Mahathir’s departure is the latest and clearest signal that the Umno-Mahathir-Abdullah trinity, hegemonic up to the general election of April 2004, has crumbled, observes Khoo Boo Teik, in the first of a three-part series. For the pretenders to top posts and power-brokers, there’s much to do, stealthily and quickly, because Umno has reached a well-known political condition: the leader is too weak to impose his will, the led are not yet strong enough to depose him.
A regional press freedom watchdog, Seapa, has highlighted the case of a Singaporean-American lawyer who has been charged in a Singaporean court for allegedly insulting a judge in emails and his blog.
Migrant rights activists from the region have noted a number of important shortcomings in the Asean Declaration which they hope the regional body will remedy during the drafting of an Instrument to implement the Declaration. They are calling on Asean to give importance to the mainstreaming of gender-responsive, rights based policies in both the Asean Declaration and national government policies.
It is time we stopped blaming women for rape, says Cecilia Chan after reading about a proposal to change the type of uniform worn by schoolgirls because it is deemed to be “a source of distraction for men who are drawn to it”.
It is apparent that, for more than 50 years, Umno had successfully hoodwinked the simple, trusting rural Malays. Umno has successfully used RTM and the mainstream media, especially the Malay press, to indoctrinate these simple people with the so-called political ideology that Umno was their saviour and the defender of Bangsa and Ugama. Our special correspondent zeroes in on one such ‘champion, Tan Sri Muhammad Muhammad Taib.
The plight of the Malay-Muslims in southern Thailand is no different from the appeal of non-Malay and non-Muslim minorities in Malaysia and Indonesia: “Listen to us, respect us, recognise our culture, language and identity. And then we will be citizens like any other.” Farish Noor reports for Aliran from southern Thailand.
Why should migrant workers undergo mandatory health testing by private firm Fomema when expatriates and other classes of foreigners are not tested? Isn’t this discriminatory, dehumanising and a violation of migrants’ rights, asks CARAM Asia.
Dr Jeyakumar Devaraj has questioned the rationale behind the Supplementary Budget Estimate of RM18.7 billion and called on the Health Ministry to stop promoting health tourism during an intervention in Parliament yesterday. He has also called for the establishment of a fund to assist retrenched workers in servicing their housing loans if they are retrenched.
The International Court of Justice in the Hague has just declared by a 12-4 majority that Pedra Branca/Pulau Batu Puteh is Singapore territory. The Middle Rocks fall to Malaysia by a 15-1 majority while the status of South Ledge is still to be determined.