Police nab woman

Police nab woman
with 'Ecstasy' pills

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Malaysian police have detained a
Singaporean after she was found to have 4,050 "Ecstasy" pills, a
designer drug, strapped to her waist and under her armpits, news
reports said yesterday.

The 21-year-old woman was detained at the Kuala Lumpur airport
on May 16 while she was waiting for her flight to Jakarta.

Airport security officials noticed she was acting awkwardly
and carried out a body search, said Salleh Mat Som, director of
the federal police narcotics department.

"We are on the lookout for such pills that have made their way
into the country," Salleh said, adding each pill costs 160
ringgit (US$64). The designer drug acts as a stimulant and is
harmful if taken in large doses.

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Aglance-Thailand-press
Thai reporters say govt curbing freedom
JP/7/ASEAN2

Thai reporters say
govt curbing freedom

BANGKOK (Reuter): Thailand's main journalists' association
accused the government yesterday of trying to curb press freedom
after police warned five daily newspapers about their reporting.

"The government is attempting to curb freedom of the press by
blocking the reporting of the truth about people's feelings by
issuing warnings to newspapers," the Reporters' Association of
Thailand said in a statement.

Special branch police, who oversee the print media, warned
five daily newspapers this week over alleged provocative
reporting following the government's curtailment of a censure
debate on May 10.

Thailand's press is among the most free in the region, but
newspaper editors say Banharn's government is becoming
increasingly intolerant of negative reporting.

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Aglance-Vietnam-chorus
Thousands sing for party congress
JP/7/ASEAN3

Thousands sing
for party congress

HANOI (Reuter): Thousands of Hanoi residents are taking part
in a singing contest to welcome Vietnam's biggest Communist Party
Congress in five years, state media said yesterday.

The party mouthpiece Nhan Dan newspaper said the competition,
involving 25,000 people, had been running for several weeks.
Popular themes have included Vietnam's Doi Moi reform process and
the country's late President Ho Chi Minh.

"The final round will see the participation of a chorus from
the Hanoi Party Committee," the newspaper said. The final round
of the competition is due to begin tomorrow.

Vietnam's 8th Communist Party Congress is only its second
since reform policies were introduced in the late 1980s. The
congress is a major policy-defining event in the Southeast Asian
country and is expected to begin in late June.

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Aglance-Singapore-rapist
Rapist gets 12 years in jail
JP/7/ASEAN4

Rapist gets
12 years in jail

SINGAPORE (AFP): A Singaporean odd-job worker who raped a
teenaged girl while under investigation for another sexual
assault has been sentenced to 12 years in jail and six strokes of
the cane, The Straits Times said yesterday.

Judge S. Rajendran took into consideration a second charge of
rape relating to the same girl and two other charges of rape in
respect of another girl in passing the sentence on Ng Chin Keong,
21, on Wednesday, the newspaper said.

Both victims were 15 years old. The judge was quoted as saying
that the most disturbing feature of the case was that Ng, who
confessed, had committed the rape in October last year even while
under investigation for the first.

Counsel Lim Kia Tong said in his client's defense that the
offenses arose out of Ng's "biological sexual urge" which he
failed to control, the newspaper said.

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Aglance-Malaysia-court
Ex-dealer charged with short-selling
JP/7/ASEAN5

Ex-dealer charged
with short-selling

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): A former junior stock dealer has been
charged in a Malaysian court with 30 counts of short-selling,
news reports said yesterday.

Lau Yik Hor was charged under the Securities Industry Act 1983
with short-selling 960,000 units of plantation counter North
Borneo Timber Bhd. while working for Seagrott and Campbell Sdn.
Bhd., a local brokerage, on March 27 last year.

Lau, 28, claimed trial to all charges. Each charge carries a
maximum fine of one million ringgit or 10 years' jail or both.
Short-selling, which involves selling stocks not yet owned by the
seller, is currently illegal here.

In a short sale, sellers hope that the price of the shares
sold will fall after a deal is struck, so that they can cover the
short sale at a profit before delivery to the buyer is due.