With most of us living our lives in limbo, disconnected and isolated from our usual social circles and support since the pandemic hit in early 2020, the arrival of vaccines signalled hope. In fact up until earlier this year, I was a firm believer that my state government — aware of its semi-autonomous position in […]
We need to talk about Trump’s popularity in Asia. I remember having a conversation with a female student four years ago, who had come into my office and noticed I was monitoring the US election results. She had casually asked who I supported, so I said Hilary Clinton. She made a face, so it prompted […]
“You are not working from home. You are at your home, during a crisis, trying to work“. I’ve seen this phrase being shared repeatedly on social media the last week or so, as a reminder that this is an unprecedented time we’re living through. And we shouldn’t be expecting for things to continue like normal; […]
I have issues with the term “people of colour”. I despise it. One problem is because it’s an American term that has been popularised and adapted into global acceptance, without as much as contextualising the differences in history, culture and language. It also comes loaded with American sensibilities, and with it, its conception of race. […]
I was recently asked if my current world was more racist or misogynistic. By default, I fell back to saying it was more racist, as I’ve reflected before, on how casually discriminatory and flippant people can be on racial and cultural differences. But over the course of time since the question was posed to me, […]
To the outside world, Malaysia, despite its various problems with government corruption on a global scale, is a considerably moderate and multicultural society. For decades, various ethnicities have learnt to live with each other harmoniously. And truth be told, this is something that is very visible, particularly in Borneo where the hometown is situated. It’s […]
Funny thing, activism. I’ve spent the last few days observing how responses to the terrorist attack in Paris evolve from horror to full-on condescending admonishment. All that’s left at the end of the day isn’t forgiveness or feelings of solidarity; it’s confusion, it’s anger, and an even greater sense of hopelessness because I see friends […]
When I accepted a lucrative job offer to return to my hometown, it meant relocating my entire life and that of my cat’s halfway across the world. Accepting academic jobs – or any jobs, for that matter – in a different country to that you were trained in was always something I accepted as part […]