Day: May 9, 2014

COMMENTARY BY THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER
May 09, 2014

In the past week, groups like Isma and others in academia have amplified their hatred for a section of the Malaysian population, going as far as to distort the country’s history to make it clear that Malaysia belongs to the Malays.

It does not help that Putrajaya has remained mute, except for some parties in the ruling coalition making some noises and calling for action to curb such talk. But the dominant Umno and its president, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, remain silent.

Also, these parties are not members of the administration and their voices have been ignored and in fact, Isma has even asked them to shut up.

If the prime minister cannot find it in himself to silence these groups that appear to ignore history and harmonious interfaith ties, then he and his government should just apologise to the Chinese and Christians for their inability to do anything about the matter. Continue reading “Hate groups getting louder as long as Putrajaya stays mute”

1.Spoke at interesting forum organised by PAS Shah Alam last night entitled: “13 Mei: Rekonstruksi Sejarah n Pembinaan Malaysia Pasca Rasisme”

2. Other speakers MP Mujahid Yusuf whose father Yusof Rawa defeated Mahathir in 1969, Subky Latif and Pemuda PAS leader Mohd Nasaie Ismail

3. Subky was veteran journalist I had known since 60s when he was with Utusan which had not degenerated to unethical disgrace to journalism today.

4. ’13 Mei ‘a blot in Malaysian history. It should not have happened, should not have been allowed to happen and all Msians must ensure there is no repeat.

5. 45 years after national nightmare in 1969, there is no authoritative account of what and how it happened – no Truth and Reconciliation efforts. Continue reading “Tweets on PAS forum on 13th May, 1969”

Ari N. Schulman
The Atlantic
May 8 2014

Outside satellite experts say investigators could be looking in the wrong ocean.

Investigators searching for the missing Malaysian Airlines flight were ebullient when they detected what sounded like signals from the plane’s black boxes. This was a month ago, and it seemed just a matter of time before the plane was finally discovered.

But now the search of 154 square miles of ocean floor around the signals has concluded with no trace of wreckage found. Pessimism is growing as to whether those signals actually had anything to do with Flight 370. If they didn’t, the search area would return to a size of tens of thousands of square miles. Continue reading “Why the Official Explanation of MH370’s Demise Doesn’t Hold Up”

Bridget Welsh
Malaysiakini
May 5, 2014

COMMENT Today marks the one year anniversary of the historic 13th general election. This election was pivotal in the country’s history as the incumbent BN coalition held onto power, with the opposition calls for ‘change’ unfulfilled.

Scholars have highlighted the fundamental shifts in the power of Umno, the imbalance of the opposition parties, the rise in influence and political awakenings of East Malaysia and the electoral irregularities, among many profound structural changes.

In other ordinary ways, Malaysian politics has also changed, with greater cynicism, insecurities and anger more prominent in public life. This is across the political divide. News reports feature troubling reports of increased racial tensions, political polarisation and continued shortcomings in governance.

This article highlights some of the ongoing dynamics in contemporary Malaysian political life, which are both worrying and offer promise ahead. Continue reading “One year after GE13, lost in sea of politicking”

Economist
May 10th 2014 | KUALA LUMPUR | From the print edition

Having bashed Malaysia over the missing flight, China is now making up

THERE will be no let-up in the efforts to find the missing Malaysian Airlines jet Najib Razak, Malaysia’s prime minister, vowed on May 5th. Despite his promise, however, there is growing acceptance that it will take months even years to find any trace of flight MH370, which disappeared on March 8th. Hopes that any of its passengers might still be alive must also be cast aside. The new search area in the Indian Ocean will alone cover 60,000 square kilometres (23,000 square miles)—and that is on top of the 4,600,000 square kilometres already scoured. Because the focus of the search-and-rescue mission has now moved to the west coast of Australia, Malaysians have some breathing space to reflect on a traumatic two months in the glare of the world’s attention. The country has taken a battering, but the longer-term damage is another matter. The saga has emphasised how much Malaysia matters in the geopolitics of the region: the two Pacific superpowers, America and China, have both come to play big roles in the search for the missing plane, if in very different ways. Continue reading “The geopolitics of MH370”

The Malay Mail Online
May 08, 2014

KUALA LUMPUR, May 8 — Almost 350 family members of passengers of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 are demanding raw data be released for independent analysis, preferably to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), the non-profit research facility responsible for finding the remains of missing Air France Flight 447 in 2009, almost two years after it crashed into the Atlantic Ocean.

Amid questions about how the investigation has been conducted, the family members made the demand in an open letter sent to the leaders of Malaysia, China and Australia today.

In the letter they questioned how authorities could be certain the Boeing 777 had crashed into the Indian Ocean after vanishing without a trace two months ago.

“Due to the lack of physical evidence that MH370 ended in the Southern Indian Ocean, the families are in urgent need for the conclusion, based on [British satellite communications firm] Inmarsat data analysis, that the aircraft’s flight ended in that ocean to be reconsidered to confirm its accuracy,” they wrote. Continue reading “In open letter, MH370 family members demand raw data be released to independent investigators”