Kuok and Ananda continue to be cream of Malaysia's wealthiest

Kuala Lumpur (The Star/ANN) - The 40 wealthiest Malaysians are worth US$62.1bil, up by US$11.1bil compared with last year, according to the latest rich list published by Forbes Asia.

In a statement, Forbes Asia said the combined wealth was almost 22% more than the list in 2010.

"The better coffers come on the back of the country's healthy economy which grew 7.2% last year, the highest rate since 2000," it said.

The first two spots were still occupied by Tan Sri Robert Kuok Hock Nien and Tan Sri T. Ananda Krishnan, respectively.

Kuok, 87, has held pole position since 2006 when Forbes Asia began ranking the 40 richest Malaysians.

He was worth US$12.5bil, up by half a billion from last year.

His biggest source of wealth was his stake in Wilmar International, the world's largest listed palm oil company.

Ananda, 72, was at No 2 with US$9.5bil, up from US$8.1bil last year.

His Maxis Communications Bhd is Malaysia's biggest cellphone service provider.

At No 3 is this year's biggest gainer in dollar terms, Puan Sri Lee Kim Hua.

The 81-year-old, widow of casino magnate Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong, was one of three women on the list this year.

Her Genting shares took off when the company's Singapore operations on Sentosa Island opened, boosting the family's net worth by US$2.7bil to US$6.6bil from a year ago.

Tan Sri Lee Shin Cheng, who built IOI Group into one of the world's biggest palm oil producers, fell down a spot at No 4 with a net worth of $5bil, up by US$400mil from last year.

AirAsia Bhd's Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes, budget airline pioneer and Forbes Asia's 2010 Businessman of the Year, was ranked No 20 this year, down one spot from last year despite his wealth increasing to US$470mil from US$330mil last year.

The only newcomer this year was Chia Song Kun at No 24 with US$400mil.

The share price of his QL Resources Bhd, the seafood, egg production and palm oil company, has doubled since last year.

Datuk Tony Tiah Thee Kian at No 35 was the only returnee to the list after a year's absence as stocks in his TA Enterprise Bhd have recovered. He was worth US$170mil.

Not all did well, however, as there were three this year who saw their wealth reduced, led by Tan Sri Vincent Tan at No 9.

The self-made entrepreneur, who runs Berjaya Group, saw his wealth decline to US$1.25bil from US$1.6bil last year.

Timber tycoon Tan Sri Tiong Hiew King was the only person who did not see any changes to his wealth. He was still worth US$1.2bil and ranked No 10.

Malays are not immigrants, says Dr M

KUALA LUMPUR, March 4 — Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad dismissed yesterday claims that Malays are immigrants just like Chinese and Indians, arguing instead that Arabs, Indians and Indonesians had become constitutional Malays through assimilation.

“I would not say I am a Malay or Malaysian of ethnic Indian origin. My mother tongue and home language is Malay, my culture and tradition is Malay and I am a Muslim. The constitution defines a Malay as a person who habitually speaks Malay, practices Malay custom and tradition and is a Muslim,” he said in a posting on his blog.

He said it was obvious some Malays were descended from people of the Indonesian islands, India and the Arabian peninsular.

“Having come here they were assimilated after they identified themselves completely with the Malays by adopting the Malay language, their customs and traditions and by being Muslims.

“This is a common phenomenon. In America, Australia, Latin America, the later immigrants accepted the languages of their adopted country as their mother tongue as well as the culture.

“After doing this they no longer think of themselves as being of their original country. They are Americans, Australians and Argentinians period.

“We don’t hear them claiming to be German Americans, Portuguese Australians or Italian Argentinians, even though they or their ancestors came from these countries,” said Dr Mahathir.

The former prime minister wrote in his blog that Malays would only say they are Bugis or Javanese if asked about their ancestry but it would be mischievous to suggest that this was their race.

Dr Mahathir has in recent years stepped up his defence of the constitutional position of the Malays, and has been criticised for lending credibility to right-wing groups like Perkasa.

His strident tone has resulted in accusations that he was playing the race card in an attempt to shore up support for Umno.

In his blog post, Dr Mahathir said that his remarks in defending the Malays were to rebut “the anti-Malay racism of the opposition.”

He said that “those who support racist statements by the opposition are the real racists.”

“They shout racist at others to distract from their own racism,” he said.

Since making significant gains in Election 2008, the opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR) has been pushing for reforms to the country’s affirmative action policies which is widely seen as favouring the Malay-Bumiputera communities.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is expected to call for general elections in either late 2011 or early 2012, with investors and Malaysians waiting to see if he will implement reforms to match his rhetoric after a series of flip-flops on a goods and services tax and subsidy cuts.

Najib has delivered measures such as granting new bank licenses and cutting the fiscal deficit.

But he has shied away from big subsidy cuts and tax reforms and softened an earlier promise to reform controversial preferential equity ownership rules for the Malays.

Analysts expect Najib may be willing to push through reforms after the next general election, but only if he wins a strong mandate.

If he fails to restore Barisan Nasional’s two-thirds parliamentary majority he will come under pressure from Malay activist groups such as Perkasa who are opposed to some of his economic reforms

Wanita yang Menutup Aurat itu Indah seperti Emas Permata :)

Islam mewajibkan umatnya menutup aurat. Kewajipan ini sepertimana yang terakam dalam surah an-Nur ayat ke 31 yang bermaksud: 

''Dan katakanlah kepada perempuan-perempuan yang beriman supaya menyekat pandangan mereka (daripada memandang yang haram), dan memelihara kehormatan mereka; dan janganlah mereka memperlihatkan perhiasan tubuh mereka kecuali yang zahir daripadanya''

Pernah terjadi suatu kisah yang menceritakan tentang seorang gadis bukan Islam yang sangat terpikat dan mengagumi Islam. Dia juga sudah boleh memahami dan menerima segala-galanya tentang Islam kecuali satu perkara.

Mengapa wanita Islam mesti menutup aurat terutama memakai tudung?

Sudah banyak orang yang ditanya oleh gadis itu termasuk ustaz-ustaz dan orang Islam lainnya. Namun dia masih belum dapat berpuas hati dengan jawapan-jawapan mereka semua.

Pada suatu hari, kawan gadis itu telah membawanya berjumpa dengan seorang ustaz pula. Pada mulaya dia agak keberatan.

“Rasanya, sama sahaja jawapan daripada ustaz-ustaz itu. Tidak payahlah kita pergi membuang masa kita dengan menemui mereka.”

Kawannya yang sudah Islam itu terus memujuk, “Cubalah dahulu sahabat, bukan salah kita mencuba. Thomas Edison dan Kapten Fried juga hanya berjaya setelah ribuan kali percubaannya.”

“Tapi ini soal agama? Aku yakin Tuhan punyai sebab mengapa hanya wanita Islam sahaja yang diperlukan menutup keseluruhan badan kecuali wajah dan kedua tapak tangan. Manakala aurat lelaki hanya dari pusat ke lutut. Pasti ada sebabnya, tapi nampaknya orang Islam sendiri pun kurang mengerti.”

“Engkau perli aku ya?” Kawannya itu mencebik. Dia buat tidak endah. Kawannya mengalah, terus memujuk.

“Baiklah, ini yang terakhir. Kalau jawapannya kurang memuaskan hatimu, kita berhenti.” Tiada cara lain untuk memujuk sahabatnya itu melainkan melafazkan janji sebegitu.

Mereka berdua pergi berjumpa dengan ustaz tersebut.

“Maaf ustaz, inilah sahabat yang saya maksudkan tempoh hari. Alhamdulillah dia sudah mempercayai tentang Islam dan isinya. Cuma yang menyekat dirinya daripada melafazkan syahadah ialah kerana dia tidak dapat menerima alasan mengapa Islam menyuruh penganut wanitanya menutup aurat.”

Ustaz muda yang berjanggut sejemput itu tersenyum. Seakan faham dia pada masalah yang menjadi halangan kepada gadis itu.

Sejurus kemudian dia bersuara kepada gadis itu.

“Boleh saya bertanyakan beberapa persoalan dan awak jawap dengan sejujur mungkin?”

“Boleh, tidak ada masalah.” Tingkah si gadis.

“Baiklah, kamu pernah ke pasaraya?”

“Pernah.”

“Pernah masuk ke kedai emas?”

“Pernah.”

“Pernah ke pasar malam?”

“Pernah.”

Ustaz muda itu terdiam sejenak. Lantas menyambung kembali persoalannya.

“Baik, antara tempat-tempat yang saya nyatakan tadi di manakah dipamerkan atau dijual batu permata, intan berlian, emas perak yang mahal-mahal harganya?”

“Tentu sahaja di kedai emas.”

“Bagaimana keadaannya?”

“Diletakkan di para yang cantik untuk pameran, dilindungi cermin yang kukuh dan kalis peluru untuk mengelak dari dikhianati. Bahkan mungkin tersimpan di dalam peti besi bagi tujuan keselamatannya dan hanya boleh dilihat oleh orang-orang tertentu sahaja.”

“Bagaimana pula dengan barangan kemas dari jenis yang sama namun barangan tiruan. Di manakah tempat mereka?”

“Jika yang sebegitu, mudah sahaja dijumpai di tepi-tepi jalan, malah sentiasa terdedah dan tidak ada yang sudi mencurinya kerana kemurahannya itu.”

Mata sahabat gadis itu bersinar, “Ada harapan,” katanya di dalam hati.

Ustaz tersebut segera menerangkan maksud analogi itu.

“Begitulah juga Islam yang sentiasa meletakkan wanita di tempat yang tinggi dan perlu sentiasa terjaga. Kewajipan menutup aurat adalah kerana tubuh badan seorang wanita itu adalah sangat berharga dan suci, mana mungkin kemuliaan dan kesucian seorang wanita itu dipamerkan kepada manusia yang tidak sepatutnya? Ibarat emas permata, intan berlian yang sentiasa terjaga dan dilindungi malah diletakkan di dalam bekas yang cantik dan selamat.”

Gadis berdua itu terpana. Jelas, terang lagi bersuluh. Sahabatnya tidak putus mengucapkan syukur.

Dia berkata, “Jika begitu ustaz, mereka yang tidak menutup aurat ibarat barangan murahan yang dapat dijumpai di tepian jalan, boleh dipegang sesuka hati malah harga sangat murah? Jika begitu, benarlah suruhan Allah untuk wanita menutup aurat sepertimana yang termaktub dalam surah an-Nur ayat ke-31.”

Ustaz itu hanya tersenyum sambil mengangguk.

Dan si gadis itu berkata dengan lancar dan tenang, “Tiada Tuhan melainkan Allah, nabi Muhammad pesuruh Allah.”

Semua melafazkan syukur~

sumber: http://kalamkhalifah.blogspot.com/