Side Views - The Malaysian Insider

The spirit of Asean’s founding fathers lives on – Termsak Chalermpalanupap and Tang Siew Mun

The peace and prosperity that South-east Asia experiences today can be traced to one eventful day on August 8, 1967. That day, the Indonesian, Malaysian, Philippine, Singaporean and Thai...

Advice to young graduates – Ramon Navaratnam

I feel privileged and honoured to be invited to give this convocation address. Convocations are indeed very special occasions. They are major milestones in the lives of very few “graduan”, who...

For Anwar or for Mahathir? – Tay Tian Yan

Be it "Save Malaysia" alliance or the Citizens' Declaration, the all-powerful implications of "country" and 'citizens" have been applied. But the weird thing is, there are a lot of other things...

For Asia-Pacific, it’s time to shine in global anti-hunger effort – Jose Graziano da Silva

Whenever I visit the Asia-Pacific region I am impressed by its dynamism and the many successes its people have achieved, not least of which was meeting the goal of halving the proportion of...

Nightclubs and nepotism in Singapore – Mish Khan

In summer last year I went on exchange to Singapore. No stranger to nightlife, I hyped myself for what was supposed to be the best club in Asia and one of the best in the world – Zouk. Though I...

Call to action – Zaid Ibrahim

For the next month at least, can we stop bickering about who will succeed Datuk Seri Najib Razak as prime minister and focus instead on getting everyone to sign the Citizens’ Declaration? And...

Mushrooming ‘cyber love’ crimes – Taneesha Pillai Muniandy

More and more criminals are exploiting the speed, convenience and anonymity of the Internet to commit a diverse range of criminal activities that know no borders, either physical or virtual,...

Unity in (sexual) diversity? – Kate Walton

Indonesian LGBT people and their activities have come under intense scrutiny in the last few weeks. It all began when Technology, Research, and Higher Education Minister Muhammad Nasir said...

Asean deconstructs – Michael Vatikiotis

For the past 30 years Southeast Asia’s security has been underpinned by the strangely consensual chemistry that holds the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) together. That...

Has civil society betrayed the people? – Shakira Iskandar

What encouraged the likes of Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan and Maria Chin Abdullah to join forces with Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad? Foolish idealism? Obsession with driving out Datuk Seri Najib Razak from...

Sharapova, drugs and the nature bias – Julian Savulescu

Tennis star Maria Sharapova has admitted taking the banned drug meldonium. Sharapova is an experienced professional. Strict liability applies. She doped. The more interesting question is – why...

Fighting of fires must continue under blue skies – Simon Tay

Blue skies breed amnesia. With the clear skies, many may now struggle to recall the urgency and anger over the smoke pollution in the region. Last year was one of the worst on historical record...

Are we all seditious? – James Chai

The Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a statement that while Malaysia upholds freedom of speech and the right to information, such freedom and right must be exercised responsibly and with...

University of Life – YS Chan

Examination result is the easiest way to measure the quality of education in schools, and those who have studied in tertiary institutions are regarded as “educated”. For many, education is...

Australia’s flawed position on South China Sea – Sam Bateman

Australia’s 2016 Defence White Paper says a lot about the South China Sea, both directly and indirectly. It expresses concern about land reclamation and construction activities by claimants in...

AIIB to unlock South Asia’s economic potential – Bishal Chalise

South Asia’s economic potential has long been constrained by low levels of economic integration. Despite being closely linked geographically, culturally and historically, intra-regional trade...

Sambar deer recovery integral to saving tigers – Dionysius Sharma

WWF-Malaysia is heartened by the news that the government has decided to extend the hunting moratorium for sambar deer in Peninsular Malaysia by another six years (“Ban on deer hunting to save...

Apandi contradicted again – Sir Wenger Khairy

Yet again, the prime minister said the complete opposite of the attorney-general (A-G). In fact, it is becoming a habit for this A-G to be contradicted at every turn. On January 27, 2016, A-G...

Achieving gender equality in Malaysia by 2030 – Michelle Gyles-McDonnough

This year’s International Women’s Day marks the first after UN member states ushered in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in September 2015. The new agenda is based on 17 goals, including...

A lifeline for MH370 search – Shaun Kang

The search for the aircraft has now entered its two-year mark and the designated search area has almost been fully covered. However, in spite of the extensive efforts, the main wreckage is yet...