POLITICS: Racism Rife in Malaysia’s Melting Pot – Survey

Malaysia's first serious survey of race relations, in 50 years, shows that behind the façade of outward unity and peace, racism runs deep in this multi-ethnic 'melting pot'.

MALAYSIA: Vigilante Attack on Indian Workers Under Probe

In a rare move, the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (MHRC) has begun investigations into the assault by armed vigilantes on a group of Indian migrant workers as they were protesting in front of their country's diplomatic mission here.

MALAYSIA: Cartoon Row Blunts Media Edge

The Prophet Muhammad cartoon controversy is trailing blood in Malaysian newsrooms at a time when mainstream media showed signs of emerging into the sunshine, after two decades of serving as the mouthpiece of the dictatorial former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad.

MEDIA-MALAYSIA: Saying It With ‘Indie’ Films

One day, last year, reporter Ong Ju Lin attended a forum and heard villager Alice Lee argue why a multi-billion dollar incinerator should not be built near her home in Kajang town, about 30 km south of the capital.

MALAYSIA*: ‘Muslims Angry at War on Terror, Not Cartoons’

Delegates at an international conference here were inclined to blame the ferocity of reactions against the political cartoon controversy, which gripped the world this past week, on the 'war on terror' in Iraq and Afghanistan.

MALAYSIA: ‘Muslims Angry at War on Terror, Not Cartoons’

Delegates at an international conference here entitled 'Who Speaks for Islam? Who speaks for the West', were inclined to blame the ferocity of reactions against the cartoon controversy, which gripped the world this past week, on the 'war on terror' in Iraq and Afghanistan.

MALAYSIA: Legal Battle May Expose Mahathir Era Excesses

Opposition icon Anwar Ibrahim has filed a multi-million dollar defamation suit against his mentor- turned-nemesis, Mahathir Mohamad who has publicly repeated allegations, he first made as prime minister, that his former protégé is gay.

MALAYSIA: Reform Police, Stop Custodial Abuse Says Panel

An independent commission, that probed abuse of power in the police force, has returned a guilty verdict in a 318-page report that charged Malaysian police with insensitivity to human dignity and a mindset that is resistant to change.

MALAYSIA: Race, Religion Cleave Cabinet and Country

Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi has moved to head off trouble brewing between the country's indigenous Muslim-Malays and minority Chinese and Indians, demanding protection against encroachment into their personal affairs by Islamic Shariah laws.

MALAYSIA: Minorities Demand Protection From Islamic Laws

Malaysia's minorities are banding together to put up a united front against what they fear is a steady encroachment of Shariah or Islamic law into their lives.

MALAYSIA: Nude Squats Story Backfires on Press Freedom

News reports based on secret video grabs of a woman forced to do 'nude squats' in police custody, which put the Malaysian government in a spot over human rights, have backfired on press freedom as it turned out that the victim's nationality had been wrongly identified.

POLITICS: Once Taboo, Islam Turns Hot Topic in Malaysia

Islam tops Malaysia's long list of "sensitive subjects" that are forbidden from being raised in public but, over the last two weeks, it is as if nothing else can be discussed.

RIGHTS-MALAYSIA: Forced Islamic Burial of Hindu Shocks Minorities

The forced Islamic burial, this week, of M. Moorthy, Malaysia’s first Everest climber and a born Hindu, was bad enough, but what has shocked people of all faiths was the refusal of a civil court to intervene in a case it deemed fell under Islamic Shariah laws.

MALAYSIA: Abrupt End to Abuse Inquiry Slammed

A public inquiry called after angry public reaction to a leaked 70-second video clip showing police abusing a naked woman inside a lock-up ended hastily after just five days of hearing last week, leaving many questions unanswered.

POLITICS: East Asia Summit, Another Talk Shop?

The United States, for once, was looking in from the cold, as 16 nations-the 10-member ASEAN, six regional powers plus Russia as observer-held the inaugural East Asia Summit on Wednesday.

POLITICS: Burma, a Burden at ASEAN Summit

Burma’s refusal to provide a timetable for restoration of democracy weighed heavily on the ten-member Association of South-east Asian Nations (ASEAN), as it opened its 11th annual summit here, Monday.

CULTURE: Return-to-Village Frenzy Grips Malaysia

It is comparable to the suicidal rush of lemmings. But the annual Balik Kampung (Return to the Village), the biggest mass event on the Malaysian calendar, is marked as much by the joyousness of home coming as the horrendous road accidents on the way.

POLITICS: Malaysians Await Action Against Corruption

Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi's performance-especially his election promise to battle corruption, promote transparency and revamp the venal and inefficient police force-is under the spotlight as the 65-year-old leader enters the second half of his term struggling to redress excesses under the long rule of his predecessor, Mahathir Mohamad.

ENVIRONMENT: ‘Palm Oil Consumption Imperils Orangutans’

The orangutan is seriously endangered, say environmental activists, by the dietary habits of his nearest cousin, man-who needs vast quantities of palm oil to fry his greasy foods and has been steadily turning South-east Asia's forests into palm plantations.

RIGHTS-MALAYSIA: Ethnic Indians Demand Fair Share of Prosperity

More then 150 years after arriving here to work British-owned rubber plantations, Malaysia's minority Indian community is drifting aimlessly and with little to call their own in their adopted land.

POLITICS: Malaysia, Thailand Refugee Row Deepens

A diplomatic row between Thailand and Malaysia over the fate of 131 Thai Muslims who fled to Malaysia in August, allegedly to escape ethnic violence and repression, has worsened as it begins to gain international attention.