Was Kuala Lumpur founded by Sutan Puasa? April 19, 2018 – Posted in: In The News

Was Mandailing merchant, Sutan Puasa, the founder of Kuala Lumpur? The statement made by Prof Emeritus Tan Sri Dr Khoo Kay Kim in several intellectual discourses last year that “the founder of Kuala Lumpur was Sutan Puasa, from Mandailing”, had raised questions among the public since Malaysian history has stated that Yap Ah Loy, the third Kapitan China was the founder of the city. However, a newly published book titled Sutan Puasa Founder of Kuala…

Sutan Puasa pengasas sebenar Kuala Lumpur? – Posted in: In The News

Betulkah Sutan Puasa, seorang saudagar Mandailing, pengasas sebenar Kuala Lumpur? Kenyataan Prof Emeritus Tan Sri Dr Khoo Kay Kim pada beberapa wacana intelektual tahun lepas bahawa “pengasas Kuala Lumpur ialah Sutan Puasa, dari Mandailing”, menimbulkan persoalan dalam kalangan orang ramai kerana sejarah Malaysia menyebut bahawa Yap Ah Loy, seorang Kapitan China, adalah pengasas bandar raya ini. Bagaimanapun, sebuah buku yang diterbitkan baru-baru ini berjudul Sutan Puasa Founder of Kuala Lumpur karangan Abdur-Razzaq Lubis, mendedahkan maklumat…

Al-Fatiha: Edi Nasution February 1, 2018 – Posted in: In The News

I have never personally met Edi Muhammad Yunus Nasution, better known as Edi Nasution, a Mandailing scholar and ethnomusicologist, even though I edited and wrote the foreword to his Tulila: Muzik Bujukan Mandailing (Areca Books, 2007), a study of Mandailing courtship and romance music. The closest I came to meeting him was during my last visit to Jakarta some years ago, but unfortunately, he was unwell. This was an omen of things to come. I…

Magic in the Malay World January 4, 2018 – Posted in: In The News

The difference between divination and the divine is a fine one. South-East Asia is a region with strong beliefs in the spirit world, blending modern rationality and traditional knowledge. There is great reciprocity between the seen and the unseen – from spells to win back an errant lover to communing with the spirits, raising crops, curing illnesses and cursing enemies, magic is everyday practice for some of its polyglot inhabitants. In Myanmar, during British colonial…

Dedication and Personal Choices ‘are the key’ to a Healthy Environment June 1, 2017 – Posted in: In The News, Reviews

If there’s a key lesson in conservation, it’s this: you need to keep at it. So says Gurmit Singh, a veteran Malaysian environmentalist who has just published his Memoirs of a Malaysian Eco-Activist. “Everyone thinks planting trees is great. But they forget that trees have to be maintained,” Singh stressed at the launch of his memoirs. “I now tell people that ‘I will support your effort if you check every six months to see if your trees are alive.’…

True Blue Activist – Posted in: In The News, Reviews

ENVIRONMENTALIST Gurmit Singh has spent his life educating Malaysians on the real cost of preserving nature. Although he is not always successful in creating deep change, the man described as a ‘true blue activist’ continues to be passionate and patient. The 75-year-old recently unveiled his biographical work titled Memoirs of a Malaysian Eco-Activist, chronicling his non-conformist ways, environmental activism and his perspective of the world. Born in Japanese-occupied Malaya in the 1940s, Gurmit was a…

Maintenance key to addressing environmental issues, says activist – Posted in: In The News, Reviews

by Terence Toh, The Star “Maintenance key to addressing environmental issues”, says veteran activist Gurmit Singh. “Most of the problems pertaining to the environment in the country today stem from issues of poor maintenance.” Speaking at the launch of his book Memoirs of a Malaysian Eco-Activist, the Penang-born activist said Malaysians were very good at constructing new things, but terrible at keeping them maintained. “Everyone thinks planting trees is great. But they forget that trees…

The unwavering eco-activist – Posted in: In The News, Reviews

The unwavering eco-activist by Elena Koshy, NST Pressing the doorbell to the headquarters of the Centre for Environment, Technology and Development Malaysia (Cetdem), I’m mentally going over my notes and questions. The gate opens and the first thing I do is trip over it, narrowly escaping an undignified tumble on the floor. Nervousness brings out the clumsy in me. After being given perfunctory directions to his room (“Go up the stairs and turn to your…

This man has been fighting to save Malaysia’s environment for half a century – Posted in: In The News, Reviews

This man has been fighting to save Malaysia’s environment for half a century by Terence Toh, The Star For most of his adult life, Gurmit Singh K.S. has campaigned tirelessly for the nation’s green soul. He’s written books and papers about pressing issues. He’s formed two prominent local environmental organisations – the Environmental Protection Society, Malaysia (EPSM) and the Centre for Environment, Technology and Development, Malaysia – and been involved in many of the country’s major…

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A Journey Through Thaipusam March 21, 2017 – Posted in: In The News

A BFM 89.9 podcast interview with writer and Indologist Carl Belle by Ahmad Fuad Rahmat, University of Nottingham, Malaysia Campus, 16 March 2017, 21:00 In A Journey Through Thaipusam, Dr Carl Belle, a noted scholar of the Malaysian Indian diaspora, talks about his journey of spiritual transformation and social scientific enlightenment. He recounts his earliest days in Malaysia in the 1970s, and his profound encounter with Hinduism, which began his life-long love affair with the country. Dr…