Opinion - The Malaysian Insider

A name to weave my identities

I was named after the fruit of Kashmir – Cherry. My parents met in Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir. There they fell in love as students, got married and conceived me. "I bore...

Meaningful living in the age of economic turmoil

In recent years, growing attention is being paid to the pressures of the economic system on people’s lives, in terms of job market volatility, the growing competition for well-paying jobs,...

Ola Bola, candu sejarah tatkala kemerosotan bola sepak negara

Saya datang ke panggung wayang untuk menonton sebuah filem yang sejak akhir-akhir ini diberi pujaan melambung orang ramai. Berasaskan pujaan melambung itu, saya mengambil keputusan menonton...

About Bangladeshi workers, let’s put ourselves in their shoes

First of all, why do we call them "Bangla"? Many of us cannot even differentiate the nationality of the foreign workers (Myammar, Nepal, Bangladesh, etc), yet we like to lump them all together as...

Reliance on foreign workers, whose windfall is it?

After the shocker of a steep levy hike on foreign labour, Putrajaya thought that was not good enough. Then came the announcement on the additional 1.5 million workers from Bangladesh to add to...

Menyemarakkan ketakutan dalam masyarakat Melayu

Sejarah Malaysia sarat dengan insiden keganasan dan ketidaktoleransian terhadap bangkangan. Peristiwa-peristiwa seumpama ini terserlah sejak zaman sebelum penjajahan sehinggalah ke era...

A debate on Islam will do us good

The much-talked about debate between Ahli Sunnah Wal Jamaah Malaysia (Aswaja) president Zamihan Mat Zin and Perlis Mufti Datuk Dr Mohd Asri Zainal Abidin needs to go on. It should happen in...

Di mana kan kucari ganti

Saya faham perasaan Mohamad Sabu ketika mikrofon yang dipegangnya melayang ke belakang pentas, seusai ucapannya pada malam memperingati satu tahun terkurungnya Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim di penjara...

Sobering up on scholarships

The news about the suspension of Public Service Department (JPA) scholarships generated massive reactions, not just from politicians, but also students and parents. This is understandable...

No need for race when sharing Malaysian stories

A lot of stories go viral in Malaysia and a large number of it involves racial issues. It seems as if we Malaysians love a good story of an Indian man being rude to a Malay girl or vice...

Force politics to mature

I find it amazing that we can still have stories regarding the supposed RM2.6 billion banked into the prime minister's account to this day. While we have both the judicial and executive branches...

Bob Marley, rastafari dan ganja

Bob Marley dilahirkan pada 6 Februari 1945. Hanya beberapa hari yang lalu saja ulang tahun tarikh lahirnya. Tarikh matinya pula 11 Mei 1981, dalam usia yang masih muda, 36 tahun. Jika masih...

Should Malaysia’s judges be more like India’s judges?

What's judicial activism? What's good about it? What's not? Do we want it? In my last article, I mentioned the three key features of a democracy, namely the Executive, the Legislature and the...

Yusoff Osman pereka set teater

"Semuanya dilihat melalui mata hati, mata fikir, emosi dan ilusi, yang kadangkala kelihatan seperti jelmaan dunia 'metafizik' yang amat peribadi. "Karyanya membentuk suatu konsep (tetapi bukan...

Faktor Dr Mahathir jadi penentu survival Umno

Suatu ketika dulu, semua pihak mengakui betapa Umno tidak pernah berdepan serangan bekas pemimpinnya secara terang-terangan atau meluas, sekurang-kurangnya dalam era 4 bekas presidennya, meskipun...

Berhati-hati dalam memuja sejarah

Dalam perbualan seharian manusia, sama ada di tahap orang biasa atau tahap atasan borjuise (bourgeoisie atau ruling elite), sejarah sering digunakan sebagai dalil atau bukti. Dalam tahap orang...

Climate Change goes missing in TPPA

"I have carried out more than 300 public engagements on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA)", Datuk Seri Mustapha Mohamed said when tabling the trade deal on January 26 which...

Romanticising the past through Ola Bola

I managed to watch the Malaysian movie of the moment, Ola Bola, over the Chinese New Year holidays. I must first commend the makers of the film and the timing of its release. Such a movie could...

Pakatan Rakyat hanya sejarah

Jika ada pemikiran sesetengah ahli politik di Malaysia, terutama di Selangor, Pakatan Rakyat (PR) – bukan Pakatan Harapan – kononnya masih hidup dan akan terus mewarnai masa depan politik negara...

Buku rujukan dan dilema SJKT

Murid-murid yang belajar di Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Tamil (SJKT) tetap mempunyai potensi untuk cemerlang dalam pelajaran dan kehidupan. Bagaimanapun, ada beberapa perkara yang wajar diberi...