Amrita Malhi
@amritamalhi.bsky.social
History & Politics Malaya/Malaysia/Malay World @HRC_anu, #CHASS @flinders & IPRC @Murdoch. Visiting Fellow, ISEAS-Yusuf Ishak Institute. Former Asia-Pacific Research & Evaluation Head in the Humanitarian & Development sector. Retweet/like not endorsement
And here's another, on Kedah's campaign to re-take Penang based on "20,000 archival documents" dating back to the East India Company's arrival there in 1786. It's less important whether the documents prove Kedah's point in court. What matters most is public opinion
fulcrum.sg/after-langka...
fulcrum.sg/after-langka...
After Langkasuka Project Failure, Sanusi Takes Another Punt at Penang | FULCRUM
Kedah’s Chief Minister Sanusi Nor has sought to blame his state’s current financial woes on historical wrongs that need to be righted. But he has other motivations too.
fulcrum.sg
January 14, 2025 at 7:34 AM
And here's another, on Kedah's campaign to re-take Penang based on "20,000 archival documents" dating back to the East India Company's arrival there in 1786. It's less important whether the documents prove Kedah's point in court. What matters most is public opinion
fulcrum.sg/after-langka...
fulcrum.sg/after-langka...
In another, I looked at a separate by-election in Sungai Bakap, Penang, where Madani barely mustered the energy to counter PAS, and lost badly. I also look at the narratives PAS has been building around who is - and isn't - a "true" or deserving citizen
PAS’ Contentious Contention: Non-Malay Voters Should Stay Home | FULCRUM
PAS has made the contention that it won the recent by-election in Sungai Bakap because non-Malay voters ‘supported’ the party by staying at home and not voting. To some, this beggars be…
fulcrum.sg
January 5, 2025 at 6:06 AM
In another, I looked at a separate by-election in Sungai Bakap, Penang, where Madani barely mustered the energy to counter PAS, and lost badly. I also look at the narratives PAS has been building around who is - and isn't - a "true" or deserving citizen
This essay follows others I've recently published on the ISEAS blog Fulcrum. In one, I looked at a recent by-election in Nenggiri, Kelantan, and how Malaysia's Madani coalition forces approached the question of countering the Islamist party PAS
Barisan Nasional’s Win in Nenggiri: A Tactical Victory | FULCRUM
Pakatan Harapan and Barisan Nasional’s victory in the Nenggiri by-election highlights both their strengths and weaknesses.
fulcrum.sg
January 5, 2025 at 6:06 AM
This essay follows others I've recently published on the ISEAS blog Fulcrum. In one, I looked at a recent by-election in Nenggiri, Kelantan, and how Malaysia's Madani coalition forces approached the question of countering the Islamist party PAS
I argue it's not just a good exhibition - and it is pretty good - but it also reflects a set of choices commonly faced in public affairs and strategic communications: Do you spend your resources rebutting your opponents, or do you create alternative discussions to crowd them out?
January 5, 2025 at 6:06 AM
I argue it's not just a good exhibition - and it is pretty good - but it also reflects a set of choices commonly faced in public affairs and strategic communications: Do you spend your resources rebutting your opponents, or do you create alternative discussions to crowd them out?
Oh, and I once wrote about how the subaltern politics of the Malay #Hikayat Pelanduk Jenaka subvert the state-centric “lessons” of the Hikayat Hang Tuah. That article isn’t available online, but I’ll likely upload it somewhere in due course
November 20, 2024 at 5:41 AM
Oh, and I once wrote about how the subaltern politics of the Malay #Hikayat Pelanduk Jenaka subvert the state-centric “lessons” of the Hikayat Hang Tuah. That article isn’t available online, but I’ll likely upload it somewhere in due course
I have lots more work in progress and I’ll share it when it’s ready. I also have a Substack newsletter where I discuss what I’m doing (and reading) in more detail as I go along. You can subscribe if you like
amritamalhi.substack.com/publish/home
amritamalhi.substack.com/publish/home
Sign in to Amrita Malhi’s Substack
amritamalhi.substack.com
November 20, 2024 at 5:41 AM
I have lots more work in progress and I’ll share it when it’s ready. I also have a Substack newsletter where I discuss what I’m doing (and reading) in more detail as I go along. You can subscribe if you like
amritamalhi.substack.com/publish/home
amritamalhi.substack.com/publish/home
One attempt could have included classifying us by “ethnicity” – but the govt changed its mind after my article appeared online! 🤔 Again, drawing on colonial Malaya, I analysed new classification tech and argued it's informed by raciology. Soon, it will use #AI www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Enumerating Australia’s “diverse”: ethnicity and raciology in census and workplace diversity surveys
The Australian Government has announced that from 2026, the nation’s census will enumerate its population by “ethnicity” instead of “ancestry,” a term it used until 2021. This decision’s advocates ...
www.tandfonline.com
November 20, 2024 at 5:41 AM
One attempt could have included classifying us by “ethnicity” – but the govt changed its mind after my article appeared online! 🤔 Again, drawing on colonial Malaya, I analysed new classification tech and argued it's informed by raciology. Soon, it will use #AI www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
I wrote about how strange it is to suddenly be discovered as a member of the “Indian diaspora.” Much like Malaysia, Australia is now home to large Chinese and Indian minorities. As the state and political actors try to “engage” us, their attempts can fall flat
www.griffithreview.com/articles/245...
www.griffithreview.com/articles/245...
Intercultural futures
‘SO WHAT? THERE’S no story here,’ the marketing consultant snapped down the phone. ‘I mean, bloody hell, the premier’s forever banging on about Asia, and everybody’s heard it all before.’ Welcome to S...
www.griffithreview.com
November 20, 2024 at 5:41 AM
I wrote about how strange it is to suddenly be discovered as a member of the “Indian diaspora.” Much like Malaysia, Australia is now home to large Chinese and Indian minorities. As the state and political actors try to “engage” us, their attempts can fall flat
www.griffithreview.com/articles/245...
www.griffithreview.com/articles/245...
4️⃣ I have some work out on minorities and diasporas, or more precisely, the politics and “statecraft” of managing diasporas – not only in Malaya/Malaysia but in Australia too, especially as it becomes more obviously shaped by currents in (especially Asian) #diaspora politics
November 20, 2024 at 5:41 AM
4️⃣ I have some work out on minorities and diasporas, or more precisely, the politics and “statecraft” of managing diasporas – not only in Malaya/Malaysia but in Australia too, especially as it becomes more obviously shaped by currents in (especially Asian) #diaspora politics
He used an old theme – the “Chinese threat” – in his 2018 election campaign with Pakatan Harapan. He played up Najib Razak’s China and BRI connections to externalise voters’ concerns about local Chinese power (the DAP), displacing it onto mainland China instead www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Race, Debt and Sovereignty – The ‘China Factor’ in Malaysia’s GE14
Discussion about China, Chinese projects, and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) featured prominently in Malaysia’s 2018 election campaign, prompting widespread international debate since May about...
www.tandfonline.com
November 20, 2024 at 5:41 AM
He used an old theme – the “Chinese threat” – in his 2018 election campaign with Pakatan Harapan. He played up Najib Razak’s China and BRI connections to externalise voters’ concerns about local Chinese power (the DAP), displacing it onto mainland China instead www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
I wrote on how Mahathir used the “jahiliah,” alongside comparisons with the Taliban, in his campaign to contain PAS’ influence and develop a “modern,” developmentalist Islam in the 1990s. Mahathir is very good at historical and civilisational rhetoric!
bookshop.iseas.edu.sg/publication/...
bookshop.iseas.edu.sg/publication/...
Malaysia: Islam, Society and Politics | ISEAS Publishing
This collection of essays has been prepared as a tribute to Clive S. Kessler, Professor of Sociology at the University of New South Wales for over twenty years and a member of staff of the London Scho...
bookshop.iseas.edu.sg
November 20, 2024 at 5:41 AM
I wrote on how Mahathir used the “jahiliah,” alongside comparisons with the Taliban, in his campaign to contain PAS’ influence and develop a “modern,” developmentalist Islam in the 1990s. Mahathir is very good at historical and civilisational rhetoric!
bookshop.iseas.edu.sg/publication/...
bookshop.iseas.edu.sg/publication/...
3️⃣ I have a series of publications on contemporary Malaysian politics and the way political actors deploy historical themes, including Islamic “civilisational” concepts, histories of colonisation and anti-colonial rebellions, decolonisation, the “Chinese threat,” and "modern" Muslim #developmentalism
November 20, 2024 at 5:41 AM
3️⃣ I have a series of publications on contemporary Malaysian politics and the way political actors deploy historical themes, including Islamic “civilisational” concepts, histories of colonisation and anti-colonial rebellions, decolonisation, the “Chinese threat,” and "modern" Muslim #developmentalism
Here's a review article on the literature on the Malayan #Emergency. I argue we are now better set up to understand how the Emergency forced the construction of Malaya/Malaysia’s “consociational” racial politics, enabling a specific, racialised process of #decolonisation
brill.com/view/journal...
brill.com/view/journal...
brill.com
November 20, 2024 at 5:41 AM
Here's a review article on the literature on the Malayan #Emergency. I argue we are now better set up to understand how the Emergency forced the construction of Malaya/Malaysia’s “consociational” racial politics, enabling a specific, racialised process of #decolonisation
brill.com/view/journal...
brill.com/view/journal...
Josh Gedacht and I have engaged the “mobility,” “cosmopolitanism” and “inter-Asia” turns in Asian and colonial historiography. Much of that mobility was coerced by states, which actively displaced select groups of Southeast Asian Muslims to remove "problem" actors
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Coercing Mobility: Territory and Displacement in the Politics of Southeast Asian Muslim Movements | Itinerario | Cambridge Core
Coercing Mobility: Territory and Displacement in the Politics of Southeast Asian Muslim Movements - Volume 45 Issue 3
www.cambridge.org
November 20, 2024 at 5:41 AM
Josh Gedacht and I have engaged the “mobility,” “cosmopolitanism” and “inter-Asia” turns in Asian and colonial historiography. Much of that mobility was coerced by states, which actively displaced select groups of Southeast Asian Muslims to remove "problem" actors
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Malay communists, then pushing for a multiracial concept of Malayan citizenship, were expelled from the arena of national politics by the Emergency and #ColdWar. Their "cosmopolitanism" became simply nostalgia, and communist politics became racialised as "Chinese"
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Race, Space, and the Malayan Emergency: Expelling Malay Muslim Communism and Reconstituting Malaya's Racial State, 1945–1954 | Itinerario | Cambridge Core
Race, Space, and the Malayan Emergency: Expelling Malay Muslim Communism and Reconstituting Malaya's Racial State, 1945–1954 - Volume 45 Issue 3
www.cambridge.org
November 20, 2024 at 5:41 AM
Malay communists, then pushing for a multiracial concept of Malayan citizenship, were expelled from the arena of national politics by the Emergency and #ColdWar. Their "cosmopolitanism" became simply nostalgia, and communist politics became racialised as "Chinese"
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
2️⃣ I have a stream of work on the Malayan Emergency – actually the First and Second Malayan Emergencies – and the “Malay Work” the Malayan Communist Party (later Communist Party of Malaya) performed as part of its united front approach, including via the Tenth Regiment of the Malayan People’s Army
November 20, 2024 at 5:41 AM
2️⃣ I have a stream of work on the Malayan Emergency – actually the First and Second Malayan Emergencies – and the “Malay Work” the Malayan Communist Party (later Communist Party of Malaya) performed as part of its united front approach, including via the Tenth Regiment of the Malayan People’s Army
Rebels fought these processes! In Terengganu, they used symbols and concepts they borrowed from the #Ottoman Empire to challenge their local enclosure and imperialist world and regional orders. They raised a red flag – the "bendera Stambul" – in Kuala Berang
academic.oup.com/british-acad...
academic.oup.com/british-acad...
‘We Hope to Raise the Bendera Stambul’: British Forward Movement and the Caliphate on the Malay Peninsula
Abstract. In the decades between the 1870s and the 1920s, groups of Malay Muslims circulated symbols of the Ottoman Caliphate in gestures of defiance again
academic.oup.com
November 20, 2024 at 5:41 AM
Rebels fought these processes! In Terengganu, they used symbols and concepts they borrowed from the #Ottoman Empire to challenge their local enclosure and imperialist world and regional orders. They raised a red flag – the "bendera Stambul" – in Kuala Berang
academic.oup.com/british-acad...
academic.oup.com/british-acad...
At the time, several Siamese tributaries pleaded for inclusion in British Malaya, articulating British race theory back to Britain. This process reveals that the history of Malaysia's “3R,” or its “race, religion, royalty” idea, goes back way further than UMNO
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Like a Child with Two Parents: Race, Religion and Royalty on the Siam‐Malaya Frontier, 1895‐1902
Since 1957, Malaysian public life has been organized around a historic conflation of three important political themes: “race, religion and royalty”, or “3R”, all of which are purportedly championed a...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
November 20, 2024 at 5:41 AM
At the time, several Siamese tributaries pleaded for inclusion in British Malaya, articulating British race theory back to Britain. This process reveals that the history of Malaysia's “3R,” or its “race, religion, royalty” idea, goes back way further than UMNO
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
And one on the first British-Siamese boundary (1902). For Britain, defining this boundary became urgent when the Pahang War broke out (1890-95), and rebels, e.g. Mat Kilau and Tok Gajah, fled to Terengganu to evade the British and picked up its perang sabil politics
www.cambridge.org/core/books/a...
www.cambridge.org/core/books/a...
Bordering Malaya’s ‘Benighted Lands’: Frontiers of Race and Colonialism on the Malay Peninsula, 1887–1902 (Chapter 8) - Challenging Cosmopolitanism
Challenging Cosmopolitanism - September 2018
www.cambridge.org
November 20, 2024 at 5:41 AM
And one on the first British-Siamese boundary (1902). For Britain, defining this boundary became urgent when the Pahang War broke out (1890-95), and rebels, e.g. Mat Kilau and Tok Gajah, fled to Terengganu to evade the British and picked up its perang sabil politics
www.cambridge.org/core/books/a...
www.cambridge.org/core/books/a...
So, here's one on enclosure and land control struggles in colonial Terengganu, which created a technocratic regime for managing land while bounding subjects within new state spaces. Terengganu cultivators responded with a Holy War, a perang sabil, in 1928
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Making spaces, making subjects: land, enclosure and Islam in colonial Malaya
Land control struggles were central to multiple projects of enclosure in colonial Malaya. Indeed, enclosures created Malaya, a discrete geo-body constructed by bounding the Malay polities of the M...
www.tandfonline.com
November 20, 2024 at 5:41 AM
So, here's one on enclosure and land control struggles in colonial Terengganu, which created a technocratic regime for managing land while bounding subjects within new state spaces. Terengganu cultivators responded with a Holy War, a perang sabil, in 1928
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
1️⃣ On anti-colonial uprisings in Malaya's Peninsular North – centred on #Terengganu – and the wider Anglo-Siamese-Malay-German elite competition that remade this region. I cover competition for land and resources, the regional geopolitical environment, and a world order shaped by colonial power
November 20, 2024 at 5:41 AM
1️⃣ On anti-colonial uprisings in Malaya's Peninsular North – centred on #Terengganu – and the wider Anglo-Siamese-Malay-German elite competition that remade this region. I cover competition for land and resources, the regional geopolitical environment, and a world order shaped by colonial power
Thanks! I'll look for them. Maybe we should see about creating a SEA History one
November 17, 2024 at 3:30 AM
Thanks! I'll look for them. Maybe we should see about creating a SEA History one