Najib: Projects to stimulate economy must take off soon

KUALA LUMPUR: Programmes under Budget 2009 and the RM7bil stimulus package must preferably take off by the first quarter of next year.

Finance Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said it was important for the programmes, which were introduced to reinforce the economy, to be implemented soon.

“Right now, that’s our priority,” he told reporters yesterday after attending the Economic Council meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, at Parliament House.

Najib said the Government would introduce several measures to insulate the country’s economy from the global financial crisis.

Among them were making structural changes to encourage better and competitive economic growth, encouraging more investments from the private sector in the local economy and implementing progressive liberalisation of the services sector.

To a question, Najib said the Govern-ment would only come up with additional stimulus packages if the situation warranted them.

“We have the capacity to make capital injections, but at the same time we cannot allow the Government’s fiscal deficit to become too high,” he added.

Najib said more effort would also be made to encourage additional foreign direct investments in certain economic sectors and sub-sectors.

He said the meeting also decided that more skilled or knowledge workers were needed, especially for the main growth corridors.

Earlier when addressing the inaugural Asean Infrastructure Financing Mechanism Conference, Najib said Asean was inviting the private sector and multilateral organisations to assist in implementing and developing infrastructure projects, which were essential in accelerating the region’s economic growth.

He said the Asean Finance Ministers were inviting the private sector to engage with the Asean Infrastructure Financing Mechanism (AIFM) Task Force set up to facilitate the establishment of the best frameworks and mechanisms to attract greater private sector participation and investment.

Malaysia chairs the task force.

Abdullah, in his welcoming speech to the Economic Council, said Malaysia was not completely insulated although it had strong macro-economic fundamentals and a resilient banking and financial system.

He said that while the stimulus package announced by Najib last week was a short-term policy response, the Government believed it should also take the opportunity to address medium and long-term structural issues and formulate a strategic package to ensure rapid growth of the economy.

By ZULKIFLI ABD RAHMAN and JANE RITIKOS

Hubby: Missing wife was being blackmailed over naked photos

JOHOR BARU: A 39-year-old waitress went into hiding after a man threatened to distribute her nude photos.

Tan Chui Peng took her three children aged between 9 and 11 when she left her house in Taman Ehsan Jaya on Oct 31.

Her husband, Wang Ban Soon, 51, said the problem started when Tan befriended a customer, known as Ah Kiong, three months ago.

“I told her not to entertain this man because I had a bad feeling, but she did not listen to me,” the lorry driver told a press conference at the Johor MCA Youth Public Service and Complaints Bureau.

“She finally admitted she was having an affair with him. When I pressed further, she explained that the man had threatened to distribute her nude photos on the Internet if she didn’t continue with the relationship,” he said.

Wang said his wife quit and went to work in Singapore but the man kept bothering her by sending SMSes.

“On Oct 31, my wife complained of having a headache and told me that she was going to the clinic. I discovered that she had taken the children with her when I returned home from work at night,” he said.

Wang, who has made a police report, said he was worried for the safety of his wife and children.

Those with information can contact the police hotline at 07-221-2999 or the nearest police station.

By The Star

Duo nabbed by Johor cops after 2-hour, five-car chase

KLUANG: Two men were arrested after a two-hour chase involving four patrol cars from Johor Baru to Simpang Renggam.

Police tried to stop the men at least four times by blocking their vehicle’s path but they managed to evade capture.

During the chase, the suspects also rammed their car against one of the patrol cars.

Police fired shots at them twice but missed.

The incident began when a policeman ordered the suspects to stop their vehicle in Jalan Tebrau, Johor Baru, at 1.50am yesterday.

Police gave chase when the suspects sped away.

They were later spotted by another patrol car when they threw away a bag believed to contain drugs.

The second patrol car then joined the chase.

Johor CID chief Senior Asst Comm II Amer Awal said the suspects rammed a third patrol car, which was waiting for them in Kulaijaya, at 2.30am.

A fourth patrol car from Kluang then joined in the chase.

“The chase ended at a dead-end street at 4am when all four patrol cars blocked the area preventing any escape,” he said.

The suspects, aged 24 and 30, were brought back to Johor Baru. Police seized a pistol holster and a laptop from the vehicle.

The 30-year old suspect has been previously held for illegal firearms possession.

SAC Amer urged anyone with information to contact the police hotline at 07-2212999 or the nearest police station.

By FARIK ZOLKEPLI

Little Miss Sunshine

Meg Cabot, author of The Princess Diaries series, chooses to escape the darkness of her past by writing only about the bright side of life for now.

MEG Cabot might be jet-lagged and exhausted, but the American author is the image of chic when you meet her in her suite at the Ritz-Carlton.

The 41-year-old, who easily looks 10 years younger than her age, was in Singapore last month as part of a month-long publicity tour that includes Britain, Sweden, South Africa, Hong Kong and Thailand.

She had just spent the morning at Singapore Chinese Girls’ School, where she took questions and signed books.

“Every single kid there had a mobile phone and wanted to take a picture, and like five pictures, and pictures with their friends, and they all had, like, every book I ever wrote. It was fun but very exhausting,” she says with a laugh.

The slim, pixieish writer talks exactly like her teenage characters, peppering her speech with a lot of “like”, dramatic whispers and even squeals.

For example, when you ask her about the fact that her hit series The Princess Diaries was inspired by her widowed mother dating her former high school teacher (as the title character Mia’s mother does), her eyes widen and she leans forward confidingly: “They were set up on a blind date, and this is what’s really sick – are you ready?”


»I had a really hard time getting it published« MEG CABOT

A theatrical pause, and then, in a stage whisper: “He’s my ex-boyfriend’s godfather.”

Smiling at your suitably shocked expression, she exclaims delightedly: “I know, you almost threw up there, didn’t you? You almost threw up a little bit in your mouth.”

Then, somewhat more maturely, she adds: “But whatever, he’s so nice and he’s a really great guy, so it’s really good for her. I’m totally happy for them.”

Besides the fact that it is “totally gross”, this bit of family history has clearly paid off for the author.

When it was first published in October 2000, The Princess Diaries spent 38 weeks on the children’s books bestsellers list of The New York Times, and was sold to publishers in 37 countries.

The 2001 film adaptation, starring Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews, also helped raise her profile. She has since sold more than 15 million copies throughout the world.

The global appeal of her books is something that still obviously amazes the author.

“It’s totally bizarre and it freaks me out because I don’t know what it is about the books that speaks to all of them,” she says, gesticulating animatedly. “But I think it is basically the fact that being a teenager kind of sucks universally, so the problems are all the same.”

That said, it is somewhat ironic that she had actually written the first draft of The Princess Diaries with older characters and an older audience in mind.

“I really thought it was for adults, and I was really surprised when my agent said it was for teens,” she says, adding that she had originally envisioned it along the lines of British author Sue Townsend’s satirical Adrian Mole series. However, on the advice of her agent, she rewrote her book with a younger protagonist.

Darker story

Beneath Cabot’s light-hearted books and sunny image is a darker story. Her father, a business professor, was an alcoholic, and the author recalls that he often passed out on the floor of the living room.

He also verbally abused Cabot and her two younger brothers.

“As a teen, I had a hard time finding books that were accessible for me.

My father was an alcoholic, so my family life kind of sucked and I didn’t want to read the books geared for teens at that time, as they were all about kids whose parents were alcoholics,” she says, grimacing.

“I was like, I already have that in my life. I wanted to escape from that. It was just really hard to find a book about a girl, a strong heroine who wasn’t getting pregnant, getting molested or having something horrible happen to her.”

Thus, she started writing her own stories as a teenager, which ranged from science fiction to mysteries to fantasies.

“The reason I write the kind of books I do is because I remember what it was like to grow up in a family that was really messed up and not being able to find books that were for girls like me.”

However, when she entered Indiana University, she decided to major in art instead of writing as an older friend named Benjamin Egnatz – himself a writing major who would, years later, become her husband – advised her not to study writing “because they will make you hate it.”

He now manages the business side of her career and the couple live in Key West, Florida, with their two cats.

After graduation, she went to New York to try and get art jobs in the media, but after little success started working at New York University as the assistant manager of a dormitory.

The job gave her plenty of time to write, especially during the long summer vacations. She started seriously trying to get published in 1994, when her father died from throat cancer.

Her first published books were Victorian romances, a genre she had decided to focus on as she had read that romances make up more than 50% the publishing market.

However, her real breakthrough came in 2000 with The Princess Diaries, though it was rejected multiple times before being picked up by HarperCollins.

“I had a really hard time getting it published because a lot of the people I sent it to were like, ‘This isn’t children’s fiction, this isn’t appropriate because there’s no great big huge moral lesson’,” she says, rolling her eyes.

“I even got a rejection letter from a very prominent children’s book editor which said that The Princess Diaries was unfit for children, or anyone.”

She continued to work at the dormitory until 2001, when her earnings from the books and Princess Diaries movie meant she was financially secure enough to concentrate on writing full-time. She now has 10 different series under her belt, including a new one for readers aged eight to 12, which she admits is intended to capture the younger fan base of The Princess Diaries movies. Titled Allie Finkle, it is about a nine-year-old girl who moves to a new neighbourhood.

Meanwhile, even though the 10th and last book in The Princess Diaries series is out in January, she says it is not farewell forever to Princess Mia.

“I have met so many Princess Diaries fans who started out with the books when they were 10 or 11, and now they are going to college and they are like, ‘We really want to read about Princess Mia in college.’ I think that would be fun – I have lots of good ideas,” she says, though she hastens to add that there will be “a long pause” before that happens.

As her readers grow up, does she think she will ever seek inspiration from her past to write about, well, the darker side of life?

“Someday I might do a memoir, but I don’t think I could write about it from a fictional character’s point of view. I’ve just tried tonnes of times and have never been able to finish it.” – The Straits Times, Singapore / Asia News Network

By STEPHANIE YAP

Mahathir can’t swim, urges parents to ensure their kids can

PUTRAJAYA: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad can do many things but take him to a pool and that’s where his human frailty will begin to show

The former Prime Minister can’t swim.
For a deserving cause: Dr Mahathir launching the charity triathlon event near the Perdana Leadership Foundation in Putrajaya yesterday. Among those present are Salman, Dr Sheikh Muszaphar (right) and ESQ leadership centre founder Dr Ary Ginanjar Agustian (left).

Launching a charity triathlon event for an 11-year-old who will also swim 8km across the Putrajaya lake, the former Prime Minister spoke about his “weakness”.

“I confess that I can’t swim. I am astonished that humans can swim.

“I used to worry that when I sailed on ships, I would sink to the bottom in case anything happened to the vessels,’’ he said.

He acknowledged how important it was to learn to swim, and urged parents to ensure their children could do so.

“It is a bit too late for me but I have tried to learn swimming many times,” he added.

Salman Ali Shariati Abdul Halim will also cycle for 360km and run 84km to raise funds for his attempt to swim across the English Chan–nel next year.

If successful, the boy will be–come the youngest swimmer to cross the English Channel.

Dr Mahathir praised Salman — a student of the Anglo Chinese School in Ipoh who is dubbed the “Iron Boy” — for his grit and determination at such a tender age.

He was recognised as the country’s youngest long distance swimmer by the Malaysia Book of Records last year.

Bt TheStar