(Mooncake image by Mingwei / Dreamstime) DEPENDING on how you look at it, this article on national independence is either two weeks too late or 50 weeks too early. The two weeks after Malaysia Day on 16 Sept 2009, coupled with the Hari Raya mood, seemed peaceful and even boring by Malaysian standards. That is, […]
Wong Chin Huat
Addicted to violence
By Wong Chin Huat(Syringe image by Yosia Urip; pills by Richard Dunstan / sxc.hu) WE have celebrated Merdeka Day and will usher in Malaysia Day, the real national day, just a week from now. But why are we celebrating the birth of our nation? Indeed, why celebrate the birth of any nation? This is not another article lamenting […]
Walls
By Wong Chin HuatPEOPLE could be forgiven when watching the prime minister’s Merdeka address if they thought they had travelled back in time to 22 years ago and mistook Datuk Seri Najib Razak for Ronald Reagan. Reagan, the then US President, had urged Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall. Well done for the […]
Can PAS manage victory?
By Wong Chin HuatPAS supporters on nomination day, 17 Aug 2009 (Pic courtesy of theSun) THE Permatang Pasir by-election was an unquestionable success for PAS and the Pakatan Rakyat (PR). PAS’s share of the total votes cast, excluding spoilt votes, went from 66.39% in the March 2008 elections to 65.50% — a drop of barely 1%. The reduction […]
Utusan Malaysia and 1Malaysia
By Wong Chin HuatIF newspapers could be judged by their titles like books by their covers, most of the major Chinese-language newspapers in Malaysia would be guilty of not being “national” in character. Some of their names simply refer to a wider region like Oriental Daily (the East) and Nanyang Press (Southeast Asia, or literally the South Ocean). […]
“I am an extremist”
By Wong Chin HuatJeff Ooi (Pic by Joi Ito / Wiki commons)I AM an extremist because I am a friend of Jemaah Islah Malaysia (JIM). In his capacity as the chief of staff for Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, DAP’s Jelutong Member of Parliament Jeff Ooi had called for Parti Keadilan Rakyat member Mohd Razali Abdullah to […]
Launching Malaysia 2.0
By Wong Chin HuatWater cannon being used during the 1 Aug anti-ISA rally (Pic courtesy of Merdeka Review) A FRIEND asked on Facebook: “[The Barisan Nasional] (BN) insists [on keeping the Internal Security Act (ISA)]; do you want to keep the BN?” This question is spot on. It simplifies many issues into a single concern. It almost frames […]
Indiscipline within PKR
By Zedeck Siew(Silhouette image by deeisforda / sxc.hu) ON 9 Aug 2008, the Malaysian Bar Council held a forum titled Conversion to Islam: Article 121(1A) of the Federal Constitution, Subashini and Shamala Revisited. Today, a year on, we remember the forum not for what was discussed. A 300-person demonstration gathered to protest the Bar Council’s apparent “anti-Islam […]
Seeking justice
By Zedeck Siew
THE death of Selangor government aide Teoh Beng Hock on 16 July 2009 quickly turned into political capital. Memorials organised by the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) have the air of a partisan roadshow, where attendees are urged to overthrow the Barisan Nasional (BN) in the next general election. Attempting to control perception, Prime Minister Datuk Seri […]
Thank you, Dr Mahathir
By Wong Chin HuatI WAS not disturbed at all by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad‘s recent communalist remarks that Malay Malaysians have been marginalised after sharing the country with “outsiders”. While I applaud the powerful critiques by the likes of Dr Toh Kin Woon, I do not share the anger and disappointment many Malaysians feel. I certainly do not […]
