Side Views - The Malaysian Insider

There must be respect in giving and dignity in receiving – TK Chua

I wish things are that simple – the Chinese ambassador’s donations to Chinese schools in Malaysia are just friendly gestures and Chinese gunboats sighted 70 nautical miles off Sarawak’s coast are...

Adenan, engage civil society not bar us, as you take Sarawak through new frontiers – C4

The Centre to Combat Corruption & Cronyism (C4) is deeply disturbed with the recent travel ban into Sarawak placed upon election watchdog Bersih representative, Mandeep Singh. This is...

Understanding terrorism – P. Sundramoorthy

Acts of terrorism have an intellectual and behavioural context which needs to be objectively and analysed without prejudice. Many would argue that the way to counter acts of terrorism is to...

DAP at 50: Where do we go from here? – Lim Kit Siang

Where do we go from here? I don’t think anybody ever asserted that DAP should sacrifice its principles for justice, freedom and democracy. What we need to change is our modus operandi to enable...

How Southeast Asia become a social fact – Tom Pepinsky

The first principle of Southeast Asian studies is the very artificiality of the concept of Southeast Asia. I have called this the “fundamental anxiety” of Southeast Asian studies – that there...

Muddy relations for Isis in Philippines – Joseph Franco

Is the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis) militant group gaining a foothold in the Philippines? The declaration of the first Isis wilayat (province) in Southeast Asia appeared possible...

Will TPPA transform intellectual property regulation in Asia? – Peter Drahos

The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) may yet be the agreement that most transforms national regulatory systems. It could be even more transformative than the Uruguay Round (1986–1994)...

Of Bangladesh workers and low salaries – Visithra Manikam

I always say this – Malaysians are one of the most ill-read group of people. Yet without researching a topic, they are capable of voicing out their opinions on everything under the sun...

The delicate numbers game – Sin Chew Daily

In our hotly contested jargon today, "migrant workers" is without the slightest doubt a derogatory term. People will become uneasy at the mention of migrant workers, and will instantly...

‘Roll’ of our youth pepresentatives – FH Abad

The first step is to legalise vaping. Next is legalising marijuana. Our youth representatives in the Youth Parliament really set their priority straight. As far as I can see, they are on the...

Asian leaders should be ashamed by Malaysia’s ‘dirty jobs’ claim – J. D. Lovrenciear

The deputy prime minister of Malaysia, who is also the home minister, publicly stated that the job opportunities available in Malaysia are “dirty, dangerous and difficult”, and are offered to the...

Proton, please produce quality cars – Tan Eng Bee

In a world where transparency, truthfulness and honesty have taken a new dimension and importance, it is perturbing to note that Proton has kept silent on about 100,000 cars which need to have...

We, not technology, revolutionise education – Joshua Law

A lot of urban students think that the role of computers and mobile phones in education are bigger than schools. Well, frankly speaking, it is pretty much becoming a ubiquitous perception in...

United in xenophobia against migrants – Omar Kutty

Lately, the term "national unity" in a Malaysian context has become a paradox. Why? Because Malaysians from different ethnicity, religion and background unite without any sense of xenophobia...

Time to uproot graft in Indonesia’s defence sector – Anton Aliabbas

Recently, Transparency International, an international corruption watchdog, released its government defence anticorruption index 2015. Indonesia ranks among countries with a “high risk” of...

Where does Isis come from and what does it want? – James L. Gelvin

How far back in history does one have to go to find the roots of the so-called Islamic State (Isis)? To the oil shock of 1973-74, when Persian Gulf oil producers used the huge surplus of...

What Singaporeans should do as security threats evolve – Shashi Jayakumar

The think tank I lead interacts regularly with some of the world’s foremost strategic thinkers – those who have spent most or all of their professional lives examining security from academic,...

Proton’s ‘hose’ of problems – Koon Yew Yin

I am not surprised to see the front page article in The Star “A hose of problems for Proton”. The founding of Proton National Bhd in 1983 was a big expensive mistake to begin with. Billions of...

The silly threats to academic freedom – Lee Hwok Aun

At the risk of breaking the law, I wish to comment on something positively important: the government’s commitment to retain university tuition rates – in spite of massive funding cuts – is a good...

Dispelling ‘democracy’ within Israel’s political establishment – Ramzy Baroud

The Israeli “Right”, as demonstrated by a scary coalition of right-wing nationalists, ultranationalists and religious zealots, deserves all the bad press it has garnered since its formation last...