| Yizhen Fung is a writer for the CEKU magazine, a United Kingdom and Eire Council for Malaysian Students (UKEC) publication, which serves as a platform for Malaysian students to contribute to intellectual thought while advocating for common hopes and beliefs (www.ceku.org) |
From the comfort of our armchairs
December 27, 2011DEC 27 — Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you, the armchair. All hail the ingenious inventor who came up with the idea of affixing comfortable armrests to sitting furniture.It is generous and cosy. It usually fits one. It is what most people look forward to after a day of stressful deadlines and difficult bosses in the office. It goes very well with a … Read More
‘Celebrating’ our work ethic
November 29, 2011NOV 29 — We quite literally took to the streets that Monday night. Having spent the last two nail-biting hours chained to our television sets, cursing whenever the Indonesian players stole the ball, and waiting with bated breath as the ball was passed around, we watched in trepidation as the captain of our national football team fired his penalty kick and … Read More
The deal with sex
November 02, 2011NOV 2 — Let us be honest here. How many of us clicked on the link to this article because the salacious title caught our eye?Not too long ago, I was browsing the home page of a local mainstream news portal. There was a small section at the side of the page featuring a list of the five “most viewed” articles at the current time. Here were the headlines of … Read More
Lessons from failure
October 04, 2011OCT 4 — I moderate and help out at an online forum which predominantly caters for Malaysian students. I’ve been around for about four or five years, and the place has grown on me somewhat.This forum has an interesting cycle of activity that repeats itself year after year. The hustle and bustle starts from March [incidentally when SPM results are released], … Read More
Behind the veil of transparency
September 06, 2011SEPT 6 — Resorting to litigation is normally an indicator of two things. The first is that all other avenues have been exhausted. The second is that there is some form of entitlement that the party is seeking to enforce.A divorcing couple may dispute rights to the matrimonial home. Two feuding companies may argue over their respective contractual rights in … Read More
The 8TV fiasco: Getting ‘carried away’
August 09, 2011AUG 9 — It is sometimes said that a reliable way of gauging the mindset of a particular society is to look at how its people respond to controversy. By observing their reactions, we can identify their manner of thinking and reasoning, as well as the values and principles they hold dear.There is thus a bit more to glean from the hoo-ha revolving around the … Read More
The true value of a university education
July 19, 2011JULY 19 — It sometimes seem as though it is, or ought to be, every student’s given dream to go to university. Back when I was in Form Five, the final year of my secondary education, going to university was all my schoolteachers talked about whenever we were taking a break from our usual lessons and it was time for one of those general pep talks on life.I … Read More
PSD scholarships: A step in the right direction?
July 12, 2011JULY 12 — June 23, 2011 marked a momentous date for the Public Service Department (PSD) scholarship programme. It denotes yet another significant step in a series of reforms that are being undertaken to drastically revamp the manner PSD scholarships are handed out.Under this new policy, PSD scholarships will only be granted to university entrants — from … Read More
JPA scholarship: A riposte?
May 17, 2011MAY 17 — I read with interest a succinct analysis on the JPA scholarship written by Lin Ern Sheong published in The Malaysian Insider on May 15. His opinion of the disappointing way JPA scholars are managed is one that has traditionally been shared by members of the general public — there is a sorry lack of adequate jobs for returning scholars, poor … Read More
Losing sight of our Vision 2020
April 19, 2011APRIL 19 — Ask any random Ahmad, Muthu or Ah Chong on the street about Vision 2020 and the typical answers you get may involve phrases such as “tall skyscrapers”, “mature economy”, “developed healthcare system”, and “high income society.” Politicians frequently cite Vision 2020 when announcing new plans to develop existing infrastructure or to attract more … Read More