Josh Hong

The stepping down of an education activist due to a scandal is linked to the teaching of Science and Maths in English.

There was much enthusiasm over the establishment of the Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines - East Asean Growth Area (Bimp-Eaga) - back in the early 1990s, which was touted as the most promising growth triangle in Southeast Asia. However, it has since come to nothing.

After a lull, the National Fatwa Council seems to be on a ‘banning spree’ again.

Most recently, the council ruled that Muslims were not allowed to practise yoga. Prior to that, it had announced a ban on ‘tomboyish’ behaviour, citing the increasing number of young women ‘behaving like men’.

While the yoga ban has resulted in massive public outcry and criticism, the council’s earlier religious ruling against ‘tomboyism’ and lesbianism largely went unnoticed, either by the general public or by politicians of all persuasions.

At a closed-door dialogue with Anwar Ibrahim a couple of years ago, a question was raised as to whether the wannabe prime minister’s US policy would be too friendly to be palatable to many, which had some pro-Washington attendants in the room nervous.

Always a smart player, Anwar referred to China, stating that the world’s most populous nation’s bilateral relations with the US were based on strong national principles, while not neglecting the sole superpower as an extremely important trading partner to many a developing country, including Malaysia.

History has shown us separating politics from the Olympics is as hard as weeding out corruption in Malaysia.

While I was not surprised at US' concerns over the arrest of Anwar Ibrahim, Japan's expression of similar sentiments was however intriguing.