Social Media and the Self
3 min read
What is it about social media that turns us so easily into converts and addicts?This is not a difficult question to answer, really. It is immediate; it prov...
Is Capitalism without Socialism Sustainable?
2 min read
The fall of the Berlin Wall marked the end of the communist experiment, and to the extent that the experiment was an application of Marxist ideas about class...
Did Merdeka Liberate or Create Malaya?
2 min read
Sixty years may have passed since Merdeka Day, but its historical significance remains something we continue to debate.Did Malaya fight to free itself from...
Wan Azizah & Nurul Izzah: Rebuilding A Nation Long Divided
21 min read
By Ooi Kee BengNurul Izzah, Daughter of the Reformasi, and of the jailed opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, was pulled into politics as a young gi...
One Thing is Certain – Expect More Amendments to the Constitution
3 min read
As with all agreements, consensus and contracts, a Constitution is a hunt for a balance – and a dynamic one at that – between the expressing on on...
The Primacy of Political Economy in Asia
3 min read
It’s a complicated subject, this thing we call Economics. I don’t always know what it means.I remember once talking to Robert Kuok about it. His...
Ecotourism – Conduit to a New Consciousness?
3 min read
Ecotourism sounds like an oxymoron, doesn’t it?We do know that tourism brings benefits to a place, but we cannot deny the larger truth of what I like...
The Hokkien Vernacular
3 min read
In lieu of a normal editorial, and in keeping with this month’s cover story being about Penang Hokkien, I am providing here in a somewhat truncated form...
On Sexism, Racism, Ageism and other Bigotries
3 min read
A racist act is the conscious effort by one group identity to effectively reduce the social status and the security, the rights and the privileges, and the in...
My Smartphone is My Sword
3 min read
Culture, if you ask me, is the joint expression of the interpersonal behaviours of a particular society over time. Within that, we find comfort and orientation...
Learning Mutual Respect May Be Easier Than We Think
3 min read
How does one show respect? How does one show tolerance? How does one show acceptance? These are important questions to answer when the ethnic and religi...
Let’s Talk Food – Across Religious Divides
2 min read
Most religions are defined by their rituals and by the regimenting the collective behaviour of its followers. That is what ultimately defines a “religious...