FOLLOWING the release of the task force report confirming allegations of sexual abuse of Penan women and girls, we greet Malaysia’s 46th birthday with a renewed sense of outrage. We are gravely disturbed not only over the Penan girls and women whose rights were violated, but also over how their situation reflects the overall state […]
letter to the editor
Minister must resign for condoning violence
By Civil society groupsWE, the undersigned organisations, condemn Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein for defending the cow-head protesters and justifying their incitement of violence and hatred. He should now resign or be sacked as home minister as he cannot commit to law and order. The most important issue in the cow-head incident is the threat of violence […]
Suhakam: Respect right to assembly
By Tan Sri Simon SipaunTHE Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) regrets to note that in the process of dispersing the 15,000-strong crowd marching in protest of the Internal Security Act (ISA) in Kuala Lumpur on 1 Aug 2009, the police used tear gas and water [cannons] excessively, which also affected bystanders. The day of the public assembly ended […]
Will to review ISA waning?
By Tony PuaDATUK Mukhriz Mahathir has defended the Internal Security Act (ISA) and lamented that the public fails to see the benefits of a controversial law that allows for preventive detention without trial. Once again, the influential Barisan Nasional (BN) deputy minister took the decades-old stance that the law ensures the country remains peaceful and harmonious. He said […]
Fresh Perak elections needed
By AliranTHE results of the recent by-election in Bukit Gantang strongly signal that Perakians want the Pakatan Rakyat government to continue to serve them. It is their preferred chosen government and they have given the thumbs-down to the Barisan Nasional (BN) government led by Datuk Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir. When the voters elected PAS’s Datuk Seri […]
Najib needs to do more
By Charles SantiagoI WELCOME the decision by Malaysia’s new Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to release 13 prisoners who were detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA). I also laud his move to lift the ban on two [Pakatan Rakyat party] newspapers. But Najib’s announcements come at the time of three crucial by-elections that would gauge […]
Higher standard of English needed
By See Tshiung HanAFTER 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 […]
MCA to AG: Drop sedition charge against Karpal
By Deborah LohPETALING JAYA, 18 March 2009: The MCA considers the sedition charge against Karpal Singh to be selective in nature and wants the Attorney-General to drop it. The party’s political education bureau head, Gan Ping Sieu, said the MCA was of the view that Karpal’s difference of opinion with the Sultan of Perak, Sultan Azlan Shah, […]
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 […]
