THE next general election will be Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s first election as head of the Barisan Nasional (BN). Najib will also be leading the BN into its first general election after its worst election performance in March 2008. The Nut Graph asks political scientist Dr Wong Chin Huat on how well Najib [...]

Open-ended vs. close-ended democracy?

PASANGAN yang bercerai “tanpa sebab munasabah” akan dipenjara atau disebat. Begitulah cadangan kerajaan PAS Kelantan. Haruskah kita terkejut apabila cadangan sedemikian datang dari orang-orang yang obses tentang pelaksanaan hukuman hudud? Dari dulu lagi, mereka sudah proaktif membuat draf undang-undang bagi melaksanakan hudud. Namun, apakah mereka telah proaktif dalam membuat kajian dan kertas cadangan misalannya bagaimana [...]

HUDUD. One is either for or against its implementation in Malaysia – or so the prevailing political discourse goes. But what are we missing in between? Have proponents of hudud adequately justified their position, and how they would apply the Islamic penal code in today’s society? Can those who oppose it ever imagine a human [...]

IF we were to believe everything the politicians are saying about hudud, we would come to three conclusions. One, that implementing the punishments prescribed under hudud is divine law that no Muslim can question, and hence is inevitable. Two, that hudud cannot be implemented in Malaysia because of the Federal Constitution and our multi-cultural composition. [...]

HOW does one insult Islam in Malaysia? And how does one insult Muslims in Malaysia? Over the past few years and increasingly over the past months, the state, politicians and pressure groups like Perkasa have demonstrated just how to do either one or both. For the most part, these incidents are an insult to Muslims [...]