A day in the life of a supervillain
Hi mum I got my ass kicked by the gummy bears today.
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Ms Juliana Nicholas, a Malaysian national from whom the Bibles were taken on Jan 28, has been told she can collect the Bibles back, said a senior official from the Internal Security Ministry's publications control unit. He declined to be named, citing protocol.
Ms Nicholas was stopped by Royal Malaysian Customs officials at an airport in Kuala Lumpur when she returned from the Philippines. The Bibles were subsequently passed to the Internal Security Ministry.
The ministry official indicated the confiscation was arbitrary and wrong.
The customs officers 'shouldn't have detained them. You shouldn't do anything with these religious books,' the official said. 'They didn't countercheck with us. They just passed the buck to us.'
By acknowledging its mistake, the government is apparently hoping to placate Christian groups and other minorities who have become increasingly worried that their constitutionally guaranteed right to worship is being gradually eroded in Malaysia.
They cite a string of cases including demolition of Hindu temples, a recent ban on the word Allah from Malay-language Christian literature, and court judgments favoring Muslims in disputes with non-Muslims.
About 60 per cent of Malaysia's 27 million people are Muslim Malays. The remaining 40 per cent are mainly Christians, Buddhists and Hindus from the minority Chinese, Indian and other communities.
Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has been criticised for not doing enough to stem the rise of Islamic tendencies in the country, which many blame on overzealous Muslims in positions of authority.
Ms Nicholas, a 44-year-old missionary, confirmed that she had been told she could pick up the Bibles. She said she is willing to forget about the matter.
'I just don't want it to happen again. It's like you've done a criminal offence when they take you (into the customs office at the airport) and everyone is looking at you,' she said.
The Customs Department said on Monday that the Bibles were seized to check if they were being imported for commercial purposes.
But Ms Nicholas said the customs officers disregarded a letter by her parish priest stating the Bibles were not for sale but church use.
She said she had brought Bibles from Philippines before because they were cheaper there, and had never been stopped.
'Now they are more fanatic,' she said. -- AP
I think it's disgusting that Malaysia is getting more and more fundamentalist. The rise of blatant uncontrolled extreme Islam there is most symptomatic of their steady deterioration.
As I was having issues with the setup, I gave SingTel a call. I was told it was a line problem and that SingTel would send someone to service the line.
It was several days before someone from SingTel called me and offered to come to my house immediately.
As I was out, I asked for another appointment. No one called me to arrange for another appointment. I again gave SingTel a call on Jan 16 to check on the status of my request and an appointment was arranged that very afternoon from 4pm to 6pm.
I took half a day's leave and when the linesman did not show up at 6pm I gave SingTel a call and was told that the linesman would not be coming. No explanation was given except that the earliest appointment would be two days later, again from 4pm to 6pm. I tried to explain to the manager that I would not be able to take another half a day's leave at such a short notice, but to no avail.
I have been paying since Jan 7 for a service I could not use. Can SingTel kindly advise me what has been done since Jan 7 till Jan 16 with regard to my request?
Lee Meng Liang
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Mathematical Television This cow does Disco
Cow Cow (That's what comes of
(developer of (Cow-thode snorting cow-caine)
cow-culus) Ray Tube)

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