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 [...]

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 [...]

BN ruling Sabah another 5 years is not main issue – Part 2

This is Part Two in the two part series by our guest columnist Joe Fernandez. See Part 1 here   by Joe Fernandez Guest Columnist   ANALYSIS (Part 2) The present BN ruling coalition has less than two-thirds of the seats in the current Parliament. It’s also highly unlikely that any future ruling party, coalition [...]

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 [...]

Suluk Filipinos make renewed attempt to seize power in Sabah

Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman, a Pathan-Dusun, is a man hogging the headlines once again these days but for the most bizarre of all reasons. The Suluk Filipinos are after his head as they eye the Chief Minister’s post in a renewed bid. Musa, affectionately known as Moses among his fellow Dusuns, has Foreign Minister [...]

Retelling the Sabah Story!

SABAH, once almost synonymous with despondency, has been rising from the ashes of gloom and murkiness. The nearly infamous GDP growth rate of 8 per cent that was termed a miracle more than once is not just where the story begins or ends. The dreadful past that saw this North Borneo state decelerating, deteriorating and [...]

Will Indian Malaysians be taken for a ride again?

Come elections Indians are the most sought after people. This time too political parties are queuing outside the houses of worship, houses of religious leaders, organizations, to woo the Indians ahead of the 13th General Elections which might be called anytime now. Be it Barisan National or Pakatan Rakyat, they all are throwing bait to [...]

MCLM Wants Premier Najib to Release all Detainees and Stop Harassment of BERSIH 2.0 Supporters!

Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, The Malaysian Civil Liberties Movement (MCLM) was most disappointed to read that you have completely abrogated your responsibilities with regards to those who have been arrested or detained in connection with BERSIH 2.0, saying that you will leave it to the police to decide on their release. You also said [...]

Not having a viable politician to become Chief Minister of Sarawak .. the woes of the Barisan National

The current situation must be the most humiliating situation for the Barisan National. The perception of a corrupt image are hitting the party right where it hurts, and the party cannot do anything much about it, other than its past practice of having not to talk anything about corruption or investigation (which has been done [...]

Is it time to acknowledge the Sabah ‘miracle’ ?

First it was the Kimanis Power Plant project, Sabah’s new 300-megawatt power plant, a whooping RM1 billion contract. Then Sabah has been allocated another RM10.723 billion to implement 424 new projects in the first phase (2011-2012) of the Rolling Plan under the Tenth Malaysia Plan. Then there is another RM3 billion in MoUs signed by [...]