Columns

The curators of the Emergency Festival! (All pix courtesy of Five Arts Centre unless otherwise stated) IT is a topic that few look back on when contemplating the evolution of this little land that could (or should): the British post-World War II declaration of a state of emergency in the face of communist insurgence and […]

(© Petra Roeder/Dreamstime) SOME background: a hypothetical friend of mine happens to be one of the directors attached to TV5’s hit original series, Keramat. Aware of its succulent potential, he sent along an internal memo — addressed to the head writer of the series and unwisely carbon-copied to everyone else — so I could make […]

(© Dmitriy Shironosov/Dreamstime) SOMETIMES you need to change for the sake of changing. It’s all about signalling to others: “I am willing to take extreme measures, so you’d better do something.” Even loan sharks know this. At some point, they stop calling the defaulter and simply show up to pour red paint on his or […]

(© Ian O’Hanlon/Dreamstime) IN opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s 13 Oct 2008 speech in Parliament, he called for a fresh budget, considering the ongoing global financial crisis. He said it was impossible for Members of Parliament (MPs) to debate an outdated budget. Furthermore, he said the budget was tabled under the former finance minister. […]

Sword of Damocles by Richard Westall, 1812 (Public domain) I AM breathing a little easier now. Teresa Kok, Member of Parliament (MP) for Seputeh and state assemblyperson for Kinrara was arrested under the Internal Security Act (ISA) on 12 Sept 2008 for some fictitious crime. She was released after being detained for seven days, when […]

(© Alan Snelling/Dreamstime) MARRIAGES get into trouble. Even political marriages like the Barisan Nasional (BN) face tough times. When (as opposed to “if”) marriages get into trouble, there are a few options available. The trendy option is to divorce, but like all trends, it comes with a hefty price tag. The boring approach is to […]

(© Christos Georghiou/Dreamstime) TO those in the Klang Valley who read papers like The Star and The New Straits Times, Sabah must sound like the remote edge of the nation. It is out there, a huge chunk of real estate inhabited by exotic people speaking a strange version of Bahasa Malaysia. Therefore, it would not […]

Tajamnya duri… (© Christopher Sykes/Dreamstime) SETINGGI 12 meter gambar besar Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim ini. Diperbuat daripada papan lapis dua matra (2D) dan telah dipacakkan di sebuah simpang depan Wisma Keringat dengan kelulusan Majlis Perbandaran Selayang, dalam kawasan Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) Batu Caves.  Akan tetapi Mufti Perlis, Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin, mengandaikan gambar […]

(Source: www.upko.org.my) Excerpts of the speech by United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (Upko) president Tan Sri Bernard Dompok (pic below) at the party’s annual general meeting in Penampang, Sabah, on 11 Oct 2008. In terms of elected representatives, we have four Members of Parliament (MPs) and six assemblymen and a senator. I know we can […]

IN this exciting episode of Ampersand, I shall talk about waste management, the local authority, and how our tax money is being used to get the dirty job done (pardon the pun). Charming… (© John Nyberg / sxc.hu) For the longest time, solid waste removal was a job handled by the Petaling Jaya Municipal Council […]