Politik, Legislatif, Dasar dan Tadbir Urus

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...

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 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 ...