After six months, Umno decides it won popular vote in GE13

It must have been a busy six months at the Umno headquarters because they finally calculated and decided that Barisan Nasional, and not Pakatan Rakyat, won the popular vote in the May 5 general election.

The way Umno president Datuk Seri Najib Razak puts it, the Barisan Nasional (BN) won the popular vote in nine states compared to PR's four states.

And the Prime Minister also said Umno as a party got more votes than any of PR's three parties - PKR, DAP and PAS. Let's not forget Umno also gained nine more seats in Election 2013.

Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, Malaysian To Be Caned For Drinking Beer, Gets Ramadan Reprieve

This is an old story but we could learn a lot about our country and its legislation. What is wrong with these people. 

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — The first woman in Muslim-majority Malaysia to face caning for drinking beer was reprieved Monday because of the holy month of Ramadan. Her family said she would rather get the thrashing with a rattan cane now and put the ordeal behind her.

Islamic officials had taken Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, a 32-year-old mother of two, into custody and were driving her to a women's prison for the caning when they abruptly turned around and sent her back to her family home in northern Malaysia.

"She feels like a football being kicked around," Kartika's father, Shukarno Abdul Muttalib, told The Associated Press. "She's so exhausted and unhappy with the delay. She would prefer to just receive the six strokes and have everything finished."

Amnesty International, Malaysian lawyers and some politicians have condemned the sentence, while other critics have warned it would tarnish Malaysia's image as a moderate country. Islamic officials have defended it as necessary to uphold Islamic values – underscoring tensions between religious conservatives and more liberal and secular elements in society.