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A year for a shoe

By Justice Seeker | March 08, 2012
The Malaysian Insider

MARCH 8 — The Federal Court may have been justified in throwing the book and jailing imam Hoslan Husin, had they done so on the day of the offence.

Because what he did, by tossing his shoes at them, was contempt in the face of the court and the offended quorum of judges would have been within their rights to hear the case there and then.

But the judges and the judiciary did not want the humiliation to go any further (that is why mainstream newspapers were asked by the Palace of Justice not to report the incident), so they allowed Hoslan to leave court.

The problem was that there is such a thing as online media and the case was reported widely. With the news now in the public domain, the powers that be had to swing into action.
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‘Political persecution in Sarawak not new’

By Joseph Tawie | March 8, 2012
Free Malaysia Today

KUCHING: Political persecution of opposition supporters by the Taib Mahmud administration is a norm in Sarawak, claims the state opposition DAP.

The only reason people are alert to it now is because one victim, Frusis Lebi, a farmer with deformed hands and legs, had come forward to expose such persecution.

Lebi’s government subsidies and welfare aid were revoked because he had openly supported the opposition in last April’s state election.

Said Sarawak DAP secretary general Chong Chien Jen: “There are many of them who have been politically persecuted for supporting and voting for the opposition when their subsidies, allowances, and projects have been withdrawn from them.

“The problem is that many of these victims are not prepared to come out and expose these blatant acts.”
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Muhyiddin is the first person to come to mind when Najib talks about “Opponents of 1Malaysia are power-crazy and a cynical bunch”

The first person to come to anyone’s mind when reading the Star headline “PM: Opponents of 1Malaysia are power-crazy and a cynical bunch” is none other than the Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

This was because it was Muhyiddin who was the first public personality to repudiate Najib’s 1Malaysia policy of creating “a nation where every Malaysian perceives himself or herself as Malaysian first, and by race, religion, geographical region or socio-economic background second” when he declared that he is “a Malay first and then only a Malaysian”.

I had said in my speech in Parliament on March 18, 2010 that the biggest enemy of 1Malaysia is not from outside Barisan Nasional but from inside UMNO and Barisan Nasional, and I have been proved right in the past two years.

Even the Prime Minister himself dare not openly berate or dissociate himself from Muhyiddin’s repudiation of 1Malaysia.

In July last year, when Najib was specifically asked by Malaysian students at the Malaysian Student Leaders’ Summit (MSLS) in Kuala Lumpur whether he was Malaysian first and what he thought of his deputy’s infamous remark of being “Malay first and Malaysian next”, Najib ducked the question, saying:
“I don’t want to respond in a way that will divide me from my deputy.

“1 Malaysia is our guiding philosophy. It does not matter what you say, just as long as you follow (the 1 Malaysia concept).”
Continue reading “Muhyiddin is the first person to come to mind when Najib talks about “Opponents of 1Malaysia are power-crazy and a cynical bunch””

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Asian women: Same countries, different worlds

— Dr Noeleen Heyzer
The Malaysian Insider
Mar 08, 2012

MARCH 8 — We are in a race against time — with just three years left to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Many of our people, even in the same country, continue to live in different worlds. This is especially true for large numbers of Asian women, whose experience of development and growth remains starkly different from that of men — especially when compounded by disparities of ethnicity, caste, economic status, education and geographical location.

The best celebration of International Women’s Day this year will be a commitment to redouble our efforts in a final push on the MDGs to 2015 — because confronting gender inequality and advancing the empowerment of women holds the key to accelerating regional development and meeting the goals.

The power of the MDGs lies in their promise of a better world. Since their adoption by the member states of the United Nations in 2001, the eight goals have become universally recognised as important milestones in the pursuit of a more equitable future for all. Continue reading “Asian women: Same countries, different worlds”