Silverfish Public Talk -- Rehman Rashid

     Silverfish Public Talk -- January 2014

Topic: Articulating a Nation
Venue: Silverfish Books Sdn Bhd, 28-1, Jalan Telawi, Bangsar Baru, 59100 Kuala Lumpur. Tel: 03-22844837
Date & time: Saturday, 18 January, 2014 at 5.30pm

Rehman Rashid's A Malaysian Journey, when it was first published in 1993, practically exploded on the Malaysian cultural and literary conciousness with its warts and all, non-tourism approach to the society and culture. It was a nation we all knew existed, which we loved (and still do) immensely, but dared not (and many of us still dare not) speak its name. It was a book that dared to escape (no, tear off) long-existing literary (and cultural) shackles of parochialism that had confined us to our own race and religion for so long, and to embrace our real identity as all-inclusive Malaysians. A Malaysian Journey told us that it's all right to love ourselves for what we are; no apologies needed. One could say, it was a much-awaited (and needed) turning point in Malaysian literature.

Rehman Rashid's A Malaysian Journey commemorated its 20th anniversary in 2013, with a new edition in hardback, with a new preface and end-paper maps. The book, that was hailed as a 'modern Malaysian classic', still is now, perhaps more than ever before, speaking to a new generation of readers, explaining why things are the way they are in this country.

The author's topic for the public talk at Silverfish Books, Articulating a Nation,  will focus "on the need to speak for others in a nation now composed entirely of them." A reviewer wrote in Amazon.com that "as more Malaysians become like Rehman, the accuracy of this book will fade into fable." Sorry, not happening. More Malaysians are, certainly, thinking like Rehman Rashid, but we are also seeing more circling of wagons.

Expect Rehman Rashid to be articulate and engaging. It will be an interesting evening. (Bring a bottle of red if you can!)

Admission is free, but do email us if you are attending, for us to estimate the numbers.

Launch of Rozlan Mohd Noor's new books.

Rozlan Mohd Noor will launch his new book, Bayu, on Saturday, December 7, 2013, at 5.30pm at Silverfish Books, 28-1, Jalan Telawi, Bangsar Baru, 59100 Kuala Lumpur. Tel: +603-22844837.
Everyone is welcome, but do let us know how many will be turning up.

Bayu is a departure from the Inspector Mislan series, and is altogether more ambitious, telling the story from the point of view of the criminal.

You know the author, here's something about the book:

“Encik, how shall I address you?”
The line goes quiet as TJ considers the question. He remembers the breeze as he lay on the beach cooking up this scheme.
“You may call me Bayu.”
“Bayu, you mean like the wind?”
“Yes.”
“Encik Bayu, how do we contact you?”
“You know you cannot contact the wind. You can only hear it when it chooses to let you,” TJ chuckles.

Bayu is a master criminal, also known as The Planner, who wants to retire with a signature caper, by testing his wits against the best. What better way to achieve that than to kidnap an American and engage the CIA, he reasons. Robberies give quick highs and rewards, but he is interested in worldwide notoriety. He settles on kidnapping because the adrenalin rush lasts longer and he’ll get more coverage.

“No, this is no ordinary kidnapping. He is taking this public and it is to his advantage. He is not communicating with the family and that can only mean he's not open to negotiations.”
“More importantly, by not communicating with the family, he has eliminated the one method we had to nail him,” Ong points out. “We can’t track his calls.”
The two men look at him.
“He calls himself Bayu. Does that mean anything?” Jack asks.
“Bayu is wind or breeze in Malay. He is telling us we can hear, feel and see his handiwork, but not him.”

But there is one problem: the target he chooses turns out to be the grandson of the US Secretary of State, and the second anniversary of the death of Osama bin Laden is coming up. When news of the kidnapping gets out and into the press, every one is on the alert: governments, every Islamic terrorist group trying to make a claim to fame, the CIA, the Interpol and ... very quickly becomes an “oh, shit!” situation. A wonderful romp.

Barbara Ismail at the Lincoln Corner

This is on short notice, yes.  The Lincoln corner is organising a roundtable with  Barbara Ismail (the author of Shadow Play) on Saturday, November 9, at the Lincoln corner at the Kuala Lumpur Library (Jalan Raja/Dataran Merdeka) at 10:00 am – 11:00 am. She will be discussing the influences on her writing work, her passion, and her time in Kelantan. She would also like to get a feel for Malaysian writing and publishing while she's here.  Please email Gerard George of the Lincoln Center:  GeorgeG2@state.gov if you are interested to attend. We believe that places are limited.

About this author
Barbara Ismail spent several years in Kelantan, Malaysia in the 1970s and '80s, living in Kampong Dusun and Pengkalan Chepa, studying Wayang Siam and the Kelantanese dialect. She holds a Ph.D in Anthropology from Yale University, and is originally from Brooklyn, New York. Shadow Play is the first in Barbara Ismail's series of "Kain Songket Mysteries" based in Kelantan.

Islamic Feminism for dummies

Silverfish Public Talk by Norani Othman
Subject: Islamic Feminism for dummies
Date and time: 26th October, 2013 at 5.30pm to 7.30pm
Address: Silverfish Books, 28-1 Jalan Telawi, Bangsar Baru, 59100 Kuala Lumpur

Briefly

My Muslim friends tell me that Islam is a simple religion. Yet to others, everything seems frightfully complicated. To make it worse, it appears that there constantly is, 'A battle outside and it is raging.'  Thank God for some sane voices like Norani Othman who will try to unravel it for us.

Synopsis
Islamic Feminism: The current Islamic-feminism began in Malaysia and Indonesia (and some other Muslim countries in the Middle East) in the 1980s. It is now part of a global movement in which Islamic feminism seeks to speak out against patriarchal distortions of Islam. Dr Norani's presentation traces the formulation and emergence of an Islamic feminist movement in Malaysia, and of alternative interpretations of its laws. It describes the various strategies of the Islamic feminist group in Malaysia: SIS Forum Malaysia, better known as Sisters in Islam.

Background/Context: In the beginning of the third millennium, Muslim women throughout the world are still struggling to claim their rights in the private and public domain. A large part of that problem is the dominance of male-oriented, oppressive or misogynistic readings of the religious texts that promote practices, rules and laws that discriminate against women, these purportedly being requirements of ‘authentic' or 'pristine Islam’. More important, these interpretations have become so internalised that even moderate mainstream Muslims assume them to be the final truth. Yet these Muslims (half of them women) are increasingly confronted with different realities in their everyday lives that are far removed from the classical formative period of Islam.      

A bio of the author:
In earlier times, troublesome women, when their arguments became irresistible, were burnt as witches. These days their books are banned.

Norani Othman is a well-known academic and founding member of SIS Forum Malaysia, a Muslim Women's group, popularly known in Malaysia as Sisters-in-Islam. She is also the editor of the book, "Muslim Women and the Challenge of Islamic Extremism", published by Sisters in Islam that was 'banned' by the Malaysian Government, a prohibition order that was lifted only after a long court battle.

She graduated from the University Malaya in Sociology and Anthropology, and obtained her MPhil from the University of Hull, and later also pursued postgraduate studies at Wolfson College, University of Oxford. She was also a lecturer in the Department of Anthropology and Sociology at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (National University of Malaysia) and, from 2005 a Professor in Sociology (of Religion).

(Note: SIS & other feminist groups (their allies) in Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, etc., also do work on health and reproductive rights of Muslim women as well as on equal access to education for the girls.)

Admission is free (but seats are limited, so do come early).

August Public Talk at Silverfish Books

Title: "Revisiting Magic and Magical Realism in South America".
Venue: Silverfish Books, 28-1, Jalan Telawi, Bangsar Baru, Kuala Lumpur. Tel: 228 4448 37
Time and Date: 5.30pm - 7.30pm on Saturday, 24th August 2013
Admission is free. All are welcomed.

We have been hearing about this 'magic realism' thing for quite a while now, basically in relation to One hundred Years of Solitude by Garcia Marquez and Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie. What is it, anyway? Is is something real, or merely an affectation of Europeans and American academics who can only exoticise and romanticise that they cannot understand. Magic is Asian culture too, as it is African and South American. (Ask any Malaysian.) Our lives include magic and realism daily, and the two can co-exist quite seamlessly.

Fernando Rosa Baragül examines the phenomena from an anthropological view, and gives an interesting perspective, different from, but complementary to, those of literary criticism.

"Magical Realism" has often been associated with Latin American fiction (and Salman Rushdie a proponent). The conjunction of 'magic' and 'realism' is intriguing and thought-provoking. Although some South American authors like Vargas Llosa (whose work is not 'magical realism') refer to 'lo real maravilloso' (literally, the wondrous real), South American writers do not label themselves 'magical realists' (García Márquez is an example). The works of earlier authors, like Machado de Assis, in late nineteenth and early twentieth century, works were both realist and magical.

The speaker is a Brazilian anthropologist based in Kuala Lumpur and Melaka. He has, before this, worked in the Caribbean, Cape Town, Kerala, and was until 1999 in Macau, China. He is also interested in Dutch-Afrikaans, Arabic, and Malay writings, besides Portuguese one, and the possible overlap between them.