New Mandala

The Barisan Nasional (National Front) has led Malaysia since independence in 1957. As the Alliance Party – which included the Malayan Indian Congress and the Malaysian Chinese Association, it governed the Federation of Malaya (then only constituting Peninsular Malaya) from 1957 to 1963.
Then, in 1963, with the support of local political parties (e.g. People’s Action Party in Singapore) [...]

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Yesterday I blogged about agricultural productivity in Thailand. I included a chart which compared rice yields in Thailand with yields in China, Japan and Korea. Some readers have pointed out, both in comments on the post and by email, that the comparison between Thailand and Japan/Korea may not be particularly informative given quite different technical, social, ecological [...]

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Today, 31 Augst 2009, Malaysia celebrates its 52nd year of independence.
However, instead of reflecting on another year of progress, Malaysians face anxiety as the growing threat of religious and racial tensions spearheaded by UMNO and its proxies threaten to derail Malaysia.
Prime Minister Najib Razak espouses 1Malaysia as his policy – something his party has been speaking [...]

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The Socialist Party of Malaysia (Parti Sosialis Malaysia: PSM) is officially back.
Since the general election of 8 March 2008 it has had a member of parliament  and three members in the state legislative assembly. Ironically, since the party was not officially recognised until after the election, all but one of paraded under the banner of [...]

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How do I explain how gaping a hole Malaysian filmmaker Yasmin Ahmad’s sudden demise has left behind in the Malaysian heart, soul and consciousness? Where to even begin to explain the phenomenon and personality of her work and Yasmin?
Yasmin Ahmad, fondly known as Kak Min to young fans, passed away on 25 July 2009 after [...]

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Malaysia’s new Prime Minister is finding out the hard way that his efforts to rebrand his administration requires more than catchy slogans. A political aide of the oppostion controlled state of Selangor was found mysteriously dead while in custody of the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission. It is the norm for the government to routinely use [...]

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Here’s a new book in which I have a chapter. My chapter deals with contract farming in northern Thailand, based on the fieldwork I have been doing in Ban Tiam.  Details about the book are available here.
The book is a bit pricey so contact your library and recommend that they order it.

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Mr. Rudd, please be honest
Dear Mr. Prime Minister,
When you first visited my country in July 2008, you proclaimed that Malaysia is a vibrant and flourishing democracy and that Malaysia was a “great testament to the political wisdom of the people of this country.” In your recent visit, a year later, you praised Malaysia for energetically [...]

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New Mandala guest writer, Gregore Lopez, has an interesting piece in Eureka Street on “Malaysia’s threat to Rudd’s Asia Pacific Community.” Here is a short extract:
This week’s visit to Malaysia of Kevin Rudd and Foreign Minister Stephen Smith reminds us of stormy bilateral relations under former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.
Following Mahathir’s retirement in 2003, Australia-Malaysia [...]

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Mahathir Mohamed retired from politics on 31 October 2003 when he was forced to step down by his party (United Malayan National Organisation/UMNO) who feared that his continued presence was undermining the party and the coalition (Barisan Nasional/BN) that it leads. Malaysians fed-up with Mahathirism and its attendant problems, whole heartedly gave their mandate to [...]

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