Suhakam faces an imminent downgrade in its UN status unless further amendments are made to the Human Rights Commission Act of Malaysia 1999.

MCPX

PKR members of parliament, Tian Chua and R Sivarasa, told a media conference that Suhakam (Human Rights Commission of Malaysia) which has an 'A' accreditation will be downgraded to 'B' by the International Coordinating Committee of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights (ICC) unless the amendments are made soon.

According to the UN watch dog, amendments made to the Act last year are not enough and Malaysia has been given a last ditch repreive to make the changes, according to the opposition parliamentarians.

And the government only has until October to comply with the requirements.

Unsurprising, really. We need an independent body for the people by the people.

Haszrul (right), who could not come to terms with her eviction, said she attended the press conference to carry out coverage on MPSP, not the Pakatan state government.

"If it was in Komtar, I would accept it. But this is MPSP office and its council's function.

"I don't understand why Utusan should be banned," she said.

For the past few days, Utusan has been under attack for publishing an article containing racial slur against the non-Malays in the country.

Poor reporter. I think Guan Eng was wrong, and should take issue with the bosses. But then again, it always the underlings who are pawns in the game. I would have taken it in stride if I were Hasrul. I mean, Utusan does not practise the most unbiased and objective journalism in the world, which is common knowledge, so...

The Daily Mail says its readers have donated “tens of thousands of pounds” to a fighting fund to help prosecute MPs embroiled in the expenses scandal.

The paper launched the fund two weeks ago in conjunction with the Taxpayers’ Alliance campaign group.

Alliance chief executive Matthew Elliott said: “We are delighted to have received so much support from Daily Mail readers, and have been overwhelmed by their generosity and belief in our cause.

“Their help means we can show politicians of all stripes that they are not above the law and bring guilty MPs to justice.”

Wow, I wonder when a local newspaper, say Utusan, might start a fund to prosecute errant MPs....

"I deplore the racial slur made by the writer of the local Malay daily where he had indirectly referred to the Chinese and Indians of Malaysia as 'kaum pendatang' (immigrants).

"It is most disgusting, despicable and shocking. I suspect the writer is not part of the newspaper, but has been using it (the newspaper) to promote his own agenda," he said in a statement.

According to Samy Vellu, the Utusan writer with the pen-name Awang Selamat, "must, and should be, charged in court under the Sedition Act."
 
"His comments are most unbecoming, especially with our prime minister promoting the 1Malaysia concept," he said.

Interesting. I wonder if anyone writing for Utusan has ever been charged and found guilty of sedition...

The article made reference to the rights of citizenship given to non-Malays before independence, comparing Malaysia to other countries which according to the weekly had rejected their immigrant communities.

The article also quoted former MIC president Tun V.T Sambanthan as comparing Malaysia to Burma, where the Indian community had been forced out.

Muhyiddin pointed out that such articles are irresponsible and goes against the government’s 1Malaysia concept. He said that it is important that the media should preserve a good sense of judgment.

Better than nothing, but oh my goodness! Which country goes around saying that other races are privileged to get citizenship? Not even South Africa, that's for sure...

Next week, the White House will launch a blog to discuss the Obama administration's open government initiative. In a nod to openness and citizen participation in government, the administration also plans to soon open White House blogs to public comments.

In a speech to an annual National Archives and Records Administration conference, Beth Noveck, deputy CTO of the open government initiative at the Office of Science and Technology, asserted that the Obama administration continues to make strides toward opening up the government's data and operations to public scrutiny.

I wonder when Malaysia will have the same. It would be fantastic...

A backlog of Freedom of Information appeals is putting journalists off from using it as an investigative tool, according to a new report.

The first comprehensive report of the workings of the Freedom of Information Act, four years after it was implemented, said the Act had generally been a success.

Jeremy Hayes, the senior output editor of BBC Radio 4's The World Tonight, conducted the survey, which investigates the usage and effectiveness of FoI since it came into force in 2005.

The report, "A Shock to the System: Journalism, Government & the Freedom of Information Act 2000" was published last week by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University.

Wonder if we will have the same problem... But yay for Selangor! New FOI legislation! Great!

The villagers do not understand why the government accuses the Penan, the Kenyah, the Iban, and other natives of opposing the government when the natives protest against logging companies.

The natives only erected a simple blockade of sticks and branches across the logging road, they said, because the company refused to negotiate with them.  

The excellent article, ‘Painting Penan reality’ by John Riwang on the ‘Hornbill Unleashed’ blog, provides some clues.

“We are only protecting our communal land,” the village health representative explained. “We cannot give away the land to the logging company, because it is not ours to give away. It belongs to our children, to future generations. The company offered me 20,000 ringgit in cash, to persuade the rest of our village to take down the blockade. I said no, because I can’t sell what I don’t have.

Again, I'm not sure what to say anymore...

The Pakatan leaders later went to the Ipoh police station to check on the status of the two who were arrested.

The duo were freed on police bail at 11.35pm and told to report back to the Ipoh magistrate's court on June 26 where they are expected to be charged with illegal assembly.

Earlier, the police arrested 19 people. Today was the launch of Pakatan's hunger strike to call for the dissolution of the state assembly.

But as early as 6.30am, the police swung into action detaining five workers who were setting up a canopy and a giant ballon for the hunger strike.

Five hours later, 14 others, including eight Pakatan elected representatives, were arrested for illegal assembly.

All those arrested were released by 6pm and told to report back to the police station on June 26.

Er... I'm not sure what to say anymore... Malaysia Boleh?

Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil said the report has reached her desk and was ready for circulation to the other ministries. "It will be tabled in the cabinet as soon as possible," she said today at a press conference after launching a seminar at the Institute of Islamic Understanding Malaysia (Ikim).

However, earlier media reports say the task force's findings were already submitted to the cabinet in January.

Additionally, when asked whether the task force report would be made public, Shahrizat said: "Interested parties can come to the ministry, and we can discuss the details of the report."

So much for being transparent...

Abolish NEP? When? Personally, I am not against the NEP, except that it appears that those who really need are not.

Information, Communications and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim said the proposal by some quarters for bloggers in Malaysia to be registered required indepth study.

"The idea is good, but we have see it from the legal aspects and from the aspect of freedom of Internet use.

"We have to see whether registering bloggers is in line with the provisions of the Communications and MultiMedia Act 1998. We should not be hasty in implementing the proposal," he said after meeting with Selangor Information Department and Special Affairs Department officers, here, Thursday.

However, he said, bloggers still had to face the existing laws for defamation and sedition.

Good idea???? Registration of bloggers??? Will there be no end?

Wow, the poor myspacers, friendsters, meebo-ers, live spacers, blogspotters, wordpressers, live journelers etc etc