India In Our Minds
2 min read
Today, when we talk about the rise of China and India, we lazily think of them as similar items – ancient and rich civilisations coming into their own i...
All the World’s a Stage, and Who Else but We are Responsible for the Upkeep of the Theatre
3 min read
All things change. We can all agree on that. But what the density and swiftness of change in modern living have taught us is that there are harsh limits.We ar...
We all need Over Exposure
2 min read
Since our cover story for the month is about the future of education in Malaysia, I would like to take up the issue of exposure as a necessary element in the...
Now that Cavemen Have Conquered the Earth…
3 min read
When we were cavemen, we lived in caves.And in the thousands of years since then, we have lived in everything else – from lean-tos to tents to log cab...
Governments and citizens who should be grateful to them?
2 min read
An important issue that should surface during coming debates about the impending Goods and Services Tax (GST) is how it affects the basic relation between the...
Reading and Writing Yourself Free
3 min read
The fact that literacy began as a privilege assumed by the religious and political elite and remained so for centuries throughout the world before it slowly became a popular ability, left deep marks in human history.
Representativeness is the basis of social harmony
2 min read
I remember spending a lot of time in my teenage years wondering how societies are possible. Noticing how difficult it is for people to get along, I wondered w...
Can Our Cuisine Remain the Same While We Change?
3 min read
It is in Penang’s street and kopitiam dishes more than in anything else that the island’s social history and cultural pluralism are best captured and preserved; and it is gratifying to see books on Penang recipes appearing in steady numbers in recent years.
Toward a political culture that suits a two-party system
2 min read
Following the General Election in 2008, BN had the strange situation of being in the opposition in five states. Before March 8 that year, it only had that rol...
Let's Perfect The Two-Party System
2 min read
The pattern of change in Malaysia became ever more discernible after the 13th General Election. While the ruling BN understandably wishes to describe its vict...
Let’s not go back to the late Abdullah era
2 min read
One important effect of the March 8, 2008 elections was that it forced the BN government in Putrajaya into crisis management. That became the responsibility o...
Federalism is Still The Future
2 min read
Let’s face it. Whatever the election results, certain things will not go away easily.For one thing, Malaysia will be ruled by a coalition for a long t...