SOMEONE should tell the Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department that Malaysia is not an egg. Last week, Datuk Ahmad Maslan reportedly confirmed that Biro Tatanegara (BTN) participants are given eggs to signify how “fragile” our community is. There may indeed be beneficial lessons to be learnt from egg-caring as demonstrated by a US […]
Commentary
Why Fatine can’t come home
THE Malaysian authorities are being discriminatory and ignorant in their treatment of transsexual woman Fatine, who is facing visa problems in the United Kingdom. Instead of assisting Fatine in negotiating with the UK authorities, the Immigration director-general Datuk Abdul Rahman Othman has instead threatened her with stern action for overstaying in the UK. Abdul Rahman […]
What to expect at COP15
(© David Ridley / Dreamstime) AMERICAN president Barack Obama announced on 25 Nov 2009 that he would be attending the United Nations Climate Change Conference, known as COP15, in Copenhagen after all, albeit just for a day. Over 60 world leaders including UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Australian premier Kevin Rudd are expected to […]
Keeping Chin Peng out
WE talk about feeling sorry for old men. Or about being upset with the idea of Chin Peng stepping back on Malaysian soil. We have been swamped with evocative words that demand strong reactions. “Old man wants to die at birthplace.” “Just a grandfather.” “Notorious murderer.” “Massacre of innocents.” The “evils of communism”. Strong words […]
Kota Siputeh: Testing the courts
EC chairperson Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof THE nationwide constitutional law tutorial continues with the latest Kota Siputeh case. The court has had to intervene once again to arbitrate between the speaker of a legislative assembly and the Election Commission (EC). This time, the 16 Nov 2009 High Court decision ruled that the EC […]
In pursuit of censorship
MALAYSIANS are no strangers to censorship. So many things get censored in this country, local or foreign: books, films, television shows, theatre performances. The items censored are sometimes perplexing. For example, current reruns of the 1990s family sitcom The Nanny on the Hallmark Channel are missing out on the slightly risqué jokes and overtly Jewish […]
We build this city
ON 27 Oct 2009, four journalists — from the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia — were taken to dinner in Perth, Australia, by a representative of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). Walking down the banks of the Swan River, the four, including this writer from The Nut Graph, could not stop remarking […]
Lingam tape: Who’s being protected?
SOMETHING feels horribly amiss in the government’s recent declaration that lawyer VK Lingam won’t be charged for his role in brokering the appointment of top judges. The government’s focus on whether to charge Lingam or not feels like a red herring. After all, the Royal Commission of Inquiry clearly found ethical and criminal misbehaviour by […]
Making government look good
WHY is the Home Ministry chiding journalists for not getting the government’s view when it is the government that frequently gives journalists the run-around or prevents journalists from writing the truth? Ministry secretary-general Datuk Seri Mahmood Adam Mahmood reportedly advised the print media to let government agencies tell their side of the story when these […]
The big deal about a full bench
Getting the full 11-member bench to hear the case is atall order A FULL bench of judges to hear appeals at the federal court has never been granted in Malaysia’s judicial history, lawyers recall. Some say this is not surprising. For administrative, procedural or logistical reasons, having all judges of the highest court available at […]
