Inter-Research And Studies (IRAS)

Ekoran daripada pindaan terhadap Akta Universiti dan Kolej Universiti (UUCA) oleh pihak kerajaan, bagi membenarkan pelajar-pelajar universiti, kolej universiti dan kolej untuk menyertai mana-mana parti politik atau menubuhkan pertubuhan/persatuan di luar kampus, Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) dan Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) harus mengambil kesempatan hasil daripada kelonggaran Akta UUCA itu untuk lebih mendekati golongan muda-mudi dan para pelajar. Daripada kajian yang telah kita laksanakan pada bulan yang lalu, kita telah dapati bahawa golongan muda-mudi dan para pelajar enggan menyertai parti-parti politik walaupun mereka menyokong ideologi dan perjuangan yang diketengahkan oleh parti-parti tersebut oleh kerana beberapa sebab seperti politik kepartian yang berpuak-puak, terlalu banyak isu-isu politik daripada isu-isu yang berkaitan dasar-dasar untuk kepentingan rakyat, ahli-ahli politik lebih mementingkan kedudukan masing-masing, tidak ada harapan dengan hanya setakat menjadi penyo...

Di dalam Kongres Nasional Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) yang diadakan pada 17hb November 2013 yang lalu, Presiden PRM, Dr Rohana Ariffin di dalam ucapan dasarnya ada menyebut aliran golongan muda pada hari ini tidak berminat untuk menyertai parti-parti politik. Sebaliknya, golongan ini lebih menumpukan perhatian mereka terhadap pertubuhan-pertubuhan sivil dan kumpulan-kumpulan pendesak (civil societies and pressure groups). Kenyataan Dr Rohana itu ada kebenarannya. Daripada kajian yang kami laksanakan baru-baru ini, aliran tersebut telah mempengaruhi majoriti golongan muda kerana beberapa faktor yang telah dan sedang berlaku di dalam parti-parti politik, baik di sebelah pihak kerajaan (Barisan Nasional), mahupun di sebelah pihak pembangkang (Pakatan Rakyat, dan sebagainya). Antara faktor utama yang menjadi perhatian yang mempengaruhi majoriti golongan muda untuk tidak berkecimpungan di dalam parti-parti politik adalah kegiatan berpuak-puak di dalam parti-parti politik utama yang kia...

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...

Malaysia has faced its steepest inflation rate hike in 20 months, mainly caused by the fuel subsidy cut in September which increased pump price by 20 sen per litre, Maybank Investment Bank (IB) has said. The research house also predicted that inflation rate will likely accelerate next year compared to 2013, as a result of the recent sugar subsidy cut announced in Budget 2014 last week. In its daily report released here yesterday, Maybank IB said that inflation in September 2013 was up by 2.6 per cent year-on-year, its highest so far this year. It also said that “transport” was the main factor in the hike as it went up 4.6 per cent year-on-year, after the pump price of RON95 petrol and diesel went up in September 3, and RON97 petrol two days later. As a result, it expected that inflation rate will pick up from 2 per cent this year to between 3 and 3.5 per cent next year. “The forecasts reflect the combined impact of the 14 per cent hike in cigarette prices on 1 Oct 2013, the...

By Nesrine Malik "Allah" means God, unless you are a non-Muslim Malaysian, in which case you have to find another word. After a recent court ruling in the country, Allah can now be used only to refer to the Muslim God, and non-Muslims (mainly the Malaysian Christian Catholic community and press) have been banned from using it. It is a decision that has inflamed opinion among minority religions and disheartened Muslims. Apart from all the practical implications of this (re-printing Bibles and so on), there are other intangible but more heartfelt grievances. At first glance it looks like a petty scuffle over semantics, but the roots of the dispute go deep into the issue of national identity. The ruling was flimsily justified by the "risk" of conversion. Announcing the change, the judge said: "It is my judgment that the possible and most probable threat to Islam, in the context of this country, is the propagation of other religions to the followers of Islam....

By Waleed Aly Six years ago, Proton - Malaysia's national car maker - teamed up with carmakers in Iran and Turkey pledging to develop the world's first ''Islamic car''. Apparently automobiles had hitherto been non-Muslims. If that's not absurd enough, this week we learnt it's a good thing Malaysian cars can't talk, because if they could, they'd no longer be able to use the word ''Allah'' to mean ''God''. That's what a Malaysian appeal court ruled this week, after a Catholic, Malay-language newspaper had dared to drop the A-bomb. The ''Allah'' controversy has been running for years, and isn't over yet. This decision overturned the original finding from 2009 in favour of the newspaper. Now the editor is planning to appeal to the highest court in the country and the government will resist. This immediately reminded me of Proton's Islamic car: strip both these stories of ...

More than 60% of Malaysian workers felt that they were not spending enough time with their families due to long working hours, a survey by online recruitment firm Jobstreet.com revealed. Nearly three-quarters of those surveyed said that they worked extra hours daily – two to five hours beyond their scheduled time to leave the office. Overtime was inevitable, due to unreasonable deadlines and work overload, resulting in nearly 75% choosing to stay late at the office. Most of the respondents, however, complained that they were not paid for the extra hours. More than 60% felt that their employers were not interested in ensuring a work-life balance. One respondent said, "Even if my company has work-life balance initiatives such as a gym, a chill-out area and other organised social activities, it's there in place just for show. "We don’t have sufficient manpower to sustain the workload.” And bosses, apparently, do not leave their employees alone when they are...