Current Affairs

There are plans to create a more capable UMNO youth wing through a rigorous leadership program. The party is also taking steps to bridge the gap between its moderate and more radical elements. However, conservative Pemuda members take the traditionalist view that young Malays do not appreciate the sacrifices the party has made for them, and say that raced based politics are an inseparable part of our society.

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Thailand's streets have been up in protests since last month. To get a better picture of what's going on north of our borders, we speak to Chris Baker, a Bangkok based academic who is an author of several books on Thailand's politics and economy and co-author of a book on former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawat. We ask if Thaksin is at the center of the current turmoil in Thailand.

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 In a 2005 report, Transparency International termed the Bakun dam one of the world’s “Monuments of Corruption”. But that hasn’t stopped more damns being built in the Borneo state. Recent trouble at site of the new Murum dam has gained visibility for the poor, displaced community of Penans. But the Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud said his government is not giving into the “outrageous” demands of 100 families. The Chief Minister claims that the dams are part of state’s industrialization plan called Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (Score). We speak to critics of dam technology and the real politic behind Sarawak’s development model.

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The media has over the last few weeks highlighted protests by a Penan community in Sarawak against the RM4 billion Murum hydroelectric dam. Claims and counter-claims are being made by various stake-holders. Sarawak Energy Bhd that manages the dam project claims that the 1500 strong Penan community is happy with the development.  The Sarawak Report paints a very different picture:

http://www.sarawakreport.org/2013/11/who-to-believe-torstein-sjotveit-and-seb-propagada-or-the-penan-pengulu/

We speak to Australian Member of Parliament Kim Booth about a motion on the Murum dam that he tabled which reveals the connections between business practices in Sarawak and the Australian state of Tasmania.

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Parti Islam Se-Malaysia is key to the stability of the Pakatan Rakyat. Despite aggressive campaigning by the party’s conservative wing, the final tally of votes showed that the delegates rewarded the party’s progressive wing with a majority of seats on its Central Working Committee (CWC). Now we wait to see if appointments to the CWC create further balance between the wings or favour the progressives. Anas Danial explains.

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Saskia Bruysten co-founded Yunus Social Business with Grameen Bank founder Professor Muhammad Yunus to fund and incubate social businesses. She talks about how a social business is different from a traditional business, and her investment criteria and possible funding mechanisms.

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Trash. Nobody likes it but everyone, without exception is producing it. Even the residents of Taman Beringin in Jinjang who are up in arms about a proposed incinerator project which is planned to be built next to the solid waste transfer centre in their area. Residents have asked for a dialogue with KL’s mayor. But according to newspaper reports, they have not received a response.
I spoke to Gurmit Singh, a veteran civil society activist and founding executive director of the Center for Environment, Technology and Development to put this controversy in perspective.

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Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (ISMA) has been in the news lately for its strident public positions on a variety of issues. Currently ISMA vies with Perkasa as the most vocal “defender” of the religion of Islam and the Malay community. They have in the recent past even cautioned the PM for his government’s plan to spend RM10 million on refurbishing a temple in Klang. At the moment ISMA is targeting a coalition of NGOs, COMANGO, that participated in the United Nations process, the Universal Periodic Review. ISMA alleges that Comango wants to "conquer and destroy" the Muslim community. And it named Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir as one of the masterminds behind COMANGO and its alleged agenda. She in turn has threatened to take legal action against them. Is this a battle over values? And by the way the word “isma” means infallible.

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Described in the media as a “historic budget”, Selangor Budget 2014 impresses with its RM1.85 billion price tag. Also notable was that the Pakatan Rakyat-led government will be spending RM430 million, or close to 15.8%, of its reserves which have amounted to RM2.73 billion; these are savings accumulated since taking over the state in 2008. We ask what are the priorities and omissions in the Budget tabled yesterday.

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In conjunction with World Toilet Day, Jack Sim, founder of World Toilet Organisation and Restroom Association of Singapore explains how to keep public toilets clean.

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