Pursuing the Meaning of Equality and Liberty (With Some AI Assistance)
By Dato’ Dr. Ooi Kee Beng
March 2024 EDITORIAL
WHETHER WE LIKE to think so or not, modern political thought gained effective sloganic expression during the French Revolution (in 1789), incidentally around the time Penang was settled (in 1786) by the English East India Company. No doubt the motto was institutionalised only a century later during France’s Third Republic, but “Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité” has served well enough to capture the range of values contested in our times.The first two came to signify the key values of the left-right dichotomy...
Dato’ Dr. Ooi Kee Beng
is the Executive Director of Penang Institute. His recent books include The Eurasian Core and its Edges: Dialogues with Wang Gungwu on the History of the World (ISEAS 2016). Homepage: wikibeng.com
