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By Ooi Kee Beng Editorial, Penang Monthly February 2016. They call it Paradise I don’t know why You call some place Paradise Kiss it goodbye “The Last Resort” The Eagles, 1976. Let’s be upfront about it. Anyone concerned about the survival of the planet has to struggle with the deduction that the greatest threat to … Continue reading
By Ooi Kee Beng Editorial, Penang Monthly, January 2016 So it’s that time of year again. The Lunar New Year arrives, and we witness the happy congregation of dispersed Chinese at the home of their family elders. They perform tuan yuan (reunion). In essence, they return from all corners of the land, the region and … Continue reading
BY OOI KEE BENG TODAY NEWSPAPER, SINGAPORE 28 OCTOBER 2015 Just 20 months short of turning half a century old, the Association of South-east Asian Nations (ASEAN) will officially become an integrated community. On Dec 31 this year, rotating ASEAN chair Malaysia will declare this to be the case. The integration has essentially been and … Continue reading
By Ooi Kee Beng For Penang Monthly, October 2015. [Also published in Digital Edge Weekly, 31 August 2015 as “Merdeka – Unfinished Liberation”] It takes two hands to clap; there is no shore unless there is sea; and one man’s ceiling is another man’s floor, as the poet rightly claims. You get the point. There … Continue reading
Editorial for Penang Monthly, September 2015 Pulau Tikus. The name always sounded exotic to the ears of a boy growing up in the general area of Ayer Itam (yes, not Air Itam), Reservoir Gardens and Rifle Range. At a time when I still measured distance by bicycle speed, the place was far enough away to … Continue reading
By Ooi Kee Beng For The Edge Malaysia | July 7, 2015 I have always enjoyed the story — almost certainly a false and libellous one, but that does not matter here — about the tragic French Queen Marie Antoinette watching in consternation from a palace window as rebels rioted on the streets of Paris … Continue reading
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
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
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
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
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