Men of Words

UiTM, Malaysia in Turmoil

Malaysia in Turmoil.

Last Sunday, Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim proposed to allow Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) to be opened to non-Bumiputeras. He proposed that 10% of new student intakes be reserved for foreign students and non-bumis. UiTM has traditionally been set up as a public funded university for ONLY Bumiputeras.

Abdul Khalid has subsequently been barraged by various powerful groups including Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, UiTM’s vice-chancellor Professor Datuk Seri Ibrahim Abu Shah, Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi & more than 5000 UiTM students.

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Tags: abdul khalid, abdullah badawi, abu shah, Bumiputera, Bumis, luqmann, Malaysia, Menteri Besar, orang asli, racial bias, turmoil, UiTM, zahid hamidi

Malaysia Politics Struggle

There has been much news coverage on the recent case of alleged sodomy by Mr Anwar Ibrahim, the ex deputy Premier of Malaysia.

My sympathies go to Mr Anwar Ibrahim. He is definitely not new to this circumstance, which draws parallel of the incident in 1999, when he was sacked by the then Premier Dr. Mahatir and jailed for corruption. A sodomy charge was also levelled against Anwar in 2000, threatening a possible jail term of nine years. It was reversed later in 2004 under the current Premier Abdullah Badawi

As victim of this fresh apparent politically motivated legal charge, it appears that Anwar is not too surprised.

While there are no tangible supporting evidence, I believe that the motivation behind this political scandal is fear, caused by the increasingly strong support for the opposition party led by Mr Anwar Ibrahim.

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Tags: Anwar Ibrahim, Malaysia, Politics, Scandal