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?
Category: Malaysia
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
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?
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.
Men: the true voice of feminism
First published on The Malay Mail on 7th February 2014. When you think about it, most rights have been won by women in Malaysia and all citizens are rendered equal before the Federal Constitution. Malaysian women didn’t even have to fight for the vote. Technically, men and women are almost equal. Needless to say, the… Continue reading Men: the true voice of feminism
Scholarship on the scrap heap of an ailing higher education
First published in The Malay Mail on 29th January 2014. As someone in the business of reading, writing, and reviewing academic articles, I have seen the good, the bad, and the ugly. Writing academic articles is not easy and it rarely gets any easier after years, even decades (so I’m told) in academia. So when… Continue reading Scholarship on the scrap heap of an ailing higher education
Why freedom of the press matters
First published on The Malay Mail on 16th January 2014. The Red Pencil protest on January 4 is more than a political struggle against repressive state legislature led by journalists and activists. It is about the basic right to information to be enjoyed by all and therefore it would be imperative to appreciate where the… Continue reading Why freedom of the press matters
What is teh tarik enlightenment?
This is my first column on The Malay Mail, published 3rd December 2013 Jamal Al-Din Al-Afghani was something of a charismatic maverick and crusader of anti-colonial ideas in late nineteenth century Egypt. His informal engagement with the public evokes a scene not dissimilar to a small forum led by Socrates. Surrounded by earnest disciples in… Continue reading What is teh tarik enlightenment?
The geography of urban intellectual culture in the Malay archipelago
First published in THE STATE magazine, 10th October 2013 Everyday for six months last year, I took the mikrolet from a major bus stop in South Jakarta to my home. A kind of share taxi, the blue mikrolet—number 36—would take around fifteen passengers at a time, following a looping route that covered one small area… Continue reading The geography of urban intellectual culture in the Malay archipelago
Sexist men and the people who love them
First published on Loyar Burok on 12th August 2013 This article is about the men who walk amongst us whom we admire, whom we call our friends, lovers, husbands, fathers, brothers. If you prefer, this article may also be about the ‘other’ men out there, the rapists, child abusers, sexual harassers, and other shadowy characters… Continue reading Sexist men and the people who love them
Alicia Izharuddin 