Genius on the game

By Keith Gladdis

SHE was a child maths genius who won a place at Oxford University aged just 13—but now the only sums Sufiah Yusof is interested in are the ones she earns as a HOOKER.
For sad Sufiah the daily equation she has to solve is simply sex equals £130 as she sells her body to punters over the internet.



The gifted girl with the winning smile had the world at her feet ten years ago and should be a rich woman by now—but last week she was busy subtracting her underwear for our undercover reporter in her dingy back street flat.
"Would you like to start your half hour now?" said Sufiah, 23, as she danced on the bed, displaying her body for examination.
Then she listed all the sleazy plus points she would throw in for our man if he took up her offer. Calling herself Shilpa Lee, the former child prodigy still juggles with figures on a hookers' website, describing herself as a "very pretty size 8, 32D bust and 5'5" tall—available for booking every day from 11am to 8pm."
She says she is a "sexy, smart student" who prefers "older gentlemen"— but a former pal who has witnessed her downfall told us: "It is all desperately heartbreaking.
"With her amazing brain she should be able to make money any way she wants. But instead her life has spiralled completely out of control."
Life has never quite added up for Sufiah.
Her descent into prostitution in Salford, Manchester, is the latest in a long line of tragedies to have engulfed her since the sunny day when she posed with her university mortar board for the world's press outside prestigious St Hilda's College.
Our shock revelations today come in the week her domineering dad Farooq was jailed for sexually assaulting two 15-year-old girls as he home- tutored them in maths.
And he was always at the root of all her troubles— even as she passed the further maths A-Level she needed for entry to Oxford at the age of 12. In those days Sufia was a strict Muslim child who prayed five times a day and was subjected to her father's famous Accelerated Learning Technique. Her days involved stretching and breathing exercises in freezing rooms to keep her brain attentive.
Sufiah would then study hard and be forced to play tennis with just as much intensity as fanatical Farooq drove her on. The routine was so effective Sufiah was seeded number eight in the country for under 21s.
But three years into Oxford, the 15-year-old sparked a massive police hunt after running away.
Abuse At the time her father bizarrely claimed Sufiah had been kidnapped and brainwashed by an organisation seeking the key to her intelligence. But Sufiah sent an email to her family describing her life under her father as a "living hell".
One message to her sister read: "I've finally had enough of 15 years of physical and emotional abuse. You know what I am talking about."
Sufiah was missing for two weeks before being found in an internet café in Bournemouth where she had been working as a hotel waitress.
She refused to go back to her parents and instead was taken into the care of social services.
It was then revealed that Farooq had been jailed for three years in 1992 for his part in a £1.5m mortgage swindle. Before that—at the age of 19—he had been sent to borstal for his role in a conspiracy involving £100,000.
Free from the spell of her father, Sufiah returned to Oxford to complete the final year of her Masters in Maths.
But she was now more concerned with enjoying herself—and failed to finish the course after meeting trainee lawyer Jonathan Marshall.
They were married in 2004 when Sufiah was just 19 and Jonathan 24. But the strains with her family were still there. Despite being invited, Sufiah's
parents and four brothers and sisters failed to turn up to the wedding.
Her dreams of a happy life with Jonathan were shattered when the couple divorced just a year later.
Now, in her sad little flat, she uses her body to pay the rent. Sufiah met our man, posing as a punter, at the entrance to her building wearing a tiny skirt, leather boots and a tight t-shirt. She was carrying three mobile phones.
She laughed and joked as she led him to her small apartment where a bed was already set out in the lounge.
She told him it was £130 an hour and offered him a glass of water before putting some music on to a cheap portable stereo and nervously stripping down to her red lace bra and knickers.
Sufiah then peeled off her underwear and danced on the bed. She told him she did full sex with a condom and oral sex without protection.
After our man had made his excuses, Sufiah kept him talking by telling him how she was studying for a Masters degree in Economics on a part-time two year course in London.
The former prodigy added: "I've got exams coming up and I'm thinking ‘Oh my God!'"
Once described by her parents as "naïve and unstreetwise", she works alone from her flat without any obvious physical security or protection. She even admitted to our reporter: "It's always a surprise who you are going to meet."
Cheerful Sufiah gave no indication of any sadness at the jailing of her father the previous day. On Wednesday Farooq, 50, was sentenced to 18 months at Coventry Crown Court for touching two 15-year-old girls when he was home tutoring them at maths.
The court heard how in May last year Farooq arrived at one of the victim's home for a maths lesson.
He started whispering in her ear and kissing her hair and cheek. He also touched her breast and told her she was a genius and pretty before putting her hand on his upper thigh.
Destroyed Farooq's defence lawyer Tim Hannam said: "He's been back in prison for over five months and knows there'll be no more teaching and any
hope he had of gaining an income from the teaching method he had developed to a high degree of success is lost to him. His reputation is destroyed." Now it's clear the daughter who fled his strict regime has almost been destroyed too.
Her friend said last night: "Sufiah has suffered so many knocks in her life. I just hope she can drag herself out this life she has got herself into. "She is a good person and deserves a much better life than this. Her gift really has been a curse".

more....



visit.. http://hard-t.blogspot.com/

Mahathir backs Ku Li to challenge PM

Mar 30, 08 1:42pm

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has backed a senior party leader in his bid to challenge the prime minister after the ruling coalition's recent surprise poll losses.



Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah had said he would challenge Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi for the party leadership if he received enough support.

Umno leads the Barisan Nasional coalition that was humbled in the March 8 polls, and the party's leader traditionally takes the job of prime minister.

"Tengku Razaleigh may be one of them (to contest against Abdullah). A challenge (for the top post) is healthy," Mahathir said, adding: "I don't think Umno is so poor in talent."

Umno is scheduled to hold a party leadership election in December. Members of the party and former leaders including Mahathir have called on Abdullah to resign.

Dr M: Abolish 30% rule

But Mahathir said it would be difficult for anyone to challenge Abdullah because of a requirement to secure 30 percent, or 58 nominations, from the 191 Umno divisions.

"I think it should be abolished because of the tendency of the people in power to stifle any move to challenge them," he said of the requirement implemented when Mahathir was party leader.

Mahathir said Tengku Razaleigh failed to win sufficient nominations in 2004 for the top post because Umno divisions were warned against nominating him.

"He (Tengku Razaleigh) only got one nomination because other divisions were told not to nominate him," he said.

Abdullah has claimed a mandate to rule despite the unprecedented election losses, but observers say he is on borrowed time as calls for his resignation persist.

Dr M: Ask the tribunal to apologise

Mar 28, 08 1:36pm
“Ask the tribunal to apologise.”



This was the direct retort of former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad to calls for him to apologise for the ‘wrongs’ surrounding the 1988 judicial crisis.

In remarks written by him which was published today by English daily The Sun, Mahathir said the dismissal of former Lord President Mohd Salleh Abbas and Supreme Court judges Wan Sulaiman Pawanteh and George Seah were not his doing.

He, therefore, feels no obligation to apologise.

If any party were to apologise, it should be the members of the tribunal led by Hamid Omar which sacked Salleh, said Mahathir.

Mahathir also said he was open to the authorities investigating his person for any “misdeeds” during his 22 years as Prime Minister.

“Unless there is a frame-up, I think there should be nothing to pin on me,” he said.

Moving on to the suggestion by DAP national chairperson Karpal Singh that he apologise for the 1988 debacle - which many regard as ‘the darkest moment’ for the judiciary - Mahathir said on this point his conscience was clear.

“Even other accusations against me, including the dismissal of judges, were not my doing and I do not feel obliged to apologise. Ask the tribunal to apologise,” he said.

Being more correct than correct

Taking a potshot at Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Zaid Ibrahim - who had asked for the government to apologise for the sacking and suspension of the five judges - Mahathir said the lawyer had “forgotten” that he had supported the then-government for its actions.

“The person asking that the government should apologise for what happened to Tun Salleh Abbas may have forgotten that as President of the Muslim Lawyers Association, he fully supported the action that was taken,” said Mahathir.

“He castigated the Bar Council for condemning Tun Hamid Omar over the dismissal of judges. Now he wants to be more correct than correct. I wonder why,” he added.

In 1988, Mahathir had convened the special tribunal to try Salleh on charges of misconduct and for questioning constitutional amendments that seriously eroded the powers of the judiciary.

Supreme Court judges George Seah and Wan Sulaiman - who had ruled that the tribunal was convened unconstitutionally - were also sacked after being found guilty of misconduct by another tribunal.

Three other judges - Azmi Kamaruddin, Eusoffe Abdoolcader and Wan Hamzah Mohamed Salleh were suspended.

Probe misconduct in Terengganu

In his article, Mahathir also suggested investigations - preferably by “credible foreign agencies” - should be conducted to look into allegations that abuse of power and misconduct had led the Teregganu royal palace to reject Barisan Nasional’s (BN) initial choice for menteri besar (MB).

According to him, rumour has it that various “unnecessary and wasteful” state projects worth billions of ringgit had been contracted to outsiders behind whom are members of ‘the first family’.

It was also alleged that Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had “influenced” former MB Idris Jusoh who was responsible for such a state of affairs and from which he had “benefitted financially”, said Mahathir.



“These are all rumours. It will be quite impossible to prove anything as the perpetrators are skilled in hiding themselves,”he said.

He also said that the public was “leery” of investigations by government agencies and departments.

“The people believe, not true of course, that the government has been interfering with the work of the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA), the Police and the Attorney General (A-G)'s Chambers. The say this is borne out by the results of investigations by these agencies,” he said.

As such, the job should be left to foreign experts to look into the matter, he added.

“The public cannot be blamed for not having faith in government agencies doing investigations. The public cannot be blamed for suspecting cover-ups by the government or worse still the government may be using these enforcement agencies to threaten people,” he said.

“To clear its good name, the government should get credible foreign agencies to do the investigation. Of course, they must be given full access to the documents etc,” he added.