THE somewhat otherworldly 42-year-old performer Lee Swee Keong is perhaps best known for his white-faced and loin-clothed interpretations of Butoh, a Japanese dance form developed in the 1960s. Created by Tatsumi Hijikata and Kazuo Ohno in 1959, this vocabulary of movement, which typically involves mischievous or grotesque imagery, was intended to question and subvert more […]
Found in Malaysia
Checking George Washington’s nose
By Claire BrownellAS a child, Animah Kosai used to tell strangers she was from Siberia. They would pat her on the head, call her cute and ask her where she was from because of the light skin she inherited from her English mother. “I’d talk about this wonderful story about how my father was in Japan, and […]
Telling Malaysian stories
By Claire BrownellCorrected on 27 July 2009 at 11.25am BERNICE Chauly says her work as a poet, photographer, filmmaker and writer is all about telling stories. Her work often has themes of marginalisation and identity. She’s written a play about sex workers, taken pictures of refugees, and made documentaries about indigenous peoples and Kelantanese folk traditions. She […]
Battling the lobotomy of Malaysia
By Claire BrownellMALAYSIAN identity is a central concept in Marion D’Cruz‘s life work. She’s a founding member of the Five Arts Centre, which has played a key role in developing boundary-pushing Malaysian local theatre. Her works of choreography often have political themes, such as 2003’s War on Iraq. And as a teacher at colleges and universities around […]
“Mana saya mau letak ini?”
By Deborah LohBEHIND many a talented artiste or group is Ahmad Izham Omar. Names such as Too Phat, OAG, Poetic Ammo, Ruffedge, VE and Innuendo were under the Positive Tone label, which he founded and became managing director of in 1994. In recent years, he’s unearthed more local talent through Malaysian Idol, So You Think You Can […]
The continuing migrant story
By Deborah LohKATHY Rowland gets asked a lot about where she’s from. It wouldn’t be an issue but for the fact that she is Malaysian, has a Caucasian surname and doesn’t look white. And so in racially-defined Malaysia, with its obsession for categories, Rowland is the odd “dan lain-lain”. The Petaling Jaya native is co-founder and managing […]
Learning to be Malaysian
By Deborah LohKARIM Raslan‘s father was Raslan Abdullah, who founded Bank Bumiputra Malaysia Bhd in the 1960s. Karim describes his father as a “typical product” of the New Economic Policy. The late Raslan, who died in a car crash when Karim was seven, was close friends with then Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak and other Umno elites. […]
Watching Malaysia change
By Zedeck SiewUpdated 22 June 2009, 5.16pm DATUK Ambiga Sreenevasan’s reference point for how aware Malaysians are about issues is the taxi driver. The respected lawyer and former Malaysian Bar president is no stranger to being scolded by taxi drivers while she is dressed up in her courtroom garb. “‘Aiya, this judiciary, can buy,’ one told me,” […]
The hybrid-Malay Malaysian dilemma
By Shanon ShahDR Farish Noor is a prolific academic. The founder of The Other Malaysia project writes on the politics of Malaysia, Indonesia, Islamism, and old Malay hikayats with gusto and insight. He has been published everywhere. Well, nearly. It makes one wonder what he does to de-stress. “I repair old batik, I knit and I stitch,” […]
“We were not raised to see differences”
By N Shashi KalaHUMAN rights lawyer and activist Malik Imtiaz Sarwar recently won the Bindmans Law and Campaigning award for his work on human rights. Malik, who says he always knew he wanted to be a lawyer, has worked on some precedent-setting cases, including the Apcet 2 remand hearing, and the Lina Joy conversion case that earned him […]
