Opinion - The Malaysian Insider

Confronting addiction

One of my new year’s resolutions this year is to read one book a month. I admit that I am quite addicted to buying books, but I struggle to finish reading them. With this resolution, I hope to...

Jakim, we’re not your enemy

The Islamic Development Agency (Jakim) has now decided that liberals, pluralists and even the lesbian, transgender, bisexual and gay (LGBT) community can be radicalised and become a threat to the...

Perihal 1 lawan 1 di pilihan raya

Pelbagai pihak bercakap supaya pembangkang membulatkan kesepakatan – 1 lawan 1 dengan Umno/Barisan Nasional (BN) – dalam Pilihan Raya Umum (PRU) akan datang. Hanya dengan strategi 1 lawan 1...

Amnesties, peace and justice

In less than two months, the Colombian peace accord is due to be concluded. As an avid defender of peace, but similarly, a proponent of international criminal law and how international justice...

Alahai SJKT, alahai kuil Hindu!

Kuil sebagai rumah ibadat menjadi salah satu aspek penting dalam kehidupan kaum India beragama Hindu di Malaysia. Orang ramai selalu tampil memberikan sumbangan secara ikhlas dan murah hati...

Asking the wrong questions on Budget 2016 recalibration

Almost immediately after the government announced adjustments to Budget 2016 last week, many zeroed in on the reduction in the EPF contribution rate for employees. Chat groups and notice boards...

Making worship inclusive to all

Several of my friends celebrated Thaipusam recently at the famous Batu Caves, which is situated in Gombak, Selangor. They went there in their wheelchairs. Although it has been many years...

Proper planning to avoid compromising education

I have always felt strongly about education, not just because it is an incredible force in many ways, but also because it is the basic building block of every society. Nelson Mandela once...

New politics is needed

In an Instagram post recently, Datuk Seri Nazir Razak the brother of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, said that the future terrifies him. He just can't see how our institutions can...

Habislah Najib? – Bahagian 4

Minggu ini, Malaysia membuktikan kepada dunia mengapa sini digelar "Bolehland". Tiada apa yang "tidak boleh" di negara ini. Pendeknya, peguam negara mengesahkan Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri...

Apa lagi selepas ini Najib?

Ketika ramai merasakan semuanya hampir selesai selepas Peguam Negara Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali mengumumkan Datuk Seri Najib Razak tidak bersalah dalam kes derma RM2.6 bilion dan SRC...

What does it take to kill hope?

“Hope is the first step in the road to disappointment”, goes a line in the Sci-Fi book “Dawn of War”. Like many Malaysians, I have always refused to believe that a country with one of the...

Zimmi, penghambaan dan meritokrasi pada zaman Uthmaniyah

Sesuaikah konsep Zimmi dan millah empayar Uthamaniyah digunapakai untuk Malaysia hari ini? Ramai umat Islam melihat zaman Empayar Uthmaniyah sebagai sebuah “negara Islam teladan” yang harus...

Is Malaysia like its public toilets?

It was a hot mid-morning when my husband and I were strolling in the park just outside the shopping hotspot Chatuchak Market in Bangkok. As we admired the greenery, I had the urge to go to the...

Leadership crisis is remote from ordinary lives

The Kedah menteri besar crisis, which is unfolding at the time of this writing, opens a window for the state’s voters to examine the gap between the promise of democracy and the exigencies of...

When was the last time you changed your mind?

“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it”, said Aristotle. In an age of highly politicised debates and partisan society, when was the last time...

Di mana ‘persekutuan’ negara ini bila kuasa hanya tertumpu pada pusat?

Ketika saya menulis artikel ini, saya sedang membaca artikel tentang berkemungkinan Menteri Besar Kedah, Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir akan berdepan dengan ancaman dipecat daripada memegang jawatan...

The radicalisation of Malaysia

Since when has "liberal" and "pluralism" been considered bad words by Islam? This is quite surprising for me since I consider myself to have traits of both these words, and yet I consider myself...

Not sending my kid to school for Chinese culture

According to the Malaysian Education Blueprint, the number of proportion of Chinese students enrolled in vernacular schools (or the national-type Chinese schools) had increased from 92% in 2000...

The bigot’s anxiety

Ignorance and fear are the two pillars of bigotry that reinforces inaccurate ideas of human relations – two very strong allies that support one another. Bigots lack rational reason, sound moral...