(Blackboard pic by ilco / sxc.hu) IF the church were to agree to the ban of the word “Allah” for non-Muslims, would this solve our problems? The answer is no. Religious authorities in the West Malaysian states have banned more than the word “Allah”. In Pahang and Malacca, the word “nabi” (prophet) is banned, making […]
Wong Chin Huat
Najib’s options with Allah
By Wong Chin Huat(Corrected at 7:25pm, 15 Jan 2010) How will Najib put out the fires? (Fire pic by straymuse / sxc.hu) COMMENTATOR Manjit Bhathia is right to say that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak “is starting to look every bit as useless as his predecessor, (Tun) Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.” After the divisive rule of Tun Dr […]
Bonuses in peril
By Wong Chin HuatDESPITE all the madness in 2009, it was a year in which Malaysians saw positive changes on two important fronts: ethnic relations and good governance. A good example, notwithstanding the initial flip-flopping, is the federal government’s decision to revamp the racist and fascist content of the Biro Tata Negara courses after being forced to by […]
Pakatan Rakyat vs local elections
By Wong Chin HuatIT is funny to hear my friends in the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) complaining that civil society is pressuring only the opposition coalition to revive local elections and not the Barisan Nasional (BN). It becomes more hilarious now that the PR has reportedly reduced its commitment to merely “strengthening local democracy.” One unnamed leader defends it […]
BTN’s flaws beyond racism
By Wong Chin HuatTHE Biro Tata Negara (BTN) saga has taken yet another twist. Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz has called former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad “bloody racist” for defending the BTN training modules. Most right-thinking members of the public would agree with Nazri that the BTN is ethnic-centric. However, would […]
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. […]
Time for recall elections, Selangor
By Wong Chin HuatCorrected at 4:25pm, 4 Nov 2009 THERE are those who cheered for Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s now infamous 16 September 2008 plot to take over the federal government by defections. There are also those who initially cheered the 10-day defection of Datuk Nasarudin Hashim (state assemblyperson for Bota, Perak) from Umno to Parti […]
Game over for PR in Perak?
By Wong Chin HuatSIX months ago, when Datuk Seri Najib Razak first took over as prime minister in April 2009, no one would have expected him to be able to draw a mass rally numbering between 30,000 and 50,000 people in Perak. Indeed, he even avoided the campaign in the Bukit Gantang by-election a few days after his […]
Winning the next elections
By Wong Chin HuatTHERE are three ways to understand the stunning outcome of the Bagan Pinang by-election: Najib, Isa and the Pakatan Rakyat (PR). If you believe that the Barisan Nasional (BN)’s victory is really about Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia, then you would have to accept that Tan Sri Mohd Isa Abdul Samad and the money politics […]
MCA’s irrelevant civil war
By Wong Chin HuatIF you believe that media reports reflect reality, you would think that the infighting in the MCA is the most important issue the Chinese Malaysian community is grappling with. Nothing could be further from the truth. Among young Chinese Malaysians, the apolitical ones would not know what the 10 Oct 2009 extraordinary general meeting (EGM) […]
