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Lopsided emphasis on Islamic civilisation

By FMT Staff | May 12, 2011
Free Malaysia Today

KUCHING: Five out of the 10 chapters in the currently used Form Four history book are dedicated to Islamic history and civilisation.

The Association of Churches in Sarawak (ACS), Sibu branch, which raised the issue, said the other religious civilisations were “sidelined”.

“ACS Sibu is not against the teachings of Islam.

“Our stand is for religions to be presented in a balanced manner instead of putting heavy emphasis on Islam while the other religions are sidelined, ” it said, adding that there appeared to be an attempt to condition the minds of the young to accept the syariah law as the “suitable and practical law for a multi-racial nation”.
Continue reading “Lopsided emphasis on Islamic civilisation”

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Nurul Izzah gets threat to kidnap daughter

By Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani | May 13, 2011
The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, May 13 — PKR vice president Nurul Izzah Anwar said today that she had received a text message containing a threat to kidnap her three-year-old, daughter.

The mother of two told reporters that the person warned her against continuing to support Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim or else her daughter would end up sharing the same fate as Sharlinie Mohd Nashar.

Sharlinie, 5, was abducted in 2008 at a playground near her house in Petaling Jaya and remains missing.

The Lembah Pantai MP, who is also Anwar’s eldest child, believes that the threat was politically motivated to end her father’s career.
Continue reading “Nurul Izzah gets threat to kidnap daughter”

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10 days in May (5)

Tweets @limkitsiang:-

Read Utusan print online 2day: triumphalist vindicated FP :”Pemimpin Kristian akur Islam agama Islam”; “Tiada hasrat cabar agama Islam”.

Utusan totally no remorse over seditious/treasonous headline:”Kristian Agama Rasmi?” abt Christian Msia plot.Culprit r Christian not Utusan?

MakkalOsai suspended 1mth; 2-wk suspended ChinaPress Chief editor;4-yr SarawakTribune closure; SinChew reporter detained under ISA 4true rpt

Utusan’s heinous/seditious/treacherous “Christian Msia” headline just reprimand! Where is justice? Fair Play? Completely wrong msg 2Msians

Home Ministry dept heads responsible 4publications shd resign. Hishammuddin not fit 2b Home Minister subordinating national interests 2Umno

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Najib’s Animal Farm

By David Martin
May 13, 2011 | MalaysianInsider

I read George Orwell’s Animal Farm when I was helping my brother out with his university assignment back when I was in secondary school.

The story seemed a bit nonsensical to me back then. Talking animals who revolted against their masters. Pigs taking over as the leaders of the farm. A pig named Napoleon, no less.

Then again, when you grew up in the Mahathir era, the rakyat were more gullible back then weren’t they? With the advent of technology in the 21st century, it’s harder to keep a lid on the truth.

I woke up early this morning to read on The Malaysian Insider that Utusan Malaysia was merely given a warning for publishing unsubstantiated news (read: lies) for its front page headline by the all-powerful Home Ministry.

My mind is cast back to several years back when the oldest newspaper in Sarawak, The Sarawak Tribune had its printing permit taken away merely for publishing a photo of a man looking at the infamous prophet’s cartoon. That was deemed serious enough for a suspension which ultimately led to the demise of the daily.

A couple of years back, the same ministry decided to stir things up a bit by hauling up the Catholic weekly, Herald, for using the word “Allah” in the publication. Their reason was a flimsy one at best, that the word was exclusive to Islam despite its widespread use worldwide by Christians predating even the formation of Malaysia. Continue reading “Najib’s Animal Farm”

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Swiss President Orders an Investigation into Taib’s Assets! – Exclusive

Sarawak Report | May 12th, 2011

In a fullsome letter to the Swiss-based NGO, the Bruno Manser Foundation, the President of the Swiss Federation Micheline Calmy-Rey has revealed that she has forwarded information about Taib Mahmud’s assets in Switzerland to the regulatory body FINMA (the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority) for investigation.

Calmy-Rey (pictured left at the Davos World Economic Forum, which is hosted annually in Switzerland) is the country’s Head of State.

The letter, sent on April 8th, is revealingly entitled: “Freezing of possible assets of Abdul Taib Mahmud, head of government of the Malaysian state of Sarawak, in Switzerland”.

In the letter the Swiss President makes clear that the country’s authorities take extremely seriously the concerns that have been raised internationally about Taib’s profiteering from timber corruption and are unhappy that such assets may have been invested in Switzerland.
Continue reading “Swiss President Orders an Investigation into Taib’s Assets! – Exclusive”

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PM-Christian meet confounds more than clarifies

By Terence Netto
May 13, 11 | Malaysiakini

One headline ‘Christian leaders pledge to respect Islam’s status‘ was intimation enough about what went on at yesterday’s meeting between Christian leaders and Prime Minister Najib Razak.

Ostensibly called to sooth ruffled Christian feathers over allegedly inflammatory reports in Utusan Malaysia, the meeting, as some had feared, did not just fail to come to grips with the underlying issue; it confounded it, if Najib’s remarks to the media afterwards were a guide.

The PM said he was encouraged by two undertakings given by the Christian leaders he met: one, that they will respect the status of Islam as the official religion of this country; and two, that they will cooperate in nurturing peace and harmony among the various faiths.

By implication, these undertakings had to be rendered because there have been doubts about the track record of Christians in respect of the two matters.

Two chapters of our very recent history ought to be noted for perspective.

Early last year, when the ‘Allah’ issue was rife, a series of arson attacks on churches occurred without stirring Christians to high dudgeon: they knew agent provocateurs were at work and that an adverse reaction would only aggravate matters. Continue reading “PM-Christian meet confounds more than clarifies”

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Brain drain: Understanding the root causes

Ronald Benjamin
The Malaysian Insider
May 12, 2011

MAY 12 — The ongoing brain drain has become a topic of intense debate since a World Bank official said that Malaysia would have had five times the foreign direct investment if not for its pro-Bumiputera policy. This comes at a time where there are about a million skilled Malaysian workers overseas who have no intention of coming back to the country.

Perkasa has claimed that even the Malays are leaving Malaysia due to the discrimination in the private sector, but fell short of providing detailed arguments on what it means by private sector discrimination.

All these debates only deal with positions that interest a particular political position without any serious attempt to resolve the issues through objective criteria that require politicians to accept truths about the real situation.

Politicians need to have the courage to take the nation along the right path — especially in creating an environment and cultural mindset for work excellence and in reducing the chronic brain drain. Continue reading “Brain drain: Understanding the root causes”