We need to re-kindle the spirit of Ibn Rushd and start a Renaissance in Islamic thought process I am sure these days many decent Muslim men and women often wonder why countries with Muslim majority are so backwards technologically, militarily and politically compared with the nations of West? What is the reason for this dominance by European and American states and how can we decrease if not eliminate this imbalance? Only a few hundred years ago Eastern, mostly Muslim, and Western, mostly Christian, societies were more or less at par in the level of development. And then while the Muslim world stood still the West surged ahead and became dominant over the globe. Around 14th Century started w

THE organisers of the Bantah DLP Coalition have vowed that the protests against the programme, which gives schools the option to teach some subjects in English, will not stop and will continue, even if the majority of parents support the government’s effort to improve proficiency in the language. I am certain that if a referendum was held on the DLP, the majority would vote in favour of it. The reason is quite obvious. English has become part of our lives and is second nature to us. Like Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of India, who said he often dreamt in English, most Malaysians, including our political elite, use this language in meetings, at the dinner table and in family conv

The fact that there are more materials and resources available in English for Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine (STEMM) is one of the strongest reasons why we need to be exposed to the teaching and learning and STEMM subjects in English at an early stage. The Dual Language programme (DLP) being offered at national schools is a pilot programme, with the subjects of Mathematics, Science, ICT, design technology taught in English. It is a choice for the schools to take up. Only 300 out of 10,000 schools nationwide are participating in the DLP programme this year. Some DLP schools may choose to start with only one DLP class per cohort, depending on the available resource

He is known for performing the coronary artery bypass surgery on former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammad in 1989. He went on to play an instrumental role in establishing the National Heart Institute of Malaysia, better known as IJN in 1992. It was there that he performed Malaysia’s first heart transplant five years later. He is Cardiothoracic Surgeon, Tan Sri Dato’ Dr Yahya Awang. With more than 30 years of experience, Dr Yahya has performed no less than 5,000 open-heart surgeries and trained more than 50 cardiac surgeons to meet the needs for the nation. He joins Dr George Lee to share stories from his illustrious career. BFM Podcast

SINGAPORE: Former Umno MP Tawfik Ismail hopes to continue with some unfinished business involving his late father’s work as deputy prime minister, including matters pertaining to the review of the Malaysia agreement with Sabah and Sarawak. He said his father, Tun Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman, the country’s second deputy prime minister, was appointed to head the review committee 10 years after the formation of Malaysia in 1963 by then prime minister Tun Abdul Razak Hussein. “However, my father passed away in 1973 and everything went silent. The review is necessary including the need to address the issues of producing identity cards when entering Sabah and Sarawak, barring of politicians from the pe

I SUPPORT the view expressed by economist Dr Yeah Kim Leng, who said the reduction of foreign labour in the private sector should be done in phases, with a three- to five-year lead time for employers to make adjustments to their production. A rushed approach will disrupt our economy. It is discomfiting to hear that the government is allowing another 1.5 million Bangladeshi workers to come in, considering that Malaysia has six million foreign workers, of whom four million are illegal. The large number of illegal or undocumented workers is a cause for concern. As the size of our labour force is estimated at 12 million, the proportion of foreign workers is staggering. I recall that in Germany,

KUCHING, Feb 15 — Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem today reiterated that to ignore the importance of English was just impractical. He said most academic books were written in English because it was an international language that was commonly used in the area of commerce, trade, technology, science and literature, among others, throughout the world. He said Sarawak would stand firm on its decision to adopt English as the second official language in the state as it was the 'language of the world' and Sarawak simply could not be left behind. Speaking at the launch of the Books for Asia programme here, Adenan said thousands of unemployed graduates in the country could not string a sen

G25 welcomes the announcement made by the Attorney General to drop the charge under the Sedition Act against University of Malaya law lecturer, Associate Professor Dr Azmi Sharom. This is a positive move which would help to foster free discourse and academic autonomy and thereby promotes a progressive and democratic society. We hope that the charges against other activists would also be reviewed and discontinued. We call for the abolition of the Sedition Act. This archaic law was passed in 1948 during the colonial era. Its purpose was to curb opposition to colonial rule, hence it has outlived its usefulness. The Sedition Act imposes restrictions on freedom of speech that is enshrined in the

Kami di G25 seringkali menekankan betapa pentingnya pemerintahan yang baik serta mengekalkan imej Malaysia sebagai sebuah negara yang ditadbir dengan baik. Kebelakangan ini, kontroversi seperti 1MDB, mendorong kami mengambil langkah untuk memberi peringatan kepada pihak berkuasa akan perlunya mempertahankan dan menghormati kebebasan institusi-institusi awam dalam menjalankan fungsi mereka di bawah Perlembagaan Persekutuan dan perundangan yang berkaitan. G25 mengesyorkan agar Parlimen memainkan peranan yang lebih menonjol dalam menjalankan fungsinya di dalam sistem Kerajaan kita (Parlimen membuat undang-undang, Kuasa Eksekutif melaksanakan perundangan dan Kehakiman mentafsir serta menguatku

We, members of G25, have often stressed the importance of good governance and of maintaining the image of Malaysia as a well administered country. Recent developments, including the 1MDB controversy, prompted us to issue several public statements to remind the authorities of the need to uphold and respect the independence of our public institutions in carrying out their functions under the Federal Constitution and the respective legislations. G25 proposes that Parliament be more assertive in performing its role in our system of government (Parliament makes laws, the Executive carries out the laws and the Judiciary interprets and enforces the laws). Consistent with the doctrine of separation

IT is difficult to tell whether religious authorities are becoming increasingly zealous in enforcing religious compliance or whether the public are generally becoming more assertive about their personal legal rights, but there is a definite increase in the number and notoriety of cases involving syariah issues. Under the Federal Constitution, it is the State and not the Federation that has the power to make laws with respect to Islamic law and the personal and family law of persons professing the religion of Islam. Fundamental liberties: With the Constitution declared as the supreme law of the Federation, laws passed by Parliament and the States are void to the extent of any inconsistency wi