Shadow Policy Committee

Oleh Abd Manan Abd Razak, Naib Pengerusi DAP Kuala Perlis Pemerintahan Barisan Nasional selama 54 tahun telah menyebabkan rakyat Malaysia dipecahbelahkan mengikut kaum masing-masing. Oleh itu BN menerusi parti-parti komponennya telah mempropagandakan perjuangan terhadap sesuatu kaum yang seolah-olah dilihat hanya UMNO berjuang untuk orang Melayu, MCA untuk orang Cina dan MIC untuk kaum India serta lain-lain komponen yang secara dasarnya adalah sama. Setelah sekian lama di bawah pentadbiran BN, kini rakyat sudah sedar akan politik berasaskan perkauman yang dibawa oleh BN tidak membawa kepada perpaduan. Tsunami politik 2008 telah membuktikan kebenaran rasa tidak puas hati rakyat yang ditafsirkan dalam bentuk kertas undi. Rakyat pelbagai kaum bersatu secara sendirinya tanpa diadakan apa-apa program khusus. Semuanya berlaku atas kesedaran peribadi serta secara bermasyarakat. Parti PAS, PKR dan DAP telah mendapat habuan besar dengan 82 kerusi Parlimen dan 5 kerajaan negeri. Setelah terkesan...

By Soong Phui Jee Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's recent visit to the Palace of Justice has triggered a dispute as some claimed that the visit could jeopardise the independence of the judiciary. However, I am more interested in the remarks made by retiring Chief Justice Tun Zaki Tun Azmi. He said that the government had allocated RM130 million to upgrade court facilities and it was normal for the Prime Minister to see how the money was spent. Also, the more people the more transparent it was and there was nothing to be kept in the dark. It would not affect judges' independent judgement. The judiciary needs money to operate and the bill is paid by the government. Then how could we be sure that the judiciary would not lose its independence for government funding? Judiciary independence is a universal value. According to the Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary adopted by the Seventh United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of O...

By Lim Mun Fah The Cabinet has agreed to use the indelible ink in the next general election. From a democratic point of view, it is indeed a step forward. However, it is actually only a small step forward towards a more transparent and fair electoral system, as instead of just about voting, the implications of a democratic election are actually very wide and complex. Voting seems easy to be done as it only requires voters to draw an "X" next to their preferred candidate before throwing the voting paper into a ballot box. In fact, it is not as simple as that. Election is a bottom-up mobilisation. The whole process is tense and complicated. It involves arguments from politicians of different political stands, consideration over benefit tunnelling, entanglements among political parties and confrontations among candidates. To be specific, a democratic election process must reflect the spirit of democracy. Firstly, all adult citizens have the rights to vote and be voted. Secondly,...

By Lim Sue Goan Some parts of the national history remain confusing and two recent issues have proven that there are still rooms to be filled and passages to be corrected. The first issue was provoked by the Utusan Malaysia with a report accusing PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu of praising communism. It has rapidly led to a war of words between Umno and PAS. Mat Sabu was alleged to have called during a ceramah in Tasik Gelugor, Mat Indera, the man who attacked and killed 25 policemen and their families in the 1950 Bukit Kepong tragedy, an independent fighter. According to the Wikipedia, Mat Indera was one of the Malay left-wing leaders confronting the British colonial government. At 4.45am on 23 February 1950, he led 200 guerrillas to attack the Bukit Kepong police station. A total of 25 policemen and their family members were killed, only four people survived. Mat Indera was arrested and being hanged in the Perak Taiping prison on 30 January 1953. They are now arguing that Mat Sabu...

Sepuluh Tahun Sebelum Merdeka from fahmi reza on Vimeo . The real Malayan independence fighters were the PUTERA-AMCJA coalition of political parties which consist of Parti Kebangsaan Melayu Malaya, Malayan Democratic Union, Pan-Malayan Federation of Trade Unions, Malayan New Democratic Youth League, Angkatan Pemuda Insaf, Angkatan Wanita Sedar, Gerakan Angkatan Muda and a lot more. Umno had in fact twice betrayed the independence effort carried out as early as 1945. And after having all the earlier independence minded political parties purged with the help of the British colonial government, Umno then hijacked the independence call in 1957. Since then, the PUTERA-AMCJA's independence struggle was completely erased and labelled as communists following the declaration of Emergency rule in 1948. This is how Umno cheated the people until today.