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By Ooi Kee Beng, for THE EDGE Malaysia, 21 December 2014 There is no doubt that the standard of English in Malaysia has fallen badly over the last few decades. And this is true for all Malaysian communities, even the Eurasians. It is a generational phenomenon made all the poignant because Malaysians started out having … Continue reading
By OOI KEE BENG For THE EDGE Malaysia, November 30-December 5, 2015 Merdeka is the country’s most important word. It defines the country’s original aspirations and means a great deal to older Malaysians. For that reason alone, young Malaysians should study what it means for them to be heir to that imposing legacy. All Malaysians … Continue reading
By OOI KEE BENG, Editorial for Penang Monthly, December 2014 Education is a key issue in nation building; and in no other country has that been more evident than in Malaysia where so much contestation since the 1950s has been about school types and the language of instruction. As soon as self-governance was obtained in … Continue reading
By OOI KEE BENG, Editorial for Penang Monthly, November 2014 Let’s get serious about global communication. In the Age of Nationalism, which is what we continue to live in, we tend to forget that communication between peoples requires a range of compromises, not least of all in the use of language, in the use of … Continue reading
By Ooi Kee Beng, for The Edge Malaysia, 27 October 2014. South of China, east of India and north of Australia, much is about to happen. This is besides the endless outbreaks of diplomatic antipathy and maritime scuffles between claimant states in the South China Sea, all poignantly signifying Beijing’s inevitably enhanced role in East … Continue reading
By Ooi Kee Beng For The Edge, Kuala Lumpur, September 29, 2014 It is indeed a heavy sign of the times that more and more ex-leaders are adopting the Internet as the preferred avenue for publicising their views. And why should they not? The arrival of the World Wide Web and all the fast-evolving social … Continue reading
By Ooi Kee Beng Editorial, Penang Monthly, October 2014 At a time when journalism—as a social activity more than a salaried profession—is booming beyond measure in Malaysia—a fact proven by heightened contestations in the public domain, and by government attempts to intimidate and harass all types of non-supporters, it is important that we pause and … Continue reading
By OOI KEE BENG Editorial in Penang Monthly, September 2014 There is much to worry about in the world today, 25 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, ewhich should give us reason to pause and consider what the long-term, persistent and negative consequences of the cultural shrinking of the world actually are. Politically, … Continue reading
By Ooi Kee Beng For THE EDGE, Kuala Lumpur, 25 August 2014 Multiracialism does not come by chance. It is always an expression of the populated territory’s geopolitical history. We imagine societies to be essentially mono-cultural and mono-religious. That may be true of some regions in the world, but in regions such as Southeast Asia, … Continue reading
By OOI KEE BENG Editorial in PENANG MONTHLY, August 2014 Watching the recent World Cup matches brought to my mind the snug relationship between Form and Flair. Football seen on the TV screen shows clearly how different formations—of 4-3-3 or 4-4-2—function differently, and how each of these hold different possibilities and different limitations. Now, if … Continue reading
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