June 2009 – Page 4

Prof Dr.Andrew Harding on Crises of Confidence and Perak’s Constitutional Impasse

June 7, 2009 by johnlee_my

Crises of Confidence and Perak’s Constitutional Impasse

In 1966 it was Sarawak, in 1985 it was Sabah, and in 2009 it is Perak. But the issue in these times of crisis in state governments has been essentially the same: how are the so-called ‘Westminster-type constitutional conventions’ relating to the appointment and tenure of chief ministers, and written into both federal and state constitutions in Malaysia, supposed to operate? Crucially, in the present and intensely litigated impasse, are matters arising outside the legislature relevant in assessing whether a Menteri Besar (MB) still commands the confidence of a majority in the State Legislative Assembly, and can the head of state appoint a new MB if he judges that the existing MB has lost that confidence and does not resign? Malaysians will recall that similar issues were raised hypothetically at the federal level not long ago.

Joint Press Statement on Media Must Move Public Opinion to Decriminalize Defamation

June 5, 2009 by johnlee_my

Date: 5th Jun, 2009

Joint Press Statement by Writers Alliance for Media Independence (WAMI) and
Civil Rights Committee, Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (CRC-KLSCAH) and
Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ)

Issued by Mr Wong Chin Huat, Chairperson, WAMI
Liao Kok Fah, Chairperson, CRC-KLSCAH
Gayathry Venkiteswaran, Executive Director, CIJ

Media Must Move Public Opinion to Decriminalize Defamation

Pertaining to the recent incident where MCA president cum Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat lodged a police report against a Chinese-Language magazine Special Weekly, calling for a probe into the weekly story to determine if it contravenes section 8(A) of the Printing Press and Publication Act 1984 for publication of false news and Section 500 of the Penal Code for criminal defamation, and the various investigations conducted by the police against politicians such as MP Lim Kit Siang, MP N Gobalakrishnan and Badrul Hisham for allegedly committing “criminal defamation???,

Bloggers Beware! The internet is not lawless

June 4, 2009 by johnlee_my

http://linasoo.com/blog/?p=1006

June 4, 2009

‘A lot of bloggers think of themselves as individuals or maybe writers but in the courts, they are considered a publisher’, Robert Cox, president of the Media Bloggers Association.

Blogging about other people can land you in trouble. Legal experts say bloggers are increasingly the targets of defamation suits, which are testing the bounds of free speech. A 53-year old grandmother who blogged about Anna Nicole Smith was jailed recently for contempt in a defamation case brought by the late Playmate’s mother. Like many other bloggers, Lyndal Harrington doesn’t consider herself a publisher and is shocked that she is being sued for comments posted on someone else’s blog.

Can racist rabble-rousing still work post March 8?

June 4, 2009 by johnlee_my

Can racist rabble-rousing still work post March 8?

June 1, 2009

It just occured to me that two consecutive May 13s have taken place since the political map-changing Malaysian General elections of 2008.

Despite a record number of Parliament and State seats falling to the Opposition, there was a telling absence of widespread insecurity on the part of this country’s majority voters: the Malays.

Life was still the same in the streets. The makcik who sells nasi lemak in my predominantly Chinese neighbourhood still enjoys roaring business, her only troubles coming from the City Hall enforcement who wants to put an end to her illegal makeshift stall.

Uphold the Spirit of Reconciliation in the Haadyai Peace Accords

June 4, 2009 by johnlee_my

Twenty years ago, the Haadyai Peace Accords were signed between our government and the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM), which ended the protracted anti-British-turned-civil war, and marked the beginning of national reconciliation process beneficial to national unity and nation building as a whole.

Among other things, CPM’s contributions to the independence process was finally recognized by our government when Datuk Rahim Noor, the then IGP and head of government negotiating team, made an announcement that “Malaysia did not deny or dispute the CPM’s contribution to the struggle for independence.???

Malay Mail poised to change hands again

June 2, 2009 by johnlee_my

KUALA LUMPUR, May 30 — A unit of media company Redberry is poised to acquire 75 per cent of the Malay Mail, one of the country’s oldest newspapers, which has been struggling with continued losses despite a change of ownership more than a year ago.

Redberry, which is privately held, has quietly made a name for itself in Kuala Lumpur’s advertising industry, having corralled the rights to advertise in the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, most of the country’s major highways, many of Kuala Lumpur’s buses, and in three of the city’s largest supermarkets.

The Malays have changed, Utusan hasn’t …

June 2, 2009 by johnlee_my

(translation from Malay by Centre for Policy Initiatives)

For most folks, Sunday is a day of rest because it’s a holiday. Unfortunately Mingguan Malaysia [Utusan weekend edition] yesterday May 31, 2009 agitated me and disrupted my day off. Its articles were extremely disappointing, reminding me how far divorced this Malay newspaper is from the reality of life in Malaysia as well as how wide the schism is between the paper and current Malay thinking. It is probably due to this reason that its readership is on the decline. Its theme and plot is race, race and race.