HE says he believes in 1Malaysia because he has really lived through it. A politician for 18 out of his 42 years, Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong is currently MCA Youth chief and deputy education minister. He is also now the Member of Parliament for Ayer Hitam in Johor, but he still has fond memories […]
Found in Malaysia
Bucking traditions of inequality
By Deborah Loh
BUKIT Mertajam Member of Parliament Chong Eng bucked some traditions in her younger days. Coming from a Chinese new village, she was the first girl in her family who managed to persuade her father to let her continue secondary school. Her interracial marriage later on was also considered uncommon, given her background. Born in 1957 […]
Time to remove the grids
By Koh Lay Chin
WITH five decades under his belt as an actor, director, drama teacher, voice-over artiste and writer, Mano Maniam is best known as a local theatre and television veteran. But Mano, 65, is more than just about theatre. In many ways, he is a modern-day renaissance man. He has been a teacher and scholar at both […]
“They think I don’t know Malay”
By Gan Pei Ling
BORN on 1 June 1982, Mohd Azlan Iskandar started playing squash when he was eight. He turned professional in 2001 and has won 11 professional titles since then. The Asian champion is currently ranked 18th in the world. His highest ranking was 11th, in September 2008. The national number one is also setting up his […]
Growing up in a Chinese village
By Gan Pei Ling
TO hear Yudi Yap sing is to be transported with nostalgia to another era. The former vocalist of local Chinese-language band Alternative Music House started singing Chinese oldies in 1999. But even before then, she had already made her mark. Yap won the Best Voice Award when Alternative Music House represented Malaysia in the Sumitomo […]
Hindus first, before becoming Muslim
By Koh Lay Chin
BEFORE Senator Tunku Abdul Aziz Ibrahim became a politician, he was far better known as a Malaysian champion of transparency, integrity and good governance. Indeed, it was no coincidence that Tunku Aziz, together with like-minded individuals, founded Transparency International Malaysia (TI-Malaysia) in 1998. He was TI-Malaysia president until December 2004. Even after setting up TI-Malaysia, […]
Precisely Malaysian
By Ding Jo-Ann
“MY family and I have lived all these years in Malaysia, and my identity is precisely that – it’s precisely Malaysian. I speak and dress Malay more comfortably than Chinese, and again, it’s not something I should be ashamed of because that’s who I am.” Tricia Yeoh tells her story in Found in Malaysia.
“Saya orang Nusantara”
By Shanon Shah
CHONG Ton Sin, 62, founded book distribution house GB Gerakbudaya Enterprises Sdn Bhd in 2000, in order to give Malaysians affordable scholarly and critical literature. The lanky book publisher is often seen at book fairs and public forums. Known affectionately as Pak Chong, he is also executive director of Gerakbudaya’s sister company, the Strategic Information […]
“Segregation drives me nuts”
By Nick Choo
FILM and television producer Lina Tan graduated with a Mass Communications degree in 1991. She has worked in production houses in Malaysia and Singapore, and has produced for, among others, the Disney Channel and AXN. In 1999, she founded Red Communications, under which she has produced and directed many local TV commercials and programmes. She talks to The Nut Graph in the Red Communications office in Petaling Jaya on 13 May 2010.
Proud to be Sabahan
By Ding Jo-AnnDAPHNE Iking once wanted to be a doctor, but she changed her mind when a teacher told her she had a knack for storytelling and writing. She says her father was not too keen on her decision to do a Mass Communications degree, so she paid her own way through university. Iking recalls her father […]
