Aliran Monthly, Vol 25 (2005): Issue 10

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In our cover story, Francis Loh elaborates on the crisis in Malaysia�s public universities. Academic standards have fallen because of soaring student enrolment, shortage of teaching staff, and a shift to a corporate-cum-bureaucratic culture.

Toh Kin Woon says that the falling standards are also due to problems in our schools and discusses how the Penang state government, in cooperation with the public, has supplemented the formal education system.

Responding to Clive Kessler�s piece on Islam and freedom of religion in our previous issue, Mazeni Alwi and S L Pang stress that equating liberal Islam with Islam Hadhari is highly irresponsible. We also carry a rejoinder by Kessler.

K George welcomes the government�s move to provide equal rights for workers but wonders if that alone would be enough to end their exploitation. As they say, cakap tak serupa bikin.

Parti Sosialis Malaysia continues its long-running struggle to get their party registered. We carry an account of some 100 PSM members and supporters created a stir in the Palace of Justice.

In this issue, we also report on our recent AGM. We also carry a selection of pictures from our 25th anniversary event and appeal to you to support us in our work.

Enjoy the piece on Curitiba, whose urban development model offers many lessons for us.

We round off the issue with Ramakrishnan�s observation that there has been an increasing trend in lawlessness, as typified by the spate of cases involving abuse of police powers including the ear squats case. In response, civil society groups have endorsed a joint memorandum calling for the immediate setting up of the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

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