About 50 people set the example for religious coexistence as they walked on a journey of harmony visiting various houses of worship along Pitt Street, before breaking fast at a mosque. GEORGE TOWN: The city’s trishaw peddlers, tourists and passersby stopped and watched in awe as leaders of different faiths walked hand-in-hand during a “spiritual tour” of Pitt Street here, commonly known as Street of Harmony. The group of nearly 50 people were led on a tour to diverse places of worship by Acheen Street Mosque chairman Mujahid Yusof Rawa and award-winning activist Anwar Fazal. Many took out their cameras to witness leaders of different faiths walk hand-in-hand as they stopped at different mosq

The political wrangle surrounding FGV shows clearly the difficult environment in which this FELDA subsidiary, a public listed company, has to operate as a commercial enterprise in the market place. With FELDA as the majority shareholder of FGV and Ministry of Finance Inc. having the “golden share" in the company, giving the government the ultimate power over the board, there is a heavy political presence that makes good corporate governance difficult to achieve. FELDA itself is highly political as it is a statutory body set up by the government 60 years ago to spearhead the country's land development and resettlement programme for the landless. With big government sitting on top of both the

The Parent Action Group for Education (PAGE) applauds the youth who appreciate the importance of English and want to make an impact on improving the proficiency of schoolchildren in the language. We met a few outstanding young people at a recent town hall forum titled “TN50x: Teaching English in Malaysia, Challenges and Solutions”, which was hosted by the office of Umno Youth deputy chief Khairul Azwan Harun. The event was organised by Teach For Malaysia (TFM) and moderated by TN50 ambassador and TFM co-founder Dzameer Dzulkifli. And it was appropriately held at RUANG, a hip place in Subang Jaya. The premise for the forum was that English proficiency is important for our future as it provide

AN 800m-long street in the heart of Penang’s George Town may well hold the secret to achieving racial and religious harmony, the increasingly elusive goal of multi-racial Malaysia. The "Street of Harmony" starts with the commanding St George's Church at the start of Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling, and ends at Acheen Street Mosque at the end at the junction of Lebuh Cannon and Lebuh Acheh. Between the Anglican church and the Lebuh Acheh mosque are other 19th century houses of worship – the Taoist Goddess of Mercy Temple, the Hindu Sri Mahamariamman Temple, the Kapitan Keling Mosque, and the Taoist Hock Teik Cheng Sin Temple. Settled right in their midst are the ancestral homes of the early 20th

A roundtable discussion on drug policy comprising health experts and enforcement agencies has resolved that the country's approach to drug abuse requires urgent reforms. In particular, participants called upon the authorities to view drug abuse as a public health issue, and not as a criminal justice issue, in view of large volume of empirical research supporting this. Several experts who presented their findings during the discussion outlined problems posed by the existing drug policies, such as how incarceration of an addict without treatment would cause relapse and other problems. Alternatives to the current punitive approach, said the experts, was decriminalisation of individual drug user

KUALA LUMPUR: A medical professor has warned that putting drug users in prison may threaten the health of the rest of the public once they are released. Adeeba Kamarulzaman, who is the dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Universiti Malaya (UM), said the prison environment could amplify chronic diseases, especially among drug users, who may be predisposed to these diseases. “There is an ongoing risk of contracting chronic diseases in prisons because of poor nutrition and a poor environment,” she said at a roundtable discussion on enhancing the health and criminal justice outcomes of prisoners in Malaysia and other Southeast Asian countries. The discussion was held at the Institute for Strategi

We, members of G25, are heartened to see the rising tide of citizen initiatives taken by various groups to make Malaysians aware of the pernicious culture of corruption. This social evil has grown to be deeply entrenched in our society and poses a threat to our democracy and the economy. We applaud the launching of the Anti-Corruption Revolution Movement and the 3J (Jangan Hulur, Jangan Kawtim, Jangan Settle) campaign to educate the public on the importance of integrity and honesty. The personal involvement of the new MACC Chief Commissioner Datuk Dzulkifli Ahmad in these campaigns and his brave statements have set a sense of urgency and purpose in going after the corrupt. Our government mu

We, the members of G25, are in agreement with Y.B Khairy Jamalludin over his recent statement criticising religious departments for spending their time and resources on enforcement duties to catch non-fasting Muslims in public. He said that whilst it is compulsory for Muslims to abide by the five pillars of Islam, he also correctly pointed out that it is not compulsory for people to catch non-observers. Muslims eating in public during Ramadhan is definitely disrespectful to the religion and we should constantly be reminded of our obligation to show proper behaviour during the Holy Month. Despite best efforts to inform and educate Muslims on their religious obligations, the reality of life i