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TWENTY-FOUR PEOPLE, mostly children, were killed when a blaze tore through a Malaysian religious school, trapped in their dormitory by metal grilles on the windows.
Pupils and teachers inside the Islamic study centre in downtown Kuala Lumpur screamed for help as helpless neighbours looked on.
Many of the bodies of the victims — who included 22 boys aged between 13 and 17 — were found piled on top of one another, indicating there may have been a stampede as the students sought to escape the blaze which erupted before dawn.
Firefighters rushed to the scene and the fire was out within an hour but it wreaked terrible devastation. Pictures in local media showed ash-covered, fire-blackened beds in the students’ sleeping quarters.
“The building was on fire as the (morning call to prayer) was sounding,” Norhayati Abdul Halim, 46, who lives opposite the school, told AFP.
I could hear screaming, I thought there were people fighting. I opened the window to my house and I could see the school on fire — they cried for help but I couldn’t do anything.
By the time firefighters arrived at the Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah religious school in the heart of the capital, “the screams had stopped”, she added.
Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor said the children, who were boarders at the school, were ”desperately trying to escape the flames” but metal security grilles covering the windows of their dormitory prevented them.
Officials said they were unable to leave through the only door to the dormitory, as it was on fire.
Khirudin Drahman, director of Kuala Lumpur’s fire and rescue department, told AFP it was one of the country’s worst fire tragedies in 20 years.
Fire officials said they suspected the blaze was caused by an electrical short-circuit, or a mosquito repelling device.
Controversial religious schools
Officials initially said 23 students and two teachers were killed in the blaze. Police later revised down the death toll to 22 students and two teachers.
Six children were also in critical condition in hospital. Only a handful escaped unhurt.
Minister Tengku Adnan said the school did not have the required licences to operate from local authorities, a development sure to renew attention on the country’s Islamic schools, called tahfiz, where Muslim Malays send their children to study the Koran.
The schools, which operate under the purview of religious authorities rather than the education department, have faced mounting criticism in recent years as many operate illegally and are seen as unsafe.
They have been under heightened scrutiny since an 11-year-old boy died after allegedly being beaten last year at one of the institutions in the southern state of Johor.
Local media reported that the fire and rescue department had recently raised concerns about fire safety measures at unregistered and private tahfiz, and had recorded 211 fires at the institutions since 2015.
The latest tragedy was “the consequence of the absence of enforcement, and the failure to abide by rules and regulations by the operators of the religious school”, said Chandra Muzaffar, a political scientist who promotes Islamic reform.
Religious schools are not “above the law. One should close down schools which do not abide by the rules”, he added.
More than 60% of Malaysia’s population of about 30 million are Muslim, and the country is also home to substantial ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities.
While major fires are rare in Malaysia, they do occur occasionally.
In October last year, six people died in a blaze that swept through the intensive care unit of a major hospital in Johor.
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Stop using boom time prices as the benchmark. It’s not some target we need to get to.
For people in negative equity they are exactly that, people can’t move on without the prices going back up.
…and so the whole thing starts again with a new bunch of suckers left in negative equity.
Great little country
Shhhhhh don’t tell them. We know the score ;)
Well Ron, we shouldn’t let the error of those who got into negative equity blight the future of new house buyers. The reason we have a housing crisis is because the Government and the banks are colluding together to not allow house prices to fall to affordable levels as it will show a bigger hole in the banks finances.
It’s a hard pill to swallow but everyone is paying the price including young people who had nothing to do with the crash and they will continue to do so until people pay for their own errors.
What good does it do for those in NE? If they are not selling then nothing changes, their mortgages remain the same, they haven’t changed.
If they sell, where do they go? Rent? Eh, isn’t there a supply issue and it could be the case that to rent a comparable home, then the rent may be more than the mortgage they are paying.
Buy again? Do they have a deposit – is the house they may be looking at not also increased in value?
No-one benefits – from rising prices except the banks and the few in the position of selling without a mortgage.
will never get there with new regulations and the average salary now in comparison to 07/08
I din’t say house prices going up is a panacea but somebody who has been unable to move for the past eight years might now be able to move their 4 kids out of that 2 bed apartment to the a bungalow in the country.
The housing crisis is a massive problem but negative equity is the bottom of the list. The crash showed that house prices were out of line with everything else. Realistically what is needed is a stable guide price people can work to. If you have a mortgage for 350 grand for someone to purchase that now they would require 46 grand cash and a combined income of 80 grand. Those people are not the average there is not to many of them out there. Realistically people in big negative equity will be there for the best part of the next ten years.
@Rod – that is a very poorly made point. One family gets too offload the house they had in negative equity now that it’s caught back up to old prices… so a new family gets it…. everybody’s troubles are over until… wait for it… history repeats itself.
Joe, sorry for making such a poor point, how about the large amount of houses that can’t be sold because the owners aren’t let sell them because of negative equity. I’m no economist but what does a shortage of supply do to a market again?
If they work in Dublin, the kids are in school in Dublin? It makes no odds to people in NE unless they can afford to buy again, in the same place.
It’s a bad situation. I’m not disagreeing with that. I just mean sitting waiting for prices to skyrocket again is obviously not the best way for us to handle the situation as a country.
Remember your multicult Journal.ie has a stake in the property market:
“Journal Media is a unit of Distilled Media, which is owned by shareholders including brothers Eamonn and Brian Fallon. They founded the Daft website in 1997, when they were aged just 20 and 15 respectively.”
Distilled Media’s shareholders include the Fallons as well as Luxembourg-based firm Tiger Holding Five. That firm received €1.2m in dividends from Daft Media in 2011. THE LUXEMBOURG FIRM IS PART OF US-BASED HEDGE FUND TIGER GLOBAL.”
http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/thejournalie-news-website-posts-losses-of-114m-in-2012-29814418.html
this is why thejournal.ie pushes multicult, mass-immigration and property articles. Multicult mass-immigration is good for big business, it floods the property market with demand. In fact multiculturalism is driven by the business-class, they use the open-borders extremists to shut down and silence all opposition and dissent, using the racism card etc.
Well that was their own problem. The rest of us are not here to fuel them. They should suck it up and pay the mortgage like they signed up to.. Why do we have this thing that our house is going to hold its value over its life.. Did all these people think they were going to flip them a few years later, and go buy a much bigger house then.. Get real.. These people made their bed, so let them sleep in it.. I have made many a financial mistake in my life, but am moving on. And by the way am stuck renting as a result, so I hope the prices stop going up as do the vast majority.
Can I opt out of the next bank bailout that this sort of bull is sure to fuel ?
The Journal once again pushes Daft alone…growth of around 1% is not a surge. Stop trying to create pent up panic demand!
They should be held accountable. They make some very poor judgments on this site but are kept going because the layout is better than Broadsheet and it has lively comment sections. Their web designer deserves the highest wage in there
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrgggggh! Get me a house quick, before they’re all gone!
If I don’t get on the property ladder within the next 3 minutes, my life has failed.
Not only that, but you’ll have to pay a Failure fine forrrrrr…. ohh let’s sayyyy…. eur1,200 and/or six months imprisonment.
We’ll clamp down on people like you yet.
Squatters rights!!
Given that we have the second highest per capita amount of low pay jobs after the USA,housing is only going to become more out of reach for a growing percentage of the population..and even for someone on the 36k average industrial wage ,3 x wage plus deposit won’t buy anything in most urban areas..
It’s been a long time since somebody on 36k could buy a house in most urban areas of the country. Two people earning at least that each has been the norm for a while.
Reg, all good news for the journal.ie who are part owned by the people who own Daft.ie, you can see them pushing property sepculation here with property advertisement articles from time to time
Its ridiculous! My mate is trying to find a shared room with an en suite in city centre. €850 is what she is willing to pay but the prices are much higher. That’s a boom price for you.
What nobody anywhere seems to be looking at is couples who were first-time buyers in their late-20′s / early-30′s who bought apartments before the collapse,they are in negative equity,would require a massive injection of cash to even contemplate a modest house purchase now almost ten years later. Increasing property prices are of no use as they have outgrown their current property with families now but a modest house purchase will cost far more than they can sell an apartment for. These people are trapped indefinitely,cannot rent out their home or emigrate. Most young people at the time didn’t buy at the peak to keep up with the Jones’,property prices were going up every month at the time so it was a case of buy now or pay more next month,all the while monthly mortgage repayments increased throughout the recession while salaries dropped. Bar a lotto win they’re screwed for the long-term.
Depressingly true, Richard
The press fuelled the boom and consequently fuelled their own revenue when the bust kicked in by discussing incessantly, the banking crisis and De troika for all of 6 yrs. Don’t believe the hype, it’ll choke you eventually.
Something which the vast majority of people seem to forget is that the majority of those who bought during the boom a. Receive mortgage interest relief and b. Are on trackers. Neither of which are available to first time buyers anymore. This vastly reduces the cost of their monthly mortgage. The key question is affordability. Not the price of the house. A person who bought a crappy shoebox apartment at the height of the boom in 2007 for €400k on a tracker and who receives interest relief would actually be paying roughly the same mortgage each month as someone who got it for a “bargain” of €300k in 2013. Not everyone in negative equity is as bad off as we think. And wishing prices to go back to 2007/08 prices (at 2015 salaries abs taxation levels) is in no one’s long term interests. It may seem unfair but people in negative equity need to suck it up. Looking for inflated house prices to get them out of negativity equity and merely kicking the can down the road and creating far bigger problems in the medium term. (I do feel genuinely sorry for people who paid ridiculous levels of stamp duty during the boom though).
Spot on Darragh. It’s the cheapest money they will ever borrow and won’t ever be available again. There is one problem on the horizon though and that is when interest rates increase, then we will see a new problem emerge.
Most people don’t understand negative equity or peak prices. Many seem to think NE is the same for all with them buying at the peak. The reality is only a very small portion bought at the peak and many other owners have come out of NE.
The big problem for many was losing their tracker if they sold but the banks offer transfers now so allows them to move on. The tracker will remain better than any rate offered by a bank here.
Any stats for that Kal? Seriously, I would have thought that given how high mortgage approvals and drawdowns were during the peak would have indicated that a lot of people bought in 04/05/06/07.
As a percentage of all homeowners how big can it be? If you need stats for the bloody obvious you have a problem it can’t even be 1% of homeowners.
Anybody up to and including 05 are very unlikely to be in NE
Pity you’re incapable of a civil discussion, you posted that only a small portion bought at the peak – I merely pointed out that this does not tally with mortgage drawdowns at that time.
Here you go again stating that it can’t even be 1% of homeowners – which may or may not be true – asking people to support what they present as facts is not a crime call – chill.
“In its latest Household Credit Market Report, the Central Bank presents data which shows that over 50 per cent of mortgages taken out in 2007 were still innegative equity at June 2014. Those who bought in 2005 and 2006 are also likely to still be underwater, with Central Bank showing that approximately 40 and 45 per cent of these home buyers, respectively, are also in negative equity.”
You really don’t understand figures at all. 50% of 2007 sales amounts to what as a percentage of overall owners? That is what counts and it is certainly below 1%.
As for being civil you really can’t claim a higher ground often making direct insults.
You tell us Kal – sad that people are threatened by being asked to provide links and stats to support their generalisations. You’re like the many around here – incapable of having a civil discussion, incapable of providing any substance to your posts and when others go to the bother of doing it – then you shout them down. Tiring to be honest.
A studio apartment in Tokyo, one of the most expensive cities in the world to live in will cost you about 1200 euro a month, but you’ll have the advantage of living in a huge city with good transportation links.
1200 euro a month in Ireland will get you a run down studio apartment far out of the city.
In Scotland or the Midlands of England that price will get you a three bedroom house with change.
Is it any surprise young people are leaving Ireland in droves, the only chance for them to leave their parents’ home is to leave.
I thought I read an article where Tokyo was one of the most expensive places to live? What is the average monthly wage?
Yep, here it is.
“In what has become a predictable annual announcement, the Economist Intelligence Unit last year declared the Japanese capital to be the most expensive city on the planet. Its calculation, based on the weighted average of the cost of 160 goods and services, has put Tokyo at the top of the ranking for 14 of the past 20 years. While the yardstick offers some insight into life in the metropolis, it perpetuates skewed notions left over from the 1980s, when a domestic spending spree created an economic mirage, sent prices sky high, and frightened off many foreign visitors.
Prolonged deflation and falling wages long ago convinced Tokyo residents to forgo conspicuous consumption for a more prudent lifestyle. To cater to their penny-pinching approach, chains of enormously successful discount retailers sprang up, persuading people to spend less and, in turn, driving the cycle of deflation.
Tenants pay a premium to live in the capital – a monthly average ¥3,124 (£18.50) per square metre over 55 square metres, or about 42% of wages for a typical, single-income household. But they must dig deeper for their onerous annual ward taxes – and, because the Fukushima disaster prompted a shutdown of all 50 nuclear reactors across the country, they are also paying more than ¥8,000 a month in household electricity bills.”
You’re only proving my point, Tokyo is one of the most expensive cities in the world to live and Dublin isn’t far behind it, the difference being Tokyo is the capital of one of the largest economies in Asia and the world, while Dublin the is the capital of a small agricultural nation. There is little or no future for young Dubliners in Dublin.
What is their average monthly wage? 1200 euro may seem reasonable, if you are earning the comparable wages.
Average monthly wage in Japan is about 310000 yen so about 2300 euro so lower then Ireland’s 2400 a month.
Average salary for Tokyo is
http://www.salaryexplorer.com/salary-survey.php?loc=1212&loctype=3
516,563 JPY or 3,876.43.
So basicly, Dublin is less affordable then Tokyo, a city known for its high costs of living.
http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/city_result.jsp?country=Japan&city=Tokyo
Consumer Prices in Tokyo are 2.95% lower than in Dublin
Consumer Prices Including Rent in Tokyo are 1.33% higher than in Dublin
Rent Prices in Tokyo are 9.39% higher than in Dublin
Restaurant Prices in Tokyo are 40.06% lower than in Dublin
Groceries Prices in Tokyo are 23.47% higher than in Dublin
Local Purchasing Power in Tokyo is 0.51% higher than in Dublin
And their salaries are over a third higher.
Your point? Successive FG and FF governments have made Dublin as expensive as major cities while lacking the same opportunities.
As a homeowner and landlord with no mortgage I’M HAPPY
Well done you… Sure you don’t have to give a flying f@ck about other people..
So I should be miserable, read my comment above
Why should he give a FF Supernova? You don’t know whether he already paid down his mortgage or whether he put a chunk of cash into the property – he’s mortgage free and fair play to him – many others haven’t paid a cent of their mortgages in years – you can bet they don’t give a FF about others either,
Can’t help but feel he said it in a insincere arrogant tone.. Came across that way to me anyway, judging by the thumbs.. I wasn’t the only one
Fair enough SN, but as I said, he may have spent 20 or 30 years paying down his mortgage or put a lost of cash in and in his situation, I’d be very happy.
That’s fair enough as well I suppose..
Eight years ago after 15 years in the same company I was made redundant, which sucks but with no work in Ireland I took my sorry ass on the road doing contract work, engineering not that it’s important. Paid off the house and bought a small investment apartment at the bottom of the market. I am not being arrogant but my family sacrificed a lot in the last decade and we are now seeing the reward.
Well done Rod, you made good decisions and a good investment, I personally see no harm in that, nothing is free where I come from!!
Rod any chance you’re single?
jokin I am, you sound like an ass boasting on here. you forget a lot of people would laugh at your poor situation.
If I was cynical I’d suggest that successive Irish governments have stalled on building affordable housing to inflate the price of housing and rent, sacrificing the Millennials on the alter of the Baby Boomers.
I think it makes more sense to believe they are incompetent here as they are elsewhere. You are suggesting they are better at planning than all other indicators.
Hanlon’s Razor, never first assume malice when stupidity could explain the situation.
Good…
It had become a time to rent there for a while as it worked out cheaper and still is as a mortgage is a tall order for a lot of people. First time buyers are especially under severe stress. When you are paying 600 pm rent excluding bills it’s virtually impossible to save up the money for a deposit of 10-20% I done calculations recently on a just above minimum wage single person buying a house for the first time setting a price of 200k over 40 years 800 pm mortgage with a minimum of 20,000 deposit that’s excluding legal fees etc. Impossible to afford on a 2k pm wage when you have a car loan then car tax , insurance fuel, electricity, phone, tv, broadband, property tax, food to survive on . It’s no wonder there are so many homeless people with the demand of social housing on the rise because of ludicrous rent rates that should be capped by the financial regulator. And better incentives for first time buyers again can be dealt with by the financial regulator bring down the demand for social housing at least! It would be a step in the right direction that can be implemented almost instantaneously. Freeing up demand for social housing giving those on the waiting list a chance. Instead we are waiting for the corrupt NAMA to build social housing. The mind boggles! It’s called common sense something the government seem to lack.
True hard to save for a mortgage when renting. In the past people didn’t rent and save, they stayed at home until they could buy. That expectation to rent and buy was always difficult and not done. If you did rent and saved you took a house share.
People want more while prices go up is part of the problem. When I bought I didn’t expect new furniture and fittings and did a lot of DIY to fix the property.
Why did you do the calculations on a single person on minimum wage John?
Why would you think that a single person on the minimum wage would ever afford a “house” costing 200k?
People need to adapt their expectations, if you can’t afford to buy a home, then it’s not the rules that are preventing you – it’s the minimum wage job, the fact you are single and that you want a 200k house that’s the problem.
Ultimately the young couples and new generation lose faith in this country. despite all the fuzz the media saying shortage of this and that, everyone I meet seems to be going out of this country and the truth is WE ALL PAID EXTRA TAXS IN RECESSION FOR SHADY PROPERTY DEVELOPERS MISTAKES AND NOW WE ARE GOING TO MAKE THEM RICH AGAIN BY MAKING A DEMAND IN NEED FOR HOUSING. Period….
A bubble forming again???
have your say