Category Archives: Muslims

Shame, thewest.com.au – Shame!

I acknowledge from the outset that I am no fan of The West Australian newspaper. This rag has peddled blatant pro-conservative propaganda in the guise of an “Editorial” for as long as I can remember. Not to mention their “feature writers” like the big-headed, self-righteous arch-conservative foghorn, Paul Murray (although, one upside of having Murray around is this crack-up of a thread from local blog The Worst Of Perth).

Indeed, the anti-ALP bias of The West Australian was so extreme in the lead-up to the recent WA state election that in a post-victory interview, outgoing Lib Matt Birney was moved to chastise the West journos for carrying on a personal vendetta against ALP ministers who had raised their ire during the Carpenter reign. Birney is not known for handing the ALP any bouquets. Hats off to him for speaking up. It is some measure of the extremity of The West’s bias that he – a political beneficiary of their propaganda – should feel moved to speak out publicly as he did. Continue reading Shame, thewest.com.au – Shame!

Malaysia 2007 – Surprises and Highlights

My Malaysian blogs are almost at an end. I have focused on the aspects of our journey that were of most interest to me, and in so doing have left out much I could have mentioned. I’ll leave comprehensive coverage of “the sights” to the travel guides; the following is but a brief summary of personal highlights and impressions I want to record in closing. Continue reading Malaysia 2007 – Surprises and Highlights

Malaysia’s Modern Muslims – Leave Your Stereotypes At Home

When we aired the possibility that we were considering visiting Malaysia rather than our initial choice, Thailand, we encountered the same stern objection from several well-meaning friends: “The Muslims”. We were warned that Aussies don’t go to Malaysia any more because “The Muslims” hate the West and are inhospitable and rude to travellers from Western countries. Since most of the folk who offered us this advice acknowledged that it derived from hearsay rather than personal experience, we decided to take our chances. Continue reading Malaysia’s Modern Muslims – Leave Your Stereotypes At Home