77 ALTHOUGH Malaysia's education indicators such as literacy rates and school enrolment ratios are comparable to industrialised countries, there are still pockets of children who do not have proper access to education. The United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) says the children at greatest risk in Malaysia are non-Malaysian children born in Malaysia. These include refugee children and children of undocumented...
�HERE'S what I want to know: why was Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein appointed to the cabinet, and why is he still a minister despite an appalling track record of saying and doing the wrong things? Hishammuddin's statements as Home Minister since he was sworn into Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's administration in April 2009, betray either how clueless or...
EC chairperson Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof THE nationwide constitutional law tutorial continues with the latest Kota Siputeh case. The court has had to intervene once again to arbitrate between the speaker of a legislative assembly and the Election Commission (EC). This time, the 16 Nov 2009 High Court decision ruled that the EC was wrong in not declaring...
� � "If there is a need to appoint one, I would suggest non-partisan ulama, like Datuk Seri Harussani Zakaria." � � KULIM-Bandar Baru Member of Parliament Zulkifli Noordin names the Perak mufti as his candidate of choice to lead Pakatan Rakyat. Zulkifli, no stranger to controversy, was responding to a blog posting by Datuk Zaid Ibrahim. Zaid had said...
  "Orang nak bawa saya pergi ke Mekah, kenapa saya nak tolak. Saya pergi ke Mekah, jarang belanja saya sendiri. Orang tolong bayar. Semua orang berebut (untuk membiaya saya ke Mekah)."   Kelantan Menteri Besar Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat admits receiving sponsorship worth RM65,000 to perform his pilgrimage to Mecca. However, he opined that it was...
Tony Fernandes (pic courtesy of Tony Fernandes) "DREAM the undreamable, believe the impossible, and never take no for an answer." AirAsia chief executive officer Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes certainly lives by his company's creed. Under his leadership, AirAsia and Air Asia X have just won the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation award, beating airlines such as Singapore Airlines and Cathay...
KUALA LUMPUR, 19 Nov 2009: A meeting of MCA central committee (CC) members today rejected an emergency general meeting (EGM) slated for 28 Nov as it was against the party constitution, said party president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat. Ong said besides that, the notice issued by the group of 16 CC members who wanted to have the EGM supported...
KUALA LUMPUR, 18 Nov 2009: A former home minister had acted arbitrarily in banning a book, Muslim Women and the Challenge of Islamic Extremism, published by Sisters in Islam (SIS), the High Court heard today. Counsel K Shanmuga said the order issued by the then minister, Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar, to ban the book was irrational and contravened the...
PETALING JAYA, 18 Nov 2009: Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz's challenge to Karpal Singh to prosecute VK Lingam himself has come under fire by senior lawyers who have described his remarks as irresponsible. Former Bar Council president Yeo Yang Poh said the remark by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department was "not responsible" because it showed a lack of...
THE Malaysian Bar is disturbed about the high number of migrants who have died while in custody. In July 2009, the Dewan Rakyat was told that some 2,029 persons died in prisons, rehabilitation centres and immigration detention centres between 2002 and 1 June 2009. More recently, Suhakam Commissioner Datuk Siva Subramaniam was quoted as saying that 1,300 foreigners died in...
PETALING JAYA, 18 Nov 2009: Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno should already have been caned by now according to the law, the Kuantan syariah court and a syariah lawyer said. "Initially there was this issue of syubahah (doubt) in the implementation of the sentence. But the prisons department has already assured us that it has syariah-compliant caners, even for women," Kuantan...
THE words come often, and ruthlessly so: Irrelevant. A waste of time. A joke. These are currently used to describe Gerakan, and its members know it. Once, it claimed its place as the "Voice of Reason" within the Barisan Nasional (BN). But since the 2008 general election, the party has seen its fortunes and influence so battered, naysayers say they...
ON 27 Oct 2009, four journalists â from the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia â were taken to dinner in Perth, Australia, by a representative of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). Walking down the banks of the Swan River, the four, including this writer from The Nut Graph, could not stop remarking on how beautiful Perth was....
KUCHING, 17 Nov 2009: The Election Commission (EC) will take necessary action pending the decision of the Kuala Lumpur High Court on its application for a stay of execution of the order to call for a by-election for the Kota Siputeh state seat in Kedah. EC chairperson Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof said the commission was awaiting the legal...
75 FROM 28 to 30 Aug 2009, artist collective Lost Generation Space (Kuala Lumpur) collaborated with Anak-Anak Kota (Penang) to present Bangun: Penang Clan Jetties Community Arts Project. The multimedia arts festival was held on and around the clan jetties of Penang. Among the project's objectives was to involve the clan jetty community in the arts. Workshops were conducted with...
A Victorian wedding portrait (Source: Wiki commons) JANAGI and Rajoo were married. After Rajoo left Janagi, Janagi approached Maniam to live with him. Displeased that Janagi was living with another man, Rajoo charged Maniam for "enticing away" Janagi to have "illicit intercourse" with her. The court decided that since it was Janagi "who sought [Maniam] out", it was she who...
Sssh (Pic by ehlert / sxc.hu)DING Jo-Ann's commentary about the government's policy of silence got me wondering if the same holds true for the Petaling Jaya City Council, or MBPJ. Do we practise the same deafening silence? I shall answer that question with a story. Not mine to give Once, a group of Section 19, Petaling Jaya residents demanded for...
KUALA LUMPUR, 16 Nov 2009: The MCA extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on 28 Nov would be held as scheduled despite attempts to derail it, MCA Youth chief Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong said today. He said it was the right of delegates to requisition an EGM to determine the direction of the party and resolve problems it faced. "[The attempts]...
Children's Rights Still Violated 20 Years After .. Nations are staging special events to mark the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which came into force on November 20, 1989.
