Table Of ContentSIRD
Contents i
Thinking Through Malaysia
ii Thinking Through Malaysia
The Strategic Information and Research Development Centre (SIRD)
is an independent publishing house founded in January 2000 in Petaling
Jaya, Malaysia. The SIRD list focuses on Malaysian and Southeast Asian
Studies, Economics, Gender Studies, the Social Sciences, Politics and
International Relations. Our books address the scholarly community,
students, the NGO and development communities, policymakers,
activists and the wider public.
SIRD also distributes titles (via its sister organisation, GB Gerakbudaya
Enterprise Sdn Bhd) published by scholarly and institutional presses,
NGOs and other independent publishers. We also organise seminars,
forums and group discussions. All this, we believe, is conducive to
the development and consolidation of the notions of civil liberty and
democracy.
Contents iii
Thinking Through Malaysia
culture and identity in the 21st century
edited by
Julian Hopkins & Julian CH Lee
SIRD
Strategic Information and Research Development Centre,
Petaling Jaya
iv Thinking Through Malaysia
Copyright © 2012 Julian Hopkins and Julian CH Lee
Published in 2012 by
Strategic Information and Research Development Centre
No 11, Lorong 11/4E, 46200 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.gerakbudaya.com
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without
the prior permission of the publisher.
Perpustakaan Negara Malaysia Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
Hopkins, Julian
Thinking Through Malaysia: culture and identity in the 21st
century/ edited by Julian Hopkins & Julian CH Lee.
ISBN 978-967-5832-56-7
1. Malaysia--Social life and customs.
2. Malaysia--Social conditions.
I. Lee, Julian C. H. II. Title.
959.5
Cover design by Caryn Lim
Front cover illustration by Andrew Ng
Cover background photograph by Julian CH Lee
Layout design by Janice Cheong
Printed by Vinlin Press Sdn Bhd
2, Jalan Meranti Permai 1,
Meranti Permai Industrial Park,
Batu 15, Jalan Puchong,
47100 Puchong, Selangor, Malaysia.
Contents v
■
Contents
Introduction
Julian Hopkins and Julian CH Lee 1
Chapter 1 ■ Locating ‘Mixed’ Identities in a Racialized Society
Caryn Lim 11
Chapter 2 ■ Redefining ‘Malayness’: Expectations of
Young-Adult Malaysian Muslims
Dahlia Martin 31
Chapter 3 ■ Power, Agency and the Tithe
Cheah Wui Jia 51
Chapter 4 ■ Negotiating the Liberties and Boundaries of
Malaysian Online Christian Expression:
Case Studies
Tan Meng Yoe 67
Chapter 5 ■ From All-Blogs to Blog House Malaysia:
SoPo Blogging, Journalism, and Politics
in Malaysia
Julian Hopkins 83
Chapter 6 ■ Examining the Exploitation of Indonesian
Domestic Workers in Malaysia:
Gender and National Policy Factors
Nadiah Ahmad 109
vi Thinking Through Malaysia
Chapter 7 ■ Solving (Some of) Shirley Lim’s Life’s Mysteries
Theresa Holtby 125
Chapter 8 ■ Asian Third Culture Kids: Growing Up
in Malaysia
Abeer Yusuf and Batul Mohsinali 141
Chapter 9 ■ Parenting: Some Selected Narratives of Mothers
Ng Siow San 153
Chapter 10 ■ The Homosexual Threat: Appraising
Masculinities and Men’s Sexualities in Malaysia
Joseph Goh 167
Chapter 11 ■ Malaysian Rocks: An Introduction to the
Contemporary Malaysian Extreme Music
Underground, 2010-2011
Marco Ferrarese 187
Chapter 12 ■ Chinese Independent Music: Resisting and
Negotiating with the Popular in Malaysia
Liew Shao Yi 205
Contents vii
■
To Dr Yeoh Seng Guan
viii Thinking Through Malaysia
Introduction 1
■
Introduction
Julian C. H. Lee & Julian Hopkins
Many do not realize that there is a great deal of excellent,
thoughtful and important research being undertaken in and
about Malaysian society and culture, which unfortunately only
comes to be read by less than a handful of people. This book is
an attempt to rectify this situation by collecting together eleven
pieces of writing that describe some of the findings from young
researchers who are working, or have worked on, diverse but
compelling areas of investigation.
The setting is of course Malaysia, but, as we shall see,
things quickly become more complicated, and much richer.
The Malaysian story reveals itself to be hardly a story at all and
instead, perhaps, something closer to a kaleidoscopic assemblage
of fragments that are clearly of Malaysia, and yet which struggle
to be seen clearly or understood through the outdated lenses
with which so many of us still try to see this country. In the
chapters that follow, we learn that there are scenes that we never
knew existed, gain insight into previously ignored characters,
and familiar figures turn out to think about themselves quite
differently to the way we understood them.
In all cases, the work has the essential traits of sound, critical
research and writing with opinions and conclusions drawn
carefully and thoughtfully, and with an eye to the limitations of
the data (which all research has). You will not find the under-
baked and over-confident conclusions that too often pass for
