IT’S more than just a numbers game. Votes don’t just count at the ballot box. Voting is also a symbolic affirmation of your right to participate in your country’s politics, writes Hwa Yue-Yi.
Columns
Uncommon Sense with Wong Chin Huat: The cause and effect of three-cornered fights
By Ding Jo-Ann
THERE are a record number of three-cornered fights this election, including those involving candidates from the same coalition. Why all the bickering over seats? Couldn’t seat allocations have been agreed upon before nomination day? And most importantly, what will it mean for the final results of GE13? The Nut Graph asks political scientist Wong Chin Huat.
If I were Chua Soi Lek
Reductio ad Absurdum by Chan Kheng Hoe
CHAN Kheng Hoe reflects on how he would hate to be Chua Soi Lek at this point in time, with Chinese Malaysian support for the Barisan Nasional at an all-time low. What would he do if he were leading the MCA into the toughest fight of its political life?
Uncommon Sense with Wong Chin Huat: Possible GE13 outcomes
By Ding Jo-Ann
IT’S nomination day today. Thus begins the official campaigning period for the 13th general election since Malaya’s independence (GE13). The Nut Graph asks political scientist Dr Wong Chin Huat what possible outcomes we can expect come polling day on 5 May, and what it would mean for BN and PR.
Uncommon Sense with Wong Chin Huat: The battle for Johor
By Ding Jo-Ann
THE Nut Graph speaks to political scientist Wong Chin Huat on the exciting contest in Johor this coming general election. Will Pakatan Rakyat (PR) make significant inroads in this Barisan Nasional (BN) bastion? Or is BN support in Johor just too strong to overcome?
Borders vs. Jawi: How it affects us
Holding Court by Ding Jo-Ann
The High Court recently held that Jawi’s actions in raiding Borders and seizing copies of an Irshad Manji book were illegal. The bookstore’s day in court reminds us how it falls on citizens to know the law and their rights to prevent state authorities from abusing power.
The promise of political violence
Shape of a Pocket by Jacqueline Ann Surin
THE Barisan Nasional government has been making a lot of promises as a decisive general election looms. Of all the promises the Umno-led coalition has made, which should citizens be most concerned about?
Mengundi itu suatu perjuangan
Asam Pedas oleh Norhayati Kaprawi
Pengundi-pengundi tidak lama lagi akan diberi kesempatan untuk mengundi apabila Parlimen dibubarkan. Persoalannya, nak mengundi untuk siapa? Barisan atau pakatan politik yang manakah yang pasti akan menegakkan hak rakyat, terutamanya hak wanita?
PR Manifesto: Sustainable?
As If Earth Matters by Gan Pei Ling
THE Pakatan Rakyat (PR) manifesto professes to improve Malaysians’ standard of living by raising household incomes and the minimum wage, and creating new jobs. But does it say enough about developing sustainably as a nation? What more needs to be included for the PR to truly be a viable and comprehensive alternative to the Barisan Nasional?
Can MBPJ’s promises be believed?
Ampersand by KW Mak
Buyers of an abandoned low-cost housing project were recently told that MBPJ would solve their woes by reclaiming the land, developing the project, and selling it at half price. This sounds like great news, but will it be so straightforward for MBPJ to save the day? Or will buyers be faced with more hurdles?
