A New Player in Sabah Politics

Malaysia continues to witness the emergence of new political parties in the public domain, further complicating its complex political landscape. The new Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan) points to growing political awareness among the people of Sabah. They may be following in the footsteps of Sarawakians, who have been vocal in demanding more political autonomy for themselves

The Hindu Rights Action Force (HINDRAF) of Malaysia: Communitarianism Across Borders?

One of the consequences of the Islamisation process in Malaysia from the 1980s is the entry of religion into the public domain of mainstream politics. Malaysia has witnessed the growth and expansion of a parallel religious civil space with more Muslim NGOs and lobby groups coming to the fore. The formation of the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) marks a new expression of religious based politics and social mobilization among new expression of religious based politics and social mobilization among Malaysia’s minority Hindu community along ethnic-religious lines. This paper examines the recent development of Hindraf in Malaysia and its impact on the country’s complex plural and sectarian landscape. It analyses the ways through which Hindraf has managed to carve a space for Malaysians Hindu minority while also forging links with the global Hindu community worldwide. It also raises questions about how Hindraf may also add another challenge to Malaysian politics that is already configured along sectarian lines, and what such a movement can do towards further normalising the penetration of religion into the public sphere. Finally it ends with some observation on Hindraf’s role and impact on the election results of March 2008

COVID-19 and Tablighi Jama’at : religious movements and the need for dialogue

The discovery of a major COVID-19 cluster involving the Tablighi Jama’at movement in Malaysia has led to questions about what the movement is and why they chose to congregate. To win the fight against the COVID-19 epidemic, such movements need to be engaged with.Published versio

You are under arrest : epistemic arrest and the endless reproduction of the image of the colonised native

In the year 1907 the colonial entrepreneur and expert on tin-mining in British Malaya, CG Warnford-Lock, wrote thus in his book Mining in Malaya for Gold and Tin: From a labour point of view, there are practically three races: the Malays, the Chinese and the Tamils. By nature, the Malay is an idler, the Chinaman is a thief and the Indian is a drunkard. Yet each, in his special class of work, is both cheap and efficient, when properly supervised. (emphasis mine)1That the complexity of Malayan society, with its ethnically diverse population and its linguistic, cultural and religious differences, could be simply reduced to ‘practically three races’ that in turn bore three simple essential characteristics – idleness, criminality and drunkenness – is telling of how the order of knowledge and power that had dominated and defined the colony had also reduced its native inhabitants to stock caricatures that were permanently fixed and defined. Knowing the colonised native Other meant being in a position of epistemic leverage over that Other, and thus being able to define and frame the Other in whatever terms that suited the ideological needs of racialised colonial-capitalism at the time.Published versio

Understanding the Proliferation of Political Parties in Malaysia

Another political party has been launched in Malaysia – the Parti Pribumi Bersatu – and Malaysia’s political landscape has grown more crowded. Why is this happening and why do Malaysians keep forming new political parties? Political mobilisation remains attractive in the country, and parties offer more than ideological choices