Wishing for a better year

Instead of waiting for others to make improvements, maybe we should start by changing ourselves first. It is finally the end of a very long year. As I meet with friends and others at various gatherings over the holidays, the mood is sober and pessimistic. A year ago, we all wished for a better year in 2015...

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Misunderstanding the meaning of human rights

Many think it means the right to absolute freedom rather than basic rights such as the right to life, to dignity, to a nationality, to education and to work. OCCASIONALLY you get a request from someone from a country so new to you that you can’t resist agreeing to a meeting. That was how I sat down today with...

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Culture gives us a break

DRIVING along in the middle of George Town last weekend, I spied a Malay couple in full wedding finery taking photographs in front of one of the restored old buildings. I couldn’t stop to take photos of them but I was intrigued because you rarely see this in Kuala Lumpur. According to my friends in Penang, these...

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