Archive - 22 August 2002

A court in Ipoh has ordered a French man to be deported after he faced charges of blaspheming Islam, the official Bernama news agency reported today.

With the ripples from the MCA takeover of Nanyang Press last year yet to subside, a new Chinese newspaper is making its debut soon in the local market, challenging the present pattern of ownership, control, content and readership of the Chinese press.

Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar rebuked Indonesia's national assembly chairman Amien Rais Thursday for criticising of Malaysia's labour laws, despite efforts by the Indonesian government to calm the row.

Keadilan Youth leader Mohd Ezam Mohd Nor, who is serving a two-year jail sentence in the Kajang prison, says the conditions of his incarceration are worse compared with that of the Kamunting Detention Centre.

Distressed by the recent deaths of three youths which happened while they were under police detention, a group of 27 non-governmental organisations and political parties today handed a letter to Chief Justice Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah urging for a public inquest into their deaths.

Suhakam vice-chairperson Harun Hashim's remark that ISA detainees were being punished and not rehabilitated will be the focus of discussion at a meeting between the Abolish ISA Movement (AIM) and Suhakam tomorrow. AIM, of course, is unhappy with Harun's statement.

Opposition parties may not be able to work together as a united front, but at the very least they should not attack each other, DAP leader Ronnie Liu says in response to his colleague's suggestion that DAP returned to the opposition front to fight their common enemy.

The odds were stacked against her. Rivals and pundits predicted a bleak future for the housewife-turned-politician. But Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail has weathered the storm and recent developments prove that she is a valiant and praiseworthy captain who is steering Keadilan in the right direction.

Overnight rain in Kuching — the city in Sarawak most affected by the smog which shrouded parts of Southeast Asia — has helped improved visibility. But air quality continues to be 'unhealthy' and the state government plans to distribute one million masks to residents.

Since transportation limitations have caused hundreds of Filipino illegal migrant workers to be stranded in Malaysia, the Philippines government plans to send over warships to bring them home.

Despite public outrage against the detention of juveniles in prison, the practice continues. Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) laments that the authorities are not abiding to the procedures which they have agreed on at an earlier meeting.

Apakah dakwaan perbuatan korupsi dan nepotisme hanya membabitkan orang politik, dan PAS juga tidak terkecuali! Selain dakwaan banyak penyelewangan oleh kerajaan Barisan Nasional, ada juga kes-kes yang sama juga dilaporkan berlaku dalam kerajaan pimpinan PAS di Kelantan.

As the debate rages on between secularism and theocracy, a constitutional law expert proposes the middle ground can be found in 'principled pluralism' which contains the common values of all religions.