New Books

Strategic Information and Research Development Centre (SIRD) cordially invites you to the launch of the book No Cowardly Past in Petaling Jaya. On our distinguished panel of speakers are well-known personalities, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, Jomo K.S. and Dominic Puthucheary.

No Cowardly Past: James Puthucheary - Writings, Poems, Commentaries (Second Edition). Edited by Jomo K.S. and Dominic Puthucheary

Informed by a profound understanding of history and convinced by the need to construct a sustainable future for his country, Puthucheary spent a lifetime engaged with the most pressing problems of the day. The new edition of No Cowardly Past brings together some of his most important essays on political economy, the struggle for a progressive politics and the character of university education, as well as his lyrical and pungent poetry.

'Time past and time future are both contained in time present', wrote James Puthucheary in an honest and provocative letter from prison more than y years ago. Informed by a profound understanding of history and convinced by the need to construct a sustainable future for his country, Puthucheary spent a lifetime engaged with the most pressing problems of the day. e new edition of No Cowardly Past brings together some of his most important essays on political economy, the struggle for a progressive politics and the character of university education, as well as his lyrical and pungent poetry. The essays are written in a forthright style that makes his work so accessible and with an unusual candour about the di culties of transforming a rapidly changing society. Together with half a dozen commentaries that throw light on his personal life, political career, intellectual impact and literary output, No Cowardly Past o ers the most comprehensive introduction to one of Malaysia’s greatest public intellectuals.

Date: Monday, 22 March 2010
Time: 8.00pm -- 10.00pm
Venue: Auditorium, MBPJ Civic Centre, Jalan Yong Shook Lin, Petaling Jaya
Programme:
Welcome by Ismail Gareth Richards
Speakers
Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah - The Malaysia We Want
Jomo K.S. - Half a century later: The relevance of the Merdeka generation for us today
Dominic Puthucheary

Discussion
Official Book Launch and Presentation
Light refreshments will be served
Book sale and signing

Labels: Politics, Society

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Rethinking Islamic Architecture by Mohamad Tajuddin Mohamad Rasdi (RM 30.00)

Islamic architecture has never undergone a sustained period of self-criticism and creative renewal. Arguing in favour of a return to humility, humanism and the eternal values of Islam, the author shows a way out of the impasse in Islamic architecture by a close reading of the Islamic sources in tandem with a re-examination of the work of visionary Western modernists.

Professor Tajuddin also restores the importance of appreciating the integrity and sustainable design and technologies of Southeast Asian Islamic architecture as well as such postcolonial designs such as the National Mosque, the brilliant use of vernacular design in the Amanah Saham Pahang mosques and an organic, community-centred Islamic mosque-complex in Kota Baru -- all in Malaysia. Rethinking Islamic
Architecture challenges clients, architects, student and the general reader alike to rethink their assumptions and practices, and open their minds to a wealth of less explored possibilities.

This provocative yet accessible book should be read by anyone concerned about the need to restore sustainable human-centred design and shared value to contemporary cities.

Other Malaysian titles:

Tropical Affairs by Robert Raymer (RM 32.90)
Kirkby: The Life and the Loves by Shaari Isa (RM 29.90)
SUARAM: 20 Years Defending Human Rights by Kua Kia Soong (RM 20.00)
Where is Justic? Death and Brutality in Custody edited by John Lee & Nathaniel Tan (RM 29.00)
Call if You Need Me (DVD) by James Lee (RM 20.00)
All My Failed Attempts (DVD) by Tan Chui Mui (RM 20.00)
Sikh Community in Malaysia by Darshan Singh Gill (RM 89.90)

Labels: Politics, Society

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qur'an and cricket: Travels through the madrasahs of Asia and other stories by Farish A Noor. RM40.00

This book is a travelogue by Farish Noor that spans the period from 2004 to early 2009. Versions of many of these pieces have appeared elsewhere before, but many have been completely rewritten. Here is an excerpt from the book:

However, in the course of the same research I have also visited some rather dodgy institutions that can hardly be called madrasahs. Once in Pakistan I had to interview some students while in the corner of the room played a videotape of the gruesome murder and decapitation of the American journalist Daniel Pearl. The boys I was speaking to were between seven to ten years of age, and were smiling and laughing -- while others lay asleep. I tried to look away as long as I could, resisting the urge to puke.

Farish A Noor, academic, activist, traveller extraordinaire, visits, lives and interviews students (and others) in 'jihad factory' madrasahs (Islamic seminaries) from Patani to Pakistan and from Kashmir to Cairo, and comes away dazed and confused. In attempting to make sense of it all, he ends up confronting his own demons and nightmares.

This is a book that only Farish A Noor will attempt and can write. He visits locations we would like to avoid even in our worst nightmares. Although he writes with his sense of humour firmly in place throughout, that does not obscure the seriousness of the subject. Is the world ready for some truth?

quran and cricket is now available in all major bookstore in Malaysia, or you may buy it online from http://www.silverfishbooks.com/buybooks/index.php

Also available (at Silverfish Books only) are a set of six postcards with photographs and drawings by Farish A Noor. These are priced at RM5.00 a set, but will be given away free with every purchase of quran and cricket (at Silverfish Books only) while stocks last.

Labels: Politics, Society

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Straight Talk by Tunku Abdul Aziz (RM 40.00)

The vintage articles in the New Straits Times by Tunku Aziz have been keenly read within Malaysia and appreciated for his incisive commentary on the socio-political foibles of the nation, clearly in the throes of crony feudalism in the exercise of power. His serious, fearless and critical opinions were published at a time when radical transformations away from bad practices were being desired by the electorate and observers who wish for achievable ideals in national progress.

Other new Malaysian titles:

1. Penang and Its Region edited by Yeoh Seng Guan, Loh Wei Leng, Khoo Salma Nasution and Neil Khor (RM 45.00)

2. Tangerin&Nikotin by Mimi Morticia (RM 15.00)

Labels: History, Poetry, Politics

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Anwar on Trial( In the Face of Injustice ) by Pawancheek Marican -- RM50.00

The Anwar Ibrahim trials during the late Nineties left the landscape of Malaysia's judiciary forever changed. Convicted to a six-year prison term on charges that many believe to have been trumped, Anwar has become the symbol of a new generation of Malaysians determined to seek truth and justice.

'Anwar on Trial: In the Face of Injustice' gives readers a cogent look into the detailed workings of the 1998 corruption trial of Anwar Ibrahim. Captured through the lens of a lawyer who was present throughout the proceedings, this book presents a first-hand account of the goings-on in court and outside it.

Pawancheek Marican examines the way that the Malaysian judiciary was systematically emasculated and turned into a pawn of the executive, the consequences of which will linger for many generations to come.

From the trial judge who forbade Anwar to argue his defence of conspiracy to the abuse of the Attorney-General's chambers, this book lays bare the political machinations taking place behind the scenes by those in power to remain in power.

The information contained within this book comes at an opportune moment as Anwar Ibrahim faces yet another sodomy trial in 2009- this time, however, from the freedom of his own home and as the Opposition Leader and Member of Parliament for Permatang Pauh in Penang.

Labels: Politics

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The Malaysian Indian Dilemma by Janakey Raman Manickam (Hardback - RM 62.50 / Paperback - RM 50.00)

This book delves into the existence of the Indian community since the time of their arrival in Malaya as indentured labour 150 years ago, to the present day. It is an explication of the struggles, pain, agony that they suffered as a result of treachery, deception, trivialization and contempt by those who claimed to have their best interest at heart. This account exemplifies the vicious cycle of the loss of faith, hopelessness, frustration and decadence experienced by the Indian community for the 150 years of dwelling in this country. It is an Indian attempt to seeking the wound gangrenous that afflicted his people. This is the voice of an ailing community.

Other new books / items:

Taxi Tales on a Crooked Bridge by Charlene Rajendra (RM 28.00)
Slaughter and Deception at Batang Kali by Ian Ward and Norma Miraflor (RM 55.00)

Malaysian Gods: A Year that Shook the Nation (DVD) by Amir Muhammad (RM 20.00)
Ah Kew the Digger (VCD) by Khoo Eng Yow (RM 14.00)

The Elephant and the Sea (DVD) by Woo Ming Jin (RM 20.00)

Labels: Politics, Society

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Saya Pun Melayu by Zaid Ibrahim (RM 35.00)

Melalui buku Saya Pun Melayu, pembaca berpeluang untuk memahami dengan lebih jelas siapa Zaid Ibrahim. Kenapa beliau meletak jawatan sebagai menteri dan seterusnya dipecat daripada UMNO yang disertainya sejak 23 tahun, dan juga mengapa sesetengah pemimpin UMNO begitu membencinya sehingga ada yang mendesaknya keluar daripada rumpun Melayu. Anda akan mengetahui rahsia sebalik kritikan beliau terhadap konsep Ketuanan Melayu serta pandangannya berhubung kedudukan Raja-Raja Melayu dari segi undang-undang dan politik. Beliau juga berkongsi pengalaman sebagai anggota kabinet Abdullah Ahmad Badawi serta mengupas sejauh mana kemampuan Najib Tun Razak untuk memulihkan keyakinan rakyat kepada kerajaan.

Other new Malaysian books on the shelf:
Echoes of Silence by Chuah Guat Eng (RM 45.00)
Pasca Manusia by Sufian Abas (RM 10.00)
Perempuan Simpanan published by Sindiket Sol-jah (RM 15.00)
The Headhunters of Borneo by Carl Bock (RM 88.80)
13 May 1969: The Darkest Day in Malaysian History by Leon Comber (RM 33.60)
Raffles: The Definitive Biography by Maurice Collis (RM 44.40)
My Adventure: An Iban Warrior's Autobiography by Robert Rizal Abdullah (RM 39.00)

Labels: Politics

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WANTED: Equality and Justice in the Muslim Family edited by Zainah Anwar (RM 28.00)

This unique collection of analytical papers contains the arguments supporting Musawah, the Global Movement for Equality and Justice in the Muslim Family. These resource materials look at why they are necessary given the socio-economic realities of today's Muslim Society.

The collection's strength is that it brings together analysis from a remarkably broad range of disciplines to support rights-based reform of Muslim family laws and the protection of existing rights. These disciplines include: Qur'anic exegesis, fiqh or jurisprudence, socio-legal history and analysis, international human rights law, gender studies, political science, sociology and economics.

Although the contributions are from leading scholars and analysts in the field, the style is designed to be accessible to all who are concerned about the need for equality and justice in the Muslim family.

As a concise resource for the Musawah movement, the book also contains the Musawah Framework for Action, a collectively-developed holistic approach that lays the foundation for the claim that family laws and practice can -- and must -- change to reflect equality and justice and the lived realities of Muslims today.

Labels: Politics

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Malaysian Politicians Say the Darndest Things Vol. 2 compiled by Amir Muhammad (RM 25.00)

Test your knowledge on current affairs. Who said the following unforgettable lines?

"Malaysia has already far too many tigers. They should be shot because there is no use keeping them alive."

"Problems happen because women cannot accept polygamy, What about doing a campaign so that women can accept polygamy?"

"If you come across a snake and a man from a certain ethnic community, you should hit the man first."

The Malaysian politician continues to to be a gift that keeps on giving. Hot on the heels of the best-selling Vol 1 of Malaysian Politicians Say the Darndest Things, this compilation is further proof that we don't need to travel far to experience shock and awe. Join us for another dance through some of the toe-tapping delights of the past two decades. Some of the quotes are witty and pithy, others are weird and prickly, and still others are just out-of-tune. If all History lessons were this painless, none of us would have ever skipped class

Labels: Politics

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The Asian Renaissance by Anwar Ibrahim (Publisher: Marshall Cavendish, RM 44.60)

The renaissance of Asia entails the growth, development and flowering of Asian societies based on a certain vision of perfection; societies imbued with truth and the love of learning, justice and compassion, mutual respect and forbearance, and freedom and responsibility. It is the transformation of its cultures and societies from its capitulation to Atlantic powers to the position of self-confidence and its reflowering at the dawn of a new millennium.


The Malay Dilemma by Mahathir bin Mohamad (Publisher: Marshall Cavendish, RM 44.40)

...first published in 1970 to much controversy. Dr Mahathir's interpretation of events caused him to be called upon to defend his statements and claims.

This is not an objective book. Nevertheless, it is published because it is what an educated modern, progressive Malay thinks and believes ... The arguments in the Malay Dilemma reveal the author's reactions to the pressing problems of the day, and show how a politically inclined Malay understands the past, explains the behaviour of his own people and the behaviour of the immigrants, and foresees the future.

Labels: Politics

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March 8: The Day Malaysia Woke Up by Kee Thuan Chye -- Marshall Cavendish -- RM 39.90.

The day of the underdogs, the real Merdeka, a political tsunami, the perfect storm -- by any name, March 8, 2008, will go down in history as a turning point in Malaysian politics.

With their votes, Malaysians dealt a blow to the Barisan Nasional government that had held almost absolute power for 50 years. Denying it the all-important two-thirds majority in Parliament and the control of five states has certainly made the political scenario more vibrant.

Although surprised that there was such power in the vote they cast, Malaysians woke up to the true meaning and practice of democracy. They now face the present reasonably free from fear, free from the spectre of May 13.

This book is about that historic day and the change that came with it -- an expression of hope for a brighter future, with many Malaysian voices speaking their thoughts frankly. There are also eyewitness accounts, interviews with key people, and articles never published before, written by fledgling and established writers.

Di Balik Malaysia: Dari Majapahit Ke Putrajaya by Farish A Noor (RM 35.00)

Di Balik Malaysia: Dari Majapahit Ke Putrajaya mengandungi koleksi artikel pilihan oleh Farish A Noor, seorang sarjana / penganalisis politik dan sosial yang bukan sahaja kritis tetapi berterus terang.

Buku ini mengambil pendekatan dengan menyorot beberapa tokoh erkenal
dalam sejarah nasionalisme Melayu dan bagaimana pemikiran mereka dilihat masih relevan sehingga sekarang. Keistimewaan Dr Farish juga dilihat bagaimana ia mengaitkan sumber-sumber daripada naskah Melayu klasik sebagai latarbelakang justera mengesahkan proses sosialisasi penyatuan antara kaum di negara ini sebenarnya telah lama wujud.

Labels: Politics

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Title:Kasut Biru Rubina
Author: Sufian Abas
Publisher: Sang Freud Press
ISBN:
Price: MYR15.00
(This book is in Malay)

A woman wakes up without her body. A boy tries to endure the pain of being an adult when mini animals start to come out of his anus. What do you do when angels forgot to bring a unicorn for your daughter's birthday? And are all shoes evil or just the blue ones?

Many of the characters in Kasut Biru Rubina want to live ordinary lives. But the unexpected happen. Brief, shocking, and full of lies that can only come from the twisted mind of Nigerian scammers, Sufian Abas' stories are snapshots that illuminate the strange hidden in a world we never want to live in.

Title:New Malaysian Essays 1
Series Editor: Amir Muhammad
Authors: Brian Yap, Aminuddin Mahmud, Burhan Baki, Saharil
Hasrin Sanin, Amir Muhammad & Sonia Randhawa.
Publisher: Matahari Books (2008). Pages 254,
ISBN: 987-983-43596-1-4
Price: MYR30.00

New Malaysian Essays 1 is the first of a planned annual seriesconcentrating on local non-fiction writing. From polemic to ode to memoir, this series invites Malaysian readers - and writers - to notice, analyse and interpret the living, throbbing, squelching vitality around them. Multi-disciplinary, multi-tasking and bestappreciated on multi-vitamins, this first collection takes us from Brian Yap's election-era critique to Amir Muhammad's alternative lexicon by way of Burhan Baki's elegant deconstructions, Aminuddin Mahmud's seminar on branding and Saharil Hasnin Sanin's knockabout ruminations on language [in Malay] before rounding off with Sonia Randhawa's stirring call for national (and therefore personal) self-realisation.

Amir Muhammad and three of his friends will read and discuss the book at Silverfish Books on the 23rd of February 2008, at 5.30 pm. (See 'Events'.)

Both these books can be purchased online at http://www.silverfishbooks.com/Silverfish/Version4/buybooks/BuyBooks.html

Labels: Fiction, Politics

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The Book of Sins: Poetry and Prose by Bernice Chauly (Price : RM 24.00). (Sorry, the earlier price shown, as RM25, was wrong. Our apologies.)

Structured loosely around the concept of the "7 Deadly Sins", Chauly's second collection of poems examine the depth and complexity of human experience, maneuvering its way through a range of issues and events that have left profound effects on the poet. Largely confessional in nature, issues like marriage, motherhood, are scrutinised in the first section of "sins" and further explorations of the self are portrayed symbolically and metaphorically in the middle section called "contemplation". The work comes to a resolve under "virtues" where an impending death heralds a forgiveness between mother and daughter and prompts a prophetic summation of the themes at work in this collection.

The Old House & Other Stories by Chuah Guat Eng (RM 28.00)

The Old House and Other Stories brings together 9 Malaysian short stories in English written between 1992 and 2002. Most of the stories have appeared in various local and foreign publications and anthologies. Three of them are being published in Malaysia for the first time. With this collection the stories are more readily accessible to students and scholars of Malaysian literature in English and to the general reading public. Professor Quayum adds a literary dimension to this accessibility with his Introduction, where he discusses the stories' major themes, among them child abuse, greed, hypocrisy, superstition and prejudice. These themes reflect the author's social concerns, which are dealt with in the stories without racial or gender bias, demonstrating her neutrality, objectivity and sense of realism. To provide some insight onto the author's philosophy of life and her relationship with religion, race and literary criticism, Professor Quayum's 2005 interview with Chuah Guat Eng is included in this volume.

Labels: Poetry, Politics

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Malaysian Politicians Say the Darndest Things (Vol 1) by Amir Muhammad (RM 30.00)

The species called the Malaysian politician often gets in the news, but sometimes not for the right reasons. Malaysian Politicians Say the Darndest Things is a collection of over 100 quotes that span almost three decades. There are things that make you go hmmm, things that make you go gaga, and things that give a refreshingly pithy introduction to several issues of their time. It is a jaunty stroll through contemporary Malaysian culture, society and (of course) politics. We are sure there is more to come, which is why this is only Vol 1.

If Only by Shahril Nizam (RM 35.00)

This is the first collection of Shahril Nizam's quirky illustrations, accompanied by equally quirky verses of his own composition. In Shahril's world mundane things never are, light is edged by dark, and beauty is often glaringly flawed.

Labels: Art, Politics

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Memoir Abdullah C.D. (Bahagian Kedua): Penaja dan Pemimpin Rejimen Ke-10 (RM 35.00)

(This is the second part of the memoir of Abdullah CD's - a former leader of the guerrilla movement during the Emergency, who now lives in his old age in a village in southern Thailand, who is featured in Amir Muhammad's movie, Apa Khabar Orang Kampong, which is banned in Malaysia. The book is written in Malay.)

Penaja dan Pemimpin Rejimen Ke-10, Memoir Abdullah C.D. bahagian kedua ini secara khusus memfokuskan kepada perjuangan bersenjata menentang penjajah British untuk kemerdekaan Malaya kini Malaysia yang bermula pada bulan Jun 1948.

Secara umum bolehlah disimpulkan perjuangan bersenjata Anti-British adalah akibat wajar dari kesedaran nasional dan patriotisme Malaya yang mulai berkembang pada tahun 30-an. Perang Dunia Kedua telah mempertingkatkan kesedaran tersebut ke tahap yang lebih tinggi. Selepas tamat perang tersebut, gerakan kemerdekaan yang diterajui oleh PKM, PKMM, API, AWAS, BTM, Kesatuan2 Buruh dan lain-lain berkembang menggelora.

Sesuai dengan tajuk Penaja dan Pemimpin Rejimen Ke-10, Abdullah C.D. tidak hanya menubuhkan Rejimen Ke-10, tetapi juga telah memimpin pasukan itu melancarkan perjuangan
tak kenal ampun menentang kekuasaan penjajah British. Tahun 1953, atas perintah Markas Agung TPNM, beliau memimpin sebahagian pasukan Rejimen Ke-10 menempuh berbagai rintangan dan tiba di kawasan sempadan dengan jayanya. Sejak itu beliau pula bertungkus lumus memimpin pasukan membangun basis sempadan demi meneruskan perjuangan
sehinggalah wujudnya penandatanganan perjanjian damai Haadyai pada tahun 1989.

Labels: Politics

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Malaysian Human Rights Report 2006: Civil and Political Rights by SUARAM (RM 19.00)

The year 2006, the third year of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's term in office, was marked by a continuing lack of resolve tp improve civil liberties despite his pledges to fight corruption and to reform the police force ... Throughout the year, blatant abuses of power by enforcement personnel were rampant. The police continue to act with impunity, resulting in scores of unlaeful detention, deaths in custody, police brutality and various other forms of police misconduct ... As in previous years, the government continued to use restrictive and repressive laws, including the Internal Security Act (ISA), the Ememrgency Ordinance (EO), the Police Act, the Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA), the Official Secrets Act (OSA), the Sedition Act, and the Universities and University Colleges
Act (UUCA), as tools to suppress voices of dissent ... A particularly disturbing trend witnessed during the year was the growing intolerance in matters of religion. There was also an increase in human rights abuse against migrants in the country.

The SUARAM Human Rights Report on Civil and Political Rights 2006 documents the human rights violations and the relentless struggles of human rights defenders that took place in Malaysia over the course of the year. The book is published to serve as an important reference to the aspiration of enhancing and promoting human rights in Malaysia.

Labels: Politics, Society

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Understanding the Ethnic Chinese in Southeast Asia by Leo Suryadinata (RM 69.00)

About 80 per cent of the ethnic Chinese outside China (also known as "Chinese overseas") live in Southeast Asia including Malaysia. This book examines that community in the context of both national and international dimensions. It first discuss the ethnic Chinese and China, addressing the issues of migration, nationality, business success and ethnic conflict; second, Chinese cultural adaptation and various identities; and third, case studies of the Chinese in Indonesia, external actors, the state and ethnic Chinese politics. The book throws light on the complexity of this diverse and important ethnic community.

While the bulk of the book examines the Chinese situation in Indonesia, a significant part of the book looks at the pernakan Chinese of Macacca, Singapore and Penang. These 15 essays, by the author were written from 1987 to 2006, ranging from ethnic politics, economy, ethnic and national identies to China ethnic-Chinese relations.

Labels: Politics, Society

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May 13: Declassified Documents on the Malaysian Riot of 1969 by Kua Kia Soong
(RM 20.00)

This is the first credible account of the May 13, 1969 racial riot in Malaysia using the documents recently declassified at the Public Records Office, London after the lapse of the 30-year secrecy rule. These documents provide the only available confidential observations and memoranda by British and other foreign embassy operatives based on their intelligence and contacts with local officials and politicians. They include dispatches by correspondents which were then banned in Malaysia. The local media were suspended at the time and local documents remain classified under the Official Secrets Act.

A social scientist, Kua Kia Soong provides a fresh political analysis of this "May 13 incident". In his view, the riots were by no means a spontaneous outburst of violence between Malays and Chinese but rather a planned coup d'etat by the ascendant state capitalist class against Tunku-led aristocracy. He discusses the contradictions of the post-Independence Alliance racial formula and traces the rise of this new Malay capitalist class which has ruled Malaysia since 1969.

These documents clearly show who were responsible for the violence and pose the question, why the security forces allowed the violence to go on. With this publication, it is hoped that the frequently raised "spectre of May 13" by the Barisan Nasional government will be forever put to rest.

So is the book getting banned? Read this: http://www.silverfishbooks.com/2007/05/may-13-book.html

Labels: History, Politics

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Gold in the South ... the story of an immigrant
by Shan Ru Hong (21st Century, 2007)
Price: RM20.00

(A review. The reviewer who prefers to remain anonymous)

The beginnings

SHAN RU HONG'S FAMILY, reduced to penury by lack of land and an opium smoking father, were lucky. A relative told them there was work and gold in the south seas. With what was left of their money they sailed south in the hold of a ship and landed in Singapore, and put up at Kreta Ayer, where many desperate ones from their area had also come. After the quarantine procedures the relative disappeared, leaving them to fend for themselves in the strange town. There was no work and no food. Sympathising hawkers gave them left overs like iu char koay and pak t'ong ko which helped with the hunger. Then mother and elder sister earned money carrying water for a few cents a time. They slept where they could.

As luck would have it, the missing relative did return with good news - they had relatives up North who had a tin mine. He would ask for their help. That was good news which resulted in their taking the train to Gopeng, Perak. There, father had a job in a mine and mother and elder sister were employed to clear the land of bush and other unwanted growths. The "gold" they had heard about back in the home village was in fact tin which made uncle rich, operating a profitable tin mine. The boy Ru Hong was able to go to school which he leapfrogged with double promotions; but he did not finish for he had to go out and work too.

When he was about 17, Ru Hong became a revolutionary and decided to dedicate his life to the cause of the emancipation of the working class and socialism. He turned down the job of mine manager which uncle offered him and instead went underground. He joined the illegal Malayan Communist Party in whose ranks, unknown to him, was an earlier member Rashid Maidin, a charge man in an English mine at Gopeng. Rashid Maidin was to became one of the leaders of the Communist Party taking part in the so called Baling talks and in the tripartite peace talks in Hatyai in 1989. Ru Hong was to become the commander of the 2nd Regiment of the Malayan Peoples Anti Japanese Army.

One reason why this memoir is important is its account of the transformation of these impoverished immigrants into Malayans. One witnesses it on the occasion of the triumphant celebration of the registration, i.e. recognition, of the Perak Kinta Mine Workers Union which Ru Hong and friends had successfully set up. The organisers had invited the Chinese Consul and Tan Kah Kee (who did not attend) to the opening ceremony, which Ru Hong's group came to realise was a mistake as the event, as they conceived it, was not a Chinese celebration but local event.

Piglets

Ru Hong tells us of the slump of 1929 and the slow recovery of 1937. In those days the British made sure that there were no "trouble makers" to upset the vital production of rubber and tin. Arrests and banishment of suspects were feared. When police pressure increased friends of the revolution deserted. In addition to harassment by the administration the workers, called "piglets," were forced to work for the same boss despite having paid off their passage money. Among the thugs who kept them in virtual slavery was one Lau Pak Khuan, a tough who, by a stroke of luck, struck it rich when he dug into a wealth of tin.

These memoirs explode the myth about "Moscow trained agitators." It is the history of home made revolutionaries who learnt how to organise, teach and move with secrecy from the hard and merciless school of life. They learnt how to avoid special branch surveillance, they learnt patience and flexibility in steering the pioneer groups into recognition as legal trade unions, skills
which were acquired during hard negotiations with bosses. Bitter lessons taught them how to differentiate between correct tactics and blundering orders; they learnt to avoid the errors of rigid "leftist" orders with apparent compliance but which were in fact subtly disobedient. They discovered themselves that the "closed door" policy of the leadership was wrong, that they had to go out and work among all types of people, workers in the estates as well as on the mines, small farmers, workers who were also part farmers, and take in all views. This was the solid foundation that formed a stubborn, popular and victorious obstacle to Brazier and the British TUC's vain attempts to smash the independent trade unions in 1945.

When he wrote these memoirs Ru Hong was past his 80th birthday. He displays a remarkable memory. We learn that a rubber tapper with good trees earned $20 a month . In 1937 "fat" rice (most could only afford broken rice) cost $4.50 for a 165 kati bag Mine workers earned $29 a month and women workers $12.

This account of a destitute childhood and hand to mouth existence and a struggle to survive, typical of immigrants, is a must read for all whose forefathers headed here in search of work and rice. It should remind them to be charitable to the thousands of immigrants who have today come to this country in search of work but are treated as thieves, scoundrels and prostitutes. But we are sick with meanness best illustrated by the example of the late Dr Tan Chee Khoon who claimed that immigrants were the cause of much of the crime; and this came from one of the heads of the Labour Party and a leader of the Methodist Church. Compare his heartlessness to that of Austria, a country devastated by the 2nd World War, which generously opened its doors to some 3 million homeless and starving refugees without a whisper of complaint.

******

* fat rice - whole, unbroken rice

Labels: History, Politics

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I am Muslim by Dina Zaman

I am Muslim is a selfish journey of faith. Dina meets shamans, nationalists, moderates and gets into all sorts of scrapes, to discover what it means to be Muslim in Malaysia. Heartbreaking, angry and downright funny.

A Noor. I am Muslim is Dina Zaman's first work of non-fiction.She has written for the media since 1994. Her first column, Dina's Dalca was published in the New Straits Times and she has had her share of brickbats. Her works of fiction and poetry have been published locally and abroad.

Dina Zaman's articles about being Muslim in Malaysia today captures the multifaceted aspects of difference and alterity in normative religios life better than many academic studies ...Dr Farish


Tanah Tujuh: Close Encounters with the Temuan Mythos by Antares

Tanah Tujuh is what a large number of Orang Asli tribes call our planet. Tanah Tujuh: Close Encounters with the Temuan Mythos chronicles Antares' initiation into a fast vanishing aboriginal cosmo-mythology that offers an alternative view of reality. Copiously illustrated with sketches and photographs, foreword by eminent anthropologist, Robert Knox Dentan.

Antares is a writer musician and visionary who moved out of the city in 1992 and found himself living amngst the Temuan (the second largest of the peninsular Orang Asli tribes) in the rainforest.


Adam's Dream by Salleh ben Joned

This is Salleh ben Joned's first book of poems since Sajak Sajak Saleh (or Poems Sacred and Profane) and it is entirely in English. Salleh says in his forward that, although English is not his first language - he only learned it in his teens - he has two main reasons for writing in English. Firstly, he thinks that a big majority of his readers seem to be non-Malays, and, secondly, "My satires in Malay, the use of humour, parody, irony ... puns ... and othr forms of word-play seem to have been taken wrongly by most of the Malay readers."

Adam's Dream is an intensely personal collection of poems, to make you laugh out loud or cry or to ponder over.

Salleh ben Joned was born in Melaka. He spent many years Down Under where he became a student of leading Australian poet James McAuley. His first collection of bilingual poetry, Sajak-Sajak Saleh (Teks) was published in 1987. [A second enlarged version was published by Pustaka Cipta in 2002.] It was followed by A book of essays, As I Please (Skoob, 1994) and Nothing is Sacred (Maya Press, 2003).

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Labels: Poetry, Politics, Society

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