Fuziah Salleh (PKR-Kuantan), showing a photo of injuries sustained by an NS trainee KUALA LUMPUR, 1 July 2009: Violence at National Service camps are preventable, a Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Member of Parliament (MP) said today, even as she revealed two separate incidents of sexual assault and violence at the Chini camp. MP for Kuantan […]
race
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 […]
Knotted up over scholarships
“One of the most common questions is why some who scored, say 14As, were given the scholarships but some who got 19As, were not. The view is that the ministry should streamline the number of subjects…Why should you take up to 20 subjects?” Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin when he […]
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 […]
Civil service needs “total overhaul” (Updated 5.10pm)
Updated 5.10pm on 29 April 2009 PETALING JAYA, 29 April 2009: The civil service requires a total overhaul instead of just a multi-level entry system to overcome its problem of low productivity, says the DAP. Pointing to studies by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development that reveal that Malaysia has the highest civil servants-to-population […]
The future of Hindraf
MORE than one year after Hindraf supporters stormed the streets of Kuala Lumpur, the question remains: has the plight of Indian Malaysians been successfully addressed? Despite Hindraf leaders taking the forefront in anti-ISA (Internal Security Act) vigils, making international headlines, and creating awareness, are Indian Malaysians any closer to achieving their goals than they were […]
MCMC warns stern action
KUALA LUMPUR, 31 Dec 2008: The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has warned of stern action against those publishing offensive and indecent content about race and religion online. Any action that constitutes a contravention of Malaysian laws in the offline world also constitutes an offence in the online world, including the internet, an MCMC […]
Accomplishments have no colour
WHEN Barack Obama first broke into the US presidential race, there were mixed reactions. Many people were entertained by his personality, charisma and progressive ideas of change. Some were turned off by his flashiness and pop-star quality. There were those who believed that an [African American] president would never happen. I was one of those […]
