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This category contains 435 posts

Cheah Cheng Hye—Penang’s Own Warren Buffett

By Ooi Kee Beng For PENANG MONTHLY, Oct 2012 Standfirst: Cheah Cheng Hye, alumnus of Penang Free School, has been called the Warren Buffett of the East.  Although he claims that gives him way too much credit, the reasons why he is one of Asia’s most respected fund managers are many. For one thing, Value … Continue reading

Give Me a Town Square, or Give Me Death

By Ooi Kee Beng [Editorial in Penang Monthly, October 2012] One thing that strikes me when I travel from city to city nowadays is that the ones I enjoy most and have the fondest memories of are simply those that boast some huge and central public space where the local population – the citizens literally … Continue reading

School is Dead, Long Live Education

By Ooi Kee Beng For THE EDGE, Malaysia (29 October 2012) Under the rubric of Nation-building, countries throughout modern times have been struggling to construct institutions that can safeguard national independence, bring economic growth, and create a harmonious society. Thus, small and new countries like Malaysia have been frantically trying to put their house into … Continue reading

Marks of a Sincere Malaysian Leader

By Ooi Kee Beng In Penang Monthly [December 2012] and in New Mandala, Australia National University, 26 September 2012 There is an anecdote told among close acquaintances of the late Tun Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman, Malaysia’s feared and respected Deputy Prime Minister and Home Affairs Minister in the early 1970s, that he once in confidence said … Continue reading

Tariq Ramadan—Islam reviewed from within

PENANG MONTHLY editor Ooi Kee Beng and Roketkini editor Wan Hamidi Hamid interview Professor Tariq Ramadan on the sidelines of the 3rd Penang in Asia Lecture organized by Penang Institute at the Traders’ Hotel, 17th July 2012. The writings of Tariq Ramadan have often been criticized for being contradictory, and in this conversation, they to … Continue reading

Knowing me through my multiple names and faiths

By OOI KEE BENG, Editorial in Penang Monthly, September 2012 The history of naming is an extremely interesting one that varies greatly from culture to culture. In some, surnames are important, in others, they are not even existent. In some, personal names were important, in some, less so. Let’s take the Chinese case. In ancient … Continue reading

Nation must embrace a new stage in its development

By Ooi Kee Beng For The Edge, Malaysia, 25th August 2012 ELECTIONS are on the way, and an endless stream of promises will be forthcoming. The good thing is that Malaysians are such a politically savvy people — and this is paradoxically a sad reflection on the state of politics in the country’s recent history … Continue reading

For a Society Civil and Decent

Interview with Ambiga Sreenevasan: Penang Monthly  editor Ooi Kee Beng talks to Bersih icon Ambiga Sreenevasan between sessions at the inaugural ASEAN Coalition for Clean Governance conference on civil society and asks why she thinks “Malaysians are a great people”.   Ooi Kee Beng: Let’s discuss the recent rise of civil society activism in Malaysia. … Continue reading

Dignity is the basic human right

By Ooi Kee Beng [Editorial for Penang Monthly August 2012] The so-called Arab spring that began with the public suicide on 17 December 2010 of a miserable Tunisian vegetable seller whose cart was towed away by the police is often denoted a pro-democracy movement. That latter term is technically correct, seeing how it quickly led … Continue reading

Rules of the Road are Best Practices for Good Governance

By Ooi Kee Beng For The Edge, 30 July 2012 One fantastic thing about globalization is the knowledge easily available to us about how best to do things in any specific field. This can be about managing a company, educating a child, running a kindergaren, organizing a kitchen, growing a garden, or maintaining your car. … Continue reading