The government is looking into relaxing the strict legal requirement presently stipulated under the Police Act for public rallies.

Police permit rules to be reviewed

syed hamid albar 02 Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar said the government and the police are reviewing Section 27 of the Police Act which relates to the requirement of a police permit for a public rally.

In a written reply to Teo Nie Ching (DAP-Serdang) today, the minister said the amendments will be in line with the recommendation from the Royal Police Commission. He however did not elaborate.

The royal commission had previously called on the government to loosen up the condition for police permit in order to safeguard the public's right to assembly.

"The ministry has agreed that any application for a public gathering should be made nine days before the gathering. It also agreed that the decision will be made in three days.

"An appeal can be made should the application is rejected and it is proposed that the appeal is made to the state police chief before the date of the public gathering is held," Syed Hamid stated.

Poverty line won't be raised to RM1,500

The government has no immediate plan to adjust the national poverty line from the current minimum monthly household income of RM753 to RM1,500 as suggested by an opposition MP.

amirsham abdul aziz However, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Amirsham A Aziz said the government will review the national poverty line from time to time to take into account of the current inflation rate.

This is because the present national poverty line had not taken into consideration of the knock-on effect of the recent hike in fuel prices, he added in a reply to Khalid Ibrahim (PKR-Bandar Tun Razak) during the oral question session.

Khalid has called for the national poverty line to be increased to RM1,500.

Responding on this, Amirsham said if the new methodology as suggested by Khalid was practised, the national poverty rate will shoot up to 24.3 percent.

Zahid: Islam Hadhari not against Islamic teachings

Minister in Prime Minister's Department Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has brushed off the claims that Islam Hadhari was considered to be against the Islamic teachings.

Responding to a question by Salahuddin Ayub (PAS-Kubang Kerian) during oral question session, the minister said that Islam Hadhari was focused on the quality of the contemporary lifestyle.

However, the Kubang Kerian MP said in his supplementary question that the government should review the concept and go back to the "basic teachings" of Islam to avoid confusion among Muslims.

Zahid rebutted, saying a cleric he has met did not reject the Islam Hadhari's substance.

According to him, the cleric said Islam Hadhari was still "relevant and contemporary."

"So we are going to proceed with Islam Hadhari as planned," said Zahid.