In our cover story, P Ramakrishnan looks back at the Ijok by-election (‘buy election”?) and its implications for Keadilan, which didn’t stand a chance with all that media, money and machinery pumped into the constituency during the campaign. Have Keadilan and Anwar been destroyed by the result?
Jeyakumar Devaraj warns that the Australian consultant hired by the Health Ministry has proposed a neo-liberal health financing scheme. This proposal would treat health care as a commodity and rely on market forces to match supply and demand, he points out, in a critique endorsed by the Coalition Against Health Care Privatisation.
Angeline Loh contributes two pieces. In the first, she expresses dismay at attempts to smear the work of the United Nations Commissioners for Refugees. And in the second, she expresses concern that the plan to raise the number of police personnel could bloat the ranks of those who revel in “hunting” down undocumented migrants. Caram Asia, for its part, highlights the increasing trend to restrict the freedom of movement of migrant workers in Malaysia and Thailand in a misguided move to curb crime.
In an interview with Fomca’s Indrani Thuraisingham on the threat of genetically altered rice, Jennifer Mourin and Anne Haslam point out that the number of rice farmers in Malaysia has been dwindling.
Johan Saravanamuttu meanwhile reviews a new book by Ooi Kee Beng on the political life and times of former deputy premier Tun Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman and provides his own insights.
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AGENDA RAKYAT - Lima perkara utama
- Tegakkan maruah serta kualiti kehidupan rakyat
- Galakkan pembangunan saksama, lestari serta tangani krisis alam sekitar
- Raikan kerencaman dan keterangkuman
- Selamatkan demokrasi dan angkatkan keluhuran undang-undang
- Lawan rasuah dan kronisme
