Current Affairs

Pusat KOMAS recently launched its nationwide “Jom Pantau” election monitoring campaign, which encourages Malaysians to report election offences, fraud and malpractices.

In the following interview, Jom Pantau project assistant Vijaya Veeran and project secretariat Evelyn Tina talk about the fraudulent election practices in the Sarawak elections, high-risk seats and why the Electoral Commission should allow non-partisan electoral observers into polling stations.

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Recently, several banks have raised their interest rates for outstanding credit card balances, in a move to discourage late payments for credit card bills. FOMCA CEO Dato Paul Selvaraj believes that the difference in charges and interest rates between prompt and late payments must be significantly bigger as to provide more incentive for credit card holders to make full payments promptly. 

In the following interview, he also discusses the problem of credit card debt and why banks should provide more financial education to consumers.

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Recently, the Election Commission has announced that around four million eligible voters have yet to register with the EC, with the highest percentage of unregistered voters in Putrajaya, Kuala Lumpur and Perak. More than two-thirds of unregistered voters are between the ages of 22 and 30 years old.

Edmund Bon, former Malaysian Bar Council constitutional law committee chairperson and community mover for Undi Malaysia, says that there is a continuing debate on "whether our elections are free and fair, and whether any vote during elections will count for anything. Youths these days are questioning whether they should register their right to vote... the sentiment when we speak to youths is that the idea about democracy in Malaysia is a systemic failure, and whatever they do may not change anything".

He says that while Undi Malaysia, which was officially launched on Sept 16 last year, encourages youths to vote, more importantly, the initiative provides an alternative to the current democratic process.

"Once every five years, you try and change the government, the leaders... but the local community faces problems 365 days, for five years, so of course they don't see what value there is to vote. We're trying to change that. At Undi Malaysia, first we say-- you have to go out and vote, but its not enough. Democracy doesn't mean you go and vote every five years; you must  speak out everyday, take action, stand up and do things to improve your life and that of others," he tells BFM.

In the following interview, he also discusses the political disconnect in schools and universities, who should be entitled to vote in Malaysia and whether we need a systemic change in the current democractic system.

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In response to allegations of vote buying in UMNO by the party's former UMNO Supreme Council member and ex-minister Tan Sri Kadir Sheikh Fadzir, UMNO Secretary-General Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor says he is not aware of such "bomb" tactics. 

[BFM had spoken to Tan Sri Kadir on his claims in an earlier interview. Click here for the interview podcast.]

"I don’t know what he’s talking about basically. I don’t think so that we are buying votes. Most probably, what we do normally is, when we have election, there is some money to be spent, so we can spend the money in order to win the election... yes, we spend money for election, for a campaign, but not “bombing”, not buying votes," says Tengku Adnan. "Individual doesn’t mean it’s UMNO’s work, you know. Individuals could have done it... I do not know. As far as the party is concerned, we don’t practice such things," he tells BFM in a recent interview. 

He says UMNO party members abided by the rules and regulations, but in the event of a breach in conduct, "we’ve got our lembaga disiplin [disciplinary council]".

In the following interview, he talks about how he party dealt with incidents of money politics in the past, the collective responsibility of UMNO members when voicing their opinions and the party's investigation into Tan Sri Kadir's statements. 

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The government’s decision to deport Saudi journalist Hamza Kashgari back to Saudi Arabia on Sunday has been criticised by lawmakers and activists as a disregard for human rights and rule of law. Hamza had fled his country after his Twitter comments on the Prophet Muhammad were considered blasphemy, a crime punishable by death in Saudi Arabia. He was about to board his flight to New Zealand at KLIA when he was detained by the immigration authorities on Feb 9. 

Ragunath Kesavan, who was one of the lawyers who obtained the court injunction on Feb 12 to stop Hamza's deportation, says the journalist was denied access to laywers and the UNHCR throughout his detention, up till the point of deportation. Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Hussein has denied receiving the court injunction prior to the deportation.

"The matter is now part of the issue of the court. When we got the order on Sunday, we had undertaken to file the writ of habeas corpus on Monday (Feb 13) and the High Court had fixed the hearing for 9.30am. The government was represented by senior federal counsel. We had asked that they file an affadavit in reply, to give facts on what exactly happened... we're not sure what time he left KLIA," Kesavan tells BFM in a recent interview. 

He says the haste in which Hamza Kashgari was deported only leaves lawmakers and human rights activists to assume that the government had no legal authority to deport him. 

"The concern we have -- and this is what we have raised -- is that the government of Malaysia has bypassed this process which is provided for under the extradition act...  we are of the view that the government did not want to go through this process because they had no legal basis to extradite him."

In the following interview, Ragunath talks about the Extradition Act, rights of political asylum seekers in Malaysia and why every individual deserves the right to legal representation -- regardless of nationality.

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In June last year the Cabinet approved a policy that set a target of 30% women representation in board positions and senior roles across all Malaysian public listed companies by 2016. To achieve this target, the Ministry of Women, family and Community Developement, through its agency, NAM Institute for the Empowerment of Women (NIEW) has kicked-off its Women Directors Programme and the Women Directors Registry. 

In the first of a two-part series, Tan Sri Datuk Dr Rafiah Salim, director of NIEW, discusses the plan of how to execute this policy to a reality. She also talks about the "leaking career pipe line" for women, and the lack of processes to support work and family responsibilities. Tan Sri Datuk Dr Rafiah also addresses some of the potential abuses that could happen -- such as token appointments of wives and family members as directors. 

Listen to Part Two of the interview here:

http://www.bfm.my/current-affairs-130212-rafiah-salim-niew.html

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The Gonville and Caius College in the University of Cambridge will be establishing the Tun Suffian College Lectureship, in honour of the former Malaysian Chief Justice and Lord President of the Federal Court. Tun Suffian, who was bestowed an Honorary Fellowship by the college, was the first Malay to win a Queen's Scholarship in 1935 to read law at the college. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts with Honours degree in 1939 and Bachelor of Laws in 1940, before being called to the Bar at the Middle Temple in London. 

Sir Christopher Hum, Current Master of the college says the decision to establish a lectureship came about during his meeting with Cambridge alumni last year, in a move that will hopefully strengthen links between Malaysia and the college.

"We have a very strong tradition in our university of teaching in small groups, that obviously has costs associated with it... Endowment will mean creating a sum to meet the costs for as long as possible.. gives the guarantee that the funds are available for us to continue teaching the way we want to," he says in a recent interview. Establishing a lectureship is part of the Cambridge tradition in commemorate each of the 30 college's own alumni.  

"Tun Suffian was very distinguished - Chief Justice, Lord Preisdent and made an Honorary Fellow of the college in his later years. He was very attached to the college and we are very attached to his memory," says Hum. 

Come April 19th, the college will be organising a fundraiser for the lectureship, together with Yayasan Tun Suffian in Malaysia. adding that the college will be organising a fundraiser for the lectureship, together with Yayasan Tun Suffian in Malaysia. A total of RM5 million is needed to fund the lectureship.

In the following interview, Hum also shares about what Malaysian universities can learn from Cambridge, in becoming a top-tier university, as well as the university's increasing focus on Asian students.

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In June last year the Cabinet approved a policy that set a target of 30% women representation in board positions and senior roles across all Malaysian public listed companies by 2016. To achieve this target, the Ministry of Women, family and Community Developement, through its agency, NAM Institute for the Empowerment of Women (NIEW) has kicked-off its Women Directors Programme and the Women Directors Registry. 

In the first of a two-part series, Tan Sri Datuk Dr Rafiah Salim, director of NIEW, discusses the plan of how to execute this policy to a reality. She also addresses critics' allegations that by focusing on gender instead of meritocracy, it will undermine choosing the best person for the job. 

Listen to Part 2 of the interview here:

http://www.bfm.my/current-affairs-140212-rafiah-salim-niew.html

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With the government’s five-year Langkawi Tourism Blueprint set to bring in 5 billion ringgit in tourism projects to Langkawi, environmentalists are lamenting the loss of flora and fauna caused by extensive development of the island. Is more development what the island really needs? Can conservation co-exist with development?

For Current Affairs, Eric Sinnaya, chairman of the Malaysian Nature Society in Langkawi has the answers.

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