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Why Shamsul Amri dislikes Facebook

Professor Shamsul Amri Baharuddin People who do not use Facebook fall into three broad categories. The first group is completely indifferent to it, the second finds it mildly irritating and the third dislikes it intensely. Malaysia's prominent sociologist Professor Shamsul Amri Baharuddin is of the last type. I made the mistake of asking Shamsul, who is director of the Institute of Ethnic Studies at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, if he was on Facebook, the social network which was hatched up in the dormitories of Harvard six years ago. "I have a face and I keep thousands of books. Why do I need Facebook?" How do you react to that reply? I didn't. I meekly invited him to elaborate on his reasons. "Facebook will take away my soul and I won't allow that to happen because I am a believer," says Shamsul fiercely, who launched into a tirade of accusations against Facebook. Ninety per cent of the things you read on Facebook are either p
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My year at The Rakyat Post

  Dec 31, 2014, the last day of the year and the end of my one year stint at The Rakyat Post , an online news portal. Educational is the best way to sum up my year at The Rakyat Post. Leaving your comfort zone is intimidating at first; it has a steep learning curve. But now I wish I had done it sooner and the whole exercise reaffirms my motto: “learn, learn, learn”. Einstein was spot on when he said, “Learning is not a product of schooling but the lifelong attempt to acquire it”. When I left the New Straits Times to join The Rakyat Post on Jan 3, 2014, I didn’t know what to expect. Nelson Fernandez, also known as Mohd Ridzwan Abdullah, had invited me to join him at the website this time last year. Nelson Fernandez at his office at The Rakyat Post He was charged with assembling a team to provide content for the portal. And I am glad I said yes. Switching from traditional journalism to online journalism is challenging, as anyone who had made
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Koh Soo Ling: Letter perfect love

I will not be able to attend my friend's wedding because I will be in Kuching, Sarawak on the day of the reception. When duty calls, ... That is so sad. I will make it up to you Koh Soo Ling, who is pictured here with husband Michael Howard. Soo Ling has found happiness with a wonderful Irish man who loves her with an intensity that makes her heart flutter. She will begin a new life in Ireland and the prospect of living in the countryside fills her with excitement. She will love her man, take care of him, cook and bake for him, take part in community life and write, write and write.  Yes, Soo Ling will continue to write for New Sunday Times and she promises to share her activities with readers in Malaysia. Theirs is not a whirlwind romance. They started as pen pals, two teenagers who were eager to learn about foreign cultures. Pen pal relationships are so mysterious. Some write to their friends abroad for only a short time; others continue to swap letters and gifts in their
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