PARTI Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) vice-president Azmin Ali is an intriguing character, to say the least. Here is a man who rose from being a minister’s special officer to becoming a Member of Parliament (MP) and vice-president of an emerging opposition party. In Malaysian political culture, loyalty is often, though not always, rewarded. But Azmin’s loyalty […]
Nizar fails to get full bench
Mohammad Nizar (file pic)PUTRAJAYA, 5 Nov 2009: Embattled Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin today failed to get 11 judges to hear his final appeal in the Perak constitutional crisis when the Federal Court rejected his application for a full bench. Instead, the ongoing battle between Mohammad Nizar and Barisan Nasional-installed Menteri Besar […]
SIS critics using police
By Ding Jo-AnnPETALING JAYA, 5 Nov 2009: The police are now being used to silence the views of groups like Sisters in Islam (SIS) following the lodging of multiple reports against the women’s rights group. SIS programme manager Masjaliza Hamzah said that to date, what is believed to be more than 50 police reports have been lodged […]
No progress on preventing sexual harassment
By Women’s Centre for ChangeVICTIMS of sexual harassment are not likely to receive meaningful recourse for their complaints if they go to the Labour Department. This is because the Labour Department director general, Datuk Ismail Abdul Rahim, does not seem to understand what sexual harassment is. In fact, he made light of the issue at a recent seminar on […]
Marilah undi!
By The Fairly Current Show
A FREQUENTLY cited statistic from 2006 notes that 70% of the 4.7 million Malaysians who have yet to register as voters are between 21 and 35 years old. So goes the opening description of the upcoming Youth for Change Carnival. Yet after the historic 8 March 2008 general election, Malaysians saw quite possibly the most […]
Cultivating a theatre of Malaysian stories
By Nick ChooPLAYWRIGHT and performer Leow Puay Tin has been involved in the theatre scene for more than 20 years. Working alongside the late, renowned Malaysian director Krishen Jit, she devised Tikam-Tikam: And Her Grandmother Said in 1983, and later wrote acclaimed plays, Three Children (1984), Ang Tau Mui (1993) and Family (1995). A common thread running […]
Not just Chinese culture vs unity
By Deborah LohAre vernacular schools standing in the way of national unity? (© Sigurd Decroos / sxc.hu) AGAIN, the issue of abolishing vernacular schools in favour of a single stream system has been raised. As before, the argument is that this will inculcate national unity. Single stream advocates say the only way the different races can learn […]
Should governments fear diversity and dissent?
By Shanon ShahBrian McKinnon Class Brothers 2008 Acrylic and foam on canvas 152 x 91cm (Artwork courtesy the artist and Indigenart — Mossenson GalleriesImage © the artist, courtesy Indigenart — Mossenson Galleries) THERE is a visual artwork by an Aboriginal Australian artist, Brian McKinnon, called Class Brothers. It is a striking political poster art, and has a […]
Return bibles, govt told
By The Christian Federation of MalaysiaThe Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) calls for the immediate release of the 15,000 bibles in Bahasa Malaysia currently being withheld by the authorities. To withhold the use of the Bahasa Malaysia bibles is an infringement of Article 11 of the Federal Constitution which gives every Malaysian the right to profess his or her faith […]
“Emerging dominance” of Islam in M’sia
By Shanon Shah and Koh Jun LinKUALA LUMPUR, 4 Nov 2009: Malaysia is a country witnessing the “emerging dominance” of Islam even though it was not always a Muslim-majority country, the chair of a United Nations (UN) body on inter-religious relations said. Gary D BoumaProfessor Emeritus Gary D Bouma¸ who is Unesco Chair in Inter-religious and Intercultural Relations — Asia Pacific, […]
