Applause for the Penang budget model
5 min read
Regina Frey, head of the Gender Bureau, Berlin, Germany.The “People Oriented Model” of Gender Responsive Participatory Budgeting (GRPB), conce...
The mystery we call development
9 min read
In the late 1970s, Canadian diplomat David Malone found himself in Sudan, tasked by his government to check in on its $30mil aid programme. Six big projects wer...
Heritage Kept Right
8 min read
When it comes to heritage conservation, strictly maintaining an old building’s infrastructure is not enough. One must ensure that the essence, or the unseen heritage, remains preserved.
Working for ghosts
6 min read
Ornate paper effigy of the King of Hell.The best part of the Hungry Ghost Festival comes at the end of the seventh lunar month, when a melee of Chinese li...
A chance to confront death
4 min read
August is usually a month full of taboos for many superstitious Malaysian Chinese. That’s when the Gates of Hell open for a whole month. During the Hungry...
For whom Malaysia’s highways toll
8 min read
Malaysia has come a long way since its rst tolled expressway or highway, the 33km Tanjung Malim-Slim River route (then known as Federal Route 1) was completed i...
Improving medicine through trial
10 min read
“Do you work in a lab with rats?” is the most common question I get when I tell people I work in clinical research. There is a general misunderstand...
Leaning On No Man
6 min read
Will it ever be possible for a woman to exist on her own terms, or will cultural reinforcement beat that notion down?
Are you buying slavery?
7 min read
Lai (not her real name) paid for her own airfare to get from Ho Chi Minh to KL. After arriving, she was arranged to work in a massage parlour where her employer...
No easy task to educate
6 min read
Nothing could have prepared me for school. If I thought having a degree from a US college and a job at a big consulting firm in the city were enough, I was wron...
From China with Love
6 min read
If you spend a few hours in any of KL’s shopping malls (and increasingly, Penang and other major Malaysian cities), you might perchance notice a number of...
Highlights of George Town Festival 2014
16 min read
Wrecking Crew Orchestra EL Squad.Shanghai Starlight Acrobatic Troupe.Bunditpatanasilpa Institute.Racehorse Company....