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Posted: 14 Mar 2011 06:27 PM PDT

2010/11/10
Adie Suri Zulkefli
adie@nst.com.my

Tengku Nahar Tengku Mansor holds his treasured collection of Michael Jackson Thriller at his flood-ravaged house at Taman Rakyat, Alor Star. NST picture by Ramdzan Masiam

ALOR STAR: Flood victim Tengku Nahar Tengku Mansor, 48, was devastated when he came home to find his collection of vinyl records was soaked in mudwaters after the city was ravaged by floods last Wednesday.

The father of three only realised the irreparable damages when he returned to his house at Taman Rakyat, Jalan Sultanah Bahiyah here on Saturday after seeking refuge at a relative's home in Hutan Kampung.

Self-employed Tengku Nahar said his record collection were kept in the storeroom of his double-storey house and he had forgotten about the records when his family were rushing to evacuate the house last week.

"I was busy moving our furniture to the upper-floor when the flood started to reach our doorstep last Wednesday. I forgot about the records that was stacked in a box which I placed on the floor of the store room," said crestfallen Tengku Nahar.

Tengku Nahar said he may salvage the vinyl records but the album covers were spoilt.

His collection includes evergreens and superstars the likes of Bee Gees, Dan Hill, Neil Young, David Gates, Kim Carnes, Cliff Richard, Nat King Cole, and Graham Nash.

Tengku Nahar began collecting the vinyl records in the 1970s, and he loved each of them dearly.

"This is the precious collection of my life, I simply could not believe that I forgot about them when we were leaving the house," he added.

Tengku Nahar had lived in Langkawi for over 20 years before moving back to his hometown in Alor Star two months ago.

"I had never expected this area would be inundated by flood as it was never badly affected even during the major flood in 2005. I certainly hope that it would not occur again," he said.

He thanked the volunteer rescuers for helping them in the evacuation process.

"I didn't realise how serious the situation was until the rescuers arrived at 11pm on Thursday telling us to leave the house as the authority was about to cut-off the electricity supply on safety ground," he said, sharing his first experience with flood disaster.

Tengku Nahar said he was planning to frame all the vinyl record and have them hung on the wall but did not have the time to do so.

He only managed to frame his most treasured album 'Thriller', by the late King of Pop Michael Jackson. "At least I still have this."

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Nation needs DNA banks, says lead CSI

Posted: 09 Mar 2011 10:50 AM PST

2010/12/08
By Nor Hidayati Mokhtar

SHAH ALAM: Malaysia needs to build DNA banks or repositories to assist in solving crimes and prosecuting cases, according to a senior forensic police officer.

Head of the Police Forensic Lab's Crime Scene Unit (CSU) Supt Amidon Anan said the ability to collect DNA at crime scenes often proved futile as the forensic lab had only a limited bank of samples.

"Having the DNA is useful if we have suspects we can match the samples against. But we are unable to use the samples to help us find potential perpetrators as we don't have DNA banks like what you see on the television series CSI," said Amidon.

He was speaking to students from UiTM's Faculty of Communication and Media Studies on the topic, 'Crime as the elective subject' at the campus here on Oct 5.

The need to create and develop DNA banks was critical, said Amidon, given the high public expectations on the police to safeguard society and reduce crime.

He said: "DNA banks can help the CSU in many pending cases, such as Nurin Jazlin. It was sad that while we were able to collect a DNA sample from the body of the child, we had little means or resources to match it with the likely murderer," he said.

Nurin Jazlin was a high-profile case of a missing child whose body was subsequently dumped in a gym bag in Petaling Jaya more than three years ago.

Amidon expressed his frustration that the CSU's repeated requests for the establishment of DNA banks seemed to have fallen on deaf ears.

While the cost of implementing such a project would be substantial, he said it would only escalate over time and "if not now, then when?"

"It is not about being a hero in solving these cases. It is about finding justice for the victim's family."

"Having this ability to solve and prosecute cases would significantly reduce the ability of criminals to get away with their crimes," added Amidon.

(Ed: This article first appeared in Varsity Voice, a monthly publication jointly produced by the New Straits Times and Universiti Teknoogi MARA (UiTM) under the newspaper's Journalism on Campus project.)

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Selasa, 26 Julai 2011

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