Our Prime Minister, as Chairman of the National Finance Council, announced two important measures that are most important for assisting states to have a bigger share of national resources, which in my view, will give real meaning to the concept of shared prosperity. One, all water debts to the Federal government will be written off. In future, state water projects will be financed, not with Federal loans, but with Federal grants. This will certainly relieve states of the heavy burden of repaying Federal loans. Water loans account for a major proportion of state debts to the Federal government. Two, the revenue from the tourism tax will be shared 50:50 with the state governments. This w

Remember the Thirty Years’ War? From 1618 to 1648, Catholic and Protestant states under the Holy Roman Empire were embroiled in one of the most destructive conflicts in human history. As it evolved, though, the war became less about religion and more about which group would ultimately govern Europe. It changed the geopolitical face of Europe, and ended with the Peace of Westphalia. The treaty allowed the minority religion to be practised freely. It also established important political precedents for state sovereignty, interstate diplomacy, and the balance of power in Europe. Essentially, the nation state was born with the Treaty of Westphalia. Fast forward to the 21st century. The Muslim wor

A recent newspaper opinion piece referred to Japan’s imperial history in defending Malaysia’s decision to withdraw from the Rome Statute. The premise of the argument is that Malaysians should not be so naive as to think that our royals are immune from being “hauled up” by the International Criminal Court (ICC). It cites Japan’s role in World War 2 and the position of Emperor Hirohito. Emperor Hirohito was Japan’s longest-reigning emperor (1926-1989), who ruled during the Showa Era. Hirohito was an absolute monarch. The Meiji Constitution (Dai-Nippon Teikoku Kenpo) was the constitution of the Empire of Japan, proclaimed in 1889 until 1947. It provided for a mix of constitutional and absolute

I refer to the opinion by Datuk Dr Fauziah Mohd Taib, ‘All is not lost despite Rome Statute withdrawal’ (New Straits Times, May 12). The writer supports her defence of Malaysia’s withdrawal from the statute by referring to Japan’s imperial history. However, her historical analysis has some errors. Her premise is that Malaysians should not be so naive into thinking that our royals are immune from being “hauled up” by the International Criminal Court (ICC). She cites Japan’s role in World War 2 and the position of Emperor Hirohito, Japan’s longest-reigning emperor (1926 to 1989). Hirohito was an absolute monarch, contrary to what was written. The Meiji constitution was the constitution of the

The coalition of groups bent on destabilising the Pakatan Harapan government is using post-truth politics and disinformation, targeting disgruntled and susceptible Malays. They are taking to the streets trying to hoodwink their own race that the king, religion and anything “Malay” are under threat. This group of Malays participated in mass demonstrations organised by NGOs like Ummah with the support of PAS and Umno members in December 2018, and the May 4 rally recently. Umno supreme council member Lokman Noor Adam recently announced he is planning to stage a mega rally of one million people, 10 days after Hari Raya Aidilfitri, to protest against the ratification of the Rome Statute. Khairy J

G25 joins other civil society groups in welcoming the appointment of Datuk Seri Abdul Hamid Bador as the new Ketua Polis Negara (IGP). We are encouraged that, as reported in the media, he has agreed to support the establishment of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC), which has been a long-standing proposal to reform the Royal Malaysian Police into a respectable law enforcement agency. By stepping forward to support this important institutional reform, the IGP has given New Malaysia a shot in the arm. We believe that with the IPCMC, Malaysia will no longer be viewed as a police state. It will instead be viewed favourably for its transparency and accountabili

G25 welcomes the appointment by DYMM Yang di Pertuan Agong of YAA Dato’ Tengku Maimun binti Tuan Mat as Malaysia’s new Chief Justice to succeed YAA Tan Sri Datuk Seri Panglima Richard Malanjum. The historic appointment of YAA Dato’ Tengku Maimun marks the first time that a woman has been appointed to this august position in Malaysia. She is also the first woman Chief Justice or the Head of the Judiciary in the Muslim World. G25 wishes to congratulate the Judicial Appointment Commission and the Government for this appointment. It sends a strong message that the appointing authorities support gender equality. It also sends an equally strong signal that integrity and professionalism will ultima

I wish to refer to the case of the four academics namely Associate Prof Shamrahayu Abdul Aziz of IIUM, Dr Fareed Mohd Hassan and Hisham Hanapi of USIM and Prof Rahmat Mohamad of UITM who together offered advice to the Conference of Rulers on the above subject recently. Being employed by public institutions they are all public servants. As such my contention is that they are guilty on three counts as follows: First, unless they had received prior permission from their respective vice chancellors, they went over the heads in offering advice to the Conference of Rulers. Second, they went against government policy which had already agreed to accede to the Rome Statute. Third, they gave erroneo