THERE is a cautious hopefulness about the upcoming amendments to the Umno constitution, which will be debated in an extraordinary general meeting held within the party’s annual general assembly beginning today, 13 Oct till Friday, 16 Oct 2009. Party veterans and leaders say the constitutional amendments are a welcome start towards reforming the party, which […]
Features
The Bagan Pinang victory
By Shanon ShahAFTER losing in all of the by-elections it has contested in the peninsula since March 2008, the Barisan Nasional (BN)’s Bagan Pinang win must taste like ambrosia. The BN’s candidate from Umno, Tan Sri Isa Samad, polled 8,013 votes against the 2,578 votes garnered by PAS’s Zulkefly Omar. In fact, Isa’s majority of 5,435 votes […]
Bread and butter in Bagan Pinang
By Shanon ShahBread and butter issues (© Bruno Neves / sxc.hu) “IN Malaysia, we must vote for Barisan Nasional (BN); we have been voting for them for a long time,” says T Muniandy. “We help them by voting for them, and then they help us.” It is 6 Oct 2009, the fourth day of the Bagan Pinang […]
Zulkefly Omar’s dilemma
By Shanon ShahJOURNALISTS have been warning each other that Zulkefly Mohamad Omar, PAS’s Bagan Pinang by-election candidate, is not the world’s best orator. Unfortunately, this is true. At a PAS-organised ceramah in Taman Eastern on 5 Oct 2009, The Nut Graph observes that Zulkefly is ponderous in his speech. The chants of “Allahu akbar” that greet him […]
“Jalan-jalan cari undi”
By Shanon ShahIsa Samad poses at a Hari Raya Aidilfitri event in Bagan Pinang “THIS is part of my programme for the Bagan Pinang by-election: jalan-jalan cari undi,” says Tan Sri Isa Samad, 60, riffing off the popular TV3 food travelogue, Jalan-Jalan Cari Makan. The 3,000-strong crowd here in Taman PD Utama initially looks more interested in […]
The multicultural question
by Ding Jo-AnnIen Ang Ever felt that Malaysians need to get out more and mix with people from other races and religions? And be open to dialogue with each other even if they hold different views? Cultural studies expert Professor Ien Ang would probably agree, as demonstrated in her recent public lecture on multiculturalism. Ang, who is […]
High stakes in Bagan Pinang
By Shanon ShahCorrected at 1:50pm, 5 Oct 2009 Outside the BN headquarters in Bagan Pinang prior to nomination day on 3 Oct “IF the Barisan Nasional (BN) loses, it will be catastrophic,” Umno Youth chief and Rembau Member of Parliament Khairy Jamaluddin tells The Nut Graph in a phone interview. Talk about high stakes. But he is […]
The mystery of postal votes
by Deborah LohVoters queueing up to vote in the Kuala Terengganu by-election (file pic) POSTAL votes in electoral contests have traditionally been accompanied by allegations of fraud and intimidation of uniformed personnel. Will they again become a contentious issue in the Bagan Pinang by-election on 11 Oct? Postal votes make up 33.7% or 4,604 of the state […]
Living with the Ahmadiyah
By Shanon ShahOsman “WE have to live with those who do not accept Islam,” Emeritus Prof Datuk Dr Osman Bakar tells The Nut Graph in a phone interview. Osman, who is deputy chief executive officer of the International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies (IAIS) Malaysia, says this applies to how Muslims treat Ahmadiyah as well. “The theological […]
A day with the “deviants”
By Shanon ShahCorrected at 4:30pm, 30 Sept 2009 “FROM what we see, Islam [in Malaysia] appears like a one-way religion. But in the Quran, it’s not like this. Even if someone apostates, it’s not another human being’s right to persecute them,” Ainul Yakin Muhd Zin, 41, tells The Nut Graph. Perhaps this is why the sect that […]
