Research publications

Narrating the racial riots of 13 May 1969: gender and postmemory in Malaysian literature
Author(s)/Editor(s): Ying Xin Show
Date of publications: 2021
Publication type: Article
The riots of 13 May 1969 are kept alive as social memory in Malaysia. As the government continues to ignore calls to declassify the documents on the racial riots, historical evidence of 13 May is scarce, and the ‘truth’ remains obscured. This article,...

Like a Child With Two Parents
Author(s)/Editor(s): Amrita Malhi
Date of publications: 2020
Publication type: Article
Amrita Malhi traces the historical roots of the 3Rs of Malaysian politics—"race, religion and royalty"—to 19th-century colonial contests between Siam and Britain.

Malaysia in 2019: A Change of Government without Regime Change
Author(s)/Editor(s): Ross Tapsell
Date of publications: 2020
Publication type: Article
The year 2019 was potentially the most important one in Malaysia's political history since the creation of the Federation in 1963. While the historic change in government which ended the sixty-year reign of the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition government...

Social Media and Elections in Southeast Asia: The Emergence of Subversive, Underground Campaigning
Author(s)/Editor(s): Ross Tapsell
Date of publications: 2020
Publication type: Article
This article examines the use of social media platforms as a prominent form of election campaigning in three countries in Southeast Asia, namely Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. Social media campaigning is now a prominent feature, not just in...

Social Cohesion, Racial Campaigning and the Collapse of Pakatan Harapan: Malaysia’s National Harmony Bills and Harmony Commission
Author(s)/Editor(s): Amrita Malhi
Date of publications: 2020
Publication type: Article
In the lead-up to next month’s federal budget, Malaysia’s present government could be on the verge of collapsing, unless negotiations between Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and government partner UMNO salvage his majority between now and then.
This...

Politics and the Federal Court of Malaysia, 1960–2018: An Empirical Investigation
Author(s)/Editor(s): Bjoern Dressel and Tomoo Inoue
Date of publications: 2020
Publication type: Article
Since its inception in 1957, Malaysia’s Federal Court (FC) has often been embroiled in high-profile decisions that have dramatically shaped the rule of law and constitutional practice in Malaysia. Recent political change has renewed hope that the FC can...

Rohingya Muslims in Malaysia: Finding (Imperfect) Heaven in Polymedia
Author(s)/Editor(s): Eva F Nisa
Date of publications: 2019
Publication type: Article
The condition of Rohingya Muslims, who for decades have faced a humanitarian crisis, especially in their homeland of Rakhine State, Myanmar, has attracted international attention and sympathy. This article focuses on Rohingya Muslims living in a transit...

Federal-state friction amid Malaysia’s dual political and pandemic plight
Author(s)/Editor(s): Tricia Yeoh
Date of publications: 2020
Publication type: Article
Malaysia’s Pakatan Harapan (PH) government fell after a prolonged leadership tussle in February 2020, and the new Perikatan Nasional (PN) government was installed on 1 March. Amid the political uncertainties came the COVID-19 crisis. How have the twin...

Mahathir’s choice
Author(s)/Editor(s): Ross Tapsell
Date of publications: 2020
Publication type: Article
Less than two years after its historic election win, Malaysia’s ruling coalition is in chaos. How did it come to this? Find out by reading Dr Ross Tapsell's explainer piece on the plight of Pakatan Harapan published in Inside Story.

Malaysia spins the revolving door of patronage politics
Author(s)/Editor(s): John Funston
Date of publications: 2020
Publication type: Opinion piece
In May 2018, Malaysians defied the odds and voted out a United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) led government that had held office for 62 years. Yet less than two years later the old regime, now allied with extremist Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), is...