Adelaide Festival of Ideas Panel: Good Things Sometimes Happen

15/07/201826/07/2019 - Amrita Leave a comment

I took part in a fantastic panel discussion alongside Assistant Professor Noura Erakat and chaired by Peter Mares at the Adelaide Festival of Ideas this morning.

I offered my take on the recent success of Malaysia’s Pakatan Harapan, and its campaign that was able to overcome an electoral system rigged against an opposition win. We discussed whether or not it is truly possible for Malaysia to build a rejuvenated and peaceful multi-racial society and institutions, and what hope there is for political reconciliation for the Palestinians.

The event was presented by the Australian Friends of Palestine Association (AFOPA), the School of Social Sciences at The University of Adelaide and the 2018 Adelaide Festival of Ideas, and you can listen to a recording of it here.

2018 ASAA Conference: Race, Identity, and Malaysian Politics

04/07/201826/07/2019 - Amrita Leave a comment

I’ve had the pleasure of both chairing and speaking on a panel at the 2018 Asian Studies Association of Australia (ASAA) biennial conference, which was held 2-5 July at the University of Sydney. My talk was titled Race and the ‘Multi-Racial’: Malaysian Opposition Campaigning, 2008-2018, which I presented alongside some other excellent talks on politics and identity.

Panel Discussion: Malaysia’s Historic Election Result… what next?

05/06/201826/07/2019 - Amrita Leave a comment

Image: Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images

I enjoyed being part of this panel hosted by The Lowy Institute’s Director of the Southeast Asia Project, Aaron Connelly, where I was joined by James Chin, Director of the Asia Institute Tasmania, and Kean Wong, contributing editor at New Mandala.

We discussed how the newly elected coalition will address fundamental social issues, such as those of race and ethnicity; the relationship between PM Mahathir and Anwar Ibrahim; the culpability of former PM Najib Razak with regard to the 1MDB scandal; how UMNO will adapt to life as the opposition; and what Malaysia’s change in government means for Australia.

You can also listen to the panel discussion here through The Lowy Institute channel on Soundcloud.

ANU Malaysia Institute Seminar Panel

07/05/201818/05/2018 - Amrita Leave a comment

Photo: McKay Savage/Flickr

Today I was part of an expert panel alongside Dr John Funston, Dr Ross Tapsell, and Ms Diana Anuar (Discussant and Chair) discussing how each party will run their campaigns in the buildup to Malaysia’s 14th General Election; my focus was on how China has become central to the election.

The panel was covered by New Mandala here.

Expert Panel: Malaysia’s GE14

20/03/201825/01/2019 - Amrita Leave a comment

Image: New Mandala

On 8 February I was part of an expert panel discussing the big issues in Malaysia’s 14th General Elections (GE14), alongside the Merdeka Center’s Ibrahim ‘Ben’ Suffian, Universiti Malaya Professor Edmund Terence Gomez, Malaysia Muda convener and lawyer Fadiah Nadwa Fikri, and New Mandala Contributing Editor Kean Wong. The discussion was recorded in Kuala Lumpur and was published today on the excellent New Mandala website. The audio recording of the full discussion is available here.

GE14: the polls, the money, the stakes

As Malaysians head to the 14th General Elections (GE14), the stakes have seldom been higher. The nature of the nation is now fiercely contested. While many Malaysians see the GE14 election season as another fraught debate over the core economic issues of the cost of living, inflation, and health and education infrastructure, there are also renewed fissures over the roles of religion and culture in determining Malaysia in the 21st century. And all of these issues arising at a time of great uncertainty in the region, as China rises and the United States retreats.

Amrita Malhi

Development R&E Manager, and Researcher, Writer and Adviser on History, Politics and Culture

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