Month: September 2008

Transition or appeasement?

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Published by ST (Singapore)

September 18, 2008

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 18 — After all the hype in Malaysia, Sept 17 turned out to be more eventful than Sept 16.

A day after opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim failed to topple the government, a change occurred at the top. The Cabinet reshuffle yesterday saw Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi swopping his Finance portfolio with  his deputy Datuk Seri Najib Razak who held Defence.

The move is intended to send out the message that it is part of the implementation of the transition plan which will see Abdullah handing over power to Najib by mid-2010.

The Finance portfolio is traditionally seen as the final stepping stone to the top. It is ranked higher than Defence.

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Unemployment Trends in Peninsular Malaysia during the 1970s (1985)

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Author 1 Hawley, Amos H. Author 2 Fernandez, Dorothy Author 3 Singh, Harbans Examines the unemployment trends in Peninsular Malaysia during the 1970s. Reasons why economists regard unemployment as undesirable; Principal sources of information on unemployment in Malaysia; Unemployment data from 1962-1982; Determinants of interstate variation in unemployment rates in 1980. [Download] Download

Dark Days Here for Malaysia’s Political Bloggers

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Posted by kasee, Published in Malaysia Today 

Saturday, 20 September 2008 08:47 

Written by Lynette Lee Corporal, The Mindanao Examiner

BANGKOK (Asia Media Forum: Sept 19, 2008) – These are dark days, indeed, for Malaysia’s bloggers. In the last seven days, authorities have picked up two bloggers, a journalist, and a ranking parliamentarian under the country’s draconian national security laws.

The crackdown comes amid rising political tensions as opposition forces led by Anwar Ibrahim maneuver to try to topple the government of Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi in parliament. Anwar has been demanding a vote of no-confidence in the government.

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PAK LAH’S POLITICAL SUNSET —

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A blazing sky or a dim eclipse?

By Yong Thye Chong aka Kim Quek

September 21, 2008

 

Anwar Ibrahim may have failed to assume the premiership on the very day of September 16, 2008 but he has certainly brought the nation to a cross-roads that may mark the most important turning point in the nation’s history.  Within days from now, the nation may know its fate – whether it will be a future that is nothing more than the status quo of racial fragmentation and corrupt rule or a bold new frontier that promises national unity and vigorous growth.

The week ending September 20 is indeed a week of high political dramas.  On one side, an aspiring prime minister-in-waiting is relentlessly seeking to take over power with his supposed parliamentary majority; on the other, the incumbent prime minister looks set to succumb to party pressure to relinquish his post to his deputy.

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Abdullah Badawi: Wading Back from the Rubicon

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By William Leong, MP for Selayang

September 20, 2008

Thank God, Teresa Kok (DAP MP for Seputeh) has been released from the ISA. The Abdullah Badawi administration’s lame excuse of not finding any reason to detain her further sounds as ludicrous as Sin Chew’s reporter Tan Hoon Cheng’s detention is for her protection. Unfortunately, Malaysia Today editor/blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin is still detained. Since the crack down began last week, mosques, churches, temples, places of worship and all other places where the public congregate, have seen vigils and prayers for the three detainees and for our country. All religions have in the course of their development been victims of oppression. They are therefore familiar with OPPRESSION and are quick to recognize one when it happens. But there is a word that is more appropriate than oppression to describe the sinful act of the Badawi administration in the misuse of the ISA, it is TYRANNY!

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MUSLIM PROFESSIONALS FORUM PRESS RELEASE

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Written by the Muslim Professionals Forum

Posted by Bernard Khoo aka zorro

13th September, 2008

The arrests of MP Theresa Kok and journalist Tan Hoon Cheng under the ISA following that of blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin raise grave concern for Malaysians.

An endearing legacy of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s leadership that we have come to appreciate is the openness albeit limited, that has come as a breath of fresh air after 2 decades of punitive control of the public sphere.

The arrests of the three individuals under the draconian law at a time when Malaysians have become more mature politically and less inclined to be baited by racial politics will no doubt further erode the legitimacy of and support for the ruling party, perhaps irrevocably.

Of no less import will be the repercussions to Malaysia’s reputation internationally, that time and again the ruling party resorts to an unjust and antiquated piece of legislation to silence dissent in order to sustain her cling to power.

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Anwar’s options

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By Leslie Lau and Shannon Teoh, The Malaysian Insider
September 18, 2008

Sept 18 — There are many roads that can lead to power for the Pakatan Rakyat alliance if opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim indeed has the support of a majority MPs in his hand.

Today, the so-called “prime minister in waiting” demanded that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi convene Parliament next Tuesday to move against a motion of no confidence against the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition.

Next Tuesday is, of course, the day before Anwar goes back to court to face sodomy charges, in a trial he has claimed is politically motivated to stop in the tracks his challenge against the BN.

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Change Of Government – The Queen’s Option

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Posted by kasee in Malaysia Today  


Thursday, 18 September 2008 22:29 
By BOB TEOH, MySinchew

Thirty three years ago, Australia was faced with a constitutional crisis so serious that the Queen was forced to use her option. Her vice-regal representative, the Governor General, stepped in and sacked the prime minister and appointed another as caretaker. Fresh elections were held one month later in which the caretaker PM and his party won.

Malaysia and Australia have a few things in common. Both are members of the Commonwealth and both are constitutional monarchies and parliamentary democracies. Both are also federated states. But the diffrence is that Australia’s Queen resides in London whereas Malaysia’s King lives with his people right where they are. Another diference is that one is an established democracy while the other is a developing one.

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