The outcome of the 2022 general election held the promise of a new era for Malaysia.
A quarter of a century of Reformasi struggle culminated in the Anwar Ibrahim-led Pakatan Harapan winning power in alliance with, surprise, surprise, the Umno-led Barisan Nasional and coalitions in Sarawak and Sabah.
It is hard to celebrate Christmas with the usual festive cheer this year when this is happening. Has the universal church done enough to call out the genocide that is taking place in Gaza? End the genocide in Gaza!
A stirring movie can be a powerful instrument to raise awareness of social issues that we are not usually attuned to. Here are two commendable Malaysian efforts – Abang Adik, a low-budget film focusing on the plight of the stateless, and Pendatang, a crowdfunded film touching on ethnic relations. Try and watch both if you can over Christmas and the New Year.
Members attending Aliran’s 47th hybrid annual general meeting [on 25 November] unanimously passed a resolution urging for an immediate and lasting ceasefire in Gaza and the West Bank to allow humanitarian aid to enter.
They also called for the release of all hostages and prisoners illegally or unjustly held captive on both sides and for the immediate withdrawal of Israel from the occupied territories of the West Bank and Jerusalem.
My take on Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s first year in office. What do you think of his performance over the last year?
One year after Anwar Ibrahim took over as Prime Minister, expectations have fallen.
Perhaps we have to be thankful his “unity government” has not collapsed to send the country into political turmoil again.
Speakers:
Moderator: K Haridas, executive committee member, Aliran
Time: 11am, Saturday, 28 October
In this video, YouTube user Poon points to the poor state of public transport connectivity between Butterworth and George Town. This is so true. (Thanks to the heads-up from blog reader Luca.)
Today, we celebrate the diamond jubilee of the formation of Malaysia.
Former ambassador M Santhananaban tells us in an article on the Aliran website that we have much to learn from Sarawak and Sabah. Putrajaya must strengthen its bond of solidarity with these two territories, especially the lives of marginalised or vulnerable communities.
So the voter turnouts in the Pulai parliamentary by-election and the Simpang Jeram state seats have been poor: about half the voters in Pulai turned up compared to 70% in the last general election. The turnout at Simpang Jeram of 56% at 4pm was only slightly better.