Posted in Books & printed materials, Society on May 10th, 2013 No Comments »
Stark’s system of government was based on mistrust. He looked for laziness, insubordination, drunkenness, and strife; he pretended to suppress them, and only succeeded in creating the further vices of cunning, deceit, and ill-will. Too many laws and regulations stifle the sense of good and evil. No one looks beyond his own personal interest; and [...]
Posted in Conflict & disaster, Society on March 28th, 2013 No Comments »
There are several possible consequences that I fear from the ongoing armed conflict in Sabah. One of them is a public wide urge to expel Sulu and Filipino immigrants out of the state. There is already considerable negative sentiment against the Sulu and Filipino people in Sabah even before the armed men landed to bring [...]
Posted in Economics, Society on March 12th, 2013 1 Comment »
I fancy myself as an economist. After more or less of six years of economic traning and several more years working as an economist, I think I can call myself as such without too much pretension. While I do like to claim that I know more economics than a typical layperson, I have to admit [...]
Posted in Entertainment, Politics & government, Society on March 1st, 2013 No Comments »
For better or worse, quantity is important in a democratic contest. It is about gaining the majority. It is about popularity. With that as the context, we have to remember we live in a young society. The Department of Statistics estimates that the median Malaysia age in 2010 was slightly above 26 years. In simpler [...]
Posted in Society on February 13th, 2013 No Comments »
As far as I understand it from my experience living in the United States during my undergraduate years, the Christian right, which is a loose socially conservative religious group, believes that there is a social war going on. It is a war on Christmas. The war is really about the secularization of Christmas. It is a [...]
Posted in Economics, Society on January 30th, 2013 No Comments »
The Department of Statistics has been productive in the past few weeks. Apart from regular monthly statistical releases, the Department has been producing sectoral and yearly reports in relatively large number. One of the latest involves migration report.[1] There is one surprise from the report that I would want to share. At least, it is [...]
Posted in Politics & government, Society on January 22nd, 2013 1 Comment »
A lot have been said about the opposition rally in Stadium Merdeka in Kuala Lumpur on January 12. Pro-Barisan Nasional individuals and groups are either downplaying it or claiming that it is a flop. That harks back to the pre-2008 era of denial that ultimately proved disastrous for Barisan Nasional. They can close their eyes [...]
Posted in Economics, Society on January 21st, 2013 1 Comment »
Last week, the Department of Statistics released its projection of Malaysian population in 2040.[1] The Department projects that there will be 39 million persons living in Malaysia by 2040, of which 93% of them will be Malaysians. In 2010, there were 29 million persons living in the country with 92% of them being Malaysians. The [...]
Posted in Society on January 18th, 2013 2 Comments »
I have two related conversations to share. The first happened in a cab in Sydney and the other happened over lunch in Jakarta. Combined, the conversations are possibly a testament of the future importance of the Malay language. The first conservation was not really a conversation. The cab driver, who was probably in his 40s [...]
Posted in Books & printed materials, Economics, Society on January 12th, 2013 2 Comments »
I just learned that Albert Otto Hirschman, the economist who wrote Exit, Voice and Loyalty, died in December 2012 as I was traveling across Java. Perhaps, this is an opportune time to review Exit, Voice and Loyalty which was published in 1970. I read the book some years back. The idea presented in the book [...]
The name is Hafiz Noor Shams.
For more about me, please go here.