AZRAN Osman-Rani is Air Asia X’s chief executive officer. Because he doesn’t have an office to himself, for the interview with The Nut Graph on 11 Sept 2009, we sit down at a table in a corner of an open-floor office in full view of other staff at their work stations. Azran shares the same […]
Interviews
“Lahirkan kesakitan dengan berkarya”
By Shanon ShahPERLIS-born Nam Ron has been called “one of the freshest voices declaiming in contemporary Malaysian theatre”. The talented playwright won Best Original Malay Script at the Boh Cameronian Arts Awards for his Perlis gangster history, matderihkolaperlih, in 2004. He has since been multiply-nominated for his plays Lembu (2005), Laut Lebih Indah Dari Bulan and WIP […]
Upholding diversity in Islam
By Deborah LohDr Hamidah Marican SISTERS in Islam (SIS) has a new executive director, Dr Hamidah Marican, who took over the helm from Zainah Anwar on 6 July 2009. Over the past 21 years, the outspoken organisation which promotes justice and fairness in the name of Islam, has often been targeted for attacks by those who deem […]
Sidelining Pakatan Rakyat states
By Deborah LohDr Xavier Jayakumar ARE federal earnings funded by taxpayers in Pakatan Rakyat (PR) states returning to benefit the public in those states? What’s clear in the case of Selangor is that funds are used for development but are not channelled through the state government. That has become clear in Penang as well, where promised funds […]
Sharing a common thread
By Nick ChooSINGER-songwriter Azmyl Yunor started out as a busker Down Under in Perth back in 1997. Since his return to Malaysia in 2000, he has tirelessly supported and developed the local independent music scene, and has gigged on a regular basis. Azmyl has also organised events such as the singer-songwriter showcase KL Sing-Song, which is back […]
The furore over Hindu temples
By Deborah LohTHE cow head protest over the relocation of the Sri Maha Mariamman Hindu temple from Section 19 to Section 23 in Shah Alam shows, on one hand, the existence of racial and religious bigotry. But it also points to a deeper, more systemic neglect by town planners to adequately provide land for non-Muslim places of […]
Same country, different place
By Nick ChooSINGER-songwriter Mia Palencia echoes the sentiments of other artistes from Sabah and Sarawak who recognise the disparities between East Malaysia and the peninsula. The 25-year-old recording artiste, whose first solo album Finding My Way was released in April 2008, writes in her Facebook profile on 11 Sept 2009: “[…As] my awareness and understanding of the […]
The vegetable basket baby
By Zedeck SiewVISUAL artist Wong Hoy Cheong is probably Malaysia’s most internationally-renowned modern cultural export. While a fixture on the biennial — or repeating art exhibitions — circuit, he has nevertheless continued to make work deeply engaged with the Malaysian context. Take his Vitrine of Contemporary Events, for example. Made in 1999, post-Reformasi, the work is an illuminated […]
Islamic vs liberal values
By Zedeck Siew“MALAYSIAN society is faced with a collision of values,” says new Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia (Abim) president Muhamad Razak Idris. “There are two elements in this conflict. First, the rise of commitment to living according to Islamic religious values. Second, the increasing influence of liberal ideas, due to globalisation.” Razak, a lecturer at Universiti Kebangsaan […]
Confessions of a Malaysian boy
By Nick ChooKAM Raslan grew up and lived in the United Kingdom for some 20 years before returning to Malaysia. “I think I could say I was an economic migrant,” the one-time filmmaker and director says. “I was just starting out in film, and it was very hard to get in. Things [in Kuala Lumpur], on the […]
