WITH Umno’s heated polls just a week away and a transition of power in the pipeline for the nation, one other elections will soon grab the headlines. This April will witness the elections of Indonesia, the biggest Muslim country in the world, and Malaysia’s neighbour down south. With a population that currently stands at 232 […]
MCA to AG: Drop sedition charge against Karpal
By Deborah LohPETALING JAYA, 18 March 2009: The MCA considers the sedition charge against Karpal Singh to be selective in nature and wants the Attorney-General to drop it. The party’s political education bureau head, Gan Ping Sieu, said the MCA was of the view that Karpal’s difference of opinion with the Sultan of Perak, Sultan Azlan Shah, […]
Najib not right man for PM, says Zaid
By Datuk Zaid IbrahimTHE following is an excerpt of a speech by Datuk Zaid Ibrahim delivered at a weekly luncheon meeting of the Rotary Club of Kuala Lumpur DiRaja at the Shangri-La Hotel in Kuala Lumpur on 18 March 2009. GIVEN the times we live in, perhaps it might be appropriate for me to speak about the leadership […]
PMs on Perak
By Shanon Shah“You cannot topple a menteri besar or a prime minister without a no-confidence vote in the assembly. There is no other provision…Umno-Barisan Nasional was too careless and did not wait for an assembly but instead asked the ruler to sack the menteri besar…As far as I know, there is no such provision in the Perak […]
Tools of survival
By N Shashi Kala(Public domain; source: Wikimedia) I DON’T know about you, but all this talk of global recession and financial meltdown has got me worried. And as if to emphasise just what trouble awaits on the horizon, Finance Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak recently unveiled a second stimulus package worth a whopping RM60 billion. In a frank […]
Walking the middle ground
By Wong Chin HuatMANY Malaysians might say that if there is anything we need more than jobs in these times of economic hardship, it is stability. You read an increasing number of comments that urge people to get priorities right — get more jobs or prevent job cuts — regardless of the issue being discussed. And how would […]
Sedition Act an affront to democracy
By Ragunath KesavanTHE Bar Council is shocked and troubled that the Attorney-General has proceeded to charge Karpal Singh under the Sedition Act 1948 for his statements on the issue of the removal of the Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin by Sultan Azlan Shah and the events that have unfolded in that state. The […]
EAIC hamstrung by lack of power
By Deborah LohPETALING JAYA, 17 March 2009: The proposed Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) is a stronger body than the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam), but could suffer from irrelevancy just like the latter. This is because it still lacks the independence that is necessary for its role as investigator of misconduct and abuse to be taken […]
MCA: Malaysia is a secular state
By Gan Ping SieuAS MCA Political Education Bureau head, I have reservations over the written reply given by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to Member of Parliament for Bukit Gelugor Karpal Singh in the Dewan Rakyat on 12 March 2009 that “Malaysia is a ‘negara Islam’.” I welcome the prime minister’s statement that Malaysia is not […]
Economic rumblings
Translation by Sharmila Valli NarayananFOR the week of 9 to 15 March 2009, the Tamil papers highlighted the economic difficulties faced by Indian Malaysians, celebrated the achievements of Indian Malaysian students in the SPM, and cheered Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan for winning the International Women of Courage 2009 Awards from the US. Restaurants up in arms The recent hike in […]
