CIVITAS

Tindakan dianggap cubaan bunuh boleh dipenjara 20 tahun; Polis guna ujian DNA kenal pasti ibu bapa bayi

KUALA LUMPUR: Kabinet memutuskan kes pembuangan bayi disiasat sebagai kes bunuh atau percubaan membunuh bagi memastikan perbuatan tidak berperikemanusiaan itu menerima hukuman berat. 

Kes bunuh disiasat mengikut Seksyen 302 Kanun Keseksaan yang membawa hukuman gantung sampai mati, manakala kes percubaan membunuh mengikut Seksyen 307 kanun sama membawa hukuman penjara maksimum 20 tahun.

Sebelum ini, semua kes pembuangan bayi disiasat mengikut Seksyen 31 Akta Kanak-kanak yang boleh dihukum denda maksimum RM20,000 atau penjara 10 tahun atau kedua-duanya sekali jika sabit kesalahan. Bagi tempoh 2008 hingga 2009, sebanyak 181 kes pembuangan bayi dilaporkan manakala 60 kes direkodkan sejak awal tahun ini hingga semalam. 

Menteri Pembangunan Wanita, Keluarga dan Masyarakat, Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, berkata bukan saja wanita terbabit dengan kes pembuangan bayi akan dikenakan siasatan tetapi juga lelaki yang menyebabkan wanita itu mengandung. 

Katanya, polis juga diminta menggunakan kaedah ujian asid deoksiribonukleik (DNA) untuk mengenal pasti ibu bapa bayi berkenaan. 

Keputusan itu dicapai selepas kementerian sekali lagi membawa isu pembuangan bayi ke mesyuarat Jemaah Menteri kelmarin kerana perbuatan itu berleluasa walaupun kerajaan mengambil pelbagai inisiatif menangani masalah berkenaan. 
Saya tidak mahu ada pihak mengambil ringan kes pembuangan bayi sehingga membiarkan menjadi budaya yang menular dalam masyarakat seolah-olah kita 
berada pada zaman jahiliah. 

Sekian lama kerajaan menangani masalah kes pembuangan bayi menerusi pendekatan kebajikan termasuk kempen dan pelbagai program, malangnya masih ada manusia sanggup membunuh bayi, katanya selepas majlis penyerahan bantuan khas perbendaharaan kira-kira RM2.7 juta kepada 59 pertubuhan bukan kerajaan (NGO) di kementeriannya, semalam. 

Shahrizat berkata, langkah itu wajar untuk membawa pihak bertanggungjawab membunuh bayi dihadapkan ke mahkamah, sekali gus diberikan hukuman setimpal dengan tindakan tidak berperikemanusiaan. 

Jika ada pasangan yang terlanjur dan terdesak mendapatkan bantuan, mereka boleh datang ke pejabat Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat (JKM), hospital, polis, NGO dan pemimpin politik terutama Barisan Nasional (BN) supaya mereka boleh dibantu. 

Oleh itu, tiada alasan dan maaf bagi mereka yang masih sanggup melakukan kesalahan membuang bayi kerana pelbagai program dan bantuan disediakan untuk golongan berkenaan. Saya juga mahu memberi amaran kepada lelaki yang bertanggungjawab menyebabkan wanita hamil luar nikah bahawa mereka tidak terlepas daripada tindakan undang-undang, katanya.

Former Selangor Menteri Besar, Dato Seri Dr Khir Toyo was charged with land fraud involving two plots of land and a house in Shah Alam.

Khir had allegedly purchase the said properties from Ditamas Sdn Bhd director Shamsuddin Haryoni for RM3.5 million in 2007, which is much lower than Shamsuddin's purchase price of RM6.5 million.

Both Khir and Shamsuddin are being charged under Section 109 and Section 165 of the Penal Code, which when convicted, carry a penalty of fine or two years jail or both.

Did Khir Toyo abused his position as Menteri Besar to receive such price in exchange for other favours? Is it a crime to purchase a property below it's earlier purchased price? These will be among the legal questions the prosecution will need to answer and proof during trial, if it makes it to trial.

Blogger RBF questioned the strange manner of the case here.

Irrespective of the politics, perception and insinuation, it will be the court that will make the final decision.

Until then, Sekinchan's ADUN, Ng Swee Lim will have to pray Khir Toyo loses in the trial. It will be the court decision that will save him from Khir Toyo's subsequent lawsuit. He can't run if he still wish to remain an Assemblyman.

In the meanwhile, it looks like Khir Toyo continues to suffer at Khairy's hand.

This blog posting is NOT about whether Khir Toyo is guilty or innocent. But merely to respond to a comment by Khairy's immature cyber supporter below:

"terang lagi bersuluh perwakilan bijak menolak KT sbg calon KP Malaysia. Diharap bloggers yg begitu ghairah memburukkan kj menerima hakikat tersebut"

Before responding and counter attacking this wet between the ears kanak-kanak, let me state that I remain steadfast in my position that the heads of those corrupted ones must roll.

If Khir Toyo had committed corruption, he will have to face the music. If the prosecution fail to prove him wrong and the court decided he is innocent, we will have to hold our peace. It is just like when the court acquited Dato Norza Zakaria.

For Khairy's immature boys, they should ask themselves did Khairy obtained the majority of votes?
No, thus by their same logic, the majority Pemuda delegates rejected Khairy because he does not command the majority. By the same logic, the supporters chanting "rasuah! rasuah!" outside the hall against Khairy are the majority.

Khairy's supporters have a short memory. Khairy was judged guilty for committing money politics by the UMNO Disciplinary Committee but was let off by a mere warning.

This blog had revealed that there were video evidences and witnesses of Khairy harrassing delegates for votes. A two hour phone call from Pak Lah and a compromise is reached to "release" everyone or a light tap on the wrist to Save Private Khairy alone.

Thus it is not enough to charge only Khir Toyo. Khairy's case should be reopened if UMNO and UMNO-led Government is serious about money politics and corruption.

If found guilty, Khairy's head should roll also. The suspicion of guilt is overwhelming. Khairy is not able to answer these questions posed by Bigdogdotcom:

• What does Khairy do for a living?

• Is he a businessman, business owner, business developer, “mister fixer” or plain commission agent?

• If he is any of these, what business is he involved?

• Can he be transparent about it?

The details and explanation to those questions are here.

By avoiding to answer these questions, it puts him as a suspect in abusing his relationship as son-in-law to the former Prime Minister to acquire ill-gotten wealth through corruption and abuse of influence.

And, Khairy and his Tingkat 4 boys' - arrogance and flexing of power to bully and abuse the current Prime Minister when he was Deputy to Tun Abdullah - should not be left unreturned.

It is Khairy's political game that heightened intra-UMNO politicking to a new level of intensity and unabated cloak and dagger politicking that resulted in giving ammunition for opposition to win over Selangor.
Khairy, with the help of Kalimullah blow the issue of Bukit Cerakah out of proportion, to lay blame on Khir Toyo. They held back on the real culprits like Tan Sri Muhammad Muhammad Taib, Dato Affendi Nawawi, and many other parties including one that is sensitive to divulge for fear of shaming "Ketuanan Melayu."

Karam Singh Walia and TV3 was hounding Khir Toyo and Selangor Government on environmental issues.

Khairy wanted to beat Khir Toyo to the pulp to make sure he not run for Ketua Pemuda. He knew Khir Toyo was his real competitor and not Mukhriz.

This charge against Khir Toyo with regard to his home was not first raised by Sekinchan ADUN, Ng Swee Lim. It was first exposed by Khairy's cybertrooper.

Rashid Yusof, New Straits Times senior reporter aspiring to be Deputy Chief Group Editor, should own up. He was Khairy's campaign manager for Ketua Pemuda UMNO election.
Sources within the Khir Toyo camp claimed that Khir Toyo had once invited Khairy to his home for a friendly chat.

Soon after that visit, Khairy hired a helicopter to take aerial pictures of the constructed house. The pictures (like the one above) soon appeared on Khairy linked blogsites like BN Raksasa, Anti Khir Toyo, etc.
The same pictures was subsequently made into an issue by DAP's Ng by claiming the house is valued at RM24 million.

That time, no one asked how many major structures are there in the Bali resort style home complex to warrant such valuation? Khir Toyo wrote an explanation in his blog here.

Ng claimed he has got valuers report and buyers for the home at that price. Khir Toyo asked for the valuation report and responded to offer the house at that price. Ng could not respond and hence the lawsuit by Khir Toyo against him.

The lawsuit against Ng is about his slanderous claim that the house is valued at RM24 million. Whatever is the outcome of the current charge, Ng is still liable. He can't prove the house is valued at RM24 million and MACC is not finding fault with the so-called valuation of the house.

Khir Toyo can offer documents to proof valuation and bank financing requirements. Some can raise the question why is the valuer that fixed the figure at RM3.5 million is not charge also.

But many may not want to accept the reason Shamsuddin sold a property he bought at RM6.5 million in 2004 to sell at RM6.5 million in May 2007. Businessman will never sell anything at a loss.

However, the burden of proof will be on the prosecutor to show Shamsuddin is compensated elsewhere. They will have to tally with the fact that Khir Toyo has valuation report from Rahim & Co and HSBC bank offer letterIn the past, many corrupt politicians are being charged and have their political career decimated by lesser and frivolous offenses. It is usually not on cases where the real taking of bribes and abuse of power happened.

Is Khir Toyo a repeat of past practices? If so, it would seem there is a conspiracy to end his politics.

If he clear himself, then this is his opportunity to botox himself clean for a new lease of life. His latest blog posting here indicate his eagerness to clear his name. But if he fails, that is the end for this intelligent, cunning and gung ho young politician from the marhaen social class of a Javanese padi planter.

In the meanwhile, Khir Toyo will have to take another political retreat. The new UMNO policy on corruption require that politician facing corruption charges must withdraw from all political postion, except assemblymen and parlimentarian.

Khir is resigning from post as Head of UMNO Kuala Selangor Division and Head of Opposition at the Selangor State Assembly.

There is strong rumour that many more big sharks will be netted in from both sides, the BN and PR side. Even Kelantan MB, Nik Aziz and son in law Ariffahmi name is rumoured to be one. That means other Kelantan exco could be spending time between lawyers office and courts.

This blogger like to see few from amongst the cabinet members. And also some Selangor exco members and CEOs of few SLC should be facing the judges.

For the opposition, will they resign from their post in the manner Khir Toyo is doing? Or they will fashionably hit the street and cook up conspiracy theories.

Will mama boy Khairy resign as Ketua Pemuda should he be charged for abuse of power, corruption and money politics? Or will he ask baba Tun Abdullah or mama Datin Rahmah to call everyone from PM to the post messenger at PWTC?

If Khairy falls, he has too many enemies and immature followers to have another lease of life. Currently it is not too sure he could retain his Rembau seats against Chegu Bard.

We await how many and how the sharks will be hauled up.

Police say a majority of baby-dumping cases involve Malays which observers say is the result of the stigma of illegitimate children and the community being ill-equipped to deal with unwanted pregnancies.While there is no actual racial breakdown available because it is often difficult to determine the race of the babies, police say anecdotal evidence and prosecutions show the majority involve Malays.Police say 13 out of 65 cases involving the dumping of newborns have resulted in prosecutions. All of the accused were Malays.
A total of 67 cases were recorded in 2005, 83 cases in 2006, 76 in 2007, 102 in 2008 and 79 in 2009.
ACP Hamidah Yunus, deputy director of the CID’s sexual, abuse and children’s investigations division in Bukit Aman, said the actual racial composition could not be given as most cases were unsolved due to a lack of evidence.“All the 13 who have been charged (this year) are Malays... the ones we cannot solve we do not know, most of the babies found look Malay, but they are actually Indonesians, Vietnamese and Nepalese... we do not know until we figure out who threw these babies away,” Hamidah told The Malaysian Insider.Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Welfare Department told The Malaysian Insider that it was hard to determine the identity or race of the babies who were dumped.“We cannot really determine the race of the babies who have been abandoned. We can differentiate through their skin colour and facial features. But if a baby is already dead when we find them, it is difficult to determine,” said the spokesman.It is hard to determine the identity or race of the babies who were dumped, says the Welfare Department. — Reuters pic
Cases of babies being abandoned have increased from 65 cases in 2005 to 79 cases last year. On average, eight abandoned babies were found each month this year.
Hamidah blamed the lackadaisical attitude of the parents for abandoning their babies. Some are too young to get married, so they end up dumping their babies, she said.
“Family plays an important role here. You cannot just depend on the government to tackle this issue,” Hamidah said.Sisters in Islam spokeswoman Yasmin Masidi said teenagers who end up getting pregnant are usually ostracised by society, by fears that they will be punished by the religious authorities.“So when this happens, they leave their babies,” said Yasmin, adding that the lack of shelters for pregnant teens contributed to the rise in cases of baby dumping.
She added that unprotected sex and incest added to the number of cases although there was no statistical evidence.
Yasmin said that since most of the offenders in baby-dumping cases were teenagers, there was a need for sex education to be introduced in school.
“All this while the pressure has always been on the girls to have sex and they are blamed when babies are abandoned.
“Teenage boys should also be taught to take responsibility for their actions,” said Yasmin.
Malaysian Muslim Lawyers’ Association president Zainul Rijal Abu Bakar said the reason why the majority of baby-dumping cases involved Malays was because there was no control on curbing immoral activities.
“They are doing this due to a lack of religious guidance and I consider this a curse from Allah,” said Zainul.
Malaysian Syarie Lawyers’ Association deputy president Musa Awang claimed that Malays often took the short cut by abandoning their babies for fear of being shunned by society.“There is a possibility that other races do not view illegitimate children as an issue.“Society will often judge harshly in matters like this,” said Musa.
Jemmah Islah Malaysia (JIM) president Zaid Kamaruddin told The Malaysian Insider that he was shocked by the statistics produced by the police this year.
“What can be understood is that Malays do not practice safe sex, and do not handle the situation well. When they do not handle it well, it affects the rise in such cases,” said Zaid.
Zaid claimed that Malays were often caught in a dilemma of “not knowing what to do” once they were pregnant with child.
“Yes, it is the responsibility of society to tackle this issue but it still boils down to the individual. They need to take care of themselves,” said Zaid.

The Sphinx, Giza Plateau, near Cairo, Egypt

The Sphinx, Giza Plateau, near Cairo, Egypt

THE TADJ MAHALL

Resting in the middle of a wide plinth 23 feet (7 metres) high, the mausoleum proper is of white marble that reflects hues according to the intensity of sunlight or moonlight. It has four nearly identical facades, each with a wide central arch rising to 108 feet (33 metres) and chamfered (slanted) corners incorporating smaller arches. The majestic central dome, which reaches a height of 240 feet (73 metres) at the tip of its finial, is surrounded by four lesser domes. The acoustics inside the main dome cause the single note of a flute to reverberate five times. The interior of the mausoleum is organized around an octagonal marble chamber ornamented with low-relief carvings and semiprecious stones (pietra dura); therein are the cenotaphs of Mumtāz Maḥal and Shah Jahān. These false tombs are enclosed by a finely wrought filigree marble screen. Beneath the tombs, at garden level, lie the true sarcophagi. Standing gracefully apart from the central building, at each of the four corners of the square plinth, are elegant minarets.
Flanking the mausoleum near the northwestern and northeastern edges of the garden, respectively, are two symmetrically identical buildings—the mosque, which faces east, and its jawab, which faces west and provides aesthetic balance. Built of red Sikri sandstone with marble-necked domes and architraves, they contrast in both colour and texture with the mausoleum’s white marble.
The garden is set out along classical Mughal lines—a square quartered by long watercourses (pools)—with walking paths, fountains, and ornamental trees. Enclosed by the walls and structures of the complex, it provides a striking approach to the mausoleum, which can be seen reflected in the garden’s central pools

 The southern end of the complex is graced by a wide red sandstone gateway with a recessed central arch two stories high. White marble paneling around the arch is inlaid with black Qurʾānic lettering and floral designs. The main arch is flanked by two pairs of smaller arches. Crowning the northern and southern facades of the gateway are matching rows of white chattris (chhattris; cupola-like structures), 11 to each facade, accompanied by thin ornamental minarets that rise to some 98 feet (30 metres). At the four corners of the structure are octagonal towers capped with larger chattris.



Two notable decorative features are repeated throughout the complex: pietra dura and Arabic calligraphy. As embodied in the Mughal craft, pietra dura (Italian: “hard stone”) incorporates the inlay of semiprecious stones of various colours, including lapis lazuli, jade, crystal, turquoise, and amethyst, in highly formalized and intertwining geometric and floral designs. The colours serve to moderate the dazzling expanse of the white Makrana marble. Under the direction of Amānat Khan al-Shīrāzī, Qurʾānic verses were inscribed across numerous sections of the Taj Mahal in calligraphy, central to Islamic artistic tradition. One of the inscriptions in the sandstone gateway is known as Daybreak (89:28–30) and invites the faithful to enter paradise. Calligraphy also encircles the soaring arched entrances to the mausoleum proper. To ensure a uniform appearance from the vantage point of the terrace, the lettering increases in size according to its relative height and distance from the viewer.
A tradition relates that Shah Jahān originally intended to build another mausoleum across the river to house his own remains, and the two structures were to be connected by a bridge. He was deposed by his son Aurangzeb, however, and imprisoned for the rest of his life in Agra Fort, on the right bank of the Yamuna River 1 mile (1.6 km) west of the Taj Mahal.



Over the centuries the Taj Mahal has been subject to neglect and decay. A major restoration was carried out at the beginning of the 20th century under the direction of Lord Curzon, then the British viceroy of India. More recently, air pollution caused by emissions from foundries and other nearby factories and exhaust from motor vehicles has damaged the mausoleum, notably its marble facade. A number of steps have been taken to reduce the threat to the monument, among them the closing of some foundries and the installation of pollution-control equipment at others, the creation of a parkland buffer zone around the complex, and the banning of nearby vehicular traffic. Night viewing of the Taj Mahal was banned from 1984 to 2004, because it was feared that the monument would be a target of Sikh militants. A restoration and research program for the Taj Mahal was initiated in 1998. Progress in improving environmental conditions around the monument, however, has been slow.
The Taj Mahal has increasingly come to be seen as an Indian cultural symbol. Some Hindu nationalist groups have attempted to diminish the importance of the Muslim influence in accounting for the origins and design of the Taj Mahal.