anilnetto.comanilnetto.comThe journalism and other writings of Anil Netto - featuring real journalism in the cause of justice, freedom and solidarity Articles
Half-century long struggle against ISA
2012-01-02 16:44:00 The year 2011 will be remembered for the decision to do away with the ISA – a move which vindicates the half-century long struggle against this oppressive law. But we need to be especially vigilant about what kind of laws will eventually replace the ISA. No to detention without trial. Prime Minister Najib Razak?s announcement [Read more] More About: Police , Human Rights , Democracy , Long , Civil society
Crackdown on uni students: BN?s awful start to New Year
2012-01-01 11:25:00 The high-handed police action action against the university students at Tanjung Malim has handed the BN an awful start to the New Year . With one fell swoop, it has exposed the farce of Najib’s plan to supposedly transform the country into the “world’s best democracy”. A student is lying injured in hospital. Let’s state the [Read more] More About: Students , Human Rights , Democracy , Start
No happy new year for Samy and Bernadette
2011-12-31 08:09:00 While many of us are looking forward to a long New Year weekend holiday, for people like Samy and Bernadette, there is little to celebrate. Samy, like many other private security guards, works 12-hour shifts everyday without a rest day. On New Year, he will be at his post again from 7.00am to 7.00pm. He [Read more] More About: Christianity , Workers , Happy , Happy New Year
How economic inequality harms societies
2011-12-28 15:22:00 We can improve the real quality of human life by reducing the differences in incomes between us, says Richard Wilkinson, author of the ground-breaking ‘Spirit Level’ book. Ever wondered why the crime rate and other social ills seem to be on the rise? Wilkinson suggests that these problems seem to be more prevalent in countries [Read more] More About: Neo-liberal economics , Poverty , Economic
Federal government debt soars
2011-12-27 02:12:00 What does this tale of rising federal government debt mean for the country? Dr Subramaniam Pillay concludes in a recent analysis for Aliran Monthly: A prudent Malaysian government would have saved a sizeable portion of the petroleum revenue from the past few decades as a fund for rainy days. Many other countries have done this. [Read more] More About: Government , Debt , Accountability
Khay Jin: An out-of-the-box thinker
2011-12-26 06:02:00 The community of social science scholars and public intellectuals in Malaysia and Malaysians at large are once again shocked and grieved, this time to hear of the untimely death of Khoo Khay Jin, a brilliant social scientist, a leading public intellectual and an out-of-the-box thinker. Khay Jin, a Penangite, was diagnosed with cancer of the [Read more]
Year of the Cow?
2011-12-25 16:55:00 Have a look at the cover of the latest Aliran Monthly. For the first time, Aliran is featuring an animal on the cover of its magazine. (The editor’s note.) Unfortunately, the poor cow has become a reminder of what has gone wrong in the country.
A Christmas blessing: The Malaysia I wish for
2011-12-24 14:54:00 A couple of kind thoughts and gestures have brightened up Christmas Eve for us. Earlier today, my mother’s Christmas celebration was almost ruined when she lost her wallet containing some valuables – a couple of cards and some cash – at an Indian restaurant. In despair, my mother returned home and prayed that somehow her [Read more] More About: Malaysia
Now anyone can become a citizen video-journalist
2011-12-24 04:50:00 Some scenes and interviews at the Penang Social Media Convention last Saturday. During the convention, I shared at the workshop on Citizen Journalism that it was important for citizen journalists to exercise critical thinking – even it was not favourable to the parties they may generally support. Citizen journalists do no favours to their parties [Read more] More About: Video
Two years jail for jobless man who stole shampoo
2011-12-23 16:59:00 What can you say? Excerpt of a report found in The Star in May 2011: Jobless man jailed two years for shampoo theft JOHOR BARU: An unemployed man was jailed two years for stealing six boxes of shampoo worth RM107.40 at a supermarket. Nor Azmi Mohd Amin admitted to committing the offence at the supermarket [Read more] More About: Accountability , Years
Remembering the horrors of war
2009-09-23 17:57:00 Kseniya Simonova’s haunting sand animation evokes painful memories of the tremendous Ukrainian suffering and loss of life during World War II. Ukraine is believed to have lost more people in World War II than any other Europe an nation as a result of the brutal Nazi occupation, followed by the Soviet reoccupation. Its over 40 million population ... More About: Militarism , The Horrors , Remembering
Tg Bunga now high-density ?primary corridor??
2009-09-22 10:20:00 Tanjong Bunga residents are alarmed by inconsistencies in the Penang Structure Plan for their area that could lead to more congestion and construction projects. They claim that, under the previous administration, the diagram in the Plan was unilaterally re-zoned after public display as a high-density ‘Primary Corridor ’ whereas the text in the gazetted Plan ... More About: Environment , Accountability , High
Are you a young adult?
2009-09-22 09:34:00 … trying to make sense of what is happening in the world around you and wondering how you can participate in issues that matter to you? Then this event is for you. Aliran is organising a one-day interactive workshop in Penang this Saturday (26 September) for young adults (19-35 years of age) to raise awareness of ... More About: Democracy , Young , Adult , Civil society , Young Adult
?Surface subway? vs Porr
2009-09-21 05:13:00 Do we really need Porr and more highways if we have a bus rapid transit system like in Bogota? I like the idea of encouraging people to cycle to the nearest bus rapid system main stations. Look how they store the bicycles – a lot less space consumed than car-parks. Thanks to nkkhoo for the link. More About: Public Transport , Subway , Surface
Bus rapid transit vs subway
2009-09-20 17:41:00 A bus rapid transit system can carry as many passengers as a subway system, as the city of Curitiba in Brazil has shown. I like this quote in the above video clip: “The problem is not the people who use the buses but the people who use the cars.” Surely our urban planners can learn something from ... More About: Subway , Rapid
Sarawak: Between spin and reality
2009-09-19 14:05:00 Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud has delivered a special message to mark the festive season. Among his comments is a comical demand which will no doubt add to the merriment: stop criticising the government! According to Bernama: “If there are (sic) chaos in the country, it will be impossible for us to celebrate any festivity. We should ... More About: Environment , Reality , Spin , Malaysian politics
Mahathir and the judges? again
2008-06-11 12:37:00 Somehow, even after his retirement, Mahathir is still involved in controversy involving the judges. The Lingam tape, Salleh Abas, Ian Chin… ? What else is coming out of the judicial closet? So what do you make of Mahathir’s response (to Ian Chin’s revelations)? Maybe his memory needs refreshing… Both the New Straits Times and the Star today ... More About: Judges , Judiciary , Malaysian politics
Mouth-watering seafood, anyone?
2008-06-11 05:33:00 By now, you would have heard that Malaysian seafood exports could be slapped with a EU ban. What’s gone wrong? From reports, we hear that: ?… there are infrastructure and facilities such as fishing vessels, fish landing ports, and fish and prawn farms, which are lagging behind the standards set by EU,?… Random checks conducted on nine seafood companies ... More About: Europe , Seafood , Accountability , Mouth
Corporate doublespeak: subsidies vs ?incentives?
2008-06-10 14:19:00 I walked into a petrol station along a busy road in Penang last night and engaged in some small talk with the cashier. I asked him what kind of impact the petrol price hike has had on his collection. “In ringgit terms, it has gone up,” he replied. “But in terms of litres sold, there has ... More About: Corporate , Poverty , Accountability , Incentives
From People Power to Pedal Power
2008-06-10 06:36:00 There has been a lot of talk about people boycotting the petrol pumps - you can see this being circulated via email. Only snag is how long can people sustain this? So it’s time for pedal power! Hey, if Paris can do it, why not KL, Penang, Ipoh, Johor Bharu, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu? It ... More About: Power , Environment , People , People Power , Pedal
Why the generous subsidies for IPPs?
2008-06-09 16:24:00 Oil price hike protest in Ipoh (Source: Unknown; forwarded via email) So Petronas and the Malaysian government says subsidies distort the market. Of course, the withdrawal of subsidies will encourage conservation of a scarce resource - which is a good thing. It might even reduce pollution and congestion. Roads were noticeablly less congested in parts of ... More About: Environment , Health Care , Accountability , Generous
Would you like to see this in your city?
2008-06-08 12:43:00 A modern tram in Grenoble, France - Photo credit: Wikipedia (copyleft) The tram initiative is building up momentum. So far, 25 29 30 31 bloggers and websites have signed on to the campaign. Civil society activists have articulated their views too. Here’s what some people are saying: Heritage writer Khoo Salma Nasution: Heritage writer Khoo Salma Nasution noted that ... More About: Public Transport , City
More on the mysterious oil subsidies
2008-06-07 17:40:00 Some more light on this mysterious subsidy thing: Most of the country’s oil fields contain low-sulfur, high quality “sweet” crude. Malaysia exports the majority of its oil to Japan, Thailand, Singapore and South Korea. And we import cheaper, lower-grade oil from elsewhere. This from The Star: Commenting on the fuel price increase, the Petronas boss said the corporation did ... More About: Accountability , Mysterious
At least RM500/mth to use the second Penang bridge
2008-06-07 05:48:00 Now that oil prices have gone up by 41 per cent and diesel by even more, our planners should scrap the proposed second cross-channel road link for Penang . If the RM4.8 billion second Penang bridge (all 24km of it, 17km over water) sounded like a bad idea before the oil price hike, today it sounds like ... More About: Public Transport , Accountability , Bridge
Time to bring back the trams
2008-06-06 08:38:00 Before the general election, they told us that we would become a net importer of oil by 2011. Now, with the sharp oil price increase, they tell us we can remain a net exporter of oil until 2014-2015. You see, domestic demand will slow down. Some of us might turn to bicycles - and even live ... More About: Time , Back
Subsidy? What subsidy? Aiyah, I don’t understand-lah…
2008-06-06 03:29:00 For the last few days, I have been trying to figure out what exactly this oil “subsidy” is that the government is talking about, which it cannot tahan any longer and so it has to collect more money from the people. What exactly is this “subsidy”? Everyone is talking about it without really knowing what this ... More About: Understand
It?s a jungle out there! Oil price hike madness?
2008-06-04 18:05:00 I was stuck in a massive jam after I went to pick up a friend from the Penang airport. No matter how hard I tried to avoid the petrol stations, it seemed like the whole of Penang was out on the streets looking for oil, before the price hike at midnight. While listening to the radio, ... More About: Public Transport , Accountability , Price , Jungle , Hike
What are they doing on the Penang Bridge centre-span?
2008-06-04 08:58:00 High above the Penang Bridge For the longest time now, there has been major ongoing work on the three-lane centre-span of the Penang Bridge. The work seems never-ending. Many motorists are puzzled about the long-term closure of the far left lanes on the centre span. Only two of the three lanes on the centre-span are in ... More About: Accountability , Centre , Span
Petronas? RM600 billion profit: Where has it all gone?
2008-06-03 09:30:00 So the figure has been revealed. Petronas ’ group profit before taxes, royalties, dividends and export duties amounted to RM570 billion for the period from its establishment in 1974 to 31 March 2007. If you include the figure for the period until 31 March 2008, then you are probably looking at a figure closer to RM700 billion, ... More About: Profit , Accountability , Billion
Second Penang bridge cost soars to RM4.8 billion
More articles from this author:2008-06-02 12:30:00 Traffic jam on the Second Penang Bridge in 2020? Toll $$$ for UEM In July 2007, the estimated cost of the second Penang bridge was RM2.7 billion. By October/November 2007, it had crept up to RM3 billion. By January 2008, it was between RM3 billion and RM4 billion. In April, we were told it would come to RM4.3 billion! ... More About: Cost , Accountability , Billion 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
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