Mat Rempit : Brutalised in Bangsar

VIOLENT crime in progress: These pictures tell how 14 Mat Rempit ganged up to beat and rob five women during an early morning fuel stop in Bangsar.

A CCTV surveillance camera captured the attack on the three sisters and two of their cousins at the Shell petrol station in Jalan Bangsar.

Traumatised, they have vowed never to go to a petrol station again after dark.

Twelve young thugs, on six motorcycles, were said to be 'hovering around the station' while a pair on another motorcycle filled up as the women drove in about3.30am on Saturday.


They were on their way home after a function in Puchong. Sisters Uma Munusamy, 33, Chittra, 32, and Latha, 31, were to drop off cousins Ragas Letchumanan, 28, and Komala, 20, at their Bangsar home when they decided to stop for fuel.

They drove up to a pump at the station. Latha went to the window counter to pay, while Chittra, who was driving, got out to fill up. That was when the Mat Rempit, who had been noisy and boisterous, moved in, as if acting on cue.

One thug attacked Latha, splashing a can of 'Red Bull' energy drink on her face.. The sweet-sour liquid stung her eyes, temporarily blinding her as the thug pushed her down, hit her with the drink can and snatched her gold chain and handphone.

Another three dashed to the car to attack the others.

'We were in fear.. We thought that we had been splashed with acid, as the liquid they threw on our faces really stung,' said Uma, recalling the attack.

The women screamed for help, but none arrived. The petrol station workers were safe and sound, inside the premises, where the doors had been locked at midnight.

'The workers just stood there, watching,' said Latha.

At the car, the Mat Rempit ordered the girls to hand over their valuables and handphones.

One of them just couldn't wait. He yanked Uma's gold bracelet off one wrist and at the same time snatched the handphone she held in the other hand.

Despite fearing for their lives, the girls put up a fight, trying to prevent the robbers from getting away with their belongings. The scuffles only led to injuries, but fortunately, minor ones.

Ragas was hit on the head several times, while Chittra sustained injuries on her neck and right arm, besides suffering an injury to the lower lip... She was then beaten up with a soda can.

'The whole incident really traumatised us but what was worse was the fact the workers did not even bother to help,' said Uma.

This is one nightmare they do not ever want to experience again. And, for them at least, no more filling up fuel at night, or stopping anywhere either during the wee hours. Their total loss: RM3,000 in cash and valuables.

The five made a report at the Brickfields police station soon after recovering from the shock of the attack. Police said they are investigating, and have yet to identify the culprits.

The women also expressed their frustration over the Mat Rempit menace. 'So much has been said, so much anger and frustration has been expressed over these motorcycle thugs... but yet they seem to be having a free run,' said Chittra.

Their only hope is that justice will be done, that the CCTV images captured by the surveillance camera will lead to arrests and conviction.

Najib declared Umno president

Thursday March 26, 2009
Najib declared Umno president

Umno members must realise that of late the party’s glory has dimmed, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said in his keynote address at the 59th Umno General Assembly on Thursday.
Other developments:
* Najib declared Umno president.
* Polling begins for party elections.

Car agent ran away with Jackie Chan's money!

International superstar Jackie Chan has been cheated of HK$3 million (S$600,000) from selling his luxurious car.
A police report was filed by his assistant at the Kowloon police station last Saturday when he did not receive the sales proceed of the Bentley sports car and suspected that the agent has ran away with the money.
The car collector bought the Bentley in 2008 and had only drove it several times. Since the car was underutilized, Chan made a painful decision to sell the car through an agent at a final price of HK$3 million (S$600,000). The agent could not be contacted anymore after closing the deal and Chan never got his money back.

When approached by Hong Kong reporters, Chan confirmed the case but declined to reveal details. He said: "I am in China filming a new movie now. I guess I can only get a clearer picture when I return to Hong Kong at the end of this month." He hung up shortly after the comment.

Police also confirmed they have received the complaint but will be handling it as a case of disputes for the time being.

Why Do many Women fall for married man

Do married men get hit on because of the lure of the forbidden?

He’s handsome, he’s witty, he’s successful… and he’s married! But will that stop other women from hitting on him? The answer is ‘No’, or so say a lot of women. But, what is it that increases the desirability quotient of a married man? His status clearly says he’s ‘taken’, then why do so many women still fall for him?

Safe to play with!
“From what I have seen, women think married men are safer then single men. They can have all the fun with them and yet not feel stuck in a committed relationship
,” says legal consultant Prachi Malik. “Also, these women get all the advantages of being in a relationship without having to do his laundry, manage household chores, deal with his mood swings or have sex when he wants to. Those things are left for the wife to do,” she quips.

It’s a game

Some women also see it as a game of competition. Airhostess Stuti Behl shares her experience. “I once had a friend who was constantly hitting on a married man at her workplace. The day he started returning her glances, she felt so kicked. I saw her completely changed. She pursued it more seriously and then few months down the line dumped him. It was a kind of thrill that she got out of that relationship.”

Ego-booster!

Explains psychologist Samir Parikh, “It’s pure attraction for some. But, for some women who are low on self-esteem, it’s a way of feeling self-assured. It’s an achievement for them, a sort of an approval or validation that they are desirable to a man who has a woman to his disposal 24X7.”

Merely the fact that he has been taken make some women more tempted to pursue him. Marketing Manager Prashant Vig adds, “Men feel similarly with married women. It’s about tasting the forbidden fruit. It’s always difficult to resist that temptation.”

Some men invite such offers to get rid of boredom in their life. Agrees model Amanpreet Wahi, “Most of the married men around me who have extra-marital affairs shower their girlfriends with the best of gifts and treats. It’s like a desperate attempt to have something fresh in their lives.”

Experience counts!

These men are also seen as sexually skilled since they are able to satisfy their wife’s sexual expectations. Says call centre executive Pooja Sinha (name changed), “This was the reason I felt terribly attracted to this guy at my workplace. We did have a short fling but then I couldn’t bear his constant blabbering about his wife. He was great in bed but I gave up on him.”

Warns relationship expert R K Mehra, “Women and men both should be wary of forming such relationships. It can prove to be highly risky for their mental health. Some try to get adventurous and end up losing their self-respect.”

Remember, you’re playing with fire!

Pics Shigeo Tokuda

PICTURES! Here are photos of 73-year old Shigeo Tokuda who is proving that at John McCain’s age, you can do a lot. A whole lot. Tokuda is a star of 200 films from Rudy Productions in Japan.

And not just any films. THOSE type of films. Oh yes, AARP just got sexy.

Japan has the world’s highest population over 65. And to meet their demand (apparently there is a demand for this), there is a new genre in these “films” - seniors.
Shigeo Tokuda is now the, um, poster child of the industry, profiled today in CNN. In fact CNN tried to edit a few dozen DVDs to show some appropriate material on their site - they weren’t very successful.

Ironically, Tokuda the “film star” is much different that the man himself. He’s been marreid to the same wife for 44 years and have a child.

And then, this quote: “I don’t know how long I can keep living, but I want to enjoy the rest of it.”

So, if retirement is beating up men and women, and Saturday night bingo ain’t cutting it, you now have another option.

Brunei drops claim over Limbang

Brunei drops claim over Limbang

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN:Brunei has dropped territorial claim over Sarawak's Limbang district following a dispute settlement with Malaysia, said Prime Minister Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Abdullah and Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei formalised the solution to the longstanding Malaysia-Brunei boundary issues on Monday by signing the landmark Letters of Exchange here.

The historic occasion, which took place at Istana Nurul Iman, was witnessed by both countries’ delegations including Malaysian Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim and Brunei’s Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Prince Mohamed Bolkiah and Second Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Pehin Datuk Seri Setia Lim Jock Seng.

The outstanding border issues, which include the border demarcation in Limbang, and maritime matters such as the dispute over an oil field and the exclusive economic zone off the Borneo coast, have been intently pursued for the last six years by officials from both countries which met 39 times before the solution was accepted.

Abdullah earlier had a four-eye meeting with Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, reported Bernama.

Female Vampire (16th Century) Unearthed in Venice

This photo released by forensic archaeologist and anthropologist
Matteo Borrini of Florence University, Italy, Friday March 13, 2009
, shows the 16th-century remains of a woman with a brick stuck
between her jaws unearthed in 2006 in an archaeological dig near
Venice, northern Italy. (AP Photo/Matteo Borrini of Florence University)

ROME (AP) - An archaeological dig near Venice has unearthed the 16th-century remains of a woman with a brick stuck between her jaws _ evidence, experts say, that she was believed to be a vampire. The unusual burial is thought to be the result of an ancient vampire-slaying ritual. It suggests the legend of the mythical bloodsucking creatures was tied to medieval ignorance of how diseases spread and what happens to bodies after death, experts said.
The well-preserved skeleton was found in 2006 on the Lazzaretto Nuovo island, north of the lagoon city, amid other corpses buried in a mass grave during an epidemic of plague that hit Venice in 1576.

"Vampires don't exist, but studies show people at the time believed they did," said Matteo Borrini, a forensic archaeologist and anthropologist at Florence University who studied the case over the last two years. "For the first time we have found evidence of an exorcism against a vampire."

Medieval texts show the belief in vampires was fueled by the disturbing appearance of decomposing bodies, Borrini told The Associated Press by telephone.

During epidemics, mass graves were often reopened to bury fresh corpses and diggers would chance upon older bodies that were bloated, with blood seeping out of their mouth and with an inexplicable hole in the shroud used to cover their face.

"These characteristics are all tied to the decomposition of bodies," Borrini said. "But they saw a fat, dead person, full of blood and with a hole in the shroud, so they would say: 'This guy is alive, he's drinking blood and eating his shroud.'"

Modern forensic science shows the bloating is caused by a buildup of gases, while fluid seeping from the mouth is pushed up by decomposing organs, Borrini said. The shroud would have been consumed by bacteria found in the mouth area, he said.

At the time however, what passed for scientific texts taught that "shroud-eaters" were vampires who fed on the cloth and cast a spell that would spread the plague in order to increase their ranks.

To kill the undead creatures, the stake-in-the-heart method popularized by later literature was not enough: A stone or brick had to be forced into the vampire's mouth so that it would starve to death, Borrini said.

That's what is believed to have happened to the woman found on the Lazzaretto island, which was used as a quarantine zone by Venice. Aged around 60, she died of the plague during the epidemic that also claimed the life of the painter Titian.

Much later, someone jammed the brick into her mouth when the grave was reopened. Borrini said that marks and breaks left by blunt instruments on several among more than 100 skeletons found by the archaeologists show that the grave was reused in a later epidemic.

Such a reconstruction of events is plausible, as is the link to the superstitions about "shroud-eaters," said Piero Mannucci, the vice president of the Italian Society of Anthropology and Ethnology.

"Maybe a priest or a gravedigger put the brick in her mouth, which is what was normally done in such cases," Mannucci said.

The anthropologist, who did not take part in Borrini's research, said that at a time when bacteria were unknown, such superstitions were a way for the terrified population to explain the waves of plague epidemics that killed millions during the Middle Ages. Jews were also often accused of spreading the disease.

Borrini said the discovery shows that vampires in popular culture were originally quite different from the elegant, aristocratic blood-drinker depicted in Bram Stoker's 1897 novel "Dracula" and in countless Hollywood revisitations.

"The real vampire of tradition was different," he said. "It was just a decomposing body."

(Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
By ARIEL DAVID
Associated Press Writer

ROME (AP) - An archaeological dig near Venice has unearthed the 16th-century remains of a woman with a brick stuck between her jaws _ evidence, experts say, that she was believed to be a vampire. The unusual burial is thought to be the result of an ancient vampire-slaying ritual. It suggests the legend of the mythical bloodsucking creatures was tied to medieval ignorance of how diseases spread and what happens to bodies after death, experts said.

The well-preserved skeleton was found in 2006 on the Lazzaretto Nuovo island, north of the lagoon city, amid other corpses buried in a mass grave during an epidemic of plague that hit Venice in 1576.

"Vampires don't exist, but studies show people at the time believed they did," said Matteo Borrini, a forensic archaeologist and anthropologist at Florence University who studied the case over the last two years. "For the first time we have found evidence of an exorcism against a vampire."

Medieval texts show the belief in vampires was fueled by the disturbing appearance of decomposing bodies, Borrini told The Associated Press by telephone.

During epidemics, mass graves were often reopened to bury fresh corpses and diggers would chance upon older bodies that were bloated, with blood seeping out of their mouth and with an inexplicable hole in the shroud used to cover their face.

"These characteristics are all tied to the decomposition of bodies," Borrini said. "But they saw a fat, dead person, full of blood and with a hole in the shroud, so they would say: 'This guy is alive, he's drinking blood and eating his shroud.'"

Modern forensic science shows the bloating is caused by a buildup of gases, while fluid seeping from the mouth is pushed up by decomposing organs, Borrini said. The shroud would have been consumed by bacteria found in the mouth area, he said.

At the time however, what passed for scientific texts taught that "shroud-eaters" were vampires who fed on the cloth and cast a spell that would spread the plague in order to increase their ranks.

To kill the undead creatures, the stake-in-the-heart method popularized by later literature was not enough: A stone or brick had to be forced into the vampire's mouth so that it would starve to death, Borrini said.

That's what is believed to have happened to the woman found on the Lazzaretto island, which was used as a quarantine zone by Venice. Aged around 60, she died of the plague during the epidemic that also claimed the life of the painter Titian.

Much later, someone jammed the brick into her mouth when the grave was reopened. Borrini said that marks and breaks left by blunt instruments on several among more than 100 skeletons found by the archaeologists show that the grave was reused in a later epidemic.

Such a reconstruction of events is plausible, as is the link to the superstitions about "shroud-eaters," said Piero Mannucci, the vice president of the Italian Society of Anthropology and Ethnology.

"Maybe a priest or a gravedigger put the brick in her mouth, which is what was normally done in such cases," Mannucci said.

The anthropologist, who did not take part in Borrini's research, said that at a time when bacteria were unknown, such superstitions were a way for the terrified population to explain the waves of plague epidemics that killed millions during the Middle Ages. Jews were also often accused of spreading the disease.

Borrini said the discovery shows that vampires in popular culture were originally quite different from the elegant, aristocratic blood-drinker depicted in Bram Stoker's 1897 novel "Dracula" and in countless Hollywood revisitations.

"The real vampire of tradition was different," he said. "It was just a decomposing body."

TOP TEN THINGS THAT SOUND DIRTY, BUT IN A LAW FIRM, ARE NOT

TOP TEN THINGS THAT SOUND DIRTY, BUT IN A LAW FIRM, ARE NOT:

10. Have you looked through her briefs?
9. He is one hard judge.
8. Counsellor, let's do it in chambers.
7. Her attorney withdrew at the last minute.
6 Is it a penal offence?
5. Better
leave the handcuffs on.
4. For $200 an hour, she better be good!
3. Can you get him to drop his suit?
2. The judge gave her the stiffest one he could.
And the number 1 thing that sounds dirty but in law isn't
1. Think you can get me off?

----------- ------------------ --------------

TOP TEN THINGS THAT SOUND DIRTY, BUT IN THE OFFICE, ARE NOT:

10. I need to whip it out by 5.
9. Mind if I use your laptop?
8. Just stick it in my box.
7. If I have to lick one more, I'll gag!
6. I want it on my desk, NOW!!!!!
5. HMMMMM, I think it's out of fluid!
4. My equipment is so old; it takes forever to finish.
3. It's an entry-level position.
2. When do you think you'll be getting off today?
And the number 1 thing that sounds dirty but at the office isn't
1. It's not fair. I do all the work while he just sits there!!!

------------
--------- --------------

TOP TEN THINGS THAT SOUND DIRTY, BUT IN GOLF, ARE NOT:

10. Damn, my shaft is bent.
9. After 18 holes, I can barely walk.
8. You really whacked the hell out of that sucker.
7. Look at the size of his putter.
6. Keep your head down and spread your legs a bit more.
5. Mind if I join your threesome?
4. Stand with your back turned and drop it.
3. My hands are so sweaty I can't get a good grip!
2. Nice stroke, but your follow-through leaves a lot to be desired.
And the number 1 thing that sounds dirty but in golf isn't
1. Hold up! I need to wash my balls first!

SMK Oya, Dalat Bullying Incident

Students in a secondary school in Dalat, a small town in the Mukah division of Sarawak, have taken bullying in school to new heights by posting their antics on YouTube, the video-sharing website on the Internet.
When you go to search the video in youtube, you will see this alert "This video has been removed due to terms of use violation." May be because student who are upload the video fear to be acted by the police .

KUCHING, March 1 (Bernama) -- Police will record statements from the 10 students of Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Oya in Dalat here for allegedly assaulting a Form three student of the school, which recording was uploaded into YouTube, when they return to the school tomorrow.

Dalat district police chief DSP Marin Koo said the students were suspended since Feb 23 after the victim lodged a police report on the alleged the incident.

"The affected students will return to school with their parents tomorrow, following which we will take them to the Dalat police station to have their statements recorded," he told Bernama when contacted today.

He said police hoped to find the student who recorded the incident as he witnessed the incident.

Meanwhile, Sarawak education director Dr Julaihi Bujang said the department has instructed its officers in Kuching and Mukah to investigate the matter before deciding on the next course of action.

The three-minute video clip of the assault showed a younger boy being kicked, slapped and repeatedly punched, including hit with a kettle, by a group of students, in a hostel at the school.

The victim, who is in Form Three, lodged a police report on Feb 23 claiming that 10 students assaulted him at the school hostel.

-- BERNAMA