SELANGOR’S No Plastic Bag Day campaign recently came under attack in a report on online news portal The Malaysian Insider. The 9 Nov 2010 report claimed that “hypermarkets and retail shops” in Selangor have suffered up to 30% decline in their businesses on Saturdays since the Selangor government implemented the campaign in January 2009. In […]
The making of good design
By Deborah Loh
WE’VE all cringed at the sight of certain public structures. At one time, some government buildings were a sickly shade of pink guava. Or take the incongruity of some public structures with their surroundings such as the sculpted pitcher plant water fountain across the Kuala Lumpur (KL) City Hall Building near Dataran Merdeka. And in […]
Of buildings, songket and talent
By BFM89.9
https://www.thenutgraph.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/2010-11-13_The-Incident-Room_Creativity-and-Innovation-in-Design.mp3 IN this interview with BFM89.9, Veritas Design Group principal Lillian Tay and Yayasan Tuanku Nur Zahirah chairperson Suryani Senja Alias talk about what needs to be done to nurture and keep creative talent in Malaysia. On building designs and architecture, Tay says that “buildings have to serve a purpose and give it life beyond […]
The design challenge
By Gan Pei Ling
WHAT does it take to stay ahead of the curve in design? How can a foundation, company, industry or country nurture and keep creative talent? What needs to be in place for a traditional craft to be transformed into contemporary and modern designs? These were some of the questions that were raised in the final […]
The truth about statutory declarations
Holding Court by Ding Jo-Ann
WHAT is the difference between signing a statutory declaration (SD) and just saying something is true? Indeed, how are they different from “normal” statements? Is something more true just because it’s contained in an SD? And what happens when an SD is retracted? Until private investigator P Balasubramaniam emerged in the public eye, many probably […]
Our right to open spaces
Ampersand by KW Mak
NEW development projects seem to be on the rise again in Petaling Jaya. Much of these are apparently over open spaces set aside by previous developers. Naturally, this would have existing neighbours up in arms and protesting against the new development. No doubt residents caught in such a situation would like to ask the following […]
Zaid Ibrahim: Reformer or sore loser?
By Gan Pei LingFOR sure, Parti Keadilan Rakayt (PKR) has serious problems. But what to make of Datuk Zaid Ibrahim whose image as a principled politician is at odds with his apparent tendency to quit when expectations are not met?
“I don’t know if I can really call myself a Malaysian”
By Gan Pei Ling
IN Oct 2010, indigenous rights activist Nicholas Mujah was arrested and remanded for three days with seven others from his village for an alleged fire in a logging camp. The Sarawak Dayak Iban Association (Sadia) secretary-general has been fighting for the rights of Sarawak indigenous peoples to their native customary land since around 1980 and […]
Futility
By Ong Tou
Animals often suffer the impact of climate change sooner than humans do, and have less means to deal with it.
Galas: The old story of development politics
By Gan Pei Ling
BARISAN Nasional (BN) won big in both the Batu Sapi and Galas by-elections on 4 Nov 2010. In Galas, BN beat PAS with a 1,190-vote majority and won 12 out of the 13 polling districts. PAS only managed to retain its stronghold in Sungai Terah with a reduced majority of 258 compared to 510 in […]
