Lite - Opinion - Shamini

Shamini served as a news journalist for some years and now works as a media and communications manager at a private university. When she's not stabbing furiously at her computer, she's in a bar somewhere drinking in great music or at home devouring her favourite authors. She can be reached at [email protected]

We did it once… we are going to do it again!

April 07, 2012

APRIL 7 — April 28 it is.When I joined thousands of Malaysians last July 9, making our presence heard and felt on the streets of Kuala Lumpur to force the government of Malaysia to take the people’s united voice seriously, I knew, like every other person with me, that I was making a difference.Since Bersih 2.0, we have seen, felt and heard an intensity so … Read More

Learning how to ask for help

March 25, 2012

MARCH 25 — After a week and a half of being held prisoner, I was desperate for a night out. So desperate, I was even looking forward to dressing up for the evening.I knew that stepping out of the apartment would be a challenge, but I didn’t realise just how much. With the left leg in a cast post ankle surgery, life had forced me to slow down.A friend … Read More

Why should I care about 1 Care?

February 15, 2012

FEB 15 — When the idea of a national health financing mechanism came up in the mid-2000s, the question of how the funding scheme would be implemented caused much concern.As a journalist then with an interest in public health issues, I followed the arguments made, then observed how the idea of “the rich paying for the poor” disappeared.Logic suggests that … Read More

What is your skin colour worth?

February 05, 2012

FEB 5 — Complete bewilderment washed over me when I read that a golf club had assigned a price tag to my skin colour.While I may not care very much for golf, I could not help but feel horribly affronted for the members of Kelab Golf Negara Subang (KGNS) who are charged membership fees according to their race. But they did choose to be members of the club … Read More

Time for the government to catch up

December 31, 2011

DEC 31 — The last few months have been exhausting. Just the thought of picking up a pen to argue some sense against decisions made in this country made me want to crawl into a hole and hide.Part of me wondered whether writing about citizens’ rights, civil liberties, racial equality, and religious freedom makes a difference in a country where people are bent … Read More

Leave a light on for me, AJ

September 26, 2011

SEPT 26 — At around 4am, my eyes flew open. I lay in bed, wondering why. My thoughts immediately turned to AJ, lying on his hospital bed.I got a cold, sinking feeling. Then the phone rang. As news of the death of the first boy to ever write me a letter sunk in, I cried.I got off the bed, made a coffee, lit a cigarette and released my sorrow the best way I … Read More

Now what?

September 17, 2011

SEPT 17 — Glued to the radio, I listened as the prime minister took away some laws and announced plans for new ones.While it was heartening to note that the next time my friends and I are at the mamak running down the latest idiotic statement from a politician or debating a government policy, we wouldn’t be arrested for our opinions or because we were an … Read More

What’s so different about this wedding then?

August 21, 2011

AUG 21 — Marriage. A word that in my teens appalled me, in my 20s feared me, and now, in my 30s, makes me want to lift my hand in salute to those taking the plunge. Marriage. A contract formed in love, a shared future, the shatterer of lonely days and nights, a complementary partnership that seeks to better each other — which is why I am both amused and … Read More

I’m Blazing

August 14, 2011

AUGUST 14 — There is no other way to decipher “we will burn you down” as anything other than a threat to life and property.The question is, will Senator Ezam Mohd Nor, who publicly declared on holy grounds that he would set fire to The Malaysian Insider and Malaysiakini for being anti-Islam, be held accountable for issuing a blatant threat?Saying that … Read More

How much is too much

August 11, 2011

AUG 12 — If there had been a “motivational camp” for troubled teenagers when I was a kid, my parents would have rolled out the red carpet straight to the prison door.My mother would have handed the warden her favourite weapons — the feather duster and the long wooden ladle which otherwise would be used for cooking delicious chicken curry.Boy, was I a … Read More

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