The Malaysian Insider :: Side Views

Complete overhaul or die — Tay Tian Yan

Sat, 26 May 2012 08:56:39 GMT

MAY 25 — Malaysia Airlines chairman Tan Sri Md Nor Yusof is a very humble gentleman. I travelled with him before, seeing him drag his own luggage along and get the procedures done. Nothing like a big boss. He told me sometimes he had to travel alone, and he would go to the airport by himself, watch closely the check-in and cabin services. He said ...

Getting the job done in Indonesia — A. Lin Neuman

Sat, 26 May 2012 04:04:30 GMT

MAY 26 — Roosie Setiawan, Nila Tanzil, Dan Roberts and Sigit Kusumawijaya. Chances are you have never heard of these people. They are not headline-grabbing politicians, government officials, celebrities or wealthy tycoons. They are just people who are making a small difference in this country, but the way they go about it is instructive. In the ...

The sure thing in European politics is now anybody’s guess — Alistair Burnett

Sat, 26 May 2012 04:01:04 GMT

MAY 26 — French and Greek voters have spoken loudly on austerity measures, but perhaps not so decisively. In Greece’s case, the message was so unclear that its citizens return to the polls on June 17. Chances are that no matter how they vote, the tension between the market and democracy is here to stay. This month’s election results can be ...

Daripada pendakwa kepada pembela — A. Kadir Jasin

Sat, 26 May 2012 03:57:26 GMT

26 MEI — Mengenai isu pula, saya hendak sebut sikit berkenaan bekas Peguamcara Kanan II Mohd Yusof Zainal Abiden yang gagal dalam pendakwaan liwat kedua Anwar Ibrahim menyertai pasukan yang akan membela beliau dalam kes langgar perintah mahkamah berkaitan demonstrasi Bersih 3.0 pada 28 April lalu. Ketua Pembangkang Parlimen itu menyifatkan ...

Berjuang untuk perubahan memang susah — Aspan Alias

Sat, 26 May 2012 03:54:17 GMT

26 MEI — Memperjuangkan yang benar itu amat susah dan tidak ada jalan yang senang dan mudah. Sebaik sahaja manusia itu ingin perubahan untuk kebaikan ia akan tetap mendapat reaksi serta merta. Bak kata seorang ulamak yang muktabar, “jalan ke syurga itu berduri-duri dan beronak, jalan ke neraka itu penuh dengan roti dan keju”. Pejuang yang berniat ...

Rais buta antara aset kerajaan dan harta Umno — Ahmad Lutfi Othman

Sat, 26 May 2012 03:49:11 GMT

26 MEI — Ketika PAS dimomokkan sebagai Parti Islam yang ghairah mengejar kuasa sehingga melupakan dasar perjuangan sucinya, namun dalam masa sama berbondong-bondong orang ramai memohon keahlian, termasuk tokoh-tokoh terkemuka dan selebriti terkenal. Semasa aktivis dan penyokong Pakatan Rakyat — tidak terkecuali PAS — ditohmah sebagai perusuh dalam ...

We shall overcome — Jacob Sinnathamby

Sat, 26 May 2012 02:11:21 GMT

MAY 26 — Can you hear it? Listen closely. Now can you hear it? I am talking about the deafening silence from the prime minister downwards on the burgeoning violence and thuggish behaviour by Umno and its subsidiaries. What happened at the PKR ceramah in Lembah Pantai, where blood was drawn after rocks, eggs and bottles were rained on PKR leaders ...

Bersih 3.0 and resisting power — Alwyn Lau

Fri, 25 May 2012 23:49:58 GMT

MAY 26 — How is Power resisted? What is the relation between the Law and Transgression? To what extent is rebellion against authority determined or influenced by authority itself? And how does Bersih 3.0 match up? Michel Foucault, who popularised the idea that Power generates its own resistance, had no clear answer to how, then, Power could be ...

Time for Massa to move on — Ian De Cotta

Fri, 25 May 2012 23:44:02 GMT

MAY 26 — Formula 1’s appetite for a fresh winner at every stop in the 2012 season was given a new twist in Spain a fortnight ago, when unheralded Pastor Maldonado took the chequered flag. Until Barcelona, victory came from powerhouses McLaren, Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull, despite the fickle Pirelli tyres turning the championship on its ...

Building wealth from healthcare — Chong Wei Sing

Fri, 25 May 2012 23:42:32 GMT

MAY 26 — While recent news headlines have been dominated by natural disasters and sovereign debt crises, a greater concern looms over our heads. Globally, from the most developed countries such as the United States to emerging powerhouses such as China, governing bodies are facing a common yet increasingly urgent problem: A burgeoning healthcare ...

Credibility and the search for a new developmental model — Greg Felker

Fri, 25 May 2012 23:39:50 GMT

MAY 26 — In comparative politics the word “regime” refers to the formal and informal institutions by which political power is acquired and exercised. In political economy, a regime refers to an enduring combination of “socio-economic alliances, political-economic institutions, and a public-policy profile” (Pempel 1998: 20). In the case of ...

How Irshad Manji renewed my faith in Islam — Mooreyameen Mohamad

Fri, 25 May 2012 11:39:39 GMT

MAY 25 — I am a lousy Muslim. I don’t pray Five times a day. I don’t even go to the mosque four times a month. I try to make it to the mosque with my dad once a year for Raya but even then, it’s patchy. I work hard, I am mostly honest. And I try to treat everyone with kindness and fairness. I feel that I am a good person. But a religious person I ...

Focus, focus, focus: A reply to Ong Kian Ming — Marc Fong

Fri, 25 May 2012 11:30:08 GMT

MAY 25 — This is in response to the article titled, “The need to verify” published in The Edge Daily and The Malaysian Insider on May 24. There is no denying that a dose of scepticism is needed. The danger is when detractors and pessimists choose to masquerade as realists or simple sceptics and, in so doing, attempt to derail the genuine efforts ...

LGBT mempertuhan hawa nafsu — Saodah Abd Rahman

Fri, 25 May 2012 11:09:14 GMT

25 MEI — Irshad Manji yang memperjuangkan lesbian, gay, biseksual dan transgender (LGBT) adalah contoh bahawa pengaruh ideologi sekular sudah tersemat dalam jiwa umat Islam khususnya wanita. Pengaruh sekularisme sudah lama bertapak di negara Barat sehingga masyarakat di sana hilang identiti agama. Hasilnya, ramai menjadi penganut agnostic atau ...

Facebook: The List of Incompetents — Felix Salmon

Fri, 25 May 2012 08:37:13 GMT

MAY 25 — It’s going to be a long time before the various lawsuits shake themselves out, but one thing’s already clear with respect to the Facebook IPO: absolutely no one has come out of it looking good. It’s worth going down the List of Incompetence here, because regardless of whether any of this was illegal, there are a lot of extremely ...

Where is the transformation? — Lim Sue Goan

Fri, 25 May 2012 08:28:01 GMT

MAY 25 — Some government officials asked me on several occasions whether the transformation plans could help in securing Chinese voters’ votes. I was unable to give them a definite answer. The evolution of recent events has conflicted with the Government Transformation Plan (GTP) and Economic Transformation Programme (ETP), causing people wonder ...

Wake up, WSJ — Rupe Murdock

Fri, 25 May 2012 06:21:58 GMT

MAY 25 — Which is more dangerous? Being stupid or being ignorant? In the case of the editorial writer of the Wall Street Journal who said that Anwar Ibrahim should plead guilty and pay the fine for taking part in Bersih 3.0 instead of contesting the charge in court, I guess it is a combination of being stupid and ignorant. I only hope that he or ...

Perubahan tetap akan berlaku, yang penting bersabar — Aspan Alias

Fri, 25 May 2012 05:10:20 GMT

25 MEI — Bergiat dalam politik hari ini merupakan satu aktiviti yang bukan sedikit seriknya. Politik tanahair hari ini merupakan politik yang paling getir sekali yang belum pernah kita alami selama ini. Bahangnya panas terik dan ianya hanya boleh digiatkan oleh mereka yang benar-benar yakin dan menjadikan keyakinan mereka itu sebagai penambahan ...

Road to victory is red — Voranai Vanijaka

Fri, 25 May 2012 05:01:47 GMT

MAY 25 — Two years after the bloody crackdown on May 19, 2010, Thaksin Shinawatra is on the road to victory, one that is paved by blood, death and political intrigue, engineered by both sides of the political divide and the finishing line has little to do with democracy. The Thai political landscape since the September 2006 coup has been shaped by ...

Will political parties take up the challenge of the MACC? — Ramon Navaratnam

Fri, 25 May 2012 04:26:36 GMT

MAY 25 — The MACC deputy chief commissioner Datuk Shukri has to be commended for offering leaders of all political parties the opportunity to vet their candidates for the coming 13th General Elections for corruption. The vital question in the public mind is: Will political party leaders and their proposed candidates take up this challenge ? As a ...

Facebook lessons: What not to do when planning an IPO — Jillian Mincer

Fri, 25 May 2012 01:17:54 GMT

MAY 25 — It’s been less than a week since Facebook went public, and while the IPO made CEO Mark Zuckerberg and many others very wealthy, the botched way in which the offering was done has sparked investigations, lawsuits and regulatory threats. It has also sparked a lot of anger toward the social media company, lead underwriter Morgan Stanley and ...

PTPTN, in its current form, is not sustainable — Feizrul Nor Nurbi

Fri, 25 May 2012 00:29:03 GMT

MAY 25 — PTPTN, as the title suggests, is not sustainable. This is the crux of the debate that happened last Tuesday night, between YB Khairy Jamaluddin and Rafizi Ramli. Free education, as proposed by Rafizi and Pakatan Rakyat, is a secondary matter, an alternative solution to the problem regarding higher education financing. Whether free ...

Five days in a learning nation — Andreas Schleicher

Fri, 25 May 2012 00:04:51 GMT

MAY 25 — I had always been interested in Asia’s success story of Singapore, that transformed itself from a developing country to a modern industrial economy in one generation. Last year, I had the opportunity of a visiting professorship at Singapore’s National Institute of Education (NIE) to learn more about this country. If I had to summarise ...

A road fraught with challenges — Randolph Tan and Tan Khay Boon

Thu, 24 May 2012 23:56:43 GMT

MAY 25 — For the first time in 28 years, the National Wages Council (NWC) is setting a minimum quantum of recommended wage increase for the lowest of the low-wage workers. While it represents a good start to addressing the widening income gap, this move is likely to be fraught with challenges. Notwithstanding the good intentions of its proponents, ...

PAS gaining confidence — Lim Mun Fah

Thu, 24 May 2012 07:40:00 GMT

MAY 24 — PAS has become more and more self-confident and it is not a good thing for Umno. The confidence came from the adjustment in election strategy, as well as the increase in support, including retired senior government officials joining the party. It was reported earlier in Malay-language newspapers that PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi ...

Don’t ban books — Zaid Ibrahim

Thu, 24 May 2012 04:44:20 GMT

MAY 24 — As you know, the book “Allah, Liberty and Love” by Irshad Manji has been banned by Jakim. The reason given is that the book contains ideas of liberalism in Islam. This, according to them, is haram. I strongly condemn such high-handed action by this government department. Firstly, under the law only the home minister has power to order ...

When conscience pricks — Lucius Goon

Thu, 24 May 2012 02:52:13 GMT

MAY 24 — There is a reason why former CID chief Fauzi Shaari has joined PAS and why former Solicitor-General Yusof Zainal Abiden is now part of Anwar Ibrahim’s defence team: it is called conscience. It has little to do with whether Tok Guru Nik Aziz is a standout spiritual leader or whether Anwar Ibrahim is guilty of sodomy. It has everything to ...

Don’t trust a party which doesn’t trust us — Sakmongkol AK47

Thu, 24 May 2012 02:48:46 GMT

MAY 24 — Why can’t Umno carry the Malays to greater progress? Because it’s a low trust organisation. It doesn’t trust the majority of Malays and it doesn’t trust the rakyat in general. It has ceased to become a political party. It has morphed into an organisation of black hands composed of three million members. It puts its trust on the three ...

Verify, verify, verify — Ong Kian Ming

Thu, 24 May 2012 01:41:46 GMT

MAY 24 — I love this quote from one of the basic rules of journalism — “If your mother says she loves you, check it out”. It’s a warning to journalists to develop a healthy dose of scepticism and to always verify facts even though it’s from a supposedly trustworthy source. I’m not a journalist but I’ve developed my own sense of scepticism after ...

If only the sky were the limit — Jason Pomeroy

Thu, 24 May 2012 01:23:10 GMT

MAY 24 — Having studied in Cambridge, the UK and having spent the majority of my childhood growing up in London, Singapore was far removed from the low-rise environment that I was used to. Granted that I had spent the previous 15 years of my working life living out of a suitcase in Amsterdam, Brussels and Bahrain, but even these cities could ...

Strange logic to quiz former S-G’s move — The Malaysian Insider

Thu, 24 May 2012 00:30:22 GMT

MAY 24 — Datuk Yusof Zainal Abiden has created quite a stir by taking up an offer to defend Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on an illegal assembly charge this week. Several Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders have questioned the former Solicitor-General II’s move, saying it raised doubt over the opposition chief’s acquittal of sodomy four months ago. This is ...

Kalau tidak berbohong, bukan Umno namanya — Aspan Alias

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:57:04 GMT

24 MEI — Kenyataan Rais Yatim yang jumlah kehadiran dalam perhimpunan Bersih 3.0 baru-baru ini hanyalah lebih sedikit dari 22,000 sahaja dan perkiraan beliau itu disanggah oleh penulis-penulis dan individu pro Umno dan BN. Sesungguhnya 22,000 itu hanyalah jumlah peserta yang duduk dari persimpangan Jalan Tun Razak dengan Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman ...

Terbukti PAS tidak ikhlas — Zulkiflee Bakar

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:50:22 GMT

24 MEI — Sudah terbukti kini hasrat PAS untuk bermuzakarah dengan Umno seperti mana yang dicetuskan oleh Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang sebelum ini hanyalah satu sandiwara. Biar pun Presiden PAS itu mengatakan parti tersebut bersedia bermuzakarah dengan sesiapa tetapi ia bukanlah dilakukan secara bersungguh-sungguh atau mahu memastikan ia ...

The electoral race gets tighter — Vikram Nehru

Wed, 23 May 2012 11:51:21 GMT

MAY 23 — There is growing speculation that the 13th Malaysian general elections will be held in June this year, the prospect of which is raising political temperatures. But massive demonstrations in Kuala Lumpur on 28 April organised by Bersih, a civil society coalition for clean and fair elections, may have thrown a spoke in the government’s ...

When Umno types prevaricate — Othman Wahab

Wed, 23 May 2012 11:05:48 GMT

MAY 23 — This is what Umno politicians do when they get caught out: they huff and puff, spin some yarn and blow smoke all over the place. Several months ago when websites reported that the government had instructed the Umno lawyer Hafarizam Harun (the same chap with the RM2.2 billion highway project with former Umno lawyer Tun Zaki Azmi) to seek ...

John Terry: Dedicated follower of fashion — Mark Meadows

Wed, 23 May 2012 09:56:46 GMT

MAY 23 — Despite all the bling, the big watches and fast cars, the brand management and media training, there is still one thing that, without fail, can expose the true nature of soccer players. Winning. As Didier Drogba stroked home the winning penalty against Bayern Munich in Saturday’s Champions league final and the blue-clad parts of the ...

Which one threatens the state, Lady Gaga or hardliners? — Yoes C. Kenawas

Wed, 23 May 2012 08:46:25 GMT

MAY 23 — The National Police (Polri) stated that they would not issue a permit for Lady Gaga’s concert scheduled for Jakarta on June 3, 2012, for, among other reasons, fears that the Grammy Award winner would exploit her sensuality in a manner which could harm the moral of Indonesian youths. This statement is more or less in line with the same ...

Abuse of democracy and freedom — Lim Mun Fah

Wed, 23 May 2012 07:33:36 GMT

MAY 23 — Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Khalid Abu Bakar said that under the Peaceful Assembly Act 2011, everyone has the right to hold a gathering and therefore, the burger seller who opened his stall in front of Bersih co-chair Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan’s house in Bukit Damansara did not break any laws. The Deputy IGP might have ...

Decoding the ‘DNA of Patriarchy’ in Muslim family laws — Ziba Mir-Hosseini and Zainah Anwar

Wed, 23 May 2012 06:28:13 GMT

MAY 23 — Contemporary Muslim family laws and practices are increasingly under attack for their unjust treatment of women. At the heart of unequal gender rights in Muslim laws lie the twin concepts of qiwamah and wilayah, which are commonly understood as having mandated men’s authority over women, and as justifying and institutionalising a ...

Greater fools in Facebook circular firing squad — James Saft

Wed, 23 May 2012 01:03:00 GMT

MAY 23 — The Facebook IPO, which started as a global search for a greater fool, developed on Monday into a circular firing squad. Facebook’s newly-minted stock tumbled well below its issue price on Monday, falling as much as 12 per cent, as it struggled in its first day trading without the full support of its investment banking syndicate. The ...

An answer to Loyarburokkers — Roger Tan

Wed, 23 May 2012 00:59:21 GMT

MAY 23 — I knew this was coming because as I said it would be painful for some lawyers to read what I wrote in “Unswayed by fear or favour” last Sunday in The Sunday Star. I am indeed not wrong with my prognostication. However, I am surprised that it was even necessary for the eight Loyarburoks to come together to give a 2,700-word response to ...

Facebook’s poor, huddled masses — John Lloyd

Tue, 22 May 2012 23:29:23 GMT

MAY 23 — “Whosoever hath, to him shall be given”, said Matthew (13:12) — a text for our times, and if it were a Facebook status, I would like it to death. Facebook’s IPO at the end of last week valued the company at US$104 billion (RM312 billion). It netted US$16 billion, the biggest haul from an initial offering after General Motors and Visa. It ...

Berita gembira tiada muzarakah — Abd Shukur Harun

Tue, 22 May 2012 23:24:49 GMT

23 MEI — Berita yang amat mengembirakan bagi pendukung PAS dan rakyat prihatin ialah pengumuman Presiden PAS, Datuk Seri Haji Abd Hadi Awang bahawa tidak akan ada muzakarah dengan parti sekular Umno. Berita ini diharapkan mengakhiri semua peluang parti tersebut untuk mengeksploitasi isu ini untuk kepentingan politik Barisan Nasional, pada ketika ...

Battle for undecided voters in Singapore’s Hougang — Eugene KB Tan

Tue, 22 May 2012 23:16:32 GMT

MAY 23 — Although the power equation in Singapore’s Parliament will not be altered in any meaningful manner whoever wins the Hougang by-election this Saturday, a key concern for both parties is not so much the final result but how well they will do at the ballot boxes. This is where the battle for the undecided voters will be crucial, with two ...

Election and economy – Lim Sue Goan

Tue, 22 May 2012 13:18:38 GMT

MAY 22 – The guessing game on election date continues. Lim Guan Eng says the European debt crisis could have played a decisive role on this, and as such the election most likely will fall in middle of July just before the Ramadan. How serious is the European debt crisis? Hardly to pass down a verdict at this moment. Last week, the local bourse ...

Wibawa perjuangan Islam PAS cuba dirobek – Ahmad Lutfi Othman

Tue, 22 May 2012 12:47:27 GMT

MAY 22 – Tersasar sekali lagi ramalan tarikh Pilihan Raya Umum Ke-13. Daripada bulan November 2011 (sebenarnya teka-teki itu bermula lebih awal lagi) kepada Mac 2012, seterusnya beralih Jun (lebih tepat 9 Jun), dan kini Dr Mahathir Mohamad menjangkakan selepas Aidilfitri pula (1 Syawal jatuh pada 19 Ogos), walaupun lebih ramai yang berhati-hati ...

The mutation of Tunku Aziz (Part 3) — Martin Jalleh

Tue, 22 May 2012 05:09:38 GMT

MAY 22 — Former DAP vice-chairman Tunku Abdul Aziz Tunku Ibrahim “has made an impassioned call to the people to support the leadership of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak” (Bernama, May 18, 2012). “Give Najib the chance and time to see his transformation programmes currently being implemented, come into fruition,” he said. Tunku Abdul Aziz, ...

Fallacies spun by critics of the Bar — LoyarBurokkers (loyarburok.com)

Tue, 22 May 2012 02:10:46 GMT

MAY 22 — The Bar Council and the Malaysian Bar (“the Bar”) have been criticised recently as being pro-opposition. This is because of the Bar’s press statements and its extraordinary general meeting resolution regarding the police brutality shown at the Bersih 3.0 sit-down rally. The common theme adopted by critics of the Bar is that the Bar was ...

Burn this book… but read it first — Umapagan Ampikaipakan

Tue, 22 May 2012 01:18:19 GMT

MAY 22 — Our nation’s conflicted relationship with the written word endures. This week, the subject of our indignation is the author Irshad Manji and her latest book, “Allah, Liberty and Love.” The author, who was in Kuala Lumpur last week for the launch of the Bahasa Malaysia version of her book, found herself facing the inevitable: calls for ...

Dr Mahathir and the selling of oxymoronicracy — Sakmongkol AK47

Tue, 22 May 2012 00:09:46 GMT

MAY 22 — Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has reiterated his advice for Umno leaders to discard self-interest and acts of sabotage to ensure a Barisan Nasional (BN) victory in the next general election. There are two things that stuck out as very sore thumbs in the above statement. Both are never the hallmarks of Umno. Indeed if they are practised, Umno ...