I attended a scriptwriting workshop a few years ago where someone asked me what I had written? It then occurred to me that despite calling myself a "writer", I had not really written anything - except for a sprinkling of poetry and some amateurish scribbles during my teenage years. The bulk of what I had written was work - news articles and such. When one is a writer, one should write, at least a little, news reporting is hardly writing, plus it never gave me the writer satisfaction I craved. Hence this blog.....it serves as my outlet to gripe about the things I dislike, wax lyrical about my passions, express my opinions, and to twitter away about whatever catches my fancy.
BlogsPage 1 of 2
The Winter Palace. THE city of St. Petersburg was founded by Peter the Great, who aspired to create a city that would rival the great cultural capitals of Europe. Built on the banks of the Neva river, St. Petersburg stretches across 42 islands with natural waterways and canals, giving it the title of...
Visit iconic monuments and see treasures from the past in one of Europe’s oldest cities Night view of the famed St Basil's Cathedral. FOR all its great political and social upheavals which have given rise to many a good movie script, the largest country on earth has never quite popped up on...
On July 10, a convoy of vehicles with a police escort made its way across the border from Nepal to India, in a journey that took 30-hours. At the heart of the convoy, in an animal ambulance, was Rangila, Nepal's last known 'dancing bear'. The long journey from a substandard zoo in Nepal to Wildlife...
IF you think that the mass culling of stray dogs in the northern states which began last month, after rabies was first detected in Perlis on Aug 19 will serve to eliminate the zoonotic virus from spreading further, I urge you to think again.Let us not be deluded by the notion that the council workers, dog...
Justice delayed is justice denied is a popular legal maxim that means if legal redress is not forthcoming in a timely manner, it is akin to having no redress at all.I believe the friends and family members of marketing executive Chee Gaik Yap who was raped and murdered in 2006 would heartily agree with...
It is said that one would do anything for one's own flesh and blood, that the love of a parent for a child knows no bounds. That a father or a mother would make great sacrifices for the wellbeing of their children, but does this great love extend to spilling the blood of another?Is it called love when the...
June 17, 2015 marked a momentous day for Malaysia as the Animal Welfare Bill 2015 was passed by the Dewan Rakyat. It proved to be one of those rare bills that garnered support from both sides of the political divide.Animal lovers who were following the live debate on RTM1, spoke of how refreshing it was to...
When I was a child, way before I entered primary one, I knew what rape was, courtesy of Tamil and Hindi movies. Literally every movie had at least one rape or attempted rape scene. What were these scenes for? To entertain the audience? Though I believe that one who is entertained by such scenes, must be of...
Early this month, Jais delivered a highly controversial sermon titled: "Aurat: Antara Kebebasan dan Maruah Diri” (Aurat: Between freedom and self dignity).The gist of the sermon is this:Muslim women should cover up their "aurat" to prevent “being harassed physically or mentally... so as to prevent false...
A leopard cannot change its spots and there's not much chance of a rapist changing his ways either. At the risk of sounding a tad judgemental, the following cases prove that society at this point, does not take crime and violence perpetuated against women seriously enough.Here are three examples that I...
One of the most potent dangers a dog is likely to face in its lifetime, besides physical abuse is poisoning. Whether a dog is owned or a stray, poisoning is always a clear and present danger. Stray dogs are more likely targets, as they are constantly scavenging for food and a tasty piece of meat is not easy...
OnAugust 30, I saw a post by a friend on my Facebook timeline that made my day. An FB user who goes by the name Eddie Fendy Mkah posted that he offers taxi services to blind people with guide dogs. This is a screenshot of the Facebook post.In any other country or any other situation, no one would have...
Even if they die many times over, it would not be enough." This is what a survivor of the brutal Khmer Rouge regime that plunged the country into its darkest era ever, said when two senior members of the regime were sentenced to life imprisonment on Thursday, Aug 7, 2014, for crimes against humanity more...
When you're a guide dog in Malaysia, being able to walk into a mall and not get kicked out is a big deal indeed. Infact it is such an achievement that it would warrant some amount of media coverage which it did. Breakthrough for the blind as guide dog is allowed into mallLashawn however has been creating...
Sometimes it just takes one incident to shine a harsh spotlight on how unevolved we are as a society. In this case it was a simple experiment undertaken by a man on a mission to provide sight and mobility to the blind via guide dogs.The man in question is Stevens Chan the founder of Malaysia Glaucoma...
Last month the reputation of the Johor Baru Central Municipal Council (MPJBT) took a beating when a video surfaced on Facebook showing enforcement staff bludgeoning stray dogs to death.Under fire, MPJBT called a halt to ongoing operations to round up stray dogs and promised to come up with a more humane...
The cruelty that was inflicted on Brianna, and old and partially blind Rottweiler, led animal lover Tina Yusman to start an online petition called Justice For Brianna. The petition which garnered 126, 596 signatures from throughout the world was sent to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak on...
Fifteen individuals and four non-governmental organisations lodged reports at the Skudai police station on June 11, 2014, against MPJBT. NST PIXOn June 5 a video was uploaded on Facebook showing enforcement personnel from the Johor Baru Central Municipal Council (MPJBT) bludgeoning stray dogs to death...
Recently two incidents of cruelty against man's best friend gained the attention of animal lovers in Malaysia. Both incidents shone a harsh spotlight on the reluctance of "the powers that be" to get tough with animal abusers.First incident On May 13, 2014, a man believed to be an army officer, shot two...
The Mahabharata one of Hinduism's greatest epic, the other being the Ramayana, does not belong to India alone. As Hinduism spread beyond the subcontinent, so to did the exploits of the Mahabharata heroes.In Bali literally the last bastion of Hinduism in Southeast Asia, one cannot help but notice how the...