Category: General Election

The underlying theme of the paper is that Malaysian society, albeit with its embedded ‘multiculturalism’, has reached a new stage. It is now clearly a beneficiary of capitalist development with the concomitant rise of a new and large middle class exhibiting various middle-class affectations cutting across ethnicity. This has led to the growth of a… Continue reading Malaysia: Middle-Class Affectations of a Democratizing Multicultural Society

It verges on tautology to say that internet use depends on internet availability. Obviously, the former will not occur in the absence of the latter. However, it is quite another thing to claim that there is a simple linear relationship between availability and use. It is conceivable that, once the diffusion of a communication technology… Continue reading The internet’s political impact and the penetration/participation paradox in Malaysia and Singapore

The latest results from the governorial elections in the provinces of West Java and North Sumatra, Indonesia, would suggest that a sea-change of sorts is taking place in Indonesia. Shortly after the shock election results following the general election in Malaysia earlier this year, the governorial elections of Indonesia has led to the victory of… Continue reading A wave of change across South-East Asia? But counter-currents too

It is puzzling for some why Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who won a landslide general election in 2004, is calling a snap election on March 8 this year, a whole year ahead of the mandatory five years. Much of the reasoning revolves around two factors; the economy and Anwar Ibrahim.  Publication: Opinion Asia, 15… Continue reading The 12th Malaysian General Elections: Seeking a Fresh Mandate

British colonial policies set the stage for the subsequent balance between state and civil society in Malaysia, including the persistent racial stratification of the public sphere, cross-racial differences in modes of state–society engagement and the focus on development of citizenship skills for some groups and autonomous self-regulation for others. This article explores the vestiges and… Continue reading Prickly Ambivalence: State, Society and Semidemocracy in Malaysia

The politics of fear – where UMNO warned non-Malays that violence was imminent if the Malays purportedly represented by that party lost power, and where non-Malay parties in the ruling coalition cautioned that the non-Malays would be unrepresented in the government and Islamism would take over if they voted for the opposition – was shown… Continue reading Malaysia’s political terrain tilts beyond recognition

This article argues that the rise of the influence of the Opposition during the 1990s was primarily due to outcome of key policies implemented by former prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad, on the economy and Malaysian society. One key reason why Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi managed to lead the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN, or National… Continue reading The 2004 Malaysian General Elections: Economic Development, Electoral Trends, and the Decline of the Opposition

A detailed study on The Political and Electoral System in Malaysia.  Download

Abdullah’s own “perestroika??? (reform agenda) proved to be an egregious failure and accounts for the current developments. The jury may still be out on whether the new Abdullah government can be sustained for five more years. My guess is however long he may stay in the driver’s seat, it is obvious that others will be… Continue reading Abdullah Badawi and the Malaysian “Perestroika???

Contemporary Southeast Asia 27, no. 1 (2005): 44–63; Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. This article examines the role of locality (ethnic composition of the constituency) and temporality (the almost five-year hiatus between elections) for BN in the parliamentary elections. In the 2004 Malaysian parliamentary elections, the ruling coalition, Barisan Nasional (National Front, BN), secured a… Continue reading The Politics of Locality and Temporality in the 2004 Malaysian Parliamentary Elections