Inter-Research And Studies (IRAS)

By Tatiana Gabroussenko " ... Young guerrilla girl Kumsuni delivers letters to comrades, and one day is caught by the police. When the policemen demand the girl disclose information about the guerillas, she spits into the faces of her interrogators. As the policemen drag Kumsuni to her execution, the heroic girl cries out 'Long Live General Kim Il Sung!'" ...Pre-teen boy Ri Kwang-ch'un is a member of a secret anti-Japanese children's organization. Along with others, he helps the "Red Guard uncles". However, one day policemen apprehend the boy. When the "bastards" torture the young patriot, Ri cuts off his own tongue in defiance. His last words are "Long Live the Korean Revolution!" Even if one supports patriotic education of the younger generation, one is still likely to find such notions of slicing off one's own tongue, torture or execution to be much too disturbing and complicated to present to children. Yet the plots ci

By Simon Roughneen  Ahead of what reform campaigners believe will be Malaysia's "dirtiest ever elections", the long-ruling United Malays National Organization (UMNO) has engineered something of a clean-up. In recent months, it has reformed some old and oft-derided laws, such as allowing indefinite detention without trial and forcing local newspapers to apply each year for a publication permit, a stipulation that encouraged self-censorship.  UMNO and its allies have governed Malaysia consecutively since achieving independence from colonial rule, a longevity not usually associated with electoral democracies. UMNO and its Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition survived the last election in 2008, though it ceded its two-thirds parliamentary majority for the first time and lost five out of 13 federal states to the opposition, a coalition of three parties led by controversial former UMNO firebrand Anwar  Ibrahim that includes the Islamic party PAS and the Chinese-dominated Democratic

By Viktor Wong Corruptions, power abuse, mismanagements and all sorts of negative elements within the government and the ruling party, that is what we have been hearing and reading about almost everyday. BN has been governing this country for more than 55 years, it is full of corruptions and power abuse, when Pakatan took over some state in the 2008 general elections, the opposition coalition is also being undermined by such elements during its first few years ruling some states. Well, whenever or whoever who are in power, or having taste the seat of power would certainly fall into this element if he or she were to unable to control their greed while in office. What was the cause onto all such negative elements? No one have ever bother to look deeper into this issue. Even the Umno information chief Ahmad Maslan arrogantly admitted that corruption in the BN government is something usual and it happens around the globe. So, does Ahmad Maslan agrees that corruption should carry on

By Viktor Wong Malaysia, 55 years is over and now our nation is heading towards the 56th year, that is of course next year 2013. The New Economic Policy (NEP) was established and implemented immediately after the May 13, 1969 racial riots. The NEP was the brainchild of the then second prime minister Tun Abdul Razak who had taken over the country leadership from Tunku Abdul Rahman after the bloody riots in 1969 as the result of the Alliance's defeat in the general election during that year. What is NEP all about? Of course we all know that, but many of our new generations do not even know what was that. Many younger Malaysians today often view NEP as a tool of corruption, power abuse and an easy way to achieve power and wealth. Yes, the NEP has became like that. The NEP has in fact swayed from its original objectives. NEP was born out in aftermath of the May 13, 1969 riots in order to safeguard the social and economic interest of the Bumiputra communities, particularly the Ma

By Koon Yew Yin Last week I received a copy of an email invitation to a joint seminar by two academics, one from University of Malaya and the other from Unversiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. The title of their talk was “Does race matter in getting an interview? A field experiment of hiring discrimination in Peninsular Malaysia.”. As I have been an employer with over 40 years experience, the seminar topic intrigued me. Unfortunately I was not able to attend. Subsequently, I have been following the internet discussion generated by the seminar. This includes the recent letter from the two researchers requesting an apology from an online news site which reported on the seminar findings. Is Racial Bigotry an Issue in Hiring? According to the letter, the online website had through its headline “Malaysian employers practise racial bigotry, study shows” grossly misrepresented the study. Although the two academics conceded that the article “fairly accurately conveys our main findings and conc

Oleh Zurairi AR Kebebasan beragama mestilah termasuk untuk menukar agama, kata badan bukan kerajaan (NGO) yang memperjuangkan wanita Muslim berikutan kenyataan Nurul Izzah Anwar dalam isu ini. Dalam kenyataan medianya, Sisters In Islam (SIS) bertanya bagaimana Muslim menuntut kebebasan, yang mahu menarik lebih ramai orang bukan Islam untuk memasuki agama itu tetapi dalam masa sama tidak membenarkan penganutnya keluar dari agama tersebut. “Kepercayaan berdasarkan paksaan akan jadi hipokrit,” menurut SIS dalam kenyataan medianya. Pengarah program SIS, Suri Kempe menerangkan bahawa NGO tersebut tidak menggalakkan umat Islam untuk murtad, sebaliknya memperjuangkan kebebasan meninggalkan agama bagi mereka yang tidak lagi mempercayainya. “Islam bukanlah agama jalan sehala,” kata Suri. Kenyataan naib presiden PKR, dalam forum berkenaan dengan isu negara Islam di Subang Jaya Sabtu lalu telah menyebabkan beliau diserang oleh pemimpin agama dan pemimpin Umno dengan mengatakan beliau

By Steve Oh The  Malaysiakini  report on Nurul Izzah Anwar's  statement   that there should be no compulsion in religion even for Malays is a watershed idea for the nation. This poignant truth surpasses even the remarkable observation made by former Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on the country's "first rate infrastructure and third world mentality." It shows that Malaysian leaders know what's wrong with their country but do they have the moral courage and political capability to right the wrongs? I am sure Nurul Izzah and her political coalition will win many votes if she makes her suggestion a key policy in their political manifesto. It will bring Malaysia in line with contemporary values of human rights because the Malays are still a bonded people, controlled by all sorts of rules and regulations that exempt other Malaysians. This one-nation two-system method of governance is retrograde and reason why despite all the high-sounding political s

By Simon Sipaun PROHAM is a new human rights NGO formed by former Suhakam and the Police Commission commissioners. It was launched on 21st March, 2011. Incidentally, 21st March every year is the UN International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. This RTD will go a long way towards realizing PROHAM’s hope to see that Malaysia will, sooner rather than later become a party to the UN International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, 1969 (ICERD). This move represents a realistic approach to the issue rather than sweeping it under the carpet and pretend it is not there. 2. I am unable to find one good reason why Malaysia should persistently continue to be not a party to ICERD. Any government which refuses to be a party to ICERD is a government that supports racism and racial discrimination. How else can I interpret such state of affairs? 175 countries are currently party to ICERD including many Islamic countries. Only 15 cou

By Soong Phui Jee The people's first reaction to the SMK Sacred Heart's practice of rewarding a brand new Perodua Myvi car to the Best Teacher and Best Student of the school was, would it cause the deterioration of education? After awarding cars today, would they give diamond rings or sport cars tomorrow? Awarding such expensive gifts for students might distort the purpose of education. If children study only to receive gifts and rewards, would they understand the true meaning of studying? Would they study for themselves, or to receive material rewards? In fact, not only the above mentioned school, but many other schools nationwide have gradually tended to seek for quick success and instant benefits. For example, some of the so-called "elite schools" stress much on examination results and refuse to let students with poor results take government examinations to prevent them from pulling down the school's average grade. Shouldn't schools teach all childr

By P.Ramakrishnan, President of Aliran Twenty five years ago, Malaysia witnessed what one person could do to sustain his lust for power. His unabated lust for power unleashed the worst traits in the Barisan Nasional to imprison 106 innocent Malaysians to keep the BN in power. The man behind this dark episode in our history was none other than Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia. On 27 October 1987 the rule of law was discarded, natural justice was ignored, the role of the judiciary was overridden, parliamentary democracy was sidelined so that he could cling on to power at all costs and by all means. As Prime Minister, Home Minister and Justice Minister, Mahathir rode roughshod so that his position would remain safe and sound and that there would be no one to challenge him. Today, more than ever, we must remember this shameful part of our history and wonder whether this will be repeated when the results of the 13th general election are announced.