Pedestrians of the World, Unite!
4 min read
WE SAY THAT birds fly and fish swim. We think of reptiles as crawlers and monkeys as climbers. But what about us? What about man? What is our default physical a...
With E-learning, Universal Education Finally Comes of Age
3 min read
LIKE SO MANY generations before me have done I associate learning with schools with buildings to which little uniformed boys and girls trudge before the day get...
Why Meet the 21st century with 20th century Mindsets?
3 min read
Why Meet the 21st century with 20th century Mindsets?We should not forget that in the days before social media and news websites, the flow of information &n...
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...
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 one hand of lofty national aspirations and ambitions, and on the other of compromises meant to be more binding than they usually turn out to be.
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, the Introductory from The Hokkien Vernacular.
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...