IT was Deepavali last week and time for the movies. One of the biggest hits was the Hindi blockbuster Tiger 3, starring Salman Khan.

A FEW weeks ago, a little girl wrote to our Prime Minister, complaining about the toilets in her school.

It was one of the darkest days in Malaysian history, but we must never forget Ops Lalang – and never allow it to be repeated.

National Service is coming back with a focus on unity. But will military-style training really help forge unity? And will 45 days be enough?

WE were in India last month and stopped at a restaurant for lunch. The naan there apparently was to die for. The server (as waiters are called) wanted to know what curry we wanted, pointing to the menu.

IT’S a 5,000-year-old garment and has been found in the Indus Valley civilisation, one of the earliest in the world. It has been called the nine-yard wonder for the myriad ways it can be draped over a person. It’s timeless – both ancient and yet modern.

AS I write this, I am in India – or Bharat as they want to call it now – visiting the southern states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

The country is in a saree, oops, sorry state. Interracial, and even intra-racial rifts, are ever widening. With National Day just days away, our leaders need to set the right example.

A week before Penang went to the polls, the locals were abuzz about another choice they had no say in.

“WO de ming si jiao Fakhrul,” said the little lad, looking almost fearful. That means “My name is Fakhrul”. With him were a handful of Malay boys and girls, aged from about six to 12.

Corruption is the biggest scourge in the country and needs to be wiped out. And it has nothing to do with race, as some PAS leaders believe. After all, Chinese-majority Singapore has zero tolerance for corruption.

THE girl was just 15, and she was defiant. She had been caught hiding a vape pen in her bra. She felt it was her right to smoke it, as it had no smell and was just “fruit juice”.