Table Of Content

SIRD Contents i Thinking Through Malaysia ii Thinking Through Malaysia The Strategic Information and Research Development Centre (SIRD) is an independent publishing house founded in January 2000 in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia. The SIRD list focuses on Malaysian and Southeast Asian Studies, Economics, Gender Studies, the Social Sciences, Politics and International Relations. Our books address the scholarly community, students, the NGO and development communities, policymakers, activists and the wider public. SIRD also distributes titles (via its sister organisation, GB Gerakbudaya Enterprise Sdn Bhd) published by scholarly and institutional presses, NGOs and other independent publishers. We also organise seminars, forums and group discussions. All this, we believe, is conducive to the development and consolidation of the notions of civil liberty and democracy. Contents iii Thinking Through Malaysia culture and identity in the 21st century edited by Julian Hopkins & Julian CH Lee SIRD Strategic Information and Research Development Centre, Petaling Jaya iv Thinking Through Malaysia Copyright © 2012 Julian Hopkins and Julian CH Lee Published in 2012 by Strategic Information and Research Development Centre No 11, Lorong 11/4E, 46200 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia. Email: [email protected] Website: www.gerakbudaya.com All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. Perpustakaan Negara Malaysia Cataloguing-in-Publication Data Hopkins, Julian Thinking Through Malaysia: culture and identity in the 21st century/ edited by Julian Hopkins & Julian CH Lee. ISBN 978-967-5832-56-7 1. Malaysia--Social life and customs. 2. Malaysia--Social conditions. I. Lee, Julian C. H. II. Title. 959.5 Cover design by Caryn Lim Front cover illustration by Andrew Ng Cover background photograph by Julian CH Lee Layout design by Janice Cheong Printed by Vinlin Press Sdn Bhd 2, Jalan Meranti Permai 1, Meranti Permai Industrial Park, Batu 15, Jalan Puchong, 47100 Puchong, Selangor, Malaysia. Contents v ■ Contents Introduction Julian Hopkins and Julian CH Lee 1 Chapter 1 ■ Locating ‘Mixed’ Identities in a Racialized Society Caryn Lim 11 Chapter 2 ■ Redefining ‘Malayness’: Expectations of Young-Adult Malaysian Muslims Dahlia Martin 31 Chapter 3 ■ Power, Agency and the Tithe Cheah Wui Jia 51 Chapter 4 ■ Negotiating the Liberties and Boundaries of Malaysian Online Christian Expression: Case Studies Tan Meng Yoe 67 Chapter 5 ■ From All-Blogs to Blog House Malaysia: SoPo Blogging, Journalism, and Politics in Malaysia Julian Hopkins 83 Chapter 6 ■ Examining the Exploitation of Indonesian Domestic Workers in Malaysia: Gender and National Policy Factors Nadiah Ahmad 109 vi Thinking Through Malaysia Chapter 7 ■ Solving (Some of) Shirley Lim’s Life’s Mysteries Theresa Holtby 125 Chapter 8 ■ Asian Third Culture Kids: Growing Up in Malaysia Abeer Yusuf and Batul Mohsinali 141 Chapter 9 ■ Parenting: Some Selected Narratives of Mothers Ng Siow San 153 Chapter 10 ■ The Homosexual Threat: Appraising Masculinities and Men’s Sexualities in Malaysia Joseph Goh 167 Chapter 11 ■ Malaysian Rocks: An Introduction to the Contemporary Malaysian Extreme Music Underground, 2010-2011 Marco Ferrarese 187 Chapter 12 ■ Chinese Independent Music: Resisting and Negotiating with the Popular in Malaysia Liew Shao Yi 205 Contents vii ■ To Dr Yeoh Seng Guan viii Thinking Through Malaysia Introduction 1 ■ Introduction Julian C. H. Lee & Julian Hopkins Many do not realize that there is a great deal of excellent, thoughtful and important research being undertaken in and about Malaysian society and culture, which unfortunately only comes to be read by less than a handful of people. This book is an attempt to rectify this situation by collecting together eleven pieces of writing that describe some of the findings from young researchers who are working, or have worked on, diverse but compelling areas of investigation. The setting is of course Malaysia, but, as we shall see, things quickly become more complicated, and much richer. The Malaysian story reveals itself to be hardly a story at all and instead, perhaps, something closer to a kaleidoscopic assemblage of fragments that are clearly of Malaysia, and yet which struggle to be seen clearly or understood through the outdated lenses with which so many of us still try to see this country. In the chapters that follow, we learn that there are scenes that we never knew existed, gain insight into previously ignored characters, and familiar figures turn out to think about themselves quite differently to the way we understood them. In all cases, the work has the essential traits of sound, critical research and writing with opinions and conclusions drawn carefully and thoughtfully, and with an eye to the limitations of the data (which all research has). You will not find the under- baked and over-confident conclusions that too often pass for