I DIDN’T live through the racial clashes of 13 May 1969. I was born a year after. And yet, throughout my childhood and into my adulthood, just mentioning “13 May” evoked whispered warnings and an unnameable fear. What is it about 13 May that gives rise to fear and suspicion that fellow Malaysians might re-enact […]
violence
Are the police shooting to kill?
By Ding Jo-AnnNorizan Salleh (file pic) POLICE-shooting victim Norizan Salleh never imagined she would ever be shot at. She describes how she felt lying on a highway near Gombak on 30 Oct 2009 after being shot five times by the police while on her way home: “I kept asking myself, ‘Betul ke, saya kena tembak? Is this […]
“Allah” issue: Who started it?
By Jacqueline Ann SurinLEST we forget, the source of the Allah controversy that resulted in churches, and a Catholic school, being torched and threatened did not begin on the streets. It did not begin with narrow-minded and ignorant Muslim pressure groups threatening to spill blood to assert their sole right to use “Allah”. Lest we forget, it began […]
“Everything’s gonna be alright”
Compiled by Nick Choo
THE “Allah” controversy and subsequent arson attacks on churches are making local and international headlines, casting a dark pall on Malaysia. In the face of this discord, a group of young people banded together in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, 9 Jan 2010, to spread a message of hope. They held placards that read “Everything’s gonna […]
Addicted to violence
By Wong Chin Huat(Syringe image by Yosia Urip; pills by Richard Dunstan / sxc.hu) WE have celebrated Merdeka Day and will usher in Malaysia Day, the real national day, just a week from now. But why are we celebrating the birth of our nation? Indeed, why celebrate the birth of any nation? This is not another article lamenting […]
More violence at NS camp
By Shanon ShahFuziah Salleh (PKR-Kuantan), showing a photo of injuries sustained by an NS trainee KUALA LUMPUR, 1 July 2009: Violence at National Service camps are preventable, a Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Member of Parliament (MP) said today, even as she revealed two separate incidents of sexual assault and violence at the Chini camp. MP for Kuantan […]
Conversion without consent
Translation by Sharmila Valli NarayananSTORIES that dominated the Tamil press for the week of 13 to 19 April 2009 continued to be about the conversion of children to Islam without a parent’s consent and a mother’s fight for these children. The Tamil press also looked at the neverending cycle of violence in the Indian Malaysian community. Forced conversion The […]
Shock tactics
By N Shashi Kala(Public domain; source: Wikipedia) WHILE channel surfing, I stumbled upon a documentary on the History Channel on the attack on Pearl Harbor. On 7 Dec 1941, the Japanese fleet sent their fighter planes to decimate the US naval base, which was caught off-guard. It’s an event that has been dramatised on the silver screen numerous […]
Arming our writers
By Kathy Rowland(© Agata Urbaniak / sxc.hu) ONE of the unexpected outcomes of the recent presidential election campaign in the US has been a sharp rise in gun sales. Demand for firearms and other related paraphernalia went up by 15% in October. There is a fear that president-elect Barack Obama will institute gun controls when he assumes […]
