THE hot weather has been hard enough for many Malaysians – add the haze and many of us have had little choice but to stay indoors, with air conditioners and fans running full blast for longer than usual.

AS Malaysians across the peninsula and Borneo gear up to celebrate Malaysia Day on Wednesday, it's a good time to remember how we came to be "Malaysia", and how becoming this sovereign federation gave us so many advantages.

THE haze over Malaysia and the devastating flood in Nepal and China are very different disasters. But they carry the same lesson: A problem on one side of a border can quickly become another country's problem.

ARE you excited about tomorrow? We are. It's going to be a great time as we gather with friends and family to commemorate the day we gained our inde­pen­dence, Aug 31, 1957.

SIMPLY walking along a road shouldn't be a test of nerves.. Yet in many parts of Malaysia, a short walk to a shop, school, bus stop, or rail station can be a scary experience that is fraught with obstacles..

PARTS of Malaysia are once again trapped in a double climate hazard. Driven by the dry Southwest Monsoon, scorching weather is pushing daily temperatures to uncomfortable heights.

FOR once, there is some good news from our forests.

ASK almost any Malaysian if they would save a life if given the chance, and the answer is an easy, unanimous yes.

WHILE we're getting better at talking about mental health as a nation, we're still not taking the issue in the workplace seriously enough.

FOR generations, Malaysians have lived alongside our country's diverse wildlife, but the boundaries separating our worlds are rapidly dissolving.

EVERY year, thousands of young Malaysians leave school, college or university, looking to start a decent working life.

EVERY June, we shower our fathers with standard gifts and praise them for being the provider and the backbone of the family.