CEKU Editorials

A Sweaty Life Jaden Woo Kin Yee To all my fellow Malaysians, we are no strangers to the excruciating heat back home. Just within

Sacred, scared & scarred Sailesh Krishnakumar I love bodies of water. They keep me calm and peaceful. There was a river. It snaked and

Starting from April 7, 2023, Employees Provident Fund (EPF) members who fulfill certain conditions were allowed to apply for a loan of up to RM5,0000 from banks, with lower interest rates compared to other loan schemes. It seems the government has given in to the pressure from various groups, including the opposition, to open another round of EPF special withdrawal to help members in dire need of money. As helpful as it sounds, this loan scheme would lead to more long-term problems while leaving the urgent short-term ones unresolved.

I used to think that scams were easy to avoid as long as one was vigilant. Whether it be in person or online, signs of a scam are obvious when you spot an abnormality that arises outside of a normal circumstance. Moreover, in the digital age, where we get notified of all sorts of scams from news outlets and stories, it seems inevitable that one feels confident in identifying a scam if and when they come across one. I was that way, having traversed most of London on my own while avoiding the typical tourist scams that are part and parcel of big cities. However, after one particular encounter, I had to realign my viewpoint on scams.

Climate change has been a crisis brewing ever since the Second Industrial Revolution. From carbon emissions to food insecurity and rising sea levels, climate outbursts are slowly becoming a constant occurrence with more pressing long-term concerns looming in the future. After decades of awareness campaigns and education, the public generally understands that the solution to reversing climate change involves everyone – individuals, corporations, and every governing body there is in the world – and requires faster and larger preventive measures and remediation. Braced with this knowledge, ordinary people suffer in silence as their trust in climate action by authoritative bodies and belief in community efforts dwindle.

“I’m a creep / I’m a weirdo / what the hell am I doing here / I don’t belong here” are not only words from Radiohead’s 1993 hit song Creep but also very prevalent thoughts associated with imposter syndrome. Simply put, imposter syndrome involves feelings of self-doubt and incompetence, as well as feeling like a fraud for reasons related to low self-esteem or high expectations which may be set from childhood. In other words, it is the inability to internalise one’s own achievements, giving us a delusional, distorted lens of our accomplishments and work ethic.

The esports landscape is widely controversial since many question whether it is a legitimate sport. It seems intuitive that e“sports” should be a sport, yet many countries, such as Germany, are very vocal in opposing esports being a sport. So what influences the support of Esports? And what does the landscape look like now? Among the mist, let’s take a glimpse at the growing industry.

Artificial intelligence seems closer to fact than fiction as chatbots like ChatGPT have taken the world by storm. ChatGPT is a chatbot that does more than your average school work. From diagnosing a medical disease to writing songs and poems, providing cooking recipes, planning your dream European holiday, identifying bugs in code, and explaining the errors, ChatGPT has defied the norm and become a symbol of the endless possibilities that artificial intelligence can offer. But as we delve deeper into the mechanics of it, we begin to assess several factors of this revolutionary generative AI chatbot that induces excitement but also fear-mongering and serious concerns.

Dah makan?”. A question that connects us. A question of care and love. A question that might as well be a greeting. When I think of home or growing up, this question always comes to mind. The weight it holds, the care that is expressed through such a simple question—it is so much more than its translation, asking if I’ve eaten. It’s an extension of care, sometimes an offering and, most times, an invitation. What this phrase really means to me is an expression of love. It is what I think of when I think of love languages.

We often seek entertainment when we are bored, whether it be going through social media, online streaming platforms, or games. I’m sure many of us have listened to our parents or seen other parents lecture us not to play too many games and focus on our studies since games aren’t going to feed us or get us a job. This might be true a few years ago, but how true is it now?

It is ironic to admit that I am prouder to be Malaysian while studying in Manchester than back home in beautiful Pulau Pinang. Growing up in front of Astro Ceria, running along lorong’s carefreely, queueing up by the milo truck drenched in sweat, I took the Malaysian part of me for granted.

As an international student studying abroad, you often try to prepare as much as possible to get adjusted to the new environment. From classic university horror stories to advice from friends and relatives, preparation seems smooth until the actual experience kicks in. More often than not, you find yourself having to adapt to different situations on the fly that no amount of advice or preparation could save you from. This is the steep learning curve that everyone goes through when we become more independent. Having to rely on ourselves most of the time is especially true for international students studying abroad, as all forms of physical chains that confine us to our zone of comfort have been released. Once the dust has settled, the endless days of studying and preparing for exams begin. Between the hassle of improving our grades and balancing priorities in our life, we realise that we are alone most of the time with no one to rely on.

I have seen a loved one carrying a misdiagnosis for nearly a decade, an acquaintance prescribed medication for adenomyosis after countless doctors, and millions of women retelling the same stories differently. Women constitute half of the global population and yet, gender bias runs rampant in healthcare.

Ever since civilisations started establishing themselves on the planet, inequality, a phenomenon of unequal distributions of wealth, could be seen manifesting within these societies. In the early stages of civilisation, it is seen as who had more land, more livestock, and more of something, as it indicates that they had more “assets” than the other. However, these “assets” were not quantifiable as economic systems were not developed enough to quantify the value of these goods. As such, it was challenging to measure inequality.

As we browse through our favourite online shopping websites, a notification suddenly pops up, informing us our favourite brand has just released its latest collection. Suddenly, we feel a rush of endorphins and dopamine signalling through our brains as we imagine ourselves wearing these clothes, blindsided by the price tags. For a moment, we take a step back, telling ourselves not to give in. However, our desires soon take over as one item multiplies into two. Within 15 minutes of retail therapy, our shopping cart consists of four pairs of ZARA jeans, 7 H&M blouses, and three pairs of Shein shoes. Although we feel a sense of pleasure, the environment might think otherwise. Whether we are aware or not, we have contributed to one of the biggest polluters on Earth.

Can religion heal and cleanse the body? Is it able to protect us from diseases that attack us? Could it challenge the results of modern healthcare?

Faith healing has existed for a long time as a practice for people to receive spiritual and physical healing when faced with physical, mental, or spiritual compromisation. This form of healing typically manifests through religious prayers and rituals that aim to evoke some form of divine intervention.

As 6,932 ballots are flown back to our homeland of Malaysia, each one containing a voter’s voice, the postal voters’ drive in the United Kingdom and Ireland comes to a conclusion. The past few weeks have not been easy on any Malaysian student abroad, and Cheng Jie interviews a few who were in the thick of the action in this editorial.
As we count down the hours to a new Malaysia, the youths can sigh in collective relief, knowing that we have made a difference by speaking out and exercising our democratic rights to vote in the 15th General Election. The rest is up to fate.

Try binge-watching romantic films and you’ll realise one thing most of the films have in common; the male lead will stumble upon a different, “not-like-other-girls” female lead who helps him realise another perspective in life and aids him in his character development. This trope is known as the “Manic Pixie Dream Girl”. As we go deeper into this seemingly positive trope, the Manic Pixie Dream Girl has its cons and its dangerous effects towards film audiences, especially young women.

How do we stand apart from the rest without losing our sense of belonging? How do we gain that sense of belonging without losing our sense of self? What is the role of authenticity in all this? What is authenticity in the first place?

With the rise of speedy information and awareness in this generation, people are becoming more vocal about human rights. However, there are opposing views with regards to progressing human rights laws in Malaysia, especially from older generations and leaders like Mahathir and Lee Kuan Yew.

Believing that human rights would jeopardise the development of the community due to excessive freedom, it is seen as a form of Western imperialism in disguise and Asian countries like Malaysia should stick to Asian Values.

These days, the media is the main source of news and entertainment. With TV shows and video games being at peoples’ fingertips, it is easy to become overexposed to content, including those of violent nature. As a result, violence – be it through the news, videos or pictures – is slowly being normalised, and people are gradually becoming numb.

There has been a lot of movement all over the world towards being more green and sustainable in the recent years. However, one could not help but wonder if we have made progress on being kind to mother earth or was it all just in the heat of the moment?

COVID-19 has finally met its match. 3 main life-changing vaccine discoveries have given the world a hope of life returning to normal, but how do these vaccines work to save the world from an impending doom?

The sudden shift of the mode of learning in Malaysia to an ‘emergency remote teaching’ has raised concerns of its efficacy amongst the public. What are the biggest challenges of e-Learning and is Malaysia truly ready for this electronic approach in education?

COVID-19 is a health crisis, while it is recognised that it affects a patient’s physical health, do you know that it can have an adverse impact on your mental wellbeing as well? How will the government diversify its resources to combat the rise of mental health issues in the country when COVID cases are persistently high?

As the worst of the pandemic (hopefully) draws to an end, our country begins preparing for the year ahead. Budget 2021 sees prioritization in Covid-19 recovery at the financial cost of population healthcare. We may be winning the battle, but will we lose the war?

Flying to the UK amidst a pandemic is an agonisingly hard choice. Catching Covid-19 is at the forefront of everyone’s mind. But what other factors should you consider?

With the current Covid-19 pandemic taking up the majority of the news, it is easy to forget that Malaysia’s 11th Economic Plan, which began in 2016, is set to end this year. Among its other pillars, one of the main pillars in the former legisative’s mid-term review was the focus on “empowering human capital”.

Imagine the Malaysian economy as a vehicle. Then the private sector is the engine, but the government takes the wheel. This leads Malaysia to embrace a duality of capitalistic markets and a generous social welfare state.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had adverse impacts on markets ranging from the finance sector to the retail sector – with shortage of essentials such as surgical facemasks, hand sanitisers, and perhaps more peculiarly, toilet papers.

When one argues for gender empowerment, one would usually do so on the basis of equality of outcome or opportunity. Both cannot be achieved at the same and in fact, complete equality of either case separately is impossible.

Vision 2020 might no longer be the future we were hoping for, but a cashless society might be. Join us as we explore the Malaysian market’s potential by drawing inspiration from China.

As we enter into a new decade, the same old issues continue to plague our nation. Read on to see what the government has done to address our rising obesity levels and what else can be done leading on from that.

What does “Wawasan 2030” mean for us? What contemporary issues are the current government looking to overcome? Which initiatives are likely to affect us the most in the upcoming years?

Climate change has been an impending issue not only at home, but worldwide. Join our evaluation of the national commitment to minimize climate change, and decide for yourself why you should care about it.

The second budget of the PH Government has ambitious aims to improve Malaysia’s economic growth while bringing stability to its coffers. How does PH achieve this with Budget 2020?

Opportunities for females to succeed in Malaysia are lacking, despite the many attempts to address it. Will Budget 2020 empower Women this time?

Youth unemployment in Malaysia is an issue that has been highlighted by the mainstream media time and time again. What is the crux of this problem, and does Budget 2020 have what it takes to significantly reduce it?

Should the incumbent government take the loss as a reflection of the rakyat’s perception of their performance or treat it as an isolated case?

Global warming is the worst it has ever been. In no small part, Malaysia’s transport industry is partially to blame for the chain of environmental catastrophes. In light of this, how should we move forward?

With increasing public debate on the existence of vernacular schools, one might wonder how well the Malaysian education system is coping with the evolution of time. The question is, is it time to say goodbye to the age-old division of schools in Malaysia?