IN Oct 2010, indigenous rights activist Nicholas Mujah was arrested and remanded for three days with seven others from his village for an alleged fire in a logging camp. The Sarawak Dayak Iban Association (Sadia) secretary-general has been fighting for the rights of Sarawak indigenous peoples to their native customary land since around 1980 and […]
Interviews
Harith Iskander’s “Race Malaysia”
By Jacqueline Ann Surin
STAND-UP comedian Harith Iskander Musa is dead serious when it comes to being Malaysian. Of Malay and Scottish descent, he had a hard time ticking a box within the racial category when he was growing up. “Why don’t we get rid of the four boxes and just have one box. Race: Malaysia,” he tells The […]
Teresa Kok: “Divided by skin colour and religion”
By Jacqueline Ann Surin
“WAIT till we get to Putrajaya,” Teresa Kok laughs. The three-term Member of Parliament for Seputeh in Kuala Lumpur says even though the Pakatan Rakyat swept into power in 2008 to form the Selangor government, it still faces discrimination. “We are still treated like the opposition,” Kok, who is also state assemblyperson for Bandar Kinrara […]
The Chinese Malaysian who directs Malay films
By Gan Pei Ling
GROWING up watching a variety of films, it never occurred to Saw Teong Hin that it might be strange for a Chinese Malaysian like himself to direct Malay films. “I never really thought about it until people started asking me again and again: ‘Why’s a Chinese [Malaysian] like you doing Malay films?’ But why not?” […]
An Umno that thinks beyond race
By Ding Jo-Ann
DATUK Seri Azalina Othman Said is no stranger to Malaysians. The lawyer and former television personality burst onto the political scene in her thirties when she was appointed to sit on the Umno supreme council by then president and Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. Azalina has held various positions within Umno, including vice-president and Puteri […]
“More Malaysian than a lot of Malaysians”
By Jacqueline Ann Surin
HE’s a first-generation Malaysian with a German Jewish name. But Hans Isaac, whose full name is actually Gerald Hans Isaac, says he is “more Malaysian than a lot of Malaysians”. Isaac is a well-known actor with numerous film credits and awards and he is today famously known for successfully directing his debut film Cuci (2008), […]
The making of Ibrahim Ali
By Deborah Loh
WHATEVER you may think about him, Perkasa president Datuk Ibrahim Ali is found in Malaysia, too. The Nut Graph gets a glimpse into what shaped this combative right-wing politician during an interview in his Kuala Lumpur office on 10 Aug 2010. Ibrahim, who is also independent Member of Parliament for Pasir Mas, talks about the […]
More than Sri Lankan Tamil
By Ding Jo-Ann
WOMEN’S rights activist Meera Samanther left legal practice in 1995, thinking she would have a short break after a difficult pregnancy. “I thought I would volunteer for a while, do some charity work,” she tells The Nut Graph. She started helping at the Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO)’s shelter and ended up becoming its president, actively advocating for […]
Found in Malaysia book launch
Compiled by Koh Lay Chin
WHAT better day to unveil The Nut Graph‘s Found in Malaysia book than on Malaysia Day on 16 Sept 2010 last week. The book is after all, a compilation of interviews with prominent Malaysians of different lineage on what their Malaysian identity means. Found in Malaysia, published by ZI Publications and now available in good […]
MCA speaks loudly, but will anybody listen?
By Deborah Loh
IN the almost six months since being elected MCA president following bitter infighting, Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek has marshalled the party rank-and-file to begin reclaiming the Chinese Malaysian vote. How is he attempting to do this? Chua believes that a more outspoken MCA, which shows it won’t cower under Umno’s shadow, is one […]
