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What is patriotism?

May 26th, 2008
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The short article below ties patriotism to the word’s by the minister on youths questioning the “social contract”.

I’m curious: is questioning things like “social contract” deemed unpatriotic? Do we view this from legal aspect? From logical aspect? From natural justice aspect? From emotional aspect?

And how does one verify the answer to the question above?

THE level of patriotism among Malaysian youths was not as high as expected, Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Ismail Sabri said. Quoting the minister, Malaysia Nanban reported that the current index on patriotism among youths was only at 68.2%. He said many of them still questioned the social contract with which the country achieved its independence.

source

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cream of crop?

May 26th, 2008
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PSD claims cream of the crop were selected for PSD scholarship, but if you read the “Letters” page of the Star recently, it seems to show otherwise. I hope its not a case of shooting oneself in the foot here.

We can’t hide things in the current age. Today, news spreads in seconds. Lies can be uncovered easily. Two of the letters are available on the Star’s website while the other one is in the print edition only.

Letter 1 (source):

PSD should release details of scholarship recipients

I REFER to “Not for all top students,” (The Star, May 18) quoting the PSD Director-General saying that those who were awarded the PSD scholarship are the “cream of the crop”.

I am a 11A student and I was the top student of my school. I was denied the PSD scholarship. However, some of my friends who had fewer As were awarded seats for matriculation and PSD scholarships and they do not know which to choose.

They are my very close friends and they are shy to face me purely because I am the top student and I was not offered anything. They too feel sad for me.

As such I would like the PSD to be transparent and genuine in making such statements. I am sure many in my shoes would have encountered the same situation. » Read more: cream of crop?

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penang religious panel

May 26th, 2008
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Not sure who are the rest of the committee members, so we can’t really comment on how these 4 will impact the decision-making. Since its mentioned that previous state government had formed the panel, we can see that more responsibility for the state assemblymen. I hope they don’t suffer a burnout soon.

I think its high time for someone to keep track of the all the posts each assemblymen is holding coz I’m losing count.

That aside, we obviously we hope that with the addition of the assemblymen, future places of worship problems will not arise or will be solved amicably.

Four reps appointed to religious panel

source

THE Penang Government has appointed four state assembly-men from different religions to the Non-Muslim Worship Committee, a state body that deals with complaints and disputes regarding non-Muslim institutions. They are state Town, Country Planning and Housing Committee chairman Wong Hon Wai (Air Itam), state Local Government, Traffic Management and Environment Committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow (Padang Kota), Penang Hindu Endowment Board chairman A. Tanasekharan (Bagan Dalam) and Jagdeep Singh Deo (Datuk Keramat). Wong, who heads the committee, is a Buddhist while, Chow is a Christian, Tanasekharan a Hindu and Jagdeep Singh a Sikh.

Wong said the committee would deal directly with government agencies to expedite the handling of disputes and issues. “There are many issues when it comes to religion. The committee’s job is to help settle disputes regarding land issues, the location of new temples, churches and gurdwaras, cemetery placements and all other issues that affect non-Muslim religions,” he said.  He said the past state administration had formed the committee and the appointment of the assemblymen was done at the state exco meeting last Friday.

When asked about the Gurdwara Sahib Bayan Baru Association’s appeal for a 0.4ha piece of land adjoining the Snake Temple in Bayan Lepas, Wong said Jagdeep Singh had highlighted the issue to the committee and they were currently waiting for relevant government agencies to provide reports.

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Samy goes begging again for scholarships!

May 22nd, 2008
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I remember Samy saying “no more begging” when Pahang EXCO line up did not have any Indians in it (well, only one candidate is available!). I suppose he only meant for that specific case. Now its that time of the year (nope, not X’mas or Deepavali) where a short serial drama is played out.

This time, only 72 out 2000 (3.6%) recipients were Indians. Stories are aplenty about students with lesser As getting scholarship due to their privileged status. Just check the letters section in The Star yesterday for some examples.

As usual, the aggrieved students and parents have no choice but to approach political parties (heard PKR’s Gopalakrishnan is organising a meeting as well, while Sivanesan had done so in Perak). Then, the party will be made to look like saviours when in fact it was their failure that bought the community down to this level in the first place. I think the parents and student are more mature now. They’ll just nod their heads at Samy’s speech, agreeing to everything he says, put up with “words of advice” until their kids get the scholarships. But when come to election time, another rout for MIC is expected. Don’t think that the community can be fooled by this kind of drama. » Read more: Samy goes begging again for scholarships!

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wife claims ISA detainee wheelchaired due to torture

May 22nd, 2008
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Wow! This is quite serious, detainee (temporarily?) paralysed until need to use wheelchair. His condition was not informed to even his wife until brought out for treatment. Wonder why he is detained for until end up like this.

Wife of ISA detainee lodges report, alleges torture

source
KUALA LUMPUR: The wife of an Internal Security Act detainee lodged a police report yesterday against the Home Ministry, police and the Kamunting detention centre in Perak, claiming her husband had been tortured.
Sharmila Uthiakumar claimed her husband Sanjeev Kumar Krishnan, 25, is now wheelchair-bound because of the torture.

In her report at the Dang Wangi police headquarters, she claimed her husband’s legs and his left hand were paralysed.

This was the second report to be lodged. The first was lodged by Sanjeev on April 25, at the Taiping police headquarters.

Sharmila said before her husband’s two-year ISA detention, he was remanded for 60 days until Sept 22 last year.
“I was only informed about my husband’s condition in April this year, after he was brought by the camp authorities to the Taiping Hospital for treatment.”

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