Category: Commentary

“Education is to develop a complete man of character and learning, not a means to pass our prejudices and hang ups to the young generation. It is too serious an undertaking to be left entirely in the hands of politicians and bureaucrats. Other stakeholders need to be consulted.” — Din Merican, ‘ Dr Lim Teck… Continue reading Reforming TITAS to ensure fair and balanced teaching of civilization studies

 The decision of the AG to charge Alvin Tan and Vivian Lee marks the half-way point in the public lynching of these two young people. What were they guilty of? A moment of unthinking madness; an act of stupidity and idiocy; a prank in bad taste; racial and religious insensitivity; youthful arrogance – yes, these… Continue reading Stop this public lynching

Pandan Member of Parliament Rafizi Ramli’s support of the proposal by the Education Ministry to make the Islamic and Asian Civilization Studies (TITAS) course compulsory in private tertiary institutions (IPTS) is a disappointment. More disappointing is the reasoning behind his support for the introduction of the subject. Rafizi argued that “politically, it’s not helping when… Continue reading Why Rafizi is wrong about TITAS

There are two types of nonsense – plausible and implausible. Plausible nonsense is when someone spins a story to children, which although implausible to adults is plausible to young minds. Though not believable to adults, most children stories have the redeeming value of being educational and entertaining. Then there is implausible nonsense which does not… Continue reading Implausible nonsense: Malaysia’s political theatre

  Returning to Kuala Lumpur after several weeks abroad, the pea soup of polluted air that greeted our descent was the worst I have ever experienced. It seemed to stretch interminably for miles on end far beyond the horizon. The acrid smell of burnt wood induced bouts of coughing amongst fellow passengers as we queued… Continue reading Smoke gets in our eyes: A way out

Finally the general election is over. For politicians and analysts, the work of number crunching, deciphering the results and trying to understand the choices made by voters is just beginning. Some conclusions are easy to arrive at. Firstly, despite a skewed electoral playing ground and the rolling out of more than RM2.6 billion worth of… Continue reading The 2013 election results: back to the drawing board for both coalitions

As part of its media onslaught on its Malay readership and aimed at provoking an extremist and emotional Malay response to the outcome of the recent elections, Utusan Malaysia has now found its academic champion. In comments which were front-paged by the newspaper, Prof. Khoo Kay Kim was quoted as saying that the Chinese do… Continue reading Spewing a poisonous brew on the Chinese ‘Lack of Multiracial Spirit’

Sementera peminat dan pemerhati politik tanahair tidak sabar-sabar menunggu hari mengundi, Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya (SPR) pula nampak seolah-olah menjalankan latihan ‘khidmat negara’ bagi pihak Barisan Nasional (BN). Parti pemerintah yang wakil Umno-nya memegang portfolio Menteri Penerangan telah menawarkan jangkamasa 10 minit untuk Pakatan Rakyat (PR) menjelaskan manifesto pilihanraya mereka melalui media rasmi nasional, yakni saluran… Continue reading Lantai senget di medan pilihanraya

Even before the dust has set on the fixing of the polling date, the Barisan Nasional (BN) had already begun the hijacking of the elections. With the apparent connivance of the Election Commission (EC) – the pit bull ensuring BN’s electoral victory for the past 12 general elections – they have imposed a 10-minute slot… Continue reading Stealing the elections: Act One

Three days ago (27 March), together with a colleague Commander (rtd) S. Thayaparan, I visited P. Waytha Moorthy who is presently in the 20th day of his hunger (viratham) strike aimed at pricking the conscience of the nation on the plight of the Indian poor and marginalized. A small group of supporters were also there… Continue reading Keeping faith with Hindraf and Waytha Moorthy