The Primacy of Political Economy in Asia
3 min read
It’s a complicated subject, this thing we call Economics. I don’t always know what it means.I remember once talking to Robert Kuok about it. His...
Ecotourism – Conduit to a New Consciousness?
3 min read
Ecotourism sounds like an oxymoron, doesn’t it?We do know that tourism brings benefits to a place, but we cannot deny the larger truth of what I like...
The Hokkien Vernacular
3 min read
In lieu of a normal editorial, and in keeping with this month’s cover story being about Penang Hokkien, I am providing here in a somewhat truncated form...
On Sexism, Racism, Ageism and other Bigotries
3 min read
A racist act is the conscious effort by one group identity to effectively reduce the social status and the security, the rights and the privileges, and the in...
My Smartphone is My Sword
3 min read
Culture, if you ask me, is the joint expression of the interpersonal behaviours of a particular society over time. Within that, we find comfort and orientation...
Learning Mutual Respect May Be Easier Than We Think
3 min read
How does one show respect? How does one show tolerance? How does one show acceptance? These are important questions to answer when the ethnic and religi...
Should We Beware Humanity’s Collective Capacity Reaching Critical Mass?
2 min read
Man’s discoveries and inventions revolutionise him. That is a truismThe conquest of fire altered how and what we eat; the invention of the wheel chang...
Stay Young, Stay Spontaneous
2 min read
Much of youth is definitely wasted on the young, and this is because the young as a rule are not aware enough of what it means to be old.They are not burdened...
Capitalism is the Exercise of the Power of Excess
3 min read
This morning (June 20, 2016), my 12-year-old daughter asked me “what is Capitalism?”Since the Cold War is over, this is actually a harder question...
The Point of Competitive Sports is to Cultivate Sportsmanship
2 min read
Being a late-bloomer, I seldom took part in sports when I was in school. They felt too physical, too competitive and too regimenting. That did not stop me thoug...
The Future is in Our Own Hands
2 min read
Let’s be upfront about it. Anyone concerned about the survival of the planet has to struggle with the deduction that the greatest threat to the environm...
The Family Reunion – An Annual Pilgrimage
3 min read
So it’s that time of year again. The Lunar New Year arrives, and we witness the happy congregation of dispersed Chinese at the home of their family elders...