I’m writing in response to Gan Pei Ling’s article What’s wrong with a rare earth plant, here? Factual inaccuracies on both sides of the Lynas rare earth plant controversy have given rise to a third constituency — environmentalists who believe in the possibility of a technological fix to the problem. I take Gan’s recent piece […]
Australia
Restricting the government’s choices?
IT was troubling to read Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein’s reasons for the release of eight immigration officers detained without trial under the Internal Security Act (ISA). Hishammuddin said he decided to release the eight, detained “in connection” with human trafficking activities, because they showed “remorse” over their mistakes. He also considered their wishes […]
“Crazy” business ideas
CRAZY IDEAS. Instinct. Gut feeling. It’s all part of what it takes to start a business. This was discussed during The Nut Graph’s fifth Found in Conversation event on 24 Oct 2010 on creativity and innovation in business. AirAsia X chief executive officer Azran Osman-Rani, The Body Shop managing director Datin Mina Cheah-Foong and Red […]
Choosing to stay
Will Quah (all pics below courtesy of Will Quah) WILL Quah believes Malaysian television audiences are a lot cleverer that they’re given credit for. “I’ve heard high-ranking producers and executives say time and again that Malaysian audiences aren’t ready or are too stupid to understand certain issues — like politics, race, religion, wit and international […]
Should governments fear diversity and dissent?
Brian McKinnon Class Brothers 2008 Acrylic and foam on canvas 152 x 91cm (Artwork courtesy the artist and Indigenart — Mossenson GalleriesImage © the artist, courtesy Indigenart — Mossenson Galleries) THERE is a visual artwork by an Aboriginal Australian artist, Brian McKinnon, called Class Brothers. It is a striking political poster art, and has a […]
The multicultural question
Ien Ang Ever felt that Malaysians need to get out more and mix with people from other races and religions? And be open to dialogue with each other even if they hold different views? Cultural studies expert Professor Ien Ang would probably agree, as demonstrated in her recent public lecture on multiculturalism. Ang, who is […]
Malaysia’s UN fan club
Updated at 7.50pm, 21 July 2009 MALAYSIA has announced publicly that “respect for human rights has long been established given the country’s character as a melting pot of various cultures, religions and ethnicities.” This announcement was made at none other than Malaysia’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) by the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council (HRC) […]
Raja Petra still in Malaysia, court told
PETALING JAYA, 17 July 2009: The Sessions Court here today was told that blogger Raja Petra Raja Kamarudin, accused of sedition, was believed to be in Malaysia and not in Australia as reported by the media. Deputy public prosecutor Mohd Dusuki Mokhtar said police investigation revealed that Raja Petra, 59, had never left the country. […]
Teater hanya untuk elit?
TEMPOH hari saya ditanya dalam rancangan Hujah di rangkaian tv9, adakah teater itu bersifat elitis dari sudut kandungan karya mahupun kemampuan penonton untuk menghayatinya? Saya benar-benar merasakan tidak. Saya mula menghujah bahawa mana-mana naskhah teater, walaupun naskhah Shakespeare sekalipun, boleh dipentaskan dan dihayati oleh sesiapa saja yang boleh mencapai naskhah itu. Mungkin sekumpulan pelajar Tingkatan […]
What’s shady about the tree?
ON 3 March, Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said ridiculed the idea of meeting for serious deliberation beneath a tree. Yesterday, on 4 March, Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar followed in her dubious footsteps. The Perak representatives’ decision to hold an emergency assembly sitting under a tree on 3 March, he said, had made […]
