KJ

The Education Minister was reportedly asked why he has failed to take disciplinary action against the two recalcitrant principals of government Schools. His answer was that that action was not within his jurisdiction .  Media watcher and observer Rolls Royce then wrote a comment in the comments section of that Malaysiakini article requesting that I should attempt a perspective […]

Racism is an attitude that \”the other person of a different ethnicity is a lesser mortal for various privately held beliefs.\” Racism can be applied in various forms. White South Africa was racist. Hitler was racist. Americans before Abraham Lincoln were racist. Malaysia today runs the risk of being racist even into the 21st Century. […]

PM Najib Abdul Razak ( below ) argued at the UN that the mainstream \\moderate majority must be mobilised to reflect and protect universal values of common day civility. He repeated the same call at the Asem Meetings in Brussels. Coincidentally, Raja Petra Kamaruddin (RPK) also made the same call in London at a Friends of Pakatan event; […]

In a legal framework, third-party interests are quite well-known and clearly understood. But in national governance is the same concept as well understood? Do we have a clear concept of what is this third-party interest or the public interest?   Who speaks for this public interest? Is national interest and public interest one and the […]

I am no lawyer. In fact that may be my only real regret in life. I applied to study law in Singapore and therefore did not apply to the University of Malaya (UM) because it did not offer law. My father would have none of that and instructed me to apply to UM with the […]

The above is my description of PNB’s 100-storey building project. Why is it a poor concept? First, one must get real and understand that KL cannot take more and more high-rise buildings at its heart, to really become a livable city. Packing more and more offices into the centre of KL is the fastest way […]

I served almost 30 years with the government and I must say that only once was I ever invited to the US Ambassador\’s residence for the 4 th of July celebration. Although I am married to an American, I do not think that has made a difference either about how the American Embassy perceives me. That is […]

For those who have not read my column regularly over the years, here is a context-setting statement.   This series is Version 3 of my weekly column in Malaysiakini over the last five years and is about two things – both my interpretive text and context and how all that relates to truth matters in Malaysia. The […]

Cross-cultural communication is always about meaning and such meanings are always resident in people and not just in the mere words. In a recent article relating to the same concept of interpretive nuances of meanings of words in people, Raja Petra Kamaruddin (RPK) wrote: “For example, when you say someone is a fundamentalist, you may […]

Before last week very few people in Malaysia had heard of the Imam and the Pastor; and the number may not even exceed the hundreds. Therefore when the real people came to Malaysia on Monday last week by way and courtesy of Singapore, there was no overwhelming anticipated excitement as per media-moderated fan clubs.   […]