ARE you Malay first? Or Malaysian first? But is the question really about which should come first? Why does it seem to matter so much? And which of the two labels — one about race and the other about citizenship — is more profoundly important to us as Malaysian citizens?
gender
What about keeping promises?
Old Mother Hubbard Went to the cupboard To get her poor doggie a bone But when she got there The cupboard was bare So her poor little doggie had none – Old nursery rhyme The Women’s Candidacy Initiative (WCI) notes that each time elections come around, whether it is parliamentary, state or by-elections, parties fielding […]
Disability, sensitivity, and equality
Karpal SinghTHERE was one awkward moment when I interviewed DAP national chairman Karpal Singh on 20 Jan 2010. He had not printed out the list of questions I had sent in advance, and wanted to see my list on a paper in front of me. He asked me to slide the paper across the table […]
It’s Fatine’s choice
I’M emotionally disturbed by the public response towards the marriage of Fatine Min Baharin with Ian Young. Our Malaysian Immigration Department has declared that Fatine overstayed in the United Kingdom. If found guilty, she’ll be barred from leaving Malaysia for two years. If we don’t want people to stop us from doing what we like and what is […]
Fatine’s right to dignity
WITH reference to news reports on Malaysian transsexual Fatine‘s potential deportation from the United Kingdom, we wish to register our grave concerns at statements by Immigration Department director-general Abdul Rahman Othman and at how the story was reported. We question why Abdul Rahman singled out Ms Fatine as having “brought great shame upon us”, allegedly […]
Gender insensitive budgeting
IN 2006, then Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak launched on behalf of the prime minister a manual on gender budgeting in Malaysia. The manual was published a year earlier after the completion of a gender budgeting pilot project with five key ministries. Gender budgeting seems to have dropped off the government radar Since […]
The role of intra-faith dialogue
We need more intra-faith dialogue (© arte_ram / sxc.hu) DISCUSSIONS on religious issues, or a lack thereof, are increasingly defining public policy and society in Malaysia. A few key words are enough to jog memories — the cow-head protest, the whipping sentence on Muslims for drinking alcohol, Christians and the word “Allah”, concert banning, and […]
“Islamic focus on punishment misguided”
PERTH, 2 Nov 2009: The focus on punishment of personal sins in Islam is misguided, a professor of Islamic Studies said. SaeedProfessor Abdullah Saeed was partly referring to calls from certain Muslim groups to uphold the caning sentence on Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno in Malaysia for consuming alcohol. Saeed is currently the Sultan of Oman […]
PKR Wanita challenges Shahrizat
KUALA LUMPUR, 23 June 2009: PKR Wanita has challenged Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil to enact a policy that ensures 30% women’s representation in government within six months, or resign. PKR Wanita chief Zuraida Kamaruddin also pointed out that Shahrizat’s claim that the idea of a 30% quota for women’s representation was hers was factually inaccurate. […]
Hiding behind “secrets”
Shhhhh… (© Paul Brunskill / sxc.hu) “YOU cannot quote me…I’ve discussed with my superior, we’ve decided that the progress is slow, so we don’t think it’s a good time to publicise it now, why don’t you write on other issues?” That was the response from an officer from the Ministry of Women, Family and Community […]
