The tragic and violent killing of Benazir Bhutto leaves us with many unanswered questions. The question remains as to who was really responsible, and some radical Islamist groups have claimed responsibility and credit for her assassination. There is further speculation as to whether other non-religious actors and agents were behind the killing, and of course [...]
At the time of writing this, I am in Cairo in the company of my Egyptian friends who are Muslims, Catholics and Copts. Eid has passed and I attended several dinners and celebrations where Muslims and Copts celebrated together, visiting each others' homes and ate til we could not eat any further. What is worse, [...]
While some countries go under, others seem to be making their way back to the international mainstream. Burma’s military junta, for instance, seems to insist on doing everything possible to ensure that the country remains on the global ‘pariah list’; and long after practically every other military dictatorship on this planet has made the transition [...]
‘PLEASE do not use your handphone on the bus’, the pre-recorded voice extolled. I expected the voice to add, ‘It may cause technical interference with the bus’. Instead, we were told not to use our handphones ‘because it will annoy your neighbours’. Welcome to Japan where preventing individual distress appears paramount and everything from the [...]
Once in a blue moon, in the developing world there appears that rare sort of politician who claims that he wants to listen to the people and take them into account. Of course the sighting of these rare characters is greeted with some degree of elation and relief, a bit like witnessing a lunar eclipse [...]
(Note: This article first appeared in the December issue of Off The Edge magazine)
While meandering about in downtown Saigon recently I chanced upon the Sri Mariaman temple close to Ben Thanh market. It was an interesting visit to say the least, for the riotous colours of the temple were matched by the riotous conjunction of [...]
