I REMEMBER as a child, every time my sisters or I misbehaved, my parents would threaten us with these six words guaranteed to induce good behaviour: “I’ll send you to reform school!” Of course, back then, I had little idea of what a “reform school” was, but from the way my parents brandished it, I […]
Columns
Teater hanya untuk elit?
Oleh Shanon ShahTEMPOH hari saya ditanya dalam rancangan Hujah di rangkaian tv9, adakah teater itu bersifat elitis dari sudut kandungan karya mahupun kemampuan penonton untuk menghayatinya? Saya benar-benar merasakan tidak. Saya mula menghujah bahawa mana-mana naskhah teater, walaupun naskhah Shakespeare sekalipun, boleh dipentaskan dan dihayati oleh sesiapa saja yang boleh mencapai naskhah itu. Mungkin sekumpulan pelajar Tingkatan […]
Muhyiddin’s colonialist mind
By Ooi HengA COLONIALIST mindset is always linked with phrases such as “these people are not grateful”, said intellectual Prof Emeritus Dr Benedict Anderson one week after April Fool’s Day this year. Anderson was delivering a public lecture, Is Asian Nationalism Unique?, on 8 April 2009 at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). Anderson is the author of Imagined […]
Funding democracy, the BN way
By Jacqueline Ann Surin(Permatang Pauh by-election pic by Danny Lim) SINCE the historic March 2008 general election, it has become clearer to Malaysians that democracy is messy and expensive. Indeed, any politician who tries to convince the rakyat that democracy is an easy and frugal affair is guilty of trying to fool the masses. But what have we […]
Government vs Mafia
By Wong Chin HuatWE are now told by the new Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak that by-elections are bad because they distract us from dealing with the economic crisis. Tunku Abdul Rahman (Public domain)This aversion towards elections is nothing new to Malaysia. In the spirit of learning our national history, let’s revisit some past decisions made by […]
Zed Libs!
By Zedeck SiewCover of a Mad Libs book (© Penguin Group USA) ONE of my favourite party past-times — theoretically, as I’ve never actually played it — is Mad Libs: a phrase-template word game typically published in book form. It is a collection of short stories, or situations, with many of the words blanked out. Beneath each […]
Islamists lose in Indonesian polls
By Farish A NoorNOW that the dust has settled, Indonesians are counting the cost of the latest elections in the country. With voter turnout rather low — hovering around 40% in some regions — the parties that were sidelined have already begun to complain and bicker about the validity of the results. Voting in the sleepy end of […]
What are Malaysians searching for?
By Cindy ThamWHAT are internet users in Malaysia interested in? Other than sex, which isn’t peculiar to Malaysians alone, popular topics in recent times include Elizabeth Wong, Umno, Formula One, job vacancies and the Apple iPhone 3G. At least that’s what the top searches and fastest-growing searches on Google indicate. (Pic by Rcmathiraj / Dreamstime) Insights for […]
What media freedom, prime minister?
By Jacqueline Ann SurinON 6 April 2009, three days after he was made prime minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak spoke about a new way forward in policy, politics and the media. To many in the media, his rhetoric about a “vibrant, free and informed media” was welcome, especially in an environment where government control of the traditional media […]
Grim reaping
By N Shashi Kala“Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends.“ – Gandalf the Grey in The Lord of the Rings THERE was a mondo-film released in […]
