MALACCA: The Chinese community's priority for material wealth has been blamed as the main cause of its youth succumbing to Ecstasy pills.

State Wanita MCA chief Datin Kian Sit Har said the preoccupation with wealth caused the community to neglect inculcating good moral values in children.

"Chinese families in general are busy making money while schools emphasise education," she said when launching the movement's "Say No To Ecstasy" campaign at the Mahkota Parade yesterday.

She added that parents had to take time and find out why their children resorted to the pills and also what pressures they faced.

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IPOH: Besides creating an awareness on the importance of education to rural folk under the MCA Langkawi Project, 40 students from TAR College (TARC) also took the opportunity to spread the "Say No To Ecstasy" message in their seven-day stay in Kampung Tawas here.

Rain or shine, they were seen cycling house-to-house to pass on the message and persuade villagers to attend a talk and exhibition on the anti-Ecstasy campaign yesterday.

The students also delivered pamphlets on the campaign to customers at coffee-shops and grocery shops and put up anti-Ecstasy posters.

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JOHOR BARU: Tampin, with one part in Negri Sembilan and the other in Malacca, is typical of towns where state boundaries overlap and vice thrives.

MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Ling Liong Sik, who singled out Tampin and Broga (at the Negri Sembilan-Selangor border) as potential danger spots for the Ecstasy scourge and other unhealthy activities, said the authorities in the areas must be serious about wiping out such menaces.

He said that when he visited the Negri Sembilan side of Tampin recently, he was satisfied that the town was free from Ecstasy and illegal gaming activities.

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KUALA LUMPUR: MCA welcomes the decision by the Home Ministry to clamp down on property owners who allow their premises to be used to make Ecstasy pills.

Party president Datuk Seri Dr Ling Liong Sik said this was also an indication of the authorities' frustration in the fight against the scourge of Ecstasy and illegal horse slot machines.

"This is because we don't have sufficient legal instruments to really knock hard at these pushers and illegal gambling outlets.

"These menaces are really infiltrating the society and they have reached stages where all races are vulnerable and targeted,'' he said after presenting excellence awards to the Transport Ministry staff here yesterday.

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BALIK PULAU: Thirteen men were fined RM4,000 each by a magistrate's court yesterday for taking Ecstasy pills in the first such conviction on Penang Island.

The group had on Aug 8 pleaded guilty to administering themselves with either methylene dioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), methylene dioxyamphetamine (MDA) or methamphetamine.(sic)

This was the first time in Penang that anyone was charged and convicted of self-administrating amphetamine-based stimulants (ATS), commonly known as Ecstasy.

[end]

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Youth Council will train para counsellors to help leaders of youth clubs identify drug users among their members.

Council president Saifuddin Abdullah said about 90% of the 8,000 youth clubs in the country did not have specific programmes to combat drug abuse.

"The message that youths should stay away from drugs comes up only once in a while in speeches or motivation seminars.

"This is all very general and focused only on education and prevention despite the fact that drug abuse and Ecstasy pills are the biggest scourge affecting youths today.

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SHAH ALAM: There is an acute shortage of programmes attractive enough to entice youth away from the thrill of popping designer pills, said Youth and Sports Deputy Minister Datuk Ong Tee Keat.

"As we tell the youth to stay off drugs, we also must examine the facilities in the community.

"Are we providing enough interesting programmes to keep them entertained in a healthy way? I do not think so,'' he said.

Ong added some youth-orientated programmes organised by community elders failed to attract the younger generation because they were boring.

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KUALA LUMPUR: The National Islamic Students Malaysian Association is the latest NGO to join in the fight against Ecstasy pills abuse when it launched its campaign at three shopping complexes here yesterday.

About 200 undergraduates took part in the campaign at KLCC, Pertama Complex and Sogo, distributing pamphlets and leaflets to shoppers, especially youths, to raise awareness about the danger of the designer drug.

Programme director Haizam Irwan Toha said the association would soon take its roadshow to secondary schools, starting with those in the Klang Valley.

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IPOH: Property owners who allow their premises to be used for the production of Ecstasy pills risk facing severe punishment.

They could be arrested under the Dangerous Drugs Act for abetting their tenants in manufacturing the pills.

Deputy Home Minister Datuk Zainal Abidin Zin said the authorities had made numerous arrests at rented premises in various parts of the country which were used to process the pills.

He said such activities were carried out secretly in places such as residential areas.

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YOUR front-page report, "House calls,'' (The Star, Sept 28) on the ACA going door-to-door to check on "flying licence'' holders gives the impression the authorities actually do not know who the holders of these licences are.

This only serves to confirm public suspicion that the owners of these licences cannot be identified.

This is indeed a sorry state of affairs as the people expect the ACA to haul up the "big fish'' instead of the small fry.

The same is expected of the furor over the Ecstasy pill problem. Until now the authorities have only managed to raid pubs and entertainment centres and arresting only the users, while the masterminds and the syndicates behind the scourge have yet to be identified and brought to court.

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JOHOR BARU: The MCA is committed to wiping out the Ecstasy pill and slot machine problem, Datuk Seri Dr Ling Liong Sik said. The party president said the future of Malaysia's youth was at stake and the problem would be difficult to contain if nothing was done now.

"Let's work together to ensure the success of MCA's anti-Ecstasy pill and anti-illegal slot machine campaigns.

"The MCA cannot run away from the responsibility of wiping out the Ecstasy and slot machine menace from our society,'' he said at the Southern College cultural night on Saturday.

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JOHOR BARU: The state Local Government Committee will call up owners of entertainment outlets to discuss the use of Ecstasy pills.

Chairman Datuk Jimmy Low said owners, particularly those in the city where the problem is widespread, who allow the pills to be sold in the premises would be warned.

He said MCA councillors had been told to collect information on Ecstasy "outlets" and alert local authorities during the monthly meetings.

Low, who is Johor MCA vice-chairman, said the party's committee on social ills, formed to fight Ecstasy and slot machine menace, had set up sub-committees on information gathering, publicity, complaints and enforcement.

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KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah MCA yesterday launched its anti-Ecstasy campaign, resolving to put up posters on the dangers of the drug in entertainment outlets in the state.

Its chairman Datuk Edward Khoo said the 19 MCA divisions in the state would distribute about 2,000 posters in discotheques, karaoke centres and schools.

"We want patrons of entertainment outlets to know about the ill-effects of Ecstasy when they see the posters," he said.

Among the messages on the posters are "When Ecstasy users die, it's usually from internal bleeding'' and "Say no to Ecstasy."

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JOHOR BARU: A salesman was sentenced to 12 years' jail and ordered to be given 10 strokes of the rotan by the High Court here yesterday for possession of 3,643 Ecstasy pills.

High Court judge Datuk Justice Azhar Maah passed the sentence after Tan Wing Keat, 28, pleaded guilty to possession of 3,643 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) pills at number 08-06, Block B, Datin Halimah Condominium in Jalan Datin Halimah here at about 3.30am on March 3 last year.

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KUCHING: The growing problem of drug addiction has prompted the Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP) Youth and Women movements to join hands to take on the social menace.

They plan to organise a conference themed "Towards A Drug-Free Generation'' in January and a series of regional workshops and exhibitions state-wide before that.

Youth leader and assemblyman Lee Kim Shin said the conference would involve government agencies, non-governmental organisations and would be opened to the public.

He said kindergarten and primary school teachers would be encouraged to take part in workshops as they played a key role in educating the young on the dangers of drug abuse.

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PENANG: A city hotel has joined the war against amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) such as Ecstasy by putting up No Drugs Allowed signboards and anti-drug posters at its pub's entrance.

Chief Police Officer Deputy Comm Datuk Arthur Edmonds praised the management of City Bayview Hotel for taking the initiative to keep its premises drug-free.

"I have always stressed that the police cannot work alone in fighting the Ecstasy scourge.

"We need the help of the public and corporate companies to create awareness in keeping the state free of such drugs," he told newsmen at the hotel on Tuesday night.

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KUALA LUMPUR: Some 80 school heads, senior assistants and parent-teacher associations representatives will attend a special course on fighting the Ecstasy threat soon.

Datuk Seri Dr Ling Liong Sik said the course, to be conducted by the MCA, is to train teachers on how to get their students to say no to Ecstasy.

The MCA president said students were the major target of Ecstasy pushers and it was found that many were not prepared on how to say no to Ecstasy.

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KUALA LUMPUR: The price of Ecstasy pills has dropped further to RM3 or RM4 each, making it reachable to more lower-income people.

The pills used to cost between RM150 and RM100 each in the mid-90s.

MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Ling Liong Sik said the party's national campaign against Ecstasy had heightened public awareness.

"People now point out places with horse racing slot machines and discos where Ecstasy pills are sold, to Barisan Nasional MPs.

"This is very encouraging because the campaign also received support from the entire Government,'' Dr Ling, who is also Transport Minister, told reporters before his ministry's post-Cabinet meeting yesterday.

Dr Ling also ticked off DAP for not lifting a finger to fight the Ecstasy menace.

He said DAP lived up to its CCND (constantly critical, negative and destructive image) and NATO (no action talk only) and had no guts to do a proper job.

[end]

I REFER to the letter, "Rally behind valiant stand of MCA leaders'' (The Star, Aug 7), by Datuk Seri Yuen Yuet Leng, highlighting the menace of the Ecstasy pill.

I could not agree more with his urgent call to all of us to fight this scourge which is getting its stranglehold on the youths of our nation.

Fight we must with all the resources at our disposal as all is not lost.

There should be no room for complacency in our relentless war against drugs, traffickers, and unscrupulous dealers of human degradation and financial ruin.

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On Thursday, the country will celebrate the 43rd anniversary of its independence.

Being independent from the clutches of foreign powers is, perhaps, one of the most inestimable achievements of any country.

While we may be into our 5th decade of independence, we now come face to face with challenges that threaten our free will.

Though we are no longer subjects of colonial powers, we cannot help but notice the prevailing problem of drug abuse in our society, which is menacing our mental independence.

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