Sabah politician Phillip Among had this morning claimed trial to five charges of outraging the modesty of two women – some 24 hours after Permatang Pasir state assemblyman Muhammad Faiz Fadzil pleaded not guilty at the Shah Alam magistrate’s court for outraging the modesty of a woman in a car.
Among was charged under Section 354 of the Penal Code at the Kota Kinabalu magistrate’s court with molesting the two women – one of whom was a contestant in the Unduk Ngadau Kaamatan beauty pageant.
For the first charge, Among is accused of using criminal force with the intention to outrage the modesty of a woman on April 17 at 11pm in a living room at Capsule Inn, in Asia City, Kota Kinabalu.
He was also slapped with four other charges of outraging the modesty of the beauty contestant at four locations on May 19.
Magistrate Jessica Ombou Kakayun granted Among bail of RM8,000 for each charge. Case management has been set for July 14.
He was also instructed to surrender his passport and report to the nearest police station once a month.
Faiz had, on Wednesday, pleaded not guilty to using criminal force with the intention of outraging the modesty of a 31-year-old woman between 9.45pm and 11.30pm on March 8 in a car travelling from Sunway Pyramid shopping mall to Subang Jaya.
The offence falls under Section 354 of the Penal Code, which provides for a jail term of up to 10 years, a fine, and whipping, upon conviction.
Magistrate Mohamad Redza Azhar Rezali set bail at RM10,000 on Faiz, the son of former Pas president Datuk Fadzil Noor. The court set Aug 6 for mention.
These are Twentytwo13‘s news highlights.
BETTER NATIONAL AVERAGE GRADE FOR SPM, DESPITE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
Students who sat for their Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examinations last year, did not let the Covid-19 pandemic stop them from recording the best results in five years.
Education Minister Datuk Radzi Jidin said today the National Average Grade (GPN) of 4.80 was better than those recorded in 2019 (4.86), 2018 (4.89), 2017 (4.90) and 2016 (5.05). For the record, the lower the GPN score, the better.
“The trend of the GPN from 2016 to 2020 shows that (the achievement for) 2020 is the best in five years,” he said, when announcing the analysis of the SPM 2020 results virtually today.
“The performance of five core subjects – Mathematics, Science, History, Islamic Studies and Moral Education – improved in 2020, while Bahasa Melayu and English subjects recorded a decline.”
On a separate note, Radzi suggested limiting the number of people visiting the results website to prevent it from crashing.
TUN M: INTERIM GOVT TO GET MALAYSIA OUT OF QUAGMIRE BUT PN ‘UNLIKELY’ TO AGREE
The setting up of a National Operations Council (NOC) was among the suggestions put forward by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong today.
However, the former prime minister admitted that it was unlikely for the ruling administration to propose the NOC to Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah, in its bid to hold on to power.
Dr Mahathir said Malaysia was going through a crisis on four fronts – health (Covid-19 pandemic), the economy, political instability and social.
LRT CRASH CAUSED BY NON-COMPLIANCE TO SOPs
Transport Minister Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong said there was no strict compliance to critical train operations standard operating procedures (SOPs), which led to the LRT collision in Kuala Lumpur on May 24.
The crash involved one train carrying passengers, and another train, which was being test-driven following a fault.
Wee said the train being test-driven (Train 40) experienced technical difficulties when both onboard communication systems stopped working.
“During the process of resetting both Vehicle Onboard Communication systems and driving Train 40 manually to the re-entry point, both the hostler and the train controller at the operation centre had overlooked and missed critical procedures,” said Wee.
“This resulted in Train 40 being manually moved towards KLCC station, instead of southbound, towards Dang Wangi station.”
MAN SENTENCED TO THREE WEEKS JAIL FOR NOT WEARING MASK
Kota Kinabalu magistrate Lovely Natasha Charles sentenced a 35-year-old man to three weeks in jail for violating the Health Ministry’s standard operating procedures, by not wearing a mask in public.
William Rudi, a Filipino, pleaded guilty to the charge. His sentence begins from the date of his arrest on June 3.
Charles also ordered that the accused be referred to the Immigration Department after completing his sentence as he failed to produce any identification, despite claiming he was born in the state.
SOUTHEAST ASIA YOUTH FOOTBALLERS PROMISE HOPE
The future of Southeast Asian football is headed for exciting times as the region has in its midst some electrifying talents, writes former international Serbegeth ‘Shebby’ Singh.
PRINCE OR PAUPER, STATESMAN OR COMMON MAN, THE FIGHT AGAINST COVID-19 IS OURS
No one is safe from Covid-19, whatever your social or economic position.
If one segment of this community is affected, the rest will eventually succumb to it, too, writes Prof Emeritus Datuk Dr Mohamed Ghouse Nasuruddin.
