Inter-Research And Studies (IRAS)

In the first place, why are we now focusing on a two-party system to be implemented in our nation? Didn't we all realize that our nation has been adopting a multi-party democratic system where we are supposed to allow any political parties to contest in the general elections, to offer their respective manifestos for the people to decide and to convince our people that the said political party would be the people's best choice of representation. We supposed we have been overly focusing on one thing, to take down the current Barisan Nasional (BN) government which has been ruling our nation for more than 55 years now. Yes, with more than 55 years of power abuse, corruptions, mismanagement of public funds and racist politics, enough is enough but it does not mean that the choice of our people should be limited to only a two-party system? It looks like everyone of us has really forgotten what we are really looking for, that is democracy and social justice. In pursuing for a d...

The term Allah (Arabic: الله, Allāh) is the standard Arabic word for God and is most likely derived from a contraction of the Arabic article al- and ilāh, which means "deity or god" to al-lāh meaning "the [sole] deity, God." There is another theory that traces the etymology of the word to the Aramaic Alāhā. Today's Arabic speakers from all religious backgrounds (Muslims, Christians, and Jews) use the word Allah to mean God. In pre-Islamic Arabia, pagan Meccans used Allah as a reference to the creator-god, possibly the supreme deity. The first-known translation of the Bible into Arabic, which took place in the 9th century, uses the word Allah for God (1). In fact, Arab Christians were using the word Allah for God prior to the dawn of Islam, and it is important to note that they were using it in place of Elohim, but not in place of Yahweh. That means Allah is a generic word for God, but not the personal name of God. (Radical Muslims in the West claim that Allah, ...

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...

Even in the early 1800s Asian American started to become involved in politics. Their used their resources to lobby for equal rights and equal access to economic and occupational opportunities. From the early 1800s to the 1920s, over one thousand lawsuits were filed in state and federal courts by Asian Americans seeking to receive proper legal rights. During the same period Asian Americans tried to further their political presence. The circulated petitions, conducted letter-writing campaign, published their own newspapers and magazines promoting their political cause. They also tried to gain political gain by pairing up with non-Asian organizations. All of these cases go to show that Asian Americans are not always quiet and complacent. The Asian American community has a very clear sense of political justice, and they have demonstrated their knowledge for quite some time. And their constant fight for justice has made the American political system realize that they are very a...