Reject Internet censorship; repeal the PPPA and Sedition Act From the Centre for Independent Journalism and friends We are civil society groups alarmed by recent remarks from top ministerial personnel that revealed government intention to censor online free expression, from hints of cyber sedition regulations and the expansion of the Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA) to encompass the online media. We strongly protest any attempt to enlarge the scope of the PPPA, and reiterate our calls for the abolition of this law and the Sedition Act, as well as other overly restrictive laws that have no place in the modern, democratic society that Malaysia aspires to be. The PPPA has been so effective in shackling the press over the past decades, it is horrifying to think that its drastic provisions may be applied to Internet publications, spreading the chilling effect online. It is not difficult to imagine news sites requiring permits, as set by the Chinese example. And judging by numero...

Say What? Ketuanan Rakyat? It has indeed been a strange and surreal one month in Selangor. You have the spectacle of a state government grappling with the problem of having as its top civil servant a person who is not to its liking. And all the time while doing this, it had neither the courage nor the honesty to admit what the real problem is The real problem that the Menteri Besar of Selangor has to contend with is not Mohd Khusrin Munawi per se, but rather the poor relations that the MB has with the Palace.Aktivis Reformasi by Aktivis Reformasi *, via e-mail It has indeed been a strange and surreal one month in Selangor. You have the spectacle of a state government grappling with the problem of having as its top civil servant a person who is not to its liking. And all the time while doing this, it had neither the courage nor the honesty to admit what the real problem is. Thus, it is like trying to untie a bothersome knot without knowing where the ends of the rope are. Youll just end...

January 31, 2011 www.malaysiakini.com Bridget Welch* on Tenang By-Elections Malaysias 14th by-election since March 2008 scored another victory in the BN column, as they held onto their seat. This was expected, as it was home ground for UMNO and the contest was purely about the winning majority. Even with the lower voter turnout, UMNO did well with a comfortable and higher majority of 3,707. Rather than provide a numerical assessment of the voting results, let me share some broader observations and tensions that arise from the Tenang campaign. Despite the centrality of machinery and money, this election highlights the increasing challenges of engaging the diverse electorate in Malaysia. Arguably, the dynamics of the by-election in Johor muddy the waters, making the decisions about national electoral strategies and tactics even more complex. Decision to proceed irresponsible The most defining feature of this election was the weather. It was dreadful, and it negatively affec...

ALIRAN celebrates its first year of its launch (1st February) of its regular column " Thinking Allowed online " http://aliran.com/ in its attempt to revamp their website and to increase its readership and interest for the Aliran cause since the Aliran Monthly publications are currently not available at most bookstores in Malaysia. Subscription for the Aliran Monthly is still available and you can contact : http://aliran.com/subscribe-to-monthly for further details. The idea for this launch was to look at the story behind the news and analyse the issues behind the headlines from a perspective of justice, human rights, multi-ethnic politics, and universal spiritual values all that Aliran stands for. Aliran had been successful in this cause. SYABAS to ALIRAN for having served the public with news and commentaries of interest to the Malaysian public.

KOTA KINABALU - Six days of non-stop storms and rain in northern Sabah has flooded a number of town rain, with the worst hit being Kota Marudu. The situation there has become critical with 2,084 people from 19 low-lying villages evacuated to 10 relief centres by Monday with no signs of the weather letting up any time soon. Kota Marudu MP Datuk Dr Maximus Ongkili, whop visited victims at evacuation centres, said that all necessary assistance was being provided to the victims and advised people not to take any unnecessary risk during the floods. Flash floods were reported in Lahad Datu, Beluran and certain areas of Pitas while many rural roads, including those from plantations have been cut off by floods making it difficult for vegetable farmers to send their produce to the main towns. On Saturday two people Lo Phang, 59, and Santi Muktar, 16, were in killed in landslips at Bandar Ramai in east coast Sandakan while bad weather was also blamed for the deaths of four people who drowned whe...

January 31, 2011 ECONOMICS Asia has an Inflation Problem by Stephen S. Roach Asia has an inflation problem. The sooner it comes to grips with its problem, the better. Unfortunately, the appropriate sense of urgency is missing. Willingness to tackle inflation is impeded by Asias heavy reliance on exports and external demand. Fearful of a relapse of end-market demand in a still-shaky post-crisis world, Asian policymakers have been reluctant to take an aggressive stand for price stability. That needs to change before its too late. Excluding Japan, which remains mired in seemingly chronic deflation, Asian inflation rose to 5.3% in the 12 months ending in November 2010, up markedly from the 3.5% rate a year earlier. Trends in the regions two giants are especially worrisome, with inflation having pierced the 5% threshold in China and running in excess of 8% in India. Price growth is worrisome in Indonesia (7%), Singapore (3.8%), Korea (3.5%), and Thailand (3%) as well. Yes, sharply rising f...

The events unfolding in Tenang by-election in Johore again illustrated the huge odds those striving for positive change in Malaysia are up against. Not only were the police, Fire Departments, etc, that were mobilized to help ferry voters to the polling stations discriminating against those perceived to be opposition supporters and not deploying or deploying minimal help to perceived opposition strongholds, the wastepapers (terms I now use to refer to the MSM newspapers) and even the online news site the Malaysian Insiders failed to report this discrimination that was only reported by Malaysiakini (they deserve our support for true journalism) as you can see in the article reproduced below courtesy of Malaysiakini: Pakatan decries selective assistance to voters . Reforms (positive changes) will not be easily achieved in Malaysia and those struggling against such odds really need the support of Malaysians and this is a SOS call to them to mobilize and help in whatever way they can to spe...

For his dedication to serve the downtrodden in society, Baru has earned the respect and admiration of many Sarawakians, says MoCS chief. KUCHING: Sarawak PKR chairman Baru Bian is the choice of the Movement For Change, Sarawak (MoCS) to be the chief minister of Sarawak should Pakatan Rakyat comes into power after the next state election. Today, MoCS officially endorses Baru Bian as the new Sarawak CM in the event of a change of government after the polls, the movements leader Francis Paul Siah announced here Sunday. For the past six months, MoCS has been looking for a suitable candidate to present to the people of Sarawak as their new CM. We have found that person in Baru Bian, he told the MoCS public forum held at a local hotel here. Siah described Baru as a dedicated public servant although he is actually in private practice as a lawyer. He had energetically fought for many victimized land owners over the NCR land issue and had won several landmark cases. He had toiled tirelessly for...

Something for Supremacist Sakai and Primates. Flying Tiger/USAAF China Blood Chit Multilingual document sewn into clothing calls on all Chinese to assist U.S. WW II aviators in China.

By NH Chan Pretender Khusrin? @ selangorkini Dont tell me that there is nobody in the Pakatan Rakyat entourage who has not read the LoyarBurok articles or who would know enough to point out to Menteri Besar Khalid that there is Article 97(1) in the Selangor Constitution? Or are they all sycophants currying favour who are afraid to speak? The headline on Tuesdays Star on25 January 2011 declared : Selangor assembly fails to amend constitution PETALING JAYA: The emergency sitting of the Selangor state assembly came to nought when it failed to amend the state constitution after it did not garner the required two-thirds majority. Another newspaperNew Straits Times gave this misleading report: Article 52 Clause 1 of the 1959 Selangor State Constitution will remain and the position of Datuk Mohd Khusrin Munawi, the state secretary whose appointment the state government had opposed, appeared to have been strengthened. The constitutional provision states that the Selangor sultan, upon the reco...

Palestinian leaders should be praised, not reviled, for their willingness to compromise Israel and Palestine THE sadly misnamed Israeli-Palestinian “peace process” is proceeding precisely nowhere. America, its chief mediator for the past three decades, has formally taken time out. Israel’s government seems blithely uninterested. The Palestinians are no longer talking to the Israelis. And now, thanks to leaks about the Palestinian conduct of the negotiations from Al Jazeera, a Qatar-based satellite-television channel, it is widely mooted that the process has been killed off altogether. Diplomacy is indeed comatose at present, but the leaks do not suggest it is past praying for. Rather the opposite. They show clearly the outlines of a possible deal, they suggest that the gaps between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators in 2008 were narrow, and they demonstrate that the Palestinians were far readier to make the necessary compromises than Israel’s backers, especially in America, had given ...

If the news from the Tenang by-election yesterday seemed a little soggy it was because many reporters and their temporary offices were thoroughly soaked. Bernama and Utusan Malaysias offices were in 2ft of water, and Bernama communications were cut off when a Telecoms exchange was inundated. Many reporters were stranded or cut off from their base while out on the job, besides the difficulty of travelling on narrow flooded country roads. MalaysiaKinis reporters (above) got a lift from the army the soldiers had come to ferry out the deputy prime minister who had visited a polling station at a primary school and was stuck because of the flooded roads. MalaysiaKini carried on reporting, through three other colleagues at their base in Taman Sri Bayu, Labis. With the road out of Yong Peng-Labis now clear, Regina Lee tweeted this morning that they were about to evacuate. From MalaysiaKini Bernama Johor bureau chief Mohd Haikal Isa and photographer Ismail Abdullah were cut off and stranded a...

January 31, 2011 BOOK Review by GEOFFREY YEOW, The Star March 8: Time for Real Change Edited by Kee Thuan Chye Publisher: Marshall Cavendish, 363 pages ISBN: 978-9814328333 AS a relative youngster, politics has always been like a love-hate relationship for me. We love how politics can ignite passionate debates about right and wrong, yet we hate how it manages to transform everything good into something evil. So when I was asked to review this book, I took it up as a challenge to delve into a world that I admittedly do not know much about but always had a dormant interest in. This was one of the first books to come out after the landmark March 8, 2008, elections, when the Opposition won an unprecedented number of Parliamentary seats. Back then, it was entitled March 8: The Day Malaysia Woke Up. Time for Real Change is a re-issued edition with new content released late last year and very timely it is, too, what with the number of by-elections that have taken place lately and ...

18 people liked this In the developing world, access to incubators is limited by cost and distance, and millions of premature babies die each year. TED Fellow Jane Chen shows an invention that could keep millions

Buku "The Queen & I" dan "Cinta Syyhh" sudah siap. Aku ke Saufiville pada 27-1-2011 sekitar jam 8.20 malam bersama Mona, Liza, Adan, Adeek dan Yaya. Tujuan aku ke sana adalah kerana aku nak belajar cara masak lamb chop dan sotong goreng dari Mem dan Fini. Aku memang suka sangat masakan mereka. Pendek kata berapapun harga aku sanggup bayar kerana masakannya sedap giler, 'berasa' selain dapur mereka sangat bersih! Pelanggan yang datang ke sini pun dari golongan atasan dan dari pelbagai pelusuk dunia. Segala Tun, Tan Sri, Dato Seri, Jutawan dan Artis ternama juga suka lepak banglo ini. Selain pemandangannya yang sangat cantik, udaranya yang nyaman, banyak tetamu lebih suka datang makan sambil menikmati pemandangan sekeliling. Saufiville terletak diatas puncak bukit 1800 kaki dari paras laut dan suhu pada tengahari sekitar 28 celcius dan malamnya 20 celcius. Pelbagai bangsa datang lepak tempat ini (kilik gambar ini) Aku minta izin Mem dan Fini untuk promo...

With Tenang in its bag, the BN is looking forward to Merlimau and to the general election. LABIS: The Barisan Nasional (BN) is ready to face the general election anytime in the wake of its victory in the Tenang by-election, Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said here tonight. Each day we are more confident. We have reached a point where we are ready for a (general) election anytime, he said. Muhyiddin, who is BN deputy chairman, was speaking to reporters minutes after BN candidate Mohd Azahar Ibrahim was declared the winner. He said that the BN winning streak would continue. After this, we go to Merlimau, he added. Muhyiddin also said that he was satisfied with the 3,707 majority eventhough it fell short of his earlier target of 5,000. It was just a strategy to motivate our workers to work harder. For us, it is a good enough result. We consider this very satisfactory, he said. On the capture of two Chinese majority districts that the BN lost in 2008, Muhyiddin said this showed th...

This week, novelist Cathleen Schine tells us about "The Three Weissmanns of Westport"; Motoko Rich has notes from the field; Andrew Young, former aide to John Edwards, discusses his new memoir, "The Politician"; and Jennifer Schuessler has best-seller news. Sam Tanenhaus is the host. Popout Original audio source (12bookupdate.mp3)

Keong Hee Huat Chye Kung Hei Fatt Choy Gong Xi Fa Cai And a happy and prosperous Year of the Rabbit to one and all Oh to be young and in love Nothing quite like an Ice Kachang to make you feel totally Malaysian , posted with vodpod Oh not to be old and unloved The annual six-times-a-year happy-happy Petronas commercial , posted with vodpod

Fighting a losing battle against graft — Tan Poh Kheng Probably Bad News: Putting Out Your House Fire FAIL I once read a book that said that even though man is the centre of the universe, because his heart is unable to control his greed and desire, humanity’s destiny has been changed. People who commit crimes for money and countries that go to war to show their power and authority not only destroy themselves because of greed, but also cause the loss of life, and lead to human tragedy. In history, the people who come to ruin because of one ill-considered action are too numerous to cite; and those who are tarnished due to their personal desire for power are as many as the carps in the river. The number of government officials who embezzle because of greed is also not small. I do not know if the recent spate of arrests and charging with fraud of government officials involved in corruption by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) is due to its new ...