Respect for Loyal Opposition Essential for Democracy

The Civil Society Initiative for Parliamentary Reform (CSI-Parliament) stresses that a loyal opposition is a legitimate and necessary part of any system of democracy, including our constitutional monarchy. We strongly criticise the threatened use of the Sedition Act 1948 and the leveling of accusations of treason against anyone who has a critical view of our … Read more

Sedition and the first ‘Royal ISA detainee’ : NO HOLDS BARRED

Sedition and the first ‘Royal ISA detainee’        NO HOLDS BARREDRaja Petra KamarudinSunday, 11 May 2008  In honour of Umno’s 62nd Anniversary today, allow me to educate you a bit on some of our forgotten history and the unsung heroes of the fight for Malaya’s independence from Britain. Ironically, the Sedition Act was a British instrument … Read more

Contradictheory

ContradictheoryBy Dzof Azmi, The StarSunday May 11, 2008 A FEW years ago, when I was at a conference in Langkawi, my co-workers and I were bored of the formal dinners that acted as the stodgy end to every working day. One night, we hopped into a car and drove around the island, and somewhere near … Read more

Malaysia’s Islamic court makes landmark ruling to let Muslim convert return to Buddhism

Malaysia’s Islamic court makes landmark ruling to let Muslim convert return to Buddhism The Associated Press Thursday, May 8, 2008 KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: A Malaysian Islamic court allowed a Muslim convert Thursday to return to her original faith of Buddhism, setting a precedent that could ease religious minorities’ worries about their legal rights. Lawyers said … Read more

For Pete’s sake, let’s pray

For Pete’s sake, let’s pray posted by joshua on May 8th, 2008 Photo credits: Mob1900from mob1900.blogspot.com Lord Denning in his book entitled ‘Freedom under the Law’ expressed the value which the law places on freedom of speech in the following manner: ‘We hold that no man has any right to dictate to another what religion … Read more

Civil Society Groups Express Solidarity with Raja Petra Kamarudin

CIVIL SOCIETY GROUPS EXPRESS SOLIDARITY WITH RAJA PETRA KAMARUDIN  It is with great concern that we, representing several Civil Society Action Groups, note that Raja Petra Kamarudin, Editor of news portal and blog, “Malaysia Today???, has been charged in the Petaling Jaya Sessions court with sedition in connection with an article he wrote and posted … Read more

Outsourcing and quality performance: Malaysia’s public works department

A brief quality assessment exercise conducted among officers of Malaysia’s Public Works Department (PWD) on outsourced quantity surveying services affirmed the view that the consultants’ performance was generally unsatisfactory. The performance dimensions cover from preliminary estimates and cost plans to final accounts. The result of this purely academic exercise generated sufficient interest among top decision-makers … Read more

The Role of Capital Account Controls in Developing Countries: Lessons from Malaysia

Two Different Policy Responses to the Asian Financial Crisis During the1990s, Asian businesses in developing nations acquired short-term funds in global markets. Much of this dollar denominated debt was unhedged. Over time, the quality of the investments made with these funds deteriorated. For example, short-term borrowing was used to acquire assets with a long-term payoff, … Read more