https://www.scmp.com/rss/500724/feed Samir Nazareth has worked in the development sector and writes on socio-political and environmental issues. He is the author of the travelogue, 1400 Bananas, 76 Towns & 1 Million People. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com And so the annual tradition of exclaiming at how fast the year has flown by continues in 2023, a year that has been a mix of the stale and unique. Wars in Ukraine, Yemen, Syria, Sudan and other parts of Africa now have competition – from the Israeli-Hamas conflict. Yet again, the “hottest year” was parroted as climate change made the world sweat. But I am getting ahead of myself. Let’s look back at some phrases and numbers that defined this year. Hypocrisy – If one word encapsulates 2023, this... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3245772/after-hot-2023-wars-weather-may-2024-be-cooler?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3245772/after-hot-2023-wars-weather-may-2024-be-cooler?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 25 Dec 2023 08:30:10 +0000 Everyone is wearing the perfume of hope that a new year brings. This year was once new, and the moments of joy, sorrow and disbelief made it what it was. Through these 365 days, individuals, leaders and society spoke in ways that left a mark on the year. Here are 13 memorable quotations. “Thoughts and prayers”. More than 600 mass shootings occurred in America in 2022. Instead of amending gun laws and curbing their bigoted rhetoric to protect American lives, Republican politicians sent their... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3204770/politics-pandemic-protests-13-reasons-2022-was-year-remember?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3204770/politics-pandemic-protests-13-reasons-2022-was-year-remember?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 29 Dec 2022 19:30:08 +0000 “Quiet quitting” is gaining notoriety in businesses. A recent Harvard Business Review study looked at employee ratings of their managers and concluded it was a reaction to bad managers. Quiet quitters, it said, are those who “reject the idea that work should be a central focus of their life”. I would suggest that they are simply making a personal choice devoid of workplace influence. Indeed, doing less collectively may be part of businesses’ answer to climate change and pollution. Around the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3192454/how-four-day-working-week-and-quiet-quitting-can-help-tackle?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3192454/how-four-day-working-week-and-quiet-quitting-can-help-tackle?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 15 Sep 2022 19:30:16 +0000 Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s penchant for monologues is legendary. For the Indian public, there is a monthly radio address titled Mann Ki Baat, or Inner Thoughts. Before each session, his team invites the public to send suggestions and stories. For the next lecture, scheduled for May 30, the team tweeted: “This month‘s #MannKiBaat is back again – to celebrate the power of positivity and the strengths of 130 crore Indians! Have any inspiring story to share with PM Shri @narendramodi?”... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3134593/how-indias-efforts-put-positive-spin-its-covid-19-crisis-lie-heart?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3134593/how-indias-efforts-put-positive-spin-its-covid-19-crisis-lie-heart?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 25 May 2021 01:15:16 +0000 Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin’s trial, in which he was convicted of the murder of George Floyd, raises many issues. Survivor’s guilt and children’s exposure to brutality, but also how a fear of severe legal consequences prevents members of society – including trained personnel – from coming to another’s aid, and the grip that police have over society. Whether police can be held accountable by the same law and order that society entrusts them with, seems irrelevant. The missed... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3130495/george-floyd-verdict-how-police-came-oppress-those-they-have-sworn?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3130495/george-floyd-verdict-how-police-came-oppress-those-they-have-sworn?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 22 Apr 2021 17:30:19 +0000 While it is no secret that Christmas has been commercialised, it has also been secularised. Behind the food, festivities and fun is the fact that the festival brings together people who may not be of the Christian faith to celebrate and share. This is the first Christmas in a long time when the environment around celebrations will be akin to the trials and tribulations Mary and Joseph faced as they prepared for the birth of their child. They were poor, alone and afraid, but there was also... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3115248/christmas-lets-practise-lessons-coronavirus-pandemic-and-strengthen?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3115248/christmas-lets-practise-lessons-coronavirus-pandemic-and-strengthen?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 24 Dec 2020 22:15:08 +0000 Some experts argue against the precautions taken to contain Covid-19. They claim millions die from flu and tuberculosis every year, so why this global fear? There is also an economic argument, a Trumpism that goes: “The cure cannot be worse than the problem.”   It is important to disabuse this notion. A recent paper titled “Pandemics Depress the Economy, Public Health Interventions Do Not: Evidence from the 1918 Flu”, by economists Sergio Correia, Stephan Luck and Emil Verner, found fewer deaths... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3086530/coronavirus-challenge-offers-opportunity-learn-history-and-ease?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3086530/coronavirus-challenge-offers-opportunity-learn-history-and-ease?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 30 May 2020 02:45:06 +0000 Darwin’s theory on natural selection is essentially about adaptation and humans have various forms of adaptability. Words like “ingenuity”, terms like “street smart”, and adages like “desperate times call for desperate measures” and “necessity is the mother of invention” describe this. “If life gives you lemons, make lemonade” is quintessentially an ode to adapting. The new world the coronavirus has created is bringing to the fore this adaptability. Social media is flooded with clips of... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3077127/quarantine-breakers-social-distancing-avoiders-ingenuity-turning?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3077127/quarantine-breakers-social-distancing-avoiders-ingenuity-turning?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 Mar 2020 01:30:12 +0000 Across the world, there are fires burning and they are not only climate-change induced or climate threatening. The concept of who is a citizen of a nation and what are their rights has become a burning topic. Under President Jair Bolsonaro, Brazilians who are Amazonian Indians are increasingly under threat. In Bolivia, the fall of leader Evo Morales has disenfranchised indigenous Bolivians. Many living under US President Donald Trump are worried about their lives and the well-being of their... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3045054/india-us-citizenship-crisis-burning-across-world?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3045054/india-us-citizenship-crisis-burning-across-world?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 11 Jan 2020 03:30:12 +0000 Where would the world be were it not for rebellions? Where would France and America be? For that matter, what would art, philosophy, politics and society be without revolt? At a more personal level, what would teenage years be like without rebellion? I am sure parents would have an answer to that: “Peaceful.” Rebellion is an expression of disaffection. It is action for release from the clutches of an oppressive system. Rebellion need not be physical or violent: think of the suffragettes, the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3033985/why-extinction-rebellion-more-successful-social-movement-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3033985/why-extinction-rebellion-more-successful-social-movement-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 23 Oct 2019 01:00:12 +0000 As an Indian, I have been watching the unfolding protests in Hong Kong with interest. Like in Hong Kong, protests in India are often motivated by anger towards the government. In June 2018, Indian farmers highlighted their dire economic circumstances by dumping produce on highways, suggesting that selling their harvest was as good as throwing it away. In November, farmers from across the country undertook a massive rally to New Delhi, demanding a special parliamentary session to discuss the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3018933/what-hong-kongs-largely-peaceful-protesters-can-teach-demonstrators?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3018933/what-hong-kongs-largely-peaceful-protesters-can-teach-demonstrators?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 17 Jul 2019 09:00:12 +0000 The first rule of the Election Commission of India’s model code of conduct for political parties is “no party or candidate shall include in any activity which may aggravate existing differences or create mutual hatred or cause tension between different castes and communities, religious or linguistic”. In other words, no hate speech. However, identity is the lowest-hanging fruit for politicians because an Indian’s identity swings between religion, caste, place of birth and language. Communal... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/3009007/indian-election-campaigns-have-made-hate-speech-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/3009007/indian-election-campaigns-have-made-hate-speech-and?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 May 2019 02:00:14 +0000