KINI ROUNDUP Here are the key headlines that you may have missed yesterday, in brief.
Ex-S'gor MB questions Taman Tugu cost
The cost of the National Monument park or Taman Tugu project came under fire from former Selangor menteri besar and Bandar Tun Razak MP Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, who said it should not cost a whopping RM650 million.
State sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional, which is spearheading the project, has provided the general breakdown of the cost for Taman Tugu, though it did not give specifics.
Meanwhile, city dwellers are against suggestions to demolish Tugu Negara which was built to honour fallen soldiers, even though Muslim clerics said the depiction of living beings in statues is proscribed by Islam.
In a related matter, former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said demolishing the iconic Langkawi eagle statue in his home state of Kedah, is not going to make Malays more Muslim than they already are.
Developers as lenders unfeasible
Finance Minister II Johari Abdul Ghani underscored the many challenges to the idea of housing developers being issued moneylending licences to provide loans for non-bankable property buyers as proposed by Urban Well-being, Housing and Local Government Minister Noh Omar.
Apart from Noh's ministry, other relevant ministries or government agencies should also monitor the issuance of the moneylending licences, said a consumer activist worried that the same lack of regulation that plague recovery services for moneylenders may befall developers.
Opposition leaders from the DAP and PKR have likened Noh’s idea to a move to creating more loan sharks.
LRT breakdown strikes twice
Hundreds of passengers were forced to walk along the railway track on the Gombak-Putra Heights line after the train they were in broke down in yet another apparent electrical supply disruption which occurred at around 10am after a downpour - the second in as many hours yesterday - in addition to a breakdown on Wednesday.
Rapid Rail will be providing free service for three days to commuters on the Kelana Jaya line from Sept 13 to 15, along the Gombak-Putra Heights-Gombak route which covers 37 stations, following the service disruptions on Wednesday and yesterday, said its chief executive officer Azmi Abd Aziz.
More Kinibites
The 14th general election could be held as early as March next year, according to a report by Bloomberg, quoting two Umno division leaders who declined to be named.
While he agreed that the attorney-general must appear independent, a lawyer described demands for Mohamed Apandi Ali to resign after he was spotted dancing publicly with several ministers as "trivial", arguing that appearing alongside political leaders does not mean Apandi was siding with them.
Nevertheless, former Batu Kawan Umno division vice-chief Khairuddin Abu Hassan has filed a fresh affidavit, with included the Apandi video, as part of his judicial review application against the attorney-general.
“Martyrs will be rewarded with 72 virgins in paradise.” This has been the oft-used concept used by extremists to encourage Muslim men to carry out various activities, including terrorism, which has been perceived by some as a way to achieve martyrdom.
Looking ahead
DAP parliamentarian Lim Lip Eng will lodge a police report over alleged conspiracy involving officials of a local bank to launder money through the financial institution, allegedly orchestrated by controversial financier Jho Low.
