New Straits Times group editor-in-chief Kalimullah Hassan wrote an excellent treatise in his Sunday column (Oct 16, 2005) on the God-given dignity of human beings, as not reflected in the August house of power that we call the Malaysian Parliament. Malu is a four-letter Malay word. Tak malu is a seven-letter Malay curse! \’Shame\’ is an old English word …
During my doctoral days, I read two very important and then quite popular books in the US. One was entitled, The Schooling of America and the other, The Closing of the American Mind . Today, almost 20 years later, it appears that most of our so-called educated and learned elders of our society appear to have not read these …
Christian Malaysians form about 11 percent of the nation\’s population of about 25 million people. If only citizens are considered, this figure totals about two million people. With an average non-Muslim family size of about five, that makes for about 400,000 Christian household heads and consequently about 800,000 or more voters. With the majority of …
National unity must move beyond parties and dinners Read More »
Three nights ago, I received an urgent SMS – Father Jojo requested Christians to gather in front of the High Court for a vigil on the issue of the \”denial of rights\” involving the wife of the army commando M Moorthy who had died recently. This was the first time I had been invited to …
I totally agree with Suhakam chairman Abu Talib Othman – who as attorney-general had helped craft the Article 121 (1A) provision – that the primary legal authority of the nation is and must always remain the constitution. The case for such a \’constitutionalism\’ was exceptionally well argued by constitutional lawyer Dr Cyrus Das in a two-page interview …
I was aghast to read newspaper reports about 11 senior citizens who had been arrested for \’gambling\’ during Chinese New Year and who had their heads shaved bald while being held in a police lock-up. It was not the charge per se or the application of our laws against gambling that bothered me; it was …
The second phase of the World Summit on Information Society or WSIS took place in Tunisia from November 13-18. It was reported that about 25,000 participants attended. WSIS was first held in Geneva (2003) and forms, with this recent second event in Tunis, part of a global UN-driven strategy to help developing countries realise the …
I write this piece firstly as a constitutional Malaysian who appreciates the primacy and the role of rule of law in the life of this great nation. I also write this piece as someone who has come to respect and admire our prime minister for his servant leadership model, philosophy and style of \”work with …
In my last article on the role of the Malaysian constitution in defining our civil law or public space morality, I asked the prime minister five questions to help the cabinet (as the executive) – and hopefully the legislature and the judiciary – to review some core issues in the light of the questionable and confusing interpretation …
Moorthy case: Where is our public space morality? Read More »
Recently, two editors resigned and two newspapers were \’closed down\’ by the government albeit for a week or two. One editor was forced to resign by circumstances of \’inaccurate reporting\’ and took full responsibility, the other appeared not to have had much choice, although his paper reported that he resigned voluntarily. A third newspaper seemed …
Journalistic risks: Living within contradictions – Part 1 Read More »
