| John Lee is a third-year student of economics at Dartmouth College in the United States. He has been thinking aloud since 2005 at infernalramblings.com. |
Time for a change in Umno’s thinking
October 21, 2010OCT 21 — The Umno annual general assembly always makes news for its racism. When the assembly was broadcast “live” on television for the first time a few years ago, many Malaysians recoiled at some of the unbelievably bigoted rhetoric on display. So instead of talking so much about what we can all expect, let’s talk about how surprisingly the rest of … Read More
Looking for moral leadership
September 13, 2010SEPT 13 — When we vote, we often have physical infrastructure in mind. We want better roads, cleaner drains, nicer shopping centres, and more jobs.Barisan Nasional claims it delivers on physical development. I suppose it does, if you count an RM12 billion disaster like the Port Klang Free Zone as development. But what we often neglect is moral leadership … Read More
Freedom 53 years later…
August 31, 2010AUG 31 — Every year I find it difficult to write about Merdeka. Almost exactly a month ago, I attended a candlelight vigil in Petaling Jaya, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Internal Security Act. I don’t know why we still call ourselves free.It’s easy to read about injustice and oppression, but it’s quite something else to experience a slice of it … Read More
It’s not just about abolishing exams
August 02, 2010AUG 2 — Since I am probably the only columnist here who sat the UPSR and PMR in the last decade, I think it behoves me to chip in my dua sen regarding the government’s proposal to abolish these exams: I don’t really care.Not that I do not have a strong opinion on our school system; I do. But it does not matter whether we abolish these exams. What we need is … Read More
Malaysia needs new voices
July 23, 2010JULY 23 — I never boarded the “hate Perkasa” express. I understand why people hate it, and I would never dream of joining a Chinese Perkasa (I’m not fully Chinese anyway, so I don’t know whether a Chinese Perkasa would take me).But I’m tired of bashing Perkasa and its ilk — unless we accompany this bashing with a genuine effort to understand why Perkasa … Read More
Transformation? What’s that?
July 16, 2010JULY 16 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak increasingly insists 1 Malaysia is about more than uniting the nation — it’s about reforming our government. Najib touts his Government Transformation Programme (GTP) as a response to the change we asked for on March 8 — the solution to inefficient and corrupt government. But under the GTP, all we have seen is … Read More
Fixing it ourselves
July 09, 2010JULY 9 — We Malaysians have an odd habit of grovelling at the government’s feet. Whenever a problem crops up, our first instinct is to complain — and then ask the government to do something about it. This is no excuse for government not to do its job — but we have jobs to do, too. We are citizens, not slaves.Being a citizen doesn’t just mean you get to … Read More
Because I know we can be better
July 02, 2010JULY 2 — A common complaint about my writing is that I complain too much. Well, let me add another complaint to that roster then: Malaysians need to grow the heck up. I actually don’t enjoy criticising Malaysia the way a lot of people seem to do in the comments section of places like, say, The Malaysian Insider — which is why I don’t do it.There are two … Read More
Make the change within… first
June 28, 2010JUNE 28 — “A government of laws, and not of men.” Few phrases better sum up the rule of law and the need for good institutions. It is plain for all to see that our country needs better institutions, and the rule of law.But what is not so immediately clear is that we need the right culture to go along with these institutions. The most righteous of laws are … Read More
Jams jamming us up
June 18, 2010JUNE 18 — I am dying without a car. I exaggerate, but only slightly. I recently came home for a break, and inasmuch as I love our tacky shopping centres, polluted skies and sickly rich foods, I hate getting around my hometown.It’s impossible to get out of the house without a motor vehicle in the Klang Valley. I’m exaggerating again, since I know there must … Read More
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