Khoo Book Teik looks at how Anwar has come to personify many dissident, even conflicting tendencies. His two different images – that of a conquering political leader and frequently disabled politician – capture society’s current predicament. We have moved towards more open dissent; and yet we are unsure if we can really achieve a more open political system.
In an earlier piece, Khoo Boo Teik looks at Anwar’s earlier experience of defeat and analyses the different phases of his public life. Anwar’s painful experience may have given him a better inkling of the issues that concern the rakyat.
With her sparkle, wit, boundless energy, compassion and principled stand on human rights, Toni appeared like a star across the sky and a song in our hearts, writes Yeoh Seng Guan in a tribute.
In our cover story, Khoo Boo Teik looks at how Anwar has come to personify many dissident, even conflicting tendencies. His two different images – that of a conquering political leader and frequently disabled politician – capture society’s current predicament. We have moved towards more open dissent; and yet we are unsure if we can really achieve a more open political system. This should be seen in the light of Anwar’s experience of earlier defeat and the different phases of his public life, as outlined in an earlier piece by Boo Teik. Anwar’s experience has given him a better inkling of the issues that concern the rakyat.
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It’s not often we get to hear refugees speak for themselves about the circumstances that forced them to flee from their homeland and their plight in Malaysia. Here are stories from three refugees, edited only for spelling and punctuation.
Pakatan state governments must look at alternative options for solid waste management that build on public participation, writes Ong Eu Soon.
Civil society activists have handed over the Penang Declaration to Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, outlining their hopes for more consultation and greater space for their activities.
Francis Loh attended a memorial to honour the late pre-eminent public intellectual, Rustam Sani, who was also an Aliran member.
Compared with those states in other countries using a federal-state system, the constituent states in Malaysia play relatively limited roles in relation to the centre. Francis Loh examines the factors that have contributed towards Malaysia’s centralised federalism.
As the posturings over federal-state relations intensify, BN Members of Parliament from Sabah and Sarawak have seized the opportunity to flex their electoral muscles. Despite their differences with one another, it is significant that the various BN Sabah component parties are speaking with a single voice on their set of demands. Francis Loh observes that Malaysia’s federalism is undergoing restructuring from a centralised system to a more decentralised model that could consolidate our democracy.