Campuses must remain free spaces for thought and discussion without any external interference, including the military.
The ‘Grab’ Economy: Did We Ever Need It? And Who Pays for It?
Digital platforms have created jobs and economic activities but at the expense of youth — those who drive and ride for platforms, and their economic futures. They have also created a lot of consumption that does not lead us to a better world of increasing wages or upward mobility.
Prabowo and the Dictatorship of Capital
The victory of Prabowo Subianto-Gibran Rakabuming in the 2024 Presidential Election has divided critics and activists into two camps. The first are those who feel that the election result sounds the death knell for Indonesian democracy. While the second camp sees his victory as eroding the foundation of democracy, it does not destroy it entirely. Coen Husain Pontoh challenges both perspectives and suggests that it is inevitable that the Prabowo-Gibran government will be more authoritarian than Jokowi’s.
The Indonesian democracy may change once Prabowo is president — but we need to look at the bigger picture
The electoral victory of the ex-general-turned-cuddly-populist Prabowo Subianto on 20 March marks the continuation of illiberal democracy in Indonesia. However, the moral panic that followed the announcement of his presidency may be exaggerated, writes Iqra Anugrah, who argues for a more nuanced analysis of Indonesia’s current and future political trajectory. The dangers for democracy posed by Prabowo’s impending rule is just a symptom of the larger problem of oligarchic rule in the Global South.
Jentayu 101: Introduction to Class-Based Feminism
Written and illustrated by Din Deng. A Marxist analysis of labour allows us to see how all workers are exploited by the bourgeoisie. However, labour (work) comes in many different forms, both paid and unpaid. For example, while a cleaner in an office is typically paid...
The New Cannot Be Born: Reflections on Politics in the Land of Mediocrities
Anas Nor’Azim reflects on the years since GE14: the shifting political landscape and the nature of change in Malaysia.
REPRESSION AND CONFRONTATION (Malaysia) by Paul Petitjean
In International Press Correspondence, No. 37, 6 November 1975 (Source: Marxists Internet Archive). With an editorial foreword by Anas Nor'Azim of Jentayu. Malaysian farmers and students rose in protest against rising food costs and a sluggish economy in 1974....
Pangkor Treaty of 1874
Historians have often attributed the treaty as a crucial turning point, which paved the way for the expansion of British imperialism into the Malay Peninsular (Tanah Melayu), yet awareness of the treaty, along with its consequences, remains muted within the public consciousness. In this brief introduction, we shall look into the circumstances that led to the signing of the treaty, the motives and content of the treaty itself, along with its consequences for British expansion in the region and subsequent effects on political developments in the Peninsular.
Jentayu Editorial Note #1: Starting Anew
Jentayu is (re)launching at an important juncture in Malaysian history. The recent Anwar unity government, while attempting to project stability, has left many disenchanted with politics. The administration is also just pulling out of the economic hardship as a result...
The Economics of Winning Malaysian Elections and Party Machinery
Understanding political culture and its economic lubricant as crucial structural obstacles to positive change, particularly through electoralism and political institutions in their current form
The Short History of the #Lawan Protests: A Left Perspective
Understanding the political and social significance of the #Lawan protests, what we can learn from it and how it could have been different.
Book Review: Palm Oil: The Grease of Empire by Max Haiven
Source: New Mandala (Leiden University Library) Audi Ali Palm Oil: The Grease of Empire. Max Haiven. Pluto Press. 2022. On 7 September 1981, the Malaysia state-owned investment company, Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB), orchestrated a rapid purchase of shares of...
The Rise of Fascism in Malaya by Partai Rakyat Malaya (with Commentary by Malaysia Muda)
Republished from Tricontinental Bulletin No. 62, May 1971, page 9-13 At the end of the Second World War, after the defeat of the Japanese fascists in Malaya by the Malayan People’s Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA), Malaya was reoccupied by the British. Army--in September...
Merdeka, Melayu and Muhibbah: Contradictions of Malay(sian) Nationalisms
Jeremy Lim Source: The Sun Daily The single most enduring ideology in Malaysian politics is Malay Nationalism, and a close second would be Malaysian nationalism. One might wonder what the difference is really, but both have distinct features while maintaining a...
Economic Development, Who is It For?
Reflecting on poverty, inequality and the purpose of economic development in Malaysia Source: Fahmi Reza The past month has had economic headlines dominating media coverage, with the tabling of the 12th Malaysia Plan and the release of the Pandora Papers. The former...
#KisahLawan – #Lawan Stories Vol. 1
The #KisahLawan project is keen to document the stories and experiences of #Lawan protesters, be they first-timers or veterans. This oral history project serves to be a record and source of inspiration for would-be protesters, future historians and all who will carry...
Capital, Covid and UMNO: The Political Economic Origins of the Present Crisis
Source: https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/575114 Jeremy Lim Being in Malaysia on the 9th of July in the year 2021 can seem really surreal. The once-in-a-century global pandemic is being mishandled by an illegitimate government on a catastrophic scale. Its measures to...
The Pink Tide Rises Again – The Possible Return of the Left in Latin America
Pedro Castillo on the campaign trail with his message. 'No more poor people in a rich country’. Source: Bloomberg A brief analysis of the Latin American Left and its recent resurgence in light of the Peruvian elections. Jeremy Lim On the 6th of June, Pedro Castillo, a...
Why A Labour Movement is Essential to Malaysia’s Democracy?
Jeremy Lim Malaysia’s democracy is incomplete, much of our civil liberties are fragile and often at the mercy of a powerful state and corporations that have gone unchallenged since our independence. Malaysian economic and political elites respond to the growing...
We Need More, Not Less Politics
Audi Ali Our society is characterized by two sentiments. First, noting the inequality that was made manifest by the conduct of the state and its apparatus recently, we are enraged. The guise of formal and legalistic notion of “equality” enshrined in the constitution...
Is There Really No Alternative? Communal and Capitalist Realism in Malaysia
Image source: Malaysiakini Jeremy Lim A preliminary examination of communal and capitalist realism in Malaysia, and the forces that reproduce it. ‘It’s easier to imagine the end of Malaysia than the end of communalism (or racialism) in Malaysia.’ “There is No...
The Malaysia that Could Have Been: Political and Economic Reflections on the API Political Testament
By: Jeremy Lim Poster is designed by NJ The Political Testament of the API (Angkatan Pemuda Insaf or Awakened Youth Organisation) was certainly noteworthy for the fervent radicalism and conviction in its call to wage the anti-imperialist struggle against the British...
Defending the Kuala Langat North Forest Reserve: A Radical Alternative
Imagining an unconventional strategy to defend the forest reserve as well as open up new political possibilities. By: Jeremy Lim The scene after a clash between the French police and the squatters of the ZAD. Source: ZAD FOR EVER The degazettement of the...
Building Real Utopias Introduction: A Framework for Developing Alternative Institutions in Malaysia
This article serves to introduce the emancipatory social science of Erik Olin Wright, which will serve as the methodology for unpacking Malaysia’s institutions and its potential for socialism. Jeremy Lim Source: Occupy Dataran Facebook Page In my previous...
In Search of Praxis #4: Self-Government, Envisioning State Transformation and Building ‘Real Utopias’
This final article will discuss some alternatives: renewal of parties through the principle of self-government, genuine socialist state transformation and the building of real utopias. Photos from Occupy Dataran:...
Does Malaysia already have Socialism? An Assessment of Our Public Institutions and Democratic Control
Would destroying the Malaysia state completely make sense when it already has the rough frame of socialist institutions? What it lacks is the orientation towards people and democratic control. Jeremy Lim Image: A Landsgemeinde, or assembly, of the canton of Glarus, on...
Bolivia’s Election Returns Power to the People
The return of Bolivia's Movement for Socialism is a huge victory for the people of Bolivia, their democracy and the cause of socialism. Jeremy Lim (Gaston Brito Miserocchi / Getty Images) The wave of socialist governments elected in Latin America in the 21st century...
In Search of Praxis #3: Parliamentary Socialism and State Power
The limits of state power and winning it within bourgeois democracy, and an accounting of the obstacles to parliamentary socialist aims in Malaysia. (Image Source: Radical Readers of Lambeth) Jeremy Lim Having laid out the two common types of socialist parties to...
Can we #Pause a ‘Moving Train’?
Howard Zinn once claimed that “you can’t be neutral on a moving train”. Today, amidst a global ‘new norm’ of unemployment, poverty, plague and political turmoil, we analyse if we can hit pause on said moving train instead.
In Search of Praxis #2: What Type of Socialist Party, Building an Electoral Base and Party Transformation from Within
(Image Source: Getty Images) Jeremy Lim Within the parliamentary road, a consideration of the type of party, its rooting amongst the people and the conditions in Malaysia. Within the standard binary among socialists, if one does not choose revolution, then one is left...
In Search of Praxis #1: Revolution Thwarted
An assessment of the possibility and desirability of revolution as a strategy for the Malaysian Left. Jeremy Lim The revolutionary route is one that has been considered by most socialists to the left of social democracy. The revolutions of 1848, the Paris Commune, the...
In Search of Praxis Introduction: What Can the Left Do in Malaysia?
Jeremy Lim To paraphrase a saying by a host of Chapo Trap House: nothing changes but everything gets worse and worse. In this instance, he is referring to the American situation in which the socialist Left is largely defeated — though currently it may be on a possible...
#MalaysiaYangMuda: Yap Sau Bin
Editorial #MalaysiaYangMuda is a weekly series of short interviews with our friends and movers of politics, arts, and culture who continuously make Malaysia and its people livelier. This week, together with as our thirteenth guest is Sau Bin Yap - an artist, curator...
A Glimpse of Refugee’s Life: A Conversation with Hasnah Hussin
Editorial There was a casual remark made by a friend of ours that Malaysia is not only a multi-racial country but also a multi-racist country where we 'enjoy' being racist towards each other of different races and ethnics. What an apt observation! In relation to...
Interview with Dhinesha Karthigesu
Editorial
How have members of the live art, theatre and poetry scene been surviving during the MCO?
What is it like to be a muse without an audience?
What reliefs have been available and what are the challenges faced in presenting their craft as budding artists amid the current political and economic climate?
We delve into the perspective of budding talent, Dhinesha Karthigesu to find out more…
The WESTERN Way
Bhairava Sivam
‘Xenocentrism’ is the love and adoption of other cultures instead of one’s own. ‘Colonised mentality’ is the internalized attitude of ethnic or cultural inferiority felt by people as a result of colonization, resulting in the belief that the cultural values of the coloniser are inherently superior to one’s own. Many people often fall into the trap of believing ideas such as environmentalism, elections, gender equality and human rights are western inventions due to their “progressive culture”, civic consciousness and “evolved” thinking.
“The poor will always be among us.” An Interview with Juliet Chin by Fadiah Nadwa Fikri
Juliet Chin, the first woman to be elected as President of the University of Singapore Students' Union (USSU) in early 1974 was notorious for speaking truth to power. When she was studying architecture at the University of Singapore in the 70s, she was actively...
Changing The (Old) Ideology and Culture of Malaysian Politics
Bernard Wooley There is a deep well of rage inside of me. Rage about how I as an individual have been treated in philosophy; rage about how others I know have been treated; and rage about the conditions that I’m sure affect many women and minorities in philosophy, and...
You’re Not Suffering Enough for My Pity
Jason Wong Years ago in school, our teachers taught us to take pity, to be kind, to have mercy. They taught us to share, to give the benefit of the doubt, to be fair. But they were mumbling under their breath about this or that adult thing that we didn't understand...
Of Indiana Jones and Carcosa Seri Negara
Vick So I came home from a one-of-a-kind "silent protest cum street theatre tour de KL" (#millennials), peeled my shirt off my back (global warming is REAL, Trump!) and sunk into my couch and decided to indulge in some 'stupification' to unhinge myself from the...
One Two Jaga, and Our Inhumanity
Fadiah Nadwa Fikri My phone was ringing. An unknown number was screaming for attention on a quiet sunny afternoon. I was back in my hometown. It must have been a public holiday. Curious as to who the caller was, I picked up the phone. “Hello, mbak. Saya F. Masih ingat...
Don’t Kiss the Hand that Beats You
Fadiah Nadwa Fikri Artikel versi Bahasa Melayu boleh didapati di sini. Upon his release from prison, former opposition leader and prime minister in waiting Anwar Ibrahim shared his thoughts on his winding political journey and went on to say something that was...
The Duty to Resist
Fadiah Nadwa Fikri It was late at night and I remember being drawn to the TV. The world news was occupying the slot. I saw tens of thousands of people flooding the streets of London protesting the Afghanistan war. 2001 was the year. I was 18 years old. The sight of...