Current Affairs

Born in Singapore on September 16, 1923. The longest-serving prime minister in history, he first took the helm in 1959 taking over from Chief Minister Lim Yew Hock. In 1963, Lee led Singapore into a merger with Malaysia, but 2 years later, Singapore was expelling from the Federation. He stepped down as prime minister in 1990, handing power to Goh Chok Tong, but remained influential as senior minister in Goh’s cabinet and subsequently as “minister mentor” when Lee Hsien Loong became prime minister in 2004. Lee left the cabinet in 2011. We walk through his philosophy of human capacities, equality, the Nanny State, as well as geo-political power plays.

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The PAS passing by the Kelantan state assembly of the Shariah Criminal Code 11 1993 (Amendment 2015), or Hudud bill, is rapidly changing the very landscape of Malaysian politics. But it will need changes to the Shariah Courts Act (355) at the Federal assembly to implement punishments currently alien to our criminal justice system. We speak to two Members of Parliament about where this Hudud law will take us.

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Malaysia faces an exodus of talent. Not only is our education system failing to deliver the required talent, we have not been able to retain local talent of all races nor attract foreign ones due to poor prospects and a lack of high-skilled jobs. Recent figures from the Immigration Department reveal that between 2010 and September last year  nearly 108 thousand Malaysians either renounced or revoked their citizenship. In a signal that the trend is on the increase, more than 308 thousand Malaysians have sought greener pastures overseas. We ask why.

Keith Kam and Mahesh Krishnan contributed to this report.

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The national badminton team is struggling to reverse a decades-long barren run at world class tournaments. While much criticism has been levelled at the Badminton Association of Malaysia for this prolonged failure,  it recently proved that it is still capable of attracting investments from across the globe. A RM60mil sponsorship deal with Taiwanese sporting equipment giant Victor, has come as a boost for the sport. But is money the real issue for Malaysian badminton?

Shawn Tanis contributed to this report.

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Contentious issues are among the 12 motions to be debated at the 69th Annual General Meeting of the Malaysian Bar, to be held tomorrow. The motions include a debate on the Sedition Act with one side for the act, and another condemning its use. The possibility of setting up an alternative Bar Council is also in the cards, with the current Bar Council President Christopher Leong telling proponents to get ready for the most brutal fight. We speak to lawyers and an academic to get a sense of what to expect.

Sharyl Kaur and Mahesh Krishnan contributed to this report.

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Last November, Prime Minister Najib Razak proposed that a new law against militancy and terrorism be tabled at the next Parliament session. This was followed by a recent announcement by Home Minister, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi,confirming that a new act will be tabled in Parliament this month. But the proposed Prevention of Terrorism Act has a provision for detention without trial. Human rights activists and lawyers are raising the alarm over what they see as the return of the powers of the infamous Internal Security Act.

Mahesh Krishnan contributed to this report.

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Last year, Australia’s Human Rights Commission released a report titled, “The Forgotten Children”. It was a national inquiry into children in immigration detention camps. Recently, Australia’s Prime Minister, Tony Abbott attacked the Human Rights Commission’s president, Gillian Triggs, claiming that the report was a “blatantly partisan, politicised exercise”. We speak to an anthropologist from the University of Queensland to find out the situation at the refugee detention camps and to contextualise this heated controversy.

Melanie Abraham contributed to this report.

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Last week Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the US Congress. The visit was controversial because it was done at the invitation of the Speaker by passing the White House. Facing an upcoming election the Israeli Prime Minister not only burnished his credentials as a tough talking leader but also attacked American diplomatic moves with Iran. Today we explore how and why the Prime Minister of Israel has come to feel he has so much say over American foreign policy. And ask if the US can ever be an honest broker in conflicts in the Middle-East.

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A year has passed since the disappearance of the flight MH370. The early days of the crisis was marked by inadequate information, opening the media up to speculation. This morning, we speak to a freelance journalist and chief editor in how the media covered, reported and curated these events to inform an anxious public.

This is a report by Aziff Azuddin. 

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Malaysia has been on the tier 2 watchlist for four years under the US state department’s Trafficking in Persons report. However, last year’s annual report downgraded Malaysia to tier 3, which is the lowest ranking. Recently, Putrajaya announced that amendments will be tabled to the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007. We speak to a local human rights NGO, Tenaganita, to find out what is lacking in the current Act and how Putrajaya plans to improve it.

Melanie Abraham contributed to this report.

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