Articles

Pusat KOMAS contemplates and writes about the situation of race, ethnicity, interracial relations etc. in Malaysia.

ASEAN Civil Society 2015 – ACSC/APF National Organizing Committee (NOC) Accelerating a People-Centered Region: Introspection of the Envisioned ASEAN Community in 2015

Aug 11, 2014

As Malaysia will be chairing the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2015, the next ASEAN Civil Society Conference/ASEAN Peoples Forum (ACSC/APF)i will also be held in Kuala Lumpur in March/April 2015, parallel to the ASEAN Summit. We are proud to say that it was the Malaysian government, under Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as Prime Minister, which initiated the first ASEAN civil society conference in 2005. Thus, the ACSC/APF 2015 marks a full circle since the meaningful initiative...

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Press Statement Issued by The Negara-Ku Movement

Jul 17, 2014

      Why the Negara-Ku Movement is a Must, Now        In his article 'Why form Negara-Ku?' which appeared in The Malaysia Insider on 14th July, 2014, Ahmad Hafidz Baharom has given our Negara-Ku Movement the opportunity to address several issues. We hope thus to be able to put to rest niggling doubts and misconceptions that not just he but others too might have, so we can move forward to deal with the imperatives of the day. Negara-Ku – why another NGO? Under the...

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Police disobedience is akin to mutiny – IGP should resign or be sacked

Jun 17, 2014

Gabungan Bertindak Malaysia (GBM) calls upon Inspector General of Police (IGP) Khalid Abu Bakar to resign over his deliberate refusal to comply with two High Court orders in two child custody cases, which is akin to mutiny. If Khalid refuses to resign, then the necessary procedure of Police Forces Commission must be triggered to result in his dismissal. GBM also censures Prime Minister Najib Razak for affirming the IGP’s renegade misconduct by suggesting the interfaith custody cases should be...

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RESTORE DEMOCRACY IN THAILAND: ILLEGITIMATE MILITARY JUNTA STEP DOWN IMMEDIATELY

Jun 4, 2014

We the undersigned civil society organizations, trade unions and democratic movements in Malaysia demand that the military rule in Thailand be immediately ended and democracy be restored. The political crisis in Thailand should be resolved in a democratic and peaceful manner where the people of Thailand will be able to participate in the fullest sense in determining the future of the country. We have seen that all experiences with military juntas all over the world have spelled the death of...

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Pitching real life stories

May 22, 2014

17th of May 2014, Five Malaysians from different walks of life were given an opportunity to pitch their story idea for a film to a panel of judges. If their pitch is picked, they will walk away with a grant of RM6000 to make their film and have it premiered at the FreedomFilmFestival 2014 in September. They were commercial filmmaker Danny Chong; video journalist Arvind Raj; a father of 2 children with cerebral palsy Mohd. Affandi Ramli; independent filmmaker and editor Azhar Rudin; and...

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Civil Society Joint Statement on the 45th Anniversary of the May 13 Riot

May 20, 2014

United, We Malaysians Stand to Reject Violence, Hatred, Exclusion and Fear We, the undersigned groups and individuals, remember solemnly the pain of all those who have suffered in the May 13 Riot 45 years ago, deceased or living, pray for the full healing of the nation from this greatest tragedy in her 51 years, and vow to reject violence, hatred, exclusion and fear from our public life. We hold that 1, Malaysia, as formed in 1963 with Malaya, Sabah, Sarawak and then Singapore coming together,...

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Malaysian Government Undermines ASEAN Processes

May 9, 2014

Malaysian civil society organisations are appalled that, ahead of the ASEAN Summit on 11th May 2014, the Malaysian government has    objected to the Malaysian civil society delegate due to attend the Interface Meeting between Civil Society and the ASEAN Heads of State. We are further dismayed by news that the Cambodian and Singaporean governments have also rejected the civil society Interface Delegates from both countries respectively. The Interface Meeting is a platform for ASEAN civil...

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The 59 Civil Society Organisations Media Statement on Hudud Law

May 5, 2014

We, the civil societies below representing multiethnic and multi-faith, hold that Malaysia was formed as a secular federation in 1963 and hudud law at state-level is unconstitutional unless the entire federal arrangement is renegotiated. Hence, it is grossly incorrect and inappropriate for a matter of such paramount importance to be dealt with by the Federal Parliament voting on a Private Member’s Bill or even by any State Legislature. Our full position is as follows: 1. Malaysia was formed by...

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MEMORANDUM TO SUHAKAM: DROP THE CHARGES AGAINST LENA HENDRY, STAFF OF PUSAT KOMAS

Apr 29, 2014

Background On the evening of July 3, 2013, Pusat KOMAS, together with the KL & Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall Civil Right Committee (KLSCAH CRC), organized a private screening of “No Fire Zone”, a documentary on the former war in Sri Lanka, directed by British Director Callum Macrae. The screening was organized at the request of Callum Macrae who was on a road show screening his documentary in various countries. Before arriving in Malaysia, he showed the film in Australia and after...

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