Inter-Research And Studies (IRAS)

This article has earlier appeared in Beritadaily.com on 6/1/2016 The negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, or better known by its acronym, TPPA, which includes Malaysia has taken place for about eight years. Prime Minister Najib Razak also announced in his Budget 2016 speech that Malaysia had agreed in principal to join the US-sponsored trade agreement because of its benefits to our people. The TPPA is expected to be tabled in parliament on Jan 26, following which a vote will take place in order to set the course for the government to officially endorse the trade agreement which is due to be officially sealed in February 2016. Much has been said by the government on the goodness of the TPPA but if there are so many goodies in this trade agreement, why hasn’t the government revealed details of them? Why weren't any of the details outlined to the general public if this pact could serve the interest of our people-at-large? Najib and his government has insisted ...

Many of us would be asking, what is the proportional voting system all about? And if we were to go into the online search engine to determine the actual definition on the subject question, you will find aplenty and few kinds of what we would see as proportional voting system. Yes, whatever definition that you would find in the online search engine on this proportional voting system is definitely accurate, the fact that, they are few kinds, but they all carry the same meanings and objectives. The fact that is, this subject is all about providing a more democratic space for our people by creating more representations in the parliament or state legislative assemblies. Asides, the voices of the minorities and smaller political parties would also be represented in these legislative bodies through achievement of certain percentage of votes or support from our people at large. There are two kinds of proportional voting systems herein. The first of the two kinds is the people or voter...

In our previous  topic , we had discussed and greatly emphasized on the importance of separation of powers between the party and the government. The main purpose of such measure is to curb any possible abuse of powers, corruption, favouritism and conflict of interest between the one party leader who is also a member of the government's executive body i.e. be it the state or the federal cabinet. And here you are today, the Selangor state government under the leadership of its Menteri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim had did it. He has set a very good example and reference for everyone of us to see and proven that a government without any party leaders or chairmen at helm could be well managed or governed effectively. Tan Sri Khalid who is from PKR is not the state PKR chairman was appointed Menteri Besar of the state in 2008 after the party won the state jointly with its coalition partners in the Pakatan Rakyat and has been put to continue the state stewardship following the repe...

When the date of the 13th general elections is approaching, we are certain that many of us has already received some messages or notifications informing the general public that the incumbent federal government in Putrajaya is doing whatever it can to destroy as much records and documents of the administration as it can prior to 5th May 2013, that is this coming weekend. On the previous 12th general elections held on 8 March 2008, we had heard of and seen it happening in the states of Penang, Kedah, Perak and Selangor, when the then incumbent state government executive councillors and their henchmen went to their respective offices over the middle of the night to retrieved as much documentations and records as possible from their office building in order to have them destroyed, deleted or shredded in order to wipe out whatever evidence they had on their past wrongdoings and corrupt practices. The question here is, will it happened again this time, after the 13th general elections...

The 13th general elections (GE13) is approaching, approximately ten more days to go from today. And both side of the political divide, Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Rakyat (PR) are campaigning hard in order to gain support from the voters. In this year's GE13, it also saw a significant rise on the number of independent candidates. Well, the backgrounds of these independent candidates are of many kinds, majority are political party dissidents from both BN and PR, incumbents who are not being selected to recontest in their respective seats, and of course, for the first time, there are also a lots of serious contenders who are contesting as independents to offer what they said, "they would only serve the people in particular because they would not be tied up to the interests of the political parties". Then, on the voters' side. What do the voters of today actually want? The voters of today are very much different from the voters decades ago. Voters of today co...

Many of us are not aware the need and importance of the separation of powers between the party and the government. To the general political understanding of today, the chairman, president or secretary-general of the ruling party shall be automatically be appointed as prime minister or the head of the government. So does the members of the party central committee or executives, they all will automatically gain ministerial positions in the government by virtue of their leadership positions in the party. Very simple and straight forward, isn't so? Well, not many of us would know if the mixture of powers between the party and the government were to continue. Somehow, the government machinery would eventually become the party's organ. It would not happen directly but rather in an indirect manner as the machinery of the government of the day would eventually answers to the ruling party's call. The question here is, does the party own the government and does government belo...

By Jack Wong, Ipoh Teachers are still confused over the School-Based Assessment or Pentaksiran Berasaskan Sekolah (PBS) while students have become the victims. The idea of the PBS is good and there are successful examples abroad. However, why is it a problem for us? Even education officers and school heads are confused since the implementation of PBS, not to mention teachers and students. They wonder whether school examinations should be retained. Therefore, different practices can be found in different schools. Some have abolished the monthly tests and end-of-term examinations, some have retained internal end-of-term examinations while others retain the end-of-year examinations. The abolition of examinations is one thing but the bigger problem is the workload has been greatly increased due to inadequate training, vague instructions and burdensome paperwork. Under the PBS, teachers cannot concentrate on teaching and, as a result, they do things gingerly and are worried about the out...

Where is your Shadow Cabinet to prove your ability in governance? This is the question which is usually demanded by leaders of the Barisan Nasional (BN) to challenge the Opposition front Pakatan Rakyat (Pakatan) to prove their ability to work together (PKR, DAP and PAS) to govern this nation should they were to takeover Putrajaya after the 13th general elections (GE13). First of all, let us all ask the BN leaders and ourselves before we jump into some sort of conclusion or being influenced by what is being mentioned by all those BN leaders. Are the institution of an Official Opposition Front Bench and the establishment of a Shadow Cabinet being recognized in our nation? Does the Federal Constitution states that such institutions for the Opposition must be established? Or are there any provisions in any laws in this country which stated that the Shadow Cabinet would be recognized and shall work equally with the government of the day to provide various check and balance? The answers...

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...

To our very surprise, the Gerakan Youth had sprung up in public last week to voice their displeasure over the current Gerakan's branches and divisional leaderships which its party youth chief Lim Si Pin claimed that they are still being dominated by local party warlords and these local leaders had refused to make way for younger leaders within the party to take helm the branches and divisional leadership. Just like their larger BN colleagues, Umno, MCA and MIC, it seems Gerakan is also suffering from the same kind of situation from within its ranks. Yes, factionalism and warlordism in the party is very strong when the party has been in power for decades long. During Gerakan's years in Penang (as the state government and the party's power base) until 2008, factional feuds and warlords within the party's ranks in branches and divisions are widely known. It is believed that until today, there are about 6 factions still active in Penang Gerakan with each of these fac...

The presidential system of government tends to isolate the chief executive from the legislature and that the chief executive, if he chooses may in turn isolate himself from the people. Unlike the parliamentary system, presidential government is characterized by very few institutional channels for communication between the legislative and the executive branches. Much of the story of the constitutional development of presidential system hinges on the informal procedures that are established by successive administrations for bridging the communication gaps between the several branches of the government: private meetings between the president and the legislative leaders and the building of a network of personal loyalties between legislators and the administrators. Such informal liaisons are all the more important when one political party controls the presidency and another  (or a coalition of opposition parties) controls the legislature. Under these circumstances, policy making is...

The prime minister is not only the head of the government but he or she is also the leader of the party and consequently leader of the parliamentary majority. His cabinet ministers are likely to have substantial experience in party politics and parliamentary debates and they too are recognized party leaders. Indeed, they may spend an important part of their time maneuvering against one another for positions of successor to the top party leader. But the close relationship between members of the party, parliament and the executive government in the parliamentary system helps to improve the chances of government action in an age when government inaction may be tantamount to catastrophe or less dramatically widespread economic distress among the population. It is also important to note the relative openness of political conflicts in the parliamentary system. The head of the government and his ministers would sit in the legislature and must frequently undergo intensive questioning by t...

In parliamentary form of government, citizens do not vote directly for a chief executive. They vote for the legislative representatives or members of parliament who are organized into a few political parties. This in turn suggest that the parliamentary form of government by itself is not an index of democracy or authoritarianism characterizing any given state. But all parliamentary systems have in common a close institutional relationship between the executive and legislative branches of government. The chief executive is a prime minister selects other ministers of government which constitutes the cabinet or council of ministers. Each cabinet minister is responsible for administering a particular department or ministry i.e. defence, education, interior affairs, foreign affairs, justice, finance and so on. And the cabinet is voted into or out of executive office by a majority of the parliament.

Even when the divine right of the kings or sultans were an acceptable formula for legitimating royal authority, it was nevertheless true that the monarch depended on the support of a loyal cadre of advisers and bureaucrats to carry out his policies. It was the gradual evolution and institutionalization of the roles of advisers and civil servants that, in France and elsewhere, led to the establishment of the parliament (advisers) and the state's administrative apparatus (civil servants). An awareness of these historical trends, along with the conviction that democratic institutions are an illusion that conceals the political domination of a minority, has convinced some 20th century political scientists that government everywhere and always has been the affair of a few - neither one nor the many. In this context, aristocracy means government by an elite of the society that has high social status, wealth, fame and political power. These advantages are passed down from one generation o...

Perhaps the subtle shades of meaning in these key concepts are best clarified by the notion of sovereignty. Defining this concept and exploring some of its implications also will being us to a convenient and logical point for concluding our introductory inquiry into the nature of the state. "Sovereign" is from the French and means "above" or one who is superior to others. The term was used to identify the king, but n the sixteenth century, the French political thinker Jean Bodin gave it a new meaning. Properly understood, Bodin argued, "sovereignty" refers to the sources of the state's authority, regardless of its form of government. Sovereignty may be vested in a king or in some elite group or even in the corporate citizenry of the society over the time. Whatever the form of sovereignty, Bodin explained, it is distinguished by three attributes: it is absolute, perpetual and indivisible. Bodin's primary concern was to strengthen the authority of t...

We all know that the state consist of formal bodies and institutions designed to service human needs as they have developed over the incredibly long history, where most of it unwritten, of the social evolution. The state is in many respects an extension of the family - the family and also the clan and the tribe, were all designed to ensure minimum of security and well-being for their members and so is the state. The greater impersonality of the state reflects the bureaucracy that comes inevitably with routine, specialization of task, the distribution of benefits in terms of more of merits than personal acquaintance and not least, large number of people living in an extended geographic location. We also know that the emergence of the state is signaled in part of a self-conscious effort to explain its origins and to lend legitimacy of its institutions, bodies, personnel and policies. States also may differ markedly from one another in many ways, but they all have in common the primary ch...