Inter-Research And Studies (IRAS)

This article has earlier appeared in Beritadaily.com on 24/8/2016  Whenever there are rallies held in Malaysia, organised to seek reforms, just and fairness over important issues affecting our people and the entire nation, the Barisan Nasional government and their leaders are so quick to claim that these rallies whether it is civil society or opposition dominated were some kind of attempt to topple a “democratically elected” government of theirs. The question here is, are rallies here in Malaysia capable of overthrowing the BN government as alleged by many BN leaders, particularly of those from Umno? What specific or concrete evidence do they have to immediately implicate that these kind of rallies were deemed violent and attempted coup similar to those which had taken place in Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Tunisia or Egypt? Are these BN leaders losing confidence on their own capabilities and leadership until they have to resort to such idea that someone out th...

The people had spoken up in the recently concluded Merdeka Day cum Bersih 4 rally. The people had shown the government that they are overall dissatisfied and unhappy with the nation’s state of affairs today. The people had spoken of their unhappiness over the change of their livelihood, their shrink income, the increasing inflation, the GST which caused the nightmare, the declining Ringgit, corruption, power abuse, mismanagement and the main factor, a leader of the current government who had sold out our nation for RM2.6 billion. The participants of the Bersih 4 rally, saw a total of about 280,000 to 310,000 people from all walks of life, regardless of race, religion, skin colour or status and regardless of any political or ideological beliefs, came together as one, all came as Malaysians to voice their discontent over the inefficient government of the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition. Leaders and ministers in the BN government can no more hide their heads under the sand anymor...

By Patrick Winn All Muslims know pork, booze and premarital canoodling violates Islamic teachings. But in Malaysia, home to a rising tide of fundamentalist Islam, senior clerics are warning against more insidious dangers to the faith. Such as death metal. And puppies. And Valentine’s Day. Malaysia is a bastion of Islam in tropical Southeast Asia. It’s also a nation of mall-goers and Instagram addicts. Many in Malaysia see themselves as both devout and cosmopolitan. Their ethos extols mosques and skyscrapers alike. But as Malaysia modernizes, its state-backed religious authorities are embarking on a spree of fatwas. Each is a decree based on interpretations of the Quran. The fatwas are typically seen as guidelines but police can potentially enforce them under Malaysia’s Sharia laws. These days, the fatwas keep piling up. Malaysia’s conservative Muslims appear panicked by the corrosive influence of Western modernity. There’s even an “e-fatwa” site to help the nation keep track of the ...

Dr Nasir Hashim writes about how empires, as they crumble, tend to wage war against their own people – but the people will stand up to defy the waves of oppression unleashed on them. Death of an empire Did I not tell you about this senile Empire? With its pompous guardians constipating at its door steps Festered by collusions, greed, profits, demi-gods and lost horizons But did I also not tell you how they fervently dig graves for others? Too sedated and too dumb to realise that’s their very own Did I not tell you how their bastion of power is crumbling like nine pins? Yet they think that’s progress So they pride Over slogans and promises Destroying the very dreams that they ever fostered So the Empire continues to wallow in jaundiced gusto Shackling the innocents at every twist and turn of time Claiming victory for placid democracy and justice Now you are witnessing the Empire’s bleeding ‘broken chain of command’ Of misdirected priorities and competing opportunists Flip-flop decision...

Charging opposition leader Teresa Kok over a satire video is a "new low" for Malaysia and an "international embarrassment", says an international rights NGO. "The Malaysian authorities are setting a new low for violating free expression by bringing criminal charges against an opposition politician in a satirical video. "The government is obviously not serious about its commitment to revoke the antiquated and abusive Sedition Act," said Human Rights Watch deputy Asia director Phil Robertson in a statement today. He reminded Prime Minister Najib Razak of his promise on several occasions, notably during the 13th general election, to repeal what the PM himself has said was from a "bygone era". Robertson said despite this, the law is still being used for "political reasons". "The case against Teresa Kok is just the latest instance of a senior opposition politician being hauled up on arbitrary charges for simply being an opposition...

The Registrar of Societies (ROS) or its name in Malay language, Pendaftar Pertubuhan is a department under the jurisdiction of the Home Affairs Ministry tasked to receive, review and approve the applications from various groups or parties to establish societies, associations and political parties in accordance to the Societies Act. Asides, the right of our people to assemble and our freedom to establish associations are also enshrined in the Federal Constitution. Since 1998, it has been noticed that groups or people who are trying to establish new political parties are usually being harassed or discouraged from doing so by the ROS without whatsoever reasonable explanations. Hassles such as, provision of documents, repeated requests for amendments of the party constitutions or by-laws, missing documentations, seeking unreasonable explanations and many more had in fact prevented and discouraged various groups from coming forward to have their groups, clubs or associations registered...

When Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad (BIMB) chief economist Azrul Azwar Ahmad Tajuddin gave a prediction of a possible Pakatan Rakyat narrow victory in the next 13th general election, overnight, he has became a political enemy of his employer. The BIMB chief economist has been suspended from active duty by his employer until further notice and it was not clear that if he would later face the bank's domestic inquiry for an alleged "misconduct" as claimed earlier by the BIMB's managing director. What "misconduct" has Azrul committed in the forum which he has attended and had his view presented? If the BIMB managing director has mentioned that his view and prediction on Pakatan's possible narrow victory are entirely his personal, then why issue him a suspension on BIMB capacity? Has Azrul ever mention "according to BIMB's prediction, Pakatan will gain a narrow victory"? No he did not say so. Furthermore, Azrul has attended the forum in under...

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...

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...

Despite historical facts affirming the Chinese as the rightful owner of the Diaoyu Islands, the Japanese government had continue to flex its muscles over these disputed islands by claiming that these islands are theirs, of which they called Senkaku Islands. Japan is again flexing its imperial muscles onto China after their Second World War defeat in 1945. What right does Japan has to claim that these islands belongs to them? Based on the history of their empire build up? Everyone knows, the Imperial Japanese Empire was built with blood, war and conquering using their military might and aggression against other countries. So, does that mean those conquered territories belongs to them legally? No, certainly not. If they wish to claim that the Diaoyu Islands belongs to them, then they should also claim that most of the Asian continents belongs to them too, as Imperial Japan had once conquered this region before and during Second World War, of which includes many parts of China. T...

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...

We are expressing our grave surprise and shock over the statement by woman deputy minister saying this in the parliamentary session that the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community are not protected constitutionally. First of all, what does she mean not protected constitutionally? Does the Federal Constitution state exactly what gender are not protected constitutionally? What we saw in Article 8 (1) and (2), is that it only mention that there will be no discrimination against any gender, religion, race, birth place and descent. The interpretation made by a member of the Barisan Nasional (BN) government itself is inaccurate and wrong as the view given was seen as purely the deputy minister's own opinion. Should the BN government were to endorse the view of the deputy minister, what then will the BN government's policy on the LGBT community at large? How will the authorities or religious enforcement going to handle such situation should the BN government de...