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...
Should We Beware Humanity’s Collective Capacity Reaching Critical Mass?
2 min read
Man’s discoveries and inventions revolutionise him. That is a truismThe conquest of fire altered how and what we eat; the invention of the wheel chang...
Stay Young, Stay Spontaneous
2 min read
Much of youth is definitely wasted on the young, and this is because the young as a rule are not aware enough of what it means to be old.They are not burdened...
Capitalism is the Exercise of the Power of Excess
3 min read
This morning (June 20, 2016), my 12-year-old daughter asked me “what is Capitalism?”Since the Cold War is over, this is actually a harder question...
The Point of Competitive Sports is to Cultivate Sportsmanship
2 min read
Being a late-bloomer, I seldom took part in sports when I was in school. They felt too physical, too competitive and too regimenting. That did not stop me thoug...
The Future is in Our Own Hands
2 min read
Let’s be upfront about it. Anyone concerned about the survival of the planet has to struggle with the deduction that the greatest threat to the environm...
The Family Reunion – An Annual Pilgrimage
3 min read
So it’s that time of year again. The Lunar New Year arrives, and we witness the happy congregation of dispersed Chinese at the home of their family elders...
New Modes of Learning for a New Century
3 min read
The essence of a nation-building or state-building model is best perceived through its education policies. This is after all the key area within which the government strategises its own survival.
The Hills ‘r’ Us
3 min read
Natural resources are always good to have. If rightly used, they are the basis not only for an economy’s path of growth, but also for its international identity.
Literary Festivals – More Momentous Than You May Imagine
3 min read
Now when Penang is holding its George Town Literary Festival again, let me ponder over what I think is one of the most important things that have failed to develop properly in post-colonial Malaysia, namely our mastery of language.