THIS week, I feel compelled to write about something I find very disturbing: how we use our smart phones. I have discovered that though our phones are extremely smart, apparently, we, the users, are not.

JUST before the end of August, I attended a lecture given by Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, our illustrious former chief judge who had been appointed professor of practice by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) last year.

AS August heads towards its end, I'm sure most Malaysians are in a National Day, or Merdeka, mood.

Malaysia needs academics to step beyond their universities and help shape a national narrative rooted in knowledge, harmony, and the common good.

GETTING a PhD is seen as one of the pinnacles of academic learning, a magnum opus, right? No, it's not.

I USUALLY do remember important dates in my life but I have to confess that the Johor elections were uppermost in my mind last week and my wife had to remind me that our 42nd anniversary was coming up on Wednesday.

NEXT year, in the month of July, I will have spent 40 years of my life as an academic.

THE season of report cards is here and I listened as my daughter revealed that my eldest grandson is not doing so well in Sejarah (History) – in fact, he's failing.

SADLY, we let May 13 pass without any remembrance of that day of infamy in 1969.

Grandparents must always say yes to nurturing and sheltering the new generation, not just leave it to our daughters and sons.

THERE'S always an almost rabid interest every time a top civil servant is accused of corruption.. Actually, even being questioned by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission is usually enough for social media to get all hot and bothered..

You know what they say: Those unable to remember the past are condemned to repeat it.