Category Archives: On the Beat

Civil servants must live up to their name

In two days, he received more than 2,600 SMS although only 200 of them were related to complaints against his ministry. Since then he has calmed down, and probably changed his mind over the need to personally handle every complaint […] Continue Reading

PM’s choice stuns veterans

JUST hours before Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi called for a press conference at 2.45pm yesterday to announce his new Cabinet line-up, a senior minister telephoned to give his prediction of how the list would shape up. The politician, claiming […] Continue Reading

City councils must relook their priorities

Unlike many of us, who merely grumbled, Panjang decided to act on it. He did not ask for the publicity and, until now, does not even want to reveal his real name. But it is clear that the politicians, especially […] Continue Reading

Press freedom mustn’t be abused

In Malaysia, the editor of a newspaper, the Sarawak Tribune, resigned after it reprinted the offensive caricatures in its Saturday issue. Attributing that as due to an oversight, he wrote an official apology and took full responsibility for the decision. […] Continue Reading

Getting to bald truth of the matter

The group claimed that they met every year for supper, drinks and mahjong during the festive occasion at a coffee-shop in Balakong, Selangor, and had continued the tradition, betting with chips, which they claimed was merely to pay for food […] Continue Reading

Enjoying the best of both worlds

Over the years, we have decided that our hometown, Penang, is no longer the best place to be during the festive season. The narrow streets would be jammed with mostly out-of-town tourists. Being an island, the heat has always been […] Continue Reading

Cool heads must prevail

Over the last two weeks, I have consistently urged Malaysians debating on Islamic laws to look at the issues from the perspectives of all religions and not just theirs alone. This is essential because no one community should be given […] Continue Reading

View delicate topics from all perspectives

We cannot pretend that issues like these do not happen and take the easy way out by looking the other way. They won't go away as much as some of us may want to sweep them under the carpet, preferring […] Continue Reading

It’s not easy being a journalist

It is normal for anyone to look at an issue, especially one relating to race and religion, from one's own perspective. Sometimes, we fail to take into account the perspectives of other people. All of us are guilty of it. […] Continue Reading

We need to tower in areas that matter

The expedition, estimated to cost close to RM200,000, will be funded by the Selangor government, Youth and Sports Ministry, Ex-Servicemen's Affairs Corporation and programme sponsors. In short, public money will be involved. It's another bid, which does not require much […] Continue Reading