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Sadness

Anil Netto
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A haunting melody by songwriter Amirah Ali, who won the Best Pop Category for “Tell Me”  in the 2008 Signature Songwriting Competition.

Thanks for the lead, Sivin. While listening to the song, check out the report “Four reasons for controversial ‘Allah’ ruling” in the Malaysian Insider here.

Music and Lyrics by Amirah Ali
Engineered by Jon Gillespie

I am saddened and angered by the recent happenings in my country, Malaysia. I would like to share with you this song that I wrote. We are all ONE and so is GOD.

KATAKANLAH

Hari ke hari ku cari
Tapiku tidak pasti
Seribu malam ku mimpi
Tapi ku belum fahami

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PICC petition handed in to Chief Minister’s office

Anil Netto
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A petition against the proposed Penang International Convention Centre (PICC) was handed in to the Penang state government on Friday, 15 January.

Engineer Tan Seng Hai handed over the petition to Lim Guan Eng’s political secretary, Ng Wei Aik, who received it on behalf of the Chief Minister. Copies were also handed over to the personal assistants of the Secretary and Acting YDP of the Penang Municipal Council, Patahiyah Ismail, and Penang exco member Abdul Malik at their offices.

A total of 347 signatures were collected within 12 days, and Tan expressed satisfaction with the awareness and publicity generated by the petition.

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Images from the DAP national convention

Anil Netto
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Some 1,000 delegates are attending the DAP national convention at a hotel in Ipoh today.

Photos by Kinta Kid (Click the arrow in the centre and then click the icon at the bottom right to toggle to full-screen slideshow mode)

The theme this year is “Transformasi Malaysia“.

Penang’s long awaited local plan sees light

Anil Netto
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A local plan is in the offing for Penang – a positive development indeed. So, good work to the state government for seeing to this.

I bumped into Penang exco member and local government committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow a few days ago and told him I was pleased to hear about this development.

Many of the problems in the state have been due to haphazard development. A local plan, on the other hand, would provide a systematic guide of what sort of development is allowed in each area and what isn’t.

If you want to know what’s going to happen in your area, then you have to examine the plan when it is displayed. So, I hope adequate publicity and access would be given to the public so that they can provide their views when the plan is put on display.

This excerpt is from an Edge report:

Penang local government committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow said that among the steps included the completion of the Penang draft local plan. This plan would govern details of land use throughout the island, including compliance within the heritage zone.

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Weekend reflection

Anil Netto
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Here are a couple of articles that gave me hope and which I appreciated.

On respect, thinking and dialogue – Interview with Tariq Ramadan (theSun)

The day I spoke at the Hall of Holy Spirit – by Mujahid Yusuf Rawa (Malaysian Insider)

Meanwhile, broken glass has been found near the outside wall of a mosque in Kota Samarahan, Sarawak.

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Why are young people shunning Bursa?

Anil Netto
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While the the spate of attacks on religious sites is cause for concern, Bursa Malaysia has more worldly worries.

Few young adults are investing in the Kuala Lumpur stock market. A survey has revealed that only 12 per cent of investors are in the 20-29 age group, while 59 per cent involve those 40 years and above.

Some have cited possible reasons: the high risk factor involved in investing in the stock market; young people preferring to spend their money on property, cars and movies;  a lack of education about how to invest, etc.

I have my own theories.

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Another church in Seremban targeted

Anil Netto
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Another church in Seremban has been targeted – the Grace Global Prayer Church in Happy Garden, Rasah, Seremban, according to a twitter message from Lim Kit Siang.

It is the twelfth religious site – eleven of which are church properties – and the second in Seremban to be targeted since 8 January.

The incident at the new two-storey shoplot church occurred at around 8.00pm. Two window panes were found broken.

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Need training for your ‘character and attitude’?

Anil Netto
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A private company based in Kuala Lumpur is conducting an interesting training programme in Johor called “Character and Attitude Training”.

The programme is targeted at 1,500 Malaysians – graduates, unemployed, retrenched workers and existing employees, according to the firm’s website.

It is part of a so-called “Skill Enhancement and Employability Development (Seed)” programme, which is a “capacity building initiative by Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA) intended to equip the talents in Johor with soft-skills as well as technical skills to increase the employability of the unemployed and performance of the existing talents in the Region”, according to a letter from the firm to participants.

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Can we make a difference?

Anil Netto
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Can we reverse the damage that is being done to our society, to the environment and to the social fabric?

Is there hope for the future in this era of climate chaos, dwindling resources and social problems?

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Herald lawyers’ office, Johor church targeted

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Update: The St Elizabeth Catholic church in Kota Tinggi, Johor, was splattered with red paint at dawn, making it the 11th place of worship to be targeted since last Friday. It’s the first church in Johor to be targeted.

Earlier this morning, I received word from a church source that the PJ office of the Catholic Church’s lawyers, Fernandez and Selvarajah, was broken into last night and ransacked. A laptop was reportedly stolen. (More details here.)

  1. Metro Tabernacle Church (Assembly of God) in Desa Melawati – molotov cocktail damages administrative wing (8 Jan)
  2. Assumption Church (Catholic) in Jalan Templar – molotov cocktail hurled on pavement in front of church fails to explode (8 Jan)
  3. Life Chapel (evangelical Brethren) in Section 17, PJ  – molotov cocktail slightly damages porch (8 Jan)
  4. Good Shepherd Church (Lutheran) in PJ old town – firebomb misses window, scorches outer wall, minimal damage (8 Jan)
  5. All Saints’ Church (Anglican) in Taiping – two molotov cocktails scorch stair case leading to main entrance and side porch (9 Jan)
  6. Convent school (Catholic) in Taiping – molotov cocktail, probably meant for St Louis’ Church (Catholic) next door, breaks guard-house window (9 Jan)
  7. Malacca Baptist Church (Baptist) in Durian Daun – smeared with black paint (9 Jan)
  8. Good Shepherd Church (Anglican) in Lutong Miri  – stones shatter window panes (9 Jan)
  9. Sidang Injil Borneo Church (Borneo Evangelical Mission) in Seremban – front doors scorched (10 Jan)
  10. Gurdwara Sahib (Sikh) in Sentul – stones flung, mirror at entrance cracked and wall chipped (12 Jan)
  11. St Elizabeth’s Church (Catholic) in Kota Kecil, Johor – packets of red paint hurled, splattering the grounds, main gate, front door, wall and a statue (14 Jan)

Meanwhile, this is a piece I wrote for Asia Times:

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