Speaking ahead of the Federal Court verdict, Anwar Ibrahim tells the BBC he is convinced the struggle for reforms will go on even if he is sent back to jail.
Anwar Ibrahim recounts his political struggle and talks about the reform movement and how far it has come with one eye on the outcome of the Sodomy II trial.
While Penang’s squash queen Nicol David has put Malaysia on the map in sports, another Penangite is carving a name for himself in real estate deals in New York. Only problem is the media coverage has not drenched his exploits with much glory. Oh, what a tangled business and real estate web he has spun … Check out this New York Times expose and note Jho Low’s reported brief meeting with Najib.
Scars and brown patches have pockmarked the face of Penang Hill – evidence of illegal land clearing on the hill. The bruising is evident as you approach the island using the atrocious skeleton ferry service under the now privatised Penang Port.
As the verdict for the Sodomy II trial draws closer, a defiant Anwar has vowed to carry on the struggle for political reforms.
He said many people had been asking him what he expected the Federal Court verdict to be on 10 February.
These hills are being cut in full view of the public. You can see them just on the left (in the direction of 8 o’clock) as soon as you pass through the toll booth of the first Penang Bridge, as you head towards Penang Island.
Residents of Bukit Gasing have launched an online petition after a developer was allowed to file an assessment for damages against 103 residents who had filed an unsuccessful judicial review of a project to build 68 luxury homes on the KL side of Bukit Gasing.
The fee for making a request to the Penang state government for information under the Freedom of Information Act is RM100 if the information relates to earlier years.
A veteran journalist then wondered aloud to me: “I want to make a number of requests for information in the course of my work,” he said. “Does that mean if I make five requests under the FOI, I have to pay RM500?”
The TPP is “the largest—and worst—trade deal you’ve never heard of,” says a campaign on moveon.org. In other words, “Nafta on steroids”. You may not have heard of it because the negotiations are all being done in secret. Perhaps even over a round of golf?
Incidentally, Robert Reich in the video above is “an American political economist, professor, author, and political commentator. He served in the administrations of Presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter and was Secretary of Labor under President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 1997” (Wikipedia).
By now, 1MDB has supposedly “redeemed” US$2.3bn from a fund registered in the Cayman Islands.
Of this amount, the firm says US$1.2bn (60 per cent) had been “redeemed” earlier, as reflected in its 31 March 2014 accounts. On 13 January 2015, 1MDB announced it had “redeemed” the remaining US$1.1bn. It also reportedly received US$267m in dividends.
Gosh, I am not sure what this commotion is all about, but they look serious, don’t they? Are they quarelling about who can better champion the people’s rights and welfare in the face of massive corruption and economic mismanagement? I don’t think so.
The recent floods don’t seem to have taught us anything. Some people still have an urge – call it an itch – to pour concrete and tar onto the few green spaces we have.
In a quiet neighbourhood in Tanjung Bunga, with hardly any traffic, paving has been placed around a small park, eating up precious green space. Metal railings are now being put up around the new pavement circling the park. And the road has been widened, even though hardly any traffic passes through the neigbourhood.
As the conservatives in Pas come under fire for their comments on local elections and other hot-button issues, Mujahid Yusof Rawa continued his efforts to project a more inclusive face to the party. This afternoon he cemented ties with the Christian community in the northern region.
The second Aliran Young Writers Workshop in Penang over the last weekend has unleashed the the potential of more socially conscious young writers, who are set to light up the writing scene.
Are you surprised by the floods in the East Coast and Sarawak? Don’t be. Apart from climate change resulting in almost double the rainfall in December in the East Coast, the extent of deforestation is breathtaking in its sheer audacity.
Take a look at the video above and the photograph in the front page of theSun, reproduced below:
Where have all our forests gone?
What happens when you put a group of youths in a room over the weekend, with plenty of coffee, and ask them to come up with an article ready for publication? Not just on any topic but on issues facing the nation. How do they grab the readers’ attention from the first paragraph and ensure that their writing is coherent, concise, engaging and readable?
It is not just in Malaysia that people are concerned about 1MDB. Apparently, certain parties in the Middle-East are getting a bit jittery. This was the lead in the Business section of the Gulf Times on 15 January 2015.
Police have said they believe human trafficking syndicates are behind the series of murders in mainland Penang.
This was what I was alluding to in my blog post in August 2014: Bukit Mertajam in the spotlight – for the wrong reasons. The news about human trafficking syndicates operating here had emerged in January 2014.
