PRIME Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has obviously been trying to win the Indian Malaysian community’s votes ahead of the impending general election. The list of government initiatives for the Indian community in the recent months has been long. These initiatives range from funding new school blocks to increasing allocated seats for Indian matriculation students; […]
Archives for March 2012
What’s wrong with a rare earth plant, here?
As if Earth Matters by Gan Pei Ling
THE rare earth refinery in Gebeng, Pahang is arguably now the hottest environmental issue in Peninsular Malaysia. And both the Malaysian government and Lynas Corp, the company that wants to set up the refinery in Pahang, are struggling to convince an increasingly skeptical Malaysian public that the rare earth refinery is safe. On 20 March […]
Why should we trust you, Prime Minister?
Shape of a Pocket by Jacqueline Ann Surin
IT’s hard to trust the prime minister, no matter if public approval for him has risen following a slew of government handouts. It’s not just because the seasoned journalist in me has seen more than my fair share of untrustworthy politicians. Trust, as we often hear and know to be true, has to be earned. Prime […]
Islam membenarkan bapa kahwin anak kandungnya?
Asam Pedas oleh Norhayati KaprawiADAKAH Islam membenarkan seorang bapa mengahwini anak kandungnya? Menurut sesetengah pendapat Mazhab Shafi’e, begitulah. Anak yang dilahirkan di luar pernikahan, boleh dikahwini oleh bapa kandungnya sendiri. Di Malaysia, yang lebih memberatkan pendapat Mazhab Shafi’e, Fatwa Kebangsaan Malaysia 1971 menyatakan bahawa anak tak sah taraf tidak boleh dibin atau dibintikan bapanya dan bapanya tidak boleh menjadi wali […]
Nasihat tentang tattoo
Secubit Garam oleh Shanon Shah
SEMENJAK memulakan pengajian sarjana saya di London, saya kerap melayari internet untuk mencari ilham tentang kaedah-kaedah penyelidikan. Alangkah terkejutnya saya apabila mendapati bahawa kolumnis pujaan ramai, Kak Nora, menjadi tumpuan kajian ilmiah! Ikutilah perkembangannya: Assalamualaikum saudari Noranisah binti Minit (atau Kak Nora), Saya pelajar akhir tahun Prasiswazah Usuluddin di Akademi Pengajian Islam Universiti Tanahair Se-Malaysia, Kerteh. […]
Seksualiti Merdeka: Threat to national security?
Holding Court by Ding Jo-Ann
ON 1 March 2012, the High Court dismissed Seksualiti Merdeka‘s leave application to judicially review a police ban on their annual festival. The November 2011 festival was banned under section 27A(1)(c) of the Police Act. The section (since superseded by the Peaceful Assembly Act) allowed the police to stop any activity on private premises “likely […]
Why I don’t want to vote for the BN
Work in Progress by Hwa Yue-Yi
IF only voting were easy. For one thing, I’m still waiting for the Election Commission (EC) secretariat to tell me why my absent voter application was rejected. If the EC eventually approves my application — or if the elections coincide with my summer research at home — and if intra-party seat allocations don’t change, I’ll […]
On the runaround with local councils
Ampersand by KW Mak
HAVING served in the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) for almost four years, I must say that the default image the public has about government officers is that they are corrupt. It is hard not to be categorised as such when there are plenty of news articles that point towards impropriety in both conduct and […]
Badu’s tattoo taboo (Updated 9 March 2012)
By Shanon Shah
(Updated 11pm, 9 March 2012) ON 27 Feb 2012, an apology appeared in The Star regarding a photograph of US R&B singer Erykah Badu used on that day. The photograph showed Badu with body art, including the word “Allah” in Arabic script on her shoulders. Badu was due to perform in Malaysia on 29 Feb […]
Assault on journalists: Whose fault?
By Ding Jo-Ann
ON 26 Feb 2012, Kwong Wah Yit Poh journalists Adam Chew and Lee Hong Chun were injured in an attack while covering a demonstration in Penang against the Lynas rare earth refinery. Chew and Lee were both hit on the head by a group appearing to be Umno supporters who had gathered to heckle the […]
