Based upon observation of the 2016 Sarawak state elections at a time of political turmoil for the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, Electoral Dynamics in Sarawak offers four ethnographic accounts of grassroots electoral politics in diverse constituencies of Sarawak. Covering Ba' Kelalan, the rural stronghold of Sarawak Parti Keadilan Rakyat ......
Mediated Communalism and New Politics in Six Decades of Malaysia's Elections
This book argues that Malaysia's electoral politics have historically been premised on a hybridized model of communalism and consociationalism. Beyond this it posits a newer idea of power sharing based on the dynamic and transformative practice of mediated communalism through six decades (1952-2016) of electoral politics. The strategy of mediating ......
A user-friendly lexicon for both native speakers and learners of the Penang Hokkien language, this dictionary lists Hokkien words and terms, and their definitions in English, as well as literal translations, culture-specific terms and common phrases. It is the first comprehensively dictionary of Penang Hokkien and carries over 12,000 entries. The ......
Twenty-five years ago, the governments of Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia agreed to jointly promote the citystate, the state of Johor in Malaysia and the Riau Islands in Indonesia. Facilitated by common cultural references, a more distant shared history, and complementary attributes, interactions between the three territories developed quickly. ......
The story of Penang would be incomplete without the Big Five Hokkien families (the Khoo, the Cheah, the Yeoh, the Lim, and the Tan). It was the Big Five who played a preponderant role not only in transforming Penang into a regional entrepot and a business and financial base, but also in reconfiguring maritime trading patterns and the business ......
Malaysia's Indian Muslims, Chitties, Portuguese Eurasians, Peranakan Chinese and Baweanese
Malaysia is among the most ethnically diverse and culturally rich nations on earth. Yet much of its cultural wealth lies buried beneath the rubric of its main Malay, Chinese and Indian ""race"" categories; the dazzling diversity within and outside these groups remains largely unexplored. This book uncovers some of this fascinating diversity ......
The Unfinished Memoirs of Tun Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman
This is the unfinished autobiography of Tun Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman, the medical doctor who held key government positions in the first two decades of Malaysian nation building, and who was an important early player within UMNO, the country's dominant political party. Drifting into Politics was found among the private papers that were handed over to ......
This is the long-awaited biography of Malaysia's powerful Home Affairs Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Tun Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman, who passed away of a heart attack on 2 August 1973. It is based on his private papers and on numerous interviews with his relatives and with people who knew him well, including Ghafar Baba, Musa Hitam, Tengku ......
In 1938, noting that the bulk of the Indian population formed a ""landless proletariat"" and despairing of the ability of the factionalized Indian community to unite in pursuit of common objectives, activist K.A. Neelakanda Ayer forecast that the fate of Indians in Malaya would be to become Tragic orphans of whom India has forgotten and Malaya ......