Philippines based Abu Sayyaf gunmen want RM36mil to free Chinese tourist, no ransom for Filipina

Gao Huayun

< Video  http://shar.es/TX2SI

Home minister: Kidnappers want RM36m for Chinese tourist, Malaysia negotiating

themalaymailonline.com

 Images for Abu Sayyaf militants

KUALA LUMPUR: Abu Sayyaf-linked gunmen have demanded RM36.4mil for the release of a 29-year-old Chinese woman tourist whom they abducted from a resort off Semporna in Sabah, said Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

He added that there had been no ransom demand for the other hostage, a 40-year-old Filipina resort worker.

“We have received a note that the kidnappers have asked for 500 million pesos, equivalent to RM36.4mil, in ransom.

“We have sent our team, the police and negotiators to discuss with their so-called appointed middle person to negotiate about reducing the ransom,” he said after launching the “Message from Prison” segment of TV3’s Wanita Hari Ini programme here yesterday.

Gao Huayun and Marcy Daya­­­­wan were snatched from Singamata Reef Resort in Semporna on April 2.

One of the kidnappers is believed to be also involved in the abduction of a Taiwanese woman who was snatched on Pom Pom Island on Nov 15 last year after gunmen shot dead her husband.

To a question, Dr Ahmad Zahid denied that the Eastern Sabah Security Command was a failure, saying Esscom was merely carrying out its activities based on the Standard Operating Procedure that had been set for Esszon, the Eastern Sabah Security Zone.

He added that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had a meeting recently with the members of the National Security Council on tightening security in the area.

“We are going to tighten the activities within Esszon ... (more) equipment and assets are to be deployed within the Esszon area.”

Dr Ahmad Zahid said the police, military and Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency were working together and collaborating with the Philippine coast guard, navy and military on further tightening security.

Zahid said they would seek the cooperation from the resort operators within the Esszon area and ask them to install high-security cameras.

“We are going to ask them to install high-definition CCTV in all their premises to prevent future activities by intruders or kidnappers,” he added.

Sources: contributed by Florence A. Samy The Star/Asia News Network

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New China-US military ties: agree to disagree

Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister Chang Wanquan (L) and U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel (R) review the guard of honor at a welcoming ceremony before their talks in Beijing, capital of China, April 8, 2014. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing)

 

< Video China-US military: agree to disagree

Chinese President Xi Jinping (second right) shakes hands with US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel (second left) during a meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Wednesday. Photo: AFP

President Xi Jinping on Wednesday called on China and the US to build a new model of military relations in a meeting with visiting US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel.

As an important part of Sino-US ties, military relations should be advanced under the framework of building a new type of major power relations, Xi, who is also chairman of China's Central Military Commission, told Hagel.

The two countries need to effectively manage their differences and sensitive issues to ensure major power relations always go forward on the right track, Xi said.

The new type of China-US military ties are in the initial phase and the two sides have different understandings but they are looking for ways to advance, said Liu Weidong, an expert on US studies with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS).

Hagel is wrapping up his first visit to China since he became defense chief in February last year. His visit came after a stop in Japan, with which China has been embroiled in territorial disputes over the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea.

The defense chief's exchanges with Chinese military officials saw both blunt exchanges and handshakes, said an opinion piece by the Xinhua News Agency on Wednesday.

Before coming to China, Hagel said the goal for his Asia visit was to assure US allies of commitment to "our treaty obligations." He openly welcomed Japan's attempt to ease the ban on its collective self-defense in a written response to Japan's financial newspaper Nikkei and reassured Tokyo that the Diaoyu Islands fall under the US-Japan Security Treaty.

He was received with frank and outspoken comments from Chinese military officials before the public, which is rarely seen, said analysts.

Before reporters, Fan Changlong, vice-chairman of China's Central Military Commission, said Tuesday that Hagel's remarks on China made at the US-ASEAN defense ministers meeting in Hawaii last week and to the Japanese politicians were "tough."

"The Chinese people, including myself, are dissatisfied with such remarks," Fan noted.

Also in the presence of the press, China's defense minister Chang Wanquan called on the US to keep Tokyo within bounds and not be permissive. He said China would not take pre-emptive action, but its armed forces are ready to respond.

It's rare that Chinese military officials publicly express such attitudes and language, said Niu Xinchun, a research fellow with the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, noting that China has been angered by US rhetoric.

"The strong remarks display the diplomatic style of China's new leadership and China's increasing confidence," he told the Global Times.

It's also a tactic with which China wants to press the US to take China's feelings seriously, Liu noted.

Hagel also faced sharp questions when giving a speech at the People's Liberation Army (PLA)'s National Defense University. One Chinese officer voiced his concern that the US was stirring up trouble in the East China Sea and the South China Sea to hamper China's development out of fear of China as a challenge, Reuters reported.

"These questions are prepared by the organizer to deliver China's worries about a possible threat from the US-Japan alliance," said Liu.

Reuters reported China appeared to be getting anxious that the recent tough talk by US officials over China's territorial disputes with its neighbors could be a preview of what US President Barack Obama would say when he visits Asia later this month.

China's defense ministry Wednesday also voiced strong opposition to a bill passed by the US House of Representatives that called on the Obama administration to sell Perry-class frigates to Taiwan.

Meanwhile, Hagel was the first foreign official allowed onboard China's sole aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, in Qingdao, East China's Shandong Province.

This was seen as a gesture of China's sincerity and transparency by analysts.

With outspoken expressions and openness occurring at the same time, the exchanges between China and the US military indicate the wisdom of communication and the art of balance, said the Xinhua opinion piece.

An Obama administration official acknowledged that the tone was sharper on issues surrounding the South China Sea and the East China Sea than it had been on the last visit by a US defense secretary to China, which was in 2012.

"But in other areas the tone was actually improved," the official said, pointing to discussions on Sino-US military cooperation and even North Korea, according to Reuters.

Hagel said at the university that with the modernization and expanding presence in Asia and beyond of the Chinese army, forces from the two countries will have closer proximity, "which increases the risk of an incident, an accident, or a miscalculation."

"But this reality also presents new opportunities for cooperation," he said.

China and the US can enhance their mutual understanding when the divides are frankly discussed, although it's not likely to eradicate the mistrust between the two sides in just one visit, said Tao Wenzhao, an expert on US studies also with CASS.

By Sun Xiaobo Global Times

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Double standards on Ukraine and Crimea

Whichever superpower wins, Ukraine will be the loser of this East-West tug of war.

THE Russian incursion into Ukraine’s region of Crimea has, understandably, drawn strong critical response from the United States and the European Union. However, an impartial observer cannot fail to note the staggering hypocrisy evident in the Western response to Russia’s military actions.

International law: It is alleged that the Russian military intervention is a flagrant violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty under international law. It probably is.

This is despite the fact that the Russian expedition was at the behest of Viktor Yanukovych, Ukraine’s democratically elected and unlawfully deposed President.

What is noteworthy is that Russia acted under grave provocation and in circumstances that the US would never tolerate.

Background: Since the end of the Cold War, the US has been encircling Russia with military and missile sites including one in Ukraine.

Nato has enlisted many former Soviet republics into its fold.

Russia is understandably sensitive about its Black Sea Fleet in Ukraine and Nato’s presence on its borders.

This is no different from President John F. Kennedy’s alarm when the USSR, under Nikita Khruschev, ins­talled missiles in Cuba in the Sixties.

In addition to military encirclement, a US organisation, namely the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), was operating in Ukraine and funding 65 projects, grooming replacements for President Yanuko­vych and resorting to psychological warfare.

The NED was founded in America in 1983 to promote its foreign policy objectives abroad.

In recent times Ukraine was mired in an economic crisis and Russia and the EU were in a bidding war to salvage it. Russia earmarked US$15bil (RM49bil) in economic assistance. The EU offered US$800mil (RM2.6bil) plus access to EU goods and services.

When Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych aligned with Russia against the EU proposal, the Western backed opposition took to the streets.

The US-funded National Endowment for Democracy was complicit in fuelling the disorder. Radical forces gained ascendency and violence begat violence. 

Yanukovych, Ukraine’s democratically elected President, offered to set up a unity government, bring electoral reform, effect constitutional changes and call early elections.

Unfortunately, negotiations broke down. He was then ousted in a US-supported coup and replaced with US chosen stand-ins.

The Ukrainian Parliament then acted foolishly to enact a series of draconian laws offensive to ethnic Russians in provinces that were carved out of the old Soviet Union. Yanukovych sought Russia’s help to protect the ethnic Russian population.

Under these circumstances, the Russian Parliament authorised Russian President Vladimir Putin to deploy troops inside Ukraine to protect the Russians living there.

US exceptionalism: The US has a long history of similar and even bloodier interventions as Russia’s. It has bombed or invaded 30 countries since World War Two.

In the last decade itself, there were full-scale invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq on trumped up charges plus bombing of Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and Libya.

US drones blow up “enemy combatants” in many parts of the world with sickening regularity.

The US keeps Syria and Iran under constant threats.

It refuses to join the International Criminal Court lest its international crimes be prosecuted.

Despite its professed belief in democracy, Washington has a sordid record of collaborating with right-wing military officers to overthrow elected leaders who do not do Washington’s bidding.

A partial list would include Mohammad Mossadegh in Iran (1953), Jacobo Arbez in Guatemala (1954), Salvador Allende in Chile (1973), Jean-Bertrand Aristide in Haiti twice, Hugo Chavez in Venezuela (2002), Manuel Zelaya in Honduras (2009), Mohammed Morsi in Egypt (2013) and now Yanukovych in Ukraine (2014).

A close parallel to the Russian intervention was President Bill Clinton’s invasion of Haiti in 1994 to reinstall Haiti’s elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

Russia has not gone that far regarding Yanukovych.

Besides the US, France is notable for its recent military interventions in its former colonies of Mali and Central African Republic.

Unconstitutionality: The US alleges that the Crimean referendum that resulted in an overwhelming vote to join Russia was contrary to the Ukrainian Constitution.

In fact, the trampling of the Ukrainian Constitution was equally evident in the ouster of the democratically elected President, which the US lustily cheered.

Under the Constitution of 1996 (which was restored by Yanukovych in 2010) Parliament has the right to impeach a President for treason or other crimes by a three-fourths majority.

This majority was not obtained. The impeachment must be reviewed by a Constitutional Court and it is not clear whether this mandatory procedure was complied with.

Also, it is the PM and not the Speaker of the House, who should under the Constitution fill the vacant presidency.

Secession: If Crimea’s secession is illegal, can the US explain its support for the secession of Bosnia, Kosovo, Slovakia, the Falkland Islands, East Timor, Scotland and Catalonia?

In fact the West was delirious about the break-up of Sudan.

One could point to Article 1 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966) that “all people have the right of self-determination”.

Cold war: The Crimean crisis reignites the Cold War between Russia and the West. At stake is Ukraine’s return to the Russian sphere of influence or its drift towards the West.

Alternatively, the country will split into two – its Western part drifting towards a reluctant Europe and the South and the East remaining aligned with Russia.

Whichever superpower wins, Ukraine will be the loser of this East-West tug of war.

The Crimean Tartars face an uncertain future in Russia.

In the meantime, one cannot but marvel at the breathtaking hypocrisy of all sides – the US and EU on Ukraine and Russia on Chechnya.

William Blum puts it well: “Hypocrisy of this magnitude has to be respected”!

Contributed by Shad Saleem Faruqi Reflecting On The Law

> Shad Faruqi, Emeritus Professor of Law at UiTM, is a passionate student and teacher of the law who aspires to make difficult things look simple and simple things look rich. Through this column, he seeks to inspire change for the better as every political, social and economic issue ultimately has constitutional law implications. He can be reached at prof.shad.saleem.faruqi@gmail.com. The views expressed here are entirely his own.

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China should offer Hagel tough welcome

U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel (L) shakes hands with Japan’s Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera - US Backs Militarization Of Japan In Response To China US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel concluded his Japanese tour and kicked off a visit to China on Monday. In Tokyo he made many remarks that were pleasant to Japanese. Hagel publicly warned China not to tackle the ongoing territorial disputes with neighboring countries as "the Russians have done with Ukraine." It's expected he will soft-pedal on these issues when he is in Beijing.

< Video: Fan Changlong: “dissatisfied” with remarks by Chuck Hagel.

But Chinese officials should respond to Hagel's unusually forceful remarks with toughness. The US hasn't totally sided with countries like Japan and the Philippines over their territorial disputes with China yet. However, there is little difference between Washington's current partiality for Tokyo and Manila and open support of confronting China.

Many Chinese believe the core of the US "rebalancing Asia" strategy lies in that the US is attempting to burden China's rise through instigating confrontation with other countries in the neighborhood. It's during the implementation of this US strategy that territorial spats have been escalated due to the aggressive and offensive policies of Japan and the Philippines.

Chinese public opinion has given up hope of reason with the US, since Washington is adept in manipulating double standards.

In the US eyes, Japan's "nationalizing the Diaoyu Islands" and the Philippines' trickery to bolster its territorial clam through reinforcing a marooned navy ship that it stationed in Ren'ai reef are not violations of the "status quo," while any countermeasures by China are called "aggression."

The US is good at maneuvering in East Asia. But it overestimates the value of the "rebalancing Asia" strategy if it misperceives China as easily cowed into submission. China is not Russia, nor will the South China Sea and East China Sea be Crimea. Restraint is the basic philosophy of China in front of frictions, but we also make it clear, "Don't irritate us!"

If Washington continues to indulge Tokyo and Manila in provoking China, it will pay the price sooner or later. The cost is that the US will feel ashamed.

For instance, China will spare no efforts to prevent the Philippines consolidating the rusting ship in Ren'ai Reef. Any promises that the US makes to the Philippines and Japan that they can do whatever they want in Ren'ai Reef and Diaoyu Islands will prove empty.

China has no intentions to imitate Russia in how to deal with frictions on its periphery. It's the US that should learn a lesson from the Crimea crisis. Washington suppressed Russia's strategic space, but it got cold feet when Moscow upped the ante.

Conflicts in Europe cannot be replicated in East Asia. The US should be careful that it cannot suppress China as it has done with Russia. Countries like Japan and the Philippines shouldn't be used as pawns to contain China.

China emphasizes the importance of building a new type of major power relationship with the US. As the sole super power, the US has gained the upper hand in Sino-US relations, but it will finally get trapped if it continues to snub our Chinese feelings. - Global Times

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National Higher Eduction Fund shows nurse earning RM27.4mil

Malaysia's Auditor-General's Report 2013

THE National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) was found to have “illogical” records of parents of loan applicants with a nurse said to be earning RM27.4mil.

“Information of parents or guardians’ salary is important to determine the eligibility of the loan applicant. However, it was found that there were 384 record of salaries which were illogical compared to their job,” the Auditor-General’s Report said.

Among others, it showed that a policeman earned RM1.98mil; while a clerk was paid just RM34 and a settler got a paltry RM2. The report also discovered 921 duplicated records, with students having between two and seven similar accounts.

In its reply, PTPTN said that it would sort out its data on borrowers’ information in its master file.

The archiving process is expected to finish by June

On another matter, the Auditor-General also criticised the agency for equipping its officers with both a personal computer and laptop, a move which cost more than RM100,000 in leasing fees. Yet, the 104 computers were left unused in storerooms.

“An officer should be alloted only one laptop which can be used both in the office or outside. Such a move could save PTPTN RM1.4mil in cost in three years.”

The report said PTPTN branches in Pahang, Sarawak, Perak and Negri Sembilan had 49 desktops and seven laptops left in the storerooms.

In its reply, PTPTN explained that 87 out of 104 computers had been installed in stages at its branches while the rest were used to facilitate the printing of National Education Savings Scheme deposit cards at all PTPTN counters.

As for the Prisons Department, it was ticked off for keeping its bread-making equipment at inappropriate places such as car parks.

The equipment was meant for its Bread Industry Self-Sufficiency Pro­gramme where prisoners could acquire new skills.

However, an audit on five prisons showed that the machines were not properly kept.

In its response on Feb 4, the department said the machines had been moved to a safer place and that the rusty ones had been cleaned up.

Health offices used funds meant for poor kids on own meals

PETALING JAYA: Money meant for food to feed malnourished children was instead spent on buying meals such as nasi lemak, kuih and teh tarik to be served at meetings by three district health offices.

The abuse is one of the key highlights of the 2013 Auditor-General’s Report which listed 283 issues related to wastage of funds, poor rev­­e­n­ue and asset management, negligence as well as weak planning and monitoring of projects.

The shocking discovery showed that RM87,851 out of RM923,000 meant to feed poor rural children was misspent by the Jerantut, Gua Musang and Kota Kinabalu health offices, causing a public uproar.

The report pointed out that the funds were also misused by the three health offices to buy curtains, hampers for cooking programmes, and replica models of food items such as biscuits, nasi goreng, and nasi lemak.

Souvenirs, t-shirts for a choir group, as well as the rental of canopies for a family day were also among the items purchased.

Discrepancies were also found between the prices of food items in the tender documents and invoices.

As a result of the discovery, the Health Ministry set up an internal investigation committee on Feb 27 to investigate and reprimand the officers involved.

Suhakam commissioner James Nayagam described the abuse involving hungry children as a serious crime that should be investigated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.

“This is corruption no matter how you cut the cake, because money meant for hungry children was used to feed those who were supposed to take care of them,” said Nayagam who has worked with children’s organisations for the past 33 years.

The report said that the weight recovery of the children in the Health Ministry’s Rehabilitation Programme for Malnourished Children, which started in 1989, also did not reflect the targets set.

The underweight children were found to have only achieved normal weight after a year and not within the six to 12 months promised by the programme.

A total of 8,556 children were in the programme between 2011 and 2013 with an allocation of RM66.51mil.

All the youngsters were supposed to receive food baskets comprising food items and multivitamins worth RM150 each under the programme.

The food baskets provided 104% of their calorie needs and 222% of their protein needs.

The report said some of the health offices went over the RM150 budget in buying the food items for the children due to the rise in the price of goods and the higher cost of certain items in rural areas.

A total of RM238,213 was overspent on the food baskets, with the Tawau health office found to have overspent by RM88.80 per basket.

The report said the ministry after being queried had set up an internal investigation committee on Jan 27 and that the probe on the matter was expected to be finished by the end of February.

The ministry had also explained to the auditors that it needed to spend not just on the malnourished children’s programme but on other programmes as well.

The report in its recommendations said officers must have a good grasp of financial regulations to ensure that allocations were spent according to the rules.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam, when contacted, declined to comment, saying his ministry would issue a statement in due time.

- Contributed b by RAZAK AHMAD,MAZWIN NIK ANIS and G. SURACH The Star/Asia News Network

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The money in golf clubs land in the Klang Valley, Malaysia

Golf course land has been in the spotlight after three golf clubs became the target of developers in Klang Valley.

The three are Kelab Rahman Putra Malaysia, Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah (KGSSAAS) Golf Course and Perangsang Templer Golf Club in Templer Park.

The last to join the fray is Perfect Eagle Development Sdn Bhd, which has submitted a proposal to acquire 279 acres of land, which Kelab Rahman Putra Malaysia sits on, for a cash consideration of RM296mil.

Perfect Eagle, which made the offer two weeks ago, plans to convert a portion of the golf course for property development.

The deal is still pending approval from its members. But if the offer is accepted by the members, each of the 4,230 members would receive RM70,000 cash each, which is not too bad considering that the golf club membership cost less than RM15,000 when it was started in the mid-1990s.

In 2012, Kelab Rahman Putra also received an offer to buy the club for RM130mil, however it was rejected by the members.



As for KGSSAAS, the owner - Great Doctrine (M) Sdn Bhd - sold a portion of its golf course - 34.6ha - to Mah Sing Group Bhd last week for RM327.4mil.

To facilitate the deal, KGSSAAS, which currently has a 27-hole golf course facility, would shrink the size of the course to an 18-hole course.

Mah Sing expects the project to have a gross development value (GDV) of RM2.5bil.

In February, Perangsang Templer Golf Club in Templer Park was reportedly to be closed down to make way for a high-end residential and commercial property project that could worth RM1.24bil.

SP Setia Bhd has signed a joint-venture deal with Kumpulan Perangsang Selangor Bhd (KPS).

KPS, via its unit Cash Band (M) Bhd, is the owner of three parcels of 194.65 acres of leasehold land. SP Setia’s role under the agreement is to develop the land as well as to market and sell the commercial and residential units.

It has been reported that KPS had done a study to evaluate the redevelopment potential of the 18-hole golf course, and said that it was “not-fully optimised in its current form and utilisation”.

It notes that the conversion of the land to mixed development status could unlock the true value of the land.
There is no doubting that golf courses in the Klang Valley are highly attractive to developers.

A quick check indicates that there are over 15 golf courses scattered around Klang Valley, and Petaling Jaya alone has almost six golf courses.

With land scarcity in the Klang Valley and the rising demand for homes, golf land has become hot property.

“As land become scarcer, golf land may become more viable for development as they are generally well located.

“In fact, much of golf land are located in matured locations with established amenities,” says Mah Sing group managing director Tan Sri Leong Hoy Kum.

Nonetheless, he notes that the recent golf land acquisitions was mainly due to the location, land price, payment terms and development potential.

“We do not set out to acquire golf land per se, but we continuously look at landbanks that fit our business model,” he adds.

Traditionally, golf courses in Malaysia are surrounded by lavish bungalow units in a pristine neighborhood. Homeowners would enjoy a tranquil park built within the area, giving them a peaceful environment away from the concrete jungle.

Experts say developers that are targeting golf clubs are actually looking for landbanks for future high-end development.

“Most of the golf courses in the Klang Valley were planned to be part of a comprehensive development with luxury housing and sometimes, commercial components like resort hotel and office park.

“But as time goes by when the development matures and the land and house prices increase in the area, it makes better sense financially for the golf course land to be used for higher value developments such as luxury housing,” says Henry Butcher Marketing Sdn Bhd chief operating officer Tang Chee Meng.

He says the factors that drive property developers to buy over golf courses are location, matured neighbourhood, nice environment and large land size.

When asked if there would be more golf land to be gobbled by property developers, he says it would depend on the property market, land prices, consumer preferences and development trends.

An analyst says that the scenario of having golf land being scrapped to make way for property development is not only unique in Malaysia, but also seen in other countries such as in the United States, UK and Singapore.

“It’s a natural evolution as long as the state government approves it,” he says.

“The shortage of suitable development land in the city area has resulted in developers targeting other types of land, and this includes golf courses,” he adds.

He says acquiring golf land at the moment is timely, considering the maturity of the Klang Valley area.

“It would be the right time to develop such land especially if the golf courses are underutilised,” an analyst says.

While Mah Sing scores a hole-in-one with the acquisition of a parcel of land in KGSSAAS, some developers may not find it easy to acquire golf courses.

A major obstacle is getting approval from members.

One of the reasons why Mah Sing was successful with the KGSSAAS deal was because the transaction did not need the approval of members.

That the land was up for sale was also known in the market.

KGSSAAS, located near Stadium Shah Alam’s Section 13, was sold for RM88 per sq ft to Mah Sing.

For Perfect Eagle Development, the acquisition could be tricky, as the consent of members is required.

When contacted, a member of Kelab Rahman Putra Malaysia says he would prefer to reject any offer to buy the club land due to the embedded value of the land.

While golf clubs have attracted interest of late, it is not a new phenomenon.

In 2011, Dijaya Corp, now known as Tropicana Corp Bhd, bought over the Japanese-owned Kajang Hill Golf Country Club for a reported RM228mil for 80.33ha freehold land.

The land was then be transformed into Tropicana Heights Kajang, a mixed development project, comprising landed homes, condominiums, apartments, and shop offices with an expected gross development value of RM2bil.

One of the pioneers in developing golf courses is YTL Land & Development Bhd.

The group had scrapped what used to be a nine-hole golf course in Sentul, and converted it into a private gated park for residents in the Sentul West development.

The park, also known as Sentul Park, was formerly the 85-year-old Sentul Raya Golf Club.

In 2001, YTL acquired Taiping Consolidated Sdn Bhd and inherited the whole Sentul Raya project, which spanned over 294 acres of land, including the golf course.

Contributed by  Intan Farhana Zainul The Star/Asia News Network

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China ship detected ‘pulse signals’ are consistent with MH370 aircraft black box

This photograph taken on July 24, 2013 shows crew members standing on the deck of the vessel "Haixun 01"

Chinese patrol ship picks up signal in Indian Ocean

China’s patrol ship, the Haixun 01, has picked up pulses with a frequency of 37.5 kilo hertz in the ...

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A Chinese air force plane searching for missing Malaysian passenger jet MH370 spotted a number of white floating objects in the search area Saturday.

Ships sent to verify suspicious pulse signal Xinhuanet 2014-04-05

Verification underway after Chinese ship detects suspicious ... Xinhuanet 2014-04-06

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Planes and ships continue criss-cross search grid fo flight MH370 in Indian ocean | Watch News Videos Onlinehttp://globalnews.ca/video/1252652
 
PERTH, Australia — A Chinese ship involved in the hunt for the missing Malaysian jetliner reported hearing a “pulse signal” Saturday in southern Indian Ocean waters with the same frequency emitted by the plane’s data recorders, as Malaysia vowed not to give up the search for the aircraft.

The Australian government agency coordinating the search for the missing plane said early Sunday that the electronic pulse signals reportedly detected by the Chinese ship are consistent with those of an aircraft black box. But retired Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, the head of the search coordination agency, said they “cannot verify any connection” at this stage between the electronic signals and the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

Military and civilian planes, ships with deep-sea searching equipment and a British nuclear submarine scoured a remote patch of the southern Indian Ocean off Australia’s west coast, in an increasingly urgent hunt for debris and the “black box” recorders that hold vital information about Malaysia Airlines Flight 370′s last hours.

After weeks of fruitless looking, the multinational search team is racing against time to find the sound-emitting beacons in the flight and cockpit voice recorders that could help unravel the mystery of the plane’s fate. The beacons in the black boxes emit “pings” so they can be more easily found, but the batteries only last for about a month.

A Chinese ship that is part of the search effort detected a “pulse signal” in southern Indian Ocean waters, China’s official Xinhua News Agency reported. Xinhua, however, said it had not yet been determined whether the signal was related to the missing plane, citing the China Maritime Search and Rescue Center.

Xinhua said a black box detector deployed by the ship, Haixun 01, picked up a signal at 37.5 kilohertz (cycles per second), the same frequency emitted by flight data recorders. Malaysia’s civil aviation chief, Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, confirmed that the frequency emitted by Flight 370′s black boxes were 37.5 kilohertz and said authorities were verifying the report.

Earlier Saturday, Xinhua reported that a Chinese military aircraft searching for the missing aircraft spotted “white floating objects” not far from where the electronic signals were detected.

Finding floating wreckage is key to narrowing the search area, as officials can then use data on currents to backtrack to where the plane hit the water, and where the flight recorders may be.

Houston said the Australian-led Joint Agency Coordination Centre heading the search operation could not yet verify the Chinese reports and had asked China for “any further information that may be relevant.” He said the Australian air force was considering deploying more aircraft to the area where the Chinese ship reportedly detected the sounds.

“I have been advised that a series of sounds have been detected by a Chinese ship in the search area. The characteristics reported are consistent with the aircraft black box,” Houston said, adding that the Australian-led agency had also received reports of the white objects sighted on the ocean surface about 90 kilometers (56 miles) from where the electronic signals were detected.

“However, there is no confirmation at this stage that the signals and the objects are related to the missing aircraft,” Houston said.

Still, Malaysia’s defense minister and acting transport minister, Hishammuddin Hussein, was hopeful. “Another night of hope – praying hard,” he tweeted in response to the latest discoveries.

There are many clicks, buzzes and other sounds in the ocean from animals, but the 37.5 kilohertz pulse was selected for underwater locator beacons on black boxes because there is nothing else in the sea that would naturally make that sound, said William Waldock, an expert on search and rescue who teaches accident investigation at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Arizona.

“They picked that (frequency) so there wouldn’t be false alarms from other things in the ocean,” he said.

Honeywell Aerospace, which made the boxes in the missing Malaysia Airlines plane, said the Underwater Acoustic Beacons on both the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder operate at a frequency of 37.5 kilohertz plus or minus 1 kilohertz.

Waldock cautioned that “it’s possible it could be an aberrant signal” from a nuclear submarine if there was one in the vicinity.

If the sounds can be verified, it would reduce the search area to about 10 square kilometers (4 square miles), Waldock said. Unmanned robot subs with sidescan sonar would then be sent into the water to try to locate the wreckage, he said.

John Goglia, a former U.S. National Transportation Safety Board member, called the report “exciting,” but cautioned that “there is an awful lot of noise in the ocean.”

“One ship, one ping doesn’t make a success story,” he said. “It will have to be explored. I guarantee you there are other resources being moved into the area to see if it can be verified.”

The Boeing 777 disappeared March 8 while en route from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing with 239 people aboard. So far, no trace of the jet has been found.

Hishammuddin, the Malaysian defense minister, told reporters in Kuala Lumpur that the cost of mounting the search was immaterial compared to providing solace for the families of those on board by establishing what happened.

EPA/ABIS JULIANNE CROPLEY/AUSTRALIAN DEPARTMENT OF DEFENCEA handout picture made available by the Australian Department of Defense (DOD) on 02 April 2014 shows the HMAS Success searching for the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, at sea in the southern Indian Ocean, 31 March 2013. 

“I can only speak for Malaysia, and Malaysia will not stop looking for MH370,” Hishammuddin said.

He said an independent investigator would be appointed to lead a team that will try to determine what happened to Flight 370. The team will include three groups: One will look at airworthiness, including maintenance, structures and systems; another will examine operations, such as flight recorders and meteorology; and a third will consider medical and human factors.

The investigation team will include officials and experts from several nations, including Australia – which as the nearest country to the search zone is currently heading the hunt – China, the United States, Britain and France, Hishammuddin said.

Officials have said the hunt for the wreckage is among the hardest ever undertaken, and will get much harder if there are no confirmed debris sightings and the beacons fall silent before they are found.

If that happens, the only hope for finding the plane may be a full survey of the Indian Ocean floor, an operation that would take years and an enormous international operation.

Hishammuddin said there were no new satellite images or data that can provide new leads for searchers. The focus now is fully on the ocean search, he said.

Two ships – the Australian navy’s Ocean Shield and the British HMS Echo – carrying sophisticated equipment that can hear the recorders’ pings returned Saturday to an area investigators hope is close to where the plane went down. They concede the area they have identified is a best guess.

Up to 13 military and civilian planes and nine other ships took part in the search Saturday, the Australian agency coordinating the search said.

Because the U.S. Navy’s pinger locator can pick up signals to a depth of 6,100 meters (20,000 feet), it should be able to hear the plane’s data recorders even if they are in the deepest part of the search zone – about 5,800 meters (19,000 feet). But that’s only if the locator gets within range of the black boxes – a tough task, given the size of the search area and the fact that the pinger locator must be dragged slowly through the water at just 1 to 5 knots (1 to 6 mph).

Australia’s Houston acknowledged the search area was essentially a best guess, and noted the time when the plane’s locator beacons would shut down was “getting pretty close.”

The overall search area is a 217,000-square-kilometer (84,000-square-mile) zone in the southern Indian Ocean, about 1,700 kilometers (1,100 miles) northwest of the western Australian city of Perth.

-  Nick Perry and Eileen Ng, Associated Press
Ng reported from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Associated Press writers Gillian Wong in Kuala Lumpur, Rod McGuirk in Canberra, Australia, Kristen Gelineau and Rohan Sullivan in Sydney, and Joan Lowy in Washington contributed to this report.

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Chinese tourists abducted by Philippine terrorists, to sour ties with China?

PERTH: Malaysia is not ruling out the possibility that the latest abduction case at a resort off Semporna was a deliberate act to sour the country’s relations with China, says Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

He said the fact that one of those kidnapped was a Chinese national could complicate the situation further following the disappearance of MH370, which had mostly Chinese nationals on board.

“There may be those who are attempting to drive a wedge between China and us. They may be trying to take advantage of the situation,” Najib said after a bilateral meeting with his Australian counterpart Tony Abbott at the Commonwealth Parlia­mentary Office here.

Najib, however, believes ties with China will remain strong despite the kidnap incident.

Najib said Malaysia had sought the cooperation of Filipino authorities on the matter, while police were investigating how the incident could have happened.

A news portal had reported that rebel group Abu Sayyaf was responsible for the abduction.

Filipino military sources told Rappler.com that the two women were taken by six former Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) members who had joined Abu Sayyaf.

In Kota Kinabalu, Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman has ordered that all available resources be directed towards solving the kidnapping case at a resort in Sem­porna.

He said the Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) director-general Datuk Mohammad Mentek had briefed him on the kidnapping.

Kidnappers suspected to be Philippine militants

<< Video For the latest on the kidnapping, let´s go live to James Chau in the Malaysian capital Kuala L...

RM11.5mil the usual price for non-Filipino hostage

PETALING JAYA: The notorious Abu Sayyaf group believed to be responsible for the abduction of a Chinese and Philippine national in Sabah used to demand up to US$3.5mil (RM11.5mil) for the release of non-Filipino citizens, said a security analyst.

Prof Dr Aruna Gopinath who specialises in maritime security said the separatist group based at Basilan in the southern Philippines would typically charge a lower rate of three million pesos (RM219,000) for the release of Filipino citizens.

“The Abu Sayyaf are only interested in money and a ransom will have to be paid before they release their hostages,” she said.

Aruna said a Philippine reporter she knew was kidnapped by the group in 2011 and was held captive for 90 days.

“She met the Abu Sayyaf leaders in Basilan for an interview but was instead kidnapped by them, kept under guard in a house and given only water and two bananas three times a day.”

Aruna said a Philippine congressman eventually agreed to pay the ransom of three million pesos after which her friend was let go.

Another Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) breakaway group that specialises in kidnapping is the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters which Malaysian authorities must be alert for, said Aruna.

In a related development, the Associated Press quoted a Philippine intelligence official yesterday as confirming that the kidnapping was the work of the Abu Sayyaf group.

He said Abu Sayyaf leaders were angry because they were not brought into the peace deal between the Philippine government and MILF.

The most recent in a long list of abductions blamed on the Abu Sayyaf prior to the incident in Sabah on Wednesday was the reported kidnapping of an elementary school principal in Basilan on Monday.

- The Star/Asia News Network

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