Category: Academic life

My talk at IIAS, 30th March 2022: From the factory floor to the page

I will be giving a short talk on my current project on modern Malay print romance at Leiden University on 30th March 2022 via Zoom. For more info on registration, click here. About the talk: What is the significance of place and space in the print culture of Malay romance? My presentation demonstrates how print… Continue reading My talk at IIAS, 30th March 2022: From the factory floor to the page

Bandar Baru Bangi field notes

The following was published in the latest issue of BERITA [Malaysia/Singapore/Brunei Studies Group Association for Asian Studies] 48 (1) (2022): On my revisit to Bandar Baru Bangi (New Town of Bangi) in August 2021, I spent hours exploring the town with my assistant behind the wheel. We were also there to see Mrs Hamidah again,… Continue reading Bandar Baru Bangi field notes

Comments on Alluring Monsters: The Pontianak and Cinemas of Decolonization

On 28th January 2022, I was invited to discuss Rosalind Galt’s new book, Alluring Monsters: The Pontianak and Cinemas of Decolonization (Columbia University Press) at NTU’s Asian Cinema Research Lab. We had a great audience and Rosalind was superb. The following are my comments on her book, soon to be published in the journal of… Continue reading Comments on Alluring Monsters: The Pontianak and Cinemas of Decolonization

How to teach Gender and Sexuality in Malaysia

It was a huge privilege to teach Gender and Sexuality at the University of Malaya between August 2015 and June 2019. Right from the outset of my appointment, I overhauled the syllabus to reflect current, local and global debates in the field of feminist and queer theory. I felt that it was absolutely pertinent to… Continue reading How to teach Gender and Sexuality in Malaysia

Structures of feeling and dark laughter: A few more publications for 2019

Utter neglect has plagued this blog yet again. To my detriment I’m sure. I’ve missed opportunities to properly self-promote my work on this blog, the very place that launched my life in writing. To remedy that, here are some rather belated updates. 1. Back in February 2018, my friends Adil Johan, Nazry Bahrawi and me… Continue reading Structures of feeling and dark laughter: A few more publications for 2019

New publications

I am guilty for not updating this blog, but my written work have been appearing elsewhere! Among them include an article in Signs journal, something I’ve been working on the past few years on unveiling and non-veiling practices among Malay-Muslim women and their reconstruction of self and identity. Another article is now published in Kajian… Continue reading New publications

On being like Robyn Penrose

Robyn Penrose is a newly minted lecturer in women’s studies and English literature who specialises in the ‘industrial novel’, fiction written in the mid-1800’s that reflected the values and anxieties of the British industrial revolution. She is a feminist academic with an unflagging belief in uprooting social injustice inside and outside the classroom. She joins… Continue reading On being like Robyn Penrose

Lessons learned

It’s been nearly two years since I’ve been appointed Senior Lecturer in Gender Studies, my first real job after the PhD. Unlike my cohort, I hadn’t spent too much time applying for many jobs and had been interviewed for only two. Penniless and exhausted, returning to Malaysia seemed like a good idea. It chimed with… Continue reading Lessons learned