Category: Culture

Feminist Reading Group 3 – Malaysian femininity and housework

The last in the series of our meetings is on Saturday morning 11 am on 19th March 2016 at our usual location AWAM -85, Jalan 21/1, Sea Park, 46300 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia. The quickest way to get to AWAM is by LRT Taman Paramount. It is a 2-minute walk away. We will discussing Angela… Continue reading Feminist Reading Group 3 – Malaysian femininity and housework

Thinking intersectionally about Malay women and the tudung

I have been thinking a lot about intersectionality and women who do not wear the tudung lately and it is not so much because the concept is de rigueur right now as I have been accused of not being intersectional enough in my viral article, Asal-usul obsesi Melayu dengan tudung (The origins of the Malay… Continue reading Thinking intersectionally about Malay women and the tudung

A Malaysian scholar remembers Stuart Hall

First published in my Malay Mail column on 27th February 2014: A great intellectual died on February 10, 2014. His name was Stuart Hall, dubbed the “godfather of multiculturalism.” As the tributes by academics made up of peers and admirers alike came flooding in, I thought about the impact of Hall’s work concerning identity and… Continue reading A Malaysian scholar remembers Stuart Hall

In supermodernity, is the subaltern a cyborg?

First published in The State on 20th January 2014. When I lived in South Jakarta, my initial access to the internet was in the nearby warnet, a portmanteau word composed of ‘warung’ (cafe or stall) and internet. The warnet was tiny and had no chairs. Planks of wood were used as benches for a dozen… Continue reading In supermodernity, is the subaltern a cyborg?

Towards a Viridian feminist future

This piece is part of the 5 year Viridian retrospective organised by Tim Maly, published in The State on 13 December 2013: Viridian Design was an avant-garde bright green design movement engineered by Bruce Sterling and intended to address climate change. It ran from 1998-2008. Five years later, we reflect. The vision of a Viridian… Continue reading Towards a Viridian feminist future

Women’s exodus from the work force: Not a simply matter of brain drain

An article I wrote with Clarissa Lee, Dahlia Martin and Fiona Lee, published on The Malaysian Insider, The B-Side, and Loyar Burok. A recent BFM podcast episode, “The New Brain Drain,” discussed the relatively low rate of women’s participation in the Malaysian workforce, focusing specifically on the challenges faced by mothers working outside the home.… Continue reading Women’s exodus from the work force: Not a simply matter of brain drain

Field work food: Sundanese cuisine in Jakarta

During my field research in Jakarta last year, I became a fan of bakso urat (large meatballs made with bits of offal packed with collagen goodness), buntut sapi belado (oxtail cooked with chillies), road side nasi uduk (fragrant rice and uncooked herbs typically served with fried catfish or chicken), Sate Khas Senayan restaurant (best chicken… Continue reading Field work food: Sundanese cuisine in Jakarta