Politik, Legislatif, Dasar dan Tadbir Urus

My article was earlier published in TheAntDaily.com on 21/12/2014 It is not too way off to say that we are living in a nation full of distraction. Here we are, facing off so many distraction, one after another, non-stop. Perhaps it was meant to confuse all of us, to take us away from the real issues affecting our daily lives, those issues moving our nation towards bankruptcy and destruction, both socially and economically. The real issues seriously affecting our nation are mismanagement, power abuse and corruption that are taking place in the both BN-led federal and state governments. All these mismanagement, power abuse and corruption had cost billions of ringgit in public funds almost every year, very much celebrated as an anniversary by the ruling elites and their cronies after the release of the Auditor-General’s Report every year. So, after the Auditor General Reports were released every year, what has been done then? Has the BN government initiated any tough and effective meas...

My article was earlier published in the Aliran.com on 18/12/2014 The Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into the undocumented immigrants in Sabah report has just been finalised and released to the public after months of hearings and investigations. Some major points to be looked at: in 2000, there were about 600,000 foreigners in Sabah. Ten years later, in 2010, there were about 889,780 foreigners in the state. That is a drastic increase, perhaps an uncontrolled one, of a large number of foreigners arriving into the state in just ten years. From 1996 to 2000, about 457,850 Indonesians entered Sabah, but only 228,370 left the state and during the same period too, about 210,910 Filipinos entered the state but only 199,170 left. The question here is, where did the 229,480 Indonesians and 11,740 Filipinos go? They cannot just vanish like that without a single trace. Why is there no report on the foreigners’ entries from 2001 to 2014? Why is there no scrutiny for this particular period, w...

By Amy Chew It was 3am when a 30-year-old female Malay financial researcher was woken up by her flatmate in a middle class suburb in Kuala Lumpur early this year. Six to seven men from the Selangor State Islamic Department (Jais) had entered her apartment in a "morality" raid. An anonymous phone call to the religious department alleging a man was seen entering her flat was all it took for the religious officials to descend on her home. "The men were not accompanied by any woman. They searched all our bedrooms, closets and even looked under the bed as they thought a man could be hiding there," said the researcher who spoke on condition of anonymity. The incident left her angry and helpless and helped compel her to make plans to leave Malaysia in two years. The researcher is one of an increasing number of Malay Muslims aspiring to leave this country of 30 million. In the past, it was the country's ethnic Chinese and Indians who left Malaysia in large numbers fo...

Under Abbas, majority say they can't speak freely! Two-thirds of Palestinians say they are afraid to criticize Mahmoud Abbas, according to a poll, and some of the Palestinian president's recent actions only seem to confirm claims that dissent comes at a price. Last month, Abbas outlawed the West Bank's largest labor union and briefly jailed its two leaders for organizing strikes. Security agents routinely monitor social media and send threats or complaints to some of those criticizing Abbas. Meanwhile, the Palestinian leader's Fatah movement continues to purge supporters of an exiled rival. Critics say that after a decade in power, Abbas is overseeing a largely authoritarian system with shrinking room for dissent — a claim denied by Abbas supporters who say Palestinians enjoy more political freedoms than most in the Arab world. Complaints of heavy-handedness come at a time of paralysis on all fronts. Abbas' strategy of setting up a Palestinian state through negot...

My article was earlier published in TheAntDaily.com on 7/12/2014 The Penang and Selangor Pakatan Rakyat state governments’ move to provide annual allocations to opposition assemblymen is seen as new era for Malaysian politics and democracy. The gesture signals the Pakatan-led states’ recognition of the importance and roles played by BN opposition assemblymen in providing regular checks and balances to ensure effective administration of the two states. Though the move is something new here, it has nevertheless been a common practice in democracies like Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Great Britain, Taiwan and South Korea, where the leaders of the opposition are recognised by the governments. Apart from recognising the leader of the opposition, these nations also recognised the institution of the shadow cabinet to oversee government ministers and their offices within the administration. However, the BN assemblymen in Penang and Selangor had refused to accept the annual allocations as ...

The seeds of the "Allah" controversy, the custody battles between Muslim and non-Muslim spouses and the spread of anti-Christian feelings in Malaysia can be traced to a certain translation of the Quran, a recent forum on Muslim extremism in Kuala Lumpur was told. This widely available translation, called the Hilali-Khan, made Muslims think that Islam was a religion hostile to other faiths, said academic and progressive Muslim thinker Dr Ahmad Farouk Musa. It also nurtured a belief among ordinary Muslims that it was acceptable to treat non-believers as second-class citizens and deny them equal rights, he said. The Hilali-Khan translation is the joint work of two scholars, Dr Muhammad Taqi-ud Din Al-Hilali and Dr Muhammad Muhsin Khan, who inserted their own interpretations of the holy text according to world views that existed about 600 years ago. It is said to be among the more controversial translations of the Quran. This worldview was forged at a time when there...

Malaysia should perhaps tear up its constitution if it wants to escape from liberalism and pluralism, in which the country was based on in the first place, says a South African Muslim scholar. Professor Ebrahim E. I. Moosa told a forum in Penang today this was because Malaysia was a pluralistic and liberal country. "The very idea that Malaysia has accepted, constitutionally or otherwise, the plurality of religious and ethnic communities… it is already on the way to liberalism. "You are already on a certain kind of liberalism. It might not be an optimal one, but it is already there. "If you want to get away from liberalism, you need to tear up the Malaysian constitution and begin knocking down the foundation of what the society is about," he said at the forum “Developing a Philosophy of Pluralism” organised by think tank Penang Institute. He was replying to a question from the audience on his thoughts on the Senate being told earlier today that "the...

Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) said it is serious that the royal commission of inquiry (RCI) has admitted the possibility of the existence of 'Project IC and how it played a vital role in the Sabah electoral results. This follows the unveiling of the report on Wednesday, that concluded that the issuing of ICs was not motivated by political reasons but pure profit. "Of particular concern is the finding that 'it was more likely than not, that Project IC did exist'. "That is, the systemic incorporation of irregular immigrants through dubious documentations and facilitating their access to become registered voters and possibly determine political outcomes in Sabah," said LFL executive director Eric Paulsen in a statement today. The project, which some have claimed to be a brainchild of former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad, allowed the issuing of identity cards to illegal immigrants, causing a population boom in the state. He said Project IC had serious impact on the im...

Malaysia's ringgit was set on Monday to suffer its biggest two-day slide since the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis as tumbling oil prices threatened to undermine the oil exporter's economy. The ringgit fell 2.4 percent to 3.4300 per dollar as of 0653 GMT from Thursday's close of 3.3465, according to Thomson Reuters data. Earlier on Monday, the Malaysian currency slipped as far as 3.4375, its weakest since February 2010. That would be the largest two-day depreciation since July 1998, the data showed. In 1998, Malaysia fixed the ringgit at 3.8000 and abandoned the peg in July 2005. Kuala Lumpur stocks lost nearly 3 percent after Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas), Malaysia's state oil company, said on Friday it plans to cut capital expenditure next year by 15-20 percent. "It just adds to the negatives," said Jonathan Cavenagh, senior FX strategist with Westpac in Singapore. "I suspect until oil stabilises, the ringgit is at risk of continuing to fall....

A peace treaty had been signed and an insurgency long ended, but a quarter of a century later, hurt remains for former members of the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) who still feel the sting of broken promises and continued demonisation over their past. Today marks the 25th anniversary of the Hatyai Peace Accord, when the CPM laid down arms against the Malaysian and Thai governments, ending an insurgency that began in 1948. But despite having signed the agreement with Malaysia, the government has not been sincere in honouring the pact, former CPM members living in Narathiwat province in southern Thailand told The Malaysian Insider during a visit there ahead of the anniversary of the signing of the treaty. Still demonised Former CPM member Yaacob Ibrahim, 53, better known as Bulat among his comrades, was angry that the CPM continued to be demonised despite there being a peace agreement and the fact that the party was no longer a threat. "In my view, the last 25 years had been a t...

Recently, an insane politician claimed that the holy books of the religion that she professes was burned in her home state and the crowd in front of her got provoked and turned into a mass anger.  Later on, another senior politician confirmed that there wasn't any such event taking place in that state at all. What then? She has gone missing, kept so quiet and yet refused to apologize for her misinformation.  First of all, why the big fuss over the burning of some holy books? Just call the fire department or take a bucket of water to put down the fire before it spreads or endanger anyone. That's it! No issue, just put off the fire. It is just a book. Books are normally written by someone, published, printed, reprinted, distributed or redistributed, later on re-edited, improvised or re-generated. Books are normally written, copied, printed, produced, reprinted and reproduced by many people, many interest groups and individual contributors for the purpose of propaga...

By Marc Jones Fading hopes of a meaningful cut in production at Thursday's OPEC meeting sent oil prices tumbling to a four-year low as Thanksgiving in the United States saw world stocks touch the brakes on their recent rally. Gulf oil producers led by Saudi Arabia are expected to press the case at OPEC's meeting in Vienna for holding off from output cuts, despite calls from some members for it to prop up prices that have crashed by a over a third since June. OPEC sources have told Reuters action is unlikely and Brent oil dropped by more than $1.75 in Asian and early European trading to $75.95 a barrel, the lowest level since September 2010. "The scene has been set by the Saudi comments going in to this meeting that market forces should be allowed to determine the price here," said National Australia Bank strategist Gavin Friend. "I think in terms of the big global economy picture, a lower oil price is a force for the good and the meeting today is rea...

By Leonid Bershidsky Igor Sechin, chief executive of Russia's biggest oil company, state-owned Rosneft, said something surprising after a meeting this week in which officials from oil-producing countries failed to agree on the need to cut output. Russia will be fine, he said, even if the oil price falls to $60 or less per barrel. How can that be, if, according to a recent Deutsche Bank estimate , Russia needs a price of about $100 a barrel to balance its budget this year? The answer works for Russia as well as for a few members of OPEC: Budgets are balanced in national currencies, not in dollars, and any country that has the political leeway to devalue its currency as the oil price falls is not particularly motivated to cut production. Russian President Vladimir Putin explained that much in a recent, unusually frank interview with the official TASS news agency: "Look, before we sold $1 worth of goods and got 32 rubles for it. Now we get 45 rubles for the same $1 worth of ...

By Daniel Gordis In our neighborhood in south Jerusalem, a pickup truck driven by an Arab man comes around once or twice a week, a loudspeaker mounted on top blaring a recording, "Alte Sachen." He collects old appliances and clothing that people are giving away, employing the Yiddish phrase that European Jewish peddlers used when they came to town: Alte Sachen -- Used Items. There’s something quaint about an Arab man coming to an Israeli neighborhood where most of the residents speak English or French, beckoning to them in Yiddish. But it’s also absurd -- his message to them is in a language that neither he nor his prospective “clients” understand. It’s not clear if he even knows that it’s Yiddish. That loudspeaker is an apt metaphor for the relations between Israeli Jews and Arabs, who though citizens of the same state, increasingly have nothing to talk about. That has become even more clear recently, with Israel embroiled in a conflict over whether to pass a law that wo...

My article was earlier published in TheAntDaily.com on 21/11/2014 After the last two general elections, both the ruling and opposition coalitions have deviated from their many promises and objectives. They have not been focusing on the key and relevant issues affecting the people and the country. Instead of tackling issues like the high cost of living, escalating property prices and higher fuel prices, Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat are harping on petty issues and politicking to benefit only themselves and their political establishments. For example, judging from the way the BN is administering our nation, things don’t seem to get any better for the ordinary citizens. It would not be an exaggeration if one concludes that our government is a government of the politicians, by the politicians, for the politicians. Year in, year out, it’s the same old story: we read and hear of reports on unabated corruption, power abuse and mismanagement in ministries, departments, agencies a...

I attended the annual general meeting of the Persatuan Aliran Kesedaran Negara (Aliran) today which was held at the Aliran House in Medan Penaga, Jelutong, Penang. During the meeting, we discussed the several issues that are affecting our nation's socio-political, economy and our people as well as the proposal to set up a research outfit. The meeting is indeed a fruitful and I also would like to congratulate Aliran president Francis Loh and his executive committee members for their elections for the ensuing year. Keep up your good work for our people and the nation.

My article was earlier published in TheAntDaily.com on 12/11/2014 Malaysia is ranked highest in religious and ethnic divisions, according to a report released by the Pew Research Centre. Prime Minister and Umno president Datuk Seri Najib Razak has been championing and pursuing the agenda of moderation on the global arena and his latest effort at marketing himself as a moderate Muslim leader was at the 69th United Nations General Assembly recently. Najib has shown leaders of the Muslim world that he is indeed a “fine example of a moderate leader” that others should emulate. Yes, citizens of other nations, with little knowledge of Malaysian politics would certainly believe that his speech speaks volumes in fighting all forms of religious and racial extremisms, violence and discrimination. Back home, religious and racial extremists are systematically allowed to flourish. Religious discrimination and threats against other faiths have also grown rapidly and getting out of control. ...

My article was earlier published in TheAntDaily.com on 1/11/2014 When an Umno divisional leader from Selangor called on the government to shut down Chinese vernacular schools, MCA was the first BN component party to rebuke him. We applaud the MCA central committee (CC) member for his quick reaction on this issue. However, in reply, the said Umno division leader fired back at the CC member by asking him to shut his mouth instead, stating that it was none of MCA business and labelled MCA as already irrelevant to the Chinese community. The Umno man added more salt to the wound by saying that many MCA leaders only won their seats in the general elections because of Malay votes. Not surprisingly, the entire MCA leadership got numbed and sought assistance from Umno president and BN chairman Datuk Ser Najib Razak via a “close door” meeting. In the end, we saw nothing at all on what is really BN’s official stance pertaining to the Chinese vernacular school system. We all know that many MCA le...

By William Pesek Bloombergview.com If Malaysian leader Najib Razak thought he already had problems at home, now he also needs to worry about a “Jokowi effect” spreading from neighboring Indonesia. On Monday, fresh-faced Joko "Jokowi" Widodo took the helm of the world’s fourth-most-populous nation. Throughout Southeast Asia, young voters have been gripped by the rise of this small businessman -- effectively a nobody -- to his nation’s highest office. Jokowi isn't the scion of any political dynasty or wealthy family, the normal routes to power in Southeast Asia . He’s a self-made outsider known for hands-on solutions and personal incorruptibility. Voters have to ask themselves why Jokowi’s story can’t be replicated in their own countries, many of which are crying out for more credible, effective leaders. Najib has particular reason to be concerned. His personal background -- as the son of Malaysia's 1970s Prime Minister Abdul Razak Hussein -- is one of privileg...