THIS edition of Merely Playing belatedly commemorates World Mental Health Day, which falls annually on 10 Oct. According to an article in theSun, an estimated 450 million people around the world suffer from mental illnesses such as depression, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. It added that in Malaysia, some 400,227 patients sought psychiatric help in government […]
Conference of the Birds in flight
Compiled by Nick Choo
AS part of the programme to celebrate its 25th anniversary, Five Arts Centre presents Conference of the Birds, a contemporary opera directed by Chee Sek Thim. This workshop production is an interpretation of a poem written in Persian by 12th-century poet Farid ud-Din Attar, describing the journey of a group of birds in search of […]
In pursuit of censorship
By Shanon ShahMALAYSIANS are no strangers to censorship. So many things get censored in this country, local or foreign: books, films, television shows, theatre performances. The items censored are sometimes perplexing. For example, current reruns of the 1990s family sitcom The Nanny on the Hallmark Channel are missing out on the slightly risqué jokes and overtly Jewish […]
MCA central committee rejects 28 Nov EGM: Ong
KUALA LUMPUR, 19 Nov 2009: A meeting of MCA central committee (CC) members today rejected an emergency general meeting (EGM) slated for 28 Nov as it was against the party constitution, said party president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat. Ong said besides that, the notice issued by the group of 16 CC members who wanted […]
Minister acted arbitrarily in banning book, court told
KUALA LUMPUR, 18 Nov 2009: A former home minister had acted arbitrarily in banning a book, Muslim Women and the Challenge of Islamic Extremism, published by Sisters in Islam (SIS), the High Court heard today. Counsel K Shanmuga said the order issued by the then minister, Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar, to ban the book […]
Nazri’s remarks over Lingam case “irresponsible”
By Ding Jo-AnnPETALING JAYA, 18 Nov 2009: Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz‘s challenge to Karpal Singh to prosecute VK Lingam himself has come under fire by senior lawyers who have described his remarks as irresponsible. Former Bar Council president Yeo Yang Poh said the remark by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department was “not responsible” because […]
Probe high number of deaths of migrants in custody
By Datuk M RamachelvamTHE Malaysian Bar is disturbed about the high number of migrants who have died while in custody. In July 2009, the Dewan Rakyat was told that some 2,029 persons died in prisons, rehabilitation centres and immigration detention centres between 2002 and 1 June 2009. More recently, Suhakam Commissioner Datuk Siva Subramaniam was quoted as saying […]
The relevance of Gerakan
By Koh Lay ChinTHE words come often, and ruthlessly so: Irrelevant. A waste of time. A joke. These are currently used to describe Gerakan, and its members know it. Once, it claimed its place as the “Voice of Reason” within the Barisan Nasional (BN). But since the 2008 general election, the party has seen its fortunes and influence […]
We build this city
By Shanon ShahON 27 Oct 2009, four journalists — from the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia — were taken to dinner in Perth, Australia, by a representative of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). Walking down the banks of the Swan River, the four, including this writer from The Nut Graph, could not stop remarking […]
No obstacles to caning Kartika
By Shanon ShahPETALING JAYA, 18 Nov 2009: Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno should already have been caned by now according to the law, the Kuantan syariah court and a syariah lawyer said. “Initially there was this issue of syubahah (doubt) in the implementation of the sentence. But the prisons department has already assured us that it has syariah-compliant […]
