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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
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
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
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, 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 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 For THE EDGE MALAYSIA, 3 August 2014 The whole region held its breath as it waited for the final result of Indonesia’s fifth presidential election to be announced on 22 July, 2014. Following exit polls done on election day on 9 July, both candidates had declared victory, and the tension worsened … Continue reading
By Ooi Kee Beng For THE EDGE Malaysia, 30 July 2014 A wave of pessimism and dejection has been pervading Malaysia for quite a long time now. Exactly when it started is hard to say, but what has been obvious is that whatever potential lines of division that can be found in the diversity that … Continue reading
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