BY ELLEN HAYS
Photo by Ilya Pavlov on Unsplash
Recent data breaches in Malaysia have made for dramatic news headlines. But what exactly is a data breach? And how can they affect your life?
Data breaches may seem like a remote, technological issue that is irrelevant to our everyday lives. You may be surprised to learn that data breaches are an important human rights issue that can touch upon the lives of everyone. Read more
Source: The Star
By Women’s NGO Coalition
AFTER a delay of almost 10 years and continuous lobbying by various women’s groups, Malaysia is finally undergoing its second review under the Convention of the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (Cedaw) on Feb 20 in Geneva, Switzerland.
The government of Malaysia will be sending a 24-member delegation to engage in a constructive dialogue with the Cedaw Committee, which will be evaluating the country’s progress in implementing its obligations to uphold and promote women’s human rights.
Source: Free Malaysia Today
PETALING JAYA: The three arms of the government — the executive, legislature and judiciary — must uphold the supremacy of the 60-year-old constitution, following a recent landmark ruling, a retired judge and lawyers said.
They also said judicial power and judicial independence were sacrosanct in the Malaysian constitutional framework to keep every organ and institution of the state within its legal boundary.
The legal minds said ministers, elected or appointed members to the legislature and judges must give effect to their oath of office to protect, preserve and defend the constitution — the supreme law of Malaysia.
Source: Free Malaysia Today
PETALING JAYA: A non-governmental organisation (NGO) met Federal Territory mufti Zulkifli Mohammad in an effort to help promote understanding and end discrimination against the transgender community.
Pertubuhan Kesihatan dan Kebajikan Malaysia (PKKUM) said the discussion between transgender activists and the Federal Territory Mufti’s Office yesterday had strengthened ties between the transgender community and religious authorities.
The discussion came after Zulkifli expressed interest in helping them.
The founder of PKKUM, Elisha Kor Krishnan, said the meeting discussed the need to encourage interpretation of the Quran and Hadith to create greater awareness among the general populace on transgender issues.
Source: Free Malaysia Today
PETALING JAYA: The Whistleblower Protection Act 2010 is not good enough and needs to be revamped, says civil society group Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4).
The anti-graft watchdog’s director, Cynthia Gabriel, said this following the jailing of Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli, for 30 months, for revealing bank accounts relating to the National Feedlot Corporation’s (NFC) subsidiary companies and that of executive chairman Mohamad Salleh Ismail six years ago.
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) call to the public to come forth with information rang hollow, Cynthia said, because the country did not protect whistleblowers who were brave enough to come out and report wrongdoing.
Source: Malay Mail Online
PETALING JAYA, Feb 15 — Religious authorities should revisit a fatwa (edict) declaring transgenderism as un-Islamic, according to Federal Territories Mufti Datuk Zulkifli Mohamad al-Bakri who said the phenomenon is not inherently wrong.
In a meeting with Pertubuhan Kesihatan dan Kebajikan Umum Malaysia (PKKUM) founder Elisha Kor Krishnan yesterday, Zulkifli also expressed his intention to work closely to help the group.
Citing Islamic teachings, he said there was a need to distinguish between men who impersonate as women (Mukhannath bi al-takalluf) and those who are born physically male but possess a female gender identity (Mukhannath min Kalqin).
Source: The Star
KUCHING: It will be a double celebration this Chinese New Year for Kueh Meng Liang as he was finally granted citizenship after seven years of waiting.
The 19-year-old had submitted his first application in 2011 but was rejected by the National Registration Department.
Over the years, Meng Liang resubmitted again several more times but all his applications were unsuccessful due to absence of supporting documents.
One of the reasons was that the teenager never knew who his biological parents were.
They left him under the care of his 70-year-old grandmother before he was adopted by Kueh Siak Hock.
Source: The Star
KOTA KINABALU: Four teenage immigrants who came to Sabah with their families in search of work thought they had landed decent jobs – only to be pressed into the sex trade.
The four, three girls and a boy, were rescued after they were detained in a raid on an entertainment outlet at Cybercity near here at 2am on Feb 7.
City police chief Asst Comm M. Chandra said the victims, who worked as guest relations officers, were forced to provide sexual services to clients upon request.
He said the girls are aged 15, 17 and 18, while the boy is 16.
Source: The Star
PETALING JAYA: The story of Malaysia’s war against child sexual crimes has gained worldwide recognition, thanks to a global report by Unicef.
Its annual State of the World’s Children (SOWC) flagship report highlighted R.AGE’s Predator In My Phone campaign and the Government passing new laws against child sexual crimes last year.
“It’s not common to see government agencies, NGOs, celebrities and the media coming together for the same goal, but we saw that in Malaysia last year,” said Unicef Malaysia chief of communications Laurent Duvillier.
Source: Free Malaysia Today
PETALING JAYA: A child rights NGO has urged the government to set up activity centres in poor urban areas for children to occupy their time safely after school.
According to Scott Wong, the executive director of Suriana Welfare Society, one of the main reasons children of the urban poor become drug abusers is that they are exposed to bad influences at the low-cost flats many of them live in.
“After school, they are unsupervised while their parents are away at work, and they meet up with older teens and others who are involved in drugs,” he told FMT.
“Because of the lack of positive influences, these drug users become the role models to these children.”