Many Malaysians may be unaware of the considerable research work by social scientists – both local and foreign – that have unequivocally concluded that the country’s record on free and fair elections has been abysmal. Analysis of this remarkable record of trickery, manipulation and gerrymandering by first the Alliance, followed by Barisan Nasional (BN), goes … Read more
My widowed mother was a rubber tapper who took care of me when I was growing up. My younger sister and I used to sleep on the grounds of the rubber plantation in the dark because we helped our mother to tap rubber at dawn. After finishing the work, we headed to school. Neither … Read more
One betrays the cause of the Indian poor when he pretends that for every Indian poor there is a Chinese poor just as badly off. And that a Malay or a Muslim poor is under ‘equal’ duress as the Indian poor. How can they be when for the bumiputera poor the sky is the … Read more
A peaceful rally calling for electoral reform would have gone down as almost a non-event in any democracy, but not in Malaysia. Here, the news of such an impending rally has virtually caused the incumbent ruling power to go into a state of panic. Ever since the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections – a … Read more
If anyone from the Ministry of Education held an honest, open and non-patronising discussion with our secondary schoolchildren on the subject of history as it is presently taught in school, they would discover that a huge majority of students view it as a painfully boring and an utterly worthless subject. They would also discover that … Read more
I remember once as a young medical officer, I was boycotted by operating theatre staff when I wanted stern action taken against a staff nurse who went for a kenduri when she was supposed to scrub for a surgery. An assistant nurse had to cover up for her delinquent senior. Both the nurses – … Read more
Is it true that Malaysians emigrate because “they don’t love their country” as a government minister once suggested? I hardly think so. While every Malaysian has his or her reason for emigrating, their loss to the country is seen in a pattern of discrimination, disillusionment and desertion, or the 3Ds. It is a myth that Malaysians … Read more
Perwakilan PAS telah memilih ahli-ahli jawatankuasa kerja PAS pusat yang baru untuk penggal 2011-2013. Majoriti pasukan ini terdiri daripada golongan profesional (jurutera, doktor dan sebagainya). Mereka merupakan ahli-ahli PAS yang bukan berkelulusan agama atau berpangkatkan ulama. Ekoran ini, sesetengah pihak mendakwa bahawa parti PAS sudah menggadaikan agama Islam. Mereka kononnya kecewa bahawa PAS telah mengkhianati … Read more
I am honoured to be asked to deliver the keynote speech at Bloggers Universe Malaysia 2011. I attended the first one – BUM 2007 and have spoken at one or two other BUM events. I was asked to arrange for Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim to speak at the BUM event last year. Some of … Read more
In Malaysia, bloggers have been engaged in a battle to correct the spinning and political bias which has become part of the normal business and deep culture of the media. Since Independence, the majority of the media has been a willing partner in the Barisan Nasional’s one overriding pursuit: that of self-promotion, self aggrandizement … Read more