TAIPING: Policemen are going undercover to detect cyber cafes which provide gambling facilities.

Taiping OCPD Asst Comm Raja Musa Raja Razak said that the officers, based in other districts, have been “assigned to gamble” at suspected cyber cafes.

“These operators can recognise our local police and so we have assigned those from outstation instead.

“After spending some time at a particular cyber cafe where the officer would gamble, we would move in and make the arrest and seizures,” he told reporters at the monthly district police parade here yesterday.

He said that unlike illegal video arcades, the cafes installed gaming programs in the computers.

We are organising a 50th Anniversary Gathering at Legend Inn this Nov 22nd. Please contact me as we have targetted 10 tables to celebrate the occassion.

A WHOPPING RM16,000 cash prize awaits the angler who gets the biggest fish in the Taiping Open Fishing Competition 2008 to be held on July 27.

The second and third prize winners will get RM5,000 and RM3,000 respectively.

Jointly organised by Taiping Municipal Council and Wakjali Event Management, the competition will be held from 8am to 1pm at Taiping’s Lake Gardens.

Registration fee for the fishing competition is RM80.

RAMPANT jungle clearing activities and shortage of fruits in the jungle are forcing wild monkeys into Taiping town to scavenge for food.

Residents in the Larut Matang and Selama district said garbage bins in the town area seemed to be the monkeys’ favourite haunt.

At a dialogue called by Taiping MP Nga Kor Ming, residents urged the authorities to look into the clearing activities at the jungle fringes to check the menace.

“Wild monkeys are not only endangering the safety of pedestrians and children but are also trespassing into kitchens to steal what-ever food available,” said a resident.

Kuala Sepetang assemblyman Tai Sing Ng said an operation would be mounted soon to rid the town of wild monkeys following complaints over their growing population.

Tai urged those facing the problem to get in touch with their respective village heads.

KUALA LUMPUR: Textile retailer Kamdar Group (M) Bhd, which dropped a proposal to pay dividends to shareholders after creditors shot down the plan, said it will continue to add new stores despite concerns that consumers may spend less on clothing due to rising fuel and food prices.

“We got to take advantage of the situation and be aggressive in our pricing and expansion strategy,'' chief executive Jayesh Kamdar told reporters after the company AGM yesterday.

He added that the group was confident of achieving its targeted growth number in the current year ending Dec 31, 2008 (FY08).

“We expect a better year ahead based on our performance in the past six months,'' he said.

Kamdar reported a slight loss in the first quarter ended March 31 due to taxation. The first quarter is also traditionally the weakest period for the retailer.

Over the next two months, Kamdar will open its first two stores in Sabah and Sarawak - one each in Kota Kinabalu and Kuching. The company is also waiting for the green light from local authorities for an outlet in Taiping, Perak.

THEIR durian trees are bearing fruits but orchard owners in Bukit Tupai in Taiping who are expecting a good harvest next month are facing difficulties gaining access to their orchards.

They claim that their “traditional” access route beside a dam managed by the Perak Water Board had been blocked by a company which claimed it owned the land.

“Since the past six months, we have been unable to use the route,” said one of the affected farmers, Ng Kian Kit, 45.

Ng who accompanied state exco member Mohd Osman Mohd Jailu to the site, said the com- pany officials when queried by the farmers over the matter claimed that their property like lorries had been vandalised.

“It could be the work of drug addicts but why punish us?” asked Ng.

When my family and I visited Taiping Zoo over the weekend, we were disappointed because there was nothing much to see despite the entrance fee of RM5 for adults. Seniors pay RM4 and kids are charged RM3.

We noticed there were too few animals and the surroundings were not well maintained.

TAIPING: Police detained three men and seized 1.16kg of heroin from a hotel room here and a car parked nearby early Monday.

About RM10,000 in cash was also confiscated, along with the drug estimated to have a street value of about RM30,000.

Taiping deputy OCPD Supt Syed A. Wahab Syed A. Majid said the drug, in granules, was found in six large plastic packets.

"Three of the large plastic packets were recovered from the hotel room while three others were found in a Proton Perdana Executive parked outside the hotel," he told a press conference Tuesday.

A total of 39 smaller packets were found inside the six packets, he added.

ABIDE by procedures. This was the advice given by Taiping OCPD Asst Comm Raja Musa Raja Aziz when he handed over nine new Proton Waja to his investigation officers (IO) recently.

“Don’t use these cars as if they are your private property and abide with procedures which have been drawn up,” he said.

The new 2,000cc cars would be used by IOs from the crime branch, and the narcotics, commercial crime and traffic branches at Taiping district police station.

RAMPANT jungle clearing activities and shortage of fruits in the jungle are forcing wild monkeys into Taiping town to scavenge for food.

Residents in the Larut Matang and Selama district said garbage bins in the town area seemed to be the monkeys’ favourite haunt.

At a dialogue called by Taiping MP Nga Kor Ming, residents urged the authorities to look into the clearing activities at the jungle fringes to check the menace.

“Wild monkeys are not only endangering the safety of pedestrians and children but are also trespassing into kitchens to steal what-ever food available,” said a resident.