Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) may have postponed its assessment rate hike after the public protested. But is it likely that ratepayers will be able to stop the hike? Former Petaling Jaya councillor KW Mak explains how it may not matter at all what ratepayers think and want.
official secrets act
Are MPs protected from the OSA?
Reductio ad Absurdum by Chan Kheng Hoe
DATUK Mukhriz Mahathir was recently reported to have offered to release the confidential agreements between Tenaga Nasional Bhd and independent power producers (IPPs) to Parliament, but not to the public. This offer was immediately denounced by the DAP Member of Parliament (MP) Tony Pua as being “complete and utter bunkum”. Pua said even MPs cannot […]
The Malaysian state of impunity (Updated)
Shape of a Pocket by Jacqueline Ann Surin
(Updated 2:45pm, 1 May 2011) TWO things alarmed me about the arrest of Adrian Yeo, who is Selangor exco Elizabeth Wong’s aide, in Miri on 16 April 2011 after the Sarawak elections. One was the number of police officers who publicly assaulted him before he was taken away. The other was how none of the […]
Syabas concession agreements: Why so secret?
Holding Court by Ding Jo-Ann
THE federal government has prevailed yet again in keeping secrets from the Malaysian public. On 25 Feb 2011, the Court of Appeal overturned a High Court decision compelling the disclosure of an audit report and a 2004 water concession agreement. How are the audit report and the agreement significant? And why did the Court of […]
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 […]
The truth about secrets
By Jacqueline Ann Surin(Pic by Kriss Szkurlatowski / sxc.hu) TWO weeks ago, I could not help feeling that there was little difference between the Catholic Church and the Barisan Nasional (BN)-led federal government. Both these powerful institutions have one thing in common — both have cultivated a long-standing culture of secrets. With the church, the damage has been […]
Keeping secrets over Bukit Antarabangsa
By Ding Jo-Ann“We hope the Bukit Antarabangsa residents will know the truth now that the full report has been released.” Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim announcing that the Public Works Department (JKR)’s investigation report on the Bukit Antarabangsa landslide would be declassified by the Selangor government. The report was released to the Ampang Jaya Municipal […]
“We cannot afford another Anwar prosecution” (Updated)
By Datuk Ambiga SreenevasanUpdated 3.20pm on 30 June 2009 The following is an excerpt of a public lecture by Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan titled Democracy, Law and Human Rights in an Era of Globalisation that was delivered on 23 June 2009 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Chevening Scholarship Programme THE Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim prosecution is seen […]
Hiding behind “secrets”
By Gan Pei LingShhhhh… (© Paul Brunskill / sxc.hu) “YOU cannot quote me…I’ve discussed with my superior, we’ve decided that the progress is slow, so we don’t think it’s a good time to publicise it now, why don’t you write on other issues?” That was the response from an officer from the Ministry of Women, Family and Community […]
Zaid: Umno leaders opposed disclosure
By Deborah LohPETALING JAYA, 15 June 2009: Senior Umno leaders shot down efforts last year to get ministers to publicly declare their assets and income, former minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim revealed today. Zaid, who was sacked from Umno and joined Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) on 13 June, blamed Umno leaders for scuttling then Prime Minister Tun Abdullah […]
