Unification Church founder Rev. Moon dies at 92

By HYUNG-JIN KIM of Associated Press (AP)

FILE - In this Saturday, June 25, 2005 file photo, Unification
Church leader Rev. Sun Myung Moon speaks during his
"Now is God's Time" rally in New York. Moon, self-proclaimed
messiah who founded the Unification Church, has died
at age 92 church officials said Monday, Sept. 3, 2012.
(AP Photo/John Marshall Mantel)

GAPYEONG, South Korea (AP) — The Rev. Sun Myung Moon was a self-proclaimed messiah who built a global business empire. He called both North Korean leaders and American presidents his friends, but spent time in prisons in both countries. His followers around the world cherished him, while his detractors accused him of brainwashing recruits and extracting money from worshippers.

These contradictions did nothing to stop the founder of the Unification Church from turning his religious vision into a worldwide movement and a multibillion-dollar corporation stretching from the Korean Peninsula to the United States.

MALAYSIA TODAY SPECIAL REPORT ON THE AP ISSUE

There is an ongoing brouhaha about Approved Permits (APs) being awarded to certain favoured and crony companies. Actually, the issue is more than just the APs. A bigger issue is the undisclosed profits these companies could be making through these APs.

Does such a thing exist? You figure it out for yourselves from these official records filed with the Registrar of Companies of just ten of the companies.

1) Hyumal Motor Sdn Bhd

Enjoying APs since: 1997
Quota a year: 8,573
Total quota to 2004: 68,584

Musa on radar of Swiss money-laundering probe

Swiss bank UBS is being investigated in connection
with its relationship with Musa Aman.

KOTA KINABALU: A Swiss investigations into a money-laundering trail with its roots in the rainforests of Sabah is threatening to embarrass Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and his Barisan Nasional coalition government.

Najib who is on a two-day visit to Sabah to bring a fractious state Umno headed by Chief Minister Musa Aman into line ahead of general election, is faced with discomforting international exposure that his government is corrupt to the core.

The timing of Swiss investigations into links between UBS, Switzerland’s biggest bank, and the proceeds from illegal logging in Sabah couldn’t be worse for the premier who is hoping to mollify the state which has increasingly shown signs that it is swinging over to the opposition.

PM: Sabahans won’t fall for Pakatan

The people of Sabah cannot be easily duped by the
opposition pact, says the prime minister.

SANDAKAN: The people of Sabah are wise and cannot be easily duped by the opposition, said Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.

He said Sabahans know that it was only through Umno and the Barisan Nasional (BN) that Sabah could enjoy continued development and their interests looked after.

The people of Sabah and Malaysia on the whole, he said, clearly understood that the most important agenda of the government was the National Transformation Programme.

Merdeka Day-55 years of broken promises

In Malaysia many of its citizens are very confused over 2 public holidays being their Merdeka Day or independence day and Malaysia Day and also their national identity.

Malaysia Day marks the federation of 3 countries Malaya Sabah and Sarawak on 16 September 1963. The confusion has arisen over the last 49 years because each country became independent on different dates before the federation.

Today on 31 August in 1957, the Federation of Malaya gained independence from British colonial rule and at the same time this marks 55 years of unbroken hold on power by the ruling party the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO which leads the Barisan Nasional Government.