Cruelty to Audiences

By Pang Khee Teik The World is a Comedy for Those who Think… Instant Café Theatre Road Show Presented by Instant Café Theatre Oct 27 -28, 2004, Grand Plaza Parkroyal Fifteen years of laughter packed into one night can be tiring to the jaw. After the dinner at the hotel Ballroom was cleared away and […]

The Age of Disposable Cool

By Pete Teo Some midget in dark-rimmed glasses trotted up to me one day. “Hey Pete,” she growled. “You’re so uncool.” Huh? Whatever did she mean? I’ve read ‘Karl Marx For Dummies’. Twice. If that’s not cool, what is? “Dump that shitty music you do and get with us avant-gardes. We’re radical and cool.” “What? […]

Bombs and Books

By Lucy Friedland The program for the first Ubud Writers and Readers Festival from October 11-17 seemed overly ambitious. The web site was touting Australian-Balinese healing for the first day, ‘How to Write a Novel in 20 Minutes’ for the second day, and activist strategies for Indonesia’s AIDS epidemic by Day 7. In between, the […]

Empire Writes Back

By Jerome Kugan Dear Mumsy, You wouldn’t believe some of the things I’ve seen here in the big city. KL-ites (as they’re not so fond of calling themselves) are always on the move, always crossing each other’s paths, dredging up some kind of muddy puddle – just like the city’s namesake! And I’m caught up […]

Supermarket Theatre

By Pia Zain My late father was a strong supporter of the arts, and my family heritage has always included some interaction with the creative space. I should probably state upfront that I feel passionately about arts and culture, and creative expression. I should also tell you that I was a theatre producer, and co-founded […]

What’s with Malays and Cats?

By Alfian Sa’at In the 80’s and early 90’s, both Malay as well as English programmes were screened on what was then known as Channel 5, and Mandarin and Tamil programmes on Channel 8. This was before both the Malay and Tamil programmes were later relocated to the channel Prime 12 in 1995. These media […]

Five for Fighting

By Lim How Ngean The week-long national Malay Language theatre festival that filled the auditorium at Malaysian Tourism Centre last month to the brim has had a long history that dates back to the 70s. Organised by the then Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, the event was formerly known as Pesta Tarian dan Drama […]

Nakhoda Tergoda

By Hasmi Hashim Katakanlah, pameran Bakat Muda Sezaman, macam nyanyian merdu dewi laut itu. Kerana tidak mahu tergoda, demi cinta Penelope, Ulysses mengarahkan kelasinya, mengikat dia ke tiang agung. Nyanyian merdu dewi laut akan terus memerangkap setiap kapal yang lalu, dan kepada nakhoda yang tergoda akan lekas-lekas pula mengembangkan layar menuju ke arah suara. Akhirnya […]

Malaysian Graffiti

By Kam Raslan Questionnaires were handed out at the door. Then the lights went down, a broken air-con rattled like an old movie projector and oxygen levels gradually dipped. For the next two hours we saw slices of Malaysiana, journeys through India and Australia, views on arranged marriages, Arab ancestry in Singapore and the search […]

Mitos Peribumi Alim

By MR Al-Mustaqeem Dan berkatalah salah seorang (intelektual?) negara kita, bahawa siapa sahaja yang mempertikaikan Dasar Kebudayaan Kebangsaan (DKK) 1971, hasil resolusi yang dibawa dalam Kongres Kebudayaan Kebangsaan yang diadakan pada tahun yang sama, boleh dipertikaikan kesetiaannya sebagai warganegara. Yang Zainal Kling ceriterakan lagi, dalam wawancara dengannya di ruangan sastera, Berita Harian, 26 Oktober lalu, […]

A Malaysian Jew in New York

By Pang Khee Teik When asked his age, Petaling Jaya boy Richard Chang, now a business news editor at New York’s Reuters as well as an Off-Broadway actor, says, “… if you publicize it, I may never getto play an ingenue or an old man again…” He shouldn’t have to worry. After all, he has […]
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