Social order & special needs

This viewpoint has been expressed by Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, President of KITA in his blog.

The Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute (ASLI) recently organised a roundtable dialogue on building bridges among religions.

Fr Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot (left), Rector of the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies at the Vatican, was the main guest, and he was accompanied by other distinguished figures including the Most Rev Archbishop Tan Sri Murphy Pakiam, Senator Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon of the Prime Minister’s Office as well as social activists. Read more »

Pope Benedict said on Saturday the Catholic Church could not accept gay marriage and urged young people to root out evil in society and shun a "lukewarm" faith that damages their Church.

The 84-year-old pope ended the third day in his homeland with a rally for more about 30,000 young people at a fairground outside the southern city of Freiburg, a Catholic area where he received the warmest welcome of his trip so far. Read more »

The reignited debate over the implementation of hudud law in Kelantan has drawn a nuanced response from what at first glance would be considered an unexpected quarter.

Catholic Bishop Dr Paul Tan Chee Ing, in remarks made to Malaysiakini today, held forth on the subject and has come up with a stance he thinks is calibrated to meet the challenges the question of Islam poses to Malaysian society. Read more »

This article was first published in “Off The Edge” on January 15, 2009.

By Clive Kessler, Emeritus Professor, University of New South Wales, Australia.

Once again the familiar argument has surfaced, or been desperately invoked, this time in the latest stand-off between the leading Pakatan Rakyat allies Karpal Singh and Anwar Ibrahim. Read more »

The hudud law is not yet suitable for implementation in this country as the situation is inconducive, hence it is not proper for any quarters to blame another for not implementing it, said former Perlis mufti Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin.

If implemented in such a situation, he said, it would create injustice to all parties in Malaysia's plural society. Read more »

UndiMsia! urges young Malaysians to participate in nation building within their own communities. A movement targeting youths aged between 18 to 35, UndiMsia! aims to provide tools and workable solutions to problems that matter to young Malaysians.

The movement is looking to build, mobilise, organise and support young Malaysians to take impactful action with tangible results in their own communities. Read more »

The Catholic Lawyers Society of Malaysia has cautiously welcomed a plan to abolish the controversial Internal Security Act (ISA), which includes the right of detention without trial.

Prime Minister Najib Razak on Thursday announced the plan ahead of yesterday’s Malaysia Day celebration, and further stated that two new anti-terrorism laws will be tabled in parliament before elections next year. Read more »

The Catholic Lawyers Society Kuala Lumpur applauds the Prime Minister on his move to repeal the Internal Security Act (ISA).

The move is in the right direction. In the past the use of the ISA has been abused especially to silence dissent. 

Operation Lalang in 1988 is one such example of the abusive use of the ISA. It is time that the Government did away with such a draconian law and uphold the constitutional rights of its people, namely freedom of speech and expression, to assemble peacefully and the right to form associations (Article 10 and 14 Federal Constitution). Read more »

Zaki Azmi, the “Judiciary’s Renaissance man” has left behind a legacy of a judiciary scandalously compromised, shamelessly cowed and a slew of shocking contradictory and convoluted judgments. Below are some examples.

“Creatures of the Government”

In Dec. 2009, Abdul Aziz Bari, a constitutional law expert, declared that the judiciary has been reduced to one that “takes its cue from the government”. Read more »

Zaki Azmi has retired as the Chief Justice (CJ) of Bolehland. Weeks before the final curtain, he held himself in high regard in press interviews by giving rave reviews of his own tenure. He felt “very satisfied with the judiciary's achievements in less than three years” (Bernama).

For a long time, the mainstream press had portrayed  Zaki as a “reluctant” CJ. But as his retirement date drew nearer, the Malay Mail (MM) revved up the farewell accolades by revering him as the “Judiciary’s Renaissance man” (25.08.11). Read more »