THE home minister expresses “regret” over the “Allah” ban. But any attempt to rationally address the issue of protecting the legitimate rights of all Malaysians is quickly shut down by the Umno-led government.
MCA
BN divided on Islamic state issue
Translation by Gan Pei Ling
FORMER prime ministers Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, and current Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, when he was still deputy premier, have all proclaimed Malaysia to be an Islamic state. Despite that, most Umno parliamentarians have avoided answering the question, “Do you think Malaysia should be a secular or an […]
The govt’s selective listening
By Gan Pei Ling
“The issuance of a licence to legalise sports betting is no longer an issue as a decision has been made. We always listen to the people’s wishes and put their interests above all.” PRIME Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, declaring after an Umno supreme council meeting that the government would not legalise sports betting. The […]
Non-Muslim rights: What Rais can do
By Teo Nie Ching
Umno leaders should stop pretending that they are sensitive to Chinese [Malaysian] rights. There are sufficient gambling avenues available to non-Muslims to indulge their habits. The non-Muslim communities have never requested for more opportunities to gamble. […]
MCA’s Malaysian dilemma
By Deborah LohChua Soi Lek ALL anyone might remember now from news reports on MCA’s 100-page proposal to the government for the 10th Malaysia Plan was its request for RM1 billion to support Chinese vernacular education. This is triple the RM320 million allocation for the same purpose under the Ninth Malaysia Plan. It is a sensational angle, […]
Punjabi party wants in
By Deborah LohTHE little-known Parti Punjabi Malaysia (PPM) got a spot in the newspapers recently when it elected its first woman president, Dr Susheel Kaur, a senior consultant in social impact studies and population geography. The 24-year-old party has been trying to join the Barisan Nasional (BN) for the last 10 years. PPM represents less than 2.5% […]
Why fight?
By Wong Chin Huat(Boxing gloves by januszek / sxc.hu) DOES it matter if the MCA stops fighting after the 28 March 2010 party election? On one level, I don’t think so. After all, just 10 days after its elections during which Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek made a remarkable comeback as party president, the MCA’s newsworthiness has […]
Soi Lek’s presidency — who’s resigning?
By Ding Jo-Ann“It’s not that I cannot accept [Chua]. A lot of party members cannot accept him — even my 13 CC members cannot accept him because that will further tarnish the party image. “I’ve been talking so much about the party’s interest, so if I support Soi Lek to become the president, I will be the […]
Democratic parties are possible
By Shanon Shah(Pic by Jirikabele / Dreamstime) WHEN the Barisan Nasional (BN) federal government dismissed local government elections and school elections on the grounds that these involve “politicking”, it was telling us that it either misunderstands democracy, or holds it in contempt. But when the Selangor and Penang Pakatan Rakyat (PR) governments pushed to restore local government […]
Spotlight on party democracy
By Shanon ShahIs Malaysia on the way to becoming more democratic? (© flydime | Flickr) IT has now been two full years since the historic March 2008 elections in Malaysia. But during this period, what have Malaysians actually learnt about the nature of democracy? Is Malaysia on the way to becoming more democratic? Citizens can use several […]
