WE are what we eat. But how often do we think about where our food comes from and how is it processed? I started taking an interest in organic food due to health and ethical concerns. It is encouraging to observe growing consumer interest in organic products and the mushrooming of retail outlets such as […]
Columns
Who’s afraid of Ambiga Sreenevasan?
Shape of a Pocket by Jacqueline Ann Surin
IF there is one word that best explains and describes the virulent reaction towards Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan, that word, for me, would be fear. That’s right. Fear. In fact, it would seem from the continuing attacks against the Bersih 2.0 chairperson that this fear is such that she should be detained without trial under the […]
Untangling PPSMI
Guest Column by Hwa Yue-Yi
DURING the first weekend of November 2011, the PPSMI (the Teaching and Learning of Science and Mathematics in English) policy trended on Twitter. This evidence of PPSMI’s importance to large numbers of tech-savvy Malaysians came shortly after Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s back-to-back statements on the policy. Muhyiddin first reiterated that PPSMI would […]
Is sustainable development possible?
Ampersand by KW Mak
WHEN residents talk about development in an urban environment, the discussion primarily focuses on ensuing traffic problems for the existing neighbourhood. Developers would, in turn, talk about how they are bringing in much needed economic activity into the area to justify the project. Any discussion without a base framework to start from would invariably lead […]
Cerai, sebat dan hudud
Asam Pedas Oleh Norhayati Kaprawi
PASANGAN yang bercerai “tanpa sebab munasabah” akan dipenjara atau disebat. Begitulah cadangan kerajaan PAS Kelantan. Haruskah kita terkejut apabila cadangan sedemikian datang dari orang-orang yang obses tentang pelaksanaan hukuman hudud? Dari dulu lagi, mereka sudah proaktif membuat draf undang-undang bagi melaksanakan hudud. Namun, apakah mereka telah proaktif dalam membuat kajian dan kertas cadangan misalannya bagaimana […]
Hudud and freedom of religion
Reductio ad Absurdum by Chan Kheng Hoe
MUCH has been said about hudud law. I take my hat off to Muslims who have come out openly to oppose its implementation. It must take a lot of courage to stand against conventional wisdom and religious teachings, and these people must be applauded. However, that does not make me anti-hudud. On the contrary, I […]
Nasihat tentang filem hantu
Secubit Garam oleh Shanon Shah
SEBAGAI peminat pementasan teater The Woman in Black, berdasarkan novel oleh Susan Hill, saya pun tergedik-gediklah mencari maklumat terkini tentang adaptasi filem yang dibintangi Daniel Radcliffe. Entah bagaimana, terpesong pula dan terus khusyuk membaca nasihat terbaru daripada kolumnis pujaan ramai, Kak Nora. Ikuti pendapatnya tentang fenomena filem hantu. Assalamualaikum Kak Nora, Wassup, kak? I’m not […]
Development? Really? For whom?
As if Earth Matters by Gan Pei Ling
MOST of us living in Peninsular Malaysia take electricity for granted as we have hardly experienced a blackout since the 1990s. But how many of us have stopped for a moment to think where the electricity, that allows us to turn on our TVs and computers, comes from? What are the impacts of the power […]
Uncommon Sense with Wong Chin Huat: De-politicising hudud
By Deborah Loh
HUDUD. One is either for or against its implementation in Malaysia – or so the prevailing political discourse goes. But what are we missing in between? Have proponents of hudud adequately justified their position, and how they would apply the Islamic penal code in today’s society? Can those who oppose it ever imagine a human […]
Watch those high-rise buildings
Ampersand by KW Mak
ONE of my investigations as a Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) councillor has been into the mystery of how the council could allow a 24-storey building to go up when the project only had a planning permission for 22 storeys. I usually begin any investigation by requesting information through official means. Since councillors don’t always […]
