Malaysian society
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01 September 2012 | last updated at 01:23AM By Azura Abas, Eunice Au, Punitha Kumar and Nuradilla Noorazam When the clock struck 8.15pm last night, at least 10,000 people with very busy fingers furiously tweeting their Merdeka messages at the Bukit Jalil Stadium.
Malaysians tweeted 3.6 million Merdeka messages - Latest - New Straits Times - Pale Moon
Malaysia questions treatment of Aborigines
Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman has questioned Australia's treatment of Aborigines in response to criticism of his country's record on human rights and the controversial asylum seeker swap deal. Speaking on the sidelines of a meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement in Bali, Mr Aman lashed out at suggestions the 800 asylum seekers covered by the deal could be caned, saying Malaysia was a civilised nation. "Australians always have fears," he told AAP on Friday.
August 29, 2012 21:53 PM Unity Of All Races In Malaysia Has Ensured Its Sovereignty, Says Najib
Unity Of All Races In Malaysia Has Ensured Its Sovereignty, Says Najib
Malaysia's migration paradox
A large segment of Malaysian society and the government in particular seem clearly xenophobic towards migrant workers, asylum seekers and refugees. Yet in an oxymoronic way, Malaysia continues to insist on having these foreigners on her soil. More recently, Malaysia has thrown its arms wide open to asylum seekers heading to Australia, risking life and limb for a better future. How does one explain this rather bizarre phenomenon? According to statistics by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office in Kuala Lumpur, as of January 2012 there were approximately 97,000 refugees and asylum seekers in the country, with many more asylum seekers knocking on its doors every day for refugees status. Most are from Myanmar (91 per cent) while the rest are from Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere.
GEORGE TOWN: A retiree has been ordered by a High Court here to pay a total of RM100,000 in damages and costs to a private automotive technology training centre where his son had studied over three defamatory postings on Facebook. Justice Varghese George Varughese ordered Leong Yook Kong ( pic ), 64, to pay DeSpark Auto (Penang) Sdn Bhd RM60,000 in general damages, RM15,000 in aggravated damages and RM25,000 in costs. He also granted the centre an injunction restraining Leong from further publishing, or causing to be published, any material in the nature of the three defamatory postings, or of similar purport or effect, in any media or howsoever. The centre had sued Leong for defamation over three comments that the latter posted on the social networking website in November and December last year, accusing the centre of criminal and inappropriate activities.
Retiree to pay RM100,000 over FB posts
Agence France-Presse KUALA LUMPUR–Malaysia will move to abolish two minor security laws next week but wait to scrap the tougher Internal Security Act (ISA) until next year, the prime minister said. Prime Minister Najib Razak pledged last month to abolish the dreaded ISA, which allows indefinite detention without trial, and reform other laws which opposition leaders and activists have long criticised as outdated and cruel. Najib said late Friday that he would table motions in Parliament next week to scrap two laws which restrict criminal suspects’ movements and allow for them to be exiled.
Malaysia to start security law reforms next week
Follow-up: Malaysian Transsexual Who Lost Name Battle Dies | Montreal Gazette Blogs
Following up on this news story reported here recently, a sad conclusion: Agence France-Presse KUALA LUMPUR—A 25-year-old transsexual who lost a court battle in Muslim-majority Malaysia to change her name to that of a woman has died, a report citing heart problems said Sunday.
A self-employed man was charged in a traffic court on Thursday with seven traffic offences including speeding, dangerous driving and driving under disqualification.
Malaysia breaks up Shi'ite gathering, detains four
A controversial boot camp meant to toughen effeminate school boys in an east Malaysian state, which drew flak from many organisations, has however, been found to be fun by many of its participants, a report said on Friday. The 57 school kids said they enjoyed the activities at the camp, which included jungle trekking, paintball and abseiling, as well as motivational talks to help build their character.
Boot camp to toughen ‘effeminate’ boys successful
Fake eggs in Malaysia
Catherine Chan is an environmental lawyer and journalist in Beijing. This is part two of a three-part series arising from her recent visit to Malaysia; part one here . Malaysia's reliance on cheap foreign labour is reaching a quiet crisis point. In a country of 28 million, foreign workers comprise roughly two million of Malaysia's population, with nationals from Indonesia, Bangladesh and increasingly Cambodia and Myanmar taking up the low paid, menial tasks that have no attraction to Malaysians. Many more work illegally in the country.
Malaysia's domestic dilemma
Malaysia’s democratic deficit
Author: Greg Lopez, ANU The reforms in the United Malay National Organisation (UMNO) may be a step in the right direction. Already, there are detractors suggesting that the reforms are meaningless as corruption is entrenched in Malaysia.PM: Malaysia to engage Internet not censor
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will not resort to Internet censorship but use it to engage the public, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said. “Malaysians are mature and rational and they know if certain quarters are only out to exploit a situation,” the Prime Minister said when commenting on the situation in Egypt where the Internet was blocked at the height of anti-government demonstrations. “Our society is more educated and technology savvy and it would be a challenge to manage the new political environment (in Malaysia) but ICT tools can be used to engage the public," he said adding that he was also part of the Facebook and Twitter community. “Furthermore, the situation in Egypt and Malaysia is different,” he said noting that at the time of the demonstrations in Egypt the Tenang by-election was being held in Johor.Malaysian States Crack Down on Valentine's Day
Malaysia: State government introduces ‘1Toilet
Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak introduced the One Malaysia concept, popularly referred as 1Malaysia , when he took office. Being a multi-racial country, the main aim of 1Malaysia is to promote national unity and to strengthen the ties between various ethnic groups. 1Toilet policy is based on the 1Malaysia concept Borrowing the branding of 1Malaysia, the state government of Terengganu recently introduces the '1Toilet’ policy as a move for both teachers and students (of the same gender) to share toilets to promote a sense of oneness. “When students share the toilets with the teacher, they (students) will believe that they are on par with academicians and this automatically invokes a sense of being important to an organisation, which, in this case, is the school,” says State Education, Higher Learning, Human Resource, Science and Technology Committee chairman Ahmad Razif Abd Rahman in local daily The Star .Dr M: Make sports betting legal
KUALA TERENGGANU: Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has given his backing to a proposal to issue licences for sports betting, saying that this will help legalise the industry as well as thwart illegal gambling. He slammed opposition leaders for protesting against the issuance, claiming that they were just trying to gain political mileage. “I don’t understand DAP’s rationale in protesting.Use of "Allah" controversy