As someone who studies the phenomenon of political Islam, I have, understandably, been reading much of the international Muslim press over the past few years. In particular I have focused on the International Islamist media- and by this I am referring to the newspapers, websites, journals and magazines produced by the many Islamist organisations, NGOs, [...]
For
as long as they can remember, Malaysians have been told time and again
that there can only be political stability in the country as long as
the status quo is defended. This rather uninspiring message was, of
course, delivered by none other than those who were already in power
and who had every reason to wish to remain in [...]
The
Malaysian national and state elections, concluded on 8 March, did much
more damage to the government than anyone predicted. The Barisan
Nasional (National Front) government was re-elected nationally, but it
lost five state governments, won less than 50 per cent of the popular
vote in Peninsular Malaysia, and has lost its two-thirds majority in
the federal parliament.
The two-thirds majority is [...]
In the aftermath of the 12th General Election, speculation almost immediately began regarding the future of the President of UMNO, who also happens to be the Prime Minister of Malaysia. The first call for his resignation came from his predecessor, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad. It was hardly a surprise.
Just as unsurprising were the show [...]
(Note:
This article
first appeared
on the excellent website, MalaysiaVotes)
This is the English
version of the same article that will published soon as part of the
compilation of articles by Dr. Farish A. Noor, entitled “Di Balik
Malaysia: Dari Majapahit Ke Putrajaya”
‘Takkan Melayu Hilang di
Dunia’ (Never Shall the Malays
Cease to Be): Hang Tuah’s legendary call to arms rings a note of
defiance [...]
For a country that is not exactly known for its reading habit, we seem to be grabbing a lot of books lately. Or to put it more accurately, we seem to be confiscating and detaining an awful lot of books.
For reasons best known to themselves, the benighted authorities in this land of ours have been [...]
(Note:
This analysis first appeared on the excellent
website, MalaysiaVotes
)
WHEN the opportunity
presented itself for Malaysia to choose a Malaysian woman of South Asian
origin to be made the country’s first astronaut, those responsible for
the final decision stepped back before the seemingly-insurmountable wall of
taboos and inherited petty wisdom. No, they opined, we should choose a
Malaysian Male Muslim Malay instead, [...]
… and the future prospects of PAS
(Note: This analysis first appeared on the excellent website, MalaysiaVotes )
THE overwhelming victory of PAS in Kelantan deserves some degree of
analysis and reflection. This commentary is based on observations made
by myself and Danny Lim of MalaysiaVotes.com during our 10-day
stay in Kelantan (and Terengganu), where we witnessed first-hand the
preparations for the [...]
As the broken remnants of the Barisan Nasional
recuperate and recover what is left of their shattered pride, it would
be prudent to take a step back and look at some of the factors that
have certainly contributed to the dismal showing the BN component
parties and the UMNO party in particular.
It
is clear to many that this election was, [...]
For more than a week now, Danny Lim of MalaysiaVotes
and myself have been in Kelantan and Trengganu observing to goings-on
during the election campaign. The mood in Kelantan and Trengganu are
reminiscent of the days of the 1999 election, with the banner and
poster war being fought in earnest. Our observations and analyses have
been posted on The Other [...]
