Hisham brushes aside apology request, defends PM

Brushing aside the demand that Malaysia tenders an apology, acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said that it stemmed from a misconception.

He explained that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak did not mention that MH370 had crashed in the Indian ocean and that there were no survivors.

He said this when asked to respond to the demand from families of the Chinese national passengers that the Malaysian government apologise.

"This apology comes from the belief that the prime minister claimed that the plane crashed and nobody survived.

"That is completely erroneous," Hishammuddin said.

He noted that Najib in his March 24 statement had among others stated that "based on new data, the flight ended in the Indian ocean."

Relatives of the Chinese passengers vented their anger at government officials, after arriving in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

Chanting "Tell us the truth", they demanded Najib to apologise for issuing misleading statements.

PM heading to Perth

Meanwhile, Hishammuddin also revealed that Najib would travel to Perth this Wednesday to observe the search operation.

He added that the prime minister wished to personally thank all those involved in the operation.

On another matter, Hishammuddin denied that the police had leaked transcripts of the alleged statements recorded from Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah's family to the Daily Mail.

"It did not come from the police, you have to ask Daily Mail where it (the information) came from," he added.
  
His daughter, Aishah, however denied the report, and accused the British tabloid of cooking up stories.

The Beijing-bound plane disappeared on March 8 with 239 people on board.

In another development, Hishammuddin, who is also defence minister, said that he would be attending the Asean Defence Ministers Meeting in Hawaii from April 1 -3.

From hypoxia to fire, aviation experts’ take on what happened on MH370

A British aviation society portal has sought the opinion of experts about what might have happened on board MH370 and the various theories that had come forward since the plane vanished from civilian radar on March 8. – File pic.

It has been exactly three weeks since Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 disappeared and numerous theories for the incident have been put forward.

A British aviation society portal has asked industry experts attending a recent conference in London for their take on the reasons behind MH370's disappearance.

"The Flight Operations Group (FOG) recently held a two-day conference in London on the subject of the role of aircraft commander in the 21st century," reported the British Royal Aeronautical Society website aerosociety.com.

"The conference included speakers who represented pilots, airlines, manufacturers and regulators," the portal reported.

Aerosociety.com sought the opinions of these experts about what might have happened on board MH370 and the various theories that has come forward since the plane vanished from civilian radar on March 8.

Below are excerpts from the report.

What are your views on these alternative theories?

1. The aircraft depressurised but continued to fly

It’s possible. This would explain the initial change in altitude and heading, as well as subsequent lack of communication but not why the ACARS and transponder were turned off.

2. The aircraft was overcome by toxic fumes

Unlikely. The pilots should have been able to send out a distress call and, again, it does not explain why the ACARS and transponder were turned off.

3. There was an onboard fire which damaged the communications systems

Again unlikely. This would explain the lack of communication but it is unlikely that the aircraft would have then continued to fly as long as it did if the fire continued to burn.

4. The aircraft was hijacked

A possible theory but the aircraft was not flown to another destination nor was it used as a weapon for a suicide terrorist attack. If it was an individual hijacker, then no one person or motive has been established and, if it was a group, no organisation has claimed responsibility.

5. The aircraft was deliberately diverted by the pilot/co-pilot

Possible again but no reason for this has not been identified. If it was a suicide attempt then why did the aircraft continue to fly for so long?

Technical questions

1. How easy is it to turn off ACARS and transponder?

Turning off the transponder can be done from the cockpit and is done routinely whenever aircraft have landed. Turning off ACARS is more complicated and would need someone with systems knowledge having to go into the aircraft’s avionics bay.

2. Could the aircraft’s communication systems have been disabled by any other means – such as fire/birdstrike/power failure/sabotage by third party from avionics bay?

Birdstrike is unlikely to have caused such damage but the other explanations are all possible. It is possible to disconnect communication systems from avionics bay but this should have been prevented if security was adequate.

3. The IFE moving map would have shown that the aircraft was going off course. So why were there no mobile phone calls sent from passengers or cabin crew aboard flight?

The IFE map may have been turned off. Most of the passengers may have been asleep and not realised anything was wrong until it was too late to do anything.

If they tried to phone later in the flight, the aircraft would have been in a remote area over the ocean where there was no signal.

Alternatively, the passengers and cabin crew may have been incapacitated in some way, such as by hypoxia due to cabin depressurisation.

4. How long could the aircraft be flown if depressurised?

The aircraft could continue to fly automatically untiI the fuel ran out. The effect on the people on board would vary depending on the altitude of the aircraft.

If the aircraft was above 10,700m, it would take about one minute before everyone was incapacitated. However, if the aircraft had depressurised, oxygen masks for the passengers should have descended automatically which would work for around 15 minutes.

The flight crew could have lasted longer using oxygen masks depending on whether they used pure oxygen or an oxygen mix.

4. Could either the data or the homing beacon on the ‘black boxes’ be tampered with during flight?

No. The cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and flight data recorder (FDR) cannot be tampered with.

5. Could data from aircraft still be sent to satellite if aircraft had landed/crashed in sea?

No.

6. The RAeS Flight Operations Group has written a report about dangers of lithium-ion batteries as cargo. Could they be responsible for a fire?

Possible but unlikely. It has been reported that lithium batteries were being carried in the rear hold of the aircraft but the aircraft is unlikely to have continued flying for so long if a fire had broken out. It also does not explain why the communication systems were turned off.

7. What happens when an aircraft flying on autopilot comes to the end of a FMS waypoint? Carry straight on, circle etc?

There are options for the aircraft to either continue on its current heading and to begin circling.

8. Is live (or triggered) streaming of black-box data feasible?

Yes, it can be done but it would be very expensive for an airline to fit such systems to every aircraft in its fleet.

9.   What do you think will be the implications of this incident for the aviation industry?

-    A change in ATC procedures as to when an aircraft must make contact.
-    Improved communications between different international civil and military organisations.
-    All airlines need to have 'crisis cell' which is activated for aircraft accidents.
-    Aircraft positions and status could be transmitted regularly to airline and manufacturers – but systems would be expensive to install.

Aerosociety.com noted that one technical expert pointed out that for every plausible reason suggested above, there was at least one contradictory statement.

"If it was hypoxia, then who turned MH370 around?"
"If it was a fire, then how did the aircraft continue flying?"
"If it was the flight crew, then why did the cabin crew not intervene?"

The technical expert told the portal that perhaps more than one scenario occurred simultaneously, such as wiring fire and depressurisation.

However, one thing is for certain, until more evidence is found, nothing can be proved. – March 29, 2014.

Zuraida umum tanding semula jawatan Ketua Wanita

Kami ingin merakamkan ucapan tahniah kepada Ketua Wanita kami, YB Zuraida Kamaruddin kerana telah berjaya melaksanakan tugasnya dengan cemerlang sebagai Timbalan Pengarah Pilihanraya Kecil Kajang.

Sehubungan dengan itu, kami juga ingin memberi sokongan penuh dan penghargaan tinggi kepada YB Zuraida kerana sudi bertanding semula jawatan sebagai Ketua Wanita Parti Keadilan Rakyat (KEADILAN).

Oleh kerana KEADILAN mengamalkan pemilihan parti secara langsung berdasarkan konsep satu ahli satu undi, kami yakin bahawa sokongan akar umbi kuat terhadap YB Zuraida.

Pemilihan parti merupakan sebuah proses demokrasi yang mustahak untuk membentukkan sikap ataupun kebudayaan politik yang matang.

Knggota-anggota lain dari semua lapisan dari peringkat cabang sehingga ke peringkat pusat.

Noor Sham Abu Samah

Nami berharap bahawa kesinambungan YB Zuraida sebagai Ketua Wanita akan turut disokong oleh aaib Ketua Wanita Pusat

Poziyah Hamzah
Ketua Wanita Perlis

Fathmawaty Salim
Ketua Wanita Perak

Norhayati Jaafar
Ketua Wanita Pulau Pinang

Noraini Haji Husin
Ketua Wanita Kelantan

Mahani Maitsban

Ketua Wana Melaka

Pemilihan KEADILAN: Rodziah umum tanding Ketua Wanita Pusat

Saya ingin mengumumkan bahawa saya akan bertanding jawatan Ketua Wanita Pusat Parti Keadilan Rakyat (KEADILAN) dalam pemilihan parti 2014 ini.

Ia adalah di atas keyakinan bahawa Wanita KEADILAN akan dipimpin untuk melaksanakan Agenda Reformasi dengan santunan, gerak kerja, perancangan dan pelaksanaan yang sudah sedia diperolehi model-modelnya dari pengalaman saya dalam barisan pimpinan KEADILAN dan pentadbiran Pakatan Rakyat di Selangor.

Keyakinan dari anggota kepimpinan wanita dan akar umbi juga menggesa agar adanya suatu perubahan dalam Sayap Wanita yang membolehkan kepimpinan baru menerajui Sayap Wanita KEADILAN.

“Pembaharuan itu diyakini akan memberikan kesegaran dalam pengolahan agenda masa depan Wanita KEADILAN.”

Ia merupakan suatu gesaan yang tidak boleh diketepikan dan saya tampil menyahutnya dengan segala i’tikad dan semangat supaya segera dapat dikotakan kepimpinan yang dikehendaki oleh anggota wanita KEADILAN: penerapan dan pengaktualan pembuatan keputusan secara kolektif, ketelusan dalam pengoperasian aktiviti wanita dan keakuran berlandaskan panduan dan perlembagaan parti.

Gesaan dari akar umbi itu adalah amanah bagi saya, yang akan saya genggam erat dan memohon agar sering diperingatkan kepada saya secara jujur dan tulus.

Saya yakin wanita-wanita anggota parti yang berkebolehan wajar juga menawarkan diri mereka untuk bertanding bersama-sama dalam barisan kepimpinan wanita KEADILAN.

Ia bertujuan agar barisan kepimpinan wanita KEADILAN lebih mantap dalam usaha ke arah membentuk masyarakat dengan rasa kasih dan empati, bersulamkan amalan saling memberdaya dan melengkapi.

Dengan penuh kesediaan dan rasa kesedaran akan amanah itu, saya telah mengambil keputusan untuk bertanding jawatan Ketua Wanita Pusat dalam Pemilihan KEADILAN 2014 nanti.

Rodziah Ismail
Timbalan Ketua Wanita KEADILAN Pusat

Tian Chua tawar diri untuk jawatan Timbalan Presiden

KUALA LUMPUR 28 MAC: Ahli Parlimen Batu, Tian Chua akan bertanding jawatan Timbalan Presiden KEADILAN dalam pemilihan 2014 parti itu.

Penyandang jawatan Naib Presiden itu mengesahkan perkara tersebut.

“Ya, saya akan serah borang pencalonan esok,” katanya, dipetik.

Keputusaan itu bakal menyaksikan pertembungan tiga penjuru antara penyandang jawatan berkenaan, Mohamed Azmin Ali dan Menteri Besar Selangor, Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim.

Tarikh penamaan calon pertandingan peringkat Pusat bakal berlangsung di Ibu Pejabat KEADILAN, esok, 29 Mac.

Bagi peringkat Cabang, tarikh penamaan calon dibuat selama dua minggu mengikut zon masing-masing, bermula 4 April hingga 13 April ini.

Tarikh pengundian pemilihan akan berlangsung selama tiga minggu mengikut pecahan zon bermula 25 April dan berakhir 11 Mei ini.

Barisan kepimpinan KEADILAN 2014 akan diumumkan selewat-lewatnya 13 Mei selepas proses pengundian di seluruh negara selesai.

MH370 - Masej oleh Philip Wood seorang warga US

Saya terbaca satu artikel berkenaan dengan masej oleh Philip Wood seorang warga US yang dalam perjalanan ke Beijing menggunakan MH370. Saya tak pasti kesahihan maklumat dan artikel ini, tetapi rasa dalam keadaan kita misteri dengan kehilangan MH370 dengan pelbagai teori ada baiknya artikel ini dikongsikan bersama.

Antaranya masej berbunyi

"I have been held hostage by unknown military personal after my flight was hijacked (blindfolded). I work for IBM and I have managed to hide my cellphone in my ass during the hijack. I have been separated from the rest of the passengers and I am in a cell. My name is Philip Wood. I think I have been drugged as well and cannot think clearly."


Link forum: http://archive.4plebs.org/pol/thread...4494/#27834944
Profil Philip Wood: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/worl...icle-1.1723968 

Di forum berkenaan Philip sempat memuat naik gambar hitam sebagai picture profilenya : http://img.4plebs.org/boards/pol/ima...5192158752.jpg

Dengan menggunakan software online Jeffrey's Exif Viewer untuk menganalisis data exit dari gambar hitam tersebut, maka data lengkap akan terlihat : 
http://regex.info/exif.cgi?dummy=on&...5192158752.jpg

Camera: Apple iPhone 5
Date: March 18, 2014 8:49:41PM
Location: Latitude/longitude: 7° 18' 58.3" South, 72° 25' 35.6" East
( -7.316197, 72.426544 )

Spoiler for Hangar Diego Garcia

Sesuai dengan rentetan saksi mata yang melihat MH370

Spoiler for saksi mata

Di akhir posting forum tersebut ada hal menarik :
"OP photo is interesting because it's not actually just a pure black picture, you can see noise if you zoom in. He is in a dark room. "
Menurut seorang forumer daripada forum Kaskus Indonasia TehGanteng   dan kimbo555 telah membuat analisis maklumat ini adalah seperti di bawah:-

Saya jadi iseng2 kutak katik "gambar hitam" tersebut dengan photoshop memang benar ada samar-samar bayangan, tapi belum jelas benar, sedang saya analisa lebih lanjut.

Sampai saat ini saya tetap optimis penumpangnya selamat semua & dilepaskan oleh para pembajak 
Quote:Original Posted By kimbo555 ►
terjemahan postingan philip wood :


postingan : http://archive.4plebs.org/pol/thread...4494/#27834944
(tanggal : Wed Mar 19 2014 08:22:38)

photo profile (avatar) :http://img.4plebs.org/boards/pol/ima...5192158752.jpg



(tanggal dibuatnya photo profile : 18 Maret 2014)



kamera yg digunakan :



GPS :













DAFTAR MANIFEST MH-370 :

http://www.malaysiaairlines.com/cont...20Manifest.pdf

60% keluar mengundi sehingga 12 tengahari

Pilihan raya kecil (PRK) Dewan Undangan Negeri Balingian dianggap mencatat sejarah pilihan raya di negara ini apabila jumlah mereka yang keluar mengundi setakat tengah hari sudah mencecah 60 peratus iaitu 8,014 daripada 13,233 pemilih berdaftar.
    
Pengerusi Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya (SPR) Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof berkata peratusan itu ialah yang tertinggi dan tidak pernah dicatat dalam pilihan raya umum atau PRK sebelum ini.
    
"PRK Kajang sehingga 12 tengah hari hanya 40 peratus turun mengundi tetapi pada PRK Balingian pada pukul 11 pagi 53 peratus atau 7,085 pengundi dah keluar mengundi, ini satu sejarah amat baik.
    
"Jika berterusan kita yakin apabila pusat-pusat pengundian ditutup pada sebelah petang ini akan mencapai sasaran 80 peratus yang telah ditetapkan oleh SPR," katanya kepada pemberita di Mukah.
    
Beliau juga berkata proses pengundian pada sebelah pagi berjalan lancar tanpa sebarang insiden dan provokasi.
    
"Ada isu teknikal seperti pengundi yang memeluk agama Islam menggunakan nama lain tetapi dalam MyKad nama lain dan ada seorang pengundi kad pengenalan rosak tetapi ingat nombor kad pengenalan namun ini berjaya diselesaikan,"katanya.
    
Beliau berkata SPR juga sedang menyiasat dakwaan seorang pemilih yang datang untuk mengundi namun namanya tiada dalam senarai daftar pemilih walaupun pernah mengundi di kawasan sama sebanyak dua kali.     
    
"Kita akan semak dengan teliti sama ada dakwaan itu benar atau bohong, biasanya jarang berlaku nama pengundi dipotong atau dipindahkan ke tempat lain," katanya lagi.       

Sementara itu, proses pengundian pilihan raya kecil (PRK) Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) Balingian bermula pada pukul 8 pagi ini dengan 13,233 pengundi biasa akan menunaikan tanggungjawab masing-masing.
    
SPR membuka 21 pusat pengundian melibatkan 16 buah sekolah rendah dan menengah, tiga dewan serba guna/balai raya serta dua rumah panjang.    
    
Abdul Aziz berkata daripada 21 pusat pengundian itu pusat undi di Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) St Patrick Mukah di Kuala Lama mempunyai jumlah pengundi terbanyak iaitu 1,323 orang dan akan ditutup pada pukul 5 petang.
    
"Pusat mengundi SK Kuala Kenyana Mukah dari daerah Kenyana mempunyai jumlah pengundi paling sedikit iaitu 152 pengundi dan akan ditutup pada pukul 2 petang," katanya.
    
PRK Balingian menyaksikan persaingan satu lawan satu antara calon Barisan Nasional (BN) iaitu bekas pegawai daerah Dalat Yussibnosh Balo, 48, dan seorang ahli perniagaan Abdul Jalil Bujang,55, daripada Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR).
    
Yussibnosh adalah anak tempatan manakala Abdul Jalil berasal dari Bintulu, tiga jam perjalanan darat dari Mukah.
    
Yussibnosh akan mengundi di Dewan Serba guna Kampung Tellian Tengah, Mukah yang terletak tidak jauh daripada kediaman ibu bapanya manakala Abdul Jalil bukan pengundi berdaftar di DUN itu.
    
Proses pengundian awal PRK DUN Balingian berlangsung pada 25 Mac lepas dengan 132 atau 99.25 peratus pengundi awal menjalankan tanggungjawab di Dewan Serba guna Ibu Pejabat Polis Mukah.
    
SPR menjangka 10,586 atau 80 peratus pemilih akan keluar mengundi hari ini.
    
- Bernama

Chinese celebs lash out at M'sia over MH370

A number of big-name celebrities in China, including award-winning actress Zhang Ziyi, have hit out at Malaysia's handling of the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.

Several celebrities took to Weibo - a Shanghai-based Twitter-like microblogging service – to condemn Malaysia and urge a boycott of Malaysian products.

 "The Malaysian government has offended the world! We are looking for the airplane but you are more concerned about timing.

"Malaysian government, today you have done wrong. You are wrong failing to take responsibility. You are wrong for prioritising political manoeuvres instead of respecting life.

"You are wrong for failing to respect the universal.. quest for truth," wrote Zhang on March 25, 17 days MH370 went missing and a day after Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak revealed that the plane went down in the Indian Ocean.

Among the 239 people on board MH370 were 152 Chinese nationals. One of them was Jo Kun, who was once Zhang's fight choreographer.

Actor Chen Kun (right), another famous Chinese celebritry, accused the Malaysian government and MAS of "clownish prevarication and lies", also on March 25.

He added that he would boycott all Malaysian products and avoid coming to Malaysia indefinitely.

Posts by Zhang, Chen and other Chinese celebrities have been widely shared online by Chinese netizens.

Some Chinese netizens have also urged a boycott of Malaysian artistes such as Fish Leong (right), Gary Chaw, Lee Sinje and Ah Niu, who are popular for their music and movies.

Bahau-born Leong, who is an expectant mother, drew scorn from Weibo users after uploading a photograph of three candles as a mark of respect for MH370 victims. 

Numerous Chinese netizens responded by cursing her and her unborn child. The photograph has since been removed.

In an apparent attempt to stem the anger and distrust in China, Malaysian officials have also met the Chinese ambassador to Malaysia Huang Huikang to ask for the Chinese government to engage and help clarify the situation to the bereaved relatives and the public.

“Malaysia is working hard to try and make the briefings to the Chinese relatives in Beijing more productive,” read a statementsent out by the Transport Ministry today.

Walaupun berisiko Anwar tanding presiden PKR

Ketua Umum PKR, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim sah akan bertanding jawatan presiden PKR  dalam pemilihan pucuk pimpinan parti itu kali ini.

Borang pencalonanya diserahkan oleh Timbalan Bendahari Agung PKR, Low Chee Chong sekitar jam 11 pagi tadi.

Pencadang Anwar untuk jawatan tersebut ialah bekas timbalan presiden, Dr Syed Husin Ali dan ia disokong oleh Low sendiri.

Namun begitu, Anwar berdepan dengan risiko pembatalan oleh Pendaftaran Pertubuhan jika beliau terpilih, ekoran sabitannya dalam kes liwat 11.

Karpal Singh pula sebaliknya hari ini mengumumkan melepaskan jawatan pengerusi DAP kebangsaan ekoran sabitannya dalam kes di bawah Akta Hasutan.

Anwar dan Karpal masing-masing telah memfailkan rayuan terhadap terhadap penghakiman dan sabitan ke atas mereka.

Mengikut Seksyen 9A (1) (b) Akta Pertubuhan 1966, seseorang tidak boleh menjadi atau kekal memegang jawatan dalam pertubuhan yang berdaftar jika telah disabitkan atas apa-apa kesalahan dan didenda tidak kurang daripada RM2,000 atau hukuman penjara selama tempoh tidak kurang daripada satu tahun.

Sementara itu, Menteri Besar Selangor, Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim dan Naib Presiden Tian Chua, masing-masing telah menyerah borang pencalonan untuk jawatan timbalan presiden.

Anwar tidak hadir sewaktu borang pencalonannya diserahkan kerana berehat selepas pulang dari Kota Bharu, lewat malam tadi, kata Low.

Pengerusi Jawatankuasa Pemilihan Pusat PKR, Datuk Johari Abdul mengumumkan senarai terkini pencalonan dalam sidang media ringkas pada jam 12 tengahari tadi.

Menurutnya, enam nama telah dicalonkan untuk jawatan naib presiden - Datuk Dr Mansor Othman, Baru Bian, Fuziah Salleh, N Surendran, Suresh Kumar, dan Mustafa Kamil Ayub.

MP Kuantan, Fuziah Salleh yang merupakan naib presiden akan mempertahankan jawatan yang dimenanginya pada pemilihan sebelum ini.

Sementara MP Padang Serai, N Surendran dan MP Nibong Tebal, Datuk Dr Mansor Othman pula akan mencuba nasib untuk dipilih selepas dilantik ke jawatan itu sebelum ini.

Suasana penamaan calon setakat ini berjalan lancar dengan tiga buah khemah didirikan di depan ibu pejabat PKR.

Tiga khemah tersebut digunakan sebagai ruang untuk penyokong calon berehat sementara calon mereka menyerahkan borang.

Penyerahan borang pencalonan bagi pemilihan parti itu bermula pukul 10 pagi pagi ini dan ditutup pada pukul 5 petang.

Pemilihan dijangka berlangsung bulan depan dan akan berterusan sehingga Mei untuk ahli parti itu memilih kepimpinan untuk beberapa peringkat termasuk cawangan, cabang dan kepimpinan pusat.

Manifesto anak muda tumpuan pertama Wan Azizah di Kajang

Basyar Abd Kadir

KAJANG 27 MAC: Setelah memenangi kerusi Pilihan Raya Kecil (PRK) Kajang, Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail tanpa berlengah terus memfokuskan mengenai pembangunan belia bagi melaksanakan manifesto untuk anak muda di Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) itu.

Menurutnya, perkara itu sedia digerakkan dalam waktu terdekat memandangkan peruntukan untuk pelaksanaannya sudah tersedia.

“Peruntukan sememangnya sudah disediakan oleh PeBT (Penggerak Belia Tempatan) dan Majlis Perbandaran Kajang (MPKj).

“Berkenaan pembangunan anak muda, PeBT sudah ada peruntukan setiap zon, jadi perkara tersebut boleh digerakkan sekarang secepat mungkin,” kata Adun Kajang itu pada sidang media selepas mengadakan pertemuan dengan Ahli Majlis dan Yang Dipertua (YDP) MPKj, di Menara MPKj, di sini hari ini.

Sementara itu, YDP MPKj, Datuk Hassan Nawawi menjelaskan, pihaknya sedia menyalurkan sumbangan kepada setiap zon untuk tujuan pembangunan belia.

“Di bawah PBT (Pihak Berkuasa Tempatan) ada 24 zon, setiapnya diberi RM5,000 setahun.

“Kalau hendak memohon kena buat kertas kerja dahulu, peruntukan memang ada,” katanya.

Pertemuan kali pertama ini selepas Wan Azizah menjadi Adun kawasan itu pada Ahad lalu bertujuan bagi membincang dan mengutarakan beberapa idea. 

Kerajaan Selangor merancang untuk menyediakan bas pengantara (feeder bus) sebagai alternatif menaik taraf sistem pengangkutan awam bagi mengelakkan kesesakan trafik di Kajang.

Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri (Adun) Kajang, Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail berkata, projek khas itu sebagai penyelesaian masalah trafik yang dijangka akan meningkat ekoran pembinaan stesyen Aliran Transit Massa (MRT) di Kajang.

“Antara masalah apabila MRT ini siap nanti, tiada penghubung khas untuk penduduk ke stesyen itu.

“Untuk mengelakkan kesesakan bertambah teruk, terutama pada waktu pagi dan petang, kita buat satu sistem pengangkutan awam iaitu sistem pengangkutan baru (feeder system). Sistem ini ke arah menyelesaikan masalah trafik,” katanya kepada media, hari ini.

Menjelaskan lebih lanjut, Yang Dipertua Majlis Perbandaran Kajang (MPKj), Datuk Hassan Nawawi berkata, sistem baru ini akan menghadkan penggunaan kereta untuk mengelakkan kesesakan.

Katanya, sistem ini juga akan lebih menumpukan dari aspek keberkesanan pengangkutan awam itu sendiri selain memudahkan pengguna.

“Orang ramai akan menaiki bas, tidak perlu guna kenderaan sendiri untuk ke stesyen tersebut.

“Bas akan bergerak sentiasa dalam jarak satu hingga dua kilometer. Jadi pengguna tidak perlu bawa kenderaan untuk ke stesyen tersebut.

“Tetapi jika yang bawa kereta daripada jauh, seperti Kuala Lumpur, tempat parkir akan disediakan.

“Kita jangkakan pengguna akan jalan kaki dalam jarak 400 meter untuk ke stesyen tersebut,” kata Hassan menambah pengurusan projek ini bakal mendapat kerjasama Suruhanjaya Pengangkutan Awam Darat (SPAD) dan Majlis Pengangkutan Awam Selangor.

Kajang yang sering berdepan masalah kesesakan, dijangka akan bertambah sesak apabila projek MRT siap dijangka antara 2016-2018.

Pendekatan bas pengantara dirancang untuk memastikan kesesakan dapat dikurangkan, termasuk memudahkan penduduk mendapat akses perhubungan ke stesyen terdekat.

Ini merupakan inisiatif awal Wan Azizah untuk mengatasi masalah kesesakan lalu lintas sebagai pelaksanaan ‘Manifesto Kajang’ oleh calon KEADILAN itu sempena Pilihan Raya Kecil DUN tersebut.

Thai satellite sights 300 objects near search area

The Thailand Earth Observation Satellite (Thaichote) has spotted 300 floating objects in the Indian Ocean, some 200 kilometre southwest of the area being searched for Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370.

 

Thailand is the fifth country that has produced satellite images of floating objects in the same area after Australia, France, UK andChina.

According to the AFP, the floating objects were identified by Thailand's Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency. 

 

It said that the objects ranged from two to 15 metres in size, scattered over an area about 2,700 km southwest of Perth.

The images were taken on March 24, top financial daily The Wall Street Journal reported.

 

Thai newspaper The Nation reported that the images have been submitted to the caretaker premier it will be forwarded to Malaysia. 

Yesterday, Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein announced that French satellites spotted 122 images in the search area, which is slightly larger than the size of Sabah. 

 

The multinational search, which resumed this morning was called off after about four hours due to bad weather in one of the roughest seas in the world. Ships, however, remain in the ocean. 

 

The Nation said that Thaichote is a remote sensing satellite for natural resources observation.

RMAF 'assumed' control tower ordered turn-back

MH370 The Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) did not act to intercept Flight MH370 when it was detected on military radar off the Straits of Malacca on March 8 due to the "assumption" that the flight had been ordered to turn back by the civial aviation control tower.

Deputy Defence Minister Abdul Rahim Bakri said the aircraft, which was not immediately identified as Flight MH370 when it was last detected on the military radar at 2.40am, was identified as "non-hostile".

"We felt the turn- back was by a friendly aircraft and the directive had come from the control tower," he said when winding up on points raised on his ministry during the debate on the royal address.

However, Abdul Rahim stressed that conclusive answers will only be available when the debris from the plane is found.

“We noticed that the plane was heading towards the Straits of Malacca or the Andaman Sea. So we informed the task force responsible (for investigations) the next day,” he said.

He also said that revealing the information to the public would have “involved national security”.

He was replying Mohd Imran Abdul Hamid (PKR-Lumut) during Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat today.

Tighter security a must at airports and on planes

I have written before on the lax security measures at our airports and am dismayed that despite the breaches recently, the authorities have not bucked up as observed in my recent flight. I don't know how many of these procedures have already been implemented but if they have not, as a minimum, I propose the following (new) flight security measures:

1) A Department of Homeland Security (DHS) be set up with a full budget akin to what the US has. The personnel should be properly trained and selected based on competency only. Some of the tasks below can then be assigned to the DHS.

2) Airport security camera feeds should be selected at random, say at every 30 minute intervals and photographs of ALL (including staff of airports, airlines, vendors) be sent to the FBI’s database for a photo-fit check. Some terrorists can lie in wait, working as a vendor, for the right time to board a plane.

3) Chemical trace dusting be done at random at all entry points into airports on ALL entrants. This is long overdue.

4) X-ray machines be implemented and screening done at random at all entry points in airports. Men aged between 18 and 60 should be screened more than others.

5) Security personnel at the screening points be better trained to check all passengers for concealed items. If the sensor “beeps”, they should thoroughly pat them down, X-ray and dust these passengers. Make them go through the sensor gantry again after removing the items that triggered the alarm originally.

6) There should at least one armed marshal in each flight to ensure passenger / plane safety. The identity of this marshal should only be known to the pilot and airport security. This marshal should also be fitted with an “always on” microphone/camera.

7) All airplanes should be fitted with a tracking system that cannot be switched off manually. I heard on CNN today that this technology is readily available. Even better if the same type of cameras fitted to spaceships that transmit images real time to earth, be fitted on passenger planes and monitored real time from ground control.

8) Pilots should have a similar tracking device, perhaps an “always on” hidden microphone on their being so that cockpit sound is monitored real time.

9) I won’t comment too much on the pilots’ pre-flight testing as I’m sure their emotional and physical well-being are regularly tested. One idea I’m not averse to is to name the pilots on each flight (printed on the ticket?) so that a passenger can know their names before flying rather than during the in-flight announcement. Crowd sussing is a powerful tool and cannot be underestimated.

10) Of course, all the above measures would only work as intended if the the ground personnel tasked with monitoring them, do not sleep on their jobs. Best to have a shift of three people so that at least one is awake during the red-eye shift.

I hope somebody in authority is reading this post and considers my suggestions seriously.