SOME years ago, a bunch of friends came visiting from Penang, one of them an army officer, complete with a batman and all.

Women have been in the forefront of the news in recent days, whether in space, in court, or the sports arena.

The UPSR leak fiasco was something waiting to happen because of KPIs and a culture that puts too much emphasis on scoring A’s.

The 57th National Day has seen Malaysians at loggerheads with arrests for sedition and some nasty words. It would be nice if we can join hands to celebrate Malaysia Day.

There are increasingly loud voices in our country that want to amplify our differences. How far we have deviated from when we cared for each other almost as one big family.

Multi-level marketing schemes have made many millionaires who live it up. But for every one of those success stories, there are many more who have lost their life’s savings.

We have our heads in a cloud – a cloud of smoke. The annual haze from Indonesia and local open burning is choking us all. So, how much damage are the smokers going to do?

Fans of football clubs all over the world love their turf. In Malaysia though, a state government seized the field that a club had tenderly nurtured and is now going for the kill – by grabbing the clubhouse and all other facilities club members have built.

Be scared. Be very scared. We are a haunted nation. There are spirits everywhere.

The death of Karpal Singh is a sad, sad thing. But what’s sadder is the dearth of humanity – that there are those who can celebrate the death of a fine man, or that they can incite others to hate just because they share the same views.

It’s frustrating that we know almost nothing about what happened on MH370 and to the plane. So, why inflict more pain on the families of those on board who are already suffering?

Out-of-this-world reporting and unusual theories have only added to the confusion surrounding the missing flight MH370.