French missionary’s WWII diary offers a glimpse of life during wartime in Penang August 16, 2021 – Posted in: In The News, Reviews

Rouwen Lim One can only imagine the significance of the moment when French historian Bernard Patary stumbled upon handwritten accounts dating back to the 1930s, in the archives of the College General in Penang, about 15 years ago. This was a black hardcover notebook and numerous exercise books with brown covers. There were times when the author even wrote on loose sheets of paper that were then inserted into the book proper when it was…

Overcoming the odds June 14, 2021 – Posted in: In The News, Reviews

Terence Toh A paraplegic who finds mobility with a motorcycle. A woman who manages to find happiness despite having a lame leg. A man with a hunched back, but a heart which is straight and true. Many of the characters in Datin Patricia Lim Pui Huen’s book One-legged Football And Other Stories are people living with disabilities. In this collection of short stories, we find that all their hopes, aspirations and loves are just the…

Review: One-Legged Football and Other Stories June 8, 2021 – Posted in: Reviews

In loving memory of her husband, Dato’ Dr Lim Kee Jin, Datin Patricia Lim Pui Huen has compiled a collection of short stories and published a charming book titled, One-Legged Football and Other Stories. Born in 1923, Dato’ passed peacefully in 2015. Datin Patricia, or Datin Pat in short, is a professional librarian and historian who has authored several historical books including, Wong Ah Fook – Immigrant, Builder and Entrepreneur (Times Editions 2002) and Johor…

Review: Signs on the Earth: Islam, Modernity and the Climate Crisis May 28, 2021 – Posted in: Reviews

Richard Foltz Concordia University, Montréal Richard.foltz@concordia.ca The global environmental crisis disproportionately affects Muslims, insofar as its effects are more severely felt in the developing world and fall harder upon the poor than upon the rich. And yet, the issue has received little attention from contemporary Muslim thinkers and activists worldwide, preoccupied with ‘more pressing’ issues. Seyyed Hossein Nasr, a Muslim philosopher who spent most of his career in the United States, was among the first…

Through the wheels of time January 29, 2021 – Posted in: In The News, Reviews

Arnold Loh, The Star THE nostalgia hits many locals on busy Penang Road. From the Chulia Street-Penang Road junction towards Komtar, commuters will come across parallel steel tramlines, built sometime between 1880 and 1906. Road builders dug them up by accident in 2004 while replacing underground utility cables. To make them invulnerable to the grinding wheel of time, the road running along the tramlines is encased not in normal asphalt but solid concrete. This preserved…

Book Review: TIN MAN September 4, 2020 – Posted in: Reviews

I see Tin Man by Yin, as a local Malaysian story with a ‘wake-up’ call to fellow citizens irrespective of race, to not take lightly the racial discourse faced in the country. In what is viewed as growing intolerance amongst Malaysians, Yin, a Malaysian Chinese, makes a timely and conscious attempt in Tin Man to historically reflect upon the struggles of the early Chinese migrants and their current state of welfare. Spanned across three generations,…

The book, Living Art, is a survey of living, creative practices September 2, 2020 – Posted in: In The News, Reviews

By Shalini Ganendra NUMEROUS romanticised notions surround the field of creativity, including divine talent and magical product delivery. What the recently-released Living Art publication deftly reflects, through the careful and very readable case studies of 14 established local artists, is that sustainable and successful creative careers also require clear method, diligence, reflection and challenge. Living Art is a survey of living, creative practices. Discussion and writing revolve around questions, posed to each artist, covering: (1) Growing up; (2) Learning Process;…

‘Living Art’: The inspired lives of 14 Malaysian artists and their creative practice – Posted in: In The News, Reviews

BY SHALINI GANENDRA , The Malay Mail KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 3 — Numerous romanticised notions surround the field of creativity, including divine talent and magical product delivery. What the recently released Living Art by Emelia Ong adeptly reflects, through the careful and very readable case studies of 14 established local artists is that sustainable and successful creative careers also require clear method, diligence, reflection and challenge. Living Art is a survey of living art practices. Thus, the import of the publication goes…

How do Malaysian artists make art? ‘Living Art’ tells their stories – Posted in: In The News, Reviews

By TERENCE TOH , The Star Whenever veteran sculptor Mad Anuar Ismail approaches material for a new piece of work, he needs to “negotiate” with it first. Some artists begin with a preconceived idea of what they want to make, and then look for the right medium to craft it. Mad Anuar, in his late 60s, will listen to the “will” of the wood he works with. The resulting artwork he creates will reflect the conversation…

Iversen: Architect of Ipoh and Modern Malaya May 7, 2020 – Posted in: Reviews

Review by Mark Hinchman Berthel Michael Iversen (1906–76) was born in Denmark, but his entire professional career played out in Malaya, where he worked from 1928 to 1966. For more than three decades, he was one of the major figures working to create a distinctive Southeast Asian architectural modernism. Examining his career offers a means of probing the specifics by which modernism flourished in the region. In this book on her father’s life and work,…

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