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UMNO top leadership opposing Abdullah’s reform bills for anti-corruption and judiciary?

With the end of the 31-day debate on the 2009 Budget last Thursday, the focus of the last six sittings of the current budget meeting ending on December 18 will be on two of the three reform measures which the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, had promised to accomplish before he steps down from office next March.

These are the Bills to establish the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MCAC), reputedly patterned after Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) and the Judicial Appointments Commission.

As I have not sighted either of the bills, I am unable to comment intelligently on them.

However, it is evident that both these “reform” bills have evoked considerable opposition in UMNO circles, reaching to very high evels of the Umno leadership.

It would appear that there are powerful Umno circles who are uncomfortable with any measures to create a more independent agency with a bit more bite to fight corruption, especially as the ongoing Umno party elections is mired in the worst money politics and corruption in the party history. Continue reading “UMNO top leadership opposing Abdullah’s reform bills for anti-corruption and judiciary?”

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Privacy of an individial is human right

By Dr Chen Man Hin

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled that ‘storing DNA from people with no criminal record is in breach of their rights, as this constitute a violation of a person’s right to a private life.’

The Home Minister and the police should realise that DNA is the private property of an individual, and permission must be obtained to obtain DNA from him

This concept of personal privacy has been practised by doctors since the time of Hippocrates in the 4th century BC. Doctors swear by the Hippocrates Oath on graduation. any information of the patient is his private property and cannot be revealed to a third person, unless with the express permission of the patient.

This implies that the individual has a right to protection from indiscriminate extraction of blood samples by the home minister or the police, for the DNA is the private property of the individual. Continue reading “Privacy of an individial is human right”