Lite - Opinion - Edwin Yapp

An engineer by training, Edwin has since turned his back on the engineering world in favour of words in the literary world. A freelance journalist & an editorial consultant writing on his own terms now, Edwin hopes his observations will stir up deeper discussions and debates within Malaysia. You can find Edwin occasionally at twitter.com/yedwin01.

Why blaming tech, social media is pointless

March 26, 2012

MARCH 26 — The blame game has started... again.Last week, The Malaysian Insider reported that Internal Security and Public Order director Datuk Salleh Mat Rasid said the Internet posed a challenge to the police as it allowed people “to know what was going on in and outside the country.”In an interview with Utusan Malaysia published last Friday, Salleh said … Read More

Education is key to mitigating online ills

March 16, 2012

MARCH 16 — As a tech journalist who has covered many stories about children’s safety on the Internet, some which I’ve been writing about these past couple of weeks, I was once at the crossroads as to whether or not I should introduce the Internet to my kids.Some parents I knew at that time had advocated a blanket “no” policy and did not allow their children … Read More

Where on the Net are your kids?

March 09, 2012

MARCH 9 — In my last column, I spoke of the need for parents to seriously take note of what their respective children do online and keep track of the kind of engagement that they may be involved in.My argument was that just because they are behind the confines of a “safe environment” in the home or at school, they are not necessarily safe from predators, … Read More

Parents should wake up to the impact of a Facebook generation

March 02, 2012

MARCH 2 — I doubt anyone today who’s connected to the Internet has not heard of Facebook, the social network platform that has over 800 million members. To add icing to the cake, Facebook was plastered all over the news recently due to its planned IPO (initial public offering) — estimated to be worth a whopping US$5 billion (RM15 billion) — which will take … Read More

The oxymoronic world of Umno’s politics

December 07, 2011

DEC 7 — Oxymoron.That’s the word that has been on my mind of late. Why? Because that’s exactly what we, Joe Public, are being fed on a daily basis.Etymologically speaking, the word is derived from the fifth century Latin “oxymoron”, which in itself is derived from the ancient Greek to mean “sharp, dull,” according to Wikipedia. The noun describes “a figure … Read More

The remedy against the muddy world of spin doctoring

November 28, 2011

NOV 28 — The line between public relations spin doctoring and independent objective opinion can often be easily blurred and naive experts who are not careful can be caught in between. Just ask Professor Jeffrey Sachs of the Earth Institute, Columbia University, and he can probably tell you.Last week, The Independent broke the news that FBC Media was being … Read More

Give parents their right to choose PPSMI

October 21, 2011

OCT 21 — The teaching of science and mathematics in English or PPSMI is once again at the forefront of the news headlines. Over the past few months, the Parents Action Group for Education (PAGE) has been lobbying hard to keep the PPSMI policy alive, citing various reasons for doing so.As parents whose children go to one of the schools in Petaling Jaya that … Read More

What the changes in the PPPA should mean to journalists

September 23, 2011

SEPT 23 — Now that quite a few pundits have weighed in on the prime minister’s Malaysia Day eve announcement, I’d like to put in my two-sen’s worth. I shall leave the broader implications of the security laws aside and being a journalist, I shall just concentrate on one of the announcements made — that of doing away with the annual renewal of licences for … Read More

Decisiveness a must to face globalisation juggernaut

August 28, 2011

AUG 28 — Thoughts for my column this week were spawned from two articles that were published some 15,000 kilometres apart — one from New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman and the other from a local news organisation.In his column dated August 15, the award-winning journalist argued that the continuing trend of globalisation aided by the power of … Read More

What’s really choking investments in Malaysia?

July 21, 2011

JULY 21 — In my many years as a journalist, one of the most oft-asked questions I’ve put to interviewees who have business interests here in Malaysia is: “What are some of the factors that have prompted you to invest in Malaysia?”The answers that I get, though not exactly the same every time, can be summarised into one or more of the following major points: … Read More

Page

1 2 > Last »