Category: Media

Pink diamonds and a pink Lamborghini: Reflections on personal narrative, charisma, and rethinking shame as political affect

Note: This was a paper presented at the International Conference on Gender and Sexuality in Asia (CoGen 2018) in Monash University, Sunway Malaysia in November 2018. Friends who have followed my research and talks in recent years know it’s a product of years of my fascination with Dato Vida. Vignette 1: In a music video… Continue reading Pink diamonds and a pink Lamborghini: Reflections on personal narrative, charisma, and rethinking shame as political affect

‘Romantic’ sexual violence, mediated intimacy and the single Muslim woman in Malaysia

“Romance imagines peace, security, and ease precisely because there is dissension, insecurity, and difficulty” (Janice Radway, Reading the Romance 1984, p. 15) Lately I’ve become very interested in how heterosexual Malay-Muslim women talk about romantic intimacy in their pursuit of potential partners, and why sexual violence features so significantly in Malay language romance novels. The… Continue reading ‘Romantic’ sexual violence, mediated intimacy and the single Muslim woman in Malaysia

New piece on New Mandala: Rape and the pantomime of misogyny

I have a new piece up on New Mandala published on 19th February where I try to grips with the violent misogyny in Malaysian politics. It is a mere platitude to argue that these male politicians are misogynistic. What’s more pertinent to ask is, why are they are using their platforms to air these views,… Continue reading New piece on New Mandala: Rape and the pantomime of misogyny

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

All singing and dancing – Islamic pop music in Indonesia

First published on The State Pop singers like Vidi Aldiano are nothing like the nasyid* groups, the more conventional all-male singers of Islamic ditties. Young, fresh-faced and nary a skullcap in sight, he dresses like any other young man in urban Indonesia in ubiquitous t-shirt and slim-fitting jeans. The music is like any other unoriginal… Continue reading All singing and dancing – Islamic pop music in Indonesia

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

Rape, media coverage and our bloodstained hypocrisy

First published on the 30th of December 2012 on Loyarburok Early yesterday morning, an Indian woman died from severe internal injuries after being raped by six men in New Delhi. The global reportage of an unnamed rape victim is an unprecedented event for a crime that is depressingly commonplace and downplayed or sensationalised in the… Continue reading Rape, media coverage and our bloodstained hypocrisy