Author Archives: Tricia

Civil society and Pakatan governments

Posted on March 8, 2012 by Tricia

When PR took over state governments in Selangor and other states, civil society had to re-evaluate. At the same time, civil society would have to consider what kind of distance it would want to maintain with politicians they personally knew … Continue reading →

Posted in Civil Society, Selangor | Leave a comment

Dealing with the Rising Cost of Living

Posted on February 25, 2012 by Tricia

One of the issues people are most concerned with is that of the rising cost of living – this is something the politicians will have to consider in the upcoming elections. A version of this was published in theSun on … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics | Leave a comment

What the Debate says about the Chinese

Posted on February 17, 2012 by Tricia

Political debates are common these days, well.. with the exception of the Prime Minister Najib who has yet to agree to one with Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim. In any case, this was the “Chinese debate” – which said a lot, … Continue reading →

Posted in Ethno-Religious Politics | Leave a comment

The Help

Posted on February 11, 2012 by Tricia

On foreign workers, particularly domestic workers, in Malaysia. First published in theSun on 10th February 2012. The Help Hollywood movie “The Help” tells the story of a young white journalist in the early 1960s who writes a controversial book about … Continue reading →

Posted in Human Rights, Outside Malaysia | Leave a comment

Malaysians! Know your governments

Posted on February 8, 2012 by Tricia

It’s important to know what the MP, ADUN, and local councillor roles and responsibilities are, or you end up getting them all confused. This is the problem when we don’t really know the structures, much less what our reps are … Continue reading →

Posted in General Politics, Public Administration | 2 Comments

Movement of Moderates: Global or Malaysian?

Posted on January 28, 2012 by Tricia

Our government tends to take a hypocritical approach to being moderate, taking one stance outside the country, and another one inside it. A version of this was published in theSun on the 27th of January 2012. M ovement of Moderates: … Continue reading →

Posted in Ethno-Religious Politics, General Politics, Religion | Leave a comment

The state of non-Muslims in Penang and Selangor

Posted on January 26, 2012 by Tricia

Religion will be an ever-present issue in our country. Here we look at non-Muslim policies of the Selangor and Penang governments, first published in the Penang Monthly in January 2012. The state of non-Muslims in Penang and Selangor The criterion … Continue reading →

Posted in Ethno-Religious Politics, Religion, Selangor | Leave a comment

Politics vs Policies: How do People Really Vote?

Posted on January 17, 2012 by Tricia

People don’t vote on policies, or do they? This was my piece in January 2012 in Selangor Times. Politics vs Policies: How do people really vote?   How do people evaluate their leaders in government, through their satisfaction with policies, … Continue reading →

Posted in Elections, General Politics | Leave a comment

Game-Changers at the Year’s Start

Posted on January 14, 2012 by Tricia

At the beginning of 2012, this was the series of incidents taking place, including the sacking of Hasan Ali, the “We are all Adam Adli” and others. A version of this was published in theSun on the 13th January 2012. … Continue reading →

Posted in General Politics, Reflections | Leave a comment

Financial Outflows Hamper Growth

Posted on December 24, 2011 by Tricia

I wrote this in 2011, but today again we have the Global Financial Integrity report now stating Malaysia is the third highest in the world in terms of illicit financial outflows, and second only in Asia, and first in terms … Continue reading →

Posted in Corruption, Economics, Outside Malaysia | Leave a comment