E-book reader to be exported

KUALA TERENGGANU: The e-book reader introduced by Terengganu Government will be exported overseas, with 200 sample units already sent to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Indonesia, Mentri Besar Datuk Ahmad Said said on Monday.

“The e-book reader we sent to the UAE uses Arabic while Indonesia will order 50,000 units as a start if they find it as practical,” he said when presenting the readers to 1,088 Year Five pupils from 12 schools in the Tepoh state constituency at the Gong Badak indoor stadium complex, here.

Ahmad said 50,000 e-book readers would be distributed to pupils in Year Three and Four in Terengganu with an allocation to be approved by the state assembly next month. — Bernama

Full concentration: Year Five pupil Wan Ikhmal Syahmi from Sekolah Kebangsaan Gong Badak, Kuala Terengganu using the e-book.

Pupils caught downloading smut

KUALA TERENGGANU: A group of pupils from a primary school in Gong Badak here have been caught misusing electronic textbooks (e-books) to download and store pornographic material.

They would access such materials, store them at home and bring them to school where the group would view them together.

Twelve pupils from Year Five and Six were caught in possession of smut videos and pictures during a spot check by the school’s disciplinary teachers and prefects.

It is learnt the school will expel the pupils for violating the guidelines of the e-book scheme and for having lewd materials.

The e-books, a replacement for heavy schoolbags, were incorporated with standard and additional primary syllabuses.

Terengganu was the first state in the country to introduce the scheme in June.

Besides pornography, the pupils also used the e-books to access YouTube and download photographs of actresses.

State Education, Higher Learning, Science, Technology and Human Resource Committee chairman Ahmad Razif Abdul Rahman acknowledged that the pupils were caught with such materials, but declined to name the school.

The state government has issued a directive to schools to initiate disciplinary action against those found to have violated the guidelines.

“We consider it a serious offence to download indecent materials and it is now up to the school authorities to initiate appropriate action, including expelling them,” he said yesterday.

He said those caught blamed their elder siblings for downloading the smut but the excuse was unacceptable as the laptops were entrusted to the pupils.

He said some of the schools in the state had also begun to ensure that their pupils refrain from browsing undesirable websites by making their parents stand as sureties.

With this, the school authorities can seize the e-books, seek compensation and initiate severe disciplinary action if the children are found to have defied the guidelines, he added. - The Star

Police Let Schools To Act In Schoolgirls Brawl

KUALA TERENGGANU, July 15 (Bernama) -- The police will leave it to the schools to act against the schoolgirls who were involved in a brawl at a surau in Kampung Ketengah Jaya, Dungun, last month, Terengganu CID chief ACP Mohd Fauzi Abduri said Wednesday.

The police had taken statements from the six schoolgirls, the principals and the discipline teachers of two secondary schools, and the investigation was going on, he told reporters after attending the monthly assembly of the Terengganu police contingent, here.

In the incident on June 18, several senior students forced two Form One students to wrestle and assaulted them as they were jealous of the attention these smart girls received from the teachers.

One of the victims lodged a report at the Kuala Terengganu police station three days later after finding out that a video recording of the fight had been circulated on the Internet.

Newspaper reports yesterday quoted Director-General of Education Tan Sri Alimuddin Mohd Dom as saying two students who were the "directors" in the recording of the video had been expelled from school.

The victim who lodged the report was suspended from school for three days and the other victim was suspended for two weeks.

-- BERNAMA

MARA Collects More In Loan Repayments

KUALA TERENGGANU, July 15 (Bernama) -- Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara) collected about RM35 million in loan repayments per month from entrepreneurs between January and June this year, Mara deputy director-general Datuk Osman Ahmad said Wednesday.

He said the amount was an encouraging increase compared to the RM25 million to RM30 million collected per month for the corresponding period last year.

"The collection shows that many entrepreneurs are committed to paying back their loans, thus the money can be used to help other entrepreneurs," he told reporters after officiating at the 2009 Megasale Carnival at Shahbandar Square, here.

He said Mara had given out loans to almost 33,000 entrepreneurs nationwide, which involved an allocation of RM1.5 billion under the ongoing Ninth Malaysia Plan.

More than 100 entrepreneurs from all over the country participated in the five-day carnival.

-- BERNAMA

Statements Recorded From Six Involved In Fight

KUALA TERENGGANU, July 14 (Bernama) -- The police have recorded statements from six schoolgirls, including two victims, who were involved in a brawl at a surau in Kampung Ketengah Jaya, Dungun last month.

State CID chief ACP Mohd Fauzi Abduri said Tuesday, the students, four of whom had allegedly orchestrated the incident, were from two secondary schools in Dungun.

He said the police would also obtain statements from the principal and discipline teacher of both schools.

In the incident at the surau in Kampung Ketengah Jaya on June 18, several senior students were involved in a fight as they were jealous of the attention two schoolgirls were receiving from the teachers.

One of the victims filed a report at the Kuala Terengganu police station, two days ago, after finding out that a video of the fight was circulated on the internet.

Meanwhile, local dailies today quoted Education Director-General Tan Sri Alimuddin Mohd Dom as saying that two students who 'directed' the video were dismissed from school.

-- BERNAMA

Report lodged after sister finds YouTube video of attack on schoolgirl

KUALA TERENGGANU: A 13-year-old girl has lodged a police report saying she was attacked by a friend jealous of her good looks.

The girl was allegedly scratched on her face by the friend at the compound of a surau in Ketengah Jaya, Dungun, at 2.30pm on June 18. A classmate recorded the fight on her handphone.

The video recording was later uploaded onto the popular file-sharing website YouTube under the title Gadis Dungun dipukul oleh kawan karib (Dungun lass beaten by close friend) recently.

It is learnt that Azani Juasharmiela Mohd Jaaffar’s best friend scratched her face with her fingernails because she was unhappy over the compliments that Azani Juasharmiela had been getting.

Ironically, it was Azani Juashar-miela’s 23-year-old sister who discovered the video while surfing the Internet at her hometown in Dungun on Saturday.

Azani Juhaiza, who works as a clerk in Kuala Lumpur, was shocked to see Azani Juasharmiela in the video on YouTube.

“I was shocked to see my youngest sister being bashed up by her friend. I immediately showed her the video and she admitted to having been in a fight with her best friend,” she said when met at the Kuala Terengganu police headquarters yesterday.

The Form One student told her sister that a fellow 13-year-old studying at a nearby school was jealous over the numerous compliments that she had been receiving for her looks.

Both sisters went to the district police headquarters here to lodge a police report.

Dungun police chief Supt Dahlan Mohd Nor said the other girl in the video would be summoned to help in the investigation.

Pupils in trouble for storing MJ’s hits

KUALA TERENGGANU: In death, Michael Jackson can still spell trouble. In Terengganu, Year Five pupils are set to face the music for downloading the King of Pop’s hits into their state-sponsored digital notebooks or e-books. And in Penang, pirates who tried to hawk his songs have been hit hard by the cops.

Five pupils in Terengganu had stored Jackson’s hits like Man In The Mirror, Beat It and Billie Jean in e-books which was discovered during a spot check by disciplinary teachers at several schools here.

Two of the e-books also had video clips of the star.

Jackson’s song have been highly sought after following his death on June 25. Some 12,800 Year Five pupils in Terengganu have been allocated e-books since May to be used in classes. State Education, Higher Learning, Science, Technology and Human Resources committee chairman Ahmad Razif Abdul Rahman said the five pupils were let off with a warning from their principals.

He said the state would not tolerate the offence and was working out a way to punish those who break the rules. “We will probably confiscate their e-books,” he said.

In George Town, hundreds of copies of CDs and DVDs playing Jackson’s greatest songs and MTV musical hits were seized in a police raid at a shop in Prangin Mall on Wednesday.

Each CD and DVD was priced at between RM6 and RM8.

State Commercial Crimes Depart-ment spokesman Supt Ravindar Singh said it was wrong for the peddlers to cash in on the celebrity’s death.

“We believe the pirated disc sellers have been burning more CDs and DVDs to keep up with consumer demand after Jackson’s death,” he said when contacted.

During the 2pm raid, a seven-member police team led by State Commercial Crimes Department chief Asst Comm Roslee Chik seized more than 7,500 pirated discs, including 1,100 copies of pornographic VCDs/DVDs from the shop.

Police also arrested a 36-year-old caretaker who claimed he had just started working at the shop 10 days ago.