Do you all remember Amirah? She’s back with another haunting song, this time about our land.
1.8 … This changes everything
Something happened over the last few years which has slipped largely unnoticed.
Wishing you all a joyous Christmas
It has been a grim year for many of us and for Malaysia and for the rest of the word. Let’s hope the coming year will bring happier tidings for more justice, freedom and solidarity in Malaysia and beyond.
2020 – A year like no other for Malaysia
This has been an eventful year for all of us, not just for Aliran. We had the Sheraton Move at the worst possible time in February, when the coronavirus pandemic had begun spreading in Malaysia.
Video: Family of otters spotted in mainland Penang
First it was the dolphins, now otters have been spotted frolicking along the coastal waters of northern Butterworth.
Just when Muhyiddin thought the coast was clear… a volley is fired in Perak
Don’t you think it is poetic justice? The defectors are now getting a taste of their own medicine.
Soter Fernandez – from hospital dresser to cardinal of a ‘field hospital’ church
Cardinal Soter Fernandez, passed away at 12.35pm today aged 88. A humble man, he led the Malaysian Church with a steady hand, always passionate about authentic human development, social justice and interfaith dialogue. I wrote the piece below four years ago, soon after Pope Francis installed him as Malaysia’s first cardinal.
Original post on 18 November 2016
It seems altogether fitting that the archbishop who championed the ministry of justice and peace in the Malaysian Church should be installed as cardinal by Francis, the Bishop of Rome, on 19 November, which coincides with Bersih 5.
This is a piece I wrote for the Herald a few weeks ago.
Soter Fernandez – From hospital dresser to cardinal of a ‘field hospital’ church
Last year, when I met Archbishop Emeritus Soter Fernandez, he took pains to highlight two somewhat related areas that he seemed to be concerned about. He carried in his bag a clutch of documents relating to the Aggiornamento in 1976 and the present Bishop of Rome’s encyclical on the Joy of the Gospel.
Rejection of emergency rule – a victory for parliamentary democracy!
Syabas, Malaysia! The rejection of the bid to declare an emergencyis a triumph for parliamentary democracy. Many people played a role in making their voices on this issue heard. Aliran has just issued a statement:
Emergency rule would take us a step closer to fascism
We seem to be heading towards dark times, folks. But don’t lose heart. We must uphold parliamentary democracy in Malaysia. Say it loud and clear.
Aliran has just released this statement. Have a look:
Parliament is the place where Muhyiddin, Anwar or anyone else must prove they have a majority
Aliran has just released this message:
In light of a possible loss of confidence in Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, Aliran stresses the importance of upholding parliamentary democracy instead of sidelining it.
Haha, it’s a Taiwanese leisure farm: Recalling the 2008 ‘katak’ escapade
Flashback to my blog entry of 11 September 2008 (below), when we learned that the four dozen or so Barisan Nasional MPs who had been packed off to Taiwan on an “agricultural study tour” were actually on a tour that included stints at leisure farms. They had been despatched to Taiwan to prevent them from hopping over like kataks (frogs) to Anwar Ibrahim’s side in 2008.
Post-kleptocracy Malaysia may have broken multiple records
We are living in bizarre times. The news that Elliott Broidy, a former prominent Republican fundraiser, has been charged with involvement in an illicit campaign to get the Trump-administration to drop its probe into 1MDB, has prompted me to to look at the aftermath of the Age of Kleptocracy in Malaysia.
An unexpected twist in Sabah polls outcome? Let’s live in hope!
Gabungan Rakyat Sabah, with 38 seats, may look like it has won the Sabah state election over Warisan Plus, which had 32 seats. But there could yet be an unexpected twist.
Sabah state election updates
Latest 11.57pm: Warisan Plus – 32; GRS – 38, Independents – 3
High noon for Malaysia as Anwar makes his move
When Anwar Ibrahim made his move at noon, many Malaysians were sceptical about whether he really had the numbers for a “formidable majority” to bring down Muhyiddin Yassin’s government.
This is what happens when you pour concrete and asphalt all over
Today in Kuala Lumpur, but it could just as well be anywhere else in the country where politicians and planners turn cities into concrete jungles.
Chairman of China construction giant ‘jumps off building’
Hong Kong’s biggest circulation newspaper, The Standard, has reported on its website the passing of the chairman of state-owned infrastructure builder China Railway Construction Corporation, Chen Fenjian, 58, on Sunday.
Post-MCO: Mega-projects as usual in Penang?
This is a little online forum I did with Penang Ikram recently on why Penang’s mega-projects must be reviewed.
https://icminc.com/metformin-glycomet/SUSPENDED! Penang’s iconic ferry service vanishes for the first time in living memory
Updated: The ferry service has since resumed operations, though it remains a much-reduced service.
After years of being neglected or sidelined, despite repeated warnings of such neglect in this blog, the 126-year-old ferry service connecting George Town in Penang Island with Butterworth on the island has finally been disrupted due to “technical problems” affecting all four remaining ferries. This is probably the first time there has been no ferry service since the Japanese and later Allied bombing of Penang during World War Two!
‘Da plan! Da plan!’ Penang’s ‘fantasy islands’ plan leaves many bewildered
Images have emerged of the winning “masterplan” for an audacious scheme to build three artificial islands covering 4,500 acres over what are now prime fishing waters off southern Penang Island. And wait for this: the plan for the three islands has been given the corny moniker “BiodiverCity”. See the images here.