Rare mass rally in Singapore demands immigration curbs

More than 1,000 Singaporeans attended the city-state's biggest protest rally in recent memory Saturday, amid growing public indignation over predictions of a surging foreign population.

The peaceful rally, held at an officially designated protest zone, was staged by a civic group after the government said foreigners could account for nearly half of the densely packed island's population in less than 20 years.

Organisers estimated the crowd at 3,000, but AFP reporters on the scene said between 1,000 and 1,500 people had taken part despite afternoon downpours, making it the biggest protest in Singapore in recent years.

Tax fizzy drinks and ban junk food ads, say doctors

By James Gallagher Health and science reporter, BBC News

Fizzy drinks should be heavily taxed and junk food adverts banished until after the watershed, doctors have said, in a call for action over obesity.

The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, which represents nearly every doctor in the UK, said ballooning waistlines already constituted a "huge crisis".

Its report said current measures were failing and called for unhealthy foods to be treated more like cigarettes.

Mahathir enters fray as Malaysia braces for poll

KUALA LUMPUR: As Malaysia approaches its tightest election in half a century, the opposition activist Ambiga Sreenevasan has shrugged off calls for her to be stripped of her Malaysian citizenship.

''This will be the dirtiest election ever because it is the most closely fought … Cheating and fraud could be the deciding factor,'' Ms Ambiga, who heads Bersih, a group campaigning for free and fair polling, said.

"This will be the dirtiest election ever because it is the most closely fought."

Migrants in politics and the Borneo Xenophobia

By Nilakrisna James

Xenophobia is a morbid fear of foreigners. At the heart of Sabah and Sarawak lies a deep distrust of foreign people, foreign cultures and foreign intrusion. It has formed the backdrop of our policies and Federal-State relations the past half a century; a crippling phobia that may never end and which may mar the judgments of all present and future political representatives that we send to parliament. This will be the downfall of the Borneo states.

It is this deep distrust of foreigners that made us afraid of Malaya in the first place but when it came to the White People (“Orang Putih”), we treated them as rajahs or masters. Yet, one of the same colour and stock can never be our superior and to this day the descendants of head hunters and migrants refuse to bow to a brown authority.

Will the Malays trust Anwar Ibrahim?

By Jey San

I don’t think so. Anwar Ibrahim as the de facto leader of the opposition appears to be just another politican who continues to maneuver to ensure that his own ambition to be the Prime Minster of Malaysia is fulfilled.

Most of Malay community felt sorry for him during his incarceration in 1998 when he had ambitiously tried to overthrow Mahathir, similar to how he had toppled Ghafar Baba for the deputy president’s post in Umno with his American-style campaign within the Umno faction.

10 reasons why we must vote in GE 13

We are into the final lap of what must be the most hotly contested general elections in our nation’s 56-year history and one that many would consider to be a pivotal one.

To many, the contest is between the incumbent ruling coalition, the Barisan Nasional (BN) and the opposition coalition of Pakatan Rakyat (PR). To some the choice is between Najib and Anwar whilst to others it is between maintaining the status quo or change.

But I want to put it to you that this election is not about BN or PR. Why? For usually in any contest, the winner is the one with the better skills, strategy, funds and luck even. But in an election, the winner or loser is decided not by the contending parties but by the audience or in this case the voters.

SA Senator Nick Xenophon in custody in Malaysia over meetings with pro-democracy MPs

EXCLUSIVE: Independent Senator Nick Xenophon is being detained under police guard and awaiting deportation from Malaysia as an "enemy of the state", over a series of planned meetings with pro-democracy MPs in Kuala Lumpur. 

Senator Xenophon landed in KL this morning but has been under armed guard for the past two hours. He is being held in an interrogation room at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, which has a series of adjoining cells holding female prisoners.

He has been told he is not allowed to make telephone calls and is not even allowed to go to the bathroom without a police guard.

Can Najib guarantee Sabah’s security?

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Stop Dr M before he burns M’sia, says Bishop

The vocal Bishop Paul Tan wants the government
to act against the former premier and all those
who stoke racial and religious tension.

KUALA LUMPUR: Once the object of love and veneration but now hate and denigration, Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s constant outbursts have made him one of the most criticised individuals in this nation.

And even on Valentine’s Day, it is brickbats and not bouquets for the former premier.

Ironically, Mahathir who threw scores of people behind bars without trial on the basis of national security is now considered to be a threat himself.

And his unrestrained remarks on sensitive issues had earned him the wrath of a vocal senior clergyman as well.

‘Tentera Diraja Kesultanan Sulu’ Sebalik Pencerobohan Bersenjata Di Sabah

KUALA LUMPUR : Satu kumpulan yang mendakwa mahu mengembalikan semula tuntutan Filipina ke atas Sabah dipercayai menjadi dalang di sebalik pencerobohan kira-kira 100 warga asing bersenjata ke Lahad Datu, Sabah, seorang pegawai Moro dipetik sebagai berkata.

“Laporan belum disahkan dari sumber-sumber kami berkata bahawa satu kumpulan yang menggelar diri mereka Tentera Diraja Kesultanan Sulu adalah di sebalik kehadiran kumpulan bersenjata yang tidak dibenarkan itu,” kata satu sumber yang enggan mendedahkan identiti kepada akhbar Gulf News.

Menurut laporan, kumpulan lelaki bersenjata terbabit yang menaiki beberapa bot kecil telah mendarat di Lahad Datu, Selasa lalu dan kini sedang berdepan secara ketenteraan dengan pasukan keselamatan negara.