Few Malaysians may have heard of him but that in no way takes anything away from the towering stature of the legendary Penan leader, Along Sega, who passed away on 2 February 2011.
He was an outspoken leader of the Penan’s struggle against the timber firms that encroached into native customary rights lands from the 1980s.
What are a few of the reasons for the BN, or should we say Umno, winning seven of the last eight by-elections?
Here’s something I wrote for Asia Times:
Umno bounces back in Malaysia
By Anil Netto
PENANG – The political tide that earlier rolled against Malaysia’s ruling United Malays Nasional Organisation (Umno)-led coalition appears to have turned again in its favor, raising the prospects for possible early polls.
Gerakan central committee member Dr Hsu Dar Ren has quit the party on the third anniversary of the 8 March 2008 watershed general election.
The reason? “Not so much because of the party itself, which has a good ideology and many good members and many good friends, but more because of the dominance of Umno over everything else within the coalition,” he said.
“I am sick of race-based politics and Gerakan is actually getting further and further away from realising its ideology of building a fair and equitable society.”
The head of both the municipal councils in Penang are now women with the appointment of urban planner Maimunah Mohd Shariff as the new president of the Seberang Perai Municipal Council.
Today happens to be International Women’s Day. So this is good news to mark this day.
Butterworth and BM and other parts of the mainland really need someone to look carefully at urban planning. I hope the MPSP will do something about the entire beach-front of Butterworth (particularly the mess along the ironically named Pantai Bersih), the poor condition of drainage, and the lack of green spaces for recreation.
The Tanjung Bunga Residents Association is seeking legal clarification over what it claims is the “illicit modification” of the Penang Structure Plan.
They are seeking a declaration that Tanjung Bunga lies in the ‘Secondary Corridor’ and not in the ‘Primary Corridor’ of development under the Structure Plan.
So, my source in Pas was accurate in his predictions for both these polls.
On the eve of polling (5 March, 10.28pm – see Coveritlive below) he had predicted a BN win by 3,500 votes in Merlimau (actual 3,643) and a BN majority of 2,500 in Kerdau (actual 2,724).
Aljazeera has made clear inroads into the traditional Internet domination of the global media giants following its breath-taking coverage and live video streaming of the Arab revolution, which has captured the imagination of the world.
This Alexa graph shows just how much ground it has gained.
Essam Sharaf, a former minister-turned-protester at Tahrir Square, was feted by tens of thousands of ordinary people when he returned to the square yesterday as their new Prime Minister, wading into a sea of humanity – without any sign of a security detail.
“I am here because I get my legitimacy from you,” Essam told the crowd, as he stressed his commitment to a transition to democracy while urging the crowd to be patient.
Support the arts in Penang and make Penang a place for creative talents to flourish – and help save our rivers in the process.
This production is brought to you by the good and creative folks at the Ombak Ombak Arts Studio.
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Human rights and environmental campaigners seeking accountability from the administration of Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud staged a protest at an FBI facility in Seattle.
But they were unable to meet senior officers after security guards locked the doors.
The campaigners have alleged that the FBI’s premises, the Abraham Lincoln Building, in Seattle is owned or linked to the Taib family.