JJ Ray

The snatch theft menace has given rise to some pretty zany suggestions on how to curb or avoid it. But the bottom line is that citizens are being taken for a ride by incapable and lackadaisical authorities.

The HIV/Aids scenario is changing to include new at-risk groups. Malaysians may find the pandemic closer to home than they think.

Malaysians are considered generous souls but when it comes to pledging their organs, they are not. This is true, particularly among the Malays.

The gullible public believes that those in power will do whatever it takes to ensure their safety, but more often than not politicians are just full of words. Just how long more must we wait for them to 'walk their talk'?

Malaysia is an unhealthy nation. The people are lax about exercising and lead unhealthy lifestyles. New Sports Minister Azalina Othman Said aims to improve the situation.

Unfortunate though it may be, the Malaysian way of dealing with pressing issues can be summed up under 'first class infrastructure and third class mentality.'

Knee-jerk reactions have characterised the Malaysian approach to resolving social ills. With younger lives being destroyed or lost, it is time for the intelligent approach.

While the women's groups have done their job, the same cannot be said of the government, which time and again, has displayed no political will in wanting to make changes to some of the country's antiquated laws.

Malaysia launches yet another major offensive against cigarette-smoking with five-year campaign aimed at getting schoolchildren to say Tak nak! (No thanks!) to an offer to puff. However, the campaign's RM100 million budget is set to go up in smoke if the government continues to dilly-dally over clamping down on the tobacco industry, argues the writer.

The death of a 16-year-old boy at the hands and feet of his school's bullies once again thrusts the ugly specter of juvenile delinquency back into the public's line of vision. The writer argues that the problem has always been there and needs more than a knee-jerk reaction to see it handled effectively.

new The 11th general election came and went and we are now left to accept the faces that have been appointed into the Cabinet. While some give us hope, others remind us of the country's sorry state of affairs.

Better late than never, but the increased presence of women candidates in the general election was hardly a solution to resolving the problem of effective representation for women's concerns.

An impassioned wake up call for the public to get involved in stemming violence in the country and not leave it to the police alone.

The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) gets a 'whacking' for a commissioner's recent statement that allegedly fails to protect the human rights of homosexuals.

Apart from sensationalising rape and murder cases, the media needs to play a role in creating awareness and educating the masses.

Public outrage over rape can only set the direction for change. The more meaningful step lies in undertaking legal reform so that society gets a single message - rape will not be condoned under any circumstances.

For all that women in Malaysia and elsewhere have done for society, much remains to be done, to remove the misguided perception that women are merely sex objects.

World Aids Day, which falls today, should be a time for action, not more talk. Malaysians are taken to task for their inability to empathise, let alone protect youth effectively from the pandemic.

While the government has taken some steps to ensure the safety of women on paper, there is still much to be done and those in power should expedite the process.

There are more than 50,000 Malaysians who are HIV-positive. Thus, Aids should be one of our greatest concerns but sadly, it isn't, even in a caring and tolerant country like ours.