Hishammuddin: No govt plan to abolish Sedition Act

KUALA LUMPUR: The government has no plan to abolish the Sedition Act 1948 as its provisions are still relevant at the present time, Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said today. He said the provisions enabled the government to act if individuals or organisations attempted to undermine security and public order.

"Individuals who use words of a seditious nature in their speech or writing can be prosecuted under Section 4(1) of the Sedition Act," he said in a written reply to Karpal Singh (DAP-Bukit Gelugor) in the Dewan Rakyat.

Karpal Singh had asked whether the government was prepared to abolish the Sedition Act 1948 which was formulated to stop protests against the formation of the Malayan Union proposed by the British administration then.

Meanwhile, Information Communication and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Rais Yatim said the government does not intend to list or register bloggers and they are free to convey information in the Internet.

He said the freedom accorded, however, was subject to the laws of the country in the interest of racial harmony.

"In the process of conveying the information, they are free to note, convey or inform whatever information no matter what is being imposed by the authorities. So far, we have not listed or registered any blogger operating on the Internet.

"The honourable member must accept this fact, and there is no plan to do so," he said when replying to a supplementary question from Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timur) at the Dewan Rakyat sitting, today.

Lim had questioned why the government was not intensifying efforts to widen the broadband services to the people in the country, claiming that the government was instead giving more emphasis on restricting the freedom of bloggers operating on the Internet.

When replying to the original question from Datuk Ismail Abd Muttalib (BN-Maran), Rais said the print and electronic media were subject to various laws to ensure that the contents were not slanderous or seditious that could cause chaos among the multiracial society.

He said as licence holders under the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia 1998 Act, the contents carried by private broadcasters were closely regulated by the ministry through the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), and must abide by the special conditions of the licence on the contents carried.

Rais also said the government was intensifying efforts to increase broadband penetration in the interior areas and schools. (TheEdge)

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KLCI slips below 900-psycholgical mark in mid-morning

PETALING JAYA: The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index slipped below the 900-psychological mark Monday morning as investors remained sidelined ahead of the government's announcement of an economic stabilisation plan today. The KLCI last closed below the 900-mark in June 2006.

At 10.05 am, the bellwether KLCI was down 16.81 points or 1.86% to 888.42 points, dragged lower by losses at Sime Darby Bhd and Genting Bhd. Major banking stocks like Public Bank Bhd, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank), RHB Capital Bhd, Bumiputra-Commerce Holdings Bhd and AMMB Holdings Bhd were among the top 10 lagging movers of the KLCI.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak did not mention specific measures last Tuesday when he announced plans to unveil the stabilization plan today. This morning, Najib, who is also Finance Minister, said the government will pump an additional RM5 billion of funds into ValueCap Sdn Bhd to double the latter's funds to RM10 billion. ValueCap was set up by the government in 2003 to invest in undervalued companies.

Speaking at the Khazanah Megatrends Forum 2008 in Kuala Lumpur, Najib also said Foreign Investment Committee (FIC) rules will be reviewed to make it more attractive for foreigners to pour in funds, especially in property and commercial sectors. He also said Malaysia's economic growth prediction for 2009 of 5.4% would be revised downwards due to worsening external developments.

Market breadth was negative with 297 declining stocks outnumbering 51 gainers almost six-to-one, while 107 others traded unchanged. Only 96.25 million shares worth RM133.7 million had changed hands one hour into trade.

Chartists, including those at Hwang-DBS Vickers Research, had predicted that the KLCI might fall through the psychological level of 900 today "to test its immediate support line of 890 points".

"And if the selling momentum persists, as stated last week, a key support line for the KLCI is set at 860 points. Based on the market insights last week, counters that look vulnerable to be sold down further include mid- and large-cap companies with high foreign shareholdings and those share prices that have fallen relatively less than the rest so far," Hwang-DBS said in a note this morning.

KNM Group Bhd continued to top the most active list. The stock was down 1.5 sen to 60 sen with 14.7 million shares done, while Gamuda fell 12 sen to RM1.42 with 7.07 million shares done.

Major regional markets were mixed mid-morning. The Nikkei 225, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index, Singapore's Straits Times Index, Australia's ASX 200 Index and the New Zealand NZX 50 FF Gross Index were showing some gains. However, the Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index, Taiwan's Taiex Index and South Korea's Kospi Index were in the red.

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