7 Februari, 2010
ETIQA TAKAFUL SUMBANG EMPAT BUAH RUMAH KEPADA RUMAH
PENDIDIKAN AT-TOHIRIAH
Port Dickson – Etiqa Takaful hari ini menyerahkan empat buah rumah kepada Rumah
Pendidikan At-Tohiriah di sini, sekaligus menyediakan tempat kediaman untuk lebih daripada
60 orang anak-anak yatim, kanak-kanak kurang berkemampuan serta penjaga dan tenaga
pendidik mereka.
“Janji jenama Etiqa adalah menginsankan insurans dan takaful, di mana kami ingin
menjadikan semua urusan perniagaan takaful senang dan mudah untuk para pelanggan dan
orang ramai. Janji jenama ini digunapakai dalam semua aspek di syarikat ini, begitu juga
dalam program komuniti kami. Kami juga mahu menjadikan kehidupan lebih senang dan
mudah untuk mereka yang kurang berkemampuan dan memerlukan bantuan,” kata En
Shahril Azuar Jimin, Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif, Etiqa Takaful Berhad.
Etiqa Takaful menderma RM240,000 untuk membeli empat buah rumah yang kemudiannya
diubah menjadi asrama dan pejabat untuk Rumah Pendidikan At-Tohiriah. Memandangkan
kesemua anak-anak yatim dan kanak-kanak kurang berkemampuan menetap dan belajar di
rumah itu, Etiqa Takaful turut menghadiahkan beberapa rak buku serta bahan-bahan bacaan
dan alat tulis untuk membina satu sudut ilmu bagi kegunaan mereka.
Program sepanjang satu hari ini bukanlah hanya mengenai sumbangan berbentuk
kebendaan sahaja kerana lebih daripada 100 wargakerja Etiqa dari Kuala Lumpur dan
Negeri Sembilan turut hadir untuk beramah mesra dengan penghuni rumah ini melalui
pelbagai aktiviti seperti sesi berkenalan, sesi motivasi, acara sukan dan permainan. Satu
sesi gotong-royong turut dijalankan untuk menjadikan kawasan rumah itu lebih bersih dan
sihat untuk penghuni di situ dan untuk mengekalkan keadaan ini, Etiqa Takaful turut
menyumbang beberapa peralatan kebersihan kepada rumah tersebut.
Shahril menerangkan, ”Ini adalah salah satu aktiviti di bawah program Tanggungjawab Zakat
Korporat kami yang telah dilaksanakan selama beberapa tahun. Di bawah program ini, kami
menggunakan sebahagian daripada duit zakat tahunan kami untuk memberikan bantuan
terus dan segera kepada institusi-institusi yang benar-benar memerlukan bantuan kami.
Sejak program ini dimulakan, kami telah membantu lebih daripada 14 institusi dan rumah
anak yatim dan 1,500 anak-anak yatim dan keluarga yang kurang bekemampuan di seluruh
negara.”
Lebih daripada RM1.5 juta ringgit dibelanjakan setiap tahun melalui program ini dan bantuan
yang diberikan kepada institusi dan keluarga adalah dalam bentuk rumah-rumah baru,
asrama, bilik darjah, dewan makan, surau, dewan serbaguna, makmal komputer dan
infrastruktur yang lain. Bantuan juga diberi dalam bentuk kenderaan seperti van, komputer,
mesin jahit, peralatan permainan dan sukan, buku-buku, alat tulis dan lain-lain lagi.
Program ini menyaksikan lebih daripada 100 wargakerja Etiqa menjadi sukarelawan di
setiap institusi dan pusat yang menerima bantuan di seluruh negara seperti di Paya
Rumput, Melaka; Manjoi dan Sungai Siput, Perak; Permatang Pauh, Pulau Pinang; Merbok
dan Baling, Kedah; Kota Tinggi, Johor; Tumpat, Kelantan; Kuala Ibai, Terengganu; Tawau,
Sabah; Arau dan Kangar, Perlis dan banyak lagi.
Lebih daripada 250 orang tetamu telah hadir ke program hari ini termasuk orang ramai dan
juga wakil-wakil daripada pihak berkuasa tempatan.
“Kami percaya bahawa semua orang boleh memainkan peranan, tidak kira sekecil mana,
untuk membantu golongan yang memerlukan dan kurang berkemampuan untuk menikmati
kehidupan yang lebih selesa kini dan untuk masa hadapan. Kami berharap agar kanakkanak
ini akan dapat terus berkembang dan membangun untuk menjadi individu yang
berjaya supaya mereka pula dapat menyumbang kembali kepada komuniti dan menjadikan
dunia ini lebih baik dan bermanfaat,” tambah Shahril.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Malaysia Hindu wins custody row with Muslim spouse
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – A Malaysian court Thursday granted an ethnic Indian woman custody of her child in a bitter dispute with her Muslim-convert husband, in a ruling that could ease religious minorities' worries about their legal rights.
Malaysia has a two-tier court system for family matters _ secular courts for non-Muslims, Shariah, or Islamic, courts for Muslims. But minority Hindus, Christians and Buddhists complain that cases that also involve a member of the country's Muslim majority are usually sent to Shariah courts, where the decisions typically go against the non-Muslims.
On Thursday, the secular High Court overruled a Shariah ruling and ordered that 2-year-old Prasana Diksa be handed back immediately to her mother, M. Indira Gandhi, said her lawyer, M. Kulasegaran.
The fact that the secular court even took the case was a breakthrough and could set a precedent across Malaysia, said another of her lawyers, A. Sivanesan.
"This is a landmark ruling. In the past, if one party is a Muslim, the civil court would have shut its door and refuse to hear the case. This is a breakthrough," Sivanesan said.
Gandhi's husband embraced Islam in March 2009 without her knowledge. He then took their youngest child away, and later allegedly used documents to convert all three of their children to Islam without her consent. However, the elder two children, aged 12 and 13, have remained with their mother throughout the dispute.
Ghandi's husband, Muhammad Riduan Abdullah, successfully sought custody of the three children in the Perak Islamic Shariah court, but Ghandi challenged the conversions and filed a lawsuit seeking custody in civil court.
"The judge said it is in the family's best interest that the toddler be returned to Gandhi as the two older children are with her," Kulasegaran said.
He said Justice Wan Afrah Wan Ibrahim also shot down arguments by lawyers from the state religious department that he has no jurisdiction to hear the case because it involved a Muslim. The judge declared that the civil court can hear such grievances because non-Muslims cannot seek remedy in Shariah courts, the lawyer said.
The conversion of children has been the subject of growing legal challenges by non-Muslims, who say they face discrimination by Muslims who comprise nearly two-thirds of Malaysia's population and dominate the government.
Perak Islamic authorities could not immediately be reached for comment on Gandhi's case.
Sivanesan said the court granted Muhammad Riduan the right to visit the children once a week. It also fixed April 2 to hear a bid by Gandhi to contest her husband's conversion of their children to Islam, he said.
Gandhi will lodge a complain with police if he refuses to hand over the 2-year-old, the lawyer added.
The government has pledged to tackle legal ambiguities related to religious conversions. Authorities recently said minors can no longer be converted without both parents' consent, but the decision has not been made legally binding.
In a high-profile case in 2007, a Hindu woman failed to persuade the civil court to bar her husband, who had embraced Islam, from converting their sons.-AP
Malaysia has a two-tier court system for family matters _ secular courts for non-Muslims, Shariah, or Islamic, courts for Muslims. But minority Hindus, Christians and Buddhists complain that cases that also involve a member of the country's Muslim majority are usually sent to Shariah courts, where the decisions typically go against the non-Muslims.
On Thursday, the secular High Court overruled a Shariah ruling and ordered that 2-year-old Prasana Diksa be handed back immediately to her mother, M. Indira Gandhi, said her lawyer, M. Kulasegaran.
The fact that the secular court even took the case was a breakthrough and could set a precedent across Malaysia, said another of her lawyers, A. Sivanesan.
"This is a landmark ruling. In the past, if one party is a Muslim, the civil court would have shut its door and refuse to hear the case. This is a breakthrough," Sivanesan said.
Gandhi's husband embraced Islam in March 2009 without her knowledge. He then took their youngest child away, and later allegedly used documents to convert all three of their children to Islam without her consent. However, the elder two children, aged 12 and 13, have remained with their mother throughout the dispute.
Ghandi's husband, Muhammad Riduan Abdullah, successfully sought custody of the three children in the Perak Islamic Shariah court, but Ghandi challenged the conversions and filed a lawsuit seeking custody in civil court.
"The judge said it is in the family's best interest that the toddler be returned to Gandhi as the two older children are with her," Kulasegaran said.
He said Justice Wan Afrah Wan Ibrahim also shot down arguments by lawyers from the state religious department that he has no jurisdiction to hear the case because it involved a Muslim. The judge declared that the civil court can hear such grievances because non-Muslims cannot seek remedy in Shariah courts, the lawyer said.
The conversion of children has been the subject of growing legal challenges by non-Muslims, who say they face discrimination by Muslims who comprise nearly two-thirds of Malaysia's population and dominate the government.
Perak Islamic authorities could not immediately be reached for comment on Gandhi's case.
Sivanesan said the court granted Muhammad Riduan the right to visit the children once a week. It also fixed April 2 to hear a bid by Gandhi to contest her husband's conversion of their children to Islam, he said.
Gandhi will lodge a complain with police if he refuses to hand over the 2-year-old, the lawyer added.
The government has pledged to tackle legal ambiguities related to religious conversions. Authorities recently said minors can no longer be converted without both parents' consent, but the decision has not been made legally binding.
In a high-profile case in 2007, a Hindu woman failed to persuade the civil court to bar her husband, who had embraced Islam, from converting their sons.-AP
Monday, March 1, 2010
Prudential buys AIG Asia for record 35.5 billion dollars
LONDON (AFP) - – Britain's Prudential on Monday agreed to buy the Asian arm of US peer AIG for 35.5 billion dollars in the insurance sector's biggest ever takeover but the share price crashed on concerns over funding.
Prudential is set to become southeast Asia's biggest insurer after the British firm agreed to pay the equivalent of 26 billion euros for AIA, making it the industry's biggest ever acquisition, according to Dealogic.
The deal allows AIG to repay the US government a huge chunk of debt while it also highlights a pick-up in cross-border takeover activity since the start of the year as the global economy recovers from its deep downturn.
"Today's Prudential deal to buy AIA, along with Merck's acquisition of Millipore and the recent Cadbury's sale to Kraft has raised optimism that mergers and acquisition activity could continue to grow," said analyst Joshua Raymond at London traders City Index.
Prudential's deal, which will see the group double its market value, comes just one day after German pharmaceutical giant Merck KGaA agreed to buy US biotechnology firm Millipore Corporation for 7.2 billion dollars.
Just one month ago, US group Kraft Foods snapped up British confectioner Cadbury in another multi-billion-dollar deal.
Prudential said that AIA represented "a unique and strategically compelling opportunity ... to create the leading insurer in South East Asia".
It added in a statement: "Prudential Plc has reached agreement with American International Group Inc. (AIG) on terms for the combination of Prudential and AIA Group Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of AIG.
"AIG will receive total consideration of 35.5 billion dollars, comprising 25 billion dollars in cash and 10.5 billion dollars in new Prudential shares and other securities."
The cash component will be financed through an underwritten share issue, the announcement of which sent Prudential's share price tumbling more than 12 percent on Monday.
"Today's share price fall is to be expected considering the expense of the deal and the subsequent ... (share) rights issue to help pay for it," Raymond said.
The takeover will transform Prudential into the world's top non-Chinese insurer by market capitalisation, ahead of major competitors Allianz and AXA.
"This transaction offers the opportunity to bring together two leading companies, positioning the combined group to capture the future growth opportunity in Asia," Prudential said in its statement.
"We believe the transaction will both amplify and accelerate our stated strategy to deliver value to our shareholders," it added.
Prudential on Monday also announced that it enjoyed record group sales across Asia during the final quarter of 2009.
Group chief executive Tidjane Thiam said that the region was the "most attractive opportunity in our industry today," partly because of the strong savings habits there.
"Asia is the engine of the group's future growth, particularly the fast growing economies in Southeast Asia," he said.
"Asia is complex, dynamic and exciting, and its economies differ significantly, with varying levels of economic development, from the OECD members, Japan and Korea, to the fast growing markets of Southeast Asia, such as Indonesia and Malaysia."
Sales in Asia already make up half of new contracts for Prudential across a number of countries including China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. The company also has a strong presence in Britain and the United States.
AIG, meanwhile, has been forced into giving up some of its assets after the company's near collapse in the depths of the financial crisis led the US government to bail it out to the tune of some 180 billion dollars.
The Wall Street Journal reported that some of the proceeds from the sale of AIA to Prudential were already earmarked for US government coffers.
Prudential is set to become southeast Asia's biggest insurer after the British firm agreed to pay the equivalent of 26 billion euros for AIA, making it the industry's biggest ever acquisition, according to Dealogic.
The deal allows AIG to repay the US government a huge chunk of debt while it also highlights a pick-up in cross-border takeover activity since the start of the year as the global economy recovers from its deep downturn.
"Today's Prudential deal to buy AIA, along with Merck's acquisition of Millipore and the recent Cadbury's sale to Kraft has raised optimism that mergers and acquisition activity could continue to grow," said analyst Joshua Raymond at London traders City Index.
Prudential's deal, which will see the group double its market value, comes just one day after German pharmaceutical giant Merck KGaA agreed to buy US biotechnology firm Millipore Corporation for 7.2 billion dollars.
Just one month ago, US group Kraft Foods snapped up British confectioner Cadbury in another multi-billion-dollar deal.
Prudential said that AIA represented "a unique and strategically compelling opportunity ... to create the leading insurer in South East Asia".
It added in a statement: "Prudential Plc has reached agreement with American International Group Inc. (AIG) on terms for the combination of Prudential and AIA Group Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of AIG.
"AIG will receive total consideration of 35.5 billion dollars, comprising 25 billion dollars in cash and 10.5 billion dollars in new Prudential shares and other securities."
The cash component will be financed through an underwritten share issue, the announcement of which sent Prudential's share price tumbling more than 12 percent on Monday.
"Today's share price fall is to be expected considering the expense of the deal and the subsequent ... (share) rights issue to help pay for it," Raymond said.
The takeover will transform Prudential into the world's top non-Chinese insurer by market capitalisation, ahead of major competitors Allianz and AXA.
"This transaction offers the opportunity to bring together two leading companies, positioning the combined group to capture the future growth opportunity in Asia," Prudential said in its statement.
"We believe the transaction will both amplify and accelerate our stated strategy to deliver value to our shareholders," it added.
Prudential on Monday also announced that it enjoyed record group sales across Asia during the final quarter of 2009.
Group chief executive Tidjane Thiam said that the region was the "most attractive opportunity in our industry today," partly because of the strong savings habits there.
"Asia is the engine of the group's future growth, particularly the fast growing economies in Southeast Asia," he said.
"Asia is complex, dynamic and exciting, and its economies differ significantly, with varying levels of economic development, from the OECD members, Japan and Korea, to the fast growing markets of Southeast Asia, such as Indonesia and Malaysia."
Sales in Asia already make up half of new contracts for Prudential across a number of countries including China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. The company also has a strong presence in Britain and the United States.
AIG, meanwhile, has been forced into giving up some of its assets after the company's near collapse in the depths of the financial crisis led the US government to bail it out to the tune of some 180 billion dollars.
The Wall Street Journal reported that some of the proceeds from the sale of AIA to Prudential were already earmarked for US government coffers.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)