“HISTORY is written by the victors” atau “Sejarah ditulis oleh orang yang menang atau berkuasa”. Ungkapan yang begitu terkenal namun tiada orang yang tahu siapa yang pertama kali mengungkapkannya. Ada yang kata Winston Churchill tapi ramai yang meraguinya. Soalan yang menarik untuk kita adalah jika kita tidak tahu sejarah asal-usul ungkapan itu, dan tiada dokumentasi […]
Syed Husin Ali
Leading the student movement in the 1960s
STUDENT activism in Universiti Malaya thrived in the 1960 and early 1970s. One of the key student leaders was Syed Hamid Ali who was University of Malaya Students’ Union (Umsu) general-secretary from 1967 to 1969, before he was elected president for the 1969 to 1970 term. Syed Hamid’s activism inadvertently began because he couldn’t be […]
Strengthening Dewan Negara
THE Dewan Negara, or Senate, has long been perceived as a “rubber stamp” of the Dewan Rakyat or Lower House in Malaysia. In a Westminster parliamentary democracy, the Senate is meant to provide checks and balances on the Lower House. Indeed, healthy democracies thrive because of checks and balances. That the Dewan Negara in Malaysia […]
PKR’s strange disciplinary logic
(Stationary pic by ba1969 / sxc.hu) DISCIPLINE within political parties has been in the spotlight recently. In the headlines was PAS’s suspension of its Shah Alam Member of Parliament (MP) Khalid Samad. And then there is Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR)’s trio of male Malay Malaysian leaders — Zulkifli Noordin, Datuk Seri Zahrain Mohamed Hashim and […]
Small parties, big questions
(Pic by barunpatro / sxc.hu) POP quiz — how many registered political parties are there in Malaysia? This is not such an easy question to answer. The official website for the Election Commission (EC) of Malaysia says there are 31 registered political parties to date. But a quick browse shows that the EC actually lists […]
Indiscipline within PKR
(Silhouette image by deeisforda / sxc.hu) ON 9 Aug 2008, the Malaysian Bar Council held a forum titled Conversion to Islam: Article 121(1A) of the Federal Constitution, Subashini and Shamala Revisited. Today, a year on, we remember the forum not for what was discussed. A 300-person demonstration gathered to protest the Bar Council’s apparent “anti-Islam […]
Zulkifli takes on Mei Fun
PETALING JAYA, 11 June 2009: Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Member of Parliament for Kulim-Bandar Baru, Zulkifli Noordin, has taken to task Wanita MCA chief Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun for her opposition towards the Kota Baru Municipal Council (KBMC)’s regulation of sportswear in a park. Zulkifli “The only thing KBMC did was to regulate the […]
PKR questions Bakun
PETALING JAYA, 30 April 2009: Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) has questioned the federal government’s decision to approve the construction of an undersea cable so that the Bakun hydroelectric dam in Sarawak can supply power to Peninsula Malaysia. PKR deputy president Dr Syed Husin Ali said the party was “shocked” by the cabinet approval for the […]
PKR sacks 16 members
PETALING JAYA, 27 April 2009: Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) has fired 16 members for offences against the party committed during the Bukit Selambau and Batang Ai by-elections. “They ran as candidates against party candidates, supported candidates that ran against party candidates, criticised the party through the media, or declared themselves to have left the party […]
Defending Fairus
“Fairus was upset. I won’t blame him because they (detractors) are (PKR) insiders who breached the party disciplinary code in not using proper internal channels to air their grievances.” PARTI Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. He described Mohammad Fairus Khairuddin as a “gentleman” for gracefully relinquishing his positions as Penanti state assemblyperson […]
