ST15 only meant for the poor

By LESTER KONG  

lester@thestar.com.my

PETALING JAYA: Investigations are under way to detect millers or wholesalers who are selling the subsidised ST15 rice to restaurateurs.The Government suspects restaurants and businesses of purchasing the subsidised ST15 rice, meant for the poor, directly from licensed wholesalers. Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Minister Datuk Seri Noh Omar said subsidised rice was being illegally purchased by restaurants and other businesses directly from some of the 321 licensed rice wholesalers in the country.“The subsidised rice is being used in restaurants and they change the packaging. Yes, it is illegal because ST15 is subsidised rice,” he said.

Click image to view bigger image

There is a ministry rule that restaurant and eating outlet operators can purchase rice only from retail outlets.However, he could not say how many licensed wholesalers or businesses were in breach of the ministry’s ruling.He added that the ministry was in the process of finalising its list of eligible recipients of the subsidized rice.Noh Omar said there were more than 500,000 pending applications for the subsidized rice.He said in random checks by Kawal Selia, the ministry’s enforcement team, some of the 500,000 applicants were not eligible to get the rice.

What Kawal Selia? why always thing goes the wrong way around....than the issue of  wasted subsidies will arise. Sometime we just don't understand the frequent blunder of the authorities,selling only to license wholesalers. Who normally frequent wholesalers? definitely retailers.. who are they? Retailer,shopkeeper, restaurant operators, canteen operators and normally a handful of consumers. Those are bulk buyers,who seek nothing but the cheapest thing available. 
You hardly see, this ST15 rice in sundry shop in kampong or in new villages. This are known fact,all will end up to those greedy profiteers. Worst off the ST15, is the most sort after by the foreign workers. 
Where is the enforcement? Kawal Selia? 
Nothing, but system failure, a ministry blunder. Poor coordination between ministries and at the end of the day, who is benefiting, not the poor but the towkays and hungry wolves within the ministry. 

Woman in ICU after rape and assault

SEREMBAN: A young woman who is believed to have been raped and assaulted before being dumped on the roadside is in the Intensive Care Unit of the Tuanku Ja’afar Hospital (TJH) here.

The unidentified woman in her 20s suffered serious head injuries and was found unconscious near a traffic intersection in Lukut, Port Dickson, by passers-by at 6.35am on Friday morning.

State OCCI ACP Hamdan Majid said motorists noticed a woman clad in a pink T-shirt and knee-length denim pants lying by the roadside and called for an ambulance.

“The victim may have been hit with a blunt object as she had sustained injuries to the back of her head,” he said.

ACP Hamdan said the victim also sustained injuries on both elbows and knees, which may have been a result of her being dragged on the road.

“Her identity is unknown but we believe she is local. She is still in the ICU but her condition is stable now,” he said.

For illustration only: Rape and kill victim

 Another shiver down our spine with an almost daily dose of criminal activity, killing, assault,rape and even burn to death. It seem Seremban and the vicinites are now embarking into a new episode of a sin place. Though yet to achieve the city status, but the ugly side of it, is now in place.