rednote

Is Najib prepared to put his 1Malaysia policy to the test by leading a nation-wide “Say No to Racism” campaign starting with errant Umno leaders, government officials and Utusan Malaysia?

Although the Director-General of Education Tan Sri Alimuddin Mohd Dom has issued a circular dated August 26 to all school principals and teachers warning of action to be taken for racist remarks in schools, the absence of action against the two school principals in Johore and Kedah who had made racist remarks stands out like [...]

Improve Our Schools, Not Tinker With Examinations

By M. Bakri Musa In about two weeks nearly half a million Malaysian school children will be sitting for their UPSR, the national examination taken at the end of Year Six. Today there is raging debate on abolishing this as well as the PMR (taken at Year Nine) examination. A decision is expected within weeks. [...]

Call for return of civility, reason and rationality in public discourse and an end to any form of racial or religious slurs in public domain particularly on the social media and Internet

The rise and frequency of instances of racial and religious slurs in the public domain particularly on the social media and the Internet must be a matter of grave concern to all Malaysians. All right-thinking Malaysians regardless of political affiliation should join hands to call and work for a return of civility, reason and rationality [...]

Seeing the back of Musa: An answer to a prayer

By Tunku Abdul Aziz I hardly ever receive presents because, I suppose, I rarely ever give any. I do not even bother to celebrate my own birthday; it comes and goes completely unnoticed. When on the odd occasion I do receive a present for delivering an anti-corruption and ethical governance speech, I treasure it even [...]

Revisiting the Bumiputera corporate equity issue

By Lim Teck Ghee More than five years have passed since the Asli corporate study report revealed that Bumiputera ownership of corporate equity in the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange had exceeded the 30 per cent target. The study’s findings of a 45 per cent Bumiputera share were based on a different method of measurement compared [...]

No place for God?

By Thomas Lee Professor Stephen William Hawking, the author of the 1988 runaway world best seller A Brief History of Time, has declared the dreadful finality that there is no place for God in theories on the creation of the Universe. Britain’s most famous theoretical physicist and cosmologist had asserted previously that a belief in [...]

Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em

By Tunku Abdul Aziz What a charade. And what tragic depths of professional incompetence the recent resumption of the coroner’s inquiry into the death of Teoh Beng Hock had demonstrated for the world to see. There is a lot to laugh at in Najib’s 1Malaysia, but sadly for all the wrong reasons. As an observer, [...]

Why double standards against Namewee, questioned for over 10 hours, for his anti-racist outburst as compared to treatment for the two errant school principals?

Four questions need to be asked in the Nameweek’s “Nah” videoclip controversy. Firstly, is the three-minute video “Nah” uploaded on YouTube by rapper Wee Meng Chee better known as Namewee seditious? I would say no. Secondly, is the video racist? I would also say no, unless an anti-racist response has also become “racist” in the [...]

Teo says surau row nadir in her life

By Debra Chong September 04, 2010 The Malaysian Insider PETALING JAYA, Sept 4 — Serdang MP Teo Nie Ching has revealed that she broke down over her surau visit controversy because she thought she had done something to make the Malays hate DAP and caused terrible hardship to the surau committee members. The young first-term [...]

‘Namewee is a uniting factor’

Mariam Mokhtar Malaysian Mirror Friday, 03 September 2010 If Namewee (Wee Meng Chee) is prosecuted for his music-video, then two mixed messages are being sent out by the government: The first is that the authorities practise double-standards. The second is that it was only because of Namewee’s ‘intervention’ that the government sat up and took [...]

Hishamuddin should not act both as prosecutor and judge to pass judgment that Nurul Izzah had committed the offence of sedition, dictating and usurping the powers of the Police, AG’s Chambers and judiciary

I am shocked that the Home Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein has acted both as prosecutor and judge to unilaterally and arbitrarily pass judgment that the PKR MP for Lembah Pantai, Nurul Izzah Anwar has committed the offence of sedition for questioning the entrenched sensitive issue of Article 153 of the Constitution with her challenge [...]

Rising racism, 53 years on

By David KL Quek This year, I became a senior citizen. I can now withdraw my EPF savings and I qualify for some discounts for travel and surprisingly even for some buffet meals at some eateries. But as I ponder upon ‘retirement’, it is sad to see the Malaysia that I know and live in, [...]

Hardtalk or money talks? Saga of the aborted RPK interview

by Dr. Lim Teck Ghee | CPI Hardtalk is a flagship BBC television programme that has gained a large global audience due to its style of tough questioning. According to its media note, Hardtalk “asks the difficult questions and gets behind the stories that make the news — from international political leaders to entertainers; from [...]

Ersatz moderation will not suffice, PM

By G. Krishnan Surely any right-minded Malaysian will find it impossible to disagree with the prime minister that we cannot allow racism to destroy us. And surely all of us who cherish the virtues of moderation must find ourselves whole-heartedly agreeing with the prime minister that we cannot allow extreme attitudes on racial and religious [...]

Before Khairy demands that Wee Meng Chee be taught a lesson, will he surrender himself to the police for criminal charges to be preferred against him for his previous racist statements?

I had said that Wee Meng Chee can be faulted for being crude, vulgar, abusive and even obscene at the disgust and fury of his 3-minute rap video directed at the school principal of Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra, Kulai, Hajah Siti Inshah binti Mansor, for making racist, derogatory and seditious remarks like: [...]

Malaysia in the Era of Globalization #30

By M. Bakri Musa Chapter 4: Modern Model States The Relevant Lessons For Malaysia (Cont’d) A few years ago I was a guest teacher for the senior class in the school near my village in Malaysia where I once taught briefly as a temporary teacher. What an experience! I was taken aback at how passive [...]

Ismail takes over from Musa as new IGP

Deputy IGP Ismail Omar 2b new IGP as Musa Hassan’s contract will not be extended 3rd time. Will Musa b apptd Ambassador to nearby country? 09/01/2010 06:06 PM Congrats 2new IGP.DAP/PR prepared 2fully co-operate 2introduce democratic policing n create efficient, professional world-class police force 09/01/2010 06:12 PM Ismail takes over from Musa as new IGP [...]

Mahathir is the major obstacle to Najib’s 1Malaysia and National Transformation Agenda

Former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad blogged on the 53rd National Day eve that “today the races are more divided than ever”. The implications of Mahathir’s statement merits attention. Here we have the country’s longest-serving Prime Minister in fact telling the current Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak that despite this year’s Merdeka Month [...]

Feeble-minded BN

By Mariam Mokhtar Three BN ministers were not speaking from a position of strength when they labeled PKR politician Nurul Izzah Anwar a traitor and a sinner for saying in an Indonesian newspaper, that Malaysia’s new, multimillion ringgit submarine is defective. She also highlighted the problems plaguing our navy and expressed doubts about the New [...]

Why Police investigating Wee Meng Chee for sedition when there is nothing seditious in his latest 3-minute rap against the Kulai secondary school principal for making racist slurs against students?

It has been reported that the police went to the Muar house of young Malaysian rapper Wee Meng Chee 15 minutes before midnight on the eve of the 53rd National Day, leading to the following posting on Wee’s Facebook: “3 POLICE CARS FINALLY CAME TO MY MUAR HOME TO ARREST ME***** this happened 15 minutes [...]