“It is a verbal oath. Under the oath, a candidate promises not to sell out the party or hop to another party. If the candidate does it, he will have to divorce his wife.” SHAH Alam PAS Member of Parliament (MP) Khalid Samad, explaining a loyalty oath imposed on PAS legislators. Under the oath, PAS’s […]
Shahrizat Abdul Jalil
“Impose maximum sentence for child abuse”
KUALA LUMPUR, 22 Oct 2009: Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, who was shocked and upset over the death of a toddler who was potentially abused, has proposed maximum sentences be meted out to offenders. Urging the police to speed up investigations into child abuse causes, she said the Welfare […]
Umno reforms meet inertia
By Shanon ShahKhairy, Rosnah and Shahrizat (Rosnah pic courtesy of Merdeka Review) THE 60th Umno general assembly has been touted as one in which the biggest political party in Malaysia will set much-needed reforms in motion. But if the party’s Youth, Wanita and Puteri wings’ assemblies on 14 Oct 2009 are any indication, it looks as though […]
WAO: No hidden agenda
By Ding Jo-AnnKUALA LUMPUR, 17 Sept 2009: The Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO) has strongly denied any hidden agenda in calling for concrete action to be taken against the rape of Penan women and girls, as implied by Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil. In a statement today, the WAO stressed that it was part of its responsibility as […]
FOI would have helped Penan
By Ding Jo-AnnTHE haphazard release of the Penan Task Force report last week is symptomatic of a glaring lack of access, as a rule, to publicly funded government information. The report, which confirmed the rape and sexual abuse of Penan women and girls, was publicly unavailable for months despite repeated calls by advocacy groups for it to […]
Penan girls and women were sexually violated
By Ding Jo-AnnShadowy interior of a Penan home (Pics courtesy of Sofiyah Israa @ Flickr) PETALING JAYA, 9 Sept 2009: Nearly a year after, a government task force report has confirmed that Penan women and children in Sarawak were raped and sexually abused by timber workers. The report by the national task force set up in October […]
Penans want to view task force report
By Zedeck SiewA Penan mother and child (Pic courtesy of Sofiyah Israa @ Flickr) PETALING JAYA, 26 Aug 2009: The parents of young Penan women allegedly abused by logging company employees want to access and view the Penan task force report that the government refuses to make public. “[The parents] have asked for the task force’s report,” […]
Najib announces govt KPIs
PUTRAJAYA, 27 July 2009: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak today announced the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and the lead ministers for the six national key results areas (NKRA). He named Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as the lead minister for widening access to quality and affordable education, Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin […]
Do quotas for women work?
By Claire Brownell(Silhouettes by Ervin Bachik and Faakhir Rizvi / sxc.hu) PARTI Keadilan Rakyat (PKR)’s 30% quota for women in leadership positions is the first of its kind in any Malaysian political party. But in the grand scheme of things, it’s also 14 years late. Malaysia signed the Beijing Declaration and the Convention for the Elimination of […]
Make Penan report public, PKR says
By Zedeck SiewKUALA LUMPUR, 25 June 2009: The women’s wing of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) wants the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry to not only release the Penan task force report to the public, but to also table it for debate in Parliament. “What is stopping the Malaysian government from publicising the report of the investigation? The repeated […]
