Category: Commentary

  Three significant characteristics of the system of Malaysian electoral politics make it inimical to the interests of the Indian poor. It is based on simple electoral majorities, it is ethnocentric and it works to provide moral cover for the Malaysian elite. And it has become conventional wisdom that since Indians do not form a… Continue reading Malay, Chinese elites fight it out and ‘the bloody mess’ continues

The Evidence (Amendment) (No.2) Act 2012 will come into operation in a few days on June 1. The impact of this hastily and stealthily rushed legislation could be devastating. De facto law minister Nazri Abdul Aziz denies that amendments to the Evidence Act were a means for the government to curb online dissent by making… Continue reading Black day for Internet users

Prime minister Najib Razak last week announced a ‘windfall’ of RM15,000 to each Felda settler family. The planned payout is to come from the Felda initial public offering on the Felda Global Ventures Holding (FGVH) listing. As part of the IPO of FGVH, Felda will be disposing 1.21 billion of its current FGVH shares at… Continue reading Why the prime minister should scuttle the coming FGVH IPO

In my note to Chandra on May 6 which he acknowledged, and which was sent well before this latest rebuttal, I had written: “I hope we can have a sustained discussion on the important subject that you have identified. I don’t think a one-off debate is a good way to have that discussion. I know politicians… Continue reading Lim Teck Ghee responds to Chandra Muzaffar’s refusal to engage on the Net and his threat

  It is a pity that Dr Lim Teck Ghee has chosen to ignore some of the arguments and analyses I had presented in my earlier reply, and instead has clung stubbornly to his dogmatic position on the political scenario in the country today. “Irrefutable fact” An example of this is his warped reasoning on… Continue reading Chandra Muzaffar reiterates debate invitation to Lim Teck Ghee

I have followed with some interest the on-going arguments between the MIC and a number of PKR leaders on the status of Indians born in Malaysia who do not enjoy the rights of Malaysian citizenship. My attention has also been drawn to a recent article by Dr Paraman Subramanian entitled 450,000 stateless Indians in Malaysia,… Continue reading The Numbers Game: Stateless Indians in Malaysia

  I thank Chandra for responding to my commentary on his lambasting of Bersih 3.0. Although the Center for Policy Initiatives (CPI) is reproducing his response in full, there is really very little new in the engagement. Basically Chandra has rehashed his arguments on the far-reaching changes to human rights and political and civil liberties… Continue reading Dr Lim Teck Ghee’s reply to Dr Chandra Muzaffar’s invitation

  Dr Lim Teck Ghee’s attack on me (CPI, 4 May 2012) does not come as a surprise. I would not have bothered to respond to him except that he has raised a couple of points about political change in the country and my stand on the electoral process that need to be rebutted. Are the… Continue reading Dr Chandra Muzaffar invites Dr Lim Teck Ghee to debate with him

Introduction by CPI The BBC, reporting on Hamza Kashgari’s deportation from Kuala Lumpur back to his native Saudi Arabia, said the charge hanging over the young man’s head of insulting the Prophet Muhammad is considered blasphemous in Islam and punishable by death. Kashgari, 23, fled his country was detained upon his arrival here on Thursday… Continue reading Islam Wasatiyyah should lead defence of Kashgari’s rights

The past year has seen the government and the opposition unveil their respective economic reform policies. Even if these reform policies and their attendant programmes are implemented, they will not be able to resolve the country’s economic problems. This is because the policies advocated by both sides of the political divide are merely palliative. They do not… Continue reading Breaking up wealth concentration in Malaysia