WHAT happened to Teoh Beng Hock? How did he end up dead outside the Selangor Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) office in Plaza Masalam, Shah Alam? These were some of the questions on many people’s minds as a crowd gathered in front of the building on the morning of 17 July 2009, a day after Teoh’s […]
Swept away by Najib
By Jacqueline Ann SurinIT’S easy to be swept away in the hyped-up euphoria surrounding Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 100 days in office. The Star, for example, celebrated Najib’s 11 gifts to the rakyat, announced on 11 July 2009, with a blown-up picture of Najib occupying more than half its front page in its 12 July publication. Other traditional […]
Do quotas for women work?
By Claire Brownell(Silhouettes by Ervin Bachik and Faakhir Rizvi / sxc.hu) PARTI Keadilan Rakyat (PKR)’s 30% quota for women in leadership positions is the first of its kind in any Malaysian political party. But in the grand scheme of things, it’s also 14 years late. Malaysia signed the Beijing Declaration and the Convention for the Elimination of […]
The BN strikes back in Manik Urai
By Wong Chin HuatThe BN campaign headquarters in Manik Urai BY any account, PAS’s marginal victory in Manik Urai is virtually a loss for the party. Its winning margin has been slashed by a whopping 1,287 votes, from 1,352 votes in 2008 to a wafer-thin 65 votes on 14 July 2009. In percentage, the decline is all the […]
Selangor exco’s aide found dead (Updated 17 July)
Updated at 10.40am, 17 July 2009 SHAH ALAM, 16 July 2009: A Selangor state executive councillor’s special assistant, Teoh Beng Hock, was found dead today in the corridor of the fifth floor of Plaza Masalam. Teoh, who was in his 30s, was believed to have fallen off the building. His body was found lying face-down […]
Khairy: Al Islam “un-Islamic”
By Deborah Loh(Background pic by Petter Hermoza G / sxc.hu) PETALING JAYA, 16 July 2009: Appalling, offensive, unethical, and un-Islamic. These words used to describe Al Islam magazine’s undercover story of attending Catholic mass and insulting the holy communion have come not from Christians, but from Umno Youth leader Khairy Jamaluddin. Khairy, the Rembau Member of Parliament, […]
PKR’s plan for women
By Claire Brownell(Silhouettes by Ervin Bachik and Faakhir Rizvi / sxc.hu) IN early June 2009, Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) announced it would be amending its constitution to include, among others, a 30% quota for women leaders at all levels. PKR’s move likely made it the first party from either the Pakatan Rakyat or the Barisan Nasional to […]
Battling the lobotomy of Malaysia
By Claire BrownellMALAYSIAN identity is a central concept in Marion D’Cruz‘s life work. She’s a founding member of the Five Arts Centre, which has played a key role in developing boundary-pushing Malaysian local theatre. Her works of choreography often have political themes, such as 2003’s War on Iraq. And as a teacher at colleges and universities around […]
Poll: 63% approval for Khalid
By Deborah LohPETALING JAYA, 15 July 2009: Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim was given the thumbs up by 63% of respondents in an independent poll conducted last month, while 19% were unsatisfied with his performance. The results of the survey by the Merdeka Center for Opinion Research conducted between 5 and 15 June were […]
The furore over Al Islam
By Deborah Loh(Pic by Mateusz Stachowski / sxc.hu) NOW and then, journalists should engage in a little navel-gazing. Caught in the tide of chasing news deadlines, we forget to take time to question the methods we employ in news gathering, writing and presentation. What is at stake when we don’t question our own practices is our public […]
