One of the most rewarding aspects of my line of work is that I get to meet some outstanding Malaysians. Really cool people. Like Malaysia’s most famous political cartoonist, Zunar, and his wife Fazlina, who runs the Roti Kacang Merah blog. A couple of colleagues – Ramakrishnan of Aliran and Kris, a human rights activist – and I caught up with them for lunch at a banana-leaf restaurant in Penang. Zunar was in town on work. He is the editor of Suara Keadilan, which has just received its publishing permit, three years after their first application. “Instead of saying thank you, Prime Minister, my thanks would go to our readers, vendors and printers, who have been intimidated in the past,” he told me. “We have been denied a permit for three years, so his announcement is three years too late … These reforms are half reforms, too late and too [Read more]
