Foul!

As published in Malay Mail today HARESH SAYS by Haresh Deol A SENIOR official claims a senior colleague suggested to “hide or tamper” documents. On any other day, such accusations will warrant a full investigation. But in the case of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), it was a revelation that was video recorded and presumably kept aside.  Malay Mail had last Saturday revealed AFC financial director Bryan Kuan Wee Hoong, in a video recording on July 26, 2012, claimed AFC general secretary Datuk Alex Soosay said “protect me” before suggesting “can you tamper or hide documents that relate to me”. Kuan had, in the video, said the conversation between him and Soosay took place at the AFC House in Bukit Jalil on July 23, 2012, three days before former Fifa investigator Michael John Pride recorded the statement. This was during the 2012 audit by PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Kuan refused to talk when contacted last week. Soosay vehemently denied...

Press release by World Badminton Federation    EIGHT-MONTH SANCTION FOR DOPING VIOLATION Malaysian player, Lee Chong Wei, has received an eight-month sanction for an anti-doping regulation violation. This sanction, imposed by the BWF Doping Hearing Panel, has resulted from an Adverse Analytical Finding of Lee’s sample taken at the BWF World Championships last 30 August in Denmark. That sample contained Dexamethasone, a Specified Substance prohibited "in competition”, the source of which was a contaminated casing(s) of a gelatin capsule(s) containing a food supplement that Lee had been taking. Appearing before the BWF Doping Hearing Panel on 11 April, Lee accepted that Dexamethasone was present in his sample and that he had consequently committed an anti-doping violation under regulation 2.1 of the BWF Anti-Doping Regulations (2009). His argument was that he did so inadvertently and that either no sanction should take place according to Clause 10.5....

As published in Malay Mail today       Haresh Says By Haresh Deol RAISING my hand furiously to ask questions — from the back of the media room — during a press conference at the Kuala Lumpur police headquarters, I had to speak up. The first question was related to the case. The second got some stern-looking officers smiling.   “Aren’t you tired of repeating the advice to the public as they continue to fall prey to scams?” I asked. City deputy police chief Datuk Law Hong Soon responded diplomaticaly.   “We advise people not to be easily trapped by fraud, especially the Macau scam. Refer to us if you receive a dubious phone call or believe you are being tricked,” he said after KL police nabbed 52 China nationals from six high-end homes.   I bet Law has repeated the same message over and over. Given a choice, he would rather record his voice and play it each time police bust scammers who lure the vulnerable into losing money. ...

As published in Malay Mail today Comment by Frankie D’Cruz frankie@mmail.com.my SAY that again: Jokes should not cause excessive laughter? Comedy Court pair Allan Perera and Indi Nadarajah, whose trademark searing social and political satire gets us laughing out loud, might soon be out of work. As would other comedians. Wait: There’s to be gender segregation at concerts. If one took his daughter to a concert, she would have to sit in another row. No father will accompany his child to a performance again. Brand Malaysia is being systematically destroyed. The new guidelines by the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim) do not raise national happiness. The updated rules are a dent to closeness. We are supposed to create awareness of love and affection for Malaysia to remind the people the importance of uniting, but siege mindset seems to rule. Let’s just zero in on laughter and who better to comment on it than Perera: “Must Malays...

As published in Malay Mail today. HARESH SAYS By Haresh Deol THIS is an extension of my column last week. In ‘What are we paying for?’ published on April 8, I questioned why taxpayers are not informed about dealings which involve their hard-earned money. The revelations in the annual Auditor-General’s Report add salt to an already deep wound. At the end of the column, I mentioned all we demand is some form of transparency. Sadly, transparency and accountability are strange words to many, especially government agencies. Civil servants tend to behave as though taxpayers’ money belongs to them and that they are entitled to use (or in most cases abuse) as they please. Little do they realise that even those within are tired and frustrated with such malpractices. One of them is Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed. The Pulai MP, who has been training his guns on several ministries, including the Finance Ministry, was q...

As published in Malay Mail today PETALING JAYA — The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has arrested the private secretary of Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Joseph Entulu Belaun, for allegedly making false claims. The private secretary, who was picked up in Kuching together with four contractors on Monday, has been remanded for seven days. He is believed to have made the claims amounting to RM100,000 for projects that never took place. “As private secretary, he was able to enter into deals of not more than RM20,000. He made several deals but they were never made public,” said an insider who declined to be named. “The contractors have been released but the private secretary has been remanded and will be flown to Kuala Lumpur for investigations. “Each claim is believed to be between RM18,000 and RM20,000 and it is believed the total claims amounted to at least RM100,000. The matter is still being investigated and hopefully he w...

As published in Malay Mail today. By Vijhay Vick vijhayvick@mmail.com.my SUBANG JAYA — The Sultan of Selangor has voiced his displeasure over the state’s 2016 Malaysia Games (Sukma) contingent using Kita Lawan as its slogan. In a strongly worded speech during the Selangor Sports Awards last night, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah said: “The slogan Kita Lawan has been used by a particular political party. I do not want the general public to misconstrue or presume that the Selangor contingent is trying to politicise sports. It is best for the Selangor contingent to use a different slogan that is more spirited and will not invite controversy.” The Selangor Sports Council’s Kita Lawan battle cry was revealed during a briefing with sports associations on March 27. Malay Mail broke the news on March 29 on its frontpage.  Sports officials who attended the briefing expressed shock, stressing the tagline is used by jailed opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar...

It is amazing how football in Australia has grown. A country, best known for rugby, cricket and Aussie rules football, Australia has made a name for itself in the region and produced talents for major football leagues around the world including the English Premier League. One man who is in the thick of the A-League action is former Malay Mail sports journalist Ghaz Ramli (pic) . After his stint with Malay Mail, having covered the 2005 and 2007 Sea Games he moved to public relations. His clients include IMG, Federation Internationale de 'lAutomobile (FIA), Sepang International Circuit (SIC), PUMA, International Rugby Board (IRB) and Union Cycling Internationale (UCI), among others. Ghaz moved to Perth, Australia several years back and is now the membership, ticketing and events manager for Australian club Perth Glory. We met recently, during his short trip back, as we compared how the A-League and football are run in Australia and Malaysia. “The A-Lea...

PHD, Ertinya, perasaan hasrat dengki. ianya penyakit sukar diubati. Ada yang tidak mempedulikannya, ada pula yang taksub dengannya. PHD, Ertinya bila seseorang mengambil gambar rumah rakan sekerja yang kononnya cantik, Dan mengirimkannya kepada SPRM. Apabila teman kerja memandu kereta Jepun (model biasa jer), Si dia melaporkan kepada pihak atasan. PHD, Ertinya tidak sanggup melihat orang lain berjaya, tetapi sifatnya malas, nak gaji besar, tak nak kerja. Bukannya 'thinker', hanya 'trouble maker'. PHD, Jangan cepat melatah bila ditegur, tiada 'agenda' disebalik kritikan. Orang besar menerimanya dengan minda terbuka, Kamu pula, bagaimana? PHD, Itulah sifat anda. kononnya "berpelajaran", Usah bercita-cita nak jadi orang besar, Dengan perasaan hasrat dengki, anda akan 'kecil' selama-lamanya. Majulah Sukan Untuk Negara