A word, once uttered, can seldom be withdrawn. This is true for most of us and particularly true for politicians who forget that we now live in an age of modern communications technology where every sentence, every utterance, even every burp, hiccup and indiscreet bodily emission will be recorded for posterity.
What has now become a [...]
Written by Chandra Muzaffar
Malaysia is not a secular state within the conventional use of the term. Neither is it an Islamic state in the classical sense.
It is not a secular state since the Malaysian state formulates policies and organizes activities from the building of mosques and the administration of the Hajj, on the one hand, [...]
Written by Yvonne Foong
I was overjoyed when Dr. Friedman offered to remove my brain tumour for free. The phone call from the U.S. was brief, but he spoke with such confidence, I knew his offer would come true.
After weeks of planning, visa application, and paperwork, I made my way to Los Angeles three months later. [...]
The recent announcement made by the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, Najib Tun Razak, to the effect that ‘we (Malaysia) are an Islamic state’ is mind-boggling to say the least. Speaking during a conference in Kuala Lumpur on the theme of ‘The Role of Islamic States in a Globalised World’, the Deputy Prime Minister claimed [...]
One of the paradoxes of politics in developing countries is how uneven that development can be at times: From Latin America to the Far East, the political culture of many a developing country betrays all the signs and symbols of a stunted politics arrested by the competing demands of modernity, feudalism and primordial values that [...]
The pranksters have been at it again, though perhaps in the eyes of some, the latest joke came across as being more of a stunt. We are, of course, referring to the now-infamous doctored photo of the Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak that was intended to remind us of an alleged encounter in some [...]
It seems as if there are some folk in Malaysia today who believe that the country cannot get enough bad publicity. Over the past few years the country’s religious authorities in particular have been at the forefront of the effort to show Malaysia and Islam in the worst light imaginable: A few years ago Malaysia [...]
(NOTE: This article first appeared in Off The Edge, Issue 31, July 2007)
Identities are funny things. They evolve, overlap and sometimes regress when we least expect it. Odder still, most of us – though we might not care to admit it – actually have several at the same time; and the dilemma faced by many [...]
Every time I find myself in Indonesia, I am asked the same question by my Indonesian friends and students: Why are Indonesian workers in Malaysia treated so badly there?
It is well known by now that the treatment of foreign workers, both legal and illegal, in Malaysia by Malaysians falls short of many standards deemed acceptable [...]
