theSun | TUESDAY FEBRUARY 10 2009
news without borders
Bystander among three
killed in shooting
by Charles Ramendran
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
KUALA LUMPUR: A 30-year-
old bystander who was having
his meal at a restaurant was
among three men who were shot
dead mafia-style by a gang of
men at Taman Beringin, Jinjang
yesterday.
Another man who was also
wounded in the 6.30pm incident,
which was believed to be linked
a turf war between two rival drug
gangs, has been warded at the
Selayang Hospital. He is reported
to be in critical condition.
Kuala Lumpur police CID
chief SAC II Ku Chin Wah said
a group of three men were hav-
ing a drink at the restaurant on
Jalan Niah 1 and the bystander
was seated at another table next
to them when the shooting hap-
Customs seize syabu worth RM6mil
NILAI: The Royal Malaysia Customs
found syabu, weighing about 30kg
and which value is estimated at
RM6 million, at a quiet beach area in
Pulau Ketam, Selangor, yesterday.
Its Assistant Director-General
(Enforcement) Datuk Md Hashim
pened.
He said witnesses told police a
black Proton Wira with five men
in it pulled over before two gun-
men and another assailant armed
with a sword stepped out.
He said the gunmen and their
accomplice went straight for the
three men before gunshots rang
out.
Operators of food stalls
several metres away from the
restaurant said they saw the vic-
tims bolting from the scene with
the assailants pursuing them for
about 100m, firing gunshots.
A foodstall owner who de-
clined to be named said when
one of the fleeing men fell, a
gunman pointed his handgun at
him and fired several shots. The
assailants fled in their getaway
car after gunning down the men.
The bystander and the three
Pardi said the drug was found at
12.40pm following information
from the Perlis Customs.
“However, there was no ar-
rest,” he told a press conference
yesterday.
Prior to that, Md Hashim said,
men were taken to the Selayang
Hospital by members of the
public.
The bystander and two of the
other men were pronounced
dead on arrival while the third
man was warded.
Ku said police believe the
attackers were after the group of
three men over illegal drug ac-
tivities and the bystander could
have been mistakenly shot or
was hit by a stray bullet.
He withheld the identities of
the dead and wounded men but
said they are aged between 21
and 33.
Police found a dagger at the
spot where one of the dead men
collapsed.
Ku urged witnesses of the
incident and those with informa-
tion to call the KL police hotline
at 03-2115 9999.
customs official seized ketamine,
worth RM700,000, and detained
two Indian nationals at the KL
International Airport.
The drug, weighing 20 kg, was
in small saffron tin containers, he
added. – Bernama
Economy tops list of
concerns, survey reveals
PETALING JAYA: The biggest con-
cerns of the Peninsular Malaysia
voters are economic, ethnic and
governance-related issues, an
opinion poll carried out by the
Merdeka Centre for Opinion
Research revealed.
A total of 1,018 respond-
ents were interviewed in the
“4th Quarter 2008 Peninsular
Malaysia Voter Opinion Survey”
AIDS conducted between Dec 26 last
stigma year and Jan 2, before the Kuala
Terengganu by-election.
higher “Economic concerns” were the
among
most quoted response with 22%
medical citing “unfavourable economic
conditions”, 17% “rising cost of
fraternity living” and 4% “unemployment”.
pg 8 “Ethnic relations” were the
second most quoted response
with 9% expressing worry about
“racial inequality”, 6% about
“worsening ethnic relations”,
and 2% about “lack of unity
among Malaysians”.
Governance-related concerns
were the third most quoted
response with 9% citing “corrup-
tion” and 1% “ineffective/uncon-
cerned government”.
Only 43% of the total number
of respondents expressed confi-
dence in the effectiveness of the
new Malaysian Anti-Corruption
Commission (MACC) in fighting
corruption. (The survey was
conducted before the recent
reports of arrests made by the
commission.)
The results showed that
46% of the respondents were
satisfied with the performance
7
of Prime Minister Datuk Seri
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
In response to a question
on whether they agreed that
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk
Seri Najib Abdul Razak would
make a good prime minister, 41%
of respondents agreed.
The positive response for
both national leaders was mark-
edly higher among the Malay
respondents than Chinese and
Indian Malaysians.
Among the Malay voters, Ab-
dullah polled 54% and Najib 57%
positive response, respectively.
The survey also looked at
public perceptions of the MCA
subsequent to its party elec-
tions.
Thirty-nine per cent of the
respondents, comprising all
ethnicities, expected the party
“to pressure the government to
treat Malaysians fairly, irrespec-
tive of race” and 19% wanted
the party to “resolve economic
problems like the recession”.
The respondents – all regis-
tered voters – were interviewed
via telephone and selected at
random.
The Merdeka Centre for Opin-
ion Research was established in
2001 as an independent organi-
sation focused on public opinion
research and socio-economic
analysis.
Its members comprise social
scientists and professionals
with qualifications in econom-
ics, communications, marketing
and law.