How arrogance divides people

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dialogue

Muslims and Christians in conversation – Photo by Ben Ong, courtesy of Rev Sivin Kit’s blog

A unique event was held on 12 June, bringing together speakers living as minorities in plural societies, in this case Muslims in a Western society and Christians in a Muslim-majority society.

Over a hundred people flocked to Father’s House, Bangsar Lutheran Church,  to participate in the dialogue,  jointly organised by Friends in Conversation and the Muslim Professionals Forum.

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High Chaparral case: Live from Federal Court

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The villagers from Kg Buah Pala who are facing eviction have taken their case to the Federal Court. Dalbinder is providing live coverage of the High Chaparral case from Putrajaya here.

Iranians protest in KL after Iran polls: More images

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Here are more images from the Iranian protest outside the UN building in KL yesterday. The protest was held after Mahmoud Ahmadinejady was declared the winner in Iran’s presidential election held last Friday.

300,000 held in Sri Lankan “internment camps”

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Sunila Abeysekera, an award-winning Sri Lankan human rights activist, speaks about the overcrowding, the lack of adequate medical attention and the disappearances at state-run camps holding up to 300,000 displaced civilians.
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Riot police fire tear gas as 1,000 Iranians protest in KL

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Photos by Rakyat@work. View his blog here. 1814: The crowd of protestors swelled to a thousand. Riot police fired rounds of tear gas, but, according to another eye-witness behind police ranks, some of the fumes gusted back to the police as well. Either the shots were fired too low or the wind was blowing in the wrong direction, he said. Stung by the fumes, the protesters, many of them bearing placards with messages such as “Ahmadi get out” and “Stop coup d’etat in Iran”, have dispersed; others have re-grouped along Jalan U Thant. The cops are looking a little more relaxed now.
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7 arrested for defending houses from demolition

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Seven people – six residents and an activist – have been arrested while they were trying to stop Kuala Lumpur City Hall from demolishing houses in Kg Jinjang Selatan Tambahan (KTJS), according to human rights group Suaram. In an urgent alert, the group said it had also received reports that several people were injured during the incident.
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Now you see it, now you don’t…

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31 May – The rock is there dscf0716 7 June – The rock is blasted and gone According to a Tanjung Bunga resident, this was done at the Bolton Surin project site, at the unapproved Lot 4165, where a stop work order is supposedly in force.
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Bong who?

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peace1 Photo courtesy of  www.sriamanro.sarawak.gov.my Or how Sri Aman in Sarawak got its name… It’s now Anwar Ibrahim’s turn to call on the government to allow the former Communist Party of Malaya leader, Chin Peng, to return home. In the raging controversy over whether Chin Peng should be allowed to return home, few in the peninsula are aware of the peace treaty signed in 1973 in Simanggang, Sarawak between the then state chief minister, Abdul Rahman Yaakub, and Bong Kee Chok, the director and commissar of Partai Rakyat Kalimantan Utara (Paraku), which was linked to Tentara Nasional Kalimantan Utara (TNKU) and the Sarawak Communist Organisation (SCO). That led to  several hundred communists laying down their arms and subsequently returning to society.
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A vaccine for “women’s cancer”?

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vaccine Photo by a concerned Penangite A concerned Penangite spotted this banner at a private clinic along Burma Road, openly advertising a vaccine against “women’s cancer”. She called up the clinic and was told the vaccine would be delivered in three doses over a six-month period, RM250 each dose, total RM750. The vaccine is Gardasil (supposed to be a cervical cancer vaccine) and girls as young as nine could receive the vaccine, said the person at the other end of the line.
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Farish Noor speaks on the Pas general assembly

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Penang gov’t right in revamping ferry service

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The Penang government’s decision to take over the ferry service is a good move especially given the poor performance of Penang Port in running the service. Penang Port could have done better. It’s a pity that it was unable or unwilling to revamp and expand the ferry service (including introducing new routes) for reasons best known to itself. There was no reason for such a poor service, evidence of which could be seen in the long queues of motorists on the island heading to the mainland at night.  There was no shortage of demand, and yet the  service was largely neglected.
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Evictions: Penang Bishop’s office issues statement

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Rev Michael Thoo has released a press state statement from the office of the Penang Bishop. Here is the statement in full: In response to recent and current newspaper reports on the “eviction exercise” of’ 14 houses within the grounds of the Church of St. Francis Xavier, Penang Road, 10000 Georgetown, Penang the church wishes to clarify as follows: – There are 14 semi-concrete pre-war houses within the grounds of the Church of St. Francis, Penang Road, George Town, Penang. The houses are old and have no architectural value. – Other buildings on the land are the St Joseph’s Home for orphans and children from broken homes, the Learning Centre for children with learning disabilities and the “Lighthouse” which provides free food for the needy and school buildings. These social welfare and charitable organisations are run and/or supported by the church.
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Evictions controversy: Penang Bishop responds

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Citizen journalists Jimmy Leow and Lilian Chan have managed to get the Penang Bishop’s views on the controversy over the eviction letters issued to villagers residing on the church’s land at St Francis Xavier’s Church along Penang Road. Just a few quick observations arising from the Bishop’s comments: It doesn’t look as if the Church has carried out a proper survey of the affected households to establish the residents’ socio-economic status or needs before they were issued eviction letters. The question is, why the urgency to issue lawyer’s letters and evict the residents before carrying out such a survey of their needs, especially those of the senior citizens? Shouldn’t the process have involved extensive consultations with the affected residents, the setting up of arbitration panels and the soliciting of views from lay Catholics – rather than a top-down approach of resorting to lawyer’s letters?
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High noon at Penang’s ‘High Chaparral’

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Five more days. That’s the remaining time the residents of Kampong Buah Pala in Gelugor have, following a Court of Appeal decision on 11 May giving them 30 days to vacate their homes. The village, known as High Chaparral because of its history of cattle rearing, is at the centre of a controversial land dispute with luxury apartment developers.
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Nasharudin retains No. 2 but Nizar bags 85% of votes

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Nasharudin has retained the Pas deputy presidency. He collected 480 votes, Husam Musa polled 281 while Mat Sabu won 261. It looks as if the “progressive” or modernist votes have been split between Husam and Mat Sabu, who together collected 541 votes (54 per cent of votes cast) compared to Nasharudin’s 480 votes. In comparison, Nizar easily topped the contest for committee positions with 85 per cent of the votes.
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Voting underway in Pas elections

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rasmi12 Face to face: Mat Sabu (left) with Nasharudin – Photo courtesy of Harakah Daily
Husam Musa - Photo courtesy of husammusa.com
Husam Musa - Photo courtesy of husammusa.com
Polling for the Pas party elections is now underway as 1,044 delegates cast their ballots. The party elections committee is expected to announce all the official results tomorrow morning. [poll id=”38″]
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Fate of 64 arrested on 7 May still uncertain

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The scene outside the Ipoh police station this morning – Photos by Jong 1021: The police have told those arrested that they will have to wait longer to find out their fate. “They told us that investigations have not yet been completed,” says blogger Zorro, one of those arrested who had gone to the police station in Ipoh. “Why didn’t they tell us that last night?”
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Full text of Obama’s speech to the Muslim world

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In a much-awaited speech in Cairo just now directed largely at the Muslim world, Obama has vowed to:
  • shut down Guantanamo Bay by next year,
  • prohibit the use of torture by the United States (what about rendition or outsourcing of torture?) and
  • remove US troops from Iraq by 2012 (what about the large permanent or “enduring” US bases it has built?).
  • seek a world in which no nation holds nuclear weapons.
He has also pledged to work for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian stalemate. He has called for the Palestinians to “abandon violence” – without issuing a similar call to the Israelis. The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements, he adds – but what about existing settlements?
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Nasharudin rules out Pas-Umno pact

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Just spotted this on the Reuters wire service: Pas Deputy President Nasharudin Mat Isa, who enjoys the backing of conservatives within the party, has ruled out a Pas-Umno/BN pact and instead said that Pas should consolidate within Pakatan and consider itself a “government-in-waiting”.
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On eve of general assembly, Pas at a crossroads

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Mat Sabu in Penanti Mat Sabu is one of the contenders for the Pas deputy presidency – Photo by Anil Netto Pas holds its 55th general assembly this week. The party is now at a crossroads. As it aspires for federal leadership together with its Pakatan allies, Pas will have to decide and discern which direction it should take: towards a more inclusive and democratic Malaysia or towards a conservative theology that will alienate it from non-Muslims.
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