“The committee is not a legal structure; it’s not a rigid structure. It’s a framework to provide exchange of ideas on religion. “We don’t want to call it an inter-faith panel, but a special committee to promote understanding and harmony among the various faiths. “The idea of the committee is for the members to hold […]
Najib Tun Razak
The BN’s ISA dilemma
By Shanon ShahHOME Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein announced in August 2009 that amendments to the Internal Security Act (ISA) would be tabled during the following October Parliament sitting. This was just after the massive anti-ISA protest in Kuala Lumpur. That amendment, however, never materialised. Hishammuddin then said in December 2009 that the ISA amendments would be […]
Responding to “Allah” differently
By Ding Jo-Ann(Pic by Adrian Van Leen / sxc.hu) PREDICTABLE. This best sums up the reactions by some Muslim groups and the government to the High Court’s 31 Dec 2009 decision to lift the ban on the use of “Allah” by Catholic paper Herald. Malaysians were probably able to anticipate the newspaper headlines and ensuing comments, given […]
Whither institutional reforms?
By Wong Chin HuatConstruction of the Berlin Wall in 1961 (Public domain; Wiki commons) WALKING can be political. East Germans tried crossing the Berlin Wall for the 28 years that it existed. Many eventually moved to the West through Hungary and Czechoslovakia after August 1989, and took to the streets in East Berlin en masse three months later. […]
Umno still leads the way
By Deborah LohWill Najib wait for the MIC, MCA, Gerakan and PPP to play catch-up? AFTER the March 2008 general election, when public sentiment against the Barisan Nasional (BN) swirled dark and hopes were bright for the Pakatan Rakyat (PR)’s multicultural politics, Umno was everybody’s favourite punching bag. Perhaps riding on public sentiment that favoured the opposition, […]
Umno needs “independent monitoring”
By Shanon ShahPETALING JAYA, 23 Oct 2009: Money politics must be addressed through laws that allow independent investigations into the ethical conduct of political parties, including during party elections, said Universiti Malaya’s Prof Dr Edmund Terence Gomez. But the political analyst told The Nut Graph in a telephone interview that he didn’t think Umno would try to […]
Peninsular Malaysians reject corrupt leaders
By Jacqueline Ann SurinPETALING JAYA, 8 Oct 2009: A new Merdeka Center for Opinion Research poll has found that the majority of Malaysians reject political leaders who have been tainted by money politics or sex scandals. In a press release today, Merdeka Center said a total of 87% of respondents in a poll conducted in Peninsular Malaysia from […]
Bringing talent home
By Ding Jo-Ann“We must bring the talents home and provide incentives to keep them home.” PRIME Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in his speech at the Mahathir Science Award 2008 and 2009. He said more scientists and innovators were needed, and that Malaysia must identify the reasons for the country’s inability to nurture a bigger pool of […]
Promoting Rosmah
By Shanon ShahRosmah Mansor (Source: upsi.edu.my)MANY Malaysian political blogs have already started to sneer at Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor‘s official website. This is, perhaps, not surprising. After all, her husband, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, had to deal with highly acidic public opinion even before he assumed office in April 2009. There are valid questions about […]
Demonstrations
By The Nut Graph teamTHE 1 Aug 2009 anti-Internal Security Act (ISA) street rally attracted big crowds scattered around the heart of Kuala Lumpur. The throng of people easily numbered 20,000 but could have been more. Demonstrators sported headbands, T-shirts and banners that decried the draconian law. They called for the Act, which allows for indefinite state detention without […]
