Malaysiakini.com (http://www.malaysiakini.com)
(1) Religious fascism new enemy of world peace, 23 February 2008
by Steve Oh
While we often associate the Taliban with religious extremism but the latest foreign dispatches tell us that radical Hindus in India have shown their ugly side. Hindu radicals are leading attacks on Christians as part of a larger campaign to turn India into a Hindu nation.
News reports that three weeks after brutal attacks against Christians in India's eastern state of Orissa in December, hundreds of believers are still hiding out in the surrounding jungle with 2,000 in refugee camps.
At a time when India's economy is speeding ahead it is sad to know that their societal values and religious sentiments are going in reverse. It can't be good for a country that boasts of some of the world's best computer brains but is sadly very primitive and backward in religious ideas.
Religious fascism is the new enemy of world peace since the demise of communism.
I was aghast to read of the mentality of Hindus in India who still subscribe to outlawed notions of the caste system which is a major reason for the downtrodden lives of many lower caste Indians who are condemned from birth because of their low caste.
I am glad that Hindus in Malaysia are more progressive and do not believe in such unjust ideas that deprive the poor of the chance to improve themselves. It was a Hindu extremist who killed Mahatma Gandhi for allowing Pakistan to be turned into a Muslim state, and the brother of Gandhi's murderer died last year apparently unrepentant.
Religious extremism is alive and well in India, and of a kind and scale not seen in Malaysia, and that should be of concern to every peace-loving person.
Ignorance often is the fuel that allows religious fanaticism to burn. When Hitler started his campaign against the Jews, the Germans were the silent majority. And we know what happened to the silent majority. If we have learned nothing from history and the Holocaust we have learned nothing at all.
It is ironical that as India joins the global family with Indians in huge numbers overseas (you only need to visit London and Los Angeles, never mind Malaysia and Fiji), Hindu extremists can blindly harbour such narrow nationalistic ideas about their country.
It behooves us all never to be counted among the silent majority because it is our individual and collective responsibility to speak out for those who have no voice. Whether they be persecuted Christians in India or Buddhists in Burma or Muslims in Serbia, we should lend our voice to the cries of the persecuted.
Religious fascism is an old foe but our new common enemy.
(2) Some questions on Tamil education, 23 February 2008
by Patrick
What is the rational for the existence of Tamil schools? Why do they exist at all in this country? Are they there to fulfill S Samy Vellu’s prerogative as president of MIC and as a full minister in the ruling coalition? After all, elected reps in Malaysia from Dr Mahathir Mohamad to Samy Vellu claim exclusive prerogatives.
More questions. Do Tamils (they are the ones who go to Tamil schools) suffer socio-economic discrimination because they are not fluent in Malay and English? We must remember that the elite in this country are fluent in English and send their children to the US or the UK to study. Bahasa Malaysia is exclusively for the local lower classes.
What job opportunities are there for those who spend their primary school years (the very formative years of a person’s life) in Tamil schools? What quality of life can the Tamil school- educated adults expect?
Even more questions. What percentage of the Tamil-educated make it to university and on to well- paying jobs? What percentage of the Tamil-educated end up working in menial jobs? What percentage of lorry drivers and their assistants are Tamil-educated?
What percentage of the Tamil-educated read books and use public libraries (though public libraries are a disgrace in this country)? What percentage of the Tamil-educated use computers, the Internet and software applications?
What percentage of the Tamil-educated are emotionally stable and imaginative? What percentage of the Tamil educated stay away from the destructive Tamil movie culture?
The future (is there a future?) of the Tamils in this country will be determined by the answers to the above questions. Full stop.
(3) Malaysiakini now in Tamil, BM site goes free, 24 February 2008
Both Tamil and Bahasa Malaysia readers of Malaysiakini have reasons to rejoice today - they will now be able to read Malaysiakini in their own languages for free.
Beginning today, new website MalaysiaIndru.com will post Malaysiakini news reports in Tamil. The free site will also carry its own news reports as well as features, letters, opinions and editorials.
MalaysiaIndru, which means ‘Malaysia Today’, is a joint effort by Malaysiakini.com and Semparuthi Publications - publisher of monthly current affairs magazine Semparuthi.
Malaysiakini is supporting the initiative by providing its news material on a royalty-free basis, as well as offering technical, editorial and marketing assistance.
The five full-time members of the MalaysiaIndru team are based at Malaysiakini’s office in Kuala Lumpur’s Bangsar Utama.
"MalaysiaIndru intends to set the news agenda among the Tamil-speaking community by offering independent, insightful news and in-depth analyses and commentaries," says the website’s editor Ji Wi Kathaiah.
"We will not only be translating Malaysiakini’s news and video clips, but we will ensure that major events of concern to the Indian community are well-covered and discussed," he added.
By publishing today’s news today, MalaysiaIndru believes that it will quickly become the leading source of news for the Tamil community.
"In the age of mobile phones and SMSes, breaking news stories can quickly be disseminated to the Tamil community at large," said MalaysiaIndru’s publisher and Semparuthi representative K Arumugam.
"We believe that MalaysiaIndru can be a major force and a voice for the community during these times of political transformation."
MalaysiaIndru will also help bring Malaysiakini news to an even wider audience.
"Since we launched the Chinese and Malay language sections in 2004, our readers have been requesting for a Tamil language section," said Malaysiakini CEO Premesh Chandran.
"After the Nov 25 Hindraf rally, we have been flooded by even more e-mails pleading for news in Tamil. We have finally been able to make this happen and are proud to collaborate with Semparuthi on this ground-breaking project."
The launch of MalaysiaIndru fulfills Malaysiakini’s ambition to publish in all the four major Malaysian languages - English, Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil - making it the only media organisation in the country to do so.
"While most Malaysians can speak more than one language, we need to recognise that many of us still prefer to use our mother tongue in our daily lives," said Malaysiakini editor-in-chief Steven Gan.
"Despite working in various languages, Malaysiakini is different from other media organisations in that all sections work together in one place. We may have four languages, but we’re still one team."
Gan said that Malaysiakini aims to provide a common platform for all ethnic groups to discuss important issues confronting a complex multi-cultural nation like Malaysia.
He said that no one person, let alone the government, can provide solutions to the perennial problem of national unity.
"For that, we need all 27 million Malaysians to talk to one another so that we can better understand the angst and the aspirations of the various communities. Only then can we begin to seek the necessary compromises." stressed Gan.
With the advent of MalaysiaIndru, a new group of Malaysians can now join in the discussion of national issues.
Also beginning today, Malaysiakini is offering its Bahasa Malaysia language website to all readers for free.
"We made the decision in response to requests that Malaysiakini should be read by as many people as possible at this crucial time when the country is facing a general election," said BM section editor Nash Rahman.
(4) Malaysiakini BM kini percuma, 24 Februari 2008
Mulai hari ini, Malaysiakini versi Bahasa Malaysia boleh dilayari secara percuma untuk memboleh pembaca mengikuti perkembangan terkini persaingan sengit parti-parti yang bertanding dalam pilihanraya umum ke-12.
(5) Promote all languages equally, 15 January 2008
by P Sugumaran
Many countries have a language policy designed to favour or discourage the use of a particular language or set of languages. Historically, nations have used language policies most often to promote one official language at the expense of others.
Many countries now, however, have policies designed to protect and promote regional and ethnic languages whose viabilities are threatened. Language policies cultivate language skills needed to meet national priorities or to establish the rights of individuals or groups to use and maintain languages.
Most companies in Malaysia are not multilingual in their business operations due to the company’s internal policies and the high cost of translation. Since Malaysia is a multiracial country, it is always better to have multilingual systems in every sector as it will inherently lead the growth of every community in this country.
Language does help the economic growth of a particular society. However, there are many hidden policies created by corporate administrators to avoid particular languages in Malaysia. This can lead to disinclination.
The current situation needs to be reshuffled. The government should advise industry players in every sector to provide multilingual information to their consumers, subscribers, shareholders, account holders and so forth. In Malaysia, services and products are not created for just one particular society. They are designed for every Malaysian and for foreigners as well.
The extensive use of only English in Malaysia is not going help promote our national languages which are Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil. It can cause ‘language cleansing’ in Malaysia. It is really sad to see that most billboards are not multilingual. The KLIA has reached the standards of multilingual practice but Tamil has been ignored, a violation of the International Airport Standard. This situation needs to be rectified immediately.
Media agencies should advise their clients to practice multilingual advertising to promote Malaysia as a multiracial, multilingual society. With that, we can abolish the ‘class privilege’ advertisements and at the same time promote nationalism amongst all Malaysians.
(End)
