Of ‘frogs’, Sabah and changing Malaysian politics
THE ink was not even dry from my last column when our politicians again proved me right. There seems to be no honour among politicians. Sabah sure proves that in spades. Today I am going to delve not into any partisan political commentary but observations of the events that have unfolded in Sabah, the character […]
Is a third force the next step?
[caption id="attachment_7252" align="alignnone" width="300"] Merdeka celebration at dataran Putra Jaya yesterday.(31/08/2019/S.S.KANESAN/The Star)[/caption] By the people, for the people: People need to be prepared to hold their members of government accountable for their actions. — Filepic In Scandinavian countries, the third force comprises citizens’ movements that elect representatives according to shared values and regardless of political […]
THE ASHES OF OUR EDUCATION
There are three portfolios, outside of the Prime Ministership, within the Cabinet which I consider the most important: The Minister of Finance The Minister of Economic Affairs The Minister of Education If the Prime Minister is essentially the Executive Chairman of Malaysia, the Finance Minister is basically the custodian of our Treasury and practically the […]
Moving forward to a progressive Malaysia
From the people, for the people: Maju’s council is made up of just regular folks, says the writer (left) – like all the Malaysians at the NGO’s inaugural forum. I WROTE this in the dead of the morning after our first stop of the Maju (Malaysian Action for Justice and Unity Foundation) roadshow: “The battle […]
Tanjung Piai by-election: we need to vote for….
In our hands: We need to vote for the candidate who will advocate that we Malaysians are Malaysians first and work at policies that will help our less fortunate fellow citizens, says the writer. I HAVE been pondering more and more on this upcoming by-election at Tanjung Piai, Johor, ever since the untimely passing of […]
Malaysian education: Are we up the stream?
Making a stand: Dozens of students and professors stood, turned their backs and held up signs to protest the war in Iraq when former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice delivered the commencement address at Boston College in 2006. – Reuters I THINK it is time we talk about Malaysian education again, considering what has […]
The vision of our Rukun Negara
ON September 16,1963, Malaysia was born. Then, as the next decade dawned, the Rukun Negara was conceived – and within it the idea of what this new nation should be was enshrined. When I was in school, we would recite the Rukun Negara preamble every week during assembly before we sang the Negaraku. In it […]
‘Maju’ together for true Merdeka
From ground up: Only a few Malayans had to take arms in the nation’s struggle for freedom, like these local women who joined the Malayan Home Guard troops during the height of the Malayan Emergency in the 1950s. – National Archive YESTERDAY I read a heart-wrenching piece by one of our towering Malays in academia, […]
Let’s khat to the chase and get to the real issues
JUST when I had written the article on bringing together progressives to unite Malaysia for a better tomorrow, as if on cue, the dark side of the force apparently decided that it was a good time to tear our Malaysian family apart. So, I thought to myself, I really need to wade into these issues […]