Law & Paneir

  WITH several ministers attempting to underplay expose over revelation that millions of personal data may have been compromised, an expert urged Putrajaya to stop trivialising such matters and act on the matter.    “We need an independent investigation to get to the bottom of the matter. The team must include former top-ranking police officers and ex-officials from the National Registration Department (NRD).    “The findings must be made public and those responsible must be arrested,” Arunachala Research & Consultancy Sdn Bhd principal consultant R Paneir Selvam told  FocusM.    Last week, tech website Lowyat.net reported that NRD dataset containing details of Malaysia’s population with birth years between 1940 and 2004 – roughly about 22.5 million people – was on sale for nearly RM44,000 at a database marketplace forum.   The seller claimed the personal data included full names, identity card numbers, addresses and photographs. Data fro...

  THE proposed plan by the Health Ministry (MOH) to ban the sales of cigarettes and vaping products to those born after 2005 will set a dangerous precedence that will impact the national economy and jobs – if this law is passed. The so-called poll conducted by the Muslim Consumers Association of Malaysia (PPIM) recently should be enough to set off a red flag against a bill of this nature. The poll by PPIM was carried out in response to the Government’s intention to outlaw smoking and vaping for future generations. It found that most respondents agreed that the ban should include other industries like alcohol, gambling, bars, nightclubs, karaoke places and sugary beverages. Clearly, this generation end game creates a slippery slope for other similar forms of legislation that may curtail the operations of legitimate and tax-paying industries. The Government is currently starting with cigarettes and vaping products. Where does it stop? From a legal perspective, when it comes to enacti...

ON April 18, the National Union of Teaching Profession (NUTP) raised alarm over soaring numbers of teachers opting for early retirement.   Its secretary general Wang Heng Suan said that about 10,000 teachers apply for early retirement yearly, which is shockingly equivalent to the number who are falling under mandatory retirement.  “We have requested the Education Ministry to give us the exact details. From our survey, most who are seeking early retirement are either still young or in their mid-50s.   “The trend is worrying because we are losing experienced teachers,”  Free Malaysia Today  reported him as saying.   Asked on the situation, Arunachala Research & Consultancy Sdn Bhd principal consultant R Paneir Selvam queried said the problem was multi-layered and needed MOE’s immediate intervention.   “If I were to sum up the problem, it arose due to MOE’s flip-flop in their policies, which is forcing teachers away from ...

TOUCHING a little on the UK history, because of the “Winter of Discontent” between 1978–1979, when the UK had a series of massive strikes organised by trade unions, the UK Labour Party was deposed in 1979 by the Conservative Party led by Margaret Thatcher.   Following the defeat, the Labour Party experienced internal upheaval, which damaged the party’s position among the public.   However, Neil Kinnock, took over as party leader in 1983 and he immediately initiated the moderation process. Kinnock’s successors as party leaders, John Smith and Tony Blair, carried on with this process.   In the 1997 general election, “armed” with the “New Labour” agenda, along with highly professionalised political marketing and a majority of youthful and female candidates, the Labour Party enjoyed a landslide victory.   Tony Blair was then appointed prime minister at the age of 43, after the Labour Party being out of power for 18 years.  Some of the r...

IN the last general election, Pakatan Harapan (Pakatan) received strong public support. The Sheraton Move, however, eroded public morale on the coalition after Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) betrayed its coalition members and formed Perikatan Nasional with UMNO and PAS.   Political instability followed and coupled with COVID-19, the public have seemingly lost faith in their elected leaders in the past two years. Making matters worse, Pakatan’s series of gaffes following their ouster from Putrajaya eroded public trust on them as well.   Pakatan’s attempts to reclaim power were thwarted after UMNO employed several “correct” strategies. The memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between the Government and Pakatan have indeed brought some level of political stability to the country but it had backfired tremendously on the Opposition’s credibility.   BN vs Pakatan    Last week, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri announced that h...

IN the second part of the article, we shall speak about how Indian leaders, particularly those from MIC, should have clear understanding of the community’s aspirations and why they should never under-estimate young voters. When talking about elections, the important thing is not to promote personalities but to address fundamental issues that have plagued ordinary citizens. Malaysians primarily face socio-economic problems such as rising cost of living, decline in quality of life, unemployment and soaring crime rates. These factors will have a significant impact in determining the outcome of this election. Unfortunately, Indian leaders in the Government and the MIC are debating the same old issues, rather than addressing the community’s future in Malaysia. For example, we seldom hear any MIC leaders speak on international issues such as the Russian-Ukrainian conflict or the rise of Taliban in Afghanistan. One may wonder why addressing such international issues are relevant. Th...

  BASED on indicators, the general election will be held soon. The results of the last four state elections, coupled with the sterling performance of Barisan Nasional (BN), is adding pressure to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob to dissolve the Parliament soon. Some are calling the 15th General Election as the “mother of all elections”. The race between the Government and opposition parties is tight one. This is a make-or-break situation. However, it seems like the mood favours BN. This election is not like the previous one, where the 14th election only pitted two coalitions against one other – BN and Pakatan Harapan (Pakatan). This time, Pakatan is severely weakened following Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia’s (Bersatu) defection and the non-committal mood by Parti Warisan Sabah and Parti Pejuang Tanah Air towards the former. Following its departure from Pakatan, Bersatu has formed a new coalition, Perikatan Nasional (Perikatan) which includes PAS and Gerakan. ...

WITH the  MySejahtera  app issue raging, an expert urged the Government not take the matter lightly as it involves national security.  “The  MySejahtera  app not only have data and tracked movements of private individuals but also of our police officers, politicians and intelligence officers, plus their families too.   “And now we are hearing that a foreign company is a shareholder of the company that created the app. The question is, is this foreign company have any ties to their Government or others?   “If the answer is yes, then we may risk the data being compromised to foreigners,” Arunachala Research & Consultancy Sdn Bhd principal consultant R Paneir Selvam told  FocusM.     On March 26 health portal  Code Blue  revealed that the current sole shareholder of Entomo Malaysia Sdn Bhd – which legally owns the software it used to develop  MySejahtera  – is a company registered and based in ...

IN the last article, I mentioned on the importance of having preventive laws in dealing with terrorists and hate preachers. Here, I wish to state that Malaysia’s situation is not far from the UK. Our security forces have successfully captured suspected Islamic State (ISIS) operatives in the past but in my opinion, the threats posed by the hardened Foreign Terrorist Fighters (FTFs) will be more lethal compare to these “inexperienced” terrorists. The influx of veteran FTFs from battlefields in Syria and Iraq to this region, including Malaysia, will be noxious because they are good in sourcing for funds fund, planning and executing attacks. Furthermore, the radicalised terrorists who are influenced by the hate radical preachers in Malaysia can pose a security threat in the near future, similar to the current situation in UK. Even though this possibility is not so visible now but the potential is still there. Besides, the change of Government can be misused by these hate preachers to insti...