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Jobs to be reserved for
locals: Subramaniam
RAWANG: The government
Perodua’s training centre in
Sungai Choh near here.
is taking several measures,
including reserving certain
the ministry is holding
jobs for locals, to ensure more
discussions with the
employment opportunities
industries concerned and had
during the global financial
requested them to submit
crisis, Human Resources
the list of jobs that could be
Minister Datuk Dr. S.
Subramaniam said yesterday.
He said the ministry is
also considering making it
mandatory for employers to
register job vacancies in their
companies with the ministry’s
manpower department.
“For a start, we are
considering reserving certain
categories of jobs in the
various industries for locals
with the right skills,” he told
reporters after launching
Subramaniam said
reserved for locals to the
manpower department.
“If the employers wish to
engage or employ foreigners
to those posts which are
reserved for locals, they
will be asked to state their
reasons,” he said.
Subramaniam said the
companies would be allowed
to recruit foreigners only
when the ministry is satisfied
with their reasons. – Bernama
Apostasy appeal put off
by Opalyn Mok
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
GEORGE TOWN: The Penang Islamic
Religious Council’s appeal against the
Syariah High Court’s decision allowing
Tan Ean Huang (pix) to renounce
Islam last May will be heard in January
next year.
The Penang Syariah Court of
Appeal, presided by state Syariah
chief judge Datuk Md Yusup Che
Teh, Syariah chief justice/Malaysian
Syariah judiciary director Datuk
Ibrahim Lembut and Federal
Territories Syariah chief justice Datuk
Muhammad Asri Abdullah, yesterday
fixed Jan 6 and 7 for the hearing to
allow Tan to obtain new appeal records
filed by the council.
Lawyer Ahmad Munawir Abdul
Aziz, who appeared for the council, told
the court earlier that they had filed
a new appeal record that was not
furnished during the trial.
He said an additional appeal
record would be filed and applied for
time for Tan to scrutinise the records.
The court allowed the application
and also allowed both parties to
submit written arguments on the
appeal records.
Tan, whose Muslim name is Siti
Fatimah Tan Abdullah, 39, originally
converted to Islam in July 1998 to
marry an Iranian but her husband
left her a few months after their
marriage.
She then filed an application to
renounce Islam in May 2006.
After the case was dragged for two
years, Syariah court judge Othman
Ibrahim allowed her application in a
landmark decision on May 8 this year.
‘More housewives get
HIV than sex workers’
by Karen Arukesamy
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
KUALA LUMPUR: With an average
of 12 Malaysians testing positive for
HIV each day, Malaysia has one of
the fastest growing AIDS epidemics
in the East Asia and Pacific region.
What is more worrying is that the
trend is gaining a feminine face, mainly
through heterosexual transmission.
A new report released by the
Health Ministry and United Nations
Children’s Fund (Unicef) yesterday
revealed that the trend of new HIV
infections amongst women rose
drastically to 16% in 2007 from 1.2%
of total new cases in 1990.
“The proportion of women
reported with HIV has increased
dramatically in the last decade. In
1990, only one in every 86 new HIV
infections was amongst women and
girls,” Sultanah Bahiyah Foundation
chairperson Datuk Seri Tunku Puteri
Safinaz said at the launch of the
Women and Girls Confronting HIV
and AIDS in Malaysia 2008 report.
However, she said, as of December
2007, it was one in six new infections.
“Shockingly, surveys show that
in 2006 more housewives tested
HIV-positive than sex workers,”
Tunku Puteri Safinaz said, adding
that there are thousands of children
living in homes shadowed by HIV.
The results are a cause for concern
as the vulnerability of women and
children to HIV are directly linked.
She said for families affected
by HIV and AIDS, the disease itself
does not have so much impact as it
can be kept under control for many
years with effective treatment.
“The biggest impact comes from
stigma. Mothers whose families are
Trio charged with submitting
false statements to Bursa
KUALA LUMPUR: Satang Jaya
Holdings Bhd managing director
and two directors pleaded not
guilty in the sessions court here
yesterday to four counts of sub-
mitting false statements to Bursa
Malaysia Securities Bhd.
Datuk Jamaluddin Hassan, 48,
Hakim Sukirman, 49, and Gan Chin
Sam, 50, were alleged to have
committed the offences in the
company’s quarterly reports be-
tween Feb 28 and Nov 30, 2007.
The charge under section
122B(b)(bb) of the Securities Indus-
try Act 1983 carries a maximum
jail term of 10 years or fine of RM3
| FRIDAY DECEMBER 5 2008
affected by HIV and AIDS are most
frightened by the reactions from
friends, extended family, colleagues
and their communities,” she said,
citing the case of a shopkeeper
in Kedah who refused to allow a
woman with HIV to enter his shop.
She said fear of AIDS could hurt
the patients more than the disease.
Stigma can cause a person to
be ostracised by friends and fam-
ily. It can even cause a HIV-positive
husband to disallow his wife to be
tested, she said.
“Stigma can cause a woman to
be so ashamed that she does not
seek treatment – meaning an early
death and young innocent child left
without a mother.”
Tunku Puteri Safinaz said it
can also cause the children to be
shunned by their teachers and
friends because they are infected.
Unicef representative in Malaysia
Youssouf Oomar said empowering
and encouraging women to be lead-
ers in any HIV response must be the
strategy of the future.
“Malaysia must ensure that
gender equality and empowerment
of women go hand-in-hand with
HIV and AIDS prevention and care
programmes,” he said.
“We need to get more women
involved and get them to work to-
gether to get their voices heard.”
He said the level of awareness
amongst housewives in Malaysia is
not enough to create consciousness.
“The fact that there are more
housewives infected with HIV than
sex workers is a serious cause of
concern. There should be more seri-
ous education in learning institutions
where students can bring home the
knowledge,” he said.
million or both if convicted.
Judge S.M. Komathy Sup-
piah fixed April 13 for remention
and allowed Jamaluddin bail of
RM250,000.
Jamaluddin was told to surren-
der his passport to the court.
The judge allowed Hakim bail of
RM200,000 with two sureties and
RM300,000 bail with one surety for
Gan. Both were ordered to report
to the Securities Commission
every month.
Jamaluddin and Hakim were
represented by Atan Mustaffa
Yusof while Ng Aik Guan Francis
acted for Gan. – Bernama