Columns

LET’S say Malaysia is like a traditional kampung house. Raised above the ground and built on four stilts, one in each corner. Let’s say each of the four stilts represents the executive, the legislature, the judiciary, and the conference of rulers. They stand together in equal stead, each holding up the nation. Then along comes […]

Grr, arrgh (© Dietmar Hopfl / sxc.hu) LATE one evening, a trio of Malaysian citizens at a mamak table in Bangsar, yours truly included, began to worry. It was three days to what people had been calling D-Day, a militant term applied to the civilian aspiration of a new (and presumably Pakatan Rakyat) government. We […]

YOU nak date I ker? Amir Muhammad is a writer, publisher and movie-maker who lives in Damansara, which is more of a state of mind than geography. Amir’s Alphabet will have 26 parts but will not be presented in order, as he was never a fan of the concept (or even the Malay boyband) called […]

SINCE getting elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for Petaling Jaya Utara, Selangor, on 8 March 2008, the question I am most frequently asked is: “What do you actually do?” It’s not a very easy question to answer. When Parliament is in session, the bulk of my time is used to research various issues, prepare […]

Supporters and members of the media at the vigil held in Bukit Aman, Kuala Lumpur, for ISA-detained blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin, journalist Tan Choon Heng, and Seputeh MP Teresa Kok on Friday, 12 Sept 2008 AMID the barrage of political news surrounding the average Malaysian, it is easy to miss the forest for the trees. […]

(© Timur Druzhynin / 123rf) SO, it did not happen on 16 Sept. But that does not alter the conclusion: regime change is only a question of when and how, and not whether it will happen. After the ISA arrests of blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin, journalist Tan Hoon Cheng and parliamentarian Teresa Kok — the […]

Selepas 51 tahun, Malaysia sudah terlalu lama berbapakan parti politik yang sama (Umno) dan perlukan perubahan SEBELUM ini, tarikh 16 Sept tidaklah sepopular atau se-hip seperti hari ini. Hari ini, sebut sahaja pasti ramai yang tahu apakah isu sebenar pasal tarikh ini. Tidak pula kami dengar tarikh ini dilaung-laungkan beberapa tahun lepas, baik oleh yang […]

Contrary to what Malaysians have been taught, cuisine can raise political consciousness (© Nimalan Tharmalingam / sxc.hu)THE best fried fish I’ve ever had was in a longhouse in Sebauh, an hour’s drive from downtown Bintulu on a tyre-munching gravel road (save for the last 10-minute stretch that was tarred during an election) that caused us […]

Celebrating the formation of the Federation of Malaysia, 1963, in Singapore (Source: Wikimedia.org)TO Sabahans and Sarawakians, 16 Sept is the date of their independence from British colonial rule back in 1963. It was on this auspicious day that Sabah and Sarawak helped to form the new Federation of Malaysia, together with the Malayan Federation and […]

Yee I-Lan, Anak Negeri Kinabalu Series, 2007 (Courtesy of Yee I-Lann) THE question of integration between East and West Malaysia, and why it has failed to eventuate after 45 years, is one I approach with ambivalence. I cannot speak for all Sabahans — including those near and dear to me — and I certainly will […]