6 theSun | MONDAY APRIL 20 2009

news without borders

Grooming
gifted
children
as leaders
by Hemananthani Sivanandam
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
KUALA LUMPUR: Many children in the Asean
region, including 15 from Malaysia, have been
sent to the Centre for Talented Youth (CTY)
at the John Hopkins University for its gifted
children programme.
CTY executive director Dr Lea Ybarra said
participation of students outside the United
States only started four years ago and “there
have been students from 118 countries enroll-
ing in the programme”.
The actual programme started in John
Hopkins University 30 years ago by one of its
psychology professors, Dr Julian Stanley.
Ybarra told reporters in an interview on
Thursday about 1.5 million children had par-
ticipated in the programme since its inception
in 1979.
Children aged from four to 18 are enrolled
in a three-week summer programme where
they get to choose subjects from mathematics,
science, social science or humanity.
The sessions allow students to work at a
challenging pace to explore the topics in depth
and study subjects that are not often available
to students their age.
“Students choose a topic they are passion-
ate about because they are bored in school
as they may not have friends in school who
share their interests. So these children go to
a place where there are smart children from
all over and they feel like they are at home,”
said Ybarra.
She said some of the topics include archae-
ology, genetics, robotics, oceanography, inter-
national politics and mathematical modelling.
“The children are taught by university
professors. The professors are trained to work
with these children. Each class has between
12 and 15 students. Since there are no grades
given, the students are not pressured. They are
evaluated and are told where their level is.”
CTY has partnerships with 162 universities
all over the US and classes are offered at 23
different sites.
Internationally, the programmes are also
offered in other sites such as in China, Mexico,
Spain, Ireland and Thailand.
When asked how students are selected
for the programmes, Ybarra said the centre
works with about 40,000 schools in the US and
around the world.
Teachers are told to identify students who
score the top five in their class. The children
are then invited to sit for a test and a handful
who qualify for the programme are invited to
enrol in the programme.
“We get about 70,000 students a year for
the programme,” said Ybarra.
She said the centre trains and hires about
2,000 faculty staffs to ensure consistent qual-
ity in their programmes.
On the local front, the nation will have the
first boarding school for gifted and talented
children in 2011.
The school will be set up in Universiti Ke-
bangsaan Malaysia with CTY’s cooperation as
part of the Permata Pintar programme.
Locals first, BNM tells
Ybarra
insurance players
by Karen Arukesamy
... 70,000 newsdesk@thesundaily.com
children
worldwide PETALING JAYA: Bank
enrol Negara Malaysia (BNM) says
for the local insurance companies
programme and takaful operators are to
annually. be given business priority be-
fore such expertise is ceded
to off shore reinsurance.
In an email to theSun,
BNM said: “In respect of re-
insurance arrangements for
general insurance products,
all licensed insurers and
takaful operators are subject
to the BNM’s requirement un-
der the Guidelines of General
Reinsurance Arrangement,
which requires the insurers
and takaful operators to ac-
cord priority to optimisation
of the Malaysian insurance
Asian capacity, followed by Labuan
entities, before securing for-
cities eign reinsurance support.”
costliest “In addition, insurers and
for ex- takaful operators will design
its reinsurance programme
patriate taking into account its risk
housing appetite, exposure, portfolio
pg 8 of business, and the concen-
tration of business.”
BNM was responding to
theSun’s April 2 report titled
“RM130m outflow in insur-
ance premiums via EWP”.
The report, quoting mo-
tor and insurance industry
sources, revealed that RM130
million in insurance premium
has been flowing out of the
country annually, in the Ex-
tended Warranty Programme
(EWP) for Malaysian-made
cars because the reinsurance
arrangement was made with
an American-owned rein-
surance company Virginia
Surety Ltd.
According to sources,
Allianz General Insurance
Company (M) Berhad, a
locally registered insurance
company, is the current lead
insurer for EWP for Proton
and Perodua cars.
It has arranged for all the
co-insurers to cede 90% of
the risk to the Labuan regis-
tered entity, Virginia Surety,
that writes only extended
warranty insurance and
premiums earned here are
being remitted to the States.
Allianz, however, declined
to comment on its monopoly
on the EWP and why it uses
an off-shore reinsurance
company when there are lo-
cal expertise but mentioned
that all its dealings are within
the Malaysian legal frame-
work, particularly BNM’s
regulations.
However, BNM did not
respond to theSun’s query
whether Allianz’s claim of
adhering to its regulation
is accurate and it had also
avoided commenting on
the outflow of currency via
insurance premiums.
“The EWP is generally de-
signed to cover unexpected
mechanical and electrical
breakdown of car or appli-
ances after the expiry of the
normal manufacturer war-
ranty/guarantee period,” said
BNM.
“Generally, insurers and
takaful operators are given
the flexibility to design and
market general insurance
products, subject to adher-
ence to the bank’s require-
ment with regard to the man-
agement of product risks and
protection of consumers.
“As such, the arrange-
ments with respect to mar-
keting and distribution of
EWP are subject to negotia-
tions between the car manu-
facturers and insurers based
on business considerations.
There are no restrictions for
other insurers to offer such
products that comply with
risk management require-
ments.”
It said EWP has been sold
in the Malaysian insurance
market since 1998 and a
number of car manufacturers
such as Proton, Perodua, Hy-
undai, Naza and Volvo have
alliances with local insurers
and takaful operators to pro-
vide EWP to customers.
Meanwhile, Perodua
managing director Datuk
Syed Abdull Hafiz Syed Abu
Bakar told theSun not all
Perodua customers take up
the EWP offer though a large
percentage qualify.
“The main idea of the
EWP is to offer our custom-
ers peace of mind for their
investment. Think ‘health
insurance’ for your car.
“Perodua’s EWP is an
extension of the manufac-
turer’s warranty by another
three years or mileage up
to 125,000km or 175,000km
(depending on the model)
whichever comes first, based
on the EWP policy and pro-
cedure.
“It commences upon expi-
ration of the manufacturer’s
warranty which covers the
first two years/50,000km
or 3 years/100,000km from
the date of registration. The
items covered are based on
the list attached in the EWP
Certificate.
“Customers must send
their vehicles for inspection
and service their vehicles at
our service outlets to qualify
for the EWP.”
Asked if customers pay
for it, Syed Abdull said: “It
depends on the types of
purchase. If a customer pur-
chases a vehicle by taking
up a loan, the EWP is then
sponsored by the finance
company which is based on
a set of criteria.”
“These are new vehicles
that are financed by Perodua’s
Panel of Financiers, and the
loan amount should not be
lower than RM20,000 except
for Nautica. The loan tenure
must be longer than three
years and margin of the loan
amount not more than 90%.
“Interest rate charges are
the rate agreed by Perodua
and finance companies. Cus-
tomers who do not meet these
criteria can still purchase the
EWP and the amount for
cash. EWP will depend on
the model of the vehicle and
the EWP terms.
“For example, if a cus-
tomer purchases a Myvi for
cash and decided to purchase
EWP, the premium is RM390
for three-year EWP or RM195
for a year’s EWP,” he said.
Proton, on the other hand,
has refused to comment on
the matter.

KL City Hall to seal 600 premises

with outstanding arrears
KUALA LUMPUR: Kuala Lumpur City Hall
(DBKL) will from this year seal premises,
houses and shops with unpaid assessment
rates.
Its Finance Department accountant Wan
Ahmad Khairul Wan Husain said the arrears
had reached RM300 million and the operation
to seal such premises would be carried out in
stages under Section 148 of the Local Govern-
ment Act 1976.
“Under the Act, the local authority can seal
the premises or seize the movable property
of owners or tenants who fail to settle their
outstanding assessment rates,” he told report-
ers during an operation to seal two housing
units, here, yesterday.
One is an apartment in Desa Pandan with
assessment arrears of RM15,000 over 15 years
despite several notices sent and negotiations
held with the owner.
But following the operation, the owner
promised to settle the amount after making
an initial payment of RM1,300.
The other is a condominium on Jalan Syed
Putra and DBKL will issue a notice to ask for a
court order to auction off the property as the
owner could not be traced.
“We were forced to take this action as the
owner failed to settle the outstanding amount
of RM12,218.50 over 11 years,” he said.
Wan Ahmad Khairul said DBKL targeted to
take action on 600 premises with assessment
arrears.
He said it would also ask for court orders
under Section 151(1) of the Local Government
Act to allow for the sealed property to be
auctioned off if the assessment arrears and
seizure cost were not settled within seven
days.
Yesterday’s operation involved several
officers and staff of various departments in
DBKL as well as the police. – Bernama