Though Austronesians operated in networks of oceanic trading that stretched from Asia to the Mediterranean for thousands of years, both the term and cultural grouping are little known.
Making policies work for women in Malaysia Baharu
The “i-Suri” scheme shows the PH government continues to make limited strides toward women’s progress.
Death amid oil palms: Malaysia’s Batek Orang Asli health crisis
Public shock should be channelled towards real empowerment of indigenous communities.
Reforming higher education in Malaysia: combating entrenched patronage and racial politics
Pakatan Harapan had promised academic freedom and institutional autonomy for public universities. Can it—or will it—deliver?
What will it take to address poverty in Malaysia?
Despite Malaysia’s record of economic growth since the 1970s, poverty remains a persistent, and especially vexing, problem. How likely is a structural remedy under the new PH government?
The erosion of partisan loyalty and polarisation in Malaysia?
Party-hopping and partisan polarisation have characterised the post-GE14 landscape. What are the implications?
1919, 1969, and memories of Malay cosmopolitanism
Why riots in Wales in June 1919 are a useful resource for appreciating histories of Malay identity beyond the violence of 13 May 1969.
A clamour for Islamic reform in Malaysia: but in which direction under a Divine Bureaucracy?
Can Malaysia's new government depend on its unelected Islamic bureaucracy?
The forgotten voters: the Orang Asli in the Malaysia Baru
"Pengundi yang dilupakan: Orang Asli dan Malaysia Baru"
An interview with Khairy Jamaluddin
BN's former youth chief on how the party is adapting to opposition, and how it wins back power.
Conserving a New Malaysia
Does the change in Malaysian government provide hope for some of the world’s most diverse forests and wildlife?
An interview with Malaysia’s Foreign Minister, Saifuddin Abdullah
Answering New Mandala's questions on the "New Malaysia" and its place in the region and the world.
A Changing Malaysia?
A new series of perspectives on the “Malaysia Baharu” from Malaysian scholars, activists, and policymakers.
Business as usual: regime change and GLCs in Malaysia
Pakatan is using state enterprise as a tool of patronage just as well as Barisan.
Pakatan Harapan has the momentum in Sarawak
Time is running out for the state's rebranded BN government, despite a late embrace of 'state nationalism'.
The Malaysian economy faces turbulence abroad after regime change
The 'new Malaysia' challenge is to redefine its trade and industrial policies, and to work out where the new sources of growth and tax revenue can be, more so after the GST's removal.
New Mandala’s most read in 2018
Revisit the 20 most popular articles published at New Mandala this year.
Himpunan 812 and a new rivalry in Malay politics
Observations on what many are calling Malaysia's answer to Indonesia's 212 movement.
Rebellion and regret: talking to rural voters after GE14
The ‘new Malaysia’ is viewed with sceptical eyes in poor rural communities in Johor.
A new electoral system for a new Malaysia
The majoritarian first-past-the-post system has had its day. It’s time to think about bold options for reform.
Warming to climate change
Can the new climate change ministry navigate the complex politics of competing interests when tackling the threats of extreme weather? Or is an independent commission answerable to Parliament needed to hold the government to account?
Malay dominance remains despite UMNO’s rout
Despite the routing of UMNO at GE14 amid regime change, Malay politicians still dominate the new coalition government.
Ways of seeing a ‘moderate Muslim nation’
As long as the global attitude towards religious issues doesn't change, and Malaysians themselves mostly stay silent on these issues, the temptation will always be to smother dissent in the ‘invisibility cloak of religion’.
Better governance in a better parliament
Establishing parliamentary committees will help the new PH government meet its GE14 promises of better governance, as ministers and senior officials can be called to account.