Archive - 6 September 2002

It is difficult enough for a 13-year-old girl to reveal that she had been molested, much less deal with her name being splashed over the papers. Three popular dailies are chided for publishing her name despite journalistic ethics calling otherwise.

Following Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's call for an investigation into the claim that a 13-year-old Filipina was sexually abused at an illegal immigrants detention camp in Sabah, the police have formed a special team to solve the case swiftly.

Now that Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has consented to meet with a few Chinese groups over the controversial language switch, will influential Chinese education movement Dong Jiao Zong get to present its view to the premier who has labeled the group 'extremist'?

The deportation of Filipinos have split families and made 'orphans' of children left behind in Sabah by their parents who were forced to return to Philippines, says a migrant support group.

There is another surprise in court today. Lim Kit Siang and five other DAP supporters 'freed' themselves from charges under the Sedition Act when the police apparently failed to receive any directive to pursue the matter.

Continuing with the series in conjunction with the Johannesburg Summit 2002 from Aug 26 to Sept 4, this article asks: How do we feed six billion people every day for as long as they live? Take your pick: the Green Revolution, large plantations, and the new great 'green' hope biotechnology. But the first two are environmentally suspect, and the third is plagued by safety issues. Best to plant our hopes in a fourth choice agroforestry.

Philippines is gathering evidence of alleged rapes by Malaysian officials in illegal immigrant detention camps to be used as evidence in any future criminal cases. However, this is not going to be an easy task.

Manakah yang lebih merbahaya — 'pengundi hantu' atau 'pengundi import'. Dan mengapakah hanya bila Umno membuat bising mengenainya, baru Suruhanjaya Pilihanraya (SPR) bersuara? Itulah persoalan yang ditimbulkan oleh Aman Rais kali ini.

Hua Zong, of which the Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall is part, will meet the prime minister soon to present their views on the controversial language switch. The meeting will be the first face-to-face encounter between Dr Mahathir Mohamad and SCAH since he labeled it 'extremist'.

DAP youth acting national secretary Loke Siew Fook wants an independent inquiry headed by Suhakam into the alleged rape of a 13-year-old Filipino girl at a detention centre.

About 100 United States and British aircraft mounted an aerial offensive on Iraq yesterday. The warplanes bombed an air defence installation but no casualties were reported.

The UN commission for human rights has been serving the violators instead of the victim. Now with Brazilian Sergio Vieira de Mello's appointment as the new chief, it is hoped that the body will free itself from the shackles fastened by certain states and execute its rightful role.

Now that the Snap rival faction led by William Mawan is expecting the worst — meaning that Mawan may not be recognised as the legally elected party president by the ROS, the group is toying around with options, including forming a new party and joining the BN.

full report Elation turned to gloom at the Federal Court today when judges ruled the initial 60-day police detention of five reformasi leaders unlawful but decided 20 minutes later a fresh habeas corpus must be filed to challenge the two-year detention order signed by Home Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi after the expiry of the first 60 days.