Malaysia? BACK when he was deputy prime minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak pledged that Malaysia would become “a role model to the Islamic world”. He said this in the middle of the 2009 Kuala Terengganu by-election, which Najib’s Barisan Nasional (BN) eventually lost to Pakatan Rakyat (PR). Najib’s pledge was poetic, since a “role model” […]
News
Confusion over ISA banner
By Shanon ShahPETALING JAYA, 26 March 2010: Two Muslim groups who are opposed to the Internal Security Act (ISA) are distancing themselves from a banner that implicates their endorsement of the Act. Jemaah Islah Malaysia (JIM) and the Malaysian Muslim Youth Movement (Abim) have both denied that they agreed to a banner which read, “ISA is the […]
Orang Asli Hospital not fulfilling role
By Ding Jo-AnnKUALA LUMPUR, 22 Mar 2010: A hospital set up by the British to serve the Orang Asli in Gombak is not fulfilling its objectives in part because most of its patients are non-Orang Asli. Dr Selva Vathany Kanapathi Pillai, recently transferred out of the hospital after publicly voicing her concerns, told The Nut Graph that […]
Democratic parties are possible
By Shanon Shah(Pic by Jirikabele / Dreamstime) WHEN the Barisan Nasional (BN) federal government dismissed local government elections and school elections on the grounds that these involve “politicking”, it was telling us that it either misunderstands democracy, or holds it in contempt. But when the Selangor and Penang Pakatan Rakyat (PR) governments pushed to restore local government […]
Outspoken doctor persistently “sidelined”
By Ding Jo-AnnCorrected at 12:20pm, 22 March 2010 PETALING JAYA, 16 Mar 2010: An outspoken doctor has charged that her attempts to highlight the mismanagement of an Orang Asli hospital in Gombak were persistently undermined by the authorities. Dr Selva (Courtesy of Bar Council) Dr Selva Vathany Kanapathi Pillai, who went public recently with serious allegations of […]
Whither national education?
By Deborah LohIN this final of a four-part series on education, The Nut Graph attempts to examine the problems that have become entrenched in the national school system. While public schools were reliable and multi-racial centres of education for Malaysian children not too long ago, today, parents who can afford it are sending their children to private […]
Scholar: Don’t define ethnicity by religion
By Ding Jo-AnnMoucarryKUALA LUMPUR, 5 Mar 2010: Defining an ethnic group in religious terms can lead to oppression and arrogance, an Islamic studies expert said at a public lecture about Islam and Christianity in the Middle East. Speaking at an International Institute for Advanced Islamic Studies (IAIS) lecture on 3 March, Dr Chawkat Moucarry said such definitions […]
No charges in police shooting
By Ding Jo-AnnPETALING JAYA, 4 Mar 2010: No charges will be brought against police who were involved in shooting single mother Norizan Salleh, but investigations may be conducted into reports that police stepped on her after she was shot. “Her allegations of being stepped on and punched after the shooting may have to be looked into to […]
The Islamic state we deserve?
By Shanon ShahON 9 Feb 2010, history was made in Malaysia when three Muslim women were caned at Kajang prison for “illicit sex”, a syariah offence. Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said the caning was done according to the law, and claimed it “did not result in any wound on [the women’s] bodies”. Hishammuddin must have […]
Holding MPs accountable
By Patrick KratzensteinPETALING JAYA, 12 Feb 2010: The Nut Graph‘s MP Watch: Eye on Parliament project is similar to a German web-based initiative where people can pose questions to their elected representatives in the national parliament or Bundestag. Abgeordnetenwatch.de, which literally means “watching Members of Parliament”, was a grassroots effort started in Hamburg in 2004. The […]
