Yap Mun Ching

Typhoon Haiyan will long be etched in the lives of those who survived it.

FREE TRIBUTE One of the biggest issues that preoccupied Claudia was that of media freedom.

Many burning questions remain unanswered.

With a National Convention discredited even before it began, Burmese Prime Minister Khin Nyunt was grasping at straws to save his "road map to democracy" when he visited his counterparts in Malaysia and Thailand.

If being Asian means giving up certain basic rights for collective stability, how is it that diverse India is once again reaffirmed as one of the most stable and vibrant of democracies? Nobel laureate Amartya Sen shares some insights into his country's success.

The reports of torture of Iraqi prisoners by American and British troops evoke outrage around the world, Malaysia notwithstanding, and rightly so. But how is it that we are able to close our eyes when such acts take place in our own backyard?

Malaysia has stubbornly refused to acknowledge that recent violent incidents linked to the Rohingya community may be expressions of growing frustration over their uncertain status.

For years, Malaysian officials have derided migrant workers for marrying local women and abandoning them to return to their home country once their work contract expires. A closer look reveals that the law and the authorities are as much to blame for splitting up these families.

Police have stepped up arrests of undocumented Burmese nationals following the attack on the Burmese embassy in Kuala Lumpur last Wednesday.

The controversial Suhakam chief confirms that the body will now come directly under Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak but remains coy as to whether he will continue to helm it.

Suhakam chairperson Abu Talib Othman said the authorities should stop re-victimising trafficked women and instead focus efforts on arresting the syndicate bosses instead.

The No Incinerator committee said the placement of two garbage disposal plants in the Broga water catchment area will seriously affect the quality of water supplied to 1.5 million residents in the Klang Valley.

The union representing 120,000 teachers in Peninsular Malaysia wants the Education Ministry to act on its pledges to deal with disciplinary problems among students.

Four angry Rohingya men, including three brothers, cause severe damage to the embassy building in Kuala Lumpur and also attack an embassy staff with an axe.

Only approved agencies will be allowed to access certain particulars of MyKad holders, but efforts are continuing to minimise breach of privacy.

Trainees agree that, while the courses have useful content, the teaching methods send most of them to dreamland.

Commissioner Hamdan Adnan says the broadcast plans are not only questionable from an ethical point of view but it is also a violation of rights to fair trial.

Party leaders made available to Suhakam evidence that they had gathered during their investigations into alleged improprieties perpetrated by the Election Commission.

Ong Chee Keng says he will visit the disgruntled factions in the next few weeks to sort things out while his predecessor Ronnie Liu and state secretary Alex Lim who quit their posts yesterday will remain in the state committee.

... and all the cracks appear to be leading back to one person - newly appointed Health Minister Dr Chua Soi Lek.

Another blotch has appeared on the National Service programme - a search for missing mobile phones has led to a find of cannabis in a camp in Terengganu.

Although only in their second month of training, a group of National Service trainees have already learnt the importance of speaking up for their rights.

The restive division is rumbling once again after its dismal performance at the polls. The fingers point at state chief Ronnie Liu and some are already braying for his resignation.