RIGHTS-MALAYSIA: Blogger&#39s Arrest – &#39Politically Repressive&#39

The arrest, under the official secrets act (OSA), of a prominent blogger and senior aide to opposition icon Anwar Ibrahim has shaken the fast growing blogging community in this country dominated by docile, state-controlled mainstream media.

SOUTH-EAST ASIA: Big Bucks Behind Forest Blaze, Haze

The annual phenomenon that is oddly called the ‘haze’ is back and beginning to blanket parts of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei in thick, acrid smoke from the forest fires in Indonesia, mainly from the Kalimantan and Sumatra islands.

MALAYSIA: Murder Trial Exposes Shaky Justice System

A decade after Malaysia's criminal justice system earned worldwide condemnation for bending the rules to send a prominent politician to jail, it is back in the dock and under attack for allegedly stretching the rules in a sensational murder case involving top personages.

DEATH PENALTY-MALAYSIA: Hundreds of Migrants Face Execution for Drug Crimes

Unskilled worker Henok Sibuea, 30, from Sumatra, Indonesia, gathered together his savings and, like thousands of his compatriots, paid for a boat trip across the Straits of Malacca and landed here hoping to escape poverty, get a job and send money home to his wife and four children.

MALAYSIA: Domestic Worker’s Escape Puts Spotlight on Abuses

A dramatic escape by an Indonesian domestic worker from her abusive employer has sparked a national outcry after millions of Malaysians watched the incident live on television last week.

RIGHTS-MALAYSIA: Human Trafficking Charges Stick – Activists

Nothing could be more intolerable for Malaysia than to be lumped together with Burma, North Korea and Iran. But the United States has done precisely that, naming Malaysia among "worst offenders" in human trafficking, bonded labour, sex trade and child prostitution.

RELIGION-MALAYSIA: Mired in Holy Quandary

After a landmark superior court decision downgraded secular law and constitutional guarantees against Islamic rules, a storm of protest has been building up as government and civil society rush to find a solution to the religious impasse.

RELIGION-MALAYSIA: Mired in Holy Quandary

After a landmark superior court decision downgraded secular law and constitutional guarantees against Islamic rules, a storm of protest has been building up as government and civil society rush to find a solution to the religious impasse.

RELIGION-MALAYSIA: No Freedom of Worship for Muslims Says Court

The stunning decision by Malaysia's highest secular court this week that freedom of worship, a constitutional guarantee, does not apply to Malay Muslims is a major blow to freedom and constitutional democracy, lawyers and human rights activists say.

RELIGION-MALAYSIA: No Freedom of Worship for Muslims Says Court

The stunning decision by Malaysia's highest secular court this week that freedom of worship, a constitutional guarantee, does not apply to Malay Muslims is a major blow to freedom and constitutional democracy, lawyers and human rights activists say.

HEALTH-MALAYSIA: Condom Taboo Hampers Fight Against HIV

Lorong Haji Taib is a garbage-filled, rat-infested lane in the heart of the capital famous for its cheap sex, drugs and brawls.

RELIGION-MALAYSIA: Dismay at Cancellation of Islam-Christian Meet

Malaysia's sudden move to cancel, at the 11th hour, an international inter-faith conference in mid-May between Islam and Christianity is a major blow to the country's image as a tolerant multi-ethnic nation, opposition political leaders and civil society critics said.

MAY DAY-MALAYSIA: New Law Targets Traffickers, Not Victims

Malaysia has tabled a tough new anti-human trafficking bill that punishes offenders with up to 20 years in prison, but rights activists, who had fought for such a law for a decade, say the bill's success depends heavily on effective enforcement.

MALAYSIA: Indigenous Groups Resist Biodiversity Park

In the thick rainforest outside this town, about 150 km north of the national capital, the guileless Semai aborigines, famous to anthropologists for their for non-aggressiveness, are falling sick from stress brought about by sudden land development that threatens to uproot them.

MALAYSIA: Racial Melting Pot on the Boil

Asia's melting pot, Malaysia, is celebrating 50 years of independence from British rule but against a backdrop of mounting racial disquiet fuelled by race-based politics, redundant policies that divide and discriminate and affirmative action that favours native Malays over minority Chinese and Indians.

POLITICS-MALAYSIA: Watching the Watchdogs of Corruption

Critics of Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi who charge him with failing on his election promise to battle corruption in high places, say he might begin by affording protection to whistle blowers.

POLITICS-MALAYSIA: Preparing for Snap Polls

While Malaysia's parliament is due to be dissolved only in May 2009, election fever is already gripping this racially divided nation following speculation that the stumbling administration of Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi may prefer to face the voters before economic and social conditions worsen.

RIGHTS-MALAYSIA: Rising Gender Violence Worries Women

Malaysian women this week marked their achievements in many areas but were uniformly worried over a sharp rise in gender related violence - especially rape and domestic abuse.

LABOUR-MALAYSIA: Plan to Confine Migrant Workers Slammed

A plan to confine some 2.8 million foreign workers to their ramshackle living quarters, on the grounds of curbing rising crime, has caused uproar with critics slamming it as modern day slavery.

MALAYSIA: Mahathir’s War Crimes Court to Name and Shame

By setting up a war crimes tribunal to ‘try' those responsible for torture and death in Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine, Malaysia's former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad may have scored a few political points, but he has also revived public memory of his own iron rule.

MALAYSIA: Iran Deal Clouds Free Trade Plans With US

A free trade agreement (FTA) between the United States and Malaysia, in its final round this week, has run into opposition from trade unions and also from U.S. lawmakers opposed to an energy deal struck between this country and Iran.