Malaysian Politicians Say The Darndest Things

Why study the nexus of gender, politics, and democracy in Asia? What kind of democracy and political participation can we conceptualize and identify for this heterogeneous region? In the increasingly visible Asian context, which concepts, contexts, discourses, and practices do we need to reflect upon most in order to understand the complex relationship between gender and democratic processes? The contributions in this book engage with precisely these crucial questions, and do so by drawing on a variety of case studies covering India, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Cambodia. In the process, they scrutinize women's roles, strategies, practices, and discourses on political participation and gender-inclusive political reform in various arenas of political engagement. The book's essays range from studies of political actors and institutions, public policy and gender mainstreaming, political theory and citizenship discourses, to the study of various women's movements. (Series: Politikwissenschaftliche Perspektiven - Vol. 15)

Malaysian Cinema in the New Millennium offers a new approach to the study of multiculturalism in cinema by analysing how a new wave of filmmakers champion cultural diversity using cosmopolitan themes. Adrian Lee offers a new inquiry of Malaysian cinema that examines how the ‘Malaysian Digital Indies’ (MDI) have in recent years repositioned Malaysian cinema within the global arena. The book shines a new light on how politics and socioeconomics have influenced new forms and genres of the post-2000s generation of filmmakers, and provides a clear picture of the interactions between commercial cinema and politics and socioeconomics in the first two decades of the new millennium. It also assesses how the MDI movement was successful in creating a transnational cinema by displacing and deterritorialising itself from the context of the national, and illustrates how MDI functions as a site for questioning and proposing a new national identity in the era of advanced global capitalism and new Islamisation. Covering all these interrelated topics, Lee’s book is a pioneering and comprehensive work in the study of Malaysian cinema in the recent decades. ‘Lee is well versed in theories of transnational and postcolonial studies and provides detailed and knowledgeable information about this period of filmmaking in Malaysia. I believe this book will make a valuable contribution to the studies of film in Southeast Asia.’ —Olivia Khoo, Monash University, Australia ‘The author comprehensively discusses the rise of Malaysian Digital Indies (MDI) in post-2000 Malaysia, the revival of form and aesthetics in comparison to mainstream films, the MDI’s emergence in the Malaysian context, and finally the MDI’s incorporation into the mainstream films.’ —Nunna Prasad, Abu Dhabi University, United Arab Emirates

The 2008 elections in Malaysia saw the ruling coalition, Barisan Nasional, suffer its worst showing since independence, balancing political power and bringing hope of a more progressive, democratic future. No one expected such a show of support for the untested opposition and a show of dissent against Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi’s entrenched coalition government. “Beyond the Veneer: Malaysia’s struggle for dignity and direction” is a comprehensive and timely account of how Malaysia reached this pivotal turning point in the nation’s history, and what the future holds for the country, its leaders and its people. In it Kuala Lumpur-based journalist Ioannis Gatsiounis presents a collection of his published articles from a range of publications, including Asia Times, Newsweek, The Washington Times, and Al Jazeera, offering readers a fascinating look at current socio-political events in Malaysia. This book is essential reading for anyone wishing to understand this promising nation at the crossroads and the key issues that will shape its future.

For a whole generation of Malaysians, no proper closure to the traumas of the racial riots of May 13, 1969 has been possible. But then came March 8, 2008 The surprising results of the General Election on that special day have started eclipsing the fears linked for so long to that spectral night forty years ago. All the three researchers from ISEAS who each authored separate chapters for this book were in different parts of Malaysia monitoring its 12th General Election during the thirteen days of campaigning. Their analyses provide new insights into the phenomenon that Malaysians now simply refer to as "March 8." Ooi Kee Beng scrutinizes in detail the electoral campaign in the state of Penang, Johan Saravanamuttu studies the case of Kelantan state and the elections in general, while Lee Hock Guan examines changes in the voting pattern in the Klang Valley.

Malay Sketches is a collection of stories that borrows its name from a book of anecdotes by colonial governor Frank Swettenham, describing Malay life on the Peninsula. In Alfian Sa’at’s hands, these sketches are reimagined as flash fictions that record the lives of members of the Malay community in Singapore. With precise and incisive prose, Malay Sketches offers the reader profound insights into the realities of life as an ethnic minority. Longlisted for the 2013 Frank O'connor International Short Story Award