For a small country historically dependent on trade, Malaysia needs to be part of free trade agreements for greater market access opportunities.

IT is a marvellous thing when words written at a nation’s birth are able to protect future generations of citizens.

EVIDENTLY, some readers of this column missed a notice in my byline a month ago, specifying that I would thenceforth appear fortnightly, rather than weekly. As such, I was not, as accused, deliberately avoiding writing about topics on many of my usual readers’ minds last week.

ACROSS social media, the level of anger among Malaysians directed towards the political class, seen to be a primary source of recent infections, has been trending.

But be mindful of risks that can cause far more damage than the pandemic already has.

IN Seremban on Aug 31 this year, there were no schoolchildren waving flags, no uniformed officers performing perfectly synchronised salutes, no platoons of rifle-spinning soldiers, no giant Jalur Gemilang held preciously yet tautly by trusted hands, no daredevil acrobatics through fiery hoops by special forces, no fleets of ambulances or fire trucks, no rumbling of PT-91M tanks with their crew turning as their turrets pass the royal dais, no spirited shouts of “kiri, kiri, kiri kanan kiri” from NGO leaders unused to military precision, no flag-bearing daredevils chosen more for their parachuting skills than their interest in vexillology, and no demonstrations of silat or silambam by fearless kids ready to use their skills against a real enemy of the nation.

I WROTE a support letter last week.

“POST-modernisation and new socio-culture” is an inexplicable title for any time of day, let alone at 8am.

The humorous and serious dimension of our relationship with food in a Covid-inflicted world.

FIVE years ago I gave a lecture titled “Healing the Malaysian Nation” to several different audiences. Asked coincidentally to deliver a lecture of the same name, I added “2.0” at the end.

Our vigilance and normalisation of mask-wearing is especially important given the recent uptick in local transmissions and the declaration of Kuching as a red zone again.

I SUSPECT it is a rare thing in any organisation for every member of staff, from the CEO to the company driver, to discuss and collectively shape its broad strategy.