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New Straits Times
14 hours ago
- Politics
- New Straits Times
Help on the way for family living in makeshift hut
KUALA BERANG: The plight of a family living in a makeshift hut may soon end, following intervention by the state Rural and Regional Development Ministry office. State Umno liaison committee chairman Datuk Rozi Mamat said the office has been instructed to urgently address the housing needs of Mat Nasir Ismail, 48, from Kampung Paya Besar, Kuala Berang. "We have contacted the state director, Md Razi Md Lazim, to address Mat Nasir's situation, who is currently living in a makeshift hut with his wife, five children, and a daughter-in-law. "We will also reach out to Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, to request urgent approval of funds for the construction of a proper house for Mat Nasir and his family," he said after visiting the family yesterday. It was previously reported that Mat Nasir, his wife Mazilah Mansor, 47, and their five children, including a child with disabilities, aged between 11 and 22, and a daughter-in-law, have been living in a makeshift hut in the village due to financial hardship and inability to pay rent. Following the report, various parties have stepped in to help, including launching a donation drive to cover part of the water piping work and the estimated RM2,000 needed for meter installation. Meanwhile, several officers from the Hulu Terengganu land office, the Social Welfare Department and the Terengganu Islamic Religious and Malay Customs Council (Maidam) also visited the family to offer assistance. Maidam chief executive officer Associate Professor Datuk Dr Ahmad Azrin Adnan said based on the council's aid records, Mat Nasir has been receiving monthly aid of RM700 since January. He had been receiving a monthly assistance of RM500 from the council since 2017.
New Straits Times
a day ago
- General
- New Straits Times
Family of seven lives in makeshift hut
KUALA BERANG: Struggling to make ends meet, Mat Nasir Ismail from Kampung Paya Besar dreams of offering a better life to his wife and family. Due to financial hardship and the inability to pay rent, the 48-year-old father and his wife, Mazilah Mansor, 47, have been living with their five children, including one with disabilities, in a makeshift hut in a forested area of the village since March. The family resides in a roughly three-metre-long by 1.52-metre-wide hut without walls, with only a thin layer of cement as flooring. Mat Nasir also built another small hut out of discarded materials to serve as a kitchen and sleeping area for his child and daughter-in-law, Nur Syazwanie Natasha Mohd Zafri, 19. Earning about RM600 a month doing odd jobs such as spraying pesticides and clearing orchards, Mat Nasir said he had moved house 20 times after failing to afford monthly rent of RM400. "Although the hut we live in lacks basic amenities like electricity and water, and there's a constant threat from wild animals, including snakes, we accept our fate because we simply can't afford to rent a house," he said. He admitted that he constantly worries about dangers from creatures such as snakes, centipedes, and scorpions, especially at night. "We were almost attacked by a python while trying to set up a small tent to sleep, but fortunately my son, Muhammad Hafiszuddin, 22, noticed it just in time," he said. The family relies on river water located about 150 metres from the hut for washing, cooking, and bathing. "Although a kind individual donated a water pump to channel river water into a storage tank, we often have to carry water in containers, especially when the pump breaks down," said Mat Nasir, who supplements his income with RM700 a month in aid he recieves from the Social Welfare Department and RM1,800 annually in subsistence assistance from the Terengganu Islamic Religious and Malay Customs Council. He said the money is used to purchase building materials like cement and bricks to gradually construct a proper home. The financial aid also helps cover schooling costs for his two children, Muhammad Ramadan, 13, who attends Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Sri Berang, and Muhammad Asyraf Muharam, 11, who studies at Sekolah Kebangsaan Tengku Ampuan Intan. "We have also applied for housing assistance, but our application was not approved," he added. Meanwhile, Kuala Berang state legislative assembly coordinating secretary Mohd Sapawi Shamsuddin said Mat Nasir and his family had been offered temporary accommodation free of charge at the Orang Kuala Berang (OKB) building, while efforts are made to secure proper housing assistance. "We have contacted the Kuala Berang constituency chief secretariat, Jalaludin Ismail, and he has agreed to provide free lodging at the OKB building for Mat Nasir," he said.
New Straits Times
27-05-2025
- Automotive
- New Straits Times
Johor road users eligible for compensation after RM700,000 payout
ISKANDAR PUTERI: Highway users involved in accidents caused by damaged road surfaces are eligible to claim compensation from the relevant authorities, with one motorist recently awarded more than RM700,000 in damages, the state government said." Johor's executive councillor for Public Works, Transport, Infrastructure and Communications, Mohamad Fazli Mohamad Salleh, said claims must be supported by clear evidence and documentation. He said a compensation amount of RM721,000 was awarded by the Johor Bahru Sessions Court after a motorist suffered losses linked to road damage. "If an accident occurs, or a vehicle is damaged due to road defects, road users can submit a claim to the concession company responsible for maintaining the route," he was quoted as saying by Kosmo!. Motorists are advised to provide photographs of the accident and vehicle damage, images of the road condition, the location and time of the incident, a police report, and any relevant receipts. "A formal letter can then be submitted to the appropriate authority, such as the local council, the Public Works Department, or the Malaysian Highway Authority," he added. Mohamad Fazli was responding to a question from Datuk Pandak Ahmad (BN–Kota Iskandar), who had raised concerns about the quality of road resurfacing and patchwork in the state.
New Straits Times
23-05-2025
- Business
- New Straits Times
CelcomDigi core earnings set to accelerate, driven by integration gains
KUALA LUMPUR: CelcomDigi Bhd's core earnings growth is expected to accelerate to 11 per cent and 25 per cent in financial year 2026 (FY26) and FY27, from four per cent in FY25. RHB Investment Bank Bhd (RHB Research) said this is driven by the tapering off of integration-related costs, the realisation of stronger synergies and improving commercial execution. The firm also noted that CelcomDigi has reaffirmed its steady-state pre-tax savings target of RM700 million to RM800 million post-FY27. For FY26, CelcomDigi expects low-single digit growth in service revenue, low-to-mid single digit earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) growth and capital expenditure-to-sales of 14-16 per cent. "We see integration cost tailing off in FY25 with the network integration coming to a close," the firm said in a research note. "With the improvement in commercial execution and greater extraction of merger synergies, we see core earnings growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18 per cent for FY25-27," it added. According to RHB Research, CelcomDigi has completed about 80 per cent of its network integration as at end of first quarter of 2025 from 75 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2024. "We see some challenges in integrating the remaining 20 per cent of the sites due to extended discussions with Digital Nasional Bhd and site owners with some slippage in integration timeline to the second half (Q1) of 2025," it added. The firm said the company has booked RM300 million in integration cost since the merger started, out of the RM527 million in total integration cost including capital expenditure (capex). Meanwhile, integration cost in Q1 totaled RM63 million, of which RM41 million is operating expenditure (opex)-related and the remainder on capex (RM22 million). The firm noted that the Q1 capex of RM148 million was low, representing just 5.0 per cent of revenue, but expected to increase over the next few quarters – in line with the IT platform upgrades. RHB Research kept its 'Buy' call on CelcomDigi with a target price of RM4.40 a share.
Daily Express
18-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Express
Political funding: Transparency must
Published on: Sunday, May 18, 2025 Published on: Sun, May 18, 2025 By: M Shanmugam Text Size: MACC chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki (front, centre) showing cash amounting to RM170 million and some 16kg of gold bars worth almost RM7 million seized from the homes and houses of four former aides of Former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri (Photo by Shahrill Basri/The Edge) In a space of just four months, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has raided houses linked to two politicians and recovered millions. The first case was in Selangor in October last year, when MACC seized S$1.5 million from these places following the arrest of two persons, including a former executive of Mentri Besar Selangor Inc (MBI). Advertisement The money is reported to be graft paid to a prominent politician in relation to sand mining contracts in the state and meant for political purposes. Last week, MACC displayed RM177 million in cash and valuables seized from the houses during its investigations into four ex-aides of former prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri. The investigations were in relation to the spending of RM700 million on promotional activities related to the Keluarga Malaysia campaign that Ismail ran during his tenure as prime minister. Interestingly, in both instances, the money seized was largely in foreign currency. In the Selangor case, it was mostly in Singapore dollars. As for cash seized last week, only 14 million was in ringgit. The rest was in foreign denominations. There were also gold bars worth RM16 million. Advertisement Why was the cash seized denominated mostly in foreign currency? Was it because the bulk of the money changed hands overseas? And how did so much cash in foreign currency find its way into the country? What's astounding is the vast amount of cash still swirling around politicians after the 2018 general election, especially when the possibility of a shift in political alignment arises. Hence, when the balance of power changes in Putrajaya, politicians who are not friendly with the government of the day but are holding vast amounts of cash that they cannot account for are easy targets. They can easily be implicated in offences related to money laundering and abuse of power. In the probe into the RM177 million case, Umno has distanced itself from the cash uncovered. This is very unlike the case involving the now-jailed Datuk Seri Najib Razak where more than RM114 million was found in a condominium in May 2018 after BN lost power. Apart from cash, police seized jewellery and valuables such as hand bags from Najib's house, estimated to be worth RM800 million. Umno and Najib had claimed that the money belonged to the party and not to the latter personally. According to reports, the money was returned in August 2021, which coincidentally was about the time Ismail took over as prime minister from Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin. In both the Selangor MBI and Keluarga Malaysia cases, so far there is no single political party that has claimed the money. Irrespective of that, what would be more interesting to know is where the money came from and whether the source of income can be justified. In most such situations, the money is said to come from business individuals and corporations. In the past, Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Albukhary had been named as giving donations in cases involving Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Muhyiddin. Syed Mokhtar, through his companies, had donated to Zahid Hamidi's foundation and Bersatu, when Muhyiddin was its president. In Zahid's case, he was also charged with receiving bribes from three companies amounting to RM42 million for allegedly helping them obtain a MyEG Services Bhd (KL:MYEG) project. In the case of Umno treasurer Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, property developer Tan Sri Chai Kin Kong of Aset Kayamas Sdn Bhd was implicated in giving him political donations to the tune of RM2 million. The outcome of the cases against the politicians has been different in each situation. Ahmad Zahid was given a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) on charges related to criminal breach of trust and money laundering that allegedly was transacted via his foundation, Yayasan Akalbudi, in September 2023. In 2021, when the government was under the rule of Pakatan Harapan 1.0, Tengku Adnan's corruption case was dismissed. As for Muhyiddin, in September last year, the prosecution was successful in its appeal at the Court of Appeal to restore charges against him involving RM232.5 million. The charges were related to abuse of power when he was the prime minister between March 2000 and August 2021. Because of the differing outcomes, the current administration of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has come in for a lot of flak for allegedly practising selective prosecution. This is especially after Zahid's DNAA, which continues to haunt the Anwar administration. However, Anwar has defended himself against the allegations of selective prosecution, saying that he does not interfere with the judiciary and that the key people in charge when Zahid was given the DNAA were appointed by his predecessors. The present Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimum Tuan Mat was appointed in 2019 when Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was the prime minister. In 2023, when Zahid was given a DNAA, Tan Sri Idrus Harun was the attorney-general and Tan Sri Azam Baki the chief commissioner of MACC. Both were appointed in 2020 after Muhyiddin became the prime minister. It is still early days to understand how RM177 million in cash came to be in the possession of Ismail's aides. But what is clear is the need for legitimacy and transparency in political funding. The Political Funding Act, which has been much talked about, has yet to be tabled in parliament. Currently, matters related to political funding, such as donations, are governed largely by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act and Anti-Money Laundering Act. Both come under the purview of MACC, which is the most powerful and feared government agency these days. According to a political party treasurer, a general election would involve at least RM800 million being spent. This is on the basis that each division needs up to RM5 million before the election machinery starts to roll. There are 222 parliamentary seats and the total amount comes to more than RM1 billion. This is a lot of money to be transacted through opaque dealings in the name of donations. Which is why transparency in political funding is a necessity and no longer an option. M Shanmugam ([email protected]) is a contributing editor at The Edge The views expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of the Daily Express. If you have something to share, write to us at: [email protected]
