(Obama image public domain; Abdullah image © Wan Leonard) COMMENTING on Barack Obama’s presidential victory, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi assured Malaysians that anyone can become prime minister of the country. But one wonders if anyone actually believes him. Just two time-zone-adjusted days before Obama’s election, the New Straits Times‘s Syed Nadzri reminded […]
Columns
US-Malaysia political parallels
By Tricia Yeoh(© Transplanted Mountaineer, source: Wikipedia.org) BARACK Obama’s presidential victory has been celebrated around the world, from Kenya, to Indonesia, to Japan. Democrats in the United States are obviously elated, and are hopeful for a new future. Indeed, this has been one of the most historic and highly anticipated elections in the US. Multiple parallels can […]
Freeing the judiciary
By Chan Kheng HoeTHE disclosure that former Lord President Tun Salleh Abas received RM5 million as ex-gratia from the government has stirred up some strong emotions among Malaysians. Many are already trying very hard to cope with the rising cost of living, no thanks to the government’s drastic fuel price increase. Fuel prices have dropped, but the cost […]
Buli lawan integriti
Oleh Suraya YaacobSEPANJANG minggu ini tiada sebarang perayaan, tetapi ramai calon-calon termasuk agen-agen dan penyokong-penyokong Umno yang “berpesta” untuk merebut jawatan. Kelihatan cukup meriah kerana ada beberapa suratkhabar memuatkan countdown pencalonan yang baru tamat tanggal 9 Nov. Dulu saya tidak faham kenapa pemilihan Umno mendapat publisiti keterlaluan, tetapi sekarang saya sedar bahawa pemilihan Umno mesti diberi perhatian. […]
Stigma terhadap teater
Oleh Zahiril Adzim dan Fared Ayam(© Emil Bacik/sxc.hu) PERNAH seketika dulu, sedang kami sibuk membuat pementasan di sekolah, kami didatangi wartawan dari rancangan remaja. Rancangan itu memberi fokus kepada aktiviti-aktiviti remaja di Malaysia, amnya, dan di Kuala Lumpur, khususnya. Tidak kiralah aktiviti jenis apa, sama ada remaja yang menggemari tarian breakdance hinggalah remaja yang gemar berteater. Untuk remaja yang memilih […]
Prejudice in religious finery
By Aloysious MoweIN his Life of Samuel Johnson, James Boswell writes that he once told Johnson, “I had been that morning at a meeting of the people called Quakers, where I had heard a woman preach.” To which Johnson replied, “Sir, a woman’s preaching is like a dog’s walking on his hind legs. It is not done […]
Apologise or be damned
By Jacqueline Ann SurinAT the rate things are going, a Malay leader could soon be cast out by his own party for defending equality, fairness and rule of law for all Malaysians. It is sadly expected in Malaysia that non-Malays who point out problems inherent in the notion of ketuanan Melayu will be publicly attacked by certain Malay […]
Uphill battle
By KW MakONE area in which the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) often faces conflict is with property developers. It is funny how developers think they can still perpetuate their errant ways when they clearly go against the rule of law. Take for example construction work. According to the law, work can only be done between 8am […]
Fact from fiction
By Cindy ThamTHROUGHOUT the US presidential election campaign, Barack Obama and John McCain — and their respective teams and supporters — had done their fair share to discredit the opponent. Some accusations deliberately misrepresented the rival, twisting a comment or a position out of context; others were downright lies. One can imagine that given the relentless barrage […]
Morbidity, the stuff of life
By N Shashi KalaHercules (Source: wikipedia.org) MY father was, and still remains, a good storyteller. When I was a child, he used to tell me bedtime stories every night. These stories included some of the popular fairy tales of yore, such as Hansel and Gretel and Little Red Riding Hood. But others he culled from various sources, including […]
