Will the proposed Race Relations Act outlaw discrimination? (Source: jpnin.gov.my) IS the proposed Race Relations Act doomed to fail even before it has been drafted? Human rights advocates, lawyers and academics who recently attended a roundtable on the proposed act seem to think so. The act, which was proposed by the government in September 2008, […]
Features
Creative common ground
By Ooi Ying Nee(Source: randomalphabets.com) THE afternoon of 24 Aug 2008 was like any other bustling Saturday at KL Sentral station. Save for one anomaly: in the midst of hundreds of shuttling commuters, about 120 people had congregated in two locations at the terminal. They were there to read. Among those who sat cross-legged on the floor, or […]
The traditional media’s own worst enemy
By N Shashi Kala and Zedeck SiewCONTRARY to popular analyses, it is not the internet that is threatening the traditional media. The biggest enemies of the traditional mass media are the mass media themselves, says Dr Indrajit Banerjee, who is secretary-general for the Singapore-based Asian Media Information and Communication Centre. “I would say the most critical factor in the decline of […]
What’s wrong with the ISA?
By Deborah LohWHEN it comes to justifying the Internal Security Act (ISA) 1960, the Malaysian government has honed its replies down pat — after the usual noise about how we still need such laws to keep the peace, they then fall back on the old chestnut — others are now doing it, too. There are growing calls […]
Spotlighting the Abdullah years
By N Shashi KalaIT’S been exactly five years since Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi took over as prime minister. Admittedly, he had some big shoes to fill — his predecessor Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad reshaped the country’s physical and psychological landscape in his quest to fulfil a particular vision of development by 2020. (© Wan Leonard) But aside […]
Grand coalition not feasible
By Zedeck Siew(Source: sxc.hu) REFLECTING on the 37-year history of the Barisan Nasional (BN), it is easy to conclude that there is some worth in grand coalitions and their ability to demonstrate political strength and unity. In the aftermath of the 8 March 2008 general election, there have been calls by some for the formation of a […]
Power-sharing models for the BN
By Deborah LohAS the Barisan Nasional (BN) struggles to reinvent itself in the current political climate, three ideas have been raised to remake it into a single multiracial entity. The coalition knows it has to respond to public perception that Umno is dominant over the other component parties. If it doesn’t, it risks losing more of the […]
The message of Deepavali for Malaysia
By Zedeck Siew[corrected] Tun VT Sambanthan and Toh Puan Umasundari Sambanthan visit Bukit Bintang Girls School (Original photos courtesy of Uma Sambanthan) UPON meeting her at her home in Petaling Jaya, one of the things that Toh Puan Umasundari Sambanthan inquired of me was my health. “Take care dear, it has been raining a lot lately,” she […]
Deconstructing the social contract
By Elizabeth Looi and Khairil AnharCorrected on 24 Oct 2008 at 2.45pm THE recent statement released by the Conference of Rulers on the social contract has generated much discussion. Among others, the statement emphasised the provisions in the Federal Constitution that make up the social contract. The rulers also announced that “it is not proper to dispute and question this […]
The dilemma of moral policing
By Khairil AnharIT was a Saturday night, and the band NRG was just wrapping up the last number at The Pub in Holiday Inn Glenmarie in Shah Alam when they heard shouts. Suddenly, the smoky and half-lit pub interior was splashed with bright lights before a troop of officers from the Jabatan Agama Islam (JAIS) stormed in […]
