10 theSun | THURSDAY NOVEMBER 27 2008

news without borders

Bar Council seeks govt

funding for legal aid
by Tan Yi Liang
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
KUALA LUMPUR: The
Bar Council has begun talks
with the government to fund
its legal aid programme
which last year handled
18,000 cases for which legal
fees waived amounted to
RM100 million.
Bar Council president
Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan
said the council was in
the midst of talks with de
facto Law Minister Datuk
Seri Mohd Nazri Abdul
Aziz for a plan to facilitate
government funding and
cooperation between the
council’s Legal Aid Scheme
and the government-run
Legal Aid Bureau.
“Datuk Seri Nazri has
been very supportive of
the idea (and indicated) it
is something that he will
support when we raised
the issue with him about a
month ago,” she said, adding
that the council would soon
come up with a concept
paper for the funding.
At present, its legal aid
funding of about RM1.2
million comes from an
annual deduction of RM100
from the subscription fee of
lawyers nationwide.
Sreenevasan said the
funding allows the legal aid
service, provided by over
700 lawyers, to contribute
about RM100 million in
legal fees nationwide and
clear more than 18,000
cases last year.
“We would like a situa-
tion where some of lawyers’
costs are covered – we
will get more volunteers
that way. We want to get
volunteers interested in
the work and we want to
provide a quality legal aid
service.”
She said that while the
government has its own
legal aid scheme, the work
performed is limited.
“They don’t do criminal
work except for mitigation,
so when they see a conflict
situation, they don’t do that
work. So all that work lands
with the Bar Council Legal
Aid Scheme, and we are
finding it difficult to cope,”
Sreenevasan said, adding
that it is the responsibility
of the government to
provide legal aid.
“We think it is the
government’s duty to
provide legal aid. What we
are doing is on a voluntary
basis and it is something
we are happy to do. But
ultimately the burden and
responsibility of providing
access to justice lies with
the government.”
“What we want to see
is a scheme where the
government works with us
– the lawyers – where we
provide the lawyers and the
legal expertise, and they
help to fund the scheme,”
she said after the launch
of the Legal Aid Centre
website and room at the
Duta Court Complex here.
Sreenevasan dismissed
a statement by Malaysian
Muslim Lawyers Asso-
ciation president Tan Sri
Abu Zahar Ujang calling
on the council to disband
if it wished to “dabble in
politics”.
“Name one statement
we have made that is in
relation to anything but
justice and the rule of law.
We are very clear that we
cover those sort of issues.
People can label it what
they want and there is
nothing we can do about
it,” she said, adding that
it is the role of lawyers to
“educate and inform” the
public of their legal rights.

Vege prices hit record highs

THE prices of local vegetables
are reaching new highs, no
thanks to the rains and the
Chinese melamine scare that
has caused a surge in demand
for our greens across the
causeway.
Both consumers and vegeta-
ble sellers are caught in a no-
win situation – while buyers pay
more for their greens, sellers are
seeing their sales halved.
According to a report in Sin
Chew Daily yesterday, the year-
end wet season has resulted
in poor harvests for most local
vegetables, causing their prices
to hit record highs.
Vegetable sellers in Petaling
Jaya say fears that greens from
China could also be tainted with
melamine – after the recent
tainted milk scare – had driven
Singaporeans to import more
greens from Malaysia, aggra-
vating the current shortage.
A check at Petaling Jaya bles, causing sales to drop by
wet markets showed that the up to 50%.
prices of popular vegetables However, tomatoes which
had increased by between are in abundance have bucked
100% and 700%. the trend and are a hot item.
At prices quoted yesterday, Federation of Sundry Goods
spring onion topped the list, re- Merchants Associations of
tailing at RM8 per kg compared Malaysia president Lean Hing
with RM1 previously.
Also high on the list
were choy sum (sawi) at
RM4 per kg (RM1 previ-
ously); chilli at RM17-18
Press Digest
by Kong See Hoh
per kg (RM5-6); yau newsdesk@thesundaily.com
mak dam (Chinese let-
tuce) at RM6 (RM2); old
cucumber at RM6 (RM2-3); cab- Chuan said the retail prices of
bage at RM3 (RM1); and cucum- sundry goods are dropping as
ber at RM2.50 (RM1-1.50). wholesalers reduce prices to
Vegetable hawker Lim Ka boost sales.
Seng said the prices of certain He told China Press many
vegetables are incredibly high, sundry shops and mini-markets
but admitted that it is beyond had already slashed prices par-
the control of the sellers. ticularly of canned food from
He said consumers were China.
shunning these pricey vegeta-

More Singaporeans look to JB

as cheaper alternative
FACED with a recession and house/apartment
prices and rentals hovering at dizzying heights,
more and more Singaporeans are crossing the
causeway to settle down in Johor, particularly
Johor Baru, Nanyang Siang Pau reported yes-
terday.
According to official statistics, the republic’s
annual inflation was at a 26-year high of 7.5% in
June, which although slowing subsequently, was
still at a high of 6.4% last month.
Unable to cope with the high cost of living or
home rentals, many Singaporeans are looking
north in search of a cheaper place to live in.
A real estate agent told a Singapore TV station
recently that in the past, an average of one family
a month migrated to Malaysia, a figure which had
now climbed to three to five a month.
The agent said rental was a big push factor
in driving Singaporeans across the causeway. In
the republic, rental for an apartment ranged from
S$1,800 to $S2,000 (RM4,302 to RM4,780), while
in Johor Baru, a double-storey bungalow can be
rented for as low as S$800 (RM1,912).
Money saved on rental alone is enough to
pay for the monthly living expenses of a small
family.
The report said most of the Singaporeans
moving to Johor Baru were middle aged or
older.
The younger among them prefer to rent
houses and would proceed to purchase their
properties only after they are more settled in
their new environment.
Older Singaporeans reaching retirement age,
however, usually buy their houses before moving
in.