‘Hard to charge treasure hunters’

Compiled by VINCENT LIAN, CRYSTAL CHIAM SHIYING and R. ARAVINTHAN
 

LIMITATIONS to the National Heritage Act 2005 has prevented the authorities from ta­king action against illegal treasure hunters, reported Harian Metro.

Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) deputy director-general (operations) Datuk Che Hassan Jusoh said action could only be taken within 12 nautical miles of the country’s territorial waters.

“Many of the illegal treasure hunters we had detained earlier could not be charged because they were caught outside the 12-nautical-mile limit,” he said.

Many illegal treasure hunters have been coming to Malaysian territorial waters following the discovery of sunken ancient ships.

The paper said 13 ships were discovered by the Malaysia Museum Department while 11 more were found by the National Heritage Department.

Sources said among the items that could be found in the sunken ships were ceramic plates and cups, rifles and cannons and coins.

They said the value of these items could reach RM50mil.

> The paper also reported a man who was caught filming a female accountant’s bottom in a mall at Kelana Jaya.

“The man’s suspicious behaviour was detected by the victim who was standing on an escalator with her boyfriend around 5pm on Wednesday,” said a police spokesman.

“The victim felt something was not right when the suspect deliberately touched her bottom with his bag and immediately informed her boyfriend about it.”

The annoyed boyfriend questioned the man before he noticed a light glimmering from his bag.

“The couple reported the incident to the mall’s security guards before he was arrested,” the spokesman said.

Investigations later found a camera hidden inside a box placed in the bag. A small hole protruded from the bag.

The 30-year-old suspect claimed that he was testing the camera after he had purchased it.

> Ziana Zain has not ruled out her plans to start selling tudung (headscarf), reported Kosmo!

The sultry singer, who is now wearing a hijab, said she might start her tudung business and create her own brand of women’s attire.

“If it’s going to succeed, we need to plan properly. It’s not easy to create our own brand. We need capital and knowledge as well,” she added.

She was speaking after attending the launch of the “Zayyen Ziana Zain” attire, which was a collaboration with Zatu Emerald fashion house owner Datuk Nurul Huda Ma’son.

Found in translation is compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.