Author: HAKAM_Intern

Vote fearlessly for change, veterans urge armed forces

HAKAM_Intern

Source: The Malaysian Insight

MEMBERS of the armed forces must not be cowed by fear when casting their votes in the next general election, and only take into consideration the honour of the country, said National Patriots Association president Mohamed Arshad Raji.

Arshad said despite being employed by the government, the armed forces’ duty was to uphold the honour and wellbeing of the nation.

“For those of our brothers and sisters who are still in active service in the armed forces and police, we implore you to exercise your vote without fear or favour.

“It is entirely up to you which individual or party out give your vote to (but) vote with pride and honour,” Arshad said at a press conference today.

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When everything’s fake news except when you agree — Erna Mahyuni

HAKAM_Intern

Source: Malay Mail Online

By Erna Mahyuni

FEBRUARY 14 ― “Fake news.” What a catchphrase. Thanks to Donald Trump, it no longer means “news that is inaccurate” but “news that clashes with my currently held views.”

It’s interesting that the government is currently looking at legal recourse to supposedly combat fake news but the question remains: who really decides what is fake and what is real?

The thing about news reporting is that it is supposed to be impartial, objective.

Trouble is, humans are not really wired to be without bias.

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Fake news law ‘will curb media freedom’

HAKAM_Intern

Source: The Malaysian Insight

MALAYSIA’S proposed fake news law will be used to target non-mainstream media outlets that publish reports not in line with Putrajaya’s views, a lawyer and media groups fear.

Lawyer H.R. Dipendra said the government was using the excuse of fake news to go after Internet news portals that are not governed by the Printing Presses and Publications Act.

“The government wants to target alternative media, like news portals. It is their intention of controlling news portals under the guise of (a) fake news (law).

“It is real news, but it is not always siding or agreeing with the government, (and) that they want to control (it),” he told The Malaysian Insight today.

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Fijian woman fails to challenge legality of death penalty

HAKAM_Intern

Source: Free Malaysia Today

PUTRAJAYA: A Fijian woman who is facing a drug trafficking charge today failed in her bid to challenge the legality of the mandatory death sentence for the offence.

A three-member Court of Appeal bench, chaired by Mohtarudin Baki, dismissed Christin Nirmal’s appeal to refer the matter to the Federal Court.

Mohtaruddin did not provide grounds for refusing Christin’s appeal to refer the case to the Federal Court under Section 84 of the Courts of Judicature Act (COJA) 1964.

Christin, 30, is claiming that the 1983 amendment to the Dangerous Drugs Act (DDA) 1952 that removed the judge’s discretion to either impose the capital punishment or jail term was unconstitutional.

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Govt urged to relax citizenship laws

HAKAM_Intern

Source: Free Malaysia Today

PETALING JAYA: Sungai Siput MP Michael Jeyakumar has urged the government to amend the laws that prevent the granting of citizenship to thousands of stateless children.

Speaking to FMT, he noted that most of the affected children came from marginalised working class families and the problem they faced had much to do with strict rules imposed by the government under various laws.

He said his party, Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM), had brought many cases to the government’s attention, “but until changes are made by those at the top, nothing can be resolved.”

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Experts: Laws, greater vigilance sorely needed to curb data breach

HAKAM_Intern

Source: Free Malaysia Today

PETALING JAYA: The founder of tech portal Lowyat.net Vijandren Ramadass has lamented the lack of laws in Malaysia that outline what organisations should do in the event of a data breach.

The European Union, for instance, is drafting a general data protection regulation.

The United States already has laws that require companies to notify those affected by their data breaches, a report in Today Online said.

In October last year, Vijandren uncovered a major data leak in Malaysia said to have affected almost every Malaysian and possibly millions of tourists.

He had discovered the leak when a user tried to sell the data on the portal’s forum.

The leaked data, which cybersecurity experts have said was extensive enough to allow criminals to create fraudulent identities to make online purchases, included lists of mobile phone numbers, identification card numbers, home addresses, and SIM card data of 46.2 million customers.

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Rights abuse: Malaysians will be affected too, warns MP

HAKAM_Intern

Source: Free Malaysia Today

PETALING JAYA: Bukit Mertajam MP Steven Sim today condemned the death of a maid who was allegedly abused by her employers, warning that if human rights are not protected for everyone, Malaysians too could fall victim to such acts.

Sim, whose staff were alerted to the situation by neighbours on Feb 10, said 21-year-old Adelina had been “totally deprived of basic human rights”.

“Even if we are not altruistic and do not care for foreigners, allowing gross human rights violations to go unchecked will eventually corrupt the system of protection not only for migrants but also for Malaysians.

“If someone can be subjected to workplace bullying, violence and even be tortured to death here in Malaysia, what makes us think that the next person will not be a Malaysian?” he said in a statement.

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Curbing ‘fake news’ can’t be one-way street — Mustafa K. Anuar

HAKAM_Intern

Source: The Malaysian Insight 

By Mustafa K. Anuar

THE professed assurance by a bevy of ministers in the Najib administration recently that a proposed law to arrest “fake news” is meant to protect “political stability and public order” as well as the freedom of expression for all Malaysians has already evoked scepticism, if not cynicism, among a concerned public and government critics.

While one may genuinely be concerned about the supposed proliferation of “fake news”, such an assurance, however, becomes hollow coming from members of a government (and its ancillary agencies) that is known to have committed censorship of cavalier nature, produced half-truths and manufactured information to serve their vested interests.

This phenomenon especially became writ large in general elections of yore, and the next one will be no different. If anything, half-truths and lies are likely to reign supreme in this supposedly “mother of elections” that involve all players from both sides of the political divide.

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The plight of the stateless in Malaysia — Eric Paulsen

HAKAM_Intern

Source: Free Malaysia Today

By Eric Paulsen

Of all the tragedies to befall the stateless community in Malaysia, perhaps the greatest one is that they are treated as little more than a political gimmick, a useful way to earn votes as election season swings around.

In May 2017, with the 14th General Election around the corner, MIC President Dr. S Subramaniam announced the Mega MyDaftar campaign to reach out to undocumented citizens of Indian descent. The campaign ran from 3 to 26 June 2017, and received some 2500 applications.

Whilst the initiative on its own is commendable, there are obvious questions to be asked. Why was this project launched by Dr S. Subramaniam (he is the Minister of Health) and supported by MIC when the citizenship registration exercise should be the mundane day-to-day job of the National Registration Department (NRD).

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‘We’re on the same side’, Ambiga tells #UndiRosak

HAKAM_Intern

Source: Malay Mail Online

PETALING JAYA, Feb 11 — Former Bersih 2.0 chair Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan told #UndiRosak proponents today that they were similar to those who wanted a change of government.

However, Ambiga said that it was still voting which would bring about real change.

“We are actually on the same side. We are not on the opposing side because you decide the system, we decide the system too. We say, you must vote to change the system. You say, we don’t vote to change [the] system.

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