My last column asked the rhetorical question as to what is ‘noise’ as defined within communication theory. Noise is any interruption or interference that distorts the message intended from the message owner to the intended message recipient. I then went on to reflect on various noises in our lived environment; including some related to governance …
Malaysia appears naked today under the spotlight of global attention but what is the real problem and what are the real factors contributing to this criticism of Malaysian “information dissemination and communication by different individuals” and the apparent disconnect between the information disseminated and the reality of what was really known? I call it an …
I am not really a journalist although early feedback I received about my writing style was by the chairperson of my doctoral committee who said: you write like a journalist, and I asked, is there anything wrong with that? He replied in the negative. Next, I was also ‘em-couraged’ (yes, spelt differently to make …
How is it that Thai satellites can pick up debris in the ocean while RMAF satellites/radars cannot even warn us about a possible intrusion into our airspace? Now again, lo and behold the Australian government announces that the actual location has moved or shifted, based on yet new findings. In the meantime, Inmarsat disavowed …
Irene Fernandez is a personal friend of our family. We grew up in the same neighbourhood in the early 60s. Therefore, my feelings about her passing are mixed at best. Of course, since we are Christians, death is something we can look forward to, because of our personal and relational faith we have with Jesus …
How is it an entire world, with about 26 countries, all super-technologies and brightest brains deployed, cannot find a Boeing 777 flight that went off-course? How is it also that having deployed three teams of accounting experts, and all due processes being followed religiously, a registrar of societies member cannot find nor explain the loss …
Maybe I am confused, but is this not the inspector-general of police (IGP); our chief criminal law officer of the federation speaking about lack of authority to resolve the issue of the kidnap of his son by a Muslim convert? Is not our IGP also the chief police officer for execution of civil and criminal …
What is a ‘state’ in this new federation, after our 1963 federal constitution? I believe there is some lack of clarity and therefore the so-called ‘state’ can be variously interpreted both as the Malay states of the federation of the peninsula and the Borneo states of Sabah and Sarawak. In some provisions, it appears …
I have a favourite definition for knowledge. It allows one to know the difference between wrong and right, and also enables one to make choices about truth matters. But, if we have lots of information about a subject but cannot apply it to solve real problems, then we do not have real knowledge; just information …
In an earlier article , I discussed the nature of federalism in Malaysia, and proposed that we are ‘inadvertently’ growing into a multi-layered federalism which was not originally provided for by the drafters of the constitution. Originally, only a three-layered federalism was envisaged; that of a federal government, state-level administration, and local authority level by-laws for good …
