I wonder whether his column will boost the sales of the paper 🙂
It is so wrong when we separate our children into Malays, Indians, Chinese and Others. It is so wrong when we tell our young that they should be wary of their friends just because they are different. It is so wrong that some of us feel ourselves entitled to a better life at the expense of others. It is so wrong that we have been made to fear others, not for what it is they intend to do to us, but for what is we are told they will do.
And it is so wrong that the nation, and the futures of all that call it home, are held to ransom by a political vision whose driving purpose is to protect vested interests. For those who find divisions along racial and religious lines useful, a multi-racial Malaysia in which the energy and vision of all Malaysian are harnessed to a common and beneficial end, is threatening. It is in their interests to make it equally threatening for others.
The declining standards in the public service, from education to health care to the administration of justice, all stem from this sad state of affairs. In the fortress that has been built around the Malay community, it is trapped in a vicious cycle that prevents it from seeing the obvious and doing what is necessary. In the push to protect the Malays from perceived threats and enemies, Malays and non-Malays have suffered. The pain that has been caused is immeasurable, the extent of the injury unmapped.
What would I do, where would I start? I would start here.
In Malaysia, we have no choice but to face the hard questions "conversion" brings up!
Regardless of the convenience of the Siti Fatimah decision, it cannot be a good thing. Media reports suggest that the Penang syariah court was swayed by Siti Fatimah not having been given proper advice about Islam by her former husband and the Islamic authorities. This means that the court could take a different view of those who were born into the faith, such as Lina Joy, or those who made a decision to embrace Islam after due consideration. The court would after all be at liberty to do so if it were vested with a discretion.
I am concerned that the decision may distract from meaningful and coherent efforts aimed at ensuring a just and constitutional solution to the issue of apostasy. We should not lose sight of the fact that before a grossly misconceived decision of the Supreme Court handed down in 1999 (Soon Singh), Muslims were not required to obtain an exit-order from the syariah courts. They left the faith, declaring the fact by deed poll and carried on with their lives in relative privacy. The public face of Islam was left unscarred and the religion was not made a victim in a way that it has been of late.
Nurul Izzah Anwar, The Member of Parliament for Lembah Pantai which is the constituency where our church is gathers for worship … speaks for "Freedom"!
8. Sepanjang berkempen, saya juga melihat rumah-rumah yang didiami oleh anak-anak Melayu miskin di Pantai Dalam, anak-anak muda Cina dan India sekitar Bangsar.
9. Saya tertanya-tanya, apakah yang mereka mahukan? Pastinya mereka inginkan pendidikan dan latihan; peluang pekerjaan dan perumahan selesa.
10. Namun saya lebih terdorong untuk mengatakan bahawa apa yang mereka dahagakan ialah kebebasan –memperolehi mutu pendidikan dan keselesaan hidup.
11. Menginsafi segala permasalahan rakyat dan negara yang saya sebutkan tadi, ingin saya pancarkan di dewan yang mulia ini, faham keafdalan kebebasan, atau Primacy of Freedom, dengan izin, yang telah lenyap dari bumi Malaysia dan perlu dikembalikan.
Sabah MP crossover for real — via defunct party
The days ahead are going to be history in the making … everyone is on the edge of their seat waiting to see how things will turn out.
Tony Pua, The Member of Parliament for Petaling Jaya Utara, who has quite a few fans among my friends. He gives a little bit more insight in the proceedings!
Well, there certainly wasn’t much glory or prestige about the "maiden" speech, because when I was finally given my turn to speak, I had only 5 minutes to do so. Jeff who sat next to me, gave up altogether ‘cos by the time it reached him, it was 2 minutes. It’s really frustrating, because to be called to speak, you have to keep standing whenever someone else completes his speech and hope that the Speaker will call your constituency. And I certainly found DAP MPs, on a general basis, to have received less opportunities to speak compared to the other opposition MPs.
And having prepared my speech fairly early on, I’ve been standing and sitting for practically 4-5 days. I can understand the fact that senior backbenchers and party leaders are often given preference, but it’s really frustrating because, you will find MPs (both sides) who aren’t in the Dewan very often, who didn’t prepare their speech, gets called upon much earlier (when the time frame to speak was 15-20 minutes), when they happen to be in the Dewan.