Good news: Herald receives approval letter for new publishing permit!

 Christianity, Democracy, Iraq, Media, Militarism  16 Responses »
Dec 302007
 

Some good news at long last. Just got a call from The Herald editor, Fr Lawrence Andrew. The Herald has received the approval letter for its new annual publishing permit – without any condition! Nothing mentioned about the use of the word “Allah”; and no order for it to drop its Malay-language section. The approval letter for the new permit was hand-delivered to The Herald’s office today, on a Sunday. Imagine, a government dept working on a Sunday. So that’s great news that good sense has prevailed. Better sense would be to abolish – for good! and for the good of the people – the requirement for publishers to apply for an annual publication permit. Yes, it’s time to scrap the Printing Presses and Publications Act. Hopefully, such good sense will extend to other areas of public life. Good sense is certainly a commodity in short supply around the world [Read more]

Herald permit: Divide-and-rule rears its ugly head?

 Christianity, Democracy, Human rights, Islam, Marginalised groups, Poverty, Universal spiritual values  7 Responses »
Dec 242007
 
Herald permit: Divide-and-rule rears its ugly head?

Publication permit in doubt: The Herald has provided prominent coverage of recent demonstrations and other human rights issues even as the mainstream media abdicate their responsibility Four years ago, Christian Malaysians were overjoyed when Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi sent Christmas greetings to their various churches and congregations. It was an astute gesture that touched many Christians, and many of them voted in droves for the BN in the 2004 general election. How times have changed. Now, as we observe Christmas 2007, the mood in many churches is decidedly sombre. The Catholic Church has not yet received its new publication permit for its weekly Herald newspaper for the coming year, ostensibly because of its use of the term “Allah” to refer to God in its Malay-language section. As a columnist for The Herald, I am deeply disappointed. The Herald’s use of the term “Allah” is nothing new; it has been using [Read more]

Samy Vellu booed on “live” TV; are his political days numbered?

 Civil society, Democracy, M'sian politics, Marginalised groups, Poverty  43 Responses »
Dec 232007
 

MIC president Samy Vellu was booed and publicly humiliated when he turned up to officiate at the Aattam 100 Vagai 3 (100 types of dance) performance at the Penang International Sports Arena (Pisa) last night. Sources tell me the crowd of 2,000-3,000 shouted obscenities at him including “po-dah” (the rude version of “get lost”) and he didn’t get a chance to complete his speech. One source told me he was surprised to hear that the women in the audience appeared more aggressive in admonishing Samy. Bear in mind, this was a cultural event and not a political forum, so it would have been attended by a diverse crowd of Indian Malaysians – who have now become politically awakened as never before. The event was supposed to be telecast “live” by Astro Vaanavil (Channel 201) and beamed to India, Singapore, Mauritius and Sri Lanka. Apart from Astro, the media partners supporting [Read more]

Why are Malaysians so restless these days?

 Accountability, Civil society, Democracy, Development issues, Ethnic and inter-religious relations, M'sian politics, Malaysian finance/business, Neo-liberal economics, Poverty, Workers' rights  6 Responses »
Dec 182007
 

What is fuelling the protests and rallies and candlelight vigils and prayer gatherings? If we look at the Hindraf protest, it would be easy to conclude that the main issue is ethnic and religious discrimination, which has left many Indian Malaysians feeling disgruntled. But then again, it is not only Indian Malaysians who have protested. In the case of the Bersih rally, large number of Malay Malaysians, many of them low-income, have also turned up to voice their unhappiness. Prior to that, during the MTUC demonstrations to demand a monthly minimum wage of RM900 and a cost of living allowance of RM300, the vast majority of those who protested were also Malay Malaysians. There is a common denominator in all three of these protests. The majority of those who protested were from the low-income group. Why was this, I wondered. Could it have something to do with the wide gulf [Read more]

Activists hold candle-light vigil in Penang on a dark day for democracy

 Civil society, Democracy, Human rights  8 Responses »
Dec 132007
 
Activists hold candle-light vigil in Penang on a dark day for democracy

Some two dozen activists and other concerned Malaysians held a candlelight vigil in central George Town, Penang to uphold the right to freedom of assembly on a day which saw five Hindraf leaders detained under the ISA. The small crowd, which included Aliran and Suaram members, gathered at 8.50pm at the Penang Road/Kimberley Road junction, under the watchful eyes of Big Brother. A couple of dozen police personnel were present, too close for comfort. According to a source at the scene, quite a few others in plainclothes were loitering about, apart from about 20 reporters covering the event. The police did not allow those gathered to use a loud-hailer or to read out their declaration in three languages. They even blamed them for causing traffic congestion! So, the small crowd was ordered to disperse but not before these concerned Malaysian broke out in song – “We shall overcome”. Total vigil [Read more]

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