NEW year, new you? Not if you’re national identity in Malaysia, it would seem. We ended last year with disputes over Article 153 provisions for bumiputera special privileges and began this one with discussions of a Race Relations Bill, hurtfully racialised statements, ethnocentric election strategising and accusations of religious subversion. Said Zahari’s 1969 poem comes […]
Said Zahari
Khairy: Ditch Malay dominance (Updated 12:55pm)
By Shanon ShahUpdated 12:55pm, 14 Oct 2009 Khairy delivering his speech KUALA LUMPUR, 14 Oct 2009: In a bold and surprising move, Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin has called for his party to ditch “Malay dominance” and replace it with “Malay leadership” in order to reframe its nationalist agenda. “We can continue with the chest-thumping rhetoric, warning […]
“Utusan will become very irrelevant”
By Zedeck SiewJOURNALIST Said Zahari was a seminal force in Utusan Melayu during its heyday as an independent publication. He led the paper’s 1961 strike in protest of a takeover bid by Umno, which resulted in him being banned from entering Malaysia. The ban was only lifted in the 1980s. A consummate man of letters, Said has […]
A strike for press freedom
By Zedeck SiewTHE politics of Utusan Malaysia, with its championing of Malay rights, has raised concerns of late. The influential Malay-language daily is unapologetic about pushing forward the Malay (some would say Umno) agenda, often running roughshod over the sentiments of the other races. But the Utusan Malaysia of today is very different from the Utusan Melayu […]
