PETALING JAYA, 6 Nov 2009: The public's response to programmes by Saya Anak Bangsa Malaysia (SABM) has been more encouraging than from political parties, a SABM core group member said. Jayanath Appudurai said "grassroots response has been very encouraging" to previous public activities organised by SABM. However, in a recent attempt to engage political parties on the SABM charter, only...
IF we were to believe everything we read, one would think that torture or degrading behaviour, if done differently, would no longer constitute torture or degrading behaviour. Indeed, this is what Pahang's Mufti Department would want Muslims and non-Muslims to believe. Scan of New Straits Times report on syariah caning On 26 Oct 2009, the New Straits Times ran a...
74 GLOBAL Street Mission Kuala Lumpur (GOSM) is a non-profit non-governmental organisation that has been operating in Malaysia for the past 17 years. It reaches out to the poor, homeless and marginalised, helping them to rebuild their lives through rehabilitation and restoration. GOSM operates predominantly in the Klang Valley, providing meals, shelter, bathing, rest and counselling facilities for the needy....
Mohammad Nizar (file pic)PUTRAJAYA, 5 Nov 2009: Embattled Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin today failed to get 11 judges to hear his final appeal in the Perak constitutional crisis when the Federal Court rejected his application for a full bench. Instead, the ongoing battle between Mohammad Nizar and Barisan Nasional-installed Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul...
KUALA LUMPUR, 5 Nov 2009: The government was today asked to declassify all documents related to the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) to provide a clearer picture on the scandalous mega project. PKR strategic director Tian Chua (PKR-Batu) and William Leong (PKR-Selayang), in calling for the declassification, said the real culprits behind the scandal might not only be confined to...
PETALING JAYA, 5 Nov 2009: The police are now being used to silence the views of groups like Sisters in Islam (SIS) following the lodging of multiple reports against the women's rights group. SIS programme manager Masjaliza Hamzah said that to date, what is believed to be more than 50 police reports have been lodged against their joint press statement...
KUALA LUMPUR, 5 Nov 2009: The influenza A(H1N1) is still active in the community even though monitoring activities have found no abnormality, Director-General of Health Tan Sri Dr Mohd Ismail Merican said today. He said even the surveillance conducted at 619 clinics nationwide did not record any increase in influenza-like-illness (ILI) cases. The death toll due to H1N1 has remained...
KUALA LUMPUR, 5 Nov 2009: MCA president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat seems to be maintaining a silent approach as the party's internal crisis drags on. Endless questions about the party from journalists covering his visit to the Bangsar LRT Station in his capacity as the Transport Minister today received no response at all. "Today, I only entertain questions on...
VICTIMS of sexual harassment are not likely to receive meaningful recourse for their complaints if they go to the Labour Department. This is because the Labour Department director general, Datuk Ismail Abdul Rahim, does not seem to understand what sexual harassment is. In fact, he made light of the issue at a recent seminar on Sexual Harassment in the Workplace...
KUALA LUMPUR, 5 Nov 2009: The High Court here today allowed Kelantan prince Tengku Muhammad Fakhry Sultan Ismail Petra to enter judgment in default in his RM105 million defamation suit against his estranged Indonesian wife, Manohara Odelia Pinot, and her mother, Daisy Fajarina, after they failed to appoint counsel. Senior Assistant Registrar Shazali Hidayat Shariff granted the order in chambers....
Leow Puay Tin (All pics courtesy of Leow Puay Tin)PLAYWRIGHT and performer Leow Puay Tin has been involved in the theatre scene for more than 20 years. Working alongside the late, renowned Malaysian director Krishen Jit, she devised Tikam-Tikam: And Her Grandmother Said in 1983, and later wrote acclaimed plays, Three Children (1984), Ang Tau Mui (1993) and Family (1995)....
PETALING JAYA, 5 Nov 2009: The federal government has too much discretion to decide on the annual budget allocation for states, hence making it difficult for states to plan their development, Pakatan Rakyat-elected representatives said. At a forum on the 2010 Budget last night, Petaling Jaya Utara Member of Parliament (MP) Tony Pua said an unhealthy culture had developed due...
PENAHANAN Datuk Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin bekas Mufti Perlis oleh pihak  Jabatan Agama Islam Negeri Selangor (JAIS) telah menimbulkan kekeliruan dikalangan masyarakat Islam terutama di Selangor. Asri (Domain awam; sumber: Wiki commons) Selaku individu yang berada ditempat berlakunya majlis ilmu berkenaan, saya rasa terpanggil untuk menjelaskan beberapa perkara yang mengelirukan berdasarkan kepada beberapa laporan akhbar yang saya rasa telah...
Asri (Public domain; source: Wiki commons) THE arrest of former Perlis Mufti Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin raises disturbing questions: Isn't it unjust to arrest a person and take him [or her] to court while investigations on him [or her] are still ongoing? Doesn't this smack of arbitrariness and high-handedness, and doesn't it erode established judicial norms and the rule...
The Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) calls for the immediate release of the 15,000 bibles in Bahasa Malaysia currently being withheld by the authorities. To withhold the use of the Bahasa Malaysia bibles is an infringement of Article 11 of the Federal Constitution which gives every Malaysian the right to profess his or her faith as well as to practise...
Zalman Kastel leading a multi-faith prayer A POPULAR former state mufti has just been arrested by the Islamic religious authorities. A Muslim woman who drank alcohol must be whipped. Those who question the sentence on her must be silenced. The proposed relocation of a Hindu temple was met by a Muslim-led protest threatening bloodshed. Christians must not use the word...
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 Keadilan Rakyat (PKR). But do these people now have the moral...
U.S. Army gunman's act "impossible" - .. - Reuters AL-BIREH, West Bank, Nov 7 (Reuters) - The grandfather of a US Army psychiatrist accused of shooting dead 13 people and wounding 30 others at a base in Texas said on Saturday he found it impossible to believe his grandson had committed the act.
