Losing Identity Card Means Losing Citizenship

In one of my previous blog posting, I did blog about a Malaysian being arrested and detained in a detention centre for illegal immigrants because she could only speak her own native language and the officials thought she was an illegal immigrant. She was detained for one year because she couldn't explain herself.

Another controversial issue related to the Malaysian Identity Card ("IC") may cause you to have brain haemorrhage:-
A Sino-Kadazan by the name of Yong Lee Hua @ Piang Lin has a nightmare that began when she lost her IC at a supermarket at Penampang Baru on 12 Feb 2007.

On the same day, she lodged a police report and subsequently on 26 Feb, applied for a replacement IC at the National Registration Department ("NRD") office in Donggongon.

After several months, she went and collected her replacement IC at the NRD office and was given a red IC.

She asked the officer why it was red and the lady officer said for senior citizens who lost their IC, the department normally replaced them with red ICs.

She didn't find anything amiss with the officer's explanation until she reached home when her children said red ICs were issued to people with Permanent Resident status.

With the help of her children, they brought the matter up with the NRD together with supporting documents such as her Native Certificate that was issued by the Native Court on 24 Sept 1963, bank books and passport.

The NRD officer admitted there could have been an error but instead of rectifying it, Yong was asked to "apply for Malaysian citizenship" which she duly complied by submitting an application form to the office on July 2, last year.

Her problem did not end there because soon after, her bank accounts at Amanah Saham Nasional and Alliance Bank were frozen making her unable to withdraw money for her daily expenses.
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The mistake caused by the NRD has been blamed on Yong now. Imagine a Malaysian who has lost her IC is now required to re-apply for her citizenship in order to become a real Malaysian again.

As far as I know, NRD will issue a compound in your name for losing that IC. Which new law states that when a Malaysian citizen loses an IC, the original Malaysian citizenship will be downgraded to one being a Permanent Resident.

I have seen a number of foreign people in the construction industry especially those from Indonesia having the same red IC too. All they need to do was to work (be it legal or illegal) for a few years in Malaysia and they will qualify for it. It's like a gift for foreign workers.

In this case, a Malaysian citizen who is already 78 years old and had recently voted at the 12th general election on 8 March 2008 is now stateless. The recently proposed bonuses for Malaysian government staff should be forfeited for the whole NRD office in Penampang of Sabah.

Reading: Illegals gain citizenship; Sabahans lose theirs' - Daily Express

Related post - Try Forgetting Your Identity Card Number
Tags: Illegal Immigrant, Malaysian Identity Card, Malaysian Citizenship, Sabah, Yong Lee Hua, Piang Lin, Sino-Kadazan, Native Certificate, Native Court, Permanent Resident, Donggongon, Penampang, Stateless

Farewell Dinner for a Close Friend

The only guy who was seated will be going back to his hometown in Batu Pahat. We had our dinner at Unique Fisherman located along Jalan Cheras, right across the Leisure Mall. Food was excellent. Forgotten to take pictures haha

Will definitely miss him as my team of actors / actresses will lose an outstanding fellow actor. He's absolutely fantastic with his acting talent. Could say that his uniqueness is one and only. All the best in your future venture and we will welcome you back in KL if you have other plans.

Thereafter, we decided to adjourn to another place to chit chat further. Next destination, Look Out Point at somewhere between Cheras / Ampang and Hulu Langat ...... don't know the exact location of that point but could recall how to go there.

One terrible thing about this place (and I really mean this) - it doesn't have enough parking spots. I found a car park spot after waiting for about five minutes. That was very extraordinary for me. Other cars that were behind numbering more than a dozen just have to go back downhill. If you thought of waiting for another to leave, you can wait but no guarantee.

This is the observation tower at the highest point of this hill. We climbed up the stairs and could see love birds everywhere. Big lamp posts shining everywhere hehehe













This is the view that we could see from this hill. Absolutely fantastic. This was taken with my phone camera so it was not clear. From here we could see the Petronas Twin Towers ("PTT") and Menara KL (right at the centre of the picture).

My gang bumped into another group of friends. The next day I found out that one of those guys whom I bumped into had an unpleasant event. He was setting up his digital SLR camera to take this same scenery. By the time he was ready to take the picture, PTT switched off their lightings ...... PTT went into total darkness right after midnight ....... hahaha

Doesn't mean a digital SLR would get a better picture .......... he hasn't a picture to show even with a more sophisticated camera than mine.

We went to this Gasoline Cafe to have our drinks.
















I saw this funny drink concoctions .... with cartoon characters at its side. Meant for children to drink?














This cafe was one of the four cafe / restaurants found in Look Out Point and it was packed to the brim.
Tried to mimic the picture on the menu.
Tags: Look Out Point, Unique Fisherman, Jalan Cheras, Gasoline Cafe, Farewell Dinner

Somali Pirates Testing Superpowers

Somali sea pirates are taking their chances way too far with their last hijacking rendezvous. Of all ships, they hijacked a Ukrainian ship by the name of MV Faina, which was carrying thirty three numbers of T-72 battle tanks and some other weapons. Delivery was intended for Kenya but interrupted off the coast of Somali.

Majority of the hijacked ships are being berthed at the port of Eyl and would be released upon receipt of ransoms.

Whoever is controlling this group of pirates will gain a upperhand in the civil war between warlords in Somali, that is without a government for last seventeen years. Imagine having thirty three tanks in your hands. I think it's also a problem as you need more than thirty three experienced personnels to operate those tanks.

The sea pirates in realising this personnel shortage is now asking for US$35 million in return for the MV Faina ship. This demand has gotten up the nerves of the superpowers. Just this year alone, ransoms paid by ship owners or countries with interests in those shipments have reached approximately US$100 million. Not bad at all.

To ensure safety for the moment. USA has deployed one of their destroyers, USS Howard (DDG 83), to monitor the situation. Even Russia has commandered a warship to the region to assist. France has two of its navy ships serving in the same region protecting their interests.

Of course not forgetting my very own country's Royal Malaysian Navy that is being represented by our naval ships, KD Lekiu dan KD Sri Inderapura. They were there to escort two Malaysian-owned ships, MT Bunga Melati Dua and MT Bunga Melati Lima, safely to their final desitnation in Djibouti. Both these ships have been released by the Somali sea pirates after a reported sum of US$4.0 million has been paid to the Somali law breakers.

Is the Malaysian government condoning this hijack? Whose money was used? Whom did they pay to? This info will help the investigation in tracing the sea pirates by the international bodies.
Tags: Somali, Eyl, T-72 Tank, MV Faina, USS Howard, Royal Malaysian Navy, KD Lekiu, KD Sri Inderapura. MT Bunga Melati Dua, MT Bunga Melati Lima

Scammers Used Malaysian Bank Without Fear

The following article depicted a Malaysian's predicament involving scammers who partly operated within Malaysia. Malaysian banks have been used by pro scammers in accepting victims' money.
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I wish to share this experience with all Malaysians, so they know what the banks actually do. Also to share details of scammers and their bank details.

A friend of mine was scammed by someone she met online. This person had been communicating with her and later claimed to want to marry her. Obviously he was from the UK with a UK mobile number. During their last conversation, he told her that he would be coming down to Malaysia to meet her family in two weeks and in the mean time, he was sending her some gifts. He claimed that the parcel contained a laptop, a diamond ring, flowers, perfumes and 5000 pounds. He also gave her a fake website for the so called courier company that would be handling the delivery. The name of the so called company is ‘GLOBAL EXPRESS SERVICES’ supposedly based in Sabah. If you check out the website, it does not have any land line or fax line, all the numbers listed are local handphone numbers. I know, I know my friend was stupid to actually believe the guy was genuine. Many have tried this scam with me before but I knew it was a scam and never bothered.

Anyway to make the long story short, she was given a personal bank account number to bank in a total of approximately RM8,000 supposedly for custom clearance and insurance. Which she stupidly did. The account number provided was as follows :-

Name : HUZAIDAH BINTI HUSSIN
Bank : CIMB A/C 12510075365528

Unfortunately for my friend, I only knew of this after she made a police report when despite banking in the money, she did not receive the parcel. In fact she did not even realize that the person she had been communicating with is involved in the scam and the person supposedly from the courier company was actually an African/Nigerian which I told her after calling the mobile number and pretending to ask for someone else. From his accent, it was obvious but she never realized it.

Anyway I took her to the nearest CIMB branch to make a report and to try to get the money back. I requested the officer to hold back the funds and do not allow any withdrawals as the account holder is a scammer and we were also informed that the RM8,000 plus is still in the account. She tells me that since the account does not belong to her branch, she is not able to do that. She informed us that the branch is their Kepong branch and so I asked her to call up the branch and ask them to immediately stop withdrawals and we will go to that branch and provide all the evidence and make our claim. That done we went to the kepong branch and provided all the evidence to the officer and requested that the money be refunded as there is clear cut evidence that it’s a scam. Even the police report was given with the deposit slips.

This happened on the 3/9/2008. The officer tells us that he will get his managers approval and call us if approved. After several days, I call the said officer only to be told that the legal department is handling it and they are investigating the case. I informed him that why should the case take that long to investigate as all evidence confirming the account holder is a scammer has been provided including write ups from other people who have been scammed by the same group. He tells me I am not able to speak to the legal officer handling it and can only liaise with the branch concerned.

Anyway again to make matters short, after making lots of noise and telling of the operator, I finally get to speak to a legal officer who tells me to call a Miss Rajesh based at the kepong branch as she is handling the case. I called her and she tells me nothing just that she does not know when it would be resolved and when I asked her to at least give me a date, she says she does not know and is very rude. I tried to explain to her to speed up the refund as my friend had borrowed the money from a money lender and thus paying a high interest as she thought that she would pay back once she received the parcel which also contained money. This Miss Rajesh tells me rudely ‘the bank is not bothered about that’. This of course pissed me off and I gave her a good piece of my mind, telling her yes I know the bank could not be bothered, only when people are doing well, they will run after them like a dog begging them to take loans etc. I had also spoken to the National Cosumer Complaints Center and provided all the details to them. Thus I told this Miss Rajesh as she was very rude and not helpful at all that from now the NCCC will communicate with her.

I even called BNM and have written to them about this. BNM says they have given CIMB 2 week to respond. BNM also tells me they have no procedures to deal with scammers, and that it falls under the police jurisdiction to take action. Despite the fact that so many people are being scammed, should not BNM be proactive and come up with proper procedures requiring all banks to report any scam accounts and all banks to be forwarded the report so they should blacklist this scammers and not allow them to open the account. BNM tells me that scamming comes under fraud and thus the police would have to get a court order to freeze the account, which could take weeks of not months considering how slow our judiciary works.

Despite making a police report and the police having all the scammers details including phone number, addresses, bank accounts etc, they have not bothered to apprehend and arrest these scoundrels. Instead they waste their time going after innocent citizens like Raja Petra.

As for CIMB, Miss Rajesh calls my friend and asks her who I am and why am I calling on her behalf. The reason for this is actually because my friend is young and naïve and does not know how to handle these things, so I was helping her out with her authority. Miss Rajesh then tells my friend that they are trying to negotiate with the scammer to allow them to refund the money to my friend. When I my friend told me this, I was shocked. CIMB is negotiating with the scammer instead of getting them arrested. She also tells my friend to call the scammer and negotiate with her.

Can you guys beat that. Is it the banks duty to negotiate with those who scam and commit fraud or are they suppose to get such people arrested.

Till todate, the police has done nothing, probably put the file away and neither has the bank done anything and have just asked my friend to negotiate with the scammer.

This friend of mine has another friends who mixes with some African/Nigerians and she was informed by him that the banks and the police are working hand in hand with the scammers as they are paid a commission, hence they money will never be refunded as neither will the police do anything nor will the bank.

Its almost a month now and there is no news from either. Why should the refund take so long, if the bank wants to negotiate with scammers, then they should request the scammer to provide evidence that the parcel containing all the stuff was delivered. If they cant provide such evidence there is no reason for the bank to hold the money.

It is obvious that the bank and police seem to be working hand in hand with scammers.

I'm writing this to create awareness among all Malaysians as to what is really happening and how bank staff are cheating customers and working hand in hand with scammers just for a mere commission.

For everyone’s information, all the other details of the scammers involved are as follows as they have many bank accounts and a whole group of them involved:-
1. Huzaidah binti Hussin
Public Bank a/c 4886411429
RHB a/c 1-12189-0016454-3
CIMB a/c 12510075365528

2. Julianah Binti Jaleel
Alliance Bank a/c 640960020020577

Contact Person involved in the scam claiming to be from Global Express Services:-
James Ruben 013-3260247
Michael Coleman 013-3260245
Benson White 013-2693782
Aini 013-8697255

I hope this letter will highlight to the authorities how important it is to ensure there are proper rules and regulations set out by the relevant bodies on how to deal with scammers immediately and not just keep pushing the buck. This is something important which affects all of us who are cheated of our hard earned money. These scammers have got no compassion for people who suffer to makes ends meet and they try to lure them with such deals. I know its stupid for anyone to believe such scams. But then again, there are many young people around who may not realize whats going on and take people at face value not realizing they are being cheated.

As a community, it is all our duty to ensure that all citizens are safeguarded from such unscrupulous people and action should be taken against such irresponsible bank staff who work with scammers and also the police who do absolutely nothing to get rid of these scum.

Anti Scam
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After reading the above article, I googled Global Express Service Ltd and found another two articles written by victims:-

* Global Express Services Ltd. Don't be fooled or else you'll regret later Kota Kinabalu Malaysia Internet - Scam Fraud Alert

* Report: Courier Services A Scam (Global Express Services Ltd) - Rip-Off Report

This phony Global Express Services Ltd seems to be operating from two addresses:-
* Avon Valley Business Park, Nationwide, United Kingdom

* Block E, Ground Floor, Damai Point Commercial Centre, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia

What are CIMB Bank Berhad and Alliance Bank Malaysian Berhad doing about this? Are the banks really negotiating with the scammers?

Reading: CIMB in Cahoots With Scammers - Malaysia Today
Reading: Syndicate behind courier scams, warns Customs - Daily Express
Tags: CIMB Bank Berhad, Alliance Bank Malaysian Berhad, Scammer, Global Express Service Ltd, Huzaidah binti Hussin, Julianah Binti Jaleel, James Ruben, Michael Coleman, Benson White, Aini, Avon Valley Business Park, Damai Point Commercial Centre, Courier Scams

My Noisy Neighbour at Work

My latest neighbour at work is quite noisy lately. Could hear those squeky sound in each move.

He's the crane operator just outside of my window. If you think your work is stressful, boring, lonely and too routine, do remember him.









This is a posh serviced residences, called My Habitat2, that is being constructed.

I could hear those construction noise daily while doing my office work as the building under construction is just next to my office building.

Tags: My Habitat2, Crane Operator

PCC 20th Anniversary Dinner

At last after all the preparations for the last two to three months, efforts were not in vain. The committee headed by Christy Yeong managed to gather 430 people for this grand dinner held at Bukit Jalil Golf & Country Resort.
The youth team performed their fast dance that has a short hip hop step in between.
Our African contingent performed their songs too. Later this same group back up for our Senior Pastor's song.
One of our committee members managed to bring in this (what you call those white blown up plastic stuff) that made so much of noise that you can't hear anything else. Imagine the noise made by 430 people in a ballroom ........ deafening indeed and people of all ages actually enjoyed banging that two blown up plastic stuff.



It ended just 10.30pm and it was a memorable event while I lost out in an auction for a t-shirt signed by all our Malaysian badminton players during the Beijing Olympics. It would have been a good collection.

Related post - PCC 20th Anniversary
Tags: Praise City Church, 20th Anniversary, Bukit Jalil Golf & Country Resort

Selected as AMBP Travel Ambassador

Was invited by Star newspaper to attend an event for the launching ceremony of a travel tool (domestic travel) administered by Mayflower ACME Tours Sdn Bhd ("Mayflower"). This travel tool, found in AllMalaysia.info and Mayflower's websites, shall make your holiday planning much easier. The travel tool will assist in booking flight tickets, accommodations, cars and tour packages.

In this travel tool, it will publish write-ups by bloggers on various local holiday destinations so that travellers will know what to expect. What bloggers? These bloggers are known as Travel Ambassadors.

I was selected by Star's All Malaysian Bloggers Project ("AMBP") after applying to become one of their Travel Ambassadors. AMBP has selected forty bloggers out of two hundred plus applicants. Thanks to Star for selecting me. Now I get to blog for a publication as well. Who told me that blogging was a waste of time? It's payback time now.

For a start, we were given Mayflower's Privilege Card, two vouchers for 2 days/1 night hotel stay at Terengganu and Sabah beaches respectively and limo transfers to/fro KLIA.

Michael Aeria, COO Multimedia, Star Publication gave an opening speech, followed by Mayflower's GM, Chin Ten Hoy.

Michael said one sentence which I will remember - we (Star) view bloggers as our partners, not as rivals! Solid statement coming from a mainstream media.
Datuk Rashid Khan, the commercial director of Malaysia Airlines was there too to grace the event. Michael, Chin and Rashid were actually putting their hands onto a button visualised on the white screen to imitate pressing a button to start a video clip.

Got to know some bloggers in the process. From left - Quachee, Thomas Yap, Soon Seng, Hurley, Teckiee and Samantha Poh.
We were treated to a buffet dinner and the same group of us sat at the cafe chit chatting till 9pm. What a start! We even got the AMBP Editor, Michael Fredericks, to sit with us talking about the Travel Ambassador programme. Got to know Tammy who was seated beside the editor.





We are excited about the programme. We will be getting all fully-paid holidays to local destinations at the expense of Star/Mayflower where in turn, we shall do a write-up on our travel experience.

It won't be restricted to travels alone but we will be invited to festival events, cultural events and food promotions too. All this in return for write-ups. What's so hard about it? It's all fun.

Reading: Holiday planning made easy - Star
Tags: AMBP, All Malaysia Bloggers Project, Travel Ambassador, Event, Star, Mayflower, Mayflower ACME Tours Sdn Bhd, Travel