Jihad in Paradise: Islam and Politics in Southeast Asia

by Mike Millard

Written in an accessible, journalistic style, Jihad in Paradise focuses on Southeast Asia's struggle to deal with Islamic extremists and terrorism at the hands of Jemah Islamiyah, al Qaeda's Southeast Asian arm. Although the book gives particular attention to Singapore's attempts to deal with these issues, the story extends into Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. All of these countries have significant Muslim populations, and recent violent events have affected the business environment, tourism, and the region's tradition of religious tolerance. The author draws on personal interviews with experts in the field as well as key political and religious figures in Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia, including Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, Minister for Muslim Affairs Jaacoub Ibrahim, and expelled Muslim dissident Zulfikar Mohamad Sharif. Millard examines the Bali bombing, Malaysia's conservative Islamic party PAS, the Malaysian province of Kelantan which is a Muslim political hotbed, Abu Saayaf of the Philippines, and Fateha.com and the use of the Internet. He also provides a glimpse of how Singapore, the region's most developed nation, has engineered its society in order to impose a degree of racial and religious tolerance.

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Mike Millard, a veteran journalist with roots in the Pacific Northwest who has written and edited for newspapers, magazines, wire agencies and websites, worked in Asia for more than two decades and has traveled widely in Europe as well. After a tour in the Navy during the Vietnam War era, he lived in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury neighborhood, went to rock'n'roll shows and attended City College before obtaining a degree from the University of Oregon and another from Syracuse University in New York state. In his early years he worked as a logger, an oilfield roughneck, a farmhand, a miner and a janitor in a Las Vegas church with beautiful stained-glass windows. While living in Japan and Singapore, Millard immersed himself in the traditional cultures of the East and their burgeoning economies as well, wrote two mostly forgotten books and made some lifelong friends. He now lives in the Seattle area, where the local deer enjoy grazing on a flourishing garden he tends with his wife, Miwa. Their son, Emerson, is a software engineer.

Reviews

[Stew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mike is a friend of mine so I will recuse myself from a review. But I will say Jihad in Paradise is good background info for anyone interested in reading about terrorist cells in SE Asia.