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We have been talking a lot about 1Malaysia for this past year. Not only the Government has been propagating it but the opposition has to a certain extent jumped on the band wagon claiming that certain things, which are not done by the Government, should be carried out in line with the 1Malaysia spirit. There has been talk about changing the Biro Tata Negara courses to be more in line with the spirit of 1Malaysia, establishing of the 1Malaysia unit trust and ultimately the changing of Government Link Companies (GLC) …

The Government will be introducing a revamped subsidy system for fuel prices in May 2010. This is part of the Government’s effort in keeping a close eye on the budget deficit, which is estimated to stand at 7.4% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2009. It is anticipated that the previous broad-based and indiscriminative fuel subsidy will be replaced by a more deliberate one, which aims to benefit the lower-income population in line with the third strategy of Budget 2010, i.e. to focus on the well being of the …

The issue on single stream schools has been debated endlessly. However, that is as far as it has gone right until this day. With 1Malaysia currently being the talk and toast of the country, it is no surprise that the issue has resurfaced.
Like all other racial-based issues, one cannot deny the sensitivity of this particular issue. This was clearly underlined in the 1980’s when the Ministry of Education was stripped of the power and authority to demolish vernacular schools.

Perkataan subsidi sinonim dengan masyarakat Melayu. Namun tidak dinafikan juga perkataan subsidi menjadi suatu yang istimewa buat rakyat Malaysia amnya. Tapi tidak ramai pula yang mengetahui pengertian dan memahami maksud sebenar subsidi. Apa yang mereka tahu, kerajaan sebagai  pemberi subsidi dan rakyat pemerimanya.

Subsidy has diverse connotations and is likely to induce conflicts.  It may lead to questions like:  Does it carry an emotive sentiment? Can it stir up international conflict?  Does it sound vulgar and look ugly?  Does it carry discriminatory undertone?  Does it reflect a derogatory undercurrent?  It, thus, appears that there are a number of contexts where this word is applied. Within each context, where communalities and pluralities exist, there is bound to be interfacial engagement that may spark conflicts.