Events

CHAIRPERSON

Assoc Prof Maznah Mohamad, Department of Malay Studies, National University of Singapore. 

ABSTRACT

A Malaysian politician from the ruling National Front coalition once described cyberspace as a place where monkeys live under the laws of the jungle. Cyberspace, or the Internet, was also referred to as a space where these so-called monkeys, otherwise known as bloggers, spread lies and rumours. In a sudden turn of events, politicians from the ruling coalition were instructed to maintain a blog that will introduce themselves, party programmes and its manifesto to their constituents. This occurred after pro-opposition supporters and bloggers, and civil society movements forcefully exploited the Internet as an alternative approach of disseminating information, exchanging ideas, and discussing concerns on socio-political issues otherwise not highlighted by the mainstream media during the 12th and 13th Malaysian General Elections. Since then, such counter-hegemonic practices have occurred in everyday life when counter-arguments are made against the misrepresentations and disinformation of politicians. Despite the existence of numerous obstacles against political dissent, there remain individuals willing to take measured risks to dissent, and at the very least, to poke fun at the powers that be using the Internet and social media as tools of the powerless. This has since progressed with the emergence of online videos mocking the idiosyncrasy of politicians making blunders, misattributes, and arrogance that were rapidly reproduced as song remixes, political satires, parodies, and jokes. This paper examines how these online videos serve as political and cultural interventions that could potentially threaten the hegemony of the ruling coalition.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Adrian Lee Yuen Beng is currently Senior Lecturer at Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang. His passion for academia began as a freelance personal and English tutor. He then lectured full-time in a not-for-profit college before completing his PhD at Melbourne University. Currently, he eagerly studies the works of Yasmin Ahmad while also exploring issues of race and ethnicity, gender, and political economy in the cinemas, cultures, and medias of Malaysia and Asia. He has presented papers at Cambridge, Osaka, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia, and has written papers focusing on the cinemas of Malaysia and Asia. He is currently setting up the official Cultural Studies Malaysia Group (facebook.com/groups/culturalstudiesmalaysia/) and is also working on publishing his first book and other books in English, his national language Bahasa Malaysia and possibly Mandarin. He also remains involved with freelance commercial and non-commercial productions, editing, and scriptwriting works.

REGISTRATION

Admission is free. We would greatly appreciate if you RSVP Mr Jonathan Lee via email: jonathan.lee@nus.edu.sg