Only in KL can a post dinner debate can be this enthralling. This was a panel on the Linguistic Politics of Independent Chinese Schools organised by the Allianz Centre for Corporate Governance at Universiti Malaya (my PhD School) at a coworking space. The boisterous Professor Wong Chin Huat laid out a case for the UEC schools marshalling evidence from the scriptures to the ethic of diversity. He was on point when he said that this is a case for ‘culture wars’. It is a divisive topic, a site of politicking more than politics as Mr. Eddin Khoo mentioned in final take on the matter as the chair of the UEC taskforce, which is about to submit its report.

Eddin Sir, as i call him laid out the complexities of Malayness and the parallel impoverishment of the language under a certain conservative gaze. His anecdotes of the hybridity of language learning and identity revealed more pressing issues of the education system beyond the medium of instruction, namely the mediocrity and instrumentalist notions of learning. The Singapore centric nature of the UEC is unwanted for. There are five states in Malaysia which allow the UEC as a university entrance criterion for certain courses such as Chinese Studies undergraduate programs, as is Singapore apart from Taiwan which is the main target of UEC students.

Race as a defining force in Malaysia, is a lived reality and can be gauged through these language debates.

Life is a journey
With no autopilot
The steering wheel is inside
The Soul is the Steering Wheel

Such an important intellectual contribution. Sustainability needs to go back to it’s public health roots for the impact to have traction on the scale of the human and the community.

Looking at the history and the politics of health gives cues about tailoring interventions that work. Think culture, as culture eats strategy for breakfast.

In a world of AI IPOs, and trillionaire wealth creation hype, an afternoon of traditional art and culture can be subliminal, and healing in the best way. Madam Pauline Fan, gave a talk which is so much, an oral history itself. The presentation has great photos, totally evocative. A powerful effort of public education beyond click bait sensationalism.

Learning takes many forms, it can be in a Saturday afternoon talk at an Art Gallery and these conversations are needed, if not totally friction-less. The questions focused on the language, and the debates around it.

This is a talk which pushes the writer in me to think, about Malaysia beyond the twin towers.

Penang is all heritage and hardware. Geography is destiny, as the strategic location along semiconductor value chains intersect here with the entire island apart from Georgetown, the living Indian Ocean Museum – a large electronics zone. The Indian Ocean Imperium was a contact zone , and is a magnet for new infrastructure investments in the newly reclaimed Andaman island. The chip wars have Penang as a node, where US, Chinese and European capital intersect and manpower from South Asia keep the engines running. The politics is aligned for now between the centre and the state. The Muhibah ethic is apparent, and everyone wins.

Super intellectually charged day one of the ‘Rethinking traditional arts through regional dialogues’ with thought provoking presentations by Dr Sumit, Dr Vila, the Dr from UKM which are wrapped around questions of creolisation, belonging, identity and voice. The breakout session with Dr Sumit and the fellow participants shed light of strategic decisions that diasporas have taken to belong.

Looking forward to day two!