DAPHNE Iking once wanted to be a doctor, but she changed her mind when a teacher told her she had a knack for storytelling and writing. She says her father was not too keen on her decision to do a Mass Communications degree, so she paid her own way through university. Iking recalls her father [...]

Go not to the temple to put flowers upon the feet of God, First fill your own house with the fragrance of Love. – Rabindranath Tagore MY first reaction to the news that a church was attacked was one of disbelief. Most East Malaysians, I think, would be confused as to why this is even [...]

(Festive image by ba1969 / sxc.hu) THE build-up to Malaysia’s 46th birthday began this year, for me, with an argument between two acquaintances. A West Malaysian acquaintance said the prevailing notion that Malaysia is 52 years old, versus its actual birth in 1963, is a matter of interpretation. An East Malaysian acquaintance angrily pointed out [...]

The prime minister’s office in Putrajaya (Public domain; source: Wiki commons) PETALING JAYA, 30 June 2009: Malay Malaysians are the group least ready to accept a non-male, non-Malay or non-Muslim as prime minister, a Merdeka Center for Opinion Research survey has found. Of the 2,518 randomly selected Malaysian youths aged between 20 and 35 polled [...]

WHEN we think about the logging industry, it’s not usually in a flattering light. Logging, especially in East Malaysia, has a reputation for being fraught with unethical practices: corruption, unsustainable destruction of ecosystems, and disregard for the land rights of indigenous peoples. Last year, allegations of sexual abuse of Penan women and schoolgirls in Baram [...]

Illustration of Dayak people, dated 1864 (Public domain; source: Wikipedia.org) SARAWAK’S Dayaks seldom feature with any significance in the national imagination of Malaysia, and certainly do not make headlines in the national media. This reflects the political marginalisation of the Dayaks in their home state.  The Dayaks collectively make up nearly half the state’s population, [...]