Anil Netto

Food futures behind rising prices

analysis Past liberalisation promoted the dumping of cheap food in developing countries and the drive towards industrialisation and cash crops.

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Wealth equity - Malaysia's challenge

Support for a new social economics was clearly evident in polls in the run-up to the general election. But will this lead to radical changes towards a people-led economy?

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Malaysia rocked to the economic core

The new state governments now have their work cut out for them to make good on their opposition campaign promises of ending the NEP in favour of their 'Malaysian Economic Agenda'.

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Plans afoot to rig polls: opposition

Opposition parties have cried foul over the reversal of the decision to use indelible ink saying it was further evidence that dirty tricks would be used or the elections rigged, a charge the EC denies.

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Cyber-strike against mainstream media

With the general election ahead, a group has launched a weekly boycott of newspapers as these ‘normally misbehave big time’ in campaign coverage.

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PGCC project grinds to a halt

new The ambitious project in Penang will go back to the drawing board, following a concerted campaign by civil society groups.

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Election year fraught with multiple troubles

Critics are saying that Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has failed to live up to the heightened expectations - and the calls for reform have re-surfaced.

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What's fuelling street protests?

The government is not tackling the economic roots of grievances among marginalised Malaysians, but appears stuck in its old mould of race-based thinking.

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Paradox in forest management

First, logging companies in Malaysia can harvest timber, next they can get 'soft loans' for reforestation programmes.

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Mega city project robs common green

Alarmed civil society groups are coming together to oppose a massive urban development project.

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Water debate doused

When religious leaders from different faiths in Malaysia recently sought jointly to affirm the sacredness of water as the source of life, they were shooed away.

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Big top-down farm revival powered by business

If the government really wanted to develop farming, it should adopt a bottom-up, people-based approach, say activists.

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Minimum wage row flares in Malaysia

Aggrieved private-sector workers feel they deserve a minimum wage, but the government is adamantly against this.

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Race-based policy spoils EU-Malaysian ties

The NEP has given rise to a new ethnic-Malay middle class, but critics point out that it has also spawned a culture of corruption, cronyism and ethnic discrimination

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Death of a migrant worker

Indian national Vipin V Nair died a lonely death in a budget hotel room in Penang earlier this month, far away from home. What happened?

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Worker's death exposes slave-like conditions

The balance of power in the relationship between employers and migrant workers is extremely lop-sided.

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Privatisation of health care feared

Civil society groups say the approach is neo-liberal based on the concept of the human being as a purely economic entity who will respond to market forces.

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Costly incinerators or efficient waste disposal?

Kuala Lumpur may have a new incinerator within the next five years while the historical city of Malacca further south has submitted a request for one.

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US unions rally against Malaysian pact

US trade unions join forces with their Malaysian counterparts to oppose ongoing negotiations toward a FTA until workers' concerns from both countries are addressed.

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Asean's new charter: Don't look now

Critics suspect the lack of public consultation over the charter could be due to the real intention behind the blueprint.

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Dam-building: Toys for boys

It's little effort and easy money - what better way to play the corporate game than through dam construction?

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Bloody Sunday - throwback to Dr Ms era

The batons and water cannons are not unlike the repressive measures used against demonstrators protesting against the excesses of Dr Mahathir Mohamad. But he is no longer in power is he?

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Mob rule: Dj vu in Penang

A public forum on constitutional rights if forced to abort. Events reveal the depth of emotions stirred over the issue in Malaysia's plural society.

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Malaysian water a matter of life and death

Contamination of the resource can end your life. Opponents argue this law will hardly overcome water pollution.

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