her husband and three children but that she is stepping down as a "responsible member of the government.'' She will, however, stay on as chief of the women's wing of the ruling Malay party. 

The scandal emerged last year after the auditor-general's annual report said the National Feedlot Center run by Shahrizat's family had not met its goal of making the country 40 per cent self-sufficient in beef production by 2010. 

Since then, opposition parties have accused the company of using a government loan allocated for cattle rearing to purchase property including luxury condominiums in Malaysia and Singapore and other personal items. Shahrizat's family has denied any wrongdoing, saying the company was allowed to use the loan at its discretion and that the properties would earn it rental income. 

Police have recommended that the company's directors be charged with criminal breach of trust but the attorney-general has asked police to conduct further investigations. 

Najib said Shahrizat's resignation was a sacrifice in the interest of the government and party. 

"Although there is no proof so far that she had committed any offence in terms of law, because the (project) has drawn controversy and dispute, she was willing to withdraw from the government,'' the national Bernama news agency quoted him as saying. 

Analysts said Shahrizat's resignation wasn't surprising as Najib isn't likely to renew her senatorship. 

"Cowgate is a big blow to Najib as it shows he is slow to act on allegations of high-level corruption,'' said James Chin, a political science lecturer at Monash University in Malaysia. 

Najib's National Front coalition suffered its worst performance in 2008 polls, losing more than a third of Parliament's seats to a resurgent opposition amid widespread discontent over the government's handling of problems such as corruption and racial discrimination. 

While the ruling coalition isn't expected to lose power in upcoming polls, scandals such as Cowgate make it tougher for Najib to consolidate his power. General elections are not due until 2013 but are widely expected in the next few months.

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Fukushima nuclear meltdown - one year later

GLOBAL TRENDS By MARTIN KHOR
 
As the world marks the first anniversary of Japan’s triple tragedy, lessons are still being drawn from the Fukushima nuclear accident and the dangers of nuclear power plants.

 IT’S been a full year since Japan’s triple disaster of earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown, and the reverberations are still being felt.

The tsunami on March 11, 2011, caused around 19,000 deaths (16,000 known dead, 3,000 missing) and 320,000 were made homeless.

The nuclear disaster alone created 100,000 nuclear evacuees.

The lesson, only partially learnt in Japan itself and hardly learnt in other countries, is that natural disasters can come in many unexpected forms and governments must put aside considerable resources and facilities to prepare for and manage them.



The lesson usually becomes obvious when a disaster occurs.

After that, a pledge is made to be better prepared and much of that is not implemented until the next disaster and the cycle begins again.

While the tsunami caused the most immediate damage, it was the nuclear incidents at the Fukushima power plant that were the most shocking and may have the most long-term repercussions.

The nuclear disaster blew away a lot of myths.We now know, again, that nuclear power plants are not safe.

The claim by Tepco – the Japanese company operating the Fukushima plant – that the reactors were fail-safe and could withstand earthquakes, was proven to be wrong.

The ability of the regulatory autho­rities to monitor and check for risks and ensure safety was near absent.
An independent commission, which was set up by the Rebuild Japan Initiative Foundation to investigate the nuclear incident, shows how close Japan came to a catastrophe.

Its chairman Yoichi Funabashi, in an article in last Saturday’s Financial Times, said that Japan was on the edge of an “existential crisis”.

As the tsunami knocked out the Fukushima plant’s cooling systems, the Tepco president indicated his company’s intention to abandon the plant and evacuate its workers.

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan personally intervened, ordering the company not to abandon ship and form a “death squad” to continue the battle and inject water into the reactor vessels.

A worst case scenario, prepared for the prime minister by the Japan Atomic Energy Commission, envisioned a hydrogen explosion, a succession of meltdowns and such extensive radiation that the whole of Tokyo would have to be evacuated.

Funabashi said: “The truth is that the imagined ‘worst-case scenario’ was closer than anyone would wish to admit; but for the direction of the wind (towards the Pacific, not inland, in the four days after the earthquake); but for the manner in which the gate separating the reactor-well and the spent-fuel pool in Unit 4 broke (presumably facilitating the transfusion of water into the pool). Luck was undeniably on our side.”

Funabashi’s commission found that the nuclear industry had become ensnared in its twisted myth of “absolute safety”, propagated by interest groups seeking to gain broad acceptance of nuclear power.

He also found that “Japan’s nuclear safety regulatory regime was phoney. Regulators pretended to regulate; utilities pretended to be regulated. In reality, the latter were far more powerful in expertise and clout”. He offers two lessons to be learnt.

First, is the need to overcome the myth of “absolute safety”, shatter the taboo that surrounds the concept of risks in the nuclear energy business and the need to prepare for the unthinkable and unanticipated.

Second, is the need for an independent regulatory body.

A major fallout from the Fuku­shima accident is the blow it has dealt to the nuclear industry.

It highlighted the danger a country faces when something goes wrong.

Of its 52 nuclear plants, Japan has now shut down 50 plants. The remaining two may also be shut down next month.

Although the government may try to reopen some of them, the public revulsion against nuclear plants could mean that their days are numbered.

There has also been a global backlash, with Germany, Italy, Belgium and Switzerland declaring that they will phase out their nuclear plants.

The situation in Asia, however, is mixed. China has suspended the building of new nuclear plants pending changes in safety standards.
India, Vietnam and Korea are going ahead with their nuclear power programmes.

“If more nuclear power plants are built in developing countries with little experience of operating a reactor, or bordering a region where terrorism is a concern, or without sufficient financial resources to import state of the art technology, then the chance of a major nuclear accident hitting the developing world will loom large in the coming decades,” said Kevin Tu, senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Meanwhile The Economist magazine, in its latest cover story, “Nuclear Energy: The dream that failed” is pessimistic about the future of the nuclear industry.

Nuclear plants are costly to build and operate. British studies put the overnight cost of new power plants at US$2,233 (RM6,720) for every kilowatt of capacity in 2004 and US$3,000 (RM9,028)/kw in 2008, according to The Economist.

Capacity fired by gas turbines cost less than one-fifth of that. The cost of renewable energy (wind and solar, in particular) is, however, getting cheaper every year.

Perhaps, the most intractable problem is nuclear waste. As The Economist noted, building a nuclear plant that can last 100 years is one thing, but creating waste that will be dangerous for 100 times as long is another.

So far, countries have failed to create a long-term repository for nuclear waste.

As the public has become intensely more aware of the dangers of radiation, the resistance to locating nuclear plants in their neighbourhood has grown fiercer.

No doubt the Fukushima meltdowns and its aftermath have contributed to increased awareness and to the bad name that nuclear power has acquired.

P/S:  We sympathize with Japan's sufferings from earthquake, tsunami caused by nature that resulted in Fukushima nuclear meltdown a year ago.

How Japan feels when we remember the victims of its Nanjing Massacre committed and occupied by Japanese troops on Dec 13, 1937, China's former capital city suffered a six-week massacre in which more than  300,000 Chinese were Killed, 20,000 Women Raped ... ?


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