THE following are my observations on local council matters. The views are entirely my own. They may not reflect the actual policy that a local council would adopt, as policies are determined collectively and not by any one individual. Due process On 9 Oct 2009, The Star reported on a minor landslip in Puchong, supposedly […]
Columns
Musicals 101: When is it religious?
By Nick ChooIN 2005, as part of my postgraduate thesis, I decided to put on a musical, not realising the amount of work a production actually needs. With my vision of making it a large-scale song-and-dance spectacle the likes of a Great White Way or London West End production, it was an exercise in overambition. Still, it […]
The government’s deceit
Shape of a Pocket by Jacqueline Ann SurinAPPARENTLY, President Barack Obama has done it again. Heaped praises on Malaysia as a role model Muslim nation that is progressive and moderate. The first time it was reported in Malaysia that the highly-popular US chief executive gave the thumbs up for our tiny Southeast Asian nation was on 27 June 2009 when both Obama […]
Food fights and history lessons
By Deborah LohDoes this nasi lemak with sambal gesek ikan bilis still make the heritage food list, with the sambal babi on the side?(food pics © Lainie Yeoh) AT the end of the year, the Tourism Minister is supposed to have identified certain foods to declare as Malaysian. According to the minister, Datuk Dr Ng Yen Yen, […]
MCA’s irrelevant civil war
By Wong Chin HuatIF you believe that media reports reflect reality, you would think that the infighting in the MCA is the most important issue the Chinese Malaysian community is grappling with. Nothing could be further from the truth. Among young Chinese Malaysians, the apolitical ones would not know what the 10 Oct 2009 extraordinary general meeting (EGM) […]
Why secularism? Learning from Ireland
By Shane LeavyPICTURE a former British colony where the majority of people practise a religion that has become closely tied up both with national identity and with bitter anti-British sentiment. After a violent war for independence, the new state’s earliest leaders align themselves with the religion by censoring anything that upsets its hierarchy. A group of religious […]
A night out with Rela
By Mien Ly(All pictures and videos courtesy of Mien Ly) “BUKA pintu! Buka pintu!” shout the volunteers through the grill door, into the hallway of the shop lots in Pudu. They are from Rela, a civil volunteer corp formed by the Malaysian government in 1972 to help preserve “peace and national security”. They are conducting a raid […]
Making minorities count
By Shanon Shah(source: drsitimariah.blogspot.com) “PAS for all” was an enchanting slogan indeed during the March 2008 general election. It was a sentiment that allowed for a warm partnership to develop between PAS and its eventual Pakatan Rakyat (PR) partners, Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and DAP. It was also what convinced Malaysians of all races to vote for […]
The age of stupid?
by Cindy ThamIT was Earth Overshoot Day on 25 Sept 2009. The day human demand for natural resources and waste production exceeded the ecosystem’s regenerative capacity for the year. From this date till the end of the year, we would be meeting our ecological demand on a deficit, by using up resource stocks and building up greenhouse […]
The maze of housing rights
By KW Mak(Maze by mzacha; houses by Stanley Elliot / sxc.hu) URBAN settlers who have lived in an area for many years are increasingly finding themselves uprooted and displaced while being offered verbal promises of compensation. Rather than debate on whether the local council or the developer is in the right to do all these things, I […]
