Limbang folk hail Brunei move to drop claim

LIMBANG: It was a day of joy and relief for the people here after Brunei officially drop- ped its long-standing territorial claim on the area on Monday.

The historic accord, inked between Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Sultan of Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah in Bandar Seri Begawan, was described as "a wise decision" and the marking of a new era of development.

Tinah Kassim, 28, who grew up in Kampung Seberang Kedai, on the banks of Sg Limbang, hoped that the decision would put an end to the confusion that the village was located in Brunei's territory. "With this, I hope our status as Malaysians will become clearer."

Tinah was also happy that the decision did not jeopardise the relations between the two countries.

Azrin Ladis, 26, said although the situation here might be different from other places in Malaysia, the patriotism of the people was the same.
"The decision will definitely make people here happy because we have nurtured our patriotism for Malaysia since we were young."

He also believed that the leaders had decided on the pact after considering the feelings of the people of both countries.

Meanwhile, Limbang Chinese community leader Te- menggung Ang Kheng Shu, 74, hoped the solution would bring more progress to the town. He is among the few who lived here before independence.

Limbang is located on the banks of Sg Limbang, between the two halves of Brunei. It covers an area of 3,978 sq km, with a population of more than 40,000. -- Bernama

source from NST Online

Parliament in Brief: Only 1.5pc of undergrads quit

THE Higher Education Ministry recorded only a 1.5 per cent dropout rate among undergraduates between 2005 and 2008.

Deputy Higher Education Minister Dr Hou Kok Chung was replying to a question by Mohd Firdaus Jaafar (Pas-Jerai) who asked on the percentage of undergraduates who did not complete their studies between 2005 and 2008.

To a supplementary question from Mohd Firdaus, Hou said the dropout rate was not due to Universities and University Colleges Act.

"Many undergraduates dropped out because they did not pass their examinations, disciplinary problems, they continued their studies elsewhere

Source from NST Online

Better overall SPM results

PUTRAJAYA, THURS:

The 2008 Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM)results announced today saw 6,277 students scoring straight A's in all subjects compared with 5,060 in 2007.

Education Ministry director-general Datuk Alimuddin Mohd Dom said from the total 1,676 scored A1s in all subjects compared with 892 in 2007 while 181,416 or 46.7 percent passed all subjects compared with 175,452 in 2007.
"There were three excellent result achievers who scored A1s in all 16 subjects, two who scored A1 in 15 subjects while six scored A1s in 14 subjects," said Alimuddin while announcing the SPM and STAM results here today.
He said from the three top achievers, two of them who scored 16 A1 were from Sekolah Menengah Jenis Kebangsaan Yoke Kuan, Sekinchan Selangor while the other was from Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Teong Hua, Sibu, Sarawak.
Last year, 442,936 sat for SPM compared with 439,255 in 2007 while 435Special students also sat for the examination last year compared with 355 the previous year.
Among the special students, Mohd Shafiq Sahdon from Sekolah Menengah Sains Kluang, Johor who has impaired vision, scored 12As while Aghilan Narayanan from SMK Jalan Bukit, Kajang, Selangor who is deaf, scored 11As.
Alimuddin said results of subjects like Mathematics, Science, History, Moral and Bahasa Melayu showed a marked improvement but English and Pendidikan Islam saw a slight drop in performance.
He added that 60,902 from SMK schools achieved at least a Grade 6C in all subjects and 2,589 failed or managed only Grade 9G.

Source from: The New Straits Times Online

RM60b stimulus package tabled

Tuesday March 10, 2009

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak tabled a stimulus package totalling RM60bil in Parliament on Tuesday. The package will be implemented over two years - 2009 and 2010. Of the amount, RM15bil is as fiscal injection, RM25bil Guarantee Funds, RM10bil equity investments, RM7bil private finance initiative and off-budget projects, and RM3bil in tax incentives.


Read more at: The Star Online