SlashAsia » Malaysia

Malaysian parliament gets physical, democracy in peril

enrico — Tue, 12 May 2009 16:03:56 +0000

New rifts in Malaysia’s political system were exposed this week, three months after Malaysia’s opposition party lost its majority standing in Perak state to the National Front coalition. Parliament recommenced for the first time since the staged take-over, with the former speaker of assembly physically removed from the building by plain-clothes police. At least a dozen anti-government protestors calling for new elections were also arrested. The country’s March 2008 elections marked the first time since 1957 that the ruling UMNO lost two-thirds majority, and until the take-over, the state of Perak was among five Malaysian states where the opposition had won a majority in the elections. Political tension has been brewing in Malaysia for some time now, with increasing numbers of Malaysians discontent with ruling United Malays National Organization, and their coalition hold on political power. Deep divides in Malaysia’s political system are based on race, and outsiders argue that Malaysia’s economic competitiveness is held back by an often corrupt system that favors ethnic Malays. It doesn’t seem likely that current Prime Minister Najib Razak, who many believe to be behind the Perak take-over, will make the necessary reforms any time soon.

Q+A What does the Malaysian standoff in Perak mean?, Reuters
Political struggle in Malaysia heats up, The New York Times
Dozens held at Malaysian protest, BBC News

Landmark Malaysian ruling on child conversion

enrico — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 02:29:29 +0000

Just one day after the Malaysian government announced a ban on the religious conversion of children without mutual parental consent, a potentially landmark court ruling took place. Indira Ghandhi, a Malaysian Hindu, was granted custody of her three children after her husband recently tried to convert them to Islam. Malaysia traditionally uses a two-tier legal system which employs both secular and Islamic courts to resolve family matters, with jurisdiction determined by the religious affiliation of the family in question. In inter-faith familial issues, however, it has been unclear where jurisdiction should lie, with non-Muslims frequently complaining of discrimination by Islamic courts typically ruling in favour of Muslims.The ruling concerning Ms. Ghandhi, combined with Law Minister Nazri Abdul Aziz’s assertion that cases where one of the spouses later converts to Islam should be decided in civil courts, has been met with enthusiasm by a number of religious and non-governmental organizations as a stepping stone to the easing of ethnic-religious tensions in the country.

Sources:
Malaysia tackles child conversion, BBC
Religious Council lauds decision, New Strait Times

Court Grants Custody to Hindu Mother, WSJ

New Malaysian PM Najib steps in, little political change

enrico — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 04:18:54 +0000

Malaysian Prime Minister Ahmad Badawi resigned on March 26, making way for new leader Najib Razak to become premier, and reinforcing 52 year-old rule by the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO). Abdullah leaves with low ratings, having failed to follow through on government reform and corruption eradication pledges. Najib takes over with plunging support for the government and his leadership, and questions about the democratic nature of this takeover. In the lead up to Najib’s transition opposition was shut down. Today, both a senior member and the leader of the opposition party face trials. Two opposition newspapers were recently suspended. In addition, Najib has had to reject accusations that his recent decision to release 13 people detained under the Internal Security Act - equivalent to the US Patriot Act - was a ploy to win new votes in upcoming by-elections.The Abolish ISA movement has called the move “political collateral” used by Najib to demonstrate the PM cares.

Najibs ISA step a ploy? - Straits Times
Malaysian PM resigns -New Kerala
Saviour of Malaysia’s Ruling Party? - BBC

Asia: Markets rally, currencies at 2009 high

Alexandra Stevenson — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 00:01:56 +0000

Asian currencies strengthened this week following an announcement that American banks could stand without government buyout, and optimism about new Chinese and Japanese stimulus packages. Japan’s Nikkei rose 5.15%, South Korea’s Kospi 6.7%, while Singapore’s Strait Times Index rose 5.6%. The Malaysian ringgit increased by 0.3% after the government announced a US $16 billion stimulus plan. The Taiwan dollar rose 0.8%, and the Thai baht 0.4%. Despite a regional rally, the Philippines peso and Vietnam dong were unaffected, and China’s Shanghai Composite actually dropped by 0.2%, after Wen Jiabao expressed concern about the stability of US Treasuries.

The Bank of America Corp., JP Morgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. announced this week that they do not need government support and may even see profits this year, boosting confidence in the Asia region as well as Europe. While analysts say this is just a temporary respite, things may be looking up in Southeast Asia. Citigroup has indicated it’s confidence that Southeast Asian countries will come out of the crisis soon, announcing plans to start equity brokerage business in Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia

Links and sources:

Citigroup to boost Asian equity trade , Gulf Daily News

Nikkei surges 5% as US bank hopes lift Asian markets , CNBC News

Asian stocks lifted , The Straits Times

Asian currencies best of week 2009, led by won, rupiah , Bloomberg

Asia: Internet-nanny states on rise

Alexandra Stevenson — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 14:55:50 +0000

According to a recent article in Asia Times Online, the 2007 Computer Crime Act in Thailand had made the use of proxy servers punishable by law and more recently 2, 300 websites have been shutdown for insulting the monarchy. The Justice Ministry has sought court orders to shut down an additional 3000. In Singapore the government, wary of any criticism, frequently sues publications like The Economist and the Far Eastern Economic Review for referring to the one-party government rule as ‘authoritarian’. The government, which uses economic success as legitimacy for it’s hold on power, harassed an Asia Times contributor for discussing financial trouble in the city-state. In Malaysia last year, local ISPs were told to block renowned blogger and critique of the government, Raja Petra Kamarudin, from accessing the Internet. He was later arrested under the Internal Security Act. The Burmese government is taking lessons from Russian and Chinese officials on how to tighten it’s grip in cyberspace too, in a more sophisticated way than has previously done.

Links and sources:

An opening in cyberspace closes, Asia Times Online

China’s Internet censorship explained, China you ren website

Asia: ASEAN countries to demonstrate self-sufficiency and open trade

Alexandra Stevenson — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 15:35:08 +0000

Finance ministers in the Asia region are holding bilateral talks in the lead up the 14th Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean) summit, in a show of greater strategic cooperation to prevent trade protectionism. Malaysia held bilateral talks with Indonesian and Chinese finance ministers this weekend, to promote trade. Officials from Japan, China and Korea met Saturday afternoon to discuss counter-measures to economic slowdown. Finance chiefs from Asean countries and Japan, China and South Korea will gather at the summit on February 27 in Thailand to discuss concrete and collective response to financial woes.

Asean will speak out against using trade protectionism as a way to cope with the current financial crisis, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has said. Mr. Abhisit has encouraged Asean countries to seek aid from other regions, acknowledging that the IMF ” simply does not have the resources, money and time to look into the various problems in different regions.” The Asia Development Bank will participate in the summit as Asean members determine the details of a foreign reserve fund pool agreed upon last May. Contributing countries will discuss management and size of fund.

Links and sources:

Asean to resist protectionism, Straits Times

China, Indonesia and China trade talks, Malaysia Star

Asea foreign reserve pool, Xinhua

Malaysia: Prime Minister Badawi to step down, political environment tense

Alexandra Stevenson — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 14:59:10 +0000

Malaysian Prime Minister Abdulla Ahmad Badawi is expected to step down on March 31 after five years in power as leader of United Malays National Organisation, according to an official close to the PM. The move has not been publicly announced, likely because political tension is in the air: just this week Badawi’s coalition BN (National Front) staged a take-over in the northern state of Perak , one of four northern states where an opposition-led coalition has power. Opposition lawmakers switched parties, giving the Front majority power in Perak, and government officials have seized 20,000 copies of a widely distributed local newspapers, in a move one of the opposition parties is calling ‘politically motivated’ and an attempt to restrict information flow.

This is just the most recent chapter of a larger narrative that has seen the National Front silence opposition, using Malaysia’s equivalent to American Patriot Act, the Internal Security Act, to strike fear in opposition parties. Last year three political dissidents were incarcerated - blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin, reporter Tan Chee Hoon and Democratic Action Party politician Teresa Kok - under the broad-reaching ISA.

The latest Human Rights Watch World Report has accused Malaysia of letting national security concerns override fundamental human rights. On the upcoming elections, blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin recently wrote in Malaysia Today, ” when the rats begin to desert the ship then you certainly know that the ship is about to sink.” Kamaruddin continued that the UMNO way of doing things is to say “Take the money or die. Take the money or get sacked. Take the money or go to jail.”

Link and Sources:

Badawi steps down, The Straits Times

Raja Petra Kamaruddin, Malaysia Today

Reporting on new Human Rights Watch and Malaysia, Asia Sentinel

Malaysia: Singer Rihanna’s clothes an “insult” to Asian values

Alexandra Stevenson — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 15:15:10 +0000

Malaysia’s Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, PAS, has called for a ban on R&B star Rihanna’s concert scheduled for February 13, arguing that her clothes and style are an ‘”insult” to Asian values. “Whether Rihanna realizes it or not, we know that the taxes she has paid also contributed to the war in Gaza,” said PAS member Kamaruzaman Mohamad. He went further, saying the event was “akin to insulting Eastern culture, belittling local artistes, intentionally causing losses to the country’s economy and supporting Israel’s war policy, which is supported by America.”

Via The Star Online