{"id":1971,"date":"2017-05-23T04:17:09","date_gmt":"2017-05-23T04:17:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ukm.my\/ikmas\/?page_id=1971"},"modified":"2017-05-23T04:57:40","modified_gmt":"2017-05-23T04:57:40","slug":"events-media-coverage-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/pkukmweb.ukm.my\/ikmas\/centres\/events-media-coverage-2\/","title":{"rendered":"EVENTS & MEDIA COVERAGE"},"content":{"rendered":"

2017<\/strong><\/h2>\n

IKMAS Seminar Series No.1\/2017<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Date\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 :<\/strong> Thursday, 2nd February 2017
\nTime\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 :<\/strong> 10.00 am \u2013 4.30 pm
\nVenue :<\/strong> IKMAS Seminar Room, Level 1, IKMAS Building, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia<\/h3>\n

Session 1 (10.00 am \u2013 1.00 pm)<\/strong>
\nTitle:<\/strong> Sites of Translocal Encounter: Hui Mobility, Place-making and Boundary-crossing in Urban Malaysia and Indonesia
\nSpeaker:<\/strong> Dr Dr Hew Wai Weng, Visiting Fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore<\/p>\n

ABSTRACT<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hui Muslims have a long existence in Southeast Asia. Their recent increase and visibility of presence in Malaysia and Indonesia started since 1990s. Many Hui Muslims, primarily from the Northwestern parts in China, arrived in Malaysia to further studies. Some of them came as businessmen or religious scholars. They run shops selling Islamic clothes which are imported from China, open restaurants serving halal Chinese cuisine, operate a website on Islam in Mandarin and participate in the activities of Chinese-style mosques. For many Hui migrants, mobility goes hand in hand with business, and their business activities intersect with their religious commitments.<\/p>\n

This seminar aims to examine the intersection between trans-local mobility, economic aspirations and religious activities of Hui migrants; as well as the interconnection between migration, urban diversity and social encountered in Malaysia and Indonesia today. Hui mobility entails not only the movement of people, but also the travel of architectural style, cuisine and knowledge, as reflected in various urban infrastructures such as the Hui restaurants, Chinese-style mosques and various Islamic educational institutions. These places provide sites of interaction between Muslims and non-Muslims, between Chinese and non-Chinese, between citizens and non-citizens.<\/p>\n

Based on ethnographic fieldwork, informal conservations and semi-structured interviews, this paper explores trans-local migration routes many Hui have taken, often begin with travelling across different cities in China, before reaching Malaysia and Indonesia, and followed by the desire to visit to Middle Eastern countries. I will discuss two possibilities to further develop this research project \u2013 first, a comparison of Hui Muslims in Thailand and Myanmar; second, a multi-sited ethnography of Hui mobility by visiting their places of origin in China. Broadly speaking, this research on contemporary Hui mobility allows us to reflect on key issues such as globalisation, migration, urban diversity and identity politics (especially related to Islam and Chinese) in Southeast Asian region<\/p>\n

ABOUT THE SPEAKER<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dr. Hew Wai Weng is a Visiting Fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore and working on a project, \u2018Religious Gentrification: Islam, Middle Classes and Place-Making in Urban Malaysia and Indonesia\u2019. He has been writing on Chinese Muslim identities, Hui migration patterns, and urban middle class Muslim aspirations in Malaysia and Indonesia. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the International Institute for Asian Studies, Leiden and a research fellow at Zentrum Moderner Orient, Berlin. He is the author of Identiti Cina Muslim di Malaysia: Persempadanan, Perundingan dan Kacukan Budaya [Chinese Muslim Identities in Malaysia: Boundary-making, Identity Negotiation and Cultural Hybridity] (UKM Press, 2014) and Chinese Ways of Being Muslim: Negotiating Ethnicity and Religiosity in Indonesia (NIAS Press, 2017).<\/p>\n

___________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n

Session 2 (2.30 pm \u2013 4.30 pm)<\/strong>
\nTitle:<\/strong> Exorcising Ghosts and Phantasms: Reinterpreting Indonesia\u2019s Past through unseen Realms
\nSpeaker:<\/strong> Dr. Leong Kar Yen (Tamkang University Department of Global Politics and Economics, Taiwan)<\/p>\n

ABSTRACT<\/strong><\/p>\n

The historical interpretation as well as presentation of the events of post-Sukarno 1965 is often shrouded in fear and silence. Despite the efforts of NGOs, human rights groups and academics, attempts at reinterpretation or revising the Indonesia\u2019s past has often been met with fierce opposition. Groups which are religiously or militarily-affiliated often brand any such attempts at revising the history of 1965 as being a form of conspiracies to the flag of communism on Indonesia\u2019s soil. Fringe groups such as the Islamic Defenders Front and the Anti-Communist Front have been at the fore front of violently disruptive actions against, exhibitions, movie screenings or even discussions about that specific period. These groups often brand any revisionist retelling of 1965 as arising from an ethereal latent danger (bahaya laten) present in Komunisme Gaya Baru or new-style Communism.<\/p>\n

This discourse bears an uncanny resemblance to the New Order regime\u2019s paranoiac fears of \u2018formless organizations\u2019 or \u2018organisasi tanpa bentuk\u2019 subverting the state from within. Utilising opaque language and taking advantage of an \u2018occult economy\u2019 already present within Indonesia, the New Order regime was able to create an atmosphere of fear and foreboding. Nonetheless, despite the overthrown of Suharto\u2019s New Order regime, Indonesia continues to live amongst the shadows and phantasms which have yet to exorcise even after nearly 20 years of democratic transition. This paper aims to investigate the rising phenomenon of an \u2018occult economy\u2019 arising from the \u2018unspoken\u2019 events of 1965. My paper will specifically look at how spaces of past violence have been transformed into memorials testifying to Indonesia\u2019s \u2018silenced past\u2019. I will also be investigating rumors and ghosts stories hypothesizing that these elements of the \u2018occult economy\u2019 represent a way in which the past expresses itself even as fringe factions and groups continue to maintain an \u2018enforced silence\u2019 on the events of 1965. This paper highlights that through the investigation of these events and by presenting them as symbolic tropes, we can gain deeper understanding of how nations and societies reconcile with their pasts in transitional contexts.<\/p>\n

ABOUT THE SPEAKER<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dr. Kar-Yen Leong is an assistant professor of Global Politics and Economics at Tamkang University in Taiwan. With a background in Southeast Asian Studies, Dr. Leong is interested in the ways the region grapples with its past, present as well as future.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2016<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

IKMAS SEMINAR SERIES NO.2\/2016: The Power of Words: \u201cNusantara\u201d<\/h3>\n

Title \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 :\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0The Power of Words: \u201cNusantara\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Speaker \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 : \u00a0 \u00a0 Emeritus Prof.\u00a0Hans-Dieter Evers<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Center for Development Research (ZEF), University of Bonn, Jerman<\/strong><\/p>\n

Moderator \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 : \u00a0 \u00a0 Dr. Alinor Abdul Kadir<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Fellow of Institute Darul Ehsan (IDE)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Date \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 : \u00a0 \u00a0 3rd March 2016 (Thursday)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Time \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 : \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a02.30 \u2013 4.30 pm<\/strong><\/p>\n

Venue \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 : \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0IKMAS\u00a0Seminar Room<\/strong><\/p>\n

Abstract<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018Nusantara\u2019 is a concept to which different meanings have been attached throughout Southeast Asian history. It made its first noticeable appearance in texts of the fourteenth century, disappeared for a while, and then resurfaced after hundreds of years, when it was (re)discovered in the early nineteenth and twenty-first centuries. This presentation explores how the meaning of \u2018nusantara\u2019 has changed over time. In 1334 Gadjah Mada, the chief minister of the Majapahit Empire, swore an oath (sumpah palapa)\u00a0 that he would conquer a number of kingdoms on the maritime fringes (the Nusantara) of the Majapahit Empire. The concept Nusantara re-emerged during the anti-colonial struggle, when it captured the imagination of writers, novelists, poets and politicians in Indonesia and British Malaya. The term eventually disappeared as a political concept from public debates, to resurface in the 1990s, when it became widely used to adorn company names,\u00a0 newspaper reports, policy briefs, scholarly articles, and political organisations. More recently, \u201cNusantara\u201d has become very popular throughout Southeast Asia with the emergence of a Nusantara Youth culture and \u201cIslam Nusantara\u201d. The paper concludes by drawing attention to the importance of a Malaysian Nusantara concept for settling disputes in the South China Sea.<\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

IKMAS Seminar Series No.8\/2016<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Title \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 : \u00a0\u00a0Seminar on the 2016 Sarawak State Elections<\/strong><\/p>\n

Date \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 : \u00a0 \u00a0 6th June\u00a02016 (Monday)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Time \u00a0\u00a0 : \u00a0 \u00a0 10.00 am \u2013 12.30 pm<\/strong><\/p>\n

Venue : \u00a0\u00a0IKMAS Seminar Room, IKMAS UKM<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Abstract<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Sarawak Barisan Nasional, the incumbent governing coalition under the leadership of Chief Minister Adenan Satem, won 72 out of 82 seats \u2013 almost a clean sweep, surpassing Adenan Satem\u2019s own expectation. Why did Sarawakians voted overwhelmingly for the Barisan Nasional? Conversely, why did the opposition parties fared badly? These two intriguing questions will be the focus of this seminar. Apart from that, this seminar will also discuss the 2016 election at the micro level by looking at the local dynamics in several urban and rural seats in Sibu, Kuching and Sri Aman. Among the local dynamics that will be analyzed are the campaign strategies of the contesting parties and candidates; the campaign issues; vote-buying; the role of local strongmen; the power play between local component parties and the dynamics of national and local leaders. In addition to discussing the salient features of the election, this seminar will also look at the meaning of the 2016 election to Sarawak domestic politics and Sarawak\u2019s relations with the federal government in Putrajaya.<\/p>\n

The Speakers:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Associate Prof. Dr Faisal S. Hazis<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n