I REFER to the latest posting in (Tun) Dr Mahathir Mohamad‘s blog, in which he criticised non-Malay [Malaysians] for asking for more concessions from state policies. In response to these demands, the current prime minister (Datuk Seri Najib Razak) has liberalised rules pertaining to equity ownership in some service sub-sectors and promised to set up […]
ethnicity
“Mana saya mau letak ini?”
BEHIND many a talented artiste or group is Ahmad Izham Omar. Names such as Too Phat, OAG, Poetic Ammo, Ruffedge, VE and Innuendo were under the Positive Tone label, which he founded and became managing director of in 1994. In recent years, he’s unearthed more local talent through Malaysian Idol, So You Think You Can […]
My ideal politician
THE historian’s lament is that he or she is often witness to mistakes of the past, and yet is unable to prevent them from recurring. In the end, the historian is cursed with the Cassandra complex and accused of being a tiresome doomsayer. At the risk of being black-balled from dinner parties, I would like […]
Reclaiming the race debate
THE national unity debate is an unresolved one, but one that Malaysians must not tire of if they are to prevent race relations from being hijacked for political ends. Recently, Malaysians showed they haven’t given up. Over 400 people attended a public forum on race relations by British anti-racism activist Dr Aneez Esmail on 16 […]
Unity through division
WE need more division in Malaysian society. We need it to foster oneness. It may be pessimistic to think that the goal of inter-ethnic harmony will never be achieved otherwise but the fact is, large-scale relations in our society are still organised exclusively along communal lines. One need only look to the proposed “unity” talks […]
Tackling the Chinese vote
Fui K Soong THERE is consensus among political analysts that one year on after the 2008 general election, Chinese Malaysians by and large remain “entrenched” in their support for the opposition. Despite problems within Pakatan Rakyat (PR) and conflicting stands on issues like hudud law among its parties, some analysts think that the trenches of […]
Surviving 13 May
PAUL 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 […]
Poll: Candidate trumps party
From left: Abdul Wahid Endut (PAS), Wan Ahmad Farid (BN’s candidate from Umno) and Azharudin Mamat @ Adam (independent) PETALING JAYA, 13 Jan 2009: The quality of the candidate standing in the Kuala Terengganu parliamentary by-election is more important than current issues and party capability, a new poll has revealed. Seventy-seven percent of a 527-person […]
The Malaysian Obama
(Obama image public domain; Abdullah image © Wan Leonard) COMMENTING on Barack Obama’s presidential victory, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi assured Malaysians that anyone can become prime minister of the country. But one wonders if anyone actually believes him. Just two time-zone-adjusted days before Obama’s election, the New Straits Times‘s Syed Nadzri reminded […]
Ethnic outsiders vs bumiputera-ism
(© Konrad Mostert/sxc.hu) THERE are two issues around the appointment of Low Siew Moi as general manager of the Selangor State Development Corporation (PKNS). The first, as raised by laywer-cum-blogger Haris Ibrahim, is whether this state agency should act like an ethnic institution that serves only Malays or bumiputera. The second is, if indeed PKNS’s […]
