DATIN Paduka Marina Mahathir is a renowned and often controversial Malaysian activist, writer, and commentator. She has worked in a variety of fields, from heading the Malaysian AIDS Council, to kicking off the successful feminist television programme 3R, to holding a bi-weekly column in The Star. She is currently a board member for Muslim women’s [...]

THERE is much beauty and commonality in the diverse religious traditions that Malaysians devote themselves to. Iranian photojournalist Nafise Motlaq captures this in her book A Given Path: Harmonious Spiritual Practices in Malaysia. Nafise, who has been living in Malaysia since 2005 and is currently a PhD student at a local university, offers more than [...]

WHAT better day to unveil The Nut Graph‘s Found in Malaysia book than on Malaysia Day on 16 Sept 2010 last week. The book is after all, a compilation of interviews with prominent Malaysians of different lineage on what their Malaysian identity means. Found in Malaysia, published by ZI Publications and now available in good [...]

IT so happened that this Ramadan I had to take an 18-hour flight to Vancouver to attend the wedding of a close friend’s only daughter. I wouldn’t normally choose to travel during Ramadan but it was a rare opportunity to see my friend’s happiness as she saw her daughter married off. I did tell a [...]

ON 25 July 2010, The Nut Graph and three experts grappled with what needs to be done to restore our public education through the forum Found in Conversation: Creativity and Innovation in Education. On the panel were educator and dancer-choreographer Datin Marion D’Cruz, 3R executive producer and social commentator Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir, and Learning [...]

VARIOUS concerns about Malaysia’s education system emerged from the The Nut Graph‘s latest forum, Found in Conversation: Creativity and Innovation in Education. But they all centred on a key and not unfamiliar complaint: that education is too politicised. Whether concerns were about the curriculum, the lack of critical thinking, obsession with scoring As, lack of [...]