The World That I See - My View

The name on the identity card (MyKad) reads Ravichandran a/l Muniandy*. For the 17 years of his life, this gangly teenager has lived as a Hindu, and yet his MyKad states that he is a Muslim. But at least he has a MyKad - received three years after he first applied for it, and only because his father, Muniandy, had made a scene at the National Registration Department (NRD) in Putrajaya. "We applied when he was 13, but even then the registration officer there tried to reject the application, saying that his mother's name is Malay so my son's name must be changed to a Malay name too. I refused, so they told me to go to Putrajaya," Muniandy said. The second application was lodged with the boy's name, Ravichandran a/l Muniandy, as per his birth certificate, but nothing came out of it, and the boy was forced to sit his PMR with only the application slip. "We went to the (NRD) branch several times and were told the card never arrived, so I went to Putr...

Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad has accused the federal government of manoeuvring to dissolve the Selangor state legislative assembly by appointing of Mohd Khusrin Munawi as the state secretary. Khalid said that Khusrin, the former private secretary to Selangor Menteri Besar Muhammad Muhammad Taib and outgoing Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) director, was beholden to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and not to the state. “Najib wants to create chaos in Selangor and force the dissolution of the state legislative assembly,” Khalid told a press conference today. His concerns come amid talk that Selangor, and other Pakatan Rakyat administered states, may decide against dissolving their respective state legislative assemblies in the event Najib calls for snap polls. Such talk comes at a point where Najib's popularity is reportedly on a high note, prompting some Pakatan state leaders to consider the option of completing the terms of their state legislatures, which...

Despite disagreements over the Selangor state secretary's appointment, the palace has sent out invitations for the swearing-in ceremony for the post, which will take place before Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah next Thursday. The sultan's private secretary, Mohamad Munir Bani, said invitations had been sent out by the protocol division and that the outgoing State Islamic Department director, Mohd Khusrin Munawi, is scheduled to take his oath of office. “There are no other candidates and besides that, the new State Islamic Religious Department (Jais) director (Marzuki Hussin) replacing Khusrin will also take his oath,” he told Malaysiakini . He said there were several programmes arranged for the Sultan that day, and the swearing-in ceremony was one of them. Although Khusrin's appointment is imminent, the Selangor menteri besar's political secretary, Faekah Hussin ( left ), said the MB, Khalid Ibrahim, believes the palace had not been given a clear picture on...

Seputeh MP Teresa Kok is demanding an apology from the prime minister for his office's directive to rid religious elements from a Christmas celebration, which she said was “disrespectful” to Christianity. According to Kok, who is also Selangor senior exco, the Prime Minister's Office's had issued a directive for crucifixes to be removed from the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) Christmas event on 25 Dec, where Prime Minister Najib Razak was a guest. The directive, she said, also prohibited Christian prayers and hymns during the event that was held at the Catholic Church Archbishop's residence. “Najib should apologise to the Christian Federation of Malaysia for 'de-Christianising' their Christmas celebration, that yet again denied Malaysians the right to freedom of religion,” said Kok in a statement. “Such an order from the Prime Minister's Office shows how insincere and ungracious Najib behaved, as a guest at the celebration held at the ...

Controversial Jais chief named new S'gor state sec P Dev Anand Pillai: It looks like they seek to plant a Putrajaya spy in Selangor's administration. MB Khalid Ibrahim and cabinet will have to be very careful. One of the first steps Pakatan has got to take when it forms the federal government in the future is to ensure that there is a clear distinction between federal government employees and state government employees. If the current state of overlaps which had caused the collapse of Perak takes place every time the people elect a Pakatan government, BN will use it to continue to manipulate and cheat the electorate by using their federal powers to simply move people around to do their bidding. Let's hope the people will vote wisely and give at least 40 seats to Pakatan in Selangor to push for this agenda. MB Khalid can perhaps ignore the new state secretary and just get the job done using his own secretarial team instead. Anonymous: It looks like the rakya...

by Anjali Bagwe Mahavatar Babaji, a Himalayan mahayogi said to be about 1,800 years old, is the founder of kriya yoga . The world first heard about him courtesy Paramahansa Yogananda 's Autobiography of a Yogi . Today, many cults are growing around his enigmatic persona. Mumbai-based Dr Ram Bhosle claims to have lived with him for six years. Legend has it that the remote parts of the Himalayas are home to many rishis , tapasvis and siddhayogis —Eternal Masters engaged in singular methods of sadhana or disciplined practice dedicated to cosmic exploration and in guiding the destiny of humanity through the ages. They live in rough-hewn natural caves under glacial conditions. Some have ashrams amidst verdant greenery, located at a vibrational frequency at variance with the 'normal' three-dimensional one to keep intruders at bay. Their abode has been verily named Shambala , Gyan Ganj , or Siddha L...

'If an affidavit is proof, then Najib must be guilty because Bala also made a sworn statement against him.' Nazri believes Apco more credible than Anwar Md Imraz Muhammed Ikhbal: An affidavit from the accused merely refuting his guilt is proof and evidence to our law minister? Gosh! Which law school did he go to? Can we now presume that an affidavit from Anwar Ibrahim refuting his guilt on the sodomy charge against him can likewise exonerate him once and for all of the alleged crime? Or does Nazri's logic applies only to wherever and whenever it serves BN's political agenda, and after which different standards apply? Gerard Samuel Vijayan: If Karpal Singh is accused of being a 'third-rate lawyer' by Nazri then he has just confirmed the kind of lawyer he himself is. Is the self-serving letter and affidavit from Apco credible evidence that is incontrovertible? Have the rules of evidence and the presumption of innocence not applicable when it comes ...

There was a preacher whose wife was expecting a baby so he went to the congregation and asked for a raise. After much consideration and discussion, they passed a rule that whenever the preacher's family expanded, so would his paycheck. After 6 children, this started to get expensive and the congregation decided to hold another meeting to discuss t he preacher's salary. There was much yelling and bickering about how much the clergyman's additional children were costing the church. Finally, the Preacher got up and spoke to the crowd , 'Children are a gift from God,' he said. Silence fell on the c ongregation. In the back of the room, a little old lady stood up and in her frail voice said, 'Rain is also a gift from God, but when we get too much, we wear raincoats.' And the congregation said , 'Amen!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AS an advocate of 1Malaysia which stresses national unity and ethnic harmony, I view with concern the substantially lopsided and biased content of our current Form 1-5 History textbooks. To make matters worse, there are more than 10 factual errors and contradictions in our current Form 1-5 History textbooks. The Education Ministry should immediately appoint a multi-ethnic Advisory Panel to ensure students are learning Malaysian and World History that is generally objective, well-balanced and wholly accurate. The trend of “rewriting” Malaysian history started in 1996 with the formation of the Jawatankuasa Penerbitan Buku Teks Sejarah Tingkatan 1 and Tingkatan 2. Its members (more than 15 for each committee), including the writers and consulting experts of the textbooks, were all drawn from one ethnic group. Indeed, all 17 authors of our current Form 1-5 History textbooks are drawn from one ethnic group. Hence, it is not surprising that our students are now primarily learn...

very rare i hear such voice ......breaks me internally and spiritually

Pakatan Rakyat says the anticipated suspension of four of its MPs tomorrow will lead to BN regaining its two-thirds majority in Parliament. Rasah MP Anthony Loke ( extreme left, seated ) said the implications of this are huge and the consequences dire for Pakatan. "Maybe the BN will use this opportunity to amend the federal constitution or re-draw the electoral boundaries," Loke told reporters at the Parliament lobby today. A motion to suspend Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim for six-months was tabled yesterday in a bid to censure him for claiming that Apco Worldwide - a public relations firm that advises the Najib administration - was linked to the Zionist regime of Israel. Following this, Anwar was referred to the rights and privileges committee, which recommended that Anwar be suspended, despite not giving him the opportunity to make his defence. The committee's investigation has been criticised by three Pakatan MPs - Azmin Ali (PKR-Gombak), R Sivarasa...