Let's give freedom a good Press; New Straits Times, Friday, July 27, 2007

IN 1995, I gave a talk on press freedom and censorship at the annual training of officers from the Ministry of Home Affairs’ Control of Publications Unit, the government’s censorship department. These were the people who decided which books, magazine or newspaper article we could read and which photographs we could see.

Why boys are lagging behind girls; New Straits Times, Friday, July 13, 2007

IF your ambition in life is to own a motorcycle at the age of 15, then why should you bother to study hard and go to university? So said a good friend, a former wakil rakyat.

It’s deeds that will test religion; New Straits Times, Friday, June 29, 2007

LIKE so many others, I had thought that Karen Armstrong’s public lecture in mid-June would focus on the unsettling relationship between religion and politics in the 21st century.

Mediation the wiser path to take; New Straits Times, Friday, June 15, 2007

IN August 1998, the Sheikh of Al-Azhar University caused a stir in Malaysia when he publicly declared that Islam recognises freedom of religion and Muslims are free to leave Islam as long as they do not harm the religion.

So, whose voice is City Hall listening to?; New Straits Times, Friday, May 25, 2007

I OFTEN wonder how much it takes for those in authority to listen to the voice of the rakyat.

Move fast to close gender gap; New Straits Times, Friday, May 11, 2007

MALAYSIA’S Gender Gap Index launched on Monday highlighted the stark reality that Malaysian women’s considerable progress in two fundamental areas of basic rights — education and health — has not led to significant shifts in economic participation and political empowerment.

Don't let his ideas die with him; New Straits Times, Friday, April 27, 2007

LAST week, I attended a memorial event for the late Professor Syed Hussein Alatas organised jointly by the Malay World and Civilisation Institute (Atma) and the Malaysian Social Science Association (PSSM) at Universiti Kebangsaan in Bangi, Selangor.

Stop the moral panic about sex; New Straits Times, Friday, 16 March 2007

OH dear, here we go again. Another moral panic attack. This time over a report that only one out 887 "high risk" girls surveyed had not had sex.

Give our kids a little love, guidance; New Straits Times, Feb 16, 2007

MANY years ago, I attended a dialogue between the Pas leadership and non-governmental organsations over the party's controversial hudud provisions, which discriminated against women and violated human rights principles.

Don't curb students' enthusiasm; New Straits Times, Friday, Feb. 9, 2007

OUR students in the UK are, oh, so shy, so unassertive, they keep to themselves, they don’t mix? I am surprised that the Minister of Higher Education is surprised. This is not a new problem.

New York has done it, can’t we?; New Straits Times, Friday, Jan 26, 2007

IN one second, I can think of at least nine friends and family members whose homes have been broken into these past few years.

A refreshing chorus of voices; New Straits Times, Friday, Jan 12, 2007

IS this for real, friends ask me. There is not one, not two, but three religious leaders from within the establishment speaking the language of justice, freedom, reason and rights? What an auspicious beginning to the 50th year of Merdeka!

Keep pupils thirsty for knowledge; New Straits Times, Friday, Dec 29, 2006

IF there is one major area of reform that is so needed in this country, it is the education system. Enough has been said on everything that is wrong with the system, from primary to higher education.

Women wise up to their rights; New Straits Times, Friday, Dec 15, 2006

IN 1838, 180 women, black and white, met in Philadelphia, condemning the evils of slavery and calling for its abolition. The motive was simple.

Listen to cries of the silent majority; New Straits Times, Friday, Dec 1 2006

NOW that the silent majority is speaking out in indignation at the racial and religious oratory at the Umno general assembly, political leaders on all sides of the Barisan Nasional are scrambling for damage control.

Building an equal world for women; New Straits Times, Friday, Nov 17 2007

IT is said when Carlos Ghosn speaks, everyone listens. This celebrated chairman and CEO of Nissan and Renault was ironically the star performer at the Women's Forum for the Economy and Society, a sort of Women's Davos...

Islam Hadhari champions needed; New Straits Times, Friday, Nov 3 2006

Many Malaysians I meet at open house in this festive month of DeepaRaya celebrations are feeling anxious...

Hate ideology a threat to unity; New Straits Times, Friday, Oct 20 2006

THE uproar of protest generated by Fauzi Mustaffa’s directive to the staff of Takaful Malaysia forbidding them, from extending festive greetings to their Hindu clients...

Stemming the 'I divorce you' trend; New Straits Times, Friday, Oct 6 2006

"HE wished her 'Happy Birthday', then he pronounced 'I divorce you'! Can you imagine such cruelty, such heartlessness,"...

Women will not be deprived of praying in the vicinity of the Ka'abah, the holiest sanctum in Islam; New Straits Times, Friday, Sept 22 2006

ON Aug 25, Saudi newspapers reported that the haj authorities were considering plans to ban women from praying in the vicinity of the Ka'abah...

I've rediscovered the Rukun Negara; New Straits Times, Friday, Sept 8 2006

THIRTY-SIX years ago, our national ideology, the Rukun Negara, was proclaimed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong at the launch of the Merdeka Day celebrations in 1970...

How much I love thee, Malaysia; New Straits Times, Friday, August 25, 2006

To mark our 49th year of Independence, let me share how much I love being Malaysian and living in Malaysia. I love that as we chase wealth and success, family still matters...

Nuggets of wisdom from Hussein; New Straits Times, Friday, August 11, 2006

I am completing a pictorial biography of three generations of political leadership in one of Malaysia’s most illustrious families...

Lessons from India on peace and violence; New Straits Times, Friday, July 28, 2006

BETWEEN 1950 and 1995, 1,600 Hindu-Muslim riots were reported in India. Some 7,500 people were killed. Only four per cent of the deaths took place in rural India...

Our freedom makes us appealing; New Straits Times, Friday, July 14, 2006

LAST week, a friend from Saudi Arabia whom I have not seen for 20 years, visited me with his wife and two precocious sons...

Treat rape issue with respect, decorum; New Straits Times, Friday, June 30, 2006

THE statements by the Bar Council criminal law sub-committee chairman V. Sithambaram that women lie about rape is a warning to society about the boulders...

Making taboo a cherished tradition; New Straits Times, Friday, June 16, 2006

WHAT next on the laundry list of the forbidden? On Tuesday, it was pluralism and liberalism that posed a danger to the faith of Muslims. On Wednesday it was kongsi raya and open house...

It's men who are the surplus goods; New Straits Times, Friday, June 2, 2006

FOR every 100 women who are not married in Malaysia, there are 130 unmarried men. It is men who are surplus goods on the marriage market in this country, not women...

Changing the Muslim mindset; New Straits Times, Friday, May 19, 2006

IN a seminal speech on Islam Hadhari and women's rights at the Women's Institute of Management last year, the Prime Minister said the biggest stumbling block to women's progress and development in the area of rights and equality relates to mindsets and attitudes towards women...

Datuk Onn Jaafar's rich legacy; New Straits Times, Friday, May 5, 2006

AS thousands of Umno members gather in Johor Baru next week to celebrate the party's 60th anniversary, I recall those days when as a young girl I followed my father on his daily visit to see Datuk Onn Jaafar, the founder and first president of Umno, who was dying in his hospital room...

Matter of conscience, not policing; New Straits Times, Friday, April 21, 2006

WE all agree that having sex in public is indecent and should be punishable by law. I am sure our lawmakers had precisely this in mind when they drafted by-laws governing indecent behaviour in parks.

Seeking justice for Muslim women; New Straits Times, Friday, April 7, 2006

MALAYSIA once had the most progressive family law in the Muslim world. But now countries like Morocco, Turkey and Tunisia are way ahead of us...

Let there be public debate on laws; New Straits Times, Friday, March 24, 2006

THE fact that three daughters of current and past Prime Ministers in Malaysia were moved enough to share the same stage, the same passion and the same commitment to speak out their convictions in public on the imperative of justice for women in Islam...