By Ooi Kee Beng for The Edge Malaysia, July 1-7, 2019 Introvertedness is so much a part of nationalist discourses that we are often blind to it. This is as true of Malaysia as of any other country, including major powers like the US and China. The resilience of the collective state of mind that … Continue reading
By Ooi Kee Beng Editorial, Penang Monthly June 2019 Have you noticed that one easy way to look cool nowadays is to carry a book with you? It can sit leisurely in your hand or be lightly squeezed under your armpit. And it should preferably be a thick one. And if you don’t have a … Continue reading
By Ooi Kee Beng, for The Edge Malaysia, 6 June 2019. It is not as yet clear that Shared Prosperity 2030 will be the wherewithal for federal policy-making in the coming decade. The chosen goals are socioeconomic — that much is apparent — but building a nation is much more complicated a task than can … Continue reading
By Ooi Kee Beng, for CNA, 9 May 2019. PENANG: The big debate in Malaysia one year after the change in government on May 9, 2018, concerns the unfolding nature of Pakatan Harapan (PH). No one seriously doubts that it has charted a vastly different path for the country from that set by the Barisan … Continue reading
By OOI KEE BENG. For The Edge Malaysia Weekly, April 29, 2019 – May 05, 2019. The advent of electric vehicles (EV) offers opportunities for cities and countries to limit and reverse the use of unclean and non-renewable energy sources. But for that to happen, quite a bit of imagination in policymaking and public behaviour … Continue reading
By OOI KEE BENG Penang Monthly Editorial for May 2019. Women may not all have been born multitaskers, but mothers, whether working mums or not, definitely are. In fact, it may not be possible to define motherhood any other way, which is why we react with such deep shock when we hear of mothers neglecting … Continue reading
By Ooi Kee Beng for The Edge Malaysia, 31 March 2019. Malaya was born a democracy in 1957. The first general election held on the peninsula had taken place just two years earlier, on 27 July 1955. In fact, the first ever proper election was the municipal one held in George Town on 1 December … Continue reading
By Ooi Kee Beng; Penang Monthly Editorial, March 2019 As the Batu Kawan township comes into being, new hope is raised that the quality of life in the state of Penang will be affected positively, and that the bar for urban liveability will be raised. Being a greenfield project, the area promises to show how … Continue reading
By Ooi Kee Beng. In Forum, The Edge Malaysia Weekly, February 25, 2019 – March 03, 2019. Was the opposition to BN-Umno rule, which led to the change in government in 2018, about corruption, ethnic baiting and deteriorating socioeconomic conditions, and a loss of confidence in Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s administration? Well, those are, in … Continue reading
By Ooi Kee Beng This article first appeared in Forum, The Edge Malaysia Weekly, on January 28, 2019 – February 03, 2019. Building a new Malaysia must necessarily mean building a new Malaysian. This is because the 60 years that went before, for all its successes, bred dynamics that in the end led not only … Continue reading
