The columnist hopes his fellow Malaysians are not pursuing impossibilities and wishing for the wrong thing.

TWO recent examples of the concept of “freedom of speech” prompted this week’s column.

In today’s article, my wife and I - two Muslims born in Malaysia - would like to ask for forgiveness from all our Malaysian brethren, whether we know them or not, whether our paths have crossed or not.

The columnist bemoans what seems to be a striking return to divisive identity politics by a major component of the unity government.

The government can only do so much to uplift the bumiputra community. The rest is up to us, says the columnist, offering a path towards self-reliance.

The columnist offers ideas on how to improve and increase the use of Bahasa Malaysia in vernacular and private schools.

THERE’S a Malay saying that goes like this: “Seperti kera mendapat bunga”. Literally, it translates as “like a monkey getting a flower”.

THERE seems to be a lot of interest in the public domain about Malaysian academia after a social media-loving French professor questioned the scholarship of a paper submitted to a journal by an academician from a Malaysian public university.

FOR this nation of ours to progress, what do we need?

AS this new year shuffles in – and as with every new year that comes around – I feel a bit of despair and a mountain of hope, all at the same time.

AS 2023 draws to a close, many of us are no doubt reflecting on what happened this year in our lives, perhaps seeing some resolution, maybe even making plans for 2024.

RECENTLY, at a forum organised by a news portal, one of the panel­lists, a veteran editor from that portal, gave Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim a grade of D- in evaluating his first year as PM. Before that, former health minister Khairy Jamaluddin gave Anwar a B-.