CHAIRPERSON
Assoc Prof Maznah Binti Mohamad, Departments of Malay Studies and Southeast Asian Studies, National University of Singapore
ABSTRACT
Along with the transformation of the economy and society over the past 30 years, a New Politics has arrived in Malaysia. The evidence is in the new patterns of voting in the electoral system; in the emergence of new CSOs and their myriad forms of political participation including use of the new IT, during and in between elections; in the political ferment among urban youths; and in the fragmentation of the Malay community. This is the presenter’s “big picture” response to those researchers who focus on the “small picture” of debates, competitions or conflicts related to specific issues, say, use of kalimah Allah, push towards Syariah Law, and then, without relating the small to the big picture, conclude that ethnic relations have become polarised.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Francis Loh Kok Wah was Professor of Politics in Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang until his retirement in 2012. Currently, he is Senior Adviser to the Forum of Federations (Ottawa) and has been conducting workshops on federalism, democracy and good governance in Burma. Francis is also president of Aliran, a multiethnic human rights organisation based in Penang. His latest article was a tribute to his mentor Benedict Anderson at http://aliran.com/aliran-csi/aliran-csi-2015/a-tribute-to-benedict-r-og-anderson-1936-2015/.
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