Treat the verbal diarrhoea

MALAYSIA is spending millions of ringgit trying to repair its image overseas but plenty of taxpayers’ money can be saved if our politicians exercise some self-restraint with their statements.

The foot-in-the-mouth disease seems to be rampant and many of us wonder why they even make these statements in the first place.

We are talking about politicians from both sides of the political divide whose astounding statements often make world headlines for the wrong reasons. Little do they realise the serious implications involved, including loss of foreign direct investments.

Read the rest of my column here.

Why harp on a non-issue?

IT’S strange that some of us should find it difficult to identify ourselves first by our nationality and then only by our ethnicity. Yet, when we are overseas, none of us, including the politicians, have any qualms calling ourselves as Malaysians first.

When we fill up the immigration forms before we enter a foreign country, they only want to know our nationality and the passports we carry.

Really, they don’t give two hoots about our race or religion. They may want to know our gender or marital status but beyond that, no country, Malaysia included, really wants to know more than is required.

This is from my On The Beat column today. To read the full comment, please click here.

Up close and personal with Stephen Hawkings

I had an exclusive interview with Prof Stephen Hawkings (his daughter Lucy on the right) in Cambridge last month. Read the story in the Star Online link here, here and here.

Not a good year for the big cats

The tiger occupies a position of prestige in many of our country’s symbols. As such, there are plenty of reasons for us to protect and conserve our tigers. Read my column here.

A Blessed Year of the Tiger to one and all

It's a special day for me today in more ways than one. It's the first day of the Lunar New Year as the Tiger takes over from the Ox. It's also Valentine's Day. And it was this day 20 years ago that I tied the knot with my wife. So it's a time of reflection in today's On The Beat as I wish all of you a very Blessed Year of the Tiger.

Top schools: Surprise exclusions

IT’S a huge disappointment. Most of us who come from premier schools must have wondered why the list of top 20 high performing schools, presumably the country’s best, excluded our alma maters.

The top names that were missing included Penang Free School (PFS), St Michael’s Institution, Victoria Institution (VI), St Xavier’s Institution (SXI), St John’s Institution and Bukit Mertajam High School.

So are schools that perform well in examinations like Chung Ling High School and Jit Sin High School.

Over in Sabah and Sarawak, the grumblings are equally loud. From Sabah, for example, the Tshung Tsin Secondary School, All Saints and the Kota Kinabalu Secondary School must surely be wondering why they were left out.

In Sarawak, my colleagues insist that St Joseph Secondary School, St Thomas Secondary School and Kolej Tun Datu Tuanku Haji Bujang are deserving names.

More from my column today, click here.

Our forgotten heroes

Yew Cheng Hoe (left) is a well-known community leader in Petaling Jaya. The lanky elderly man heads the Damansara Jaya Owners and Residents Association, one of the best organised neighbourhoods in the country.

The 67-year-old devotes almost all his time to serving his neighbours, acting like an elected representative – if not more effective than one. The residents call him up for everything, from domestic disputes to maids running away, and they expect him to solve their problems.


His passion is in organising community protests against the construction of high-rise buildings in Damansara Jaya in the name of redevelopment. It’s a thankless job but Yew, who is still hale and hearty, is familiar with being unrecognised and unappreciated.

Not many in the neighbourhood, including the older ones, are aware that Yew is one of Malaysia’s greatest sports legends.

Read more here.