Inter-Research And Studies (IRAS)

In times of crisis, like today’s coronavirus widespread in our nation, the parliament as the highest institution in this country must ensure our people and the nation’s well-being are being prioritised by the government of the day. In this case, even if the coronavirus is yet to be under control and the movement control order (MCO) is being implemented, the period and time of the parliamentary sittings should not be reduced no matter what it takes in order to ensure the sitting government is properly checked and scrutinised in whatever it undertakes to ensure public interests are maintained, corruption, power abuse and mismanagement of funds can be prevented. It is the utmost responsibilities of the sitting government to ensure the smooth proceedings of the parliament by ensuring all member of parliament of their safety and security while the proceedings are ongoing while the crisis is being tackled. Today, based on our observation on the rebel government, they are obviously disappo...

We are gravely disappointed the way the rebel government handle and apply the movement control order (MCO) in this country. As of yesterday evening, there were reports both formal and informal indicating that some ministers, deputy ministers, a menteri besar, exco members, MPs or state assemblymen were seen in official functions with many attendees being invited to their events where food and drinks were also served to all invited guests. So, we would like to ask members of the rebel government. Just exactly how many sets of rules does your MCO applies to in this country? One for the normal people with harsh punishment onto offenders, while the other is an exemption for VVIPs like you all happily enjoying in your events and function there by showing of your “V” sign to the ordinary people? If that is so, the rebel government has not been fair towards our people, venting a heavy jail terms to offenders of ordinary background while those in higher caste or with high positions wer...

This article has earlier appeared in Beritadaily.com on 27/2/2017 Well, the so-called PAS-sponsored Himpunan 355 has come and gone. The rally was supposedly to garner support for PAS president Hadi Awang’s private member’s bill, which is expected to be tabled in parliament next month, to enhance punishments under the Shariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965, also known as Act 355. PAS’ long-time arch rival Umno has also come out in support of Hadi’s bill, citing the importance of uniting regardless of political affiliation in order to protect the religion from threats. Can PAS and Umno enlighten us on who is “threatening” Islam in Malaysia and how the “threat” has been initiated? Are they able to identify the culprits who have threatened the religion all this while? Prior to PAS’ decision to forward the bill to amend Act 355 to provide for stiffer shariah punishments, did they scrutinise the bill to look for measures that would enforce good governance and curb corrupt...

This article has earlier appeared in Beritadaily.com on 30/5/2016 The recent Sarawak state election on May 7 has exposed the true colours of the opposition. They can only expect worse come the 14th General Election if the bickering parties do not buck up and patch things up. The Sarawak Barisan Nasional won handsomely, getting 72 out of 82 seats in the enlarged state legislative assembly. The opposition Pakatan Harapan suffered a major setback, winning only 10 seats with DAP getting seven, down from 12 in 2011, PKR retaining its three seats, and Amanah finishing empty-handed. Opposition parties outside of Pakatan such as PAS were also wiped out. So, was it because of the Adenan factor? Some say it worked, but it certainly was not the only reason for the swing back to BN. The fact is that BN won with a landslide because the field was gravely uneven, where the ruling state coalition enjoyed all the advantages in terms of finance, logistics, mainstream media, communication channels a...

Baru-baru ini DAP telah mengumumkan barisan kabinet bayangannya sendiri setelah melihat keadaan kabinet bayangan Pakatan Rakyat yang fungsinya tidak begitu berkesan sejak 2008. Maklumbalas daripada PAS adalah pembentukan kabinet bayangan oleh DAP itu merupakan suatu tindakan parti tersebut untuk memperkukukan kedudukannya sebagai parti komponen utama di dalam Pakatan Rakyat dan seterusnya bercadang untuk mentadbir negara ini secara sendiri apabila berkuasa kelak dengan mewujudkan sebuah “kerajaan Cina”. Beginilah kenyataan yang dibuat oleh presiden PAS Abdul Hadi Awang. Kenapa pula PAS ingin memperbesarkan isu kabinet bayangan DAP itu dengan melibatkan isu perkauman? Apa kena mengena isu kabinet bayangan dengan sesuatu kaum? DAP membentuk kabinet bayangannya sendiri sambil juga mengajak rakan-rakannya PKR dan PAS untuk juga membentuk kabinet bayangan masing-masing bagi memperkukuhkan lagi kaedah dan amalan semak dan imbang (check and balance) terhadap kerajaan Umno agar pentad...

Baru-baru ini Presiden PAS Haji Hadi Awang telah menyuarakan pendapatnya mengenai pilihanraya kerajaan tempatan dan mengapa PAS enggan menyokong saranan PKR, DAP, PSM, PRM, Bersih 2.0 dan masyarakat pada keseluruhannya agar PAS turut menyokong usul tersebut. Alasan pemimpin PAS itu adalah, pilihanraya kerajaan tempatan akan menyebabkan Peristiwa 13 Mei itu tercetus semula. Sebabnya adalah, pilihanraya kerajaan tempatan ini akan menyebabkan masyarakat Melayu dipencilkan sama sekali kerana diperingkat perbandaran dan bandaraya hanya terdiri daripada masyarakat bukan Melayu. Apakah pemimpin PAS itu telah lupa bahawa politik jijiklah yang menyebabkan masyarakat berbilang kaum di negara kita ini berpecahbelah. Kalaulah sesuatu pilihanraya adalah penyebab berpecahnya perpaduan kaum ataupun sesuatu kaum dianaktirikan, maka boleh dikatakan, pilihanraya parlimen dan dewan undangan negeri turut mempunyai elemen-elemen sedemikian, kerana pembahagian kerusi-kerusi parlimen dan dewan undanga...

We are in opinion that any religious issues or discussion should remain a household or private matter and it should not be debated publicly. Asides, any religions also should not be put onto the political stage, put into part of political administration, setting up religious laws, religious courts or whatsoever. Just look at today's situation in Malaysia, how a religion has been deliberately used or being misused by many parties, leaders or individuals in the elite circle to serve their own interests, to serve their own political interests, and to ensure they remain power for a longer period. When a religion is misused, it became extreme, thus its leaders and groups become extremists. This religion which was originally a way of life has deviated from its original teachings, deviated from its original objectives, worst of all, even the religious scholars themselves had deviated from their way of life, misused their positions of power to influence our people, creating their ...

By Cindi Loo - TheAntDaily.com Barisan Nasional has been claiming a moral victory for reducing the winning margin of PAS in the recent Sungai Limau state by-election in Kedah. More importantly, in the eyes of BN, it has regained the confidence of the Chinese voters. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak proclaimed there was an increase in support by the Chinese as indicated by two ballot boxes from Chinese-majority areas that went to BN. "Previously, we lost the contest for the seat by a 2,774-vote majority, but now we have reduced it to 1,084-vote majority. It shows that there is a trend of increased support for BN,” he was quoted as saying by Bernama. But PAS promptly disputed Najib’s reading, saying that the voter turnout was smaller than it was in the May 5 general election. Only 85.5 per cent of the voters cast their ballots during the Nov 3 by-election, compared with the 89.2 per cent turnout in the May 5 polls. PAS Sungai Limau by-election committe...