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By Ooi Kee Beng [for Penang Economic Monthly, September 2011] Standfirst: August is the only time of year when Penang’s son, Jomo K.S., can get away from his office at the United Nations in New York. While passing through Southeast Asia, he gave talks in Penang, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. I managed to squeeze a … Continue reading
By Ooi Kee Beng For TODAY │ March 16, 2011 JUST WHEN things were starting to look up for Malaysian Premier Najib Abdul Razak and the ruling Barisan Nasional, come disturbing reminders to voters that the essential nature of the UMNO-controlled ruling coalition has not changed. Although Mr Najib’s 1Malaysia initiative and economic reform documents such … Continue reading
(Talk given by Ooi Kee Beng at the Johor Bahru Rotary Club on 14 June 2011) I SUPPOSE we are here today to discuss the question, Why so much ado about an election that saw the incumbent still controlling 81 of 87 parliamentary seats at the end of it? What is the big deal? Why … Continue reading
INDEED, becoming literate used to be one of the best career moves anyone could make. In ancient China for example, extended families would concentrate their resources to make the smartest kid amongst them as literate in the classics as he – not she – could be. That way, he might pass the imperial exams, become … Continue reading
I SHALL tell you a secret. Whenever in Dublin, I actually prefer browsing through bookstores to bumming down at a public house for a piece of steak washed down with a stout. And truly, only in Ireland does Guinness Stout taste like it should. No, I cannot keep away from Irish bookstores. The range is … Continue reading
LIKE people in most developing countries, Malaysians suffer automobiles not only as a necessary tool for modern living, but as a purported key driver of the economy. Having a car-making industry supposedly generates an army of suppliers of parts from simple nuts and bolts to sophisticated electronics. The consumption Ringgit needed to keep a car … Continue reading
THE UNESCO decision to put Penang jointly with Malacca on its World Heritage List two years ago signified a few fascinating things. For one thing, it was of course a satisfying triumph for the many NGO activists in Penang who had been patiently pushing for that status for years. Secondly, the listing of the two port-towns … Continue reading
LIKE MOST new countries founded after colonialism’s fall, Malaysia lacks good historical studies about itself that are based on solid empirical data. No doubt, some do exist, but they tend to emerge at certain fixed levels. Either they are officially sanctioned hagiographies, academic works clothed in cautious terms, or memoirs by retirees who are unable to … Continue reading
Editorial for December 2011 By Ooi Kee Beng, Something that increasingly troubles me is the received supposition that urbanites are cosmopolitan by virtue of being urbanites. Not only does that bias attribute what in modern eyes is a morally desirable quality to the mere experience of living in densely populated areas, it also assigns the … Continue reading
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