IF you’re a Malaysian reading this, you will have seen what happened at Bersih 3.0. Whether or not you were in Kuala Lumpur on 28 April, or glued to Facebook or Twitter, you must have encountered images, videos, or reports of the colossal rally that started as a festive sit-in and ended in tear gas. [...]

THE 31 March 2012 seminar for Pendidikan Islam teachers at the Johor education department, which originally claimed a Christian threat to Muslims, raises important ironies and questions. In a pluralistic public space, who gets to claim what, and why? Hwa Yue-Yi writes in her column, Work in Progress.

IF only voting were easy. For one thing, I’m still waiting for the Election Commission (EC) secretariat to tell me why my absent voter application was rejected. If the EC eventually approves my application — or if the elections coincide with my summer research at home — and if intra-party seat allocations don’t change, I’ll [...]

IN his commentary on the National Union of Journalists’ proposed “fair reporting pledge”, former MySinchew editor Bob Teoh urged journalists to refrain from unethical reporting. He noted that fair reporting might come at a cost, whether in increased union dues or decreased chances of promotion. Teoh’s sentiments about both the possibility and the price of [...]

NEW year, new you? Not if you’re national identity in Malaysia, it would seem. We ended last year with disputes over Article 153 provisions for bumiputera special privileges and began this one with discussions of a Race Relations Bill, hurtfully racialised statements, ethnocentric election strategising and accusations of religious subversion. Said Zahari’s 1969 poem comes [...]

I WOULDN’T normally consider myself an outlaw. Last month, for example, I submitted another deferment request for the six-year-old National Service summons that I have yet to fulfil because of school calendars. I also don’t buy pirated DVDs. But recently I have found myself among the many in a position where democratic citizenship conflicts with [...]