By Alwyn Lau

We should look closer at the recent revelation that more than 500 individuals, including several ‘very important’ personalities, have purchased fake degrees. Apparently, there are syndicates in Subang and Cheras from which you can get a RM8,500 Masters Degree from bogus universities.

It would be a mistake to conclude from this episode merely that stronger policing of scam-scrolls should take place. It would be an even greater mistake for genuine degree holders to suck a long smiling glance at the framed scrolls in their offices and be glad their qualifications are as real as the stars.

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By Syazwan Zainal

Last week, a friend posted a documentary on my Facebook wall; it was about Chin Peng’s personal life and political views. It was entitled “The Last Communist Man”. You can check it out on YouTube here — it is funny, a joy to watch and informative: something that cannot be said about any of the mainstream media’s documentaries.

Although it was hardly radical, it was somewhat sympathetic to the left-wing cause. Mere minutes later, he decided to delete the video on my wall for fear of possible repercussions. My parents, when told that I was planning to comment on the issue of freedom of expression in Malaysia, advised me against it.

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By Marina Tan

For non-Muslims who went through the government education system in secondary school; you know as well as I do the “joy” of Moral Education- memorizing and regurgitating 36 moral values and their definitions.

But I digress. Though I still believe that system is futile and completely misses the point of moral education, one of the moral values we were taught has recently really struck me as one that all Malaysians need to take to heart: Sikap Keterbukaan, or the value of openness.

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By Stanley Liew

This time last year I was rushing all over the place; visa applications, packing, the complete works. The season has come once again where thousands of Malaysian students temporarily migrate overseas in their pursuit of happiness.

It was a hectic period, but being busy is good. Being busy meant being distracted from the fact that your ass is being uprooted and transported halfway across the globe. For me, reality only set in when I checked into my room in the freshers’ hall.

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By Ang Jian Wei

I ask myself that question because in the recent turn of events — the butt exercise exhibition, pelting of eggs and another Bersih 4.0 to clean all previous Bersih(s) — I am reminded of how easy it is to get disillusioned with things back home.

It isn’t the “I’m done with you!” sort of disappointment, but rather a thinly-veiled fear that comes with multiple sighs. This isn’t the direction that I want Malaysia to go — a country so caught up in the heat of things to the extent that we forget that the freedom to disagree doesn’t necessarily mean we have to be disagreeable. But what can one man do about it anyway?

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By Yeoh Tze Ni

Today, our beloved Malaysia turns 55. Birthday tradition confers upon us the delight of making that one special wish, a want so close to heart that a slip of the tongue may jinx it.

Deep breath, and with eyes firmly shut, you express from within your most anxious desire simply because for that few magical seconds when the clock ticks past midnight, anything is possible – the future is about to be written.

I have never consciously made a wish on Merdeka day, but hey, there is a first time for everything.

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By Victor Tan

Why do we not look upon the ajummas and the oppas of civilization as our gods and kings? Why is it that people seek to emulate youth, to appear youthful, to engage themselves in a strange yet misinformed race against the clock?

It’s quite obvious, isn’t it? Our society is a celebration of youth. There’s no implicit attempt made to hide this from the world, no political pretense.

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