WHAT is the real intent behind giving Sabah and Sarawak their own autonomy over immigration matters, including the right to ban people from entering these states? Political scientist Dr Wong Chin Huat looks at how a good intention has been abused and no longer serves its original purpose.
Maria Chin Abdullah
Uncommon Sense with Wong Chin Huat: Lessons from the Seksualiti Merdeka controversy
By Shanon Shah
Open-ended vs. close-ended democracy?
Maria Chin Abdullah: It’s not about race anymore
By Jacqueline Ann Surin
IT is perhaps destiny that Maria Chin Abdullah ended up being one of the steering committee members for Bersih 2.0, the civil society movement calling for free and fair elections in Malaysia. One of her earliest memories is of independent Malaya’s first general election in 1959 when she was just three. Maria remembers being with […]
Bung Mokhtar: Lawmaker or breaker?
By Ding Jo-AnnProtestors outside the Gombak Timur Syariah Court (pic courtesy of Women’s Aid Organisation) “(Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin) is a lawmaker and he is breaking the law, but the way the issue is highlighted makes it seem like there’s nothing wrong.” “(He) should step down and should not represent Malaysians (in Parliament) any more. That would […]
PAS wants Sisters in Islam investigated (Updated 6.30pm)
By Deborah Loh and Shanon ShahUpdated 6.30pm on 7 June 2009 Documentation of PAS’s resolution on Sisters in Islam SHAH ALAM, 7 June 2009: Sisters in Islam (SIS) should be investigated and declared “haram” if it is found to be anti-Islam, the 55th PAS muktamar declared today. The Islamist political party also said SIS members should undergo religious rehabilitation should […]
State violence cannot resolve problems
By the Coalition for Good GovernanceTHE Coalition for Good Governance (CGG) condemns the arrests of Wong Chin Huat, Mohamad Sabu, three activists who attempted to deliver a cake to the Prime Minister’s office to commemorate Altantuya Shaariibuu’s 31st birthday, and this morning’s arbitrary arrests of over 50 citizens in Perak. These arrests have to end now as they are undemocratic […]
Decision on conversion raises questions
By Deborah Loh(Family silhouette by jayofboy / sxc.hu) ON the surface, the cabinet’s decision to stop unilateral conversions to Islam by one parent is a welcome resolution. But questions remain as to whether it can be effectively implemented. One issue is whether a cabinet opinion is enforceable in a court of law when there are no legal […]
