Columns

Gladiators: a re-enactment (© Matthias Kabel) I HAD the opportunity to visit Greece earlier this year, together with a group of people associated with a local seminary. Our local tour guide Costas (could he have been named anything else?) was literally a Greek treasure trove of historical information, a veritable walking library. In the course […]

The pruned angsana trees in Bangsar (Pic by KW Mak) WHEN the more-than-20-year-old angsana trees along Lorong Ara Kiri 2 in Bangsar were pruned bare in early June 2008, many were alarmed. It didn’t take long before a group of concerned and upset residents confronted the workers from Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) to stop […]

EVERY egg is sacred. Every egg is great. If an egg is wasted, God gets quite irate. 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 […]

Political VCDs sell like hotcakes at Pakatan Rakyat stalls (All pics by Wong Chin Huat) SHUKRI, a hawker in his forties, set up his stall at about 7am, assisted by his sons. By 11am, he had sold nearly 900 cups of drinks, cashing in RM900 in revenue. On any other day in Permatang Pauh, he […]

Portraits of Malaysian people (Pic by Bangash Khan) WHEN Raja Nazrin Shah, the Crown Prince of Perak, burst onto the public scene in early 2006, he said, “Malaysians of all races and religions need to believe beyond the shadow of a doubt that they have a place under the Malaysian sun.” Not long after, people […]

SAYA dipilih sebagai Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri Kawasan Sungai Tiang pada Pilihanraya ke-11, dan kemudiannya sekali lagi pada 8 Mac 2008. Persoalan yang selalu saya terima akhir-akhir ini adalah: Macam mana sekarang jadi pembangkang? 8 Mac selalu membawa saya termenung. Berfikir mungkin atau tidak ia membawa perbezaan sekiranya saya tahu Barisan Nasional (BN) akan kalah […]

(Pic by Integricity Visuals) MALAYSIA, a developed nation: a reality in the making or an elusive dream? With just 12 years to go before our targeted Vision 2020, we should be straining to gain unstoppable momentum as the finish line draws closer. But how are we doing, really? Last week, a hurdle was thrown into […]

ON 26 July 2008, religious authorities decided to raid a transsexual beauty pageant in Bachok, Kelantan. Sixteen individuals were arrested, while the authorities claimed that three people got away by diving into a river. This happened at a resort. The justification for such an action, of course, was that the mak nyah pageant was against […]

I AM not going to swear, bitch or rant here. There are plenty of self-righteous blogs clouding cyberspace with a miasma of cynicism and despair. This will not be another placard-toting essay about the world diseased with corruption and inequality. It is a familiar path I have taken several times through numerous letters to the […]