Author: UKEC

This author has written 119 articles
Read more about the article Dah Makan?: The love languages in relation to food culture
reunion dinner at home

Dah Makan?: The love languages in relation to food culture

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.

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Read more about the article Impact of a Memorandum of Understanding on Political Reforms in Malaysia

Impact of a Memorandum of Understanding on Political Reforms in Malaysia

On 16 August 2021, following the resignation of Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s government due to backlash on the handling of Covid-19, UMNO vice president, Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri became the ninth Prime Minister to lead the country’s recovery. He commanded a very slim four-seat majority in Malaysia’s 222-seat parliament of 114 seats. Pakatan Harapan (PH), the opposition bloc, had 88 seats in parliament. The country was still recovering with half-baked lockdowns and an unfinished vaccination program, and a general election was unrealistic and inconsiderate to the struggling rakyat. Thus, a memorandum of agreement between PH and the government was signed to ensure political stability.

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Read more about the article Stop playing games, can you make money from it?

Stop playing games, can you make money from it?

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?

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Read more about the article Life Lessons from A Series: One Day at a Time

Life Lessons from A Series: One Day at a Time

It’s odd how what other people see as a waste of time is insightful for me and has changed my perspective on things. Whether it be bickering couples or day-to-day lives, as usual, your girl loves listing, and today’s list will be in the form of the things I have learned from one of my go-to series, One Day At A Time.

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Read more about the article Talent Retention: A Film Perspective

Talent Retention: A Film Perspective

Malaysia has been and is able to produce great actors and actresses, but great actors and actresses need great scripts to support their skills. Under the current highly-restricted content-creating environment via various laws such as the Film Censorship Act and the Communications and Multimedia Act, it is hard for directors and scriptwriters to produce works with unconstrained style. One of the reasons why Asian films find it difficult to surpass Hollywood films in terms of global box office performance is the relatively restricted genres of content that can be legally and safely produced. In Malaysia, issues about race, religion, gender identity, and politics have always been untouchable taboos. Whoever touches it, even while meaning well, will be deemed insensitive and face various legal and ethical controversies. As an industry that values freedom, it is not irrational for filmmakers to leave Malaysia and seek a freer market overseas.

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Read more about the article Learning to be Alone: The Reality of University Life as an International Student
Alone in a crowd ... image was intentionally softened and colors muted to all but the alone person.

Learning to be Alone: The Reality of University Life as an International Student

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.

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Read more about the article The Perversion of Faith – An Anecdote of Misogyny
Source: The New York Times. Picture depicts Men in Sujud. The author believes that Sujud in prayer (prostration) is the pinnacle representation of people's equality before God. He also recognises the irony of using images of men in an article about women, but he thinks that men need to remember that our place is to lie prostrate on the ground too.

The Perversion of Faith – An Anecdote of Misogyny

An oft-cited defence of Muslims against Islamophobes and critics of the religion is that what those on the fringes of the religious practice and preach is not what Islam stands for. In addition to a gap between theory and practice, there is also a gap between the mortal and the divine. Islam is a perfect divine religion, but those practising it are imperfect mortal men. This imperfection manifests itself in many ways. Some are as innocent as in the way Muslims pray (notice how some schools (madhhab) hold the hands over their bellies whilst others don’t?).1 Some as far as whether women are sui juris in terms of marriage.2 And there are even ones that go as far as differences in basic theological principles. For instance, on whether people have free will as it relates to predestination (Qada’ and Qadr).3 The core idea here is that these differences in opinion epitomise the problem of human interpretation of the divine – that they are fundamentally imperfect.

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Read more about the article Why We Need More Girl Bosses: A Political Context

Why We Need More Girl Bosses: A Political Context

Democracy is not a foreign concept in the 21st century. Reigning champion as most countries’ governing system, democracy seems to ride on the notion of equality. At the same time, it doesn’t really seem to represent each and every individual equally. We could look back on the origin of democracy itself, in ancient Greek, where only males could participate in it. Centuries later, even though certain circumstances have improved, most women are still sidelined in politics. We’ve heard of campaigns for more women’s representation and participation in politics, but why does it truly matter? Why would having more girl bosses in the political arena be important in Malaysia?

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