The Malaysian Insider

Liberalisation will fail without social justice

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 07:40:27 +0000

JULY 6 — In 2005 Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim made a bold announcement that the New Economic Policy had to be replaced. The announcement shocked both friends and foes alike, who felt that — for whatever the statement’s merits — criticising the NEP was a political misstep.

The BN machinery went into full gear, claiming that Anwar had made a dreadful miscalculation and playing up its narrative that Anwar was a stooge of the West. Now — at least to the Malay community that supported Anwar in a big way in 1999 — they could paint him as pro-Chinese as well. The brainwashing camps of Biro Tatanegara (BTN) were now given more ammunition to convince students and government servants that Anwar was a threat to the country.

Breaking free from old ways

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 01:32:14 +0000

JULY 6 — Like most short-sighted politicians, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has described Datuk Seri Najib Razak's capital market liberalisation as a move to be popular.

PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang too has opposed it, saying the Malays are still weak and need the 30 per cent equity quota.

I guess it is easier to change laws and policies than Dr Mahathir's mind, or Hadi's, which is ironic as the country's fourth prime minister has put in similar market-friendly policies in the past.

Apakah Suhakam masih relevan?

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 01:18:52 +0000

JULAI 6 — Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri merangkap Menteri de facto Undang-undang, Datuk Seri Mohd Nazri Aziz baru-baru ini menyatakan bahawa Pesuruhjaya Suruhanjaya Hak Asasi Manusia Malaysia (Suhakam) perlu lebih berhati-hati ketika mengeluarkan kenyataan dan perlu bersikap neutral serta berkecuali berdasarkan prinsip Paris.

Beliau turut menambah, sikap itu bukan sahaja perlu ada pada Pesuruhjaya Suhakam tetapi juga kepada semua anggota Suruhanjaya berkenaan.

Bubble wrap baby

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 07:04:03 +0000

JULY 5 — My childhood memories of playing in my grandparents’ sprawling garden are doused liberally with Tabard insect repellant and smoke from burning mosquito coils.

Those of us too impatient to have repellant rolled, rubbed or sprayed onto us would inevitably fall prey to the dozens of mosquitoes that buzzed around. Ah Mah (our grandmother) would then apply her all-natural remedy on our bites: marking an ‘X’ on the bite with her thumbnail, followed by a generous dollop of saliva.

In our playtime adventures, we would also have touched all sorts of surfaces covered with dust, mud, grime, cat and dog fur and so on and our parents barely batted an eyelid. It was a simple case of “Wash your hands before you eat”.

Automatic for the people

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 00:06:11 +0000

JULY 5 — “Bila saya hantam dashboard, you kasi brake kuat-kuat.”

Blink.

Awkward silence.

A varied reading diet

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 00:01:36 +0000

JULY 5 — Confession: I am a magazine fiend. I spend way too much money and time reading them and you know what, I love every moment. These days, there are a lot more titles to feed my habit.

To make matters worse, I like all sorts of magazines: news, fashion, health, yoga, interior decor, travel, pop cultures. There was a time when we got our magazines a month late but these days they are air-flown in and well... you’re reading “Vogue” the same time as American readers do.

Then there are also our very own home-grown titles like KLue. I have been a fan of this Kuala Lumpur and Klang Valley guide since I first discovered it some eight or nine years ago. It’s fun, funky and informative.

Journeying towards change

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 01:32:34 +0000

JULY 4 — A week is a long time in politics, so it is said. This is strange because it really is just seven days whichever way it’s stretched. It is not as though you can add a bit here, and subtract a bit there, a week is a week, but I take the point. The all-pervasive point is — a lot can happen in one seven-day stretch.

This week I have dragged myself, practically kicking and screaming, cold turkey shivering away from my ever active computers. Divorced myself from the impressively handy yet awfully addictive Internet and therefore also separated from frankly fascinating Facebook and gigantean Google.

A Pakatan shadow on Najib’s Cabinet

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 01:35:45 +0000

JULY 3 — Today, three things are in the headlines: Pakatan Rakyat’s formation of a shadow front bench, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s appeal being denied by the courts, and the Kedah DAP quitting the PAS-led Kedah government. I have listed these events in exactly the order of importance I think they will have in the long run. The notion of a competent and capable opposition is new to Malaysians, as is the idea of the opposition having clear, concrete policies to put forth, and an institutionalised shadow front bench will fundamentally alter how the political debate is waged.

A step forward with thousands to go

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 01:28:16 +0000

JULY 3 — Liberalisation is on the move. Yet, the move hardly deserves to be called a liberalisation effort.

Notwithstanding how truly free the local economy is, the federal government led by Barisan Nasional is finally addressing the shortcomings of affirmative action as practised in the country. The past few weeks have seen the kind of market liberalisation that one cannot imagine to be even possible before 2008. The much debated equity ownership quota imposed on public companies is now finished.

What do you get when you have two Indian lawyers?

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 03:10:53 +0000

JULY 2 — I’m sure you all have heard of this racist joke: what do you get when you have two Indian lawyers? The answer is: three law firms — one each and the third is the partnership. The joke is to convey the public perception that Indians are fine lawyers and just love to argue.

I’m not sure what the origin of the joke is but it may have to do with the fact that some of the most famous lawyers in this country are people like Karpal Singh and his son, Mr Looks-And-Sounds-Like-Me V.K. Lingam and judge Gopal Sri Ram. There are many others, some sadly no longer with us. These are formidable legal minds and known to suffer no fools.