JAWATANKUASA MENCEGAH GEJALA SOSIAL BERMESYUARAT UNTUK KALI PERTAMA
Satu Jawatankuasa Mencegah Gejala Sosial Negeri Selangor telah ditubuhkan dan bermesyuarat buat julung kali di SUK Shah Alam. AJK ini terdiri dari antara lain Pejabat Exco Pembangunan Modal Insan, Pejabat Pengurusan Sumber Manusia (Pn Siti Munirah Ibni Hajar), PDRM, MAIS, JAIS, Jab Mufti Negeri SELANGOR, Jabatan Pendidikan Negeri, Jabatan Penjara, Jabatan Imigresyen, Para Pegawai Daerah, YDP PBT, Dato' Bandar Majlis Bandaraya, NGO seperti Pusat Perlindungan Wanita, Persatuan Anak-anak HIV dan lain-lain.
Mesyuarat telah dimulakan dengan sedikit tazkirah dari Dato' Dr Haron Din, tokoh Pendakwah Negeri Selangor 2008.
WABAK SELESEMA BABI BERLAKU HARGA AYAM DAN BABI NAIK
Ramai penternak tidak bersetuju dengan arahan Kementerian Pertanian dan Industri Asas Tani untuk menurunkan harga ayam di pasaran.
Harga ayam tidak sepaptutnya dinaikkan kerana ia barang yang dikawal di peringkat ladang.
Manakala harga pasaran seekor babi di Malaysia naik sebanyak RM200/=. Sementara di Amerika Syarikat harga daging babi turun disebabkan kurang permintaan dek kerana pandemik AN1H1 selesema babi.
TPM Minta Hentikan Desakan Minta Raymond Tan Letak Jawatan
Timbalan Perdana Menteri Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin meminta pihak-pihak tertentu di dalam komponen Barisan Nasional (BN) Sabah supaya menghentikan desakan meminta Datuk Raymond Tan meletakkan jawatan sebagai Timbalan Ketua Menteri Sabah.
Beliau meminta semua pihak supaya menyerahkan kepada kebijaksanaan Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, yang juga Pengerusi BN untuk menyelesaikan isu berkenaan.
"Perdana Menteri akan ke Sabah (pada Isnin), sudah semestinya perkara itu akan dibincangkan. Saya tahu ada perkembangan-perkembangan yang menggalakkan, namun usaha-usaha desakan perlulah dihentikan.
"Serahkan kepada kebijaksanaan Perdana Menteri dan Ketua Menteri Sabah dan perkara itu akan dapat diselesaikan, tiada masalah," katanya kepada pemberita selepas menghadiri majlis sambutan rasmi pelantikannya sebagai Timbalan Perdana Menteri oleh Parlimen Pagoh di Kompleks Sukan Pagoh di sini hari ini.
Timbalan Perdana Menteri mengulas desakan beberapa pemimpin parti komponen BN Sabah yang mahukan Raymond yang tidak menganggotai mana-mana parti melepaskan jawatannya sebagai Timbalan Ketua Menteri.
Desakan itu dibuat berikutan mereka tidak mahu Raymond yang merupakan bekas timbalan presiden Parti Maju Sabah (SAPP) dikekalkan dalam Kabinet negeri selepas SAPP keluar daripada BN.
Sementara itu, Muhyiddin meminta penternak ayam tidak mengambil kesempatan berikutan merebaknya wabak Influenza A (H1N1) untuk menaikkan harga ayam.
Bagaimanapun, katanya walaupun permintaan terhadap ayam meningkat, beliau percaya Persekutuan Persatuan Penternak Malaysia (PPPM) mempunyai bekalan yang mencukupi bagi menjamin harga ayam yang berpatutan di pasaran.
"Tidak sepatutnya harga ayam dinaikkan (kerana) ia barang yang dikawal di peringkat ladang yang bermakna pihak persatuan tidak boleh menaikkan harga sewenangnya.
"Jika tidak rakyat akan menanggung beban kos lebih tinggi, dalam keadaan sekarang (kegawatan ekonomi) tidak boleh buat begitu," katanya.
Kementerian terbabit perlu sentiasa membuat pemantauan manakala persatuan juga perlu memainkan peranan mereka bagi mengatasi masalah kenaikan harga ayam, katanya sebagai mengulas pendirian PPPM yang enggan menurunkan harga ayam walaupun didesak oleh pelbagai pihak termasuk kerajaan.
Pengerusi Unit Ayam PPPM Kwei Yew Tong dipetik sebuah akhbar tempatan hari ini sebagai berkata, pihaknya gagal mencapai kata putus untuk membolehkan harga ayam diturunkan kerana ramai penternak tidak bersetuju dengan arahan Kementerian Pertanian dan Industri Asas Tani.
BERNAMA
PENASIHAT UNDANG-UNDANG HINDRAF MUNGKIN LETAK JAWATAN ADUN KOTA ALAM SHAH
Berdasarkan laporan Bernama dan Malaysian Insider, meskipun dinafikan oleh beberapa pihak 
termasuk isteri M. Manoharan sendiri, Manoharan memikirkan untuk mengosongkan kerusi Kota Alam Shah Selangor. Keputusan muktamad akan dibuat 19 Mei nanti. Ini bermakna satu lagi PRK di Selangor.
Adun Kota Alam Shah Buat Keputusan Lepas Jawatan 19 Mei Ini
Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri (ADUN) Kota Alam Shah, M. Manoharan, yang ditahan di bawah Akta Keselamatan Dalam Negeri (ISA), hari ini mengesahkan bahawa beliau sedang memikirkan untuk mengosongkan kerusi itu.
Dalam kenyataan media yang diedarkan oleh isterinya S. Pushpaneela, Manoharan berkata beliau akan mengumumkan keputusannya secara rasmi selepas bertemu dengan Pengerusi DAP, Karpal Singh, di Kem Tahanan Kamunting, Taiping, Perak, pada 19 Mei ini.
"Saya rasa bersalah dan tidak adil kerana tidak mampu menunaikan tanggungjawab kepada pengundi pada persidangan Dewan Undangan Negeri Selangor.
"Kini saya perlu mempertimbangkan untuk meletak jawatan sebagai wakil rakyat Kota Alam Shah bagi membolehkan pilihan raya kecil diadakan," kata peguam berusia 48 tahun itu.
Dalam kenyataan itu, Manoharan turut meminta maaf kepada pengundi di kawasan itu kerana tidak dapat memberi perkhidmatan secara peribadi kerana ditahan di bawah Akta ISA sejak 2007.
Manoharan, Penasihat Undang-Undang pertubuhan haram Hindraf, bersama empat lagi pemimpin pertubuhan itu telah ditahan di bawah Akta ISA pada 13 Dis 2007.
Bagaimanapun, dua daripada mereka iaitu peguam R. Kenghadharan dan V. Ganabatirau dibebaskan pada 5 April lalu selepas Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak dilantik sebagai Perdana Menteri.
Pada pilihan raya umum 8 Mac 2008, Manoharan, yang bertanding atas tiket DAP, memenangi kerusi DUN Kota Alam Shah setelah menewaskan calon Barisan Nasional (BN) Ching Su Chen dengan majoriti 7,184 undi.
-- BERNAMA
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Manoharan likely to quit Kota Alam Shah on May 19
Kota Alam Shah assemblyman M.Manoharan, who is being detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA), today confirmed that he is thinking of vacating his seat.
In a press statement distributed by his wife, S.Pushpaneela, to reporters here today, Manoharan said he would announce his official decision after meeting with DAP chairman Karpal Singh at the Kamunting Detention Centre in Perak, on May 19.
"I now have to consider resigning as a Selangor state assemblyman for Kota Alam Shah, paving the way for a by-election, in order for my constituents to re-elect their new representative who will be better able to serve them and who will be able to physically attend all the sittings of the Selangor State Legislative Assembly," he said.
In his statement, Manoharan also apologised to his constituents for being unable to serve personally due to his detention under ISA and thanked them for their patience over the last 14 months.
Manoharan, the legal adviser for the banned Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), was detained under the ISA on Dec 13, 2007, with four other leaders.
However, two of them, lawyers R.Kenghadharan and V. Ganabatirau, were released on April 5 after Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak was appointed Prime Minister.
BERNAMA
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Manoharan likely to quit Kota Alam Shah on May 19
By Baradan Kuppusamy
KUALA LUMPUR, May 2 — Kota Alam Shah assemblyman M. Manoharan, who won the seat while under ISA detention, is most likely to resign on May 19 as he is not free yet to serve his constituents.
While his impending resignation could lead to a by-election for political parties fatigued with politicking, Manoharan is more frustrated with his DAP colleagues for allegedly not working hard enough to free him from detention.
His family finances have also hit rock bottom, close friends said, after 17 months being detained without trial for his involvement in the now outlawed Hindraf.
Manoharan had a lucrative legal practice and was a sought after lawyer both by the poor and the rich.
However, his wife S. Pushpaneela told The Malaysian Insider a formal decision would only be made after Manoharan meets with lawyer and DAP national chairman Karpal Singh on May 19 at the Kamunting detention centre.
“Until then there is no formal decision,” she said when contacted today after meeting her husband at the detention centre.
“He is very unhappy with how things have turned out. He remains in detention, his family is pining for him, our finances have all but collapsed and we have to make some really hard decisions,” she said.
“Such urgent decisions are necessary for us, the DAP and the constituents,” she added.
Karpal holds a special place for them because Manoharan earned his stripes as a lawyer under Karpal’s tutelage and has been a friend, colleagues and adviser.
While his wife was more circumspect, Manoharan detailed his frustration in a statement faxed to The Malaysian Insider where he says he is at his wits’ end.
He apologised to his constituents for being unable to serve personally and proceeded to list out a litany of woes he faces but stopped short of announcing his resignation.
“But the fact remains that over the last 14 months I have not been able to effectively serve the public, in particular the constituents of Kota Alam Shah.
“I feel a sense of guilt of being unable to serve the voters who have voted me as their representative,” he added.
“I now have to consider resigning as assemblyman for Kota Alam Shah, paving the way for a by-election in order for my constituents to re-elect their new representative who will be better able to serve them,” Manoharan said.
“I tried my very best in appealing to the authorities and by way of applications to free me in order for me to effectively serve the public and my constituents in particular,” he said. “I have exhausted all avenues for my release.”
Manoharan said he had sent three letters to ex-Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, three more letters to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, eight letters to former Home Minister Datuk Syed Hamid Albar, and two letters to Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah.
“My applications to the home minister to attend the state assembly sittings were all rejected,” he disclosed.
He said the ISA advisory board has also rejected his pleas for freedom.
The High Court has also dismissed his three habeas corpus applications and the Federal Court dismissed all three appeals.
“My 17 months of detention thus far have been very painful, which has been made worse by me being in the state of helplessness in being unable to serve my constituents.
“As such, I hereby wish to inform that I will announce my official decision (to resign or not) after meeting party chairman Karpal Singh,” Manoharan said.
Malaysianinsider
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Wife denies report about Manoharan
KUALA LUMPUR: Kota Alam Shah state representative M. Manoharan is not quitting his seat. In dismissing a Malaysiakini report yesterday, Manoharan's wife, S. Pushpaneela said she was shocked with the report as her husband did not say anything about quitting when she met him two weeks ago.
Lawyer Manoharan, who was also a leader of the banned Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) movement, is being detained at the Kamunting prison under the Internal Security Act.
"I am shocked. I met him two weeks ago and he was in good spirits.
"He did not say anything about this. I am meeting him again tomorrow and will be in a better position to comment after that."
Pushpaneela said the report came as a shock as in recent weeks, she had expanded the Kota Alam Shah state assembly service centre.
"I had taken in more people to help me run the centre," said Pushpaneela, who acts as Manoharan's representative to the voters.
Selangor executive councillor Ronnie Liew also denied the Malaysiakini report.
"The report said that Pushpaneela was under a lot of pressure from constituency work, but this is not the case."
Malaysiakini in its report quoting a source close to Manoharan, had said that the detained lawyer wanted out as he was growing frustrated over his inability to serve voters.
NST online
WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BE MENTALLY SHARP AT 65
AMERICANS may worry about heart disease, stroke and diabetes, but they downright dread Alzheimer’s disease, a recent survey found.
One in eight adults American over 65 is affected by the disease.
Those who are spared know they may end up with the burden of caring for a parent or a spouse who is affected
For a Sharp Brain, Stimulation
By RONI CARYN RABIN
Published: May 13, 2008
New York Times
Slide shows potraying drawing of developing dementia
Mapping of Memory
TEST OF MEMORY
MEMORY GAMES
AMERICANS may worry about heart disease, stroke and diabetes, but they downright dread Alzheimer’s disease, a recent survey found.
For good reason. One in eight adults over 65 is affected by the disease. Those who are spared know they may end up with the burden of caring for a parent or a spouse who is affected. Even though the number of older adults with dementias is rising rapidly, only a few drugs that have been approved to treat symptoms are on the market, and they slow down the disease but do not cure it.
Researchers, however, are more optimistic than ever about the potential of the aging brain, because recent evidence has challenged long-held beliefs by demonstrating that the brain can grow new nerve cells.
“For a long time, we held the assumption that we’re born with all the nerve cells we’re ever going to have, and that the brain is not capable of generating new ones — that once these cells die we’re unable to replace them,” said Molly V. Wagster, chief of the Neuropsychology of Aging branch of the National Institute on Aging. “Those assumptions have been challenged and put by the wayside.”
The birth of new nerve cells, she said, “has been shown to occur in the adult — not only in adult rats and monkeys, but also in older adult humans.” Most of the areas that show neurogenesis and that have been investigated so far are important for learning and memory, particularly the hippocampus, she added.
So how does one stimulate neurogenesis
Scientists do not have all the answers, but studies of older people who have maintained their mental acuity provide some clues. They tend to be socially connected, with strong ties to relatives, friends and community. They are often both physically healthy and physically active. And they tend to be engaged in stimulating or intellectually challenging activities.
The big question is whether they remain mentally alert because they engage in these activities, or whether they are able to engage in these activities because they are cognitively intact.
“We don’t know whether this is an example of reverse causation or not — it’s probably a two-way street,” said Bruce S. McEwen, who heads the neuroendocrinology lab at Rockefeller University in New York.
But some interventional studies that have introduced older adults to exercise regimens have reported remarkable results. Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign recruited a group of sedentary adults between the ages of 60 and 75, assigning half of them to an aerobic exercise program that met three times a week to walk, while a control group did anaerobic stretching and toning.
The scientists measured the group’s cognitive function before and after the six-month program and found improvements among those who had done the walking.
“Six months of exercise will buy you a 15 to 20 percent improvement in memory, decision-making ability and attention,” said Arthur F. Kramer, a professor of psychology at the University of Illinois. “It will also buy you increases in the volume of various brain regions in the prefrontal and temporal cortex, and more efficient neuronetworks that support the kind of cognition we examined.”
Other studies have found improvements in cognitive function after a combined regimen of physical exercise and cognitive training.
But skeptics say there is no guarantee that intellectual stimulation will prevent Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia. “Maybe it does, but I don’t think we have a shred of evidence,” said Dr. Robert N. Butler, a psychiatrist and gerontologist who is president of the International Longevity Center-USA. “What it does is maintain good health,” he said, adding, “I don’t think we can go much further than that.”
But there is consensus among scientists on a few recommendations for action that, most agree, cannot hurt.
Regular physical activity may improve brain function, both by increasing blood flow to the brain and stimulating the production of hormones and nerve growth factors involved in neurogenesis. Animal studies have found that physically active animals have better memories and more cells in their hippocampus. Exercise also plays a role in countering diseases like Type 2 diabetes, which increases the risk of dementia. Cholesterol and hypertension, which affect vascular health, also need to be kept in check.
Seeking out stimulation through interesting work, volunteer opportunities or continuing education is beneficial. Travel, read, take up a new language or learn to play a musical instrument. Staying socially connected is also associated with brain health, as is managing stress effectively. Chronic stress can lead to the rewiring of areas of the brain that are involved in emotion, memory and decision-making, Dr. McEwen said, “and the brain becomes more biased toward more anxiety, more depression, less flexibility in terms of decision-making and becomes less able to store information.”
Most scientists recommend eating a Mediterranean-style diet, including fish and nuts containing omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables and olive oil . (Blueberries are also recommended.) Some also suggest avoiding playing games like football, because of the risk of head injuries, staying away from pesticides and insecticides that contain neurotoxins and not drinking excessively.
“Another thing that’s important as people get older is to maintain flexible attitudes and be willing to try new things,” said K. Warner Schaie, who in 1956 started the Seattle Longitudinal Study, which follows the psychological development of participants through adulthood. “You have to expect things will shift over time and won’t be the same as when you were young. Those who manage to roll with the punches, and enjoy change rather than fighting it, tend to do well.”
In the booklet ''Staying Sharp: Memory Loss and Aging,'' the AARP Andrus Foundation and the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives suggest the following:
*Relax. People who are tense and under stress are prone to lapses.
*Concentrate. Pay attention if you want to remember something later.
*Focus. Reduce distractions and minimize interferences.
*Slow down. If you are rushing, you may not be paying full attention.
*Organize. Keep important items in a designated place that is visible and easily accessible.
*Write it down. Carry a notepad and calendar and record important things when you first hear them.
*Repeat it. Repetition improves recall; use it when meeting new people and learning new things.
*Visualize it. Associate an image with something you hope to recall.
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