Blogger got to be very careful otherwise...

A High Court in Alor Star orders blogger Raja Petra to pay RM7 mil to UUM and its vice-chancellor Nordin Kardi for slander.

High Court deputy registrar Priscilla Gengadaran made the order Wednesday following a judgment in default she handed down on Feb 26 after the three had failed to file their defence within the required period.

She ordered the damages to be paid to the plaintiffs for claiming that Dr Nordin was a plagiarist on the Malaysia Today website and in the 98th edition of Suara Keadilan in November 2006.

Nordin and UUM had filed a lawsuit against Raja Petra, PKR, Suara Keadilan group chief editor and the editor. Only PKR had submitted its defence.

Priscilla ordered Raja Petra to pay RM2mil to Nordin and UUM, respectively. She also ordered each of the editors to pay RM1mil and RM500,000 to Nordin and UUM, respectively.

Like the Singaporean comedian usually says, “Don’t play, play.” Blogging is getting expensive. You have to be careful what you are writing. Many bloggers wanted to write simply because they wanted to express themselves. There is always a cost for everything, even blogging.

Selangor MB Khalid puts on hold two hillside projects in Bukit Antarabangsa approved after general election. Review and investigation on these projects are pending.

All registered places of worship in Selangor is to be exempted from paying quit rent and assessment, only token RM1 annual fee but the state government has not set a date yet.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is learnt to be having an urgent meeting with his candidate for the Terengganu menteri besar post, Idris Jusoh at Sri Perdana in Putrajaya after he had an audience with the King, who is also Sultan of Terengganu, over the controversy surrounding the appointment of Terengganu menteri besar(Chief Minister).

Malaysiakini reliably learnt that after the audience with the sultan, Abdullah had agreed with the appointment of the palace-backed Ahmad Said for the post in place of Idris, the incumbent MB.

The hour-long meeting between Abdullah and Idris was later confirmed by Terengganu state Umno secretary Rosol Wahid, who however was unable to give any other information.

Earlier Abdullah was insistent that Idris was made the menteri besar, calling the appointment of Ahmad unconstitutional.

Ahmad, who received his appointment letter from the Terengganu palace on Sunday, assumed office yesterday although he has not been sworn in yet.

He also faces the possible sack from Umno for assuming the post against the wishes of the party.

Both Abdullah and Idris did not hold a press conference today on the matter. Malaysiakini said that officials close to them are also refusing to confirm anything.

However unconfirmed reports, as reported by popular bloggers, suggest that the sultan asked Abdullah questions pertaining to the distribution of the Petronas’ RM1 billion wang ehsan through Idris for development in the state.

The sultan is also said to have asked why the state remained poor despite the wang ehsan.

The appointment of MB of Terengganu is an interesting issue. We will see whether Abdullah accept the Royalty’s appointment or not. Official announcement will have to come out from the PM. What is more interesting is the issue of Petronas’ RM 1 billion wang ehsan. Apparently, this is not an new issue, the PM probably inherited it from Tun Mahathir’s era.