The Other Malaysia: Writings on Malaysia's Subaltern History

by Farish A. Noor

The Other Malaysia is a compilation of some of the articles by Farish A. Noor that were published in the online daily Malaysiakini.com. His writings aimed to unearth the forgotten and marginalised aspects of Malaysian history, reminding us of the manifold possibilities and contingencies that existed in the past and remain with us still. The articles were an attempt at a sustained critique of Malaysian historiography and an effort to deconstruct some of the more settled and essentialist understandings upon which Malaysian politics, culture and social life are premised

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Essays

354 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Dr. Farish Ahmad Noor (born 15 May 1967 in Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia) is a Malaysian political scientist and historian and is presently a Senior Fellow at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. At the NTU he is part of the research cluster on the contemporary development of trans-national religio-political networks across South and Southeast Asia, where he is studying the phenomenon of Muslim, Christian, Hindu and Buddhist religio-political mobilisation in the public domain.

He was formerly attached to Zentrum Moderner Orient (Centre for Modern Oriental Studies) in Berlin, Germany, Sciences-Po Paris, the Institute for the Study of Muslim Society (ISIMM, Ecole des haute etudes et sciences sociale, EHESS), Paris and the International Institute for the Study of the Muslim World (ISIM), Leiden, Netherlands. Dr. Noor's teaching credits include the Centre for Civilisational Dialogue, University of Malaya, the Institute for Islamic Studies, Free University Berlin, Sunan Kalijaga Islamic University (Jogjakarta), Muhamadiyah University Surakarta and Nanyang Technological University presently.
At NTU/RSIS he teaches two courses: (1) History, Society and Politics of Malaysia and (2) Introduction to Discourse Analysis. The first is part of the RSIS area studies curricula (which also covers Indonesia) while the second is a foundational course in Philosophy of Language, Linguistics and Semiotics with a heavy emphasis on Critical Theory as developed by the Essex School of Discourse Analysis.

He received his BA in Philosophy & Literature from the University of Sussex in 1989, before studying for an MA in Philosophy at the same University in 1990, an MA in South-East Asian Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, before completing his PhD at the University of Essex in 1997 in the field of governance and politics.

Dr Noor also runs a research site www.othermalaysia.org along with Dr Yusseri Yusoff, which looks at the history of Malaysia from an alternative, deconstructive angle and which attempts to demonstrate the constructiveness and contingency behind historical development, particularly of nation-states from the pre-colonial to post-colonial era.

Over the past ten years he has also been researching the phenomenon of transnational and translocal religio-political movements, including missionary movements such as the Tablighi Jama'at and its networks from South to Southeast Asia; as well as the development of religio-politics in South and Southeast Asia, looking at the rise of Muslim, Christian and Hindu political-religious revivalism in particular.

His other interests include antiques and material history, and he has written about the plastic arts of Southeast Asia, focusing on things such as the Indonesian-Malaysian keris to the development of woodcarving and architecture.
Farish has also appeared in the semi-documentary film The Big Durian (film), directed by Amir Muhammad.

Reviews

[Hadi Muss · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rojak of Dr Farish Noor's articles written from year late 1990 to 2000 and on where he talk about PAS, politics, history, feudal society and mostly on Malaysia. I agree when people describe him as witty and brilliant, I just can't get enough. Although this is my first read of his book, definitely not my last (unfortunately his books are quite pricey and some are rare now).

[Ashvinder Singh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Farish Noor has definitely cemented himself as an equal, if not the best historian in Malaysia at the moment (with apologies to Prof. Khoo Kay Kim). Readers are drawn to the former due to his writings on the forgotten/lost parts of aspects of Malaysian history and culture. It is astounding how much is Malaysians have lost as a collective society over the decades of rapid economic growth; how open a society we once were is now no more as political parties vying for votes have no qualms on instilling fear of the 'other' Malaysian. A good read, 3/5 for me, in the search of the Other Malaysia we are all looking for.

[Aiman Nazmi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hipster histories written by a rockstar! This is indeed what we truly need when reading the history of Malaysia. Farish Noor's thought and his subaltern version of histories maybe provocative and a bitter pill to swallow for some, but absolutely panacea for the cancer of a captive mind

[Muhammad Fakhruddin]

Banyak tulisan beliau ini berasal dari kolumnya di Malaysiakini sekitar awal 2000-an. Tulisannya mencapah, dari politik, sejarah dan budaya di Malaysia. Berdasarkan tulisannya, boleh dikatakan tempoh waktu pasca Reformasi terdapat pelbagai peristiwa yang disinggungnya.

Ada sesetengah isu yang diulas olehnya, terutamanya perihal politik dan budaya, hanya menjadi perhatian golongan borjuis di kota raya. Kekuatannya, apabila beliau menghubungkan sejarah dengan realiti yang sedang berkembang pada masa kini.