Sabah & Sarawak Superblog

From: SaSa General FEED

1. Sebelum membeli barang, tanya dahulu harga yang dikenakan termasuk GST atau tidak.

2. Jika ada GST, tanya adakah resit rasmi akan diberikan untuk pembelian tersebut? Resit rasmi haruslah memaparkan nama dan nombor pendaftaran syarikat (akta ssm) dan juga no pendaftaran GST. Jika gst dikenakan, dan tiada resit dikeluarkan, JANGAN BERURUSNIAGA.

3. Setelah berurusniaga, semak nama dan no pendaftaran syarikat tadi di website kastam untuk memastikan syarikat tersebut betul berdaftar GST dan kenakan GST pada pelanggan.

4. Jika syarikat tersebut tidak berdaftar GST dan kenakan GST pada pelanggan, buat aduan ke kastam dan bawa resit tadi.

Peniaga boleh dikenakan denda rm200k jika tidak berdaftar GST tetapi kenakan GST pada pelanggan. Elakkan dari tertipu. Tiada resit, Jangan beli.

From: SaSa General FEED

Aktivi senamrobik sempena sambutan hari polis ke 208 anjuran PERKEP Meradong dgn tema "Polis Dan Masyarakat, Berpisah Tiada"

From: SaSa General FEED

KOTA KINABALU - Sabah Parks is investigating a news report about two female tourists sunbathing topless on the beach of Sulug Island in the presence of children and beach-goers.



State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun said the outcome of the investigation was expected to be known soon.



“The island is quite secluded and does not have proper facilities as other resort islands. So, I’m curious how tourists can get there and a thing like this can happen,” he said in response to the report.



Masidi was met after launching the Facebook page for “5R Hidupan Liar” and the public awareness and educational programme organised by Sabah Wildlife Department here yesterday.



He also called on Sabah Parks to distribute flyers to travel agents to advise tourists to be culturally sensitive when going to public beaches, especially where children are present. — Bernama



From: SaSa General FEED

From: SaSa General FEED

From: SaSa General FEED

KOTA KINABALU - A grouping of Sabah-based opposition parties and NGOs have formed the United Sabah Alliance (USA) with former State Finance Minister, Datuk Mohd Noor Mansoor elected as its Chairman on Sunday.



The announcement was made during the Gerakan Perpaduan dan Perubahan Sabah (GPS) or Sabah Reform and Solidarity Movement Roadshow, which was a continuation of United Borneo Front's (UBF) Borneo Tea Party (BTP) programme carried out prior to 13th General Election in Pukak, Kiulu attended by leaders of the organisations under the new grouping and about 200 people from around the area.



The NGOs under it are the Sabah Reform Movement (APS), which is led by Tamparuli Assemblyman Datuk Wilfred Bumburing and United Borneo Alliance (UBS) led by Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan who is also the Sabah Star Chief as well as Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP).



Former Keadilan candidates in the last election Gaibin Ransoi and Sindin Ranggangon, Terrence Sintih as well as Datuk Kalakau Untol and a former candidate for Snap in Bekenu, Thony Badak were also on hand.



"It is an honour for me to be elected and appointed to lead the United Sabah Alliance (USA). This is a very heavy responsibility which needs every support from every leader that is made up of USA.



"I thought I have retired from politics; at my age l should be enjoying life with my grandchildren. I no longer possess the same physical stamina as I used to have in the 1970s.



"But the theme 'Save Sabah and Malaysia' strikes at the core of my inner self because deep inside me, l know Sabah is not safe from irresponsible racist politicians whose struggles threaten the peace, harmony and unity which used to be enjoyed by every Sabahan regardless of race, culture and religion," said Mohd Noor who is now an adviser of SAPP.



He said saving Sabah from this extremism also means saving Malaysia as well.



"From now on, we will move together as a unit, riding on one platform, facing a common front and with the kind of support we are seeing at this stage of our alliance, surely we are ready to face any onslaught BN might throw against us.



"Let us unite for a better Sabah and a better Malaysia," he said.



Bumburing said the APS welcomed the formation of the USA because as opposition leaders they can no longer move individually and separately if they want to unite the people "who are now in disarray due to a weak opposition unity."



"The winds of change have been blowing over the Land Below the Wind before the 13th General Election; the people who wanted change were disappointed because the opposition, especially Sabah-based opposition parties are not united under one common front to face the Barisan Nasional.



"We are happy that today, unity has been formed and both APS and UBF-Star have agreed to elect veteran politician Mohd Noor as the Chairman to lead this alliance.



"I therefore call on all supporters and members of APS, UBF, STAR and SAPP and all individual or groups who share our common struggle to give our full support to Mohd Noor to lead this alliance," he said.



According to him, the main issues that they need to bring into the attention of the Federal government were to review and respect the Malaysia Agreement of 1963; review and honour Sabah's status as an autonomous State within Malaysia, and review and honour the Agreement pertaining to Sabah and Sarawak being equal partners with Malaya.



Dr Jeffrey, meanwhile, said UBF (and Star) agreed to team up with APS to form USA so that they would have a united voice and front to face Kuala Lumpur.



"Our voice as opposition in Sabah has always been ignored by Kuala Lumpur. Our hope and dream to be part of Malaysia has not been respected. We need a united voice, and a united front.



"Don't get us wrong; we are not starting a movement to take Sabah out of Malaysia; we are starting a movement to 'Save Sabah and Malaysia' from being split by these extremists both in BN as well as those who are opposed to BN's policy towards Sabah," he said.



Dr Jeffrey also expressed support to the statement by Kalabakan MP, Datuk Ghapur Salleh that instead of arresting people each time they talked about Sabah's rights, the Federal Government should listen to their problem and address it.



"We have heard time and again certain Umno leaders asking people to get out of the country if they are not happy with BN-Umno. This is very dangerous for Malaysia," he said.



Looking at the last General Election results in Sabah, there were quite a substantial number of voters who "didn't like BN-Umno" and therefore voted for the opposition.



"We therefore need to save Sabah for these people and if we can save Sabah, we can therefore save Malaysia as well.



"The only way we can get rid of extremist politicians is to see to it that local Sabah based parties get to form the State Government come the 14th General Election, that is our objective through United Sabah Alliance," he said.



From: SaSa General FEED

From: SaSa General FEED

IN THE summer of 2009, a Malaysian nicknamed “the Whale” appeared on the New York nightclub scene. He would travel with a large entourage in a fleet of Cadillacs and his party would spend tens of thousands of dollars a night in the company of socialites such as Paris Hilton.



“The Whale” is said to have celebrated his 28th birthday with a four-day event in Las Vegas that included a party at a pool surrounded by caged lions and tigers. Manhattan was abuzz with questions over his identity and the source of his wealth.



It emerged that the “mystery man” of the nightclubs was the Malaysian tycoon Taek Jho Low, who had been educated at Harrow School and the Wharton School in Pennsylvania. He claimed his success was due to being in the “right place at the right time”.



Low certainly has a wide range of business interests, building up a £650m investment fund that he started at university. He also runs Jynwel Capital, a Hong Kong fund with investments in media, retail, property and commodities. His family is independently wealthy.



There has been speculation, however, over his role at Malaysia’s state investment fund, which the bank Merrill Lynch warned last year had racked up debts of £7.8bn. The fund, 1MDB, is turning into a running sore for Najib Razak, the Malaysian prime minister, who chairs its advisory board, and a potential liability for his country’s balance sheet.



Senior fund officials have previously insisted that the charismatic Low, who is known to be close to the prime minister’s family, has had “zero” involvement in 1MDB.



Arul Kanda, the fund’s executive director, said last month: “Jho Low has no ties with 1MDB and I have not come across any document that linked him to this company.”



However, emails and documents passed to the Malaysian investigative website the Sarawak Report and seen by The Sunday Times expose for the first time the young tycoon’s role as a secret broker for 1MDB.



Najib, 61, who has led the country since 2009, now faces calls for an inquiry into the billions of dollars spent at 1MDB. He may also have to answer questions over why Low’s role at the fund was denied.



The affair adds to political pressure on the prime minister, whose government was warned about a perception of widespread cronyism in a report by the US Department of State in 2010.



It comes amid growing popular discontent over rising living costs, fuelled by the extravagant spending habits of Najib’s wife, Rosmah Mansor. She is seen as out of touch with many ordinary citizens struggling on meagre wages.



The documents reveal how Low played a vital role in one of the fund’s most controversial deals: a £630m investment in a joint venture with the international oil firm PetroSaudi.



The oil firm was founded in 2005 by Tarek Obaid, a Saudi businessman who has been a partner of Renault’s Formula One team.



Emails show Low was pushing the investment, writing in one email: “We need to move fast. We want to sign and pay by sept 09.”



About £630m was provided by 1MDB for a joint venture with PetroSaudi in September 2009, but documents indicate that £440m was then transferred out of the venture.



A proposal document says £385m of these funds were to be used for a Panama investment fund headed by Li Lin Seet, who works with Low at Jynwel Capital. PetroSaudi says it was never implemented.



1MDB — which invested or lent more money to PetroSaudi after this deal — has said it fully recovered all its liabilities from the deal and made a significant profit.



There are questions, however, about who took over 1MDB’s interest and the exact location of the recovered funds, which were initially moved to the Cayman Islands.



In an interview with The Sunday Times, Mahathir bin Mohamad, who was Malaysia’s prime minister for 22 years, called for an investigation. “Somebody must be doing something stupid to part with $700m [£440m] for no very good reason as far as I can see,” he said.



Mahathir said he wanted greater transparency on 1MDB’s funds, including money invested in, or loaned to, PetroSaudi. “They say it is Cayman Islands, and they say they brought it back, and then they said they have not brought it back, so I cannot be sure where the money is,” he said.



There is particular scrutiny over Low’s role because of his links to Najib’s family. Low helped in the making of the film The Wolf of Wall Street — which starred Leonardo DiCaprio and was produced by Riza Aziz, Najib’s stepson.



The documents also show Low was in contact with the prime minister’s aides on at least two issues, including correspondence about Malaysia-Saudi relations.



A source close to Low dismissed claims that he was a secret broker as “without merit”, because he had said this year that he gave his views to 1MDB on various matters. He had not profited personally from the fund, the source said.



A PetroSaudi source said the attacks on 1MDB were “politically motivated” and the fund made £320m profit on the joint venture. The firm consulted Low on the project but he wasn’t paid, the source said.



A 1MDB source said it was always made clear that Low had never been employed or retained by the fund, and that was still the position. All decisions were made by 1MDB management, and criticism of the profitable PetroSaudi venture was “misplaced”, the source said.



The Malaysian government said the prime minister was not involved in the day-to-day operations of 1MDB, which is run by a professional and experienced team. Its accounts were audited by Deloitte.



The government said: “Views expressed by certain quarters concerning 1MDB should be examined in light of political motivation. However, if any wrongdoing is proven, the law will be enforced without exception.”



Article taken from the Sunday Times



From: SaSa General FEED