Angry Malay Woman

Against fluff feminism

Every so often, ‘feminism’ would bubble up to the surface of the Malaysian mediasphere. It would be shared and retweeted on social media, but it would not stimulate a lengthy (documented) discussion on what it really is, what its aims are, and how people often get it ‘wrong’. This post is on the latter concern;… Continue reading Against fluff feminism

New essay on The New Inquiry

The New Inquiry has kindly published an essay I’ve written on Islamic astronomy, ritual, and outer space in their January issue on ‘Stars’. Here is an excerpt: Astrological and cosmological inquiry by medieval Muslim and Arabian scholars (that is, they wrote in Arabic) were concerned with the link that connected the earth and the night… Continue reading New essay on The New Inquiry

Mahasiswa – a universal identity or a Malay masculine one?

The figure of the mahasiswa or male university student is in the news again, demanding the liberation of Malaysian academia from draconian government intervention. There is also a ‘rising star’ of student activism: 23 year old Fahmi Zainol, a young Malay man of utopian political and intellectual ambition. As the president of University of Malaya’s… Continue reading Mahasiswa – a universal identity or a Malay masculine one?

Social mobility versus social climbing

I’ve recently written and submitted a research proposal on social mobility amongst the Indian female underclass (mostly plantation workers and their descendants) in pre and post-independence Malaya. Despite the predominating narrative that the life potential of the Indian underclass is impeded by caste inequality, ethnicity, and by being female, I was nonetheless interested in channels… Continue reading Social mobility versus social climbing

New column on Malay Mail Online – So you want to do a PhD?

My new column on Malay Mail Online, published on 10th October 2014, offers advice and some forewarning about writing a PhD. Read it here.

Is being called a prostitute misogynistic?

Upon arriving home from secondary school many years ago, I was slightly taken aback to find that someone had stuck ‘Slut’ on a post-it note on my backpack. I knew what the word meant and I was sure I was not that, thought my socially-awkward, pimply 15 year old self. Years later in university, and… Continue reading Is being called a prostitute misogynistic?

Feminism without women

The title of this blog post is a reference to Tania Modleski’s 1991 book [1] which has a pointed retort to the postmodernist turn in feminism and its impact on solidarity and political mobilising. The retort had a more specific aim; in 1988, Denise Riley had published Am I That Name? [2], a sort of… Continue reading Feminism without women

New column on Malay Mail Online on the ‘sexual dynamics of looking’

Do read my new column on the Malay Mail, ‘Sexual dynamics of looking‘, published on 26th June 2014, in which I talk about what it means when women are told not to look at men.

What does a city for women look like?

How does a woman walk in a city in the daytime and at night? Does she walk head held up high? Does she think her hair is showing through her headscarf, her knee-length skirt too short? Will that be commented on by someone on the street? Does she walk under what Shilpa Phadke calls the… Continue reading What does a city for women look like?

The finishing line

Of course I’ve always known that I’ll get to the finishing line sooner or later. But the actual experience of being so near it, half-running/crawling towards it, and overwhelmed by feelings of euphoria and total disbelief, exceeds the capacity of words and description. I submit my PhD thesis on the 27th of June 2014. I… Continue reading The finishing line