Protests are picking up against the 30-year rule of Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud. This one was held in the UK on 28 February.
Taib completes three decades in power on 26 March 2011.
UK protest against Taib’s 30-year rule
Bakun NCR appeal before apex court
The Federal Court has fixed 28 April 2011 to hear a full appeal on a couple of cases involving native customary rights to land that could have far-reaching implications.
The main issue before the court: is Section 5 (3) and (4) (on the land acquisition procedure) of the Sarawak Land Code ultra vires Article 5 read together with Article 13 (on the right to life and right to property) of the Federal Constitution?
Incidence of illicit cigarettes “critical”
The level of illicit cigarettes in Malaysia remains high.
According to a press release by JT International Berhad, the results of an Illicit Cigarettes Study, commissioned by CMTM, showed “the incidence of illicit cigarettes from June-August 2010 remaining critical at nearly 40%”.
Reasons for the Arab uprising
The revolt in the Arab world is not just about getting rid of authoritarian leaders and dictators. It is also about ending economic injustice and exploitation.
The media would have us believe that the popular discontent is solely due to the dictatorships and repression in the Arab world. But there is more to it than that. A lot of the disenchantment is also the result of people’s hopes being crushed by an exploitative economic system that undermines essential public services, reduces nations to little more than sweat-shops, and concentrates wealth in the hands of a wealthy elite and their well-connected or crony corporations.
Savouring street food in 1960s Penang
Tunglang takes us on a journey half a century back in time to relive his childhood experience of savouring street food in George Town:
In my half slumber mode, if my memory is still intact, I can visually relive a moment in the early 1960s, standing at the junction at night in front of Craven A Cafe.
I am a small child in pyjamas looking up to a tall, passing rickshaw with a running puller. I guess this is the last of the rickshaw breed in Penang.
‘Anti-racism’ rally: Over 100 arrested
Over a hundred demonstrators unhappy over the controversial Interlok book have been arrested and detained all over Kuala Lumpur ahead of and during a Hindraf/Human Rights Party rally to protest at what they perceive to be racism.
According to a tweet by a Hasbeemasputra, six were held in IPD Sentul, 120 at PULAPOL (they are now believed to have been released), and an unknown number in Dang Wangi and IPK KL.
Among those arrested or detained were Human Rights Party leader P Uthayakumar, who is being held at Jinjang police station, where a crowd of about 300 has gathered. Other Hindraf supporters are believed to have gathered at IPD Sentul.
Roof leaks, fewer fans at Sepang F1
Just over a dozen years after it was first opened by Mahathir, the Sepang International Circuit has been plagued by leaking roofs, rubbish and declining attendances.
Apparently, the grand roof needs to be replaced – after only a dozen years, purportedly its life span. (See AFP photo of leaking roof above paddock building here.) The circuit’s boss has admitted there were shortcuts during construction – completed in a “record time” of 14 months – and shoddy maintenance since then. Another pet project under the Mahathir administration that even clinched a Special Project Award at the Malaysian Construction Industry Excellence Awards 2001.
Straight fights for Kerdau and Merlimau
It’s going to be straight fights – BN vs Pas – for the Kerdau and Merlimau by-elections, the 15th and 16th by-elections since the 2008 general election.
The score as it stands now is 8-6 in the Pakatan’s favour. The BN has a good chance of levelling the score, if, as many expect, they win both these both by-elections. In fact, a source within Pas, who has been accurate in his predictions so far, told me the party has little chance of winning these by-elections.
These by-elections will be the prelude for the Sarawak state election, expected to be held in early April 2011. The BN will be watching all these polls carefully, and if all goes well for them, maybe we can expect a general election a few months later.
Developer ordered to rebuild bungalow
The Penang Island Municipal Council (MPPP) has ordered Klassik Tropika, a subsidiary of the Mah Sing Group, to rebuild an illegally demolished colonial-era bungalow to its original condition.
This is a step in the right direction. The even bigger question is, what’s going to happen to the RM280 million high-rise plan for the Pykett Avenue site? Will MPPP reject the plan as a lesson to all? Or will the plan eventually be approved when the uproar has died down? The developer had bought the site from a private company in December 2009 for RM38.7 million (RM262 per sq ft), according to a filing with Bursa Malaysia.
See this report from theSun:
Restore building to original condition, developer told
Himanshu BhattGEORGE TOWN (Feb 23, 2011): A developer that has been ordered to rebuild a colonial-era bungalow here after illegally demolishing it last year is required to restore it to its original condition, the Penang government has clarified.