Politik, Legislatif, Dasar dan Tadbir Urus

Human Rights Watch Prime Minister Najib Razak abandoned his pledge to revoke Malaysia ’s repressive sedition law and oversaw a wave of arrests of opposition politicians and social activists, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2015. The authorities continued their politically motivated prosecution of parliamentary opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim for sodomy. “Prime Minister Najib’s shameful reversal of his pledge to end sedition shows his willingness to put politics over human rights,” said Phil Robertson , deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Malaysia’s human rights are in a downward spiral because the government evidently believes that continued rule depends on suppressing speech, harassing opposition groups, and targeting prominent figures with legal action.” In the 656-page world report, its 25th edition, Human Rights Watch reviews human rights practices in more than 90 countries. In his introductory essay, Executive Director Kenneth Roth urges government...

My article was earlier published in the Aliran.com on 23/1/2015 Recently, many moderates have made their voices heard. After 25 prominent Malays came forward in their quest to curb the out-of-control racial and religious extremism, others boldly came forward to speak out against the rising tide of extremism in the country. But the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition has not yet acknowledged the fact that moderation is the way forward if we want to see our nation progress. Umno in particular has refused to accept the reality of our multi-ethnic and multi-religious environment, in which the interaction among people of various ethnic groups and religions cannot be avoided. If we have national unity, the interaction among the various ethnic groups and religions reflects the harmony among our communities. Unfortunately, many Umno leaders have chosen to continue the same old stories, alleging that threat are coming from the ideas of liberalism, pluralism and secularism. They claim ther...

By Boo Soo-Lyn Malaysian law is secular as the Federal Constitution restricts Islamic legislation to marriage, divorce and inheritance based on the Supreme Court’s ruling in the landmark 1988 Che Omar Che Soh case, the Court of Appeal has ruled in a high-profile transgender case. The three-judge panel of Malaysia’s second-highest court led by Justice Datuk Mohd Hishamudin Yunus cited former Lord President Tun Salleh Abas, who had ruled that the framers of the Federal Constitution had confined the word “Islam” in Article 3 — which says that Islam is the religion of the Federation — to the areas of marriage, divorce and inheritance law, based on the history of Islamic legislation in Malaya during British colonial times. “If it had been otherwise, there would have been another provision in the Constitution which would have the effect that any law contrary to the injunction of Islam will be void,” Hishamudin quoted Salleh as saying in the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision. “Far from ma...

Pluralism is not a dirty word by Azrul Mohd Khalib The Malay Mail Online Aug 12, 2013 AUG 12 — While I was listening to the Hari Raya Aidilfitri sermon at the National Mosque the other day, I was struck by its gloomy, depressing and combative tone. Rather than a message of celebration and rejoicing at the achievements represented by the conclusion of the holy month of Ramadan, the sermon was one which spoke in strident tones about the enemies of the faith, and attacks and threats to the ummah. One of the elements identified in the sermon as being a threat to Islam (along with secularism and feminism, strangely enough) was pluralism. Somehow, in less than 10 years, pluralism has become from being a proud attribute of multicultural and multi-ethnic Malaysia to one that has been vilified and has left certain people trembling in their boots. In case anyone is unsure, the Oxford dictionary defines pluralism as being a condition or system in which two or more states, groups, principles, so...

By James Gibney Some Chinese commentators have brushed off the defeat of Mahindra Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka's pro-Chinese president, as a tactical setback to China's economic and strategic expansion in the region. And it's true that Sri Lanka will continue to need, and to benefit from, Chinese investment. The real threat posed to China by Rajapaksa's surprising loss, however, is different. This marks the third big Asian election in the last 12 months in which voters have installed a new leader: first in India, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi thumped the incumbent Congress Party; then Indonesia, where Joko Widodo, an outsider, won over voters with his record of competence as governor of Jakarta; and now Maithripala Sirisena's upset victory in Sri Lanka. That kind of turnover at the top must give pause to China's Communist Party leaders, who see the mandate of heaven as an institutional birthright. A look at the map is instructive: As Freedom House notes , ...

When we starting asking, is it worth supporting the Palestinian course, we are very certain that most of you would be dumb for a moment and later on began asking on the motive of this question. Some of you would definitely retaliate by saying that such initiatives are humanitarian and no one should question nor against it.  Some of you might also publicly condemn those who oppose or question the support for Palestine. And even the majority of our Bumiputra youths today are obsessed with the Palestinian course which can be traced back during the era of former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad who believes Malaysia should express its views on the plight of the Palestinians “without fear or favour”. In fact, our government was very supportive of former Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) chairman Yasser Arafat and his vision for a Palestinian state. Little known to many of us, despite decades of financial support and other monetary allocations to the Palestinian hu...

My article was earlier published in the Aliran.com on 7/1/2015 We have all seen enough of the racial and religious extremist groups and NGOs, whose members are regulars in their bouts of shouting, yelling, screaming, and issuing threats and statements that could hurt and damage the unity of our multiracial society. These racial and religious extremist groups and NGOs often create a sort of menace in order to justify their words, actions and threats of violence. They say the Malays and Islam are under threat, the Christians are proselytising to the Muslims – but in every instance, they have no proof to back up their claims. Their various statements, actions, threats and violence have indeed done a lot of damage to the unity and stability of our nation and its economy. To these racial and religious extremists, anyone who speaks to counter them are deemed by them to be anti-Malay, anti-Islam, anti-monarchy, traitorous and “murtad”. They refuse to accept facts, figures or even evidence....

My letter was earlier published in Malaysiakini.com on 6/1/2015 It was hurtful to see that both MCA president Liow Tiong Lai and Penang Gerakan chairperson Teng Chang Yeow were using a Buddhist event in Penang recently to criticise and condemn an opposition party and its leaders, especially the Penang chief minister. Both Liow and Teng should use their own political platforms to do so as it would be inappropriate for both of them to take advantage of a sacred and religious event to voice their criticism and condemnation of others. The MCA leader and Penang Gerakan chief had earlier attended the 123rd anniversary celebration and induction of the seventh abbot of Kek Lok Si Temple in Air Itam, Penang recently. We wish to stress that it is not wrong to promote the course of moderation via your statement in the said Buddhist event but to go overboard and resorting to political attacks during the same event is definitely improper, especially when both of you were invited by the templ...