What do the recent attacks on Malaysiakini, the Federal Court, Teresa Kok and Comango tell us about what is going on in Malaysia? And how do we know that these attacks constitute an attempt at nurturing anarchy in the country?
Malaysiakini
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?
Looking beyond the Chua-Lim debate
Work in Progress by Hwa Yue-Yi
MUCH has been said about the 8 July debate between DAP secretary general Lim Guan Eng and MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek. The debate, titled “Whose policies benefit the country more?”, drew conflicting responses. For example, theSun reported that “Lim went on the offensive”, while Malaysiakini said it was Chua who took […]
Squaring Najib’s statements on “pendatang” and the Malay agenda
By Ding Jo-Ann
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak recently told Chinese Malaysians they are “citizens with full rights” and that those who call them pendatang are “lunatics”. But how do Chinese Malaysians having “full rights” accord with the “Malay agenda” that Najib also claims to champion? To what threat is Najib referring when he warns Malay Malaysians that they may become squatters in their own land? And what has Najib said previously about organisations such as Perkasa that have openly chastised Chinese Malaysians for being ungrateful to the Umno-led government?
Premesh Chandran: We lack a common future
By Jacqueline Ann Surin
PREMESH Chandran laughs when asked if he ever imagined Malaysiakini would become what it is today: the award-winning and leading online media in Malaysia that reaches over 300,000 readers per day in English, Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil. “It grew to be something much bigger than what we expected it to be,” the news portal’s […]
BN and the internet: Suppression or engagement?
By Nick ChooPrime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak recently said the government would not suppress cyberspace but instead engage this global change. But how do we square his remarks with the government’s plans to extend the PPPA’s reach online, and their other verbal attacks on internet expression?
Is govt revenue haram?
By Ding Jo-AnnTHE Penang government has come under fire from Umno for allegedly distributing government aid for senior citizens from “haram” sources. But is Umno missing something in its own argument? And whether money from gaming activities was really distributed to Muslims or not, is such aid really “haram” in Islam?
Why the government fears satire
Holding Court by Ding Jo-Ann
WHY is the government charging someone for writing a satirical piece? On 2 Sep 2010, Irwan Abdul Rahman, a Malay Mail executive editor was charged over a blog posting entitled “TNB to sue WWF over earth hour.” Irwan’s posting on his website Nose4news was below a huge banner with the words “The truth is out […]
Promoting the constitution = seditious?
By Ding Jo-AnnA POLICE report was lodged recently by a society, of which the prime minister is the patron, against the Bar Council’s MyConstitution campaign. The society said the MyConstitution booklets were “seditious” because it explained how the constitution could be amended. But doesn’t the constitution expressly state that it can be amended? And since when did educating the public about the constitution constitute a crime?
Seditious Malaysia
By Ding Jo-Ann
KARPAL Singh. Lim Guan Eng. Raja Petra Kamaruddin. Wong Chin Huat. These individuals have all been arrested or charged under Malaysia’s draconian Sedition Act. The Act was passed in 1948, at the height of the British colonial government’s struggle against the communists. But more than 60 years later, the wide-ranging and subjective law is still being used, whenever it’s convenient, to silence political opponents.
