Marhaen Dan Rakyat

There recently was some controversy surrounding the declaration by the Sultan of Johor for the Johor state government to classify all Orang Asli settlements and reserves in the state as sultanate land. He said that was due to disappointing cases where some Orang Asli had turned state forest reserves into large-scale oil palm and rubber plantations. He believed this to be the work of outsiders who tried to take advantage of Orang Asli rights - some of whom allegedly made unreasonable kawasan rayau (roaming area) claims. This suggestion saw some pushback from Johor Network of Orang Asli Villages (JPOAJ) chairperson Dolah Tekoi, who said the community's land reserves are already protected under the Aboriginal Peoples Act and the National Land Code. The Orang Asli, the indigenous peoples of the Malaysian peninsula and number around 170,000, have long been marginalized in social, economic, and cultural aspects of life. One of the challenges they face is that their status as the original...

March proved to be a tumultuous month for religious relations in Malaysia, as irresponsible parties attempted to rile up the Malay Muslim base over the "Jom Ziarah" scandal - an effort ostensibly led by Badrul Hisham Shaharin, or better known by Chegubard, and his benefactors. The conspiracy theorist claimed that current Youth and Sports Minister, Hannah Yeoh was a "Christian evangelist" and that there was a wider "DAP plot" to Christianize the country. He even claimed that there is an attempt to cover up Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh's wrongdoings in its probe into the "Jom Ziarah Gereja" programme. Let's ignore that a planned visit to a church was part of a broader programme where youths would be brought to different houses of worship to foster better understanding, a familiar gesture made by all faiths, including Muslims. Let's also ignore that Yeoh clarified that no Muslim youths had been involved in the programme, also st...

Ahli Parlimen Muar, Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman jarang sekali dilihat membantu mangsa banjir di kawasan Parlimennya. Ribuan mangsa banjir melibatkan ribuan keluarga dilaporkan terjejas akibat banjir di Muar pada awal bulan Mac. Namun, Syed Saddiq dilihat kerap menghadiri pelbagai program atau majlis di luar kawasan Parlimennya ketika rakyat Muar memerlukan pelbagai bantuan daripada beliau. Syed Saddiq turut dilihat gemar menyuarakan pandangan tentang pelbagai isu semasa berbanding memberi fokus untuk turun padang melihat mereka yang terkesan akibat banjir. Sewajarnya pada tempoh seperti ini, Syed Saddiq turut sama membantu menjalankan kerja-kerja pembersihan pasca banjir bersama-sama pasukan sukarelawan dan sebagainya. Syed Saddiq perlu turun membantu rakyat yang terjejas dengan banjir di kawasan Parlimennya kerana beliau adalah wakil rakyat yang dipilih oleh rakyat untuk mewakili kepentingan mereka. Kehadiran Syed Saddiq di kawasan banjir dapat memberikan sokongan moral dan motivasi...