Citizenship for foreigners: Dr M’s reasoning flawed

KOTA KINABALU: A Sabah MP today lashed out at the Umno-led federal government for irresponsibly granting foreigners residing in Sabah citizenship merely because they can speak the language and had been in the state for a number of years.

Sepangar MP Eric Majimbun, who is Sabah Progressive Party deputy president, said the ruling coalition’s real agenda in granting citizenship to foreigners was to hang on to power using their votes of gratitude.

‘Amateurs doomed Sabah from the start’

KOTA KINABALU: Amateurs in Sabah’s political arena were the cause of the state losing its autonomous rights and privileges when it joined joined Singapore, Sarawak and Malaya to form Malaysia in 1963, local opposition politician Jeffrey Kitingan charged.

He said Sabahans are now paying the price due to poorly educated and inexperienced founding leaders having been selected to negotiate Sabah’s entry into the federation as a founding member.

Open letter to PM -as the first ever women Minister

As the first ever male Women’s Minister, can you please end gender discrimination at work place!

Dear Prime Minister,

This letter is to request you as the Prime Minister and the first ever male Women’s Minister (Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development) in the country to give a strong message to the employers and unions to stop all forms of discriminations against women at work place. While the country is moving towards a developed nation status, it is very distressing to have the women in Malaysia suffer due to discrimination laws and poor implementation.

“For a Society, Civil and Decent” – Interview with S. Ambiga by Penang Monthly

(Photo by Puah Sze Ning)

By Ooi Kee Beng

Courtesy of Penang Monthly , August 2012

Penang Monthly editor Ooi Kee Beng talks to Bersih icon Ambiga Sreenevasan between sessions at the inaugural Asean Coalition for Clean Governance conference on civil society and why she thinks “Malaysians are a great people”.

Ooi Kee Beng: Let’s discuss the recent rise of civil society activism in Malaysia. We had a half-year of rallies in mid-2007, starting with 600 people from the Malaysian Trades Union Congress demonstrating outside the Prime Minister’s office against government refusal to initiate minimum wage legislation.

Several union demonstrations were held in the following weeks. Soon after the country became 50 years old on August 31 that year, the big rallies really began. It started with the Malaysian Bar Council, of which you were the president then, organising the so-called Walk for Justice on September 26. About 2,000 people took part.

Great Truths in Malaysia - very witty

By Louis Belmonte

1. In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm and three or more is the Malaysian Parliament.

2. If you don't read the newspaper you are uninformed, if you do read the newspaper you are misinformed.

3. Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Parliament. But then I repeat myself.

4. I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.