AFTER reading Wong Chin Huat’s Scaling the language barrier, I thought I would share a few thoughts on English education and education reform. I was born in Malaysia, but after a year, my parents and I moved to Canada. At the time, public education in Canada was very good. We returned to Malaysia in […]
Letters to the Editor
Najib should come clean
By Tengku Razaleigh HamzahYESTERDAY, I gave an interview to Sarah Stewart, the Bureau Chief of AFP in Malaysia. Among the things she asked me was the unavoidable question about the international scandal linking Datuk Seri Najib Razak with the murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu and with the purchase of the Scorpene submarines. I told her that in my long […]
Bar will continue to educate on “Allah”
By Ragunath KesavanDATUK Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s statement regarding the Bar Council’s on-line poll on the use of the word “Allah”, as reported in the media on 23 March 2009, makes for disappointing reading in our country’s continuing democratic discourse. We are confident that Malaysians will rise above mere polemics and will not see the poll as […]
Media freedom should not be constrained
By Tan Keng LiangWITH reference to the recent three-month suspension on Harakah and Suara Keadilan, Kedah Gerakan Youth feels there is a serious need to consider amendments to the Printing Presses &and Publication Act 1984 (PPPA) so as not to affect the media freedom in the country. Kedah Gerakan Youth believes there are sufficient civil laws in our […]
CIJ, Wami condemn suspension of newspapers
By Gayathry VenkiteswaranTHE Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) Malaysia and the Writers Alliance for Media Independence (Wami) strongly condemn the government’s latest assault on constitutionally enshrined freedom of expression and freedom of assembly. The Home Ministry has just suspended two opposition newspapers — Harakah and Suara Keadilan — for three months, effective 23 March 2009, with no […]
Sedition Act an affront to democracy
By Ragunath KesavanTHE Bar Council is shocked and troubled that the Attorney-General has proceeded to charge Karpal Singh under the Sedition Act 1948 for his statements on the issue of the removal of the Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin by Sultan Azlan Shah and the events that have unfolded in that state. The […]
MCA: Malaysia is a secular state
By Gan Ping SieuAS MCA Political Education Bureau head, I have reservations over the written reply given by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to Member of Parliament for Bukit Gelugor Karpal Singh in the Dewan Rakyat on 12 March 2009 that “Malaysia is a ‘negara Islam’.” I welcome the prime minister’s statement that Malaysia is not […]
When Muslims betray Muslims
By Azril Mohd AminA MUSLIM American of Pakistani descent recently betrayed the entire American dakwah (Islamic outreach) movement by beheading his wife to punish her for asking for a divorce. He beheaded his wife — they were not yet divorced — in the very television studio they were using to portray the “beauties of Islam” to the American […]
Stop online censorship
By CIJ and WamiThe Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) and the Writers Alliance for Media Independence (Wami) are alarmed that six people have been charged for making comments about the Perak royal family. The use of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 (CMA) violates the Act’s stated promise that it would not be used to censor the internet. […]
The Speaker: A short history
By Clive KesslerTHERE has been much technical legal discussion of whether the speaker of the Perak legislative assembly may speak, act and seek legal representation on his or her own behalf and that of the assembly, independent of the ruler and state administration and its federal allies. All these issues need to be placed in some historical […]
