Archive - 30 August 2002

Kajian Umno selepas pilihanraya kecil Anak Bukit baru-baru ini mendapati terdapat bukti yang menunjukkan kewujudan 'pengundi hantu' dalam senarai nama pengundi, yang didakwa parti itu sebagai punca kekalahannya di situ.

Is Indonesia to blame for the recent haze? Satellite images easily available on the Internet showed there were almost as many hotspots in Sarawak a fortnight ago. However, a DOE official says otherwise and backs it up with figures.

Federal Special Task Force director for Sabah Mohd Ghazali Ahmad said yesterday that officials from the United Nations High Commission for Refugees and Suhakam visited the state's immigration detention camps and found them satisfactory. But both parties denied having been to the camps.

Environmental issues, while a major concern in the international arena, did not leave the same impact on Malaysians in the past. But change is taking place, slowly but surely, in terms of the intensity of the public's reaction against potentially-hazardous projects in their midst. One such case is the billion-ringgit incinerator plant in Puchong.

Tarc students went to a MCA-organised concert last November and exchanged their personal particulars for cheaper tickets. Now, they have been informed via an anonymous letter that their particulars were used to register them as MCA members — phantom members to be exact.

In the latest development regarding the deaths of three police detainees, the Sepang Magistrate's Court will hold an inquiry into the death of 19-year-old waiter, S Tharma Rajen, next week. Of the other two cases, one is still in the preliminary stage while the other has been held up as police have yet to lodge a report on the death.

Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Dr Lim Keng Yaik are two Malaysian leaders who, in recent days, seemed to have misused or abused the word 'extremists'. Ironically, they were considered 'ultra and extreme' by others during their early political careers. Is there an objective definition of 'extremism'?

Still on the debate on the new role of English, MAZENI ALWI laments the reduced importance of the national language but acknowledges the frightening problem of blunted Malay competitiveness from poor mastery of English in the modern world.

Deportation camp officials in Sabah defend the handling of Filipino illegal immigrants and deny charges that children had died in the centre.

Asean countries must change their economic model if they want to seriously compete with China, says a top regional economist who recommends as the best way forward, the Asean-China free trade area in which these countries can complement one another.

The debate over Tamil schools is an emotional one that frequently pits advocates against critics. No sound bite could sum up the arguments, which go back to the history and economic status of the Indian Malaysian community. Part 2 of our three-part series examines Tamil-language education in its wider context.

Kenaikan harga petrol buat kali ketiga dalam tempoh setahun merupakan satu mimpi ngeri untuk rakyat Malaysia. Pemimpin pembangkang, persatuan pengguna dan rakyat jelata mungkin sekadar mampu memperkata tentang kenaikan itu, tetapi tidak boleh apa-apa untuk menyekatnya.