UN right body on ‘internal colonization’ dispute in Sabah

by Joe Fernandez Guest Columnist COMMENT The United Nations Security Council, acting through its previous 24-nation Decolonization Committee, would be the right body to resolve the renewed controversy in Sabah on whether it and Sarawak, the neighbouring sister state in Borneo, have been effectively colonised by the Federal Government in Putrajaya and/or Malaya (Peninsular Malaysia) [...]

Labuan handover suit needs serious re-think

by Joe Fernandez Guest Columnist COMMENT Everyone involved should perhaps seriously rethink — from all angles and sides — the suit pending in Court on the legality of the handover of Labuan to the Federal Government. They should consider leaving the matter in the hands of the politicians. They are the right party to take [...]

Putrajaya will not win stand-off with Bar Council

by Joe Fernandez Guest Columnist COMMENT It appears that the current Najib Administration has forgotten the bitter lessons learnt during Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s long innings in office when he, the frightened little man he was by default in office, openly and shamelessly rooted for extreme coercion as his preferred modus operandi. It’s not so [...]

Star: One to one fight ideal, but not necessary

KOTA KINABALU: The State Reform Party (Star) shares the sentiments of the Democratic Action Party (Dap) that the possibility of one-to-one fights in Sabah to take on the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) at the forthcoming 13th General Election is non-existent. It also agrees with Dap that the Sabah Progressive Party (Sapp) was out of synch [...]

Open Letter to Hindraf Makkal Sakthi: Borneo-based and led national 3rd Force in Parliament

Open Letter to Hindraf Makkal Sakthi   Borneo-based and led national 3rd Force in Parliament Dear Waytha and Uthaya, Johore may be set for interesting times as it faces an uncertain future as an Umno bastion. Muhiyiddin is reportedly trying to do a number on Najib here by planning to get rid of Ghani in [...]

Two-party system in Parliament not ideal for Sabah, Sarawak

Letter to the editor Dear Sir, “A disenchanted East Malaysian voter” (Daily Express Forum Sun 20 May, 2012) appears to be caught up with the politics of delusion in rooting for a two-party system for Sabah and Sarawak as well. Don’t we want to not only stand up and be counted but also stand on [...]

BN ruling Sabah another 5 years is not main issue – Part 1

This is the first article in a two-part series by our guest columnist Joe Fernandez    by Joe Fernandez Guest Columnist   ANALYSIS (Part 1) Critics in Peninsular Malaysia miss the forest for the trees when they complain that “Barisan must be laughing at these fringe parties” in Sabah. Obviously, they are referring to the [...]

Demokrasi Sabah needs the right debate format

by Joe Fernandez Guest Columnist COMMENT The initial word from Demokrasi Sabah (Desah), an NGO just set up by former Sabah state secretary Simon Sipaun to encourage one-to-one contests at the forthcoming 13th General Election, has not been too encouraging. For starters, there’s the little matter of the NGO declaring that it wants to help [...]

Sydney Morning Herald : Najib’s Malaysia still stuck in the murk

This is an interesting piece written by Hamish McDonald the Asia-Pacific editor for Sydney Morning Herald. This piece is written just after the Bersih 3.0 gathering on April 28, 2012. As I too was there on that day in Dataran, to me Bersih 3.0 has ushered in an unstoppable move towards greater democratic freedoms in [...]

In Denying a Sex Scandal, Shafie Apdal Focuses Attention on the Issue

In a country that is no stranger to sex scandals in politics, the latest flare-up has been one of the strangest of all. Most notably, it came to broad public attention only because the man at the center of it, Minister of Rural and Regional Development and UMNO Vice President wannabe Chief Minister of Sabah, [...]