Posts

GE15: Temperatures set to rise - The Star

Image
 Media coverage from The Star "Political parties will know today how much, or how little time they have to resolve the most critical issue before nomination day – selecting their candidates. Universiti Teknologi Mara’s Shahnon Mohamed Salleh said that after the dates are announced, candidates and seat negotiations will continue right up to the night before nomination day. “Completing their election manifesto will be another priority as they will need the document ready for the campaign,” said the School of Communication and Media College of Computing, Informatics and Media lecturer. Full report:  Temperatures set to rise (The Star)

What Budget 2023 has to offer - The Star

Image
 Media coverage from The Star: "Malaysians, say political observers, are looking forward to seeing what is in store for them and what the coalition government under Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob has got to offer in Budget 2023. “This is perhaps the first time that there are people who are more interested in waiting for the Prime Minister’s Parliament dissolution announcement than the Budget itself. “The fact that the Budget was brought forward earlier to Oct 7 is a strong indicator as well as the Umno supreme council meeting concluding that GE15 must be held this year,” said Universiti Teknologi MARA’s (UiTM) Faculty of Communication and Media Studies senior lecturer Shahnon Mohamed Salleh. " There were several key observations for Budget 2023, including that the economic forecast and global outlook for 2023 would generally be gloomy, said Shahnon . “So I expect the government to address these challenges and at the same time, balance fiscal constraints and pe

Presidential Election, Polls and the Pandemic

Image
So it's less than 48 hours away to the US presidential election 2020. Trump or Biden? In a "normal" presidential election, pre-Trump era, a 10-point lead in a final poll is nothing but a foregone conclusion. Game over. Khalas. But to quote John Kasich, former Ohio Republican-governor-turned-Biden-supporter, "these are not normal times." Nobody is taking the polls as seriously as before, especially after what happened in 2016. The polls are no longer as reliable or as believable as they used to be. Joe Biden could very well win the popular vote but end up losing the electoral college, just like Hillary four years ago and Al Gore in 2000. But 2020 is not 2016 . The Covid19 pandemic has shattered America's "invincible" image and exposed the failure of Trump's leadership. I mean, how do you explain statements like, "I take full responsibility, but it's not my fault"? That is "fascinatingly" one of the most Trumpi

Anwar Ibrahim's "16 September 2.0": Pipe Dream or Gimmick?

Image
Coverage from Utusan Malaysia on Anwar Ibrahim's "16 September 2.0" plan: "Dakwaan Anwar Sama Kes 2009 di Perak" - 24 September 2020 "KUALA LUMPUR: Dakwaan Presi­den PKR, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim mempunyai asas yang jelas untuk tidak menunjukkan akuan bersumpah ahli-ahli parlimen yang bersama beliau bagi membentuk kerajaan baharu selagi belum menghadap Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah. Ini kerana situasi yang berlaku pada 23 September lalu itu sama seperti krisis politik di Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) Perak pada 2009 yang menyorot kejatuhan pentadbiran Pakatan Rakyat (PR) terdiri daripada DAP, PKR dan Pas setelah menyokong Barisan Nasional (BN). Penganalisis politik Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Shah Alam, Shahnon Mohamed Salleh berkata, tidak dinafikan dalam mana-mana sistem demokrasi dan berperlembagaan, sebarang perkara berkenaan undi majoriti perlu disuarakan di Parlimen. Bagaimanapun, katanya, jika menyin

COVID19: Public relies on official information - The Star

Image
Media coverage from The Star: "Public health and communications experts have acknowledged that the ministry and MKN had a commendable track record of disseminating timely and sufficient information to the public. Senior lecturer of communication and media studies Shahnon Mohamed Salleh said their communication had improved tremendously since the onset of the pandemic in the country. “During the earlier stages of the movement control order that started on March 18, there was a lot of confusion and speculation due to the absence of a proper command or channel of communication. “Generally, the communication is already there now and the government has been quite transparent but, of course, additional information is always good, ” said the Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) lecturer. Shahnon said details of a specific location where Covid-19 cases were prevalent should be made public so that people were aware of where they could travel to and which places to avoid." Full news: Publ

The Farcical UAE-Israel Peace Deal

Image
  The UAE-Israel "peace deal" is officially the worst Arab-Israeli deal since the Egypt-Israel peace treaty 1979 and Oslo Accord 1992.  Despite Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed and the UAE state media's best effort to frame the deal as an Israeli "compromise" - which is nothing but a big joke - the ground reality remains the same. Nothing changes. Israel has been and is still occupying West Bank and East Jerusalem since 1967. There is nothing "historic" or "breakthrough" in this deal as claimed by President Trump.  It's all status quo for Israel, and nothing for the Palestinians. #FreePalestine

Coffee Seed Smugglers, Colonialism and Civilisation

Image
What are the similarities between rubber, palm oil and coffee in Southeast Asia? They were all smuggled here via South America, Africa and the Middle East by European agents from the 17th to 19th century. 1. Thanks to the British smugglers who smuggled rubber and palm oil seeds from Brazil and Africa to Malaya. It's because of them that Malaysia become one of the major producers of rubber and palm oil.  World War II would probably end up differently without Malayan rubber and Nutella would not taste as good as it is without the high quality Malaysian palm oil. 2. Thanks to the Dutch smugglers too, who smuggled coffee seeds from Yemen in the 17th century. Initially they tried to plant it in their home country, the Netherlands, but it didn't work out. So they brought it to Java.  And as they say the rest is history. Indonesia is the fourth largest coffee producer in the world today and producing one of the world's best coffee, and my favourite, Aceh Gayo (pic). Th