Of Wayang Fajar

Wayang Kulit or the shadow puppet is one of the oldest form of  traditional theater in this region. In a wayang kulit, the puppet master known as Tok Dalang will move the puppets behind a big white screen, telling stories commonly from the Mahabarata or Ramayana.  The shows will take place in open air with [...]

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The Rebellious Child called Human Rights

The global political negotiation post WWII gave birth to a powerful but reluctant child, its name is  HUMAN RIGHTS. The intention was to address the aftermath of the war especially the atrocities that took the lives of many innocent civilians. But to reconcile ideological differences albeit preserving political interest is a mammoth task. The UDHR [...]

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Of Dr. Asri and the Mouse that prefers GPS rather than the Bell.

I came to learn of Dr. Mohd Asri Zainal Abidin’s arrest by JAIS from my male confidante during our chat yesterday. I immediately surfed the net for more information. I wanted to know why we are reviving back the olden culture of  persecuting Islamic scholars. My brief research stint led to a few reasons- each [...]

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UK Invasion Pt.1: Off Railway Crossings and Law Reform.

My trip to UK recently opened my eyes to the dull and dry but never unimportant role of a Law Commission. People working in the Human Rights Commission, raised your hand in the air or do the boogie. Our work in the Commission is fortunately more colorful, I think.
Organized by an international based English charity, [...]

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Of Politics & Selective Morality

If you once forfeit the confidence of your fellow citizens, you can never regain their respect and esteem. It is true that you may fool all of the people some of the time; you can even fool some of the people all of the time; but you can’t fool all of the people all of [...]

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Of Frogs,Memali & Cute Cyclists – FFF’09

Film has always been one of the most powerful medium for advocacy. I remembered my first experience using movie as a tool to explain a certain message went way back to my usrah days in the university. I was the “reserved”[1] “mak usrah” or the mentor for the group. It was “Bug’s Life” and I [...]

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Of 1Malaysia, a Cow Head and a temple in S23

As we look forward to our Merdeka Celebration this Monday, with or without the overkill collection of JG displayed on our old cars, we are shocked by another sort of procession in S23 of Shah Alam, complete with a cow head- an arrogant manifestation of racial supremacy and fabricated anger. Why racial supremacy? Because to [...]

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OF FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY, CHILDREN PARTICIPATION & THE GREY AREAS IN BETWEEN.

Freedom of Assembly, should it be a person, I bet he or she will be the most easily misunderstood person if compared to say, Mr. Right to Health or Miss. Right to Food.  This, to me is simply because freedom of assembly leaves a strong and influential impact on people as well as the State [...]

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SUHAKAM MEDIA STATEMENT ON THE ANTI-ISA RALLY

MEDIA STATEMENT
 
SUHAKAM:  THE RIGHT TO PEACEFUL PUBLIC ASSEMBLIES SHOULD BE RESPECTED
 
 
The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM) regrets to note that in the process of dispersing the 15,000 stronghold of crowd marched in protest of the Internal Security Act 1960 (ISA) in Kuala Lumpur on August 1, the police have used teargas and water [...]

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Of Tear Gas, Anti ISA Rally and Salt.

So, yesterday it was a battle zone in Kuala Lumpur. Concerned citizens who are armed with conscience on one side, and the Police Force equipped with lots of water cannons, tear gas and I am sure, an insurmountable amount of cowardice, on the other. The score of arrest is tremendous. Perhaps one of the IGP’s KPI/KRA is to [...]

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