INCREDULOUS. That’s how a journalist feels when a senior civil servant responds to a request for information with a flat refusal to answer. Following the commentary on the need for a Freedom of Information Act, it is timely to relate another story about failed attempts to get answers on matters of public interest from the […]
official
“Official secret” used to reject MP’s query
By Zedeck SiewKUALA LUMPUR, 15 June 2009: A question posed by DAP parliamentarian Liew Chin Tong on Defence Ministry expenditure has been rejected because it is an “official secret”. “I understand if certain matters related to defence are kept secret, but I do not consider this an excuse if the question refers to information related to finances,” Liew said […]
PR will give up official residence and cars
By Deborah LohIPOH, 12 Feb 2009: Pakatan Rakyat is going to give up the Perak Menteri Besar’s official residence and the official cars used by executive councillors — two symbols they have clung on to as evidence of the Pakatan state government’s legitimacy. However, embattled Menteri Besar (MB) Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin said doing so did […]
The right to protest
By KW Mak(© Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams / wikipedia.org) ASSEMBLING to protest an issue is a touchy subject in Malaysia, thanks to many factors, including police heavy-handedness in breaking up peaceful demonstrations. It is also common to hear of officials dictating the impropriety of the assembly without actually providing any avenue for the aggrieved persons to air […]
