PREMESH Chandran laughs when asked if he ever imagined Malaysiakini would become what it is today: the award-winning and leading online media in Malaysia that reaches over 300,000 readers per day in English, Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil. “It grew to be something much bigger than what we expected it to be,” the news portal’s […]
Interviews
Eddin Khoo: Preserving the nation’s soul
IF Malaysia is a nation of converging ancestries and cultures, then Eddin Khoo Bu-Eng should be one of its poster boys. The former Sunday Star journalist, who set up cultural centre Pusaka nearly 10 years ago, is the eldest of three sons born of a Baba Chinese father and a mother of Sri Lankan Tamil […]
Ann Lee: Both English and Chinese
FOR six years up to the year 2000, Ann Lee was beamed into Malaysian households three times a week as an RTM co-anchor for the 8pm news on TV2. She was also a newsreader on RTM’s Radio Four, making her a recognisable face and voice over the Malaysian airwaves. “People sometimes still come up to […]
J Anu: “Nowhere else to go”
ANURENDERA Jegadeva, or better known as J Anu, is not just an artist. Whether he admits it or not, he is also a political observer and commentator. His art, which plays with, among others, “ideas of empire”, identity and belonging, are often satirical commentaries about Malaysian life and the life of the Malaysian. “I learnt […]
“There’s nothing to stop us from being Malaysian first”
(Corrected at 1:20pm, 7 June 2011) THE vocal and articulate Lim Kit Siang many of us know in Parliament, through his blog and from news reports, is reticent when it comes to talking about himself. The veteran politician is slow to reveal what makes him tick or where he draws his ideals and inspirations from. […]
LC Vohrah: A typical Malaysian specimen
TAN SRI Lal Chand Vohrah has always been proud of being a “hybrid”. Born to a Punjabi father and a Teo Chew mother at a time when interracial marriages were rare, he has always considered himself a full-bred Malayan, and now Malaysian. Vohrah is the eldest of three brothers, all of whom studied law. He […]
Yasmin Yusuff: Different but 100% Malaysian
(Corrected at 12:50pm, 6 June 2011) DATUK Yasmin Yusuff is one of Malaysia’s most well-known faces and voices. The former Miss Malaysia, who also won third prize for Best National Dress in the Miss Universe Pageant in 1978, is a recognisable voiceover, emcee, acting and hosting talent. She is also a well-loved voice on the […]
Life before Malaysia
TAN SRI Simon Sipaun counts himself fortunate to be alive today. “My parents had five children, but only two survived…I was the third child and first to survive,” he recounts in an e-mail interview on 1 April 2011. Sipaun not only survived, but went on to win scholarships to Victoria University, New Zealand and Oxford […]
“Saya bukan Melayu, saya Orang Asli”
ONCE, when she attended a job interview in the Klang Valley, Tijah Yok Chopil’s Malaysian employer did not get it when she told him she was an Orang Asli. “Dia ingat saya orang Indonesia atau Melayu … Saya beritahunya [selalu kita cakap] Melayu, Cina, India dan lain-lain, saya [sebahagian daripada] dan lain-lain … Apabila saya […]
Towards an independent Parliament
In the first part of his interview last week, Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia talked about the speaker’s impartiality and dealing with accusations of bias. In part two, he discusses improvements for Malaysia’s Parliament, and the realities of local parliamentary and political culture. TNG: In line with other advanced parliamentary systems, what […]
