BEFORE Senator Tunku Abdul Aziz Ibrahim became a politician, he was far better known as a Malaysian champion of transparency, integrity and good governance. Indeed, it was no coincidence that Tunku Aziz, together with like-minded individuals, founded Transparency International Malaysia (TI-Malaysia) in 1998. He was TI-Malaysia president until December 2004. Even after setting up TI-Malaysia, [...]

Removing the “Islam” label on a MyKAD is not that easy PETALING JAYA, 15 Dec 2009: Despite cabinet announcements about conversions to Islam and proposed legal amendments to allow a Muslim convert to divorce in the civil court, other scenarios arising from conversions are not being addressed. As a result, numerous conversion cases are not [...]

 HERE’S what I want to know: why was Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein appointed to the cabinet, and why is he still a minister despite an appalling track record of saying and doing the wrong things? Hishammuddin’s statements as Home Minister since he was sworn into Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s administration in April 2009, [...]

Dr Xavier Jayakumar ARE federal earnings funded by taxpayers in Pakatan Rakyat (PR) states returning to benefit the public in those states? What’s clear in the case of Selangor is that funds are used for development but are not channelled through the state government. That has become clear in Penang as well, where promised funds [...]

THE cow head protest over the relocation of the Sri Maha Mariamman Hindu temple from Section 19 to Section 23 in Shah Alam shows, on one hand, the existence of racial and religious bigotry. But it also points to a deeper, more systemic neglect by town planners to adequately provide land for non-Muslim places of [...]

PETALING JAYA, 11 Sept 2009: The Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC)’s investigation of Malaysiakini this week is not the first time the online news site has been harassed or threatened by the state. In fact, Malaysiakini has experienced harassment and received threats from state agencies and government leaders under the previous administration of Tun [...]