“MAHU layanan kelas pertama, tapi belikan minyak wangi kita cuma di Petaling Street saja”. Komen sinis dari para ibu yang perlu difikirkan. Berat sungguh jawatan sebagai “Isteri”. Banyak portfolio yang dipegang dan KPInya harus sentiasa cemerlang, kalau boleh, 100 peratus, tidak boleh kurang! Biasanya dianggap tugas dan portfolio seorang isteri adalah : i) Teman setia: Sentiasa beri […]
PJ leaseholders possibly entitled to freehold titles
Ampersand by KW Mak
I HAD previously raised the issue of leasehold titles in Petaling Jaya (PJ) possibly being invalid and house owners being entitled to freehold titles based on historical records. The Section 4 Rukun Tetangga committee subsequently held a signature campaign and wrote to Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim for an appointment to resolve the […]
Keeping subsidies: Caring or irresponsible?
By Gan Pei LingIs it caring or irresponsible of the government to maintain government subsidies? Our government seems undecided. On one hand, RON95 and diesel prices have been maintained “for the people’s sake”, despite the heavy subsidy cost. On the other hand, electricity tariffs have been raised because it would be “irresponsible” of the government to keep the people happy but make them suffer in the long-term. So, which is it?
“There’s nothing to stop us from being Malaysian first”
By Deborah Loh
(Corrected at 1:20pm, 7 June 2011) THE vocal and articulate Lim Kit Siang many of us know in Parliament, through his blog and from news reports, is reticent when it comes to talking about himself. The veteran politician is slow to reveal what makes him tick or where he draws his ideals and inspirations from. […]
Nasihat tentang politik
Secubit Garam oleh Shanon Shah
SUNGGUH berdebar-debar jantung saya apabila mendengar desas-desus bahawa pilihanraya umum bakal diadakan di Malaysia. Di celah-celah menulis esei penghujung penggal di London, saya tergedik-gedik melayari internet demi mengikuti perkembangan politik di Malaysia. Sepertimana yang saya jangkakan, penulis kolumnis kegemaran saya, Kak Nora, juga mempunyai komen tentang suhu politik yang semakin meningkat. Ikutilah selanjutnya: Sayap Puteri, […]
Life before Malaysia
By Ding Jo-Ann
TAN SRI Simon Sipaun counts himself fortunate to be alive today. “My parents had five children, but only two survived…I was the third child and first to survive,” he recounts in an e-mail interview on 1 April 2011. Sipaun not only survived, but went on to win scholarships to Victoria University, New Zealand and Oxford […]
How Sarawakians became Malaysians
By Shanon Shah
THE normative story of Malaysia goes something like this: in 1961, the newly independent Federation of Malaya’s Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman, suggested the formation of a wider federation. This would consist of Malaya, Singapore, Brunei, Sarawak and Sabah. Malayans and Singaporeans agreed, but Sabahans and Sarawakians were not wholly convinced. Neighbouring Philippines objected, asserting […]
Osama’s death: Nothing to celebrate
Reductio ad Absurdum By Chan Kheng Hoe
THE world was taken by surprise on 2 May 2011 with the announcement that Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden had been killed. Some mourned, whilst others cheered. And to a few, the death brought closure to the 11 Sept 2001 attacks on New York’s World Trade Centre. But what was the thinking behind US President […]
When will Taib really go?
By Ding Jo-Ann
IN the lead-up to the Sarawak elections, the prime minister and his deputy went all out to convince voters that Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud would step down after the state election because he was “ready”. But what does “after” and “ready” really mean? Is it “someday” as the deputy prime minister has stated or in “two to three years” as Taib has claimed? Clearly, vague rhetoric is useful for politicians to keep their options open especially now that the Barisan Nasional has again secured its two-thirds majority in the state assembly.
Going solar and renewable
As If Earth Matters by Gan Pei Ling
Have you ever wanted to install solar panels at your home, but couldn’t afford the capital cost? Once the Renewable Energy Act comes into force, this dream could become a reality. Passed by the Dewan Rakyat on 4 April 2011, the Act will allow individuals to sell electricity produced from renewable sources like solar photovoltaic […]
