Harapan Baru (A New Dawn) is the theme for this year’s PKR congress THE results of the 8 March 2008 general election suggested that voters are not completely besotted with race-based politics. Since then, there has been encouraging talk about multi-racial politics and policies which respect all Malaysians as equal citizens. One of the proponents […]
Features
Non-Muslims for PAS
By Deborah LohAFTER 20 years with the MCA, Hu Pang Chaw switched camps to give his allegiance to PAS. The former Kelantan MCA Youth secretary quit the Chinese-based party a week before the general election in 1999. “I got tired of the MCA’s infighting and personal agendas,” says Hu. Living under PAS rule in Kelantan, he felt […]
Transforming Umno
By N Shashi KalaIT has been more than two weeks since the close of nominations for Umno supreme council posts. Every post, except the presidency and the Wanita deputy chief position, is being contested. But as the candidates prepare to do battle for the hearts, and some would say pockets, of the 2,500 delegates at the 24 to […]
Ketuanan Melayu rebutted
By Shanon Shah“IF you live in Malaysia, you cannot have ketuanan Melayu. The word ‘ketuanan’ is alienating. Malaysia has Eurasians, Indonesians, Chinese, Indians, and so on. If anyone deserves to be called the ‘tuan’ of this land, it’s the Orang Asli.” Most Malaysians would be forgiven for thinking that it was a non-Malay Malaysian politician speaking out […]
BN’s power play
By Ng Boon HooiIN George Orwell’s novel Animal Farm, there’s a line about how all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others. The same could be said about the component parties in the Barisan Nasional (BN). The BN is made up of 13 disparate parties — five based in the peninsula, and the rest […]
“Utusan will become very irrelevant”
By Zedeck SiewJOURNALIST Said Zahari was a seminal force in Utusan Melayu during its heyday as an independent publication. He led the paper’s 1961 strike in protest of a takeover bid by Umno, which resulted in him being banned from entering Malaysia. The ban was only lifted in the 1980s. A consummate man of letters, Said has […]
A strike for press freedom
By Zedeck SiewTHE politics of Utusan Malaysia, with its championing of Malay rights, has raised concerns of late. The influential Malay-language daily is unapologetic about pushing forward the Malay (some would say Umno) agenda, often running roughshod over the sentiments of the other races. But the Utusan Malaysia of today is very different from the Utusan Melayu […]
Bleak times ahead
By Deborah Loh(© Tim Reeve / scx.hu) YES, we are staring at the gathering clouds of an economic crisis. Sure, economic fundamentals are strong, as government ministers keep saying, but that’s only half the picture. The other half is the financial scenario, as economic and financial principles are two different things. The sub-prime crisis that began in […]
Whither the electoral system?
By Deborah LohA section of the Bersih rally in November 2007 reaches a FederalReserve Unit blockade A YEAR ago on this date, roads in Kuala Lumpur were bathed in waves of yellow t-shirts as thousands rallied for free and fair elections. Estimates ranged from 4,000 by conservative media to 40,000 by other observers. The massive street march […]
Going public
By Ng Boon Hooi(© ivana / sxc.hu) IN October 2008, Malaysia Today revealed that Datuk Seri Najib Razak had apparently exchanged text messages with lawyer Datuk Shafee Abdullah over Abdul Razak Baginda’s position in the Altantuya murder trial. The transcript of SMS exchanges caused a stir. Shafee was the counsel for Razak Baginda, a known close associate of […]
