PUTRAJAYA - DEPUTY Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin yesterday told the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) and the opposition Democratic Action Party (DAP) to refrain from reviving the debate on the use of the word 'Allah'.
The matter was still being pursued in court and should be resolved amicably, Tan Sri Muhyiddin said.
The 'Allah' controversy raised temperatures in Malaysia when it was debated openly earlier this year.
Mr Muhyiddin said the MCA, which is part of the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN), should accept the government's decision not to debate the matter.
He was responding to recent comments by MCA and DAP leaders, who called for the ban on the use of 'Allah' in Christian publications to be rescinded.
'I don't understand why the DAP and MCA are taking a common stand on such matters. We know that this matter had previously been strongly debated and had created an unhealthy situation,' he told reporters after a public function. -- BERNAMA
KUALA LUMPUR - FORMER Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad is willing to testify in court over the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) fiasco, if summoned.
'If a person is required to testify in court, he must do it. He cannot say 'I don't want',' he told reporters on Tuesday.
JAKARTA (Indonesia) - THE jumpy video shows a prisoner lying in a jungle clearing in eastern Indonesia moments after troops allegedly sliced open his abdomen with a bayonet, sending intestines tumbling from his stomach.
Using the little life he has left in him, Yawen Wayeni lifts his arm into the air, and says weakly, 'Freedom! Papua ... Freedom!' At the sound of his muffled voice, gun-toting, uniformed officers resting in the shade approach.
KUALA LUMPUR - A FORMER Malaysian lawmaker and his female aide were shot dead on Tuesday, according to police who said it was likely a murder-suicide and ruled out any political motive.
Abdul Aziz Mohamad Noh, 64, a one-time state legislator with the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, and his 43-year-old female aide were found dead in a car on a highway, state police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said.
A MALAYSIAN trade and investment delegation is in Singapore to court Singapore firms to do business in the neighbouring country.
Led by Malaysia?s Minister of International Trade and Industry, Mr Mustapa Mohamed, the two-day mission is jointly organised by the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA), Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE), Malaysia's Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), the Singapore Business Federation (SBF) and International Enterprise (IE) Singapore.
SINGAPORE must defend the integrity of its institutions of justice and law enforcement robustly, especially when attacked maliciously.
Such attacks undermine public confidence and trust earned over years, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Wong Kan Seng said yesterday.
SINGAPORE-REGISTERED companies appear to be adopting a green approach more enthusiastically, with three local companies being honoured at this year's Singapore Environmental Achievement Awards.
In previous years, only one company had been recognised.
A FORMER senior investigation officer of the Ministry of Manpower was jailed for six months and ordered to pay a penalty of $1,000 on Tuesday for corruption.
Gordon Tan Hock Lye, 34, then attached to MOM's Foreign Manpower Management Division, had pleaded guilty to getting a $1,000 bribe from Chinese national Wu Hui Xia, 42, to close the matter of her arrest by the police on Dec 31, 2005 and not prosecute her.
SYDNEY - A STRONG, 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck deep off the coast of Papua New Guinea on Wednesday, seismologists said. No Pacific Ocean tsunami was triggered nor any damage reported.
The quake hit at 5:15 pm (0715 GMT, 3.15 pm S'pore time), 110 kilometres south-east of Madang, a province on the northern coast of mainland PNG, the US Geological Survey said.
KUALA LUMPUR - A MALAYSIAN woman lost a court battle on Wednesday to nullify her conversion to Islam when she was a child, but vowed to fight on to be recognised as a Hindu.
The interfaith dispute could further anger non-Muslims who have long complained that their religious rights are being sidelined in Muslim-majority Malaysia, and may erode minority support for the government.
KUALA LUMPUR - MALAYSIA said on Wednesday it was confident of halting the flow of illegal migrants to Australia, after introducing tough penalties for smugglers using the country as a transit point.
Malaysia can now impose harsh sentences including jail terms of up to 20 years, and fines of up to RM$1 mil (S$426,655 dollars) on people smugglers, under an amendment to human trafficking laws passed on Tuesday.
MANILA - FILIPINO police said on Wednesday they used Twitter and Facebook to track down a flamboyant gang of young men and women who robbed the rich to feed their drug habits.
Police killed their leader Ivan Padilla, 23, and arrested three others over the past week following a rash of vehicle thefts targeting Manila's high society, city police spokesman Superintendent Rommel Miranda said.
