Government and Politics

by Julian Harris & Philip Stevens
20 January 2009

The World Health Organization met in Geneva on Monday 19 January 2009 to decide new measures against the exploding global trade in counterfeit medicines--up to a third of all medicines in Africa and a quarter in developing countries overall. While the WHO wrangled over an international treaty and how to define the term “counterfeit,” it is not addressing the real causes, including the failures of dysfunctional governments which prevent genuine manufacturers from protecting their brands.

16 – 18 January 2009.
Theme: “Globalisation, the free market and developing countries”
Venue: Residence Hotel, UNITEN, Selangor.

At this Freedom Academy participants will study in depth the true meaning and morality of capitalism, how globalisation has brought prosperity to developing economies, and why free market capitalism is still the way for forward.

by 'Abidin Muhriz

“Christmas in KL is remarkable”, said an English friend who visited recently. She was awed by the fact that this country where Islam is the official religion would accommodate shopping malls festooned with holly and ivy, gigantic faux-pine trees bursting with snowmen and Father Christmases in central lobbies surrounded by evergreen conifers to rival the tropical rainforests outside. Shops have their staff don Santa hats and the usual din of families shopping is obliterated by jingles blaring through loudspeakers or enrobed carollers processing through the malls. Pavilion may not have the acoustics of St Paul’s Cathedral but it’s almost as novel. I am quite puzzled, given the recent fatwas, why there was no condemnation from the usual authoritarian suspects to these ostentatious displays of festivity for a non-Muslim event. Conversely, my friend lamented that in her country with an Established Church, Christmas has become victim to political “correctness” to the extent that institutions omit it altogether or rename the event to “Winterval”. “Season’s Greetings” and “Happy Holidays” predominate, so as to not offend non-Christians.

by 'Abidin Muhriz

Unfortunately it often takes tragedy to galvanise action, and in the wake of the terrible landslide in Bukit Antarabangsa last week the urgency of re-examining our lackadaisical attitude to the environment and the content and enforcement of building regulations cannot be overstated. Sadly a political blame fest began almost immediately; a repellent display insulting residents who lost their loved ones, homes and livelihoods. Yet there were also accounts of heroism, like my friend’s neighbour who, rather than instantly fleeing the scene, banged on neighbours’ doors to alert them of the impending disaster. If not for him, many more might have perished. As the victims pick up the pieces let us hope that the politicians work with the engineers, geologists, meteorologists, architects and other experts to formulate guidelines and regulations for developers and buyers alike; and set clear areas of responsibility between federal, state and local bodies and incentivise them appropriately.

by Mustafa Akyol

In his new book, Islam and the Secular State, the Sudanese-born professor of law Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’im argues that a secular state that respects religious freedom is compatible with and, indeed, necessary for Islam. “As a Muslim, I need a secular state,” he summarizes in a nutshell, “in order to live in accordance with Shari’a out of my own genuine conviction and free choice, personally and in community with other Muslims.”

by 'Abidin Muhriz

There are many good reasons to avoid yoga: it is strenuous, requires too much patience and the health benefits and enjoyment derived are paltry compared to an hour on the squash court. Nonetheless the outrage from my Muslim yoga-practising friends was such that I was tempted to devote this article to the fatwa and some of the responses to it, but as I hammered away at the keyboard news reports came in to suggest that common sense would prevail. Once again Their Royal Highnesses spoke wisely to calm all of us down and the Prime Minister clarified that yoga was not in fact banned. This was amidst concern that the Fatwa Council was simply usurping parliament and the state legislative assemblies, notwithstanding observations that there are already fatwa on things like smoking which are ignored daily without adverse legal effect to those who flout them. Others lamented that a fatwa should be issued banning money politics (also known as bribery elsewhere in the world) instead, but a superior solution to that is to introduce direct grassroots voting for party positions, which some in UMNO are reportedly advocating.

DAP sued Utusan Malaysia and a few others about a satire; the satire is distasteful, no argument about that but it is clearly only a satire, no matter how provocative it is. In Kelantan, the PAS controlled state assembly barred Berita Harian from its premises due to unkind reports. And who can forget Zulkifli Nordin of PKR who stormed a forum demanding it to be halted; he has yet to be punished by PKR for what he did. All these discourage free speech and free press and therefore competition of information.

Health ministers from most of the world gathered on 24-26 October 2008 in Egypt to plan against bird flu, with the UN saying the threat of a deadly global pandemic is as high as ever and a future vaccine as important as ever. Science is usually the biggest hurdle in vaccine development but this time it's politics, with samples being held hostage by Indonesia.

by Syed Haizam and 'Abidin Muhriz

Times of adversity usually bring about a prolonged period of self-evaluation. People tend to look at themselves in the mirror and reflect on what has happened and the onus is on them and only them if they want to make a change. Do they want to continue in the way that they have become accustomed to and which probably resulted in the current situation, or do they want to change? There is no right answer to this question. It is merely a question that everyone must always ask themselves once they are faced with problems.

By Johan Norberg

The problem with regulation is that it is always a response to the last crisis. Generals fight the last war and always try to avoid the mistakes made then. So we get new rules that target the mistakes that everybody already knows they must avoid. The next possible crisis and its causes are so far unknown, and our regulations may have no effect or even make them worse.