There are groups who seem to be spoiling for another 13 May to happen in Malaysia. Whether they are politicians from Umno or non-state actors, the signs are mounting that another racial clash is what these individuals and groups want to have happen. What are these signs?
13 May 1969
Ramon Navaratnam: “Malaysia first”
AT 77, there are many things Tan Sri Ramon V Navaratnam is thankful for. Topmost is the fact that all three of his sons and their families, including his four grandchildren, remain in Malaysia. “Thank God! I think there are not many left of my age [whose] children are all here. I think I did […]
Maria Chin Abdullah: It’s not about race anymore
IT is perhaps destiny that Maria Chin Abdullah ended up being one of the steering committee members for Bersih 2.0, the civil society movement calling for free and fair elections in Malaysia. One of her earliest memories is of independent Malaya’s first general election in 1959 when she was just three. Maria remembers being with […]
Who wants another 13 May?
I DIDN’T live through the racial clashes of 13 May 1969. I was born a year after. And yet, throughout my childhood and into my adulthood, just mentioning “13 May” evoked whispered warnings and an unnameable fear. What is it about 13 May that gives rise to fear and suspicion that fellow Malaysians might re-enact […]
Nazir Razak: Diversity is our strength
Updated at 4:45pm, 27 Jan 2011 Corrected at 10am, 25 Jan 2011 “WHEN the word ‘Malaysian’ comes to me, I always think of diversity,” Datuk Seri Nazir Razak says at the CIMB headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, where he is the bank’s group chief executive. It is our diversity, he adds, that has allowed us to […]
Reclaiming 13 May
Azhar Ibrahim (Wiki commons) MUCH as some of us want to move on, we keep being reminded about 13 May 1969 in fearsome ways. For many, in particular those who feel politically threatened, the date is a bogey to scare others into submission. That’s why we still have the likes of Penang Opposition Leader Datuk […]
Better Malaysia, worse Malaysia
Performing in Bunga Manggar Bunga Raya; Five Arts Centre, 2007 (Pic by Phillip Craig; all pics courtesy of Mark Teh) INTRODUCING Mark Teh with a short sentence is not easy. The director–educator–producer–performer–researcher says he tries not to place his various pursuits in a hierarchy. “I suppose I function more like a historian, more than anything […]
Remembering 13 May
Interview with Hassan Muthalib, a witness to the events of 13 May 1969, as featured on The Fairly Current Show. Lead pic on TNG home page is by Hassan, depicting a Malay/Chinese Malaysian kampung the day after 13 May IT’S been 40 years since the race riots of 13 May 1969. Every Malaysian is familiar […]
13 May
IT’S hard to imagine that it has been 40 years since the event that has so shaped and scarred our lives took place. 13 May 1969 is, to borrow from President Franklin D Roosevelt, a date that will live on in infamy, for Malaysians at least. The riots in Kuala Lumpur and the bloody aftermath […]
A million 13 Mays
AND so once again, we are on the cusp of the fateful day of 13 May. Tomorrow, we will be joined together in a state of national mourning over the passing of what many have described as Malaysia’s golden years. Year in, year out, Malaysians are reminded of the tragic events of 13 May 1969, […]
