KINI ROUNDUP | Here are the key headlines you may have missed yesterday, in brief.
Civil society ups pressure for death penalty abolition
As the current Dewan Rakyat session nears its end next week, several civil society groups have urged to government to table its bill to abolish the death penalty. Lawyers for Liberty feels it will be fitting to table the bill on Dec 10, in conjunction with International Human Rights Day.
National Human Rights Society chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan agrees, saying that there is no reason to hold back on the abolition any further.
Ambiga said the government should also educate the public on the basis of all its planned reforms, rather than backtracking on its promises whenever faced with opposition.
Family members of death row inmates bowed and pleaded for their kin to be given a second chance in life at an event where Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall Civil Rights Committee chairperson Liau Kok Fah said a life for a life does not restore justice.
Jho Low charged again
Fugitive businessperson Low Taek Jho has been charged in absentia again, together with four others, and arrest warrants have been issued against all five of them.
In response, a spokesperson for Jho Low maintained that he is innocent, and the charges are merely to create a “false sense of security” amid the Mahathir administration’s “failures”.
Maszlee tables laws to give political freedom to students
Education Minister Maszlee Malik has tabled amendments to three laws in the Dewan Rakyat that would give university students more freedom to take part in political activities.
In an interview with Malaysiakini, Maszlee said civics education would be introduced in schools to mould students into world-class citizens, and he promised the subject would not be as boring as its predecessor.
He said Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has also demanded a revamp of the school curriculum, such as by introducing skills like coding and artificial intelligence.
Other Kinibites
The Dewan Rakyat’s selection committee has announced six new bipartisan parliamentary select committees that would scrutinise the federal government’s activities.
The Ministry of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change has decided not to allow Lynas to accumulate an unlimited amount of waste residue at its refinery in Gebeng - which must be removed from Malaysia.
A gas explosion at City One Megamall, Kuching, left three dead and 28 wounded.
Looking ahead
Bukit Aman’s Commercial Crime Investigation Department director Amar Singh Ishar Singh is retiring today and will be given a grand send-off.
National Higher Education Fund (PTPTN) chairperson Wan Saiful Wan Jan will hold a press conference on the fund’s new policies in light of the government’s 2019 Budget proposal.
