HUMAN rights lawyer and activist Malik Imtiaz Sarwar recently won the Bindmans Law and Campaigning award for his work on human rights. Malik, who says he always knew he wanted to be a lawyer, has worked on some precedent-setting cases, including the Apcet 2 remand hearing, and the Lina Joy conversion case that earned him […]
Interviews
“Stop censoring who I am”
By Jacqueline Ann Surin“STOP censoring the words that describe who I am” was the Time online quote of the day on 25 Feb 2009. The quote was by Pang Khee Teik who was described as a Malaysian arts commentator. But Pang, who as the arts programme director at the Annexe Gallery at Central Market has revitalised cultural events […]
“Reformasi changed everything”
By Zedeck SiewDURING the March 2008 general election, election campaign posters for Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) parliamentary candidate Nurul Izzah Anwar showed her smiling. Wreathed in a glowing aura, she seemed to be gazing into a bright Malaysian future. Now the parliamentarian for Lembah Pantai, she is still seen as a poster-child for Pakatan Rakyat (PR)’s younger […]
“BN has not forgiven us”
By N Shashi Kala and Zedeck SiewSELANGOR is considered among the wealthiest states in the peninsula, and control of its government has long been seen as crucial to the Barisan Nasional (BN). Within its borders lie the administrative and national capitals of Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur. It is also home to the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, and the nation’s most important […]
Managing Selangor
By N Shashi Kala and Zedeck SiewIT’S been 14 months since Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim took the hot seat as Selangor menteri besar (MB) after the Barisan Nasional (BN) was swept out from power in the state in the 8 March 2008 general election. Since then, the 62-year-old corporate-captain-turned-politician, who is also the Bandar Tun Razak Member of Parliament (MP) […]
The evolving Chinese Malaysian
By Gan Pei LingRAPPER Wee Meng Chee, aka Namewee, was wrapped in controversy in July 2007 because of his national anthem parody Negarakuku. The six-minute video clip, which has been accessed by half a million viewers, touched on several “sensitive” issues such as police abuse, racial discrimination, and indolent civil servants. At that time certain quarters, including government […]
Surviving 13 May
By Shanon ShahPAUL Tan is director of studies at Genting Highlands’s Highlands International Boarding School. He studied in Victoria Institution, Kuala Lumpur, where his contemporaries included Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz and tycoon Tan Sri Dr Francis Yeoh. Fugitive blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin was his senior in school. Paul Tan is also […]
“Harmony is a myth”
By Zedeck SiewA LESSER-KNOWN fact about Malaysian film director and television series creator Bernard Chauly is that he spends much of the year outside Malaysia. “Not many people realise that I’m not here the whole time,” Chauly says. “Thank God for the internet!” While his work — including the futsal-and-romance Gol & Gincu, coming-of-age Goodbye Boys, and […]
Will BN be replaced?
By Deborah LohDESPITE his own dilemma about remaining in the MCA, party deputy president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek believes the Barisan Nasional (BN) has a chance at regaining voter confidence, but not if it doesn’t muster the political will to change. He thinks the BN has a shot at reform under new Prime Minister Datuk […]
Haram-ing of spaces
By Zedeck SiewTHE celebrated theatre practitioner Anne James is a perennial learner. “I can be a student forever,” she says. In 1983, after a long tussle with the Ministry of Education to secure leave (James was a schoolteacher), she went to Northwestern University to work on a Masters in Performing Arts for three years. James remembers that […]
