No JoY for Lina Joy

Alhamdulillah, AllahuAkbar.... Federal Court has decided that NRD was right not to allow her to remove the word "Islam" from her identity card.

BLOG DAN PILIHAN RAYA KECIL IJOK

Kemajuan teknologi komunikasi dan maklumat memberikan impak yang besar kepada perkembangan sosio-politik masa kini. Teknologi ini digunakan semakin meluas di kalangan masyarakat yang mempunyai capaian dan kemahiran penggunaaannya. Senario politik terkini di negara kita telah menampakkan bagaimana penggunaan beberapa saluran internet menjadi antara alternatif utama dalam menggerakkan advokasi sosial dan politik. Pilih raya kecil Dewan Undangan Negeri Ijok pada 28 April 2007 yang lalu membuka lembaran baru pertembungan di alam maya melalui penulisan dalam blog. Lebih dari itu, penulis-penulis blog ini telah turut sama turun ke Ijok untuk mendapatkan maklumat primer dan seterusnya dimuatkan dalam blog masing-masing.

Pilihan raya kecil yang menyaksikan pertembungan antara wakil MIC dalam Barisan Nasional K. Partiban dengan pemimpin PKR, Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim telah memihak kepada wakil Barisan Nasional dengan majoriti sebanyak 1850 undi. Buat pertama kalinya dalam sejarah pilihan raya Malaysia, liputan meluas telah diberikan melalui laporan dan analisa yan dilakukan oleh para penulis blog di Malaysia. Dari segi rekod, sebenarnya sejak pilihan raya umum ke 10 pada tahun 1999 dan ke 11 pada tahun 2004, kehadiran penulis blog dan liputan media internet telah mula mendapat tempat di kalangan pemerhati politik. Tetapi apa yang berlaku di Ijok ini menunjukkan ruang demokrasi semakin meluas dan penyertaan masyarakat yang sebahagianya bersifat apolitikal telah berubah. Mereka menunjukkan penyertaan melalui tulisan dalam blog masing-masing.

Namun begitu, kemeriahan alam blog ini tidak mencerminkan kedudukan dan keputusan sebenar pilihan raya kecil tersebut. Ini kerana blog-blog yang menonjol seperti Roslan SMS Corner,Ijok2007 dan Screenshots kebanyakannya lebih memihak kepada pembangkang dan isu-isu yang diutarakan cuba mencari kelemahan pemerintah tetapi orientasi isu-isu tersebut tidak sampai kepada golongan majoriti pengundi-pengundi di Ijok. Selain itu, walaupun penulis-penulis blog ini turut sama pergi ke Ijok, tetapi hanya sebahagian sahaja yang turut sama berkempen.

Bagi pihak Barisan Nasional pulak, pertembungan di Ijok menunjukkan parti komponen yang memerintah negara sejak merdeka ini tidak ketinggalan dalam menggunakan internet, khususnya blog ini bagi menyampaikan informasi terkini kepada rakyat dan juga menafikan tuduhan-tuduhan yang dilemparkan oleh parti pembangkang. Kewujudan beberapa blog yang aktif sepanjang kempen pilihan raya kecil DUN Ijok menjadi medan kepada mereka untuk turut sama memainkan isu-isu yang dibincangkan dalam ruang maya. Perkembangan ini telah menambahkan lagi pluraliti informasi dalam ruang siber.

Barisan Nasional yang sebelum ini tidak memberikan fokus utama kepada aktiviti blog dalam menyampaikan citra pemerintah mula berganjak untuk menggunakan medium ini. Antara isu-isu utama yang menjadi liputan utama penulis-penulis blog sepanjang pilihan raya kecil ini ialah penglibatan penasihat parti Keadilan Rakyat, Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim yang menjadi tumpuan utama di Ijok di mana setiap kali ceramah yang disampaikan oleh beliau mendapat sambutan hangat. Namun begitu, keputusan bekas timbalan perdana menteri yang menyerang peribadi Timbalan Perdana menteri tidak dapat diterima oleh beberapa aktor utama ruang siber. Pada pertengahan kempen, terdapat beberapa penulis blog yang sebelumnya mengalu-alukan penyertaan beliau dalam kempen di Ijok, mula menkritik cara beliau memainkan isu yang disifatkan tidak sesuai dimainkan di peringkat masyarakat di Ijok.

Ruang maya yang sebelum ini cukup sinonim dengan parti pembangkang yang menjadikan ruang tersebut sebagai saluran alternatif dengan alasan media cetak dan media massa yang sedia ada tidak berlaku adil kepada mereka tidak boleh memandang ringan isu-isu yang dimainkan melalui saluran internet. Ini kerana masyarakat dalam era informasi teknologi ini mempunyai pilihan yang luas dalam menilai setiap isu yang diketengahkan. Isu politik yang tidak menekankan perubahan positif kepada masyarakat dan berbentuk peribadi tidak dapat membentuk persaingan politik kepartian yang berobjektif. Selain itu, sokongan yang diraih melalui alam siber tidak menunjukkan sokongan sebenar di akar umbi atau dengan kata lain pengundi di Ijok masih bergantung kepada kempen-kempen tradisional dan isu-isu pembangunan dan masalah setempat menjadi pilihan utama. Pilihan raya di Ijok layak untuk kita menggelarkan Parti Keadilan Rakyat sebagai sebuah parti alam maya (virtual party) berdasarkan sokongan yang diperolehi melalui penulis-penulis blog dan juga kempen-kempen melalui internet.

Advokasi sosial dan politik ini menjanjikan masa depan yang cerah dalam proses demokrasi di Malaysia. Penguasaan parti pembangkang dalam ruang maya mungkin bakal menjadi senjata utama dalam pilihan raya umum akan datang kerana ianya melibatkan semua rakyat terutamanya yang berada di bandar-bandar dan menikmati kemudahan capaian internet. Oleh itu, parti pemerintah sekarang perlu turut sama mengambil peluang ruang alternatif ini untuk menjadikan persaingan politik yang lebih terbuka.

You're right Don!

Azmi Sharom, a lecturer who is eligible to be a model for shampooing ad ( don't think my dean will put me in next sem time table if i had that kind of hairstyle) put some interesting points to ponder about the affirmative action and the bocor case involving Bung. Very worth reading ....

Of silly rules and a Bung-ling jester

BRAVE NEW WORLD
By AZMI SHAROM

azmisharom@yahoo.co.uk

It would be nice to take politicians down a peg or two every now and then to remind them that they are where they are because of us.

LIFE, as M. Nasir once sang, is like a rollercoaster. You have your ups and you have your downs. Sometimes you cry and sometimes you laugh like a loon. Just ask Sheffield United and West Ham United supporters. The past couple of weeks have been a little like that.

Maybank’s instructions that all the law firms working for them must have a bumiputra component in their make-up made me pretty annoyed.

Yes, it is fundamentally unfair to the lawyers who happen to be born non-Malay; yes, it is doubtful that they have the authority to make such a request; but what really irritated me is that this is the very sort of thing that undermines affirmative action.

Affirmative action is meant to give a leg up to those who need it. No one can deny that thirty years ago there were very few Malay lawyers around. The NEP has done a lot to fix that. We can debate the rightness of the NEP some other time.

My point is that there are plenty of Malay lawyers now, and many of them got to where they are because they got government scholarships to go abroad or they were let into local universities under the quota system.

Bung: Had incurred the wrath of women’s groups by making an off-colour ‘joke’ about a fellow MP’s menstrual cycle

What Maybank tried to do is in fact saying that despite all the help that these men and women obtained, they still need help now. This is exactly the sort of thing that makes people mad. Just how much of a leg up does one need?

You are already qualified lawyers, for goodness’ sake. Act like one. Work hard and go out there and prove that you are just as good as any other lawyer.

It is true that Maybank made a hasty withdrawal from their position because of the public outcry (which goes to show that public outcries do work).

But the damage has been done.

This episode has shown that a major Malaysian institution was set on having a race-based affirmative action policy in a situation where it is totally uncalled for.

This does not bode well for us either in terms of race relations, or for the economic well-being of the country.

When are they ever going to understand that without a merit-based system as a genuine aspiration we will all suffer, because when the best are not doing the best work, we get nothing but mediocrity.

But life is about balance, and before the froth started to drip on my T-shirt something really amusing happened.

Now, a lot has been written about the MPs who think that making jokes about a fellow parliamentarian’s menstrual cycle is the height of Dewan Rakyat wit. Those pieces have been very, very angry. That is perfectly understandable.

I, on the other hand, think that what Bung (oh, how apt a name) did – although not what he said – was great.

All right, before I get furious e-mails from women (and sensitive men in touch with their feminine side), please let me explain myself. I am one of those people who think that politicians are given far too much respect.

After all, they are only where they are because of us. It would be nice therefore to take them down a peg or two every now and then to remind them of this fact.

This would normally be the job of satirists and the like and could take the form of the written word or stand-up comedy or even television puppet shows. Unfortunately, we don’t have very much of that in these parts.

In Shakespearean plays, the fool plays an important role. As he frolics and clowns around, underneath the silliness he is actually the voice of reason.

By virtue of his being seen as merely a joker, he gets away with saying truths that others may not dare to. In this way, the King’s shortcomings are oft exposed and he is shown to be a fool himself.

We don’t have many people who can play the Shakespearean fool in Malaysia, someone who can show up those in power. But with clowns like Bung in our Parliament, we don’t really need to, as they are more than capable of being fools themselves.

And what wonderful comedic support he has, too.

When one of their fellows said a totally despicable thing and then gets off scot-free, many cheered. Oh, how they cheered.

Hurrah, one of us has made a “joke” that we would be ashamed to make in front of our mothers, but never mind, he got let off. Hip, hip, hurrah!

Or what about the woman MP who defended this jester Bung? I simply must remember my best period joke to tell her if we were ever to meet. I am sure she will find it humorous and in the best possible taste.

Indeed, Bung the fool has plenty of supporting players to make that comedy stage we call our Parliament a truly funny place indeed.

How I laughed. And I think I can hear the world laughing along with me.

Dr Azmi Sharom is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Malaya.

Where is the leak?

I think both of MPs cannot differentiate between Parliament and mamak's stall in their hometown. When GE is around the corner, their performances (behaviour?), especially in dealing with sensitive issues are closely monitored.

Outrage grows against ‘Bocor’ MPs
Pauline Puah, Hwa Yue-Yi and R. Manirajan
KUALA LUMPUR (May 14, 2007): The "bo­cor" issue, which caused an uproar in the Dewan Rakyat (Parliament) last week, has spilled over.

The parliamentarians who were responsible for the remark that offended women received a dressing down in the Dewan Negara today.
And elsewhere, women’s groups are preparing a protest gathering tomorrow, with calls being made for a mechanism to “take care of this kind of behaviour”.
In the Dewan Negara, Deputy Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister Datuk Wong Kam Hoong said the rough remarks made by some MPs had ruined the govern­ment’s campaign to create a well-mannered society.
He was answering a supplementary question from Gooi Hoe Hin, who suggested the ministry hold a courtesy course for “some parliamentarians”.
“Our courtesy campaign has been ruined. Pak Lah’s programme to build a first class human capital has been ruined as well.
“As MPs, we should be careful on our conduct and the way we talk, especially issues on women whom we respect,” Wong said.
He said the lot of MPs had been besmirched.
“Repeatedly (they made inappropriate remarks). How do they face their family, mothers, daughters, sisters, especially when yesterday) was Mother’s Day? I am very disappointed,” Wong said, without naming the MPs.
He said the ministry would submit a report on the matter to the premier.
Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin (BN – Kinabatangan) and Datuk Mohd Said Yusof (BN – Jasin) had raised an outcry for uttering a sexist remark against Fong Po Kuan (DAP – Batu Gajah) during a heated exchange about the ceiling leakage in Parliament last Wednesday (May 9).
“Where is the leak? Batu Gajah MP also leaks every month,” Bung Mokhtar was quoted as saying.
Earlier, in answering another question pertaining to this issue, Women, Family and Community Development Ministry parliamentary secretary Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun said the minister concerned would bring this matter to the cabinet soon.
At a function today, Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat said she wants action to be taken to ensure that remarks that insult or belittle women will not be repeated in Parliament.
“I feel hurt at what hap­pened and I want concrete steps taken to ensure that similar incidents do not recur.
“I will raise the matter at the cabinet meeting on Wednesday to discuss the steps to be taken,” she said.
“This has been happening many times and must not be taken lightly. More importantly, we want action.”
At another function, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was also asked about this matter.
Initially, he said it was up to Parliament to decide, but when pressed whether it was proper for MPs to make such remarks, he said: “I don’t want to pass judgment about what they said. They said it in a very ... It was not supposed to be taken seriously, I think if you take it with a sense of humour, then ... But of course people are making a big meal out of this issue.”
Outside Parliament, the Joint Action Group on Gen­der Equality (JAG) is organi­sing a public protest tomorrow outside the Women, Family and Community Develop­ment Ministry in the Bukit Perdana Government Complex.
The protest will start at 11am with the reading of a statement from the group, after which JAG representatives hope to meet the minister.
“What we aim to achieve is to stop all this discrimination and sexism in the Parliament, and also to ensure there is a mechanism to take care of this kind of behaviour,” Women’s Development Collective executive director Maria Chin Abdullah said on behalf of JAG.
Women’s Aid Organi­sation executive director Ivy Josiah noted that from as early as 2000, there had been a pattern of chauvinistic remarks by the MPs.
“Occasionally there was an apology and what appeared to be a slap on the wrist, but it is not addressing the deep-seated sexist culture. There is this attitude that women are fair game,” she said.
She noted that in 2002, the banner organisation Women’s Agenda for Change submitted a three-page memorandum to the House Speaker, highlighting examples of sexist and lewd language in Parliament and urging that sexual harassment prohibitions be incorporated in the Parliamentary code of conduct.
“Hopefully we will not have to wait another five years,” she added.
The All Women's Action Society (AWAM) said in a statement the comments by Bung Mokhtar and Mohd Said insulted every girl and woman.
AWAM said “letting [the MPs] off without even a reprimand, or making them apologise, sends the signal that sexual harassment of women is acceptable”.
DAP leaders today sent a letter of protest to the office of Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak, who is also BN Whip.
The party is also organising a forum on this issue on May 17 night in Wisma YMCA in Brickfields.In the letter, the DAP called for the suspension and the sacking of the two BN MPs over their sexist remarks.

UK lecturers suffer larger class sizes, says union

Being a lecturer, I'm facing the burden not only to educate the young generation, but also to entertain them in order to enjoy the learning process. That the truth. University and College Union (UCU) in UK, put forward some of the main obstacles.

This issue excerpted from http://www.educationguardian.co.uk/

There is average of 16.8 students to every member of teaching staff across higher education institutions in the UK, today's statistics from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (Hesa) for 2005 to 2006 reveal.

But the figure, according to the University and College Union (UCU), is higher than the average student-to-teacher ratio of 15.5 at universities in the 30 member states of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The union said the UK figures meant that that 65% of universities have a student-to-lecturer ratio worse than the average OECD country, which includes members from Europe as well as Japan and the United States.

When Scottish institutions were looked at in isolation, the situation was slightly better, with 47% of universities and colleges having a worse ratio than the OECD average, according to the UCU analysis.

The UCU's joint general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: "It is unacceptable that the UK, the fourth largest economy in the world, is falling behind competitors when it comes to the number of students to each member of teaching staff in our universities."

Despite the increase in the UK student-to-teacher ratio in the last 12 months, which between 2004 and 2005 was one staff member to every 16.6 students, lecturers continue to perform to a very high standard, she said.

But he warned: "We cannot keep cramming more students in our universities and expect the staff to put in even more unpaid overtime."

University employers and the organisation which represents vice-chancellors both disputed the analysis of the figures carried out by the union and its conclusions.

In a joint statement, the Universities and Colleges Employers Association and Universities UK said that there are "significant" differences in the "definitions and methodologies" used to define the international average student-to-lecturer ratios.

They said: "The OECD points out that, unlike other countries, the UK figures relating to the ratio of students to contact staff refers to public institutions only.

"Private tertiary institutions are included in other countries and it is unclear whether these countries include former polytechnics and higher education colleges."

They said that other recent figures from Hesa revealed that while the number of students in higher education increased by 2.1% between 2004 to 2005 and 2005 to 2006, there was a 2.6% rise in academic staff during the same period.