Queen’s man in New Zealand backs flag change debate |
- Queen’s man in New Zealand backs flag change debate
- Daniel Craig to headline ‘The Whole Truth’
- Does the Palm Oil Industry meet United Nation’s Convention on Climate Change? — Koon Yew Yin
- Yahoo says detected hacking attempt on email accounts
- Say no to the shariah police
- Olympians come out against Russia anti-gay laws
| Queen’s man in New Zealand backs flag change debate Posted: 30 Jan 2014 04:55 PM PST
Commenting on Prime Minister John Key's call for the country to adopt an All Blacks-style silver fern flag, Governor-General Sir Jerry Mateparae said modern New Zealanders' national identity was strongly bound to the Pacific. Mateparae, the former chief of the New Zealand Defence Force, said he had not yet seen a design he felt reflected the country's identity but he supported debate on changing the flag. “From the First World War onwards, we have been looking at our identity and we are much more comfortable with our place in the world today as being in the Pacific,†he told Wellington's Dominion Post newspaper. “A hundred years ago there was a greater affiliation to the United Kingdom. We do now see ourselves as deeply seated and rooted in the Pacific.†Key floated the flag change proposal this week but said the government would hold a referendum before any decision was made to alter the existing banner. The current flag features the Union Jack in one corner, with the remainder consisting of four stars representing the Southern Cross constellation. Critics say it is an anachronism to have Britain's flag featured so prominently and argue the banner is too easily confused with those of other former British colonies such as Australia, which has an almost identical design. Others say that New Zealanders have fought and died under the flag, which was first used in 1869 and formally adopted in 1902, arguing that to change it would dishonour their memory. Key said he believed the flag should display a silver fern on a black background, the national emblem already used by New Zealand sporting teams such as rugby union's All Blacks. He said Canada, another former colony of Britain, had never regretted adopting its distinctive maple leaf flag in 1965. â€" AFP  |
| Daniel Craig to headline ‘The Whole Truth’ Posted: 30 Jan 2014 04:53 PM PST
Available details are few and far between on “The Whole Truth,†which will be presented to investors at the European Film Market in Berlin this February. The project comes with a slew of A-listers, however, including Craig in the leading role. Courtney Hunt, the American filmmaker behind the critically acclaimed 2008 drama “Frozen River,†is attached to direct. The screenplay was written by Nicholas Kazan, son of director Elia Kazan. Moreover, the project will be produced by Richard Suckle, who was one of the producers behind David O. Russell’s Oscar-nominated film “American Hustle.†Production dates for “The Whole Truth†have yet to be announced. Daniel Craig has turned his attention to the theatre recently: the actor is starring opposite his wife Rachel Weisz in the Broadway production of Harold Pinter’s “Betrayal.†― AFP―Relaxnews |
| Does the Palm Oil Industry meet United Nation’s Convention on Climate Change? — Koon Yew Yin Posted: 30 Jan 2014 04:52 PM PST
Now they say we are wrong to cut our trees to plant oil palms. What do they say when Brazil cut down their rain forest to plant soya beans? Let us examine the true situation. Oil palm smallholdings and plantations meet the United Nation’s Framework Convention on Climate Change which defines a forest as an area of 0.5 to one hectare having more than 30 per cent canopy cover and having a potential height of two to five metres. To accuse the industry in Malaysia and Indonesia of contributing to global warming is sheer nonsense. In fact oil palm trees just as with other forest species, produce oxygen for us to breathe and act to counter coal and oil emissions which are the major cause of global warming. Environmental activist groups such as World Wildlife Fund, Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace have launched many campaigns alleging that the expansion of oil palm plantations have destroyed forests, threatened endangered wildlife and robbed indigenous peoples of their land. Many of their arguments are not based on fact but are sensationalized from a small number of cases. The anti-oil palm lobby in the west includes pro-soya bean and rape-seed groups who see oil palm as a major competitor and have recruited food lobbyists to play on fears of the health hazards of palm oil consumption. . Together with environmental activists, these well-funded groups have created trade barriers to the global oil palm trade under the pretext of environmental activism. In a fair contest amongst competing vegetable oils, palm oil will win hands down. The oil palm tree is the world’s most efficient oil crop because one can harvest five tons of oil per hectare. This is 10 times more productive than soya bean planted in the West, including United States and five times more productive than rapeseed, Europe’s main oil crop. It is an undeniable fact that palm oil is the cheapest and most popular form of cooking oil for consumers, including many poor families in the west. Should trade barriers to benefit rapeseed farmers who are already heavily subsidised by the European Union (EU) government be successfully implemented, this will hurt consumers all over the world. Also should alternatives to oil palm be grown, more land would be needed to produce an equivalent volume of oil to replace palm oil, resulting in more deforestation and problems for Mother Earth. Finally, the western environmental activists’ campaign against oil palm plantation expansion, in the name of “saving rainforestsâ€, is a violation of international norms and Malaysia’s and Indonesia’s sovereignty. Conclusion: I believe our palm oil industry will remain competitive and profitable for a long time. * This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malay Mail Online. |
| Yahoo says detected hacking attempt on email accounts Posted: 30 Jan 2014 04:37 PM PST
The company said on its official blog that it believed that the attackers were attempting to access the accounts using credentials that had been obtained from a breach of another company's user database. It did not identify that company. People frequently use the same passwords on multiple accounts, so hackers attempt to use credentials stolen in one breach to break into multiple types of accounts. “We have no evidence that they were obtained directly from Yahoo's systems,†the company said on its blog. A Yahoo spokeswoman declined to say how many accounts had been compromised or provide a detailed description, saying that it was the subject of an investigation by federal law enforcement. The company said on its blog that it had prompted users to reset passwords to protect their accounts. â€" Reuters |
| Posted: 30 Jan 2014 04:35 PM PST JAN 31 â€" I have a feeling that I will be the first person detained by the shariah police. I patronise Chinese restaurants. I enjoy good jazz in clubs. I visit my relatives who keep dogs, and enjoy good wines and on occasion pay respect to my grandparents whose ashes are interred in a temple. I am sure I will be the poster boy whom the pretend “police†will use to describe their usual suspects. I can already imagine them, hovering around in their walkie talkies. “Our suspect is in a Chinese shop, without non-Halal sticker having teh o ais. Should we charge in, over?†“Negative, we wait for his char koay teow first before going in, over!†The sad part is my tax money goes to funding them. What are we trying to achieve by having these shariah police around? Is it the creation of a moral society? Or to cow Muslims into Islam? Perhaps to create employment for those unemployed graduates with Islamic background? If the answer is yes to any of the above, then the Home Minister needs to revisit his decision. Those who have travelled abroad will agree that you cannot produce a moral society by policing the people. Visit Acheh, Pakistan, Nigeria. Their public toilets, amenities, public services, and cities are generally in a mess. Yes, they may not sell alcohol in public, or have casinos and four digit lottery shops, but in my travels I have seen men in skullcaps double park, women in hijab litter, and public urination, defecation so rampant that you wonder what perverted morals are they looking after. In Pakistan, for instance, they ban phone calls and SMSes to stop people from engaging in “immoral†chats, and monitor late night calls for “obscene content.†Misplaced ingenuity aside, they forget that the world has different time zones. Multinational companies, with offices in different time zones, therefore work almost 24 hours, non-stop. Perhaps there are no Pakistanis abroad, or expats working in Pakistan? In Nigeria, one of the accomplishments of their moral police was to destroy 240,000 bottles of beer last year. They blame alcohol and other “immoral†activities for their economic and social regression that churned out so many “princes†and “princesses†looking to give away millions of dollars online. What kind of society places emphasis on such superficial values, fear, void of any real substance that hides and stymies individual progress and national growth? We all sin, to a varying degree. Getting one sinner to police another in the name of religion is blasphemous not to mention stupid, and a waste of time, funds and resources. Are these countries what the BN government want us to be? What happened to the Malaysia that Muslim countries the world over can look up to, the country that spent so much time and money promoting Islam Hadari and the Global Movement of Moderates? To the non-Muslims who think this is not about you, think again. Yes, it may start with the Muslims. But they will grow and before you know it there will be no ASTRO. There’ll be lights in the cinemas. No skirts, sleeveless blouses, shorts. No hugging, holding hands and pecks on the cheeks. They will enter your shops, invade your property “looking for immoral Muslims.†Who knows, they might even install CCTV cameras as a “deterrent.†They already have an affinity for voyeurism using their camera phones. And since they judge piety by skin colour, those of you who are a bit tanned might get trapped in the net when they raid clubs, restaurants, parties. As a doctor, I am trained to look at evidence before dispensing treatment and giving medical advice. And applying the same thing to our current scenario, I don’t understand why we would want to do this when those who have done so have miserably failed? There is not one model country that can boast a moral, just, developed and progressive society by putting in place the shariah police. And there is a high chance we won’t either. Muhammad Abduh, an Egyptian scholar, said, “I went to the West and saw Islam but no Muslims; I got back to the East and saw Muslims, but not Islam.†He is right. Safeguarding our borders from smugglers, terrorists, improving living standards, social and healthcare services in the country, keeping crime and banning racist, bigoted movements will resonate more with Islam than any shariah police could. Quran said 6:107, “Had God willed, they had not been adulterous. We have not set thee as a keeper over them, nor art thou responsible for them.†The Quran also said 109:1-6, “Say O unbelievers! I do not serve that which you serve; Nor do you serve Him whom I serve; Nor am I going to serve that which you serve; Nor are you going to serve Him whom I serve; To you your religion, to me mine.†A moral society is an educated society. A moral society is a progressive, moderate, respectful, civil and tolerant society. Keep that in mind. * This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malay Mail Online. |
| Olympians come out against Russia anti-gay laws Posted: 30 Jan 2014 04:34 PM PST
The online petition which has gathered more than 405,000 signatures, appears on the websites of global equality group All Out and Athlete Ally, which tackles homophobia in sports. In a statement, the two groups also announced protests to be held in Moscow, Sochi, London, Rio de Janeiro and other cities on February 5, two days before the start of one of the most controversial Olympic Games in years. Among the Olympians past and present who have signed the petition is Sochi-bound snowboarder Belle Brockhoff and bobsleigh pilot Heath Spence, both from Australia, along with Canadian skier Mike Janyk. “We stand with citizens across Russia who are calling on their government to stop the crackdown against lesbian, gay, bi and trans people that is fuelling anti-gay violence,†the petition states. “We urge leaders around the world and within Russia to work to eliminate all anti-gay laws and protect all citizens from violence and discrimination in Russia.†The full list of Olympians who signed the petition is at athleteally.org. “The petition offers an array of star athletes past and present,†said Jules Boykoff, a former member of the US Olympic soccer team who now teaches at Pacific University in Oregon state. “My hope is that it creates space for an athlete participating in the Sochi Olympics to speak out for human rights, for LGBTQ rights,†said Boykoff, author of “Activism and the Olympics: Dissent at the Games in Vancouver and London.†All Out’s New York-based executive director Andre Banks said Olympic sponsors also bear a responsibility to speak out against new laws in Russia directed at the LGBT community. “We've just heard the Russian government is considering amendments to the anti-gay laws, but sponsors continue to look the other way while gays and lesbians in Russia suffer,†he said. Sochi Mayor Anatoly Pakhomov told BBC television this week that gays and lesbians are welcome to attend the Winter Games so long as they “respect the rules of the Russian Federation.†Earlier this month, President Vladimir Putin said homosexuals could feel “relaxed†about attending the Olympics ― but also suggested that they “leave children alone, please.†David Pichler, who represented the United States in diving at the 1996 and 2000 Summer Games, saluted fellow Olympians who have joined the global outcry over Russian policy toward the LGBT community. But he acknowledged that there are limits to what competitors at Sochi, many of them Olympic newcomers, can do as they attempt to keep their minds on their number-one goal ― winning medals. “The ones who have the courage (to speak out), I respect them greatly. But I don't want (others) to feel any pressure or be afraid,†said Pichler, who came out as gay prior to the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta. Pichler, who signed the All Out/Athlete Ally petition, spoke to reporters in a telephone conference call organized by Human Rights First. The New York-based group’s advocacy counsel Shawn Gaylord said anti-gay laws in Russia, including legislation that equates homosexuality with pedophilia, was having “really devastating effects†in its LGBT community. “We support the athletes, but we also think it's important when we're talking about vital human rights issues that those don't get lost in the mix,†said Gaylord, who plans to be in Sochi for the Games. Arkady Gyngazov, former manager of Moscow’s Central Station nightclub, a popular gay venue recently targeted by gunfire and gas attacks, feared for what might come after the Olympiad. “I think it will be worse, because the focus of international pressure will disappear and the government will start doing everything they want,†said Gygnazov, who is seeking asylum in the United States citing anti-gay harassment. ― AFP |
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