THE hand-to-hand combat has begun in earnest for the 7 April 2009 Batang Ai by-election between the Barisan Nasional (BN) and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR). It is a torturous and expensive battle for both the contesting parties. Lodged under the shadow of the mountain range that separates Sarawak from the Kalimantan side of Indonesia, Batang […]
Columns
Ask the PM
By Cindy ThamUpdated at 5.30pm, 4 June 2009 WHEN Barack Obama first became the US president, he issued a memo to his team, saying the government should be transparent, participatory and collaborative. Demonstrating his commitment to at least the participatory bit, Obama had his first virtual town hall on 26 March 2009. During the event held at […]
What Najib needs
By Ooi Kee BengA nice big hug (Pic courtesy of theSun) AND so, after holding the sceptre of power for five and a half years, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi now passes it to Datuk Seri Najib Razak. While Abdullah’s ascendance to power in 2003 was greeted with cheers from Malaysians, his retirement is being met with grave […]
A referendum on our future
By Wong Chin HuatTHE Bukit Gantang by-election has one overriding meaning. The by-election for this parliamentary seat in Perak is not about local development, as the Barisan Nasional (BN) would describe it. Neither will the election results determine Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s job as prime minister, as some opposition supporters would hope for. Voters in Bukit Gantang will […]
For better or for verse
By N Shashi Kala“Poetry is a mirror which makes beautiful that which is distorted.” – Percy B Shelly LIKE millions across the world, I tuned in to watch Barack Obama being sworn in as US president on 20 Jan 2009. Throughout the two-hour long inauguration ceremony, I was captivated by the occasion’s momentousness, and the speeches that […]
Marilah mengundi!
Oleh Shanon ShahMENURUT satu kajian pada tahun 2005, pengundi biasa di Malaysia lebih cenderung “membiarkan isu politik di tangan pemimpin politik”. Tiga tahun kemudian, keputusan pilihanraya umum telah menggegarkan seluruh arena politik negara. Tetapi sejauh manakah proses pematangan di kalangan pengundi Malaysia? Menurut angka 2008, Malaysia mempunyai 10,922,139 pengundi berdaftar. Ini merupakan hanya 71% daripada jumlah rakyat […]
Saya pun Melayu
By Datuk Zaid IbrahimThe following is an excerpt of Datuk Zaid Ibrahim’s foreword in his second book Saya Pun Melayu, which was launched on 23 March 2009. He addresses issues of Malay identity, privilege and politics at a time of transition in Malaysia. PADA saya tidak ada untungnya kita menjadikan tafsiran siapa itu Melayu sebagai satu stereotaip atau […]
Umno’s insincerity
By Jacqueline Ann SurinCorrected on 27 March 2009 at 3.20pm HOW will we know if Umno is really going to keep its promise to reform? Quite simply, really. Similar to how we would measure a friend or partner’s sincerity, all it requires for us to make an educated guess about Umno’s reforms is to watch what the party […]
Gerindra’s rise in Indonesian politics
By Dr Farish A NoorFORMER military commander Prabowo Subianto has been a household name in Indonesia for several decades now, but at present he is among the most talked-about aspiring politicians in the country as Indonesians prepare for the next general election in early April. The former son-in-law of President Suharto and the former head of the Komando Pasukan […]
Putting my assets on the line
By Dr Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj(Car images by Two Hundred Percent, source: Wikipedia; background image source: Dreamstime.com) I PERSONALLY find declaring one’s assets, as the Socialist Party of Malaysia (PSM) did at the Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall on 11 Mar 2009, a little embarrassing. Personal income and wealth are normally considered one’s private domain. Most people would consider it intrusive […]
