Stories written by Baradan Kuppusamy

ENVIRONMENT-MALAYSIA: Tougher Wildlife Laws Not Enough, Say Activists

After years of losing the war against animal traffickers and poachers, Malaysia has finally responded with the passage of a new wildlife conservation law. But experts say it might be too late for some of this South-east Asian country’s endangered species.

MALAYSIA: Plan to Use ‘Killer’ Mosquitoes vs Dengue Draws Fire

Genetically modified ‘terminator’ mosquitoes are the latest weapons that the Malaysian government wants to use against the deadly dengue fever, but activists and environmentalists say the public health risks of introducing a new ‘artificial’ strain of mosquito are far too high.

MALAYSIA: Let Information Flow, State Tells Federal Gov’t

The freedom of information bill pending in opposition-ruled Selangor state may be just at the state level, but it throws a direct challenge to the federal government of Malaysia and its strict controls on the media.

MALAYSIA: Debate on Sex Education Rises with Teen Pregnancies

The prospect of motherhood filled 17-year-old Fatimah’s heart with dread.

MALAYSIA: Thousands of Refugees Living in Constant Fear of Arrest

As Rajoo, 27, makes tea at a rundown shed in Brickfields, a depressed suburb of the capital inhabited by hundreds of Tamil immigrants from Sri Lanka, he evinces no sign of anxiety and a deep yearning for something.

Two human rights activists in Singapore hold up a poster expressing support for death row inmate Yong Vui Kong.  Credit: Ravi Madasamy/IPS

MALAYSIA: Counsel Hold Out Hope for Youth on Death Row in Singapore

A Malaysian youth is languishing in death row awaiting hanging after Singapore’s judiciary found him guilty of possessing heroin weighing 47 grams, lawyers fighting to save him tell IPS.

MALAYSIA: Gov’t Urged to Explore Alternative Energy Sources

Instead of going nuclear, the Malaysian government should be harnessing alternative energy resources, which are adequate in supply, says the country’s anti-nuclear lobby.

MALAYSIA: Demand Rises for Independent Body to Check Police Force

Aminulrasyid Amzah was just a normal 15-year-old schoolboy who hung out with friends, watched football and occasionally took his sister’s car for a spin.

MEDIA-MALAYSIA: Censorship Taking A Religious Turn, Critics Say

For many Malaysian journalists these days, it has become very tricky to draw a clear line between commenting critically on an issue and offending a particular community and thus threatening social order.

S Arulchelvam (right) at a protest against privatisation of health services at a government hospital in Kuala Lumpur. Credit: Baradan Kuppusamy/IPS

MALAYSIA: Creation of Commercial Hospital Wings a Mistake -Critics

A Malaysian government scheme to create commercial ‘private wings’ in major government hospitals has come under fire from critics, who say it will add to the burden of people who need public healthcare the most.

MALAYSIA: Banning of Books Alarms Freedom Advocates

The confiscation and banning of books by Malaysian authorities is sending alarm bells ringing among activists, who want the repeal of laws that the government is using to suppress freedom of expression.

POLITICS: Malaysia Faces Severe Test as Anwar Stands Trial

Malaysia’s reputation as a progressive, tolerant and moderate Muslim state is now at stake as the country’s best known democratic leader Anwar Ibrahim stands trial for alleged sodomy and risks being jailed for many years if declared guilty.

POLITICS: Malaysia’s Anwar Gears Up for Make-or-Break Sodomy Trial

Reformist leader Anwar Ibrahim, 63, who has been inflicted with various harms in his four-decade-old campaign to build ‘a just, prosperous and democratic Malaysia’, is facing probably the final battle of his epic career.

MALAYSIA: Sarawak Dams: Boon or Bane of Development?

"I don’t know what's going to happen to our people ... what our future will be?"

MALAYSIA: Religious Intolerance Threatens Secular Foundation

Days of simmering religious tension over a New Year’s Eve court ruling allowing Catholics to use the Arabic word ‘Allah’ to denote the Christian God have boiled over after unknown individuals tried to burn down three churches in the capital.

MALAYSIA: Lack of Regulation Blamed for HIV Upsurge among Women

Melinda Teoh, 42, had a life that could easily be the envy of many except that it took an unexpected turn just when she thought she had it all.

MALAYSIA: Gov’t Urged to Stem the Tide of Child Trafficking

"My family was starving. . . . I was sold to people who brought me here to work and feed my family back home," said Ah Mun, a victim of child trafficking.

RIGHTS-MALAYSIA: Win Some, Lose Some for Beleaguered Penan Tribe

In wealthy Malaysia that employs over four million Asians to service its high- rolling lifestyle, a tiny indigenous tribe is fighting for its survival against state inaction and bureaucratic apathy, as well as marauding giant multinationals and timber loggers.

POLITICS-MALAYSIA: Umno Stokes Racial Fires to Regain Lost Ground

Race relations here, unsteady even in the best of times, are worsening with Malaysia's ruling United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) party ratcheting up racial and religious issues to maintain its influence over majority Malays, who make up some 60 percent of the population of 27 million.

MALAYSIA: New Govt Stifling Public Opinion

A huge public protest on Aug. 1 calling for the repeal of the Internal Security Act, a law that the authorities have used to jail extremist and legitimate political opponents alike without trial, was broken up using brute force.

POLITICS-MALAYSIA: Anwar Ibrahim Set to Go On Trial

Anwar Ibrahim, the country’s charismatic former deputy prime minister, is set to go on trial this month for allegedly sodomising a male aide. It’s a charge his supporters dismiss as a political conspiracy against him.

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