Reading and Writing Yourself Free

By Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

November 2018 EDITORIAL
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The basis for human liberty as we understand it today was laid with the advent of universal literacy. When reading and writing stopped being the sole right of royal scribes and religious leaders in a given society, and when vernacular languages - i.e. languages actually spoken and heard in daily life – gained the right to be written down and read; not only did humanity’s collective knowledge become universally accessible, the link between literacy and power began crumbling.In tandem with...

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Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng

is the Executive Director of Penang Institute. His latest book is Signals in the Noise: Notes on Penang, Malaysia and the World (Singapore: Faction Press) Homepage: wikibeng.com.

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