THE late Datuk Dr S Vijayaratnam was a man who touched many hearts. The Gerakan vice-president was known to be a down-to-earth leader who provided guidance to the grassroots. (Pic courtesy of Gerakan)To his friends outside the party, the 58-year-old will be remembered as someone who was always helpful and reliable. But to reporters, Vijayaratnam […]
Columns
Ethnic outsiders vs bumiputera-ism
By Wong Chin Huat(© Konrad Mostert/sxc.hu) THERE are two issues around the appointment of Low Siew Moi as general manager of the Selangor State Development Corporation (PKNS). The first, as raised by laywer-cum-blogger Haris Ibrahim, is whether this state agency should act like an ethnic institution that serves only Malays or bumiputera. The second is, if indeed PKNS’s […]
Where is my susu pekat manis?
By Tony Pua(Source: eatingasia.typepad.com) MOST Malaysians of my generation, or even the generation before, grew up with sweetened condensed milk (susu pekat manis) as an essential additive to our daily beverages. It was an item I could not do without when drinking kopi at my local coffee shop, making my own cup of Milo at home, or […]
Repent, heretic!
By Zedeck SiewIT has not rained for several days, so a swirl of dust rises up when the gang leader’s face hits the dirt. Syukur sneezes. He places a foot on the gang leader’s denim jacket, then casually lights a cigarette. The rest of the sticker-adorned, sneaker-shod delinquents, moving to help their chief, back away when Syukur […]
Letter from the Sarawak rainforest
By Sim Kwang YangTHE disturbing news of the rape of Penan schoolgirls by loggers in Sarawak briefly caught national attention. But the flicker of conscience among Malaysians was soon doused by the deluge of reports of power struggles among the high-and-mighty in Malaysian politics. It is hard to prolong our attention span on the Penans. They are so […]
Sex scandals and politicians
By Hafidz BaharomLewinsky and Clinton (Source images: Public domain) “I DID not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky.” We’ve all seen and heard the parodies of this line after former US President Bill Clinton’s sex scandal in 1998. But that’s not the only sex scandal to have made the headlines. Hasn’t Malaysia seen its own […]
Fatwa dalam pembangunan masyarakat
Oleh Shanon Shah“PENGKID itu apa? Bahasa apa tu?” Itulah persoalan dalam satu diskusi e-mel yang membuat saya tertawa baru-baru ini. Ketika itu si penyoal baru terbaca tentang pengharaman pengkid oleh Majlis Fatwa Kebangsaan pada 23 Okt 2008. Tetapi dia dari generasi matang sikit, jadi dia terpaksa mencari kepastian tentang maksud perkataan “pengkid”. Tapi, walaupun kenalan saya ini […]
Power outage, people outrage
By Andrew KhooSOME of us may recall the day President Ronald Reagan of the United States was shot. It was 30 March 1981. He was immediately rushed to hospital for emergency surgery. At the time, Vice-President George (Herbert Walker, not “Dubya”) Bush was not in Washington DC. Alexander Haig (Public domain) A press conference was hastily called […]
The impending recession
By Michael Jeyakumar DevarajTHERE appears to be a lot of confusion regarding the nature, the human impact and the causes of the unfolding recession. Bagan Member of Parliament (MP) Lim Guan Eng submitted a question asking the government to clarify the persons or institutions which persist in “attacking” the Malaysian economy once every 10 years. Opposition Leader Datuk […]
Managing change responsibly
By KW MakTHE media can sometimes be full of public sentiment calling for change. But few people appreciate the amount of work that needs to be done to effect that change. I believe in doing things by the book to ensure that reforms are not arbitrary, and whatever action taken is fair to all. To do so […]
