DOES Malaysia’s monarchy need special legal protection from insults or ridicule? The Nut Graph asks political scientist Dr Wong Chin Huat whether Malaysia needs yet another law to curb freedom of expression and what the impact would be.
BN
Is the online media lopsided?
By Ding Jo-Ann
THE online media in Malaysia continues to be attacked, monitored and threatened purportedly because of its pro-opposition, anti-government stance. But is the online media’s reporting as biased and lopsided as the BN and its allies make it out to be?
BN’s slim state victories
By Refsa
BN may have won more states in GE13. But Refsa’s analysis shows that these states were won by minority votes and slim margins.
BN’s challenge of legitimacy
Shape of a Pocket by Jacqueline Ann Surin
FROM the arrest of Opposition politicians and activists to heightened ethnocentrism and threats of violence to the excommunication of Malay critics, the BN seems to be on overdrive. And with its legitimacy in the balance, we can expect far more threats and repression for a while yet.
A minority government in power
By Refsa
HOW did a minority coalition get into power in Malaysia’s recent general election? Refsa explains how the BN secured less popular votes than PR and yet still won more seats in Parliament.
Three things I like about the Peaceful Assembly Bill
Reductio ad Absurdum by Chan Kheng Hoe
MUCH has been said about how undemocratic the Peaceful Assembly Bill is. I beg to differ. On the contrary, three very good aspects of the Peaceful Assembly Bill have been missed by commentators. Here they are: More religious The Bill promotes a religious society. We all know how important religion is to ensure that we […]
When will Taib really go?
By Ding Jo-Ann
IN the lead-up to the Sarawak elections, the prime minister and his deputy went all out to convince voters that Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud would step down after the state election because he was “ready”. But what does “after” and “ready” really mean? Is it “someday” as the deputy prime minister has stated or in “two to three years” as Taib has claimed? Clearly, vague rhetoric is useful for politicians to keep their options open especially now that the Barisan Nasional has again secured its two-thirds majority in the state assembly.
A poster is worth a thousand votes?
By Deborah Loh and Ding Jo-Ann
THEY say a picture is worth a thousand words. In Hulu Selangor, if a poster is worth a 1,000 votes, Barisan Nasional (BN) would win the by-election hands down. The BN has literally “gone to town” with their campaign posters. Over a dozen different poster designs proclaim the wonders of the BN government in this […]
Hulu Selangor’s significance
By Deborah LohUpdated 10.55am, 19 April 2010 BN candidate P Kamalanathan (left) and PKR candidate Datuk Zaid Ibrahim HULU Selangor, the 10th by-election since national polls in March 2008, is a fight neither the Barisan Nasional (BN) nor Pakatan Rakyat (PR) can afford to lose. The BN needs to prove its sincerity about its rhetorically inclusive 1Malaysia […]
BN’s commitment to indigenous rights
By Ding Jo-Ann“We open our ears to whatever grouses the public, in particular the Orang Asli, have. If anyone says we are depriving them, we are neglecting them, that’s not true.” RURAL and Regional Development Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal, speaking to reporters after receiving a memorandum from the Orang Asli protesting proposed changes to the […]
