Local News Archives

Motorcyclist Killed after Ramming Car in Emergency Lane, Driver Stopped to Call

A motorcyclist died after ramming into a car which stopped in the emergency lane at Kilometer 116.9, North-South Highway, near Batu Pahat. The car driver is said to have stopped to make a phone call.

Batu Pahat District Acting Chief of Police, Superintendent Shahrulanuar Mushaddat Abdullah Sani said, before the incident, the victim Mohammad Fared Zakaria, 35, was riding a motorcycle from the direction of Ayer Hitam towards Pagoh.

He said, upon arriving at the location, there was a car that stopped in the emergency lane because the driver wanted to answer a phone call.

The victim could not avoid the car and crashed into it. The crash resulted in the victim suffering severe head injuries and broke both arms.

The victim was taken to the Sultanah Fatimah Specialist Hospital in Muar but was pronounced dead while receiving treatment at 7.50pm. However, the driver of the car survived and was not injured, said Superintendent Shahrulanuar.

Shahrulanuar said the police are still investigating and the case is being investigated in accordance with Section 41 (1) of the Road Transport Act 1987.

The police are also asking for the public’s cooperation to channel any information about this incident at any nearby police station or through the Johor Contingent Police Hotline at 07-2212999 or through the Batu Pahat IPD Police Hotline at 07-4343999.

Photo: PDRM

New EV Charging Station Target after Hari Raya

The government will review and submit a new target for the number of EV (electric vehicle) charging stations after Hari Raya Aidilfitri. The existing target is 10,000 stations operating by 2025.

Minister of Investments, Trade and Industry, Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz said the actual number will only be known through the meeting of the National EV Driving Committee (NEVSC) which is scheduled to take place after the festival.

However, he informed that he had already held preliminary discussions with industry activists and EV public charging station installation companies.

“God willing we will discuss (with NEVSC) after this Raya.

“Officially, the number so far is 2,020 units, but that the number is close to more than 2,100 units during the unofficial discussion,” he said.

He added that industry activists and public EV charging station installation companies expressed confidence that the target of 10,000 EV stations by 2025 could be realised.

“As announced before, the target is 10,000 (EV charging stations) by the end of 2025, so we have to plan carefully.

“If we can’t reach that 10,000, we have to make a more realistic target, but it seems that through my discussion with the charging station installers, they are still confident because they can see the high demand, so they are a little braver to build the charging station.

“I’m trying to make sure we can reach that target,” he said.

On March 20, Tengku Zafrul was reported to have said that the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI) will re-examine the target of 10,000 EV charging stations by 2025 through the NEVSC meeting.

The target is guided by the Low Carbon Mobility Development Plan 2021-2030.

Two Malaysian Students Died in New Zealand Car Crash

Two Malaysian students died after being involved in a road accident around Lake Tekapo, New Zealand, yesterday. Three of their colleagues were injured in the same crash.

The Malaysian High Commission in Wellington, New Zealand has informed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the tragedy.

“Two victims were reported to have died at the scene while the other three have been flown to Christchurch Hospital, South Islands, New Zealand for immediate treatment.

“The Malaysian High Commission in Wellington with the help of the Malaysian community in Christchurch, is extending appropriate consular assistance to the victims and family members to ensure that the welfare management of all victims runs smoothly.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Malaysian High Commission are ready to help if the next of kin decide to bring the body back to Malaysia.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also wishes to express its condolences to the family members of the victims involved in this incident,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan said his party is waiting for the decision of the families of the two deceased victims to be brought back to Malaysia or otherwise.

“Our students in New Zealand who had accidents have all been taken care of, those who were injured and died have been taken to the hospital and their bodies will be taken care of.

“We are waiting for the family to come or even to ask for whatever help is needed. The High Commission of Malaysia is always ready to help,” he said.

There were also reports that there was another fatal accident involving 2 cars and a motorcycle on the same road, just 2 hours after the accident involving the Malaysian student. Altogether, these accidents caused 20 injuries and 3 deaths.

MACC will not Compromise with Smugglers

The Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) say they will not compromise with smugglers.

Citing the latest arrest of 34 Customs officers at KL International Airport (KLIA) Cargo suspected of being involved in the smuggling of vehicle spare pars and contraband items, Chief Commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki said they will not just act against these corrupt officers but also ensure the lost revenue is returned to the country’s coffers.

The corrupt practices is suspected to have been going on since 2017, constituting more than RM2 billion of losses in tax revenue.

“What is also important is that we act against these people to stop leakages and losses, and to track the money so that it can be returned to the government,” he continued.

Azam warned that those in cahoots with corrupt civil servants would also be made to pay. “We will make them return the money, including through payment of taxes that they avoided paying before.”

The MACC had also arrested an additional 27 persons including business owners in connection with the case through a special operation codenamed Samba 2.0.

Azam said a taskforce comprising the MACC, the Inland Revenue Board (LHDN) and Bank Negara was set up to investigate the case, adding that it was on the case for six months before the arrests were made.

“These officers were involved with inspection and prevention. The officers, who we believe have received bribes from companies and forwarding agents, would let the goods go without inspection or declaration.

“Even if they did carry out an inspection, it would not be thorough,” he added.

Thus far, the investigation has revealed that the Customs officers received RM4.7 million from a syndicate to facilitate the smuggling of vehicle spare parts, chewable tobacco, cigarettes, liquor, and health products.

231 bank accounts with more than RM17 million belonging to the suspects were also frozen by the MACC’s anti-money laundering division.

“We are not involving the Customs Department in this case to avoid any conflict of interest,” he added.

Toll-Free Remains for 2 Days During Raya

Malaysian motorists will enjoy two toll-free days on highways for 2 days during Hari Raya Aidilfitri. However, the government will not extend the it further.

The Deputy Works Minister, Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan explained that they will not extend it as the government has already allocated RM37.6 million to cover the exemption. The sum will be paid to the 33 highway concession companies.

“That is about RM19mil per day. This is the Cabinet’s decision and it’s final,” he said after inspecting preparations by PLUS Malaysia Bhd for Hari Raya Aidilfitri at the Persada PLUS Corporate Tower here yesterday.

On Thursday, Works Minister Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi announced that the government has approved a two-day toll-free period on April 8 and 9 for Class 1 private vehicle users on highways in conjunction with Hari Raya. The same measure was also done during the Chinese New Year in February this year.

Ahmad Maslan added that PLUS anticipates a daily traffic of approximately 2.1 million vehicles during the festive holiday. The particularly busy days are expected to be 5, 6, 9, 12, 13, and 14 April, compared with 1.82 million during regular peak days.

PLUS is set to deploy over 4,500 personnel on its highways to ensure swift response during the period.

“PLUS has 70 staff during daily peak hours at its traffic monitoring centre to monitor, gather and disseminate the latest traffic information and coordinate assistance to highway users.

“Motorists should plan their journey using the digital travel schedule available on the MyPLUS-TTA app,” said Ahmad Maslan.

Puspakom’s Monopoly Ends in September 2024

The government had announced earlier that Puspakom’s (Pusat Pemeriksaan Kenderaan Berkomputer/Computerised Vehicle Inspection Centre) monopoly as the sole mandatory commercial vehicle inspection service provider will end in September 2024, when its concession expires on 31 August.

As such, parties (read: workshops) who are interested in offering the services are invited to send in their applications in the first quarter of 2025. These workshops must appoint employees who meet the qualification requirements, plus use computerised inspection equipment approved by the JPJ.

The Minister of Transport, Anthony Loke also stressed that the government will not provide assistance in setting up these facilities. “We won’t spend money building their system,” he said.

Loke also stated that the single service provider issues, besides the lengthy inspection wait time, had existed for many years.

“Large vehicles, lorries and buses are held up for hours. There have been complaints that some states only have one service centre.

However, the government iterated that they are not closing down Puspakom wholesale. Instead, they wish to see other inspection centres giving Puspakom for their money (no pun intended).

The current Cabinet had decided not to renew the concession in order to open up the sector to all qualified parties to carry out the inspections on behalf of the Road Transport Department (Jabatan Pengangkutan Jalan/JPJ). The Minister had said that such move “allows a more competitive service environment and facilitate all Malaysians.”

It had enjoyed a three-decade-long monopoly despite the existence of the anti-monopoly statutes, as the DRB-HICOM concern was set up in 1994 by the government during the time.

Penang LRT Project to Begin in Mid-Year

The Penang LRT (Light Rail Transit) project is expected to start in the middle of this year.

An analyst of Kenanga Investment Bank Bhd., Teh Kian Yeong, said that the main contractor, Gamuda Bhd. is already in final stage of discussions with the government to finalise the implementation model of the project involved.

“This is subject to government approval, while the Environment Department has published an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report for this LRT segment on March 5.

“This federal government-funded project consists of land acquisition costs of approximately RM1.5 billion and construction costs of between RM7 billion and RM8 billion.”

This is ambitious projecte, connecting Tanjung Bungah in the north to Permatang Damar Laut in the south of the island. This route includes several important locations, including:

Penang Airport,
Bayan Lepas and Bayan Baru,
Ayer Itam,
Penang Hill,
Ferry Terminal,
KOMTAR (main station),
Pulau Tikus.

There is also a line that connects to the mainland of Peninsular Malaysia, with its main station at Penang Sentral, through a 7.2km long tunnel link under the seabed.

The route to the north reaches Kepala Batas, while the route to the south ends at Nibung Tebal. The route furthest to the east reaches Kulim South and Kulim North.

Among the important locations connected are:

Juru,
Tambun,
Batu Kawan,
Lunas (this writer’s late father’s hometown),
Bukit Mertajam.

The Penang LRT project has long been desired by the island’s residents due to worsening traffic congestion. It will also play an important role to developing the infrastructure for tourists to the state, apart from further developing the economy of several cities and towns along the way.

No Decorative Lights on Vehicles – Warns JPJ

The Road Transport Department (Jabatan Pengangkutan Jalan/JPJ) has issued a warning to not decorate vehicles with decorative lights, especially during the festive season.

We as Malaysians are generally very creative and this spirit is brought to the point of decorating or customising our vehicles, regardless if they are cars, motorcycles, lorries, rickshaws, bicycles and so on. However, the authorities do not appreciate this creativity because they have a duty to ensure that each of our vehicles is safe not only for us, but also for all road users.

The Public Relations Officer of the Road Transport Department, Mohd Syahmi Abdul Latif explained that the act of decorating vehicles with decorative lights is wrong.

“Even if the intention is only to celebrate Ramadan, vehicle owners are warned to remove the decorative lights and return them to their original state or be fined.”

“In any case, the decision rests with the responsible officer. For this type of offence, the fine is usually between RM100 and RM200,” he said when contacted by Berita Harian.

He said this when commenting on a video uploaded to the Tik Tok application by a user who goes by the name @kaksuemeow, which shows her car fully decorated with decorative lights.

@kaksuemeow claimed she had encountered the police several times while driving in Bukit Bintang but was not fined.

“On the contrary, the police only showed thumbs up. I have already removed the decorative lights from the car but there is still a possibility that I will decorate them again. It took me about six hours to install all the lights and wrap them around my car,” she added.

Majority of Children’s Motorcycle and Bicycle Helmets in Malaysia Fail Safety Standards

While we adults understand the importance of wearing a helmet when we ride motorcycles, a study conducted has found that the majority of children’s motorcycle and bicycle helmets in Malaysia fail safety standards.

The survey was jointly conducted by the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) and Road Road Safety Marshal Club of Malaysia (RSMC).

Children’s motorcycle helmets

The two bodies had purchased 10 child helmets from retails outlets, with an additional 10 from online platforms. The helmets were then set to the Standards and Industrial Research Institute of Malaysia (SIRIM) for testing.

The test results were alarming. Of the former group, only 5 passed safety standards. The batch bought online fared even worse as 7 failed.

All helmets were tested against the newly-proposed and much overdue MS 1-2:2023 helmet standard. The Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS) and and SIRIM had proposed to implement the new standard.

Children’s bicycle helmets

As for child bicycle helmets, 11 were purchased from retail shops and another 10 from online stores. They were also sent to SIRIM for testing to the current MS 1763: 2004 bicycle cycle helmet standard .

6 from retail outlets failed while 7 from online stores failed.

MMA and RSMC noted that the retailers were generally aware of the standard requirements for child motorcycle helmets but not so for child bicycle helmets.

A worrying state of affairs

“Some retailers were unaware of the quality of the helmets they were selling. Some retailers verbally said that the helmets meet standards while there were no labels on the helmets.

“Some of the helmets sold had a QC label implying that they met the manufacturers’ standards,” said the statement.

It added that the majority of the bicycle helmets did not have a standards certification label while some had labels of foreign standards that were acceptable, such as USCPSC and EU standards.

“Some of the helmets were labelled ‘toy’. Some were flimsy,” it said.

MMA and RSMC urged the authorities to take action to ensure that all motorcycle and bicycle helmets available in retail and online stores meet Malaysian or international standards.

They also advised the public to exercise caution and make sure that they purchase motorcycle and bicycle helmets that are up to standard.

MMA said it would be invited by the Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry in May to present the findings to the management group and discuss further steps towards protecting the public from unsafe helmets.

Advice from BikesRepublic.com

Implementation of the new SIRIM standard will be a much-welcomed development in terms of helmet safety, as several – if not all – local helmet manufacturers are still producing products that comply to the very old MS 1:1996 standard. For comparison, the European standard which is also adopted by the United Nations, is now ECE/UN R22.06 which came into effect this year. The previous ECE/UN R22.05 standard was implemented in 2000. So that shows you how old the current SIRIM standard is! There was a revision to the MS 1:2011 but not all local helmets comply to this.

Again, do buy and only wear helmets that were either approved by SIRIM (for locally produced helmets) and/or by ECE/UN R22.05 or ECE/UN R22.06 (for imported helmets). Solely DOT approved helmets are not approved for sale in Malaysia unless it has the additional ECE/UN approval.

Changed to New Car as Old One Often Breaks Down – Sanusi

The Kedah Menteri Besar explained that he changed to a new car because the old one often breaks down. According to him it is or official use.

Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md. Nor said that the high cost of maintenance and repairs of the previous car made it no longer worth using. He also said the state government has never bought a car for the Menteri Besar since May 2020 and he has only used cars bought by the previous Menteri Besar.

“Those two old Mercedes-Benz used to break down in the middle of the road, sometimes tilted to one side, sometimes lifted due to suspension problems.

“They have reached a stage that is no longer economical, but we continued to repair it because they looked like they were still good but it costs up to RM50,000 to repair.

“The new car is not a luxury car, it’s ordinary… if I want to buy it myself, I have money, I can buy two.

“It’s not very expensive, but the government has already bought it. Those who are jealous will buy it when they become the Menteri Besar,” he said.

Previously, the issue of the Korean-made Hyundai Palisade sports utility vehicle (SUV) priced between RM368,888 to RM399,888, which was used by Muhammad Sanusi with the registration number KCX8, went viral on social media.

Muhammad Sanusi said, the purchase of that type of car is based on his needs because it is more rugged and suitable for his tens of thousands of kilometers of travelling a month.

“If you look at my movements as menteri besar, you cannot will give up and not follow. I travel tens of thousands of kilometers a month, so I have to have a tough car,” he said.

Decision to Resume Search for MH370 this May

The decision to resume the search for MH370 will be known this May. The decision will be made after the meeting with Ocean Infinity.

Transport Minister Anthony Loke said he will personally meet with representatives of the seabed exploration firm to discuss the contract and the proposed search mission. His ministry has already made an appointment with Ocean Infinity for them to present a proposal.

The Ministry of Transport will then propose to the Cabinet after that.

Anthony Loke also emphasized that the search principle is “no find, no fee”. This proposal needs to be approved by the Cabinet because there are financial implications and promises if the plane is found.

Ocean Infinity previously searched the Indian Ocean from 2017 until the search mission was called off in 2018.

But in early March, the company based in Texas, United States claimed to have new scientific evidence about the final location of MH370.

Loke said that, so far, his side is waiting for a proposal from Ocean Infinity first, especially the focus of their search, before any decision is made.

Flight MH370 carrying 239 passengers and crew disappeared on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014, before it was announced to have ended up in the Indian Ocean.

Case of Police Officer Killing Student Transferred to High Court

The case of a senior police officer who allegedly caused the death of a student was transferred to the Ipoh High Court, for a criminal procedure hearing.

The senior officer who holds the rank of Assistant Superintendent (DSP) is accused of killing a Form 5 student who was also a candidate for the SPM examination on 5 December 2023.

Magistrate S. Punitha allowed Deputy Public Prosecutor Afzainizam Abdul Aziz’s request to transfer and try the case in the High Court, in accordance with Section 177A(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code.

However, the date for the case to be mentioned in the High Court has not been decided.

On December 18 last year, Mohd Nazri was accused of causing the death of Muhammad Zaharif Affendi Muhd Zamrie, 17, at Jalan Taman Jati 1, near SMK Jati, in the Kinta district, here, between 12.05pm and 12.40pm, last December 15.

In the tragic incident, Mohd. Nazri, who was waiting to pick up his wife who is a teacher at the victim’s school, got angry when he heard Zaharif revving his friend’s motorcycle engine.

Nazri is alleged to have chased the victim for a distance of one kilometer before hitting the victim with his car, causing serious injuries to his chest and stomach. The victim’s sister, who is a nurse, was near the accident area and administered CPR to her half-conscious brother.

Unfortunately, the victim was declared as deceased by the ambulance team that arrived later.

The accused’s wife said that her husband was “hot-tempered and couldn’t listen to people revving motorcycles.”

Offences under Section 302 of the Penal Code which calls for the death penalty, or imprisonment for a minimum of 30 years and not exceeding 40 years, and if not sentenced to death shall also be punished with no less than 12 lashes of the cane.

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Local News

Motorcyclist Killed after Ramming Car in Emergency Lane, Driver Stopped to Call

New EV Charging Station Target after Hari Raya

Two Malaysian Students Died in New Zealand Car Crash

MACC will not Compromise with Smugglers

Toll-Free Remains for 2 Days During Raya

Puspakom’s Monopoly Ends in September 2024

Penang LRT Project to Begin in Mid-Year

No Decorative Lights on Vehicles – Warns JPJ

Majority of Children’s Motorcycle and Bicycle Helmets in Malaysia Fail Safety Standards

Children’s motorcycle helmets

Children’s bicycle helmets

A worrying state of affairs

Advice from BikesRepublic.com

Changed to New Car as Old One Often Breaks Down – Sanusi

Decision to Resume Search for MH370 this May

Case of Police Officer Killing Student Transferred to High Court

Motorcyclist Killed after Ramming Car in Emergency Lane, Driver Stopped to Call

New EV Charging Station Target after Hari Raya

Two Malaysian Students Died in New Zealand Car Crash

MACC will not Compromise with Smugglers

Toll-Free Remains for 2 Days During Raya

Puspakom’s Monopoly Ends in September 2024

Penang LRT Project to Begin in Mid-Year

No Decorative Lights on Vehicles – Warns JPJ

Majority of Children’s Motorcycle and Bicycle Helmets in Malaysia Fail Safety Standards

Changed to New Car as Old One Often Breaks Down – Sanusi

Decision to Resume Search for MH370 this May

Case of Police Officer Killing Student Transferred to High Court

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