Can we ban killer robots? on April 19, 2018One of the most sobering and ironic challenges for humanity in the 21st century is how to kill one another while retaining the essence of what it means to be human, which is why over the millennia of warfare we have conjured a surplus of excuses for taking the life of others. Right up to […]
Facts are sacred on April 10, 2018The Malaysian parliament in early April approved a sweeping anti-‘fake news’ law that aims to curb the diffusion of news content online that is deemed against the national interest. Those found guilty will be slapped with six-year jail terms and hefty fines. More countries are expected to follow Malaysia’s example as ‘info-wars’ emerge as the […]
Capitalism in the age of AI on March 28, 2018A recent BBC news story shed light on the dangers of robot-driven automation designed to manufacture hubs in Africa. Citing a new study by the Overseas Development Institute, the report said there is an imminent danger looming over jobs in low-skill manufacturing once the cost of using robots in industry falls below human wages. This […]
Extending exam time won’t ensure gender equality on January 31, 2018Thanks to disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, women’s rights have again taken centre stage. The New York Times’ bombshell exposé last October that blew the lid off Weinstein’s chronic sexual predation of young starlets has inspired a fresh wave of feminism in western democracies. And through the power of social media, it is inevitable this […]
Myanmar must mainstream the Rohingya on January 22, 2018Bangladesh and Myanmar recently signed a bilateral deal to return in phases over 650,000 Rohingya refugees languishing in Bangladeshi border camps for over a year. While this move may release some of the swelling international pressure on both states to uphold basic human rights, it does little to improve the future prospects of the Rohingya. […]
To avoid future Trumps, educate voters on January 17, 2018The latest account of US President Donald Trump’s increasingly chaotic presidency, titled Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House by Michael Wolff, has supersized the debate about his soundness of mind. Also whether he is mentally fit to command the world’s largest nuclear arsenal and its best-equipped army. The book presents Trump as a […]
Invading Iran will further inflame the ME on January 9, 2018US President Donald Trump greeted 2018 by again laying into ‘brutal and corrupt’ Iran through his now notorious policy tweets. He is probably cart wheeling with joy in the White House as I type. Mass protests have once more broken out in Iran. While ordinary Iranians in 2009 were galvanised by a stolen election and […]
Citing history does not legitimise Israel on December 31, 2017Israel’s religio-historical claim to Jerusalem is problematic on many levels. One obvious issue is the widely accepted maxim that geographical borders are man-made. The Middle East, especially, as a thoroughfare for expanding empires, saw land change hands many times over the past millennia. So if Israel wishes to invoke the primacy of historical rights, then […]
Bitcoin or bust? on December 28, 2017The recent push for ‘cryptocurrencies’ is fascinating. It’s hard to go through a day of YouTube viewing without running into pre-roll advertising that promotes Bitcoin — the current cryptocurrency flagship — as the best thing since sliced bread. That said, I wonder if our fascination with cryptocurrencies is real or artificially inflated? And what will […]
Is Weinstein the product of absolute power or biology? on November 18, 2017Harvey Weinstein is now synonymous with the hubris that typifies powerful men in Hollywood and across society. The disgraced film mogul was so enamored with his self-imagined invincibility that he systemically preyed on young actresses for decades. In the wake of ‘Weinsteingate’, 20 other public figures ranging from film directors to politicians — all men […]