HOW does one insult Islam in Malaysia? And how does one insult Muslims in Malaysia? Over the past few years and increasingly over the past months, the state, politicians and pressure groups like Perkasa have demonstrated just how to do either one or both. For the most part, these incidents are an insult to Muslims […]
Selangor
Forests in Selangor under threat
THERE was much cause for celebration when Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman announced on 16 Feb 2011 that the plan to build a 30 megawatt coal plant in the state’s pristine east coast had been scrapped. Instead, the government is now considering gas and other cleaner energy options like biomass. Activists, particularly those […]
Muslims serving alcohol: Ban or no ban?
THE Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ)’s recent ruling disallowing businesses that serve alcohol from hiring Muslims has raised many questions. Is it a law? A guideline? Just advice? Has it been rescinded? Who enacted the law that the ruling is based on? Why wasn’t it enforced before? And why the furore now?
Plastic matters
SELANGOR’S No Plastic Bag Day campaign recently came under attack in a report on online news portal The Malaysian Insider. The 9 Nov 2010 report claimed that “hypermarkets and retail shops” in Selangor have suffered up to 30% decline in their businesses on Saturdays since the Selangor government implemented the campaign in January 2009. In […]
Assessing Pakatan Rakyat in Selangor
WHAT has the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) Selangor government achieved after two and a half years in power? If one relied on traditional media reports or Umno’s “Save Selangor” roadshow, the answer may well be, “Not very much”. But the reality is much more nuanced, as demonstrated in the book The Road to Reform: Pakatan Rakyat […]
Who to trust in Selangor water battle?
ALARM bells were rung recently about an impending water crisis in Selangor. The federal government blames the state government for delaying the Pahang-Selangor raw water transfer project by refusing to let building of the Langat 2 water treatment plant begin. The Barisan Nasional (BN) government says this will result in a water crisis as early […]
Averting Selangor’s water crisis
POPULATION growth and development certainly drives higher water consumption. In Selangor, when a water crisis will happen appears to depend on who you ask. But it appears that there is more political rhetoric behind answering the question and not enough science.
Uncommon Sense with Wong Chin Huat: Rating Selangor
THE Selangor government has come under a lot of fire of late. From the attacks on illegal sand-mining activities in Selangor and the questioning of two Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) assemblypersons to Umno’s Save Selangor campaign, the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) government must surely have its hands full. Still, the PR-led Selangor government has also demonstrated […]
Is Selangor’s FOI bill good enough?
IF Selangor’s Freedom of Information (FOI) bill is made law, how useful will it be in helping the public gain access to information held by the government? The Pakatan Rakyat (PR) government tabled the bill for its first and second reading on 14 July 2010, and a select committee will now be collating feedback and […]
The plastic menace
PENANG was the first to launch the No Plastic Bag Day campaign in July 2009. Selangor launched its own campaign after that. Subsequently, the Miri and Sibu municipal councils in Sarawak, as well as Kota Kinabalu city hall and six other districts in Sabah announced similar campaigns.
How effective are these campaigns? Can they really help save the planet? And what can be done to make these campaigns more popular?
