Our project has  been included in the ‘top ten’ projects list. It also has been awarded as the best Spanish project in the category 16-19 years.

Congratulations to all of you who made it possible:  students, colleages, and, specially, Bart.

We meet in Seville, Feb. 2010.

About 700 projects took part in the competition for the European e-learning awards 2009. We are proud to announce that Creative Commons is part of the shortlist of the 50 best projects!

KUALA LUMPUR: A decorated army corporal has been jailed a total of 140 years for nine counts of raping and molesting his two minor daughters.

The Sessions Court also ordered that he be caned 40 times for the offences to which he pleaded guilty.

However, the 43-year-old soldier will only serve 25 years as his sentence is set to run concurrently. The jail term starts from the date of his arrest on June 25 last year.

In passing sentence, Judge Fathiyah Idris described his offence as despicable, as his young daughters needed his guidance and protection.

She was of the opinion that if the girls had not informed their counselling teacher of his actions, he would have continued raping and molesting them.

She also ordered him to undergo counselling during his sentence and to a two-year observation period after he completes his jail term.

The father of five had earlier pleaded guilty to three counts of raping and two counts of molesting his older daughter, now age 16, at their home in Sentul between Jan 2006 and June last year.

He had also pleaded guilty to four counts of molesting his second daughter, now age 15, at their home between 2006 and May 2008.

According to the statement of facts, all the incidents happened without the knowledge of the girls’ mother, who works as an assistant in a private clinic.

The older girl was said to have been repeatedly raped but she could not remember all the incidents.

She remembered an incident in May 2007, when her father raped her while she was sleeping in her room, and another time in May 2008, when he had asked her to shave his back in the bathroom.

As for the younger daughter, the statement said he had repeatedly molested her by grabbing her breasts and rubbing his private parts against hers.

On June 24 last year, the older girl had confided in her counselling teacher, who then brought both girls to lodge a police report.

Medical checks found the older girl having old hymen tear, while her younger sister’s hymen was intact. Their father was arrested the next day at about 3pm at their home.

During mitigation, defence counsel P. Gunalan said the accused had received a certificate (Sijil Perkhidmatan Cemerlang) among other medals for his 21 years of outstanding service in the army and to the Malaysian people.

Deputy public prosecutor Noor Aishah KM Abu Bakar, however, asked the court to mete out the maximum sentence against the accused as his crime was severe. — The Star (17 Nov 09)

(Story contributed by Hazaratul Huda)

Katt Williams arrested for burglary

Is this another sign of the recession, or is this the side affects of Katts’ rumored bi-polar disorder? You know what happens to some folks when they stop taking their meds…

Comedian Katt Williams was arrested Sunday night in Atlanta on charges of burglary and criminal trespassing. According to police authorities, Williams allegedly broke into a house and attempted to steal jewelry and other items.

Williams, whose real name is Micah S. Katt Williams, is known for his roles in the movies “Friday After Next” and “Norbit.” His comedy DVD, “Katt Williams: Pimpadelic,” was no. 8 in the nation for sales during the week of Oct. 30, according to Nielsen/VideoScan.

It’s not the comedian’s first brush with the law. A year ago cops found 3 guns in his car after Williams was pulled over for driving without a license plate. A couple years before that he was busted trying to sneak a gun onto an airplane.

Again…it’s the meds fault, not Katt’s.

 According to Coweta County Sheriff’s Office Major James Yarbrough, from a report he gave to the AP, a deputy at the Coweta County Jail confirmed Williams was being held there and that a magistrate was expected to set bond at an arraignment Monday afternoon.

Here is a quote directly from the AP report…

Yarbrough said the Sunday night incident happened at a home in Newman, about 38 miles southwest of Atlanta. Yarbrough said the unidentified homeowner called police around 9 p.m. to report the comedian “gained entry by breaking into the home, and items were taken from the residence.”

Yarbrough said police believe the entertainer was in Georgia working on a film.

A judge sentenced Williams to three years’ probation in 2006 after he pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor count of carrying a concealed firearm. Authorities had arrested Williams on Nov. 6 at Los Angeles International Airport after finding a gun in his briefcase.

Williams lives in Woodland Hills, Calif.

Williams is best known for his appearances in the Friday movies and for his Pimp Chronicles.

No bail has been set for this charge at press time.

I want to shout out Katt Williams and hope the best for you man.I have been thoroughly entertained by him, so I hope he can get it back on the one….

Click on this link to my favorite news source,TMZ.com…

http://www.tmz.com/2009/11/09/katt-williams-arrested-burglary-georgia/

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/mugshots/kattwilliamsmug1.html?link=rssfeed

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iX4EU1yniFcJCWk6cL3G5mmNUNkAD9BS3Q4O0

The local newspaper Snap Sudbury came to our studio recently to feature Papillon Press in their November wedding gallery.

Click on the image for a larger view

PETALING JAYA: He was all set to marry the woman but 10 days before the wedding, he raped her 15-year-old daughter.

Former Taman Aman Umno branch secretary Hamdan Ahadluddin, 49, was jailed 10 years and ordered to be whipped six times after he was found guilty of raping the teenager at her home in Lembah Subang on Jan 21, 2005.

The widower, who was a machine operator, was also sentenced to another six years in jail for attempted rape at the same house in November 2004.

His jail terms are to run concurrently from the date of his arrest on Feb 7, 2005. Sessions Judge Rozina Ayob also rejected Hamdan’s application for a stay of execution pending appeal.

The girl lodged a complaint after her 45-year-old mother, an Umno executive secretary, found out about the rape. The wedding was promptly called off.

Hamdan would have been the third husband to the woman, a widow. It is understood that the girl, now 19, is a child from her first marriage.

Hamdan and the woman met after they worked at the same office and when they started going out, he visited her home several times and met the girl.

At the court Friday, DPP Shah Rizal Abdul Manan pressed for a deterrent sentence, saying that Hamdan’s actions had traumatised the girl and ruined her life.

“She will remember this for the rest of her life,” he said, adding that the court should send a clear message to society.

Pleading for leniency, Hamdan, who represented himself, urged the court to consider the fact that he was a first offender, a diabetic and was remorseful of his actions.

In sentencing Hamdan, Rozina said she found that the defence had failed to raise any reasonable doubt in the prosecution’s case.

Rozina ruled that the defence was an “afterthought and mere denial.”

She also held that Hamdan had failed to established his alibi although he said he was at his workplace during the time of the offences.

There was no evidence to support his contention on his alibi, the judge ruled. — The Star

(Story contributed by Siti Fatimah Noor)

Even if the project itself stopped some time ago, we still continue travelling around Europe. Our project was presented at the Gobal Junior Challenge in Rome. Here are some pictures. We also show a short movie of the award ceremony which took place in Campidoglio, in the town hall of Rome. It was quite impressive.

No, we did not win this time. But there might be other chances e.g. at the European e-learning awards. (Find our project under BELGIUM and give us the 5 stars we deserve!)

A few notes picked up while kicking around town the past couple days:

• Who knew that Popovers, of all places, had a liquor license? And they’ve got a pretty good selection, too. In addition to a bunch of mixed drinks, they’ve got Glenlivet for you Scotch Drinkers, and some pretty good beers, including Dogfish Head IPA, Peak Organic, and Smuttynose.
• Tristan was selling the Roxy Rolles for $3 a pint on Friday night. He said the good folks at Magic Hat gave the Press Room another keg for putting the stuff on tap there, and he’d have the $3 pints until the first keg was kicked. Not sure if the deal’s still in effect, but you might want to stop by there tonight to find out. I’d say it’s a pretty safe bet that the keg won’t survive Halloween.
• It’s still a ways off, but it sounds like Ri Ra — that’s right, the place that I actually had a beer last week — is planning a big Thanksgiving Eve party on Wednesday, Nov. 25. According to the folks at the city’s only remaining Irish pub, the event is not to be missed. There will be Irish music starting at 9 p.m., and Long Trail pints for $3. Mmm…
• River House (whom we hadn’t heard from in a while, incidentally) is holding what sounds like a pretty cool event on Wednesday, Nov. 18. Starting at 6 p.m., they’ll be having a small batch bourbon tasting and dinner. Tickets are $50 each, and reservations will be limited to 45 persons. There will be complimentary hats and bourbon-dipped cigars, and one lucky diner will win a drawing for a cherry wood bourbon cabinet. Five different small batch bourbons will be showcased, with a four-course dinner paired with each one.
• Yeah, it’s in Dover, but they’ve got Portsmouth ties, and The Press Project will be holding a reunion show at the Dover Brickhouse on Friday, Nov. 20 at 9 p.m. It’s not often you get a chance to hear good hip-hop on the Seacoast, so check it out.
• Pesce Blue sent us an e-mail this week letting us know they’re bringing back their $10 lunch special, featuring a cup of the homemade house soup and a choice of sandwich. Now, if they throw a beer in there too, I’m in.

– Mr. X

That poser follows the case of an 8-year-old girl recovering at Hospital Tengku Ampuan Rahimah after she was abducted and raped near her home at Kampung Sungai Pinang in Kapar last Friday.

The case bears eerie similarity to three molest cases in Kampung Baru in Kuala Lumpur and in Taman Seri Manja, Petaling Jaya, in 2007 and 2008.

In the three cases, a lone suspect on a motorcycle had approached the victims, girls aged between five to eight, and engaged them in conversation either by offering cash or asking for help to locate his missing cat, leading to the attacker being dubbed the “Catman.”

The suspect would then grab his victims and flee. The victims were always released several hours later, several kilometres from the original scene, usually in a confused state.

In two of the cases which occurred in Kampung Baru, the victims were sexually abused although the victim from Taman Seri Manja was spared the trauma. Medical checks on the latest victim revealed she was raped.

Three days after the assault, the eight-year-old victim was so traumatised that she remained unable to tell police what had happened or to describe the suspect.

In the Thursday night incident, the girl and her seven-year-old cousin were walking to a grocery store near her home in Kapar when a man on a motorcycle approached them.

The man offered the girl RM5 to follow him.

When the girl tried to take the money, the man grabbed her and sped off on his machine, leaving her cousin behind. The cousin returned to the girl’s home and told her parents who alerted the police around 8.30pm.

The girl was found in a confused state in Meru about 5km from the scene, two hours later by a policeman who lives in the area.

She was taken to the Meru police station where she was reunited with her family.

After an examination at the hospital on Friday doctors confirmed she was raped.

Klang district police chief Assistant Commissioner Mohamad Mat Yusop told Malay Mail yesterday that it was too early to determine whether it was the same suspect involved in the case of Nurin Jazlin Jazimin, the case of missing Sharlinie Mohd Nashar and also the Kampung Baru abduction and molest cases.

“Although there are similarities in the modus operandi, we can’t confirm if it is the same suspect,” he said.

“We will contact our counterparts in other districts once we get more details of the incident and a description of the suspect from the girl.”

Mat Yusop said that police had yet to record the girl’s statement as she was still traumatised. Police will use a psychologist from Bukit Aman to record her statement.

Initial investigations revealed that the suspect was alone and was either Malay or Bangladeshi. — Source: The Malay Mail (Oct 27, 2009)

(Story contributed by Siti Fatimah Noor Osman)

AT least one neighbour suspected that three-year old Aaliyah Aiman Hussin Abdullah, a child abuse victim
found dead early this month, had been beaten prior to her death — but nothing was done to stop the tragedy.

The neighbour, Lee, 46, who has been residing at the condominium for about a year, suspected the abuse only started with the presence of the Sudanese boyfriend.

“I don’t like to interfere with people’s private lives. But as far as I knew, the child was beaten severely by him.”

Lee also said she and other neighbours never saw the family maid apparently hired to take care of the child, as claimed by the couple.

Prior to the tragedy, another neighbour, who declined to be named, said she heard rumours about the abuse at the condominium at Batu 9, Hulu Langat, Kajang.

“Although the family was living on the ninth floor, I used to see the child. She looked cheerful and active,
I never thought she would be an abuse victim,” said the third floor neighbour.

A security guard, who declined to be named, said he began seeing the Sudanese man entering and leaving the condominium about a year ago.

“At first, I thought both of them were married. I heard the man was also studying at a private college in the city, but not for long.”

A post-mortem at Serdang Hospital revealed that Aaliyah died due to haemorrhaging in the head. There were also traces of bite marks on the body. And based on injuries on her private parts, it is believed that the child was also molested.

Kajang district police chief Assistant Commissioner Shakaruddin Che Mood said the suspects are under
remand until Sunday at the Kajang district police headquarters.

On Oct 12, Aaliyah body’s was found by her mother when she returned home from work. The 24-year-old single mother, who worked as secretary in a firm, then lodged a police report at Kajang district police headquarters.

In the report, she claimed her daughter died after having been abused by her maid, who she claimed fled after the incident.

Investigations later found there was no such maid working for the couple and only the Sudanese man had been staying in the apartment.

The couple were then arrested and taken in for further investigations. — Source: Malay Mail (22 Oct 09)

(Story contributed by Wan Esuriyanti Wan Ahmad)

It’s never a good sign when Lady Ga Ga comes on just as you walk into a bar.
— Mr. X

Yes indeed, that was the start to our Thursday night — “Poker Face” by Lady Ga Ga on the stereo at Pocos. What’s that, you say? What was I doing out in Portsmouth two nights in the same week? That’s a very good question given my recent absence from the local scene. But there I was, flanked by The Beer Drinker and Fredo for another night of drunken revelry. Pocos has consistently been one of our favorite places to start a night, so we figured it would be a good place to start on Thursday. It wasn’t too bad — fairly lively for a chilly, fall night — but it wasn’t great, either. Actually, I was surprised anyone was there at all after work crews ruptured a gas main at the site of the old Pocos deck, making the entryway to the bar look like a bit of a war zone.
But there was a pretty good crowd there checking out the Bruins’ OT shootout. And of course, a group of people sitting at what I like to refer to as “The Window.” If you’ve been to Pocos before, you know what I’m talking about. It’s that area behind the bar that’s framed in brick where you can sit and look at people on the other side of the bar. There’s always someone in there, and because they are framed by bricks, they always draw a little more attention from the other people at the bar than if they were sitting on a regular barstool. One time, I actually got stuck sitting in “The Window” when I was out drinking with The Beer Drinker, Fredo and The Captain. They all got there first, and were sitting along the side bar. Because I got there last, the only way I could sit next to them was to sit around the corner in “The Window.” Little did I know when I sat down, however, that directly across from me on the other side of the bar was a girl whom I had embarrassed myself in front of a few weeks earlier at another bar. Needless to say, it wasn’t easy to pretend I didn’t see her while sitting in “The Window.” But I digress…
After a couple of pints at Pocos, we considered stopping by the Dolphin Striker, since it had been a while since I had seen Ray. But the tunes coming from the open door didn’t sound like my type of music, so we skipped it.
Instead, we decided to go to… Are you ready for this? Ri Ra. That’s right, Ri Ra, the bar I’ve been ripping ever since they opened in this town. Fredo and The Beer Drinker suggested it, and I’m always up for another chance to write negative things about the place I’ve consistently called one of the worst bars in Portsmouth. But you know what? It wasn’t half bad on Thursday night. The service was much better, the crowd of meatheads that used to hang there appear to have cleared out, there were a ton of good beers on tap (we went with Switchback), and there was even a good game on (Yanks-Angels). There’s one thing they still haven’t figured out, though. The music. The guy playing the guitar and singing wasn’t half bad (at least until he started playing showtunes), but the acoustics, as I’ve mentioned before, are atrocious in the building. It’s probably due to the high ceilings or something, but the point is, they’ve got to do something about that. Either Fredo or The Beer Drinker, I can’t remember which one, actually had a pretty good idea — have the musicians play unplugged.
From Ri Ra, it was off to the Press Room. There was a pretty good crowd, courtesy of the Undead Beat Night that had just wrapped up upstairs, and a pretty good musician, too. But it still wasn’t as lively as Tuesday’s night’s Open Mic Night. Still, we did get to hang a bit with Gregg, the ex-Press Room and current Hilton Garden Inn bartender, who I hadn’t seen in a while. Overall, it was another good night in Portsmouth. We even stopped by Gilley’s for a burger at the end of the night. Almost made the next day’s hangover worth it…

– Mr. X

KUALA LUMPUR: A woman and her Sudanese boyfriend are expected to be charged with the murder of her three-year-old daughter.

Aaliyah Aiman Hussin Abdullah’s death last week at a condominium in Cheras was believed to have been due to abuse.

The pair, both aged 24, have been questioned in relation to the offence under Section 302 of the Penal Code, which provides for the death penalty.

Police have submitted their report to the prosecutor and are awaiting further instructions.

The woman is believed to have tried to conceal the girl’s cause of death.

She was initially reported to have told police that her daughter was abused by a maid but investigations revealed she did not have domestic help.

Kajang district police chief Assistant Comm Mohd Sakaruddin Che Mood told Bernama that the Sudanese entered the country using a student visa but did not attend any institute of higher learning.

The couple were arrested on Oct 14 and were being remanded until Oct 25.

Meanwhile, RASHITA A. HAMID reports that Aaliyah’s mother had divorced her first husband two months after marriage.

However, no one knows where Aaliyah’s biological father is.

Sources said Aaliyah’s grandfather collected her body before burying her at an undisclosed location in the city.

An autopsy revealed that Aaliyah suffered a fractured skull and had injuries on her body.

Police are still waiting for the full report to determine if she had been sexually abused.– The Star

(Story contributed by Wan Esuriyanti Wan Ahmad)

Just a few bits and pieces (that sounds dirtier than I intended) from my stroll around town today:

• Looks like Chiangmai Thai has closed its doors, due to the owner’s health problems. At least that’s what the paper in the window says. If you’re looking for a Thai fix, shoot over to Thai Paradise. The food’s much better there anyway, as The Captain discovered the hard way over the summer.
• A sure sign of winter — the outdoor seating area and awning at Pesce Blue were being taken down this morning.
• There’s a shitload of construction going on around town. In addition to the Portwalk project, which is starting to take shape, crews were digging up Bow Street (probably due to yesterday’s gas main break), there’s a trench being dug in front of Cava, and the former Poco’s deck is a big mess as well. They’d better get moving if they’re gonna get all that cleaned up before the first big snowfall.
• There’s an apartment for rent above Fat Belly’s. Wow. It’s a wonder that gem is still available…
• “Coming soon” says the sign on the fence outside the monstrous steel structure still not being built on Bow Street. Hmm… that’s a mighty liberal definition of the word “soon”.
• $1 oyster nights are back on Tuesdays at Jumpin’ Jay’s. Might have to check that out. After all, they also have Brooklyn Beer.
• Speaking of Brooklyn Beer, Tristan said he might consider putting it on tap at the Press Room once Sam Octoberfest is out of season. Here’s hoping.
• As Rachel Forrest reported on her blog, Bella Luna is changing its name to Bella Sol. It’s closed now, with brown paper covering the windows, but will be reopening in mid-November. A not on the door promises — “new owner, same faces, same flavors.”
• The beer delivery guy parked on Daniel Street this morning owes me one. It wasn’t easy to resist the temptation to grab the case of Magic Hat #9 he left sitting unattended in the back of his open truck.
• I missed the big 8-ball tournament on Sunday at Legends. Damn.

– Mr. X

Society is more aware on child abuse

KUALA LUMPUR – There were 819 reported cases of child abuse nationwide in the period of January-April this year, according to the Social Welfare Department’s (JKM) statistics.

Of these cases, 549 involved girls and the rest, boys.

Selangor recorded the highest number of cases at 320 followed by Perak (91) and Kuala Lumpur Federal Territory at 79.

Based on the statistics for 2007 and 2008, Selangor was the state that recorded the highest number of child abuse cases in the country. The state recorded 816 of such cases in 2007 and 949 in 2008.

Kuala Lumpur Federal Territory was second at 444 and 595 cases for 2007 and 2008 respectively.

“The number of abuse cases in the Klang Valley is high, partly due to the big population size and stress.

“Furthermore, the society is now more aware of its social responsibility to report such cases,” JKM’s Director (Children) Nor Amni Yusoff told Bernama in an interview held at Menara Tun Ismail here recently.

More of such cases
The nation recorded 2,780 child abuse cases for 2008, a jump in the number of cases when compared against 2,279 cases for 2007.

However the JKM believed that there were more cases that went unreported.

“It is the tip of the iceberg. I believe the cases reported represented only two per cent of what happened out there. There is still 98 per cent (cases) that went unreported,” said Nor Amni.

In terms of ethnicity, Nor Amni said many of the cases reported to JKM happened among the Malays. The usual form of reported abuses were physical, sexual and emotional in nature.

She said for the January-April 2009 period, there were 523 reported physical abuse cases, sexual (230 cases, most of the cases involved girls) and emotional (16 cases).

On emotional cases, Nor Amni said these usually happened when the parents were divorced.

She said before, the parents who wanted to split would give priority to their children first, but now they simply did not care anymore and the children became victims of the divorce.

“For example when a mother obtained the custody rights for her children, the father would use the child to lodge a false report that his former wife had abused the child. The motive here is revenge.

“Even though the report lodged was false, we still had to act and bring the child to the hospital for medical examination. There were cases when the child had to be in and out of hospital.

“At the hospital, the authorities found no signs of abuse and the child returned home. Then the father would lodge another report and again we have to bring the child to the hospital. This continued for one year. These are among the most number of cases that we are handling now,” she said.

Various means

Nor Amni said the public can used the various means to report child abuse cases. They can do it by calling the hotline ‘Talian Nur 15999′ or send e-mails and letters.

She said close to 90% of the abuse reports received by JKM came via the Talian Nur hotline launched by the Women and Family Development Ministry in December 2007.

The effectiveness of this Talian Nur can be seen from the drastic increase in the number of reported abuse cases.

Nor Amni said there was a jump of 501 reported abuse cases from 2,297 in 2007 to 2,780 cases last year.

In comparison, there was only an increase of 280 cases from 2006 to 207.

“We have held large scale publicity on this Talian Nur. This hotline is in four languages — Malay, English, Tamil and Mandarin.

Apart from acting on reports lodged, this hotline also handles enquiries about the ministry.

“Talian Nur operates round-the-clock and is handled by a company trained by the ministry. It receives reports on abuse cases apart from enquiries on the ministry.

“For calls on information, the operator would provide the required information but if the call is on abuse, then the caller would be referred to the respective JKM officer,” she said.

Immediate action

According to Nor Amni, upon receiving a report on an abuse case, the JKM officer would act within one hour to ensure that the child is immediately rescued.

“However, at times our people were unable to act as the information given was incomplete particularly the location of the home (address). There were also instances of false reports,” she said. JKM would however investigate each of the reports lodged.

At least for the false alarms, the parents would know that the society’s eyes and ears were on the safety of their children, she said, adding that for some abuse cases, the JKM officer or child protector would be accompanied by officers from other agencies and the police.

The rescued children would be sent to the hospital for a medical examination and the doctor’s report on the case.

“We want to know whether the abuse is dangerous or the otherwise. If it is dangerous, we would lodge a police report,” she said.

Apart from Talian Nur, the public can also use the Teledera (1-800-88-3040) hotline to lodge reports on child abuse cases. However the number of reports lodged via this hotline was small.

Teledera operates during the office hours. After these hours, the Red Crescent Society takes over and any report that ensues would be referred to the JKM.

Now and forever

The abuse of children is not something new in this country. In the past, these cases went unreported as the society saw it as a way to discipline the child.

Nor Amni said the society then was more tolerable on such cases as the abuse at that time was not as bad as that committed today.

“Before, the parents were not under tremendous pressure as that they experience now. To me stress plays a crucial role in the abuse of children now where the pressure on life is real heavy.

“Now most of the parents are working, there is no family support. Now we have more small families. Before we used to have more big families. Our children can be taken care by our relatives or their grandparents who live together with them.

“If the parents went a bit too far with their children, there were others who would say a word (to the parents). Now the situation is different and the parents have no experience in overcoming the problem and the children become the target to release the stress,” said Nor Amni.

She said the same thing happened with the incest cases, a thing not new to the society in this country.

“Before, people do not lodge reports because not only they did not care but also not to tarnish the family honour rather than giving priority to the interest of the victims.

“There were mothers who knew but refrained from lodging reports as they were unemployed and if their husbands go to jail who would support the family? That was the previous situation. Now the mothers are better off and they are not willing to see the daughters becoming sex slaves for their fathers,” she said, adding that incest cases in the country involved all races.

Child Act 2001

For the abuse cases, particularly the physical abuse cases, the JKM can take legal action against the parents under the Child Act 2001.

However the department had, so far, not taken action to punish the parents as it wants to provide the opportunity for them to be rehabilitated through a counselling programme.

“For abuse cases, we try not to punish the perpetrators. Parents do not simply abuse their children, but the stress from the surrounding environment pushed them to lose their patience. In some of the abuse cases, the children were also responsible.

“For parents who do not know how to deal with the situation, they would easily lose their patience particularly if the child is hyperactive or disabled”, said Nor Amni.

She said JKM would continue to monitor the parents even though a particular abuse case was closed.

For the abused child who needs to be separated from their parents, the child would be placed with a foster family or an institution of the JKM usually for three years.

“If we find that the parents, after attending counselling, can have their child back, then we can shorten the period of the child’s stay at our institution.

“However if the parents remained unchanged even after the three years, we would go back to the court to ask for extension and there were cases where the child reached 18 years old, ” said Nor Amni.

She said there were cases where the parents could not be traced after three years, forcing the child to stay at the institution until the person is 18 years old.

Child’s rights

Each of JKM’s policies and programmes is designed to protect the rights of all children in Malaysia.

According to Nor Amni, this is in line with the United Nations’ Convention of The Rights of The Child (CRC).

She said under this convention, the child has four rights — the right to live, the right for protection, the right to participation and the right for development.

Nor Amni said Malaysia signed the CRC in 1995 and needs to ensure that all provisions under the convention are adhered to. Hence the society needs to improve their role as the welfare of children is a joint responsibility.

“As members of the society, we cannot run away from this responsibility . The child is not other people’s but also ours. We should think that all of the children are our children. We must lodge reports on child abuse.

“We hope more would come forward to give their cooperation and perform their responsibility for the sake of the children’s future,” Nor Amni added. – Bernama

(Article contributed by Wan Esuriyanti Wan Ahmad)

Back in May 2009, Chantal and I rented a big truck to drive down to Cornwall, Ontario to pick up our letterpress (see the post about our move here). We had already decided (after much discussion) that we would name our new stationery company Papillon Press. We love butterflies, they’re fun to draw and paint and we see a lot of them around here. It also sounds pretty good!

We tossed around a bunch of ideas like Full Court Press (not seriously, though, but I’m a basketball fan so I couldn’t resist the suggestion) and Hirondelle Press (a French word for a type of bird), but Papillon Press is the name we liked the best.

On the morning that we rented the truck we opened the back to give it a quick sweep and load it up with our moving supplies when Chantal came across the wing of a butterfly. It was such a great sign of good luck for us- for both the move and the eventual launch of the company.

We held onto the wing safely for the rest of the trip and when we got back we placed it in a small frame that is now on display in our press room.

A good omen

AT YOUR SERVICE
By TAN SRI FAIZAH MOHD TAHIR

MOTHER Teresa is famed to have answered when asked, “What can you do to promote world peace?” Her answer was, “Go home and love your family.”

The 21st century has brought to our doorsteps the moral question of family and its institutions. The weakening of our social fabric today is seen through the increase in child abuse, domestic violence, juvenile delinquency, rising divorce, breakdown of morality and substance abuse, to name a few societal predicaments.

Unresolved issues in families spill into the larger base of communities, holding in many instances an entire society at ransom of their safety and security, its peace of mind.

Are our family institutions stable anymore? Findings from the nationwide Malaysian Population and Family Survey (MPFS 2004) show that divorce rates are up by 1.8% to 2.2% of the population from 0.7% recorded in 2000.

More than 98% of couples from the same survey still perceived their family relationships as strong and cohesive. Ironically, we are witnessing increasing numbers of divorce and stress in family life which is directly affecting our value systems.

With the ageing population, we are also witnessing increasing numbers of “sandwich generations”; a generation where working adults have to support both their elderly parents and young children.

About 10% of the elderly in Malaysia live alone, according to MPFS 2004, while 1 in 4 claim that they have not received any financial assistance from their children who live away from them.

We are starting to observe an increasing number of children neglecting, abdicating and franchising their responsibilities or even abandoning their parents.

This will become more pervasive as the society ages. It is critical to nip this trend in the bud. It has often been said: “A parent can take care of many children but many children can’t take care of even one parent”.

The role of parents in inculcating values cannot be underscored. It is imperative that parents, as the first and most important teacher to their children and role-model-in-chief, instill values such as filial piety, responsibility, inter-generational caring and respect amongst family members. Sadly, these values are amiss in our society today.

To protect and support the families to be strong and resilient, we must return to basics. We must return to developing family and communal values. The FAMILY is the primary source to developing a comprehensive social system.

Family is where we all learn vital and fundamental skills which determine one’s character and resilience. While every family is unique, there are some core values that bind us all which cuts across culture, ethnic and religion.

Respect is the recognition that everything and everyone is just as important as we are. Honesty simply means telling the truth.

Responsibility means having a sense of duty and keeping to one’s moral obligations and being accountable for one’s actions. Caring means the show of humanity, sympathy and/or mercy to our fellow human beings.

Strength of character infused with respect, honesty, responsibility and care defines the backbone to a society. These invaluable values have to be imbued back into our cradles at home.

For the Ministry, developing a caring society built on a strong and resilient family institution remains our core focus, regardless of challenges of the times.

The Family First: Bring Your Heart Home Campaign launched by the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry in 2003 has been instrumental in changes to regulations and incentives.

This include increase in paternity leave from three to seven days, and medical benefits for public sector employees being extended to their parents.

It also include three days compassionate leave for death of immediate family members, tax incentives for companies which conduct family-related activities, tax relief for children who pay the medical expenses of their parents and increase in the eligibility criteria for financial assistance particularly for vulnerable families such as single mothers, families with disabled persons and elderly.

In 2004, we introduced an accessible counselling service for a whole family through the Kembara Kaunseling programme. This programme spanned the spectrum for adolescents, adults and couples.

By year end, more comprehensive family counselling services will be made available at all the 53 Nur Sejahtera clinics in the country.

In 2006, we started the SMARTSTART course for couples intending to get married and those who have been married for five years or less. The programme, now offered in 4 languages, offers couples tips and skills in areas such as parenthood, managing family stress and conflicts amongst others.

To help Malaysian families cope with contemporary living and lifestyles, Parenting@Work Programme was introduced at the workplace in 2007. Issues such as work-life balance, effective parenting and stress management are emphasised at the workplace.

To address the negative risk taking behaviour amongst the young, kafe@TEEN was set up to provide counselling services, skills building, and reproductive health education for those aged 13 to 24.

Due to its popularity today, with the Education Ministry, we will be up scaling this through five schools in Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Pahang and Kelantan.

All these programmes are of no real benefit, if as individuals in our daily roles, we do not focus on ourselves and our families.

We cannot as a nation gain development and growth if our own lives are broken. The 1Malaysia vision calls on us to be a family in our homes, and in our land. 1Malaysia seeks for us to return to the basics of mutual respect, honesty, responsibility and a caring society.

To gain success as a nation, we must define success in our own homes, in our own souls and in our own conscience.

> Tan Sri Faizah Mohd Tahir, who is the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry secretary-general, welcomes comments and suggestions. She can be contacted at faizah@kpwkm.gov.my.

(Article contributed by Zaharah Habu)

KULIM: Police are investigating a 33-year-old man for allegedly physically abusing his 12-year-old daugher, who went missing just before she was supposed to sit for her UPSR at SRJK (T) Kulim on Sept 8.
Kulim OCPD Supt Ghuzlan Salleh said the case was being investigated under Section 31(1)(a) of the Child Act.
The offence upon conviction carries a fine up to RM20,000 or a jail sentence of up to 10 years or both.
“We will forward investigation papers to the Deputy Public Prosecutor’s office to seek clearance to charge the man for allegedly physically abusing the girl,” he said.
The girl, S. Ashwini, was subsequently found in the home of her relative in Kampung Melayu Flats in Air Itam on Friday morning.
She is now placed at a welfare home in Kulim.
Supt Ghuzlan said investigations revealed one of the two women who took away the girl from the school was the girl’s foster mother who had taken care of her for about 10 years before she returned to stay with her parents here.
It was also learnt that the girl had called her foster mother to take her to her house in Penang Island.
Police arrested the two women and another who was at the flat in Kampung Melayu on Friday but they were released the same day.
However, police picked up the girl’s father and released him on Saturday under police bail pending investigations.

(Story contributed by Zaharah Habu)

Welcome back, Jon.

Tuesdays can be slow nights in Portsmouth (unless you’re The Beer Drinker, in which case someone usually calls you and asks you to help finish off a keg). So last winter, I spent a good deal of time scouting out the bars, looking for something to do.

That’s how I wound up discovering the Tuesday night winter lineup at the Dolphin Striker. Every other Tuesday, for several months at least, it would alternate between Dave Gerard and Jon Nolan. Both of them are great, but also very different.

Well, over the summer, Jon pretty much disappeared from the Portsmouth bar scene. Dave was still playing, but the alternate Tuesdays at the Striker were being filled by other local musicians. I was starting to get a bit worried, wondering if maybe Jon had left town or something.

But this weekend, I’ happy to say that he’s back on the scene. Tonight (Thursday), he’ll be playing at Rudi’s. I wasn’t planning on going out, but I might just have to check it out.

Jon’s appearance is actually the start of what is shaping up like a pretty good weekend for music.

Also on Thursday, the Press Room has humorist/musician Howie Newman, and on Friday, they’ve got Elsa Cross upstairs, and she always draws a good crowd. Then on Saturday, you’ve got Lord Bass at the Red Door. Not a bad lineup for one weekend.

Also this weekend, you have the latest installment in the city’s “tourist trap of the week” event down at Strawberry Banke — the 20th annual Chili Cook-off. But we are told that Red Hook will be serving beer there this year, which is a bonus. Although I’m not sure beer and chili make for the best combination…

– Mr. X