I find I can't stomach most fiction anymore, especially anything written since about 1990. But Vanessa Chan's "The Storm We Made" is a powerful exception. Minutely and lovingly observed and the emotional punches it delivers are all earned and deserved.
It's set in #Malaysia in the 1930s during the British colonial period (when it was still called "Malaya") and the #Japanese wartime occupation of the 1940s, and its principal characters are Malay and Japanese. So right away that sets it apart from anything I've ever read before.
What's more, most of the principal characters from whose points of view we see the story are women and girls.
It is so rare, in #English language fiction, to have a glimpse into the dynamics of #Colonization when it's not practiced by a Western state.
The #Audiobook is beautifully narrated by Samantha Tan, a woman of #Asian ancestry.
Would love to hear #TootSEA thoughts on this book.
I guess I shouldn't have been surprised that Sabah also has a bamboo pole dance similar to the Philippines' Tinikling or Singkil. This one is called Magunatip.
I think the scariest thing is I often use this particular monorail line. Usually on Wednesdays. If it had been tomorrow...
Unfortunately one person died in this incident 😔
Realized I forgot to put up photos from the recent trip to Malaysia. Here are two shots taken from Gunung Lang Recreational Park, Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia, showing a view of the lake.
"Tourists to Japan from Singapore and seven other Asian countries will soon find it easier to pay for their purchases using their local QR code wallets under a new joint payment scheme.
[...]
The countries are Singapore (SGQR), Malaysia (DuitNow QR), Indonesia (QRIS), the Philippines (QRPh), Thailand (Thai QR Payment), Cambodia (KHQR), Vietnam (VietQR) and India (BharatQR)."
It's so funny that one of the oldest provident funds in the world is the Malayan one (now known as EPF in Malaysia and CPF in Singapore). It's older than any iteration of this territory as a postcolonial state (1951). The easiest way to think of it is as a pension scheme for the private sector - but that's such a leftwing thing to say here if I were to use that description I evidently will blow people away. Consequently people are more encouraged to think of it merely as a savings fund, a convenient framework as every successive generation of neoliberal seek to externalise any public obligation and social welfare. The big con that really got going in COVID era is the political encouragement to have people demand the right to 'withdraw their savings'.
Anyway, as political compromises go, this seems fine but if anyone wants free advice, that's below this post.
TikTok CEO #ShouZiChew has said the company will take the fight against the new law to the courts, but some experts believe that for the #US#SupremeCourt, national security considerations could outweigh #FreeSpeech protection.
#KualaLumpur - #KFC has reduced its operations in #Malaysia, shuttering more than 100 restaurants temporarily after months of a persistent #proPalestine boycott of #US-linked businesses triggered by the ongoing war in #Gaza. #Israel
People gathered in #Malaysia's capital Tuesday urge the government to expel “murderous arms dealers” that supply weapons to #Israel from a defense exhibition this week. More than 1,300 companies from 60 nations are participating in the Defense Services Asia and a concurrent National Security Asia exhibition. #LockheedMartin#Gaza
If I were from #Malaysia, instead of using #Mpop (which can also mean #MandoPop), I'll push for #MyPop. Noticed the play on words? “My” is the ISO two-letter ID for Malaysia; and also means “my” (mine) in English.
"JOHOR BAHRU: Under a pilot initiative launching in June, Malaysians travelling to Singapore on factory buses will be able to clear immigration through QR codes at both of Johor’s land checkpoints."
If you're Malaysian or in Malaysia you're probably aware of Pichaeats, a social enterprise that provides opportunities for refugee families here to make an income by cooking their foods from home. They've just launched a fundraiser to help six families of their cooks network to leave Gaza, by covering the cost of crossing the border to Egypt (quoted here to be USD8k per adult). Contribute if you can, share if you please: https://www.sedunia.me/campaigns/gaza-misi-menyelamat-6-sekeluarga-life-saving-evacuation-for-6-families/about (text is in English)
Ok another viral Raya song - am being such a typical Malaysian in always being puzzled if we're a regional/international source of anything - so kinda like how our CNY songs always get attention from other sinophones during Lunar New Year, over the years our Raya songs are popular elsewhere too. Though I think this used to be mainly in the nusantara but i'm seeing it's bursting out into the wider Muslim world.
yyyanyway, after watching the how manyth Indonesian reel, here's the other Raya song from this year: https://youtu.be/UnBr1vwjacU
Finally a contemporary Raya song that has immediate iconic status. But when it went viral I didn't think "random Japanese content creator dancing to it" viral lol.
Southeast Asian Muslims also retain the practice of cemetery caretaking without necessarily framing it as ancestor worship. As such, there are some customs we do for the dead that isn't always analogous elsewhere like doing the 40-day tahlil (sort of a wake 40 days after death) but since it's in keeping with the Islamic practice of respecting your elders and maintaining familial relations, there's historical and cultural continuity.
As such, while it doesn't have the force of religious law, Muslims here tend to visit family graves on Eid (usual al-Fitr but also al-Adha) to clean, and pray over the dead. But we don't have family plots so one fact about city Muslims these days is since the system is first-come-first-served, you likely have to visit multiple cemeteries to get to all of your family.
From 2010 to 2017, there was a thing called #AseanCitizen that we Aseans started as a grassroots movement. We were all bloggers from across, well, #ASEAN or South-East Asia.
Some of us joined together to produce one of the best multi-authored regional blogs. We talked about our cultures, write about what makes the region awesome. As well as, try to address the oftentimes silly and sometimes heated debates.
It's all gone now. Forgotten. The blogs dead or offline. We all grew up, got busy with our personal lives, and moved on separately. And the important reason? We lost interest in it as we started to see ASEAN was, is, and will never be for the grassroots.
That was the end of what was once a vibrant grassroot ASEAN Citizens effort. We did it all voluntarily. Without a single recognition from the top-down organisation that is ASEAN.
But today? ASEAN is still a top-down organisation. They kept trying to get the grassroots involved, but they are always failing. Why? Because it is a top-down organisation, as simple as that. They will never understand until they shift their mindset and approach to bottom-up.
(P.S I want to restart this grassroots movement, but I just no longer have the spark. Give me a very good reason why I should give it another chance. Or, at least, guide the new generation.)