If the government is committed to uplifting workers, it should encourage them to unionise, says K George.
Jul 072006
2006: 3
Jul 072006
Low-tech transit is the fastest route to a great city, says a Brazilian architect, Jaime Lerner, who wants to give the bus a makeover. The former mayor of the Brazilian city of Curitiba, population 1.7 million, beats the drum worldwide for BRT ("bus rapid transit") systems, which transform dowdy bus lines into sleek transportation networks.
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Jul 072006
The concept of women as the property of men is so deeply entrenched in the social, political and economic fabric of some communities that they routinely ignore the daily occurences of women being killed and maimed by their families,says Sarajun Hoda Abdul Hassan.
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Jul 052006
Some 20,000 ethnic Indians have been denied their right to identity and citizenship, says Ramdas Tikamdas. These are the “invisible Malaysians” who encounter unimaginable difficulties in accessing or are denied the fundamentals of human rights in education, health care, employment and housing.
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Jul 052006
In another world, religion will not be a tool of exploitation in the hands of exploiters, but it will be a powerful weapon in the hands of the poor and the oppressed, says Asghar Ali Engineer.
Jul 042006
Veteran unionist K George sadly reports that a group of five unions led by Abdul Razak Hassan of the Railwaymen’s Union of Malaysia is planning to split from the MTUC. They are aligned to Zainal Rampak who lost in the tussle for the MTUC’s leadership. With unionists like these, no wonder membership is falling. Dialogue is the answer to their difference, not a splinter movement, which will only weaken the labour movement.
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Jun 292006
The working class would be the most affected group due to the recent unprecedented 30-sen oil hike. On the one hand, the Government has given a free hand to capitalists to exploit and squeeze the workers. Now, by reducing the oil subsidy, the government has abandoned the little responsibility it had for the working class, says S Arutchelvan.
Jun 272006
… and it's not just the water, says Ong Eu Soon, in expressing horror that contaminated water could be channelled into our drinking water supply system.
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Jun 242006
Something must be done to curb the ethnic “champions” and hotheads relishing a confrontation, says P Ramakrishnan.
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May 172006
Polling day in Sarawak is on 20 May but, withTaib Mahmud in power for 25 longyears, Sarawakians are distinctly unexcited about the elections. How and why has the chief minister dominated Sarawak elections for so long? And why doesSarawak have the fourth highest incidence of poverty after Sabah, Terengganu and Kelantan?
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