The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion

On children having children

Wed, 16 May 2012 23:26:20 GMT

MAY 17 — Next time you go to a city mall or any of the swanky places in Bangsar, Bandar Utama or Damansara, check out the couples with children. Very often, these days you will find that the ones pushing the pram or strollers are extremely young and look as if they just checked out of secondary school. It’s quite troubling, to me at least. There ...

Defeating Goliath

Wed, 16 May 2012 23:16:38 GMT

MAY 17 — The majority of Malaysian professionals are unsympathetic to Barisan Nasional (BN), actually Umno (the other coalition partners are rather ineffectual or don’t set national policies). They, our professionals, enjoy the usual comedy shows parodying present leaders. Though they keenly follow national politics, they are disinterested in ...

Time to lay the cards on the table

Tue, 15 May 2012 23:23:29 GMT

MAY 16 — I think Pakatan Rakyat would do well to come to a consensus involving the hudud. Apart from DAP and PAS, I haven’t heard any decisive statement from PKR in that respect. And if PAS doesn’t mind, could they please outline the proposed hudud law in their election manifesto so that we know what to expect, should we vote for them in the next ...

Thinking of home

Tue, 15 May 2012 23:14:54 GMT

MAY 16 — For most students in the UK (this writer included), this is a torturous period: exam time. More often than not, such distressing moments bring on a huge wave of nostalgia. Homesickness: Ramadan in Malaysia Sometimes homesickness causes my mind to wander to the Ramadan months in Malaysia. The atmosphere is magical. Being forced to wake ...

Better than drama

Mon, 14 May 2012 23:47:04 GMT

MAY 15 — What a finish! With a matter of seconds remaining on the clock, there was time for just one shot for the title; one chance for the championship; one opportunity to complete an astonishing comeback. One shot executed with nerveless precision into the net to ensure that months of toil were able to conclude with scenes of wildly unrestrained ...

Last-gasp City make it a terrific finish

Mon, 14 May 2012 23:34:36 GMT

MAY 15 — And so the mind went back to May 1999 and the Camp Nou in Barcelona, Spain, as injury-time goals won Manchester United the UEFA Champions League title on an otherwise uneventful night against Bayern Munich. Well, I suppose, if the Red half of Manchester could do it, so can the Blue of course! Honestly, I’ll raise my hands and admit I got ...

Karma, atma dan samsara (Bahagian 2)

Sun, 13 May 2012 23:37:24 GMT

14 MEI — Masyarakat India pada umumnya membahagikan “karma” kepada tiga bentuk iaitu “prarabdha karma”, “sancita karma” dan “agami karma”. “Prarabdha karma” merujuk pada “karma” yang dikumpul pada kelahiran lalu dan kesannya ditanggung pada kelahiran ini. “Karma” jenis ini sudah pun ditetapkan berdasarkan “karma” terkumpul dan tidak boleh ...

Khalid Samad mengaku tidak bersalah

Sun, 13 May 2012 23:20:45 GMT

14 MEI — Anggota Parlimen PAS Shah Alam, Khalid Samad mengaku tidak bersalah di mahkamah syariah atas dakwaan mengajar agama tanpa tauliah di sebuah surau di kawasan pilihanrayanya di negeri Selangor. Memang ada peraturan di Selangor, seorang yang hendak mengajar agama diwajibkan mengambil tauliah. Tanpa tauliah yang dituduh boleh dihukum — denda ...

From one mother to another

Sun, 13 May 2012 00:02:26 GMT

MAY 13 — “Wait until you become a mother. Then you (will) know.” I don’t know how many times I’ve heard that line. It was my mother who would say those words to my sisters and me. She still does, except to me to whom she now says, “Now you know.” The stuff I would have known included: 1. The endless wait (for everyone to have a shower so the ...

PRU 13: Ibu segala pilihan raya

Sat, 12 May 2012 23:56:59 GMT

13 MEI — Kemana pun saya pergi semenjak dua menjak ini, perbincangan mengenai pembubaran parlimen dan tarikh pilihan raya tidak pernah berhenti. Khabar angin paling popular kini adalah perdana menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Razak akan bertemu Yang Di Pertuan Agong pada 10 Mei 2012 bagi membubarkan parlimen. Jika ianya berlaku maka kita akan menyaksikan ...

Realiti dunia politik yang membingungkan!

Sat, 12 May 2012 23:51:35 GMT

13 MEI — Salah satu daripada dilema terbesar yang membelenggu pemimpin politik di Malaysia ialah untuk meluahkan sesuatu yang dekat dengan hatinya. Ini kerana, mereka terpaksa mengimbangkan antara kepentingan, pendirian parti politik yang disertainya dengan sentimen rakyat marhaen. Dalam kedua-dua situasi tersebut, pemimpin-pemimpin politik tidak ...

Chow Kit’s got soul

Sat, 12 May 2012 00:59:22 GMT

MAY 12 — As a film enthusiast, there’s nothing I’d love more than to be able to recommend a Malaysian film to friends and strangers. Unfortunately trying to find something even a wee bit worthwhile to recommend is a task akin to trying to separate the wheat from the chaff. With the awful Malaysian movies being released so far this year, a report ...

City’s day of glory beckons

Sat, 12 May 2012 00:51:06 GMT

MAY 12 — Can anything stop Manchester City? More specifically, can QPR stop Manchester City? The short answer is: I very much doubt it. Roberto Mancini’s side are one victory away from securing their first title since 1968. Tomorrow afternoon at the Etihad Stadium, they will surely claim that victory on the final day of the Premier League season ...

The unsung heroes (Part 1)

Sat, 12 May 2012 00:44:45 GMT

MAY 12 — There are always heroes and they will be applauded and lauded come end of the season in the English Premier League (EPL). But the truth is that these heroes could not do without a support team and in that support team there are individuals who will barely get a mention and quite perhaps are the unsung heroes of their teams and the ...

This IS our way

Fri, 11 May 2012 00:29:45 GMT

MAY 11 — As a student, I joined a few peaceful rallies to support various human rights causes during my few years in Australia. None was met with such a reaction as what had happened in Kuala Lumpur on April 28. Regardless of who was at fault, I still feel the police used excessive force on the protestors. What happened at Bersih 3.0 cannot simply ...

Manipulating religion for worldly gains

Fri, 11 May 2012 00:09:29 GMT

MAY 11 — One Muslim calling another a kafir (infidel). Muslims simply declaring anything they don’t like as haram. What I am referring to is to the article in the New Straits Times which carried the headline “Nik Aziz the father of kafirs”. And I am also referring to the country’s fatwa council declaring that it is haram for Muslims to participate ...

Minimum wage, revisited

Thu, 10 May 2012 00:30:19 GMT

MAY 10 — This is getting tiring. Let us begin with the news report from The Star on May 1, 2012. It said: “A focus committee will be set up to make adjustments to the minimum wage system for certain industries. The committee will sit down with all these industries and figure out the differences.” I would have thought that the government is done ...

10 cute reasons to let Umno go (Happy birthday Umno!)

Thu, 10 May 2012 00:22:32 GMT

MAY 10 — Some votes are impossible to win, just like love. Some voters don’t want your fancy-schmancy reasons to vote Pakatan Rakyat (PR), they’d settle for a laugh. A change if it makes them smile at the altered reality. With that in mind, I’ve come up with 10 fun bits to emerge when the Umno government is replaced. (Reader alert: This column is ...

When being ‘nice’ accomplishes nothing

Tue, 08 May 2012 23:38:01 GMT

MAY 9 — An argument I find rather bewildering is the notion that demonstrations are “not the Malaysian way” and any problems we have with the government should be brought through “proper channels.” What “proper channels” exist, pray tell? Should I, as a disgruntled taxpayer, choose to be satisfied with writing to my MP, my ADUN, and perhaps the ...

Did the police lose control that day?

Tue, 08 May 2012 23:32:23 GMT

MAY 9 — In my column last week on Bersih 3.0, I was quite hesitant to share in detail my account of what I had seen and experienced on the streets of Kuala Lumpur later that day. My belief that with the many videos, photographs and victims of police misconduct (read: brutality), the truth would surely get out. There would be no denying the fact ...

Zulfahmi Khairuddin: Memperkasa Mat Rempit

Tue, 08 May 2012 23:22:18 GMT

9 MEI — Zulfahmi Khairuddin? Pernahkah anda mendengar nama di atas? Jika tidak pernah anda pastinya bukan peminat sukan pemotoran terutama sukan bermotosikal. Minggu baru lepas, 6 Mei 2012 di Litar Estoril, Portugal telah tercipta sejarah besar pemotoran negara apabila pelumba negara, Zulfahmi Khairuddin telah menduduki tempat keempat pada ...

Yaya does it again for City

Tue, 08 May 2012 00:19:17 GMT

MAY 8 — Of all the multi-million pound signings that Manchester City have made in the last three years, an unstoppable force of nature that goes by the name of Yaya Toure is quite possibly their best capture. The powerhouse midfielder’s brilliantly taken two goals at Newcastle on Sunday afternoon propelled his team to within one win of the Premier ...

Beyond GE13

Tue, 08 May 2012 00:07:48 GMT

MAY 8 — The past 18 months have seen a lot of discussions regarding the 13th general election (GE13), where actions and policies of both political sides are being scrutinised and projected so as to understand the possible consequences to the electorate should either side come into power. From political scandals such as the NFCorp to real policies ...

The weakest link

Mon, 07 May 2012 23:59:18 GMT

MAY 8 — For Javier Mascherano and Xabi Alonso, read Jay Spearing and Jordan Henderson and therein unfolds the saga of Liverpool Football Club. Most coaches do not list stubbornness as a character flaw but unfortunately it has become a must on the CV of Liverpool managers. While Gerard Houllier persisted with Momo Sissoko and Rafa Benitez insisted ...

Karma, atma dan samsara — Bahagian 1

Mon, 07 May 2012 00:07:18 GMT

7 MEI — Masyarakat India pada umumnya percaya bahawa kelahiran, kehidupan dan kematian adalah umpama lingkaran yang berterusan. Istilah Sanskrit yang digunakan untuk menerangkan konsep ini adalah “samsara”. Jiwa atau “atma” akan melalui proses “samsara” dalam usaha mencapai “moksha” atau “nirvana” iaitu keadaan bebas daripada sebarang ikatan ...

PTPTN debt a cost of affirmative action

Sun, 06 May 2012 23:53:16 GMT

MAY 7 — Social mobility is crucial to the maintenance of a healthy liberal society. Inflexibility will have elites entrenched within the state apparatus and eventually becoming de facto dictators themselves, unless there is some sense of altruism among the elites. The monopoly of power itself is illiberal in so many ways, never mind ...

Tunku tolak sertai Umno yang gelong

Sun, 06 May 2012 23:39:31 GMT

7 MEI — Tan Sri Abdul Kadir Shaikh Fadzir, bekas menteri dan MT Umno yang baru meninggalkan Umno untuk bersama dengan Pakatan Rakyat memberitahu beribu-ribu orang di majlis ceramah PAS di Taman Melewar malam sebelum 28 April, 2012: Dia gagal memujuk Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra menyertai semula Umno setelah Umno yang diharamkan itu dipulihkan ...

Teater ‘Emily of Emerald Hill’

Sat, 05 May 2012 23:36:59 GMT

6 MEI — Pada 26 April 2012, dua hari sebelum Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman dan Dataran Merdeka dikunjungi penunjuk perasaan “Bersih”. Saya berkesempatan menonton sebuah teater Inggeris berjudul “Emily of Emerald Hill” di Panggung Bandaraya yang sudah mulai usang itu. Jika diterjemahkan tajuknya ke Bahasa Malaysia, ia menjadi “Emily Dari Bukit Zamrud”, ...

Kebanjiran warga asing di Kuala Lumpur: Di manakah titik penghujungnya?

Sat, 05 May 2012 23:33:06 GMT

6 MEI — Isu kebanjiran warga asing ke negara ini khususnya di ibu kota Kuala Lumpur bukanlah sesuatu yang mengejutkan. Sebaliknya, isu berkenaan sudah berkali-kali dibangkitkan dalam media massa dan di kalangan pemimpin politik tetapi semuanya berakhir tanpa sebarang satu jalan penyelesaian yang konkrit. Saban hari, ada sahaja berita-berita yang ...

Mainland women banned from giving birth at private hospitals

Sat, 05 May 2012 23:30:44 GMT

MAY 6 — What’s a Chinese woman to do these days in order to give birth? Corralled away from public hospitals and now banned from private ones, it’s as if Hong Kong is shooing them away. Mainland mothers-to-be are spinning in their tented maternity dresses after the newly-elected chief executive’s announcement that private hospitals will be ...

Keep calm and carry on

Fri, 04 May 2012 23:59:06 GMT

MAY 5 — It’s that time of year again when the laptops and books come out and the library is full of people walking around like they are cars looking for a parking space in Gardens Mid Valley. Somehow the make-up and swanky nice clothes and matching shoes have all been switched to shapeless hoodies, track bottoms and trainers. Everyone’s got a ...

Drama, drama, drama!

Fri, 04 May 2012 23:52:57 GMT

MAY 5 — Wow, more twists to the tale! What an English Premier League (EPL) season this is turning out to be. Just two weeks ago the title seemed all but wrapped up by Manchester United, third place was almost guaranteed for Arsenal and Wolverhampton Wonderers sure-fire relegation candidates. The only thing that remains unchanged now is the fact ...

Wembley, St James’ and San Siro: what a weekend!

Fri, 04 May 2012 23:49:46 GMT

MAY 5 — It’s the month of May, so the big games keep on coming: it’s going to be a long and eventful weekend for watchers of European football. And get some sleep while you can, because the most dedicated amongst you are in for a late finish. Three particularly mouth-watering games stand out from this weekend’s calendar: the FA Cup Final between ...

The legitimacy of law

Fri, 04 May 2012 00:43:09 GMT

MAY 4 — I don’t know if the government actually noticed, but more than 100,000 people broke the law last Saturday. They did so not only unashamedly, but also proudly and cheerfully. The Bersih 3.0 rally on April 28 saw what is estimated to be hundreds of thousands of Malaysians gathering at six different locations in Kuala Lumpur before marching ...

Bad teacher

Fri, 04 May 2012 00:35:04 GMT

MAY 4 — 2011 was a tough year for me. I had a hard time trying to cram three years of English in less than nine months. The UPSR was in September. The school was counting on me to deliver great results. Some of the boys couldn’t even write their own names properly and I first found out about this on the first day of class. Our first lesson was on ...

Coming of age: Malaysian democracy matures

Thu, 03 May 2012 23:57:16 GMT

MAY 4 — In my last column, I had argued that Bersih 3.0 was jumping the gun and it ran the risk of alienating its base of civil society supporters if it was perceived to have been hijacked by the opposition. While that may still be true, what is undeniable is that it attracted even more support in terms of numbers than Bersih 1.0 and ...

Bersihkan pembodohan

Thu, 03 May 2012 23:43:23 GMT

4 MEI — Bersih! Bersih! Bersih! Kata-kata ini telah menggegarkan. Seperti semua maklum tanggal 28 April 2012 lalu merupakan detik bersejarah di dalam perjalanan sebuah negara moden bernama Malaysia apabila puluhan ribu bahkan ada mengatakan ratusan ribu rakyat Malaysia berbilang kaum dan agama turun ke jalan raya menuntut pilihan raya bersih dan ...

Violence against Malaysia

Thu, 03 May 2012 23:35:54 GMT

MAY 4 — I waited for almost a week before actually writing or posting anything much about the recent Bersih 3.0 rally in Kuala Lumpur. There were so many emotions, I wanted to make sure that I was calm and coherent before actually commenting on it. And now that everything seems ever so slightly clearer to me, the one thing that affected me most ...

TV cleansing to a fault

Thu, 03 May 2012 00:35:03 GMT

MAY 3 — The massive participation of ordinary Malaysians in the recent Bersih 3.0 sit-in rally in Kuala Lumpur (and elsewhere in the country and globally) was basically triggered by frustration, anxiety, anger as well as hope that have developed over the years, especially with regards to the reportedly sullied electoral roll and other undemocratic ...

Lest you have forgotten, Sir!

Thu, 03 May 2012 00:13:13 GMT

MAY 3 — Amidst the horror stories of police brutality, the many spins, the endless ranting in the social media and the finger-pointing blame game, I now write to dispense my unsolicited opinion. Despite being a partisan person, I shall always endeavour to write without fear or favour. Granted, while Bersih 3.0 officially ended at 4pm or so, on ...

Making the right choice: England FA 1 Liverpool 0

Wed, 02 May 2012 23:58:22 GMT

MAY 3 — It has been an eventful extended weekend. Something that started on Saturday night and, for me, ended on Wednesday morning. The football was not the best but the hype surrounding it was certainly the biggest ever seen. We will talk about the Manchester derby but first, the appointment of Roy Hodgson as England manager. I, for one, am very ...

Bersih 3.0: Here they come, the beautiful ones

Wed, 02 May 2012 23:45:59 GMT

MAY 3 — The biggest protest in living memory for Malaysians. An impressive chunk of Malaysia rallied all over the country and in foreign cities to express their political convictions. No analysis from one person is going to change the new national reality: The people are here, and they’ve got something to say. Except for one deputy minister, also ...

Today, we found courage

Wed, 02 May 2012 00:41:02 GMT

MAY 2 — It started out as such a beautiful day. My Facebook status for the morning of April 28, 2012 read “To everyone today: be safe, don’t violate the law, don’t worry and take care of each other. Oh, and good luck!” I didn’t know that I would need a lot of that luck later and that taking care of each other would take on a whole new meaning. The ...

The Bersih that wasn’t

Wed, 02 May 2012 00:29:09 GMT

MAY 2 — I’ve been to rallies before, as a student and Malaysian citizen but Bersih 3.0 was my first Bersih event. Ten hours after Bersih 3.0, I am left grasping for ideas: how would I describe Bersih? Friends called, texted, was it dangerous? Weren’t you scared? I think people were expecting it to be like "Die Hard", with pyrotechnics blasting the ...

On being forced to vote for an idiot

Wed, 02 May 2012 00:22:45 GMT

MAY 2 — It’s no secret that most of our politicians are idiots. Exhibit A, for me, is a “gem” of a tweet from a PKR leader in which she basically said that so-called “neutrals” want Pakatan Rakyat to be perfect yet “make excuses” for Barisan Nasional. What is with this “you’re either with us or against us”-policy with Pakatan Rakyat? When you ...

Dataran larangan

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 23:51:58 GMT

Bermulanya Kebangkitan Matahari terik berada betul-betul di atas kepala lautan manusia berbaju kuning yang sejak dari tadi memekik-mekik kata keramat BERSIH! BERSIH! dalam berbagai bentuk irama seolah-olah gerombolan tentera kuning ini bersiap sedia untuk bertempur di medan perang. Kedengaran suara mereka lebih kuat dari bunyi geseran rel LRT ...

‘I was surrounded by 30 policemen…’

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 23:46:31 GMT

MAY 1 — There were about 30 policemen and DBKK (Kota Kinabalu City Council) personnel surrounding us. Some of us were clad in yellow Bersih T-shirts, and all of us felt very intimidated. Their faces were grim and silent. They were awaiting orders from the head of KK Police before making their next move. "This is a trap," whispered my friend next ...

Kompany’s crew down dismal United

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 23:40:08 GMT

MAY 1 — How appropriate; how very right. After a season dominated by hyperbolic headlines about the latest exploits of mercurial badboys Carlos Tevez and Mario Balotelli, it was pleasantly fitting that Manchester City's biggest game in more than four decades should not be settled by one of the renegades, but by one of the good guys: Vincent ...

Yes, Prime Minister, we need answers!

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 05:22:42 GMT

APRIL 30 — Two days after Bersih 3.0, and after viewing many videos and photos on the Internet, I would like to pose a few questions to the authorities, specifically the prime minister, who missed a golden chance to walk his talk (and claim to be a reformist). 1. When was the decision to fire tear gas made? Was it a spur-of-the-moment decision or ...

Kisah Cik Timun Busuk

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 00:17:50 GMT

30 APRIL — Ini sebuah faksyen tentang Cik Timun Busuk. Kisah ini berjaya ditulis hasil maklumat daripada empat rakannya yang meminta nama mereka dirahsiakan atas tujuan keselamatan. Anda mungkin pernah mendengar nama Cik Timun Busuk. Dia mula tiba-tiba lantang bersuara sejak timbul kontroversi berhubung berhala Dewa Shiva pada Disember 2010. “Mana ...