This book consists of nine chapters, each an in-depth case study into a specific non-mainstream or marginalized online community in Malaysia. The authors come from diverse backgrounds to talk about how new media can both assist and hinder maligned minorities, ignored ethnicities or the often attacked migrants in their day to day lives. The book makes a strong contribution to Malaysian studies which highlights the other and represents minority viewpoints to challenge the belief that Malaysia’s online space is monolithic and limited to several mainstream discourses in Malaysian scholarship.
Author(s): Benjamin Yh Loh, James Chin
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 199
City: Singapore
Acknowledgements
Contents
List of Contributors
List of Figures
List of Tables
1 Introduction
Introduction
What This Book Is About
Multiple Digital Publics
The Chapters
References
Part I Indigenous Rights and Representation
2 Native Customary Rights Land Titles and Thwarting Deforestation: Digital Acts of Resistance Among Sarawak’s Indigenous Peoples
Introduction
Overview: Politics or Native Land Titles?
NCR Land
The Legal Dimension
The 1958 Land Code
The Political Dimension
Indigenous Peoples and Digital Activism
Indigenous Activism Going Forward
References
3 Some Orang Asli Still Think Najib Is PM: Representations and Self-Representations of the Orang Asli in the Cameron Highlands By-election
Introduction
The Orang Asli in Malaysia
Media Representation of Indigenous People
In Malaysia
Overseas
Indigenous Use of Social Media
Method and Findings
Findings
Setting the (Mainstream Media) Agenda
Narratives of Outsiders
Election Analysis
Discourse Among the Orang Asli
Informal Online Spaces
Common Emergent Themes
Cynicism
Conclusion
References
Part II Migrant and Refugee Discourses
4 Romance Through Digital Avatars: Online Courtship, Representation and “Catfishing” Amongst Irregular Female Migrants in Sabah
Introduction
A day in Two Lives
Reading Sabah’s Migrant Landscape
Marriage and Romance in the Interdict
The Labour and Function of Digital Avatars
Social Capital of Online Romances
Conclusion
References
5 Grateful Politics: Rohingya and Social Media in the Time of the Pandemic
Introduction
The Rohingya, Refugees and Malaysia in the Time of the Pandemic
Anti-Rohingya Sentiment on Social Media
Social Media and the Everyday Politics of Refugees
The “Grateful Refugee” and Refugee Agency
Countering Anti-Rohingya Sentiment
Performing Gratitude
Refugee Narratives
Hashtag Campaigns
Responses to Petitions
Conclusion
References
Part III The “Othered” Minorities
6 Confronting Malaysian Indian Stereotypes and State Neglect: The ‘SuguPavithra’ Episode Within Mainstream National Discourse
Introduction
Structural Limitations to Malaysian Indian Social Mobility
The SuguPavithra Channel
Rise to Fame
Tapping into the Malay YouTube Zeitgeist
Public and National Recognition
Fall from Grace
The Apathetic Malaysian Audience
The False Promise of the “Ideal Malaysian” Performance
Conclusion
References
7 ‘Our Online-Ness Matters’: The Construction of Social Media Presences by Malaysian LGBTQ Communities
Introduction
LGBTQ Communities in Malaysia
Meanings, Functions and Management Strategies
The ‘Being Out Online’ Persona
The ‘Profiting from Being Out Online’ Persona
The ‘Promoting Activism by Being Out Online’ Persona
Benefits, Drawbacks and the Future
Towards Open and Supportive Dialogue
Conclusion
References
8 A ‘Blue Ocean’ for Marginalised Radical Voices: Cyberspace, Social Media and Extremist Discourse in Malaysia
Introduction
Punitive Anti-terrorism Laws
From Hotel Bellboy to ‘Cyber-Jihadist’
Democracy, Postmodernity and Cyberspace
The Manifestation of the Discourse of Extremism in Cyberspace
Case I: Religious-Oriented Radicalisation
Case II: Political-Oriented Radicalisation
Case III: Health-Oriented Radicalisation
Managing Radicalisation and Extremist Discourse
Conclusion
References
Index
