The Election Commission clearly recognises that the large job of redelineation and reform, which is now in the offing, will require mature, serious consideration and the involvement of all stakeholders. For that reason, Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar, the EC's Deputy Chairman went before the Pakatan Rakyat-aligned Bar Council to air ideas and solicit feedback.

Transparency and bipartisan input are the key words of the day.

Wan Ahmad mooted the idea of a mixed-proportional representation system such as New Zealand offers, to address complaints about imbalances between the popular vote and the seat results in our first-past-the-post system; and also rubbished claims that seats were malapportioned to provide Barisan Nasional a permanent advantage in elections.

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng cannot accuse his opponents of making political capital out of the tragic loss of life resulting from the collapse of an incomplete flyover ramp of the Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway Thursday.

Because this is exactly what he has been guilty of less than 48 hours after the tragic events. During a visit to the scene Friday he unsubtly mentioned both the role of the Penang Island Municipal Council in the construction project and the involvement of all the three levels of government.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has reiterated the crucial role that women must play in Malaysia's transformation if the country is to meet its targets as a sustainable, fully developed economy by 2020.

Speaking in a keynote address at the 23rd Global Summit of Women, Najib made it clear that he wants to see at least 55 per cent of Malaysian women joining the workforce over the next three years – a substantial increase from the current 47 per cent figure.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, the founder of 1Malaysia and the Global Movement of Moderates, never tires of reminding us just how special our racial and ethnic diversity is. Sadly, the price he has paid for his unwavering stance has been that the Opposition derided these projects during the heated GE13 campaign.

However, the situation in Myanmar serves as a reminder that we should not take our harmony and tolerance here in Malaysia for granted. There, the Muslim minority (about four percent of the 60 million people) are the subject of a terror campaign involving marauding Buddhist gangs – burning villages in rural areas and attacking shops and small businesses in urban areas.