Will the cows come home?

Looks like those who have been pressing for a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) on the now well-known cow-controversy will have to wait until the cows come home.

DPM Muhyiddin Yassin said that there’s no need for such a RCI because the current investigations into the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) were “sufficient“.

Why Internet-users and others should be concerned about ACTA

Avaaz, a non-profit organization, is mounting a worldwide campaign to stop a global treaty, ACTA, that could allow corporations to censor the Internet, and more.

Avaaz says: “Europe is deciding right now whether to sign ACTA — and without them, this global attack on Internet freedom will collapse. We know they have opposed ACTA before, but some members of Parliament are wavering — let’s give them the push they need to reject the treaty.” If you’re interested to sign the petition, check this out:  http://www.avaaz.org/en/eu_save_the_internet/?tta.

And also check here and here.

Love will keep us together

No, this is not about the unmistakable Obedient Wives Club (OWC), although love — and of course, sex — is very much their preoccupation. We’re talking about the newly acquired 15 ‘Sayang Squad’ vans that are meant to help Wanita Umno in Kelantan to serve the people in the state — presumably with care and love. See here.

The threat to the plastic survival

This is a mockumentary about the supposed threats to the very survival of the epitome of moderning living, i.e. the plastic bag.

Wanted: Alerts Officer

SEAPA Vacancy: Alerts and Communications Officer

Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) is looking for a dynamic, highly motivated and suitably qualified person to join its team in Bangkok, Thailand as the Alerts and Communications Officer.

Main responsibilities:

• Monitor and prepare alerts and articles on violations of freedom of expression in the region, in collaboration with member and partner organizations
• Plan and manage content on the organization and issues advocated by SEAPA for regional and international dissemination using online and offline communication tools
• Work closely with the Campaign Coordinator to ensure actions and campaigns are communicated widely to stakeholders and effectively mobilized
• Help develop and maintain an effective communications strategy for SEAPA

Qualifications:

• Relevant university degree or professional qualification
• Demonstrated strong writing and editing skills in English
• Has at least five years’ relevant experience working with the print/broadcasting/online media and has in-depth understanding of media, press freedom, freedom of information and freedom of expression issues across Southeast Asia
• Good public speaking skills. Prior working experience in NGOs promoting/protecting human rights is an advantage
• Has a strong command of spoken and written English, and able to speak and write in at least another language of Southeast Asia
• Familiar with various content management systems and have experience managing online content
• Able to travel, when necessary, within or outside the region.

Applicants should email a motivation letter, a two-page curriculum vitae, sample work or portfolio, and expected salary, to employment@seapa.org not later than 25 January 2012. Only short-listed applicants will be notified via email.

Check this link: http://www.seapabkk.org/component/content/article/4-programs/100548-vacancy-announcement.html

A pin-drop rally

[youtube+http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zLfCnGVeL4]

At the rate things are going (remember the recently imposed 10 conditions like no loudhailers, no banners, no speeches, no noise etc?), it looks like the planned mammoth rally at the Jalan Duta Court complex in Kuala Lumpur tomorrow may well turn into something of a test conducted by the authorities on the crowd’s ability to keep the expected cacophony to the minimum so that one could only hear a pin drop elegantly.

If lucky, the Malaysian authorities in particular and Malaysia in general might just make an entry into the Guinness Book of Records for having achieved the first silent rally in the world, or at least this side of Zimbabwe.

Liberating education

This evergreen number from Pink Floyd may well be the right thing to kick off the new year. Events in recent days and much of 2011, particularly pertaining to some erratic antics and verbal diarrhea of certain politicians and government functionaries, remind us of the importance of formal education to liberate the minds of especially the young people. The opposite, i.e. conformity, may well lead to the maintenance of a status quo that is oppressive, exploitative and, last but not least, mentally challenging.