By FAZLY M. FAUZY

I was asked recently to write an article about homosexuality in Islam.

At first I started by trying to look up verses from the Quran, Bible and even those from the Torah on the subject. Why include the Bible and Torah you may ask? The reason primarily being that Islam regards Christians and Jews as “People of the Book” that is that god had given them the Bible and the Torah before the Quran and that there are all from the words of the one god.

In the process of doing so, I found a common thread from the holy books of all three faiths - the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. God had basically turned the city upside down because they engaged in anal sex.

But as I continued to ponder on how I should tackle this subject, I found myself not asking about how homosexuality is regarded in Islam, Christianity and Judaism but rather whether the three religions were still relevant today.

At the crux of my shift in thought was that homosexuality is … Click here for the full article!

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Photo by Dan Law
By KEITH LEONG

The general elections of 8 March 2008 has dramatically and permanently changed the face of Malaysia’s political landscape. Our nation is irrevocably moving towards a two-party system, so all the eyes will be on the existing parties; on how they negotiate the new realities as well as challenges.

This will be the first of a series of personal analyses on the standings and possible directions of the major political parties in Malaysia, starting with Gerakan. I do not claim that my assertions are gospel truth or infallible, but what I have written here and in the future are the honest observations of a relative layperson on the Malaysian political system, which has gotten so much more interesting as of late.

The Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (or just ‘Gerakan’) has been rocked by party stalwart Lee Kah Choon’s decision to quit the party in order to accept several positions in the new Pakatan Rakyat Government of Penang state.

The news is the latest in a series of blows towards the … Click here for the full article!

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Editor’s note: Ignore the added voiceover. There are some inaccuracies in the Malay translation.

What do you think of Mahathir’s comments? Please post comments below.

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Photo by mercuryvapour
By ANDREW WONG

Most people should know by now that the government is now recanting its initial plan to further reduce fuel subsidies in our country.

Even the marginally intelligent observer would recognize this move as a method of appeasing an irked electorate and to rebuild the establishment’s image as a generous and benevolent government.

Yet, I’m truly disappointed with this announcement.

This one moment gifted to the government to come good on its promise of transparent government and accountability, they sell down the river to distribute as an economic handout.

Once again, they misconstrue the demands of the citizens … Click here for the full article!

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By ANA A.

I spent last weekend with some friends in San Francisco. We took three energetic dogs to two different parks, watched cute girls pass us by as we ate lunch at Tartine’s – fabulous bakery on Guerrero and 18th. I had just met one of the girls in our group that day. She and my other friends apparently haven’t seen each other in a while.

In one of our conversations as we were playing chase with the dogs, she mentioned nonchalantly that she believes that all religions are a hoax and that she no longer believes in god. She punctuated her statement by adding she had bacon for breakfast the morning before.

To give you more of a context, the new friend is an ex-Muslim. I stopped petting my friend’s fluffy Chow as I contemplated the news she just broke.

She had asked me if I was a practicing Muslim … Click here for the full article!

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Photo by Tim Parkinson
By EDMUND TEOH

In a lot of ways, the recent election in Malaysia has affected me on a far greater personal level than I could have ever imagined. Yes, as much as I felt the jubilation alongside my fellow Malaysians that we are finally seeing the silver lining for true democracy from the results, I also felt something else that while giving me reason to be optimistic, also complicates the decisions I have to make in the future.

I left Malaysia to pursue my graduate studies for a large part to find a better future outside of it. After going back to Malaysia last year, a proud holder of a BSc in life sciences from one of the world’s most renowned universities, I was quickly humbled by the fact that in Malaysia that meant very little.

I was part of the cadre of students who had hoped to pursue a career in the biological sciences after knowing about our government’s plans to develop the bio-science industry with the proposal of the Biovalley back in 2003. Much to the chagrin of my peers and I, the initial Biovalley development collapsed … Click here for the full article!

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