No sooner had the tsunami struck more than ten countries in southern Asia than the numbers games began. First it was the giant news media who rushed to report the latest death toll – the bigger the death toll reported, the fresher the news was. Another numbers game is the aid promised by governments to help the victims.
After weeks of promises and reversals, the Malaysian government, which practises an official policy of zero-tolerance towards refugees and foreigners without valid documents, has formally announced its decision to recognise the thousands of Rohingya Muslims in the country as political refugees.
Since his return on October 31 after undergoing spinal surgery in Germany, former Malaysian deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim has been wooing large crowds wherever he goes...
Hardly had the blood dried on Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s hands after the storming of the historic Kerisik mosque in Pattani last April, than the ‘Butcher of Bangkok’ committed another horrifying massacre of Muslims...
Malaysia often claims to be a well-developed Muslim country, with its skycrapers and well-organised city gracing postcards and tourist brochures. Some of this is not propaganda...
It is a worrying sign when western leaders and their sidekicks — media, NGOs and thinktanks — welcome a new government in any Muslim country...
One feature of Malaysia is its ability to make everything a make-believe. Its racially-divided society is seemingly in harmony, its economy is seemingly in the hands of the majority Malay Muslims, its rich-poor gap is seemingly small, and its judiciary is seemingly fair...
Since the fall of Suharto Indonesia's journey to ‘democracy' has been marked by court trials involving its past rulers. Curiously, any trial in Indonesia attracts western attention to their disputed ‘credibility'...
A useful characteristic of George W. Bush and his cronies is their openness in dealing with America’s enemies, thus making known the US’s probable next course of action...
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra of Thailand has suddenly found himself playing the role of a public-relations officer, distributing packets of rice to Muslim villagers while brandishing the rhetoric of fighting terrorism...
The results of the general elections held on March 21 in Malaysia were as expected (see Crescent, March 2004): a return to the pre-Anwar-Ibrahim saga situation...
A hundred days is generally accepted to be a reasonable time after which to gauge the progress or performance of a new government or political leader...
After nearly a year’s delay, Manila and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) will finally begin peace talks this April. This agreement, mediated by Malaysia, was reached on February 19 in Kuala Lumpur...
After months of Bangkok accusing its southern Muslim population of being terrorists, a series of violent attacks rocked the southern Muslim-majority provinces near the Thai-Malaysian border...
Like occupied Kashmir, Chechnya and now Iraq, the northern Sumatran province of Aceh too is going through the ‘democratic’ process...
Riding high after his speech at the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) summit in October, Malaysia’s Dr Mahathir Mohamad finally kept his promise by stepping down after 22 years in power. He seems to have followed the advice from his mother...
Muslim regimes have developed ingenious ways to convince the Bush administration of their commitment to the ‘war on terrorism’ . The latest is the ‘numbers game’ of arrested Muslim activists – the more people hauled in, the more unlikely it is that one will suffer the Saddam fate (or so they hope).
Russian president Vladimir Putin got more than he bargained for during his first-ever trip to Malaysia on August 5, as part of his effort to increase the sales of Russian arms in this part of the world.
The Central Committee of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) announced the death of its leader, Ustad Salamat Hashim, on August 5. The MILF’s official spokesman, Eid Kabalu, said that Ustad Hashim had died of heart failure in the town of Butig...
In the early morning of July 27, 296 soldiers in full battle-gear from elite units of the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) took over the commercial centre of Makati City. They occupied the financial district and the plush Oakwood Premier Apartment complex...
