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Key Highlights
Too hot to handle
Tax saga continues
Shooting the messenger
Too hot to handle
A nightclub in Kuala Lumpur was forced to cancel a scintillating show planned for its opening ceremony.
The performance, which was to feature Thai men in revealing women's clothes, courted flak from both sides of the political divide.
PAS was the first to raise the issue, describing the performance as insensitive and immoral.
The Prime Minister’s Office, Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail and Local Government Development Minister Nga Kor Ming also waded into the issue.
The nightclub’s management has since cancelled the event on police’s orders and apologised.
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Tax cancellation saga continues
The Finance Ministry denied that one of its officers inked the order to revoke the tax-exempt status of the Albukhary Foundation.
The ministry also lodged a police report over the allegation.
This is believed to be in reference to allegations made by blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin and others that a senior officer in the tax division had signed off on the cancellation while Lim Guan Eng was the finance minister.
Lim had also filed a police report against former premier Muhyiddin Yassin after the latter refused to retract his allegation that the DAP person cancelled the tax-exempt status of the Muslim charitable organisation.
He advised Muhyiddin not to emulate Donald Trump in mounting a racially charged campaign.
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Shooting the messenger
As politicians widen the racial and religious divide, National Unity Minister Aaron Ago, however, trained his guns on the media instead.
He accused the media of “deliberately wanting to fan flames” on sensitive issues.
The minister issued a stern warning to media practitioners not to act as instigators.
“I have been telling the media, please cool it down on sensitive issues… don’t add fuel to the fire.
“There are people who have different sensitivities. Please, enough,” he added.
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Views that matter
 | By Lim Teck Ghee |
 | By P Gunasegaram |
 | By S Thayaparan |
Other news that matter
Those who participate in sexual live streams involving minors may be slapped with a 20-year jail sentence under planned amendments to the Sexual Offences Against Children Act.
Prosecutors contended that Lim Guan Eng’s lawyers already have WhatsApp conversations between two prosecution witnesses about an RM2 million payment from between 2017 and 2019.
This is concerning the RM6.3 billion Penang Undersea Tunnel project corruption case.
Senator C Sivarraajh has urged the government not to terminate the services of foreign workers who use the temporary employment visit pass to work in textile stores, barber shops and goldsmiths.
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