BUM : Bloggers Universe Malaysia

News release on upcoming BUM conference on May 22 at Subang Jaya :
http://bum4msia.wordpress.com/

Extracts : 
BUM 2010 on May 22
The bloggers’ event of the year – popularly referred to as Bloggers Universe Malaysia or ‘BUM 2010’ – will be held on Saturday, May 22 at the Lake View Club, Subang Jaya.

Themed ‘Bloggers moving Malaysia forward’, BUM2010 will feature Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim in a keynote address, and also the Minister of Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing, Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin in a special presentation on Internet-related issues.

This year’s event, fourth in the BUM series, is also to mark World Press Freedom Day which fell on May 3. It is organised by the Centre for Policy Initiatives (CPI) in association with All-Blogs (the national alliance of bloggers) and a group of socio-political bloggers. According to BUM2010 organising chairman YL Chong a.k.a. Desiderata, the bloggers in the organising committee serve in their individual capacity and do not represent any specific political interests.
Chong also notes that both sides of the political divide are represented with the participation of Pakatan’s Khalid and Barisan’s Raja Nong Chik.

There will be three panel discussions on current topics of interest.

The noon session in Bahasa Malaysia titled ‘The ‘Allah’ issue: Various perspectives’ will feature Haris Ibrahim of The People’s Parliament, Khalid Samad, MP for Shah Alam and Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, lawyer.

The evening forum titled ‘Bloggers Role in bridging the religious divide’ will feature Kuala Selangor MP Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad, Seputeh MP Teresa Kok MP and Human Rights Party pro-tem secretary P. Uthayakumar.

All the sessions will have a Q & A to encourage audience participation.

CPI director Dr Lim Teck Ghee predicts, “This is likely to be a day full of hotly contested opinions and points of view on key divisive issues confronting Malaysia. But we believe that the presentations and dialogue can serve as the basis for clearer thinking rather than the muddled-headed pronouncements and political spinning that has been so prevalent.”

More details and registration to attend are at the link posted above