Inter-Research And Studies (IRAS)

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 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...

Canada blocked Malaysian state oil company Petronas’ C$5.17 billion (RM15.8 billion) bid for  gas producer Progress Energy Resources Co yesterday, a surprise ruling that could have implications for a much  bigger offer by China’s state-owned CNOOC for oil producer Nexen Inc . “I can confirm that I have sent a notice letter to Petronas indicating that I am not satisfied that the proposed investment is likely to be of net benefit to Canada,” Christian Paradis, Canada’s minister of industry, said in a late-night statement. Petronas has up to 30 days to make additional representations that could make its deal more palatable. Petronas said it was not ready to make any comment. “Due to the strict confidentiality provisions of the (Investment Canada) Act, I cannot comment further on this investment at this time,” Paradis said. The Petronas bid for Progress had not been expected to run into hurdles in a review process that asks the government to exami...

By Shannon Teoh Bersih said today the ban on a video promoting the right to vote flies in the face of Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s push for greater democracy. The electoral reforms movement called for the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to allow the Undilah public service announcement to be aired by local broadcasters as it posed no threat to the public. “It’s sad that a video like that can be seen as threatening. If that is considered sensitive, what kind of democracy and political liberalisation is the prime minister talking about? “It looks like he is doing one thing while his government is doing something else,” steering committee member Subramaniam Pillay told a press conference this morning. The Malaysian Insider reported this morning that the MCMC directed local broadcasters not to use the video because it contains opposition figures and Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah’s speech about Malaysia having problems. “What is wrong with asking people to vote? Even the 1 Ma...