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 … Read more
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 … Read more
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 … Read more
Zahid must be made to withdraw these irresponsible and provocative remarks which in the Malay papers and media will be seen as targeted mainly at the Chinese. Otherwise it will be clear that UMNO and BN have not learned anything at all from the elections – just the need to continue with or condone racist … Read more
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 … Read more
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 … Read more
The opinion of Mahathir Mohammad’s “legacy” as one of “skewed development” (‘Who’s the racist these days’, The Malaysian Insider, 28 April 2013) raises an important question at a very crucial moment: What type of development do Malaysians really want? Is it the project-style development model of endless shopping malls and other constructions repeatedly rolled out … Read more
Tinjauan sebelum pengumuman calon-calon pilihan raya yang ke-13 pada 20 April 2013 tentang apa yang diingini oleh wanita merupakan sesuatu yang perlu diambil perhatian serius oleh semua calon yang bertanding jika mereka benar-benar prihatin terhadap permasalahan dan impian kebanyakan wanita. Beberapa isu dasar berhubungkait dengan wanita mesti diberi perhatian segera seperti: Meminda Perlembagaan Persekutuan bersabit … Read more
In the past week since the election date was announced, I have taken part in numerous rallies held by the Pakatan Rakyat political parties in Perak. During these ceramahs attended by thousands of Malay, Chinese, Indian, Orang Asli and other supporters of the opposition in the large and small towns, and at the grassroots level, … Read more
Malaysia’s 13th general election, scheduled for May 5, is shaping up to be the tightest race in the country’s near 60-year history. Behind the divisive rhetoric between the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition and opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR), neither camp has formulated a viable, long-term solution to one of the country’s most deep-seated problems: fiscal … Read more