//
archives

Articles

This category contains 450 posts

Noses don’t grow back

Editorial, Penang Monthly June 2015 By OOI KEE BENG It is very sad that the state of Penang is being ignored in the 11th Malaysia Plan (2016-2020). None of the infrastructure projects the Penang government presented for financial support has been accepted by the federal government. Putrajaya seems to imagine that Malaysia will reach advanced … Continue reading

Penang Monthly goes free in June

Editorial of Penang Monthly, May 2015 By OOI KEE BENG Spread the good news! Penang Monthly will be a free magazine from June 2015 onwards. Next month, you will be able to pick up a copy at selected locations throughout Penang. Gerakbudaya Penang (78, Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling, opening hours 11am-8pm) and Chocolate Passion Cafe … Continue reading

Maritime Focus is Southeast Asia’s Given Mind-set

By OOI KEE BENG For THE EDGE MALAYSIA, March 29-April 4 How the geographical belt stretching from South India through Southeast Asia up to Northeast Asia develops in the near future holds great significance not only for the global economy but for how leaders in maritime Southeast Asia think about their own country. To be … Continue reading

Let’s be cosmopolitan and leave multi-ethnicity behind

Editorial for Penang Monthly, April 2015 By OOI KEE BENG It is fascinating how seemingly innocuous words actually are not. Especially those that sound neutral, even ethically positive. That is why the sage never thinks in haste, because he knows the words that bear his thoughts cannot be trusted and his listener’s ability to understand … Continue reading

When the national narrative loses the script

By Ooi Kee Beng For The EDGE Malaysia, April 2015 Malaysia is in serious trouble today because the different narratives that have been driving politics in the country for more than half a century have come into direct conflict with each other. This shows more clearly than ever that what was always important for social … Continue reading

Towards Substantive Democracy

By OOI KEE BENG Penang Monthly Editor’s Column — March 5, 2015 Democracy is a big word, and like all big words it is given to controversy and misuse. Since the magazine’s cover story this month and in April will be about local elections and local governments, it may be suitable to discuss what Democracy … Continue reading

Of Races, Racists and Racialists

By OOI KEE BENG for THE EDGE MALAYSIA, 22-28 February 2015 Malaysian political disagreements have deteriorated to a level quite unthinkable in the minds of the founding fathers. Name-calling of the type, “I’m not a racist, you are”, is now common, and does no credit to the country’s reputation. When childish quarrels take the place … Continue reading

Waiting for a Global New Deal

By OOI KEE BENG, for THE EDGE Malaysia, 31 January-6 February, 2015. Aiming for maximum effect, the anti-poverty organisation Oxfam International megaphoned just before the World Economic Forum began in Davos, that the wealth gap has become incredibly huge. It released a study indicating that the richest one percent is on the brink of owning … Continue reading

The Unity Fetish

Cover Story for Penang Monthly, February 2015 By OOI KEE BENG fe•tish noun \ˈfe-tish also ˈfē-\ : a strong and unusual need or desire for something : a need or desire for an object, body part or activity for sexual excitement : an object that is believed to have magical powers Standfirst: Building a nation … Continue reading

To Excel is to Stay Curious

By OOI KEE BENG, Editorial for Penang Monthly, February 2015 Have you ever thought about apparently different things, only to find out as you go along that they are totally linked trains of thought? And what starts out as a multitasking undertaking leads in the end to an epiphany of a sort. This is not … Continue reading