Assemblymen to sit as observers at MBPJ meetings

Wednesday July 2, 2008

Assemblymen to sit as observers at MBPJ meetings
By TAN KARR WEI, JADE CHAN AND OH ING YEEN

SELANGOR state assemblymen will now sit in as observers at the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) full board and committee meetings.

Kampung Tunku assemblyman Lau Weng San said this would encourage greater transparency because council committee meetings used to be closed-door meetings.

“Compared with the previous government, assemblymen were not appointed as councillors this time around but we will still monitor what's happening at the councils,” said Lau.

After a long wait and amid much speculation, the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) councillors were finally sworn in yesterday at a ceremony at the MBPJ headquarters at Jalan Yong Shook Lin.

Despite demands by representatives of PJ residents to be included as councillors, the announced list remained the same with 17 political appointees (seven from PKR, six from DAP and four from PAS) and seven NGO representatives. Women power: (From left) Cynthia Manonmani Michael Gabriel, Latheefa Beebi Koya, Professor Madya Dr Melasutra Md Dall and Tiew Way Keng are the four female councillors sworn in at MBPJ yesterday.

All the councillors were sworn in except for Michael Soon, who was away attending to work matters.

Also present at the ceremony were PJ Selatan MP Hee Loy Sian, Kelana Jaya MP Loh Gwo Burne, Taman Medan assemblyman Haniza Mohamed Talha, Bukit Lanjan assemblyman Elizabeth Wong and Kota Damansara assemblyman Dr Nasir Hashim.

In his speech, Petaling Jaya mayor Mohamad Roslan Sakiman reminded the councillors about their duties and responsibilities in serving the people and city of PJ, and for all to work together as a team.

“The 'no wrong door policy' needs to be practised in this council,” he said, adding that the combination of professionals, politicians and NGO representatives would make the new councillor line-up a dynamic combination that would generate good ideas for the development of PJ.

Roslan said the council would decide on the 24 areas that each councillor would be in charge of and they would be required to open up a service centre at their respective areas.

They would receive an annual allocation of RM100,000 each to run their service centres and the amount for this year would be pro-rated.

Councillor Ghazali Shaari (PAS) said his main concern was in areas with a high concentration of low-income earners.

“There is a big disparity between the rich and the poor and if this issue is not looked into, it would lead to social problems and is bad for society,” said Ghazali.

Urban planner Dr Melasutra Md Dali said: “ I wish that we can do better in terms of planning and nurturing the environment to make it more liveable.

Meanwhile, Kamarudin Suhaimi (PAS) hopes to see PJ become more civilised and better developed to attract tourists.

“I would like to have the various small hubs and towns in PJ to be identified and given their own unique identities, so people know which part of PJ to go to when they want something.”

Anthony Thanasayan said one of the first things he would do is to request that he be allowed to bring his dog to help him move about within MBPJ’s premise.

“I have submitted my letter of request to the mayor,’’ said Anthony who is a columnist for The Star.

Aid for the disabled: RM500 allowance closer to the mark

NST Online » Letters

2008/07/02

Aid for the disabled: RM500 allowance closer to the mark
By : ANTHONY SIVA BALAN THANASAYAN, President, PetpositiveK, uala Lumpur

IT is most thoughtful and timely of Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Dr Ng Yen Yen to raise the qualifying ceiling for the disabled in order to obtain their monthly workers' allowance so that they can better cope with the rising cost of living.

However, we in the Malaysian Animal-Assisted Therapy for the Disabled and Elderly Association (Petpositive) are disappointed that the monthly allowance of RM300 has not been raised to RM500 for each disabled Malaysian as we had suggested in our meeting with the minister.

The reason for our suggestion is that the disabled face a higher cost of living.

They not only have to pay for aids specific to their disabilities -- wheelchairs, crutches, braille material and hearing aids -- but also medication that can run into hundreds of ringgit per month. The RM300 is at present only for those with jobs.

What about those who can't work, such as the paralysed and those who are bedridden? T

The government should make it such that people like these are able to automatically qualify for the same amount of financial aid instead of being considered on a case-by-case basis as appears to be the current policy.

Petpositive once again would like to call for the increase of the disability allowance to RM500 a month for every disabled person, regardless of what kind of handicaps they have and whether they are working or not.

Device puts steering at the tip of the tongue

Monday June 30, 2008

News
Home > News > World Updates

Device puts steering at the tip of the tongue

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A new device that uses a tiny magnet can help disabled people steer a wheelchair or operate a computer using only the tip of the tongue, U.S. researchers reported on Monday.

The magnet, the size of a grain of rice, lets people direct the movement of a cursor across a computer screen or a powered wheelchair around a room.

It is easily implanted under the tongue, the team at the Georgia Institute of Technology said.

"We chose the tongue to operate the system because unlike hands and feet, which are controlled by the brain through the spinal cord, the tongue is directly connected to the brain by a cranial nerve that generally escapes damage in severe spinal cord injuries or neuromuscular diseases," said Maysam Ghovanloo, an assistant professor who helped direct the work.

"Tongue movements are also fast, accurate and do not require much thinking, concentration or effort."

A headset with magnetic field sensors detects the magnetic tracer on the tongue and transmits wireless signals to a portable computer, which can be carried on the user's clothing or wheelchair.

"This device could revolutionize the field of assistive technologies by helping individuals with severe disabilities, such as those with high-level spinal cord injuries, return to rich, active, independent and productive lives," Ghovanloo said in a statement.

The team reported on their device to a meeting of the Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America in Washington.

The researchers said the computer could be programmed to recognize a unique set of specific tongue movements for each user.

"An individual could potentially train our system to recognize touching each tooth as a different command," Ghovanloo said.

The researchers tested the Tongue Drive system on 12 able-bodied volunteers and now plan to test it on people with severe disabilities, Ghovanloo said.