Opinion - The Malaysian Insider

When being Chinese is a political faux pas

One would imagine that leaders of Malaysia’s largest opposition party, DAP, would have experienced what must have been the thousandth moment of deja vu when a survey last week showed that a...

Tahun terakhir Obama dan tiada yang berubah

Pada Selasa lalu, saya mengikuti ucapan State of the Union terakhir Barack Obama sebagai presiden Amerika Syarikat. Banyak pencapaian yang berlaku sepanjang beliau menjadi presiden Amerika...

Mengapa orang bukan Melayu takut dengan Islamisasi?

Banyak orang bukan Melayu atau yang tidak menganuti agama Islam takut dengan apa sahaja yang dikaitkan dengan Islamisasi. Untuk tujuan artikel ini, kita mentakrifkan Islamisasi sebagai proses...

‘Teater atas pokok’ dan Istana Budaya

Tak puas dengan teaternya yang abstrak seperti “Bukan Bunuh Diri” dan “Menunggu Kata Dari Tuhan” yang dipentas di masjid-masjid, kini Dinsman mau pentaskan pula teater di atas pokok. Apa...

There’s still hope for Malaysia’s Muslims

I remember when my youngest brother was still in kindergarten. He came home and he said “Bismillahirahmanirahim Pak” and when he was done, said “Alhamdulillah Pak.” And so my father corrected...

Bukan cuma mahasiswa yang lapar

Saya tidak sangka akan tiba satu hari di mana masyarakat akan mengambil sikap 'tidak apa' terhadap isu kelaparan anak mahasiswa. Malah lebih teruk lagi, masyarakat boleh pula menyarankan supaya...

Feminism more than a hashtag

All too often, I hear people say how feminism in the 21st century is becoming unnecessary. Certain groups and individuals who believe such fallacies think so because quite sizeable amount of...

Does TPPA acknowledge the US as hegemon?

In my last article, I said I oppose Malaysia signing the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), principally because our government runs on cronyism, our Parliament is a rubber stamp for the...

The allure of force

In the first Captain America movie, Cap mentioned his only reason in wanting to fight the Nazis is because he doesn’t like bullies. That itself is a salient point. From the groups of students...

Bowie sudah mati

Penghibur hebat serta penulis lirik Inggeris David Bowie ( lahir 8 Januari 1947 ) baru sahaja meninggal dunia beberapa hari yang lalu (10 Januari 2016 ) dalam usia 69 tahun, akibat penyakit barah...

More packing up and leaving Malaysia

It’s the dawn of 2016 and at least another 10,000 Malaysians of various ethnic background can be expected to take the emotional, life-changing step to uproot and move to Australia in the course...

A privileged generation

I am currently halfway through reading Muhammad Abdul Khalid’s The Colour of Inequality, and finally had the chance to watch the movie, Jagat, over the weekend. Coincidentally, this week, the...

A public transport nightmare

If you have ever wondered what it would feel like to be squeezed by a python, try to ride on the trains or buses which make up our public transport system. That's what Malaysia’s rails and...

Kuasa wanita, industri kosmetik dalam bola sepak Malaysia

Mari kita lupakan sebentar himpitan ekonomi negara yang menyebabkan kenaikan kos barang meningkat, lupakan sekejap isu 1MDB, derma peribadi perdana menteri RM2.6 bilion atau politik Malaysia yang...

Menangani masalah mahasiswa kesempitan

Amatlah sedih saya apabila membaca cerita minggu lepas tentang mahasiswa yang mengikat perut sehinggan ususnya tercedera. Walaupun kesahihan cerita ini belum boleh dipastikan, namun ia masih...

Comical yet not funny contradictions

It is the start of 2016 and already we have comically unfunny things happening in our nation. You would have thought that maybe we might be bereft of such idiocy in the new year but it seems not...

Showing empathy to our students

Roughing it out is very much part and parcel of student life. Unless you were lucky enough to be born into privilege, there just won’t be enough to spend. Apart from cost of education that...

Persoalan kempen ‘SJKT Pilihan Kita’

Umum mengetahui mengenai kempen besar-besaran yang dilakukan Barisan Nasional (BN) (menerusi MIC) dan P Kamalanathan, serta stesen radio MinnalFM dan THR Raaga untuk memujuk ibu bapa kaum India...

The upside down world of multiple sclerosis

As a disabled activist, it isn't often that I come across people who are disabled who tell me they are not handicapped – especially when they really are. A new person by the name of TW whom I...

Repression and regime survival

In my November column, "Malaysia’s vote on protecting human rights defenders, diplomatic window dressing", I raised the question of the commitments of the 117 countries which voted "yes" to the...