TAN Sri Rafidah Aziz, 68, has been a towering figure in Malaysian politics for the past three decades. Born in Selama, Perak, in 1943, she became at age 30 Member of Parliament for Kuala Kangsar, and remains the incumbent. In 1987, she was appointed international trade and industry minister. Her political career has not been [...]

HOW many non-Muslims do you know who fast during Ramadan? And why would they? So far, I’ve found two non-Muslims who are conscientiously fasting the whole of Ramadan. Of these two, one fasts the Muslim way, eating only at sahur and iftar in accordance with the Muslim prayer times. The other doesn’t follow the fasting [...]

IS it a coincidence that the rhetoric used by both Umno and Perkasa, in support of Malay Malaysian privileges and the right to use “Allah”, is so similar? Or perhaps there is no such thing as a coincidence?

“I don’t see anything wrong in allowing Ahmad to come back and serve the party. “Even Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Lim Guan Eng have served jail sentences before returning to contest and being elected as member of parliament and chief minister respectively. “Ahmad has been penalised and the party felt that his suspension should [...]

DATUK Seri Najib Razak‘s assertion over the weekend that only “one or two Umno leaders” have made racist comments and that they do not represent the party’s views belies belief.    Umno’s top leaders have in fact publicly and repeatedly championed the Malay agenda over the legitimate interests of other Malaysians. In some instances, intimidation [...]

CHEE Sek Thim used to be based in Petaling Jaya, shuttling back to Penang on a monthly basis. But over the past one year, the reverse has been happening after he moved back to his family home. Chee, a theatre practitioner and art educator, is rediscovering his home state of Penang. The shift to Penang [...]