KJ

For one clear and obvious example, is there dignity in this world for Palestinians of Gaza? What crime have they committed to be cursed with the current bombardment of their homes with blatant disregard for human rights, while the UN closes one eye? Is there dignity in the world for all such victims of modern […]

After Dr Mahathir Mohamad  became prime minister and articulated his Vision 2020 ambition, I became a great fan of the then-PM’s vision. I was enthralled by the Bangsa Malaysia challenge he articulated with the corresponding nine challenges. Actually, way back in 1971, I had articulated another version of that same idea in my undergraduate thesis […]

COMMENT The Sun carried a headline, ‘MB: it’s LEGIT’. My question to the menteri besar is not about legitimacy, but regarding morality, spirituality, and ethics. The MB, whom I know personally, worked for at least seven years with Ismail Ali, the very ethical founder governor of Bank Negara Malaysia.   As a consequence, the MB himself has […]

Malaysia is not an Islamic state or a Muslim nation-state, but a Muslim-majority country which is well regarded by most of the world for our unity-style moderate government and our consistent principled stand on global issues; within the larger paradigm and context of a Muslim world which appears often confused or inconsistent on universal issues […]

Why did Tunku Abdul Rahman not call his new nation-state formed by the amalgamation of three former colonies of the United Kingdom, ‘Melayusia?’ Why then did he call it Malaysia? I have a pet theory, and please hear me out before you start calling me names, as little children do. My reasoning goes simply like […]

Since our history past, there have always been ‘royalists’ and ‘republicans’ in our midst. Nevertheless, when our federal constitution was framed and agreed upon, we created and allowed for the institution of the sultans. Nine states had sultans and Malacca and Penang were Straits Settlements; without sultans but with local, people-appointed governors. Our royal institution […]

Recently I attended ‘a story-telling session’ by Elyas Omar, the former mayor of KL and our former sports supremo par excellence. It was a very good, educational, and reminiscent learning experience for me. At the event, I met a few other National Institute of Public Administration (Intan) colleagues. It was good to see that at […]

This week, my good friend and spiritual older brother in my Christian life is visiting us from the US. He is an Iranian Assyrian Christian who went to high school in Darjeeling, India and only became a ‘born-again Christian’ when he was in college in California, US. Nate, welcome to Malaysia. I first met his […]

I was taught by legal teachers at Universiti Malaya (UM) that \’although there is a quota requisite at point of recruitment into the Public Services based on Article 153 provisions; once recruited by the PSC or Public Services Commission, all promotion and other considerations are based entirely upon merit\’. This principle holds true for gender […]