Singapore - Malaysians overtook Indonesians as the top foreign buyers of private homes in Singapore in the second quarter, a property consultancy said Thursday.

According to DTZ, Malaysians accounted for 19 per cent of the overall purchases by foreigners, who bought a total of 913 private homes, up 3 per cent from the previous quarter.

Indonesia followed with a 17-per-cent share. Chinese and Indian citizens each accounted for 11 per cent of the foreign buyers while purchases from UK nationals accounted for 9 per cent.

The Indonesians were found to favour the prime districts, DTZ senior director Chua Chor Hoon said.

Kuala Lumpur, Sept. 10 : A 22-year-old woman finally managed to see her mother and sister after three years on Tuesday.

M. Rajeshvari was detained for 11 months at the Lenggeng Immigration depot in Seremban for not being able to remember her identity card number.

She was reunited with her mother and sister, whom she had not met or spoken to for more than three years.

Her sister Vigneswari, 26, said the family had no idea of the troubles that had befallen her and were shocked when they saw Rajeshvari on the front page of The Sunday Star.

“I picked up the paper on Sunday morning as usual and was completely taken aback when I saw my sister’s picture.

Kuala Lumpur - Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on Wednesday suspended a veteran politician who made racist remarks against the ethnic Chinese community.

Following a special meeting, Abdullah said Ahmad Ismail has been stripped of his post as a district chief in the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) party, and would be barred from the party for three years.

During a speech last month, Ahmad said the Chinese were "immigrants" and "squatters" who had no right to demand privileges or equal treatment with the majority ethnic Malays.

Ahmad, who is an ethnic Malay, had defended his remarks and remained unapologetic despite calls by community leaders for an apology.

Kuala Lumpur, Sept. 10 : A magistrate''s court order to ban the Hindu Rights Action Force (HINDRAF) rally held on November 25 last year, has been deemed as valid by the Malaysian High Court.

According to a New Strait Times report, the High Court also dismissed the appeal filed by five HINDRAF leaders to declare the order null and void.

Judge Datuk Mohamed Zabidin Mohd Diah agreed with deputy public prosecutor Raja Rozela Raja Toran that there were no "live issues" before the court.

Kuala Lumpur, September 8 : Malaysian shamans claim that there are too many foreign spirits at a school in Kuantan called SMK Tanjung Lumpur.

Some of them even claim to have “communicated” with the spirits responsible for bouts of hysteria at the school since May.

According to them, the spirits have made several demands for leaving the school, including a special feast.

The shamans who have visited the school say that the spirits claim that the new building had encroached on their area, and that is why a group of students would scream hysterically almost every day.