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...