SOCIAL SOCIAL & HUMANITIES CONFERENCE

International Conference of

Alternative Perspectives in the Humanities and the Social Sciences:
Development and Conflict

Kanchanaburi, Thailand
(October 1-5, 2010)

Host Organizations:
- The Guild of Independent Scholars

- The Journal of Postcolonial Cultures and Societies

- The Journal of Contemporary Literature

- JAPSS Press

The First International Conference of Alternative Perspectives in the
Humanities and the Social Sciences will be held in Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand.
It will be held at the beautiful

Banrimkwae Paerimnam Hotel.

Topic for the Conference:

Conflict and Development:

Challenges and Opportunities for Change.

Included in the Registration Fee:

• Transportation from and to the Airport from the Conference Venue
• 5 Prominent Keynote Speakers in the fields of conflict and developmentConference fee will include room and board
• Best conference papers will be published in one of three edited books
• All accepted papers will be included in the published conference proceedings
• Tours will be provided to the famous Bridge over the River Kwai
• Registration Fee: $380 (4 days of conference and three nights of hotel)
• Registration for 1 day option and for local participants $40 (does not include room and board)
• Virtual Registration: For those who cannot physically attend the conference: Includes: Accepted papers will be published in edited volume about Development and Conflict and a hard copy will be send by mail to contributors. In addition to that, contributors may send a ten minute recorded presentation to be shown during the conference. Fee: $90
• All Participants will receive a certificate of participation suitable for framing
• All Participants will receive a paperback copy of the conference proceedings
• Abstract proposals are welcomed and will be submitted to double blind peer review. Deadline for submission: May 20, 2010
• To submit a proposal please fill out the following form. Once a proposal is accepted those interested in having their full papers published in an edited volume or in the conference proceedings should send their papers to the following e-mail addresseditor@journal.vpweb.com (papers should follow APA format for references)
• Important: Participants are required to wear an academic gown, full academic regalia is recommended, during their presentations (please let us know in advance if you need us to lend you a generic gown for your presentation)
• Presentations will be professionally recorded and will be available through internet flash video from the conference web-site.

Comment:

Those interested please surf the website for registration...

http://www.japss.org/Conference.html

Merry Christmas to all,





..and may all your work,
and everything flow freely
this Holiday Season!!!..

'M'sia is Zimbabwe by another name'

Hazlan Zakaria
Dec 20, 09
Malaysiakini.com

Without mincing his words, political analyst Abdul Aziz Bari likened those who hold the reins of power in Malaysia to a bunch of 'thugs'.

According to him, these individuals do as they please without proper regard for the law of the land and the percepts laid down in the federal constitution.

"We are like Zimbabwe, just with another name!" stressed the law expert.

Zimbabwe under President Robert Mugabe has earned international infamy over it's questionable policies and use of the legal system and laws to prop up the government.

Elaborating, Abdul Aziz said: "I don't know how else to call them, sometimes we need to call a spade, a spade. What we have is a state of lawlessness, it's like the law of the jungle."

He pointed to the recent overturning of the high court decision regarding the Malaysian Anti Corruption Agency's (MACC) right to interrogate beyond office hours as a glaring example.

"It is painful to hear the court of appeal decision. They are using the provision to overrule the high court, saying it is silent on the matter," he told Malaysiakini.

'Judiciary takes its cue from government'

According to the UIA law professor, the court of appeal's recent decision "is a lame decision and in itself a failure to carry out the court's role, namely to fill the gap left by parliament in the statute."

Abdul Aziz is adamant that "the high court decision is to be preferred as it is closer to justice and the spirit of the constitution."

"It is for the court to fill the gap by making a decision that is closer to fairness and justice," he added, though he bemoaned that in Malaysia, "the judiciary takes its cue from the government."

"When you have a judiciary like what we have, what can we do? In normal circumstances you go to court to compel the parties who refuse to do its legal duty to do it. But not in our case," he said.

What is worse, according to Abdul Aziz, Barisan Nasional is "undermining or simply could not care less about the constitution."

"BN has demonstrated complete disregard for the rule of law and supremacy of the constitution, either the letter or the spirit of it," he said.

Abdul Aziz contends that the Reid Commission's original intent was to propagate federalism, this he said permeates through the entirety of the constitution with the express delineation of powers to the state and the federal government.

On a micro scale, he added, this framework of federalism included the issue of the petroleum royalties and funding for states.

Umno warlords stumbling block to change

Abdul Aziz believes that the BN government is clearly going against the constitution when it set up the JPP (Federal Development Department) which is ultra vires of the defined rights of the states.

He explained that the state has rights to certain grants and funding the federal government sans such 'intermediaries'.

The use of the Emergency Ordinance to define territorial waters in the Kelantan oil royalty issue, he said, is another example of the BN government's disregard for the law.

"Why not refer to the Petroleum Act or the Law of The Sea?" he asked.

In a similar vein, he also criticised the federal government's 'play acting' in making much ado when giving assistance and aid during natural disasters to opposition held states,

"Why the furore, it is their duty anyway, as described in the constitution," he said.

According to Abdul Aziz, this rot of lawlessness goes right down to BN's core which is Umno.

He is of the opinion that the Umno warlords cannot be reformed and as long as they exists, Umno cannot be reformed.

"They simply don't want to do it," he said.

Comment:
As Lord Acton said, Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Prof Aziz convinces the public that UMNO leaders can bring about a better Malaysia if they want, but they refuse to do so. Power interests prevail over public interests. Status quo is preserved and it is going to be there as long as UMNO remains in power. The draconian laws in this country, the injustice that u see every day and the corrupt leaders are there to preserve this 'Zimbabwe' style of ruling. Wonder how 1 Malaysia is going to be adapted to this oppresing regime.

Modul BTN rencam, tidak rasional — Muhammad Hilman Idham

The Malaysian Insider Dec 12, 2009

DIS 11 — ISU Biro Tata Negara (BTN) sudah menjadi bualan setiap anggota masyarakat lebih-lebih lagi apabila berlaku pertarungan mulut Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz dan bekas Perdana Menteri Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. Idea dan cadangan Kabinet negara untuk melakukan rombakan modul berkenaan mendapat tentangan Dr Mahathir yang mempertahankan bahawa ia baik dan tidak perlu dirombak.

Idea Dr Mahathir ini kemudian mendapat sokongan kebanyakan pimpinan Umno termasuk Timbalan Perdana Menteri sendiri.

Solidariti Mahasiswa Malaysia (SMM) turut mengeluarkan kenyataan pendirian berkenaan isu ini. Mungkin ramai yang menganggap bahawa mahasiswa sekadar ingin turut campur hal-hal politik.

Namun, saya berpandangan bahawa mahasiswa bertanggungjawab untuk turut bersuara menyatakan pendirian mereka kerana mahasiswa adalah antara kumpulan sasaran yang dikehendaki untuk menghadiri sesi BTN.

Suara mahasiswa kali ini selari dengan suara kebanyakan mantan pengendali BTN bahawa BTN adalah program yang tidak sihat. Penuh dengan hal-hal perkauman, memecahbelahkan masyarakat serta menekan peserta untuk taklid pada pihak-pihak tertentu.

BTN adalah sebuah program yang saya kira relevan jika dijalankan dengan modul dan cara implementasi yang baik dan penuh tanggungjawab untuk membangunkan semangat patriotisme dalam kalangan masyarakat khususnya anak muda. Namun, malang kerana ia tidak begitu.

Kebanyakan mahasiswa yang menghadiri program ini kecewa kerana unsur-unsur perkauman masih lagi wujud. Mungkin pengendali belum sedar bahawa landskap politik sudah berubah dan idea-idea perkauman ini sudah mula ditolak keras oleh sebahagian besar masyarakat termasuk juga parti-parti komponen dalam Barisan Nasional.

Namun ada juga mahasiswa yang tidak bersetuju dengan usaha dan pendirian SMM untuk memboikot program BTN ini atas alasan pernah menghadiri dan ia ternyata menarik untuk mahasiswa.

Program BTN mempunyai pelbagai modul dan cara implementasi yang berbeza mengikut latar belakang peserta.

Penyertaan daripada peserta yang keseluruhannya Melayu akan mendapat layanan dan cara kendalian yang berbeza dengan penyertaan peserta yang keseluruhannya rencam dengan keterlibatan pelbagai kaum. Hal ini yang berlaku dalam BTN.

Namun, SMM tetap dengan prinsip menolak segala manipulasi dan agenda perkauman sempit bagi kepentingan sesetengah pihak. Idea membenci sesetengah individu juga adalah perkara yang ditolak kerana ia adalah menggunakan program agensi kerajaan ini sebagai alat untuk meraih sokongan.

Mahasiswa sebagai masyarakat kampus yang terpelajar seharusnya bijak dan sudah layak untuk menyatakan pendirian dan pandangan mereka.

Penolakan BTN dibuat atas dasar penolakan agenda perkauman yang dibawa, idea-idea yang memecahbelahkan masyarakat dan penggunaan agensi kerajaan sebagai alat untuk meraih sokongan politik.

Harus dibezakan parti politik dan kerajaan.

Ini adalah hasil daripada pengalaman kebanyakan mahasiswa yang telah menghadiri program berkenaan.

Sekiranya tetap mahu dipertahankan, ia tidak menjadi masalah yang besar. Sebaliknya kerajaan harus bersedia untuk mendedahkan modul dan cara implementasi yang diguna pakai dalam program ini.

Masyarakat saya kira sudah cukup matang untuk menilai dengan sendirinya.

Mahasiswa juga tidak melihat apa rasionalnya untuk mewajibkan penerima tajaan dan biasiswa kerajaan serta mahasiswa yang akan ke luar negara untuk menghadiri program berkenaan.

Pasti ada sebab mengapa mereka diwajibkan penyertaannya, namun ia tetap ditolak sekiranya ternyata ia dimanipulasikan untuk kepentingan politik pihak tertentu.

Oleh itu, atas semangat reformasi kepada perubahan yang lebih baik dan cocok dengan keadaan dan situasi semasa, saya kira relevan untuk dirombak dan dikaji semula.

Malah, sekiranya turut terbukti bahawa BTN tidak sihat dan digunakan sebagai alat untuk meraih sokongan pihak-pihak tertentu maka ia harus terus dimansuhkan segera.

Muhammad Hilman Idham merupakan pemimpin Solidariti Mahasiswa Malaysia

Komen:

Ramai sudah anak muda dan anggota perkhidmatan awam yang menyertai kurus BTN. Semua mereka telah melalui proses indoktrinasi yang sedemikian rupa. Daripada beberapa komen yang dihamburkan dengan imej negatif program ini ia telah melambangkan beberapa perkara seperti berikut..

1. Modul yang disediakan tidak dipatuhi... dan jika dipatuhi maka ternyata ia jelik. Daripada berbagai sungutan yang dihamburkan ternyata ia racist, jumud, dangkal dan sarat emosi.

2. Jika Dr. M atau YB lain mempertahankan modul ini, ada kemungkinan fasilitator tidak mematuhi modul yang disediakan. YB semua merasakan modul sudah cukup baik (pun tidak dapat dipastikan mereka sudah memeriksanya atau tidak) namun fasilitator yang bertindak bak lebih senduk dari kuah.

3. Atau apakah mereka tidak mahu mengaku bahawa BTN bukan untuk negara tetapi untuk pemeliharaan status quo. Agak mendukacitakan jika yang dipilih menjadi fasilitator terdiri dari anggota parti yang jumud. Mereka tidak mahu perbincangan atau tidak menerima bantahan mahupun kritikan peserta progam. Peserta yang mempersoal ajaran, akan dipenalise dalam program, menjadikan ia sunyi dari perbincangan.

4. Fasilitator hanya dilatih dengan ditanam matlamat mereka, tetapi tidak disediakan dengan pendidikan bermutu dalam pengajaran, psikologi pendidikan, asas pedagogi, berwacana secara sihat atau sekurang-kurangnya menerima budaya berwacana dan sederhana dalam perbincangan. Mereka sarat dengan emosi dan enggan memberi alasan atau respons yang rasional apabila dibantah oleh peserta.

Banyak lagi yang boleh dibangkitkan. BTN disuarakan akan disusun semula, ini juga sebagai lambang satu penerimaan hakikat secara tidak rasmi bahawa mereka tidak langsung bersifat One Malaysia.

To those interested.. pls.. help yrself..

Applications invited from Asian Civil Society Professionals for the Asia Leadership Fellow Program 2010

The International House of Japan and the Japan Foundation is currently accepting applications for the 2010 Asia Leadership Fellow Program (ALFP). The ALFP is an opportunity for individuals working in the civil society/NGO sector in Asia to gain increased professional understanding about related issues through workshops, seminars, the retreat meeting, field trips and the public symposium.

The Program will be held in Tokyo, Japan for a period of nearly one month and has been scheduled from 12 September to 13 November 2010. The theme of the program is “Asia in Dialogue: Visions and Actions for a Humane Society.”

The fellowship includes a round trip airfare to and from Tokyo, daily allowance to cover accommodation, meals and other incidentals, medical insurance during the stay and other costs related to group activities such field trip and retreat.

Eligible candidates can be from Northeast-,Southeast-and South Asian countries and should be between the age group 35-59 years. Although it is not necessary to have a postgraduate degree, but the candidate should have a good command over English and should demonstrate outstanding leadership ability or potential in his/her profession.

The application form can be downloaded from the link given below. The deadline to submit applications is 11 January 2010. For more information, visit this link.

http://www.i-house.or.jp/en/ProgramActivities/alfp/Call_for_applications2010.htm

The fellowship includes a round trip airfare to and from Tokyo, daily allowance to cover accommodation, meals and other incidentals, medical insurance during the stay and other costs related to group activities such field trip and retreat.

Eligible candidates can be from Northeast-,Southeast-and South Asian countries and should be between the age group 35-59 years. Although it is not necessary to have a postgraduate degree, but the candidate should have a good command over English and should demonstrate outstanding leadership ability or potential in his/her profession.

The application form can be downloaded from the link given below. The deadline to submit applications is 11 January 2010. For more information, visit this link.