Nilakrisna James

2009-09-03T15:01:00.000+08:00

WORK EXPERIENCE
Advocate & Solicitor, Spokesperson/ Marketing Consultant, Communications Manager, Executive Broadcast Journalist, TV Newscaster, Writer & Master of Ceremonies

QUALIFICATIONS
Bachelor of Law with Second Class Upper Division Honours from the University of Hull, U.K., and recipient of the Professor F.W. Taylor Prize in Law.

Master of Laws with specialisation in Criminology and Criminal Justice from King’s College London of the University of London, U.K.

Degree of Utter Barrister from Lincoln’s Inn, U.K.

2009-09-02T20:05:00.000+08:00

GOVERNMENT/ NGO POSITIONS & OTHER APPOINTMENTS

Regular Guest Columnist for the leading ‘Daily Express’ Newspaper, Sabah. Covering social, political, cultural, economic issues and current national and world affairs.
Board Director of Sabah Cultural Board under Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment (as appointed by the State Governor of Sabah) and Chairman of the Intellectual Property Committee.
Member of Sabah Tourism Consultative Committee (Majlis Perundigan Pelancongan Sabah) under Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment and Chairman of the Committee on Human Resource Development and Quality Control/Accreditation.
Member of the Environmental Action Committee Management Group and Steering Committee of the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment, Sabah.
Member of the Kinabatangan Corridor of Life committee under the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment, Sabah.
Founder and Chairman of Sabah Law Association Women and Children Rights Sub-Committee (SLA WCR)
Founder and Chairman of Sabah Law Association Environment and Climate Change Sub-Committee (SLA ECC)
Committee Member of Sabah Law Association Human Rights and Criminal Procedure Sub-Committee
Founder and Vice Chairman of Quality Restroom Association Malaysia, Sabah Branch (QRAM Sabah)
Member of Sabah Anglers Association and Chairman of the Committee to campaign against shark finning and the consumption of sharks’ fins
Member and Past Vice President of Junior Chamber International (Malaysia) Intan
Sponsored delegate at the International Federation of Health and Human Rights Organisations (IFHHRO) Regional Training on Monitoring the Right to Health held at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, between 7-12 December 2007.
Judge for University Malaysia Sabah’s Educational Journalism Awards 2008 and 2009.

2009-09-01T17:02:00.002+08:00

Heart of Sutera Article - September/October 2009

GREENING THE FUTURE
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2009-06-22T15:49:00.001+08:00

The International visitor Leadership Program &
What it Means to an Ordinary Girl from Borneo

I’ll break down my American experience in 3 parts. The first part is the preconception I had about America and her people before the trip. I had only spent in total less than a month traveling in the US prior to the IVLP and that was 2 decades ago. I had a bubble gum Disney version of the perfect American dream and aspired to greatness because of this. I admired the American’s sense of liberty and multiculturalism which seems evident in their Constitution and at least, superficially, from the media. Though I was aware that racism exists, I never found America to be relevant enough for me to be overly concerned with whatever misgivings they had in their system. The American response to 911 and the Iraq war could have evoked greater emotions but I had grown too old to accept a narrow minded or rose-tinted spectacled view of the world. I criticised America and Americans as much as I would any other country or people. Despite everything, America in my mind is a country that provided scholarships to people of talent and potential and I always admired the unselfish way in which Americans were ready to open their borders to those who could make a difference, even if they spent their entire life in hiding in their own countries. I envisaged that I would see an America where there will be a great disparity between rich and poor and smart and challenged because meritocracy is a way of life that would end up rewarding those who can and penalising those who can’t. Very little of this initial view has changed after my IVLP trip; if any, I would say that the American system is now relevant to me as part of the overall effect it would eventually have in international decision-making. The way in which civil society thinks in America will ultimately have an effect on the way Congress thinks and behaves which will ultimately affect the outcome of international negotiations.

The IVLP is the most comprehensive educational journey I’ve had so far; a perfect mix of academic, practical and social which is an entire year’s worth of experience condensed and summarised into 3 very fulfilling weeks. I realised why some of the smartest minds on earth are in America. It’s a country that allows you to appreciate your own talents and gifts. I may not have found every speaker relevant or interesting but I always walked away from them with a profound appreciation of their intellect and achievement. One could argue that the US State Department only exposed us to incredibly intelligent people but I took the liberty of speaking to the ordinary person; the airport security guy, the salesgirl, the check-out girl, the laundrette operator, the cab driver, the homeless man selling a newspaper for a living, the young man who owned his own store, the migrants and every conceivable American person of whatever colour from every walk of life wherever I went. The fact is they all had three things in common. They were proud to be American, they knew how to say thank you and they could engage in a serious conversation with soul and conviction. The fact is everybody had a viewpoint and was happy to express it. I realised that every country has issues with human rights, social ills and hardcore poverty no matter how high the standard of living. Though Americans may not inculcate compassion for those who fall helpless or hungry on their own streets, they are moral guardians of those who fall elsewhere. Americans aspire to heroism; the Metro driver in Washington D.C. sacrificed her own life to save her passengers, the driver on our private bus stopped in a horrifying 20 minute storm to save two families, a great businessman in Cedar Rapids hosts a fantastic Lebanese meal and shows me the side of America that cares about Muslims despite 911. They would care enough to ensure that nothing contravenes the laws that forbid prejudice. Nothing however forbids condescension to a smelly, hungry and homeless beggar. They were the most despised members of American society I found and I felt sad, only because I know that high unemployment and a terrible global financial breakdown would force many more perfectly decent human beings out into those streets. In the end there is one place where every true American would find a decent hug, a big kiss and unity: The baseball game. The highlight of my entire trip was Pablo scoring a home run for the San Francisco Giants against the Florida Marlins in my first ever live baseball game. My greatest souvenir to date is a Giants woolly hat that kept me warm in that blistering cold July evening..

The IVLP is a success for me. I walked away from 17 other international visitors who were remarkably similar in their outlook and I developed a great fondness for the English Language Officers (strange though it is but everyone in the group spoke English and the ELOs were not translators). They were so positive and vibrant that I actually cried at the airport on the way back home and felt that great big rock in my throat and a heaviness of heart that wouldn’t go away for weeks. I feel suddenly alone in my struggle and though I harbour great hopes of making a difference to my career and my country through my connections and my writings and my employer, I can’t help but develop doubts that anyone outside of America would really care to listen to that vast amount of knowledge that I gained through the program. With a group of like-minded individuals it’s easy to implement dreams. The reality of the world is that diversity of mindsets is often the biggest hindrance to progress.

I did not go on the IVLP to be the next authority on renewable energy or climate change issues. I did not go to America with the hope that it will change my view of the world. I simply went with an open mind and a handful of dollars to experience the gap year I never had and to be able to tell the story over and over again until I die, because one day someone will listen and make a difference.

This, I write; as my gift of gratitude to the US Department of State, the US Embassy in Malaysia, the Americans who made my day, the 3 great ELOs who cared and, most of all, the 17 other international visitors on my program who are all deserving of their titles as “emerging world leaders”.

God bless you all as God continues to bless America.

Love,

Nilakrisna Isnarti James

3rd August 2009

Climate Change and Renewable Energy, June 22-July10 2009.

Washington D.C., Des Moines, Iowa City, San Francisco

IVLP Home Page:

http://exchanges.state.gov/ivlp/ivlp.html

IVLP On Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Visitor_Leadership_Program

Daily Express Article - 03 May 2008

2009-05-03T12:18:00.010+08:00

OF INTELLECTUALISM IN MALAYSIA AND SABAH

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Daily Express Article - 12 April 2008

2009-04-20T14:29:00.002+08:00

Expecting Quality Decisions by New Cabinet

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Daily Express Article - 29 March 2009

2009-03-29T19:04:00.000+08:00

Promote Earth Hour in Daily Life
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Daily Express Article - 15 March 2009

2009-03-15T19:00:00.000+08:00

Will Court Verdict Solve It
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Daily Express Article - 15 February 2009

2009-02-15T18:51:00.000+08:00

Recollections Like Patel's Worth Their Weight in Gold
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Daily Express Article - 25 January 2009

2009-01-25T18:49:00.000+08:00

Now America Can't Afford to Even Keep Prisoners
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Daily Express Article - 11 January 2009

2009-01-11T18:42:00.000+08:00

Only Humans Will Abuse Humans Animals and Resources
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Daily Express Article - 21 December 2008

2008-12-21T18:44:00.000+08:00

Our Politicians Deserve Similar But is it Right to Praise
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Daily Express Article - 07 December 2008

2008-12-07T18:40:00.000+08:00

Nobody Telling if Queen Will be Banished as Well
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Daily Express Article - 30 November 2008

2008-11-30T18:37:00.000+08:00

Already Plenty to Stomach Without Including Yoga
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Daily Express Article - 28 September 2008

2008-09-28T18:35:00.000+08:00

What Can be Done to Avert Baby Dumping
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"The Fallen Native" - 24 November 2008 (a poem by Nilakrisna James)

2008-09-24T15:32:00.001+08:00

Tempted by the shores of sunny weather

I left the white man's land

To return to the legacy of ancestors.

My heart torn by the reality of cultures

So alien to what I have known;

Yet thrown

Into a deeper wilderness

Than the vast blue sea that watched my departure.

An ocean of faces that mirror my own;

Indifferent to the monotony of shades of brown.

The bitterness of cappuccino conversations

In worn out shacks,

In designer slacks;

Oh, they are angry!

Forty Five years of hunger

And they wonder

Where did all the years go

As their white hairs grow?

Nothing much has changed except the grey concrete

Sweeping across green and their former bare feet.

Yearning for white man's land

And the days of pure, polished sand;

When we understood only the simplicity

Of respect

And the economics of equality

Without having to read between the lines

And let go of our wines;

When we were monarchs of our own destiny

And conquerors of our own fate.

For the land was ours

And we never watched the darkening hours;

For time stood still

And never could it have been envisaged

That we would allow ourselves to be savaged;

Intellectually ravaged.

They knew nothing in a room of five.

Silent as if not alive.

The chattering powers grew louder

And the weaker left to shudder;

Put pen to paper!

Droplets of red spilling later.

Sealed and delivered

In a honeycombed hive

With killer bees

While we dropped on our knees.

"The Fallen Native", a poem by Nilakrisna James

Written 24th September 2008

Copyright © Nilakrisna James 2008, all rights reserved

Daily Express Article - 31 August 2008

2008-08-31T17:56:00.000+08:00

Malaysia Has Not Come of Age if Women Cant Lead
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Daily Express Article - 21 September 2008

2008-08-21T17:58:00.000+08:00

Seminar Underscored Need for Trustworthy Sabah Leaders
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Daily Express Article - 17 August 2008

2008-08-17T17:52:00.000+08:00

Protest Uunnecessary as MB Can't Change System
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Daily Express Article - 03 August 2008

2008-08-03T17:49:00.000+08:00

Children Deserve Greater Respect
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Daily Express Article - 27 July 2008

2008-07-27T17:14:00.003+08:00

Are There No More Peace Minded And Rational Malaysians

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