Archive - January 1997

31/1/97 If Malaysia wants to be a knowledge society, we cannot afford the Hadafi syndrome, where we feel no loss in wasting the gifts and talents of our children when they are our most important and irreplaceable national assets
31/1/97 UMNO Youth leader, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, should publicly apologise for the break-up of APCET II Conference last November as he had admitted taking the law into his own hands in directing UMNO Youth to break up the meeting
30/1/97 Election Commission should explain the outcome of its proposals to amend the election laws to make the electoral system “free, fair and clean”
29/1/97 I will seek an appointment with the Prime Minister to ask for the cyberbills to be presented to next Parliament to be made public immediately to give adequate time for discussion and feedback not only from the country but from the cybercommunity
28/1/97 Cabinet tomorrow should approve a special supplementary vote of RM20 million to initiate a programme of Education for Gifted Children
27/1/97 Proposal that Government commission two studies on gifted children in Malaysia - to identify the number of gifted children in Malaysia and to recommend a policy on education for gifted children
26/1/97 Education Ministry should urgently set up a Department for Gifted Children to fully develop the talents and abilities of 300,000 gifted children not only for their own sake but also for the larger national good
25/1/97 Education Ministry should launch a Schools Electrification Programme 2000 to provide steady power supply to all the 1,273 schools currently without electricity
24/1/97 Education Ministry should draw up a policy on education for gifted and talented children, amend the Education Act 1996 and set up a special unit to implement a strategy to foster the gifts and talents of children
22/1/97 Malaysia must develop a world-class soft infrastructure of knowledge workers if the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) is going to be a technological and national success beneficial to all Malaysians
21/1/97 DAP calls on Cabinet tomorrow to establish a high-powered committee to conduct a full inquiry into land alienation, abuses of power and corruption by all state governments
21/1/97 Pointless for MAS to set a target of zero delays when services are undergoing serious all-round deterioration
20/1/97 Is the ACA ham-strung from further investigating into the case of Muhammad Taib with RM2.4 million cash in Brisbane following the UMNO Supreme Council decision to accept his explanation?
20/1/97 DAP calls for a national debate on the grading of institutions of higher learning and the role of universities in an Information Age
19/1/97 Anwar should name the Minister referred to in the allegation of impropriety in the award of Telekom contract to Ericsson
19/1/97 MAS should ask Boeing Co. to give it top priority to modify the rudder system of its fleet of 51 Boeing 737 aircrafts for the safety of the passengers
19/1/97 ASEAN should not admit Burma as a member so long as SLORC is not prepared to remove its “pariah” status in the international community
18/1/97 The MSC International Advisory Panel comprising the Who’s Who in the world IT industry is a great coup for Malaysia
18/1/97 Najib’s announcement that all institutions of higher learning would be assessed annually under a grading system a step in the right direction in promoting Malaysia as an educational centre of regional excellence
17/1/97 Call on Government to issue a Charter on NGOs to support the development of strong and independent NGOs to promote a strong civil society
17/1/97 The four new proposed cyberlaws should be made public immediately to give MPs at least two months to educate themselves about the legal issues of cyberspace as there is hardly any MP who knows much about cyberlaw
16/1/97 DAP calls on Government to give the public and the world cybercommunity advance notice of the four cyberlaws it is to present in Parliament in March to demonstrate that Malaysia is serious in offering MSC to the world IT industry
15/1/97 Is the clampdown on NGOs after the UMNO Supreme Council meeting last Saturday a sign that the UMNO Supreme Council is superseding Cabinet as the topmost policy-making body in Barisan Nasional government today?
14/1/97 Call on Attorney-General to declare whether the Government will uphold the legal immunity of Param Cumaraswamy as UN Special Rapporteur
14/1/97 Call on Government to award full scholarship to Sufiah Farooq, 12, who is entering Oxford University to read mathematics
13/1/97 Government should not seek to constrain and conscribe NGOs as this runs counter to the objective of promoting a strong civil society
12/1/97 Call on all Malaysians to aim for the objective of “one family, one computer” so that Malaysians will not be left behind in the Information Technology age
11/1/97 Call on new UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to give top priority to Burma and to take an active personal interest to ensure the implementation of UN General Assembly resolutions on restoration of democracy and national reconciliation in Burma
10/1/97 Muhammad Taib’s three brothers should clear the name of Selangor Mentri Besar by convincing Malaysians that there could be no doubt whatsoever that the RM2.4 million belonged to them
9/1/97 Call for an Police Ombudsman with independent powers to investigate complaints against police bias and abuses to maintain public confidence in the integrity and professionalism of the Police Force
8/1/97 Nation should honour the struggle and memory of Hamid Tuah, Champion of the Landless
8/1/97 Malaysia should expedite the introduction of electronic government and declare 1997 the Year for On-line Government Services for various Ministries to compete in this field
7/1/97 Call on Government to present a White Paper in March Parliament on the four Perwaja rescue proposals submitted by Lion Group, Renong Bhd, Syarikat Maju Holding Bhd and Wing Tiek Holding Bhd
7/1/97 Pulai Chondong by-election result shows that the voters are not unaffected by the case of Muhammad Taib’s arrest in Brisbane over RM2.4 million cash
6/1/97 SLORC commended for allowing Aung San Suu Kyi and NLD to commemorate Burma’s Independence Day on Saturday
5/1/97 Muhammad Taib must be more serious and responsible about Malaysia’s reputation for political integrity and not undermine national efforts to improve Malaysia’s ranking in the forthcoming 1997 Transparency International corruption perception index
4/1/97 Continued closure of some universities in Burma on 49th Independence Day anniversary further signs of unrest and instability of SLORC rule and should be an added minus point against Burma’s entry into ASEAN this year
4/1/97 Statements by UMNO leaders that Muhammad Taib’s RM2.4 million Brisbane cash case would not affect the voters of the Pulai Chondong by-election very smug and most disturbing
3/1/97 Call for a Royal Commission on Corruption-free Society
3/1/97 Mahathir’s open acknowledgment that assimilation had not and cannot be a successful nation-building policy a vindication of the DAP’s political struggle for a Malaysian Malaysia
3/1/97 ASEAN should set up a monthly monitor of the democratic reforms and the drug trafficking situation in Burma as two important criteria for deciding the suitability of admitting SLORC into ASEAN
3/1/97 Penang Youth Council should avoid taking a public stand on controversial issues if it is afraid to address the real questions
2/1/97 What is there to guarantee that there would not be a third Perwaja scandal down the road in a few years’ time, doubling or trebling the accumulated losses, which would have again to be bailed out by the government?
2/1/97 What type of property is Muhammad Taib buying in Gold Coast, Brisbane so that his brothers’ children have a place to stay for their further studies?
1/1/97 Muhammad Taib should explain why his brothers are buying property at Gold Coast etc