DATUK Faridah Merican has been in the arts scene for more than 50 years and is considered a pioneer of the Malaysian theatre industry. With her husband, director Joe Hasham, the “first lady of the stage” co-founded The Actors Studio in 1989. She and Joe also head the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre (KLPac), which [...]

Pada 15 Dis 2010, muncul sebuah video di YouTube yang memaparkan Azwan Ismail, 32, seorang lelaki Malaysia Melayu-Muslim, di mana dia menyatakan, “Saya gay, saya ok.”

ON 15 Dec 2010, 32 year-old Azwan Ismail, a Malay-Muslim Malaysian, posted a video on YouTube in which he declared, “I am gay and I’m OK.” One week later, he told the media that he feared for his life. And who could blame him? He now has the de facto minister of religion, the Perak [...]

SHE is a law graduate and co-owns a clothes boutique. But Yunalis Zarai, who is more popularly recognised as just Yuna, is better known as the current darling of Malaysia’s independent music scene. The 24-year-old began writing her own songs when she was 14 and has not looked back since. After releasing her self-titled EP [...]

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 [...]

SERDANG member of Parliament Teo Nie Ching came under attack recently for visiting and speaking inside the prayer area of a surau on 22 Aug 2010. Umno and Perkasa leaders have accused her of desecrating the surau and not respecting the sanctity of Muslim houses of worship. Is this merely politics? Just what does Islam say about allowing non-Muslims inside mosques and suraus?